Assessing Saliou Niang in an Italian League Basketball Game

May 28th, 2025

By Alan Lu

I decided to take the time to watch Trento’s 6-7 swingman, Saliou Niang play in a January 18th Italian League basketball game against Treviso, as I was able to do so with thanks to YouTube via GLOBAL. BASKETBALL. GAMES.  Niang is currently in the 2025 draft, and he is a very athletic, energetic combo guard that has been gaining traction as a second round prospect this year.   Here are my thoughts on how he fared in this game, as well as how his game may translate to the NBA.

Saliou Niang is a very athletic swingman that was able to make some solid plays in his team’s win over Treviso.  He is a high-flyer that can make plays by attacking the basket, and he is a good rebounding guard that has the physical tools to be a plus-defender at the NBA level.

Niang generally excels at scoring on hustle plays.  He was able to drive the ball up court and make a dump off pass before getting the ball back to score on a give-and-go.   He also ripped a ball away to score on an open layup off of a broken play.  Plus, he also was able to dribble off of a short roll and go up to get fouled to draw free throws.  Sometimes though, he would play too aggressively and rush his moves, as he caught a lob but missed on an alley-oop dunk attempt off of a backdoor cut.  He also drove in quickly but missed on a dunk attempt another time.  He also was able to drive to the post, but he missed on a turnaround jump hook.  He didn’t really look to take outside shots though, as he mainly stuck to taking shots from inside the paint.

He also displayed satisfactory playmaking skills.  Niang can pass and handle the basketball, as he can run the point or play off the ball, and he does a good job of quickly moving the ball to find the open man.  He also was able to drive quickly and use a spin move to make a wraparound pass to create a scoring chance for a teammate.

Plus, Niang also did a very good job of rebounding the basketball.  He has a keen nose for the ball, as he would often run in and leap up to haul in boards, and he would sometimes bring the ball up and push the pace afterwards.  He also would tip balls to his team get defensive boards, and he also was able to rip a ball away to get an offensive rebound.  Defensively, he looked to be about average at best.  For the positives, he has very good athleticism and solid length for a guard, as he would rotate to contest shots inside to force misses.  However, sometimes he would take bad angles and get beat off the dribble, and he would take bad gambles that would lead him to commit fouls and allow scores.

Overall, Saliou Niang was able to make some solid plays in his team’s win in this game.  He’s a very athletic, energetic swingman that may have considerable potential, but he will need to improve his jump shot and defense, but he is a talented second round prospect that at best could end up being a solid role player similar to former Denver Nuggets’ guard, Bruce Brown in the NBA. If he doesn’t quite reach that peak, Niang could still end up projecting to be a defensive specialist at the NBA level.

All in all, those are my thoughts on how Niang fared in this game.  Thanks for reading.