Frank Ntilikina vs Aris on February 22, 2017

Ntilikina finished with 15 points on 6-8 shooting(3-4 on 3FGs), 4 rebounds(2 off), 2 assists and 1 turnover in 26 minutes.

On the first possession of the game, Aris runs a double on-ball screen with the first screener popping to the top of the key. This forces Ntilikina to rotate over to the top of the key. Ntilikina closes out under control and forces the ball to be passed to his original man. Unfortunately, the advantage gained by the offense allows Aris to get a wide open 3 that clanks off the rim.





Ntilikina does a good job of coming up from the corner to shorten the distance of the pass. Hops into a 3. Good form on the shot but it rims in and out.





Nice 2 man game by Strasbourg allows Ntilikina to receive the easy dump off pass and get his first 2 points of the game. I would love to see him stay in the corner during these types of situations in the NBA.





Ntilikina catches the ball at mid-court and easily gets by his defender with a right to left crossover in the open court during a semi-transition opportunity. Nice left-handed lay-up under control for his 2nd basket of the game.





I feel that this next clip perfectly exemplifies Ntilikina as a defensive prospect. First, he applies good ball pressure at the point of attack and doesn't allow Aris to get into their offense smoothly(a very common theme while watching Ntilikina play). Then he follows his man all the way to the other side of the court and is able to fight through a screen and force his man toward the baseline in order to trap the ball handler before he can make a pass to the roll man. After his man swings the ball back out to the top of the key, Ntilikina's teammate attempts one of the worst closeouts I have seen in my entire life. Ntilikina doesn't panic after realizing he has to cover 2 guys at the same time as he shades the ball handler and his man perfectly. Ntilikina forces the ball handler to give up his dribble and pass the ball to his man while he still has enough time to recover to the corner. Finally, Ntilikina forces his man to dribble baseline and make a pass as the shot clock is winding down. Ultimately, Aris is bailed out by a questionable foul call as the shot clock expires but it doesn't take away from the brilliance shown by Ntilikina throughout this possession.





This is an example of Ntilikina running side PnR. He sets his man up nicely with a jab step to his right and then uses the screen to his left. He probably could have accomplished more than he did after getting into the middle of the lane so easily but he makes the simple pass to the wing and his teammate draws a foul. (Specifically, I would have liked to see him make the cross court pass to #6 in the corner after he got to the foul line but he tends to settle for the safe and easy play often, which is alright during this stage of his development)





As the inbounder, Ntilikina runs a designed sideline-out-of-bounds(SLOB) play. Just like the Sixers often do, the big flashes toward the inbounder to receive the inbounds pass. After receiving the inbounds pass, the big hands the ball back to Ntilikina and Ntilikina's man goes underneath the screen. Ntilikina takes one dribble to his left and pulls up for the 3. Swish





This was one of Ntilikina's weaker defensive possessions of the game. He communicates and executes a good switch at the beginning of the possession. After switching onto the bigger defender, he gets caught ball-watching and is late to recover as his man receives the ball at the top of the key. Ntilikina overcommits on the closeout and then bites on the pump fake. What would be 3 free throws in the current NBA turns into a pass and contested pull-up 3. Ntilikina does not get good rebounding position when the shot goes up. I believe rebounding is his biggest flaw.





Another bad defensive possession for Ntilikina. He switches onto the big and gives up deep position in the post. Ntilikina is simply overpowered in the post and concedes an easy layup. I believe his post defense(and rebounding) will improve as he matures and fills out his frame.





Ntilikina stops ball at half-court and Aris throws an ill-advised pass which leads to a turnover.





Ntilikina runs high PnR here and is able to draw both defenders to him. He makes the simple pass to the roll man, who is unable to knock down the foul line jumper.





Aris performs a well-executed baseline out-of-bounds(BLOB) play here and Ntilikina does his best to defend multiple actions. First, his man goes to set a screen for a teammate and Ntilikina does a terrific job of denying the ball and allowing his teammate to recover from the screen. After Ntilikina's man sets that screen, he immediately runs to the far corner but Ntilikina cannot chase after him until his teammate recovers to his man. Once Ntilikina is able to recover to his man, he takes a great angle towards the corner but is unable to contest the shot after running into a (moving) screen. Ball don't lie.





Decent post defense here by Ntilikina but still not great. Once again, I think his main problem right now is a lack of strength but I believe his physical tools(especially wingspan) will allow him to be a good post defender in time.





Strasbourg causes 2 defenders to follow 1 man and Ntilikina is left open on the wing. Ntilikina hops into the 3. Quick and high release on the way up. 3 points for the home team.





Ntilikina's physical gifts are really on display during this defensive possession. First, he gets his hand on the inbounds pass in incredible fashion as the thumbnail below illustrates. Ntilikina gets caught leaning to his left and is blown by as the ball handler ignores the screen. Ntilikina is able to recover and contest the layup and force the miss. Unfortunately, Ntilikina was the only player who decided to play defense on this possession.





Ntilikina inexcusably falls asleep off ball here and allows the wide open 3 pointer. Luckily, these types of mistakes are few and far between.





Ntilikina plays good defense up until there are 2 seconds left on the shot clock. He unnecessarily overplays the pass and allows his man to blow by him to his right. Aris just gets the shot off before the shot clock expires and Ntilikina gives poor effort on the defensive glass.





Ntilikina collects the offensive rebound and quickly lays it in.





Ntilikina makes the simple pass to the open shooter as the shot clock winds down.





Ntilikina avoids two off-ball screens and forces his man into a contested midrange jumper.





Ntilikina plays sound defense throughout the possession. He rotates over nicely to the top of the key and forces a delayed pass to his man, which allows the defense to recover and contest the 3 pointer.





Aris banks in a lucky 3 point heave after Ntilikina switches and contests the shot effectively.





Ntilikina gets out on the fast break and knocks down a 3 pointer to put his team ahead in the aggregate.





Solid defensive possession for Ntilikina. He does a good job covering 2 guys while the defense recovers and then did enough in PnR defense to force a kick out pass for a contested 3 point miss.





Ntilikina takes the dribble hand-off(DHO) and finds the open shooter in the middle of the zone. Plays like this are a common occurrence for Ntilikina. As an 18 year old playing against grown men, he just seems to have an advanced feel for always making the correct read on offense.





Ntilikina gambles for the steal and fails, which leads to an and-1 for his man.





Ntilikina is running point for his team in a clutch situation despite all of the talk about him playing a reduced role for his team this year. Ntilikina draws all 5 defenders to one side of the court and throws a nice cross court pass to the open shooter, who is unable to knock down the shot.





Ntilikina is forced to rotate into the lane and cannot get back out to the corner to contest his man's 3 point shot attempt but the threat of his length has bothered shooters all game long.





Takeaways:

never really finds himself in dangerous situations on offense, which should help him limit his turnovers throughout his career

has good form on both catch&shoot and pull-up jumpers; quick and high release

gives maximum effort on the defensive end and has the physical tools to be elite on that end of the court once he learns to be a more disciplined defender

needs to work on his post defense and rebounding but should improve once his frame fills out over the next few years

Frank Ntilikina is currently in the second tier on my big board, along with Zach Collins and Josh Jackson, due to their potential to be impactful two-way starters.