Are We Done With The Euro-Centric Drafts?

No offense but this is a dumb thread and some research needs to be done before you group all european (or international) players' defence on par with Bargs.

Noah, Batum, and Kirilenko are some of the best defenders out there. Kanter is the biggest banger in the draft. He has knee issues, but that's for the Dr's to figure out. Just look at Blair.

I would be little more worried about Jonas Valanciunas.

Turkey has been producing some solid bigs out there lately. Did you watch the worlds? Asik and Erden are gonna be good. Iilyasova is solid.

You mentioned the Araujo draft. Hell yeah it was terrible. Is it cause he was Brazilian? Come on man! How would you rate Nene, Tiago and Verajao?

You take the best player available. Period.

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Employee wrote:

No offense but this is a dumb thread and some research needs to be done before you group all european (or international) players' defence on par with Bargs.

Noah, Batum, and Kirilenko are some of the best defenders out there. Kanter is the biggest banger in the draft. He has knee issues, but that's for the Dr's to figure out. Just look at Blair.

I would be little more worried about Jonas Valanciunas.

Turkey has been producing some solid bigs out there lately. Did you watch the worlds? Asik and Erden are gonna be good. Iilyasova is solid.

You mentioned the Araujo draft. Hell yeah it was terrible. Is it cause he was Brazilian? Come on man! How would you rate Nene, Tiago and Verajao?

You take the best player available. Period.

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in short...

we need more honkies.

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Matt52 wrote:

Actually, the kid is super athletic. Check some youtube video of him. He is RAW as they come but he does some things you can't teach.

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I remember the same thing being said of Schortsanitis, Johan Petro, Martynas Andriuskevicius, Mouhamed Sene, Patrick O'Bryant, Hilton Armstrong and countless others. Unfortunately, they all suck in the NBA. You know they other thing you can't teach? Basketball IQ. Noah's got it.

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Employee wrote:

No offense but this is a dumb thread and some research needs to be done before you group all european (or international) players' defence on par with Bargs.

Noah, Batum, and Kirilenko are some of the best defenders out there. Kanter is the biggest banger in the draft. He has knee issues, but that's for the Dr's to figure out. Just look at Blair.

I would be little more worried about Jonas Valanciunas.

Turkey has been producing some solid bigs out there lately. Did you watch the worlds? Asik and Erden are gonna be good. Iilyasova is solid.

You mentioned the Araujo draft. Hell yeah it was terrible. Is it cause he was Brazilian? Come on man! How would you rate Nene, Tiago and Verajao?

You take the best player available. Period.

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I agree. The only thing that worries me about Valanciunas is how he fits beside Davis and Johnson. With those three guys, the Raptors would be long, but VERY skinny up front. They'll be getting beaten up for years down low by the big strong front lines, like Chicago.

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Tim W. wrote:

I completely disagree. If Kanter's knees are healthy, he's possibly the player best suited to the Raptors and the player who is the perfect match to both Amir and Davis. Every weakness Davis and Johnson have are strengths for Kanter. He's a brute, strong physical presence who can defend the bigger, stronger post guys. He's a good scorer who can score inside and out. He's a strong defensive rebounder, as opposed to a strong offensive rebounder, as is the case of Johnson and Davis.

Both Davis and Johnson are good shotblockers, so should really be paired with a center that is a better positional defender, which Kanter is.

As for him being undersized, from what I gather he's 6'11 but with a reach of over 7 feet. And he's only 18, so there's a chance he's still growing. I'd say he's plenty big enough.

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are you taking into consideration that he may have looked better than he is because the US team went in there with fitness centers not bangers? I think the US played lamar odom at center at times.

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smushmush wrote:

Actually, the best prospect if Kyrie Irving is not on the board is Terrence Jones imo.

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ones being compared to marvin williams, and the other to all-star Al Horford, one of them definitely has more upside:D, and if his knees check out I like al hor....I mean enes kante'rs potential more than the other guy.

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grindhouse wrote:

are you taking into consideration that he may have looked better than he is because the US team went in there with fitness centers not bangers? I think the US played lamar odom at center at times.

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But fitness centers are in really good shape tho. ;)

But seriously man, I would take an undersized Lamar over an 18 year old Kanter.

What the heck does Hoffa have to do with anything? He wasn't even selected by Colangelo.

Some of you guys sound very prejudice. Why does it matter where the player comes from? One of the greatest PGs of All-time came from outside America, Steve Nash. Maybe the best center of all-time, Hakeem "the Dream" came from outside America. How many titles would the Spurs have without Manu or Tony Parker? How many MVPs does Chirs Bosh have? How about Dirk Nowitzki? Every time I read crap like "don't draft another Euro" it irks me tremendously. I don't think people realize how ignorant it makes them sound. Such a statement, in my opinion, is just as bad as saying you don't want anyone on your team who isn't white and Christian. Making social division based on race, religion or region are all the same in my book but maybe it's just me. We as fans get pissed off when the American media suggests a player wouldn't want to play in Toronto because it's not America and then we turn around an pull the same sort of ignorance out of our own bag of tricks when it comes to players playing here from outside North America? Bull shit alert. Bull shit alert. Code red. I want to see Colangelo pick the best guy on his board. I don't give two shits if he's from L.A. or London or where ever.

