Bourama Sidibe

[iommi]

 

[HoustonCuse]

Nice. And it's not like he goes to Pleasantville High where the coach wouldn't know.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Heard a guy on Axeman show that this guy plays on the wing sometimes, and they play some some.

 

[Cuse23]

I haven't seen Sidibe play...can anyone give a comparison to Moustapha Diagne (whom I did see in person and on TV and was impressed with post moves). Who might Sidibe compare to or otherwise have an upside we might've seen on past years teams?

 

[Tony DeFranco]

I must be blind or I'm getting fooled by "highlight" tapes but this kid looks outstanding

 

[PauliePeppas]

Samuel Dalembert 2.0

 

[smartman]

Samuel Dalembert 2.0

I'd take that. Really liked his highlights. Didn't expect a 15 ft jump shot. Looks very athletic. Could be a great shot blocker. Like the future of our back line in the zone!

 

[PhatOrange]

You can see from the video that the kid has athletic ability and is far from being a stiff

 

[PeteCalvin]

GREAT! But with 3 alumni assistant coaches who played guard you would think you could get some top flight guards to commit.

Hard to recruit when the other guys have bags of money with no traces.

 

[SU94]

I must be blind or I'm getting fooled by "highlight" tapes but this kid looks outstanding

I have never seen him play. That said, his upper body remind me of Dwight Howard as a youngster. Broader shoulders already than M.Keita as a senior. Not a bad starting point.

 

[shizzah]

Watched 3/4 of his high school game that was posted. On a great guard oriented team and he NEVER gets passed the ball. That being said - best shot blocker since melo.

He looks fluid, natural...he looks looks awesome. Coupled with summer tapes where he actually got the ball on occasion...wow.

Possible post qg nonsense - but I have to agree with some of what his coach says: this isn't what some of us thought. This guy is a stud.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Serious question, have you seen Brimah play? He is nothing like Dieng. Brimah is horrendous offensively, can't grab a board for his life, and is a foul machine. He is an excellent shot blocker. But that is literally all he is. I sincerely hope Sidibe provides us more than that during his SU tenure.

Brimah is a guy who gave them 3 or 4 blocks a game, and around 7 rebounds and 6 points as a senior. He intimidated people inside. Yes, Dieng is different than Brimah. He's better offensively, he rolls to the basket better. Brimah remained mostly a dunk and put-back guy. Dieng scored by being more active inside. Both were great, natural shot blockers, as opposed to somebody like Etan Thomas, who had exceptional timing and technique, but also used tremendous effort to get his blocks. Sidibe blocks shots easier than Thomas, and easier than somebody like Paschal Chukwu, who is still feeling his way out there. Lydon blocks shots with little effort, it seems. Wes Johnson was kind of the same way. That's how Sidibe strikes me.

I see Sidibe as either developing that roll to the hoop low post offense (Dieng) -- or not (Brimah). Both of them are of similar build. Both of them were first and foremost rim protectors. Sidibe has natural timing. His shoulders and midriff are thicker and more developed than somebody like Baye Keita, but not nearly so much as Rakeem Christmas, who was a beast and weighed a lot more as a senior. Sidibe is about 225 right now. Brimah played around the same weight. Dieng started out that size but built his body up to 240 and is now a pretty decent pro.

Sidibe's future lies somewhere in between those guys. I think he will be a better shot blocker than Keita, and he has more low post coaching than we ever seem to give our guys, so he's already ahead in that respect. That's my take, anyway.

 

[SC Orange]

I watched a few earlier highlight videos from last year and was unimpressed. Watched the one below and am very very intrigued. The improvement seen in the past year is promising. I can see Bourama being much better than some think when all is said and done!

 

[asj410]

I watched a few earlier highlight videos from last year and was unimpressed. Watched the one below and am very very intrigued. The improvement seen in the past year is promising. I can see Bourama being much better than some think when all is said and done!

Wow, that was a vicious block at 0:50! Right into the ref's hands.

 

[kcsu]

Kids a stud

 

[Melancer46]

I haven't seen Sidibe play...can anyone give a comparison to Moustapha Diagne (whom I did see in person and on TV and was impressed with post moves). Who might Sidibe compare to or otherwise have an upside we might've seen on past years teams?

See below

Again, I haven't seen too much of him, but from what I've seen, this is my basic gist of him:

My biggest concern with him is that he's very skinny at the moment. He'll get pushed around by bigger big men. He also doesn't seem to have much of a post game, if any at all, but as I get into below, he seems like an opportunistic kind of scorer that might be able to shoot it a bit from mid range.

Offensively, he shows a lot more flashes than guys like Chino and BMK showed. Looks like he can finish well with either hand and looks like he can shoot a little bit. He doesn't seem to waste his time with extra dribbles, cocking the ball back on dunks, etc. For example, one of my biggest complaints about Coleman is that he'll carve out good position for himself and seal his man off, but he'll take that small dribble after catching the ball before going up with it, allowing the defender to recover and challenge his shot. Sidibe looks like he's very quick about catching the ball and immediately going up with it.

Defensively, he seems to have pretty good instincts and coordination as a shot blocker.

Athletically, I wouldn't say he's necessarily an explosive leaper, but he's a quick leaper. And he's very coordinated in terms of running, sliding, etc.

