Joel Soriano — Going Pro
A look at the Portsmouth Invitational 2024
Originally published on BackDoorPodcast May 17, 2024
The end of the College Basketball season, the NBA and EuroLeague playoffs, and the Training Camps and Combines tell us we are already deep into NBA Draft territory. For this reason and until June 26th-27th (two nights for the Draft ceremony this year) we will focus on upcoming picks but also on former college ballers who might try the European route in the short future.
Let’s take a look back at the 70th edition of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT), an annual Virginia-based event (April 17–20) in which 64 top college seniors compete in front of NBA personnel and European scouts to show off what they’re made of and improve their professional prospects. Among the wealth of college talent turning into pros this year, super-senior and Dominican Republic U18 international Joel Soriano has been one of the most solid performers over there.
A native of Yonkers, New York, Joel Soriano has played 140 games over his 5-year college career with two local programs, Fordham University and St John’s Red Storm in the Big East, and he was highly touted early in the season as the central piece for the Johnnies’ revival under legendary coach Rick Pitino.
At 6’10 in shoes by @BAM_Testing, Soriano is a classic post player and bruiser who relies on his size, long arms and raw strength to make his presence felt. Joel is long and tough, always ready to bang bodies and eat space on both ends with his wide hips and muscular physique. There might be a tendency to put on weight for him, which could hamper his mobility and overall athleticism in the long term. Anyhow Soriano is a certified beast on the low blocks, particularly difficult to move once he has established position.
Besides bulk and power, length is another definitive physical trait in Soriano’s game and approach. Per @BAM_Testing Joel’s wingspan measures at an impressive 7’3.5, which combined with a remarkable standing reach allows him to challenge shots all over the place, disrupt entry passes in post-defense, and make up for some lack of elite leaper ability.
NON-STOP PRODUCTION
Watching Joel Soriano’s film, you soon realize that high production will be his calling card as a pro. Soriano has a motor and plays with great activity on both ends, whether he is burying his man under the basket, running the floor, protecting the paint or fighting for the boards. More importantly, Joel continuously offers himself in high picks (4.2 screen-assists per game) and is a perennial threat on the pick-and-roll (1.44 PPP) and the offensive glass (1.20 PPP), ready to attack mismatches and punish smaller guys at the rim with his big hands, highlight-reel dunks and soft touch (63.0 TS%).
The post-up is the go-to play type for Soriano though (30.6% of his offense), ranking in the 82nd percentile by Synergy. Joel is more about brute force than finesse there, getting into position early or going to work on either block with the drop step, using his frame and shoulders to lean on his man and feel the defender so he can create enough space for the jump hook or layup. Naturally, Soriano has more problems against large post defenders, but he can draw a lot of contact and fouls too (4 per night), making 70.2% from the charity stripe in five attempts per night.
A player in constant evolution since his High School days at Archbishop Stepinac, Soriano has added a functional jump shot to his arsenal in Queens. Albeit at a low volume, Joel shows promise with his two-motion shooting form and high release via turnaround and no dribble jumpers on the blocks. He can extend his range to the elbow and the high post, particularly with his feet set and in short roll action, and even if he hasn’t been prolific from behind the arc (7/16 threes for the season), it’s only a question of time until Soriano becomes a proper threat in the pick-and-pop and stretches the floor successfully.
Boasting a 20.7% usage rate at St John’s, Soriano has improved every season as a connective passer and facilitator (1.5ast/game). It’s about quality screens, handoff action and moving the ball for Joel right now, but he has intriguing tools to work with and improve his IQ (huge frame and towering view) and can develop into some form of playmaking five in the future. He has had flashes of this at the PIT and more consistency in Big East play, hitting cutters and spot-up shooters from the top of the key and out of the post. In any case there is work to do yet, such as learning to deal with digs and doubles in the paint or exploiting his roll-man gravity.
