One of the big frustrations of the early portion of the season, when Nikola Vucevic was carrying the Orlando Magic and a playoff push still seemed to be the target, was a lack of game time for Mohamed Bamba.
Despite a host of injuries to key players, the center position remained healthy much to Mohamed Bamba’s detriment. Nikola Vucevic had to play 40 minutes to give the team a chance and, once again, Khem Birch was receiving his fair share of minutes alongside Mohamed Bamba.
The team, in trying to carve out a spot in the playoffs, could not wait on a raw young player who still was making a ton of mistakes and needing space on the floor.
Fans were desperate to see more of the man taken sixth in the 2018 NBA Draft, calling for coach Steve Clifford to put Mohamed Bamba’s development higher up the list of priorities as hopes of a playoff spot slipped away with every passing game.
And they were right to do so. Since the trade deadline, Bamba has already shown that he was worthy of more minutes than he got during his first two-and-a-half seasons in a Magic uniform.
Mohamed Bamba has been a fascination for Orlando Magic fans. With the opportunity to play, Bamba has shown his potential and begun to grow in earnest.
Before the trade deadline, Bamba averaged 4.6 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game in 10.2 minutes per game. Since the trade deadline, Bamba is averaging 10.7 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game in 19.2 minutes per game. The increased playing time has led to an increase in production.
A 21-point game against the Milwaukee Bucks saw the center knock down five of his six threes, while back-to-back 17-point games against the New Orleans Pelicans and Indiana Pacers contributed to the former Texas Longhorn averaging a solid 10.8 points per game in the month of April.
Then there was the recent loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, arguably one of his best games in a Magic uniform. He finished with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double and played solid defense too.
It was the culmination of an impressive month for Bamba, one which has seen him make important strides forward with the increased opportunity he has been given.
Saturday’s win over Memphis did not see Bamba have the same level of impact. But nonetheless, he continued to show promise with the way he played the game despite an underwhelming stat line.
Playing catch-up
Mohamed Bamba has often had to play catch-up during his NBA career.
A stress fracture cut short his rookie season. Then COVID issues impacted his conditioning forced him to miss time in the Disney bubble. It has not been easy for him, and his development has taken a hit because of it.
King James Gospel
But there are still some big questions around Bamba’s game that he must answer in order to make the next step in his career now he is starting to put a run together.
Bamba’s physical gifts give him a unique advantage on the court. His gigantic 7-foot-10 wingspan is incredibly difficult for opponents to deal with, while his ability to shoot at 7-feet tall gives him an important edge over others. Gradually, he is learning how to use these gifts to his advantage.
But the arrival of Wendell Carter has put the spotlight on where Mohamed Bamba is still lagging behind.
Carter still has a lot of development to do himself, but ultimately the former Chicago Bulls center’s ability to consistently contribute defensively has given him the starting spot when both are available to choose from.
Theoretically, Bamba’s distinctive features should make him a menace on the defensive end. And while he has flashed ability as a shot-blocker, notching four in the loss to the Grizzlies, the defensive side of his game still has a way to go.
And even though he has boasted an ability to score in different ways, there are still some important strides he can make on the offensive end too.
Bamba has done plenty of good things since being given more of a chance to impress, but he has also done some bad things too. This is, of course, natural for a player only 22 years of age that is still developing. But nonetheless, there are some key areas that Bamba must start improving in both this and next season as his rookie contract approaches its end.
Defending post-ups
Mohamed Bamba’s size means he has all the tools to be an impactful post defender. He has, however, struggled with guarding the more physical centers in the league.
He has often been outmuscled and outmaneuvered, resulting in easy buckets for the opposition. Look at the way he defends the Portland Trail Blazers’ Enes Kanter here:
Bamba makes up Kanter’s mind for him. He does not get tight enough, takes up a poor position and gets easily brushed aside allowing the man he is guarding to get under the basket for an easy finish.
This was by no means an easy task for Bamba. Kanter is one of the most physical centers in the league and has made a career living in the paint. But to become a solid starter, you have to be able to deal with the bigger matchups competently. This is still an area he must work to improve in.
According to NBA.com’s tracking stats, opponents score 1.09 points per possession on post-ups, shooting 62.0-percent from the floor. That puts Bamba in the bottom quarter of the league in post-defense.
Bamba still finds himself challenging shots and getting his share of blocks, but nobody is afraid of going at him. Despite allowing opponents to shoot 5.8-percentage points worse at the rim than expected, according to data from Basketball Index, opponents still attack the rim more than average when he is in there.
His poor post-defense and positioning are certainly one of the reasons for this disparity.
Another example of his struggles in this area was on display when he guarded the Los Angeles Lakers’ Montrezl Harrell, who had a lot of joy against Mohamed Bamba when getting him one-on-one.
Bamba’s frame means he is often unable to match stockier centers for strength and is sometimes guilty of not reading the game well enough to sense what they are going to do.
Adding more upper body strength would go some way to addressing the issue and allow him to make life more difficult for centers like Kanter.
For a coach like Steve Clifford, who prides his teams on their ability to not give up easy points in the paint, this is a significant problem that’s holding Bamba back from being given more opportunity.
