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

[doordoor123]

Way more skilled and much stronger as well. He was a scrub who was tall before with some potential. Now, he doesn't have potential but he is a decent player and a tremendous defensive player. He has really improved in terms of using his length.

I like him as a 3rd big off the bench as is, but can't play him at end of games shooting sub 40% from the charity stripe.
Somebody is drafting him late 2nd though to see if a shooting coach can fix that,because overall his bb iq is acceptable at this point given his dominating presence to justify it.

@KingKen how is he out of potential now? If DeAndre Jordan can improve his FT% then anyone can.

So, Tacko obviously can still get better.

I like to look at growth over the past few years to see if someone works. Tacko obviously works.

DeAndre Jordan has normal arms, have you seen how Tacko shoots free throws? That **** is not going in. He needs to shoot granny style. Maybe he can become a better free throw shooter, but right now it’s literally the worst free throw shot I’ve ever seen. On 5 attempts per game he’s shooting 36%. If he’s taking two free throw shots a game he still makes under 60%.

[Roddy B for 3]

I like him as a 3rd big off the bench as is, but can't play him at end of games shooting sub 40% from the charity stripe.
Somebody is drafting him late 2nd though to see if a shooting coach can fix that,because overall his bb iq is acceptable at this point given his dominating presence to justify it.

@KingKen how is he out of potential now? If DeAndre Jordan can improve his FT% then anyone can.

So, Tacko obviously can still get better.

I like to look at growth over the past few years to see if someone works. Tacko obviously works.

DeAndre Jordan has normal arms, have you seen how Tacko shoots free throws? That **** is not going in. He needs to shoot granny style. Maybe he can become a better free throw shooter, but right now it’s literally the worst free throw shot I’ve ever seen. On 5 attempts per game he’s shooting 36%. If he’s taking two free throw shots a game he still makes under 60%.

I think Tacko is a career 15-20mpg guy who is a matchup chess piece. Maybe he plays 20mpg and 60 games per year on average. With 20 DNP coach decision and 12 random injuries/rest/not on active roster for random reason.

A third or fourth center.

OR he will be a star in Europe playing many gmaes a year, for winning teams more often than not.

[12footrim]

Well yeah, that would be his value, but he also moves in small spaces very slowly. Elite NBA Athletes are still going to do work on him like Zion did and he’s still a huge liability running the floor because he can barely stay in the game 5 minutes at a time.

Most players won't realize how imposing Fall will be. His ability to cover space while at a distance is not just rare. We have never seen it before. You are undervaluing him. Summer league will really show a lot of people why passing on Fall wasn't that good of an idea.

I don’t think I’m undervaluing him, I think you’re overvaluing him. Look, he had a plus 15 against Duke while no one else in the game had over plus 8. That’s a big impact, but the NBA is a different game. I think he can still be effective defensively, but he’s not Rudy Gobert and he’s not Boban. He’s just a defender who can rebound a little. Sure, a good defender, but as he is right now he has no other value on the court.

The NBA is a different game sure, Duke also has 3 top 10 picks and 3 or 4 other NBA players on that court including a generational talent unlike ever seen before maybe having the greatest season in college basketball history and the greatest coach ever as well and you just said Tacko had more impact than anyone on the court in plus minus.

Tacko is an elite defender, one of the best in NCAA history. Not only that he also has the highest field goal percentage/effective FG% in NCAA history as well for his career and it's not even close since 1992 which is the info I can find. It's over 6% higher than #2.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/fg-pct-player-career.html

Also there is nothing wrong with his rebounding. He had 18 in the first NCAA game and the #1 rebound percentage career in the AAC.

If you can't see potiental in a guy that can defend like him while also dunking everything he pretty much touches without even jumping I really think you have a blind spot. It's incredible potiental teams will be stupid not to throw a 2nd rounder at. I would draft him late 1st even I believe. I wouldn't want to get this one wrong and have my owner come ask me why we didn't draft the 7-6 defensive beast. If there is a place in the NBA for Gortat and Zaza heck even to start games there sure as heck is for a 23 year old guy with potiental like that. Plus he's a great guy from all accounts and really smart.

