#1hiphopjunki3
Go Spurs Go!!
Offense
Finishing: Very good finisher with a soft touch – you can really see the touch and how the ball just rolls off his hands on the lay-ins off lobs that aren’t close enough to the rims. Quick riser in the paint off the catch (PnR, dives, etc) – does not take long to load. In the halfcourt, he is 20/21 on dunks as of 2/2 and 87/131 overall (70/100 excluding postups, 44 of these makes being assisted). High level PnR player from the screen down to the roll – does a nice job mixing it up between hard screens and slipping them, and his bounce + great hands make him an easy target on the bounce and on the lob. Right hand is better than left right now, but the left-handed finishing shows flashes (misses still look soft) – not someone who will shy away from his weaker hand, which is a great sign going forward. Catches difficult passes without much of an issue. Comfortable finishing in crowded areas / against well-contested shots. Active on offensive glass with putbacks and has a quick second jump. Uses body well in paint but has room to be more physical – would like to see him use power dribbles to dislodge players more. Prone to missing out on open passes when he has the ball in the paint (including on short-roll out of PnR and in general off dribbles). Very good finisher with soft touch with either hand (right hand better, left hand still shows nice flashes).
PnR: High level PnR player with the ability to catch lobs and bounce passes really well – soft hands, quick reaction time, and a very nice catch radius. Footwork looks good on most screens (does a nice job planting, pivoting, and diving off the screen or just screen and directly rolling depending on the angle of the screen), though can sometimes take an extra half step – foot sometimes gets stepped on / top knee gets hit, which slows him down on pivot. Does a good job diving hard off the screen, unless the point of attack defender is physical trying to get through or Okongwu is facing a crowded paint. Not a short roll passer (yet? more on this below). High level PnR player with awesome hands and large catch radius, but needs to work on passing off a screen.
Post Up: Nice mix of basic moves with basic footwork and flashes of moves with more advanced footwork – fake one side drop step and go into a drop step on the opposite side (fake left, into a right drop step), faceup spins, etc. I would like to see him do a better job sealing the defender on his hip / back on drop steps – his drop step can sometimes lead nowhere and have no impact on the defense because he just moves it in a straight line. Loves spin moves and drop steps and can finish with either hand with his soft touch. Large catch radius. Does a great job getting position (sealing for over the top pass or basic entry) and using his physicality to get the upper hand, though this can sometimes lead to offensive fouls. Does a nice job kicking it out to 3, but can also get baited into turnovers when he waits too long to make a move and defense sends extra help. Does not always recognize help defense quickly enough, leading to turnovers or forced looks – though there were some nice flashes of moving away from the help, he’d sometimes spin right back into the defense when he thought he was free. Nice post up player with solid footwork (and flashes of some more advanced moves), but needs to continue working on actually getting players on hip / back on drop-steps and not waiting for the help to come – make quicker moves.
Shooting: Not a shooter, but FT% and soft touch around the rim gives reason to think he can improve. Watching clips in slow motion, it looks like the ball is coming off his thumb, pointer, and middle finger more than his middle 3 – this could be part of the reason why the misses vary in location. Sometimes drops follow through too soon, but other times it looks nice – makes a higher percentage when he holds it, which could point to a smoother release on makes. Not a huge fan of his form, but it’s not broken – not because there are many moving pieces, it just looks slightly lackadaisical / nonchalant when he shoots it. Just from watching his jumpers on film, I don’t think the release point is consistent – on some, it looks like he brings the ball just above his head and on others it looks like the ball might be in front of his face when he shoots it (taking away / or limiting his line of vision). Inconsistent release on some shots, too – it looks more two-motioned when the defender is giving him a lot of space but one-motion when he’s a bit closer to Okongwu. (It might be slightly off to the left on some shots, or at least he brings the ball up to the left, but, again, hard to tell on film.) Shooting potential due to touch and FT%, but needs to improve form a bit
www.thestepien.com
Finishing: Very good finisher with a soft touch – you can really see the touch and how the ball just rolls off his hands on the lay-ins off lobs that aren’t close enough to the rims. Quick riser in the paint off the catch (PnR, dives, etc) – does not take long to load. In the halfcourt, he is 20/21 on dunks as of 2/2 and 87/131 overall (70/100 excluding postups, 44 of these makes being assisted). High level PnR player from the screen down to the roll – does a nice job mixing it up between hard screens and slipping them, and his bounce + great hands make him an easy target on the bounce and on the lob. Right hand is better than left right now, but the left-handed finishing shows flashes (misses still look soft) – not someone who will shy away from his weaker hand, which is a great sign going forward. Catches difficult passes without much of an issue. Comfortable finishing in crowded areas / against well-contested shots. Active on offensive glass with putbacks and has a quick second jump. Uses body well in paint but has room to be more physical – would like to see him use power dribbles to dislodge players more. Prone to missing out on open passes when he has the ball in the paint (including on short-roll out of PnR and in general off dribbles). Very good finisher with soft touch with either hand (right hand better, left hand still shows nice flashes).
