Ugonna get sick of how often I make this joke over the next year! Hello, my Prime Cuts. If you’re an avid reader of these and enjoy getting into the weeds with me, or if this is your first time and you’re thinking “wait, this is how long?” I appreciate you! It can be read in intervals, if you prefer to break your content out into more digestible pieces, and I remind you again if accessing from a mobile device – desktop mode is your friend!
This is Part FIVE, the most in this series in one year yet. Part 1 on Sam Lewis can be found here, Part 2 on Jacari White can be found here, Part 3 on Devin Tillis can be found here, and Part 4 on Dallin Hall can be found here. This piece will focus on Center Ugonna Onyenso, a transfer from Kansas State who previously played two seasons for Kentucky and was a top 25 recruit in the class of 2022 after re-classifying to… the first Wildcats for which he played.
Onyenso’s case is a really interesting one. He’s listed at 7’0″, 247lbs and reportedly has a 7’5″ wingspan. In his second season at Kentucky; one of the most prestigious pedigree schools for college basketball recruiting (and talent level) he started 14 games, only because he was injured for the first 9, averaged 18.6 minutes per game, blocked a whopping 2.8 shots per game, including 10 in one game vs. Ole Miss (2nd in school history for a single game). He grabbed 4.8 rebounds that season, while averaging just 3.6 points per. As you might imagine, he was a rim protector extraordinaire, and if you look up his highlights from that season on YouTube, you’ll find blocked shot after blocked shot.
And then, last season, he transferred to Kansas State, an objectively worse basketball school, with another season of experience under his belt and… started just two games, played just 11.1 minutes, and saw most of his raw stats adjust accordingly. Furthermore, he blocked just .9 shots per game, which was at a lower clip adjusted for his minutes drop off. So, what gives? Did he just regress horribly and get relegated to the bench? In actuality, he was signed to play alongside 5-year Senior and KSU life-longer, 6’9″ David N’Guessan. Instead, just a few days after Ugonna signed, Kansas State threw a reported $2 million bag at Coleman Hawkins; luring him back from the NBA draft and slotting him into Onyenso’s minutes. Instead of leaning into an already quality frontcourt pairing and attempting to bolster their guard play, KSU they created a logjam in the frontcourt that buried Ugonna. The result was a confusing roster build that both struggled in dealing with size when Onyenso wasn’t on the floor (which was 3/4ths of the game) AND also not having enough complimentary guard play offensively nor defensively.
I’ve had some people suggest to me that I should go back to the Kentucky tape to show what Onyenso is capable of… but I’m not going to do that in video for this piece. I like to focus these on a player’s latest form; and there were some solid games to pull from where he got good run against great-to-solid competition including 18 minutes against Oklahoma State, 21 against Houston, 15 against Kansas and Hunter Dickinson, and 28 against Colorado. I’ll say this, though, Jerome Tang must really have not liked playing Onyenso. There was a three-game stretch in which Coleman Hawkins was injured and didn’t play. Onyenso did not start the first, and only played 14 minutes in a loss against an Arizona State team who only won 4 games in the Big 12 last season. KSU got drubbed by 12 points on their home floor in that game after starting the 6’9″ N’Guessan and then four guards, none over 6’5″. That’s some CTB-level small-ball stubbornness without the coaching chops to back it up. I’ll say a few things about the job I thought Tang did in the next section; but I did watch a lot of Kentucky tape in preparation for this to try to get a handle on – did anything actually change? Did Onyenso get worse? What looked different?
The only thing I definitively found was that he looked a little stronger at KSU than he was at Kentucky, and a step less quick on the defensive side as a result… but it wasn’t anything glaring. It was mostly the lesser quality of team, the system in which he was playing, and the lack of opportunity to get into the flow of the game along with the lack of any cohesive strategy for how to use him. There were games where Tang wouldn’t play him for the entire first half and then would play him like 13-15 minutes in the second half; from completely cold to completely exhausted. There was almost no mix and matching of who he was guarding, either. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, though, so let’s back up and just talk high-level about his game.
Onyenso was an absolutely elite shot blocker at Kentucky. He continued to show that capability at KSU – still averaging (basically) a block per 10 mins played – but I thought his reaction time looked just a smidge slower at times. Still, he’s a considerable deterrent at the rim. He can struggle a bit with quickness, but has the length to make up for it in most cases. He’s better in space in isolation when he has a single player to account for than when covering the pick and roll where he needs to both read and react. I thought he moved pretty well, generally, but was occasionally too passive and took too much depth on his drop coverage. I wasn’t sure if that was a directive he was given or if it was him playing too cautiously. At times when KSU decided to hedge ball screens, I thought he looked better as a disruptor and then was able to recover – but having him drop into the lane, as we likely will, did often keep players from trying to get to the rim and had the ability to be disruptive in some instances – regularly having the reach to deter two players at once. That’s the main reason you have him in there – as a Center Fielder on defense who is going to catch most things hit his way and keep the other team from having an easy time of it on the interior. It erases some would-be easy looks and takes the pressure off of the defense of some of the guards. On the offensive end, you’re using him primarily as a rim-runner, lob finisher, screener, and offensive rebounder. I thought he showed some surprising touch and fluidity around the rim at times, and he’s a huge threat as a dunker so you need to stay closely attached to him; reducing the ability to help very effectively off of him. He’s not going to go get you much on his own (unless it’s an offensive rebound) and he’s not going to shoot many jumpers (although Coach Odom has indicated they’re pleasantly surprised with his shooting so it’s possible that will be an addition to his game for us).
All-in-All, I think he will compliment Grünloh’s (who we haven’t discussed yet) game quite well in that Johann will have more of an offensive focus and will offer much more spacing while also being a good defender, but Onyenso will be a defensive answer when the opposition has more physically imposing and strong Centers or when our guards are struggling to hold up to dribble penetration. In Odom’s system, Onyenso represents an upgrade, but with similar styles as Luke Bamgboye did last season. They have similar skillsets and abilities to function within Odom’s system, just Onyenso is longer, and stronger.
