Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon cooks at the rim
By Chris Stone
Dwayne Bacon is blessed with an incredible last name. Not only does it encourage Florida State students to show up to games wearing bacon costumes, it also fits nicely into the modern basketball vernacular where James Harden catching Lil B’s “The Based God’s Curse” for doing the cooking dance without permission makes national headlines. (Sidenote: If Bacon fails to ever do the cooking dance during his basketball career, we have all missed out on a special moment).
With Bacon, the puns are almost endless. So, let’s get this out of the way now and just say that Dwayne Bacon is more than a flash in the pan — he’s a chef who does his best cooking at the rim.
Even with poor outside shooting numbers, Bacon currently ranks 364th in Division I in Effective Field Goal Percentage at 54.6. A big part of that is his ability to shoot well inside the arc (57.3 percent), where Bacon shows off his physicality and athleticism by getting to the rim and finishing. Bacon is currently attempting 37 percent of his shots at the rim, according to hoop-math.com, where he is converting at a 75 percent clip. For comparison, that’s the same percentage as likely No. 1 pick Ben Simmons.
In the Seminoles 90-66 win over Mississippi State on Wednesday night, Bacon converted on six of his seven layups or dunks with the lone miss coming on a wide open alley-oop where the pass was a touch low. Still, Bacon showed off what has made him an interesting NBA prospect. Bacon has the ability to beat defenders off the dribble with his explosiveness and can use his length and body control to finish in difficult situations at the rim, much like he did here:
There are plenty of factors that will limit Bacon’s upside in the draft. He’s one of the oldest freshman in the class and will be 21 before he plays an NBA game. Also, his shooting still needs a touch of work — he’s made 30.8 percent of his 26 3-point attempts this season. However, that’s a skill he can develop with practice. At 6-7 with a decent wingspan, Bacon has the necessary size for an NBA wing and his ability to finish at the rim can at least make him an effective slasher at the next level.