Being a European player, his training probably involved a huge emphasis on shooting, despite his size. Consequently, this may have led to less focus on his traditional "center skills" such as you described. On the other hand, he excels at things that traditional American centers lack, like free throw shooting and soft shooting touch generally. He's on the opposite end of the spectrum from, say, Deandre Jordan. If we could take each of their strengths and combine them in a single player, we'd have the perfect center.