[nybluemeadow]

A guy with the size of Tacko Fall needs to absolutely dominate this level of competition, which he doesn't. Could you imagine a Yao Ming at a school like UCF? He's be going for at least 20/20 nightly. This guy is going for 16/12. I can see him being an NBA bench warmer because of his size, but if he were 7'0" 260 would he be on anyone's radar? Probably not, because he's not good enough.

Eh... You really don't know college basketball.

Bigs don't really put up big numbers in college. If you want, you can look at Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins' stats in college. Even 4 year guys don't put up monster stats in college.

[doordoor123]

Most players won't realize how imposing Fall will be. His ability to cover space while at a distance is not just rare. We have never seen it before. You are undervaluing him. Summer league will really show a lot of people why passing on Fall wasn't that good of an idea.

I don’t think I’m undervaluing him, I think you’re overvaluing him. Look, he had a plus 15 against Duke while no one else in the game had over plus 8. That’s a big impact, but the NBA is a different game. I think he can still be effective defensively, but he’s not Rudy Gobert and he’s not Boban. He’s just a defender who can rebound a little. Sure, a good defender, but as he is right now he has no other value on the court.

The NBA is a different game sure, Duke also has 3 top 10 picks and 3 or 4 other NBA players on that court including a generational talent unlike ever seen before maybe having the greatest season in college basketball history and the greatest coach ever as well and you just said Tacko had more impact than anyone on the court in plus minus.

Tacko is an elite defender, one of the best in NCAA history. Not only that he also has the highest field goal percentage/effective FG% in NCAA history as well for his career and it's not even close since 1992 which is the info I can find. It's over 6% higher than #2.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/fg-pct-player-career.html

Also there is nothing wrong with his rebounding. He had 18 in the first NCAA game and the #1 rebound percentage career in the AAC.

If you can't see potiental in a guy that can defend like him while also dunking everything he pretty much touches without even jumping I really think you have a blind spot. It's incredible potiental teams will be stupid not to throw a 2nd rounder at. I would draft him late 1st even I believe. I wouldn't want to get this one wrong and have my owner come ask me why we didn't draft the 7-6 defensive beast. If there is a place in the NBA for Gortat and Zaza heck even to start games there sure as heck is for a 23 year old guy with potiental like that. Plus he's a great guy from all accounts and really smart.

Did you read my comments? Because I didn’t say he doesn’t have potential, it’s about translating to the NBA. A lot of players have potential, but it doesn’t mean their game will translate, especially a 7’6 player in the modern up and down NBA. And physically in the NBA if a 7’6 player can keep up without being fatigued.

[Stillwater]

@KingKen how is he out of potential now? If DeAndre Jordan can improve his FT% then anyone can.

So, Tacko obviously can still get better.

I like to look at growth over the past few years to see if someone works. Tacko obviously works.

DeAndre Jordan has normal arms, have you seen how Tacko shoots free throws? That **** is not going in. He needs to shoot granny style. Maybe he can become a better free throw shooter, but right now it’s literally the worst free throw shot I’ve ever seen. On 5 attempts per game he’s shooting 36%. If he’s taking two free throw shots a game he still makes under 60%.

I think Tacko is a career 15-20mpg guy who is a matchup chess piece. Maybe he plays 20mpg and 60 games per year on average. With 20 DNP coach decision and 12 random injuries/rest/not on active roster for random reason.

A third or fourth center.

OR he will be a star in Europe playing many gmaes a year, for winning teams more often than not.

15-20 seems high , but ok.
He will just get hacked in a lot of situations and half those 15-20 would be needed in crunch time to get stops but you cannot play him i crunch time.He absolutely has a chance to be a 3rd or 4th big but will struggle to break into any good teams rotation without developing some kind of low post moves besides dunking and has to at least get his ft % above 50%.

[12footrim]

I don’t think I’m undervaluing him, I think you’re overvaluing him. Look, he had a plus 15 against Duke while no one else in the game had over plus 8. That’s a big impact, but the NBA is a different game. I think he can still be effective defensively, but he’s not Rudy Gobert and he’s not Boban. He’s just a defender who can rebound a little. Sure, a good defender, but as he is right now he has no other value on the court.

The NBA is a different game sure, Duke also has 3 top 10 picks and 3 or 4 other NBA players on that court including a generational talent unlike ever seen before maybe having the greatest season in college basketball history and the greatest coach ever as well and you just said Tacko had more impact than anyone on the court in plus minus.

