Minnesota, Meet Nathan Jawai: Why It Could Be The Perfect Match

Minnesota, allow me to introduce you to someone.  I think you're going to like him.  His name is Nathan, but you can call him Nate.  He just turned 23 years old, is 6'10" with a 7'5" wingspan and he's a very strong 285 pounds. 

Now before we start, I need to qualify something.  I'm Australian, so I'm probably as biased as a deranged mother at the Little Miss Austin Beauty Pageant for five-year-olds.

However, being Australian also means that as a Timberwolves fan, I have the distinct advantage of seeing Nathan Jawai play. 

A lot.

I first took notice of Nathan Jawai in 2007.  Obviously it's an inferior league to the NBA, but seeing his rookie season in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) made me consider him a prospect with undoubted NBA potential.  Jawai burst onto the Australian basketball scene and took the league by storm.  It became immediately apparent that despite being a kind and humble person off the court, he possessed a certain killer instinct when he stepped onto the hardwood.

Approaching his inaugural season with the determined purpose of dominating his opponents, Jawai took out the NBL Rookie of the Year honors by averaging 17.3 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game and 1 block per game in 30 minutes while shooting 57% from the field.  In that same rookie season, not only was he selected to play in the All-Star game, but he dominated play and took out the MVP award.  Jawai finished his first All-Star game appearance with 24 points and 12 Rebounds on 10 of 15 shooting.  He also added three assists, two steals and an emphatic block.

Despite my geographical shortcomings for a basketball fan, I maintain the objectivity to realize that dominating the Australian league is like being a big fish in a small pond.  What's going to impress Timberwolves fans about Nathan Jawai is his unique skill set.  He has extremely quick feet for a player his size and possesses a phenomenal amount of strength and power.  Like Shaquille O’Neal and Glen Davis before him, he has the power of a truck and the feet of an oversized ballerina.

Even with his immense size, Jawai gets off the floor remarkably quickly.  He has great hands and will attempt to dunk any pass he receives.  He also possesses a soft shooting touch that contrasts and enhances his dunking ability and power.  With his strength and size, he draws a lot of fouls under the basket and has the ability to finish with contact.  Also worthy of mention on that note, is that (like Al Jefferson and Kevin Love) he is a solid free throw shooter for a post player.  He'll likely connect on around 75% of his free throws.

An entirely unique fact about Jawai is that he is the first Indigenous Australian to play in the NBA.  He grew up in Bamaga, a small coastal community in far north Queensland, Australia.  As a result of his upbringing, he only picked up a basketball for the first time when he was 15 years old.  As a child, he spent his time fishing and diving for crayfish and played rugby league until he was encouraged by his uncle to try basketball.  His basketball learning curve has been rapid and dramatic, matched only by his improvement which seems to be increasing exponentially.

While the story of Nathan Jawai's humble beginnings is interesting and will no doubt endear him to Timberwolves fans, a summary of Jawai's recent summer statistics while playing for Australia are what should get Timberwolves fans salivating like Pavlov’s dogs.  No, not Aleksandar Pavlovic…errr…never mind.  His international play was surely what caught the attention of David Kahn, Kurt Rambis and the Timberwolves’ coaching staff.  He posted impressive numbers while being directly guarded by legitimate NBA players like Luis Scola, Anderson Varejao, Yi Jianlian, Tiago Splitter, Fabricio Oberto and Nene. 

The statistics speak for themselves:

14 points, 8 rebounds vs China (top scorer)
28 points, 11 rebounds vs China (11-12 FG)
19 points, 8 rebounds vs Argentina (defended by Luis Scola)
12 points, 8 rebounds vs Brazil (defended by Varejao)
21 points, 4 rebounds vs Uruguay (win)
22 points, 7 rebounds vs Argentina (12-15 FT, held Scola to 2-8 shooting)
8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists vs Brazil (defended by Varejao)
17 points, 11 rebounds, vs New Zealand (7-8 FT, 22min)

While the level of competition was not quite of NBA standard, it can’t be refuted that he played very well against several NBA players. Having followed Jawai closely for a while now, I believe that he will step up when given the chance to prove what he can do.  Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, with Kevin Love out for 6-8 weeks and Al Jefferson's status temporarily uncertain, his chance is going to come sooner than expected.  Minnesota, Nate, it looks like you're going to have to get to know each other pretty quickly.  Consider it a speed date without the awkward flirting.

So now that everyone has been introduced, Mr Rambis, if you could take young Nathan and teach him the ways of hustling that little bit extra for a rebound, things could really work out.  And Mr Laimbeer, perhaps if you can really bring out Nate’s mean streak, opponents may be a little nervous of the Target Center paint.  Mr Kahn, I know that Nathan's a little raw, but I also know that you saw enough potential in him to take the risk.  I’m sure he won’t let you down.  You guys are going to get along just fine.

You know what Minnesota…?  With a little give and take, I think this could be the perfect match.