Scouting Report | Vrenz Bleijenbergh

I’m Kuzey, 20. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I worked in Eurosport Turkey for two 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, Paul Eboua, Aleksej Pokusevski, Arturs Kurucs, Yves Pons, and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Xavi Pascual, Jonathan Givony, Dimitris Itoudis, Ekpe Udoh, Pero Antic, Maurizio Gherardini, Georgios Printezis, Sasa Obradovic, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams, bla bla bla. Anyway, hit me on Twitter. @kuzeykg

Vrenz Bleijenbergh was born on October 14, 2000, in Belgium. He started to play basketball when he was four-year-old. His father was a basketball player but just played at low-league local teams. He started to play basketball at Antwerp Giants’ youth category and he still with Antwerp.

He has a pretty good off the court life. He is a hard worker at the GYM and also at the court. He is an uncle, has good bonds with family, and usually spends his time with his family and friends. Has not a bad habit. He likes to watch tv-series. Prison Break and Shooter are his favorite tv-series.

Physical

Standing 6-foot-10 without shoes with a 215-pound well-developed frame, Vrenz Bleijenbergh has physical tools that allow him to play multiple positions, which makes him an intriguing prospect.

The Belgian prospect’s height was always taller for his generation, often even taller than the centers when he played against his peers. However, VB had the strength problem experienced by any prospect that has great length for his age and position. He was struggling to fully demonstrate his many talents as it took a long time to fill his body. However, VB made significant progress in this issue in 2020. There are still things that need improvement physically (strength), but the fact that he has improved compared to the past is a very important asset for the future in my opinion.

One of the problems that he has physically is about the shoulders. He has not good length and muscle mass on the shoulders. Although he has a good length from neck to the chest and average strength, the part from the end of the shoulders to the arms looks very low, I think the degree is not what it should be, which makes him unable to make anything in back-to-the-basket situations.

Bleijenbergh has not outstanding, fascinating popping on the biceps and triceps but it is possible to see that he has the stiffness that allows him to absorb the contact in only high-paced offenses. The forearms look good, especially; he has good strength on the wrists. The sensitivity and agility of the hands are decent. I cannot see any outstanding palm sensitivity which makes him a hunter in passing lanes or master of the floater, but, has enough sensitivity to protect the ball. Also, I think his hand coordination is pretty good in transition situations; VB seems to know how to coordinate his hands to keep the ball at the right angle and go at the right angle to the basket.

Parts of the torso are another problem in my opinion. I do not think that Vrenz Bleijenbergh has a lanky torso like Aleksej Pokusevski or Jaden McDaniels, but also has not necessary strength. It is possible to see understand that when he dives into the traffic. He cannot finish through the contact consistently; he loses his balance because it is not too hard to be a nail defender against him in low-paced situations. However, he has an inside-core strength that makes him like water in open court and transition offenses. Has outstanding flexibility for his size and frame. However, he has room to improve on the upper body in terms of strength in my opinion.

When I scouting his lower body, I impressed a lot by his coordination on the hips and knees. It is hard to have a low stance both on offense and defense if you over 6-foot-9. However, Bleijenbergh knows how to lowers and lifts his stance in every offensive and defensive situation and I think it is one of the important assets that he has; because generally low-man wins on both sides of the court. Being able to do it as a 6-foot-10 point forward is pretty important. I think the alignment on the knees is also very important, especially in terms of his shot. Bleijenbergh’s lower body mechanics seemed a bit unorthodox in many of the shots that he tried until last year, but this year the lower body form seemed to be good. Bleijenbergh has not good strength on hamstrings and calves but it is not necessary for him, because he just needs the agility to be a quick scorer. Vrenz Bleijenbergh has not good vertical leap and this limits his finishing ability under the basket and his explosiveness. He has the length but his vertical leap is very bad for his length. He moves laterally and linearly well, especially, he is flashy linearly both with the ball and without the ball. The best thing about VB’s footwork is his ability to changing step length. He already knows fundamental that chin on the shoulder and square up, and by adding changing step length to his quickness, Bleijenbergh being able to do advanced moves with the ball.

Vrenz Bleijenbergh has good size for his basketball abilities and position, also, the Belgian native is very quick and has good fundamental pieces of knowledge. However, he has to add more strength to fight against the NBA’s quick and smart perimeter players, who can take advantage despite have not great length.

Offense

Vrenz Bleijenbergh’s on the ball offense is catalyzed in a very different way. Bleijenbergh can integrate his quickness with body coordination in transition situations, change direction, capture the momentum that can enter the attack channel and go to the basket before the opponent can settle in his defensive stance, and use his wingspan to finish the position even if he is not close to the basket.

He can do the same things in some half-court attacks. If the opponent is in a 2–2–1 or 2–1–2 or 2–3 or 2–1–1–1 defensive line and the two defenders around the baseline are closer to the corner to close the shooting gravities of the corner shooters, Bleijenbergh slides from one of the wings to the top of the and can dislodge two perimeter defenders thanks to his long steps and can finish position quickly.

