# Year End Player Assessment: Nazr Mohammed



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

The numbers:

*Regular Season*
77 games, 25.1 MPG
9.5 PPG - 7.6 RPG - 0.4 AST - 1.1 BLK - 48.0 FG% - 67 FT%


*Playoffs*
23 games, 23.0 MPG
7.1 PPG - 6.7 RPG - 0.3 AST - 1.0 BLK - 52.8 FG% - 64 FT%



The Awards
None



The Low-Down:


Averaged 11 points and 8 boards for the Knicks and shot better than 50% from the field before being traded to San Antonio at the trade deadline. Got off to a rocky start as a Spur, but caught his break when Rasho went down. He took over for Rasho as the starting Center and never looked back, even when Rasho got healthy. Although Mohammed's minutes went down with the Spurs, his production was still pretty much the same from when he was on the Knicks. He played very well in the playoffs, but his sub par performance in the NBA Finals lowered his numbers. Overall, 04/05 was probably Mohammed's best overall season.


Koko's Assessment:

I was calling for the Spurs to get some size for a long time, and getting Mohammed was just the answer. I personally think that we wouldn't have won the title without him. There was such a small margin for error (considering it took a Game 7 to win the championship), and I think Mohammed produced more than Rasho would have overall. Defensively he's not as good as Rasho, but he's a lot more athletic, aggressive, and has a better offensive game. On this board it seems people have the image of Mohammed being scared against Detroit stuck in their minds too much. Aside from that series, he was great in the playoffs. As long as he doesn't seek insane money in free agency, he's the Spurs' Center of the present and the immediate future. My rating of Mohammed AS A SPUR is 7/10. Not many minutes, but his production in those limited minutes was very solid. 

Your thoughts?


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## nextghitman (Jul 17, 2005)

Nazr is a very good fit for the Spurs at Center position. He brings the toughness and the skills that Rasho could never dream of. He brings a good offensive game and a solid defensive game. He is one of the main reasons the Spurs won the championship and they need to keep Nazr for a long long time.


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## Long John Silver (Jun 14, 2005)

I like Mohammed. I had wanted him on the Spurs for a long time.
As I said before, he needs to work on his hands, and not putting the ball down everytime he gets an offensive rebound or when he gets the ball in the low post. He has the entire offseason to do that. If he gets it right, he might be the long-term solution to our center issues.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

narz needs to do two things- go straight up with the ball in the paint and become better deffensivly.he needs to work on free throws but what spur doesnt. all in all hes a big part of our success., hes tough and a great rebounder i realy like his gm. narz had a slow start but besides the finals he was fantastic he was getting o reb and getting 3pt plays im glad we have him. i hope hes here to stay.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

No other thoughts guys? Time to move on then I guess.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> No other thoughts guys? Time to move on then I guess.


Is it too late to put my two cents in?

Nazr was awesome. He far exceeded my expectations, aswell as everyone else's on this board. I remember when I asked some of ya'll if ya'll thought he should start over Rasho....we'll Koko, I was rite and you were wrong! ....forgive me, but that's just about the only time I'll be able to say that :biggrin:


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

ezealen said:


> Is it too late to put my two cents in?
> 
> Nazr was awesome. He far exceeded my expectations, aswell as everyone else's on this board. I remember when I asked some of ya'll if ya'll thought he should start over Rasho....we'll Koko, I was rite and you were wrong! ....forgive me, but that's just about the only time I'll be able to say that :biggrin:




I was wrong. I remember that too. Oh well, I'm glad he took over, because otherwise I don't know if we would have won it all. 

I've been wrong quite a few times, but I love it when I'm proven wrong like in this case, because Mohammed is better than Rasho, which I didn't believe was the case when he came over.


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## hirschmanz (Jun 3, 2005)

I think in order to fully appreciate what Nazr brought to the spurs, you have to look back at game 3 of the finals. He picked up two quick fouls and came out of the game; the pistons started dominating both offensively and defensively, as well as on the boards for a stretch of several minutes (Manu going down had something to do with it too). This season, Mohammed was the last straw, the final cog on a near-perfect team that pushed the spurs over the edge.


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## texan (Jul 10, 2003)

I'm still pretty upset with his performance in the finals. He absolutely sucked. He missed more layups than Rasho would have. He played like a pansy. That being said, he was solid the rest of the year, and I think we keep him if he is going for a reasonable price.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

Decent Center's these days don't come for a "reasonable" price for some reason. Hell, even Jerome James got 30 million over 5 years. Mohammed will likely command at least as much as Rasho got (42 million), and probably somewhere near what Manu got (52 million). Of course he's not worth as much as Manu, but he's worth more than Rasho right?


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Decent Center's these days don't come for a "reasonable" price for some reason. Hell, even Jerome James got 30 million over 5 years. Mohammed will likely command at least as much as Rasho got (42 million), and probably somewhere near what Manu got (52 million). Of course he's not worth as much as Manu, but he's worth more than Rasho right?


i would say hes about the same price as rasho, 42 mill is good enough for a non allstar. i wouldnt pay him much more then that enless he all of a sudden became an allstar


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> Decent Center's these days don't come for a "reasonable" price for some reason. Hell, even Jerome James got 30 million over 5 years. Mohammed will likely command at least as much as Rasho got (42 million), and probably somewhere near what Manu got (52 million). Of course he's not worth as much as Manu, but he's worth more than Rasho right?


