Alex Sarr

[doclinkin]

Nice. Slovenia forced a switch to iso Luka on Sarr at the three point line. Luka could not get a shot off. Not outside. Not midrange. Not short. Dribbled him in close then was smothered to give the ball away.

[doclinkin]

Really impressive game from Sarr vs Slovenia. Hopefully someone shows the highlights of his defense on Luka. Doncic only hit one fadeaway on him but otherwise every time they set up a switch vs Sarr Luka was baffled and overwhelmed.

[prime1time]

Really impressive game from Sarr vs Slovenia. Hopefully someone shows the highlights of his defense on Luka. Doncic only hit one fadeaway on him but otherwise every time they set up a switch vs Sarr Luka was baffled and overwhelmed.

You think it's worth getting the subscription?

[doclinkin]

Worth my money, yes. You get the replays of the games also. And 10 minute breakdowns of most matches if you don’t want to watch the full games. Cool to see NBA players able to truly takeover with their talent but even the role players are skilled. I only got the Euro package so I get the 10 min version of the Canada games. But I mean it’s 20 bucks for ~2 months of action. I’m liking it more than the NBA playoffs personally.

[payitforward]

Nah. I like him a lot. He needs to shoot better. And I think he will. I just think ideally he’s not a center. Ultimately though I think he’ll be a far better player than Rui.

I think Avdija is a better comparison than Rui, given Sarr's extreme youth, natural defensive instincts, and feel for the game as a passer.

Like with Avdija, you could see almost immediately Sarr's potential as a game changing defender and as a connector on offense. These are innate basketball IQ qualities that are you either have or you don't. Sarr has them. But also like young Avdija, Sarr has embarrassingly bad touch around the rim and a shaky jumper, so there is definitely some concern that he will be an offensive liability.

The question with Sarr, like it was with Avdija, is can he get stronger and develop better shooting touch? If he does, then he can be a star, or at least a very good starter.

From what we've seen so far in Summer League and FIBA, I'm cautiously optimistic. It really looks like Sarr has a very good work ethic. He is clearly stronger than last year and he is looking like a dominant defensive deterrent against lesser competition. He still has work to do as a rebounder, but I'm encouraged that he has gotten much better as a screener.

Great stuff, nate!

[prime1time]

Why are talking about Avdija in every thread?

[prime1time]

Read on Twitter

Every time I see Sarr play he gets better. The dunk he did at 20 seconds is how needs to attack the rim. I love it! He has so much potential. Comparing him to Avdija is laughable. But so is comparing Sarr to Rui. The biggest difference between both of those players and Sarr, is that Sarr shows onsistent improvement even over short intervals. From his time in the Australian league to now he's so much skilled. Even in this video his touch and play style looks so much more refined. I know people don't like him and Sam Vecenie took dropped him out of his top 10 redraft, but the kid just keeps on getting better. The sky is the limit for Sarr.

[doclinkin]

Telling you. Best game Ive seen him play on probably his biggest stage ever. The crowd was heavily pro Serbia. Chanting MVP for Luka the whole game. Sarr was solid solid the whole way. Luka made him stumble once, shot a fadey over him once but mostly got nothing on him. Not much on Bilal either, the best Doncic did was when he was doubled by both of them because someone else was unguarded for the pass. But 1-v-1 these two did about as good as you can do. Sarr lost a couple passes out of bounds but not from lack of focus like the last game. He was locked in. If you can find a replay or get the app it’s worth a watch for his defense alone.

[doclinkin]

Why are talking about Avdija in every thread?

You’re gonna hate the fact then that it’s Deni vs France tomorrow at 11am …

[payitforward]

Nice to see him so intense, decisive, & quick! Great stuff -- bodes well for a nice year-2 jump!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Really good discussion - it will be interesting to see how he develops, how the coaching staff utilizes him and who the FO brings in around him.

Part of this will be on Sarr, part on the coaching staff and part on the FO.

A fair bit of our commentary on Alex reduces to this: "If he improves, he'll be better."

This is true.

I would have traded down for Sorber or simply rolled the dice on Derik Queen.

Derik is a rebounder for sure. He's crafty inside. His turnovers and defensive liabilities are problematic, but his game would have brought Alex's strengths out.

Sarr should be rim running, help side shot blocking, switching to the perimeter, and hitting open threes.

Sorber would be a safer bet to anchor a defense. He definitely could play next to Sarr.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

A fair bit of our commentary on Alex reduces to this: "If he improves, he'll be better."

