DEL.ICIO.USCOLLEGE BASKETBALL: GEORGIA TECH
Lawal’s NBA prospects getting high grades
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
With 19 NBA scouts and executives watching him play Saturday, Gani Lawal gave an impressive performance.
The sophomore made 7 of 10 shots from the field and 11 of 14 from the free-throw line, and he grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots in Georgia Tech’s upset of Wake Forest.
Pouya Dianat/pdianat@ajc.com
Tech sophomore Gani Lawal, perhaps the ACC’s most-improved player, is being projected as a lottery pick in the NBA’s June draft.
The performance didn’t hurt Lawal’s NBA prospects. At nbadraft.net and hoopshype.com, Lawal (6-foot-9, 235 pounds) is projected as the 14th, or final lottery pick, in the June draft.
Lawal is trying to block out NBA talk and focus on this season. He even changed his cellphone number and asked his parents not to give out the new number.
But Lawal, who leads the ACC with 13 double-doubles, acknowledges it’s hard not to think about what lies ahead.
“I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t,” he said. “I think about it sometimes, where would I get picked, is this the time to do it? But in the grand scheme of things, I try to keep my focus on Georgia Tech basketball.”
So will he return for his junior season?
“I plan on being here,” Lawal said. “I just want to keep playing, take it day by day and see where it goes. When the season’s over and everything is in the books, I’ll just sit down, discuss it and see. … Right now I can’t even begin to get into it.”
Perhaps the ACC’s most-improved player, Lawal leads the conference in rebounding (10.4) and field-goal percentage (56.2) and ranks 11th in scoring (16.1). To become a complete player, he needs to improve his free-throw shooting (54.5 percent) and reduce his turnovers (54 this season, against 13 assists).
ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said Lawal is not ready to be an impact player in the NBA and would be well-served by returning to Tech.
“He’s a very strong low-post player and an outstanding rebounder, especially an offensive rebounder, and he’s got some skills that will serve him well at the next level at some point,” Bilas said.
“I don’t think he has a great feel for the game yet. I think he could learn to dominate games in college in a more consistent fashion.”
Playing alongside Derrick Favors next season would only enhance Lawal’s development, Bilas added.
“The more weapons a team has, the easier it is for a good player to operate,” he said. “His team is going to get a lot better.”
Hoopshype.com calls Lawal a high-energy power forward who is “still raw, but with a big upside.” The Web site compares him to the Boston Celtics’ Leon Powe.
That Lawal is generating NBA lottery talk illustrates how far he has come since his freshman season, when he averaged 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds.
Over the summer, Lawal watched tape of every game he played as a freshman. He watched two each day during the week and three or four on weekends, always with a notepad in hand.
“I’d write, ‘Box out all the time,’ ‘Be in better position,’ stuff like that,” he said. “Having a mental picture of what to do when situations come up again has really helped.”
Coach Paul Hewitt attributes Lawal’s rapid ascent to improved conditioning and a more patient approach when he catches the ball low.
If Lawal can become a 75 percent free-throw shooter, Hewitt said, “he becomes somewhat unguardable.”
Lawal wrote down his goals before the season: Average a double-double, lead the ACC and the nation in rebounding, help Tech win the ACC championship and reach the Final Four.
“I see those every morning when I wake up,” he said.
The NBA is not on that list.
Lawal changed his cell number to keep out distractions.
“I tell my mom and dad not to give it out to a lot of people because people are always going to ask, or they know somebody who knows somebody who can help you,” Lawal said. “I don’t want to get into that nonsense.
“I don’t even want the seed to be planted,” he added. “I just want to play basketball right now.”
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