Bamba Fall

[scoop dog]

The 190 pounds strikes me as being innacurrate. He does look a good bit heavier than that. I'd guess at least 220, as the other poster mentioned. Furthermore, his frame looks like it could easily hold another 50 pounds or so(he has pretty broad shoulders), which is another plus for him.

Bamba Fall appears to have a tremendous amount of upside. He is athletic, and moves well for someone of his height--athletic and fluid. He is not stiff.

IMO, the biggest challenge for him will be simply learning to play the game of basketball. He seems to be pretty new at it. He will get better and better as he is able to work on his fundamentals. For example, when he gets a rebound on on defense, he needs to learn to look up the floor for teammates which he can possibly pass the ball to in outlet situations. He also will need to improve his footwork and positioning on on the low blocks, so that his on ball defense will be effective. I predict that when he starts off in college, you will see him in a lot of zone situations while he is developing in this area.

On offense, he is still quite raw. He will need someone to work with him to learn some post moves. With his long arms and wide frame, he looks like he could be pretty devestating if he could master a hook shot. His jump shooting needs a great deal of work also.

He does look athletic enough to do all of these things, it will just be a matter of him getting in the gym and going to work at it. He is not a top 30 national player right now, but by the time he graduates from college, he might possibly be a top 30 senior.

Very nice pickup with good potential.

[Sasser Rules]

Coach Tubbs should hire Kareem to teach him the sky hook. Can you imagine the 6-9 centers we face trying to stop a sky hook from a 7-1 kid?

[Southland]

The 190 pounds strikes me as being innacurrate. He does look a good bit heavier than that. I'd guess at least 220, as the other poster mentioned. Furthermore, his frame looks like it could easily hold another 50 pounds or so(he has pretty broad shoulders), which is another plus for him.

Bamba Fall appears to have a tremendous amount of upside. He is athletic, and moves well for someone of his height--athletic and fluid. He is not stiff.

IMO, the biggest challenge for him will be simply learning to play the game of basketball. He seems to be pretty new at it. He will get better and better as he is able to work on his fundamentals. For example, when he gets a rebound on on defense, he needs to learn to look up the floor for teammates which he can possibly pass the ball to in outlet situations. He also will need to improve his footwork and positioning on on the low blocks, so that his on ball defense will be effective. I predict that when he starts off in college, you will see him in a lot of zone situations while he is developing in this area.

On offense, he is still quite raw. He will need someone to work with him to learn some post moves. With his long arms and wide frame, he looks like he could be pretty devestating if he could master a hook shot. His jump shooting needs a great deal of work also.

He does look athletic enough to do all of these things, it will just be a matter of him getting in the gym and going to work at it. He is not a top 30 national player right now, but by the time he graduates from college, he might possibly be a top 30 senior.

Very nice pickup with good potential.

This is a nice pick-up IF Tubbs delivers the type of recruits he has in the past... in that case, this would be worth the risk.

Reality is Bamba didn't play much on his high school team as a junior, and may very well be the next coming of Donatas. Frankly, I don't know if he will be a top 30 state-of-Texas college player.

[Stampede]

Okay...quick question. Just how many seven foot, high school basketball players are there in the country much less Texas. And, trust me, when you are seven foot tall (plus), chances are you get props from the NBA ...not just Div 1 NCAA universities. Plus, Tubbs is not just recruiting a 7' player hoping he will "grow" into his body. Hell, Bamba has grown two inches in the past nine months...he is still growing!!

[abezontar]

If his Dad really is a talent scout for the Mavericks shouldn't he already be pretty familiar with the American game?

[Stallion]

there is a flip side to that coin-what does it say about a kid who can 't start for his high school team and doesn't appear to be able to score or put up rebounding numbers when he is playing against kids a foot shorter than him.

[PK]

Let's have a little faith in Tubbs and assume that he knows what he is doing. I don't think we are so desperate for players that he would just hand out scholarships to anyone just to say we gave them all out. There has to be a reason he went after this kid...maybe he knows more about him than we do. You think???

[Stallion]

I know what he was doing-Fall is a "Fall-back" after he missed on a large number of quality kids. Harsh but true. It ain't easy recruiting to SMU. But just because a kid signs with SMU doesn't mean we have to put "faith" in the coach. I know, he knows, and even the recruits know he probably wasn't the first choice.

[PK]

All the same, not being a "first choice" does not automatically make the kid a loser...I don't believe Tubbs is going to sign a kid just to use up a scholarship. Therefore, have some "faith" Stallion that Tubbs sees something in this kid making him worth a scholarship. I know you rely heavily on recruiting sites for your information, but they aren't gods. Why not take a wait and see position before demissing this recruit as a loss?

[Stallion]

oh I agree-I hope he does better than the great T. J. Robinson, Bobby Holkan, Clayton 'The Animal" Korver, and the Rack combined. But just so you know-if he played for Team Texas he was probably at least analyzed by every coaching staff in America.

[SoCal_Pony]

Stallion,

On the ‘7 foot commitment’ thread someone said we beat out Clemson, VA Tech and South Carolina for Fall.

Do you know if any of these 3 schools (or any other schools for that matter) actually offered?

[giacfsp]

there is a flip side to that coin-what does it say about a kid who can 't start for his high school team and doesn't appear to be able to score or put up rebounding numbers when he is playing against kids a foot shorter than him.

It says to me that he's playing at one of the premier (if not THE premier) high school basketball schools in the country, and that he was sitting behind a lineup of HS stars who had been playing all their lives, while he was comparatively new to the game. It also tells me that he was playing against top competition in practice every day and getting excellent coaching. Rather than look at the proverbial "glass half empty" side of things, I see this as a potential steal. Optimism and belief in our coaches is kind of fun - give it a try.

[OldPony]

He is a project. He is uncomfortably skinny. That said, he did impress some folks with pretty good positioning and althetic ability for a 7'er. While he may not be a great get, he might turn out pretty good. Put about 100 pounds on him and he could be a huge force in the midddle. OP had about 30 lbs to donate.

[giacfsp]

Put 100 pounds on him and you have Stanley Roberts (Shaq's fat teammate at LSU.) Strap 50 on him and I'm happy.

[OldPony]

I'll compromise with you. 75. Depending on the accuracy of reports that puts him at 265 or 295. 295 isn't too much IF he puts it on correctly. He has another HS year and a freshman year to get stronger and bigger.