Bologna, August 01 –
Fresh from the NBA Draft, Saliou Niang will be one of the links between the area and the perimeter of this new Virtus set up with wisdom and carefully tweaked. Part guard, part wing, hovering on infinite scales, the Dakar boy who grew up on Lake Como is someone who likes to run, with head, strength, and talent, but with the right patience also to take advantage of pick and roll situations.
At the age of 21, a first leap in quality materialised, dismissing him from the juiciest season, which also came after seasons of transition and debuts in contexts to which he had to get used. Mortified, the difficult restart then took place amidst stretches and setbacks, first of all challenging himself in believing in his plans to rise again. From there, his evolution blossomed, initially linked to playing without the ball in the open field, looking above all for the appropriate spacing, over time performed in essential, versatile movements, aimed at the result and not at posing for photographers. Everything was seen, once the tension was released: defence, aiming, rebounding. The game system to realise a design that was not so trivial, underlined by the “Most Improved Player” of the last Serie A. Today, these are the traits of Niang, who, after seasons in the league and Eurocup, has swelled his baggage of experience also in the Azzurri. Behind his defence, too, it has been a path of evolution, without dabbling in daring, between alchemies that can be spent on opponents of varying size.
Name: SALIOU NIANG
Date of birth: 14 May 2004
Place of birth: Dakar (Senegal)
Palmares: 1 Italian Cup, 1 LBA Most Improved Player
