It’s not an easy season for Ibon Navarro. He Unicaja It is no longer the great revelation in the Endesa League and all rivals know what this team plays. The question of knowing how to stop them is another issue, but each coaching staff knows perfectly well that the strategy involves defending, rebounding, running and scoring. So what the Los Guindos club needed was a step forward from the squad. A new context to which Dylan Osetkowski has adapted perfectly.
After a good 22/23 season as a rookie in ACB, although with some irregularity throughout the course, the basketball world in Spain has focused its attention this season on the Californian from Unicaja. The Endesa League monitors his big names and not only does Osetkowski draw attention off the court, but he also does so on it.
The numbers accompany you. Is the player most used by Ibon Navarro in the domestic competition, the second composer who recovers the most balls (7), the second who adds the most valuation so far (83) and, very importantly, the one who has the best impact on the court (55). In fact, he is the fourth player with the highest average plus/minus in the Endesa League (7.9). Only Abalde, Campazzo and Musa – with Real Madrid undefeated – surpass him. Without leaving behind what is the green and purple player who has scored the most between ACB and BCL (109).
Beyond the numbers
However, Dylan Osetkowski is much more than a player capable of making 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a game. Rather, it is everything that is not seen or what statistics cannot count. Most likely, It is one of the interiors with the greatest impact on both sides of the court. He shoots from beyond the 6.75 line, posts, ‘dances’ in the paint and smashes, but he also defends, cuts passing lanes, blocks and recovers.
In each game he is better than the previous one. Already in preseason he looked very fine. He is one of those few interiors capable of playing ‘4’ and ‘5’, but doing it well. He being lethal from long distance, taking advantage of each of his qualities in both positions and becoming a very powerful weapon for Ibon Navarro’s plans.
Duo with David Kravish
Now, his effectiveness next to Kravish is abysmal. There is no figure that confirms that the Californian’s performance is quantitatively better with his partner. However, yes The team, qualitatively, grows and adds when both make up the inner couple of Unicaja. It happened in many sections of last season and the center’s improvement has been demonstrated again this season.
None of them is a physical marvel nor does they dominate the zone with their corpulence, but they have a basketball intelligence that reduces the impact that other larger interiors can have. It’s not just that they have a good hand from outside the zone, it’s the ability they have to generate and take advantage of advantages, the spaces they create for their colleaguesthe mastery of the game they have and the speed to react in defense and be two essentials in this Unicaja.
The question is very simple. How many power forwards are there in the Endesa League better than Dylan Osetkowski? It’s very likely that they won’t go out much. In fact, valuing the overall attack-defense impact… even less. Because the step forward that the Californian has taken has been vital to changing the course in terms of results and he is already on his way to being one of the best.