There have been moments of encouragement when it comes to defending post-ups, particularly against guys that Bamba has a physical advantage over. The next step is doing this on a more consistent basis, particularly when it comes to the more difficult matchups.
Bamba must work to minimize the number of points he leaks on defense to give himself a better opportunity of progressing his career. Wendell Carter currently has the edge over Mohamed Bamba because of his ability to do that.
Back to basket offense
Mohamed Bamba’s scoring numbers have taken a significant leap since the trade deadline. The center is averaging a career-high 7.4 points per game this year despite having his minutes very limited during the first half of the season, helped largely by an average of 10.8 points per game in the month of April.
His offensive performances have been an enormous source of optimism. The 22-year-old has shown a consistent ability to score while remaining efficient, making more than half of his shots this month.
But Bamba’s offensive game is unusual for a player of his type. Naturally, you might expect a 7-foot center to get most of his points in the paint by capitalizing on mismatches and coming off pick and rolls. Bamba has shown he can do this too, but much of his game reminds orientated around the perimeter.
He looks more comfortable operating away from the basket than near it. This is not necessarily a knock on Bamba, being able to shoot well as a big man is a terrific skill to have in today’s NBA and Mo is making 37 percent of his three-point attempts so far this year.
It gives him an edge over players at his position, allowing him to stretch the floor and pull opposition centers out of the paint. Bamba has also shown an ability to shoot off the dribble and from mid-range, which at his size is not easy to do.
The area where his offensive game has the most room to grow is when it comes to post-ups and having his back to the basket. Despite the game being played further and further away from the basket, adding a go-to move while he has his back to the rim can see him become a more effective player.
According to NBA.com, Bamba has a post-up frequency rate of just 6.8 percent. He is happy for his offense to happen away from the basket and then take the easy opportunities that come his way, such as tip-ins and alley-oops.
Bamba scores just 0.68 points per possession on 0.5 post-up possessions per game. Additionally, he is still rarely used as the roll man in pick and rolls. According to data from Basketball-Index, Bamba pops on 67-percent of his pick-and-roll plays.
Still, he has shown some efficiency as a roll man, scoring 1.10 points per possession on 1.9 pick-and-roll possessions per game with a solid 56.3-percent effective field goal percentage. But most of these are him floating out on the perimeter.
Developing a better post-game can help Bamba enormously, and this can be aided by him establishing a go-to move when he gets into the right position. His score frequency percentage for post-ups this season is just 36.8 percent, demonstrating a lack of confidence when he gets down in the post.
Adding better footwork and a move to get a decent shot attempt would be a good start in further diversifying his offensive game to become a more complete scorer. These seemingly ‘old-school’ skills are still important for centers, just look at the top players in the league at Bamba’s position.
Defensive rebounding
Nikola Vucevic’s departure has clearly hit the team hard on the offensive end, but also when it comes to rebounding.
And Mohamed Bamba is one of those who needs to become a better rebounder in order for Nikola Vucevic’s absence not to hurt the team in the long-term.
For the season, Bamba is posting a 23.1-percent defensive rebound rate. That ranks him second on the team for the season. But certainly, a lot of that is coming from a time where he played precious few minutes.
Since the trade deadline and since he got regular minutes, Bamba is posting only a 21.4-percent defensive rebound rate. Vucevic was better than 28-percent as one of the best rebounders in the league while he was with the Magic.
Further, according to data from Second Spectrum, Bamba grabs only 1.3 contested defensive rebounds per game. Meaning only a bit more than a quarter of his rebounds come with another player vying for the board. Wendell Carter, who has also had his share of struggles on the glass, is grabbing 36-percent of his boards as contested rebounds.
Bamba clearly has the size and length to be an effective rebounder. The issues once again come back to strength and core skills like boxing out other players.
Look at this play involving the LA Clippers’ Ivica Zubac:
Bamba fails to box out, allowing Zubac to grab the ball and give his team another chance at scoring. It comes back to the way he deals with physical centers.
But there is hope. A double-double in the loss to the Grizzlies showcased his potential as a rebounder and he will only get better at the basics as he gets more time on the court. His understanding of where to be will also improve.
Becoming a better rebounder will be instrumental in his overall development into a starter. If he is to get there. There is still plenty of time for him to become more competent in these core skills and it is vital that he does so.
Confidence
Ultimately, a lot of Mohamed Bamba’s overall performance and ability to strengthen in these areas will come down to his level of confidence. Fans have, on occasion, rightly pointed out that Bamba looks like he is lacking confidence in his own ability in certain games this season.
His confidence does seem to come and go. There are occasions when he enters the game and really struggles to make his mark, yet there are times like in the defeat to Memphis where he comes onto the court and his presence is felt immediately.
Coming off the back of a strong month, there is plenty of reason to believe it is the latter and not the former we will see more of heading into next season. Especially if he enters the offseason healthy and with a better understanding of what his role for next year’s team will be.
It has not been an easy start to life in the NBA for Bamba.
Injury problems, a battle with COVID that impacted his conditioning and strong competition at the center position have all held him back. He is only really now getting a consistent run in the team.
But while there is still plenty to work on moving forward, and Wendell Carter’s impressive start to life in Orlando is keeping him out of the starting five, we could be seeing the start of Bamba’s ascent to becoming a consistently impactful player.