Fab Melo is not Thabeet

[csfansince60s]

I've seen him every game for the past 2 years. He has good hands, a surprisingly good jump shot, and is a great passer for a big (including multiple no-looks in the same game? We were all going nuts in the student section at Cuse).

You've clearly seen a lot more of him than I have, but going by the numbers he finished ahead of only Plumlee, Drummond, and Ezeli in assists per 40, and averaged twice as many TOs as assists.

I'd be curious to know what his % on those jumpers was? That would be a real asset to his offensive chances, since no legit 2012 center prospect scored less or drew fewer free throw attempts.

I'm also genuinely curious to hear what you'd attribute his defensive rebounding woes too? If he was typically meeting opponents at the rim he couldn't have been in terrible position? I don't know.

Here's hoping you're right and I'm wrong.

One of the biggest things with Fab is that he was not a central part of the Syracuse offense last year. There was rarely a play run for him and he didn't necessarily have that many passing opportunities. He did, however, show some flashes of brilliance with some of the assists he had. So I guess it is not that he is an amazing passer right now, but he shows a decent amount of potential with his court vision.

With regards to his jump shot, he once again did not take that many. I don't know the exact numbers, but regardless we were all impressed. There was one game where he made 3 15-18 ft jumpers in a row. Also, over the last 10 games of the season he shot over 72% from the line - which is a great number for a 7 footer, even though it is a relatively small sample size (21-29).

Most of his points came off of offensive boards and lobs - which he was always athletic enough and aware enough to catch and finish.

Regarding the low rebounding numbers, I think it is very similar to Perk. If you are defending the post, you actually are not in a great position to grab rebounds. About 70% of misses go to the opposite side of the hoop, and while playing post D he was not in a position to grab any of these. I also do believe that playing in a 2-3 zone puts the on ball defender out of position for rebounds, and as a center, Fab was almost always defending on the ball. His low number of 5.8 rpg is also misleading because he only played 25 mpg (I realize you mentioned the /40 #s). Also, the two wing defenders (usually Joseph 4.9rpg, Rak Christmas 10.1 r/40min, and CJ Fair 5.5rpg) were all very athletic and grabbed most of the boards.

Based on everything I've said, you probably think that I believe Melo to be a steal - which is not true. I didn't want the C's to pick him, mostly because of his maturity issues. I would have gone with Moultrie, but it is way too early to consider him a bust. I guess all the negativity about him got me a little defensive about my school... Comparing him to Thabeet (which everyone on this blog was doing) is just totally unfair because they are very different players and were picked at very different positions in the draft.

Fab is definitely a project, but if he focuses on basketball and stays out of trouble he could be a solid defensive center at some point. I think he'll be like Perk, with a lower BBIQ, but with a nice medium range jumper and a better blocker.



I do think, however, that Kris Joseph was a steal and will go down as one of Danny's best picks. He'll be a solid 6th man for a long time - reminds me of James Posey or a poor man's Paul Pierce.

 

+1...Excellent, thoughtful, honest insight into Melo. You must be a journalism major.

About Melo's dedication which many question: I beleve that he is dedicated.....to basketball, not education.

He obviously has worked at his game and his body since, as you and many have indicated, both have improved substantially over his two years there, and this is particularly noteworthy given his short time playing the game.

I attribute his lack of dedication to his education to two things: immaturity and indifference, both of wich I give him a pass on.

Immaturity: his academic ineleigbility hurt his team. He wasn't responsible enough to make the right decision here. He wasn't mature enough to fully see and understand the consequences of his actions: his team was hurt and his draft stock was hurt.

Indifference: Not condoning him turning his back on a free education, (which I think is one of the main reasons that he is pilloried here and not just because of its impact of hurting his team), BUT if you were a kid who was going to make millions in basketball, knew that you were leaving school and were not interested at all in getting a degree, how dedicated would you be to your studies?

