Eli John Ndiaye | Scouting Report
I’m Kuzey, 19. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I have been working in Eurosport Turkey for the last 1,5 years. I have written on various sites and magazines before. I’ve been working as a freelance scout for three years. I worked as a consultant. I have interviewed dozens of prospects such as Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Henri Drell, Aleksej Pokusevski, Arturs Kurucs, Yves Pons, and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Xavi Pascual, Jonathan Givony, Dimitris Itoudis, Sasa Obradovic, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams. I write an article every day. I live in Turkey, I go to all the Euroleague and Youth League games. My main areas are all of age group in Africa and from U12 to U20 European and NCAA. MY BIGGEST GOAL IS SCOUTING! Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and feel free to DM!
Born: 26 June 2004
Nationality: Senegal
Height: 6–8
Wingspan: 7-foot-1
Position: PF-C
Physical
Standing 6-foot-8 with a near 7-foot-1 wingspan and a lack of strength 190-lbs frame, Eli John Ndiaye playing as a center but his physical tools create some question marks about it in my head. I mean, he both undersized and lack of strength for play as a center at the high levels. However, 7-foot-1 wingspan, elite vertical pop, quick hip turns, wide shoulders, quick lower body, and his ability to using his BBIQ with his body help him here in my opinion but at the end of the day, I think that Ndiaye has room to play center at the high level. Born in Guediawaye, Senegal on 16 June 2004, Eli John Ndiaye does much of his damage on using his ability to play above the rim explosively from the athlectisim window. A great catch-and-finish threat, Ndiaye does a pretty nice job to jump on his feet quickly, rotate his body, and reach the basket with perfect balance, court vision, and mentality in my opinion. I mean, he doesn’t step back. More quick than mobile, Ndiaye has a great potential to be an elite athlete at the high levels despite his lack of elite size and frame. Because he can play as a dunker spot man or create his dunk positions. Also, he is very, very quick on the open floor. So, he is like Sekou Doumbouya in this regard in my opinion. However, his size & frame is a big question mark for me.
Offense
Playing primarily catch-and-finish scorer, Eli John Ndiaye does much of his scoring filling lanes in transition, off the ball finisher, post-up scorer, and above the rim player but also his ability to create for himself as an interior is a notable thing in my opinion. Thanks to his ability to play through to contact and finishing skill-set around the basket in traffic despite his lack of elite size & frame, Ndiaye has a nice soft touch, refined footwork, solid stance, good court vision, and decision-making ability on the offensive end in my opinion. He sees his opponent’s defensive line and reacts well with quickly. A reliable catch and finish weapon, lob target, Ndiaye is not a selfish interior scorer but sometimes forcing the game too much. In other his offensive weapons, things that need to be improved are a little more critical. I mean, Ndiaye knows how to score from the post-up, r can dribble from the outside line and create his own position, so he can also show something as a slasher, but he’s not consistent in these things. While in post-up, he can use his court vision to see the open man, but when weak-side help comes, he does simple TOs. Ndiaye not a perfect handler, but not a very bad handler either. In the positions he plays as a catch-and-finisher, he lifts the ball from the bottom up very quickly, while he draws attention to a very nice defensive in his ballhandling. However, he makes some simple TOs in downhill dribbling and handling. Read & reacts passer, not any shifty or crafty things, but that’s enough in my opinion. A very active on off the ball motions with using his hips, BBIQ, and motor, also, running transitions well, the biggest elephant room on his offensive arsenal is shooting in my opinion. Eli John Ndiaye has a solid form. Looks comfortable with his shooting form. Not a great release but some advanced footwork, timing, two-motions shot, and fearlessness stand out here. Also, he showed that he can create his two-pointers shot but not consistent. If he can improve his right hand, release, and some micro things on his own shooting form, things can change seriously. Because, as you know, centers that look undersized like Ndiaye in the NBA make perfect floor spacing effect with their dominant athlectisim package and/or shooting threats. I think this is very important for his future.
Defense
Eli John Ndiaye is evolving on the defensive end impressively in my opinion. Displaying good instincts protecting the rim, Ndiaye wasn’t guarding quick and physical PGs, SGs, SFs, and PFs but from September 2019, he showing a lot of great things on that. Possessing the length, sliding, mobility, and timing, Ndiaye combines his BBIQ with his physical tools and can defend multiple positions. Eli John can use his lateral movement and body stiffness well against the guards. He does not have very fast and active hands and eye-hand coordination, but his good footwork and mobility help him here. He is able to rotate his stance a little more against forwards, thus stimulating his own defensive angle and reducing his opponent’s attack options. He can sometimes make a timing mistake against floor spacer bigs, he cannot read their movements on off the ball motions well, he reacts incorrectly to some burst fake. In fact, this is usually his defense against shooters. I think he is not a very tough and combative defender in the painted area. He usually uses his BBIQ and wingspan to protect the rim or make a block. Post-up and consistently switch defenses are the biggest things as a question marks on his defensive arsenal in my opinion. As a pick-and-roll defender, well, Eli John Ndiaye has special things in my opinion. I mean, he sliding very well with good geometry thanks to his team awareness, talking with his friends. After sliding, Eli rotates his hips, sets up his footwork, and moves well laterally to coverage handlers. But when things come around the 3-pointers line, he is not a good choice. Has room on that. The Senegalese big man is a very solid and engaged rebounder both on the defensive end and on the offensive end, showing good anticipation.
Summary
The threat created by Eli John Ndiaye as a catch-and-finisher, his ability to can play above the rim, potential shot weapon, and ability to defend multiple positions on the defense make him a valuable prospect but must be consistent in his shot, play with a slightly higher motor on the defense, should more balanced on post-up games and be more reliable in his dribble. It will also be important to gain strength.