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| Top NBA Draft Prospects in the ACC Part One (#1-5)
October 18, 2009
Jonathan Givony
After missing most of his first year of college basketball with a stress fracture in his foot, Solomon Alabi came back as a redshirt freshman and played an integral role in the excellent season Florida State managed to put together. With some solid experience underneath his belt now, NBA scouts will be looking to see if Alabi can break out as a sophomore and emerge as one of the most interesting long-term NBA prospects in the ACC.
Alabi stands out first and foremost at the college level thanks to his terrific size and length. He measured out at 6-11 in shoes with a tremendous 7-5 wingspan at the Nike Hoop Summit in 2008[/url], and has the type of frame that should be able to put on a good amount of weight, giving him no shortcomings at all as far as an NBA center is concerned. He’s not what you would call a terribly explosive player, but he is fairly mobile, running the court well and being capable of getting off his feet to finish plays and block shots.
Offensively, Alabi is not a huge scoring threat at this point, but he does show some nice characteristics that leave some room for optimism moving forward. The overwhelming majority of his offense comes within a few feet of the basket, where he is a fairly reliable presence thanks to his solid hands and decent touch, and can score some points with a nice looking jump-hook or just using his length and mobility to finish at the rim. He lacks the type of coordination, polish and feel that only comes through extended playing time over the course of a number of years, but did look more and more comfortable on this end of the floor as the season moved on.
One place where that seemed to show up the most was in his ability to face the basket, where Alabi displayed some small, but encouraging sparks of potential in his ability to step outside and knock down a 15-foot jumper. While no one should be running to call him the next Chris Bosh, it was interesting to see him confidently attempt a jumper from time to time, with mostly positive results.
Alabi is not much of a passer as you would probably imagine, garnering one assist for every five turnovers he commits. Once he makes his mind up about the move he’s going to make, he doesn’t see much else besides the basket, leading to some awkward moments where he avoids his left hand like the plague or is forced into throwing up a bad shot from a tough angle. Once he improves his lower body strength he should be able to do a better job holding his position on the block, and similarly, better upper body strength will make it easier for him to finish strong in traffic.
Probably the most positive sign about Alabi is that he plays hard and seems to have a pretty good understanding of the game, despite his lack of experience. Watching him play, you can’t help feel like he wants to help his team any way he can, which is definitely not something you can say about many big men with a similar profile. The aggressiveness he shows on the court definitely bodes well for his future, and surely part of the credit for that should go to the coaches that worked with him both at Florida State and Montverde Academy.
The Seminoles were one of the best defensive teams in college basketball last season, and having an anchor like Alabi guarding the rim (if only for 22 minutes per game) definitely played a big part in that. His tremendous size and length makes him a huge presence in the paint, allowing him to change and send back shots on almost every possession he’s on the floor. He averaged an impressive 3.7 blocks per-40 minutes pace adjusted in his first full season of college basketball, good for 10th best amongst all prospects in our database last season. He shows pretty good timing and patience staying home and not biting excessively on pump-fakes, even if he can always continue to make strides in this area from a fundamentals standpoint. He can definitely stand to get stronger as mentioned already in both his upper and lower body, but already displays a good activity level and a solid understanding of how to operate on this end of the floor. He also does a pretty good job of moving his feet out on the perimeter, looking capable of hedging screens effectively and recovering, which is a nice thing to have from your 7-footer.
As far as rebounding is concerned, its tough to argue with the 10-boards per-40 minutes pace adjusted that Alabi averaged last year, but still, there is reason to expect that he can continue to improve here as well as his fundamentals improve and he learns more about the nuances of going after loose balls. Alabi's disposition as a shot-blocker at times leaves him out of position in terms of securing the defensive glass, but this is a trade-off that his coaches are probably willing to live with. Still, it wouldn't be out of the question to see him raise his rebounding averages closer to the 11-12 rebounds per-40 range this upcoming season.
All in all, Alabi is a pretty exciting prospect who is bound to draw high-level NBA talent evaluators to every game he plays at. He’s nowhere near a finished product at this point, but is already showing enough potential in a variety of different areas, making you wonder just how much more he will improve this upcoming season. If Alabi continues along the same path he’s on, it’s not out of the question that he develops into a very high draft pick.
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U-19 World Championship Review: Big Men
August 29, 2007
Alabi made an impression among the audience with his incredible combination of length and athleticism. Standing 7-1, the Nigerian center is a skinny kid with an underdeveloped body, but shows a very decent frame to work with and enjoys an excellent wingspan.
Skill-wise, he's also a very raw player. His low post game shows some promise, but his footwork needs a lot of work. And still he tries and keeps a certain poise playing down low. Right handed, if he goes left from the post he primarily looks for a pass, actually showing a decent ability to find his teammates; going to the right, he can opt for a turnaround jumpshot, and also seems to have some ability to release a short hook, but looks extremely inconsistent. Still, the good news is that he's a pretty tough guy who doesn't avoid contact, although he's certainly limited by his skinny body.