However, the Belgian versatile forward, who the very right hand dominant, is a poor finisher in the half-court offenses in my opinion. I think there are three problems that he should fix. First, vertical leap. VB does not rise well in traffic and limited pop limits his finishing clearly. Second, lack of strength. VB has shown flashes of using his body as a shield to protect the ball in the paint but overall, he cannot absorb the contact against rim protectors and smart wing (For example; Andorra v Antwerp) defenders. Third, he has not a good touch. It is hard to block his shot because VB knows the finishing angles well, but he has not a good solid, soft, or smooth touch in the air; he does not have much craftiness finishing around the rim. He has a good first step and can turn corners very well, can make money after curl/shallow cuts. Occasionally, he can absorb contact, push the defender with his chest and shoulder to the basket, finish under the basket by dribbling the ball, and also draw the foul in positions where he is quick and aggressive. So, if he is able to improve his vertical leap, strength, and touch he could be an elite finisher. Because he already has a huge advantage: length. Last note, Vrenz Bleijenbergh has not much versatility on finishing. He does not a good job on runners or floaters but he has good layups. Plus, he is not the type of player who forces the finishes in the paint.

As can understandable, have efficient things in the 3-point line from Vrenz Bleijenbergh on the ball offense, transition, and wrong defensive line are critical. This types of fast-paced offensive sets require good dribble penetration and handling, especially if you over 6-foot-9. Basically, you should be able to handle the ball while controls your body on the ground. To take and advantage of the defense, you also should be quick. So Vrenz Bleijenbergh has those things. I cannot define him as a purpose/quick/crafty/intense dribbler and he is not a crafty or shifty handler, but in my opinion, he has a little bit of everything. He has first advantage by changing step length. This allows him changing direction in straight line. He has good degree of coordination, proper footwork, and offensive stance. About advanced dribbling, he is not a crossover/retreat/shifty player but he has a nice mini hesitation dribble package, which provides him a lot of buckets while he cutting from corners to the basket. This kid really does good job of attacking the legs.

He is not a great handler but good enough in my opinion. He can use either hand to handle the ball, knows how to use his handle to adjust the tempo, but there is a problem that may be able to be huge problem at the NBA level. The Belgian native sometimes throws the ball too far ahead of his own body while bouncing the ball. This has been the reason for many of his turnovers this season. And VB actually seems prone to this, that’s not good but it can be fixed.

In my opinion, the most important swing factor of him is shooting. Vrenz Bleijenbergh was a below-average shooter until the beginning of this season. His shooting mechanics were bad and he was making very wrong shooting choices. However, this year he has managed to be a good shooter in every way. It is still hard to say he is versatile (He has shown flashes of on the ball shooting shooter. He hit some 3-points after mini-hesi and 2-dribble jumper but inconsistent) , but in catch-and-shoot roles, VB is doing better than ever in his career, which makes him an interesting prospect for all NBA teams when we consider him a 6-foot-10 forward. Remember the hype Aleksej Pokusevski created last year. Bleijenbergh, who can shoot 3-points from the corners and left-wing with good percentages, has a good shooting IQ in general and is very confident in his shot, although he is sometimes trying unnecessary shots like JR Smith

Two motions shooting form, release point is high but before VB jumps, release point looks like almost adherent to the head. Not a fan of shot pocket, sometimes too close to the torso and sometimes not. Excellent alignment on the knee bends the hips very well but sometimes can get struggled because of his length. Has good touch in the air, it is possible to see the solidness of the last touch in the air. If he fires the shot from a zone farther than normal, he increases his leverage a lot and occasionally he can hit these positions, giving the ball a good bomber. The most critical problem in VB’s shooting, I think, is his balance hand. Sometimes, he pulls out his balance hand long before he should, and this causes the arc of the ball to break. I think that’s why VB shoots so well from corners. Because you know, the only target there is the basketball itself.

Nothing about mid-range repertoire, again, some shot versatility but is not a movement shooter, but it is good that the Belgian prospect is able to lift/drop behind the 3-points line to get the ball.

I think he is an underrated passer. When you look at his stats-sheet (31 assists total; 23 of them turned 2-points and eight of them turned 3-points), it will be natural for you not to be very impressed. However, if you scouting Bleijenbergh’s passing ability as an eye-test, you might be a little more optimistic about this. I do not think Bleijenbergh is a good operator in pick-and-roll games, or that he is a creative passer in low-tempo half-court attacks, he is a stationary passer in general who can see the full court well. However, this season he and Faye, the center of Antwerp, played PnR 20 times, and in 11 of those 20 games, Vrenz was able to use Faye’s lob-target scorer ability. Apart from Faye, VB occasionally showed passes that he fed his teammates who made flash cuts from corners to basket. Also, he is able to make swing passes as a secondary ballhandler, after used stagger, or in DHOs. So, in my opinion, he is good enough as a passer for the NBA level. HOWEVER, he sometimes can play gamble in the defense’s hunter lines but not prone to it.

