If you know anything about my philosophy surrounding basketball talent evaluation, then you know how much I value defense. Why? Because for the most part the only thing standing between a player and being a good defender is a willingness to hustle and to fulfill one's competitive drive. That's a foundation that I believe all great defenders have, but I still think that the best defenders supplement that foundation with other skills and traits to strengthen their game on that end of the floor. In my opinion, if a player strives to be a great defender, it means they are more than likely going to put the work in to make an impact on the offensive end as well. That said, at this point we all recognize that the most valuable defender on a basketball court is the rim protector, as they limit the easiest and most efficient scoring opportunities in the game. That's why when you see that hustle, effort, and competitive drive take form in a big man with real physical tools you see the best defenders in the sport. That description personifies Justin Abson and it's why he's such an impactful defender at the collegiate level, and why I think he has a future as a professional basketball player.
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Player Profile:
Justin Abson is a 6'9" and 235lb power forward/center who is coming off of his sophomore season with Appalachian State. I will say, just by looking at him I think he looks significantly taller than 6'9". He dwarfs his competition on a nightly basis, so I would be curious to see his height measured again to see if he has grown throughout his first two seasons in college. He's from Pompano Beach, Florida, and played his high-school basketball at North Broward Prep. He left high-school with a hefty list of accolades, including being a three-time member of the All-Broward County team and a Second Team 4A All-State team member in Florida. He was a highly touted recruit for Appalachian State, and he showed out in his two years as a Mountaineer. In his freshman season he played in every single game, finishing 15th in the nation in blocks per game averaging 2.2 blocks a night. He took a big step in his sophomore season, starting all games but one for the Mountaineers, and acting as the defensive anchor for his team. He averaged 7.9 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, .4 steals, and an astounding 2.8 blocks on shooting splits of 61.9% from the field, 22.2% from three, and 47.1% from the free-throw line. He set numerous defensive records for Appalachian State, the Sun Belt Conference, and the NCAA, leading him to being named the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Following that fantastic season, Abson decided to enter the transfer portal and eventually chose to take his talents to Georgia and head coach Mike White.
Interior Scoring:
As you may expect when it comes to a dominant interior defender, Justin Abson is almost completely restricted to the paint as far as his scoring output is concerned. Even when you consider that he really only scores around the rim, he still only took a couple of shots per game this past season. He just doesn't have a volume-based offensive game, but still managed to impress me near the hoop when given the opportunity. I was happy with his shot making close to the basket, and more so I was impressed by his footwork and ability to create easy looks for himself. When you watch the film, you walk away convinced that if his scoring load were to increase that he would likely maintain his efficiency and be fine. Long-term I'm not worried about this aspect of his offensive game, and wouldn't spend too much time nitpicking it if I were a future development coach of Abson's.5
These clips illustrate what I'm talking about when I say I was impressed by his footwork and overall self-creation skills near the hoop. I immediately took notice of how soft his touch is on these shots, and that he looks super fluid in his movement. This is stuff you don't normally see from imposing interior presences, as Abson seems to be far more comfortable using his skill to create advantages rather than his size and brute force. I believe this translates to the defensive end, where his rim protection is incredibly timing and location based rather than sheer height and length. A few other things to note are his good hands and ambidextrous scoring abilities. He's really good at securing the basketball, whether it be after it's knocked away from him or just on your average loose ball. You can see this in the third clip above. Then, all three of these clips show him finishing with his left hand, but you'll see in some of the following clips that he's comfortable taking layups and shots with his right hand as well.
I wouldn't say that Abson is hyper-athletic, but for a guy his size he can show off some impressive vertical pop from time to time. He's an interesting case, because I believe that a big reason why he's such an explosive at-the-rim finisher is because of something I would call "negative gravity". At face value this sounds like a bad thing, but for Abson it legitimately helps him bolster his scoring abilities. In the first and second clips above you see the defense completely ignore Abson and focus entirely on the ball handler, allowing him an easy path to the hoop. He then adds his change of pace skills to take full advantage of these opportunities. In the first clip you see him slowly make his way to the rim, almost sneaking behind the opponent's back before receiving the pass and finishing with a dunk. The second clip shows him accelerate on the roll from the perimeter and by the time he gets the ball he's moving to the rim with enough pace that no defenders even attempt to contest the dunk. This ability to go from out of the play to finishing the play is a valuable skill for someone who isn't overflowing with offensive skill.
In-Between Game:
As I said, Abson's offensive game is almost completely limited to at-the-rim scoring. Despite that, he will occasionally extend his game away from the hoop from time-to-time. He rarely makes his way beyond the arc (only knocking down two threes this season on nine attempts) but he will take some shots from the semi-mid-range. Much like his scoring near the basket, Abson always looks comfortable on his shot attempts from this range. That soft touch immediately translates to this region of the floor, and that's why I feel strongly that his offensive game has a higher ceiling than you may expect. I'm not sure if he'll ever have a reliable outside shooting game, but he's pretty close to being able to knock down mid-range jumpers and I think that aspect of his game could develop as soon as next season.
