David Thorpe Scouts Solomon Alabi, Introduces Tom To Potential Mancrush
by Tom Martin on May 5, 2010 3:51 PM CDT
in NBA Draft
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PrintDavid Thorpe has a new piece on ESPN about potential draft night steals. He mentions Solomon Alabi on his list, and if David Thorpe says that Solomon Alabi can be a serviceable NBA center, then I am going to believe him, and so should you. I hadn't looked too much into the prospects of drafting Alabi, as I've been more focused on Daniel Orton and Hassan Whiteside of late. But based off Thorpe's analysis (below), the Florida State product instantly sounds more appealing. Even better, he's probably not a lottery pick, so, hypothetically speaking, if the Rockets were to decide that Alabi is their guy, they would have the flexibility to trade down, stockpile an extra pick or other asset, and then select Alabi.
Here is Thorpe's brief scouting report:
Solomon Alabi, sophomore, C, Florida State
Alabi has the rep of a raw player on offense, yet he's 22 years old and led his team in scoring while also leading all starters in field goal percentage (53.4) and free throw percentage (79.4) this past season. To be sure, he's far from a polished player, but considering his late arrival to the sport, the improvement has been considerable. Scouts always wanted him to be more dominant on the offensive end in college. But the pro game is far better for him, with much more open area in the lane and players who are far more gifted at post feeds.
Will Alabi command double teams? Not initially, and probably never. But he's good enough to score as a fourth or fifth option on a post feed, and he'll be one of the few centers who can play late in games as a defensive presence without sacrificing free throw shooting. For teams in the playoff hunt, that is gold.
Alabi is such a gifted defensive center that he projects as a rotation player immediately (limited minutes early, but steadily increasing), although he still has lots of room to grow and develop. He reminds me in many ways of Serge Ibaka. He's not as athletic as Ibaka but is taller and longer. Both guys are the rare energy guys who also bring a palpable positive spirit to any room they walk into. FSU finished in the top 10 in defensive field goal percentage the past two seasons, including first in the nation this past season, and Alabi anchored that unit. It's hard not to bring your best when playing alongside someone like Ibaka or Alabi.
Doesn't this sound like the exact type of player that the Rockets are looking for? A defensive-minded center with size, upside, and energy? The Rockets could care less that he is 22 years old; they're not looking to develop a "center of the future" this season. He'd be a great fit in our system, and wouldn't take minutes away from Jordan Hill.
For those who are interested, here's a clip on Alabi done by FSU.
What do you guys think? Anyone joining me on the Alabi bandwagon, at least for now?
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You had me at "gifted defensive center"
I don’t know too much about college basketball prospects, honestly. I’ll probably wait until after the draft and read up on the picks.
Gotta love the prospect of a stronger Serge Ibaka though. Where’s he projected to go?
"The French Army: Better defender than David Lee" - JE Skeets, in response to David Lee getting a vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
I'm glad you posted that.
If you look back, I’ve been pretty high on Alabi for a while.
Now that I’ve patted myself on the back. Yes! Alabi certainly seems like the guy we need. Legit 7 footer. Not slight. Gifted athlete and defender. Decent guy by the accounts I’ve read. It’s not like 22 is ancient or something, and the Rockets have done very well going slightly “older” in the draft. After all, it’s unlikely you’re going to see 8-12 years of a player’s career anyway, why not get a more finished product, unless you absolutely expect the player to be a “franchise” guy you give a max deal to?
Flipsta – most mock drafts have him going about 18th.
"Each in turn... volunteered his suggestions, his invaluable suggestions."
I am now on this bandwagon, at least for now!
"But that's nothing new. We're going to be a running team whether it's Ben or Tommy or Charlie at quarterback. And we'll still throw the football, too." - Jerome Bettis
Count me in
Good attitude? Good defense? Good free throw shooting? Immediate rotation player? Where do I sign, sounds like a center Morey built in his secret lab.
All these boundaries - Africa, Asia, Malaysia, America - are set by men. But you don't have to look at boundaries when you are looking at a man - at the character of a man. The question is: What do you stand for? Are you a follower, or are you a leader? -Hakeem Olajuwon
I'm not even going to try and predict what Morey's going to do.
Seems to me that Morey’s never been content to just draft at position; there’s always a deal or three. Thus, even if I knew anything more about draft prospects than what I read on draftexpress.com & nbadraft.net, I wouldn’t guess, because I’d invariably be wrong.
I will, however, predict a whole lot of “WTF” wrapped in some “OMG”.
