Shannon Mruzik

Small Forward

Offensive Game:

Shannon is offensively raw.  He's developed the ability to hit lay-ups, and can hit a jumper on occasion, but offensively, he's still raw.  He has a bit of a tendency to drift on his shots from range.  He'll get more than his share of offensive rebounds.  His weaknesses, however, are related to guard skills, which are, for the most part, deficient.

Shannon's passing is a beginner's passing.  He'll make good chest passes, although sometimes with too much pepper on the ball, but his bounce passes are very spotty.  He likes to throw bounce passes before making explosion moves, and as a result, they're short, high, and wild.  Most of his bounce passes have topspin on them.  His flip passes are also unprecise.  And he's spotty about using his passing as well, tending to focus on a drive.

Energy is the strength of his game.  He can tire you out if you try to chase him.

If he puts his head down and barrels toward the goal, he'll be effective offensively.  If not, he won't.

 Defensive Game:

Well, you can see the last name at the top of the page clear as day, so if you've played around my group of friends ever, you know what it means.  If you haven't, then let me explain:  Shannon is the latest, and perhaps finest, in the line of "dirty Mruzik defenders."  (Emphasis on dirty is completely intentional.)

Shannon will reach, grab, bump, push, slap, body-check, under-cut, and otherwise foul repeatedly.  He works hard to get in position, and intentionally over-plays his man.  You can score on him if you want, but your body will pay a price. 

Shannon is incredibly scrappy and has excellent strength for his size.  His defensive footwork needs some work, and his speed can be either a strength or a weakness depending on which position he's playing.  He's a good rebounder for his size.

He won't get you lots of steals, nor will he block lots of shots, nor will he play textbook defense, but he'll rough you up, and make it hard to play your game.

The Mental Game:

Shannon is a typical beginner in that he over-analyzes and under-accounts.  His natural inclination is to think that if something is good hockey strategy, it must also be good basketball strategy.  Since I know nothing about hockey strategy, I cannot say for sure if that's true or false, but I can say with certainty that Shannon's grasp of basketball strategy is weak.

Shannon doesn't exactly live on an island, mentally, but the assumptions he makes in team play that involve team help often fail to account for what happens on other players' islands.  He's not a guard - he doesn't have the distribution mentality - and he's undersized for the power positions, so he tries to apply a hybrid logic, which doessn't really work.

At his best:

...he is a pounding, physical force with an improved drive that can help offensively and impact the game defensively.

At his worst:

...he is an offensive exploitation point trying to guide a lethargic offense who can be overpowered on the defensive end.

Strategy for playing with him:

To use Shannon effectively, you need to focus him on the things he does well:  picking and screening, cutting, attacking the basket off of a pass, make the easy pass.  You need to keep him away from the things he does poorly - shoot from distance, dribble on the perimeter, make entry passes in advance of a cut.  Defensively, you need to keep control of him so as not to anger opponents and let the game get out of control.  You need to keep him aware offensively, and confined to the role of complement.  And let him run;  he does better at a faster pace.

Strategy for playing against him:

Slow Shannon down and keep him on the perimeter.  Be aware to block his shot, and expect contact.  Isolate him on the interior, and use his aggressiveness and tendency to over-play against him.  On the perimeter, keep the pace slow, and exploit his bad tendencies.  Force him to be an outside shooter on one end, and force him to play a guard's game on the other.  Don't try to beat him one-on-one from the perimeter unless you're willing to take a hit.  Finally, for the sake of general pace of the game and sanity of the other players, only call the most egregious, ridiculous fouls that he commits on the perimeter - otherwise, every play you're involved in will end in a foul call.

Comparable Pro:  Eduardo Najera

Last updated:  June 18, 2008