When Arizona sophomore forward Bennedict Mathurin declared for the NBA Draft early last week it made sense. Mathurin is a projected top-10 pick who with the swipe of a pen will become a millionaire. What more was there to show NBA scouts?
Mathurin was told last offseason that he needed to improve his offensive game and get to the point where he could make plays off the dribble. He came back this season with a deadly arsenal of long-range shooting, mid-range pull-ups and explosive finishes at the hoop. To put it mildly, Mathurin accomplished his offseason goals.
But when Arizona fans woke up Monday morning to the news of junior center Christian Koloko declaring for the draft, it felt like is a riskier decision with real potential pitfalls.
Like Mathurin, Koloko showcased immense improvement this past season. One could easily argue that he was the most improved player in the country.
Much of that improvement was due to a full offseason of hard work, combined with a coaching staff who positively encouraged him to persevere through the ups and downs.
The payoff was immediate and immense. Gone were the days of fumbling the ball around the hoop and getting into foul trouble with regularity. In was arguably the best defensive player in the country, capable of stifling big man and wing alike.
Offensively, even though he still struggled to maintain position on the block against stronger opponents, Koloko was reliable with the right-hand hook shot and much better at finishing alley-oops.
Unlike Mathurin, however, Koloko is viewed as a fringe first-round pick. This is a significant distinction because a first-round pick receives a guaranteed contract in the millions while a second-round pick receives no such promises.
So why isn’t the 7-1 center viewed in a better light among NBA scouts? There’s a fairly easy answer.
While Koloko is one of the best defensive big men in the country, maybe the best, the new-age NBA values big men who can shoot 3-pointers, space the floor or run the court as rim runners. It values players capable of catching alley-oops, converting offensive rebounds into baskets or piling up garbage points.
Rim running will never be a part of the Koloko arsenal. His hands and strength just aren’t there. The natural hand-eye coordination is absent as well.
While Koloko is 21, he is far from the maxed-out player physically that many worry about when drafting an upperclassman. Expanding his shooting range would be a total game changer for Koloko’s professional career, as his role would fit neatly into most teams’ strategies.
Unlike the rim runner aspect, Koloko is more than capable of expanding his range. He has shown glimpses of a feathery touch from 12 feet and in off-season practices last year he was seen making 3-pointer after 3-pointer. Koloko is more than capable but will he get the chance to work on this skill while sitting on an NBA bench?
That remains to be seen, but Koloko is obviously betting that he will get that chance.
Regardless of how Koloko’s NBA career plays out, Arizona fans should be thankful for the big man’s contributions as he leaves a legacy of hard work and improvement while becoming a front-line player for the re-emergence or Arizona basketball onto the national scene.