So if we get a good backup center...
does this mean we don’t need to trade for another?
If the Yao backup spot is fixed with the draft …and Bosh doesn’t go anywhere near Houston, what do we draft? Best available player?
…most likely all of our trades and drafts will be all put together for some monster trade but what do we grab if we get this guy or some other good big man with tons of potential…?
my guess is a good defensive guard with size
My thinking has always been we draft a center and sign a combo guard of some sort.
That’s orthodox, what Morey actually does could be very different.
"Each in turn... volunteered his suggestions, his invaluable suggestions."
Alabi is basically Whiteside...
…except smarter, harder working, and sure, a little older, so less upside.
If Morey is more thinking of taking a project big man, he is my no. 1 pick. If we’re going for more of an NBA ready roleplayer, Cole Aldrich or Ekpe Udoh.
No thanks on those two
I think we should draft Eric Bledsoe or Wesley Johnson if he falls. Id go SF or PG for sure. Trade Brooks as unpopular as that may sounds. He will want to much money next year.
Did you know Eric Berry was asexually produced by Chuck Norris?
Id take Alabi or Whiteside though
I think they both could develop into good players.
Did you know Eric Berry was asexually produced by Chuck Norris?
too much money
is what Von Wafer asked for. too much money means asking for more money than u deserve.i’m not saying he’s a max contract guy but we will find out what he’s made of and how much he’s really worth this coming season. I think we should hold on to a guy like that anyway because he is really an underrated leader.
The difference
A. Competition
B. Defense.
Alabi gets the nod on each of those.
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"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
I am a fellow FSU alum who has followed Seminole basketball pretty hard the past 10 years or so. Personally, IMO, Alabi entering the draft was a horrible decision based on horrible advice someone gave him. I have watched him play every game of his college career, and while he has MAJOR potential, he is FAR from NBA ready. Any team that drafts him should only keep him around as a backup, and even then, he is going to get eaten alive. His freshman year he was more soft than an 8th grade girls bball player, although he did manage to sort of come out of his shell his sophmore year. Either way, I think he left school too early and whichever teams drafts him (if any) will soon realize this.
They're ALL leaving too early I think, with a couple of exceptions.
"Each in turn... volunteered his suggestions, his invaluable suggestions."
yea thats true
my guess is the guys that dont get drafted will mostly be in the DLeague so we may get lucky and have a nice player with the Vipers
on the Brooks comment above...
It seems like people said that trading Landry for Martin as a good idea as Landry had peaked and would want too much money evetually…now this applies to Brooks apparently. When exactly do we just stick with good players and make a run? It seems to me we have one of two options next year: 1) Yao comes back and by midyear he is in pretty great shape almost back to his former kickass self and we can/should make a run next year or the next to do it with a healthy, high performing Yao. (and the trades/draft picks we make are for backup centers, and role players to fill gaps or backup people).. or 2) Yao doesn’t come back or isn’t back long enough to make a difference, in which we do need to make a Bosh type trade to make sure we have a team ready for a championship run. Either way, it seems to me we want to be a serious contender next year or max two years from now. I know all teams say they want to compete each year but I really mean it for our kick ass Rockets…so regardless, we should keep brooks and other key players to make the run. You can’t always keep upgrading or trying to time the peak of a player to get max trade value. You have to build a core to make a run and then another couple of runs years in a row (like San Antonio…not like Boston)
Landry Martin trade
What do Martin, and Yao have in common? BOTH OF THEM HAVE A HISTORY OF
NOT BEING ABLE TO STAY HEALTHY, BASICALLY BOTH ARE BEING PAID AS FULLTIME SUPERSTARS AND PLAYING PARTTIME MINUTES. I realize with Martin I may have spoken too soon but he has missed 20 games a season the past 3 seasons with the Kings, so what if this trend continues with the Rockets? Let’s assume history repeats itself, if that happens you will have not only Yao but Martin as well out for how long no one really knows. In all the talk about Bosh becoming a Rocket that cost most assume would involve the 14th pick Hill and who knows how many other players would be required to get to within 15% of Bosh’s salary. The point I’m trying to make is we would have given away Landry and
Dorsey ( a player not given the opportunity to show what he had) for Martin a overpaid parttime player, Hill and the 14th pick (whoever that turns out to be) leaving us with no one to add to the team and who else would be missing from our core players in order to get Bosh?
If all this does transpire how would adding Bosh make us a bonifide contender for a NBA TITLE?
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