Hidden Gems: Sublime Gbiegba, the most college-ready player in Europe
Sublime Gbiegba, a 2005-born forward for Châlons-Reims is looking for, and is incredibly deserving of, a spot on an NCAA Division I roster.
Sublime Gbiegba is a 6-foot-8 forward playing for Châlons-Reims, the majority with the U21 squad in Espoirs Pro B and occasional minutes with the pro squad throughout the season.
He had an incredible season, putting up unique stats and leading his team to a great season despite a tough loss during the playoffs. He made averaging a double-double look easy and impressed everybody who has been following the championship.
Before diving into his profile of Gbiegba as a basketball player, I wanted to talk about the great physical prospect he truly is. He has an impressive build for his young age (born in 2005), with broad shoulders and a long wingspan with solid musculature.
Something that shocked me while watching him was his explosiveness compared to his build, at first sight, he could look a bit too muscular to move well, but he has both great bounce and first step. This combined with his great hands makes him a threat in many aspects of the game which we will see later in the piece.
To wrap up his physical attributes, Gbiegba knows how to make great use of his muscles. His strength is phenomenal, and he uses it a ton as he plays with a lot of poise and embraces contact.
“I try to use my physical abilities as frequently as possible and in tons of ways. When driving to the rim I try to use my strength as much as possible … I like to make a hit with my shoulder just before taking my shot. Also under the rim, either on post-ups situations or when going for the rebound I tend to use my body a lot to set me up in the best situation possible.”
For the true first aspect of his game, it’s important to talk about his outside shooting because there are tons of things to say. Firstly, it’s fair to say that his shooting form still needs some work, and there is considerable room for improvement.
With great indicators, it’s easy to project Gbiegba as a great shooter down the line. He has an astonishing perception of space and his shots are always touching the rim even when they are not structured, meaning he can knock down the shots that aren’t perfectly set up (a more profound definition can be found in Matt Powers’ article “Spotting the Stars” for Swish Theory).
To finish on how he projects as a shooter, I truly love his shooting touch and, understandably, his free-throw percentage is very good as a product. He gets to the free-throw line often and we will see later that his volume at the line is significant for his game.
Gbiegba is a great one-on-one defender. He’s not without his weaknesses on that end, but he’s never been considered the weak link on any squad he finds himself playing for.
Despite his lateral movements and long defensive possessions not popping out on his tape, something that jumps out is his defensive playmaking. Gbiegba is a great defensive playmaker with really active hands that bring extra possessions each game.
He is also good when he is a bit late, recovering well and providing great contests at the rim, or even in the perimeter when he makes the effort. He can have heavy feet at times but when he does not get blown by he is very good in the lane.
“I think I can defend many positions on the court, I would say two through five, but it depends on my physical development for big men. But I would say that I am a good man-to-man defender, and I like to be challenged (defending) guards. Indeed, to start the year my coach put me against guards like Gabriel Veras. Overall I would say that I am a pretty smart defender and it shows when I defend off-ball in my opinion.”
He is an extremely talented help defender and considering his body he could develop into a real shot-blocking threat as a second-level help defender. His versatility is what truly is interesting, indeed in addition to all the things I have said he’s able to defend in the post extremely well and launch the offense with his great boxing-out technique.
Gbiegba’s primary strength in his game is his ability to secure possessions on the glass. He might be the best rebounder I have evaluated, as both on the offensive and defensive end, he can go up and get the ball anytime. His hands are phenomenal he reads trajectories like no one else.
“People often tell me that I have the sense of rebounding but for me, it is pretty natural and I am always willing to go for the ball both on the offensive and defensive glass. Even if my rebounding skills are pretty much natural, I am always trying to predict the ball’s trajectory depending on where the opponent shoots.”
This rebounding ability is something you can not teach, the amount of extra possessions he brings to the team he plays with is incredible just like the poise he is playing with to grab that many rebounds and go back up with that efficiency.
I have decided to finish this article with what Sublime brings on offense because it is in my mind the sector in which he is valuable the most. Indeed he is valuable both on transition and half-court play but I will start with his transition play.
As I said he is a great rebounder so he is often the one initiating the offense and his handle is good enough to be reliable on that aspect. When launching the offense he has a great full-court vision and can make good go-ahead passes.
“I like to set early picks to either pop or roll because it enables me to score quickly and bring fluidity to our offense. We often use Olympiakós transition offense and it permits me to have the ball early in the perimeter and it allows me to make my own choices, often handoffs, passing the ball to set a screen or fake handoffs just like Vezenkov, indeed I tend to take a lot of inspiration from his off-ball game.”
When he is used as an off-ball player on transition he is extremely solid as a finisher, at ease with finishing through contact. He also plays with great composure so he knows when to dump off the ball to one of his big men.
To put an end to this part on his offense, and the article too, we needed to see what he brings to his team on half-court play. The first striking element is how at ease he is using his body to create advantage.
Gbiegba is great when attacking downhill and one of the main reasons he is that good is how he uses his shoulders to create separation with his opponent. We can feel that his handle is still a bit limited in tight spaces but he still finds ways to the rim with his counters and how clever he is.
“Since my coach has been playing me in the perimeter this season I am often in mismatch situations, when I am against smaller players I tend to play the post-up and when I am against bigger players I often try to blow by the defender or play off-ball. Going forward I want to be as complete as possible in order to always have an advantage against my opposition.”
At the rim he is extremely efficient, indeed he is not the best over-the-rim finisher despite his athleticism but he finishes well through contact and has some great finishing touch. This touch can also be seen in the post, after beating his defender either with his footwork or big body.
Finally, he is extremely efficient as a screensetter. He can pop and get his shot off if he has the time but he excels as a roller, impossible to stop when he is launched, and even showed some passing chops throughout the season.
All these skills make Gbiegba arguably the most college-ready player not already signed to a roster in Europe. At his age with his physical tools and skillsets, he would slot into just about any NCAA Division I roster. Gbiegba is currently looking for a spot on a collegiate roster next season. For the reasons listed, it is more than a deserved opportunity.