Tristan Enaruna

Tristan Enaruna (Kansas) : 6’8 forward with great athleticism was being recruited heavily by Georgia Tech, Miami, Texas Tech and Creighton but decided to join one of the most prolific teams in the NCAA, Kansas Jayhawks. Netherlands native was playing in Wasatch Academy. At the U18 European Championship in Volos, he put up great numbers but struggled from beyond the arc dramatically. He will have to get up to at least over 30% from 3s in order to raise his stock. On the other hand, his combination of speed, size, strength and motor makes him definitely a one to watch for the upcoming season.

During the last game of day 1 at 2nd edition of Young Guns GBA Invitational we witnessed exciting wing match up between Dutch 2001 born Tristan Enaruna and year older Paul Eboua from Cameroon.

Enaruna is highly touted prospect who needs less and less introduction even though he comes from and plays in non basketball country. He was one of the leaders of Netherlands U16 team who won promotion to Division A last summer.

Eboua arrived in Stellazzurra during the summer of 2015 and has been making strides ever since to raise his stock and be known from more reasons than just freakish wingspan and participation in dunk contests.

PHYSICAL PROFILE:

Both of them have great standing reach for forward position. Enaruna is taller but Eboua is longer in general (223 cm wingspan). Tristan is not the most ripped player but possess adequate frame and can most likely improve his base also considering body built of his 2 years older brother – Iyen. Paul’s frame already filled out and he seems to have stronger legs and bounce off two feet. To some up Eboua wins comparison but they are both high level athletes with desirable tools and physical profiles.

POSSESSIONS IN DIRECT MATCHUP:

1. Tristan tried step back jumper but didn’t create separation and went away.
2. Tristan faked backdoor cut and went back to baseline 3pt line. Had a lot of space but was unable to get it off quickly and made contested airball.
3. Tristan missed three after offensive rebound by his teammate. Eboua was deeper in rotation as he tried to get rebound as well.
4. Tristan was PnR ball handler and Eboua got lost on the screen. He had no chance to recover and chased Enaruna for very hard foul. Tristan missed 2 FT, looked confused and lost the rest of his aggressiveness after this play. But it made him angry and he defended Eboua physical drive in next possession.
5. Tristan was unable to get to the rim or create shot in open court.
6. Eboua made big put back. Not poster but passive attitude of Tristan.
7. Tristan shied away because of aggressive D

They were not defending each other most of the times because of different periods they spent on the court or using zone defense. However Tristan confidence was killed early in the game. He scored 1st points in the 4th quarter after missing many FTs in row. Later showed his amazing potential and couple of really nice plays but the game was pretty much over.

TRISTAN DOES HAVE GREAT PERIODS

It’s not like I try to be hard on Enaruna. As a scout you cannot stay indifferent to the combination of his skills and tools. Moreover his coordination and basketball talents seems to be very natural which is always great advantage to start with and build on. Against weaker opponents he has no troubles at all to create separation when operating with the ball. Some of those plays look VERY polished and his shooting is one smooth motion supported with good balance and footwork. He just doesn’t show will to dominate and as for now his ability to develop killer mentality is questionable. His transfer to High School in USA and stepping out of comfort zone can definitely help to become more of a fighter. On the other hand his teammates are extremely physical for European standards. Apollo really competes, guys are not overly skilled but willing to hustle and throw their body around. Moreover all of them are older so practising with them should have brought better results so far for Tristan.

PAUL EBOUA: TOUGH MINDED

Stellazzurra’s wing is definitely the type of player that you would love to have on your side and the one you wish not to play against often. He takes pride in playing defense. His body contains all the contact and he can really slide his feet. Given this plus apprioprate mindset, ridiculous bounce and conditioning he is great candidate for lockdown defender. On the contrary he got introduced to organized basketball late and his offensive production on pro level may not be satisfying.  

POSITIONLESS?

The title is not as promising as it could be. Positionless basketball is trending in NBA for a while now. By this term we understand that someone is not closely tied to solely one position. It comes with increased versitality as PGs have forwards size and bigs can stretch the floor as never before. Everyone in this concept is strong, athletic and can check all switches. However it’s totally different story if you stuck between roles that are meant for players to take. Eboua basically can be considered for 2-4 positions. How does he fit for them all?

Guard – Simply defensive contribution limits you in big degree even if you are surrounded by few teammates who can shoot and drive. Eboua doesn’t possess the most natural stroke. It has very high release point and is not broken at all but it’s hard to imagine him become specialist or even consistent day in day out let’s say 40% spot up shooter. At the same time he is very mechanical and predictable as isolation player. Handles are definitely not tight and he can hit the wall. Also you can forget about playmaking considering his late start and lack of feel.

Forward – Again not as much in terms of shooting as you could expect. Eboua is not the best slasher around because of his slow decision making. Also he cannot facilitate as off ball cutter without necessary instincts. Post up heavy PFs are out of fashion and he won’t score that easily at pro level without broadening repertoire and better touch. However he is quicker than almost all 4s, rebounds at a high rate including put back dunks and has enough body to screen.

So who he is? Still tweener forward who is trying to become more of a wing. As for now facilitates thanks to elite physical tools and tremendous will to compete. Improvements in his IQ and skillset are crucial to translate his production and find a more translatable role on next level.  

SUMMARY

If we could blend them then we would have absolutely amazing prospect. Highly skilled with good shooting, elite length, top notch defensive ability and outstanding competitiveness. Maybe overall feel for the game and decision making would be the only but very small question tags. However separately it’s difficult to be convinced if any of them is legitimate NBA talent. Tristan makes it doubtful because of his performance against likewise players who can defend. On the other hand Eboua does make progress but at the good not great pace. Nevertheless what they have to offer keeps them in consideration and on shortlists of all scouts.

