Lior Eliahu

[T Park]

Lior Eliahu (http://nbadraft.net/profiles/lioreliahu.asp)

http://nbadraft.net/profiles/headshots/lior-eliyahu-hd.jpg 11
Lior Eliahu
Birthdate: 9/9/85
NBA Position: PF/SF
Ht: 6-9
Wt: 225
Hometown: Elyon, Israel
Current Team: Hapoel Galil Elyon





Strengths: Great length, has a huge wingspan … Athletic, runs the floor like a guard … Good leaping ability with his long arms and big hands, a very good dunker … Finishes well around the rim, has good hands and a soft touch on his a fade away and turn around jump shot … A good passer for a forward with above average court vision… Has excellent awareness of where he is all the time, always looks calm, never panics, a mature player ... Active, always moving, you won't see him just standing on the court…. Has a good attitude, always trying to improve his game…

Weaknesses: Too skinny especially for the post position, needs about 15-20 pounds of muscle … Has a very ugly shot, due to a broken elbow he suffered a couple of years ago, almost no arc in his shot ... Limited on his man to man defense, lack of outside shooting has him playing PF, despite having a SF's style of play and a SG's body weight ... Gets fatigued. Sometimes disappears on the 2nd half, had too many game of 18-20 points in the 1st half and 2-4 more in the 2nd half ... Despite his good scoring ability he hasn't yet developed a go to mentality, although he's shown improvement in it as time goes by… Has nearly no left hand game at all…. Can't guard stronger guys in the post … Has nice blocking ability, but he's not going to be a shot blocker in the NBA ... Streaky, can score 30 in 80% and 10 in 30% the next game… Decision making is not at the highest level ... A quiet guy, not very vocal. Still hasn't shown mush heart or leadership ...

Notes: Took part in two European U-20 championships (silver in 2004 and 4th in 2005), was in the Euro-Cup's All Star game, scoring 10 points. Was very impressive at the world U-22 Championship in Argentina, averaging 18.2 PPG and 8.2 RPG. Was a contender for FIBA's young player of the year in 2005.

[Taking it to the Hole]

Too many negatives, not enough positives. I'll pass.

[Spurologist]

I mentioned this guy on this thread

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42793&highlight=Lior+Eliahu

I should be taken into consideration. I like his skill set: athletic, above averge passer, GOOD DUNKER (rasho), GOOD HANDS (nazr), awareness, and active.

Those weaknesses are pretty much said of every european player. Skinny and other minor BS.

[kobyz]

i'll said that he is poor man of chris bush, i saw him play a lot of time

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

I saw that guy . He looks like Euro-druggie. I don't like him. He doesn't have the bulk of a power forward and doesn't have the range of a small forward.

[T Park]

Too many negatives, not enough positives

so after summarizing the number of words in each paragraph, did you pay attention to the positives?

[Kori Ellis]

5. Lior Eliyahu, F, 6-9, 214, Israel
Eliyahu is coming off a great year in Israel, averaging 16.5 ppg, 6 rpg and 3.5 apg for Hapoel Galil. As we discussed in our blog last month, Eliyahu is the type of player who has a great nose for the ball.

He doesn't show in drills especially well. His shot is a little awkward (he releases it at his forehead and kicks his feet when he shoots) and he's not the most graceful guy on the floor -- more herky-jerky than anything else. But he does know how to play.

Once the ball rolls out and games begin at the camp, Eliyahu is everywhere. He's in the mix for every rebound and every loose ball and can score in a variety of ways -- off jumpers, drives and offensive boards.

He's an excellent athlete for his size and aggressive on both ends of the floor.

Scouts want to see him work on his shooting and want him to bulk up more to play the four in the NBA, but they see a bright future for Eliyahu.

If he stays in the draft, he's a likely second-round project that a team will leave over in Israel for another year or two. However, he might choose to withdraw from the draft, move to a more prominent team next year (either Maccabi Tel Aviv or Hapoel Jerusalem) and show scouts he can do it at a higher level.

Either way, expect him to be in the league someday.

[SA Gunslinger]

He looks like the dude from Saving Silverman.