Maybyner "Nene" Hilario
Birthdate: 9/13/82
NBA Position: Power Forward
Ht: 6-9
Wt: 240
Team: Vasco da Gama
Hometown: Rio de Janero, Brazil

NBA Comparison: Hakeem Olajuwon

Strengths: A player with unlimited potential. Very fluid athlete with an imposing physical prescense. Looks between 6-9, 6-10. Reminds of Hakeem the way he runs the floor, and his clever offensive game. Passes well. Knows how to score. Very good shot blocker with long arms and excellent timing. Upperbody/frame is very impressive and appears to have room to gain another 20 to 30 pounds. Can face the basket and take the ball off the dribble with decent handle, but his future is in the post. Has excellent touch around the basket, decent mid-range shooter. Doesn't get intimidated. At 19, has a good court sense, confidence, and feel for the game, and looks like he can improve immensely.

Weaknesses: Must become better at anticipating rebounds. Needs to gain more consistency, learn better defensive technique, (besides shot blocking and taking charges). Has very good feet, but must develop better footwork in the post and positioning for rebounds. Shot mechanics seem to need refinement, (free throw shot has a slight hitch, but it's not horrible) The makings are there but must develop a bona fide killer instinct.

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From Vinicius Fontana:

This year he played for the Brazilian National team, making a great impact in the South American tournament, Americas Cup, and Goodwill Games. He is a very athetic player (very smooth, quick, and a great leaper). He's a spectacular shot-blocker and a natural rebounder, extremely aggressive on the offensive boards but a strong defender too. The player in the NBA he reminds me of is Kenyon Martin, only he has more offensive skills.

Weakness - should improve his jump-shot around the basket and take a special atention on the free throw line where his best Shaq impression can be seen.


Hypotheticly, if we get the 7th pick in the draft and Ming, Williams, Woods, Wagner, Gooden, and Wilcox are drafted ahead of our pick than Hilario may be the best pick. I still think Wilcox would best fit what we need and we still have a shot at him, but he may not be available and trading up to get him would not be worth it when there's someone like Nene on the board. I can't see him being an Olajuwon, but some say he's like Kenyon Martin and that would be a nice fit for us. I compare him a lot to Wilcox coming into the draft and while Wilcox is probably better at crashing the boards, Hilario has a more clever offensive game and is probably a little more developed. They are also similar athleticly. I'm still praying for Wilcox to be around, but this guy sounds like he could turn out to be a very good player as well. Thoughts?

This is good news. The draft is looking better everyday and that Euro guy (Niksomething) is apparently leaning towards declaring this year. As long as we don't pick Curtis, Jeffries or Marcus I'm happy...

More on Nene from sportsline.com

Maybyner "Nene" Hilario Vasco da Gama (Brazil) F 6-10 259 --
The 20-year old Brazilian has left club team Vasco da Gama and is in the U.S. preparing for the NBA Draft. Despite his great size, he's only got seven percent body fat and is impressively strong and agile. His stock should soar once teams get him into individual workouts. (Updated Apr. 24, 2002)

Some have him listed between 230 and 240, but they say he's close to 260 and with only 7% body fat. Thats very impressive.

Very impressive indeed. The guy is a monster physically. And the guy has skills too. I''ll guarantee he'll have a better career than Kenyon Martin. He's more fundamentally sound and is way more mature than him.

The best part of the deal is he's only 19 and some say he may only be 18. He already has skills and has already played professional basketball which means he has more experience and has been more developed than these guys who come into the league out of high school and after their freshman years in college. I think if we get a 7-10 pick he will be a very nice pick. He will contribute right off the bat.

Height: 6-10
Weight: 227
School: Vasco Da Gama (Brazil)
Position: Power Forward
Jersey#: 13

Strengths: Very athletic player who can jump out the gym and run the floor faster than most guards ... Offensively Hilário is very explosive around the basket as he is a threat for the power dunk ... Defensively he is a terrific shot-blocker capable of redirecting shots and has all the physical tools to be efficient in the NBA such as timing, leaping ability, long arms, and quickness ... A natural rebounder who is a extremely aggressive on the boards ... Due to his mobility and descent ball handling he has the ability to drive in the lane when getting the ball on the high post ... Extremely coordinated in his movements everything looks as though it comes so simple to him ... Due to his young age (19) he has loads of potential something that will work to his advantage on draft day ... Defensively he is blessed with great lateral quickness and quick hands ... Understands what his limits are offensively and rarely shoots shots that are out of his range ... Wonderful offensive rebounder gets a lot of his points on put-backs as he is extremely swift around the basket ... Has a NBA ready body that allows him to play his physical style of ball ...

Weakness: Doesn’t always dominate games like he has the talent to do, as he seems to defer to teammates ... Like many young players he has yet to develop night in night out consistency ... post moves could stand to be refined as he relies on his face-up game to score ... Poor free throw shooter although once he gets into a rhythm he can make them ... Not very confident when shooting from mid-range as his shooting isn’t the best so working on extending his range is a must ... Defensively he needs to learn how to play better perimeter defense as he counts on his shot-blocking ability too much ... Post footwork is still a work in progress as it remains choppy at best ... Wouldn’t hurt if he gained 10 more pounds as the NBA will be a little more physically demanding than the Brazilian leagues ... Double teams can trouble him as he doesn’t always react fast enough ... Below average passer in the post but to his credit Hilário has improved during this past season ...

Why do they have him listed at 227? I read that he was at about 259 lbs.