Tacko Fall 7-6, 300lbs / 8'-4" wingspan / 10'-5" standing reach

[JRSG]

he'll get a shot somewhere. He's only a sophomore though, he should stay for another year at least.

[12footrim]

He is much more talented than Mamadou N'Diaye was...

He's made a huge improvements this year with a new coach, but they did go head to head last year. Taco had the better game than him head to head even then.

Watch on YouTube

Taco put it back in his face about everytime. You can see how much more graceful Taco looks too. The other guy looks like he's running in combat boots.

I think he will definitely be on a roster, but he'll have a situational role like you can't really play him and have him defend a big guy who stretches the floor, but he could be pretty valuable against guys like Howard/Jordan/Whiteside.

I agree, and you just named the very best centers in the league he would match up well with. I think you could add Gobert, Drummond, Valancunis, Gortat etc. as well which are about all of the rest too. Then their are plenty of scrub starters too like the Robin Lopez, Koufous's, Mozgovs, Noah's, Ajancia's, Zaza's of the world he would probably be better than.

I think you could count the few he might have trouble with more easily on one hand like Gasol, Bogut B. Lopez(now)etc that would either draw him outside and pass or shoot. Not a ton of those guys in starting lineups. I think you could find places for him to start and vs many back ups like the Baynes, Hibberts, Henson etc of the world too.

Teams would probably try to switch and put him in bad situations or go small if they didn't have one of the top half of centers but I think he can be a monster on offense and his rim protection will be bigger too in most matchups than he gets credit for.

[12footrim]

he'll get a shot somewhere. He's only a sophomore though, he should stay for another year at least.

I disagree. The NBA drafts mostly on youth and potiental. Once you get 22 or 23 most teams overlook you regardless of what you are doing in college and opt for the younger higher upside guys than the more known players because typically they are about what they are going to be. I think more players hurt themselves than actually help by staying.

Taco and UCF the team have made a big jump this year under a new coach. I think the chances of coming back and having a better season or significant improvements next year is far more unlikely. Really how is he going to improve on shooting 85% from the floor and being a top 5 most efficient player in college hoops? He's more likely to look worse just because you can't really look better than what he has. He's shattering the FG% record infact.

This guy needs to go regardless IMO. These players only have so many years to earn anyway. If he has a 10 year career if lucky that's giving away 10% of your earning years.. The quicker you establish yourself the better and more money you get anyway.

[madmaxmedia]

After the first few posts I thought I was reading about the next George Muresan. But this guy is actually pretty athletic for his height and not that skinny either. He runs the floor pretty well for his height, weirdly he seems to have both a little gazelle and a little elephant in his stride.

It makes no difference if he can shoot a 3 or not. OTOH his FT% is very low, you'd like to see that get significantly higher. Not so much because it's important in itself (although it is), but also as an indicator of general skill level. Along those lines, we really need to see more of what happens when he gets the ball outside of the painted circle. All we see in these highlight videos is him getting the ball in the circle and basically stuffing it.

He looks like a mid first rounder to me.

[12footrim]

After the first few posts I thought I was reading about the next George Muresan. But this guy is actually pretty athletic for his height and not that skinny either. He runs the floor pretty well for his height, weirdly he seems to have both a little gazelle and a little elephant in his stride.

He is smooth but he's still moving 300lbs like an elephant. Smooth but heavy.

It makes no difference if he can shoot a 3 or not. OTOH his FT% is very low, you'd like to see that get significantly higher. Not so much because it's important in itself (although it is), but also as an indicator of general skill level.

He actually shot 42-61 for 69% in high school from FT's.

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/tacko-fall/QXRdTSIaEeOZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm

55-112 for 49% in college.

I think that is a transferable stat, and shows upside.

[madmaxmedia]

He is smooth but he's still moving 300lbs like an elephant. Smooth but heavy.

You're right- he's smooth but slow. I think the smoothness makes me think he's not running as fast as he can, but that's probably not the case. He's just too big to be much faster.

He actually shot 42-61 for 69% in high school from FT's.

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/tacko-fall/QXRdTSIaEeOZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm

55-112 for 49% in college.

I think that is a transferable stat, and shows upside.

Yeah, I guess he hasn't taken many FT's so far this year, so that should improve with more attempts.