I'm sure that DRose studied his butt off at KY and also for the minimum SAT scores that he needed to get there! oh, wait, he got someone to sit for the SATs for him.Interesting that most who hold Melo's devaluing eduction against him would draft DRose in a heartbeat, even though his act was a far more heinous act against the college educational system.

[csfansince60s]

From the clips I've seen, Fab looks more agile, mobile, and coordinated than he's given credit for. 

I'm excited about this pick.

I agree.

If you haven't seen his pre-draft interview/workout, check it out here. You will like it!

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Fab-Melo-5715/

[bballdog384]

From the clips I've seen, Fab looks more agile, mobile, and coordinated than he's given credit for. 

I'm excited about this pick.

I agree.

If you haven't seen his pre-draft interview/workout, check it out here. You will like it!

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Fab-Melo-5715/

The article below the videos is great too. A couple key points:

He was the 5th option on the team all season offensively, only 11% usage rate.

He improved his foul shooting from 36% to 67% in one year.

He improved his pace-adjusted fouls per 40 by 2.6 in one year.

63% shooter at the rim


Basically, he's a project, but the vast improvements he made in one year show that he definitely has potential. Also, his work ethic was good enough to drop almost 30 pounds in one off-season.

[csfansince60s]

From the clips I've seen, Fab looks more agile, mobile, and coordinated than he's given credit for. 

I'm excited about this pick.

 

I agree.

If you haven't seen his pre-draft interview/workout, check it out here. You will like it!

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Fab-Melo-5715/

The article below the videos is great too. A couple key points:

He was the 5th option on the team all season offensively, only 11% usage rate.

He improved his foul shooting from 36% to 67% in one year.

He improved his pace-adjusted fouls per 40 by 2.6 in one year.

63% shooter at the rim


Basically, he's a project, but the vast improvements he made in one year show that he definitely has potential. Also, his work ethic was good enough to drop almost 30 pounds in one off-season.

I like his potential and the pick. Hope people give him a chance here. He seems to be a very polarizing figure.

Many already want to use him as trade fodder. Hope he sticks.

[ThaPreacher]

My question is why does Fab Melo like IPAD's and laptops if he doesn't go to class?  How in the world is Doc ever going to get him on the court if he is lost in Best Buy all day.

PJ111 will be dunking while Fab watches from the TV's lined up in the back of the store.

[CoachBo]

I've seen him every game for the past 2 years. He has good hands, a surprisingly good jump shot, and is a great passer for a big (including multiple no-looks in the same game? We were all going nuts in the student section at Cuse).

You've clearly seen a lot more of him than I have, but going by the numbers he finished ahead of only Plumlee, Drummond, and Ezeli in assists per 40, and averaged twice as many TOs as assists.

I'd be curious to know what his % on those jumpers was? That would be a real asset to his offensive chances, since no legit 2012 center prospect scored less or drew fewer free throw attempts.

I'm also genuinely curious to hear what you'd attribute his defensive rebounding woes too? If he was typically meeting opponents at the rim he couldn't have been in terrible position? I don't know.

Here's hoping you're right and I'm wrong.

One of the biggest things with Fab is that he was not a central part of the Syracuse offense last year. There was rarely a play run for him and he didn't necessarily have that many passing opportunities. He did, however, show some flashes of brilliance with some of the assists he had. So I guess it is not that he is an amazing passer right now, but he shows a decent amount of potential with his court vision.

With regards to his jump shot, he once again did not take that many. I don't know the exact numbers, but regardless we were all impressed. There was one game where he made 3 15-18 ft jumpers in a row. Also, over the last 10 games of the season he shot over 72% from the line - which is a great number for a 7 footer, even though it is a relatively small sample size (21-29).

Most of his points came off of offensive boards and lobs - which he was always athletic enough and aware enough to catch and finish.