So, let’s peel back the onion a bit here. But…
First A Word About KSU
Kansas State was the 65th best team in the country last year according to Kenpom despite finishing with a losing record (16-17) on the season. They were a considerably better defensive team (36th) than they were an offensive one (125th). But, man, I thought they were just so poorly coached. It’s not just that they didn’t play Onyenso much despite him being the 5th most efficient player on the team, and it’s not just that the roster composition was bad, which it was; it’s that they didn’t really seem to have any kind of logical plan on what they wanted to do.
For example, when they played @Kansas, who started the 7’2″ 265lb offensively accomplished Hunter Dickinson, they didn’t put Onyenso in the game until the final 5 minutes of the first half despite having to double team Dickinson aggressively while he was out and being able to play him straight-up when Ugonna was in. They played Onyenso 10 mins in the second half – were down 10 going into half time and finished the game that way. Dickinson had 25 points in 34 minutes in that game on 12-19 shooting… and had two during Onyenso’s 15 minutes. Worse? Tang didn’t even sub in Onyenso in any kind of response to Dickinson’s play. The first two times Onyenso was subbed in, Dickinson was on the bench and Onyenso covered the 6’9″ 220lb, much smaller, but also quicker Flory Bidunga for the first minute or so until Kansas put Dickinson back in.
It made no sense.
Tang had one of the few players capable of standing toe-to-toe with a player like Dickinson at his disposal without needing much defensive help… and he played him all of 15 minutes without regard for that matchup at all. We’ll take a look at that later.
Additionally, sometimes KSU was oddly stubborn about not setting ball screens and playing out of isolation despite how many decent rim runners and/or pick and pop guys they had. Sometimes they went to four guards for no discernible reason or advantage created despite how much investment they’d put in their frontcourt. Their team assist-to-turnover ratio was 5 to 4. It was just this weird overall mashup of bad roster comp, bad strategy, occasional hero ball, and no plan.
Defensively, they played man-to-man with some hedging ball screens and some drop coverage. I thought their drops, especially Onyenso’s were often too extreme and gave too much space for opposing guards who were good in the midrange or with runners in the lane. This was the main area where I noticed that he was less aggressive than he was at Kentucky; which seems likely to be coaching-related but could have also been a confidence issue (or both). Overall, I thought the Wildcats rotated pretty well, though, and did actually have a neat wrinkle at times where when Onyenso’s man would go to set a ball screen, either Hawkins or N’Guessan would sometimes proactively switch onto that man, leaving Onyenso at home with the other big to protect the rim. It’s something I could see us trying with Thijs De Ridder if teams try to pull Onyenso away from the basked in the ball screen action as a primary focus.
Offensively, KSU primarily ran some motion-based sets with some ball screens mixed in, some posting up of Hawkins or N’Guessan, and some isolation. When Onyenso was in the game, he would sometimes be used as a ball screener, but more often he would camp the opposite short corner and then set seal screens for drivers slashing into the lane. There was mixed efficacy with this because his man would need to stay close to keep him from catching a lob or hitting the glass, and sometimes those seal screens were actually quite effective. It was good to have him there to crash the glass – but just via the nature of basketball, sometimes his presence would still clog the lane. I thought they should have initiated more offense with him as a primary ball screener than they did as it often was more effective at creating driving lanes and Onyenso commanded much more attention in motion toward the hoop than when he was stationary around it.
Alrighty, let’s take a look at some of this stuff!
Offense
I’m starting with offense again for consistency with these, but if I was going to lead with strength, this is the first one where I probably would have flipped the order. You’re not going to be playing Onyenso for the individual offense he’s creating. He’ll surprise with a little hook shot every now and then, but he’s mostly going to pass the ball if he has it with a defender in good guarding position against him. He doesn’t display the footwork or ability to create a high percentage shot for himself. That being said, if you surround him with four shooters and a supply of players who can put the ball on the deck, as we will, he should be effective in a Ryan Odom offensive system as a screener, a rim-runner, and an offensive rebounder. This is exactly how VCU used Luke Bamgboye last season but, while Bam was quicker, Onyenso has invasive length and is stronger. Kansas State didn’t run as often or as effectively as Kentucky did, so that’s probably the biggest gap in video analysis for this piece. I’ll say that Onyenso does have solid straight-line speed and can be quite effective at filling gaps in transition and finishing.
Let’s go ahead and take a look!
Finishing
Before I really dive deep into the tape on someone, I inevitably hear things about them. I came in with the notion that Onyenso really just offered nothing on the offensive end, especially at KSU. I do disagree with that, though. I thought that, when he was utilized and his teammates got him involved, he showed some quality as a finisher. He only took 1.7 shots from the field per game – but he shot 70% from the floor on the season! In my mind, he was highly effective when he had the opportunities, those opportunities just came more sparingly.
Here’s a good first look against Oklahoma St. You can see 6’10” 245lb Abou Ousmane (#33) on OSU cheating deep in the lane while tasked with guarding Onyenso. This provides potential spacing issues on drives, and it was wild this game that KSU hardly ever decided to attack that by using Ugonna in the ball screen action. Nonetheless, as his teammate backs his man down from the wing, Ousmane shades to help and Onyenso slides down to the opposite block. The Cowboys initially try to pinch down to help on him, but that would leave Coleman Hawkins (#33 on KSU) open on the opposite wing, so as the post up nears the center of the lane, his man has to retreat back out to him. This punishes the Ousmane help as Onyenso gets the dump off pass and quickly goes up with it; pretty easily finishing over Ousmane’s contest and drawing the foul.
It’s good touch on the finish and, more, it comes pretty easily. Ousmane is no slouch in terms of quality height and size for a Center, and Onyenso pretty easily goes right over him after the catch.
There’s an element of, when Onyenso just reacts to the play and knows it’s his responsibility to convert, he’s much more effective at it than when he has to think and contemplate making a specific move.
