Draft Projection

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Assemian Moulare was born on January 21, 2003 in the Ivory Coast. Moulare is a French citizen due to his family's condition.

Moulare's cousins ​​professionally played basketball. For example, Armel Traore, one of his cousins, is one of France's most talented prospects in the new generation.

Moulare played in Metropolitas 92 last season. He took part in the 2019 FIBA ​​Africa U16 Championship for Ivory Coast. Since the end of May, AM has been training at INSEP facilities with French and African prospects.

It is not clear which team he will play next season.

Moulare is one of the players with the highest training discipline. According to the information I received from my player friend in INSEP, AM is always training. After the team training is over, he does individual training for two hours.

He is not calm in his off-court life. He likes traveling, spending time with his friends, but Moulare maintains his discipline. I mean, he uses his free time in a balanced way with training.

He is good with his teammates, but because AM is the best player of the team he is usually in, sometimes he can be egoistic. It is hurt his team environment.

He averaged 20.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, two steals while shooting 38.1 from the court and 34.8 from the 3PTS at FIBA U16 African Championship 2019.

Physically

6-2 African guard players generally have problems with a lack of power and staying thin. Moulare is not the strongest 17-year-old guard in the world, but I do not think he is powerless like other African guards. His arms are long and strong. His shoulders are wide but weak. Chest and core muscles are weak, thin. Lower body is fast, agile. I think his lower body is good for his age. The strength of Assemian's arms is an advantage, but in general, he has to work on this.

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Mentality

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I think Assemian Moulare has an interesting game mentality. He always fights regardless of score in the match. He does everything he can to make a score. However, there is a problem here. While doing everything he can to make, it sometimes breaks the order in the team. AM restricts ball sharing and plays individually. This naturally affects the rhythm of other players in the team. I think his individual mentality is good, but he has to have in-team mentality.

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Offense

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I think Assemian Moulare's finishing skills are underrated. He can finish with both hands after quick footwork with soft touch, good timing and getting the ball up quickly. His first step is not good but, in my opinion, he knows well how to change direction both ground and air. Assemian can finish with body contact but lack of vertical pop hurt him. I am a big fan of his floaters. Combo guard has an impressive last touch on floaters with good timing. I mean, I mean, the ball goes to the basket very soft. He does not give any angle to his opponents to stop the ball. He can miss easy bucket.

 

He is not a prospect who can finish the position with high percentages on layups or floaters. I think he has to learn how to use positions. AM drives when there is an ideal angle to pass in some positions. He puts his own position into trouble. Moulare's score-oriented play hurts him. He has not any post up skills. I think, he is a good shooter. Moulare transfers energy from the lower body to the upper body. He adjusts the hand angle well.

 

AM also adjusts the alignment of the ball with the head well. Footwork, timing and decision-making mechanism is problematic, but I think his shooting ability is generally good. He can hit the three-points shots both CnS and movement. He has not a great mid-range jumperbut this is not necessary for our era. Fluid release off dribble moves.

 

However, I think lack of pop limited his shooting. Because Moulare has the skills to use a deep range shot, he can read the game and choose the shot well, but due to lack of vertical pop, he cannot catch the energy he wants in deep range shots. For movement shots, 6-2 guard does a great job reading sets, getting his body balanced, set quickly his arms and foots, and staying ready to shoot.  I have doubts that his shot will come. Moulare is a player who thinks points first. If this mentality persists, continuous try shooting will limit his role in the team.

 

Because if you are not Klay Thompson or Kyle Korver, you are not allowed to be a role player (there are other factors, of course) who are constantly allowed to shoot in any team. He has to improve on this. He is not a great PnR passer or scorer but showed some flashes. He does not have burst but can play with pace and does an impressive job manipulating the defense with fakes. His eye-hand coordination is good. He can hit the jumpers or floaters after the screen. However, not consistent. He can give the pass after the screen, but these passes are not creative or shifty. Just classical passes. I mean, pocket or bounce. I think he is not a reliable ball-handler, but we can understand his ball-handler skills better if he plays with an average guard.

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Defense

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In my opinion, Assemian is very high IQ team defender in terms of rotating. AM knows where to be, helping the helper, I mean, his awareness is good.  He does not a major defensive playmaker but does a great job in his team system. He showed some flashes of good footwork with eye-hand coordination and lateral movement at the PnR defense.

 

I think his lack of elite athleticism hurt him here. He is a smooth athlete both offense and defense. but inconsistent. Also, his lateral quickness is not good. He can overcome these deficiencies with some things on offense, but his deficiency in athletics and his inability to move physically well restrain him. In my opinion, Moulare does a good job digging on drivers in the paint with quick hands. He is not a shot blocker, also, he has not vertical pop but showed some flashes on rim protection. On-ball protection, he can defend the basket thanks to his game reading skill and footwork. He has the quickness to get over the hill but can get lazy sometimes.

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My favorite thing about his defense is off ball positions. Assemian Moulare's motor is always active. He is not an excellent defender, but I think he can use his energy well on defense both off ball and ISO. Despite not being physically elite and lacking in athletics, Moulare is good in these defenses because of his ability to read games, fast hands, and a good reaction to action.

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In my opinion, 6-2 guard, does a great keeping his head, seeing his man and the ball, and not losing his man off ball. He can stick with his man with quick hands an foots. For ISOs, despite lack of lateral quickness, Moulare does a good job thanks to his effort, steal timing and court vision. Also, I think his hip turns to help him here. I mean, he can pass the screen with good hip turns.

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Summary

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Assemian Moulare is an African French who can physically promise something about the future. He knows the game, has high energy, can shoot and finish in the painted area. AM is not perfect on defense, but he is always a fighter. I think Moulara is not a good passer and a handler to be a guard. I have huge doubts as he plays a lot of score oriented. But at the end of the day, Assemian Moulare could be a good European scorer because he has always done this to his peers so far. If he can continue his growth curve, he can be an elite scorer at EuroCup or Euroleague levels.

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Kuzey Kiliç - July 26, 2020