Regarding the low rebounding numbers, I think it is very similar to Perk. If you are defending the post, you actually are not in a great position to grab rebounds. About 70% of misses go to the opposite side of the hoop, and while playing post D he was not in a position to grab any of these. I also do believe that playing in a 2-3 zone puts the on ball defender out of position for rebounds, and as a center, Fab was almost always defending on the ball. His low number of 5.8 rpg is also misleading because he only played 25 mpg (I realize you mentioned the /40 #s). Also, the two wing defenders (usually Joseph 4.9rpg, Rak Christmas 10.1 r/40min, and CJ Fair 5.5rpg) were all very athletic and grabbed most of the boards.

Based on everything I've said, you probably think that I believe Melo to be a steal - which is not true. I didn't want the C's to pick him, mostly because of his maturity issues. I would have gone with Moultrie, but it is way too early to consider him a bust. I guess all the negativity about him got me a little defensive about my school... Comparing him to Thabeet (which everyone on this blog was doing) is just totally unfair because they are very different players and were picked at very different positions in the draft.

Fab is definitely a project, but if he focuses on basketball and stays out of trouble he could be a solid defensive center at some point. I think he'll be like Perk, with a lower BBIQ, but with a nice medium range jumper and a better blocker.



I do think, however, that Kris Joseph was a steal and will go down as one of Danny's best picks. He'll be a solid 6th man for a long time - reminds me of James Posey or a poor man's Paul Pierce.

 

+1...Excellent, thoughtful, honest insight into Melo. You must be a journalism major.

About Melo's dedication which many question: I beleve that he is dedicated.....to basketball, not education.

He obviously has worked at his game and his body since, as you and many have indicated, both have improved substantially over his two years there, and this is particularly noteworthy given his short time playing the game.

I attribute his lack of dedication to his education to two things: immaturity and indifference, both of wich I give him a pass on.

Immaturity: his academic ineleigbility hurt his team. He wasn't responsible enough to make the right decision here. He wasn't mature enough to fully see and understand the consequences of his actions: his team was hurt and his draft stock was hurt.

Indifference: Not condoning him turning his back on a free education, (which I think is one of the main reasons that he is pilloried here and not just because of its impact of hurting his team), BUT if you were a kid who was going to make millions in basketball, knew that you were leaving school and were not interested at all in getting a degree, how dedicated would you be to your studies?

I'm sure that DRose studied his butt off at KY and also for the minimum SAT scores that he needed to get there! oh, wait, he got someone to sit for the SATs for him.Interesting that most who hold Melo's devaluing eduction against him would draft DRose in a heartbeat, even though his act was a far more heinous act against the college educational system.

I agree with the OP. Thabeet is better.

No one could ever coach for me giving a player a pass on maturity and indifference.

Period. You cannot coach effort.

We will see what happens with this pick, whether it pans out or goes into Danny's Patrick O'Bryant Memorial Pantheon of Stiffs.

I am betting strongly on the latter.

[Tai]

Take it from a UConn fan, I don't see how we already know Thabeet is better, apart from the sole premise that Thabeet's already in the NBA. Nothing else lends me to believe that Thabeet will have a better career than Fab before summer league.

And while I'm at it, I'm honestly not sure I'm sold on Drummond, either. I'd have wished he stayed another season, although I understand the circumstances that were at hand. ALTHOUGH, considering those circumstances, I find it funny people are willing to take Drummond considering the team as a whole weren't getting the grades that they should've.

Fab Melo not doing his schoolwork is bothersome, but it's part of the reason he dropped so much, anyways. It doesn't, by itself, tell me he'll be a bust, especially considering what Derick Rose did.

[Who]

What is so bad about being compared to Thabeet? He was and still is a solid prospect at center.

I'd be very happy if Fab Melo had as much raw talent as Thabeet does.

[csfansince60s]

No one could ever coach for me giving a player a pass on maturity and indifference.

[/quote]

The indifference was to his academics, not to him improving his game and his body. He obviously worked hard on his body (lost 40lbs)and his game from his freshman to his sophomore year.