Here’s another look, and KSU is actually playing all of N’Guessan (#1), Hawkins (#33) and Onyenso at the same time. This is something I think they should have considered more because Hawkins had to be taken credibly on the three-point line and both he and N’Guessan had some facilitation in them. Additionally, it made them huge. But, they didn’t go to this much. Anyway, Oklahoma St. is playing a smaller frontcourt in this one with the 6’7″ Robert Jennings II (#25) trying to man the Center position. N’Guessan penetrates, draws the defense, and dishes to Onyenso, who pretty easily pump fakes and steps through to the other side of the rim for the finish.
Jennings’s only hope at stopping him that deep was to try to time the block with momentum and as soon as Onyenso made him fly by, there was no hope for either defender.
Here you see another wrinkle that I think they could have forced more. KSU looked to exploit the mismatch with the 6’10” skilled and mobile Coleman Hawkins posting up from the PF position. With Onyenso on the floor, the opposition typically couldn’t cover him with their biggest defender as they often did with just N’Guessan. KSU forced the issue and Ugonna just camped the opposite block so that when Kansas got nervous and sent the double team, he was there for the easy pass and dunk before help could come.
I think it’s worth noting the ease and effortlessness of that dunk even though it was open. He barely has to jump. The opposite side guard is trying to collapse back into the play – there’s no hope he’ll be able to do anything there. It comes quickly. This is what you call a quality conversion point if you can generate an advantage elsewhere, as Hawkins did.
Here’s another look against Kansas, this time with Dickinson (#1) in the game. At first we see a bit of a busted screen attempt where he fakes one side and moves to the other, but his man dribbles to the side he fakes. Oddly, Dickinson still hedges out there despite no screen happening, so I thought if Onyenso dove hard on that he would have either commanded the help, freeing up the wing, or been open. Still, he drifts back down to the opposite block and, when the next drive beats his man after a hesitation, it forces Dickinson to step over to help and Onyenso is there for a punishing lob dunk.
That’s pretty easy, right? Dickinson was one of the taller dudes in college basketball. This is a great example of how Onyenso can help put pressure on a defense because his man really can’t afford to leave him to help much when he’s playing this deep or else the lob becomes a very effective option and there really isn’t any recovery time. This ball didn’t have to be throw that close to the rim and Onyenso didn’t need much run up time at all; this was just a step or two oop from him.
This next one showed me a little, though. He’s got a little fluidity to his game. Here Hawkins again draws a double team, this time from Dickinson on the block. Perhaps they thought it was safer because Onyenso was up by the elbow after screening, and then even popped out to the three-point line to offer ball reversal. When the double team comes, Onyenso dives hard from well outside of the three-point line. Hawkins hits him in stride around the elbow. Ugonna never puts the ball on the floor, takes two long strides, absorbs contact from the shot challenge, and finishes the layup falling away from the hoop with soft touch.
We saw it a little in the first clip when he kind of laid it in over the challenge, but this isn’t a guy who has to dunk everything. He’s got some touch around the rim.
Let’s take a look at him in the pick and roll some, too. I think we’ll use him a ton in this area at UVa, but I also think it’s an area of development for Onyenso. We caught a glimpse of it earlier, but I don’t think he’s always great with his ball screen placement regarding side or angles, and he often slips/rolls before his body contact offers too much imposition to the defender. I hope this will be something he works on this offseason and that Odom coaches up, because he is so big and strong and does put so much pressure on the rim, that some refinement in this area could go a long way.
Here’s a look against the Cowboys again. I like this one because it’s done pretty well despite Onyenso not really making any body contact with his screens and illustrates how much of a threat he can be and how his size can create issues even when he’s not being overly physical. After an initial ball screen from N’Guessan that doesn’t go anywhere, KSU passes it over to Onyenso on the wing and transitions into a DHO action with him. On the hand off, Arturo Dean (#2) on OSU goes under his screen, at full speed with Ousmane (#33) playing toward the baseline to cut off the potential full speed drive. Onyenso pivots like he’s going to set the screen the other direction, which you can see at 11 seconds into the clip causes both Dean and Ousmane to hesitate and move back toward that direction. This gives Dug McDaniel (#0) the opportunity he needs to drive baseline, now drawing both defenders toward him while Onyenso runs to the rim for the easy lob dunk.
That’s easy dunking. And think, all Onyenso did was hand the ball off and then pivot. He made almost no body contact at all with the defender, but the defense still reacted, you know… because of the implication.
Here’s an interesting look where he actually runs a ball screen for Hawkins. This time it does force the switch and he does a nice job of pinning and rolling. He shows a nice catch radius ahead of the smaller guard chasing him, and fluidly finishes the layup after the catch (which doesn’t count because he’s fouled before the shot).
Pretty nice on the catch without breaking momentum and how easily he gets it up on the glass.
Finally, here’s another look, this time against Kansas. This time I think he set his screening angle too high given that it starts as a high ball screen by the logo. He’s screening facing the sideline as if he’s trying to keep his man from moving to his left; when in reality he should be angled lower, looking more at a diagonal toward half court, to simultaneously stop the movement left but also the retreat. The screened defender simply ducks under the screen and is able to cut off the driving angle this way. Still, the ball moves to Hawkins who drives from the wing and is able to find Onyenso, whose continuation to the rim leaves him open for the lob layup.
You get the idea. Leave him alone around the basket at your own peril, the finishes come quickly and without effort, and he’s got surprisingly good fluidity and some solid touch around the rim.
Let’s take a slightly closer look at his…
Screening
If you read this section, you’re officially a college basketball sicko (and I love you for that), because I’m really going to be showing you five Cuts worth of screens!
We saw some above, but here’s a decent look at where I think he both stands to improve but is also effective. First, he runs up to set a ball screen for David Castillo (#10), but he over runs it. He shows way too high, and makes getting under the screen that far away from the basket too easy; a similar issue as the clip above. But, then he turns and kind of buries Zeke Mayo (#5) at the three-point line, punishing him for going under, so that Castillo can step into an open three.
