A prototypical lockdown defender – equipped with the length, lateral quickness and impeccable footwork to guard all five positions on the court – Luc Mbah a Moute serves as a crucial cog in any defensive system and embraces the nightly challenge of neutralizing opposing teams’ biggest offensive threats.
Relentlessly altering shots on the perimeter and seamlessly switching in pick-and-roll situations, theversatile 6-foot-8 forward limited his counterparts to 42.3 percent from the field – three percent below their cumulative season averages – and held opponents to only 32.5 percent on 166 attempts from behind the arc in 2014-15, according to NBA.com.
The 2008 Honorable Mention Pac-10 All-Defensive Team selection has continuously forced many of the League’s most prolific scorers into off-balance, tightly-contested jumpshots (clip courtesy of BrewHoop.com) and curbed their effectiveness in the post, drawing praise from the game’s top playersand coaches for his high basketball IQ, meticulous film study and positional versatility.
Last season, a Philadelphia 76ers five-man lineup featuring Mbah a Moute surrendered a staggeringly-low 86.0 points per 100 possessions – easily the best mark in the League (min. 100 minutes played) and nearly nine points lower than the defensive rating of the Golden State Warriors’ starting unit (94.8).
Yet, while defense has long been his calling card, the UCLA product has also continued to evolve into a more prominent offensive threat and refined his outside touch, expanding his average shot distance from 7.9 feet entering the season to 14.3 in 2014-15. The Cameroon native notched a career-high 9.9 points to go along with 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, scoring in double figures in 37 of 67 games – compared to 29 total times over his previous three campaigns.
After connecting on only 24 of 86 three-point attempts in the first 399 games of his six-year career, Mbah a Moute drilled 62 of 202 triples (30.7 percent), recording a season-high 19 points on 8-of-16 from the field and three-of-seven from downtown in a win over the Atlanta Hawks on March 7.
A career 58.4-percent finisher at the rim, per basketball-reference.com, the eighth-year veteran has proven he’s capable of scoring on crisp, instinctive cuts to the basket, freeing up teammates with hard screens and stretching the floor for the Kings when paired alongside inside bruiser DeMarcus Cousins on the frontline.
Contributing beyond box score statistics, the soon-to-be-29-year-old – who previously suited up for nine games in Sacramento in 2013-14 after helping lead the Milwaukee Bucks to two postseason appearances – will enter 2015-16 as one of the up-and-coming Kings’ elder statesmen, providing invaluable locker room stability as an on- and off-court role model with his distinguished work ethic,vocal leadership and unwavering professionalism.