Syracuse Basketball: 5 Things Fab Melo Must Improve Before Entering NBA

Syracuse Orange center Fab Melo has declared for the NBA draft and hired an agent, so his college career is over and his sights are set on making an impact as a pro.

The Brazilian shot-blocker's Syracuse career ended with many question marks surrounding his NCAA Tournament ineligibility.

There are almost as many questions surrounding his NBA potential.

Does Fab have the tools to become a dependable NBA center? Here are five areas he must improve this offseason before his pro career begins. 

Post Footwork

Fab Melo showed great strides in improving his offense from last year to this year. He's much more involved and has a knack for finishing alley-oops off pick-and-rolls.

However, his post-up game is still severely limited. He lacks the pivot moves, footwork and touch off the glass to be an effective post scorer as a pro. He only scored 7.8 points per game for Syracuse.

If Melo doesn't upgrade his footwork, timing and ball skills, he will be a one-dimensional NBA player who sees scarce minutes off the bench. The good news is that he has the potential to improve.

Explosiveness

Syracuse benefited from Fab Melo's size, but NBA teams need more than size from their big men. They need explosiveness.

Fab is more mobile and fit than he was last year, but he's not quick or strong.

Think about some of the towers he'll square off against next year: Dwight Howard, Serge Ibaka, Amare Stoudemire, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh, etc.

Those guys will eat him alive if he doesn't ramp up his resistance training and foot-speed drills.

Defensive Rebounds

Statistically, Fab Melo was Syracuse's best rebounder this season, but his defensive rebounding leaves something to be desired.

He didn't show progression on the defensive glass during his two years at Syracuse. Actually, his defensive rebounding percentage went from 13.7 percent in 2010-11 to 13.5 percent in 2011-12.

This is partially due to the 2-3 zone, but Melo should still pull down a few more boards considering his size. He'll just have to gain a better feel for defensive rebounding in a man-to-man system in the NBA.

Passing

Fab Melo's willingness to pass is great, but he often goes into lapses of poor decision-making and errant passes.

Sometimes, he seems unaware of the defense guarding his intended target or unaware of the degree of difficulty of his passes. Any time he sees a cutter, he's tempted to force a pass.

At the next level, ball movement needs to be more efficient, and kick-out passes to shooters need to be that much crisper because defenses close in on shooters better.

Jump Shot Consistency

Melo's jump shot saw significant improvement from freshman to sophomore year, and he'll need to see even more improvement if he wants playing time in the NBA.

Role players aren't called to take a high volume of shots in the NBA, but when they're left open for mid-range shots, they're expected to convert.

Melo's shooting form and posture aren't bad, but they require some polishing if he wants to be the kind of consistent shooter that coaches count on. He'll be much harder to defend if he's dangerous from 12-18 feet.