Hallo, and welcome to the second ever installation of the Cuts From The Corner “International Series” in which we’ll focus on the 7-footer from Deutschland, Johann Grünloh. Feel free to check out Part 1 for some thoughts on Thijs De Ridder. As a reminder, the key difference in this series from “Tracking A Transfer” is with the level of depth we get into. I’m still finding the right balance with these. For players coming over from the portal, there’s typically a good amount of full game tape on them vs. collegiate level talent. On the international scene, there are varying levels of available footage, not to mention a varying level of competition.
Grünloh played in the top level of Basketball Bundesliga; the German domestic league. It’s no Liga ACB; but there’s still talent here. For example, the best team in the league last season, Bayern Munich’s best player was none other than THE Carsen Edwards, who led the team in scoring with 15ppg. Grünloh played for Rasta Vechta, a low-mid table team that finished with a 16-16 record. Vechta’s leading scorer, at 19ppg, was Brandon Randolph from Arizona. Their PG was Tyger Campbell from UCLA, and they also featured none other than our very own Jayden Gardner (who was the team’s leading rebounder at 7.2 per game and who has developed his outside shot at least a little bit). So, that should give you a general sense of the talent level of this league. It has a lot of very good former collegiate players, but most of the talent isn’t either former NBA guys or aspiring ones, like with Liga ACB. Rasta Vechta also played in the Basketball Champions League, though, which is a concurrent international club league for which they qualified. This chronology was a bit of a confusing follow since I was binging clips instead of watching full games; but we got it sussed out I will say that he looked considerably improved on the defensive side toward some of the mid-to-latter games on the schedule.
Out of this whole league, Grünloh was likely to be considered its best prospect. Just 19 years old his last professional season, Johann was also on NBA draft boards as potentially being selected in the 2nd round. The difference between him and De Ridder, also projected in a similar area, is that Grünloh is still very much a developing project while De Ridder is much closer to a finished product (of course he can still get better but he’s considerably closer to his ceiling).
At Vechta in 2024-2025, Grünloh played 22.5 minutes per game, scored just under 8ppg, shot 34% from three (46% from the field), and grabbed 5.6 rebounds per game (tied for 2nd on the team). He was the starting Center but played heavy rotational minutes. Grünloh is listed at 7’0″ and 238lbs. I’d be absolutely shocked if he runs 238. For perspective, Jay Huff was an inch taller and was listed at 240lbs when he finished college; and Grünloh looks closer to the 190lbs that Huff weighed when he started college than that 240. That’s hyperbole, but Johann does feel considerably over listed. Gaining strength is probably the single thing that could help improve his game the most (as it would also likely improve both his lateral quickness and his ability to stand up to strength).
While Grünloh is still very much a work in progress, I would be hard pressed to find a player on this year’s roster with more potential. I say that to establish that there are clear weaknesses to his game. I don’t expect him to come in and contribute in the same way Thomas or De Ridder will out of the gate. I’m not even sure Onyenso won’t be competitive in minutes over the season due to his experience and defensive prowess (something I’ll talk about in me preview piece and maybe will briefly discuss below – it should be pretty close either way). That being said, Grünloh should still be a significantly impactful player with the potential to be hugely so. He’s a project with regard to his own ceiling; which is incredibly high, and even though some of the thoughts below will point out some areas for improvement, I do think he’s making strides.
This will be the first piece I’ve ever written like this where I didn’t have full game tape to go off of. I really try to avoid doing analysis without it, because highlights disproportionately make a player’s offense look fantastic and their defense look terrible. That’s because they’re really only focusing on either made baskets or box score stuffing defensive plays (blocks, steals). It’s harder to get a sense of how that player plays over the span of a game, how involved they are with the offensive flow, and how they’re impacting the game defensively in ways that aren’t showing up in the stats. That being said, Grünloh is too important of a player not to cover, so for this I just tried to consume every extended highlight session I could find for Vechta last year. To my pleasant surprise, there was a lot out there and most of it was edited to show full possessions rather than just the made buckets. As a result, while this is the least well-versed I feel like I’ve been on a player I’ve featured, I still feel like we were able to get there with regard to having a solid understanding of his game and his strengths and weaknesses. These Cuts, below, are the ones I think best illustrate the full picture. Again, while I will break them down into Offense/Defense, I’ll merely talk about his game in a more free-flowing way rather than breaking each element down into a section. I should probably reiterate here that, while I’m giving some caveats, I’m very high on him!
