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Authored by Christopher Reina - 19th June, 2008 - 12:28 pm
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Luc-Richard Mbah a Moute doesn’t do one thing exceptionally well but is a well-rounded player who hasn’t been playing the game nearly as long as most of his competition. He has a long way to go to put it all together, but he has such amazing lateral quickness, length, and work ethic that I believe it is inevitable for him to be a contributor on an NBA team.
That contribution, however, will clearly not be as a scorer.
He is obviously not a very good shooter percentage-wise, and herein is the biggest question mark of his game. Anything he brings to a team defensively will be negated by being a player that teams don’t have to really guard unless he’s under the bucket.
He was the fifth biggest concern for opposing teams' defenses at UCLA, had a ton of open shot attempts, and still was unable to score more than 1.18 points per shot attempt. His 3-point percentage dropped from 33.3% as a sophomore to 20.0% as a junior. His free throw percentages went from 72.3% as a freshman to 57.0% as a sophomore and 68.9% as a junior.
I expect to him improve and believe some of his issues are based on a lack of confidence, which a little mechanics' tweak will fix.
He played with so much more confidence with the ball as a sophomore, and yielding so much space down low to Kevin Love all of a sudden proved to be an adjustment he couldn’t handle effectively.
His shooting movements are fluid, and he goes straight up with his follow through, but his release point is too far to his left and also out in front of him. Many of his misses as a junior were very ugly, but I believe the repetitions that a young player receives once basketball becomes a full-time job in the NBA will be invaluable, and his shot will inevitably be respectable and effective.
He is very smooth and agile with the dribble, but he also strongly attacks the lanes and the rim. Mbah a Moute also has a solid open floor dribble with either hand. He will negate that open floor dribble, though, by not jump stopping when he can’t get an opening to the bucket, which will lead to a bad decision or a travel call.
With the halfcourt dribble, Mbah a Moute does a good job of not going too quickly and maintaining control. He can beat his man into the paint from the wing with the dribble and then spin the other way against the help and rise for a little 5-foot jumper.
He works very hard without the ball and is an intelligent player, which is evidenced by his intelligent passes. He completes really nice post entry bounce passes, shovel passes in the lane, and also is good at the overhead skip.
Mbah a Moute has a great motor without the ball, working really hard on every trip down the floor.
He moves into space when his guard penetrates and sets himself up for an uncontested little jumper. He also moves really quickly into space following a set screen, something he does often and well.
In the post, Mbah a Moute has some good instincts but lacks technique. He will occasionally make a nice up and under move in the post or seal his man on the high side but doesn’t yet have a dependable go-to move.
Mbah a Moute’s biggest contribution offensively is probably on the offensive glass. His quickness, length, and motor allow him to rebound here at a really good rate.
If you were to draft based on defensive abilities and work ethic alone, Mbah a Moute would be an easy lottery pick.
He is a great on-ball and help defender and even though he doesn’t have a position offensively, he should be skilled enough to guard three positions on the NBA level.
He is very quick to loose balls and has an excellent win rate on 50-50 rebounds.
Mbah a Moute does many of the same things we recently saw James Posey pricelessly do in the Finals. His intangibles are superb, and he is a dependable jumpshot away from having a long stay in the NBA.
- Click here to see our full list of 2008 Draft Reports which has new additions daily
Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM. He can be reached at Chris.Reina@RealGM.com where he may use your draft questions in a future mailbag edition |
