Junior F Martins Igbanu

On a different team, Martins Igbanu would be a great college 4. He has an array of excellent post moves, he's strong and athletic, and he's excellent at crashing the glass. Unfortunately, due to scheme and certain Australian players defecting immediately before the season, he's been forced to play the 5 for much of his career, giving up a couple inches to his man on both sides of the floor, putting up below average defensive rebounding numbers for a starting center, and struggling to find the open man in Frank Haith's 4-out, 1-in offense.

Nevetherless, Igbanu did take some huge steps in the role last year. He cut the number of fouls he committed (especially charges) while still drawing fouls on the other end at an elite rate. Which he's taken full advantage of by bumping his FT percentage up 13 points. And he's consistently improved in the back half of each season so far averaging 11 and 6 in conference play in 25 minutes per game. If he can carry those numbers into a full season, then he could break out this year no matter what position he plays.

2018 stats: 22.5mpg, 9.4ppg, 5.1rpg, 0.5apg, 0.3spg, 1.5topg, 0.2bpg, 53.9% 2PT, 28.6% 2PT, 72.0% FT
2019 proj.: 21.8mpg, 8.6ppg, 4.8rpg, 0.9apg, 0.4spg, 1.6topg, 0.3bpg, 51.8% 2PT, 33.8% 3PT, 68.5% FT

(10-08-2018 06:10 PM)DeMarioHooper Wrote:  Junior F Martins Igbanu

On a different team, Martins Igbanu would be a great college 4. He has an array of excellent post moves, he's strong and athletic, and he's excellent at crashing the glass. Unfortunately, due to scheme and certain Australian players defecting immediately before the season, he's been forced to play the 5 for much of his career, giving up a couple inches to his man on both sides of the floor, putting up below average defensive rebounding numbers for a starting center, and struggling to find the open man in Frank Haith's 4-out, 1-in offense.

Nevetherless, Igbanu did take some huge steps in the role last year. He cut the number of fouls he committed (especially charges) while still drawing fouls on the other end at an elite rate. Which he's taken full advantage of by bumping his FT percentage up 13 points. And he's consistently improved in the back half of each season so far averaging 11 and 6 in conference play in 25 minutes per game. If he can carry those numbers into a full season, then he could break out this year no matter what position he plays.

2018 stats: 22.5mpg, 9.4ppg, 5.1rpg, 0.5apg, 0.3spg, 1.5topg, 0.2bpg, 53.9% 2PT, 28.6% 2PT, 72.0% FT
2019 proj.: 21.8mpg, 8.6ppg, 4.8rpg, 0.9apg, 0.4spg, 1.6topg, 0.3bpg, 51.8% 2PT, 33.8% 3PT, 68.5% FT

I think he is going to be a monster this year. I could see him getting close to a consitant double double. His ft percentage going up a few more points would make him a double digit scorer. I also think he'll be fed the ball in scoring positions more often as he has become more consitant on the offensive side. Hopefully some big man depth will help him. Banging against bigger players can lead to fatigue, more balanced minutes will help him to stay fresh late. His constant improvement since he got to Tulsa is a tribute to his hard work and the staff's player development.