Combine? Who needs a combine?

Some in the basketball world were concerned when Doumbouya was not at the combine. This was after all, his first chance to be measured against his American peers and to show off for the front offices who didn’t make it across the Atlantic or invest in French league pass. Well… no need, the kid dropped 34 points 9 rebounds 1bl 1stl 1ast in 29 minutes of play while shooting 5/7 from 3 in a must win game for his professional team.

In European sport, the teams that finish in the top 3 or 4 of their respective country’s league enter into a highly competitive European league the following season to determine the best team in all of Europe. In a way, this is their version of the playoffs. So… some teams compete to be the best in their own league and the best in the European league. The tv money, game money and exposure is amazing for the clubs and players and can damage the top teams if they fail to make it one year.

Why was this a big game?

As their season comes to a close, Limoges are in a heated battle to secure one of the spots gaining them entrance into the playoffs for the FIBA European league (credit to "student driver" for taking time to research the proper name of the league: your contribution to this article is appreciated) next year. If they achieve this, it means a bigger stage for players and the ability of the org to sign better players who want the better competition. Sekou did this in a pressure filled game as an 18 year-old... that is impressive. For those who haven’t seen highlights from his recent game, here they are: (shout out to Illmatic for finding this and posting in one of the bf comment sections)



Video of 18-year-old Sekou Doumbouya's 34 points last night in France. The 6'9 forward shattered his previous career-high of 14. Great timing for the potential lottery pick



8/11 2FG

5/7 3FG

3/4 FT



He also had 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal and 3 turnovers in 29 minutes pic.twitter.com/Jmpdnrcvgl — Austin Green (@LosCrossovers) May 19, 2019

I liked what I saw of the kid in previous doctored clips, but after that I was beyond sold.

I survived a day lost in the Youtube trap

Sitting at home Sunday morning, I began to wonder why some analysts were questioning Doumbouya considering his play in a pro league and the size/athleticism combo he has at such a young age. So, with my house cleaned and not much to do, I jumped on the internet determined to find full game clips or highlights from other games in his season. Before I knew it, I lost a day of my life combing through hours of French and European basketball videos for no real benefit apart from being able to make an informed opinion and share it with... why did I do this again?

Below is a list of EVERY league game he played + most euros, date, and video clip. If there is no clip, it is because I was not able to find any clips of the game that contained footage of him. Most clips are 3 minutes. Some are 10 minutes and show every basket scored. Then later in the post is a full game. Most of these clips are produced by the LNB (French NBA) and as a result are "neutral".

Translating Below:the link on the left is always going to be short highlighs, the link on the right (if present) will be a long 10 min clip of every bucket scored. FB = fastbreak PD = perimeter defense. HD = help defense. Watching the all buckets gives a chance to view his defense when the other team scores.

5/12/19 Pau-Orthez – highlights 1 FB then @1:40 0 awareness. All Buckets

5/7/19 Chalon-Sur-Saone - 1 highlight, don’t bother watching the rest

5/4/19 Bourg-en-Bresse - sekou highlights All buckets

4/28/19 Lyon-Villeurbanne – good highlights! @1:50 watch bad PnR. All Buckets

4/22/19 Boulazac – solid highlights All Buckets

4/20/19 Le Portel - 1 FB bad HD at 1:12 nothing after 1:45

4/13/19 Cholet Basket - good O. Then some awful HD and PD at times

4/10/19 Chalons-Reims CB - 2 instances of terrible D and FB

4/8/19 Le Mans - wtf @ 50s? Great drive @ 112 All Buckets

3/29/19 BCM Gravelines – corner 3 then poor effort from him on loose ball

3/24/19 JDA Dijon Basket @2:07 bad D later bad rotation/HD . All Buckets

3/9/19 AS Monaco Basket @55s very bad D (only clip)

3/3/19 JSF Nanterre bad perimeter D 2 plays All Buckets

2/16/19 Strasbourg IG bunch of bad D examples. All Buckets

2/15/19 JSF Nanterre bad PD again 2x All Buckets

2/12/19 Monaco cup gm – This is a full game with LOTS of bad. just skip below to the defense section where I cut the vid down to 3 parts he was in the game.

2/9/19 Strasbourg IG – good O along with some very bad D 10 min all bucket clip

12/27/18 Boulazac all Sekou highlights

12/21/18 Chalons-Reims CB - Nothing of him

12/19/18 Asseco Prokom - couldn’t find this game

12/8/18 Le Mans – only 1 clip of him – 1:29 horrible effort and D

11/21/18 ALBA Berlin corner 3 at 52s – only highlight

11/17/18 JSF Nanterre @1:40 (clip starts there) Bites hard on pump fouls on3

11/14/18 Lokomotiv Kuban - @22s great fastbreak

11/12/18 Paris-Levallois – nothing of him, but can see him off ball

11/7/18 Cedevita - Big dunk

10/23/18 Tofas SC - 1 dunk that is all

10/21/18 ASVEL Villeurbanne – 1 dunk not much else

10/17/18 ALBA Berlin Sekou highlights 11pts 3 minutes

10/14/18 Strasbourg – Hardwood hoops went through the game footage and… oof.