College athletes being indifferent to academics is nothing new. I don't know what percentage of professional athletes actually complete their requirements for a degree, but the Andrew Nicholson's of the world are far outnumbered by the DRoses and Fab Melos.

I would not want someone to coach for me who wrote a kid off or defined that kid for a stupid mistake that kid made that was due to immaturity.

Again, indifference to academics is not the same as indifference to someone's commitment to his sport.

[JHTruth]

Seeing as Fab can run up and down the court, I'd say he's already better than Beet. Beet is an extreme clod who can barely outrun a glacier. He makes Perk look like LeBron James as an athlete.

Beet is a horrible, horrible player who will continue to get chance after chance as so all 7 footers in the NBA. If Fab cant be better than him, than Fab is pathetic..

[goCeltics]

thabeet is ultra slow and fouls out easily, if melo can play a little post d, run the court, stick fts, rebound and stay out of foul trouble and not be soft, he'll be better than 90% of the centers in the league. If Melo has any talent you expect it to come out on a team with rondo and hopefully kg.

I had guys better rated than melo and joseph, but I get what ainge was doing, he drafted 2 guys that are going come in and be happy
to play a role on a very good team, and still have upside. The guys I had rated higher maybe would of complained about a lack of shots or playing time, remember doc is a very hard coach to play for if your a rookie.

[Celtics4ever]

I don't like Melo.  I think his rebounding is horrible for a seven footer and we need boards badly.   He also had conditioning issues throughout his career.   As for the schoolwork it could mean several things.  1) best outcome that he had language issues he is from Brazil.  2) he is lazy and let his team mates down.  I hope it is 1).

I watched the video.  He does not get off the floor very well.   I like his release point ( it's high)   and the jump hook and touch shown.   It might make him viable, a hook is harder to block.

That being said, I think he has more upside than Kendrick Perkins and perhaps more raw talent than Perk.   He has better size and length and probably better athletic ability.  I wish him well, now that he is one of us!

[JHTruth]

What you like about Fab is the guy is a pretty darn good athlete for a 7-footer. He leaves guys like Perk in the dust. Perk would have to gather himself before every shot and even then couldn't convert half the time.

Fab COULD easily be much better then Perk. Question is how bad he wants it..

[Roy H.]

One more reason not to like Melo:  Donnie Marshall was salivating over him.

[JohnBagleyValueMeal]

I don't want it to seem like I'm down on Melo, because I do genuinely want for him to be a big success. But I do think people here are glossing over some big issues, and the reasons why he was such a polarizing player even for Syracuse fans.

IF his issues were just academic, that would be totally understandable--the NCAA's myth of the "student-athlete" in D1 revenue sports is a way for them to exploit these kids, and we all know that. But it wasn't just one mistake, and it wasn't just academic.

During his freshman year, he was arrested and had to pay damages and do some sort of probation for getting rough with his girlfriend. This wasn't innuendo, it went to court and the girl got an order of protection from the judge. He caught a suspension for that in February 2011. The next year, he gets suspended for academic reasons once during the season, then gets reinstated, then suspended again on the eve of the Tournament (for what Boeheim said were "non-academic reasons"), effectively destroying the Orange's chances at a Final Four run. 

Look, college kids do stupid things all the time, so I'm not saying that any one of these things is proof that he's an awful person. It just raises a red flag for me that at no point during that process, knowing how important he was to a team with title dreams, knowing how much a spotlight he'd put on himself with his prior mistakes, knowing how much his team needed him to stay eligible--the kid never stopped going to the bars during the week, never just said 'Until the season's over, I am on my best behavior. My team needs me to get a 2.0 GPA and to stay out of trouble, and I'm going to do that."

I think he can absoutely be an asset to the Celtics and I'm rooting for him to. But he can't just get a 'pass' on not being responsible. He'll have to make some changes, and he's going to have to hold himself accountable. KG and Paul and Doc sure will.