Evaluating Allan Dokossi
December 31st, 2020
By Alan Lu
This time around, I decided to watch Fos Sur Mer’s 6-8 French forward, Allan Dokossi play in a preseason game against Chalon that took place on September 22nd, and I was able to see this with thanks to YouTube via FFBB. Recently, he has shown up on ESPN’s top 100 big board for the 2021 draft, and so I decided to take the time to watch him play to assess his skills. Unfortunately, it was hard to find full game footage of him, so that is why I decided to watch him play in a preseason game. Dokossi currently plays in France’s second division for Fos Sur Mer this season. For those that are interested in the box score of this game, the link is here.
The game I saw was a rather odd one of sorts. Dokossi played a lot in this game, but he only took three field goal attempts the entire way, and every time he took a shot, it was such a rarity it felt as if it was like seeing a comet rocket across the sky. Anyways, he still showed off some intriguing skills, and he is a tall, very athletic point forward that showed off some solid playmaking and defensive skills. Here are my thoughts on how he fared in this game, as well as how his game may translate to the NBA.
(Photo: Serge Guéroult/La Provence, via La Nouvelle République)
On offense, Allan Dokossi didn’t shoot the ball very often, but he was efficient at scoring the basketball in the very limited amount of shots he took on that side of the ball. Dokossi was able to make a quick corner three off the catch to show off some of his shooting skills.
He also is a speedy player that ran the floor hard to get the ball on the break, and drove in to score on a high-flying dunk. However, after pushing the ball quickly late in this game another time, he ended up missing on a quick layup in transition, as he went in a little too fast that time. He also would look to cut to the hoop, but his teammates would not look to find him or pass it to him on those plays.
On a half-court drive, Dokossi used a pump fake and a jab step prior to driving to his left, and he was able to get fouled to go to the free throw line, even though it seemed as if the opponent had cleanly blocked his shot. Dokossi was able to make both of his free throws when he was at the foul line.
In this game, Dokossi displayed adequate playmaking skills. He is a tall, athletic point forward that handles the ball well, and he is an unselfish player that will make the extra pass to find the open shooter to set up scoring chances for his teammates. He can pass out of double teams, as he can find teammates on the move, and he also can pass out of the post. However, sometimes he would be careless with the basketball, which would lead him to commit turnovers. On one play, he drove baseline into a double team, and he threw an inaccurate high pass that ended up into the backcourt, which led his team to commit an over and back violation. On another, he was handling the ball up the court, and he changed directions and attempted to back his man down midway, but he ended up losing the ball as it slipped out of his hands when he turned and changed directions that time.
Dokossi is a very good rebounder that was quite active at crashing the glass to get boards for his team. He is an athletic, high-motor player that has a keen nose for the ball, and he would run in and aggressively leap up to get boards on both ends, and he also did a great job of tipping balls to his teammates to help them get defensive rebounds. He also would box out his opponents to help his team get additional boards in this game.
He also played decent defense in this game. Dokossi is an agile forward that moves well, and he showed solid footwork when defending out on the perimeter. He would quickly go around screens to defend opposing ball handlers out on the perimeter, and he would aggressively rotate to guard them, as he was able to indirectly force a passing turnover due to making a solid, aggressive rotation once. Dokossi does some of his best work as a roamer on defense. On one play, he rotated from the blind side to alter and contest a baseline dunk attempt to force a miss, and he will actively contest jump shots to get stops for his team.
However, he also tends to gamble too much defensively. He would tend to over-help off of his man, which would lead him to lose track of his man on cuts and rolls, and would lead his team to commit fouls and allow scores. Other times, he can struggle to defend opposing ball handlers out on the perimeter, as he doesn’t always stay in front of his man when guarding on the ball.
Overall, Allan Dokossi is a very athletic, energetic point forward that has a variety of skills that could make him an intriguing option to consider in the late second round of the 2021 draft. He’s currently only playing in a mid-tier professional league right now, and while he may still be pretty far away from the NBA, his intriguing blend of athleticism and ability to make team plays could make him an option for NBA teams to consider in the late second round. He will need to be a more assertive player on offense, show that he can make outside shots consistently, and also will need to excel at higher levels of international basketball. In the meantime, Dokossi has shown enough upside and potential to warrant consideration late in the draft, and if things break his way, he could end up being an effective rotation player similar to current Orlando Magic forward, James Ennis in the NBA.
