Vital Info
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 221 lbs.
Position: Center
Born: 9/5/1977
College: Kentucky
Drafted: 1998 - 1st Round, 29th Overall
Player Type: Undersized rebounding center
Strengths: Mohammed wasn't blessed with great size or athleticism, but he can rebound with anybody, especially on the offensive glass. He's also not the worst finisher in the world, having shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 4 of the past 5 seasons, and he has a half-decent short-to-medium range jumper. In addition, he can block shots and does a solid job of drawing fouls.
Weaknesses: His hands are legendarily bad, as his high turnover rates will attest to. He is also a defensive liability because of his height and lack of quickness. Mohammed will never be considered a big scoring option in the post, and doesn't run the floor especially well, so a good deal of his points are of the garbage variety. He has a rep for being injury-prone -- although he has played 80 or more games in 3 of the past 5 seasons.
Favorite shot: Second-chance shot off an offensive board.
Raymond Felton
Vital Info
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 198 lbs.
Position: Point Guard
Born: 6/26/1984
College: North Carolina
Drafted: 2005 - 1st Round, 5th Overall
Player Type: Pure point guard with no jump shot
Strengths: A great passer and ballhandler, Felton is a fantastic playmaker from the point guard position -- he's cat-quick, and he excels at penetrating into the lane, drawing defenders, and dishing off to open teammates for easy baskets. He also improved his finishing ability at the rim in 07-08 (he was awful, now he's just mediocre), converting on nearly 50% of his field goal attempts when close to the basket and drawing fouls at a higher rate. In addition, Felton is a good defensive player who compensates for his lack of height with superior quickness.
Weaknesses: Felton's jump shot continues to be shaky at best -- he's a below-average 3-point shooter, and he hit less than 45% of his 2-pointers despite improving his conversion rate on 2-point non-jumpers to 50%. Because of his subpar shooting and still less-than-satisfactory finishing skills, Felton isn't a big-time scoring point guard, notching just 13.9 pts/36 in each of the last two seasons. As you might also expect from a 6'1" guard, Felton is a complete non-factor on the boards.
Favorite shot: Dribble drive to the basket.
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 198 lbs.
Position: Point Guard
Born: 6/26/1984
College: North Carolina
Drafted: 2005 - 1st Round, 5th Overall
Player Type: Pure point guard with no jump shot
Strengths: A great passer and ballhandler, Felton is a fantastic playmaker from the point guard position -- he's cat-quick, and he excels at penetrating into the lane, drawing defenders, and dishing off to open teammates for easy baskets. He also improved his finishing ability at the rim in 07-08 (he was awful, now he's just mediocre), converting on nearly 50% of his field goal attempts when close to the basket and drawing fouls at a higher rate. In addition, Felton is a good defensive player who compensates for his lack of height with superior quickness.
Weaknesses: Felton's jump shot continues to be shaky at best -- he's a below-average 3-point shooter, and he hit less than 45% of his 2-pointers despite improving his conversion rate on 2-point non-jumpers to 50%. Because of his subpar shooting and still less-than-satisfactory finishing skills, Felton isn't a big-time scoring point guard, notching just 13.9 pts/36 in each of the last two seasons. As you might also expect from a 6'1" guard, Felton is a complete non-factor on the boards.
Favorite shot: Dribble drive to the basket.
Gerald Wallace
Vital Info
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 215 lbs.
Position: Forward
Born: 7/23/1982
College: Alabama
Drafted: 2001 - 1st Round, 25th Overall
Player Type: Athletic 2-way forward
Strengths: Wallace is long and athletic, and this gives him a real edge at the defensive end -- he's effective at stealing the ball, blocking shots, and forcing misses on the help side. He also excels in the transition game, getting out on the break and creating offense in the open court. He loves to attack the basket, and has enough burst and handle to swoop past defenders from the wing and finish at the rim or draw a foul.
Weaknesses: Wallace was forced to be even more of a go-to guy offensively for Charlotte last season, and that caused his efficiency to drop dramatically (his ORtg was 110 while using 22% of possessions in 2007, and it fell to 104 on 24% of possessions in 2008). There are only so many times that you can drive past a defender without him playing off and forcing you to shoot jumpers, and shooting isn't exactly Wallace's biggest strength: he only posted a .354 FG% on 2-point J's last year, hit only 32% of his threes for the second straight campaign, and is a below-average foul shooter (although he's much better now than he was a few years ago).
Favorite shot: Going right to the rim for a thunder dunk.
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 215 lbs.
Position: Forward
Born: 7/23/1982
College: Alabama
Drafted: 2001 - 1st Round, 25th Overall
Player Type: Athletic 2-way forward
Strengths: Wallace is long and athletic, and this gives him a real edge at the defensive end -- he's effective at stealing the ball, blocking shots, and forcing misses on the help side. He also excels in the transition game, getting out on the break and creating offense in the open court. He loves to attack the basket, and has enough burst and handle to swoop past defenders from the wing and finish at the rim or draw a foul.
Weaknesses: Wallace was forced to be even more of a go-to guy offensively for Charlotte last season, and that caused his efficiency to drop dramatically (his ORtg was 110 while using 22% of possessions in 2007, and it fell to 104 on 24% of possessions in 2008). There are only so many times that you can drive past a defender without him playing off and forcing you to shoot jumpers, and shooting isn't exactly Wallace's biggest strength: he only posted a .354 FG% on 2-point J's last year, hit only 32% of his threes for the second straight campaign, and is a below-average foul shooter (although he's much better now than he was a few years ago).
