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 (though needs to hustle more out to shooters). Quick reflexes and hands. Strong, though needs to get stronger. Quick hips and feet.

Mentality Overview: Energy player – does not take plays off entirely, though also sometimes doesn’t finish out plays. If he’s not involved on offense, he does a nice job crashing the offensive glass. Not going to force shots on offense – plays within himself. Defensively, he’s versatile and up for the challenge of defending anywhere on the court – had some of the biggest defensive stops this year from any prospect with the game on the line.

Offensive Role: PnR / energy big who puts immense pressure on the rim on dives. Some potential faceup driving (and driving and kicking) and short roll passing, if it develops. But, all in all, PnR big with D&K potential. Some basic spacing.

Defensive Role: Versatile defender who can fit in a variety of PnR schemes – drop, switch, hedge & recover, etc. Rim protecting + good team defense.

Rebounding: High level rebounder and very active on the offensive glass and is a good defensive rebounder too, though would like to see him put a body on players a bit more – can sometimes give up offensive rebounds. Increasing strength should help improve defensive rebounding rate, as it will make it more difficult for offensive rebounders to move him / get off of his boxout. One of only 12 players in the high majors that have played 65%+ of minutes and have a 20%+ defensive rebound rate + 12%+ offensive rebound rate – a list that only includes two freshman. Nice swim move on the offensive glass, and just does a nice job putting pressure there by staying in motion / staying off of boxouts.

Offense:

Synergy Profile: scoring : 97 scoring + assists : 83 (totals if percentile not available)

PnR Roll Post Cut Around Basket ORB Post Transition C&S 81 98 65 90 85 98 69 3/11

Shot Chart in HC:

Not including post ups: Post ups:

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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.

Shot Versatility: Not much versatility, and I don’t project much going forward. If he develop into a shooter, it’ll likely be out to 3 – maybe an attempt a game from the perimeter, but I think he’ll be mostly a mid-range shooter on C&S. Though he looks pretty comfortable taking them, I don’t expect this to be a big part of his game. In terms of versatility, C&S is where I think he’ll pretty much stay. He looks pretty confident taking midrange jumpers from the elbow off some minor movement, which goes well with his cutting ability. Catch and shoot player, maybe some PnP in long term, and basic movement (cutting to mid-range / elbow for C&S).

Shot IQ: Plays to his strength – paint and in primarily. Has shown the ability to face up and take guys off the bounce getting to the rim due to first step – if the jumper comes around, this could be a nice threat to pair with D&Ks potentially. The jumpers he takes now are almost all in rhythm (or called for due to shot clock running down) – not forcing jumpers. Good shot IQ – plays to strength.

Handle: Nice handle for a big and comfortable using it, even in tight spaces. Can sometimes look a bit loose, but overall it’s very nice for a freshman big. Likes jab step then attack, rip through drive, has flashed crossovers and spins into finishes, and does not look out of place handling for a big – looks fluid. I really like his first step – nice and quick – and he does a nice job facing up and attacking, rather than waiting for the defense to come. When attacking downhill, he does a nice job going from handle to finish – no need to take extra half step / step in order to set himself. Prone to driving into traffic and turning it over (or forcing up a bad shot). Good ballhandler for a big and comfortable using it – has a variety of moves he can pull (loves spins, rip through and attack, etc) and has a quick first step.

Passing: Not a high-level passer (yet?). Misses a fair amount of kickouts on the PnR, interior passing and overall touch is a bit messy at times, does not face pressure very well, and right now he is pretty much only a stationary passer out of the post (many being same-side kickouts) – I don’t think he has any assists (or even many passes) off movement. I think kickouts to the perimeter can be in his bag going forward off of faceups because he is a threat off the bounce against bigs due to first step and has shown flashes of facing up, seeing, defense and passing. Solid job kicking the ball out to 3 out of the post, but can sometimes recognize the open man too late (or wait until help is sent) and turns the ball over.