He's a unique physical specimen that's for sure. I'm still not quite sure what to make of his pro prospects.

[12footrim]

You're right- he's smooth but slow. I think the smoothness makes me think he's not running as fast as he can, but that's probably not the case. He's just too big to be much faster.

I think it's a case of perspective. He's covering a lot of ground in those vids. You look at his running beside the other 6-8 type guys in those vids and they really have to bust it to get down the court and he's moving right with them most of the time and it looks like he's cruising at a jog or hardly running. Just just has to move less with those strides.

I think he probably even has another gear but there isn't much reason for him to kick it in when he's getting down there with them, and he's so big I bet he has to mind his conditioning and have the room to stop the 300lbs he's moving. If he makes abrupt stops probably more likely to get hurt.

That weight and size is different and harder to control in space but also a big advantage in other situations which most bigs have to do like pound around the basket.

Yeah, I guess he hasn't taken many FT's so far this year, so that should improve with more attempts.

He's a unique physical specimen that's for sure. I'm still not quite sure what to make of his pro prospects.

The 69% may be the fluke but it's still nice to see. Shows a pretty nice ceiling he could probably realistically get to.

[12footrim]

Another good game for Taco.

17 points 7 rebounds in only 23 minutes in a blow out of a good Temple team. Did it on 6-7 shooting and 5-8 from the foul line.

I was just looking over his game logs didn't realize he had 20 points and 13 rebounds vs #1 Villinova on 10-10 shooting in a game they lost by only 10 points so it's not like it was garbage time. Can't believe he's not getting more love. This guy is destroying it down low.

[12footrim]

One thing I learned from the ESPN telecast is that fall has an 8-2 wing span That's 5" longer than Gobert. Only one bigger is Manute Bol.

[old rem]

He is smooth but he's still moving 300lbs like an elephant. Smooth but heavy.

You're right- he's smooth but slow. I think the smoothness makes me think he's not running as fast as he can, but that's probably not the case. He's just too big to be much faster.

He actually shot 42-61 for 69% in high school from FT's.

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/tacko-fall/QXRdTSIaEeOZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm

55-112 for 49% in college.

I think that is a transferable stat, and shows upside.

Yeah, I guess he hasn't taken many FT's so far this year, so that should improve with more attempts.

He's a unique physical specimen that's for sure. I'm still not quite sure what to make of his pro prospects.

Just saw UCF vs E Carolina. Tacko's offensive numbers were not much but he got few touches. on D....ECU needed a late surge to top 30 pt. fall.. clearly intimidated. so.. he's actually able to RUN okay but is not quick or agile. Not a lot of finesse. Strong enough.... an ECU guy ran into a pick... and dropped like he'd hit a wall. Tacko will need at LEAST another year to add skills,finesse. he may never star but CAN evolve into a useful player.

[12footrim]

Just saw UCF vs E Carolina. Tacko's offensive numbers were not much but he got few touches. on D....ECU needed a late surge to top 30 pt. fall.. clearly intimidated. so.. he's actually able to RUN okay but is not quick or agile. Not a lot of finesse. Strong enough.... an ECU guy ran into a pick... and dropped like he'd hit a wall. Tacko will need at LEAST another year to add skills,finesse. he may never star but CAN evolve into a useful player.

I'm an ECU alum and watched the game too, will see Tacko in person in a month. Tacko easily had his worst game of the year and was 0-6 (one shot was a half court heave though). He hadn't missed that many shots in the last 5 games or more I believe so you weren't seeing him at his best.

I will say this, our team sucks ass but the ECU center is a legit good defensive center gave him a lot of trouble which I kind of though could happen. He blocked it back in his face 2 or 3 times. He's a 7-1 transfer from Wake himself, never played much before this year but he's has one of the best block percentages in NCAA history over his career and anchors a D that is top 15. As you see the offense is easily one of the worst in the nation though.

[BudLightTwerk]

He is intriguing certainly. He might have a chance because he doesn't seem like too bad of an athlete. His gait doesn't look labored or anything. He runs like a basketball player.

[12footrim]

He is intriguing certainly. He might have a chance because he doesn't seem like too bad of an athlete. His gait doesn't look labored or anything. He runs like a basketball player.

I can't get over the 8'-2" wingspan. He's already 7-6 and has a massive oversized wingspan on top of that. These other "super" talls didn't have lenght like that.

