Joel Ntambwe (UNLV Transfer)

[444JR]

 

[UconnU]

So I haven’t been following super closely.

What is the projected depth chart for next year? And yes - I understand the expectation is that someone listed below probably exits early.

5 - Carlton/tbd person
4 - Akok/Diarra/tbd person
3 - Wilson/Polley/Whaley
2 - Vital/Gaffney/Adams
1 - Gilbert/Bouknight/tbd person

Whaley at the 3? That will be interesting!

 

[temery]

Karma

 

[Kenny11]

Chief cuts hair? I knew it- makes total sense.

Not chief but ironically the dude is a big Kansas City Chiefs fan lol

 

[NJHoops]

So I haven’t been following super closely.

What is the projected depth chart for next year? And yes - I understand the expectation is that someone listed below probably exits early.

5 - Carlton/tbd person
4 - Akok/Diarra/tbd person
3 - Wilson/Polley/Whaley
2 - Vital/Gaffney/Adams
1 - Gilbert/Bouknight/tbd person

I have fourteen slots, guess that is one too many? If so, I think someone in the 3 or 4 slot leaves so we can add another guard.

Have to plan for only 12 spots.

 

[UCONNRPh]

Precious insurance? But must sit a year.

Any news on Precious that you can share???

 

[husky429]

Any news on Precious that you can share???

Chief heard there will be some type of news at some point before June last week.

 

[Mister P]

A “ like” to the previous 56 posts.
Set the hook and reel him in.
This years transfer class is turning out to be a good one.

 

[JMick]

Any news on Precious that you can share???

Zionn already nexted him multiple times

 

[scotty0330]

The roster needs to be upgraded in a big way. Assuming all players are going to get significantly better even under Hurley is not realistic. There likely will be some roster turnover - not going to speculate whom- but to get back to where this program and its fans even casual ones expect there needs to be some healthy and necessary change.

 

[Wordbomar]

Right now we have:

Guards- Gilbert, Vital, Gaffney, B. Adams

Wings- Polley, Wilson, Bouknight

Bigs- Carlton, Akok, Mamadou, Whaley

 

[ClifSpliffy]

well, he has the right doocut to fit in nicely, so, im good with that. here's to hoping he joins us.

 

[UconnU]

Same legal guardian Chuck Okwandu had. I really like our chances here! Need to find more roster space though, can’t go into next season with the roster we have now down 2 scholarships.

 

[JMick]

Same legal guardian Chuck Okwandu had. I really like our chances here! Need to find more roster space though, can’t go into next season with the roster we have now down 2 scholarships.

I think you take this kid even if we only have 1 scholarship. That being said, I still don't think we're only going to have one scholarship

 

[superjohn]

He’s sitting one and playing three - it seems like players seeking waivers have better luck pretending that someone’s sick or something. He should try to mention his great-grandmother’s battle with gout if he does transfer.

Saw UNLV a few times this year. He looked very good against BYU and Boise, less good last week in the MWC tourney game. His game definitely overlaps with Wilson and Polley, just with a motor that’s more like the former and much better than the latter.

He’d be a nice add.

I don't really see him overlapping or similar to Wilson and Polley. Wilson is an athlete who doesn't really know how to play at this level yet, Polley is just a three point shooter at this stage. Ntambwe handles like a point forward, scoring in a variety of ways and he rebounds. He's significantly better than both Wilson and Polley.

 

[JMick]

I don't really see him overlapping or similar to Wilson and Polley. Wilson is an athlete who doesn't really know how to play at this level yet, Polley is just a three point shooter at this stage. Ntambwe handles like a point forward, scoring in a variety of ways and he rebounds. He's significantly better than both Wilson and Polley.

I know this is early but it seems more like he's a plug-in at the four if Akok leaves after one year.

 

[husky429]

I know this is early but it seems more like he's a plug-in at the four if Akok leaves after one year.

No one, including Akok, thinks he is 1 and done.

 

[HawkHusky]

Please don't let him leave campus without a commitment.

 

[auror]

Statistical scouting report:

As people have said, his physical profile looks similar to Tyler Polley (plus about 10 lbs and maybe an inch).
The KenPom supplied comp of freshman Christian Watford is pretty encouraging (Watford hit 48% 3s on plus rebounding and foul drawing as a senior on a 1 seed team... also has a 5* brother, pretty bizarre coincidence).

He played a light starter amount of minutes, slightly less than Polley did this year for us. But he took a lot of shots. A really surprising amount for an unheralded freshman, to be honest, He took the highest % of his team's shots while he was on the floor, around what Gilbert did for us.

