There are certainly areas he can improve but few guys at his size have a mix of shooting, defensive and hustle stats. He was a 77% FT shooter as sophomore, on 100 attempts.....so I certainly think his shooting can be real.
The only things in his analytic profile that are flagged as cool are volume markers for FGA, PTS, 3PA per 100. He's generally good in all areas but needs to prove his scoring efficiency can sustain at volume. I don't think he's going to have any problem doing so, just with how he generates points but we'll see.
His shooting is probably his swing skill in his draft profile......if he can sustain anything in the 40% range, at higher volume, he suddenly becomes one of only a handful of prospects who have shown an ability to defend, offensive rebound and shoot as multi-positional player with NBA size.
Y'all,
Isaac Okoro is going to be a lottery pick and deservedly so.
He has such great size and motor and defensively he's so smart for his relative experience level.
Offensively, what I really like about him so far is that he rarely seems to play himself into positions where he has to do something he's not comfortable with. It can come off as slightly passive at times because of how meassured his approach is, but the moment he finds himself in a clearly advantageous situation the dude fucking pounces on it. He generally won't be looking to break his man down off the dribble because that isn't his strong suit, so instead he'll pass the ball, move himself into a more advantageous position or match up and play to his strengths. He's a very willing passer, and even if he isn't a savant at that skill I think the fact that he prioritizes his own shot so relatively low allows him to constantly stay aware of open teammates. He's also progressing with his outside shot and while he's hardly a knock down shooter and isn't fully confident in it yet, you can tell that there's something to build off there.
He just projects this aura of a very smart basketball player, through and through. Even with his offensive limitations I think you can tell that there's a very calculated thought process behind everything he's doing.
Defensively it's the same thing. People outright disappear when he matches up with them. The same meassured approach sometimes means he won't pursue opportunities as aggressively as he could and maybe at times should, but considering where players his age normally are in figuring out that specific balancing act, it almost seems like a non-point.
17-year-old Garuba had 6 points, 2 boards, and a steal to help Real take down Euroleague #1 Barca today. Did any of y'all watch? Did he guard Mirotic at all?
You appear to follow international basketball pretty closely. I recommend watching Israeli guard Yam Madar. And if you have seen him before I'd be curious your thoughts on him.
who is this zeke nnaji?
Haven't bought any subscriptions this year, so I'm limited to looking at box scores, watching highlights, and reading recaps. Don't know much about Madar, but he seems like a pure 1-position PG, which sort of rules him out as a potential target for the Cavs (at least IMO).
Yea was just speaking in general, not for the Cavs. I noticed you follow international and was hoping you’d seen more. Keep those international posts coming! I know he’s set to face Maccabi soon, so that may be one to watch for.
In the time since I posted about him, ESPN had a small write up on him in their draft stock update article, so he’s catching others’ eyes too.