Also worth noting that this ball was awarded to Kansas, but that Onyenso created a borderline call with the deflection from directly behind Dickinson. For me, this clip was a great example of how he both has a lot of room to grow as an intentional and savvy screener, but how his sheer size and willingness can still create quality opportunity out there. Castillo shot 25% from deep – if that’s any of our shooters this year than the make chance goes up dramatically.
Here, below, is our first look against Houston – who aggressively blitzes most ball screens by sending two defenders at the ball handler. At first, he presents to set a screen but his man leaves early. Onyenso presents to help break the pressure. I liked how he came back to the ball on the perimeter and didn’t wait back and allow the help defender to get his hands on it. The pass across court is less than ideal and low; killing any rotational momentum. Still, he tries again. This time he shows one side and flips to the other and I like the angle of the pick. He rolls off of the contact, takes the return pass, and finds his teammate under the hoop for the bucket.
I really appreciated how he stayed calm in the face of the Houston pressure there, didn’t travel or get sped up on his pivot, and was able to pick out his teammate for the easy bucket. Often times bigs will turn expecting to be open, be confronted with that quick help pressure, and get out of sync/chop their feet and turn it over.
Okay, here’s an element to his game that we’ve seen used effectively against us in recent years and that I quite liked. It’s that seal screen where he moves like he’s boxing out early for an offensive board and uses that to shield his man from helping. Here we see him angling to make this happen most of the possession, but going so at the end to free up that wide-open dunk.
Having watched a lot of UVa basketball tape over the past few years, we’ve seen opposing bigs with some strength execute this to great effect against us; sealing off that help side defender while simultaneously putting themselves in good offensive rebounding position.
When not setting ball screens in Odom’s offensive system, I’d expect this to be Onyenso’s primary responsibility – looking for finishing opportunities and then pressuring the rim by looking for opportunities to offensive rebound and seal help defenders.
He did this quite a bit and quite effectively, like here against Colorado again:
And he’d get to it in transition sometimes as well, like against Houston in this next one:
I believe that Onyenso is already capable and was under-utilized as a physical presence around the ball and around the rim. That being said, there’s significant opportunity for improvement and development in this area and opportunity for a creative coaching staff to be more intentional about involving him and utilizing his strengths alongside those of his new teammates.
Transition
As I mentioned before, this is the area where I have less visual evidence from which to pull re: these games and Onyenso’s limited playing time coupled with Kansas State not focusing on transition. You’ll have to take my word, to a degree, that when he played at Kentucky who got up and down more often and more effectively, he ran the floor well and was a quality finishing option in space (although you can probably imagine it from some of the rim-running above).
But here is one look at him getting out after a steal, running the floor, being a daunting lob threat, and drawing a shooting foul while being undercut in the process:
This is the area that will probably be disproportionately relevant this coming season to the amount of time I cover it in this piece vs. how effective he is in our system. As you might recall from all of my other work on Odom’s offensive system and player highlights, we’re going to be pushing the ball when there’s any advantage to do so. So… having a big who can get up and down the floor and threaten the transition defense as opposed to a slower, lumbering style, will be significant.
Expect to see some thunderous Ugonna Onyenso transition dunks this year.
Post Up Offense
Now we’re going to start to see some limitations. His post-up game is just not something he goes to often and with reason. He has a little hook shot he’ll go to sometimes that he can make, like he does below, but isn’t what you want to count on. Notice, also, he’s got a huge size advantage on these Houston bigs – but their toughness and mobility gave him issues. He’s gathering this one deep in the lane and rather than trying to explode up and through the defender, he’s drifting away from the basket and shooting a push hook.
But this next clip, below, gives you some sense at the lack of confidence and purpose down there. At 10 seconds into the clip he catches the ball on the block with space between him and the hoop, only for Dickinson to get back into the play. From there, he simply pounds the ball non-threateningly moving away from the hoop, and holds it loosely out there so that it’s stripped and knocked away.
It’s because, despite the fact that he’s actually a strong and physically imposing player, he only plays like that when he’s not thinking and knows he’s supposed to try to score from a point of advantage. Here, he doesn’t have the footwork. No drop step, no up and under, no step through running hook, no power dribble toward the basket and then a pump fake; trying to dunk on someone…. it’s all very tentative and without purpose or vision for what he should be doing.
Here’s one last look, because they really didn’t go to this much, and it’s not even something they went to here. Onyenso does a nice job gathering an offensive rebound after sealing on the drive. But, from there, despite easily being the tallest guy on the floor, he tentatively pump fakes in traffic, starts to get pushed off of his spot, and ends up shooting a fadeaway layup that he short arms.
I want him either going right back up and trying to dunk this as soon as he comes down with it or, if he does pump fake, try to play through the contact after and jump toward the hoop. He’s too big and too long to not play stronger here – and he doesn’t even really need a big “post move” so to speak.
So, yeah. This is why I say he’s mostly going to need to be set up. He’ll finish some of these on the offensive glass – and he’ll make an occasional hook/push like we saw above but, mostly, he’s not looking for himself much when he’s got the ball with defenders in good position around him. He’s waiting to attack until there’s been an advantage created for him by a teammate.
Offensive Rebounding
I think Onyenso is an okay offensive rebounder for the position. He’s not incredibly mobile or high motor on the glass, so he can get beaten to boards. But, there are rebounds that he’s going to get to through his length and his strength that many others wouldn’t necessarily be able to.
Here’s a look at him fighting off a box out from Ousmane (#33); a strong player. He is able to go up and grab the long rebound, and then lands the hockey assist on some interior passing after the fact.
Just a nice play to freeze a 245 player, spring back to snag the ball in traffic, and then pick out a pass.
He can be a challenge to box out because he is strong and because he’s got the length to go over your back without fouling. We saw earlier how it was even a challenge at times for Dickinson.
