I agree, but most NBA teams will want either the four or five to shoot - which is sort of my point. Clarke plays either as a 4 next to a shooting 5 (Jackson) or a 5 next to a shooting 4 (Williams).
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This is why I think his best fit is being the 5 and letting a team switch everything while taking bigger players off the dribble. Donāt see what he brings to the table playing against the average NBA 4 really.
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Moussa is a tweener. Think heās fine at PF or C for Michigan. Similar in NBA. If heās playing the 4 you need the C to be able to shoot probably, if heās playing the 5 itād probably count as small ball 5 at which point isnāt that just playing a 4 at the 5? But think he can do that potentially in certain schemes. But ultimately he just has to improve a lot for either to be viable.
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Yepā¦I think heās stuck between them. I actually think heās an NBA 4 but a College 5. As a 4 his weaknesses with handle and shooting really stand out. As a 5 his weaknesses with strength and vertical athleticism stand out. I think his ideal role at the next level is sort of what Dylan describes where heās a bench guy that can partner with another front court guy that has complimentary skills.
I think thatās what teams drafting in the second round are going to have to consider - can we find a role for him off the bench that allows him to leverage his strengths without exposing his weaknesses too much. Heās young and raw so thereās plenty of time for improvement, but some of those skills may never get to NBA levels.
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Diabate is ideally a wing at the next level. Sky is the limit for him but he needs to improve every facet of his game to reach his potential.
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Moussa has 3 high level weaknessesā¦strength, defensive IQ, and shooting.
If a professional organization thinks they can tap into 2 of those qualities, then heās a productive player in the NBA and worth drafting.
He doesnāt need to play like anyone else in order to be productive, I personally think thatās kind of the allure of Moussa. Heās a Unicornās cousin.
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he also has a dunking allergy
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Iād love to see him come back and gets some high profile experience. NBA minor league would be good for him, but college would get him more experience on a big stage. That plus the team experience with many of the same guys from this past year would be fun to see. His improvement in college will be glaring, I think, if he decides to stay. Once he finds his niche next to Dickinson, the chemistry could be amazing. Tarris Reed ocming off the bench would provide some ability to play looser also. Will Tschetter, Caleb, Jett, and others should provide enough shooting this year.
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One thing that Tim McCormick mentioned on his pod was that one thing you donāt get in the NBA as a young second rounder is valuable in game experience. Diabate could really use the reps in high level games considering heās so raw.
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Thatās what the GLeague is for
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Also hands.
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And Caleb? Have we heard from him?
Just because of his shooting being the weakest link in his overall attributes? As a 5 he would have the least pressure to shoot the ball from distance of all the positions? But I also understand that in todayās NBA jumpshooting is valuable at every position.
On defense, he is very versatile and has the athleticism to guard smaller quicker players, so I understand he could also be a four or even a three on defense.
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True, but G-League doesnāt offer team building and leadership opportunities. A lot of your best players in on a GLeague team are going to be bouncing up to the NBA and back. But maybe Diabate doesnāt need that, he seems to be a perfectly fine locker room presence and itās just some skill development at a high level that he needs.
Strength and defensive IQ are things you expect to improve naturally and dramatically with age. Shooting is the big one that remains to be seen if he has the capability of improving. Some people are just never going to be good shooters, and thatās OK if the rest of the game is there.
Yeah that was my point. Thereās so much talk about his non-shooting limiting him in the NBA (which it does obviously), but he has other skills that can be elite and a team will like! Itās just whether NBA teams want to to see him improve it in college versus their own system/organization.
He could always end up on the Thunder, so you never know. He might start 40 games next year if thatās the case.
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Moussaās shooting is a problem bc he hasnāt shown much defensive acumen. He needs to figure out one or the other to be much more attractive to the NBA. And Iām not sure I would say that IQ improves a whole lot. Iād also guess that IQ is probably much more innate/difficult to develop than any other skill/tool/whatever that an athlete possesses. So in my view you have a guy who has to get waaaay better at shooting or D and the odds of it happening are low.
At the college level, Iām not sure either of those things are nearly as important bc he can just keep getting better at making 2ās and become an obviously legit B1G starter.
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People really love to attribute things like experience, skills, and in game instinct to IQ. Moussa doesnāt have an āIQā problem, he has a āhasnāt played a lot of basketballā problem.
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I guess I wasnāt paying attention well. Did Houstan not have to announce ?
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