A look at the German pro’s game and how he fits.
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Good stuff! With the many disclaimers and caveats that you haven’t done a cuts for all the international prospects, do you have a general assessment of Torvik ranking him 2nd out of all international prospects? Or, do you think the jump in Torvik pre-season from like 8th or 9th to 2nd overall after his addition was warranted - or perhaps a little much?
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Thanks!
I’m not sure of everything that goes into his equation or all of the other players, to your point.
It’s probably largely based on the fact that he’s an incredibly efficient player. Shot insanely well from the floor both inside and out and his team was much better defensively with him on the floor.
I don’t think it’s crazy. It’s probably one of those things where the better the team is, the more he helps you.
I’d be willing to bet that having him on the floor marginally improves most offensive lineups we’d put out there because the shooting and spacing will be great and he should improve our offensive rebounding rate and transition opportunities. On the other hand, I’d be willing to bet that having him on the floor significantly improves most defensive lineups that don’t utilize Anya as a SF (and potentially even those - while being considerably better on offense than those line ups).
It’s also one of those things where, yeah, you’re probably just better with him out there in most scenarios, but it also improves your depth a ton by making you less reliant on any one specific other player to fill needs that we may have otherwise needed (like Anya flexible defense and/or Dixon’s perimeter defense or Harmon’s shooting) but being forced to rely on their weaknesses because we didn’t have other options (Anya’s shooting, Dixon’s ability to get his shot off or scale up in size, Harmon’s defense) - it also allows players like Mallory, Sam Lewis, and Thijs to play more freely, as well - both to freelance on defense more and gives both more room to work on offense.
So, it’s hard to answer your question exactly - but I do think like it’s potentially a bigger addition than it’s being made out to be and the existing roster coupled with what Odom does well as a coach/his scheme are very well suited to fit Adekunle’s strengths while offering some potential to see him grow outside of what he’s shown overseas.
Think it’s both a floor and ceiling raiser.
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Does he have 2 years of eligibility, like de Ridder?
thanks for the write up!
I’d expect the five in five ruling would keep him to one but I’m not entirely sure how much teeth anything has any longer.
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I’ve got Nolan, TDR, and Anya in their “last” year. Everyone else looks return-eligible in 2027.
Think there was a mention in a Teel article that he gets 2 years. And players can choose whether to use old guidelines or 5 in 5
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Good info - that would be pretty wild. He’ll be 25.
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Is Adekunle our secret weapon? Even the really good national guys don’t even mention him when they discuss the team. Either they have no clue, or they all know and don’t think he is good. I tend to think it is the former.
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He doesn’t seem widely known. I’ve speculated previously that’s because unlike TDR and Grünloh, Nolan has never had much draft buzz.
And the BBL (German league) is a good league but not as well known as Liga ACB (Spain) or the Euro League (which I know has teams from different national leagues)
FWIW, the Torvik algo rates him very very highly. He’s basically why we are in the top 5 on Torvik. Maybe as the season gets closer, folks will pay more attention. Especially if he balls out in the exhibitions.
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Some of it simply comes down to timing. He was announced later and most of the CBB media had kinda already come to their conclusions on how they felt on each team. I bet he will get more love when the real “preseason” content starts coming out.
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I do think he’s a secret weapon especially because he’s the kind of player who could have his fingerprints all over a game and not have it be obvious in a box score.
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Just finished this one. Thanks for doing these, as always @Cuts_from_The_Corner !
Seems like a classic 3&D. Probably a more pure version of that than anyone we’ve had. The shotblocking seems to have been exaggerated but love the switchability and lockdown potential.
Very excited for the defensive potential of the team this year, with the adds from especially Nolan and Dixon. Probably Anya, too, given some of the quotes from the team’s media availability this summer, but really hard to know much until we see some games, given how long he’s been out / unhealthy. I do think we can ramp up some of the pressure… Also a fair amount of addition by subtraction on D (Tillis minutes, Malik Thomas minutes, Jacari minutes…)
And Science City Jena sent me down a rabbit hole. I think it was basically like being sponsored by the local tourism board, except in Germany, apparently calling a place Science City will really pull in the crowds… (@jazznutUVA )
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I feel like we have the pieces to be a very good defensive team. However, I hope we do not do the full court “get in their way” type of pressure with Chance. Pretty good chance that was what accounted for his relatively poor season ending performances. If we are doing full court pressure, I hope it will be with the intent to force some turnovers.
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Yeah - I agree. He had a few better shot blocking moments in games I didn’t feature - but he still only averaged .3 per game on the season. I think it’s a real thing coming from your SF to be able to switch or rim protect, like that, though. He did average 1.3 blocks per game in the playoffs (which was just 3 games but with them leaning into his defense and against their best opponent). And he had a year where he was close to a block per game in the lower tier Bundesliga. I’d view it like you framed it with the thought that it might show up here and there.
I’m glad someone else chuckled at “Science City” - I tried to include it as much as possible.
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I think if this season he’s approximately the same player he was for Trier in terms of role and effectiveness, that would make him a success. Any expansion in his offensive capabilities would be gravy.
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Agreed - but I’d just add that Adekunle was the only plus defender on the entire Trier starting five and they switched pretty much every screen.
It was pretty easy for teams to avoid him and they often did clearly intentionally.
It should be harder for teams to find matchups they like against us which should allow him to get involved in more plays on the defensive end.
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