Odukale
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19 minutes last night. Personally, that’s a lot more than I ever expected to see him play as the lead G in an ACC road game that Pitt won. Great experience for Femi. Hope it helps in his development and pays dividends down the road.
This may sound dumb, but the biggest thing I've noticed with him is how smooth and comfortable he is with the ball in his hands. He's not dazzling and some amazing ball handler, but I never feel like the other team is going to get an easy steal, bait him into a turnover with ball pressure, etc. That may be expected for a guard playing in the ACC, but we have had plenty of guards at Pitt that have dumbfounded us with their inability to beat man-to-man pressure.
I see some of that, too. And I remember vividly how Brad struggled as a FR. With his handle, passing and shooting. Can recall thinking he may not be a high D-1 player. But that certainly changed as he gained experience and matured.
Femi has the look of someone who can be a fine player for Pitt. Expect the game will slow down for him as his feel for things picks up. Looking forward to see how he handles himself vs a team like Louisville next game. Imagine the Cards will look to rattle him when he gets in. Should be a good teaching moment for him to see what kind of athletes and looks on D he’ll have to face in the ACC.
He has some nice height for a pg. if he can develop a consistent jumper he will be a very nice player down the road.
The curl and jumper from the high post was nice to see
He needs to stop trying highlight reel layups and just execute .
From game 1 to last game has been progress
I did an in-depth scouting assessment of Femi back in February before he committed - on the pay board. What do Yinz guys think?
Somewhat lengthy...
Would not consider myself among the top dozen basketball minds of Center Court, however I have developed a bit of an eye for details in the sport. Spent several hours today reviewing film, much of it in slowmo, of Odukale. I watched his 18/19 season 1st, then started in on his 19/20 vids.
18/19: Noticably shorter and lighter in physical build, decent hops, nice left hand finishes around the hoop, decent left hand dribble. Femi pushes a lot of his jump shots, with a lowish release well out in front of his face. Plays a lot on the baseline, lots of corner jumpers. Is not a PG, but has a real nice feel for how to set up his teammates. Lots of dishes in the lane off fast breaks, not many crossovers or between the legs dribbles, but they all look smooth, quick, and coordinated. Although it's clearly against lessor competition than he is playing now.
19/20: Grew a couple inches over the spring and summer, and I swear his hands are closer to his knees now, incredible length for a guard! Packed on some real muscle. Noticably better leaper - at times it seems like he's floating a bit - and elevating for a really long time.
Now has the look of a left hand dominant dribbler - regularly brings the ball up court left handed, even when guarded tight. Dribble is noticably not as tight as last season - think he's still adjusting to the new body, and looking to penetrate much much more aggressivly. Little bit of that Grant Hill vibe from a shape and movement perspective now. Dunks a lot two handed in traffic.
Has developed into a very good playmaker. Sometimes he clearly knows where he's going with the ball before it gets to him - that says "vision" & "thinker" to me. Breaks down his man and penetrates often, has a great feel for the little bounce passes. Lots of those old school dishes in tight to bigs, like Pitt basketball used to be. Gets many rebounds and blocks under his own basket, as he has a tendency to collapse toward the hoop as players he's not defending penetrate.Throws a ton of long outlet passes initiating the break from those defensive rebounds, very impressive part of his game IMO. would not yet call him a strong defender, but he's very good around his own hoop.
Shot looks much improved. No longer seeing the push, now it's more of that pulling the string thing, with a higher release point. Still looks a bit mechanical with it though. Surprised to see hardly any left hand finishes this season, but he is driving to to his right a lot more often it seems, and dunking a ton more, often in heavy traffic.
This is a very exciting player. I am now a huge huge fan. Clearly an unfinished prospect, that has taken a huge leap forward recently in both skill and physical talent.
Crafty, physical, aggressive, tough. And he's got a little something something extra - he's "Spicy".
Feels like a high ceiling, with a good floor for this guy. Will probably take him a few years to get there as he is still refining a lot of his game. But a guy you can dream on, that could potentially play 1-4. Solid get after missing on RJ.
Somewhat lengthy...
Would not consider myself among the top dozen basketball minds of Center Court, however I have developed a bit of an eye for details in the sport. Spent several hours today reviewing film, much of it in slowmo, of Odukale. I watched his 18/19 season 1st, then started in on his 19/20 vids.
18/19: Noticably shorter and lighter in physical build, decent hops, nice left hand finishes around the hoop, decent left hand dribble. Femi pushes a lot of his jump shots, with a lowish release well out in front of his face. Plays a lot on the baseline, lots of corner jumpers. Is not a PG, but has a real nice feel for how to set up his teammates. Lots of dishes in the lane off fast breaks, not many crossovers or between the legs dribbles, but they all look smooth, quick, and coordinated. Although it's clearly against lessor competition than he is playing now.
19/20: Grew a couple inches over the spring and summer, and I swear his hands are closer to his knees now, incredible length for a guard! Packed on some real muscle. Noticably better leaper - at times it seems like he's floating a bit - and elevating for a really long time.
