Raptors C Jakob Poeltl: making haste slowly
By Brian Boake
Jakob Poeltl has increased his minutes played from his rookie season with the Raptors and is now firmly entrenched in the rotation. How much more growth can Toronto fans expect?
Fans of the Toronto Raptors didn’t know much about Jakob Poeltl prior to his selection by the team with the #9 pick in 2016. We’ve since learned he met and befriended Delon Wright when both played for the University of Utah Utes (three capital U’s in four words – there’s a first for everything). Delon’s positive comments about Poeltl tipped the balance in favour of his selection.
Jakob’s college career was well above average; he won the highly coveted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pete Newell awards, serious big-man recognition, in his final, sophomore season.
The 2016 draft crop has so far been weak, particularly in comparison with the smokin’ hot 2017 version. Jakob hasn’t set the league on fire, but neither have any of the picks after him. Malcolm Brogdon, the #36 selection, was Rookie of the Year. Good for him, but I’d rather have Jakob and Pascal Siakam.
Jakob has a number of positives. He’s an excellent positional player, which is why his rebounding numbers (projected over 36 minutes) are so impressive. He vacuums offensive rebounds at a 4.4 Per 36 rate, highest on the team. He also leads the rotation group in 2-Pt field goal percentage at 67.7.
With the injury to Lucas Nogueira, Jakob has been the backup to Jonas Valanciunas. Lately, we wonder who’s actually the starter. Poeltl played more minutes in Charlotte and in Philly, leaving us to wonder if a message is being sent.
Our Austrian runs the floor well, and has excellent timing when he leaps, both of which significantly mask his modest verticality. Jakob has been able to amass impressive shooting blocking numbers (2.5 Per 36).
And the downside is…
However, not all is sweetness and light. Jakob has no shooting range whatsoever. The average distance of his field goal tries is 2.6 feet, which is about arm’s length. He attempts almost no shots from further than 10 feet away from the basket. He’s hit one of two this season from beyond the 3-point arc.
With scores nudging ever higher, NBA players known to have shooting issues are given lots of room. Defenses aren’t worried about Jakob bothering them with elbow jumpers, let alone 3- pointers.
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Because he has such limited vertical lift, Jakob needs lots of space and time to get any longer shots up. Otherwise, he’s vulnerable to the embarrassment of having his shot blocked by much smaller wingmen.
While he isn’t scary enough as yet to warrant Hack-a-Jakob treatment under the hoop, should that day arrive, he won’t be ready. Adding an exclamation point to my concern about his shot, we regard with dismay his free-throw results. He’s made 26 of 51 so far – that’s worse than Andre Drummond.
We haven’t seen a lot of post moves from Jakob, but those can wait (more on this topic later). There’s no reason to panic about shot creation capabilities. If the Raptors needed extra scoring, we’d be having a different conversation.
What is Jakob’s future?
My biggest problem with Jakob surrounds his ceiling, namely, is it low, medium or high? We don’t have sufficient data at the moment to make an intelligent guess, but I will anyway – “medium”. His high basketball IQ keeps him in the NBA, despite a level of athleticism which would doom less intelligent players to the G League or oblivion.
We’ve heard ad nauseam that Jakob needs to get stronger. While I concur, I hope he doesn’t attempt to bulk up. He needs to develop his arms, but with repetition using small weights. No big chests or chunky legs need apply. Lots of abdominal exercises will decrease the likelihood of back problems, a particular scourge of men his height.
If I were Jakob’s agent, I’d fight hard for my man not to go to Summer League. He needs some personalized training at a big-man school, such as the one run by Hakeem Olajuwon.
Before all this off-season stuff, there’s a lot of games to be played. Poeltl may never develop into Kevin McHale, but he’s got time and smarts on his side, and he’s helping now. Let’s keep him around.