#37 Semi Ojeleye
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Nice! His Draft Express page shows he was measured at age 16 during a Reebok Breakout with a 8’5” standing reach while at 6’1.5” himself.
There must have been some mystified high school ballers with their pockets picked and shots blocked and no idea where it came from.
Too bad you aren't a NBA GM - as I presume Wade would have a NBA contract right now if you wee (as oppsed to his G league two-way contract).
I'm really impressed with Ojeleye's footwork on defense. It's as if he has a Phd in the "foot fire" defensive drill. That quickness allows him to stay close to his man and rarely get beat on an angular drive. Plus his strength allows him to stay with/body taller men. If he can knock down that shot with even modest regularity, he is a valuable 8-10 minute guy in the rotation THIS year, which is a hell of a value for where he was picked.
I like what I see from him so far. I'll admit I was wrong if he keeps this up. Certainly a far better defender that I thought he'd be.
Not sure what you mean here.
Many people admit being surprised at how well he has played so far. So who gets laughed at, anyone who doubted him? I have been impressed by him so far, but it is early.
Shooting well for 21 threes dispels all doubts?
Everyone knew he had a decent stroke. It's more important to see that he looks confident taking them, that his release is quick enough that he's not getting constantly run off the line, that defenders take him seriously enough that he can provide floor spacing, etc.
The defensive part was also just as big a question in terms of how well it would translate to the NBA, and we now have a pretty good feel for his floor there, which is quite high.
Overall it's safe to say he'd go much higher in a redraft, which is obviously great after only 11 games.
Yeah - I don't think there were too many serious questions about his shooting. The questions were more whether he had the quickness to be good defensively on the perimeter.
How do the combine drills provide (or not) provide evidence of that ability. I assume there is some measure of skill that indicates a capability and the remainder is willingness? OR?
Semi had pretty remarkable combine numbers - third best agility score and standing vertical- that were particularly impressive for a guy at his weight. He did, however, have really poor steal and block rates in college (and relatedly, a poor DBPM for a 21 year old) that gave some draftniks cause for concern, even while most scouts that I read acknowledged that he excelled at staying in front of his man. I suspect it's less a matter of quickness with him, and more about his anticipation skills. But if he can still stay in front of wings in the pros (and early returns are promising), with his strength to keep guys from getting to their spots, he might be a case where he can add value on defense without putting up much in terms of steals/blocks. It'll be interesting to see his DBPM, which I suspect will never be great, compared to his DRPM once he gets substantial minutes under his belt. Fortunately, he had a rep in college as a really hard worker and it sounds like that's been the case in Boston so far too.
I post about caution in our optimisim, because if anything I find it hard to no tlike everything about hows they are playing now, and Semi is big part of my high hopes. He is probably the biggest find in light of GH's injury. Brown and Tatum were going to play, but I expect most of us would be thrilled if Semi ended up playing this well by the end of next season, let alone right out of the chute.
I was responding directly to a poster that aid his 3 shooting made "The idea this kid was going to be a washout was laughable." My point is, as well as he has played, it may too early to call those that doubted a 2nd round pick would stick "laughable" may be a tad early. The info on his athleticism, and the fact he could actually shoot, but was available where he was meant there were some doubts, for whatever reason about him.
He looks great and so far seems to be another great athlete on the wing for the Cs. The size, length upgrade over Crowder, It, Bradly is stunning.
I was responding directly to a poster that aid his 3 shooting made "The idea this kid was going to be a washout was laughable." My point is, as well as he has played, it may too early to call those that doubted a 2nd round pick would stick "laughable" may be a tad early. The info on his athleticism, and the fact he could actually shoot, but was available where he was meant there were some doubts, for whatever reason about him.
He looks great and so far seems to be another great athlete on the wing for the Cs. The size, length upgrade over Crowder, It, Bradly is stunning.
Yeah steal and block rates are well documented for translation. I was aware he had good combine results - but I was asking if there is any study on those (combine) results translating.
There really isn't aside from watching the player. Guys can be explosive athletes in testing, and never show you a lick of it on the court. And you know what? The opposite can be true as well. Jodie Meeks, for example, should have been the next Jordan if the athletic numbers were to be believed. But despite the speed, quickness, and leaping ability, that just wasn't his game on either end of the floor (and he was my eye-opening moment, and the point where I began looking at all sorts of combine numbers and seeing how the results belied the game).
Monta Ellis is the counterpoint to Meeks, pre-knee injury Ellis used to get to the rim at will and dunk on everyone. He put big men on posters. And part of the reason he went in the second round was that his athletic numbers were mediocre at best. But his game was get to the rim and score, and that's just what he did. (Of course once his knees went and he descended from mediocre athlete to aging seven footer with balky knees athlete he became largely worthless.)
I was a doubter after his first couple Summer League games. He looked lost and couldn't stay in front of his man. He finished much better though and has carried it over to NBA games.
