Strengths: Power forward with good size and a strong body … He has a nice frame and is able to do some things inside because of his ability to clear space in the paint … He establishes solid low post position on the block and is very comfortable turning to either shoulder for an effective jumper … He shows good mechanics and a solid release, allowing him to comfortably step out to midrange and shoot faceup jumpers … He is a nice pick and pop option because of his strength in setting screens and ability to spot up … Shows good hands inside and is able to catch difficult passes in traffic … He is good at finding openings around the basket and getting easy baskets … Gets to the offensive glass with regularity and can finish well by using his shoulders to make room … Has continued to improve his game … 

Weaknesses: Doesn’t have great athleticism and struggles getting off the ground against contact … He isn’t very comfortable operating against taller or more physical defenders and he doesn’t have a developed post game to allow him to score consistently … He settles for a lot of fading jumpers and doesn’t look to complete plays at the basket … Doesn’t show a great motor and isn’t the most fluid runner … Not very comfortable putting the ball on the deck …  

Borko Popic – 06/23/2010

Borko Popic is a lead scout/contributor to NBADraft.net. Please check out his premium website / scouting service hooprospects.com, an essential tool for Pro teams from around the world.

Strengths: Smooth power forward with nice potential … Huge wingspan and broad shoulders allows him to play bigger than 6-8 … Has a good understanding of how to play the post offensively … Advanced for his age. Has an array of post moves with baby hooks and drop step moves … Good touch around the basket and shows promising face up ability … Solid body strength and should get quite a bit stronger … His midrange shot is consistent and should only improve with more seasons under his belt at North Carolina … Shows the ability to use either hand in the post … Not overly emotional. Very calm demeanor … Good rebounder. Uses his big base and strong legs well to establish position and box out for rebounds … Quick feet, runs the floor very well … Solid defender, smothering opponenets with his huge wingspan … Has a huge set of soft hands …

Wekanesses: Not a freak athlete, though fluid and agile, he lacks the raw athleticism of the top power forwards … A bit of a finesse 4, He relies more on skills and technique as opposed to sheer explosiveness and strength … Not especially fiery, but shows solid focus and determination … Should look to develop more range on his shot … Needs to become more disciplined defnsively. Can be overly aggresive and leave his feet on fakes … Likely more of a complimentary guy than a star …

Notes: Gained valuable experience and proved to be one of the top performers for the U19 USA team that won silver in Novi Sad, Serbia in August (2007).

Aran Smith – 9/16/2007