UConn Senior NBA Comparison: Leon Powe
Strengths: A warrior. Nobody questions Adrien’s toughness on the court. Has the perfect demeanor for the position … Was the heart and soul of the UConn Huskies for the past 3 years … Has been one of the top rebounders in the country despite being undersized … Possesses massive shoulders with his 245lb frame. Although only 6’7, he has a 7’0 wingspan that should allow him to play in the paint with NBA players … Played 4 years under Jim Calhoun at UConn and started the last 3 years … Took on a leadership role since sophomore year … NBA teams are more likely to take a chance on a guy like Adrien, who is undersized at the power forward position because of the recent success of similar sized players such as Paul Milsap, Jason Maxiel, and Leon Powe … His hustle and physical style should win over enough NBA general managers to find a roster spot next year … Developed into a reliable scorer for UConn scoring on garbage baskets as well as short jump shots …
Weaknesses: Not a top-notch athlete. Defensively he was very effective playing physical opponents but struggled when he had to step out to the perimeter and defend … Offensively he scored the bulk of his points off of offensive rebounds and easy drop offs from his teammates … He is very uncomfortable outside of the paint … He did expand is post moves throughout his career but has a long way to go before he can be effective vs. NBA defenders … Not a good shooter. His form is very awkward and is off-balanced … He did not take care of the ball well at UConn … Every year at UConn he had more turnovers than assists … Poor free throw shooter (59.7% last year). Does not have the skill set to expand his game to the small forward position. Therefore, he will only be able to play one position in the NBA (power forward).
Brian Cerone – 5/25/2009
Weaknesses: Is still a work in progress offensivelyHis midrange jumpshot is coming along nicely, but Adrien still needs to fine-tune his back to the basket game. He is often unaware of double-teams and commits turnovers when he puts the ball on the floor as the double team comes, as evident by his 29/76 assist to turnover ration last seasonMakes bad decisions with the ball and at times starts taking the ball upcourt himself after a rebound. Needs to start finding the outlet man quicker and limit his dribbling in fullcourt situations … Struggled at the free throw line, shooting just 58.6%, a 5.5% dip from his freshman year There are a lot of players with Adriens size and athleticism. In order to take the next step, he needs to continue to polish his skills on the offensive end.
Kevin Duffy – 7/8/2007
YouTube Clip – 6/22/2009