06-22-2022, 09:40 AM
Christian Koloko # 48
STRENGTHS A great developmental story. Koloko really struggled when he got to Arizona as he wasn’t all that experienced yet with the game of basketball. But he showed real signs of improvement as a sophomore then broke out in 2021-22 under a new coaching staff led by Tommy Lloyd. Won the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year award on his way to first-team All-Pac-12 honors, All-Defense honors and the Most Improved Player award. Has gotten better every season by a substantial extent. Terrific measurements for an NBA center at 7-0 with a 7-foot-5-plus wingspan and a 9-foot-5 standing reach. Huge hands at 10 ¾ inches. He is enormous; he plays hard too and does a good job of using every inch of that length. Keeps his hands high across all avenues of the game. Rebounds well and uses his length and huge hands to bring everything down above his head. Given his size, shouldn’t be a surprise that he is a great rim protector. Arizona built its entire defensive scheme in drop coverage around his ability to shut down the paint. Swats the hell out of the ball from the weak side. Rotates well and sees the court when he’s not involved in the primary action. Seems to have developed strong anticipation and to know where everyone is who touches the paint. Used to be something of a foul magnet, but with the new coaching staff at Arizona — with a heavy Gonzaga influence under Lloyd — Koloko improved drastically in terms of his verticality. Became difficult to finish over. Teams shot a poor 45 percent at the rim when he was on the floor, and they took fewer shots there too. Arizona played a heavy drop with Koloko, asking him essentially to keep a foot in the paint as often as possible. He often didn’t take a step outside of it and stayed strong at the foul line. Was impactful in playing this way, pushing guys to the baseline every time, relying on his positioning and short-area quickness. Even in the moments where they asked him to play closer to the level of the screen, Koloko did a good job managing the space and cutting off angles for both the driver and the roller. He’s an impressive defensive rim protector and was one of the most impactful defenders in the country. Keeps it simple on offense with his ability to finish at the rim. Will be a pure rim runner at the NBA level. Most effective right now out of the dunker spot. Good at timing his cuts toward the rim. Also good at timing his movement to the rim as a pick-androll guy. Made 70 percent of his shots out of rolls to the basket. Has some ability to take shorter rolls and drive to finish.
WEAKNESSES Has a great, long frame but also has a relatively skinny lower half that can allow him to be pushed around. Occasionally gets out-anchored on the block. Also doesn’t have a ton of quickness. Will not be a switch guy. Has a chance to get cooked a bit on the perimeter because he doesn’t play with much bend. Easy to out-leverage him because of his high waist. Incredibly limited offensively. If you take away his first option, has no real counter to anything. If he can’t catch and go straight up, he can’t finish. Primarily right-handed. But then, he’s also a threat to turn it over or take an uglier attempt that doesn’t seem to have much touch. Extremely robotic on the block. Won’t be able to push his way down and establish position deep at the next level because he has a higher waist and not enough lower-body strength. Always trying to get back to his right-handed hook. Some of his attempts on the right block were hideous because of this. On top of that, Koloko is not a shooter. Makes free throws at a reasonable rate, but has a very mechanical, hitchy shot that won’t fly at the next level. It doesn’t help that he’s also not someone who makes plays as a passer. Not a short-roll-to-kickout guy. Doesn’t hit the high-low passes. Not sure how comfortable I am with him running a one-dribble, dribble-handoff action at the top of the key to the wing. Will purely be a catch-and-finish player at the rim. SUMMARY Koloko is great as a rim protector, and he finishes plays above the rim athletically. There isn’t much else here. The good news for Koloko? That’s probably good enough for him to carve out a role as a backup center. He’s enormous and shuts down the paint, and if he can find the right situation where they know how to utilize him in drop coverage, he can be a very effective player on defense for 20 minutes per night. I don’t think he can hurt anyone with his own offense, and he has a chance to be a bit of a liability in open spaces defensively. He’s a guy with a reasonable chance to stick but probably not an impact player. That’s a good, solid second-round pick worth a guaranteed contract.
