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  • #31
    Here's a link of him saying he prefers playing the 4 position - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvko4VUYuKQ

    around the 30 second mark
    Your ex came by; you can call me Jonas Valanciunas, cause I'm the king of rebounds!

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    • #32
      But in this video he is CLEARLY speaking about playing Forward in the NCAA.
      Perhaps there is something a bit more relevant and timely?

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      • #33
        huskies2raps wrote: View Post
        Here's a link of him saying he prefers playing the 4 position - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvko4VUYuKQ

        around the 30 second mark
        Actually, this video - much like the recent ESPN video a few posts back - my interpretation was he is a post who wants to have more of a face up game and I see no problem with that.

        I had not seen that video - thanks. I look forward to seeing him in the WWE and it is nice to known he can have his way with Nazr Mouhammed.

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        • #34
          huskies2raps wrote: View Post
          I have watched videos on Kanter and I wasn't so much referring to BC drafting Euros as constantly pursuing Europeans (i.e. free agency, trades, etc.) I can see how you took it as drafting, but I know BC's draft history and it is pretty good - I was simply referring to breaking the mold of building a team via a dominantly Euro roster - Garbajosa and maybe a few others panned out well, but overall, as evidence over the last several years, building an NBA team through a dominantly European roster does not translate to success....I'm not referring to a few players on each team (Dallas, LA, many teams have a few), I'm referring to the Raps of the last few years - anyways, back to Kanter, I see the skills and toughness he presents, but in several interviews I've seen, he has mentioned he likes to play the 4.....not the 5.......as we all know, we are loaded with 4's, and are not in desperate need of a Lottery Euro who wants to play the 4, but is placed at the 5....ring a bell much?? bargani.......Anyways, after re reading my post it did come off as bashing Kanter, but I mean aside from the PG Knight, if the Raps draft 3rd and Kanter is selected, let's hope his knees hold up and he becomes the Center we desperately need - as you can see from numerous forum, Raps fans over the years have had a high dose of Euro players, and I think would just like a change....Eddy and Demar are a good start....

          ofcourse all of our arguments are meaningless until Tuesday, where we will then see how the ping pong balls fall - I do agree with Matt and Tim's analysis of Kanter, and as a 3rd pick I'd be meh until I saw how he fared in a Raps uni - however, if (and hopefully they do) they get the 1st or 2nd pick, drafting Kanter is out of the question, it will obviously be between Williams and Irving
          Agreed on Tuesday.

          All your points and any counter arguments I could make are all already discussed in this thread(knees, position).

          As for high dose of Euro players - seriously? I think Raptors fans have had a high dose of players who are not good to great. Forget where they are from, the stereotype is old and idiotic. There aren't soft American players? THere aren't rugged Euro players?

          I do not think Irving/Williams is as straight forward as once thought.

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          • #35
            Matt52 wrote: View Post
            Agreed on Tuesday.

            All your points and any counter arguments I could make are all already discussed in this thread(knees, position).

            As for high dose of Euro players - seriously? I think Raptors fans have had a high dose of players who are not good to great. Forget where they are from, the stereotype is old and idiotic. There aren't soft American players? THere aren't rugged Euro players?

            I do not think Irving/Williams is as straight forward as once thought.
            If Kanter is the best player available, then you'd have to be an idiot not to take him. And I think that Kanter is the 2nd or 3rd best player in this draft.
            Read my blog, The Picket Fence. Guaranteed to make you think or your money back!
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            • #36
              I have a feeling Williams' stock is going to fall a bit
              @sweatpantsjer

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              • #37
                In a perfect world, the twolves would draft him and have a team made up entirely of point guards and undersized power forwards
                @sweatpantsjer

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                • #38
                  I would have to agree with Huskies2raps. I have nothing against euro players, but I think we should pass on Kanter. I have watched a lot of tape on this guy and he doesn't have the height or the athleticism to be a good NBA centre. He plays below the rim, and he prefers to be a PF. I think we have one of those already.