He wasn't particularly great shooting from the paint or mid-range, clocking in at 42% from 2 overall, but he got a bit better during conference play as the season went by (45%). On the other hand, he shot an excellent 39% from 3 as a freshman. That should only rise in his career and his FT% checks out for being at least an above average shooter. Overall, he took slightly less 3s than Polley did, but double the 2-point attempts. So we're not looking at a specialist stretch/spacer, but more of an overall player with stretch capabilities. If he can get that 2pt% up above 50% (whether by improving or reducing his shots and having better shot selection), he'll be a real player (all-conference level efficiency/volume), but I don't know if he can expect to get there.

Because he mixes it up inside more, he shot double the FTs than Polley this year, drawing fouls about as often as Carlton did this year (but shooting over 10% better from the stripe). As a rebounder, he's about equivalent to what Yakwe did this year, but another rebounding comp would be DeAnde Daniels in championship year. So not quite elite as a rebounder, especially on the offensive end (likely because he's often spacing the floor), but certainly adequate from the 4.

As to his playmaking, it's yet to see if he couldn't or didn't do it, but he has a spot up shooter's playmaking profile. Now that's good from a turnover perspective, but quite poor for his assist numbers relative to the niumber of shots he shot himself. So he was a bit of a black hole, but at the same time he wasn't trying to do too much or failing in what he was attempting. He didn't have particularly efficient teammates, so that didn't help, since a decent amount of his minutes were with the bench unit.

His block, steal, and offensive rebound numbers taken together suggest a subpar athletic profile. His team didn't force many turnovers as is, but his block% is particularly poor for his height, similar to Polley's. I wouldn't expect a lockdown defender, and his main contribution on defense will likely be rebounding. He was also a little foul prone, but some of this can be chalked up to being a freshman.

 

[StepbackCity]

You pronounce his name Joel Tomboy btw

 

[husky429]

Statistical scouting report:
View attachment 41612

As people have said, his physical profile looks similar to Tyler Polley (plus about 10 lbs and maybe an inch).
The KenPom supplied comp of freshman Christian Watford is pretty encouraging (Watford hit 48% 3s on plus rebounding and foul drawing as a senior on a 1 seed team... also has a 5* brother, pretty bizarre coincidence).

He played a light starter amount of minutes, slightly less than Polley did this year for us. But he took a lot of shots. A really surprising amount for an unheralded freshman, to be honest, He took the highest % of his team's shots while he was on the floor, around what Gilbert did for us.

He wasn't particularly great shooting from the paint or mid-range, clocking in at 42%, but he got a bit better during conference play as the season went by (45%). On the other hand, he shot an excellent 39% from 3 as a freshman. That should only rise in his career and his FT% checks out for being at least an above average shooter. Overall, he took slightly less 3s than Polley did, but double the 2-point attempts. So we're not looking at a specialist stretch/spacer, but more of an overall player with stretch capabilities. If he can get that 2pt% up above 50% (whether by improving or reducing his shots and having better shot selection), he'll be a real player (all-conference level efficiency/volume), but I don't know if he can expect to get there.

Because he mixes it up inside more, he shot double the FTs than Polley this year, drawing fouls about as often as Carlton did this year (but shooting over 10% better from the stripe). As a rebounder, he's about equivalent to what Yakwe did this year, but another rebounding comp would be DeAnde Daniels in championship year. So not quite elite as a rebounder, especially on the offensive end (likely because he's often spacing the floor), but certainly adequate from the 4.

As to his playmaking, it's yet to see if he couldn't or didn't do it, but he has a spot up shooter's playmaking profile. Now that's good from a turnover perspective, but quite poor for his assist numbers relative to the niumber of shots he shot himself. So he was a bit of a black hole, but at the same time he wasn't trying to do too much or failing in what he was attempting. He didn't have particularly efficient teammates, so that didn't help, since a decent amount of his minutes were with the bench unit.

His block, steal, and offensive rebound numbers taken together suggest a subpar athletic profile. His team didn't force many turnovers as is, but his block% is particularly poor for his height, similar to Polley's. I wouldn't expect a lockdown defender, and his main contribution on defense will likely be rebounding. He was also a little foul prone, but some of this can be chalked up to being a freshman.

I think the knock is probably athleticism right now. Maybe the reason he was umheralded as a recruit?

And I think he could shape up to be a better passer than he showed at UNLV for whatever reason. He passed well in high school on a very good team.

He is definitely a late bloomer. As I said before, he wasn't a shooter at all until this last year.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

it’s interesting timing. Within the last two days, there were reports that Ntambwe had met with the new UNLV coach and was staying.

Hopefully he decided he wants to play for a coach/program that emphasizes DEFENSE because T.J. is not the answer.

 

[intlzncster]

He was in Hartford yesterday getting a haircut. There are connections.

Should we hire the barber? Gotta have a team barber anyway

 

[intlzncster]

I think he does some of it at the urinals too...

Don't need to hear about what kind of hair chief is cutting at urinals.

 

[Horatio]

Pretty please