Rookie Analysis: Another Kobe! Kobe Sanders, a retro-playing forward

The Clippers really have a special liking for the forwards of the organization named Kobe~

Kobe Sanders is a rookie I focused on before the draft. The reason is that his market is similar to the Clippers' second round pick, and the Clippers have tried him. In the end, he was indeed selected by the Clippers.

If I were asked to use the tags that best describe Kobe Sanders' technical characteristics and style of play, I would use:

retro style of play; combat power when you are older; Tyrannosaurus Rex; a forward who can hold the ball/or a big defender with a forward height.

Basic and physical test data

24-25 season, averaged 31.7 minutes, 15.8 points, 4.5 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.8 turnovers.

shooting percentage is 46%, three-point shooting percentage is 34.2%, and free throw shooting percentage is 79.5%.

bare feet 201 (shoes around 204);

wingspan 204, the third shortest in the same small forward;

weight 92kg.

Standing height: 261.6cm Hand length: 21.6cm Hand width: 23.5cm Three-second zone Four points movement: 10.95 seconds Folding back: 3 seconds 3/4th game sprint: 3.19 seconds Vertical bounce in place: 76.2cm Running assist bounce: 91.4cm

Movement and static talent is average. Judging from the physical test data, apart from short wingspan, there is no obvious disadvantage in terms of dynamic and static talent. But there is also a lack of highlights.

- Both forward height and organizational ability

"Both height and organizational ability" is one of the most important tags for Sanders.

In the last two years of college, his organizational performance made a leap, with an assist rate of 29.9% in the 24-25 season.

24-25 season, he averaged 4.5 assists per game, with an assist-loss ratio of 2.5.

A round I like very much also showed Sanders' reading game ability:

pick-and-roll initiated to attract the opponent's delay, and the outside recycling pad defense. So Sanders first used his eyes and passes to attract the defender to jump back to the outside line. The moment the defender left his side and followed the downside, he seized the opportunity and immediately gave the ball.

Pick-and-roll attracts delays, passes to the person who is in the lower position to attract attacks, passes inside and passes inside and passes inside and passes inside and passes inside and passes inside and passes inside and away - retro mid-range play style

Sanders' attacks are concentrated in the middle-range area.

In the 24-25 season, his mid-range shooting percentage reached 47.9%.

Mid-distance shooting accounted for 43.4%. In comparison, his three-point shooting accounted for 31.9%; his two-point shooting accounted for 24.7% of them.

Sanders is good at attacking with balls, and has the height of the forward line, the ability to attack with balls, and the ability to dominate the balls. This is a very important characteristic of him.

Sanders has good reading skills and smooth mid-range emergency stop jump shot.

can use confrontation and footsteps to create shooting space to make up for the shortcomings of its own explosive power to a certain extent.

Pick-and-roll mid-range shot

No ball tactics after receiving the ball, and the mid-range shot

Click back and break through, against the backward mid-range shot

In fact, from the "mediocre dynamic and static talent" and "middle-distance playing style" mentioned above, it is not difficult to guess Sanders' shortcomings, that is, the lack of explosive power.

Although he was able to take some three-pointers with the ball, including pick-and-roll three-pointers, Sanders' overall three-point performance was not outstanding enough.

The average three-point shooting percentage of colleges is only 32.9% and 79.4% respectively. The two figures in the 24-25 season were 34.2% and 79.5% respectively.

Mediocre explosive power and lack of superb three-point shooting will lead to one thing, that is, the shooting distribution is not "magic ball-like" enough. This is also an important reason why he took action to distribute it in a large number of medium distances.

Although he averaged 1.1 steals per game in college. But his short arms and lack of such excellent transverse ability also restricted his defensive upper limit.

His rebounding performance is also something that needs to be improved.

In short, Sanders is an organizational forward with the ability to organize, the ball-holding ability, and the shooting is a large number of organizational forwards, or a big defender with the height of the front line.

It is his advantage to be able to have both the front height, take the ball and attack, and dominate the ball. He can also complete the ending with good efficiency in the middle distance area.

But the problem of insufficient explosive power and lack of superb three-point shooting will restrict him from developing and completing the ending through a more "cost-effective" method.

Combined with his technical characteristics and the current reserves of young people in the Clippers. Considering that playing 3 may have a position conflict with Miller, the possibility of him playing as point guard in the next summer league is not ruled out.

He is a player whose skills and ball quotient are more than physical talent. The age of 23 also restricts his potential. This is also the reason why he was selected at the end of the second round.

Sanders has certain "all-rounder attributes", "ball-holding offensive ability" and "organizing ability", and I think this is also the reason why the Clippers management is interested in him.

Although it may be a bit exaggerated, his specific type and organizational traits, his playing style based on medium distance, and his lack of explosive power will indeed make me think that he has a slight similarity to Cunningham in terms of technical characteristics.

Some draft websites also think that his template is Kenridge Williams/Trentin Flowers.