[TONYDABOSS77Participant]

A guy I must mention is Shabazz..

Yes, he’s not the 20+ scorer right off the bat. But he’s a little overweight, out of shape & he looks like he doesn’t fit UCLA’s offense & he’s still getting 16 a game.

He hasn’t met expectations yet.

McLemore’s a great prospect, but he has red flags..he’ll be 21 at the draft, he sat out last year because of an academic red shirt.

Also, while Shabazz hasn’t lived up to the hype, he hasn’t exactly been a disappointment.. he’s shown what he’s capable of in spurts..he can flat out take over a game, he showed me that his first game against Georgetown where he got a couple 3’s & a dunk in the last 2 minutes to atleast make the game a little compelling..

Another question I have is why don’t the Bruins make him their 1st option, Drew the 2nd option & ANderson the facilitator?? I think Ben Howland should consider tweaking his system & letting those 3 loose.

Tell me what you think.

[TONYDABOSS77Participant]

True..what do you think his ceiling is?

[alex23Participant]

because i havent seen his best against games yet, but he has an exceptional knack of scoring the ball which is something you either have or not which makes his ceiling very high.

[JoeWolf1]

I think Isaiah Rider is his ceiling, a 16-20 ppg 2nd option for a good team, 1st option for a bad one. Both explosive, yet struggle with weight and desire from time to time and both have a solid outside shot.

[HaleParticipant]

I don’t think Shabazz struggles with desire at all. Don’t think he’s going to struggle with weight either.

[alex23Participant]

He is still clearly out of shape , not used to the system and is still avg. 16 and 5. I think we should just wait for a while instead of making conclusions right away. by the end of the season i can see him getting 19 and 6 for the bruins

[TONYDABOSS77Participant]

I understand. His handle, to me, isn’t as weak as everyone says. His ball security does need to be better though. I just find it crazy that he’s the best scorer in the nation & he comes down the floor & doesn’t touch the ball on some possessions…

[alex23Participant]

time he can create with the ball in his hands is with that turnaround jumper or an off the bounce floater , but a lot of times i feel he doesnt drive as much because he doesnt want to force it in the offensive system which tends to happen when you come in late and have less time to adjust.

[SiggyParticipant]

Good point. He’s not trying to force the issue as much, which is actually a good thing.

I still think he’s a very good prospect since he can score from every level of the floor. His long range jumper looks improved from last yr. He’s got a pull up game, a box game, he can slash with the natural body strength and length to play through contact, he’ll hit the o-glass and he can score in transition. Nothing that he’s shown thus far has changed my opinion of him outside of maybe his effort defensively…which can change.

[TONYDABOSS77Participant]

Yeah, I’m holding off on saying anything until the tournament starts

[i’m jus so offendedParticipant]

If McLemore’s biggest problem is that he’s 21, i think he’ll be just fine

[JoeWolf1]

I watched that G-Town game and he far from took over. He really just strung together a nice offensive spurt when the game was out of hand and the Hoyas were playing prevent.

I think he’ll most likely be a productive NBA player, to some extent, but it’s hard to get too excited based on anything he’s shown this season. Especially because I honestly bet he’s pushing 245 lbs.

[llperez]

The gtown game was also his first game and he had not been practicing due to a shoulder injury. He finished with decent, but not great stats. I think he will be fine before the end of the season. His biggest strength is how strong he finishes in the paint. He knows how to use his size and punish smaller guys down low.

[alex23Participant]

ucla has another 1 week till they have their next game, all they need right now is time and chemistry with muhammad and he better be doing some suicides and workouts to lose some weight and get into shape.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

shabazz hasnt looked great or mediocore… hes been pretty solid thus far…. i have a lot of faith that he will pick up his stuff in conference play…. i really like him as a prospect…. the first pick will come down to noel and shabazz

i mean he can really score anywhere on the court and is out of shape while doing it… thats scary

[MUbballfanParticipant]

He’s been taking pretty hard shots, and making a good % of them too.

[bigtymer32Participant]

its way too early to say he’s good or bad.we know he’s an athlete.he needs to develop better handle so it doesn’t have alot of turnovers and of course a jump shot.agree with everyone else he is out of shape but gtown was his first game of the year.still a top 5 pick regardless.would of been a top 5 pick out of high school if he could enter i see him right now as a demar derozan type player.if he gets a jump shot his ceiling will go up .will be a solid pro.on a side note not soild on noel he has bust written all over him.

[WinterSoldierParticipant]

He reminds me a little bit like dion waiters. I think there both going to have the same challenge of keeping there weight down. Some players were like that when they were younger like Boozer, Barkley, Love and Josh Smith but learned to control there body weight I think they both will also.

[Pistol Pete. The PelicanParticipant]

He actually reminds me of Young Paul Pierce. Coming out of Kansas, Paul Pierce was a 6’6 229 pound Small Forward/Shooting Guard. Averaged 20 points 6 rebounds, a block, a steal and 2.6 assists. Shot 50 percent from the field but only 35 percent from three and 74 percent from the line.

Let’s go to the NBA, Paul Pierce has been a great player, never afraid of the moment but he’s never been the best player on a great team but he has been the best player on some bad to mediocre teams.

Remember Pierce has Cybertoine- Antoine Walker then the Celtics started sucking, and then he got KG and Ray Allen. Paul Pierce has been a top 15 player in the league and maybe even top 10 at some times. Also Paul Pierce has had some weight issues during his career also.

