Puffers Posts - A Small Step for a Bball Player, a Giant Leap for Moonkind

Jamario Moon has burst onto the NBA scene as a non-drafted player who wound up with the Toronto Raptors after first being the best of 40 players invited to a free agent camp, then being asked to attend the Toronto Raptors training camp on a non-guaranteed contract. His play and effort during the training camp was good enough that Bryan Colangelo offered him a two year contract when the season opened.

Jamario elected to declare for the draft in 2001 after only one year at Meridian Community College.


Moon at the NBA 2001 Pre-draft Camp

Highly regarded, coming out of Coosa Central High School in Rockford, Ala. Jamario earned high praise from MCC head basketball coach George Brooks. Unfortunately he was suspended from the team after 12 games. This undoubtedly hurt his chances.

Early 2001 draft websites were effusive in their projections of his abilities and talents, expecting him to be a shoo-in for an NBA pick. It didn’t happen and Jamario spent 5 years in the professional basketball hinterlands. He played for 10 different professional teams:

(Gary Steelheads, Albany Patroons, Fuerza Regia, Mobile Revelers, Arkansas RimRockers, Rome Gladiators, Kentucky Colonels, Fort Worth Flyers, Dodge City Legend, Marietta Storm), in four different leagues, not counting the Harlem Globetrotters, who play in their own league. The different leagues have different start and finish dates, so a player could play on more than one team in a year.



Moon playing for the Patroons


There was never any doubt about his raft of abilities. Check out this 2003 summary from the InfoSport Pro Basketball Combine, a camp for professionals to highlight their skills as they try to land with NBA teams:

Physical & Mental: Long arms and very athletic. In very good physical condition.

Ball Skills: Very good perimeter ball skills for his size. Good handle on the fast break.

Good passer. Does well under pressure.

Offense: Very good! Solid jumper. Makes a lot of athletic plays going to the basket. Excellent in transition. Can easily jump over others to get to the basket. Quick leaper who knows how to score.

Rebounding: Athletic with long arms.

Defense: Good. Has quickness to guard smaller players and with long arms and height and athleticism, can easily guard in the post. Loves to block shots. Very long and mobile.

Game Knowledge: Good know-how. Understands the game.

Strengths: Athleticism. Drive. Slashing to the basket. Good offensive player. Plays above the rim. Can get to the basket any time he wants to.

Opportunities for Improvement: Extend jump shot range? Stronger body.

Overall Comments: One of the top ten players in the combine. The sky is the limit for him professionally.

Everywhere Jamario went he was noticed and was frequently a standout player. He was with the Marietta Storm when they set a league team high scoring record, recording another double double for himself with 11 rebounds and 25 points. In 2007, with the Albany Patroons, he was the CBA defensive player of the year with 2.0 steals and 2.4 blocks a game. Moon also averaged 18.8 ppg. and 7.5 rpg. He was selected to the All-CBA First Team and CBA All-Defensive Team that year as well.

When Jamario was offered a contract by the Toronto Raptors, CBA Acting Commissioner Jim Coyne had this to say. “Jamario is a unique talent that I was glad to have in Albany when I was with the Patroons. He was able to lead us to the CBA Finals this past year and was a fan favorite for both seasons he was with us. His jumping and scoring ability will be of great benefit to the Raptors. While I am sad to see him leave Albany, I am at the same time happy that he is able to make his dreams come true in the NBA.”

Coyne could hardly have predicted the season the Jamario has had so far. Fifteen games into the season and Jamario is part of the starting line up and number two in the NBA rookie ranking for week four. Here’s the good news for Raptor fans. He plays with such confidence, shoots such a high percentage, and makes such good shot selections that there is no reason to expect his performance to taper off. Moon is the real deal.

It’s hard to say why it took this long for Jamario to hook up with an NBA team. But like Anthony Parker, last years find by the Toronto Raptors, mark another one down for Bryan Colangelo. In a year when the Raps were without a draft pick, they got Jamario Moon, for nothing. Advantage Bryan.

(We will look at BryCo’s other 2007/2008 scoop, Carlos Delfino in my next post).

Bargs and Boards

Bargs and Boards
Well, well, well...what's happened to Bargs? Suddenly the rookie has discovered there are more interesting things to do with a basketball coming off a backboard then watch it.The last three games the seven footer has been (for him) on fire in the ribbie department, with a total of 24. That's better than one every four minutes, and wouldn't Sam Mitchell love to see that keep up, considering the minutes Bargs has been logging the last couple of months.

As an example of how stunning a transformation this has been, consider that on February 21st, against the Cavaliers, Bargnani had 7 rebounds. That was more than he totalled in his previous four games. In the two games since then the pace hasn't let up, with 6 rebounds in 25 minutes against the Pacers and 11 in 32 minutes in the Raps most recent outing against Charlotte.So what is the big rookie doing differently?

Consider that all but two of the last three games' rebounds have been defensive. He hasn't changed his offensive game. He still spots up from outside the arc, at the top of the key. His percentage is high enough that he doesn't get many misses coming back to him and he is rarely in position to pickup a rebound under the basket or one coming from a Parker or Peterson shot. So why the increase in defensive rebounds?

Watching him the last few games, he has been making a definite effort to muscle his opponents to positions outside the paint. He has also been leaving them a lot later, when providing help defense. These actions have had three major impacts:

One, he is in physical contact with them more often when a shot goes up. It is far easier to box out an opponent when you are making physical contact, and can maintain that contact as you spin toward the basket. Your opponent has to go around you to get the rebound, and you can beat him most of the time.

Two, if he is not in contact with them, at least they are starting from further out than he is. Bargs is fronting a lot less. Fronting might have been an effective strategy in Europe, where he may have been faster than many of the players he was playing against, but it doesn't work well in the NBA unless there is a significant mismatch in terms of height.

Three, by not being so quick with the help defense, he doesn't give his man a chance to pickup a rebound by sneaking inside while he concentrrates on the other player.

As an aside, looking at the rebounding stats of Charlotte, Indiana and Cleveland, we find that all three teams are in the top ten in rebounds in the league compared to Toronto's 28th spot, with the Bobcats the only one of the three whose opponents average more rebounds. So it's not that these teams aren't capable of rebounding.

Maybe Bargnani has turned a corner. Maybe it's a statistical fluke, but I wouldn't bet on it. The big rookie has shown a steady improvement in his play. His shooting percentage has gone up almost month by month (as has the whole teams, topic for another Blog), his defensive play has improved and he seems altogether more comfortable. I suspect we will see his improved rebounding continue, and maybe he will move up from 9th among rookies to challenge Garbo's 2nd ranking.

We Raptor fans can only hope.

Posted by Puffer at 7:31 PM 0 comments
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