What Adou Thiero Needs to Improve to Break Out in 2024

The Arkansas wing has some upside, but also some work to do.

Oct 15, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Adou Thiero talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Brought along by John Calipari to SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Alabama, it's clear that junior wing Adou Thiero is a player that Coach Cal trusts to be a leader as a part of his Arkansas Razorbacks. Ranked 40th on ESPN's Top 100 Prospects list, Thiero, who will be 21 by the 2024 NBA Draft, is an athletic prospect and showed this prowess last season with the Kentucky Wildcats.

In 21.4 minutes per game last season, Thiero averaged 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.8 stocks per game as a high-energy wing that attacks the glass as well as he does anything else. Upon watching his film, his best attribute is his motor, as he plays a relentless style of basketball in the paint that predicates itself on grabbing misses/scoring on put-backs, as well as occasionally driving the basket off of his handle.

He has some work to do on the defensive end, as he can be caught out of place sometimes, and is also prone to ball watching. In Kentucky's game against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, there were several possessions on which he let up open shots due to being in the wrong spot. A positive note here however is that he blocks a lot of shots for a small forward – 1.1 per game – meaning that, when combined with his physical attributes, there is potential for him to defend in the NBA. His perimeter defense needs improvement, though, which will come with time.

He can also be too passive on the offensive end, which is another thing at which reps can remedy. Over his last three games of the season, against Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Oakland, he went just 2-for-8 from the field combined, which is a problem both in the lack of points as well as in that he had such limited attempts. Part of this was that he only played seven minutes against Oakland in Kentucky's loss in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, but in the 34 minutes he played over the prior two games, he took just five shots.

Now in these two games against Tennessee and Texas A&M, he did snag 11 boards and block five shots, so this isn't to say he didn't make an impact, but if he's going to be a primary piece for this year's Razorbacks, he's going to have to get more involved offensively. This also doesn't mean he needs to take double-digit shots per game, but he must find a happy medium between the two to where he can score around double figures and do so efficiently.

The last thing is his three-point shooting, which was streaky at best last season. He connected on 27.3% of his attempts from beyond the arc on 1.4 per game. He needs to increase his shot output as well as increase his percentage so that he can more effectively attack closeouts, as his athleticism gives him the ability to finish well around the basket.

Thiero has some things to work on, sure, but the athletic framework within which he has to work gives him legitimate potential as a high-end NBA role player at the next level. However, at this point, his no. 40 overall rank seems fairly accurate, as he currently looks to be a mid-second rounder unless some of these things improve.

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