This is true.

As it is every time you note it

I think what we are discussing is the *ways* we think he’s likely to get better. Unless you think a 20 yr old kid will stay static. Then we can lump you in with leswiz as a stubborn doubter.

It is common that players become better shooters from outside.

It is a near certainty that Sarr will grow stronger with weight room work and maturity.

It’s less common that a sub par rebounder becomes a proficient one.

Offensive low post skills do develop over time but often they require specialized training. Reps and practice against other competent Bigs. But added strength will help a player finish in traffic. Learning that the ball will go in even if you get bumped may give confidence to simply go up strong and not shy away from contact.

Also while we are executing cliches and platitudes: “nothing succeeds like success”. I think these FIBA games are ideal for our young players to improve. In part because they are low stakes but high excitement. National pride matters but our young pups aren’t playing for a contract, theres not an Olympic level of eyeballs on them, no massive monetary reward, slightly less fierce competition than the NBA playoffs.

However if Sarr crushes a dunk in front of a crowd in a playoff atmosphere he gets the reward of a highly charged crowd of partisans losing their collective shxt over what they saw in a way that you don’t get in a random home game in February.

You get that instant adrenaline rush of ‘do it like that. That was good’. That feeds the demon of desire and rewards a player for the work in the weight room. This is why you hear “first you win, then you get good”. Because players who taste success at the highest level are willing to sacrifice so much more to get back to there.

Bilal. Sarr. Vuk. George. Maybe eventually Riley. The fact that our front office picks international players means we have built in year round training camp. And players who might get exhausted by 50+ losses a year get a shot of endorphins and a reminder they kinda can do this thing. They know how to play. They like this game.

Savvy savvy strategic at work here. And as a Wiz fan yeah it’s nice to have something to talk about other than saying the same old thing .

Drafting Queen would have given Sarr practice competition.

He would dominate Alex in the paint IMO.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Compare 19-year-old Sarr's numbers to 19-year-old Tyson Chandler. Their per minute rebounding is the same (though Chandler was a bit better on a per possession basis). Chandler went on to average roughly 12.5 rebounds per 36 during his prime.



Tall 19-year-olds tend to fill out.

I like it... it would be a nice projection. One thing, Chandler loved to bang early on and was a better defensive rebounder even as a 19 year old.

But I get your point, he doesn't have to be as good a rebounder as Chandler - he just needs to follow the trajectory.

BTW, did you know that Chandler played a lot of PF his first 4 years? Antonio Davis locked down the C position for one year anyway (pretty sure my memory is right on this one).

Dcking makes a really good point: as a rookie Chandler was splitting rebounds with Brad Miller, Charles Oakley, Ron Artest and the other 19 year old they drafted that year Eddy Curry. I don’t know that his rebounding improved so much as he had less competition on the boards.

Sarr had nobody bigger longer and quicker than him if rebounding were a focus. I agree that he is going to fill out and get stronger and not be bounced away from the action. He’ll get more accidental boards. But again he’s being out boarded by 6’4” Bub Carrington. In Euro play you still see him standing around with dinosaur paws watching other people get after it. I did see him box out a couple possessions though which is definitely new. So. Maybe. I’ll be happy when he proves me wrong and first to say I’m wrong.

FWIW, I met all three of Chandler, Curry, and Kwame the summer after their rookie years.

All three were approachable, unlike Haywood and Thomas. Kwame listened and accepted a pamphlet (Norman Peale, Power of Positive Thinking) that i had been reading. Kwame was super young in a full-grown body. Good kid.

Chandler had his family there. Very supportive, nice-looking family. I should not infer, but I will say I am not surprised at his workmanlike steady NBA career.

Curry seemed chill. I wonder if Derik Queen will have a similar career?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Jokic averaged 7 rpg his rookie year I'm not hugely scared of 6.5

Wait, what?!? Jokic's DRB% was 24.7% as a 20 year old rookie. Sarr's is 17.9%. One was already rebounding like a C the other like a PF with little interference from his teammates.

Still, way too early to see what he will become. But that isn't such a good comparison (or at least not an optimistic one).

Jokic was also sharing the court with Nurkic IIRC.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I will say Sarrs unusual skill set lets you look for a type of player that is often overlooked in the draft. Players like Oscar Tshiebwe. The underheight prodigious boardsmen types who fail at the next level because they have a centers game in a forwards body. I’d be curious to see if that worked. Wouldn’t mind testing it out in a tanking year.

