Standing 6’11” with a 7’5″ wingspan, Udoka Azubuike is an absolute force in the paint.  Not only is he long, but he is powerfully built, weighing 270 pounds with broad shoulders.  When I think of Udoka one word comes to mind, and that word is destruction. Udoka plays with a nasty streak as he tries to overpower anyone in his path, including the goal.  Few players have his combination of size and motor.  One of the most impressive things about Udoka are his hands.  Most big men struggle catching bounce passes or catching the ball on the move.  However, Udoka is fluid in catching the ball.  Lets take a look at how his skills would mesh with NC State and Gottfried’s system.

Offensively

The high post offense is a sytem made for Azubuike.  A trademark of the high post is the ducking big man on the low block.  The type of player that excels in this role is a wide body that seals off the paint and is quick getting the ball to the basket.  Azubuike fits this description.  He is long and wide with the explosion to finish quickly.  Checkout Udoka’s finishes in the video below:

Notice how for the most part he catches the ball and keeps it high, and then explodes to the rim.  One thing that I like is that I did not see him dribbling the ball in traffic but once in the video.  A major problem for big men is that they bring the ball down, which allows smaller defenders to tie them up.  Also we see that Udoka grabs an offensive rebound, gathers, and then finishes with authority with no wasted time putting the ball on the deck.

Gottfried would love to have a guy like Udoka to feed from the high post.  It would also be a huge advantage to have Tim setting screens along the baseline to free up the guards as they look to get space in NC State’s corner wrinkle.  Azubuike would thrive at NC State in the high post offense.

Defensively

Picture a season where NC State would have BeeJay Anya and Udoka Azubuike patrolling the paint.  It would be a beautiful thing.  Gottfried could deploy some serious pressure on the perimeter if he knew he had both Anya and Udoka protecting the rim.  The guards and forwards could afford to gamble more if they had the likes of Udoka and Anya, which would result in a ton of turnovers and points off of them.  The team could resemble a track team having the likes of the Twins, Dennis Smith, Torin Dorn, Terry Henderson, and potentially Cat Barber.

Udoka is already solid on coming over from the help-side to erase shots, but needs to improve on his straight up man-to-man post defense.  He sometimes allows his man too much freedom to catch the ball deep knowing that he has such an advantage in size to overcome the disadvantage.  This will not be the case in college, as he will have to work harder at keeping his man from catching the ball with two feet in the paint.  If he allows his man to get that position in the ACC it will result in a foul or a dunk more often than not.

Intangibles

One thing I love about Udoka is the fact that he brings a level of nastiness to the floor.  He plays with a scowl and isn’t afraid to stare down an opposing player after he dismantles him either offensively or defensively.  This may rub some people the wrong way, but in my opinion it is a good thing.  Udoka doesn’t have a bad attitude towards his teammates, coaches, or the officials.  He instead uses his intensity to intimidate his opponents.  Another small thing that gets overlooked with big men is how aware they are in respect to their position.  For example, some big men will drop step themselves behind the backboard or leave themselves a terrible angle to score.  This doesn’t appear to be a problem for Azubuike, as he consistently gives himself enough room to drop step to a spot that gives him a good opportunity to flush it or shoot a soft jump hook.  This awareness will help smooth his transition to the college game.

Improvement

Looking at Azubuike one thing that he will have to adjust to is playing against competition that is as strong and big as he is.  He will not be able to rely on his size alone once he reaches college, which means that he will have work hard on cleaning up his footwork and perfecting counter moves.  If someone takes away his left shoulder can he counter? I am not sure he is that skilled yet.  I haven’t seen much evidence on tape that shows that he can.  However, the beauty of this is that he can be coached and has loads of upside given his talent and size.

Summary

Big men of Udoka’s class don’t come along but every so often.  Coach Gottfried loves to have big men and it is important that any college program have depth at the center position.  Basketball may be trending away from big men, but Azubuike is the type of player who can play in an uptempo system.  A rim protector can clean up a lot of mistakes for a team defensively and can aid an uptempo attack by allowing the perimeter to play aggressively to force turnovers.  If Coach Gottfried can get Udoka to commit it would be a dream front court that would be filled with size and skill.  No one in the country would rival the Pack when it comes to depth and versatility in the front court.  This past weekend Udoka had a great visit, as he was hanging with Dennis Smith and Rawle Alkins.  Stay tuned to see if Gottfried can pull off a recruiting class for the ages.