10/10/18 Lokomotiv Kuban - corner 3

10/6/18 JL Bourg-en-Bresse - stops playing D complains to ref then fouls guy smh

10/3/18 Cedevita – @1:15 example of poor D / effort

9/29/18 Le Portel – nothing of him, but can see him off ball

9/25/18 BCM Gravelines bad d awareness @40s more bad help D later

9/22/18 Antibes Nothing

9/15/18 Fenerbahçe – This is a full game he’s #6 in this clip (45 later in season) He was still 17 in this clip and I believe was the first game he played in this season…. I recommend watching this, then going back and watching the clip from last week to see just how far he has come in 7 months. It’s amazing.

Things I liked from the videos

Athleticism - This kid just oozes athleticism. He's 18 years old and doing this in a pro league against adult former D1 and above players. Watching him run the floor is really something, but he’s more of a power athlete than shifty and quick.

Jumper - That jumper looks smooth with a high release point and it's clear he has improved it significantly in a VERY short timeframe. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the data: The first 5 games of the year he was a mess all over the court. Removing those increases his 3pt shooting to 37% on the season. If we leave those in, he averaged 32%. The graph below shows the game by game change in his 3-point shooting percentage, how quickly he brought that percentage up, and that he actually spent most of the season shooting above 32% to get it to that level after his abysmal start. (note: obviously that trendline is unsustainable, the log curve was thrown by those first 5 games of 0/11)







Offensive Instincts - He has very good instincts on offense. He cuts at the right times, has solid footwork setting up his shots, knows where to move and how to be in position to receive the ball or grab the rebound. You can teach things to help that, but a lot is natural. check out this pro move...

The clip below shows some really impressive skills and more importantly, hustle and aggression. He is the last man back, grabs the board, pushes hard and outruns everyone down the court for the score in about 4 seconds. (note: you can also see the loose handles. That would've been stolen in the NBA)

:

Things I didn't like but can be fixed

His handle - When running he dribbles EXTREMELY high at times and away from his body. There are times, he tightens it up and shows close control and directional change, but it's very inconsistent. In the post, his handle is fine, but again... sometimes he dribbles far from his body. NBA guards would strip him every other possession. (i'll update with a gif, when i find a few of the examples i forgot to bookmark in the clips above)

Jumper (this is nitpicking) While the form on his jumper is great, particularly off the dribble... on catch and shoot, he brings it all the way down below his waist. This isn't uncommon. Based on other videos of him this year, I think he brings it that low to be able quickly pump fake and have the ball at his waist to drive easily. I don't think that will be sustainable in the nba though, he'll get stripped/blocked a bunch.

The clip above isn't the worst example, he gets set and brings it up pretty quickly in rhythm. There are other's where he has a real low & slow dip below the waist prior to shooting.

Defense - Yikes! It's not good right now, but... he's an 18 year-old playing in a pro league. He was learning on the fly.

He is a fouling machine, however his fouls per 40 have trended down throughout the season from 6.5 fouls per40 to 4.2fouls per 40. Being able to stay on the court so the team can benefit from your skills is one of the most fundamental parts of the game. (shout out to the God Mahinmi). Take a look at the "getting it" normalization that occurs in march and remains constant.









He often gets lost defensively in both half court and fast breaks and shows little awareness of players coming behind him or what is going on off ball.

He Doesn't get in a stance enough and when he decides to drive hard to close out shooters, he does so without arms raised.

Some clips to show what I mean





what was he even jumping at on that pump? he didn't even have his arms up. what was the point?

Cons aside, Sekou has improved immensely over seven months. Despite his poor defensive fundamentals, he still generates TONS of deflections and steals due to his length and athleticism. The improvement shows he's willing to work and learn. Once he does, he will be force on D. speaking of D... this is a full game of Monaco vs Limoges - watch sekou's body language and movement most of the game and watch his D. watch this 1st link until the 27m mark on youtube. https://youtu.be/DUiLvy2gPis?t=979 (I fast-forwarded this link to start when he enters the game he leaves at the 27m mark) then watch this https://youtu.be/DUiLvy2gPis?t=2408 until half time. then watch this https://youtu.be/DUiLvy2gPis?t=5054 until the end roughly. The only thing that concerns me is the low level of activity when he’s off the ball and not on offense.

When Sekou gets the ball on the break, you see the combination of aggression, focus, raw power and quickness he can play with. The same can be said when he operates in the post or decides to drive. The places you don't see those traits are his defense in the half court and his willingness to go for rebs and loose balls.

The obligatory comps

I have no clue at all. People lazily compare to GF/Siakam b/c of origin and appearance.

Siakam at the same age had almost no offensive game and was used solely in the post at New Mexico State. He was rail thin, shot 17 3-pointers over 2 years at 17%, and rarely handled the ball. But... he was a defensive monster and far superior to Sekou on that side of the ball. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlZpqicKRBM

Giannis while also very thin at that age, had guard-like handles, was defensively superior, and much more "fast-twitch". Here's a full Giannis game in Greece (same age as Sekou) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C473tR4BjPE

Sekou is more physically developed than either of them at the same age, has a better jump shot, but has further to go defensively and lacks the same aggression those two had.

When I started putting this together, I was completely enamored with Doumbouya. Even after combing through hours of video with negative goggles on and pointing out flaws, I still think he's going to be a hell of a player and we have to draft him if available. He was 17 years old for half of this pro season (17!!!!!!!), that coupled with his significant improvements make me think he’s going to be something special.