earthtone wrote:PhilBlackson wrote:MEDIC wrote:Have to go with Essengue. I think he has the highest upside & a decent enough floor.
Could be a star. If not, he will still be a useful player & serves a positiom of need.
Checks all the boxes for me. The fact that he is European/ French is also a plus.
I know some people take it as “hating” but I genuinely don’t see it with Essengue.
Don’t get me wrong I think he will be a player that can find ways to contribute, I’ll give that much. But my honest assessment is I see a player who has a good understanding of where to be on the court and gets out in transition really well but I’m failing to see what specific skill or attribute makes him supposedly “high upside”?!
I feel like his insanely long and disproportionate legs fool people into thinking he’s longer overall than he actually is. 6’11 is not an impressive wingspan despite possibly being 6’10. Now if he had a 7’3+ wingspan or happened to be an explosive athlete at that height, I’d buy more stock. But to me there’s no real standout physical advantage or skill. He’s a bad shooter especially for a wing, has an average handle at best, not a stand out passer. There’s nothing about him stands out but again I get he finds ways to get buckets here or there.
I don’t put so much stock into the whole “he’s playing against grown men”, I mean sure….in what’s like the 3rd or 4th best league there (Killian Hayes was a “stand out” in that same league), like what caliber of players do people really think they are?! Do people also hype up the “2nd best league in America” with the G League that also has grown men with arguably more NBA calibre players?! Because when I tried to dig into watching some Noa highlights, there would also be video suggestions of absolute no names from that same league with “big numbers”.
So I’m not saying what he’s doing is nothing because he is a smart enough player that he finds ways to contribute but at the same time it feels a bit overstated to me and the important thing to me is my previous issue that I don’t even see anything that stands out, need we mention he’d play the same position as Scottie, so I’m just not seeing the value but maybe I’m really missing something.
That's far from hate, those are some pretty fair concerns imo. I'm a lot higher on Essengue, but I get the skepticism.
I think the pitch on Essengue is his combination of size + youth + productivity. His wingspan isn't crazy, but a 9'3" standing reach for a wing is absolute outlier status. Seems like he has very long arms but very narrow shoulders which is why the standing reach is so ridiculous but the wingspan is mediocre. The arms being long also shows up on tape even if it doesn't on paper, he's active in passing lanes and is really disruptive on-ball. He's definitely not the most explosive, but his length + fluidity are pretty rare.
He may not be the most eye-catching offensive talent or able to break down defences off the dribble, but he's always in the right place and always takes good shots. He's in the 93% percentile of transition scorers and 88% percentile of scoring efficiency across all of Europe as an 18-year old. He creates a ton of rim pressure by cutting without the ball, and he's pretty effective as a straight line driver even though he doesn't really have any counters or off-the-dribble juice rn.
He has really high feel for the game on both ends, and has shown the ability to be productive and be (arguably) the best player on a good professional team, while still having a ton of room left for physical and skill development. If the board shakes out like it did on this mock, Essengue would be my pick pretty comfortably. I see him as a high floor + high ceiling type of guy.
Compare BWB measurements with NBA draft combine measurements of other players. It’s very likely Essengue has something like a 7’1 wingspan and 9’1 standing reach. Maybe longer if he’s grown since BWB.
If you’re taking Noa, you need to bank on that he can improve in multiple areas and for that you need to see if he has the foundation for it.
Carter Bryant for example, doesn’t seem like he’s good at attacking close outs, never mind driving. There’s very little potential as a slasher/driver there. CB’s jumper is promising, but he’s shown less offensively than OG.
Meanwhile, Essengue has under average handles, but is able to go coast to coast with the ball. He’s also able to accomplish a one/two dribble drive and finish. He’s also fast/fluid doing it. There’s no major hitch in his shooting form and he’s capable of a smooth pull up motion. He’s also shown low level creation ability whereas Fleming/CB are zeros here. So in other words, Noa has a foundation to build on. And it’s not like his flashes are one time flukes, he’s been showing flashes across multiple games.
What he’s good at is finishing near the basket and drawing fouls. The anti-Mogbo. It’s not just lay-ups too, it’s hook shots and push shots/floaters when he’s driving. Neither Fleming/CB have this skill. Even Scottie is not that good at attacking the basket and finishing.
You combine the he areas that he has potential to improve on and what he’s already good at and you might get a dangerous, efficient scorer.
His defensive discipline also needs to improve and his narrow shoulders/skinny body isn’t that great (matters less with length). So with Essengue, you need to believe in his development and foundation over others prospects.
