The Sixer Sense
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Is Bismack Biyombo a Good Player for Nerlens Noel to Emulate?

By Josh Wilson

Apr 26, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors center Bismack Biyombo (8) reacts after scoring a basket during the fourth quarter in game five of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers at Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 102-99. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 26, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors center Bismack Biyombo (8) reacts after scoring a basket during the fourth quarter in game five of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers at Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Raptors won 102-99. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nerlens Noel is being asked by Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown to emulate Bismack Biyombo this season. Is that a good player to emulate?

The Philadelphia 76ers are entering a pivotal season, especially regarding their big men. Nerlens Noel has a very important season, even compared to Jahlil Okafor. Both of those two players will likely be on the trading block all throughout the season, simply because it’s going to be impossible for head coach Brett Brown to play those two and Joel Embiid with any sort of longevity.

Noel, however, is also in a contract season (he’s a restricted free agent at the end of this year) and needs to perform at a high level to get paid well. He stagnated a bit last season in his sophomore year, which was disappointing to see, but it wasn’t all his fault.

At the beginning of the year, Noel was asked to be a power forward, and shoot away from the rim. That’s not what he’s good at, even though he did spend his summer training to do that.

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Noel, this season, is being asked to be a rim protector and play close to the rim offensively again. This is what Noel has always been good at. Brett Brown reportedly has plans for him to play similar to the way Bismack Biyombo plays, according to Keith Pompey.

"Brown said Noel is similar to former Sixer and Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo and Bismack Biyombo. Biyombo signed a four-year $72 million deal with the Orlando Magic this summer."

Biyombo is on the forefront of everyone’s minds after the stellar postseason he had with the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors got as far in the playoffs as their franchise has ever gone, and Biyombo stepped up in a huge way when the team’s starting center, Jonas Valanciunas, went out with injury.

Biyombo, similar to Noel, was in a contract year last season, and ended up signing a new deal with the Orlando Magic. His big payday was largely due to just 10 big games he had in the playoffs. Over the last 10 games he appeared in, he averaged 8.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game.

Is Biyombo a good player for Noel to be modeling his game after? Brown is certainly smart, and knows what’s good for his players (and has been known to compare his players to others around the league). Some, however, see Biyombo as a type of player that had just a few good games during the postseason, and got a big payday as a result of that.

That notion is one that’s certainly uneducated. Although, yes, Biyombo didn’t really become a household NBA name until deep in last year’s playoffs, it would be naive to say that he wasn’t a solid basketball player before the playoffs. After all, players don’t get thrown into playoff games and perform like that out of nowhere.

Biyombo was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in 2011, seventh overall. Biyombo was traded right away to the Charlotte Bobcats, where he spent the first four years of his career (later with the rebranded Hornets).

Looking at his stats over the years, Biyombo has never been a truly solid offensive player. He fills into more of the classic center role, proving to be a decent asset as far as rebounds and blocks are concerned. Biyombo, even last season, has yet to average more than 5.5 points per game, and has yet to average over 9.0 points per 36 minutes.

But his rebounding stats and his blocking stats have done well over the years. In his rookie season, he neared 10 rebonds per game and 3 blocks per game. By his third season, he was pulling in over 12 rebounds per game, and keeping his block numbers substantially high.

Biyombo did all of this without substantially high minutes. Biyombo had just one season so far in his career (his sophomore season) where he played more than 25 minutes per game. Adjusting his stats to a version that accounts for the low minutes played by Biyombo, he is shown off even more statistically.

Per 36 minutes this past season with the Raptors, Biyombo averaged 9.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game.

Nerlens Noel, in some areas, is better than Biyombo. For instance, Noel can score at a higher volume than Biyombo with ease.

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That being said, Biyombo is playing at a much higher level than Noel in other areas, and those are the areas that I believe Brett Brown wants to see Noel play like. Biyombo can pull in rebounds like it’s his sole job, and he can protect the rim almost as well as any other center in the league. According to Nylon Calculus’s list of the best rim protectors, Biyombo only comes after some of the league’s best rim protectors, like Hassan Whiteside, Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bogut.

Biyombo comes up just six players before Noel, but Noel needs to close that gap this season. He also needs to do better with the rebounding, as he is entering his third season and has not yet shown growth in that area.

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Overall, Biyombo may not be the league’s most well known center, rim protector, or rebounder, but Noel modeling his game after him is certainly not a bad thing by any means.