Off the ball motions are the most complicated thing for me about him. He has not any weapon as a back-to-the-basket threats both on the ball and off the ball motions. He does not excel at scoring in pick-and-roll games. So there is the only way to use him on off the ball motions are cutting, and VB has versatility with quickness in cut styles. However, sometimes, his team can be too lazy around second-quarter and third-quarter. In those sequences, VB also can be lazy but the reason why the quality of the team’s roster in my opinion is. He is a good CnS target and does good job cutting but as I mentioned, sometimes, he can be lazy.

Vrenz Bleijenbergh needs work in the pick-and-roll scoring ability in my opinion. He has not much nuance here as he has not in post-up games. However, he is a perfect option as a third player of the pick-and-roll. For example, while his team sets up wing PnR in the right zone, VB goes to left-wing by using off the ball screen. If his team’s handler or roller cannot find a good angle to finish, the ball usually goes to VB and he finishes those possessions with 3-points or gives an extra pass to the corner. However, end the end of the day, he has to add at least average PnR scoring in my opinion. To add this weapon to his arsenal, he needs work on his ability to finish under the basket.

Defense

VB’s lack of vertical op limits his rim protection and it is easy to dislodge him in live dribble situations. While he trying to protect the rim, does a good job on stay in front of the offensive player thanks to his wingspan and stiff stance. However, it is easy to bite him by zero-step/burst/body/shot fake and also, if the offensive player has good chest strength and he knows how to push the defender legally, it is easy to pass Vrenz’s rim protection in my opinion. If the offensive player beats him off the bounce, VB does not get back into the play to try to protect the rim/basket. He usually likes to stick with the offensive player downhill, but he does not have a good ability to rising off of his movement quickly. Again, lack of vertical pop and strength hurt him.

He needs work on the ball defense. He usually does a good job to stick his man, can chase him around screens on off the ball motions, but when the offensive player goes for any fake or uses zero-step/burst, VB’s all-defensive efficiency drops. Because he really has a bad habit to stay too close to his man. Probably he trusts his steal the ball thanks to his anticipation and long arms, but it is a huge gamble. Three major issues; First, he has not recovery ability, including the pick-and-roll situations. Second, he cannot absorb the shoulder attempts; it is easy to pass him in the shoulder to hip situations. Third, he is prone to just focus on steal the ball, which creates huge spaces for the offense.

It is real that he has defensive anticipation. He has shown flashes of huge deflections, being a hunter in the passing lanes, and quick eye-hand coordination. However, he trusts those things too much. The same also goes for his closeout defense. Vrenz Bleijenbergh does a good job in terms of the closeout technique. High hand, ready to move, quick proper footwork, good coordination overall, etc. however he sometimes can get be lazy to run to the offensive player. If he runs quickly without balance, he can get scrambled by the offensive player.

On off the ball motions, he can chase his man around screens very well. However, as a stationary off the ball defender, he sometimes focuses on the ball side too much, which allows his man cutting/quick dribbling angle. He sometimes really loses his concentration on the defensive end.

The best thing about his defense is that VB able to sees the game and makes move to steal the ball. He has defensive instincts and knows how to use his long arms, good body coordination, and quickness to steal the ball. But again, he sometimes trusts this lot.

Vrenz Bleijenbergh is not a defensive playmaker, and I think his overall defensive performance is below-average. However, he is pretty sound positionally, so, his defensive skill-set and technique-wise revolve around projection; he is not a good defender right now but if he is able to add strength and patient, he can be a hell of a good defender. Because he already has good length and wingspan for his position and age.

Overall

Despite Vrenz Bleijenbergh’s potential and upside have been on the table for the last four years, he is like a late-bloomer prospect. This year he does pretty good jobs because he really improved a lot in terms of basketball skill-set and, to be honest, his team is not good this year. This gives Bleijenbergh an opportunity to shine while at the same time causing him to develop some bad habits in his playing habits. For example, the defensive rotation of the team gets so lazy in some periods that the defensive effort of VB also decreases accordingly. It is possible to say the same thing on the offensive side. Antwerp generally tries to produce something with stagger, floppy, curl chin-based sets after PnRs from top of the key, and they very confident in CnS sets. So the Belgian prospect does not show impressive versatility (post-up, PnR, maybe should play as a primary ballhandler more?) on the offensive end despite taking much more responsibility than in previous years. When I go out from the overall team situation and just focus on him, well, I think Vrenz Bleijenbergh is a unicorn prospect. Because he can shoot the ball and looks like one of the two most important skills that can translatable to the NBA is his shooting. He excels at scoring in transitions, is able to make a pass, can dribble to the basket, and has impressive quickness. On the defensive end, everything will depend on his work ethic and strength in my opinion. However, as like every unicorn prospect/candidate having this problem, he is a gamble pick. Will he able to add strength? Will he able to shoot the ball consistently at the NBA pace? Will he able to add better touch around the rim? Will he able to be an average defender? All those questions give a gamble signal to pick him. However, in my opinion, he has shown a good development curve for the last one and a half years. So he gives a good signal for the future and already has that impressive potential. After all the thinking process, especially about his work ethic and off-the-court life, I think that picking him in the late-first-round or early-second-round will not hurt.