So, what kind of player is Johann Grünloh? If I had to classify him, I would describe him as a true stretch Center… but one who lets you avoid having to play small ball; which is a massive benefit. You want him on the floor for his offense. He’s a very good shooter, he is an effortless dunker who can keep constant pressure on the rim and has good touch around it; but he’s also a nice passer, too. You’re not going to get a lot from him one-on-one – either off the drive or with his back to the basket. He doesn’t have either the lateral explosion nor the strength to just beat someone on his own from parity regularly, but he converts opportunities very well when having a slight advantage. What you are going to get is excellent spacing, the ability to pick and pop for a three or to dive to the rim for an easy dunk. He may not be quick, but he is pretty fast and runs the open floor well. Perhaps his biggest strength is that he has very good eye-hand coordination, surprisingly so, across all of his skills, and catches it well in traffic. If you don’t get a body on him, he’ll follow shots energetically to get easy put backs. His verticality comes easily, especially when he has a head of steam – in fact, sometimes it catches you off guard and he does something eye-popping that you don’t expect. Frankly, his presence on the floor opens things up offensively for your entire team; allowing you to run a 5-out in its purest form should you so desire.
Often in college when you get that offensive skillset at the Center position, you have to concede size and length on the interior and it can be costly on defense. This is not the case for Grünloh – which is another huge benefit to having him out there. He’s a 7-footer with reach and he can jump a little as well. He is a very good shot blocker. In fact, during a short spurt in the Basketball Champions League, he set a single game record with 8 blocks and at one point was second across the competition in blocks per game (at 3.2). He averaged a more modest 1.5 in Bundesliga play, but absolutely offers rim protection that has to be feared. He’s incredibly aggressive about trying to block shots; attacking the ball and trying to make plays; he also doesn’t back down when challenged. That being said; while he’s a very good shot blocker he still has a lot of room for growth as an interior defender. He struggles with lateral quickness, at times, which can be a considerable pain point against the pick and roll. He also will get a little lost in those coverages, and can struggle with strength on the interior.
I don’t think there’s much doubt that what he brings on the offensive side of the ball should help grease the wheels of an already threatening group. My main question, and where I think he will fluctuate from being a starter or a spark plug off of the bench (although I expect his minutes will be fairly similar either way), is what that trade off looks like on the defensive end vs. what Onyenso can bring with his strength and length. We can get into that a little more later. For now, let’s dive into the tape!
Offense
The first thing to tackle, and what likely most differentiates him from most Centers (especially in college), is his ability to shoot the ball. While he’ll be our least consistent three-point shooting threat on the floor (outside of Onyenso and maybe Gertrude), his almost 35% is still very good and just shy of where Dallin Hall is. He can bury the open kick-out comfortably – keeping his defender honest.
It’s incredibly valuable to keep the opposition’s Center and, almost always, best rim protection, from being able to camp in the paint. It opens up all kinds of driving lanes for teammates; potentially even more valuable than the ability to hit the shot itself.
But, he’s not one of those guys who can just spot up and only looks to take it when he’s wide open, like with the above. He’s got a relatively quick release and a high release point, and doesn’t hesitate to launch when the look is there. He’ll absolutely punish drop coverage on defense with a pick and pop:
Note there the initial ball fake before the shot in that last clip – the comfort and skill not to have to jump right into rhythm, but the ability to manipulate the defense and then knock down the shot.
Another look at it, below, because it’s probably the most common way he’ll get these kinds of looks as his defenders aren’t likely to leave him alone if they’ve read the scouting report, but are likely to have to linger to help on one of our drivers:
That high release point (even higher due to his stature) really allows him to shoot it confidently because he doesn’t have to worry much about all but the most intrusive contests.
He can also catch it and take the step back behind the line before shooting; still punishing a help-focused defender:
I really like in that one how when he caught the ball he was initially leaning as if he was going to roll toward the hoop, but when he read the play and noticed his defender was off of him, it was comfortable for him to just adjust his feet and fire away.
We’ll see later how he’s a threat running the floor, but he’s also a threat in the secondary break just hanging back and spotting up.
