NBA Comparison: Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Strengths: A combo forward who possesses a soft touch and a natural knack for scoring the ball … He is a decent athlete, runs the floor well and has a great wingspan … Has the versatility to operate on the perimeter as well as back people down on the block … With his back to the basket he shows great patience and has a nice variety of crafty moves; he utilizes shotfakes, shows an effective turnaround jumper and a mini hook … Working out of the high post, he is a difficult matchup because of his ability to shoot and because he can put the ball on the floor … He is fairly comfortable facing up and taking defenders off the dribble and either finishing at the basket or going to his much preferred jump shot … He is the most effective when he gets into a rhythm as he is able to make all sorts of contested shots from the midrange area … His shot is such a potent weapon not only because of his great touch, but also because his release is so high and he has a natural fade making it virtually unguardable … Some have questioned his desire to rebound last year, but he has shown that he can be a very effective rebounder, averaging 9 rebounds this season … He has been asked to carry the load for his team all season, and he has proven to be a very consistent performer, scoring in double digits in all but two games … Even though his team has gone through some rough stretches, he has continued to play hard regardless of the situation…

Weaknesses: Currently he is in the hybrid forward mold, capable playing both positions, but not quite ready to play either on the next level … To become a full time post player he will need to add weight and muscle to his frame … He struggles when he takes contact, and because he gets taken out of position he has to operate off balance … He strongly prefers turning to his right shoulder (where he tends to shoot an awkward right handed turnaround), making him somewhat predictable and easy to defend on the block …On the perimeter, he settles for jumpshots, primarily because his handles aren’t good enough to allow him to get to the hoop on a consistent basis … While he is a very good midrange shooter, he needs to add range and consistency to his outside shot … His fadeway can be very effective at times, but it can also be the reason behind many shots being left short in the second half of games … He has been sporadic from the free throw line all season, and he shoots a very underwhelming 70% … He has very long arms, but he has not shown the willingness to becomes a disruptive force on the defensive end, either by blocking shots, or by getting into the passing lanes …

Borko Popic - 3/2/09