NBA Draft Insider

College: Syracuse

Birthday: 06/20/1991

NBA Position: C

Class: Sophomore

Ht: 7-0

Wt: 274

Hometown: Brazil

High School: The Sagemont School

Ceiling: Theo Ratliff

Basement: Ervin Johnson (the center)

NBA Comparison: Jamaal Magloire

Strengths:

• Athletic, Mobile Big
• Strength
• Quality Defender
• Elite Shot-Blocker

Weaknesses:

• Offensively Raw
• Average Rebounder
• Basketball IQ

Analysis:

05/15/2012

Syracuse sophomore center Fab Melo has hired Arn Tellem as his agent declaring for the NBA Draft.

It took a few years to get acclimated to the college game, but after two full seasons at Syracuse he has shown some of his potential. The Brazilian center had a language barrier and to overcome and the challenge of learning a new style of basketball.

The 2-3 Zone has to have an elite anchor to clean up mistakes and protect the paint. This season Melo had a dramatic increase in minutes allowing him to show his defensive prowess. On the season he improved his blocks per game from 0.8 to 2.9 as a sophomore.

Melo cleans up a lot of messes as a weak side shot-blocker. He is a legitimate 7-footer with mobility. He is not a transition big man, his mobility is not that expansive, but he can move around the paint in the half-court.

As a rebounder Melo has a long way to go. A lot of his deficiencies were due to that 2-3 Zone he played in regards to rebounding. Melo never dominated the glass as he could with that elite size and strength that he has. Syracuse as a team was not a great defensive rebounding team, and Melo at 5.8 per game was a part of the problem.

Offensively Melo has flashed some potential as a low-post scorer. He moved from 2.3 to 7.8 PPG from his freshman to sophomore year. There is some potential there as an offensive player, especially with the lack of talented 7-footers in the NBA today.

As of today Melo is the No. 5 center, the No. 28 prospect on the Big Board, and going No. 30 Overall in the Mock Draft.

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