                  Yes he does have a strong build and a nice shooting touch, but I don't see it transferring to the big leagues.

                  Lastly, if history is proof, there isn't a long list of european Centres that are all-stars, or franchise players. Divac, Smits, Zeke, Sabonis? There are good players eg. Okur, Rasho, Pryzbilla, but lack greatness


                  I think if we get the #3 we try and trade down for two picks (Utah, Charlotte, or Washington). I think we should go for Knight and Leonard or Walker and Leonard. I'm not the biggest Kemba fan, but I think he is worth taking a chance on. Kanter is as much of a wild card as Kemba is in my mind.

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                  • #39
                    saints91 wrote: View Post
                    I have watched a lot of tape on this guy and he doesn't have the height or the athleticism to be a good NBA centre. He plays below the rim, and he prefers to be a PF. I think we have one of those already.
                    I think you're watching the wrong guy ....
                    just saying .. he's taller the Kendrick Perkins, and weighs more than Brook Lopez. What else do you want for Size?

                    Scroll back a few pages and watch the videos that have been posted here ... he's dunking from nearly the Free Throw line dude ... throwing down awesome one handers. Where does this 'below the rim' stuff come from?!? It's ridiculous. Just because he's from Turkey? If he had the EXACT same build, skill set, etc but was African American and from the Bronx, New York, you guys would be jumping through the roof to get him. Its unbelievable. It makes no sense.
                    Last edited by Joey; Sun May 15, 2011, 08:22 PM.

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                    • #40
                      solid take on the top prospects guys......let's just hope that a season with only 22 wins translates into the Raps getting the 1st or second pick........I can't remember the last relevant day it was being a Raps fan.....Feb 16 comes to mind, when Bosh returned, and maybe in March when they were in London, but Tuesday really can't come any sooner - as for if the Raps fall to 4th or (gulp) 5th, and Kanter, Williams, and Irving are off the board- I like Knight over Kemba (huge fan of Kemba) but there is a clear height advantage - 6"3 is a nice height to have as opposed to 5"10 for the point guard position - you look at the Derrick Rose's and Westbrooks of the league and I think Kemba might have some size issues.....then again, Iverson usually held up and did a pretty darn good job of it sometimes playing an undersized 2, so you never know really....Kemba took his UConn team all the way, and that should definitely account for something - whether he'll be able to light it up in the NBA like he did in the NCAA is any one's guess
                      Your ex came by; you can call me Jonas Valanciunas, cause I'm the king of rebounds!

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                      • #41
                        saints91 wrote: View Post
                        I would have to agree with Huskies2raps. I have nothing against euro players, but I think we should pass on Kanter. I have watched a lot of tape on this guy and he doesn't have the height or the athleticism to be a good NBA centre. He plays below the rim, and he prefers to be a PF. I think we have one of those already.

                        Yes he does have a strong build and a nice shooting touch, but I don't see it transferring to the big leagues.

                        Lastly, if history is proof, there isn't a long list of european Centres that are all-stars, or franchise players. Divac, Smits, Zeke, Sabonis? There are good players eg. Okur, Rasho, Pryzbilla, but lack greatness


                        I think if we get the #3 we try and trade down for two picks (Utah, Charlotte, or Washington). I think we should go for Knight and Leonard or Walker and Leonard. I'm not the biggest Kemba fan, but I think he is worth taking a chance on. Kanter is as much of a wild card as Kemba is in my mind.
                        As joey_hesketh, he's got just as much height as several very good NBA centers, and his athleticism, while not great, is more than adequate, especially for the center position. In fact, I'd say he's similar in athleticism to guys like Brook Lopez and Andrew Bogut.

                        As for him preferring to play PF, firstly, he never said that. What he said in the interview is that he wants to improve his skills so he can play PF, TOO. Secondly, who cares if he does want to play PF. The players don't pick the position they play. The coach does and it's my guess that most coaches would put him at center. And really, what is the difference between the two positions? Davis is more of a shotblocker, anyway, so the Raptors need a more positional defender at center, and that's Kanter.

