You remember Fab Melo, right? The Celtics picked him at the end of the first round a few years ago hoping he’d eventually turn into a rim-protecting big. Instead, he flamed out in a huge way when it turned out he couldn’t freakin’ move or grasp the NBA game. He also couldn’t navigate doorways. In short, he was an utter bust.
Well, Mr. Melo has had some time to think, and work, and get himself in a position where he wants to make an NBA comeback.
Melo believes he has the potential to play in the league again and has been working on the areas that he thinks could land him a roster spot. He says his basketball IQ has increased over the years, sparked by the time he played in the D-League, which helped him gain a better understanding of the game. Melo also has seen improvements in his offense.
“I need to be able to run open on the court, that’s one thing I need to do,” he said. “I’ve been working on my defense so that’s the thing that I think will keep me in the league.”
The piece also includes this Vine, which is the best 6 seconds I’ve seen out of Fab…
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
We’ll see where he is now as opposed to where he was. It’s entirely possible he has spent a lot of time working on his game and getting better. He picked up the game later in life, so I won’t rule out a marked improvement for a guy who’s worked his ass off.
But…
Melo hasn’t always been known as the “work his ass off” type, and he need to improve SO much, that I’m also not putting much stock in this comeback until I see him get out on the floor and actually play basketball against other human beings for an extended period of time. Maybe that will be this summer in one of the three summer leagues.
Frankly, all he needs to be is a shot blocker & rebounder to have a meaningful career in the NBA. Even in this time of multi-dimensional, positionless players, there is always a need for a specialist. If he can defend in any productive way, he’ll hang around.
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