Here’s a different look against Colorado’s Bangot Dak who runs 6’11” but only 185lbs. So, while that’s only an inch shorter than Onyenso, it’s almost 65lbs lighter. Watch how Onyenso gets his forearm on Dak’s back and just overpowers him; keeping him from reacting to the rebound and being able to save the ball off of Colorado.
Same matchup, this time he’s called for the offensive foul… but I still love it because look at how easily and powerfully he discards Dak to the floor when going for that board. It was like a defensive lineman with the arm club.
I don’t mind a foul like that as long as it’s not consistently happening throughout the game. It sets the tone physically and it’s actually not going to get called a good amount of the time as refs will sometimes just chalk it up to two players scrapping for the rebound.
Overall, I’d like to see Onyenso press even harder on the glass; but you can see that he’s a difficult box out bot with his ability to high-point the basketball AND with his strength when jockeying for position. We’re going to see this strength help him later with his defense, as well.
Miscellaneous
Okay, two more just really quick one-hitters:
Spacing
There are going to be times when, if not ball screening, Onyenso’s presence around the lane will gum it up. It’s not as common as you’d think because of his lob threat and his ability to seal, as we’ve seen; but it does happen.
A quick look at that here, below. In this one, his man is able to get into double team position quickly because of his presence on the block and N’Guessan isn’t able to pick out a pass on the lob or through the lane due to the intrusiveness of the double (and Onyenso is being held from behind by the guard). Then Onyenso flashes across the lane to try to present a pass for himself, but stumbles, and isn’t viewed as a place to go with the ball anyway, so N’Guessan attempts to force a pass off-balance across the lane that results in a turnover.
This was avoidable if N’Guessan had just taken the easy pass; and I’d argue that putting the ball toward the rim would have still created an opportunity for Onyenso after the double game (or at least drawn the foul if he was held) – but it was a situation where Onyenso’s presence created a cluster in the lane that made navigation difficult for his teammate.
There were some other looks at this where his man would sag when he was at the free throw line or where he wouldn’t quite hit the seal and his man would be able to help. Again, I don’t think it’s a huge issue given the fact that we’ll almost certainly be surrounding him with 4 shooters at any given time so the spacing around helping on him around the rim (or on the pick and roll) should be good. Still, you’ll notice a difference when Grünloh is in the game and we’ll be able to play a true five-out style. The paint will look much more clean when Grünloh is in, which will likely be the most impactful differentiator between the two.
Free Throws
It’s impossible to know if his free throw shooting actually improved because he only took 13 all season so his sample size was tiny. That being said, he shot 76.9% last year from the charity stripe after shooting 55% and 52.9% in the previous two years, respectively. Again, it could be sample size – but I thought it looked pretty solid:
Ryan Odom recently made comment in a presser about Onyenso being a better shooter than he expected – so perhaps this isn’t a small-sample anomaly and he has improved in this way. Basically, I think teams will still take their chances trying to foul him to keep easy buckets from happening – but I don’t think that will be as costly for us as expected. I also seriously doubt he’ll be in the game in many situations where we need clutch free throws.
Even though he’s clearly a limited player in some aspects of his offensive game – I’m still optimistic about what he brings to the table for this team as likely a backup Center who I expect to be in a timeshare with Grünloh (one of the two will probably almost always be on the floor). I think he’ll help to create openings for our 1-4 offensively via his screening (which I think Odom will help to coach up), will command a defender to stay near him when he’s around the rim, and will convert the easy ones that come from his teammates at a high percentage.
Alright, but let’s talk about the best part of his game and the biggest reason he’s going to be such a valuable option for this roster…
Defense
Alright, now I don’t mean to give the impression that Onyenso is perfect on this side of the ball – he isn’t, which we’ll see. That being said, there’s a lot to like about what he brings to the table. I think what he does well has the potential to go beyond what Grünloh can offer on this side of the ball; specifically, when we need someone to deal with the biggest, most physical post presences our opponents can offer. Additionally, if we run into situations where our guards are struggling to hold up at the point of attack on the perimeter, Onyenso’s got the potential to be a more imposing safety net. Let’s start with…
Post Denial
I want to start off this section with a clip that doesn’t actually feature Onyenso on the floor. It’s a look at how KSU defended Kansas’s Hunter Dickinson when Onyenso was out of the game. They put Hawkins on him initially, then aggressively cheated N’Guessan over to attempt to front him, WHILE sagging a guard down to potentially help as well. Three players converging on Dickinson to try to keep him from getting the ball… and it still doesn’t work. He ends up with a power layup.
That just puts so much pressure on your team defense having to spend so many extra resources focusing on one player opens up others and is especially disheartening when you can’t stop that player anyway. Dickinson finished with 25 points on incredibly efficient shooting despite all of this.
Now with that in mind; watch Onyenso defend him by himself. First, fronting him here, keeping him from getting the ball, and drawing the offensive foul as Dickinson has to push off for the catch:
Here, below, we see Onyenso stand up to him physically, stay in front, and deflect the entry pass attempt out of bounds:
In this next one, Kansas makes the outside shot – but how often do you see Dickinson effectively kept out of the play like this and then boxed out?
Kansas scored because Hawkins came down to far to potentially help – but he really wasn’t needed there.
And then, I love this one. Onyenso hustles back in transition, bangs with Dickinson some inside, switches on a ball screen and then switches back, then fights over Dickinson cutting through the lane and deflects and entry pass that could have (and probably should have) been stolen by a teammate.
Turns out (and this isn’t really new information) that it’s harder to score inside when getting the ball successfully into those players is difficult; and Ugonna makes it so. You see him giving a massive player like Dickinson, above issues; and sometimes he looks like he’s just smothering guys, who are still big but who struggle to stand up to his length and strentgh combo.
Here we see him against Colorado deflecting…
Or downright stealing entry passes with relative ease:
Assane Diop in that clip above (#35) looks downright small in comparison and Onyenso just vacuums up that pass, easily getting around his body.
And here, below, that’s another errant entry pass that’s a turnover out of bounds because Ousmane (#35) who, again runs 6’10”, 245lbs is having to expend so much energy and fight to hold Onyenso back, that he’s on his own back foot when the entry pass comes in and can’t get out to it.
