Thijs de Ridder put on a show in his official debut for the Virginia Cavaliers. The 22-year old Belgian forward scored 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field (1-for-2from deep) in his 24 minutes. He added 10 rebounds with six coming on the offensive glass as he registered a double-double in his first career college basketball game.
De Ridder was powerful on the low block, consistently winning to his right side and floating the ball over the rim with baby hooks and soft floaters. Rider couldn’t
handle his strength on the inside and repeatedly relented to his powerful shoulders as he threw them around inside.
De Ridder is very polished with his movements around the basket. He’ll face much stiffer defense than he did against Rider. Yet the control he has was evident, as was his patience to find the angle he wanted to attack.
The big man didn’t just do damage in the paint, scoring off a ball screen from Johann Gruenloh at the top of the key. De Ridder is a unicorn of an offensive threat who, at 238 pounds, moves with the grace of a far smaller player.
He also nailed a three-pointer in transition after Chance Mallory made a big stop, pushed the ball down the court, and dished the rock to Malik Thomas who found De Ridder on the far side.
De Ridder is the entire package at power forward. With Devin Tillis missing the game due to injury, the Belgian stepped up and carried the load at the four spot.
Like the rest of the team, De Ridder misfired at the free throw line, missing both of his attempts from the charity stripe. He projects to be perfectly fine there in the long term, though.
De Ridder sat out a few stretches due to foul trouble, finishing with four on the night including three in the first half. That will be something to watch as he adjusts to college basketball and, with Tillis out for now, is potentially asked to play a few more minutes than usual against higher level competition.
Nevertheless, De Ridder’s first college basketball game was an absolute success and he looks set to be a star for the ‘Hoos in year one of the Odom era.
