Rolan......Rolan..... Rolan on a river

Rolan Roberts......Rolan Roberts........Rolan Roberts.............that's name of the new Sydney Kings import. Hopefully this dude pans out cause the Kings are struggling right now on the injury front. Apparently this cat was an NBA draft pick of the Wizards, cut b4 the season began and then tried out at a number of NBA summer leagues. In fact you can still find him on the NBA website. This guy has the university college bball pedigree having led his college in blocks (all time leader) and killed the boards.

From what I know, he's 6'6 and weighs 250 pounds. That's a highly unusual combination. I only know 3-4 players that have that kind of bio: Charles Barkley, Marcus Fizer, Malik Rose, and Ron Artest.

The scouting reports say the following ........... power forward with immense strength........ could move bigger dudes off the block with his sheer brute force.......can't shoot....very hard worker.....mack truck build....incredible arms....charges into the paint like Big Chris (well maybe not that comparison).....

Why didn't he make the NBA?

In my bball opinion, you look at his skill set - he's a natural power forward with post up moves. But he's too short. He's already giving up two or three inches to the average power forward. So in the summer camps, coaches put him at small forward (SF). But he admitted himself in an interview that's not his game. Dude is not suited to running around on the perimeter, shooting jumpers, doesn't have the footspeed or ball handling. It's like putting Ashby into the guard spot. Rolan is a classic tweener. Could he be the next Charles Barkley or the next Marcus Fizer?

There were also other issues - I think many teams were scared off by his "off-court" incident which forced him to change uni's. I had to dig around to find out about this and I don't want to go into it cause I want to give this guy a chance.

The Kings badly need this guy because Thalo Green, our current PF is a chump as is the other dude which we just cut recently. Rolan "Mack Truck" Roberts could be the solution. Currently the kings have no interior presence. We could use a scorer down low, an enforcer in the paint that could complement the kings shooters and slashers. And being 6'6 is huge in the NBL - you can even play centre with that height if you know what you are doing. I mean anything is possible cause Ashby could make it as six foot power forward in the NBL.


Centre of Attention

On a side note, you don't have to be huge to play centre, cause sometimes I play centre at UTS bball courts cause:
a) I'm taller than most people down there or even if I'm not,
b) I know how to rebound and challenge shots
c) I'm one of the few people that is willing to play centre
d) I can score down low with a variety of post up moves.

My friend Michael who is about my size used to tell me that he often played centre for his team at Bankstown. He always said it wasn't becoz he was the biggest player but because he knew what to do. He knew how to box out, how to block shots, how to position himself. I think that's the most important thing. A cat with the theory about how to play centre and can execute it but not the height will always kill someone that is bigger. Sure you'll be shorter or giving up weight, but if you know what to do you can out think'em and outplay them.

I still remember watching games where Dennis Rodman would sometimes outplay Shaquille O'neal (back when he was a pup at Orlando). He'd frustrate him, use his leverage, flop when Shaq leaned on him, and use quickness as an advantage.

You see a lot of cats in the NBA, particulary in the LEastern (East Coast) that are natural PF's but are forced to play centre because they are the tallest person on their team or don't have a dude that is capable of actually being a starting centre despite being 7 foot. Ballers like Amare Stoudemire, Ben Wallace, and JO are really PF's but have been quite effective at centre.

I do admit though, it sometimes very very frustrating matching up against bigger players cause it might be impossible to rebound against them cause they have a natural height advantage or longer arms. In addition, when they back you down in the post, sometimes you can't do much, you'll just bounce off them. I sitll remember Steve, the 30 year old uni student/baller telling me to get down lower, spread your legs further apart, and use your leverage. I used to see guys like Charles Oakely and Dale Davis doing that too.