This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend an NBL game in Far North Queensland. The Cairns Taipans versus the Gold Coast Blaze (more photos to follow later). I'd met him before, but this was the first time I have seen Man Mountain, 20 year old Aussie, Nathan Jawai. All 213cm, 128kgs of him!
Man, seeing him play (finally) in person, he really reminds me of a young Shaq. I'd heard the comparisons before, but the way he moves, the way he dominates, the way he goes for the huge dunk, the way he attacks every shot on defense, from a layup to a long jumper. He wants to destroy them all.
He had 8 offensive rebounds, and his touch wasn't as good as in his second game where he went off for a team high 27 points, but even when he missed, he just moved the Blaze around like kids and grabbed his own board.
The blocks he had, he SENT OUT! He flat out spiked them into the Cairns crowd. And the dunk he finished in the first quarter, palming the ball like Kouta in the post, pivot, jump. His elbow was above the rim off two feet, cocked/flicked his wrist like he was Brett Lee and dunked that thing like a Cricket Ball... If only you could find NBL highlights anywhere!
If you haven't yet seen this young Aussie yet, check out the Video below of a "young Shaq" - and trust me, the similarities are huge.
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