NBA Comparison: Al Thornton

Strengths: Physical specimen type of interior force … A powerful post player with unusual face up ability … An excellent rebounder (10.1 per game) who uses his size, length (huge wingspan), strength and speed well to be a menace on the boards … At his best when crashing the glass or taking bigger opponents away from the basket and then using his foot speed and ball handling ability to blow by them … Extremely adept at offensive rebounding (nearly 4 offensive rpg) … Shows good speed for a player his size, very fluid and fast in the open floor … Has unusual ball handling ability for a forward, even utilizing an effective crossover … Owns some nifty moves around the basket and shows the ability to finish off plays using his touch and body control … Continues to show upside … Soft hands … Post game remains a work in progress but has shown some development … Has a nice righty jump hook … Upper body strength allows him to absorb contact and finish on drives … Has the versatility to potentially play the 3 through the 5 position … Doesn’t mind contact and has a frame built for it … Likes to go to the right block and dip his left shoulder to create space and shoot a right handed half hook shot …

Weaknesses: Has the size and strength to do damage in the paint, but seems too enamored with facing the basket and has never bothered to truly polish his post skills … Doesn’t do a good job of posting up and creating a base for guards to feed him inside. Instead allows weaker forwards to root him away from the basket and often starts his offensive situations further from the basket than necessary … Should really be able to advance this area of his game with such physical strength and quickness … Shows flashes of his considerable talent but struggles to truly put it all together and be a consistent force … Older player. Will be 23 before he ever suits up for an NBA game limiting his perceived upside to an extent … Has a nice shooting stroke but his career 56% free throw shooting is a concern … Missed a big portion of his junior season (12 of 31 games) due to a foot injury – On the positive side he had been very durable in his first two seasons at DePaul … Turned the ball over too frequently at 3.2 to/per game. A function of his over reliance on making plays off the dribble … Not a big force defensively, averaged below 1 block per game in each of his 3 seasons … Creative passer but a little too willing to attempt risky plays … Needs to become more dedicated to the defensive end of the floor. Shows the attributes to be a solid defender, but doesn't put the same focus on it ...

Notes: Nyal “Mac” Koshwal is a native of the Sudan. Moved to Canada with his family as a child and then to Chicago at age 16 … Came into college a top 50 player in his class and has shown flashes of what made him such a highly decorated recruit … Averaged 16 and 10 in his junior season, excellent numbers in the Big East …

Aran Smith 6/18/10

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