Assist Chart:

Defense:

Synergy Profile (I know there is a lot of noise here, but this is just added information): 53

Spot Up PnR Roll Around Basket Post Up Dribble J C&S Iso 27 56 94 64 5/9 (total) 43 93 (2/10)

Defensive Shot Chart (A lot of noise, but interesting. Paint = as primary and secondary defender.)

Awareness / Team Defense: Overall, he has good awareness (flashes high level rotations) …but there are areas for improvement. Pluses: (1) I like how he is able to recognize where he is supposed to help in the PnR is the POA defender makes an error, is caught playing from behind, etc.; (2) does a really nice job taking the correct angle to reduce the time it takes to get somewhere / to beat the ballhandler to a spot on the court (usually driving); (3) shows nice flashes of interior rotations; (4) solid flashes rotating to players outside the paint; and (5) nice job tagging and getting out (even though his closeouts are a bit wild and he’s not super quick to get to the perimeter). Areas for improvement: (1) he will see a rotation he is supposed to make on the interior, but doesn’t always appear to trust his instincts – ends up waiting half a second / waiting until the cutter gets the ball (or the man makes his move) and then ends up giving up a good look; (2) does not finish out plays. Has good awareness, but needs to trust instincts a bit more – he knows what he sees, just has to act on it quicker. Quick reactions help him here. Also, showed up big in big moments.

Rim Protection: Good rim protector with good awareness and good timing around the rim, but needs to consistently finish out plays and trust his rotations a bit more. Has flashes of really nice rotations on the interior, but it’s not consistent (yet?). Can bite on fakes, but generally does a good job using his length and strength to bother players in the paint. More than just a shot blocker, he does a really nice job simply altering looks altogether and making them more difficult. My two biggest issues with his rim protection are: (1) he doesn’t always finish out plays – he can be a step or two away from contesting but just stays back instead; and (2) he might see someone cutting or driving, but ends up waiting half a second (/until the cutter receives the ball) before committing to help – he sees the play and rotates quickly after seeing, which is better than nothing, but I would like to see him act a bit more instinctually here and rotate when he sees it…trust what you see / feel more consistently. I think the second note is also him trusting his athleticism a bit too much. Okongwu has good length, but it does not look like he has extreme length – this is why some shots are able to get just outside his reach when contesting. Also, would like to see him stop swiping down as much and go straight up – he’s had a few nice rim contests that were negated because the refs called a foul with the swing. Good rim protector with some really nice flashes of high level rim protection / rotations, but needs to be more consistent. Quick reactions help him here. Also, showed up big in big moments.

PnR Defense: He’ll be a very versatile PnR defender due to the combination of strength + length + quickness and fluidity on the perimeter. Good footwork all around across multiple schemes, though there are still some things to clean up. USC has had him hedge and recover (though he’s not always quick to recover, the mobility is there for it – needs to work on footwork here), play drop coverage, and switch onto perimeter players this year. I would like to see him close on pure PnPs a bit better and recovering after giving a nice hedge and forcing the ballhandler high so the POA defender can recover – what I mean is he’ll recover to his man, but he’s not hustling to him…which I think is easily fixable, but with quicker decision-makers in the NBA, if he does not fix this it can be exploited – just run back to man harder. On PnPs with a drive off the catch, he cuts off the drive – this shows good recognition and awareness of angles, this combination with his athleticism is pretty rare. Good helper at point of attack – if the POA defender is caught off guard and out of position, Okongwu does a nice job recovering to help. An example would be jumping early in the PnR, being caught on opposite side of the ballhandler, and OO contesting the shot or helping / contesting the ballhandler in the paint as the POA defender is playing from behind. All in all, versatile defender with very nice footwork and awareness. Improve hustling a bit more on PnPs, and he can be a very scary defender with the ability to fit in any scheme.