In the summer of 2014 Apollo Amsterdam copied the program of CBA Canarias which was already established as a notable talent supplier for American Universities. This fall team headed to USA for intensive trip including 6 scrimmages in just 5 days against: Our Saviour New American, West Nottingham Academy, Robinson School, Saint Benedict’s, Upper Room Christian and Woodstock Academy in Connecticut. I had a chance to attend 3rd and 4th game during my East Coast basketball tour.

Roster was headlined by Dutch mega talent – Tristan Enaruna. It was not the first opportunity for him to play against Americans as he was there with the team also last season. However for us it was premier occasion to evaluate him versus the like-wise college competition which he is tending to be a part of in near future.

Those were not do or die games for Enaruna but all eyes were undoubtedly on him. He is the best talent but not neccessarily main contributor day in day out for Apollo as he plays with much older players. Nevertheless we expected him to be eager to show how good of a prospect he is and that he can excel on the floor next to players from United States. Unfortunately to no avail.

There is a small explaination not to say excuse for his somewhat disappointing performance. Apart from facing physicality from another world, the Robinson School gym is more suitable for 3on3 pickup basketball than real 5 on 5 competition (baseline „threes” have never been easier to make). Also before the second game Apollo witnessed the New York City agglomeration Friday afternoon traffic at it’s best/worst. The game started with the big delay which notably shortened the warmup duration and could cause deconcentration.

Moreover Saint Benedict’s Prep is a really good team which by the way gathered solid Swedish colony from KFUM Fryshuset in Stockholm – Zaba Bangala, Barra Njie and Ebrima Dibba. Barra who I was looking forward to seeing the most of them didn’t grew much and unfortunately was not given significant minutes as he was benched quickly after mistakes he did repeatedly. On the other hand Dibba was a positive surprise. He looked like legitimate Division I prospect. Stands at 6’5 and is able to defend 1-3 positions. Lacks high level feel for the game but helped as a back up point guard when necessary. His energy and desire to compete were absolutely top notch.

Coming back to Tristan, he looked very sophisticated on the floor. His motor comes and goes. At times it just seems that he cannot get used to his his athleticism and has no clue how to utilize it consistently which makes him absent. He doesn’t avoid contact at all and makes occassional power plays but looks like he is still not 100% comfortable banging and staying physical. It was also the matter of adjustment – he just couldn’t produce under the pressure as much as usually. Remained unproductive in half court off the ball and made unnecessary extra passes instead of attacking.

On defense he doesn’t lower his hips enough and was not even close to stay in front when challenged by quick guard in open court. Looks like he got used to rely on his length too heavily. He tried to take advantage from it also during the scrimmages I attended but the game pace was on another level which caused some extra problems to be on time in roation.

I believe that the biggest improvement he can make which will become the catalyst for reaching his full potential is to raise above mentally. Don’t get me wrong he looks focued on the court – never too high after dunk, never too low after silly mistake. He tries to motivate himself but it’s not enough. He has to become aggressive. He must show his heart and desire to overcome all the hardships.

Obviously I saw not only cons but also pros. The nicest skill was shooting – form is just extremely smooth, very repeatable and good looking. I changed the status in my notebook from „promising” to „very good shooter”. Despite great size and wingspan for the wing, Tristan grabbed many rebounds on either end of the floor. Especially chasing them on offensive end was promising but I hated the passiveness on the protecting glass instead of grab and go plays he should try. His explosiveness is very good also for US standards. It is not a big deal to blow his man by but contact with help defense still slows him down. He looks ambitextrous but goes almost exclusively to the left side and has bad habit of finishing with his left at all costs.

For short stretches Tristan handled the ball as fake playmaker. I don’t see him doing that often on high level but any type of point forward assets can only help him. His handles are not tight but good for the size and he was able to cover the rock well with his body. But he still turns the ball too often which is often the problem of tall players guarded by few inches smaller defenders. However I believe that those with lengthy arms have an advantage to bounce the ball lower and should have more control on it. On the plus side, he created few pull ups off the dribble also in pick and roll situations.

The team from Amsterdam looks basically ok. Considering that basketball is not the first or even third choice when it comes to sport it’s hard to build something better with only domestic players in the roster. Few guys are solid Division II prospects or even borderline low major D1.

Iyen Enaruna is two years older but barely known and less skilled brother. He posses equally good length and body which moreover already filled out more. However his ceiling is definitely not as high as Tristan’s. Feel for the game is really poor, and simple mistakes like dribble turnovers or bad one handed passes happens regularly. However you can dig something interesting in defensive potential and willingness to slash. Other interesing guy maybe Malevy Leons. He is kind of lanky tweener. Still raw with kinda streetball flavour but has an interesting size. Quite good athlete especially as far as his bounce is concerned. Needs to improve his bad form and off hand in order to be able play more with the ball.

However environment doesn’t seem perfect to raise there a star. Individual approach and participating against older players (which are by the way far from considered as fundamentally sound) is simply not enough. Several games per year are nowhere close to few dozens of them that he could have in America or even in some other more developed basketball country in Europe. Leaving the homeland could help a lot to ease the transition and speed up Tristan development.

So do we know now if Enaruna is a clear cut high major player worth all the buzz around him? Answer is no, we don’t. As they say scouting is the business of making less mistakes. In my opinion very few people can be totally convinced if he becomes big time or not. But there is one thing for certain – he is such an intriguing prospect that many would dare to say he is.