Most bigs hustle back to try to protect the rim in transition when the defense is unset, so having to account for Grünloh on the perimeter if they are successful, and then recovering to him, is a nightmare.
In addition to having that three-point element to his game, though, he’s also very comfortable taking what’s given in the midrange. Often it comes as a zone-buster, like you see below, where he catches the ball at the high post and just takes what’s given when the defense doesn’t react quickly enough:
But, there are also other times in the pick and pop where the action is inside of the arc and he has no issue shooting from differing ranges.
This is the headliner and the biggest reason the best versions of our team are probably ones in which he emerges as the starter and/or plays at least over half of the time. It keeps great spacing on the floor across all five positions and creates more productive finishing across our team whether it be a set piece working to create an open look or from someone making a play in isolation. That being said, there are a great deal of offensive situations in which he’s well suited, from getting easy baskets to making skilled plays.
He’s scary as a finisher out of the pick and roll. Primarily, because when he can get running toward the basket without the ball, he’s an effortless dunker and it’s really hard to contest him above the rim. Here you see him with a clean catch on a nice little pocket pass. He catches the ball just inside the free throw line while on the move. Without breaking stride, he can go up and just dunk it without having to dribble:
If he puts the ball on the deck there or bobbles the catch at all, the defender is probably able to get back into the play and at least bother it a little. But, no, he’s very smooth.
Now this next clip is one of those in which I’m talking about him being surprisingly explosive with his verticality. He starts his roll after the screen and takes the bounce pass pretty early. He receives it kind of low, too, where he has to bend down a little and reach behind him a little to collect it. But, again, no dribbles, keeps his momentum up despite the difficult catch, and absolutely dunks it over poor Sadik Kabaca (#6). That dude is 6’10”!!!
An incredible finish at full extension… just demoralizing if you’re Kabaca, despite the scoreboard.
He is very comfortable taking that run closer to the hoop and finishing on the alley oop – potentially even more difficult to defend. Once he gets to a certain depth; you just throw it up at the rim, like here:
Or, like here:
Vechta looked to find opportunities for these in a variety of ways, actually, including back screens and out of bounds set pieces where they could get him clear-running toward the basket and just toss it up there:
And even when it’s not the direct dunk on the jump; Vechta could still find easy offense at times by catching the defense out of position and lobbing it over them to Johann for easy finishes around the bucket:
So, you can see, he’s always got to be accounted for on the offensive end. You can’t sleep on him when he’s on the perimeter and you have to stay plastered to him whenever he’s near the bucket or else those easy points follow.
This also applies to offensive rebounding where he does a nice job of staying active, following shots, and getting things while they’re still around the rim. It helps that in Euro leagues the ball is fair game as soon as it hits the rim, but these would still count for us as well. Here’s just an easy put back after a miss that he cleans up and you can see how pointless it is for the defense to try to contest it once he has it that deep:
Here he just finds another way to punish help defense. His man has to leave him to help stop the drive, but it’s comes easily for Grünloh to high point the ball over the collapsing defenders and tip it in.
This next one is a pretty cool look, I think. Grünloh moves to set a ball screen for Tyger Campbell, but instead he slips the screen himself while Campbell rejects the screen and attacks his man off of the bounce. What results is Johann diving down the lane and shielding his own defender from helping to cut off the driving lane. Finally, when his man gets there to contest the shot, there’s no hope for Campbell’s man to do anything but watch Grünloh make the effortless put back dunk.
I illustrated earlier how his three-point shot can punctuate a secondary break – but he also runs the floor quite well in general. In fact, he’s talked in interviews about how when people haven’t seen his game they’d likely be surprised at how much he likes to run. Here he does a great job of bothering the finish on a drive, and then hustling down the floor to fill the lane for a return pass. When the help defender tries to stop him, he’s at a full sprint, and just explodes through his body with the smooth lay in and the foul:
That finish above brings me to another element of his game that I want to touch on which is a great strength, but also hints at an area for development. Grünloh has really nice touch around the rim. Sometimes it gets him out of potentially awkward situations. Here, below, for example, the help side defender does get over quickly enough to disrupt Johann’s path to the basket. His footwork gets choppy with the momentum and he almost travels, so he kind of floats the ball up toward the basket… but the touch is pure:
I saw it enough to know that it wasn’t a fluke, even if it was a result of him not really having a back-up plan when his straight-line was cut off.
