The step up

I was preparing a post for an underrated backcourt  but I changed my plans after watching Kentucky against LSU and I decided to write about a well known player, a top prospect, Skal Labissiere.

Lets go back a few months, just before the start of the season,  Labissiere was considered by many, one of the top freshman and prospects, the other one was Ben Simmons. From that day till now many things has changed, Simmons had an all American season and a year to remember. Most probably he will be the #1 pick for 2016, even though his team is an underachiever and he raised some alerts as he was not qualified for the award of the player of the year for academic reasons. But. let's go back to Labissiere as we are here for him.

Name: Skal Labissiere
Class: Freshman
Position: PF/C
Height: 7'0 

Wingspan: 7'2
*Season stats: MPG: 16.1, PER: 18.3, PPG: 6.8, RPG: 3.2, FG%: 51.5%
University: Kentucky

We are at 2010, a catastrophic earthquake strikes Haiti, Skal Labissiere was trapped under the ruins of his house for hours. He survived and after a few months he moved to USA. This one was the biggest fight of his life till now and this was the start of his basketball path in USA.  A path that already had and may have many ups and downs. 

A down, was his senior year at high school, where Labissiere was ineligible to play basketball because of a transfer, so as you understand he had no action against the top high schools and if we count that, during his junior season, he had a back injury which ruled him out for a long time, he missed the opportunity to collect important experience in that level. A small intro of what to expect in the NCAA level. Even though he didn't play, he was still considered a top prospect and for many good reasons. This cannot be considered an excuse of why he struggled so much during his freshman season, but should not be taken light too.  

Labissiere had one of the most disappointing seasons for a top prospect, his stock went down massively, from being considered a #1/2 pick, he is projected somewhere between #10~14 at the moment we speak. He faced many difficulties in that level, he saw most of the games from the bench and he was averaging approximately 15 minutes per game. Especially, January and February it was a really tough period for him, he played just 10 minutes per game and his stock was going down and down. 
All that till March, in his last 2 games @Florida and LSU he averaged 20 minutes and he had 8.5 reb, 3.5 blocks, and 14.5 points. Are those two matches enough to say that he is stepping up and he will have a strong NCAA tournament?
Well we cannot be sure, but sometimes you just need a gleam of confidence and suddenly you are a totally different player.  

But why he struggled? In my opinion the whole hype around him was too much for him and everyone was expecting too much from the very first day. 

To be honest with you, I have to say that I have never watched a full of game of him before the NCAA, just some videos. The kid was described as an athlete with a ready body for NBA, but from what I have seen he is far away from it, I strongly believe than even college players are not ready and they cannot be described as NBA ready! 

Labissiere's body was not so ready as it was projected, additional to that he really had problems with the fouls during the games, his foul problem still exists, by playing and learning how to read the game better he should be able to improve it. So around Christmas his confidence was really shaken and that affected dramatically his performance. Around that time it was when coach Calipari started benching him also.

So what happened on March? Nothing significant, he just had a good game against Florida and that's all he needed, it was the confidence boost he was looking for, that was the main reason. Secondary reason is that he plays tougher and brings more energy on the court. I strongly believe he can have a strong NCAA tournament and he should be able to impress the gm's during the work outs. 

I would not go in details with what Labissiere brings on the table, but I will make some points:

• A good set of physical tools, he cannot be considered a prototype C but his length is good. He stands at 7'0 feet with a wingspan of 7'2. 
• He is extremely mobile and he can run the floor great. 
• His shooting technique is really good with a high point of release. He cannot spread the floor as a stretch four but he is not far away from it.
• Nice and soft touches around the basket, not a traditional post game with power moves but he can score.
• Protects the rim, he can become a good rim protector.
• I really like that he added some frame during the off season (around 10~15 pounds) and during the season he added also some frame, not aware of the number but it should be near to 10 pounds. 

What to improve:

• Add more frame to his body.
• Work his range.
• Ηe is getting lost some times in defense. Need to understand how to rotate properly.
• Passing abilities and his vision. 
• Play tougher not only defensively but even offensively. 

To sum up, I believe that his stock should be on rise. How much? Not for #1/2 pick, but something tells me that if he will have a monster March, then Boston who is projected to have the #4 pick (from Brooklyn Nets) and Danny Ainge would find it difficult to pass him. 

Of course, he will be tempted by Bender but he does not have the prototype length and shooting abilities of Porzingis.

Imagine Labissiere with the Celtics, he can be the big man they are searching for, a guy who can protect the rim and stretch the floor. At the moment, Celtics struggle a bit with their big men rotation, they have Olynyk and Sullinger who can really stretch the floor but cannot protect the rim, on the other side they have Zeller and Johnson who can protect the rim but canot stretch the floor. 

Celtics are in the search for a C and why not draft Labissiere and mold him as they want? A top organization like Celtics should be the perfect environment for Labissiere. 

First note here: in case Labissiere fails to make a noise in the upcoming games, I can even see the Celtics giving the Dallas 1st round pick (#18 at the moment + their early 2nd rounds ones) to move somewhere around #10 to pick Labissiere and use the #4 pick for someone else.  At the moment is more likely the 2nd scenario than the first one I wrote. 

Second note: Early speculations as still the NCAA and the NBA season didn't finish. Will come back with a new article.

Hope you enjoyed the report and looking forward to your comments.

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*Please note the stats are till the game vs LSU 5th of March.
*MPG: Minutes per game, PPG: Points per game, RPG: Rebounds per game, PER: Player efficient rate, FG: Field goals.