Nazr Mohammed, Kentucky

Stats (Provided by JazzyJ)
G MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA REB PF AST TO BLK STL PTS 95-96 Kentucky 15 88 13 29 0 0 11 24 24 18 3 18 8 4 37 96-97 Kentucky 39 667 132 258 0 2 45 89 226 101 12 59 52 33 309 97-98 Kentucky 39 819 190 318 0 0 88 135 282 90 28 60 75 36 468 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTALS 93 1574 335 605 0 2 144 248 532 209 43 137 135 73 814
MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG 95-96 Kentucky 5.9 44.8 0.0 45.8 1.6 0.2 1.2 0.5 0.3 2.5 96-97 Kentucky 17.1 51.2 0.0 50.6 5.8 0.3 1.5 1.3 0.8 7.9 97-98 Kentucky 21.0 59.7 0.0 65.2 7.2 0.7 1.5 1.9 0.9 12.0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTALS 16.9 55.4 0.0 58.1 5.7 0.5 1.5 1.5 0.8 8.8

Scouting Report: JazzyJ [JazzyJDT@aol.com]
The story of Nazr Mohammed is pretty well known. He started out as an overweight project, who was a deep scrub on a national championship team where he spent the majority of his playing time on the junior varsity. 3 years later he is the starting center for another national championship team and is one of the best college centers in the country. A great story so far, but where does it go from here? Overall, coming out early this year is probably not the greatest move for Mohammed. Given the further development he could make at UK his senior year, and with the seemingly bare NBA draft scene in '99, he could have been a Top 5 pick next year. But with the lack of quality big men in this year's pool, he may just be a high pick this season. What's to like about Mohammed? Many things. For one, the work ethic must be mentioned. Coming out of HS, Mohammed was vastly overweight (350 pounds it was rumored) and was pretty much unknown on the recruiting scene. But since that time, Mohammed has slimmed down to around 270 lbs, and has worked very hard on his game. Offensively, Mohammed is solid down low. He has a few post moves -- most notably a soft jump-hook. Late in the season, he even started showing off a fadeaway turnaround shot that was pretty effective. What might be Mohammed's strongest point are his hands. You throw it to him and you're pretty much guaranteed he's going to catch it. Defensively, Mohammed gets good position and gets his share of blocks. By simply being big, he's able to get rebounding position and body out his defender. In general, Mohammed has a terrific attitude -- his work ethic to improve his game and his treatment of coming off the bench early in the season are testaments to it. Questions regarding Mohammed's game: is he ready? While he's put up good numbers this past year at Kentucky, it seems to be a unanimous opinion that Mohammed's game could use some more refinement. While he's good down low, his range doesn't seem to go past 10 feet. At 6'10", he may be undersized for a center in the NBA, and he does not seem quick enough to play PF. While he's lost a lot of weight, stamina may still be a concern. Defensively, he seems to get into foul trouble often. Outlook: if he stays in the draft, he most definitely will be a 1st round pick. If he's on the board when the Celtics draft (if they're not in the Top 5), I would almost bet Pitino grabbing yet another one of his former players. But, if he comes back to UK, you're looking at a possible All-American and a Top Lottery pick in '99.

Scouting Report: JazzyJ [JazzyJDT@aol.com]

The story of Nazr Mohammed is pretty well known. He started out as an overweight project, who was a deep scrub on a national championship team where he spent the majority of his playing time on the junior varsity. 3 years later he is the starting center for another national championship team and is one of the best college centers in the country. A great story so far, but where does it go from here? Overall, coming out early this year is probably not the greatest move for Mohammed. Given the further development he could make at UK his senior year, and with the seemingly bare NBA draft scene in '99, he could have been a Top 5 pick next year. But with the lack of quality big men in this year's pool, he may just be a high pick this season. What's to like about Mohammed? Many things. For one, the work ethic must be mentioned. Coming out of HS, Mohammed was vastly overweight (350 pounds it was rumored) and was pretty much unknown on the recruiting scene. But since that time, Mohammed has slimmed down to around 270 lbs, and has worked very hard on his game. Offensively, Mohammed is solid down low. He has a few post moves -- most notably a soft jump-hook. Late in the season, he even started showing off a fadeaway turnaround shot that was pretty effective. What might be Mohammed's strongest point are his hands. You throw it to him and you're pretty much guaranteed he's going to catch it. Defensively, Mohammed gets good position and gets his share of blocks. By simply being big, he's able to get rebounding position and body out his defender. In general, Mohammed has a terrific attitude -- his work ethic to improve his game and his treatment of coming off the bench early in the season are testaments to it. Questions regarding Mohammed's game: is he ready? While he's put up good numbers this past year at Kentucky, it seems to be a unanimous opinion that Mohammed's game could use some more refinement. While he's good down low, his range doesn't seem to go past 10 feet. At 6'10", he may be undersized for a center in the NBA, and he does not seem quick enough to play PF. While he's lost a lot of weight, stamina may still be a concern. Defensively, he seems to get into foul trouble often.

Outlook: if he stays in the draft, he most definitely will be a 1st round pick. If he's on the board when the Celtics draft (if they're not in the Top 5), I would almost bet Pitino grabbing yet another one of his former players. But, if he comes back to UK, you're looking at a possible All-American and a Top Lottery pick in '99.