Things are going wild in Poland. Prokom Trefl Sopot just released former NBA player Travis Best as well as Ruben Wo?kowyski. The best option to find out about why players got released is to ask the coach. “Reasons are easy – players think that they are on holidays. Best averaged only 2 assists per game in EL, and Wolkowyski only 1 rebound!” – said Prokom coach Kijewski.
So it looked like they wanted a good and consistent point guard – and signed Mustafa Shakur – former Arizona starting point guard. As Mustafa tell us in this video he had try outs with as much as 12 NBA teams this summer. He talks about people telling him they expected him to be drafted in the late first round and that he will watch the draft at home with his family. Must have been a sad night I guess.
Now he had to wait almost five! months until he signed his contract with Prokom.
What can we expect from Mustafa? As Jonathan Givony tells us 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.
I am still thinking that Mustafa doesn’t have an easy job now. He has to lead a Euroleague team with only 23 years of age. It is not that he still plays other college teams but after coach Kijewski’s statement about players being on holiday, I am sure he knows what awaits him in Poland. I wonder if he knows that his coach doesn’t speak English as I learnt from a Polish newspaper.. Might be a problem for a point guard if he can’t talk to his coach – unless Mustafa grew up in the Polish section of Philadelphia 🙂