Shot Contests / Closeouts: Needs some work here. Doesn’t always run out to the shooter and some of his contests look pretty wild, opening up driving lanes. As mentioned above, he needs work in PnPs – does not do a good job getting back to his man on the perimeter, though this could be something that can be fixed with getting him to hustle more. *Note, he does do a good job cutting off drives on PnPs into a drive, but the “pure” PnP contests need work.

Off Ball Defense: Not someone who I’d want chasing players off screens, but I do feel comfortable having him defend shooting bigs in space. Does a nice job keeping his head on a swivel and stays away from ball-watching. Looks like he’s aware of what is happening on ball and off ball when his man is involved in off-ball actions. Would like to see him do a bit more of the little things off ball – keep hands out, bump cutters (or get in way), etc.

Footwork (in space): Good footwork all around. His footwork/technique on switches/in space is really good: he does a great job staying off of his heels so he doesn’t get stuck, has quick feet, and has quick hips. I would like to see him keep both hands out – right now he really only keeping his lead hand out, instead of keeping both out and taking away the pocket pass / interior pass as well as any lead pass or potential shot attempt. When he’s sliding downhill, he does a nice job cutting off the ballhandler on his drive. Nice job staying balanced, can stop and go, and does a nice job not crossing his feet. Really like his footwork and technique in space – just well rounded overall and his quick feet + quick hips really pop here. Able to slide with downhill attackers and cut off drives due to angle / positioning.

Post Defense: His footwork here is also nice on the initial attack, but would like to see him close out plays a bit more. After stopping the first move, he can relax and give up an interior look. Okongwu is strong, but still needs to get stronger to play against the likes of Embiid, Jokic, Nurkic, etc. Shows flashes of using a leg as a “stopper” by lodging it behind on the player’s hamstring / glute – prevents players from dislodging him, and though it’s not consistent, that he knows how to do it already is impressive. Plays a bit too straight up at times, too. Does a nice job contesting shots when they’re going up and he is in the area, but he can get bullied / dislodged by bigger players. Shows flashes of awesome positioning and footwork, but needs to stop playing upright and get stronger.

Written by Spencer Pearlman, https://twitter.com/SKPearlman, link to other pieces and in-depth reports: https://www.thestepien.com/author/spencerpearlman/

Look at where Okongwu's feet (thigh) is positioned – this is awesome. A bit too upright on the first one, but the foot positioning here is perfect – put it on the hamstring / glute to stop the postup player from dislodging him. He doesn't always do this, but these are nice to see pic.twitter.com/cS6WviBhqE — Spencer (@SKPearlman) February 2, 2020

Another switch with Onyeka Okongwu – this IS my favorite defensive possessions from any big this college season: – Game on the line

– beautiful footwork (quick hips, off heels, fluidity)

– beats ballhandler to spot

– staying down on fake

– then just ripping the ball away on shot pic.twitter.com/72VgLX7yQT — Spencer (@SKPearlman) February 2, 2020

I'd like to see his inside hand out taking away the passing lane, but I love the correction here on the drive – didn't bite on the fake. Check out the quick hips and nice footwork here, too. pic.twitter.com/LF1PppDM1v — Spencer (@SKPearlman) February 2, 2020

Love the D from Onyeka Okongwu, up until the end when he jumped. Active hands, active feet (and staying off his heels), and does a nice job sliding laterally. Although he bit slightly on the hesitation, the reaction and recovery were nice, and it didn't phase/change technique pic.twitter.com/0QMWezJrWj — Spencer (@SKPearlman) February 2, 2020

I also like what I've seen from Okongwu as a rescreener/sealer. Thest 1 clip is easily my favorite (and the final was probably a foul, but it wasn't called). – Pindown for Anderson

– Anderson runs around Rakocevic' s screen

– OO seals his man for lob Beautiful play, too pic.twitter.com/FXCUSdAmPa — Spencer (@SKPearlman) February 2, 2020