PnR: High level PnR player with the ability to catch lobs and bounce passes really well – soft hands, quick reaction time, and a very nice catch radius. Footwork looks good on most screens (does a nice job planting, pivoting, and diving off the screen or just screen and directly rolling depending on the angle of the screen), though can sometimes take an extra half step – foot sometimes gets stepped on / top knee gets hit, which slows him down on pivot. Does a good job diving hard off the screen, unless the point of attack defender is physical trying to get through or Okongwu is facing a crowded paint. Not a short roll passer (yet? more on this below). High level PnR player with awesome hands and large catch radius, but needs to work on passing off a screen.
Post Up: Nice mix of basic moves with basic footwork and flashes of moves with more advanced footwork – fake one side drop step and go into a drop step on the opposite side (fake left, into a right drop step), faceup spins, etc. I would like to see him do a better job sealing the defender on his hip / back on drop steps – his drop step can sometimes lead nowhere and have no impact on the defense because he just moves it in a straight line. Loves spin moves and drop steps and can finish with either hand with his soft touch. Large catch radius. Does a great job getting position (sealing for over the top pass or basic entry) and using his physicality to get the upper hand, though this can sometimes lead to offensive fouls. Does a nice job kicking it out to 3, but can also get baited into turnovers when he waits too long to make a move and defense sends extra help. Does not always recognize help defense quickly enough, leading to turnovers or forced looks – though there were some nice flashes of moving away from the help, he’d sometimes spin right back into the defense when he thought he was free. Nice post up player with solid footwork (and flashes of some more advanced moves), but needs to continue working on actually getting players on hip / back on drop-steps and not waiting for the help to come – make quicker moves.
Shooting: Not a shooter, but FT% and soft touch around the rim gives reason to think he can improve. Watching clips in slow motion, it looks like the ball is coming off his thumb, pointer, and middle finger more than his middle 3 – this could be part of the reason why the misses vary in location. Sometimes drops follow through too soon, but other times it looks nice – makes a higher percentage when he holds it, which could point to a smoother release on makes. Not a huge fan of his form, but it’s not broken – not because there are many moving pieces, it just looks slightly lackadaisical / nonchalant when he shoots it. Just from watching his jumpers on film, I don’t think the release point is consistent – on some, it looks like he brings the ball just above his head and on others it looks like the ball might be in front of his face when he shoots it (taking away / or limiting his line of vision). Inconsistent release on some shots, too – it looks more two-motioned when the defender is giving him a lot of space but one-motion when he’s a bit closer to Okongwu. (It might be slightly off to the left on some shots, or at least he brings the ball up to the left, but, again, hard to tell on film.) Shooting potential due to touch and FT%, but needs to improve form a bit
Onyeka Okongwu Scouting Report - The Stepien
Net Rating: +9 Athleticism / Frame Overview: Good athlete, who can load quickly in tight spaces – has nice pop off one and two, good straight line athlete...
www.thestepien.com
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