#37 Semi Ojeleye
- Thread starter ZMart100
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Well, you at least understand where I'm coming from. Seriously though, there's a very small chance Semi approaches Crowder's value. Barring a trade, he'll be at least 23 before he sees meaningful minutes on an NBA court. But he's a strong, athletic, switchable defender with a nice jumper and supposedly good work ethic, so he's just the type of guy to take a flyer on late in the draft.
I love the pick, but the Draymond comparisons start and end with the body and athleticism and maybe the shooting. Which is not a bad thing!
But Dray averaged nearly 4 assists, 1.5 steals and a block his final season at Michigan State. Ojeleye 1.5, .4 and .4. Crowder, too, was a monster when it came to steals: 2.5.
So he's got a long way to go before we can think about him having the same defensive potential as those guys, and there's no doubt that's where he'd have to make hay.
Edit: It isworth noting he averaged the same number of steals at Duke in a third of the time. But we cant really draw any conclusions from that little PT
But Dray averaged nearly 4 assists, 1.5 steals and a block his final season at Michigan State. Ojeleye 1.5, .4 and .4. Crowder, too, was a monster when it came to steals: 2.5.
So he's got a long way to go before we can think about him having the same defensive potential as those guys, and there's no doubt that's where he'd have to make hay.
Edit: It isworth noting he averaged the same number of steals at Duke in a third of the time. But we cant really draw any conclusions from that little PT
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Swing forward for the Plateau Peaks of the Nigerian Premier League?
Please stop with the Draymond comps....he was a well-rounded (literally) and complete basketball player coming out of college. He wasn't a first rounder due to his weight and perceived limited upside which everyone felt he had at the time. This kids ceiling is that of a 3-and-D stretch-4 who if he works on his 3-point reps and ramps up his understanding of how to recognize and use spacing to his advantage can become a James Posey/Jae Crowder-type role player. That's a nice piece to find at 37.
What an athlete. According to this: https://hardwoodhoudini.com/2017/06/25/semi-ojeleye-steal-celtics/ "Ojeleye also conveyed his capability of staying with perimeter scorers by notching the third-best mark in the lane agility test (10.58 seconds) while professing his shocking speed with a 3.16-second three-quarter court sprint, the eighth-best number at the combine."
I am warming to this pick. He is looks super explosive, his jumper is clean enough, and he says the right things (3&D). It would be huge if he evolved to have a career like Jae. Perhaps tenacity and grit rub off from daily practices with the smart/crowder/bradley types. The trickier bit is the "Basketball IQ" - can he develop enough to know "where to be" and "how to anticipate appropriately" on defense. Having a couple of elite skills really makes him intriguing.
Is he Kedrick Brown or Bill Walker? Would either of them turned out better under Brad Stevens in today's NBA?
Is he Kedrick Brown or Bill Walker? Would either of them turned out better under Brad Stevens in today's NBA?
Kedrick was one lazy kid. Dude turned into Shawn Kemp in Cleveland. If Semi is committed, I think he has the chops to stick for a few years.
I am re-reading, and I mistyped. His explosiveness looks elite. I guess that is one elite skill - his shooting looks more than capable.
Anyone else seeing some major red flags with Ojeleye? For a guy with a rep of being an explosive athlete (40" vertical), his lateral movement is awful. With all the summer league and small sample size caveats, I haven't seen a single NBA skill out of him. I didn't expect him to beat out Yabusele or Theis for rotation minutes, but at this stage, I don't even see a G-League career for the guy. He just looks really stiff out there, and I don't know that he has the skill level to compensate for his weaknesses. It's just a 2nd round pick and all so no harm/no foul, but he looks completely overmatched out there.
The Draymond comps may have been a *tad* premature. Guys like him make it into the league because they play defense. Ojeleye does not currently play defense. 0 steals in three summer league games, where play is really sloppy.