Shots like these make up the majority of Abson's in-between game. As I said, he looks comfortable taking these hook shots, and as I mentioned earlier, he is capable of making them with both hands. Shots like these are vital if a big man strives to possess a well-rounded scoring game, and for Abson they build a strong foundation for the offensive game that has yet to come for him. What's most important is that he doesn't look awkward when he's put in these positions. Most players with a similar archetype to Abson do not have games built on fluidity and grace, and while I wouldn't necessarily consider him to be "graceful", I would argue that he's far smoother and more fluid than his peers.
This clip shows a shot that looks far more similar to what I think Abson will end up developing as far as a mid-range game is concerned. This is about as close to a real mid-range jumper that we saw from him this season. It's generated via the pick-and-roll much like most of his scoring output, but for some reason he decides to pull up from the free-throw line. It's sort of a floater-jumper hybrid, but I think he looks super comfortable taking that shot. I'm hoping that going forward we will see him get the green light to take more mid-range jumpers in hopes that not only does his game develop from that region of the floor, but also from beyond the arc somewhere down the road.
Playmaking & Passing:
Something that really stood out to me when watching Abson play was his passing. Again, this is not something you normally see from primary rim protectors or drop bigs, and it's just another reason why I think his ceiling on the offensive end may be significantly higher than most would give him credit for. Obviously, he's not a primary playmaker, but he consistently shows that he is a solid connective passer, and occasionally can make plays happen all on his own.
Earlier I said Abson has "negative gravity" at times, but that's not the case when he has his back to the basket near the hoop. That's really only the case beyond the arc, probably because opponents aren't worried about him knocking down the outside shot. However, in situations like the ones above you can see how his gravity actually creates opportunities for his teammates. He's a great quick decision maker who hits his teammates for open looks as soon as said looks become open. He only averaged 1.4 assists per game this past season, but this was on limited minutes and very little usage. Remember, he doesn't touch the ball on a ton of offensive possessions, which I personally think was moronic considering how many good things happened when he had the ball in his hands. Possessions like those above generated some of the best looks from beyond the arc that the Mountaineers saw throughout a game, and they should have been playing through him significantly more often because of that.
These clips show a few examples of passing that truly separates him from similar players. You just don't see guys like Rudy Gobert or Mitchell Robinson making passes like these on one end before dominating on the other. Appalachian State loved running this pick-and-lob action for Abson, and it was an incredibly effective play because he's so good at putting the lob in the right spot. When a big man can pass like this it makes up for his lack of outside shooting, because he can supplement that lack of shooting with a different form of offensive creation away from the basket. We saw this from Dereck Lively and the Dallas Mavericks this season, as his passing made him a way more valuable offensive player and forced the Mavericks to play him over veteran bigs like Daniel Gafford and Maxi Kleber. Big men being able to pass like this is similar to small guards being excellent point of attack defenders, sure, it may not be their most important skill, but it allows them to stay on the floor despite having flaws.
Rebounding:
Abson isn't a prolific rebounder by any means, but again his rebounding numbers take a slight dip because he didn't play as many minutes per game as he probably should have. He was also sharing the floor with several other good rebounders, including the guard rotation. I think if he were playing more minutes and even had one less solid rebounder on the floor with him, he's probably averaging double-digit boards. That said, he does still make an impact on the glass, and he's especially solid grabbing rebounds on the offensive end. In these situations, he tends to act as a quick play finisher, preferring tip-ins and put-backs instead of coming down with the ball before going back up.
Something I normally look for when evaluating elite rebounders is their timing and instincts. When I say instincts, I'm talking about one's ability to know where the ball is going to bounce off of the rim. If you want to know what a great instinctual rebounder looks like, go watch Yaxel Lendeborg film. I'm not sure if Abson is a prolific instinctual rebounder, but his timing looks fine to me. He doesn't get caught off of his feet too early, in fact, he normally gets a hand on the ball pretty easily when going up for rebounds against opponents. He makes up for not being an elite rebounder with being an elite finisher on offensive boards. That soft touch and feel we've been talking about throughout this article directly translates to these opportunities. (Also, look at that last clip and tell me he's only 6'9". He barely gets off the ground and he's able to get a put-back dunk over the back of an opponent.)