- Colangelo drafted Bargnani because he was the best players on his draft board
- Were Colangelo to find guys Jorge Garbasoa who were in the league already and from America then the price tag would have been far higher. People slept on guys like that because they were off the radar playing else where. If Colangelo can find five guys like Jorge Garbajosa then I would say by all means get that done immediately. The Spurs put together one of the greatest decades in NBA history because people were sleeping on international players.

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Apollo wrote:

What the heck does Hoffa have to do with anything? He wasn't even selected by Colangelo.

Some of you guys sound very prejudice. Why does it matter where the player comes from? One of the greatest PGs of All-time came from outside America, Steve Nash. Maybe the best center of all-time, Hakeem "the Dream" came from outside America. How many titles would the Spurs have without Manu or Tony Parker? How many MVPs does Chirs Bosh have? How about Dirk Nowitzki? Every time I read crap like "don't draft another Euro" it irks me tremendously. I don't think people realize how ignorant it makes them sound. Such a statement, in my opinion, is just as bad as saying you don't want anyone on your team who isn't white and Christian. Making social division based on race, religion or region are all the same in my book but maybe it's just me. We as fans get pissed off when the American media suggests a player wouldn't want to play in Toronto because it's not America and then we turn around an pull the same sort of ignorance out of our own bag of tricks when it comes to players playing here from outside North America? Bull shit alert. Bull shit alert. Code red. I want to see Colangelo pick the best guy on his board. I don't give two shits if he's from L.A. or London or where ever.

- Colangelo drafted Bargnani because he was the best players on his draft board
- Were Colangelo to find guys Jorge Garbasoa who were in the league already and from America then the price tag would have been far higher. People slept on guys like that because they were off the radar playing else where. If Colangelo can find five guys like Jorge Garbajosa then I would say by all means get that done immediately. The Spurs put together one of the greatest decades in NBA history because people were sleeping on international players.

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Thank you.

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Apollo wrote:

Some of you guys sound very prejudice. Why does it matter where the player comes from? One of the greatest PGs of All-time came from outside America, Steve Nash. Maybe the best center of all-time, Hakeem "the Dream" came from outside America. How many titles would the Spurs have without Manu or Tony Parker? How many MVPs does Chirs Bosh have? How about Dirk Nowitzki? Every time I read crap like "don't draft another Euro" it irks me tremendously. I don't think people realize how ignorant it makes them sound. Such a statement, in my opinion, is just as bad as saying you don't want anyone on your team who isn't white and Christian. Making social division based on race, religion or region are all the same in my book but maybe it's just me. We as fans get pissed off when the American media suggests a player wouldn't want to play in Toronto because it's not America and then we turn around an pull the same sort of ignorance out of our own bag of tricks when it comes to players playing here from outside North America? Bull shit alert. Bull shit alert. Code red. I want to see Colangelo pick the best guy on his board. I don't give two shits if he's from L.A. or London or where ever.

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Good point.

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grindhouse wrote:

are you taking into consideration that he may have looked better than he is because the US team went in there with fitness centers not bangers? I think the US played lamar odom at center at times.

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Maybe, but from clips I've seen in other games he's also looked very good. Like I said, though, I'd love to see more of him. I was hoping he'd play somewhere in Europe after he got turned down by the NCAA because a lot of judgement is going to be based on workouts, with him, and I don't like that.

i for one would welcome more european players, as long as they're good... and as long as they leave that euro-trash trance ibiza type BS music back across the pond

I keep hearing about these knee problems of Kanter. Apart from one instance of a self reporting of such and a recuperative time of 5 months (with no other details I can find), does anyone have some more info on this? News flash: Knee injuries in basketball are not unusual. This seems to be a regurgitating reporting/mentioning of a single injury instance without any substantive detail. I would attach more importance to his personal preference for playing the 3 spot!! A big boy like him "wanting" to play sf and apparently Calipari agreed with him. There are some assessments revelations here that dont compute. But then again I am unsure about the source of the interview....

http://www.nbadraft.net/forum/enes-kanter-interview

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Apollo wrote:

What the heck does Hoffa have to do with anything? He wasn't even selected by Colangelo.

Some of you guys sound very prejudice. Why does it matter where the player comes from? One of the greatest PGs of All-time came from outside America, Steve Nash. Maybe the best center of all-time, Hakeem "the Dream" came from outside America. How many titles would the Spurs have without Manu or Tony Parker? How many MVPs does Chirs Bosh have? How about Dirk Nowitzki? Every time I read crap like "don't draft another Euro" it irks me tremendously. I don't think people realize how ignorant it makes them sound. Such a statement, in my opinion, is just as bad as saying you don't want anyone on your team who isn't white and Christian. Making social division based on race, religion or region are all the same in my book but maybe it's just me. We as fans get pissed off when the American media suggests a player wouldn't want to play in Toronto because it's not America and then we turn around an pull the same sort of ignorance out of our own bag of tricks when it comes to players playing here from outside North America? Bull shit alert. Bull shit alert. Code red. I want to see Colangelo pick the best guy on his board. I don't give two shits if he's from L.A. or London or where ever.

