Milwaukee Bucks: 5 players to watch in 2018 NCAA Tournament

5. Daniel Gafford, C, Arkansas

In the midst of a Southeastern Conference sending a surprising eight teams to the Big Dance, the Arkansas Razorbacks were surprisingly consistent. Picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, the Razorbacks actually finished….sixth.

Their best player has been their biggest, 6’11” center Daniel Gafford. Under head coach Mike Anderson, Arkansas has put together a collection of athletic wings to rotate around Gafford, who stands a clear two inches taller than the next-largest player on the roster.

Gafford should not be left out of the team’s collection of athletes, as his explosion and leaping ability are tremendous for a player his size. On play after play he would catch the ball and almost teleport above the rim, slamming home ferocious dunks that swayed the entire hoop. His 7’2″ wingspan destroyed SEC players at the rim, and he totaled 73 blocks — best in the conference.

The first-year player has not totaled huge minutes, instead being deployed for just over half the game. That strategy has seemed to work, as he has been dominant, but it also begs the question of why he isn’t playing more.

Ultimately Gafford projects not as a post-presence with an array of moves, but an athletic center who can crash to the rim in transition and of of the pick-and-roll. In today’s NBA, the latter is more valued than the former, and Gafford fits perfectly into that position.

He is not the next coming of Dwight Howard, but the Bucks don’t need him to be. Ultimately they need a player with a solid understanding of his role and supporting talent to best make an early impact.