Here’s another look, probably a more difficult shot, off of the pick and roll again. This time the help defender is on him quickly when he turns to the hoop after the catch. Grünloh does a nice job of not getting suckered into the charge but ends up shooting this awkward leaning, falling-away, kind of half hook, half push shot… thing. Again, no problem and he makes the finish look easy!
The great news about this is the finesse and the touch. I mentioned his eye-hand coordination earlier and this is a one element of that. The drawback is that it’s often the kind of shot he ends up taking in that situation. There’s not a ton of ability to change direction and get around the defender, so he kind of backs off of the full contact and puts something up. It’s the element of his offensive game that he needs to work on the most. Since he’s not that strong and not that quick, defenders can slow him down when they can get their hands on him or force him to change direction. You might see him take a hook shot or something like this out of the post; but it’s mostly going to be stuff going away from the basket because strong defenders are able to disrupt his post moves by pushing on him, making contact, etc. When he can shoot, he’s deadly, and when he can get moving without the ball and then convert something, he’s also deadly; build up that momentum like a snowball. But, to become a complete offensive player, he’ll need to work on that strength which should give him a more explosive first step and allow him to hold his ground (or even create space) when dealing with an imposing big. Fleshing out that back to the basket and/or face up game is the last big piece to an already effective offensive package.
Speaking of… one last element of his offensive game I want to cover that could be under-appreciated is his passing. I was really impressed with his passing. He reads a defense well and makes quick decisions but the two things that most impressed me were his technical execution (he’ll one-hand a pass across court on a dime) and the way in which he’d create misdirection by showing the ball to open up good passing opportunities.
Here’s a first look, below, where he catches the ball in the high post and faces the play. Watch how, keeping the ball overhead, he looks to the corner and gives a slight ball fake in that direction. The defense reacts, with one player jumping the angle to the corner and another looking to cut off the pass and recover to the wing. This creates a perfect opportunity for a baseline back door cut, where Grünloh delivers the ball and gets the hockey assist.
I really like that kind of heady play from a player still in his teens as of this clip; influencing the defense with his eyes and subtle gestures.
Here’s a look, below, at his ability to execute quickly and accurately. He doesn’t get an assist on this play, either, because of a missed corner three – but he sets it up brilliantly. Grünloh moves as if to set a ball screen again and slips it when both defenders lunge at Campbell. The pass into him on the block has too much air on it for him to get it ahead of the help defense but, undeterred, he just opens to the floor with the ball high and whips a pass right to Gardner in the corner. The three misses, but Johann actually occupies defenders enough that his teammate can come in and crash the glass for the put back.
Coaches often work on keeping the ball moving; reading a defense… “processing” is the word of the moment, and then making quick and accurate passes to create an opportunity. The processing time from when Grünloh collected the ball on the block, recognized the help defender was there, and picked out the corner pass was incredibly quick. Additionally, the execution of the pass itself was quickly delivered there on a rope and with no wasted motion. Very nice.
Here, below, we actually get a little flash! I really like this play. We start with an offensive rebound as Grünloh starts to seal/proactively box out the defensive man on the Campbell drive. This can pretty easily turn into a seal screen, but it also allows him to secure the glass – and this action is something Odom regularly does with his bigs. But after the rebound is where we see the savvy. He comes down with the ball with his momentum taking him away from the basket. At that point, he sees his teammate is open and cutting to the hoop. In order to keep the defense from recognizing the threat or being prepared to cut off the dive, Grünloh casually starts to dribble away from the basket as if he’s going to reset the play, and then just flips it to his teammate diving toward the rim.
So smooth, but also purposeful. It might look like he’s being nonchalant, but he’s actually being coy and keeping the defense from communicating or recognizing where he’s going to go with the ball until the last moment and, by then, there’s no stopping it.
One more look, below, and this time you see so many elements working in concert. First, you see those good hands reaching out and snagging the ball from the defender who was trying to make a play on it. Quickly, he pivots back toward the hoop and uses a ball fake toward the corner to make the defender move to cut off the pass/close out. Then, we see him put the ball on the deck enough to draw the last defender, before shuffling the ball around him to Gardner (#1) for the lay up.
