Mustafa Shakur

It has been a while since we've checked in on Shakur, who has made notable strides since leaving Arizona. After stints with Prokom Trefl of Poland and the Euroleague and TAU Ceramica (now Caja Laboral), Shakur exploded in the NBADL last season, showing some new wrinkles to his skill set that make him a much more viable NBA talent. He's a considerably better shooter than he was as a collegian, improving his mechanics and forcing teams to respect his range in catch and shoot situations. His improved range and confidence off the dribble have opened up his floor game. Showing a knack for playing with pace, seeing the floor better, and making much better decisions with the ball than he did in the past thanks to his increased maturity level and basketball IQ, Shakur is a clear-cut NBA caliber player when you factor in his outstanding physical tools.

This was probably Shakur’s best overall day at the camp. He did his best job of playing under control, and found teammates for easy scores on those trademark deep penetrations that often result in him getting stuck in the air or under the basket. Shakur pushed the tempo well at times, and even though the opposing point guards scored a lot of points, Shakur seemed to do a better job of staying in front of his man and disrupting the flow of the offense. A surprising recovery and block reminded everybody still watching (not many) that Shakur has the athleticism to stick with NBA point guards. It is anybody’s guess as to whether the 4-year starter at Arizona will get drafted, but today was a reminder of what Mustafa Shakur can bring to the table.

This is Mustafa Shakur’s second trip to Orlando, and while the former Arizona Wildcat has managed to polish up his game a bit, the same themes continue to pop in evaluating his play. Shakur’s natural tools are unquestionably NBA-caliber, with prototype point guard size and plenty of explosiveness to get things done off the dribble. This has been evident in both of his games so far, and today he again managed to keep the opposing defense on its heels by relentlessly pushing the ball and getting into the lane. The tangible result this morning was 12 trips to the line, which made a big difference in a tightly contested ballgame.

At the same time, the questions about Shakur’s game management remain. His tendency to overpenetrate isn’t as glaring here in the camp setting, but teams come more prepared in the NBA. Shakur way too often finds himself stuck in the air or under the basket when he can’t draw an immediate defender and kick to the open man. Shakur’s defense is up and down – he is more than capable of wreaking havoc on opposing ballhandlers with pressure all over the court, but way too often he allows his man to get the step and create something in the lane.

Shakur’s jumper grades much like the rest of his game – a bit more polished, but nothing in terms of dramatic improvement. He knocked down one jumper in the lane this morning and didn’t force the shot like he did last year, but his form still needs work. Shakur is certainly in the mix to get drafted, so it will be interesting to see if he can put together a complete game to close out the camp.

Mustafa Shakur finished his collegiate career exactly the way he began it, being highly inconsistent throughout the game, showing some nice flashes of ability, but in the end disappointing. Midway through the first half, Shakur was on top of his game, being aggressive with dribble penetrations and making crisp passes in traffic, but for the most part, he struggled to get his team going thanks to a whopping 8 turnovers.

Twice in transition he had a 2-on-1 situation, but didn’t make the right pass on time, resulting in a turnover and a blocked shot. Shakur was careless with the ball, often risking the possession with extremely difficult passes through multiple defenders and looking for complicated solutions instead of simple ones. He didn’t shoot much today, knocking down one three-pointer from the wing, but missed two other good looks from downtown. His defensive effort was inconsistent as well, being very aggressive on some possessions early on in the passing lanes, but later coming back down to the earth, being beaten off the dribble by Chris Kramer and gambling for steals excessively.

Despite being at the end of his career at Arizona, Shakur still plays like a freshman in many aspects of the game. Occasionally he will look great as a true floor general, but it’s never on a consistent basis, particularly in terms of his decision making skills. Considering his size, athleticism and the solid point guard skills he shows in flashes, there is still a very good chance that he will hear his name called in the 2nd round, although his hopes of cracking the 1st took a serious hit with his poor showing today, and throughout the second half of the season for that matter.

Shakur has gone from a talented, but very unpolished athlete with little rhyme or reason to his game to a rock of consistency and possibly the best point guard in the NCAA.

