Bol Bol could make his debut as early as tomorrow for the Detroit Pistons and fans are excited to see what the intriguing 7-foot-2 forward can do.
We should probably temper our excitement somewhat, as Bol hasn’t seen much real game action and most of it has come in mop-up duty at the ends of games.
If you only watch his highlight reel, you’ll see a guy who has decent handles for his size, is a good and willing passer and can knock down a jumper.
But he has obvious flaws as well, otherwise he would have been playing, as Denver has been rocked with myriad injuries this season and he still couldn’t get on the floor.
The Pistons will give him a chance to show he belongs, and if he does show some promise, they’ll have the first chance of re-signing him in the offseason.
So what does Bol Bol have to do to find success with the Detroit Pistons?
Bol Bol needs to keep it simple with the Detroit Pistons
I am sure Bol will be eager to impress his new teammates and fans, but if you watch the limited film that exists on him, one thing that stands out is that he tends to make mistakes when he tries to do too much.
Yes, he has good handles FOR A GUY HIS SIZE, but that doesn’t mean he should be dribbling the ball a lot or trying to thread the needle with passes.
The Pistons already have guys in Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes who can handle the ball and make plays, so they don’t need a 7-foot-2 guy out there trying to be Chris Paul.
Bol needs to keep the ball moving, not try to do too much and let the game come to him.
We’ve seen that this guy has some skill, but so does every other guy out there, so he doesn’t have to try and do everything.
His duties for the Detroit Pistons will be to block shots and try to stretch the floor, that’s it. The more he dribbles, the more likely he is to make a mistake.
Speaking of mistakes…
Bol Bol can’t be a turnover machine
Like I said, there isn’t a whole lot of film to watch on Bol Bol, so I went back and watched some of the scrimmages he was involved in when the NBA was preparing to enter the Bubble. Remember those days? Seems like 800 years ago now.
You can watch some of the highlights here, and what you’ll see is a guy who absolutely affects shots at the rim, can run the floor and has a nice shooting stroke.
And if you only watched these highlights you’d think this guy was dominating the NBA right now, so why doesn’t he get off the bench?
Well, if you go beyond just the best stuff, you’ll see a guy who commits a ton of turnovers, which has been true in scrimmages, preseason and in the limited action he’s seen in real NBA games.
The Pistons already have a problem with turnovers as a team, ranking 28th in the league, so the last thing they need is another guy out there coughing it up.
This goes back to the first point, which is that Bol Bol can’t try to do too much with the ball. He needs to make quick decisions, take a shot or make a pass and avoid putting it on the floor too much on the perimeter, as NBA defenders are going to eat him alive if he’s out there dribbling between his legs and throwing behind-the-back passes.
Hopefully, the Detroit coaches can get it into his head that he’s not a point guard and that he can’t have a 2:1 turnover to assist ratio as an NBA big.
He needs to keep that ball high where no one else can get it, avoid putting it on the floor and keep it moving.
Bol Bol can be a stretch big for the Detroit Pistons
It is no secret that the Detroit Pistons can’t shoot and that their offense often has spacing issues because of it.
When Kelly Olynyk went down with injury, they lost the only big guy they have who can truly stretch the floor, as none of their other bigs have shot it consistently from there, though that doesn’t stop Trey Lyles from chucking them anyway.
Bol’s strengths as an offensive player are running the floor and finishing and having the ability to hit shots from long range.
He’s hit 37.8 percent of his 3-point shots in limited attempts in actual games and a similar percentage in those scrimmages, so this is guy who can make them.
He has a smooth shot and you won’t find many NBA players who are going to block or even affect it.
We know he can shoot, but the question is can he do the things he needs to do to get those shots? One thing I noticed about Bol is that he is disengaged when he is not directly involved in the action, often floating to the corners and just standing there watching.
Hopefully, the Pistons can get him involved in some pick-and-roll action, though Bol has never shown himself to be much of a screen setter.
Even if he’s not in the PnR, he can’t just be a stationary object or bystander on offense, he needs to move without the ball and let the Pistons’ guards find him when he’s open.
He can also create space for himself by being more of a cutter, looking for ways to get closer to the rim and not just standing around outside of the 3-point line.
If Bol Bol can play to his strengths, stay engaged (especially on defense) and cut down the mistakes, he can definitely make an impact for the Detroit Pistons, but it’s a lot to ask of a guy who has played very little and never shown that he’s anything more than a novelty in meaningless games.