Brody Peebles has sprinted into his sophomore season as a man on a mission and has been a superhero shooting the ball off the bench this year.
It is well known around Lynchburg that Peebles is a guy that can hit you with a barrage of buckets at any given moment, but the efficiency in which he has scored early on in this young season is very impressive. Peebles box score average of 11.8 points per game may not necessarily jump out at you at first, but considering he comes off the bench and is still second on the team in scoring is noteworthy.
Brody leads the team in points per possession (PPP) with 1.387, a number that ranks 16th among D1 players with 100 or more total possessions. The real marvel is his hot jump shooting thus far. Peebles has hit 25 out of 52 attempted threes, shooting a red hot 48.1% from behind the arc. He looks confident putting up shots from anywhere and has been empowered to do so by coaches and teammates that clearly trust him with the ball in his hands.
If I’m not mistaken, his shot mechanics look quicker and smoother, able to catch and shoot the ball in rhythm as soon as he can find any space. Last year, most of Brody’s scoring possessions came out of spot up opportunities and pick and roll ball handling, with some handoff action sprinkled in there occasionally.
This year, spot up jumpers are still his bread and butter but transition opportunities and off-ball cuts have increased in volume to supplement his half-court shooting. He has become more dangerous as a threat moving and cutting away from the ball and made himself into an even more dynamic scorer.
Peebles’ most impressive performance so far was his shooting clinic he put on in the near-comeback against Southern Miss on November 18th. Peebles went 8 for 9 overall and 6 for 7 from three point range. Amongst the impressive contested and uncontested catch-and-shoot threes from long distance that came in this game, Peebles executed a silky euro-step to slither his way inside after getting his defender in the air off a pump fake from the right wing. He takes advantage of the respect his defender gives his jump shot and finds others ways to get buckets.
On a play halfway through the second half, in the midst of the Flames comeback, Brody gets the ball above the top of the key. In his three-point stance, he jabs with his right foot, takes one dribble up and takes a well defended three that banks in off the glass as the crowd explodes.
It’s a shot that exudes skill, guts, and confidence in one’s own ability. These are the qualities that we see in the Brody Peebles of the 22-23 season, a player that we can look to at the end of games and say “we trust him with the ball in his hands.” As we enter into the new year and into conference play, Peebles’ offensive contributions will be critical to the success of the Flames as they look to take back the ASUN title and make a run in the NCAA tournament.