I thought his ceiling would be Jae Crowder. Semi is pretty much already at that level already. He's also 23 so he's a lot older than the other rookies we've been playing over the years. Maybe it shouldn't be too shocking he's further along than we all thought.
I thought his ceiling would be Jae Crowder. Semi is pretty much already at that level already. He's also 23 so he's a lot older than the other rookies we've been playing over the years. Maybe it shouldn't be too shocking he's further along than we all thought.
This seems aggressive for a guy with an 8% usage (half of Crowder's!), and no real track record defensively.
QUOTE="bowiac, post: 2534262, member: 562"]This seems aggressive for a guy with an 8% usage (half of Crowder's!), and no real track record defensively.[/QUOTE]Yep. Outside of man defense and open catch and shoot threes, he hasn't shown anything. Those are 2 huge skills; alone they are enough for an NBA career. But he's not Crowder yet, though he may get there.
SSS and all, but Jae has not had a strong start to his Cavalier career. Minutes are up, pretty much every other stat is down, (compared to career averages). And when compared to his 3 year avg as a Celtic, his numbers are way down. Interestingly, his 11-game sample in CLE is remarkably similar to his averages at the start of his career in Dallas.
All this may fit better in the "How good a coach is Brad Stevens" thread.
All this may fit better in the "How good a coach is Brad Stevens" thread.
Interesting article on Semi here. Also notes something that I've observed (in bold):
I find it weird that he has exactly 0 -- literally 0 -- blocked shots this year. Even Larkin has one. I marvel at Semi's ability to shuffle his feet and block off driving lanes, but he just doesn't interfere enough with shots; too many guys on offense go right up over him. Hopefully that will change.
That is weird. Maybe its just that he's a good defender, but not *so* good that he can be good both laterally and going toward the shooter.
He's also a bit undersized for a PF, and has an average to below average wingspan for his height. Didn't block many shots in college, either. Also, his contesting of shots seems a bit perfunctory. He puts his hand up, but without any real intent.
Yeah, his standing reach is essentially the same as Gordon Hayward's. He's a longer/bouncier Jae Crowder, but I don't expect him to record many blocks ever.
Crowder with a bit heavier usage as a rookie, but even he had 5 blocks by this point in the season. This does appear true of Semi, from games I've seen:
Given the matchups he has had, and that he is a rookie, I'm not concerned that opponents are shooting 2% better than expected.
Me either. He does seem to be most effective bodying up to force bad shots and less apt to block...but zero seems like an anomaly.
Semi has a pretty terrible steal rate too. I'm guessing his steal and block rates are why he dropped to the 2nd round.
Semi missed his 3s against Cleveland, but he also played 23 minutes and did a very credible job on LeBron.
He is all over the place in the defensive highlights, both in individual defense and also in rotations.
The steal at 1:28 on Wade's cut is a really nice read in particular: Smart points the cut out, and Semi reacts instantly to steal the ball.
If he can hit his 3s, he's going to have a long career.
He is all over the place in the defensive highlights, both in individual defense and also in rotations.
The steal at 1:28 on Wade's cut is a really nice read in particular: Smart points the cut out, and Semi reacts instantly to steal the ball.
If he can hit his 3s, he's going to have a long career.
Semi tested out at 40.5 inches, which was 5th best at the combine last year. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/article150305707.html
He doesn't look springy because he doesn't go for many blocks (seemingly more focused on positional defense than trying to block shots) and doesn't attack the rim almost ever on offense.
But he can certainly jump.
I'm not sure that's what "springy" means. He might be able to jump high, but how often can he jump in a 5 second time span?
edit: I remember when Dwight Howard was being drafted, they made a huge deal how he could jump like 4 or 5 times in a row and touch the top of the backboard in like 4 seconds or something ridiculous like that. Isn't that what "springy" is? I could be wrong.
Which type of defense did SMU primarily play last season, zone or man? I watched some SMU but mostly individual clips of Semi in preparing for the draft and don't recall the disparity but Jankovich made his mark coming up the ranks with his matchup and 3-2 zone defenses. I did notice that SMU opponents last year ranked 11th out of 352 in 3-point FGA which is typical of going up against a zone defense. If Semi is on the back line (or really anywhere in a zone) he wouldn't be expected to have a very high steal or block rate......while in limited minutes at Duke as a Freshman in a solely man-to-man defense his rates were over 3x greater.
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I have no idea. I'm not a big watcher of the college game as it's too much hero ball for me. I was just looking at Semi's college stats and noticed the block and steal rates were pretty abysmal. Someone did a study last year in that regard to Jaylen Brown and while the Cal system did decrease block and steal rates, it didn't impact Jaylen's rates his first year in the NBA. Jaylen has also seen a significant jump in his steal rate this season and is at a respectable 1.9%, but he was also 20 in his rookie year, Semi is 23.
