He and his buds should be playing V -Tech tonight. I read his bio. Senegal until 16. Soccer until 17. A.P. math and science . Learned English in 8 months. May take his talents to the engineering world instead of the NBA.Fascinating how Kevin Bacons Air Up There flick about hoops in Africa went from a novelty flick to the norm.. Love this guy.
Tacko Fall
- Thread starter FELONIOUSMONK
- Start date
Not sure his style of play is what nba teams look for now. But he should definitely be on a nba roster next year.
Also not sure how this kid was playing soccer st 7-6.
Also not sure how this kid was playing soccer st 7-6.
Fan In Senegal soccer is from the womb regardless of your personal metrics. If he hadn't emigrated he might be on their national team right now.
Maybe a G League type but right now that kid isn't ready for the NBA IMO.
In a year or two who knows ?
I have known Tacko since he arrived in Florida just before the start of his junior year of HS. Kid was pretty awful the first time I saw him. Tall, long and sloooooooow. His teammates almost never passed the ball to him because he seldom was arose half court by the time someone was attempting a shot.
Between the end of his junior season and the start of the travel season, he worked out with a boxing trainer everyday for a few hours each day. His footwork and his eye/hand coordination improved dramatically. I remember calling Eric Bossi in April 2014 and telling him about the dramatic improvement and that he should make plans to watch him during the April live period.
Fall is one of the nicest kids I've ever met. Period. HARD STOP. After every HS and travel game little kids would run up to him and ask if they could be photographed standing next to him. He was nice to every single one of them. Even when some adults wanted a pic he was nice to them, although seeing adults do it kinda pissed me off for some reason.
Between the end of his junior season and the start of the travel season, he worked out with a boxing trainer everyday for a few hours each day. His footwork and his eye/hand coordination improved dramatically. I remember calling Eric Bossi in April 2014 and telling him about the dramatic improvement and that he should make plans to watch him during the April live period.
Fall is one of the nicest kids I've ever met. Period. HARD STOP. After every HS and travel game little kids would run up to him and ask if they could be photographed standing next to him. He was nice to every single one of them. Even when some adults wanted a pic he was nice to them, although seeing adults do it kinda pissed me off for some reason.
He is a senior. He'll graduate with some type of engineering degre.
I saw a mock draft that has him late second round. I don’t know much about pro game but I don’t get this. He’s a taller version of Roy Hibbert. The disruption he creates in games is fun to watch, including games I saw against Duke, Cincy, Houston, etc.
And - if he can be a starting center, a marketing gold mine.
And - if he can be a starting center, a marketing gold mine.
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What is his ceiling? A somewhat shorter Manute Bol? How did that work out? Manute started 60 games his first year and started rarely thereafter. never scored more than 4 PPG; never got more than 4 rebounds per game. Missed relatively few games his first five seasons, and then at one stretch played 14 games in four years. Injuries catch up to guys that big--Yao may well have been the best superbig ever, and had some nice seasons before he, too, was injured constantly and eventually retired. Then there was Romanian-born George Muresan, who was a favorite of mine when I lived up in Maryland and he played for the Washington Wizards. 10 and 7, 94-5; 15/10, 95-96 and 11/7, 96-97. At that point, he was just 26. But he was injured making the movie, My Giant, and that was that. Paco should take his engineering degree and use it. Why take the battering his body will undergo, even in today's kinder, gentler NBA?
TL
TL
For the love of the game and the money.
I met George Muresan in a mall when I was young. So nice, despite some kid bothering him on his day off. Shook my hand and his hand could have gone up to my elbow.
Yao was an excellent NBA player-----nothing about this guys game brings Yao to mind.
Cant just sit in the lane in the NBA. Offense and shooters are so much better.
Modern centers will pull him out of the lane.
Then he'll get hunted, and switched and made to play defense out at 3pt line.
Also, the NBA has a defensive 3-second rule that would prevent Fall from just camping out in the lane on defense
https://www.theringer.com/march-madness/2019/3/25/18280782/tacko-fall-zion-duke-ucf-blueprint
Very interesting article about UCF and Tacko being perfect to defend this Duke team (and Duke was perfect for Tacko since they cant shoot).
Basically, Duke had no outside shooting perimeter threats to pull Tacko outside and free up the lane for Zion (who also can't really shoot).
"The Blue Devils played right into Tacko’s hands. They didn’t have the personnel to force him out of the paint and allow Williamson either an open lane to the basket or the chance to play him one-on-one.
Tacko didn’t actually guard Zion. UCF spent most of the first half in a zone, but Zion’s ability to make plays and score out of the high post forced the Knights to play man defense in the second half. Tacko alternated between guarding two limited big men who couldn’t space the floor (juniors Javin DeLaurier and Marques Bolden) when Duke played traditional lineups and playing a one-man zone by “guarding” either freshman point guard Tre Jones or sophomore Jordan Goldwire when the Blue Devils went small, ignoring the two on the perimeter and daring them to do something on offense. That allowed Tacko to shadow Williamson all over the floor, playing as the second line of defense without needing to guard his own man."
Very interesting article about UCF and Tacko being perfect to defend this Duke team (and Duke was perfect for Tacko since they cant shoot).
Basically, Duke had no outside shooting perimeter threats to pull Tacko outside and free up the lane for Zion (who also can't really shoot).
"The Blue Devils played right into Tacko’s hands. They didn’t have the personnel to force him out of the paint and allow Williamson either an open lane to the basket or the chance to play him one-on-one.
Tacko didn’t actually guard Zion. UCF spent most of the first half in a zone, but Zion’s ability to make plays and score out of the high post forced the Knights to play man defense in the second half. Tacko alternated between guarding two limited big men who couldn’t space the floor (juniors Javin DeLaurier and Marques Bolden) when Duke played traditional lineups and playing a one-man zone by “guarding” either freshman point guard Tre Jones or sophomore Jordan Goldwire when the Blue Devils went small, ignoring the two on the perimeter and daring them to do something on offense. That allowed Tacko to shadow Williamson all over the floor, playing as the second line of defense without needing to guard his own man."