It took only a few weeks for Utah and the rest of the nation to realize the Utes may have just found them a gem. Freshman center Jakob Poeltl was often dominant in Utah’s 5-1 start to the season. As he terrorized opposing defenders, scouts took notice and Poeltl has skyrocketed up draft boards.
ESPN NBA draft guru Chad Ford has the Utah big man at No. 19 on his latest Big Board, and with No. 8 Wichita State in town, the Deseret News sent its cameras to see if Poeltl lived up to his early season hype. Here are the results:
Poeltl is 19 years old and still needs to grow into his frame. His footwork is great, especially for someone so young, but his lack of strength is evident on this play. Poeltl bodies up Wichita State’s Darius Carter, far away from the basket, but can’t hold his position.
Even so, Poeltl doesn’t let Carter push all the way to the basket, and even though Carter scored, it wasn’t the easiest shot. Watch how Poeltl plays: long, with his arms either extended wide, or straight up. The Utah center does a good job of defending without fouling, something that will be appealing to NBA scouts. It's clear though, he has to add strength to his frame.
Poeltl shows off his pick-and-roll defense on this possession, as well as showing that he and Delon Wright are things of opposing offense's nightmares.
During the possession, Poeltl is put in the pick-and-roll twice. On the first one his man sets a screen for Wichita State’s Ron Baker. Poeltl immediately slides with Baker to cut off the driving lane. Baker looked as if he planned to drive, but never had an opening with Poeltl standing there. Poeltl has shown great defensive instincts thus far this season. He’s not the fastest or quickest center, but moves well for a big man, and he masks his lack of speed with his body positioning.
With Baker’s driving lane cut off, he decided to take a step-back jumper, and enough time had passed since the screen to allow Wright to come over and block the shot.
After a Shocker offensive rebound. Wichita State sets up another pick and roll, this time on the opposite side of the court. Again Poeltl immediately slides over, and here we see his lack of lateral quickness. Even so, his size and positioning forces Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet out of the lane and into a contested scoop shot, which he misses.
VanVleet and Baker are both really good college basketball players but lack the explosive athletic ability most NBA guards possess. Though Poeltl has great position, he may struggle keeping elite athletes in check. Size does help win a lot of battles, though, and as he continues to bulk up, that should help him.
On the offensive side of the ball, Poeltl is in motion a lot. He often sets off screens to varying degrees of success. Here Poeltl sets a screen for Brandon Taylor, who gets an open three because of it. Poeltl isn’t the strongest screener, and defenders are often able to get around him, but this screen worked well because it forced the Wichita State defender to take a wide route to get to Taylor and create the open look.
Poeltl was away from the rim and in no position to get the rebound when the shot goes up, but he is first to the ball. The Utah center doesn’t get caught ball watching a lot, and that is why he so often seems to be in the perfect place to grab rebounds. As the ball is in the air, Poeltl sneaks by Wichita State’s Tom Wamukota — who was in great position to box out Poeltl — and get his hands on the board.
Now, the play doesn’t end great for the Ute as he throws the ball away, but still, some impressive stuff in the possession.
Speaking of picks, it’s time to dissect how Poeltl does on the pick-and-roll as the pick man.
On both of these plays, Poeltl’s man goes after the ball handler, so what does the Austrian do? He rolls to the open space. Poeltl is a 7-foot center who has the athletic ability to roll, catch and finish consistently. That is big time.
He draws the team’s center out on the perimeter as he sets the pick, so no one is home to defend the basket except for a guard. Advantage: Poeltl. Wichita State isn’t the biggest team in the nation, and most NBA teams have two big guys on the court. Even so, his ability to play out on the perimeter, even if it is only screening, clears space in the paint and opens the court.
Now I must point out that on the second play, Wichita State’s Darius Carter gets completely frozen by the pick. He doesn’t try to stick with Taylor, doesn’t try to drop back and doesn’t stay with Poeltl. This makes the play a little easier for the Utes, and it’s rare you see that kind of pick and roll defense on the next level. Jazz fans, may or may not believe me on that one though.
In the NBA, big men have to be able to seal the post, and Poeltl shows that he can do that on this possession. Watch Poeltl’s position as the shot goes up. He has anticipated a pass and blocked out his man, ready to drop in an easy two. The pass never comes as Brekkott Chapman fires and hits a three, but the position of Poeltl is what is important here.
Poeltl originally set a screen, but as he saw the ball start going around the horn he found his man and sealed him off from the paint. This shows a strong basketball IQ.
A lot of college big men dominate because they are simply bigger than everyone else — this is not the case with Poeltl. He understands how to play and where he should be.
Poeltl made some extraordinary plays in Utah’s defeat of the Shockers, with the best ones not chronicled here. He isn’t perfect by any means, but as he grows into his body, he should be a really effective NBA big. The Utes found a star in Poeltl and he may be starring at the next level very shortly.
The sudden hype is very real.