Tacko is an elite defender, one of the best in NCAA history. Not only that he also has the highest field goal percentage/effective FG% in NCAA history as well for his career and it's not even close since 1992 which is the info I can find. It's over 6% higher than #2.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/fg-pct-player-career.html

Also there is nothing wrong with his rebounding. He had 18 in the first NCAA game and the #1 rebound percentage career in the AAC.

If you can't see potiental in a guy that can defend like him while also dunking everything he pretty much touches without even jumping I really think you have a blind spot. It's incredible potiental teams will be stupid not to throw a 2nd rounder at. I would draft him late 1st even I believe. I wouldn't want to get this one wrong and have my owner come ask me why we didn't draft the 7-6 defensive beast. If there is a place in the NBA for Gortat and Zaza heck even to start games there sure as heck is for a 23 year old guy with potiental like that. Plus he's a great guy from all accounts and really smart.

Did you read my comments? Because I didn’t say he doesn’t have potential, it’s about translating to the NBA. A lot of players have potential, but it doesn’t mean their game will translate, especially a 7’6 player in the modern up and down NBA.

He looked completely fine in an up and down game vs Dukes elite NBA talent. Also he dominated VCU and they play like 5 guards and are a really good team who's style you'd think would have been terrible for him.

[doordoor123]

The NBA is a different game sure, Duke also has 3 top 10 picks and 3 or 4 other NBA players on that court including a generational talent unlike ever seen before maybe having the greatest season in college basketball history and the greatest coach ever as well and you just said Tacko had more impact than anyone on the court in plus minus.

Tacko is an elite defender, one of the best in NCAA history. Not only that he also has the highest field goal percentage/effective FG% in NCAA history as well for his career and it's not even close since 1992 which is the info I can find. It's over 6% higher than #2.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/fg-pct-player-career.html

Also there is nothing wrong with his rebounding. He had 18 in the first NCAA game and the #1 rebound percentage career in the AAC.

If you can't see potiental in a guy that can defend like him while also dunking everything he pretty much touches without even jumping I really think you have a blind spot. It's incredible potiental teams will be stupid not to throw a 2nd rounder at. I would draft him late 1st even I believe. I wouldn't want to get this one wrong and have my owner come ask me why we didn't draft the 7-6 defensive beast. If there is a place in the NBA for Gortat and Zaza heck even to start games there sure as heck is for a 23 year old guy with potiental like that. Plus he's a great guy from all accounts and really smart.

Did you read my comments? Because I didn’t say he doesn’t have potential, it’s about translating to the NBA. A lot of players have potential, but it doesn’t mean their game will translate, especially a 7’6 player in the modern up and down NBA.

He looked completely fine in an up and down game vs Dukes elite NBA talent. Also he dominated VCU and they play like 5 guards and are a really good team who's style you'd think would have been terrible for him.

Omg, do you not realize the NBA is full of elite athletes? College is super slow paced and the paint is packed with players, none of them are the level of shooters NBA players are and none of them are as big as NBA centers. It’s a DIFFERENT game. The NBA is MuCH more up and down. The pace of some of these teams in the NBA are literally up one second and down the next. You’re not understanding the difference in game. You can say anyone does well against college talent, but college isn’t the NBA.

[12footrim]

Did you read my comments? Because I didn’t say he doesn’t have potential, it’s about translating to the NBA. A lot of players have potential, but it doesn’t mean their game will translate, especially a 7’6 player in the modern up and down NBA.

He looked completely fine in an up and down game vs Dukes elite NBA talent. Also he dominated VCU and they play like 5 guards and are a really good team who's style you'd think would have been terrible for him.

Omg, do you not realize the NBA is full of elite athletes? College is super slow paced and the paint is packed with players, none of them are the level of shooters NBA players are and none of them are as big as NBA centers. It’s a DIFFERENT game. The NBA is MuCH more up and down. The pace of some of these teams in the NBA are literally up one second and down the next. You’re not understanding the difference in game. You can say anyone does well against college talent, but college isn’t the NBA.

I absolutely understand it. Duke is 28th out of 353 D1 teams in pace. 75.3 possessions per game a high paced team. The average NBA team is 103, and that's with a 24 second clock.

