nathan-jawai.jpg The Draft Review - The Draft Review indiana The Draft Review - The Draft Review

Strengths: Athletically, Jawai possesses a rare blend of power and explosiveness for someone his size … Excellent finisher around the basket where his explosiveness allows him to finish with flair … Does a tremendous job of establishing position in the post … Understands the value of keeping the ball high and away from opposing guards looking to double team … Owns a soft pair of hands that allow him to catch any passes thrown into the post … Starting to develop a good looking mid-range shot from 16 feet that he can make with some success … Consistently looks to use his power game to overpower his defender … Because of this he creates a good amount of contact to get to the foul line … Although his free throw numbers don’t suggest it, Jawai has good form and, most importantly, does not look at the ball when he takes his foul shots … Has a coachable personality and takes well to instruction … Good (but not great) rebounding in his area, but shows great promise obtaining boards out of position … Is a very good post passer due to his unselfish attitude … Long arms and body control enable him to convert well in traffic … Has quick, light feet that allow him to pull off short hops in the low post … This really comes into focus when he faces 12 feet from the basket and fakes the mid-range shot only to use his quickness to explode past his man for the dunk … Potentially, Jawai projects as a player who has yet to scratch the surface despite being a late bloomer of sorts, as this kind of projection is usually reserved for a player in their late teenage years … Owns a nice baseline spin with his back to the basket …

Weaknesses: Is not a great runner of the court but, to his credit, he isn’t lumbering and does display good effort … Despite his size, Jawai often gets boxed out by quicker players when rebounding in his area … Doesn’t do a good job of denying post position when defending in the low post - his assignment can often set-up position without disruption … Lacks the instincts to be an elite level shot blocker in the NBA … Some of this has to do with his timing and confidence level … Doesn’t always play with focus and desire in every game to dominate … Is prone to mental breakdowns in key moments due to his average court awareness … Upon appearance, his height does seems to be 7-foot as he is listed, but might be closer to 6-9 or 6-10 … Seems to play lazy at times when he is winded, so stamina will need considerable improvement … Competition level in Australia isn’t very good at his position … Mental toughness is questionable as there have been some games where he was matched physically and he seemed to react poorly … Post footwork is still a bit choppy, but to his credit has improved since the beginning of the season … Hasn’t learned how to effectively defend in the post without picking up fouls due to his over-aggressiveness … From a fundamental standpoint, Jawai’s knowledge of the game isn’t on the level of most of his 1986 international peers … Back to the basket skills are average right now due to the fact that Jawai lacks good execution and variety … Fails to quickly identify double teams before they happen …

Matthew Maurer - 2/6/08

Statistics

SEASONS

GP

FG%

3PT%

FT%

SPG

BPG

RPG

APG

PPG

2006-07 Midland JC.

14

49.2

---

64.5

1.0

1.0

6.1

0.9

11.4

2007-08 Cairns Taipans

30

57.5

---

64.5

0.4

1.0

9.6

2.0

17.7

NBL Totals

30

57.5

---

64.5

0.4

1.0

9.6

2.0

17.7

Add comment

Submit