Ibi Watson committed to Michigan last week and we took to the film to breakdown the latest Wolverine. We watched several games worth of footage of Watson playing with All-Ohio Red and compiled this scouting video.
Watch the video in the embedded media player above or read some of our thoughts and comments below.
Strengths
Watson has a smooth jump shot off the catch which allows him to maintain consistency despite low release point. He shot the ball consistently throughout the footage that we watched from this July. More impressively, he has a mature two dribble offensive game to attack poor close outs. He’s capable of using ball fakes to slash to the basket, but also pull-up for mid-range jumpers and floaters. He’s most comfortable finding pockets of space in the mid-range to attack.
His in-between game will be refined over the next few seasons, but he was effective shooting off the bounce in the games that we watched. He’s not a guy that’s going to run 20 high pick and rolls in a game, but he did show the skills to handle the high ball screen with a few strong takes and off the dribble jumpers. He also has a good feel for the game and makes the right passes in both half court and full court situations.
He’s an above-average athlete and his athleticism combined with his length should provide a strong foundation for future growth and development as he adds strength.
Weaknesses
His ability to slash off of a couple dribbles is effective, but he struggled at times to finish around the rim. These struggles are partially physical as bigger defenders were able to knock him off of his path. Added strength will also help him on the glass where he shows the want-to on the offensive and defensive ends, but can be over powered by bigger players. His shooting stroke needs some tweaks to improve release point, but is still an effective weapon.
His handle is effective attacking a poor close out, but he’s not quite an isolation threat yet. He needs a ball screen or a pump fake to create space offensive at this point in time.
