Miami Heat: Precious Achiuwa’s 3 Greatest On-Court Strengths

Precious Achiuwa #55 of the Memphis Tigers goes up for a dunk against Ari Boya #1 of the Bradley Braves(Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
Precious Achiuwa #55 of the Memphis Tigers goes up for a dunk against Ari Boya #1 of the Bradley Braves(Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
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Miami Heat
Precious Achiuwa #55 of the Memphis Tigers, Francis Okoro #33 of the Oregon Ducks, James Wiseman #32 of the Memphis Tigers and Chris Duarte #5 of the Oregon Ducks battle for position (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

The Miami Heat grabbed the second least offensive rebounds per game last season. They have another potential glass cleaner to help there now.

2. Rebounding

Achiuwa excels on the glass on both ends, but specifically stands out on the offensive boards. He averaged 10.8 rebounds per contest in college, including three per game on the offensive end.

At Memphis, he made a habit of cleaning up misses for putback dunks due to being in a great position, then using his strength and athleticism to get to the ball. It all starts with the positioning though.

That process starts before the offensive player is even taking the shot in many cases and it requires discipline and awareness to give yourself the best path to the ball. His motor doesn’t hurt his case at all either, as he’s constantly being active.

In the NBA, Achiuwa will be faced with more restraint on the offensive glass, obviously. But his natural instincts and commitment to getting rebounds will still be an asset.

Given his physical makeup, it’s easy to see how that strength at the college level will transfer to the NBA. His offensive rebounding percentage at Memphis was 11.4 percent.

For reference, Bam Adebayo had the highest offensive rebounding percentage on the Heat last year at 7.7 percent. In college, Adebayo grabbed 11.1 percent of all potential offensive rebounds.