Defense:
As I've alluded to throughout this article, Justin Abson makes his biggest impact on the defensive end of the floor. Specifically, he's been one of the best rim protectors in the nation throughout the first two seasons of his collegiate career. Sure, he picks up steals from time-to-time and he's a fluid enough mover to not be a negative away from the basket, but he makes his money protecting the paint. Like I said earlier, this is THE most valuable defensive role, and it's not an argument. It may not be as flashy as point of attack defense at the perimeter, or help defense from some lanky athletic wing, but it limits the easiest points in basketball. Players like Rudy Gobert have built Hall of Fame careers off of being prolific in this singular aspect of the game, that's how valuable it is. Abson is incredibly good at keeping opponents from converting on shots near the hoop, and no matter what team he's on, they will benefit from him being on the floor.
Something that a lot of rim protectors struggle with is that they are too heavy-footed to get off the ground more than once when contesting a shot. Not only does Abson not have that issue, but he's incredibly quick off the ground with his second jump. In the second clip you see him fall for the shot-fake, but when he finds himself out of position he's able to quickly recover and get the block closer to the hoop. He's very mobile around the rim, both on his feet and when getting off the floor for blocks. A big reason for this is that his timing is perfect, so he wastes absolutely no time on the actual contests, allowing him to recover on plays like these. This is an incredibly important skill if a player wants to be an elite rim protector at any level.
Similar to most big rim protectors, Abson isn't as effective away from the hoop as he is near the hoop. That said, it's not like being away from the basket makes him any shorter or makes his jumping abilities any worse. In a case like the example above, if an opponent doesn't do anything particularly spectacular to get past him when he's away from the hoop, he can still affect the shot. This clip shows something else that he's very good at, and that's pushing the pace once he gets a stop on the defensive end. He immediately gets the ball up the court and starts the transition opportunity for a teammate. This is smart, heads-up basketball that a lot of defensive-oriented players aren't the greatest at.
On the other end of a transition opportunity, Abson perfectly tracks down an opponent on the fast break to pick up a block. This is another example of his ability to determine his pace, because in this play he really isn't moving very fast. He could run faster than this if he wanted to, but he doesn't want to risk over-running the play as his teammate manages to slow down the ball handler. He does just enough to stay in the play, and by the time the ball handler goes up for his shot, Abson is in the perfect position to come up with the block. This is instinctual stuff, and I highly doubt he was actively thinking about all of this as the play was happening. He's simply a naturally talented rim protector and shot blocker who offers a ton of versatility when it comes to this aspect of the game.
Summary:
Before I summarize Abson's game, I want to list any and all weaknesses in his game as of today. I have to put this disclaimer in every article, but it's important to remember that every player has weaknesses, and not even the world's best are perfect. Strong rim protectors are an archetype of player that tend to have a myriad of weaknesses, but in Justin's case, I'm actually pretty hopeful concerning his long-term development in these areas.
It's difficult to feel incredibly confident about even the best aspects of his scoring game solely because his volume is so low. We can't be sure how impactful of a scorer he can be until we see his efficiency remain the same as his volume increases.
As of right now he's almost completely void of a mid-range jumper game and is completely void of an outside shot. Developing either of these things would be massive for his future outlook, and developing both would put him in serious conversations.
He's an awful free-throw shooter, which suggests that he won't ever be a good outside shooter. His volume on attempts from the charity stripe is also low, and I would like to see him draw more fouls around the rim.
For being a guy who's almost always planted under the basket, he just isn't the greatest rebounder. On offense he has an excuse because he's on the perimeter setting screens, but on defense he should be grabbing more boards.
Overall, I would just like to see him be more aggressive on the offensive end. For looking as comfortable as he does with the ball in his hands, he should be pushing the issue more consistently throughout the course of a game.
I'm not sure why he didn't play more minutes while he was with Appalachian State. This could have just been a rotational thing, but it could also be that he wasn't in the greatest shape. I'm not going to speculate, but if that is the case I would like to see him strengthen his endurance and play more minutes.
Defensively, he's obviously very solid. He could become a better defender on the perimeter maybe just by getting in better shape, allowing himself to be a more mobile and fluid defender. However, I wouldn't worry too much about this side of the floor for him.
To summarize Justin Abson's game, you're looking at a guy who could go out and score zero points and still make a major winning impact on the game. He's one of the best rim protectors in the country, and I expect him to continue to get better throughout the remainder of his collegiate career. What separates him from his peers is that he has real offensive talents that have yet to be truly tapped into. He's super comfortable with the ball in his hands as both a scorer and as a passer. He has shown the touch and feel necessary to have some hope in his long-term development of an outside shot and an improved mid-range game. He has a fantastic feel for the game that shows in his defensive timing and instincts, but also shows in his ambidextrous scoring and good hands. I think a lot of people are only going to give him credit for his defensive prowess at this point in his career, but when you watch him play you can see the signs that he is capable of being a very good offensive big man. He's never going to be a centerpiece for a team, but he could be a defensive centerpiece and really push a program to the next level on that end of the floor. I see no reason why he couldn't make an NBA rotation in the future, especially if his offensive skills continue to develop like I believe they might.
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