Notes on Guilhermo Carvalho Santos

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. Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and feel free to DM!

AFRICAN PROJECT

It’s qualifiers time in FIBA ​​tournaments for every continent! One of the prospects that caught my attention in these qualifiers was Brazilian 18-year-old strong forward Guilhermo Carvalho Santos. So, all those brief notes are based on his performance in two matches.

Guilhermo Carvalho Santos

• Born on June 22, 2002, in Brazil and raised in Brazil.
• Measured 6-foot-6 with a plus-three wingspan and 195-pound strong frame.
• Has been playing basketball for three years old.
• Participated in Americas Team Camp two years ago in Mexico City.
• Participated in FIBA’s Youth Development Program two years ago in Sao Paulo.
• Participated in Basketball Without Borders Americas a year ago in Medellin.
• Plays for Minas Tenis Clube in NBB as a guard-forward.

Stats from 27 and 28 November

vs. Panama: 29 minutes, 12 points (5/9 2PTS, 2/3 FT), 11 rebounds (four of offensive), one assist, two personal fouls, one turnover, plus 6 and 18 per.

vs. Paraguay: 28 minutes, 10 points (1/2 FG, 2/6 3PTS, 2/4 FT), six rebounds, three assists, two personal fouls, two steals, two blocks, plus 9 and 16 per.

Physical Tools & Athleticism

Pluses

• Two years ago his overall body length was still good but he lacked too much strength. After two years of disciplined training in Brazil, he built a perfect body.
• Has strength, width, and agility all-around on the body.
• The upper body frame is reminiscent of the Action Man. Possesses impressive popping in both biceps and triceps.
• Has not dazzling width in the shoulders, but enough width and upright to give stiffness in arms and hands.
• Has wide hands, strong palms.
• Core and torso are strong, has not perfect muscle, but it is difficult to dislodge him both on the offensive end and the defensive end. He knows how to use his torso while through the contact.
• Knowing how to use hand length and torso flexibility allows him to get many rebounds, make easy layups in the open court and use tricks in tight spaces.
• Agile and strong lower body. Has quickness, hip mobility and light feet.
• Has glorious body coordination and balance both on the ground and in the air. It is hard to block him when he jumps. Because he can rotate his body very well, also, can stay in the air and change the direction of the ball
• Has good alignment on the knees.
• Elevates well off of one foot or two feet.

Minuses

• Has not enough sensitivity in the hands. This does not negatively affect his ballhandling ability because he is not a primary ballhandler but it creates a negative effect on his last touch in the air when he shoots the ball.
• Good width on chests but has not strength. This limits him as a post-up player.
• Has average vertical pop but has room to improve here. Because sometimes, he cannot make money in layups due to a lack of vertical pop.
• Has shown flashes where he scored after euro step or impressive misdirection, but, overall he lacks a degree of shiftiness, elite lateral, and linear movements. Those minuses limit him as a slasher.
• Able to play above the rim but inconsistent.
• Has not quick second jump and this limits his ability to contest the offense’s shots.

Offensive Summary

• Has not soft touch but solid touch makes him a reliable finisher around the rim. Despite lacks a degree of soft touch, he can play around the nail to make money with floaters, runners, short one-hand jumpers, etc.
• Plays as a third ballhandler, has solid ballhandling and has flashes where he showed his craftiness and smoothness with the ball while attacks to the basket. Reliable ballhandler, knows how to protect the ball — does not hesitate to use his chest, shoulders, all body to protect the ball.
• Can integrate his strong frame and length with his solid touch allow him to create space out of physicality on drives and finish around the rim against contact.
• Has not elite smoothness while attack to the basket, cannot make good things against hard-stance defenses. However, his ability to use his physical tools, body balance, average leaping, strong first step, solid touch, good timing for finishing and layup steps, ability to use the glass (if he needs to momentum to the ball), and ability to dislodge average defenders on the drive make him a good finisher overall in my opinion. Has to add some tricky finishing styles like bump and fade, backboard tips, etc.
• Unselfish passer, not a primary assist maker but has good knowledge in the team’s offensive play (where and when he should make a pass, what types of pass he should use). Has ability to make pass such as cross, pocket, skip, etc. but lacks of elite game vision, ballhandling, drive and pass abilities limited him as a passer. Has ability to give and go, grab and go, etc.
• Not an excellent cutter, usually tries to do things with shooting when plays as an off the ball player. However, occasionally makes good backdoor cuts. I would like to see him more effective when he plays in the weak side.
• The shooting ability improved very well. Actually, still improves. Has one motion shooting form. Has excellent positioning on the lower body, impressive alignment and bends both on the knees and hips. Has not good pop but it is not hurt him too much. Can transfer the energy from the lower body to the upper body. Not a fan of his load time, slow, but not too slow. Good gripping but lack of elite finger sensitivity hurt him too much here. Shot pocket not too close to body, has 90-degrees angle between the ball, and the torso. Has not a smooth release, but solid overall. He doesn’t look very comfortable when shooting, but he can show his solidity very well in CnS situations. The last touch is the biggest problem. The ball is going either too hard or too soft. That is why he does not have mid-range or movement shooting capabilities. And inconsistent as a threat in CnSs. But the development in the last 1.5 years is very promising.
• Can run the court very well in transition situations bot as a ballhandler or runner. Shows his vision here very well.

Defensive Summary

• Overall, good defender and it is very hard to dislodge him around the perimeter. However, in ISO situations, he has not enough gravity effect as a defender. Easy to pass him but if he can change his defensive stance’s direction, he can easily cover the ballhandler thanks to strong frame.
• Against slashers, he pushes the ballhandler from the chest, lows his stance, and looks to exploit the ball. Plays with a lot of passion. However, cannot cover the shifty ballhandlers in all situations.
• Has good defensive IQ. Not a defensive playmaker but always talks with the teammates. Does a good job rotating in the paint and around the perimeter, slides like water around the perimeter despite has not elite lateral movement. Does a good job helping off ball but sometimes focuses too much on the strong side or on his man and it creates mistakes for him.
• Not a pleyer who really bites on many shot fakes around the perimeter and nail, does a nice job closing while being ready to move, and can contest with length. However, sometimes gives a lot of space to the shooters and cannot cover them.
• Not someone I would like to use in PnR defenses. Has not ability to chase his man around the screens or cover the PnRs as a main ballhandler defender. Cannot split the screen due to lack of elite quickness and technique.
• Good rim protector both as a shot-blocker and in rotating to the basket situations. This catalyzed by BBIQ, timing, length, awareness and able to take bumps.
• Excellent rebounder… He shows his game feelings here. Knows where the ball goes on, grabs the ball in the air thanks to his length. The ability to grab and go makes him dangerous in open court offenses.