That’s my favorite of all of these, not because the pass was especially hard, but because you can see the wheels turning and how comfortable he is navigating/forcing the defense to react so that he can make the easiest play.
As he crosses the ocean to the States, I do think that there will be some adjustment here. There was a ton of skill he competed against, but he’ll probably have to deal with other 7-footers here more often. He’s used to strength and physicality, but there will probably be more contact allowed in our college game, certainly on the ball, than he’s used to. That being said, he’s such a skilled player with so much natural physical ability, that I have very little concern about the offensive side of his game translating. Even if he’s getting pushed around some, he’s still going to be a threatening shooter who pulls guys from the rim, he’s still going to be a very talented passer, he’s still going to have great touch as a finisher, and you’re still not going to be able to do much about balls up around the rim if he’s got some space running toward the basket. That, coupled with his love for running the floor make him such a great fit as a weapon in Odom’s scheme. Grünloh will make any defense uncomfortable with how they have to guard us collectively, and he’ll allow for some true 5-out sets which provides coveted flexibility.
Defense
Now it’s time to chat about the other side of the ball. It’s funny, there have been whole articles written about his defensive attributes, and pumping that up as the strength of his game. And, from what I saw, there are certainly reasons why. His ability to get to and bother shots, at times, can help fortify a defense. He did appear to progress significantly as both Bundesliga and Champions League seasons wore on. That being said, the discussions about his ability to defend in space; especially the pick and roll, as well as his ability to hold up to strength inside are probably slightly under-stated in that article. They’re the biggest question mark I have about his game and trying to figure out how to slot his impact on the team. Let’s start, first, with the undeniably positive element of his game, though….
He can be a very imposing shot blocker, he has a great motor, AND fantastic aggressiveness in trying to make those plays. Just like with his finishing on offense, he’s best defensively when he can beeline toward a play and high point the ball… OR, when he’s closed out the space on the offensive player and can smother them around the rim.
Here’s a nice first look at him high pointing a shot to great effect. Initially, he goes to hedge on a screen away from the ball, looking to deny a pass. He recognizes the ball is under the hoop a little late, but leaves his man to collapse down and help with the rim protection. The cool part about this play is that he’s initially diving down to help the defender on the ball, but recognizes that the pass is coming to the cutter on the fly, and adjusts his jump to swat the shot without even coming close to fouling with the body.
That’s really nice and is a first glimpse at him being effective running back into the play to help.
This next one, below, is very nice (and you get bonus footage of him running the floor and finishing after his block since I talked about his strength in transition a good deal above but only had a couple of clips). This is a really nice job of stepping up to shut down the drive but without jumping and taking himself out of position. It keeps him active in the play, allowing him to slide across the lane and completely erase the shot attempt, leading to that run out:
That clip is Grünloh at his defensive best, in my opinion. He’s alert and shutting everything down on both sides of the rim, and his activity/play making creates an offensive opportunity that he takes advantage of perfectly. It’s hard not to get fired up and carried away a little bit thinking about possibilities after that one.
This next one, below, we see Johann do a nice job of reacting when the offensive player eats up his space. He does a nice job with his body control of not giving the foul but still using his superior length to reach out horizontally and get the rejection.
This will be a good clip to keep in mind when we look at him in space later. He has areas for improvement; but he also has flashes where he reacts well to the drive.
Here’s another one of those where he gets good depth on the drop coverage and then just plucks the shot right off of the guard’s hand on the way up!
That clip above showcases some of his attack, as well, as he swipes at the ball proactively to make a play rather than risking letting the offensive player get it up from a difficult release point.
He is a looming presence in there and sometimes he just engulfs his opposition; surely with guards, like the above, but also with forwards, as well. This next clip is 6’8″ Jordon Varnado (from Troy, if you like knowing colleges), where Grünloh bites on the shot fake at first, but is still just long and invasive enough to block the shot anyway (and, bonus clip… check out how quickly he’s getting into that cross-court two-handed outlet!).
That’s a pretty big guy that Johann is making look short and helpless there!
Where I saw the most improvement from him as a defender as the season progressed, though, is his reaction to the pick and roll either having to stay at home with his man or with switches. These next two plays he just wasn’t making earlier in the year, and there are plenty of examples of both going poorly.
