Circling back on Amari Williams, the Drexel big. I personally have never been a fan of the traditional big, I think they are too easy to get in mismatches with the way the game is played today and I absolutely do not think Omier and a non-stretch 5 can play together. That being said, if Larranaga feels like this team needs that kind of size, this guy could be the goods.
ELITE defensive instincts and timing on shot block attempts. I don't know what his wingspan is, but he's long as ****. I just watched Drexel's game against Villanova from this year and his presence defensively was obvious. Won the game with a block at the buzzer. Nova was hesitant every time they got around the basket. Didn't look extremely comfortable getting out to contest behind the line, he was matched up on Eric Dixon a lot who shoots a lot of 3s, and Williams just wasn't close enough for good contests imo. Dixon didn't have a great night shooting but had more open looks than you'd want to see.
Offensively, more there than I expected from initial viewing. I said he looked comfortable passing, but he actually had moments where they put him at the nail or on the low block and ran sets for him to facilitate. Some legitimately good passes, bounce passes in traffic, cross court skip passes to shooters, just good stuff. His guards did him absolutely no favors when he established good position, just didn't even try to get him to him repeatedly, but when they did he showed pretty good touch around the basket. He's not going to be like Omier where you give him the ball at the top of the key and want him to iso, but he does have enough of a handle and coordination where when the D pressed up he was able to get by them a few times and drive.
Biggest issue for me other than just the given limitations of a guy of this archetype, he is not a strong rebounder. Someone of his size, length, and athleticism should be much better in this aspect than he showed. Got his hands on a few but didn't secure them, and often times just didn't get good positioning or show much effort to get the board.
Anyway. Probably more than anyone wants to read but it's late and I'm bored so figured I'd take a closer look at him.