Jakob Poeltl scouting report and video breakdown | Raptors Republic
Post Up
The few times Poeltl has gotten the ball in the post with the intention to score or make decisions, he has shown promise. Although the sample size is small, he typically has been able to make his way into the paint once the entry pass has been made. He has trouble creating good post position for himself before the catch, but once he has the ball in his hands he is pretty effective at getting within scoring range.
The Raptors typically tried to feed him out of their SLOB (Sideline Out of Bounds) “Zipper” set. Instead of Poeltl setting a screen after the ball handler makes a zipper-cut above the arc, he’d veer back to his original side of the floor and try to get post position. After an entry pass, the Raptors typically ran a split cut above him to disallow for any off-ball defenders to try and “dig” into the post.
Poeltl doesn’t get sped up in the post and is a calm presence down low. It remains to be seen how efficient he will be scoring the ball when dumping it to him in the low block, but he has shown a couple of nice counters.
Additionally, he has the ability to pass from the post, something which took another Raptors center three years to grasp. Poeltl’s vision is not otherworldly on the low block, but it’s not a weakness either. That seems to be the case for all of Poeltl’s post play – he’s not bad, but also isn’t a world-beater. He’s shown enough to continue to be intrigued and seeing how he develops will be interesting, especially if/when teams decide to switch against him in the pick and roll.
Poll: What type of player should the Raptors sign as their 15th man? | Raptors HQ
The Raptors basically have two choices:
1) Sign another SG/SF type to slot in behind Ross/Powell to provide a little shooting/defense when the time comes. Presumably this would be a veteran guy, in the mould of, say, a John Salmons-type. [Salmons’ head perks up] I said, type. The Raptors won’t have much (or any) money to give said player, so your dreams of J.R. Smith being signed away from the Cavaliers will have to be put on hold. Still, there are options out there.
2) Sign another PF/C type to provide some reliable minutes in the front court. I use the word reliable here because the Raptors front court rotation is just full of questions. After Jonas, Jared and Patrick, there are two rookies (god love’em) and the man they call Bebe. Now look, I love Bebe, but it’s clear Toronto doesn’t quite yet trust him to play 15-20 minutes a game. It’s not even clear he can actually play 15-20 minutes a game. Sure, maybe? This suggests, with Poeltl and Siakam heading to the D-League for stretches, that the Raptors may look to add one more big body. I mean, Jason Thompson is just sitting by the phone, guys.
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