Mississippi St. Junior Strengths: Talented, but underachieving post player … Overwhelming size, weighing more than 300 pounds … Stands 6’9.5" in shoes with a 7’4.5" wingspan … Solid athlete, considering his size … Leaping ability and mobility would improve vastly if he loses some weight … Difficult to contain with his back to the basket … Soft hands … Can eat defenders alive when he gets on the block … Hook shot is erratic, but effective when he gets a clean look at the hoop … Promising jump shooter … Shot 40.5% from deep in his junior year, albeit on a limited number of attempts (37 on the season) … A strong area rebounder due to his size … Solid defender, even if he isn’t much of a shot-blocker …
Weaknesses: Has a lot of innate skills, but has yet to put everything together … Even in the post, his footwork isn’t great and he finds himself off-balance quite a bit … Lacks control … Isn’t much of a passer out of the post … Didn’t use the time he had between the college basketball season and the draft effectively … Was measured at the 2012 NBA Draft Combine a body fat percentage of over 22% … Has always had problems with conditioning and keeping himself in shape … Has found himself getting in trouble off the court … Fought a teammate at one point in his sophomore season … Hasn’t improved much at all since high school, which further suggests a lack of a strong work ethic … Displays a low basketball IQ … Seems to be injury-prone; surely due in part to his weight …
Overall: Unfortunately Sidney has become a cautionary tale that too much too soon can ruin even the most talented prospects. Sidney has always had a lot of potential, but he hasn’t come close to living up to it … If he can get himself in shape, polish his offensive game and continue to stay out of trouble, then he could be a big-time steal, but his stock has been free-falling recently, and it seems unlikely he’ll get drafted at all …
Tyler Ingle 6/24/12
Weaknesses: Still has a long ways to go to reach his potential Right now hes very good, and can become great if he adds some key elements to his game He can do it all, but his consistency suffers at times Needs to gain better focus on both ends of the floor, when he becomes tired, his game suffers Needs to work on his stamina and build some of his body fat into muscle Shows good signs of competitiveness and toughness, but must work on developing a killer instinct Needs to become more patient with his post moves, incorporate more pump fakes and develop better moves
Notes: Moved to California (Artesia high school) after his freshman season. Hes considered the top prospect in the Class of 2009.
Aran Smith – 8/8/2006