Favorite shot: Going right to the rim for a thunder dunk.
Emeka Okafor
Vital Info
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 252 lbs.
Position: Center/Power Forward
Born: 9/28/1982
College: Connecticut
Drafted: 2004 - 1st Round, 2nd Overall
Player Type: Rugged frontcourt defender/rebounder
Strengths: Okafor is an outstanding inside defender despite his lack of a typical center's height. He excels at shot-blocking, especially in help situations, and is very smart in terms of executing team defensive concepts. His basketball IQ is high -- he always seems to be in the right place at the right time defensively. This also extends to the glass, where he's a force at both ends because of smarts and terrific timing. And he does all of this while keeping his fouls low (he fouled out only 3 times all year).
Weaknesses: Okafor will never be mistaken for an offensive-minded post player. His footwork is lacking, he can't create high-percentage post-up opportunities, and he most certainly can't step out and knock down jump shots. Basically, his only offensive value comes when he scores off of putbacks and other garbage chances around the basket. Of course, that's a small price to pay if you're Charlotte (or whoever he plays for next season), given Okafor's great defense and rebounding.
Favorite shot: Putback after an offensive rebound.
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 252 lbs.
Position: Center/Power Forward
Born: 9/28/1982
College: Connecticut
Drafted: 2004 - 1st Round, 2nd Overall
Player Type: Rugged frontcourt defender/rebounder
Strengths: Okafor is an outstanding inside defender despite his lack of a typical center's height. He excels at shot-blocking, especially in help situations, and is very smart in terms of executing team defensive concepts. His basketball IQ is high -- he always seems to be in the right place at the right time defensively. This also extends to the glass, where he's a force at both ends because of smarts and terrific timing. And he does all of this while keeping his fouls low (he fouled out only 3 times all year).
Weaknesses: Okafor will never be mistaken for an offensive-minded post player. His footwork is lacking, he can't create high-percentage post-up opportunities, and he most certainly can't step out and knock down jump shots. Basically, his only offensive value comes when he scores off of putbacks and other garbage chances around the basket. Of course, that's a small price to pay if you're Charlotte (or whoever he plays for next season), given Okafor's great defense and rebounding.
Favorite shot: Putback after an offensive rebound.
Jason Richardson
Vital Info
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 220 lbs.
Position: Small Forward/Shooting Guard
Born: 1/20/1981
College: Michigan St.
Drafted: 2001 - 1st Round, 5th Overall
Player Type: Athletic swingman with a solid outside shot.
Strengths: Richardson is a top-flight scorer who can create his own shot with ease, especially when he gets out on the break -- a fact which shouldn't be surprising, given his resume (he's a 2-time Slam Dunk champion). In recent years, J-Rich has also honed his 3-point stroke, making him one of the more dangerous offensive players in the NBA. Richardson is above-average at steals, blocks, and defensive rebounds.
Weaknesses: Despite his athleticism, Richardson is not a particularly strong perimeter defender, a situation made worse by his recent knee injuries. Richardson has also settled for more jumpers than ever in recent seasons -- not necessarily a weakness, mind you, given that he has a solid jump shot, but still disconcerting for a 27-year-old former 2-time dunk champ. Maybe it's simply because his ballhandling skills are unimpressive for a perimeter player, limiting his options in half-court sets. Either way, only 28% of his FGAs came on inside shots (and only 5% were dunks), down from the 34% and 7% he posted pre-injury.
Favorite shot: Three-pointer from the wing.
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 220 lbs.
Position: Small Forward/Shooting Guard
Born: 1/20/1981
College: Michigan St.
Drafted: 2001 - 1st Round, 5th Overall
Player Type: Athletic swingman with a solid outside shot.
Strengths: Richardson is a top-flight scorer who can create his own shot with ease, especially when he gets out on the break -- a fact which shouldn't be surprising, given his resume (he's a 2-time Slam Dunk champion). In recent years, J-Rich has also honed his 3-point stroke, making him one of the more dangerous offensive players in the NBA. Richardson is above-average at steals, blocks, and defensive rebounds.
Weaknesses: Despite his athleticism, Richardson is not a particularly strong perimeter defender, a situation made worse by his recent knee injuries. Richardson has also settled for more jumpers than ever in recent seasons -- not necessarily a weakness, mind you, given that he has a solid jump shot, but still disconcerting for a 27-year-old former 2-time dunk champ. Maybe it's simply because his ballhandling skills are unimpressive for a perimeter player, limiting his options in half-court sets. Either way, only 28% of his FGAs came on inside shots (and only 5% were dunks), down from the 34% and 7% he posted pre-injury.
Favorite shot: Three-pointer from the wing.
About NBA Scouting Report
Hi, and welcome to the NBA Scouting Report blog.
Basically, this is a blog where I'll write about the skills and tendencies of NBA basketball players. Why? Because I don't think there's enough scouting information on the web. And I'm the kind of sports fan who loves that kind of thing... Hopefully you are, too.
I'm going to start with some non-playoff teams, and go from there in alphabetical order. Most of the stats I reference are explained here. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me and I'll try to get back to you.
Basically, this is a blog where I'll write about the skills and tendencies of NBA basketball players. Why? Because I don't think there's enough scouting information on the web. And I'm the kind of sports fan who loves that kind of thing... Hopefully you are, too.
I'm going to start with some non-playoff teams, and go from there in alphabetical order. Most of the stats I reference are explained here. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me and I'll try to get back to you.
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