The most improvement we see from this year to last has to be in his decision making. Going beyond his stellar near-2.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, Shakur is playing with a swagger we’ve never seen before. In the past he altered between looking too passive at times to completely out of control in others. Now, he’s running his team with poise and confidence, making crisp passes and executing Lute Olsen’s run and gun offense to perfection. Using his terrific speed to constantly put tremendous pressure on opposing defenses, Shakur has Arizona playing some of the most eye-pleasing basketball in the country with the way he’s relentlessly pushing the tempo of the game and getting all of his teammates involved. While he’s dribbling the ball in transition, he’s smart enough to keep his head up at all times and then thread the needle with a spectacular bullet pass between multiple defenders. Shakur has always been as unselfish as they come, but he’s now making great reads in the half-court too and finally has the luxury of multiple shooters on the wing he can kick the ball out to and expect to knock down shots. Arizona is collectively shooting 41.2% from 3-point range and 51.6% from the field, which is helping out his assist numbers exponentially, especially against the seemingly invisible Pac-10 defenses.

Shakur has always had the type of strength and explosiveness needed to create offense for himself effectively off the dribble and get into the lane. Getting there this year, though, he’s done a terrific job using his athleticism to finish strong around the basket or get to the free throw line as his 5.4 attempts per game would attest. If the defense collapses around him, Shakur has good enough vision to find the open man spotting up or drop off a simple pass to a cutter in the paint. His pull-up jumper from mid-range looks absolutely terrific this season, and he’s become quite confident in it from 15-18 feet out.

Even from 3-point range, Shakur has improved remarkably, shooting 43% on the season on 3 attempts per game, compared with 33% last year. His mechanics are still extremely awkward looking due to the ugly looking hitch he’ll probably always have, but he’s getting his shot off quickly and knocking it down at a good rate, which is far more important than having picture perfect form. He’s mainly a spot-up threat from behind the arc, but if his man gives him space he’s shown very little hesitation to pull up in his face and knock one down either.

Defensively, Shakur has been more up and down. Having quick feet but only an average wingspan (6-5), he hasn’t always been as focused as you’d hope. Not too many teams outside of Cal or UCLA play defense in the Pac-10 anyway as you can probably guess from type of scores we’re seeing there, so it’s not clear whether he’ll be able to turn it on and really lock down the way he shows the potential to, when Arizona needs it most. As a rebounder he’s been phenomenal, though, pulling down nearly 5 per game from the point guard position.

In terms of weaknesses, Shakur will still at times be guilty of making the odd bone-headed play--his trademark up until this season--although nowhere near as often as in the past. His ball-handling in particular needs work, as he really dribbles the ball too high and lets it slow him down when trying to explode off the bounce in the half-court.

Up until now we’ve been slow to point out the terrific season Shakur is having because of some healthy skepticism as to whether he’d actually keep it up. That has a lot to do with the incredible inconsistency he showed in his first three years at Arizona, and the major question marks we had about his basketball IQ and overall focus. He seems to be answering them so far with flying colors, but we’re only now entering the real meat of the season, so he can’t let up yet. If he keeps playing the way he has so far into the NCAA Tournament, it’s going to be hard to see him falling out of the first round when it’s all said and done. That’s still a long ways away, though.

On the negative side for Arizona, we find their anemic point guard Mustafa Shakur. Shakur teased us at the Orlando pre-draft camp with his athleticism and upside, but looked tonight like he was making the same exact mistakes as a senior as he did as a freshman. Defensively he was abused by Sean Singletary repeatedly, and offensively he could not organize Arizona’s half-court offense effectively beyond a couple of simple drive and dish plays. His shot looks as ugly as ever, but he kept settling for it regardless. He finished the night with no field goals, six assists compared to four turnovers, and five fouls. Lute Olsen will need much more from his senior point guard as the year goes on.

Shakur had himself a very nice half leading a talented team to an early lead. He did a good job mixing up his scoring with his passing, putting his excellent first step and ball-handling skills on display to get into the paint and either finish the play himself or find the open man. He pushed the tempo and injected a bit of life into what otherwise would have been a pretty boring game, over-dribbling at times, but not being selfish in the least bit. His defense has been very good and there is very little doubt that he is the most athletic point guard at this camp. The only problem is his jump-shot, which is both incredibly ugly and also very much ineffective as he showed here.

Strengths
At nearly 6’4, he has as much size as any point guard prospect in this year’s draft. Combine that with his quickness and length and we’re talking about one of the more intriguing physical specimens in this draft. With the ball in his hands, he’s shown to be capable of doing a capable job at times of running a talented team. His unselfishness and up-tempo style of play could suit some NBA teams well. Shakur shows potential to slash and score quite well at times when needed, mostly from inside the arc. He is at his best in transition, and thrives the most as a point guard on the drive and dish. His length allows him to play even bigger than his size, and he shows potential to develop into a shut-down defensive type down the road if he can find a way to maintain his focus throughout the game and an entire season, which hasn't really happened yet.

