NBA Draft Profile: Fab Melo
Fab Melo - C – 7’0, 255lbs.
Syracuse
No off the court story made more news in the lead up to this year’s NCAA tournament than Fab Melo’s suspension for poor academic performance. Melo will tell you learning English only four years ago along with leaving his family to live in a new country would affect anyone.
On the court, there is no denying the potential possessed by the Brazilian big man. In his sophomore season, Melo made big time improvements on the defensive end, improving his positioning and shot blocking. The seven-footer also managed to drastically cut down on his fouls in his second year.
Melo still has work to do in terms of his offensive game. His finishing around the rim improved to 63% and he also went from a 36% free throw shooter in his freshman season to 67% this past year.
Chad Ford of ESPN once wrote of Melo that “He's still very raw. He can disappear for long stretches. He's struggled to stay in shape in the past.”
Melo will have to put in a lot of work on his conditioning to avoid the same fate as Kwame Brown and Hasheem Thabeet.
