UKmadness 2009 rankings, #19

#19, Peyton Siva – Committed to Louisville

Positives
- The best part of Peyton Siva’s game has to be his athletic ability. Siva is one of the premiere athletes in the 2009 class, and at only 5′10″ his athletic ability helps him make up for a lack of height. Because he is so athletic Siva is able to attack the rim with a purpose and is able to finish a great percentage of the time because he has the ability to hang in the air and the ability to adjust his shot mid-flight if need be. He is a bonifide scorer around the basket and is great at hitting tough shots around the basket.

- The other part of Peyton Siva’s game is something that I already touched on and that is his ability to just score. Siva has a scorer’s mindset when he has the ball, because whenever he has the ball his first thought is to score the basketball. Although he is not a bad passer Siva will usually look for his shot on a fastbreak and he will usually score. Siva is a rare type of player because even though he is only 5′10″ and plays shooting guard he goes strong to the basket and does not shy away from contact. When Siva drives the lane he forces the defender to either make a remarkable play or foul him and usually neither happens because he just scores.

Negative
- The biggest negative for Siva is one that he can not help, and that is his height. Siva is only 5′10″ and that might be great if he were a point guard but Siva prefers to play the shooting guard position rather than running the team. His game is modeled after a shooting guard as well, he is not a fabulous passer, has a shoot first mentality, and can score from all areas on the court. Siva needs to work on becoming an all around guard because the only guard his size or smaller that has succeeded in the NBA is Allen Iverson and no offense to Peyton Siva but he is not the next Allen Iverson.

Comparison
The player in the NBA that Siva is closest to attribute wise is Golden State Warriors shooting guard Monta Ellis. I believe this is a good comparison because both players have point guard bodies but a shooting guard skill set, both players are phenomenal athletes, and both players have Similar frames, both are short for their positions and are very thin. Although Ellis a bit taller and more athletic there are definite similarities in their games.