This topic contains 9 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar OhCanada- 12 years, 11 months ago.

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  • #27841
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    OhCanada-
    Participant

    This is a difficult one, I wonder where the rumours came from that he is not 18. Either there is a true source or its all just speculation, hopefully he is just a true 18 year old and this will all be forgotten in due time.

     

    Bismack Biyombo’s triple-double in the Nike Hoop Summit increased his already growing momentum heading into the 2011 NBA Draft.

    "He runs the floor, he defends and he’s cat-quick,” said an NBA scout of Biyombo. "His offensive skills need to be developed, but his athleticism screams out.”

    "He’s Ben Wallace, basically,” said another NBA executive.

    A half-dozen NBA scouts and executives told Sports Illustrated that they had concerns if he was older than his listed age of 18. Biyombo is physically more mature and also exhibited leadership skills to suggest he is older than his age.

    He began his professional career in Yemen in 2009, and then moved to the Spanish fourth division in 2009-10. He quickly worked his way up to Spain’s ACB, the top national league in Europe, where he is currently averaging 6.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 14 games with the club Fuenlabrada.

    "The way I play here, I play everywhere,” he said following the Hoop Summit. "In the ACB I play with a lot of smart guys, I play with a lot of strong guys, and when I step on the court I just want to kill them.”

    His favorite players are Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love.

    "Kevin Garnett is intense player — every time he’s not on the floor, his team is missing him,” said Biyombo. "I want to (play) defense as a team. I want to help everybody on my team and I want to win the game … That’s what I heard from my first coach, that the good offense is defense. If I block a lot of shots then it’s good offense. If I get a lot of rebounds, then it’s good offense.”

    Via Ian Thomsen/Sports Illustrated

    Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/212952/Scouts_Rave_About_Biyombo_Amid_Age_Concerns#ixzz1JE0srGJK

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  • #519792
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    Lotto Stud
    Participant

    This will be a big blow for him if he is older than what he really is. Remember last year the 20-year old dude went back to HS to win a state championship? This story will become more interesting as the draft process goes on. 

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  • #519793
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    Bossy13
    Participant

     I wont speculate on how old he is, but the reasoning of this statement – " and also exhibited leadership skills to suggest he is older than his age.", is pretty stupid. If the kid has been playin in Spains top league then wouldnt it be kind of obvious that he’d have better leadership skills than most of the other kids? He goes from playing in an elite league with grown men to playing with high school kids… him taking an active role as a leader should be a given in his position regardless of his age.

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  • #519818
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    HotSnot
    Participant

    Agreed Bossy13.  No reason to jump to the conclusion that just because he’s already a leader that be MUST be older then advertised.  There may be something to it… maybe not. Greg Oden looks forty.  No one doubts his real age.  Any prospect who puts down a tripple double in the hoop summit is the real deal… even if he was 25.  Some guys just get it. 

    ""In the ACB I play with a lot of smart guys, I play with a lot of strong guys, and when I step on the court I just want to kill them.”   This is exactly what your supposed to do.  Don’t be intimidated… attack, attack, attack.  No mercy, just crush people.  Outwork and outsmart them.  Look for weaknesses and abuse them. 

    Austin Rivers has been talking like this all year.  When your a hard worker this mentality is real easy to implement.

    I’d draft him.

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  • #519820
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    Demarcus Oneal
    Participant

     Not every physically developed African is older than his age, like Freddy Adu

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  • #519830
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    LakerQ

    i wouldn’t be very impressed if he was 25 and had a triple double. Isn’t that Bynum and Dwight Howards age?  Imagine them getting a triple double against high school kids would you be as impressed? Even if he’s a little older than 18 ( which is very possible considering where he’s from) like 20 he still has very nice upside and potential. He probably won’t play much right away because he’s raw and NBA guys know how to draw fouls on undisciplined shot blockers

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  • #519854
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    Hitster
    Participant

    I’d be very interested in when he actually took up the game as well as his true age. If he was a year or two older then this isn’t really an issue as teams often draft a 21 or 22 year old instead of a 19 year old for example. But if he was a fair few years older than he stated and had played for much longer then the alarm bells would ring.

    There was debate about Thabeet’s true age with one site listing him as two years older for several years, Yi at Washington has had his age called into doubt and rumours still persist that Mount Mutombo was always older than stated which makes his achivements even more remarkable.

    If you want to read about slightly suspect achievements of African sportsmen below is a classic:-

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Dia

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  • #519897
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    White Chocolate
    Participant

    Does it really matter how old Biyombo is? If he is 18, 19, 20, 21, or 22 it wouldn’t affect his stock very much, if any.

    Rodman was 25 when he was drafted by the Pistons and recently the Warriors drafted Ekpe Udoh knowing he was 23.

    To me it wouldn’t really matter how old he was, I would still draft him.

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  • #519898
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    khaled_a_d
    Participant

    Don’t you think that his professional team in Spain would have thought about the age concern and made the necessary tests to be sure how old is he?

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  • #519978
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    OhCanada-
    Participant

    Freddy Adu isnt African he is American…

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