Troyce Manassa can be an intriguing find for smart European teams
Sportando had the chance to make an exclusive one-on-one interview with the free-agent rookie out of Savannah State
Even though offseasons in Europe have reached their final stages as teams are now getting ready in training camps for the 2017-18 basketball season, there are some players coming out of college that deserve to get some attention from European teams.
One of them is definitely Troyce Manassa, a 24-year-old rookie out of Savannah State. By the way, he was among the players who made it to Marco Ridolfi’s “NCAA Underground: players to follow” column.
Manassa, standing at 6’4” (193 cm) and weighing 215 pounds (98 kg), has great physical tools to succeed as a very intriguing combo guard in Europe.
“I consider myself as an attacking player,” Manassa told Sportando in a phone interview. “I can shoot, drive, go the left as well as right, I have an excellent mid-range game and consider myself as a great rebounder for my position.”
His offensive abilities are proven by numbers as well. As a senior, Manassa led his team in scoring with 16.9 points over 27.5 minutes per game, which become 24.6 points per 40 minutes.
Let’s check out Troyce Manassa’s offensive weapons by taking a look at some of his senior-year highlights.
The video above shows Manassa’s ability to hit from beyond the arc both off the dribble and in catch-and-shoot. In his senior year, he shot 35% from three on 9.1 attempts per 40 minutes, a pretty solid percentage that he can improve with his fluid shooting mechanics.
While here are some flashes of Troyce Manassa driving to the basket. He makes the most of his very strong body to absorb contacts and finish in traffic.
The Alabama native has also showed a very good mid-range game, as we can see in the following clip. He is able to use his body to create space for a step-back jumper or a fade-away off the dribble. His driving and mid-range shooting skills made him finish his senior season with a pretty good 53% 2-point percentage on 9.2 attempts per 40 minutes.
“Everybody pretty much know that I can attack the basket and can shoot mid-range,” Manassa told Sportando. “But I think that my ability to get my teammates better is an underrated part of my game.”
By the way, here’s Troyce Manassa showing some pretty efficient court vision as he finds big men in the paint for an easy basket and involves open shooters on the perimeter ready to catch the ball in rhythm and hit it from deep.
The previous clip showed how Manassa can make other players better through his passing ability. However, not only could he get his teammates involved through assists, but he also led them with his leadership and mental toughness.
“[My experience at Savannah State] taught me how to be responsible for other players,” Manassa told Sportando. “I was the leader and the captain of my team so this experience taught me how to be a leader. It’s a great privilege to be able to do that. These last two years I was called upon to be a leader and it helped me grow as a man.”
Troyce Manassa has the size to be successful on the defensive end as well, and this is an aspect he has been working on this offseason as he is getting ready to play at the pro level. Also, he is working on getting his basketball IQ better in order to become a more consistent floor general and reduce the 2.1 turnovers per game that he averaged in his senior year at Savannah State.
“I just want to get my basketball IQ better,” Manassa said on what he has been working on. “I’ve been working on defense because you have to play hard defense at the pro level, I think that’s very important. Scoringwise I’ve just been strenghtening my offensive strengths, working on ball-handling, shooting, get my overall offensive game sharp. But definitely I’m working on defense because I think that’s very important at the pro level.”
Manassa received several accolades during his college career, including All-Conference Second Team honors. He rates his experience at Savannah State as “one of the greatest ones” and thinks it helped him get ready to play at the pro level.
“In my senior season at Savannah State we played one of the fastest paces in the NCAA,” Manassa told Sportando. “We played the spread-out offense, we led the nation in three-pointers. They helped me get ready for the European style of play as in college we played a fast pace with a lot of spacing.”
But playing for Savannah State means playing in a not-so-renowned conference like the MEAC, and this aspect seems to have affected his first free-agency process, even if he had the chance to showcase his talent against well-respected teams.
“I think people look down at that conference,” Manassa said. “But in the non-conference games we played a lot of big-name teams: we played against Oregon, beat Oregon State, played against San Diego State and I did well against these teams.”
A lot of European teams are not so high on some college players just because they didn’t play for big-time teams in big-time conferences. But there are many intriguing rookies who fly under the radar and deserve to get some attention. Troyce Manassa is one of them.
