Scouting Report

Brian Zoubek is a big man that can come off the bench and contribute right away for the New Jersey Nets. With Zoubek, its all about hitting the glass and rebounding the basketball. Brian was the best offensive rebounder in the country last season for the NCAA Champion Duke Blue Devils and he shot 64% from the field. Of course, field goal percentage for a seven-foot-one player should be taken with a grain of salt because of the quality of competition in college and there weren’t a whole lot of attempts for him to miss, either.

The Nets were the third worst team in the league last season when it came to rebounding so adding somebody like Zoubek will help them sure up that hole, even if he is only able to grab four or five boards in a limited reserve role. Brian was also very adept at passing out of the high post at Duke, which is something he would have in common with Nets’ starting center Brook Lopez. Having that extra element on the second unit would be huge. Also, Zoubek showed that he was a great screen setter in college and some off the ball work on the baseline would be great for the offense, specifically when trying to find open looks for Anthony Morrow.

Zoubek isn’t going to be all that flashy, but he rebounds, has a huge frame and is a strong defender, and can do the little things like pass out of the high post and set fundamentally sound screens. And for a rookie contract, that’s not a bad deal for the Nets.