Evaluating Warith Alatishe and Javonte Cooke in an NBA G-League Game
April 22nd, 2023
By Alan Lu
Warith Alatishe is a 6-8 forward that played college basketball at Nicholls State and Oregon State, and he helped the 2021 Oregon State team reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. After his team had a very disappointing 2022 season, he ultimately decided to take the NBA G-League route by signing with the Ontario Clippers. He is an automatically draft eligible prospect that will be in the 2023 draft. I decided to watch him play in a January 12th game against Iowa Wolves, with thanks to YouTube via Sports Live. It was also an opportunity to watch another draft eligible prospect in Iowa Wolves’ 6-6 swingman, Javonte Cooke. Here are my thoughts on how both of the prospects fared in this game. Also, for those that are interested in the box score, here is the link.
Ontario Clippers’ 6-8 forward, Warith Alatishe didn’t really have a great game, but he is an athletic, energetic combo forward that showed some passing and defensive skills when he was on the floor. Despite usually being a good finisher around the basket on the season, Alatishe missed a lot of close range shots in this game due to rushing. He tended to miss on rushed tip-ins off of offensive rebounds, and he also missed after attempting to score on a backdoor cut.
Late in the game, he was able to run the floor and catch a long pass down court, which enabled him to score on an open dunk. On the downside, Alatishe didn’t look to take shots from outside the paint, and he will need to expand upon his shooting range and add a reliable outside shot for the NBA level.
Alatishe showcased adequate playmaking skills in this game. He is an unselfish player that would pass out of the post after getting offensive rebounds to find open shooters, which enabled him to notch a couple of assists. He also managed to make a patient drive and kick pass off of a baseline drive to set up a score another time. On the downside, while he will set plenty of screens for pick and roll ball handlers, he will sometimes be called for setting moving screens, which would lead him to commit offensive fouls and turnovers. On a separate play, after catching a very inaccurate high pass, he apparently managed to get away with stepping out of bounds, but he then attempted a rushed, wild baseline drive, which led him to getting the ball stripped away from him by a defender that time.
He also did a very good job of rebounding the basketball. Alatishe was active at crashing the glass, and he was able to get multiple boards on both ends of the floor. He also managed to tip a ball to help his team get a defensive board once.
Also, Alatishe played satisfactory defense in this game. He is a versatile defender that can ably guard opponents both out on the perimeter and in the post, and he is a fairly good athlete that will actively contest shots. He did a good job of rotating to contest shots, especially in the paint to force misses. He also showed some ability to defend opposing ball handlers out on the perimeter, and he was able to stay with his man and block a shot off of a glass to a teammate to get a stop once. On the downside, he can tend to sag too far and wander away from his man, which can lead him to be late on his rotations and allow opponents to score on open jumpers.
Overall, Warith Alatishe didn’t play very well overall, but his ability to make team plays could help him moving forward. He is an unselfish player that passes well out of the post, and he is a solid team defender that can guard multiple positions. On the other hand, he will need to significantly improve his skill level offensively, especially since he’s undersized to play inside, and he hasn’t really shown the ability to consistently knock down outside shots or handle the ball to be able to play out on the perimeter on a full-time basis. Alatishe will probably need to spend another season in the G-League, but even so, he may be talented enough to land a summer league roster spot. If he can improve his offensive skill level and add a reliable jumper to his game, he could end up being an effective rotation player in the NBA.
Iowa Wolves’ 6-6 swingman, Javonte Cooke had a solid showing in his team’s loss to the Ontario Clippers. He is an athletic, energetic swingman that excelled at making plays on both ends of the floor, and he is a versatile, skilled player that could project into a 3 and D role in the NBA.
Cooke shot the ball very well, especially from downtown. He excelled at making quick, spot-up threes off the catch. He also did a very good job of making aggressive moves to get to the free throw line, as he would do so on aggressive drives, as well as off of a put back. However, he would sometimes tend to miss on drives in transition, especially when he wouldn’t get foul calls, and it seems that his game may be a bit too dependent on getting to the free throw line.
Cooke also displayed adequate playmaking skills. He showed that he is willing to make the extra pass, and he was able to make a couple of drive and kick passes to find open shooters. On one play though, after getting a steal, and he handled the ball too fast and loose while dribbling up the court, and ended up throwing a rushed pass that got intercepted.
He also showed a satisfactory ability to rebound the basketball, and Cooke was able to get boards on both ends of the floor. He also would quickly bring the ball up the floor off of defensive rebounds. On the downside, there was one play where he got beat to the ball when going for a defensive board, and he ended up allowing a quick put back score to an opponent.
He also played satisfactory defense in this game. Cooke would quickly jump passes to get steals, and he is an athletic, rangy defender that excelled at playing passing lanes. He also rotated to aggressively guard an opposing ball handler, and he stayed in front of his man and showed very good footwork to force him to miss a floater. On the downside, despite rotating to the post a couple of times, he would be late to contest shots, and he would end up committing athletic goaltending calls. Other times he would have lapses on the defensive end, in which his team would end up allowing opponents to score around the basket.
Overall, Cooke played well in this game, and he is an athletic swingman that could end up making it to the NBA someday. He has flown under the radar as a draft prospect, but if he can continue to make shots and defend well, he could end up being an effective rotation player in the NBA sometime in the future.
All in all, those are my thoughts on how both Alatishe and Cooke fared in this game. Thanks for reading.