Bayero Aliyou Scouting Report

Bayero Aliyou scouting report

Thinking about this group of players, Aliyou reminds me most of a younger Chomche. He’s more of a 4 than a 5, and flashes some expansion to his game while being very raw.

HISTORICAL QUERY CONTEXT

I also came away intrigued by 2010-born forwards Benjamin Davies (Sierra Leone) and Bayero Aliyou (Cameroon). Davies and Aliyou were the second- and third-youngest players at the event, respectively, behind N’Dji Ibourahima Coulibaly .

Davies and Aliyou are in very solid company alongside Khaman Maluach , Ulrich Chomche and David Ugonna Ike .

STRENGTHS

• The Cameroonian prospect displayed some passing and was a relatively willing three-point shooter .
• Aliyou made a few solid reads finding his teammates at the rim by using his size to see over the top of defenses.
• On the other end, I really liked Aliyou’s motor . This showed up on the glass, as Aliyou pursued loose balls, boxed out intentionally and competed on both ends as a rebounder .
• Physically, the Cameroonian forward has long arms, moves his feet in space, and gets up and down the court fluidly for his size.
• Aliyou blocked a few jumpers with his length, which is always something that stands out to me at any level.

IMPROVEMENT AREAS

• Aliyou’s passing came when he killed his dribble due to not having a handle. From there, I’ll give him some credit for not panicking and being patient enough to wait for passing opportunities to develop.
• As a scorer, Aliyou should only be used as a play finisher at the rim or spotting up right now . Even that is pretty shaky, as his three-point shot is still incredibly inconsistent, he can miss bunnies near the basket, and he hasn’t shown me much twitch or explosion in short spaces .
• There were a handful of driving flashes, but Aliyou is unable to extend his handle against real pressure , so he ends up having to contort his body in the air to take poor quality shots.
• Going forward, Aliyou has to be much more regular. He went scoreless in his last three games, and 14 of his 15 points in the entire tournament came in one game.
• The clear improvement area, as with most prospects his age, is off-ball defensive focus and reads.

Can his handle become usable to any extent? If so, can he tap into whatever playmaking flashes he showed here? Is his willingness to shoot enough to eventually produce passable percentages? How will his play finishing continue to develop, especially at the rim? Will he keep growing physically into a 5? Or, if the perimeter flashes really make a leap, could he even be a big wing rather than a forward eventually?

Aliyou is more of a 4 than a 5 and flashes some expansion to his game while being very raw. His clearest current value comes from his motor, rebounding, length and rim protection. The passing and shooting flashes are interesting, but he’s not reliable in either area , and I wouldn’t be surprised if his role down the line at the college level effectively never involved passing.

4.2 PTS (23.5 FG% / 29.3 2P% / 0.0 3P% / 7.1 FT%) · 10.5 REB (4.5 OREB) · 1.2 AST to 1.7 TOV · 0.3 STL · 4.7 BLK · 2.2 PF

Tagged clips organized by broad scouting category.