So, out of the gate – this can be hugely disruptive against another team that likes to go inside for points. Onyenso is going to make them work to get the ball, and is good at taking up space and holding ground against all levels of post players. If we run into guys who are playing physically with Grünloh and giving him a hard time, bring in Onyenso to lean on them a bit and make them have to work to get their touches.
Rim Protection
This is my favorite section of his and where I think he’ll be valuable in ways no one else on the team can match fully. As a help side defender, Onyenso has the ability to come off of his man and either severely bother or downright eliminate shots at the rim.
Here’s a great first look. We start with another quality example of him fighting to deny Ousmane the ball on the block. Just to reiterate, Ousmane is 6’10” 245lbs, and notice how much he struggles to hold Onyenso off of him and cannot get an entry pass. He’s sort of engulfed down there. Having deterred the pass into the post, Onyenso is then able to roam, waiting until the opposition has his head down driving, and rotating over to swat the shot out of bounds.
That Cut, in on snapshot, among all of these, is why you’re going to play Ugonna Onyenso. The ability to make the oppositions best post option have to work hard to get the ball coupled with the ability to still help support guard defense at the rim is incredibly valuable. It gives you an answer to size and it gives you a way to help your guards if there’s a tricky defensive matchup without necessarily having to turn away from your favorite offensive options.
Here’s another look, this time rotating all over the floor only to still find a way to make a play on the ball at the end. We see him initially hedge and recover, supported by Hawkins low, he does a nice job of closing out on the cross-court pass to the opposite corner. He deters the drive attempt and then switches back to fronting as his new cover attempts to get open inside. Colorado runs action to get the ball back into the corner to his initial man, Dak (#8). Onyenso closes out again, and then is still able to drop back down to block the shot of the 6’8″ Assane Diop (#35) from behind.
At his most engaged and energetic, this is what Onyenso can offer. It’s good mobility in the open floor while still being able to offer functional rim support despite being pulled away from the hoop on multiple occasions.
Here he is picking up in transition initially, recovering to his post cover, only to step back up and block the jumper (a foul is called here on his teammate, but this was a nice play by him).
Or here, below, picking up another guard in transition, and this time getting beaten on the first step, but still having plenty of reaction/length/ability to just get back and easily block the layup attempt:
Even when he’s not directly blocking shots, he’s doing a nice job either forcing misses, like here, stepping up from zone, absorbing the drive and bothering the shot:
This next one, below, is a really nice look at him taking away two players at once. After initially helping to shut down a drive, he recovers to his man in the post, swims over him, and stands up to the driving guard. At about 8 seconds into the clip, you can see 6’5″ Javon Ruffin (#11) get fully by his man. Onyenso has to step up, leaving his cover, the 6’10” 268lb Elijah Malone in good position around the rim. But, instead of taking a shot himself or finding a pass to Malone, Ruffin hesitates and gets lost in that space due to the presence of Onyenso. He kind of quasi-pump fakes, gets too far into the lane to eliminate a passing angle, and ends up forcing a one-handed scoop runner around Onyenso’s contest that misses without touching the rim.
Such can be the benefit of having Onyenso at home in there – it can confuse an otherwise pretty favorable position.
Here’s a look where he doesn’t even jump because the ball handler gets on him too quickly and he doesn’t want to foul; but his sheer presence and size despite backing away causes a difficult finish that misses.
He’s also a shot deterrent. There are quite a few opportunities that simply don’t get taken because of his presence around the ball – like this baseline drive below (after another quality post-denial):
Or here, below, when the out of bounds play actually works for Diop (#35) and Onyenso gives up the inbound right under the hoop – but the 6’8″ Diop thinks better of even attempting a shot with Ugonna right on his back and kicks it back out instead.
So this, along with just making it hard in general to get the ball inside are his biggest strengths on the defensive end. He can make sledding really difficult around the rim; especially when you don’t always see him coming.
Of course, you will sometimes get the over-aggressive help where he takes himself out of a play trying to block something a little too aggressively. Like here’s a good look against Houston where he leaves too early and before he needs to and gives up a easy dunk on the back end:
I will say this specific mistake wasn’t overly common; and it’s also one that I think Coach Odom will live with because, while he will preach sound and tough defense, he also likes aggression. Still, it’s worth noting that he can be a little over-enthusiastic at times.
On Ball Defense
Now we start to get into an area where there were a few more questions than there were the resounding answers he was providing in the clips above.
He actually wasn’t bad at all defensively on the perimeter in isolation; especially when paired against an opposition’s frontcourt player. Like, here, for example, you see him solid in space from the wing against Diop. He gets good depth on the drive while still being able to deliver a solid contest on the shot. The rebound comes off quickly and he doesn’t get turned quickly enough to secure it, which is the worst part of this play, but after the follow up miss, he’s able to secure a strong rebound in traffic to end the possession.
He could absorb some contact and force some shots fading away from the basket with good contests, like he does here against the 6’8″ J’Wan Roberts (#13) from Houston.
Or making some typically decent looks like this hook shot attempt by the 6’8″ Ja’Vier Francis (#5) at the end of the half look more like prayers:
But, generally speaking, I did think he was more vulnerable in direct post defense than I expected; especially considering how hard he makes even getting the ball in there a challenge. He struggled more against quickness than against strength or length – but a quality hook shot or a quick spin move could prove to be quite effective against him when he was more on his heels having to defend directly against an offensive player with depth.
Here’s another look against Ousmane, who we saw earlier had some trouble getting open… but when he did, he had some success getting into a quick hook shot before Onyenso had the ability to react. We see him here really having to fight to get open again, and that’s a tough shot/finish, but it was quick enough that Onyenso doesn’t really react quickly enough to bother it.
Here’s another look from that same game, and this time we can see it’s a little more methodical and less flukey. Ousmane gets the ball pretty deep, dribbles to his left hand, uses his lower body to create some separation by attacking Onyenso’s legs, and then finishes with the nice hook (while drawing the foul).