Edit: The thing that really excites me about him is that he already has many of the little things that I think takes you from being a good big man to a great one; the challenge is that his skillset is still very raw offensively...but if he can continue to improve on that end, he's got a lot of potential IMO.

 

[44doubledees]

I really like this guys ceiling, he looks all of 6'10". Gonna be a great one down the road, I know we are all bummed about Quade, me especially, and I think it is lingering over into Sidibe's committment. Normally we would be gaga over this guy and eventually we will I think. Heck lets not forget it wasn't too long ago we had a class of Greg Davis and James Theus, ok it was 2000 maybe I am getting too old for this. Sky is not falling.

 

[iommi]

My article/ interview with Sidibe and his coach at St. Benedict's, Mark Taylor. Some interesting stuff. His coach was a great interview. Guy is very passionate about Bourama and his talent.

Bourama Sidibe Won’t be Under the Radar for Long | Otto's Grove

For those of you on Twitter... retweets are welcomed.

 

[RF2044]

My article/ interview with Sidibe and his coach at St. Benedict's, Mark Taylor. Some interesting stuff. His coach was a great interview. Guy is very passionate about Bourama and his talent.

Bourama Sidibe Won’t be Under the Radar for Long | Otto's Grove

For those of you on Twitter... retweets are welcomed.

Iommi, you are the MAN! Great interview on this semi-unknown prospect [even to much of our fanbase]!

Very happy you are now pursuing sports writing, great stuff.

 

[orangefog]

My article/ interview with Sidibe and his coach at St. Benedict's, Mark Taylor. Some interesting stuff. His coach was a great interview. Guy is very passionate about Bourama and his talent.

Bourama Sidibe Won’t be Under the Radar for Long | Otto's Grove

For those of you on Twitter... retweets are welcomed.

I agree with RF, that was very well done and informative. He is going to be a great addition.

 

[007]

My article/ interview with Sidibe and his coach at St. Benedict's, Mark Taylor. Some interesting stuff. His coach was a great interview. Guy is very passionate about Bourama and his talent.

Bourama Sidibe Won’t be Under the Radar for Long | Otto's Grove

For those of you on Twitter... retweets are welcomed.

I'll add my thanks to RF's above sentiments. VERY informative article, Vince. I especially like this from his coach, who has been around the block with the big boys:

“Listen: if I’m going to war, he’s as good as any big man in the country. I don’t care who you take. Nick Richards, Deng Gak, Mo Bamba… we played against them. Bourama had better stats when we played against them. He had a great summer and he’s a lot better than his ranking.”

 

[jordoo]

I'll add my thanks to RF's above sentiments. VERY informative article, Vince. I especially like this from his coach, who has been around the block with the big boys:

“Listen: if I’m going to war, he’s as good as any big man in the country. I don’t care who you take. Nick Richards, Deng Gak, Mo Bamba… we played against them. Bourama had better stats when we played against them. He had a great summer and he’s a lot better than his ranking.”

That is pretty exciting. I mean you know his own coach is going to stick up for him but he played all those guys and did well. Apparently even had better stats. I'm also intrigued that he plays the wing sometimes on defense and wonder if there is any possibility that carries over to the next level.

Nice article Iommi! Thanks for doing the work.

 

[iommi]

I'll add my thanks to RF's above sentiments. VERY informative article, Vince. I especially like this from his coach, who has been around the block with the big boys:

“Listen: if I’m going to war, he’s as good as any big man in the country. I don’t care who you take. Nick Richards, Deng Gak, Mo Bamba… we played against them. Bourama had better stats when we played against them. He had a great summer and he’s a lot better than his ranking.”

Thanks. Appreciate all the feedback. Most of the quotes I used are extremely long- much longer than what would typically be used. I just felt the quotes were so informative, I had to use them.

This coach and the staff absolutely love Sidibe. They are his family. As I mentioned, the school is literally his host family.

Bourama was well-spoken, even with a clear language barrier. I really liked his presence. Hard to explain. He just had a presence, a quiet confidence. Loved that he said his name, "Bourama," when I met him.

 

[RF2044]

That is pretty exciting. I mean you know his own coach is going to stick up for him but he played all those guys and did well. Apparently even had better stats. I'm also intrigued that he plays the wing in sometimes on defense and wonder if there is any possibility that carries over to the next level.

Nice article Iommi! Thanks for doing the work.

Agreed--we got a good one.

This past spring, Francis posted about Sidibe and showed some clips of his playing. I could tell right away that he'd be a great fit, but his development has been positively benefitted by him playing prep ball in NJ, against top flight competition.

This kid can run and can even put the ball on the floor. I believe he's a lefty, as well [Iommi, can you weigh in on that]?

 

[007]

That is pretty exciting. I mean you know his own coach is going to stick up for him but he played all those guys and did well. Apparently even had better stats. I'm also intrigued that he plays the wing in sometimes on defense and wonder if there is any possibility that carries over to the next level.

Nice article Iommi! Thanks for doing the work.

Yeah, lots of potential here. I'm not much for HS hype coming from the player's coach. But, what did impress me about this quote is the conviction and passion behind the words.

This is a "mark my words" type statement from the coach.