- Colangelo drafted Bargnani because he was the best players on his draft board
- Were Colangelo to find guys Jorge Garbasoa who were in the league already and from America then the price tag would have been far higher. People slept on guys like that because they were off the radar playing else where. If Colangelo can find five guys like Jorge Garbajosa then I would say by all means get that done immediately. The Spurs put together one of the greatest decades in NBA history because people were sleeping on international players.

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actually no, colangelo was the one that hyped him up, and that's why his stock rose.

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Bendit wrote:

I keep hearing about these knee problems of Kanter. Apart from one instance of a self reporting of such and a recuperative time of 5 months (with no other details I can find), does anyone have some more info on this? News flash: Knee injuries in basketball are not unusual. This seems to be a regurgitating reporting/mentioning of a single injury instance without any substantive detail. I would attach more importance to his personal preference for playing the 3 spot!! A big boy like him "wanting" to play sf and apparently Calipari agreed with him. There are some assessments revelations here that dont compute. But then again I am unsure about the source of the interview....

http://www.nbadraft.net/forum/enes-kanter-interview

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Ya, there seems to be pretty much no information on Kanter's "knee issues". But he's a question mark all around because he's played so little in the last 6 months.

I hadn't heard his preference for playing SF. Maybe he's thinking of a Charles Barkley-type when he was in Philadephia? Ya, that revelation is a little worrisome, but it's not like he's soft or doesn't like to bang down low. Still, I don't understand this aversion players have nowadays to playing center.

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pran wrote:

actually no, colangelo was the one that hyped him up, and that's why his stock rose.

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Bargnani was rated high before Toronto had the #1 pick. And it's not as if Bargnani has been a bust. I'm obviously not a fan of his game, and would have picked Aldridge, but the guys IS one of the better players to come out of that draft.

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pran wrote:

actually no, colangelo was the one that hyped him up, and that's why his stock rose.

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That draft was a crapshoot. Bargs would've been my 4th choice out of all those players (hindsight 20/20). But about 25 other GM's wish they could've done that draft differently.

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pran wrote:

actually no, colangelo was the one that hyped him up, and that's why his stock rose.

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Actually, you're wrong. Colangelo had been scouting him for years. It was well known that he was at the top of Colangelo's draft board well before the draft. Perhaps you misread what I said?

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Apollo wrote:

What the heck does Hoffa have to do with anything? He wasn't even selected by Colangelo.

Some of you guys sound very prejudice. Why does it matter where the player comes from? One of the greatest PGs of All-time came from outside America, Steve Nash. Maybe the best center of all-time, Hakeem "the Dream" came from outside America. How many titles would the Spurs have without Manu or Tony Parker? How many MVPs does Chirs Bosh have? How about Dirk Nowitzki? Every time I read crap like "don't draft another Euro" it irks me tremendously. I don't think people realize how ignorant it makes them sound. Such a statement, in my opinion, is just as bad as saying you don't want anyone on your team who isn't white and Christian. Making social division based on race, religion or region are all the same in my book but maybe it's just me. We as fans get pissed off when the American media suggests a player wouldn't want to play in Toronto because it's not America and then we turn around an pull the same sort of ignorance out of our own bag of tricks when it comes to players playing here from outside North America? Bull shit alert. Bull shit alert. Code red. I want to see Colangelo pick the best guy on his board. I don't give two shits if he's from L.A. or London or where ever.

- Colangelo drafted Bargnani because he was the best players on his draft board
- Were Colangelo to find guys Jorge Garbasoa who were in the league already and from America then the price tag would have been far higher. People slept on guys like that because they were off the radar playing else where. If Colangelo can find five guys like Jorge Garbajosa then I would say by all means get that done immediately. The Spurs put together one of the greatest decades in NBA history because people were sleeping on international players.

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Uroš Slokar - played 20 nba games. returned to Europe
Roko Ukić - drafted by us in 2005. played for the Bucks in 2008. returned to Europe
Albert Miralles - drafted by us. his rights have changed hands repeatedly.
Edin Bavcic - drafted. rights now owned by the 76ers

The issue is that they do not show up. So under the possibility that you could find a steal is that you might not even get a player.

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Tim W. wrote:

I remember the same thing being said of Schortsanitis, Johan Petro, Martynas Andriuskevicius, Mouhamed Sene, Patrick O'Bryant, Hilton Armstrong and countless others. Unfortunately, they all suck in the NBA. You know they other thing you can't teach? Basketball IQ. Noah's got it.

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I made reference to his athleticism after a comment referring him to Hoffa 2.0. They are about as different as different players as they come. Good points on the other players and the basketball IQ.