                        As for your logic about few European centers not becoming All-Stars, I can't tell you how flawed it is. The first flaw is that the number of European centers that have come into the league is much, much smaller than American centers, so obviously you're going to have fewer All-Stars. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that the percentage of European All-Stars is around the same percentage, or possibly more, as American centers.

                        Besides, according to your logic, Houston shouldn't have selected Hakeem #1 because there had never been an All Star African center. And San Antonio shouldn't have selected Tim Duncan because no player from the VIrgin Islands had ever been successful. Dallas should have kept RObert Trayor instead of trading him for that German guy because no Garman had ever been a successful NBA player. Really, what were those teams thinking!
                        Read my blog, The Picket Fence. Guaranteed to make you think or your money back!
                        Follow me on Twitter.

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                        • #42
                          saints91 wrote: View Post
                          I would have to agree with Huskies2raps. I have nothing against euro players, but I think we should pass on Kanter. I have watched a lot of tape on this guy and he doesn't have the height or the athleticism to be a good NBA centre. He plays below the rim, and he prefers to be a PF. I think we have one of those already.

                          Yes he does have a strong build and a nice shooting touch, but I don't see it transferring to the big leagues.

                          Lastly, if history is proof, there isn't a long list of european Centres that are all-stars, or franchise players. Divac, Smits, Zeke, Sabonis? There are good players eg. Okur, Rasho, Pryzbilla, but lack greatness


                          I think if we get the #3 we try and trade down for two picks (Utah, Charlotte, or Washington). I think we should go for Knight and Leonard or Walker and Leonard. I'm not the biggest Kemba fan, but I think he is worth taking a chance on. Kanter is as much of a wild card as Kemba is in my mind.
                          Just to add to what Tim W said, which I 100% agree with, did you mean "there isn't a long list of Caucasian centers that are all-stars or franchise players"? Because otherwise, I don't know why Pryzbilla is on that list. Monticello is a city in Minnesota, and not to be confused with Montenegro in Europe. Born in the US, raised in the US, but still too "European" for you? What gives.

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                          • #43
                            Matt52 wrote: View Post
                            Agreed on Tuesday.

                            All your points and any counter arguments I could make are all already discussed in this thread(knees, position).

                            As for high dose of Euro players - seriously? I think Raptors fans have had a high dose of players who are not good to great. Forget where they are from, the stereotype is old and idiotic. There aren't soft American players? THere aren't rugged Euro players?

                            I do not think Irving/Williams is as straight forward as once thought.
                            I think anyone who uses that stereotype completely loses any and all credibility. Thank god they're not GM. The phenomenon these people are referring to is BC's openness to seeking talent wherever talent may be (remind anyone of R.C. Buford over in San Antonio?), but all they seem to be able to focus on is that, omgosh, we're accepting people from Europe!

                            Never mind that Nesterovic, Garbajosa and Delfino (to a lesser extent) were good acquisitions for the team.

                            Never mind that Stojakovic was acquired simply for his expiring contract and to make numbers work, or that Dallas paid us to carry Ajinca's salary for the rest of the season.

                            Never mind that Anthony Parker and Willie Solomon are as European as Josh Childress and Brandon Jennings (though I admit, longer exposure does increase your risk of turning European).

                            Never mind that T.J. Ford, Jermaine O'Neal, Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks, Kris Humphries, John Salmons, Fred Jones, Juan Dixon, Luke Jackson, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Maceo Baston, Hassan Adams, Jake Voshkul, Patrick O'Bryant, Quincy Douby, Reggie Evans, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems, Joey Dorsey, Julian Wright, Jerryd Bayless, James Johnson and Matt Barnes aren't European.

