NBA Comparison: Mickael Pietrus

Strengths: A very long, ultra athletic player with an NBA ready body … Runs the floor extremely well, usually finishing with authority and in very attractive fashion … Active on the glass on both ends of the floor, his great feel for the ball allows him to grab rebounds at a great rate … Reads the defense well and knows how to find seams in order to get open … Has very soft hands allowing him to catch passes in traffic as well as ones that are almost out of reach … Has become more perimeter oriented, but he can still score with his back to the basket … Knows how to finish around the hoop, using the glass to utilize his soft touch … Gets great elevation on his shot and has a high release, making it impossible to stop at the current level … Shows advanced ability to stop on a dime and shoot a well balanced midrange shot, which is probably his most effective offensive weapon … Has a nice mix of length, size, and foot speed to become a very effective defender, and he has shown that he can block shots as well as jump into the passing lanes …

Weaknesses: Thus far into his junior season he has not become the go-to player that was expected … He has been complacent too often, either settling for outside shots or playing second fiddle, instead of taking things into his own hands and attacking the basket … Not comfortable handling the ball, as soon as he faces pressure on a drive he turns his back to the defender in order to protect the ball … Because of a less than stellar first step, he has a hard time getting to the hoop on iso plays since defenders are able to cut of his driving angle … He will need to add more moves to his repertoire, as he currently depends too much on his athleticism and usually settles for jumpshots when attacking of the dribble … Even though his shooting form is good, he has real trouble at the free throw line, shooting 58% for his career …

Borko Popic 12/17/08