Now has the look of a left hand dominant dribbler - regularly brings the ball up court left handed, even when guarded tight. Dribble is noticably not as tight as last season - think he's still adjusting to the new body, and looking to penetrate much much more aggressivly. Little bit of that Grant Hill vibe from a shape and movement perspective now. Dunks a lot two handed in traffic.
Has developed into a very good playmaker. Sometimes he clearly knows where he's going with the ball before it gets to him - that says "vision" & "thinker" to me. Breaks down his man and penetrates often, has a great feel for the little bounce passes. Lots of those old school dishes in tight to bigs, like Pitt basketball used to be. Gets many rebounds and blocks under his own basket, as he has a tendency to collapse toward the hoop as players he's not defending penetrate.Throws a ton of long outlet passes initiating the break from those defensive rebounds, very impressive part of his game IMO. would not yet call him a strong defender, but he's very good around his own hoop.
Shot looks much improved. No longer seeing the push, now it's more of that pulling the string thing, with a higher release point. Still looks a bit mechanical with it though. Surprised to see hardly any left hand finishes this season, but he is driving to to his right a lot more often it seems, and dunking a ton more, often in heavy traffic.
This is a very exciting player. I am now a huge huge fan. Clearly an unfinished prospect, that has taken a huge leap forward recently in both skill and physical talent.
Crafty, physical, aggressive, tough. And he's got a little something something extra - he's "Spicy".
Feels like a high ceiling, with a good floor for this guy. Will probably take him a few years to get there as he is still refining a lot of his game. But a guy you can dream on, that could potentially play 1-4. Solid get after missing on RJ.
I feel like he crosses it over too close to the defender (for being a taller 1)_...If that 5 7" waterbug who could not play last night was checking him I think he may have picked him a few times.
I'd like to see more body body ball principles with him
A couple points here
Femi doesnt even look like the same player as he was since he collided with a car and broke his arm in August and he missed a ton of time. He is skinny. Go look at any picture of this kids build last year at springfield commonwealth to right now. Look how big his arms and legs were last year in this picture to right now after he broke his arm. Its not even comparable, he looked like an NBA player with his build before his injury. He doesnt attack the glass anywhere near what he was doing last year at Springfield. The broken arm is still a problem.
www.springfieldcommonwealth.org
I think the accident really set him back. The same exact thing happened to Posh Alexander and it took Posh a full year for him to recover from it. I think Femi is going to be greatly improved next year when he is fully 100% healthy. Last game he was sloppy with the ball with some of his decisions. On one of his turnovers he was slapped in the face and poked in the eye and he had to leave the game with an eye injury. It should have been a foul call on Miami and instead it was a turnover. He came back in later and started turning the ball over.
His defense has been excellent for a freshmen. His steal rate is still twice as high as anyone else on the entire roster. His assist rate would also be far higher if his teammates in prior games would have made wide open jump shots. The staff has a ton of confidence in his defense. His time is going to come.
Femi doesnt even look like the same player as he was since he collided with a car and broke his arm in August and he missed a ton of time. He is skinny. Go look at any picture of this kids build last year at springfield commonwealth to right now. Look how big his arms and legs were last year in this picture to right now after he broke his arm. Its not even comparable, he looked like an NBA player with his build before his injury. He doesnt attack the glass anywhere near what he was doing last year at Springfield. The broken arm is still a problem.
SCA Black | springfieldca
www.springfieldcommonwealth.org
I think the accident really set him back. The same exact thing happened to Posh Alexander and it took Posh a full year for him to recover from it. I think Femi is going to be greatly improved next year when he is fully 100% healthy. Last game he was sloppy with the ball with some of his decisions. On one of his turnovers he was slapped in the face and poked in the eye and he had to leave the game with an eye injury. It should have been a foul call on Miami and instead it was a turnover. He came back in later and started turning the ball over.
His defense has been excellent for a freshmen. His steal rate is still twice as high as anyone else on the entire roster. His assist rate would also be far higher if his teammates in prior games would have made wide open jump shots. The staff has a ton of confidence in his defense. His time is going to come.
He did appreciably struggle last night after being hit in the eye on one of last night's mysterious no calls but there is still a lot to like in the early going, he just needs to display the ability to finish some drives as well. Especially at his size it can't all be drop offs, you have to make the defense respect the shot as well.
Yeah that's probably going to be tough for him this season as Vader is completely on the money. Femi had "guns" last spring. That loss of strength will hamper him all season when finishing near the rim in traffic. I think we've been seeing that so far.
Hopefully at some point analytics will be advanced enough to adjust for when players have vital organs hit mid-game.
I’ve been pretty impressed with our guys’ physical development over the past few years. Xavier and Toney look noticeably bigger and stronger than they did even last year, same with Coulibaly. Those three guys legitimately look like grown men. Guys like Femi, Hugley, Collier and Jeffress are really going to thrive with a full offseason.
Absolutely true IMO. Femi was ripped this spring, he really looked like a full grown college player in his upper classman years before the injury.
Odukale transformed into that physical specimen over a period of less than 6 months in 2019. So you know he's going to have it all back and more next season.
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