Your George Mason Patriots have gotten their first portal addition, 6’8 rising redshirt senior forward Dola Adebayo, out of Mount St. Mary’s.
I know he committed before Hill, but oopsies.
His background is covered in the visit article he is part of, but in short, Adebayo should have either one or two seasons of eligibility, depending on whether he gets his grad year or just the normal four.
Dola Adebayo Scouting Report (Full Game vs American)
Athleticism/Intangibles
Adebayo did his team’s tip-off.
Dola plays somewhere between a big wing and a forward, and could be a spot center, but primarily was a forward. Lots of versatility.
The forward’s arms look incredibly long. I would not be surprised if his wingspan was a couple inches past 7 feet.
Dola has a pretty quick first step with the ball in his hands.
Offense
Adebayo was allowed to take trailing threes if left open. He will pull if open, making him a major pick and pop threat. With that shooting comes his midrange, which made him great at beating the zone, getting the ball at the free throw line and beating his man on a race to the rim.
A big upside I saw was that Dola moves off-ball, doing some curling actions to get an advantage. The new Patriots is a monster cutter, getting him momentum toward the rim right as he gets the ball increases the chances of a basket by a lot.
On the perimeter, he has a nasty jab step that can get him space.
His instincts and athleticism let him become a lob and putback threat.
Adebayo has a looser handle than you would like for someone who likes to put it on the floor.
Dola is an awesome finisher in the pick and roll. If he gets the ball halfway between the rim and the free throw line, don’t doubt him get an easy basket.
One of my favorite thingsI saw from the Mount St. Mary’s transfer was doing some ghost dribble hand-offs that got him wide open dunks at the rim.
Defense
This is the fun end, if the other one wasn’t fun enough for you.
My favorite thing was that Dola would play well past half-court in the full-court press. Sometimes he would be given the responsibility of playing free safety, flying from ball-handler to ball-handler, causing panic.
In late game situations, I could definitely see Skinn putting Adebayo on the inbounder.
The forward gambles on steals, but has the athleticism to make up for a lost step, so it makes sense.
In regard to the range, Dola has eyes everywhere. He will sprint if he sees a lazy pass or a loose ball. Instinctual.
It is kind of difficult to evaluate his perimeter defense, as Mount St. Mary’s played a pretty strong zone in the game I watched. On the bright side, he knew how to funnel his man toward the rim help.
The 6’8 forward did a decent job at keeping guards in front of him on the perimeter, even if he may have to stay a little farther back than normal. In my opinion, this means he could cover the average A10 guard, just not a guy who is scoring-minded. More with his switchability, Adebayo is good at picking up guards in the pick and roll when his teammate gets eaten by a screen.
Another big thing is that it seemed like Dola was a defensive leader, perhaps the quarterback of the defense, making callouts.
Adebayo would occasionally get beat on rebounds by slithery, smaller guys.
The forward wasn’t challenged as a rim protector often, but when they did, he did a decent job helping.
His quickness and length allow him to do a great job at denying entry passes. Malik Henry?
Areas Of Improvement
A big area of improvement would be his assist to turnover ratio, as his assist rate is 8%, but his turnover rate is 20.1%. I’m not expecting Adebayo to be some point forward, but I would love to see him cut down on the turnovers.
The rebounding numbers did not match what I saw in the American game, so maybe he played a different role for it, but his positioning and physicality were a bit disappointing.
Now, Joe’s part.
Dola Adebayo Scouting Report (First Half vs. Miami)
Well that was a fun couple hours yesterday wasn’t it Mason Nation? Both Jermahri Hill and Dola Adebayo? The future is starting to look bright.
Today, we’re talking about Dola Adebayo, the big wing acquired from Mount St. Mary (a tournament team might I add). I watched the first half of his performance against Miami, which if you remember, Mount St. Mary won.
First, I know that as a 6’8” wing, many people are going to compare Adebayo to Woody Newton. Similar sizes, both play as “big guards”, etc. I did see some early signs, particularly on the defensive side of the ball where that comparison makes sense. Adebayo was solid at guarding out on the perimeter, working everyone from Miami’s four to their point guard. He was active out there.
He was also one of the Mountaineers main players on any pressure defense they did. He looks like the player who can lead the 1-3-1 zone Tony likes to throw in there. He’s also got those “Woody Hands” on defense. If you’ve seen Coach Skinn talk about what he calls Woody Hands on defense, especially on the perimeter, you know what I’m talking about here. Adebayo likes to get after it on the glass too. A lot of string comparisons to Woody on the defensive end.
On the offensive end is where the comparison ends with Woody though. Adebayo likes getting into the paint and shooting from there. He had 262 shots from two last year, making 56.5% of them (that’s good), compared to Woody who only shot the ball from 2 94 times this past season. Dola has a better post game than Woody, straight up. His ability from beyond the arc isn’t non-existent (shot from there 71 times and made 31% of his shots last season) but I would call it not the focal part of his offensive game like it was Woody’s. All in all, I think Woody is probably the higher ceiling defender, but Adebayo’s interior game makes him a much higher ceiling player on the offensive end of the ball and I don’t think his defense is that much worse than Woody’s either.
Overall, with now Adebayo, Hill and Mincy signed for next season, those are three huge players for Tony and Co. to start portal season with. We needed basket getting wings- well we’ve got another one in Adebayo.
Back to Palmer.
Ratings
We will once again be using the 20-80 scale, with 50 being average and every 10 being a standard deviation.
Athleticism: 60 – This is a 55 based on his movement abilities, but I am going to lump in his long arms here.
Help Defense: 55 – Dola was not challenged much, but also did not get beat once. This has potential to be a lot higher than I think.
Post Defense: NA – I did not see a single post defense possession.
Defensive Versatility: 60 – I am going to lump together his switchability with him being able to play the top of the full-court press.
Shooting: 45 – Last season, at 30.6%, was actually his career low. We could see a rise to his 33.3% sophomore season. Shooting 73.9% from the line in his career is a good sign.
Playmaking: 35 – You cannot expect too much from a guy who plays a four, but the turnovers have potential to be a problem.
Rebounding: 50 – The numbers look better than a 50, but the game I watched was more like a 45, so we will drop it in the middle.
Fun: 60 – Dola had a crazy dunk highlight against American, and if you consider a 6’8 forward flying around at the top of the press fun, then this is a certified FUN player.
What Does This Mean For Mason?
Before this commitment, if you looked at possible lineups, it would have Emmanuel Kanga or Stas Sivka starting at the four. I like both of them, but Adebayo is a massive upgrade from those young and developing players.
Many Mason fans are looking for the Woody Newton replacement. So far, this seems to be the closest we’re going to get. I think he might be able to do the Woody things, just not to the same extent and effectiveness. Joe and I independently went “Woody? maybe…”.
A reasonable comparison for Adebayo would be Malik Henry with a fully-fledged offensive skillset.
This is a great first commitment, and will give guaranteed value.
