Oso Ighodaro Scouting Report
A connective big that needs the right system to shine
Name: Oso Ighodaro
Birth date: July 14, 2002
Height/Weight: 6’9 ½/222
Wingspan/ standing reach: 6’11/8’8 ½
Hand size: 10
Position: C/PF
Pre-Draft team: Marquette
Tools: Passing, intelligence, push shot
Season Stats: 13.4 PPG 7 RPG 3 APG 1.1 SPG 1.3 BPG 1.8 TOPG on 58/0/62
Pros:
Outstanding passer that finds cutters with ease
Thrives at give & go passing and setting up
Quick to capitalize on broken defenses
Efficient finisher at the rim that can thrive as P&R roll man
Good touch at the rim
Has a reliable push shot as an in-between scoring weapon off cuts and rolls
Brings the ball up often to initiate offense
Good athlete that can finish above the rim and explode towards the rim out of P&R rolls
Cons:
Tweener; not a 5 defensively and lacks creation ability of a modern 4
Doesn’t shoot jump shots
Doesn’t protect the rim against bigs enough
Can lose focus defensively and doesn’t fight through smaller screens hard enough
Slow reaction time against pick & pops
Doesn’t have a go-to self-creating scoring move and struggles to create his own scoring
Swing Skills:
How physical can he be and how hard does he need to go to be effective defensively?
Summary:
Offensively, Ighodaro easily profiles as a connecting big, setting up his teammates through P&R, give & go’s, and always seeing the next play. If he gets drafted to a team that can maximize his passing without needing much else, his value skyrockets. The questions teams will have to ask comes down to: who and where does he defend on the floor, and how can his lack of shooting and overall relaxed scoring mentality be best utilized? For teams whose offensive systems are built upon off-ball movement, Ighodaro is a great fit because he is such a threat in the P&R: he sets good screens and he is at his best when the whole offense is moving, since this allows for him to best create advantages for teammates and quickly find the holes in the defense.
Ighodaro won’t blow teams away with scoring, unlikely to break double digit points per game in his career, but his impact will be easily felt in other ways. He has a lethal push shot that he best uses out of the P&R, and he is a good P&R partner at the rim whose finishing at the rim numbers likely increase with NBA spacing. Ighodaro will have to become more assertive as a scorer to allow for his passing to shine, confusing defenders on what decision he will make with the ball in his hands.
Defensively, Ighodaro leaves a lot left to be desired, and is a key component of why he is often classified as a tweener. He teeters on the edge of being a liability on the perimeter, often showing stiffness at the apex of drives, and he can have slow reaction times to stepbacks and other change of direction shots. Against pick & rolls, he often reacts too slowly to make an effective impact, and he doesn’t always fight hard through screens, which puts him in a bad position. At the rim, he has good instincts, but he struggles against similarly sized players; his lack of true rim protection again limits his defensive value. This is not to take away from his good help-side instincts and ability to win against smaller guards, but struggling to protect the rim both against dunk and layup attempts against players of all sizes severely limits the defensive rim value for Ighodaro.
Ighodaro is intelligent and finds ways to overcome his shortcomings. Can he potentially adapt to a system where he may be asked to do more scoring than passing at times? This will largely dictate his role until he lands on a team with the ideal system for him (think Golden State), but this is also why Ighodaro could end up being the 50th ranked player or a top 30 player if he goes to a good landing spot. Look for Ighodaro to be a second round pick that could contribute right away and impact the game without scoring.
Projected draft range: 25-58
Expected role: Connective big man that plays next to a floor spacing 5.
Unplayable if: Lack of shooting and scoring prowess holds him back and limits his passing.
Exceeds expectations if: Defense can be passable, and his P&R ability shines in the right system.
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