In a world of highlight reel plays and attention-grabbing statistical lines, there’s a lost appreciation for the cornerstone of every defense: the rim-protector. Basketball at the professional level, and increasingly the collegiate one, has undergone a dramatic shift to small-ball lineups with an emphasis on spacing the floor and shooting. As a result, premium talent is moving farther away from the rim as players develop and refine their jump shots and ball-handling abilities. And who doesn’t enjoy watching players like 6’6″ Luke Kennard play the role of a stretch four at Duke, creating an immediate defensive headache in most switching scenarios. But amid all of this, hidden in plain sight, is the prototypical big man — the player who does a lot of the dirty work on the boards, helping off his assignment to contest a shot or fighting for another possession. Florida junior center John Egbunu epitomizes this player.
At 6’11 and 255 pounds, Egbunu is not easily pushed around on the block, making well-positioned entry passes difficult to establish. This aspect alone provides tremendous value, but perhaps more importantly, Egbunu possesses a keen sense of timing with shot-blocking. The big man has nearly doubled his block rate this season (from 5.5 to 10.7 percent) and is averaging 4.2 blocks per 40 minutes (32nd nationally). As the below clip shows, in addition to generating a fair number of his blocks with help defense, he moves well enough laterally to stay with his man on dribble penetration.
Shot-blocking has served a crucial role within head coach Mike White‘s strategy to transform Florida into a top defensive unit. Ugbunu uses his size in the below clip to defend three different players over the span of 10 seconds, positioning himself to contest both the shot and the pass from Duke’s Frank Jackson.
On the offensive end, unfortunately, Egbunu remains frustratingly raw. He has yet to successfully develop any reliable post moves and his touch around the rim is lacking. Despite such great size, he’s only converting on 42.4 percent of his shots — Duke forced him into a 2-of-10 performance despite all of his shots coming from within five feet of the basket. Nonetheless, he serves an important function in facilitating the Gators’ offense. First, as the below clip shows, his frame, as a big-bodied and fairly agile center, is very effective for setting good screens.
His body generates enough of a delay for Florida’s quick guards to maneuver around the screen and generate some downhill speed. Kasey Hill and KeVaughn Allen are both good finishers at the rim, and coupling this with Egbunu’s 16.2 percent offensive rebounding rate (21st nationally) makes the Gators awfully dangerous in pick-and-roll settings. Scoring limitations aside, there are just two other players in college basketball who are among the top 35 in both blocks and offensive rebounding rates. It’s no wonder that his presence remains a vital component for Florida on both ends of the floor. By their very nature, anchors were never meant to shine.