Player to Watch: L.R. Mbah a Moute

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is not going to set the world on fire. But he's the type of player that can provide the gasoline.

To say Mbah a Moute was under the radar last season is to vastly overestimate the strength of radar systems. Coming out of UCLA, Mbah a Moute was considered a project like so many rookies. He didn't possess the wowzer tangibles (standing only 6-8 and being listed as a power forward will do that to you), didn't stir the senses with playmaking, and was considered a good college player that he might make it with some time.

And then Mbah A Moute actually hit the floor.

Mbah a Moute is the classic tweener. Too small to play power forward, lacking range to play true small forward. But whereas most tweeners tend to slip into the cracks and vanish forever, Mbah a Moute seemed to flourish. He particularly seemed to respond to Scott Skiles' coaching, and his approach as a hard-nosed, never complain, never miss a game (played all 82 last year) player earned him Skiles' favor, with Mbah a Moute starting for 52 games last year. And while he's neither a true power forward nor true small forward (who is these days?), he's able to play both positions and create a few matchup problems in the process.

To say that Mbah a Moute doesn't have any tangibles is an overstatement, since his wingspan was measured at seven feet, even though his height without shoes was only 6'5" and three quarters. His arms give him the ability to be constantly active in passing lanes and around the basket, while his basketball IQ fills in the rest. His per-36 numbers aren't the stuff of legend (10.1 points, 8.3 boards, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals, .8 blocks), but they're also nothing to sneeze at. You have a player who was splitting time with Charlie Villanueva and Joe Alexander plugging in a considerable contribution. Again, the objective when evaluating Mbah a Moute is not to look at him as an All-Star, but part of a foundation for the Bucks.

The Bucks are kind of a mess right now. They let their two best players from last season (with Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut on the shelf for almost all of it) walk in free agency. They added Hakim Warrick and Brandon Jennings, but those are hardly the kind of players that can turn a franchise around (though Jennings at least holds the possibility). The Bucks are looking to the future, to putting together a contending team when the superstar does walk through that door (or Jennings emerges as such a player), and having a player like Mbah a Moute is one less question mark. You know what you're getting with him, and that's not something to be undervalued in today's league. He provides consistent effort, on both sides of the floor, something you rarely see in rookies. Throw in his rise as a fan favorite and the possibility of extended growth in the box score as his range and fundamentals develop, and you have a player who could be the swing vote in some games for the Bucks this season. Besides, doesn't a fast break with Jennings, Warrick and Mbah a Moute inspire the slightest of a rise in pulse?

Mbah a Moute doesn't have the position on lockdown, with Carlos Delfino in the mix along with the bevy of featureless forwards the Bucks employ. But if he maintains the work ethic he had last season and continues his development, he could cement himself as a pivotal cog on a team that hopes to be on the rise.