In 2008, the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) had the 24th pick in the draft due to a trade with the Phoenix Suns. With this pick they took one Sergeballu LaMu Sayonga Loom Walahas Jonas Hugo Ibaka, or Serge Ibaka to common fans.
Ibaka came out of the Congo as a raw, athletic player with a great motor.
With time, patience, and hard work he has now developed into a very good player with an even brighter future.
He is one of the best shot blockers in the game, a solid rebounder and has even shown a burgeoning offensive game.
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In this year’s draft coverage, Bismack Biyombo is drawing many inevitable comparisons to Ibaka.
Like Ibaka, Biyombo is from the Republic of the Congo, and both played in the Spanish ACB league at the tender young age of 18.
The other obvious similarity between Biyombo and Ibaka is their style of play.
Both are high-flying, shot-blocking, freakish athletes with incredible wingspans. At 6-foot-10-inches, Ibaka wowed people with a 7-foot-4-inch wingspan. Biyombo might be an even more impressive physical specimen.
Despite being an inch shorter than Ibaka, Biyombo has a staggering 7-foot-7-inch wingspan–the equivalent of Shaquille O’Neal’s formidable wingspan.
Now, being freakishly long and athletic does not guarantee a great NBA career.
Saer Sene was a great athlete from Senegal with an enormous wingspan, who went tenth in the 2006 draft t0–guess who–the Seattle Supersonics.
While this pick bombed miserably (Sene played a total of 46 games for the Sonics/Thunder before going to play basketball in France) the franchise managed to connect on the Ibaka pick. Length and athleticism are not decisive factors, effort and player development are.
There are several knocks against Biyombo.
First, he is extremely raw.
He has almost no offensive game, and his range is limited almost exclusively to dunking. He is a bit turnover-prone (1.6 TOs in 17 minutes a game), and, while he does a decent job of getting to the free-throw line, he is currently shooting 55% from the charity stripe.
Though these are certainly understandable concerns, it should be noted that while in the ACB Ibaka only averaged .5 points more than Biyombo is currently averaging.
Biyombo’s shot-blocking statistics are astonishing.
Adjusting for 40 minutes played per game, Biyombo would average over 5 blocks per game. To put that in perspective, that is double what this year’s leading shot blocker (Andrew Bogut) put up.
There are no guarantees in the NBA draft.
The team that drafts Biyombo will have to be patient with his development and be able to accurately assess his strengths and weaknesses. Biyombo will likely never have a strong offensive game, but if used in the right way with the right teammates, he could be a game-changing defensive force.
ESPN scout David Thorpe compared Biyombo to Ben Wallace. That’s certainly no comparison to take lightly.
In a draft devoid of superstars, there is no reason why Biyombo cannot be one of the NBA’s emerging big men in years to come.
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