Just
before the NBA trade deadline finished, the Milwaukee Bucks traded
center Andrew Bogut and wing Stephen Jackson to the Golden State
Warriors for prolific scoring guard Monta Ellis, injured Kwame Brown
with his expiring contract and Ekpe Udoh
Although
Monta is probably the biggest addition to the Bucks, still, they got
another great player who's now a hidden thing waiting to explode into
something greater and to provide the needed things. Ekpe could certainly
end up being that player for his new team.
You
may remember him as the sixth overall pick of the 2010 that was drafted
by his now former team, the Warriors. Although he was projected to be
taken little lower, he was taken higher than most predicted because of
his defense and potential.
He
started off his pro career bad, as he injured himself and was out for
six months. When he got on the court finally, he couldn't fully showcase
his entire abilities because of low minutes and the talks of him being a
bust, bad pick started.
It
didn't help either that Greg Monroe, the man who many thought should
have gone to Oakland instead, was playing impressively and averaging a
double-double at some point.
This
put Udoh in his shadows ever since, even though he averaged 2.3 blocks
as a starter later on in his rookie year during a month or so as a
starter. Through the off-season, Ekpe has worked really hard to improve
himself and the results showed in the following season.
While
he wasn't getting big minutes, he remained good. When he received
starter minutes, Ekpe usually produced much better and the Warriors used
that. In fact, when he played as a starter, Golden State had a 8-3
record (45-51 overall) with him averaging 12 points, 5.5 boards and two
blocks in that period.
Now, he's
part of the Milwaukee franchise, which is a new page for him. Many have
already said that Udoh shouldn't have problems adjusting and fitting in
the Bucks. Also, he'll be really useful for coach Skiles who loves what
this young big man brings out there.
What
does he bring? First of all, he's a terrific defensive player, who can
stop his man yet can be a great presence in the paint. He's got an
improved and solid low post skills on offense to go with a solid mid
range shot.
He additionally has
nice physical gifts such as athleticism, length, vertical etc combined
with his great instincts and skills. He translates all of these
advantages to establish himself a great impact and difference maker in
positive sense.
Ekpe's a good
presence on the glass as well. Most of the things that he does are
outside of the box score. He's known as a hard worker, who consistently
works on his game, which is why he'll be a premier defender in the
league very soon.
Of course,
there're parts where Udoh can improve. An area like that is to add
weight, continue to add to his low post skills, take his ability to
clean his own glass to a whole new level and to be more aggressive.
In
other words, he can do a lot of things. The potential, work ethic,
physical advantages, skill set are all there. He's shown flashes of
being a top young player and he'll most likely end up as one some day.
Written by Darko Mihajlovksi, Columnist
Hi,everyone My name is Darko and i have been a sports fan ever since i watched the first soccer game for me between AC Milan and Inter.I'm a major sports fan overall,who's interested in NBA basketball,soccer,winter sports such as ski jumping,skiing,athletics,F1 and so on.
Written by Darko Mihajlovksi, Columnist Hi,everyone My name is Darko and i have been a sports fan ever since i watched the first soccer game for me between AC Milan and Inter.I'm a major sports fan overall,who's interested in NBA basketball,soccer,winter sports such as ski jumping,skiing,athletics,F1 and so on.
