- Joined
- Aug 29, 2011
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Instinct is that unteachable talent that sometimes hides itself until brought out by a teacher even if experience alone is that teacher. Adama Sanogo landed in Storrs with a naturalized low post game unlike possibly any other to tread the boards here. This is a thick and moldable piece of clay that makes teacher Danny glisten inside. Imagine when he learns what to do when he’s doubled. When he has that 8-10-foot jumper to fall back upon. What will the finished product look like? Simply, excitement.
Five Things we have seen:
Five Things to expect:
Summary:
Five Things we have seen:
Footwork. The instinctive swivel, fake, re-take and the touch to finish.
Inexperience. Only playing ball since he was 16. Came off the floor early at the beginning due to lack of understanding and came off late when he couldn’t guard at 35’ in our system.
Strength. BE-ready body as a frosh looking as if it was built by the Ford Truck team.
Fouling machine. It’s the usual stuff for a young big.
Maximus. Despite playing just 17 mpg he led the team in adjusted shots per game (19.24) and minutes per shot (2.08.) Banged and bagged 5 rpg in those limited minutes.
Five Things to expect:
Fewer fouls is clearly the hope but do we really expect it? Let’s see what coaching can do to help the kid understand what his limitations should be.
Other offensive options. He played with the bail-out tiny jumper not with the best of results. That is already in his bag of tricks ready to be refined. The straight face-up also appeared with a decent bit of form to propel it.
Bruised opponents. Shuck and jive and watch them dive.
More trips to the line. Being the #1 option, opponents will try to cut the head off the dragon. Combined with shooting 58% at the line he just may see more time there. He has it in his form to tick up to 70% and should get the reps to prove it.
Facilitation. This may reveal itself as the doubling occurs and he begins to think ahead. It was mostly non-existent last year but we did have glimpses.
Summary:
Imagine being able to bang like a truck and pirouette like Baryshnikov. His hands work like a steel cage holding a bright delicate orange bird. The de facto offensive leader with a thrilling set of talent and skills downstairs, he needs to be on the first floor much more than 17 mpg. We know it and opponents know it – they will be working at getting him in trouble.
Aside from exciting, it will be interesting to watch Adama grow into his role. Outside of putting the ball in the hoop, so much will depend on what he can do when options are not there. Individual growth seems more than just potential but it can be special here if he understands the floor outside the paint rather than just wrangling to find an outlet when walled in.