Manute Bol... 8-6" wingspan
Taco Fall....... 8-2" wingpan
Muresan....... 7-10" wingspan
Yao's............ 7-5" wingspan
Shawn Bradley..7'-5" wingspan

He just as well be about 8' tall compared to Yao and Bradley. That's about the size he plays at with those arms.

Here is video of him on the internet dunking in high school without even jumping.

Watch on YouTube

[pad300]

If's he got the athletic ability to get up and down the floor well enough, consider the math here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1253270&start=20#p35996241

I have no info on his standing reach, nor his vertical jump. His size and wingspan are crazy though, and he has enough mass to definitely play C at 300 lbs. He clearly has some bball-iq and athleticism to play as effectively as he is in college ... The saying is "You can't teach size".

[12footrim]

If's he got the athletic ability to get up and down the floor well enough, consider the math here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1253270&start=20#p35996241

I have no info on his standing reach, nor his vertical jump. His size and wingspan are crazy though, and he has enough mass to definitely play C at 300 lbs. He clearly has some bball-iq and athleticism to play as effectively as he is in college ... The saying is "You can't teach size".

An article says Tacko has a 10'-5" standing reach. Here are some photo's from high school, he's bigger now.









I think it's safe to say their has never been anyone with this kind of size AND lenght. Manute was longer but he was a bean pole and had the same standing reach which is probably the most important length measure. This guy is big and strong enough no one is really going to move him no matter how much leverage they have. Guys like Yao and Bradley weren't anywhere close to the lenght of this guy in reality

Maute had a 10-5" standing reach
Tacko 10'-5" standing reach
Yao had a 9-8 standing reach

His hands are 9 inches higher than Yao's! That's a huge difference. He would be the biggest longest guy ever to play in the league.

[scrabbarista]

He clearly has NBA game, but I would think he's all but guaranteed to have an injury-plagued career. I hope he proves me wrong, of course.

[12footrim]

He clearly has NBA game, but I would think he's all but guaranteed to have an injury-plagued career. I hope he proves me wrong, of course.

It just depends. I wouldn't go as far as to just assume that. His height doesn't sound like a pituitary issue like Murasan for example and he's not had any injuries so far either.

Shaq for instance played at heavier weights until he was 38 than I expect this guy will ever play at and with less of larger frame to carry it. Shaq also played a lot more minutes than this guy every will I expect too. The NBA is so much more cautious with these guys today, I fully expect this guys minutes would always be managed just because he is a higher risk.

I think if he was a 20 minute a game guy for 7 or 8 years he's still worth it because I think he would be highly productive in his minutes.

[scrabbarista]

The NBA is so much more cautious with these guys today, I fully expect this guys minutes would always be managed.

I think if he was a 20 minute a game guy for 7 or 8 years he's still worth it because I think he would be highly productive in his minutes.

I wouldn't assume his time would be managed. The more productive he became, the more tempting it would be to play him more. If you draft him expecting 20 minutes a game for 7-8 years (say, after his junior year), I agree that that's fairly reasonable to constitute success for Tacko.

The Shaq thing is a bit of a straw man. Players get injured because they ask their bodies to do more than they're capable of doing, not because they're big or small. Size is one factor, but so are body structure, athleticism, fitness regimen, and workload. Shaq was an otherworldly athlete. Tacko Fall is not.

[12footrim]

The NBA is so much more cautious with these guys today, I fully expect this guys minutes would always be managed.

I think if he was a 20 minute a game guy for 7 or 8 years he's still worth it because I think he would be highly productive in his minutes.

I wouldn't assume his time would be managed. The more productive he became, the more tempting it would be to play him more. If you draft him expecting 20 minutes a game for 7-8 years (say, after his junior year), I agree that that's fairly reasonable to constitute success for Tacko.

The Shaq thing is a bit of a straw man. Players get injured because they ask their bodies to do more than they're capable of doing, not because they're big or small. Size is one factor, but so are body structure, athleticism, fitness regimen, and workload. Shaq was an otherworldly athlete. Tacko Fall is not.

Being more athletic like Shaq puts more stress on joints and ligaments.

[MalonesElbows]

Just don't know if a 7'6" 300+ lb guy can survive having to guard on the perimeter in todays NBA. You know the opposing offense will put him in that torture chamber every time down.