Your logic is kinda flawed there, Koko. Sure he's deserves more than Rasho, but there's 10 million dollars of space between what Rasho's getting and what Manu's getting. That's alot of money. I don't think he'll make around 45 million, which is alot closer to Rasho's than Manu's.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

ezealen said:


> Your logic is kinda flawed there, Koko. Sure he's deserves more than Rasho, but there's 10 million dollars of space between what Rasho's getting and what Manu's getting. That's alot of money. I don't think he'll make around 45 million, which is alot closer to Rasho's than Manu's.



What's flawed? Mohammed isn't going to command around 50 million when guys like Adonal Foyle and Mehmet Okur make the same amount? I didn't say the Spurs would pay Mohammed 50 million, but Mohammed is probably going to ask for Manu money.


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## DaBobZ (Sep 22, 2003)

Nazr ain't got great hands and he showed that this year. But expect from that he was better than anything I could have wished when the Spurs signed him.
He's a hustle player, I'm sure the Spurs wouldn't have won it all w/o Nazr.


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## DwyaneWade4MVP (Apr 1, 2004)

Getting Nazr at halftime of the season was a big step forward to the championship, that was an amazing move of the Spurs' front office!


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> What's flawed? Mohammed isn't going to command around 50 million when guys like Adonal Foyle and Mehmet Okur make the same amount? I didn't say the Spurs would pay Mohammed 50 million, but Mohammed is probably going to ask for Manu money.


I said it's flawed because you were basicly saying that he was ganna get Manu money just because he's better than Rasho, even though there's a huge $10 million gap between what Rasho and Manu is getting.

Anyways, I don't think he'll get "manu money", lol that sounds funny. Manu has the third biggest contract in spurs history, and he deserves it. Nazr doesn't, and I think he knows that. 45 mil seems more reasonable.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

ezealen said:


> I said it's flawed because you were basicly saying that he was ganna get Manu money just because he's better than Rasho, even though there's a huge $10 million gap between what Rasho and Manu is getting.
> 
> Anyways, I don't think he'll get "manu money", lol that sounds funny. Manu has the third biggest contract in spurs history, and he deserves it. Nazr doesn't, and I think he knows that. 45 mil seems more reasonable.



You must not understand what I was trying to say then. 42 million and 52 million was the lower and upper bounds of what I thought Nazr would command, with 47 million as the middle ground. Your 45 million value isn't far off from that right?


Nazr is foolish if he doesn't command big money, for reasons I have already stated. To compare Manu and Mohammed's value to the team is absurd, which you seem to think I'm doing, rather I'm comparing Mohammed to centers who are pretty much the same caliber who got the same amount of money that Manu did. That's not flawed either. Foyle got 50 million, Manu got 52 million. Those are facts.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

I think Nazr fits in perfectly.

I'm glad my Kentucky boy finally got a chance to have some meaningful minutes and get himself a ring.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> You must not understand what I was trying to say then. 42 million and 52 million was the lower and upper bounds of what I thought Nazr would command, with 47 million as the middle ground. Your 45 million value isn't far off from that right?


 Yes but it's much closer to what rasho is getting than what Manu is getting right?



KokoTheMonkey said:


> Nazr is foolish if he doesn't command big money, for reasons I have already stated. To compare Manu and Mohammed's value to the team is absurd, which you seem to think I'm doing, rather I'm comparing Mohammed to centers who are pretty much the same caliber who got the same amount of money that Manu did. That's not flawed either. Foyle got 50 million, Manu got 52 million. Those are facts.


 No, that is not what I'm thinking. All I was saying is that you think he deserves Manu money just because he's better than Rasho, even though there's 10 million dollars between them.


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## Cisse9 (Jul 20, 2005)

texan said:


> I'm still pretty upset with his performance in the finals. He absolutely sucked. He missed more layups than Rasho would have. He played like a pansy. That being said, he was solid the rest of the year, and I think we keep him if he is going for a reasonable price.


i think he just must of been really nervis because it was his first finals and thats why he played so bad

but i think we should keep him, i was really impressed with him during the regular season


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

ezealen said:


> No, that is not what I'm thinking. All I was saying is that you think he deserves Manu money just because he's better than Rasho, even though there's 10 million dollars between them.




And that's not what I'm thinking. Again, think about what his peers at the Center position have gotten these past two free agencies. That's closer to Manu money than Rasho money.


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## FreeMason Jr. (Jul 12, 2004)

KokoTheMonkey said:


> And that's not what I'm thinking. Again, think about what his peers at the Center position have gotten these past two free agencies. That's closer to Manu money than Rasho money.


You should have said that to begin with. Originally you basicly said that he deserves Manu money because he's better than Rasho, and that doesn't make much scense at all.


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## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

ezealen said:


> You should have said that to begin with. Originally you basicly said that he deserves Manu money because he's better than Rasho, and that doesn't make much scense at all.



You still don't fully understand. I should have never mentioned Manu's name to begin with, because this really had nothing to do with Manu specifically. I'm guessing Mohammed would get somewhere between 40 and 50 million dollars somewhere in free agency, and so I mentioned Manu's name as the top part and you have flipped out like I'm debating with you that Mohammed should make as much as Manu. Again, my whole argument is that Mohammed is going to get 40-50 million in free agency, and if not, somebody is getting a great value, because Centers are probably the most overpaid players in the league.


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