I think Shabazz is fairly close to Paul Pierce in comparison of game, goes strong to the basket but isn’t a nifty player like D-Wade. Can Knock down the 3 but may be a bit overrated in that department just like Paul. Shabazz is 6’6 and last time he was weighed he was 223 pounds. As of right now Shabazz is averaging 16 points, 5 rebounds, shooting 46 percent overall and 46 percent from 3. I expect his numbers to improve in other areas as he gets in better shape and gets more acclimated with the system. The only stat I don’t expect to improve is his assist total, with Anderson and Drew on the court, I don’t think he’ll have the ball in the position to pass except on drives to the basket.

[jwostrumParticipant]

he would be scoring 20+ a game. also he does not get a ton of shots. he has not had more than 15 shot attemps in a single game this year.

[SiggyParticipant]

Some of you guys are really overselling the weight issue. He’s out of shape because he wasn’t able to practice or work out due to multiple injuries before the season.

[JoeWolf1]

It takes a lot of inaction or a poor diet to gain 20 lbs in 3 or 4 months. I don’t watch much high school ball, so when I see a guy hyped up as a franchise player, an elite athlete, And #1 pick and he’s overweight with a gray beard it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t just a man amongst boys in high school who is less effective against 20-22 year olds.

[SiggyParticipant]

He’s not 245 lbs.

[JoeWolf1]

High School Shabazz, listed 6’6” 220 lbs..

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=shabazz+muhammad+fat&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthehoopdoctors.com%2Fonline2%2F2011%2F12%2Fhs-player-dunks-on-shabazz-muhammad-then-blows-him-kiss%2F&ei=RjTFULe8Co3QqwHdtIGgDw&v6u=http%3A%2F%2Fs-v6exp1-ds.metric.gstatic.com%2Fgen_204%3Fip%3D64.136.215.9%26ts%3D1355101254487737%26auth%3Dnr5adayxqdesefaxk3q6ivuodwbgchcg%26rndm%3D0.6406154450960457&v6s=2&v6t=11605&psig=AFQjCNEoaTpXX6CyAoFtxdYZjS54wo5h4w&ust=1355187654530675

College Shabazz, listed 6’6” and a laughable 225 lbs

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=shabazz+muhammad+fat&hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1134&bih=713&tbm=isch&tbnid=VfERGrPsCN7-2M:&imgrefurl=http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/shabazz-muhammad-trying-way-now-finally-allowed-court-083440396–ncaab.html&docid=XHLBgVyoZ4On2M&imgurl=http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptusncaabexperts/Screen-shot-2012-11-20-at-5.53.56-AM.jpg&w=625&h=417&ei=RjTFULe8Co3QqwHdtIGgDw&zoom=1

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=shabazz+muhammad+ben+howland&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Farticles.latimes.com%2F2012%2Fnov%2F29%2Fsports%2Fla-sp-1130-plaschke-ucla-howland-20121130&ei=OzXFULfKB47NqQGWp4Fw&psig=AFQjCNG_KKlYemISfl0OM-vHD_oxgEqGIw&ust=1355187899696115

[SiggyParticipant]

I think it’s more laughable to say that he looks 245 lbs. If he was 245 he’d look fat. You’d see it in his face, you’d see it in his arms. That isn’t the case.

[JoeWolf1]

He’s got a big frame. You’re 220 lbs and you look like he did in the previous pick and then you look like the later two, then that’s less than 25 lbs? He carries his weight in his midsection, it’s pretty evident. It’s basic biology that men carry weight in their mid-section, if your an athlete who gets out of shape really quickly, it’s going to your gut, not your face or arms.

[SiggyParticipant]

Maybe when you’re 40 something and your metabolism has slowed. Not when you’re 19.
He doesn’t look bloated, just out of shape. Give him til the end of this month and I doubt we’ll hear about this “weight issue” ever again.

[JoeWolf1]

If your 78 inches tall with an 80+ inch wingspan and you gain 25 lbs, your not going to look like Oliver Miller. He can carry it well, and did you even look at the links I posted? This may all be for mute, but weight and desire have sunk many a promising career, I may be making too big of a deal of this, but I think it may be as big of a mistake to assume this OBVIOUS Weight gain wont re-surface.

[alex23Participant]

first pic of him was when he was a junior , look at some of his senior year clips and you will see he gained 20 pounds of good weight(from junior). Its not like he looks extremely overweight and he already looks a bit better from his first game.

[SiggyParticipant]

One thing that I’m not worried about when it comes to Shabazz is having motivation/ work ethic. He is a self made player who’s overcome a lack of talent at an early age and tourette’s syndrome to become what he has become. He has an almost obsessive drive and gym rat work ethic, that is in large part driven by what he had to experience as a youngster. Outside of his obvious knack for scoring that was was one of his greatest attributes as a player coming out of HS.

[jwostrumParticipant]

there is no way he is 245, your right siggy. id say maybe 235 at most. he looked in better shape to me in his last game against texas than in the first game against georgetown. he is getting in better shape as the season goes on.

[JoeWolf1]

I may have gotten a little tangential last night over Shabazz’s weight, but it’s just that I have high expectations for guys who are supposedly franchise players. In comparing him to Rider, it’s not that I can’t recognize what he does well(16.7 career ppg), but it’s hard to honestly look at his body of work and the condition he came into the season in and with all hype aside, say he is a #1 pick caliber of player.

It’s a long season, and maybe he’ll prove me wrong, but he just looks like a big forward who bullied 6’3′ 180 lb.’high school wings, and is still fairly effective, but to a lesser extent among college competiton. No one is done developing as a player 10 games into their college career, but my comments are just mainly based on what I have seen, not what I’ve heard before the season started, nor what I would like to imagine him being because I like him. December sentiments are oft proven wrong, but it’s not like my concerns have no base in reality.

[Author]

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