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Obi Toppin Scouting: Discuss

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Toppin came out of nowhere to have a great first season for Dayton (after a red-shirt year), shooting over 66% from the field and over 52% from 3 point land. At 6-9 he's a versatile player on both ends of the court. He's fundamentally sound, understands spacing and operates well in pick and roll and pick and pop situations.

Toppin is a solid athlete and can play above the rim. He's got a good frame, solid build and appears to have good length. Has the strength to absorb contact and still get his shot off.

3pt shooting is where Toppin really sets himself apart from the pack. He's got a compact and consistent release and he hits his shot at a high clip. He's great in catch and shoot ability and can also find his own shot of the step-back. If he keeps up this hot shooting it'll be hard to pass on him in the lottery.

On defense he can be a bit heavy footed and doesn't have elite lateral agility or foot-speed. Will be better suited to guarding 4's at the NBA level and might struggle to step out into space and guard on the perimeter.


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I see Antawn Jamison when he plays and can't unsee it. Still, young Jamison was a scoring machine. Awful the Flyers didn't get a chance at the tournament because this was undoubtedly their best team in school history. They had a real shot at the championship.
 
Toppin is the kind of guy I’d try furiously to trade up for as the SECOND lotto pick after grabbing LaMelo or a true wing with our own lotto pick.

But I probably have 3-4 players I’d take ahead of him if we only have our own pick to make
 
I see Antawn Jamison when he plays and can't unsee it. Still, young Jamison was a scoring machine. Awful the Flyers didn't get a chance at the tournament because this was undoubtedly their best team in school history. They had a real shot at the championship.
He's way more athletic than Jamison and plays much differently on the offensive end, but I do see similar shortcomings on the defensive end that give me pause.
 
I see Antawn Jamison when he plays and can't unsee it. Still, young Jamison was a scoring machine. Awful the Flyers didn't get a chance at the tournament because this was undoubtedly their best team in school history. They had a real shot at the championship.
Is he a legit PF or a tweener SF/PF? Would be scared of another Derrick Williams
 
What about shooting? will he be able to stretch the floor in the NBA? I see he shot 52% but on how many attempts?
He shot 52% last year as a Freshman (RS) on very limited attempts (0.6 per game) but is still shooting 39% this year on 2.6 attempts/game.
 
I think he will end up being the player that got away for many teams who will have gone "potential" over "peak" a'la Draymond. I mean, Wiseman, LeMelo, Edwards.. after that it's all kind of hit or miss (and those guys feel hit or miss too), and Toppin feels pretty sure on being a very good NBA player, though I guess Derrick Williams could be the cautionary tale.
 
As a Dayton alum, I watched just about all of his games this year and came away impressed. Man among boys athletically, and showed a lot more actual skill (beyond just jumping over people) than I thought he would. While the 3 point percentage technically "dropped" this year to a respectable 39%, that really wasn't a big part of his game last year (21 attempts total). This year it was (82 attempts), and it was evident that he put in work on his jumpshot in the offseason, though there's work to be done there for him. An NBA shooting coach might do him wonders. I could see him being a guy who really takes off over time because he's ridiculously gifted and puts in the work. Met him on a plane last year when he was testing the waters of the draft process, and couldn't have been nicer about me randomly chatting him up about UD and basketball.

Dayton's entire offense was really a thing of beauty this year. Tons of movement and sharing the ball, and Toppin was a big part of that. Ridiculously bad luck to have this situation wipe out the tournament this year... they were so much fun to watch, and their only 2 losses were neutral site OT games to Colorado and friggin' Kansas (also got hosed on some calls down the stretch in both those games, but I'm biased).

On a related note, Jalen Crutcher is also a stud. Will be interesting to see if he explores his options in the draft this year. Either way, dude is an NBA player.
 
On a related note, Jalen Crutcher is also a stud. Will be interesting to see if he explores his options in the draft this year. Either way, dude is an NBA player.

It's past my bedtime, but Crutcher is definitely an NBA prospect. I would have put some money on Dayton if the Tourney happened. I really thought they could do it.
 
As a Dayton alum, I watched just about all of his games this year and came away impressed. Man among boys athletically, and showed a lot more actual skill (beyond just jumping over people) than I thought he would. While the 3 point percentage technically "dropped" this year to a respectable 39%, that really wasn't a big part of his game last year (21 attempts total). This year it was (82 attempts), and it was evident that he put in work on his jumpshot in the offseason, though there's work to be done there for him. An NBA shooting coach might do him wonders. I could see him being a guy who really takes off over time because he's ridiculously gifted and puts in the work. Met him on a plane last year when he was testing the waters of the draft process, and couldn't have been nicer about me randomly chatting him up about UD and basketball.

The longer I follow basketball, the more value I've learned to place on intangibles like work ethic, character, and BBIQ. The theoretical ceiling set by athleticism doesn't matter all that much if you don't have the intangibles to reach that ceiling.
 
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The longer I follow basketball, the more value I've learned to place on intangibles like work ethic, character, and BBIQ. The theoretical ceiling set by athleticism doesn't matter all that much if you don't have the intangibles to reach that ceiling.
THIS, a 100x THIS.

Does he keep learning? does he keep adding to his game? does his current skills become sharper and sharper? That tells you the guy is putting in the work, and the NBA doesn't put it in for you.
 

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