Strengths: Rafael is a power forward with decent hands, who knows how to receive the ball in positions close to the basket, enabling him to conduct strong power moves to score ... Always tries to dunk and assure the 2 pts if possible ... Physically he has a good upper body with quite strong arms and legs, with decent athleticism and agility ... Especially employing solid leaping ability with both feet ... His timing is fine, and concentration to boxing out has improved, which makes him all together a good defensive rebounder ... Although hes not really a great offensive boarder, generally his intensity level is acceptable ... Not afraid to make a hard foul when necessary, so he does have a certain toughness too ... Okay rythm on his 5-6 m (16-18 feet) range shotstroke, although his shot speed is quite average ... Another plus is his decent free throw shooting. Also able to hit the turn around jumper from the post, but it would be nice to see him develop his jump hook too ... Despite a quite heavy and strong body, runs the floor well and has okay footspeed ... Has a focused and serious attitude during practice.

Weaknesses: Despite the solid speed for his size, he lacks quick lateral speed ... Defensively he has the body to be a good defender in the low post, but does need to improve on his positional help defense ... Not a shotblocker either, or a good passer for that fact. Just able to give the simple perimeter pass ... At times he gives the impression of unsure court awareness, and doesnt show a very soft touch finishing near the rim ...

Outlook: With continued quality coaching, Hettsheimeir should develop further into a usefull element within a squad competing in a strong European league. To take his game to the NBA level however, it would require an important change mentally, as far as belief in his skills and his possible role is concerned.

Scouted @:

28/10/2006: Vic-Ourense (LEB 2, Spain)

15/12/2006: Team practice Vic (LEB 2, Spain)

20/01/2007: Prat-Vic (LEB 2, Spain)

12/01/2008: Lleida-Bruesa (LEB Gold, Spain)