                            Compare the length of the above list (which doesn't even include the Americans we drafted) to the list of Europeans. Belinelli, Mensah-Bonsu, Kleiza and Andersen are the only other Europeans we've gone after, and that's not really all true. Andersen is Australian, but he's white and played in the Euroleague so I guess it's the same thing, and it seems a bit wrong to hold Kleiza, who played high school and college ball in the U.S., at fault for being born elsewhere or playing for a non-American national team. (Also, according to some guy on here a long time ago and whose name I forget, Tony Parker doesn't count as European because he's black or plays like he's black, so that should probably apply to Mensah-Bonsu as well.)

                            Apologies for the sarcasm, but the stupidity really gets to me. I don't understand why people can't just say, "no more finesse players!" That would probably more accurately encapsulate what they really don't want. Looking at all the players I named above, the only thing I see a lot of are not very good players, and most of them aren't even European, so the only thing that's been proven is that building a team around bad players won't make a winner. Perhaps instead of worrying about more "Europeans", we should worry about getting more mediocre or bad players. That's something we could probably all drink to.
                            Last edited by Quixotic; Sun May 15, 2011, 08:44 PM.

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                            • #44
                              Quixotic wrote: View Post
                              I think anyone who uses that stereotype completely loses any and all credibility. Thank god they're not GM. The phenomenon these people are referring to is BC's openness to seeking talent wherever talent may be (remind anyone of R.C. Buford over in San Antonio?), but all they seem to be able to focus on is that, omgosh, we're accepting people from Europe!

                              Never mind that Nesterovic, Garbajosa and Delfino (to a lesser extent) were good acquisitions for the team.

                              Never mind that Stojakovic was acquired simply for his expiring contract and to make numbers work, or that Dallas paid us to carry Ajinca's salary for the rest of the season.

                              Never mind that Anthony Parker and Willie Solomon are as European as Josh Childress and Brandon Jennings (though I admit, longer exposure does increase your risk of turning European).

                              Never mind that T.J. Ford, Jermaine O'Neal, Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks, Kris Humphries, John Salmons, Fred Jones, Juan Dixon, Luke Jackson, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Maceo Baston, Hassan Adams, Jake Voshkul, Patrick O'Bryant, Quincy Douby, Reggie Evans, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems, Joey Dorsey, Julian Wright, Jerryd Bayless, James Johnson and Matt Barnes aren't European.

                              Compare the length of the above list (which doesn't even include the Americans we drafted) to the list of Europeans. Belinelli, Mensah-Bonsu, Kleiza and Andersen are the only other Europeans we've gone after, and that's not really all true. Andersen is Australian, but he's white and played in the Euroleague so I guess it's the same thing, and it seems a bit wrong to hold Kleiza, who played high school and college ball in the U.S., at fault for being born elsewhere or playing for a non-American national team. (Also, according to some guy on here a long time ago and whose name I forget, Tony Parker doesn't count as European because he's black or plays like he's black, so that should probably apply to Mensah-Bonsu as well.)

                              Apologies for the sarcasm, but the stupidity really gets to me. I don't understand why people can't just say, "no more finesse players!" That would probably more accurately encapsulate what they really don't want. Looking at all the players I named above, the only thing I see a lot of are not very good players, and most of them aren't even European, so the only thing that's been proven is that building a team around bad players won't make a winner. Perhaps instead of worrying about more "Europeans", we should worry about getting more mediocre or bad players. That's something we could probably all drink to.
                              What he said.

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                              • #45
                                Quixotic wrote: View Post
                                Just to add to what Tim W said, which I 100% agree with, did you mean "there isn't a long list of Caucasian centers that are all-stars or franchise players"? Because otherwise, I don't know why Pryzbilla is on that list. Monticello is a city in Minnesota, and not to be confused with Montenegro in Europe. Born in the US, raised in the US, but still too "European" for you? What gives.
                                Too funny. I missed Pryzbilla there. He might be quite surprised to discover that he was European.
                                Read my blog, The Picket Fence. Guaranteed to make you think or your money back!
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