“I want to play in Europe,” Manassa told Sportando. “That’s always been my dream. If I find the right opportunity and the right team, I think Europe is a place where I can be for a long time.”
One of them is definitely Troyce Manassa, a 24-year-old rookie out of Savannah State. By the way, he was among the players who made it to Marco Ridolfi’s “NCAA Underground: players to follow” column.
Manassa, standing at 6’4” (193 cm) and weighing 215 pounds (98 kg), has great physical tools to succeed as a very intriguing combo guard in Europe.
“I consider myself as an attacking player,” Manassa told Sportando in a phone interview. “I can shoot, drive, go the left as well as right, I have an excellent mid-range game and consider myself as a great rebounder for my position.”
His offensive abilities are proven by numbers as well. As a senior, Manassa led his team in scoring with 16.9 points over 27.5 minutes per game, which become 24.6 points per 40 minutes.
Let’s check out Troyce Manassa’s offensive weapons by taking a look at some of his senior-year highlights.
The video above shows Manassa’s ability to hit from beyond the arc both off the dribble and in catch-and-shoot. In his senior year, he shot 35% from three on 9.1 attempts per 40 minutes, a pretty solid percentage that he can improve with his fluid shooting mechanics.
While here are some flashes of Troyce Manassa driving to the basket. He makes the most of his very strong body to absorb contacts and finish in traffic.
The Alabama native has also showed a very good mid-range game, as we can see in the following clip. He is able to use his body to create space for a step-back jumper or a fade-away off the dribble. His driving and mid-range shooting skills made him finish his senior season with a pretty good 53% 2-point percentage on 9.2 attempts per 40 minutes.
“Everybody pretty much know that I can attack the basket and can shoot mid-range,” Manassa told Sportando. “But I think that my ability to get my teammates better is an underrated part of my game.”
By the way, here’s Troyce Manassa showing some pretty efficient court vision as he finds big men in the paint for an easy basket and involves open shooters on the perimeter ready to catch the ball in rhythm and hit it from deep.
The previous clip showed how Manassa can make other players better through his passing ability. However, not only could he get his teammates involved through assists, but he also led them with his leadership and mental toughness.
“[My experience at Savannah State] taught me how to be responsible for other players,” Manassa told Sportando. “I was the leader and the captain of my team so this experience taught me how to be a leader. It’s a great privilege to be able to do that. These last two years I was called upon to be a leader and it helped me grow as a man.”
Troyce Manassa has the size to be successful on the defensive end as well, and this is an aspect he has been working on this offseason as he is getting ready to play at the pro level. Also, he is working on getting his basketball IQ better in order to become a more consistent floor general and reduce the 2.1 turnovers per game that he averaged in his senior year at Savannah State.
“I just want to get my basketball IQ better,” Manassa said on what he has been working on. “I’ve been working on defense because you have to play hard defense at the pro level, I think that’s very important. Scoringwise I’ve just been strenghtening my offensive strengths, working on ball-handling, shooting, get my overall offensive game sharp. But definitely I’m working on defense because I think that’s very important at the pro level.”
Manassa received several accolades during his college career, including All-Conference Second Team honors. He rates his experience at Savannah State as “one of the greatest ones” and thinks it helped him get ready to play at the pro level.
“In my senior season at Savannah State we played one of the fastest paces in the NCAA,” Manassa told Sportando. “We played the spread-out offense, we led the nation in three-pointers. They helped me get ready for the European style of play as in college we played a fast pace with a lot of spacing.”
But playing for Savannah State means playing in a not-so-renowned conference like the MEAC, and this aspect seems to have affected his first free-agency process, even if he had the chance to showcase his talent against well-respected teams.
“I think people look down at that conference,” Manassa said. “But in the non-conference games we played a lot of big-name teams: we played against Oregon, beat Oregon State, played against San Diego State and I did well against these teams.”
A lot of European teams are not so high on some college players just because they didn’t play for big-time teams in big-time conferences. But there are many intriguing rookies who fly under the radar and deserve to get some attention. Troyce Manassa is one of them.
“I want to play in Europe,” Manassa told Sportando. “That’s always been my dream. If I find the right opportunity and the right team, I think Europe is a place where I can be for a long time.”
N. Lupo
@NicolaLupo99
You must be registered to post a comment