Moved these from Hassani Gravett thread to keep that one on topic:
PrimeThyme wrote:Bamba will be the backup center to start the season. I'm positive on that, he is not a potential rotation piece. Now, whether or not he can play well enough to keep it from Birch throughout the season is another question.
Bamba will have to earn it. Clifford nor Birch are just handing it to him. Khem doesn't give a d**n that Bamba was a high pick or how popular Bamba is on social media.
Khem looked very good last year and was crucial to that playoff run. That carried over to the FIBA game where he again looked really nice. Birch is hungry and he will fight Bamba tooth and nail to keep his back up center role...no way do I just write him off.
Bamba, on the other hand, is coming off of a stress fracture and has not played an NBA game since January 2019. In summer league, he only played 25 minutes and then was sat for rest of SL for "precautionary reason's." There is no telling how physically ready he'll be in training camp, and that's before you even start discussing wether he can be more impactful than Birch.
basketballRob wrote: Bamba will probably be much better than Birch on offense too. Birch played during the easiest part of the season and if Bamba was healthy we'd probably have the same result.
Maybe...right now that's potential, not actual. I'm not saying he won't be, just that right now its purely hypothetical.
From an Offensive Rating pov, Birch had a vastly superior impact to the offense: Bamba 94.3 ORtg / Birch 105.9 ORtg.
While shooting is a skill Bamba has that Birch doesn't possess, it wasn't actually a good thing for the offense. From outside the restricted area to the 3PT line, Mo shot 28-81 at a very bad .346 FG%. Behind the arc, he shot 21-70 .300 3P%. So far, that perimeter shooting volume by Bamba has been a problem for the 2nd unit offense.
While there are arguments to be made that the back up PG situation and Jonathan Simmons were factors to Bamba's very low ORtg, his shooting and inexperienced bbIQ definitely played a role in why that second unit offense was so bad.
Moving forward, Bamba does look like he should be a better offensive player. His body and bbIQ should improve at a steady pace.
Both Birch and Bamba are very competent around the rim. Inside of 5 ft, Bamba shot a really nice 69-95 .726 FG%; and Birch shot 73-110 .664 FG%.
In the PnR, Birch was a little better roller...but as Bamba gets thicker and improves technically he should surpass him:
Bamba Possessions 64: / Frequency: 20.4% / Points Per Possession: 1.19 / eFG%: 58.3
Birch Possessions 60: / Frequency: 28.4% / Points Per Possession: 1.25 / eFG%: 61.7
From a hustle perspective, Birch is more active and the numbers flesh that out. This is an area were Bamba needs to really focus on if he's to beat out Birch this training camp. Creating extra possessions and momentum shifting plays are huge for a second unit.
Per36Offensive Rebounding: Bamba 3.0 / Birch 4.4
Deflections: Bamba 1.0 / Birch 1.8
Loose Balls Recovered: Bamba 1.3 / Birch 1.6