Ausie big man is a unique talent who should find a place on a CSL roster. While he is not even the best big man on his Kentucky team, he is doing a few things that have CSL scouts salivating.
First, lets make sure we are clear – dude is 7-1, 260 bull. Size alone means you should give him a look and many will.
Second, he is absolutely dominating the offensive glass this year. Height combined with long arms means he can just stand there and catch whatever does not go through the basket. While this will not be as easy in CSL, he will be pretty good offensive rebounder from Day 1 and may develop into elite.
Third, he has something that very few 7-footers have (if any) – an amazing ability to play the passing lanes. We are not talking about some ‘’decent at steals for a big man’’ nonsense. We’re talking about this year’s Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Adams’ type of elite ability to steal the ball.
Fourth, you can actually run plays through him. Yes, he can pass and handle and won’t be turning it over a lot.
Finally, he can make some threes and at decent clip. He will never develop into a sharpshooter due to goofy shot but he can absolutely take the defensive big away from the basket because you don’t want to leave him alone behind the arc.
Wow, pretty good huh?
But, its not all peaches and cream with this dude.
He has so far failed miserably at developing any post moves or shot inside the three point line or free throw shot… you get the picture. He will not shoot a lot and won’t even be efficient. So he needs to be in a particular situation offensively where he can comfortably defer and use that handling/passing ability. Since he does not shoot he will not be drawing a lot of contact. He is also struggling on the defensive boards. He’s just not strong or quick enough to battle college big guys – obviously he’ll be bullied in CSL. As most big men, he comes in with poor IQ/DI combination – nothing new here, moving on.
In Summary:
Strengths:
- Beast on the offensive glass. He is so huge and long that he just stands there under the basket and gets offensive boards at will.
- Guard like ability to press. Long arms and mobility allows him to get a lot of steals and be a real asset in pressure defense
- Decent handling/passing means he will not be one of those bigs who throw the ball away every other posession
- Solid but not spectacular defender overall. Lack of athleticism prevents him from ever becoming an elite defender or shot-blocker but he is huge and has skills so he is going to be at worst average at both (+ borderline elite at steals)
- Can become an everage three point shooter and is perimeter oriented already with about 40% of his shots coming from three.
Weaknesses:
- Allergic to scoring. Rarely shoots the ball, and even if he does, his efficiency is questionable (although does have that weird ability to become an average three point shooter)
- Simply can’t grab defensive boards – like very bad
- Below average at Drawing Fouls (and connecting from FT line)
- Poor Discipline and IQ
Projection: He is not going to be a full-time starter but will be a serviceable big man. We’re probably looking at early 2nd round for this guy.
