GIF Breakdown: Christian Bishop, F, Creighton Transfer
Christian Bishop is a 6’7, 220-lb F with superb athleticism and hustle who transferred to Texas this year. As a junior at Creighton, he averaged 11.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, and 1.0 BPG on 68.4% from the field. Though listed as a F, he played a lot of C in small-ball lineups for the Blue Jays last season, and will probably do the same for the Longhorns this season.
Bishop scores his points inside. Here’s an example of his ability and timing. Watch him cut to the basket and get in position to retrieve the missed floater, then time the jump perfectly for the put-back slam. His anticipation is impressive.
Watch him catch the alley-oop here in the same game. Bishop stays in position under the basket, waits for the driving guard, and skies up to catch the lob and finish. He has incredible bounce. Having an athletic threat like him on the floor will be important when guards like Marcus Carr get dribble penetration into the paint but are guarded too heavily to put up a shot of their own.
He is a super high-energy player, which leads to second chance points for him. Watch this play below where he gets an offensive board, gets blocked once, recovers, then puts it back up again for two. This demonstrates a high motor and an aggression on the boards. He never gives up on the play.
On this sequence, he plays the roll man in the PNR, cuts to the basket, and uses his leaping ability to snag the lob and slam it down with authority.
Here’s another example of Creighton’s running a PNR set for Bishop. He gives on the dribble handoff, sets the screen for the ball handler, then cuts hard to the basket and catches the toss.
Another PNR set, another jam for Bishop, this time with a reverse to take the lead in a tight NCAA tournament game against UC-Santa Barbara.
His athleticism lends itself to transition scoring as well. Below, he comes down the floor and sets himself up in position to catch the pass while in motion. He’s strong, so it’s not easy to slow him down once he has momentum. This particular play actually won Creighton the game, as he put it down with 0.5 seconds to go.
He’s versatile defensively. Though undersized for a PF/C at 6’7, he can play some rim protector, specifically in small-ball lineups. He can also guard the perimeter and play make, like the following clip, where he helps on the trap of the ball handler and forces a turnover. Watch how he comes up with the ball, again pointing to his relentlessness.
The knock on Christian Bishop is that he has no real game outside of a few feet of the basket. He doesn’t shoot well, indicated by his 56.2% from the line this past season. He does not shoot from outside at all, averaging nearly no attempts per game (0.1). He doesn’t have great handles. He is very much a big man with a big man’s skillset. His play style is similar to that of Dallas Mavericks’ F/C Dwight Powell, but he's about three inches shorter than Powell is.
So he's not a threat to stretch the floor, but will be an awesome player to come in off the bench and bring high energy to the Longhorns. He can rebound pretty well, finish jams, and be an absolute threat as the roll man in PNR situations because of his crazy hops. He will be a key piece to the success of this team, and fans should look forward to his dazzling athleticism.
@KeenanWomack_OB