Agbaji as a Forward

[Tremendous Upside]

Ochai is a surprisingly good and active cutter when he decides to be, but that skill is just getting lost in the shuffle right now. He's one of those dudes who does all these lightning quick, half improvised cuts off broken plays and whatnot, but guys just don't look for him. Some players do have a weird way of being "invisible" on the court even though they move around constantly, and I feel like Ochai is like that.

 

[HermanG]

Ochai is a surprisingly good and active cutter when he decides to be, but that skill is just getting lost in the shuffle right now. He's one of those dudes who does all these lightning quick, half improvised cuts off broken plays and whatnot, but guys just don't look for him. Some players do have a weird way of being "invisible" on the court even though they move around constantly, and I feel like Ochai is like that.

You started this as a complement and then turned it into "Ochai is the invisible man". Almost made it all the way through on a positive note.

Thats how Hardy obviously wants them to play. He wants to create constant off ball threats and wants the defense to be forced into constant rotations and confusion. Ochai, Lauri and Collins are all good to great cutters who can catch the ball in traffic and also get above the rim, which gives the ball handlers options on how they can get the ball to them.

As long as they see them.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

You started this as a complement and then turned it into "Ochai is the invisible man". Almost made it all the way through on a positive note.

What I described is not really a negative trait. I mean, you make yourself available, you move, you cut. What else can you do if you generally play off ball like Ochai? I can't explain why some players still "disappear" and don't tend to get the ball outside of set plays or actions as much as others. Anyone who's played the sport probably knows what I'm talking about. Maybe some guys project confidence and others don't, or it's some other subliminal thing. Or chemistry. Who knows. The ball just always seems to "find" some guys even though they may not be any more skilled or capable than the rest.

One of the knocks against Ochai, even early in his college career, was always that he was "passive" on offense (and pretty much all his scouting reports mention it). When he started playing real minutes last season, I thought there was a lot of truth to that... but having watched him more closely since then, I dunno. It's just... weird. He does everything right and keeps putting himself in good positions where he could have an advantage, but he still ends up in the margins of the offense.

People keep saying he should use his athleticism more, and I sort of agree, but then again... maybe the team should use his athleticism more. He's so quick and explosive, he's wasted as a weak side spacer who sometimes gets the ball IF someone remembers he exists. IMO Ochai has the potential to become an extremely efficient scorer (and to increase his gravity) if we funnel the ball to him a bit more.