This first one I like because he gets switched onto a guard at the perimeter and gets beaten to the point where the man gets by him entirely at the end of the shot clock. Despite that, Grünloh doesn’t give up on the play, chases him down from behind, and pins the shot against the glass as the shot clock expires!
It’s much improved recovery, good hustle and determination, and then just taking advantage of his great length and solid leaping.
For this next one, below, there’s a clip I wish I had clipped to show by contrast – but he was just a step slow earlier in the year and there were several alley oops thrown behind him after the roll. But here, later in the year, he does a really nice job reacting in time to smother the shot:
He wasn’t making that play earlier in the year. He wasn’t realizing what was happening in time to react to it nor was he actually retreating quickly enough. This time he’s there in more than enough time to eliminate the threat.
The last thing I wanted to show regarding his shot blocking prowess is just how determined he is. He really doesn’t give up on plays, and there were quite a few situations where he’d just chase down a breakout in transition and get a basket-saving block from behind. Here’s one look, below, where the leading guard has a pretty significant head start, but Grünloh sprints back as fast as he can and just gets his hand on the ball, forcing a turnover in the process as it goes off the Ludwigsburg player.
I’m left thinking about a few of the Tracking A Transfer pieces I did earlier this season where guys didn’t really hustle back or try to stop these kinds of plays. That will need to change for them, but it’s absolutely a strength of Johann’s.
Here’s one more where he actually fully catches up and sends the ball back into play so that his team can begin pushing the other way.
So, yes, his improvement (we’ll get to that) was encouraging and his ability as a very good shot blocker who plays with a consistent motor is exciting!
But, what are these areas of improvement that I’ve been mentioning? There are two main areas, and while he’s made strides, there are still considerable question marks around them.
The first, and the one we’ll focus on the most, is with his recognition, decision-making, and lateral movement while defending the pick and roll. His lack of lateral quickness and acceleration can be an issue, which is compounded by the fact that he’s still pretty green when it comes to reading an offense. Let’s take a couple of looks at what I mean:
This first one isn’t really anything confusing with the coverage, it’s just him struggling to keep up with the quickness of his man on the perimeter after a switch. He really does nothing to impede the driver here. A man of his size you’d want to see trying to bump the guard a little or lean on him, maybe give a subtle arm bar… anything to try to negate some of that footspeed. Instead, Johann kind of passively shadows and then whiffs on the shot block attempt on the other side of the rim.
This next clip is a look at him trying to execute drop coverage. He just looks uncomfortable here. He gives too much depth, allows the offensive player to cross in front of him, and really just kind of gets spun around and lost. Never is he really a threat to slow the guard’s drive and he also gets pulled such that his back is to the play and he has no hope of contesting the finish.
This is what I mean about him struggling in space to find a way to make a positive impact and not losing his own man while trying to assist with the play.
Here, below, it’s even more awkward. Vechta has clearly made the decision to let Grünloh sag the lane on ball screens rather than getting up to hedge here. The problem is, he maintains too much depth, isn’t disruptive at all, and then just kind of swipes at the ball and then retreats to his man, leaving the guard all alone for the easy shot.
This is pretty clearly a miscommunication between he and Campbell. Campbell switched while Johann did not. Still, you never just leave a man you’re covering like that to recover to your own man when there’s no sign of your teammate getting back in the play. The mental aspect of this is something that can pretty easily be improved, but the way he sagged without being able to influence the guard is something he’ll need to work on.
This next one, below, in my opinion, may most highlight how he can mentally grow on the defensive side. The scouting report must indicate that he can sag off of this man as a non-shooter, which is what he’s doing. There’s a sizeable gap between he and his man while the ball is at the free throw line, almost daring the jumper. The problem with this is that staying so far back allows for easy sight lines for the offensive player. Furthermore, if you’re going to do this, you have to have your head on a “swivel” as they say. Basically, looking around to identify where you can help and react to cutters. Despite Grünloh playing at an almost comical depth, he’s just laser focused on the man with the ball, oblivious to the cutter swooping in behind him. This causes a late reaction where he can offer no effective rim protection.
This is a technique and understanding issue more than anything, but he needs to either be up on the ball handler, attempting to block sight lines, pressure, and bother any passes, or he needs to be scanning the floor if he’s giving that much of a cushion. He has plenty of time to react to driving motion as it is.