I'm surprised by this post. The Cs have been running their switch on the perimeter defense which means that Ojeleye gets matched up on guards a few times, and he seems to have credible feet staying in front of Murray and Exum. He also seems to have a decent shot with some range. Frankly in today's NBA, if he at his size can credibly defend guards and hit three-pointers with consistency, that should keep in the league for a while.
As for the rest, yes he's a straight line driver, yes he has no mid-range game, and he hasn't been given any chances to show any post moves so who knows what he has there but I'm not sure what else you want to see from him. He's not known as a shot blocker so I'm not surprised he's not doing that in summer league. He's also deferring to the bid dogs and the fact that he only really has one year of ball means that he's definitely a project but I didn't see him as overmatched as much as not having a very big role.
Welcome to the bigs, kid...
@ESPNForsberg Rookie chores: According to Synergy data about half of Semi Ojeleye’s defended possessions have come against LeBron, Giannis, or Porzingis.
@ESPNForsberg Rookie chores: According to Synergy data about half of Semi Ojeleye’s defended possessions have come against LeBron, Giannis, or Porzingis.
The shift to block the baseline was probably the most excited I've ever been over such a relatively mundane play.
He was doing a couple of things that were really impressive. He was able to body up Giannis, yet when he made the moves, Semi somehow wasn't so close to him that he could employ his 10 foot first step to get past him. Moving back *and* laterally with quickness is hard. And he also never left his feet. Incredibly fundamentally sound one-on-one defense. This might be too simplistic, but it seemed like the Bucks were making plays with their arms, the C's by moving their feet.
In short bursts, anyway, Semi seems to be a reasonable substitute for Crowder's defense.
Yeah, so I'll backtrack on my initial assessment of the kid (insert Homer Simpson gif here...). He's still a lousy offensive player, but he can definitely be a high-level defender in this league for quite a while and there's good value in that. I still can't quite understand how a guy can look so (SO) stiff on the offensive end and be fluid on the defensive end, but alas. I'm happy to be so wrong about this kid's future.
I wrote this in the game thread but Semi's feet are like Smart's hands - world class. And as for people who think he needs to develop a jumper - well, his stroke is smooth and pretty and if he was playing for a team that didn't care about winning, he'd be tossing them up and watching some of them go in. Have high hopes for him as a 3+D guy, at least to start.
Yeah, plus he was 41.5% from three and 78.5% from the line in his college career. Are there really people saying he needs a jumper? I thought that was his one clear strength. Other, than his actual, grown-ass man, strength.
Here's an article on Semi's defense with more video, like the one below. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-a-second-round-pick-helped-celtics-beat-giannis-antetokounmpo-and-the-bucks/
Good to see him on Freak and not struggling. I figured guys with length would give Semi trouble since he's not exactly long himself. He does have that crazy vertical and jacked body though.
Also not sure why there are concerns on his shot as he's more than passable beyond the arc. I wasn't very high on him in summer league as he struggled at first staying in front of his man, but he adjusted quickly and had a decent stroke.
Also not sure why there are concerns on his shot as he's more than passable beyond the arc. I wasn't very high on him in summer league as he struggled at first staying in front of his man, but he adjusted quickly and had a decent stroke.
He certainly isn't dialed into the Stevens offense yet, but that's hardly a negative after a handful of games. His shot is good, and his defense is already plus, IMO. Legit role player. If he ever gets comfortable in the offense, he will be scary.
That D is exciting. Having a guy who can wear on players like James and Giannis for 10 minutes is essential. I was wondering how much of Semi's (Semi truck?) came from film work and from that cbs sports article it sounds like he's on top of it. You can see him in the clips as Giannis is backing him down and setting him up for the baseline spin keeping himself poised to slide over as soon as Giannis' left hip disengages from contact. The quick feet, the powerful body and the seeming smarts are all really great signs for the team, but it is early.