Alabi can eventually face the basket to attack his opponents, always from short distances, where he doesn't need to dribble much, but shows a nice first step. He can also play off the ball and likes to explode for the dunk if he has the opportunity. Very active looking for the rebound, he tries to put back, again with a dunk, everything that falls in his lap on the offensive glass, which is sometimes a bad option since he often doesn't always enjoy the best position to do so. Actually you always have the feeling that part of his efforts are headed towards impressing the audience rather than being effective on the basketball court.
Intense and aggressive, Alabi is capable of diving for a loose ball. He's always alert to block any opponent's shot near the basket. He can get really high thanks to his combination of length and leaping ability. Alabi is pretty much all about physical gifts, and not so much about basketball IQ, but anyway, he's a player with nice potential to keep under the radar.
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Nike Hoop Summit World Team Player Recap (Part Two)
April 13, 2007
Alabi entered the week as the sole international player with a great deal of experience against the American style of basketball. The 7 footer played high school basketball in the United States over the past two years, and is generally ranked in the top 40 by most recruiting services.
As practice began, it was easy to notice Alabi’s potential due to size and athleticism alone. In addition to his height and length, the Nigerian also has a great body for a high schooler as well as freakish vertical leaping ability. As the practices began, it was clear that he will likely take advantage of those features to become a great shot blocker someday. He already shows good instincts in this area, and this will only improve as he becomes more accustomed to help rotations on the defensive end.
Offensively, Alabi displayed a very nice hook shot with his right hand during the first practice, but he used the shot less and less as the week progressed. He instead decided to rely on a face-up jumper the rest of the week, a move that worked ok in some of the practices, but didn’t translate to the game.
In the game, Alabi displayed his explosive leaping ability with an aggressive dunk inside, but otherwise struggled throughout the game trying to find his jump shot. He managed to gain 4 free throw attempts by playing inside, but seemed content turning and shooting the rest of the game. Defensively, Alabi displayed his potential as a shot blocker with a rejection on Kevin Love. During the 14 minutes of playing time, he managed to block 3 shots, while showing good leaping ability and anticipation.
Overall, Solomon Alabi remains a raw big man, but with very good potential. He must improve his left hand on the offensive end, as well as develop footwork on the low block. At Florida State, his shot blocking will be noticed from the day he puts on his uniform, but the number of years he goes to college will totally depend on his rate of development on the other end of the floor.
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Nike Hoop Summit Practices-- World Team (Day 4)
April 7, 2007
Solomon Alabi had his worst practice to date, struggling with nearly everything he attempted on the offensive end. He has rarely used his hook shot since the first day of practice, and it rimmed out the one time it was attempted today. On the block, he continues to try the turnaround jumper as a main offensive threat. Unfortunately, this wasn’t working out for him today either, and the accuracy of this shot increases greatly outside 12 feet. Alabi continued to show good potential as a shot blocker and his length and explosive leap came in handy defensively throughout the week.
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Nike Hoop Summit Practices-- World Team (Day 3)
April 6, 2007
Solomon Alabi sat out part of the morning practice with a headache, but played well during his minutes in the scrimmage. He displayed great vertical leaping ability on both ends of the floor. On offense he can catch nearly any pass inside, and this led to several aggressive dunks throughout the game. Defensively, he displayed better shot blocking instincts than he showed earlier in the week, and effected a number of shots while playing help defense. Alabi didn’t really do anything in terms of creating his own offense today. The turn-around jumper that had been solid for him in the post the past couple days wasn’t falling, and he didn’t attempt a hook shot at any point during the scrimmage.
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Nike Hoop Summit Practices-- World Team (Day 2)
April 5, 2007
Solomon Alabi didn’t use his hook shot as effectively today, but he was able to knock down some jump shots out to 15 feet. His shooting form appears to be awkward, and his shot is flat, but his shot was effective enough for him to knock down nearly every time he was open. Alabi weighed in at 237 pounds, and one of the scouts in attendance compared his to Antonio McDyess in terms of build and body. In the post, he will need to learn to read the defense and pass it out when he is double teamed. Still, Alabi has good hands and a very explosive vertical leap. He should contribute at Florida State right away, and it isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility for him to go one and done.
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Nike Hoop Summit Practices-- World Team (day one)
April 4, 2007
Florida State recruit Solomon Alabi from Nigeria also had a good practice with the world select team. He appears to be a legit 7’1” with a very good frame for an incoming college freshman. Offensive, he generally scores in one of two ways. In the post, he has a very nice hook shot with a high release point, and he displayed great touch with this move today. The other way Alabi scored was by catching the ball and dunking it near the basket. Good hands and above average leaping ability make him a constant threat to score near the basket, be it off a pick and roll, offensive rebound, or flash cut to the hoop. In terms of footwork, Alabi has good fundamentals, but will need to work on developing counter moves. On a few possessions he tried to convert 10 foot jumpers on a spin move back to the middle. The move itself looked good, but his jumper needs some work at this point. Defensively, his length will be a great advantage to him and the Seminoles. His timing and anticipation will need some improvement, but Alabi’s long arms and leaping ability give him nice upside in this area. Solomon Alibi has nice polish for an athletic center coming out of high school, but he has a ways to go before he can start thinking about the NBA Draft. It will be interesting to watch him progress throughout the rest of the week.
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