Arsalan Kazemi set to leave the Rice Owls

[EKBATAN]

He does not need to be able to hit it from everywhere, if he can work on his shot stroke with a shooting coach from his sweet spot it would do wonders for him. Look at Ibaka he was an offensive liability but he can shoot that 15-17ft jumper like a machine now.

yea it can be done...however its also a matter of game time confidence too...i've heard he can shoot its just that during the game he doesnt have much confidence...there were 2 occassion at rice where they even gave him the final shot and he choked. Now that was last min so nerves are higher but i hope he can find his offensive game...even if its not shots...just if he can drive the ball in would be great too. Difference between him and ibaka is ibaka has size so he can be a power forward or center...arsalan won't be able to do that in NBA...i see him more of like a scottie pippen...he can be all over the floor rebs, assists, steal, blocks, doesnt have to be a scorer...although pippen was a 20pt/game scorer and did have a shot...although not very consistent. But he can be aggressive and active like pippen where he is more like a sidekick to a good guard or center

[Masoud_A]

yea only thing sucks is im not sure how much can he really improve his offensive game??
its kinda something u have to get in to early on to develop the confidence. Its not something u pick up later on....its gonna be really hard for him to be an nba asset if he can't score. If his jump shot is not good he needs to at least learn how to drive the ball in for layups and dunks. He needs to be fast and technical and really get in there and draw fouls at least. If they keep trying to turn him into a power forward or center in college it would be ok but not in NBA...he's too small to do that.

He does not need to be able to hit it from everywhere, if he can work on his shot stroke with a shooting coach from his sweet spot it would do wonders for him. Look at Ibaka he was an offensive liability but he can shoot that 15-17ft jumper like a machine now.

[EKBATAN]

yea only thing sucks is im not sure how much can he really improve his offensive game??
its kinda something u have to get in to early on to develop the confidence. Its not something u pick up later on....its gonna be really hard for him to be an nba asset if he can't score. If his jump shot is not good he needs to at least learn how to drive the ball in for layups and dunks. He needs to be fast and technical and really get in there and draw fouls at least. If they keep trying to turn him into a power forward or center in college it would be ok but not in NBA...he's too small to do that.

[Masoud_A]

Right now i would say he isn't similar to these 2 guys u mentioned. Tony Allen is a completely defensive specialist which guards the perimeter and Arsalan is guarding players down low in the zone mostly. AK can't yet defend perimeter shooters well because his speed isn't yet on that level thus he gives them cushion to knock down jumpers. On the other hand Kazemi's offensive game is lacking one big thing, and that's the ability to shoot jumpers. Andrei can make plays by shooting 3's. So Arsalan has to improve his shooting if he wants to become an offensive liability.


Right now i would say Kazemi is the less-experienced Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets. Faried is a beast on the boards and is slowly developing his offensive game but still can't make a jumper to save his life, but still the Nuggets are really satisfied with the dude. So Arsalan doesn't have to really be a beast on both ends to be needed by an NBA team.

The best thing i see in AK14 is that i've never seen a player be such great on the pick & roll defense in college basketball. He is a true nightmare for PG's and SG's on pick & roll defense with his quick and active hands and then after that some absolutely astonishing hustles and diving on the floor.

Teams want forwards like Kenneth Faried but all teams need a forward like AK47. Arsalan might not become a beast on both ends and still become a good NBA player but I think we all agree that if he could develop defensively and offensively nobody would pass on him.

[behzadir]

Huge news for Oregon and Arsalan Kazemi... Oregon are now ranked in the top 25 teams by a national poll!! Now they are ranked #23 in the nation.

This one is from CBS:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rankings/top25

The comment in front of Oregon's name is good(at least the name they mention is Kazemi.)

[behzadir]

The Next AK47 or Tony Allen? I'd prefer he becomes an all-around beast like Andrei.

Right now i would say he isn't similar to these 2 guys u mentioned. Tony Allen is a completely defensive specialist which guards the perimeter and Arsalan is guarding players down low in the zone mostly. AK can't yet defend perimeter shooters well because his speed isn't yet on that level thus he gives them cushion to knock down jumpers. On the other hand Kazemi's offensive game is lacking one big thing, and that's the ability to shoot jumpers. Andrei can make plays by shooting 3's. So Arsalan has to improve his shooting if he wants to become an offensive liability.


Right now i would say Kazemi is the less-experienced Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets. Faried is a beast on the boards and is slowly developing his offensive game but still can't make a jumper to save his life, but still the Nuggets are really satisfied with the dude. So Arsalan doesn't have to really be a beast on both ends to be needed by an NBA team.

The best thing i see in AK14 is that i've never seen a player be such great on the pick & roll defense in college basketball. He is a true nightmare for PG's and SG's on pick & roll defense with his quick and active hands and then after that some absolutely astonishing hustles and diving on the floor.

[Masoud_A]

good job so far, i hope to see him more involved offensively...seems like he doesnt take shots, he's more of an inside dunk/layup guy....in the last 3 min of the unlv game i saw he was not even trying to take shots or get involved he was just trying to set picks and get rebounds. I hope he can get more confident and passionate and really dominate, cuz i know he can. If he keeps his steals and rebs up, im sure some nba team will snatch him up.

The Next AK47 or Tony Allen? I'd prefer he becomes an all-around beast like Andrei.

[EKBATAN]

good job so far, i hope to see him more involved offensively...seems like he doesnt take shots, he's more of an inside dunk/layup guy....in the last 3 min of the unlv game i saw he was not even trying to take shots or get involved he was just trying to set picks and get rebounds. I hope he can get more confident and passionate and really dominate, cuz i know he can. If he keeps his steals and rebs up, im sure some nba team will snatch him up.

[Masoud_A]

Damn imagine if AK manages to develop a formidable defensive game then he would become an asset any NBA team would want.

[behzadir]

Tough luck to Oregon for the loss, but still they had a very nice comeback from being down 19 in the first half to taking the lead sometime in the second half. What a great game for Arsalan Kazemi with 9 points,15 boards(7 offensive rebounds),3 steals and 1 assist. This was the first time Arsalan was starting for the Ducks. The boxscore just doesn't indicate how great this kid is on defense.

There was a stretch when they were down 52-46 and he played extremely well,came up with 2 big steals hustling and diving on the floor. They went up 54-52 on that stretch but after the game got tied at 54 he was substituted and all of a sudden Oregon went down by 5 with some big shots from Cincinnati. He had his best numbers for the Ducks so far in his 4th game.


One thing he has to get better at is his finishing at the rim, he has to learn some offensive moves down low if he wants to beat the big men out there cuz he is pretty undersized at that position. And also Arsalan has to keep his game passion and energy at a high level since Oregon has a freshman named Ben Carter who is a good player and will compete with Arsalan for playing time. Their C is a stupid guy as i mentioned before(Woods), got fouled out in just 7 minutes in these last 2 games thus AK and Carter had to play at the 5 position for some time tonight.


Right now AK14 is averaging 24.5 MPG, 5.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 3 SPG, 0.8 APG and 0.3 BPG through his first 4 games.