How'd that work out for you? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
In the pace & space era it's defensive quickness that matters and he has it to burn. I doubt he'll ever be anything more than a 3 & D guy (his handle makes Rookie Avery Bradley look like Marques Haynes in comparison), but he's going to give that in spades .
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while its too early for sweeping conclusions, having a solid defender available with high energy/high intensity to match-up against league studs (particularly at crunch time) is a nice option for Brad to have.
I think it's still fair to worry about his length when it comes to guarding taller guys but quickness never should have been a concern. Even when he struggled in the summer league, it was because of awareness. Semi was 3rd and 8th in this year's draft class in lane agility and the 3/4 court sprint. He's a freak, really.
If they were counting on him being a starter I might be worried, but he's plenty long enough for a second unit F. He's longer than Jae Crowder, for one, and a lot of people were looking forward to Crowder being the starting 4.
Milwaukee may be the longest team in the league so last night was very encouraging. I'm not a huge Crowder guy but I liked him a lot more when he was playing 20 minutes instead of 30. Semi has some physical advantages over Crowder too so it bodes well. He's also signed at a very cheap rate for 4 years and already looks like a role player.
I was curious, so I looked it up. Holy shit these two dudes measured nearly identical to one another at the combine.
Jae 6' 6 1/2" with a 6' 9 1/4" wingspan, 241 pounds
Semi 6' 6 3/4" with a 6' 9 3/4" wingspan, 241 pounds
Crowder's wingspan was a function of being so wide from shoulder to shoulder. His standing reach was 8'3". Ojeleye's is 8'6". So Ojeleye is indeed the longer player. As you looked it up you were aware of the difference and decided to leave it out. But I have all this useless trivia salted away inside of my brain.
It may not even be "work" that he needs on his jumper only time and reps for the game to slow down for him. He shot 4.7 three's per game last year connecting on 42.4% and shot his FT's at 78.5%. When you are asked to expend your energy on the defensive end against LeBron and Greek there is reasonable cause to not yet be draining jumpers. This kid looks like he's going to be a long time player in this league from the early returns.
Yeah, I was shocked when they picked him ahead of Jordan Bell. Mainly because many people were very high on Bell, Bell was available and I had never heard of Semi. I sure do love the pick now. As has been mentioned, good defense starts with moving your feet. Add quickness, an NBA ready body and long arms to the package and I agree, he'll be in the NBA for a long while. His shot looks good to me, they'll start falling. He's going to hit 3-4 meaningful threes in a game in the near future and everybody will be trying to figure out where he fits in to the RoY conversation.
I think it was all about fit. We already had the market cornered second unit bigs with Baynes, Theiss, Yabusele, and Nader but were lacking at wing matchups especially knowing Crowder would soon be moved.
For the Warriors, they paid the Bulls $3.5m for the draft pick to select Bell, who is an ideal fit for them off the bench as an offensive glass crasher and weak side defender/shot blocker as they were lacking in this role. Bell was red-flagged by at least one team due to having an injury concern (foot?) but I think he wasn't drafted higher due to his awful fundamentals and lack of offensive game. He reminds me a lot of Leon Powe when he was a rookie.......these guys can be very valuable in particular lineups but you can't expose them too much. He's only played 40 minutes in the first 6 games and was deactivated for last nights Wizards game.
I was wondering exactly this thanks, but I'm on the short list of wingspan watchers.Crowder's wingspan was a function of being so wide from shoulder to shoulder. His standing reach was 8'3". Ojeleye's is 8'6". So Ojeleye is indeed the longer player. As you looked it up you were aware of the difference and decided to leave it out. But I have all this useless trivia salted away inside of my brain.
Hello. Big wingspan guy here. I've even got a full size Fathead of Wade Baldwin stretching from my living room to the bathroom down the hall.
Oubre Jr is the same height as Crowder and Semi and his wingspan is an insane 7'2.5. 8'6.5 standing reach. At least at the NBA combine.