STRENGTHS A great developmental story. Koloko really struggled when he got to Arizona as he wasn’t all that experienced yet with the game of basketball. But he showed real signs of improvement as a sophomore then broke out in 2021-22 under a new coaching staff led by Tommy Lloyd. Won the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year award on his way to first-team All-Pac-12 honors, All-Defense honors and the Most Improved Player award. Has gotten better every season by a substantial extent. Terrific measurements for an NBA center at 7-0 with a 7-foot-5-plus wingspan and a 9-foot-5 standing reach. Huge hands at 10 ¾ inches. He is enormous; he plays hard too and does a good job of using every inch of that length. Keeps his hands high across all avenues of the game. Rebounds well and uses his length and huge hands to bring everything down above his head. Given his size, shouldn’t be a surprise that he is a great rim protector. Arizona built its entire defensive scheme in drop coverage around his ability to shut down the paint. Swats the hell out of the ball from the weak side. Rotates well and sees the court when he’s not involved in the primary action. Seems to have developed strong anticipation and to know where everyone is who touches the paint. Used to be something of a foul magnet, but with the new coaching staff at Arizona — with a heavy Gonzaga influence under Lloyd — Koloko improved drastically in terms of his verticality. Became difficult to finish over. Teams shot a poor 45 percent at the rim when he was on the floor, and they took fewer shots there too. Arizona played a heavy drop with Koloko, asking him essentially to keep a foot in the paint as often as possible. He often didn’t take a step outside of it and stayed strong at the foul line. Was impactful in playing this way, pushing guys to the baseline every time, relying on his positioning and short-area quickness. Even in the moments where they asked him to play closer to the level of the screen, Koloko did a good job managing the space and cutting off angles for both the driver and the roller. He’s an impressive defensive rim protector and was one of the most impactful defenders in the country. Keeps it simple on offense with his ability to finish at the rim. Will be a pure rim runner at the NBA level. Most effective right now out of the dunker spot. Good at timing his cuts toward the rim. Also good at timing his movement to the rim as a pick-androll guy. Made 70 percent of his shots out of rolls to the basket. Has some ability to take shorter rolls and drive to finish.
WEAKNESSES Has a great, long frame but also has a relatively skinny lower half that can allow him to be pushed around. Occasionally gets out-anchored on the block. Also doesn’t have a ton of quickness. Will not be a switch guy. Has a chance to get cooked a bit on the perimeter because he doesn’t play with much bend. Easy to out-leverage him because of his high waist. Incredibly limited offensively. If you take away his first option, has no real counter to anything. If he can’t catch and go straight up, he can’t finish. Primarily right-handed. But then, he’s also a threat to turn it over or take an uglier attempt that doesn’t seem to have much touch. Extremely robotic on the block. Won’t be able to push his way down and establish position deep at the next level because he has a higher waist and not enough lower-body strength. Always trying to get back to his right-handed hook. Some of his attempts on the right block were hideous because of this. On top of that, Koloko is not a shooter. Makes free throws at a reasonable rate, but has a very mechanical, hitchy shot that won’t fly at the next level. It doesn’t help that he’s also not someone who makes plays as a passer. Not a short-roll-to-kickout guy. Doesn’t hit the high-low passes. Not sure how comfortable I am with him running a one-dribble, dribble-handoff action at the top of the key to the wing. Will purely be a catch-and-finish player at the rim. SUMMARY Koloko is great as a rim protector, and he finishes plays above the rim athletically. There isn’t much else here. The good news for Koloko? That’s probably good enough for him to carve out a role as a backup center. He’s enormous and shuts down the paint, and if he can find the right situation where they know how to utilize him in drop coverage, he can be a very effective player on defense for 20 minutes per night. I don’t think he can hurt anyone with his own offense, and he has a chance to be a bit of a liability in open spaces defensively. He’s a guy with a reasonable chance to stick but probably not an impact player. That’s a good, solid second-round pick worth a guaranteed contract.