And here’s a different look against Roberts (#13), but this time he’s able to just kind of lull Onyenso and then go up quickly with that left-handed hook.
It’s not that it’s a bad contest from Onyenso on that one; it’s just that he’s got to know that the only shot Roberts has after that sequence of dribbles and spacing is that left-handed hook and he still doesn’t have the best angle on blocking the shot (and is still too far down in his squat to get the verticality he’s capable of).
This is where I think a little more study of his opponent’s tendencies will go a long way as well as being more aggressive toward attempting to smother some of these shorter players once they’ve picked up their dribble as opposed to keeping that defensive stance and reacting to the move would both be helpful.
The other area where he was prone to offer some concessions was on the quick spin move.
Here’s a look against Colorado where he sets up too high after the post catch and concedes the spin baseline for the finish on the other side.
He played that like he expected the double team to come, and it did come, just late… but there’s no point where you should stop defending and concede an open lane to the hoop this close to the basket, even if you’re expecting help. You defend, slightly shade, and then make your angle more dramatic once the help has actually arrived. Additionally, why send help in the post against this matchup? Onyenso has the significant size advantage and you should be playing him to shut down matchups like this. The lead is sizeable; you don’t need to mix something up. A good example of both poor coaching but also poor execution on Ugonna’s part.
Here, below, same game, similar thing. He positions himself far too high when defending the post, allowing the baseline spin with the help side defender way too far away. Now, in this instance, he’s able to use his size to still shut down a shot attempt after being beaten and then crosses the lane to block the shot attempt before eventually biting on the shot fake and fouling.
It’s, all-in-all, a great example of how his physical abilities can make up for some mistakes and, candidly, leaves me more encouraged. Still, he was put in the difficult situation by conceding such a clean spin move through either physical or executional failure.
Lest you think it’s just a schematic flaw, here’s a similar look against Dickinson where he’s not over-shading and just gets left in the dust on the spin (nice help side block by Hawkins, though).
I don’t mean to present this as any kind of glaring weakness. We saw how he did some positive things through sheer ability even when he was beaten, and we saw some other quality contests. The vast majority of Dickinson’s 25 points came when Onyenso was out of the game and, as we saw earlier, he had to fight to even get the ball against Ugonna most of the time. Still, it wasn’t as much of a strength as I would have expected given what I’ve previously shown. He did show some vulnerability against that quick hook or spin, conceding position around the rim.
The better way to classify it, for me, is that he’s an incredibly imposing presence on the interior; but he’s not at the point of being a shutdown defender in there. And yet, I still think there’s plenty of room for growth here.
Defending In Space
This is where Onyenso struggled the most defensively; playing in space primarily against ball screens. It was a combination of his mobility and change of direction against smaller and quicker players (both guards and quicker bigs); but also of his feel for how to defend these actions and where he was most needed to provide resistance. I think it was more mental processing than physical ability (although there was some both), as he showed much more defensive prowess in space when there wasn’t that ball screen and he just had the primary defensive responsibility in isolation. I still think there was some disconnect with the coaching, as sometimes he just stayed deeper than you’d want when you knew he was capable (and we’ve seen it earlier in this piece) of stepping up and bothering a shot.
Let’s take a look at some of these. It was most noticeable against Houston, with their skilled guards and mobile bigs, but was also evident against Kansas when they would actually sub Dickinson out some in response to Onyenso being in (and Jerome Tang should have absolutely played the matchup with Onyenso being in the game when Dickinson was, but he didn’t) instead opting for the smaller and much quicker 6’9″ Flory Bidunga at Center instead of his typical PF position.
This first look is against Houston and the 6’8″ Joseph Tugler (#11) who sets a ball screen for Milos Uzan (#7). Between Uzan, L.J. Cryer, and Emanuel Sharp – the Houston guards were skilled, tough, and could go and get you a bucket. Onyenso just takes way too much depth here on his drop; to the point of offering no resistance at all and letting Uzan make a fairly easy runner in the lane without fear of a shot block.
Yes, Houston was a very good offensive rebounding team, but Onyenso has such a size advantage on his man here; it’s not like he needs to scramble back like this to protect from a mismatch. He should be able to step up and contest the drive and still recover back if there’s a dump off given everything. Far too passive here.
Here’s another look at it from the same game. This time the drop is too deep again, not offering anything to deter the midrange jumper. Even if that was by design to concede that depth, then he fails to get a good box out in on the rebound or turn around quickly enough, which would be the point of getting that depth anyway.
It makes him feel stiff in space and slower to react.
Here, below, we see him as the primary defender on J’Wan Roberts (#13) as the ball handler running off of a ball screen. This is not Onyenso’s natural habitat, and I will be surprised if he runs into (or is played) on many who can navigate this as well as Roberts. That being said, this is a catastrophe. When the screen happens, it looks like there should be a switch, but instead he’s laser focused on getting back into defensive position on Roberts on the play. He’s slow doing so, and doesn’t initiate any contact to be intrusive at all – it’s just a wide buffer. This leaves no one on Emanual Sharp (#21) who was the best three-point shooter for the Cougars.
This is Houston clearly taking advantage of Onyenso to sow some confusion and put him in a position of weakness (navigating/reading ball screen defense from the ball handler side while needing to recover in space).
Here’s a look against Kansas where they’ve got Bidunga (#40) in the game (which, again, would have been a great opportunity to play N’Guessan and Hawkins and not have them needing to break the defense to double Dickinson. Onyenso does a better job to stepping up on the ball handler here but doesn’t have the speed (nor the help side defense) to recover to protect against the lob for the quicker Bidunga.
It’s that whole hip fluidity thing again as well as not having the awareness to bait or deter a play while still being able to recover. When he steps up to help, he just loses track of his man for too long.
It’s not to say it was always disastrous; but it often didn’t look easy. Like here he shades off and deters a drive in the Kansas game and still recovers enough to keep the rebound out of Bidunga’s hands (although it would have been better to grab this himself).
