Young Charles Oakley needed! Step right up and meet our missing piece...

In response to a relentless, aggressive, defensive, banging, bruising, rebounding POWER Forward meet our second round pick next year...

Uche Nsonwu-Amadi
Ht: 6-10 Wt: 260
Hometown: Enugu, Nigeria
College: Wyoming

NBA Comparison: Charles Oakley

Game description: Uche is built like a classic power forward, with huge upper body muscles and strong but lean legs. He has extra large hands as well, and seems to catch everything he touches, whether it be off a rebound or pass. He has a very effective low post game, but only scores in a few basic ways. His jump hook is excellent with either hand, and he knows how to create space to get it off. He is patient in the post, and uses his wide body very effectively. He has a nice turnaround jumpshot to counter his jumphook, and those 2 moves alone make him difficult to defend. If you overplay to either shot too much, he will spin and dunk in a flash. He also has the ability to spot shoot, especially after shaping up from a pick and roll. His range is surprisingly good for a heavily muscled forward, and can easily shoot it out to 20 feet. He is very accurate inside 18'. Despite these talents, he gets most of his points banging the glass. Relentless and aggressive, you must hit him hard and keep him away from the ball, or it will stick to his hands and he will score on the putback. Bottom line; he is very difficult to match up with because he can overpower a taller, rangier but thinner post player, yet has the size to score over the stronger but smaller power forwards that are typically seen in the college game.

Defense: On the defensive end, he is not a true shot blocker, but his lateral quickness is good, and his long arms(wingspan of 7'2") give him oportunities to block a shot or 2 a game. He is able to push his opponents off the block, and force them into tougher shots. Again, his real strength on this side is his ability to rebound. He goes after everything, and gets everything within reach. Uche has the potential to be an all-league defensive player, simply because he is longer and stronger than most of his opponents, and just as athletic. Areas for improvement: Uche has a poor running style, chopping his stride in half like a soccer player(which he was back in Nigeria). He would be more effective in transition with a longer stride befitting his size. Make no mistake, he can clearly run the floor well, but adding speed is possible with better technique. He also is an adequate, but not great, free throw shooter. With his body and style of play, he should be getting to the line a great deal, and he needs to be able to convert those opportunities into more points than he has in the past. NBA players simlar to; built like Karl Malone, but not the same transition player Malone was at 24. Plays more like Charles Oakley, great rebounder and spot shooter.

Projection: If he played in the ACC or another glamour conference, he'd be a household name. There aren't 3 post players in America that can do all that he does. He'll be 24 on draft day, so perhaps that will work against him in an era where youth is preferred over experience. Uche, though, is very mature and experienced, so he has a much better chance of helping an NBA team in the next few years than any 19 year old. For the NBA trenches, he has the perfect build to make plays throughout the season. He is also very coachable, which will help him develop whatever weaknesses hat are exposed when he joins the league, so the player you see at 25 will not be as good as the one at 27, and that can't be said about most players right now.


http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/uchensonwuamadi.htm

 

We don't have a 1st round pick -- It belongs to Memphis as part of the Steve Francis deal. Think second round! Uche is our guy.

 

ROCKETS 2004 or 2005 CHAMPIONS!
G- S. Francis 6-3'
G- C. Mobley 6-4'
F- J. Posey 6-8'
F- E. Griffin 6-10'
C- Yao Ming 7-5'
------------------------
G- Tito Maddox 6-4'
G- Bostjan Nachbar 6-9'
F- Terrance Morris 6-9' 220
F- Maurice Taylor 6-9' 260
C- Kelvin Cato 6-11' 275
--------------------------
1.Uche Nsonwu-Amadi 6-10' 260
2.Juaquin Hawkins 6-7' 210

Farewell:
Let Moochie go via expansion draft.

Glenn Rice last year of his 9.6 Mil. contract.

Jason Collier last year of his contract.

 

I hope not -- I hope he stays below the radar. But most likely they will make the tournement.

Check out his last game...

Wyoming 62, Colorado State 60
Preview - Box Score - Recap

By ROBERT W. BLACK, Associated Press Writer
February 22, 2003

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- Uche Nsonwu-Amadi grabbed an air ball and scored a layup with 2.7 seconds remaining to lift Wyoming to a 62-60 victory over Colorado State on Saturday after the Cowboys had squandered a 15-point lead.

Nsonwu-Amadi, who had 17 points, followed a miss by teammate Jay Straight, who had 20 points to lead Wyoming (19-6, 7-3 Mountain West).

It was the sixth straight loss for the Rams (14-11, 3-7) and seventh consecutive at the hands of the Cowboys.

Colorado State was led by Matt Nelson's 24 points and Andy Birley's 14.

The Rams, who shot 55 percent but had 17 turnovers, rallied from a 31-16 deficit to take a 58-57 lead on a 17-foot jumper by Brian Greene with 2:11 remaining, the first and only lead for the Rams.

Donta Richardson answered 16 seconds later with a 3-pointer from the left corner to put Wyoming back up 60-58.

After Matt Williams tied it with two free throws at the 1:21 mark, the teams traded turnovers; Straight threw the ball away, then Williams, setting up the final play.

After a timeout, Straight drove the lane and put up a soft jumper in the lane. Nelson fell down, leaving Nsonwu-Amadi all alone for the game-winner. Birley's 27-footer at the buzzer was short.

Nelson's spinning jumper and a 3-pointer by Birley cut the Cowboys' advantage to 49-47 at the 10:20 mark.

Nsonwu-Amadi answered with two free throws and a dunk to push Wyoming up 53-47.

Straight scored 14 of his points in the first half including a trey with 1.1 seconds before intermission, leaving the Cowboys up 36-27 at the break.

He and Uche Nsonwu-Amadi each scored six points in the first six minutes as Wyoming jumped out to a 17-6 lead.

Straight's 3-pointer with 4:52 remaining made it 31-16.

Keyed by Nelson's six points, including two layups, CSU went on a 11-2 run to close within 33-27.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap?gid=200302220661