That's 1.90 possessions per minutes Duke
That's 2.15 possessions per minutes NBA (even with a 24 second clock)

Barely any difference in the Duke team he played with 3 top 10 NBA picks. If he could highly impact that game why can't he play in the NBA. It's not like they ran him off the court and Zion is probably an NBA all star level player playing PF and would probably be the fastest PF in the NBA. Certainly the most athletic mix of speed and size.

[doordoor123]

He looked completely fine in an up and down game vs Dukes elite NBA talent. Also he dominated VCU and they play like 5 guards and are a really good team who's style you'd think would have been terrible for him.

Omg, do you not realize the NBA is full of elite athletes? College is super slow paced and the paint is packed with players, none of them are the level of shooters NBA players are and none of them are as big as NBA centers. It’s a DIFFERENT game. The NBA is MuCH more up and down. The pace of some of these teams in the NBA are literally up one second and down the next. You’re not understanding the difference in game. You can say anyone does well against college talent, but college isn’t the NBA.

I absolutely understand it. Duke is 28th out of 353 D1 teams in pace. 75.3 possessions per game a high paced team. The average NBA team is 103, and that's with a 24 second clock.

That's 1.90 possessions per minutes Duke
That's 2.15 possessions per minutes NBA (even with a 24 second clock)

Barely any difference in the Duke team he played with 3 top 10 NBA picks. If he could highly impact that game why can't he play in the NBA. It's not like they ran him off the court and Zion is probably an NBA all star level player playing PF and would probably be the fastest PF in the NBA. Certainly the most athletic mix of speed and size.

It’s a different game, the reason Duke’s pace is as high as it is is because the opposing teams often have a high turnover rate. Because college. NBA teams play fast purposely, even in a set offense.

[12footrim]

Omg, do you not realize the NBA is full of elite athletes? College is super slow paced and the paint is packed with players, none of them are the level of shooters NBA players are and none of them are as big as NBA centers. It’s a DIFFERENT game. The NBA is MuCH more up and down. The pace of some of these teams in the NBA are literally up one second and down the next. You’re not understanding the difference in game. You can say anyone does well against college talent, but college isn’t the NBA.

I absolutely understand it. Duke is 28th out of 353 D1 teams in pace. 75.3 possessions per game a high paced team. The average NBA team is 103, and that's with a 24 second clock.

That's 1.90 possessions per minutes Duke
That's 2.15 possessions per minutes NBA (even with a 24 second clock)

Barely any difference in the Duke team he played with 3 top 10 NBA picks. If he could highly impact that game why can't he play in the NBA. It's not like they ran him off the court and Zion is probably an NBA all star level player playing PF and would probably be the fastest PF in the NBA. Certainly the most athletic mix of speed and size.

It’s a different game, the reason Duke’s pace is as high as it is is because the opposing teams often have a high turnover rate. Because college. NBA teams play fast purposely, even in a set offense.

If Zaza and Gortat can start games this year this guy this guy deserves to be on a roster.

[gom]

I've met Tacko a few times and even spoken with him about his free throw shooting. He knows he needs to improve. I feel last season's shoulder injury was a factor, because it looked like his jump shot was improving.

Tacko is a double-major at UCF, a senior, taking some really hard courses. I can see him improving a lot with NBA coaching to address his areas of concern: free throw shooting, lateral movement, and (I think the biggest struggle for him) getting down to the floor to fight for the ball. In the area where Dawkins has stressed the most, getting him to be more aggressive, which is against Tacko's natural inclination, he is much better.

My favorite play against VCU was when he made the bank shot while falling down. It really changed the game, sparking the team to a good finish. Wrapping up Zion Williamson when he went to dunk was cool. Using his stage to speak of peace and poverty in Senegal was best of all. This man will go far whatever he chooses to do.

[Saints14]

Don't see why he can't be a situational regular season player like Boban. Seems like he'd get abused in the PnR in the playoffs but that's still worth a 2nd to me

[Norm2953]

If I were a team like Portland who has a history of their bigs getting injured, I'd take Fall in the first
round if they had to. Portland can never have enough big people

[babyjax13]

His freethrow shooting is bizarre. He starts to shoot but his offhand pulls the ball backward and then he has to recover, grab it, and shoot. Watching it doesn't even make sense. His end to end quickness is decent, his lateral quickness is obviously abysmal. I hope he can have a Boban like career.

