Quote:
Originally Posted by ROYC75
I watched it, he ( Bidunga )is raw, strickly a role player next year.
|
I live close to where he plays so I've seen about 20 or so of his games, so I'll offer my thoughts. Obviously these come with the caveat that it's tough to translate how his game vs dudes who might be selling copiers in 5 years is in comparison to high major talent.
On offense: on the plus side, you won't find many big guys who like to dunk as much as him. If he's close, he's trying to put you on a poster. He has the state record for dunks in a game, and before you laugh, this is Indiana high school basketball where major prospects come out all the time. Having any record over guys like Zach Randolph and Greg Oden is impressive. He is skinny, but people have to think of him as Embiid rather than Doke. His game is based on speed, not backing dudes down like Hunter. He does well sealing his guy off not by power, but by beating his guy to the block. He isn't a very good ft shooter, clocking in at 60%, but that is improved significantly from two years ago when he shot below 50%.
But here is where I would hesitate to say he will be just a role player: his jump shot is actually pretty decent? He has a nice little 5-7 ft jumper from the baseline that goes in more often than not(he shot 81% from the field. Not a typo 81). And you watch in warmups and see clips from his practice he is a pretty competent 3 point shooter. He clearly practices them all the time. But obviously when you can just dunk on everyone they aren't exactly running plays for you to jack 3s all game. So he took 5 all year, making one. If he can shoot more jump shots than he did in HS, he very well might press KJ to start.
On defense: it's always tough to tell how this translates, but in HS he is an elite shot blocker. He does really well avoiding contact and is not foul prone. You saw it last night when he swatted Queen trying to back him down. He also rebounds very well, but that isn't surprising given the competition. I would probably say he's a better rebounder right now than KJ because the bar is so low there. His quickness helps him on the perimeter on screens, where he can switch and contest pretty well(at least against high school guards).
Overall, I think he has a wide range of outcomes. It wouldn't shock me if he comes along during the season and by the first tournament game he is starting at the four. If he can do anything with his jump shot, he could be Embiid - lite. Of course, he could also foul a bunch trying to block everything under the sun, struggle to shoot, and be more of a high energy dunks only use the fouls because we don't care if you block it or not guy playing 10 mins a game like Lightfoot. Nothing would surprise me at this point, but I wouldn't peg him as a pure role player just yet. There's definitely a chance he's more than that.