Scouting Report
Strengths
Finishes well in and around the lane (49.8 season)
Shot the ball well from behind the 3pt line primarily off the catch (41.6 season)
Willing passer – like to drive and kick/drop
Can create a little off the bounce – straight line drives
Good perimeter defender – contest shots and moves his feet laterally
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Weaknesses
Needs to improve his handle to create better lanes off the dribble
Must improve his shooting from the 3pt line off the bounce
Doesn’t rebound it well for his size and position
Lacks engagement at times
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Summary
Malaki has good positional size and length to play on the wing; he finishes well around the rim and shoots it well from behind the 3pt line. He is a willing passer and does a good job defending the perimeter, moving his feet, and contesting jumpers. He needs to improve his handle and start mixing it up on the interior for rebounds.
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Video
Honors
All-Big Ten Third Team (2022)
Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2022)
All-Big Ten Freshman Team (2022)
Jordan Brand Classic (2021)
Ohio Mr. Basketball (2021)
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Statistics
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Reports
Notes
Pangos All-American Festival 4 - Chandler, AZ - 11/7 - 8/ 2021
Showed a decent handle with the abilty to get downhill in a hurry and finish with contact in the lane. He also was very active on the defensive end, switching on the perimeter, playing the passing lane and containing the ball handlers.
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Offers
Branham was slightly below average as a versatile defender, ranking in the 48th percentile for wings. Branham, interestingly enough, did not spend a single possession defending a big. He was much better switching onto on guards rather than matching up against them. He also rarely fouls his opponents.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vxXwhzHDK6H38JmQ6urdN2tCvfsuOAJT/view?usp=sharing
This data was hand-tracked by AJ Wahl and Bryon Cook. Every single defensive possesion of each player's season was analyzed. This dataset includes all possessions when the defender is guarding on-ball, in man-to-man, and against a player not within their position group who shoots the ball, is fouled, or commits a turnover. The percentile listed above is a players standing compared to their postion group calculated by compliling and weighing various different metrics derrived from the hand-tracked data. This data only measures a portion of a player's impact, but it is clear that the ability to defend out of one's position group is a vital skill to contributing to winning basketball at the professional level.