<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Yes, that was Salim Stoudamire with the clean-cut look working out for his hometown Portland Trail Blazers this week. Gone is the hair-everywhere look he had during his senior season as an Arizona Wildcats basketball player. He needs a job and realizes an image change is in order as next month's NBA draft approaches. He told The Oregonian the change was designed to show he has grown up since his days at Arizona, where he often displayed an attitude. "I had to clean up the image," he said. "I'm in the big business now." A business where he hopes his sharpshooting perimeter skills will land him a job with a team. He would welcome being picked by the Trail Blazers, for whom his cousin, ex-Wildcat Damon Stoudamire, averaged 15.8 points per game during the 2004-05 season. "That would definitely be exciting," Stoudamire said, "playing in front of fans and family that have supported me over the years." One potential problem for Stoudamire is his move from shooting guard to point guard. Some observers believe he might not be ready. The 6-foot-1 Stoudamire is too small to be a shooting guard in the NBA, but he's confident he can have an impact at a new position. "I have no problem with that," Stoudamire said of moving to the point. "It's just that my role with Arizona wasn't to play the point guard position. But I feel I can."</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As a senior at the University of Arizona last season, he made 120 of 238 three-point attempts for an NCAA-best .504 percentage. By comparison, Denver's leading three-point shooters - Earl Boykins and DerMarr Johnson - combined to make 109 of 314 (.347) shots from beyond the arc, which is as much as 4 feet further back in the NBA than in college. The Nuggets ranked 26th in the NBA from long range. "From what I've heard, they're looking for a shooter," Stoudamire said. "I feel I can bring that to the table." On paper, Stoudamire looks like a natural fit for the Nuggets when they select 20th and 22nd overall in the June 28 draft. A potential relationship, however, would not be without its question marks. Like more than 20 million other Americans, Stoudamire suffers from asthma, which could present a problem for a team that prefers an up-tempo style and plays at mile-high altitude. Nuggets trainer Jim Gillen said he did not think asthma would be a factor for Stoudamire, but general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said it would be "something we've got to check out." Stoudamire dismissed his affliction, saying the altitude affected him for about 10 minutes. "After that, I adjusted and I was comfortable." While his ability to breathe at altitude might be overblown, there is not much Stoudamire can do about his size. He measured in Tuesday at 6 feet, which is woefully undersized for an NBA shooting guard. Stoudamire played point guard in high school and often handled the ball during his four years at Arizona. "People really didn't get a chance to view me at the point-guard position (in college)," he said. "I know I can play the point-guard position." </div> Source Official height he measured at was 6 feet, not only is that undersized for an SG, that's undersized for a PG these days.
I hope this attitude change is for real, because he really needed someting like that to happen. I think he would fit good in Denver because he could be a good shooter for them but hed probably end up as their 3rd string pg behind Boykins. Portland sounds like a good place though because I've heard that his cuz is just about gone.
Good for Salim. Salim has one of the quickest releases i've ever seen by a player in college. And once he gets going, he simply cannot be stopped. But the one thing that Salim has against him is he doesn't have a true position. He's too small to be a SG(6'1) and doesn't have the passing ability to be a successful PG. He just needs to continue improving his reputation and maybe he'll win a backup spot on someone's team as a guard.
