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from draftcity:
Euro Junior Championships (sept 9 2004)
Ian Mahinmi
(France; C; 1986; 6’10”; 20.6 mpg, 7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.8 bpg)
One of the most pleasant surprises of the tournament was this 6’10” French and very athletic paint player. His vertical leap is simply amazing for a guy of his size. He can jump out of the gym to grab a board or to block a shot. 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 rejections are not bad at all for 20 minutes of playing time, although he needs to improve positioning and timing. He is extremely raw, but he already shows some incipient movement in the low post and—what’s really important—a very good at ude. This kid works very well without the ball to position himself under the basket. As yet he shows neither midrange nor, obviously, perimeter skills.
Physically his body is quite skinny and underdeveloped, not common at all among the French ballers. For that reason he suffers on defense getting banged around the low post. His lateral quickness is more than sufficient for his position, though. Given his physical profile, he’s a guy to keep an eye on for the future.
