Nathan Jawai

[cdif911]

I hear that Nathan is basically Shaq with an Australian accent; that basically he is the next dominant big man in the NBA, the only difference from Shaq being that he says "Barbi" instead of Bar-b-q, that sort of thing. Otherwise there is no difference. I'm so excited to get this guy.

just like that Sophocles guy was the Greek Shaq....hows that working out

[kw10]

This guy's 6'10.
For doubters about big men with little experience, well there's Mutombo and Olajuwon. Sure Jawai's neither, but if you've watched any of his clips, you'd know he's not short on fundamentals and won't be a bust because of it. And yes he is a Perkins with better athleticism, to me that's a bigger version of Powe.
I urge you, if you havn't already, to watch some clips of Jawai playing before doubting his skill level/fundamentals.

[sns0274]

There are no doubts about his fundamentals. The only real knocks that I can find on this guy is the fact that right now he makes Shaq look like track star.Slow foot speed and absolutely no face up game. Questions about his conditioning are also coming into question. While I am not sure if he could make an immediate impact, like Perk he will probably need a year of conditioning to play at the NBA level.

I would take him if there, the raw skills are good, likes to play D and rebound. Thrives off of contact (really unusual for a foreign player)To me worth the flyer at 30, as chances are that anyone we pick at 30 is not going to contribute immediately.

[cordobes]

For doubters about big men with little experience, well there's Mutombo and Olajuwon. Sure Jawai's neither, but if you've watched any of his clips, you'd know he's not short on fundamentals and won't be a bust because of it. And yes he is a Perkins with better athleticism, to me that's a bigger version of Powe.
I urge you, if you havn't already, to watch some clips of Jawai playing before doubting his skill level/fundamentals.

Really? I believe I have watched every single Jawai video available in the net and I have lots of doubts about his fundamentals. If you don't, allow me to make this questions, that you'll hopefully answer:

Can he do the outlet pass on the fastbreak?
Does he know how to hold a ball in traffic?
Can he dribble when he needs to? How high is his dribble?
Can he pass the ball with his left hand?
How's his basic defensive stance? Does he stays flat-footed, back on his heels or with the legs too closed?
Does he bite fakes? Does he focus on the waist of his opponent or in his arms/eyes? Or does he watch the ball?
How does he move laterally? Does he ever cross his legs? Can he slide consistently?
When moving in defense, does he keep his shoulders aligned with his feet?
Can he read his man? If he's asked to make an opponent go to his right, does he know what kind of foot-work he has to do?
Can he guard by fronting without taking his eyes off the ball?
When he tries to block, does he always use the hand closest to the basket?
Can he defend the passing lane and then get back behind his man? Can he play defense before his man receives the ball or only after?
Does he know what kind of pass he's going to get when fronted?
Can he catch and kickback?
Does he know how to do a V-cut to force the defender to reposition?
Can he make plays in the low-block? Drop steps, step outs, shoulder shimmies, turnarounds?
Does he know how to protect the pass to the weakside?
Can he spin? Does he know how to do a pindown screen?
How consistent are his shooting mechanics? Does he have a pure shooting form? Are his mechanics affected when his shot he contested? Does he execute the same way every time from every spot?
Does he get good lift when shooting? How high is his release? How fast? Can he execute a pick and pop midrange jumper? An elbow jumper?
How does he rebound? Can he block-out? Does he know ho to find, pivot, block, react?
Is he a good screener? Does he get good angles? Does he get low and wide?
Does he know how to execute a P'n'R? How does he play in the low post - screen and dive, power plays, etc?
What's his major problem with gaining position? Technique, toughness, will?
Can he contest shots with both his hands?
Can he stay focused on the game for long stretches?
Can he turn to his other side when holding a ball in traffic?
Does he go for a bounce pass when possible?

These are a few questions on some high-school level skills; I can make dozens of others - especially about team play.

Reading the various scouting reports on him one can see some consensual evaluations: bad off-hand, team defense, jump-shot, post moves. This doesn't scream Tim Duncan.

E.g., post players with a bad off-hand need to have tons of talent and athleticism to make up for it in the NBA because it's hard for them to score in the traffic at that level. Or they can just develop their off-hand touch, of course.

There are literally millions of players who can look like they are McHale or Hakeem here and there. It's really easy to make a player look great in a highlight video. But evaluating fundamentals can't be done that way. Fundamentals is about consistency and habit - a player can make 5 great screen'n'drive moves in a season and still be very poor doing it.

Now, this is not very serious and by no way means he can't be a good NBA player. Most of the kids in this draft seriously lack fundamentals. Tons of NBA players have poor fundamentals. But NBA teams have developmental coaches for a reason. And there are a couple of former players that never were solid on fundamentals and they were still great. But I think that Jawai is going to be drafted primarily because of his athleticism - and despite his fundamentals.

[cordobes]

Oh, and using Olajuwon and Mutombo as a comparison is laughable.

Before joining the NBA, Mutombo played 4 years in Georgetown, of all places, under the same coach that trained Ewing or Alonzo Mourning. And he didn't even play in his first year, just practiced. Hakeem was already a famous player in Nigeria and went to the USA with a scholarship to play basketball in Houston. He barely played in his freshman year, he played 18mpg as a sophomore and 35 in the senior year.

If Jawai was a senior from Georgetown, even if he hadn't played basket previously, I'm sure we wouldn't be having this conversation about his (lack of) fundamentals.

It makes way more sense to compare him to guys like Shaq or Bynum.

[kw10]

Cordobes, I know where you are coming from and those are great questions. I can tell you I can answer yes to some and no to some, honestly. But at the same time, I can say the same thing about other non-busts NBA players as you've pointed out, sure college players like Tyler Hansbrough might have all the fundamentals, but he would not be that successful when he makes the NBA. As for comparing to Olajuwon and Mutombo, I named them as examples of big men with little experience and at the same time saying he's not them. And as others have mentioned, we got Clifford Ray who is great at developing big men. Also we are looking at the #30 pick here, not a lottery pick. I think I said earlier in this post that he will no doubt develop into a solid contributor, not an allstar.

[cordobes]

kw10, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I wasn't dissing Jawai; admittedly, I've never seen him playing. My point only is that evaluate a player's fundamentals with videos of a few selected plays - no matter how long and impressive they are - can't be done. You certainly know Jawai better than I do, so I'll obviously defer to you on this subject.

We agree on the (lack of) importance of draftees being fundamentally sound. As I said "this is not very serious and by no way means he can't be a good NBA player. Most of the kids in this draft seriously lack fundamentals. Tons of NBA players have poor fundamentals. But NBA teams have developmental coaches for a reason." On the other hand, one shall take notice that are some players who manage to have long and solid careers in the NBA just because they had good fundamentals at the beginning - they're generally under-appreciated by the fans and coaches say platitudes about them like "oh, they can do all the little things". In our current roster, Scott Pollard is a good example. I'd be very happy if we could draft a Pollard with the 30th.

I understand where you're coming from with the Olajuwon/Deke analogy, but I still don't like it. Those guys weren't inexperienced, except in the sense that every rookie is inexperienced. Hakeem was probably one of the most polished rookies ever. Shaq definitely works better.

Anyway, here's hopping that Jawai can be a contributor in the NBA for years to come - and, in that case, that the C's draft him.

[kw10]

Anyway, here's hopping that Jawai can be a contributor in the NBA for years to come - and, in that case, that the C's draft him.

Amen to that