But maybe we just need to be encouraging Bilal, George, Cam, Jamir and all to crash the boards and hit the weight room. Vukcevic. Expect everybody to get bigger.

Except AJJ. He can crash for rebounds but I do t think hes ever adding size. Kid is a whippet. A greyhound. Just how he’s built.

It’s not. It’s saying currently Sarr rebounds like a decent small forward.

Even this is hyperbole.

There are only 6 starting non-centers in the league who average more rebounds per minute than Sarr:

Giannis*
Mobley*
Giddey
Hart
Amen
Avdija

And Giannis and Mobley play half their minutes at center.

Sarr rebounds like a good power forward. It's definitely not good enough for a center, but let's not overstate it.

He already rebounds more than Turner and Horford. If he gets that 8.6 number up to about 10.0, he will be in the Bam/Wendell Carter/Nic Claxton range. I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually gets up to 11.0 and gets to the Mobley/Sengun/Vucevic range. He'll never be a glass cleaner like Adams, JV or Zubac, who grab 13-15 boards a night.

If the Wizards acquired Zubac with this roster, they would win at least 20 additional games.

I think they could win 50 games with Ivica Zubac at C and Alex Sarr at PF.

Next year, after the Clippers fizzle out, Zubac would be a nice addition.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I went through the early seasons of various other comps to Sarr to see how they improved their rebounding as they filled out. I tried to find guys who, like Sarr, entered the league young, while having a wiry, switchable body type rather than behemoths like Clingan and Zubac. Here is the list. The number in parentheses is their age during their first season. The first number after that is their rebounds per 36 in their first season. The next number is rebounds per 36 in their second season.

Jarrett Allen (19): 9.7 to 11.5
Jalen Duran(19): 12.8 to 14.4
Wendell Carter(19) 10.0 to 11.6
Isaiah Stewart(19): 11.2 to 12.2
Myles Turner(19): 8.7 to 8.3

Karl Anthony Towns(20): 11.8 to 12.0
Evan Mobley(20): 8.8 to 9.4
Bam Adebayo(20): 10.0 to 11.2
Nic Claxton(20): 8.5 to 10.1

All the 19-year-olds except Turner made a pretty massive improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, generally improving by about 1.5 rebounds per 36. The 20-year-olds improved, but not as much.

Sarr averaged 8.6 rebounds per 36 in his first season. Hopefully, he'll get that north of 10.0 in Year 2.

Allen or Clingan would also be desirable trade acquisitions.

[dckingsfan]

Jokic averaged 7 rpg his rookie year I'm not hugely scared of 6.5

Wait, what?!? Jokic's DRB% was 24.7% as a 20 year old rookie. Sarr's is 17.9%. One was already rebounding like a C the other like a PF with little interference from his teammates.

Still, way too early to see what he will become. But that isn't such a good comparison (or at least not an optimistic one).

Jokic was also sharing the court with Nurkic IIRC.

Exactly - making his numbers even more impressive.

[nate33]

Wait, what?!? Jokic's DRB% was 24.7% as a 20 year old rookie. Sarr's is 17.9%. One was already rebounding like a C the other like a PF with little interference from his teammates.

Still, way too early to see what he will become. But that isn't such a good comparison (or at least not an optimistic one).

Jokic was also sharing the court with Nurkic IIRC.

Exactly - making his numbers even more impressive.

He didn't "share the court" with Nurkic. They alternated who was on the floor. They didn't play together. Nurkic's presence explains why Jokic's per-game stats were lower, but Jokic's per-minute numbers are unaffected by Nurkic.

[dckingsfan]

Jokic was also sharing the court with Nurkic IIRC.

Exactly - making his numbers even more impressive.

He didn't "share the court" with Nurkic. They alternated who was on the floor. They didn't play together. Nurkic's presence explains why Jokic's per-game stats were lower, but Jokic's per-minute numbers are unaffected by Nurkic.

I could have sworn I saw them on the court together in a double big lineup and with Faried. You might be right and I don't want to go through popcorn to see if I was right. I do remember Jokic sharing the court with Faried another really good rebounder.

I think the overall point stands - Jokic and Sarr are on either end of the spectra when it comes to rebounding as youngsters. That could chance of course.

[payitforward]

Kenneth Faried was massively underrated. A terrific player.