In the Spotlight: Cole Aldrich

Cole Aldrich
Position: Center

Ht: 6-11, Wt: 245

Hometown: Bloomington, MN

College: Kansas
Class: Sophomore

DOB: 10/31/88

Strengths:

• Exerts tremendous effort
• Has really improved his footwork in the low post.
• He’s begun to develop a low post game, especially a turn around jump hook, which is his go-to move.
• Well Schooled Player – Understands where he needs to be, in order to be effective on both ends of the court.
• Tremendous shot blocker – Comes over from the weak side to contest – shows great timing.
• Great rebounder – Consistently boxes his man out and uses his long arms to extend for the ball.
• After securing rebounds, Aldrich demonstrates good footwork pivoting and throwing crisp outlet pass.
• Runs hard on both ends of the floor.
  

Weaknesses:

• Physically weak; lacks toughness – He’s pushed around too easily in the paint.
• Must become more assertive on the floor… Aldrich needs to fight harder to establish position in the low post and develop an ‘attack’ mentality.
• Offensively, his game isn’t fluid – his low post moves need to become 2nd nature.
• Very unconventional, slow developing shot… His release point is above the back side of his head …He has to work on refining his form and becoming a more consistent mid-range shooter.
• Not very explosive off the floor
• Very limited lateral quickness – He has a tough time guarding quicker players that can take him off the dribble.
• Slow foot speed which makes it very difficult to come out to contest shots away from the basket. He’s going to really struggle guarding 4 and 5’s that can hit the mid range jump shot.

Overall:

Cole Aldrich is not a player that is going to get anyone out of their seats with his ferocious style of play or explosiveness off the ground. Rather he’s a productive player that has shown a great propensity to improve in all aspects of his game and will play hard on both ends of the floor.

Right now, Aldrich’s two greatest strengths are his rebounding prowess and excellent timing blocking shots. He has a great understanding of how to rebound, as he gets his body in position to use his tremendous length to extend for the ball.

Offensively, he’s really improved his footwork on the block and his ability to score around the basket. He will never become a focal point at the next level, but he definitely needs to be accounted for.

Defensively is where I see Aldrich encountering his biggest challenge in the NBA. With limited foot speed and lateral quickness, defending much more athletic 4’s is going to be very difficult. Aldrich also struggles to contest jump shots, when he’s forced to come out of his comfort zone, which is within 10 feet of the basket.

The other big hurdle that Aldrich will have to overcome is his physical toughness. Adding more muscle has definitely helped in this area, but it’s more his mentality that’s the problem. His natural demeanor is way too timid on the court.

The bottom line is that Aldrich’s limited athleticism and toughness will present a major problem, as he transitions to the next level. For that reason, if he enters this year’s draft, I would wait until the 15th pick of the 1st round before I consider selecting Cole Aldrich.