[SlowPaced]

Tacko probably carves out a niche for himself in the league as a 3rd stringer. Would be surprised if he doesn't make the league.

It'd be wise for him to try the Rick Barry method on the line, imo.

[BoyzNTheHood]

A guy with the size of Tacko Fall needs to absolutely dominate this level of competition, which he doesn't. Could you imagine a Yao Ming at a school like UCF? He's be going for at least 20/20 nightly. This guy is going for 16/12. I can see him being an NBA bench warmer because of his size, but if he were 7'0" 260 would he be on anyone's radar? Probably not, because he's not good enough.

Eh... You really don't know college basketball.

Bigs don't really put up big numbers in college. If you want, you can look at Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins' stats in college. Even 4 year guys don't put up monster stats in college.

Eh...You really don't know how to read.

The point I was making was that he wouldn't be very good in the NBA. He'll be one of those human victory cigars, and the guy everyone wants to put on a poster. Referencing guys like Davis or Cousins is incredibly ignorant on your part. They were CLEARLY elite bigs and any fool could see it. Tacko Fall? Not so much.

[GimmeDat]

Can definitely be a niche/situational player in the NBA. He's got a good frame and good coordination for his size. Obviously would help immensely if he can eventually hit some FT's. He is notably bigger and longer than Boban is.

[drosereturn]

I've met Tacko a few times and even spoken with him about his free throw shooting. He knows he needs to improve. I feel last season's shoulder injury was a factor, because it looked like his jump shot was improving.

Tacko is a double-major at UCF, a senior, taking some really hard courses. I can see him improving a lot with NBA coaching to address his areas of concern: free throw shooting, lateral movement, and (I think the biggest struggle for him) getting down to the floor to fight for the ball. In the area where Dawkins has stressed the most, getting him to be more aggressive, which is against Tacko's natural inclination, he is much better.

My favorite play against VCU was when he made the bank shot while falling down. It really changed the game, sparking the team to a good finish. Wrapping up Zion Williamson when he went to dunk was cool. Using his stage to speak of peace and poverty in Senegal was best of all. This man will go far whatever he chooses to do.

Guys guaranteed to be drafted since his size is excellent and pretty cerebral as well. Hope the Bulls buy 31st pick and use it on him. Better Boban is a steal.

[drosereturn]

The difference between him an Boban is that Boban is super skilled offensively, has a soft touch, he’s a good passer and he’s super strong. Tacko is just not, he can get bullied despite his weight. He also just doesnt have touch around the basket, he doesn’t have skill in terms of footwork, he’s not a good passer and his free throw is worse than terrible. One of the worst free throw shooters I’ve ever seen, while Boban is pretty much a 70% free throw shooter. Oh yeah and on top of that, Fall tends to foul a lot. There’s no place for him in the league, he’s just super tall. I wouldn’t draft him at all, but I can see teams trying to make him into a project just because of his size and mobility.

I don't want him for his offense. I want him for his defense. That's the major difference.

Tacko has gotten a lot stronger over the years, he isn't easy to bully anymore and he has strong hands which might negatively effect his shot but does tremendous value defensively.

Tacko nearly has a foot longer wingspan and his standing reach is a foot longer. His lateral movement is actually shockingly decent for his size. Better than Bobans or Yao. Tacko is a defensive cheat code. I think he will be a big nightmare in the NBA. He takes up an extreme amount of space.

Well yeah, that would be his value, but he also moves in small spaces very slowly. Elite NBA Athletes are still going to do work on him like Zion did and he’s still a huge liability running the floor because he can barely stay in the game 5 minutes at a time. He’s a VERY situational player. But teams are also going to hack the hell out of him because his free throws are pretty much an automatic change of possession.

Your asking too much for a 2nd rounder. The guys pretty much will play well for 15-20 garbage minutes in the NBA when Zion Williamson got outplayed by Tacko bc he was too tall. Regardless of how bad his ft is, he will draw a lot of fouls and require double team to stop him. He still can be a starter if he improves conditioning and shooting which would be a ridiculous value.