Post by jhb on Jun 16, 2021 16:57:53 GMT -5
Karl Malone
PF
6'9"
250
Louisiana Tech
One of nine children born to a single mother that owned a farm, Malone stayed close to home and attended Louisiana Tech, not due to lack of interest or ability, but to continue to help his family. His background on the farm chopping trees, working, and hunting has turned him into one of the strongest athletes to ever come to college basketball without much benefit or need of the weight room. He became a Southland Player of the Year and was an NCAA Tournament All-Region selection when he led Louisiana Tech to the Sweet 16 in their first ever postseason appearance.
Malone's biggest calling card is his strength and athleticism. He's one of the stronger players to ever come out in a TMBSL draft class yet and is pretty swift for a man of his size to boot. He's a menace on the low block because he can bulldoze his way into great position to receive the ball and then use that strength to out-leverage whoever tries to defend him. His strength is overwhelming and any opponent who is smaller basically doesn't stand a chance at keeping him from getting what he wants. He's got a nifty assortment of post moves that he uses to great effect and he can also step back and hit the jump shot out to the mid-range effectively. While he isn't the bounciest player in the world and likely won't be much of a pick and roll finisher type, he will be effective in half-court offense at producing his own shot once you feed him in the post. Defensively, he also uses that strength well to defend the low block and is a very good team defender. He doesn't have the elite length and elevation to be a huge shot-blocking threat but he does do a good job playing his role defensively and does a better job than most bigs of poking the ball away from his man on the low block to make up for his lack of rim protection. He's a huge asset on the glass at both ends but does his best work offensively, doing a great job cleaning up missed shots and getting the second shot opportunity.
The biggest question about Malone is his focus. His best season in college was his first season and after that scouts say he seemed to sometimes be going through the motions. While he is a perfectly capable jump shooter and has very good mechanics, he was an inconsistent free throw shooter and dropped to 57% at the line his final season of college after approaching 70% the year prior. Some scouts say moving away from home and the issues that come with it will help him in the maturation process and allow him to truly finally continue to develop and reach his potential (which they feel is sky-high).