Weaknesses
Shakur has been wildly inconsistent throughout his four years at Arizona. He can be extremely turnover prone at times, and a downright offensive liability in others. Shakur’s outside shot is his biggest weakness, as both his mechanics and range need plenty of work if he’s to make and stick in the NBA. He often lacks assertiveness and has shown poor decision making skills. There are major questions about his leadership ability as a floor general as well as his overall basketball IQ. He could still stand to add some weight to his skinny frame, and doesn’t have the type of polish or experience you’d expect from a 3-year starter playing at one of the top programs in the country.

Outlook
Shakur was once heralded as the top point guard in the country coming out of high school, but failed to live up to expectations at Arizona. He showed flashes of brilliance during his time in Tuscon, particularly in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but could really use his senior season at Arizona to iron out the many wrinkles he has in his game. He could be drafted somewhere in the 2nd round based on upside, but is just as likely to go undrafted should he stay in.

Shakur capped off a reawakening of sorts in this NCAA tournament with another extremely solid performance in a loss to Villanova. It wasn’t quite as impressive as his 17 point, 9 assist, 5 rebound, 2 turnover show against Wisconsin, but it was still a very encouraging sign from a player who has been so incredibly inconsistent in his three years at Arizona so far.

Shakur once again ran his team quite well, slashing confidently to the hoop and finding teammates on the drive and dish. He was outstanding in transition and pushed the tempo of the game quite well, looking very focused as extremely well prepared by his legendary coach that made a name for himself partially with his ability to develop outstanding lead guards for the NBA. The revival of his outside shot might have been the best sign of this tournament, nailing all 4 of his attempts in this game and 7 of 9 overall. 3 of those came in the 2nd half in impressive fashion, stepping back confidently off the dribble and looking very comfortable knocking them down. He used the threat of his outside shot to penetrate the lane with his excellent first step, and looked terrific all game long finding the open man after drawing the defense in.

It wasn’t a flawless performance from Arizona’s much maligned and highly touted point guard coming in from high school, but he again showed most of the skills NBA scouts look for in point guards as well as a huge upside to improve. Shakur doesn’t have anywhere close to the body of work he needs to consider coming out this summer, but if he continues to play this way in his senior year there is little doubt that he will find himself as a first round pick when it’s all said and done.

A player who was not even mentioned on our initial NCAA tournament draft prospects preview, Mustafa Shakur may have decided to show that it is too early to write him off despite his disappointing college career thus far.

Shakur has been playing extremely well for over a month now for Arizona and translated his solid regular season finish to what might have been his best game of his Arizona career so far, in front of his family and friends in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Shakur played with the type of assertiveness that we've rarely seen from over the past 3 years, taking control of his talented Arizona team, initiating the offense swiftly and confidently and running their half-court sets with purpose. When Hassan Adams worked hard off the ball coming off screens he delivered crisp passes in perfect position to help him knock down a number of impressive mid-range jump shots, helping his draft stock as well quite a bit in the process. Shakur pushed the tempo of the game constantly, using his speed as well as his teammates' to run the Badgers out of the gym with a 35-11 lead early in the game that they never relinquished. Arizona was just too athletic for Wisconsin on both ends of the floor and that started first and foremost with their point guard who finally looked committed to using his natural gifts in a controlled and purposeful manner.

Regarding his NBA draft prospects, when it's all said and done, Shakur is still a 6-4, extremely long and super athletic point guard who will always draw more than his fair share of attention from scouts. He's going to get plenty of share of chances to make the NBA thanks to his natural physical attributes, especially if he can finally put it all together consistently as a senior.

Shakur should have developed into a star by now, but for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, hasn’t been able to make that jump. He’s got athleticism, size, and the rudimentary tools of both a good scorer and floor general. But Shakur has played tentative, mistake-prone basketball in his first two seasons as a Wildcat, showing a particularly ugly shooting stroke from behind the arc. There have been individual games where he has played at a very high level, but those have been few and far between. Maybe an increased role as a scorer will help clear things up, but Shakur’s potential is what is keeping him on this list.