The identification but also that forward/reverse acceleration is a concern. This clip below is reminiscent of a recent clip UVa posted from one of their practices where Carter Lang ran easily by a Grünloh close out. In this clip below, you see Grünloh sag into the lane to tag a backdoor cut, only to see the ball rotate to his man on the wing. Johann charges out there for the contest, but it takes him a while to get going and, once he builds up that momentum, it’s neigh impossible for him to slam on the brakes and stay with his man driving right by him. This is naturally one of the hardest things for a defender to do anyway; recovering to be able to retreat after being in a full sprint closing out to the shooter… but Grünloh is a locomotive in this regard… needing a lot of track to stop that charge. He actually doesn’t come to a full stop until his man is actually past him going the other way.
Some of it is that he needs to actually temper that aggression and start breaking down his feet prior to getting there. He IS the rim protection so if he’s running a shooter off of the line… who is he running them to? But, a lot of it is just that physical ability/agility that some strength training could help. It’s a concern as of now.
Here’s one more look at something similar, below. This time he bites on the shot fake and takes himself entirely out of the play. The help defense rotates but, rather than working to get back into the play, Grünloh fades toward the corner as if to shut down a kick out. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea as a guard, but you really want your Center trying to get back to the rim as quickly as possible. Nymburk works the ball back inside, but there’s some fumbling of the pass; more than enough time for Grünloh to get back into the play and make his presence felt if he was mentally in it/identified the urgency. Instead, he kind of trots back in from the corner and is late to the shot blocking opportunity.
And here is kind of the counter to all of that, below. Because he’s not great with his acceleration, there are times when he gets buried in the lane helping out on the drive. Here, for example, he’s so worried about the quickness that he’s giving way too much depth. He’s not really bothering the driver at all, he’s simply declaring that he won’t let him go all the way to the basket. No matter, the guard kicks it back out to Grünloh’s man on the perimeter and there’s no chance of Johann getting any kind of contest on this shot.
He just got way too much depth again and then couldn’t even attempt to close out. Yes, he does make a hand gesture there indicating for his teammate to come help… but that’s too late anyway and, even if it wasn’t, then the corner three is wide open.
So, you can start to see what I mean in that he’s pretty fast but he’s not quick at all and can really struggle in space.
The other significant concern, and we need fewer clips to illustrate this one, is his lack of strength. This look, below, is Oscar Da Silva (#1), from Stanford, who runs 6’9″ 231. He absolutely just pushes Grünloh off of his center, and then pivots and shields him away from the ball, getting the easy basket inside.
Now, surely Johann was surprised by the brazenness of the contact here… but he’s got to be ready for that and, either way, he was completely outmuscled. I would suggest that if he was truly 238, he probably wouldn’t have as much trouble holding up against the 231 Silva manhandling him.
Ángel Delgado, from Seton Hall (hey, we offered him!), is #31 below. He runs 6’10”, 245lbs, and he absolutely worked Grünloh in this game to the tune of a perfect 6-6 from the floor. Here you see him easily seal Grünloh in the post (and when you’re thinking about pros and cons, think about how hard it was for players like Hunter Dickinson to even catch an entry pass against Onyenso), gives a little pump fake to induce a jump, easily creates space with his shoulder, and finishes.
Although he averaged 5.6 rebounds per game, this was still an issue for him in securing the glass, as well, as sometimes (and not infrequently) he’d just get overpowered trying to box out and hold position for a board. Here’s a look at that with Da Silva again, who isn’t really that big of a guy and is on par with a lot of the kinds of players Grünloh might have to box out in the NCAA:
That’s a rough look. Johann gets frozen in place and even pushed forward from the forearm in his back so that he’s bent over and can’t possibly jump. Da Silva could have been called for a foul for this… but that kind of jockeying happens all of the time and, more often than not, it’s not called. Grünloh is going to have to stand up to the physicality around the basket better.
So, is he a good shot blocker? He absolutely is! I showed more of those clips and they’re exciting because they illustrate the kind of impact he’s capable of having… but there is more to the picture. In case you think I’m embellishing… this was a small percentage of the defensive clips. Certain teams, especially Galatasaray, but many others across both the Bundesliga and Champions League had a really good time of it scoring on the interior against Vechta, even when Grünloh was in the game. They’d take advantage of his positioning and mobility, even bullying him at times. That being said, I don’t think it’s as bleak as all of that, either. I mentioned his improvement in his awareness and reaction throughout the season. He had that 8 block game against Promitheas in December and Vechta played through May… so there was marked improvement… but it was inconsistent.