DEFENSIVE PROJECTION
Soriano has posted a whopping thirty-nine double-doubles (14 last season) over the last two years at St John’s, which highlights his dominance on the glass and how commanding he can be on his end. Joel is a force under the backboard and he takes advantage of his build, grit and instincts in box-outs. In terms of pure defensive impact, Soriano is at his best on post-D, where he maximizes his physicality and long arms to hold, stop and wall up big bodies around the hoop allowing just 0.65 PPP per Synergy in such situations.
In addition, Soriano brings a valuable degree of rim deterrence and the ability to negate finishing angles and easy looks to drivers and cutters alike when he stays home. He shines as a D Anchor in short distances, clogging the lane and the baseline with his size, footwork and length. Despite not always executing timely rotations and some lack of explosion and vertical pop, Joel is still effective as a help defender changing shots in the paint and forcing a steady number of blocks with his bulky and lengthy body type (1.4 rejections per night in his whole college career).
As expected for most big men, Pick-n-Roll defense is the main challenge for Joel Soriano. At a glance, Joel doesn’t strike you as a trapping or highly switchable big because of his improvable reaction time and hip-turn. That’s not saying he is ‘slow laterally’ as Pitino did in a motivational rant last February. Soriano certainly needs to work on his agility and processing speed, but he can definitely step out and dance with smaller ballers in the perimeter (0.67 PPP in ISO plays). Obviously, he will fare better in space against wing/forwards than explosive ball-guards and can have more problems recovering his man or stopping lobs above the rim after switches.
Joel Soriano is undeniably better suited to play drop coverage at this stage: disruptive when he backpedals and doesn’t overcommit to the ball-handler, and well equipped with his plus wingspan to contest floaters and middy pull-ups or chase big men around. Ultimately besides health, fitness and conditioning are going to be essential for Soriano and not just defending on ball screens. There have been times this season when he has faded away in games as his energy levels dropped. Keeping his weight under control is a must. Moreover, not being a rim-runner per se, Joel needs to pick the moments to run the floor so he can get the best out of himself in transition D.
SUMMARY / EXPECTATIONS
It’s been a long tough season for St John’s topped with the disappointment of missing the NCAA tournament. The fact the Johnnies brought a 10-man class from the transfer portal didn’t help their prospects as a unit. The lack of roster continuity and the hype placed on them by their veteran Hall-of-Famer coach haven’t either. Working under Rick Pitino was a learning-curve type of experience for Soriano. He’s started strong, had some ups and downs in Big East play, and ended the year much better in a team more focused on guard play. It was a lot to learn while adjusting to a higher tempo and speed. But in the process, he’s made a leap forward in other aspects of his game.
We have seen a feistier version of Joel Soriano in the Portsmouth Invitational, however, bringing back his all-around intensity and the feel of a dominant paint-oriented-big. Soriano shines when he doesn’t overthink plays but asks for the ball inside, hustles full-time and gets on with the job via buckets and rebounds. If he can polish more layers of his skill set, his stock rises exponentially. The PIT All-Team-Selection gives you a good idea of what the Yonkers native is about and why clubs and organizations from both sides of the Atlantic should be interested in him. Reliable screen setter, efficient play finisher and tough post-up scorer to build upon schemes and with room for growth yet.
Soriano hasn’t been invited to the G League Elite or the NBA Combine after his promising PIT showing, though. The door to the NBA is of course not closed, but it’s unlikely he’ll be drafted next month. It’s time now for pre-draft workouts while franchises and front offices evaluate his current profile and upside. The NBA Summer League should be the next logical step, and then the chance of an Exhibit 10 or a Two-Way contract/G League gig are a real and legit way forward for Soriano. But on the other hand, he could very well choose to start his professional career in Europe and make a name for himself staking up numbers for fun in some medium to high-level domestic league.
Joel Soriano’s big summer is just about to tip off and will turn even more interesting if he chooses to play for the Dominican Republic national team in the upcoming Olympic Qualifier Tournament (Greece, 2–7 July). It would be the ideal scenario to show the rest of the World his talents suiting up alongside the likes of Chris Duarte, Lester Quinones, Jean Montero, Angel Delgado or Andres Feliz just before the Summer League. At the BackDoorPodcast we will follow his next step closely and root for him all the way.