Bonus credit in that one from making an entry pass to Bidunga look completely undesirable early on.
And here’s a look against Houston, below, where they’re clearly attempting to exploit this matchup. At first, he does a nice job of letting Hawkins chase over a ball screen while retreating in the lane, offering rim support, and then returning to his man. Undeterred, Houston sets another ball screen with Onyenso’s man. This time Onyenso plays drop but not as far as we saw previously, but his momentum backwards keeps him from getting a timely jump to contest the shot. Still, it’s a midrange pull up, which is missed. KSU’s guard isn’t able to box out Tugler (#11), but Onyenso is able to get back into the play to contest the put back at the rim, forcing another miss.
Not pretty and, again, you can see why it’s a weakness, but also he scrapped here and kept the ball out of the net. There were elements to that play that were lacking and imperfect; especially retreating against an athletic guard’s dribble drive; but also elements that were good, like the angle taken to help Hawkins and the ability to force a miss on the put back attempt.
This is the area that is an actual weakness to his defensive game. The quickness in space and also the decision making/analysis. Coach Odom features regular (almost exclusive) drop coverage against ball screens from his Centers (I actually liked Onyenso better when he hedged these). Onyenso will need to prove that he can slide his feet against smaller players and deter those shots at the rim (as we’ve seen he’s more than capable of doing) while recovering back to his man in time to shut down a lob or an offensive rebound. This is where he’s most going to need to be coached up on how to diagnose a play and where he needs to be on the floor to maximize his ability to be bothersome. It’s also where I think Grünloh will be more effective as a defender in most circumstances.
Rebounding
I’ve shown him securing quite a few rebounds in the clips above so I won’t spend a ton of time belaboring this section. Onyenso isn’t what I would call the best defensive rebounder. His reaction time to turn and track the ball and get his hands up on quick caroms off of the rim isn’t great. Where he is quite effective is being able to go up and secure a rebound over a crowd. But he does still sometimes struggle staying in front of quickness and getting beaten to a ball (notice also him over-playing and getting split badly early in the clip):
And there’s also the occasional mental lapse and he doesn’t get a good box out – likely when he thinks he should just be able to turn and jump for the ball, like here:
Here’s what I’d say – you can feel pretty comfortable that you’re not just going to get overwhelmed on the glass by the opposition when Onyenso’s on the floor. We should have very few-to-none of these continual possessions like we saw last year where we just got pushed around and out-jumped inside. Onyenso will be a strong and physical presence in there who will push some guys around (I showed in the offensive rebounding section) and can go up and high point a ball for you. He’s not going to be flying all over the floor, though. He doesn’t have that natural instinct to track the ball in the air off of the rim nor the mobility to go get it like some bigs. He is going to do a good job of securing the glass when the ball comes to his area (which isn’t insignificant, he controls a lot of space). I think there’s some room for him to improve in this area with better positioning and a more constant motor.
In Conclusion
There’s been some chatter that Onyenso might begin the season as our starting Center due to his experience at the collegiate level and the delay to the international players practicing with the team. While I wouldn’t say I’d be surprised if he started the year off in that capacity, I think it’s more likely he comes off of the bench and, certainly, by the mid-point of the season I expect him to be doing so. It speaks to the value that I believe Grünloh (who I haven’t covered yet) offers as an offensive player without sacrificing a ton of the defensive end.
That being said, I expect quality minutes from Ugonna Onyenso this year in a backup Center capacity, which will probably be more of a time share than many believe. Again, Odom likes to run a lot and likes bigs who can get up and down the floor, which both can do. He’s going to want them to be fresh and energetic on both ends. Additionally, the Center position is truly unique in Coach Odom’s system where the 1-4 are all mostly tasked with the ability to push the ball up the floor, handle it, and shoot the three; while the Center is primarily tasked with setting ball screens and pressuring the rim on offense, and playing center field on defense. We have exactly two guys on the roster who can do this well against most competition we face; and I expect us to have one of them out there most if not all of the game. As a result, I think you should expect to see more of a 60-40 time share split (maybe even more like 55-45) between the Centers without much desire to play small ball outside of the rare specific matchup or foul trouble.
Additionally, Onyenso fills a very specific role and need contrasted with Grünloh in addition to other non-Centers. He’s a stronger, more physical presence, who should be a more formidable shot blocker. You’ll play him against bigger, stronger Centers to try to keep the ball out of their hands through aggressive post denial, and to match their physicality and length on the inside. Onyenso has proven to be a very capable option for that against some of the best and most imposing bigs in the game. You’ll also play him when your guards are struggling with matchups in isolation and you need someone to swoop in and erase some opportunities. Additionally, his ability to act as a lob or put back threat on the offensive end should hold some of the opposition’s best rim protection at bay; allowing our slew of playmakers to have more success finishing around the rim, or giving them a highly efficient conversion point when they draw help. So, while there will be specific matchup-related reasons you’ll put him in the game (and he might even play more of the minutes), you’re also just going to give him quality run in a vacuum as well.
We have a good understanding of what Onyenso’s minimum contribution will be, and those skills work very well in this system and complement the roster surrounding him quite well. But, the most exciting aspect of bringing him onto the team, in my opinion, is that there are so many areas in his game; like his offensive post moves, his ability to understand and read the game on both ends, his ability to play to his specific matchup on defense, even his shooting, where he has room to make great strides. He still reads very raw as a player despite having played three collegiate seasons. Should Coach Odom and his staff help him make some individual progress in both skill and knowledge this offseason, Onyenso has the kind of potential that doesn’t know much of a ceiling. I’ll be looking forward to seeing which way the pendulum swings for him this coming year while feeling very optimistic that the move from Jerome Tang to Ryan Odom will start him off in a much more favorable position.
Alright! Thanks for waiting until the other side of my vacation for this one! My next piece will be on the man CTB apparently called “a bucket” at one practice; Malik Thomas. Until then!
Leave a Reply