Anyway, I don't see why it matters much. With Semi, it's going to come down to whether or not he can hit the open 3, not how many blocks and steals he gets. Semi is going to be a limited player but he already looks like he's going to have a long career due to his defensive versatility alone, and he's the type of player you are happy to acquire in the 2nd round. He doesn't really look much more than that, but if you can get a rotational player on a 2nd round contract for 4 years, it has some serious value.
Semi is at .235 from 3 since I made my comment. He was .429 before. I take it back Semi!
Semi has drawn some tough defensive assignments this year. Lebron, Giannis, etc. I imagine those guys don't get their shots blocked all that often by anyone.
His shot seemed flat last night. Given his size, I would assume that the grind of the NBA season would be something he would need to get used to.
I agree with your point, but it's also important to remember the NBA 3 is farther out. It doesn't always translate. Daniel Theis is having a tough time of it as well.
It truly is amazing to me that nba.com has these stats available. What a world!
Giannis has had his shot blocked 25 times this year. Lebron 32 times.
For comparison, Dennis Schroder leads the league with 53 of his shots blocked. Kyrie leads the Celts with 29
IIRC he looked much better offensively in the first 15 or so games of the season.
Yep, similar to rebound rate, knowing whose shot you're blocking (and their % blocked) could contextualize raw totals that often aren't that meaningful.
And arguably % shots blocked should be times blocked / (FGA + 0.4 FTA) since a lot of trips to the line are driven by drives to the basket while picking up a foul call.
I attribute this to adjusting to the quickness, length and athleticism of NBA defenses and the game not yet slowing down for them as opposed to distance. Theis clips showed that range is not a problem for him whereas he never had a Giannis closing out on him overseas last year.......while my recall is that Semi has been pretty good in knocking down wide open 3's. It's all about slowing the game down and finding your comfort zone as a shooter. Rushed mechanics for a 3-point shooter is a death knell which is why effectively closing out on shooters is a critical element of an NBA defense.
This makes a hell of a lot of sense.
a) We used to train to speed up our techniques without sacrificing form. Sometimes it was reducing transition time from a block to a counter attack, sometimes it was simply refining a technique to make the movement more efficient - shaving fractions of time off. How does a NBA shooter do that? Is it as simple as drilling to reduce the time from catch to the shooting? Is it refinement to remove a potential dip before rising up to shoot? I'm curious about the kinds of things going on there.
b) Sometimes pro hockey players talk about being in the press box and watching and realizing that they have more time to move the puck then it feels when the opponent is barreling down on them. Something in the angle just helps with them realizing the real amount of time they have. Are there things basketball teams/players do drill wise or film wise to build/reset the new shooting comfort zone you are talking about?
Edit: Conversion to English
Theis went into last night's game at 5-26 from three, which is abysmal. But, he went 2-2 from behind the stripe, include a slick step back three off the dribble (similar to the move Tatum has used to great effect recently). So maybe he is making the adjustments. Or maybe the old slow Cavs defense on the second game of a back to back is vulnerable to that sort of thing.
One interesting thing from the Brooklyn gae last night is that Ojeleye didn't play during the first 3 quarters. But his path to a DNP-CD was interrupted by Jahlil Okafor (yes, him) going off on the C's with a few key buckets early in the 4th, prompting Stevens to go small with Semi at the 5. The move worked and Brooklyn relatively quickly removed Okafor (12 points on 5-12 shooting in 13 minutes) and went small in response. Semi played down the stretch in the 4th, and was involved in some key defensive action. He met and denied a Dinwiddie drive with a textbook example of verticality, and was involved in the scrum in the paint during the final 6 seconds where Hollis-Jefferson missed a couple of shots. Semi didn't attempt a shot during his 7 minutes of action, but he was credited with his first block.
Was just coming here to post that - some context (from memory) -
Cs were short of bigs to guard Okafor - Horford out, Baynes in foul trouble, Theis not very effective. It seemed Semi had the strength to defend vs Okafor, size was obvs an issue. Overall Semi held his own. I think the Nets pulled Okafor because of conditioning, it looks like he's only capable of 7-8 minute stretches right now.
The defense on the Dinwiddie drive was textbook but I think it gets whistled if a player with a bigger rep is going to the basket
Cs were short of bigs to guard Okafor - Horford out, Baynes in foul trouble, Theis not very effective. It seemed Semi had the strength to defend vs Okafor, size was obvs an issue. Overall Semi held his own. I think the Nets pulled Okafor because of conditioning, it looks like he's only capable of 7-8 minute stretches right now.
The defense on the Dinwiddie drive was textbook but I think it gets whistled if a player with a bigger rep is going to the basket
Live I thought it was clearly a foul but the replay showed he went perfectly straight up and there was minimal contact. Agree that gets whistled more often than not but it was a great play