In Conclusion
The offensive lineups with Grünloh on the floor should be our most lethal. They will allow Odom to get fully in his bag with no limitations. Anyone should be able to shoot it, the space around the basket should be open. This is why most are penciling him in as the starter and some are assuming a significantly higher minutes share; especially if you don’t lose much in the rim protection department when he’s on the floor.
I believe it’s going to be a push/pull (pulk?) with our Center position all season long. On the surface, it could be as simple as… if you need your best offensive lineups you turn to Grünloh and if you need our best defensive ones, you turn to Onyenso. Both are going to play probably close to half of the game either way, though, as we will be running all game, both love to do so, and we’ll be wearing those legs out. It’s a good problem to have because you can always lean into one or the other a little more, if necessary, situationally. In terms of who edges out the minutes and who ends up starting, it’s going to come down to two main things:
What will this team need most? I suspect that we are going to have enough ways to score between Odom’s scheme, transition game (which is really part of the scheme, for clarity), and how many shooters are on this roster. His offense still functions at a high level without a shooting Center as long as that player can provide good ball screening and rim running. Of course, it should be better and will certainly be more versatile with Grünloh… but if Grünloh is struggling to defend that pick and roll, is getting beaten up on the inside, or keeps getting caught trying to close out on a shooter on the perimeter, it might not always be the most favorable trade off. On the other hand, if Onyenso is bogging down the offense because teams find a way to cheat off of him and help clog the lane, perhaps you can’t turn to him as often. I don’t think we’ll find either of those scenarios to be the case. There’s been buzz out of Summer practices that Onyenso is a considerably better shooter than the staff realized, and Grünloh made visible strides defensively within just the one season and should continue to do so the more reps he gets and the more he works with Mike Curtis.
The next question might then be… can one of the two develop the other side of their game enough such that you’re not always having to weigh the pros and cons of playing one vs. the other? I doubt that as well. Grünloh is probably the more likely of the two to do so, but I’ll be surprised. It’s odd, because they are on the opposite ends on the Center skillset spectrum, but both still fit very well with how Odom likes to play. Onyenso is just a bigger, stronger, more formidable presence defensively in there – especially with his established ability to bang with the highest level bigs in college basketball… and Grünloh is just a way more skilled offensive player who will open things up on that side of the ball in ways that Onyenso can’t. They’re complimentary players in that both fill a gap in the other’s game. What I will say is that if Grünloh’s minutes trend positively, that’s probably a great sign for the team, because it means that our team defense is holding up while he’s playing and that he’s proving to be ready to compete against this level of competition.
All of that being said, I’m still very high on what Johann Grünloh can bring to the table this coming season and, hopefully, beyond (he has four years of eligibility and I’d absolutely love to get at least one more at a minimum). His potential for growth is probably unrivaled on the team (maybe you could make a case for Eli or Lewis… but I’d bet on Johann); but his game as it stands already offers a ton to work with. Add some upper and lower body strength to his frame and now you pack all of that skill, length, and physical ability into a player who is far less easily disrupted or evaded. His ceiling is through the roof… just like I’ll be the first time he throws down one of those monster dunks on an unsuspecting defender!
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Alright, gentlefolk, that’s the eighth and final installation of my player previews for this offseason! It’s been a long but fun journey documenting an entirely new offensive and defensive system, six of our portal transfers expected to make a big impact, and both of our NBA hopeful international players. I’m going to take a little bit of a breather for the rest of August and some amount of time into September.
So, what’s next for the offseason schedule for the site? Last season, StLouHoo did his ACC previews and power ranking predictions in September, and we’re hopeful that will happen again this year. I will take some time – but will put out my yearly hopes for playing time and rotations among the players sometime in late September or early October, as well. In October, we’ll get into the scrimmages (both Blue/White and against Villanova and Vanderbilt) and hopefully those will be streamed now… but the plan will be to do the “what’s real?” discussion after those again. Before you know it, we’ll be tipping off the regular season in November and the game recaps will start!
Thank you to everyone who has been reading the site, your thoughtful support and commentary, and being able to share such a hectic but exhilarating offseason together!
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