[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsjazznotes/51978211-62/story.csp

ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla discusses 2011 NBA Draft international prospects Enes Kanter (Turkey), Jan Vesely (Czech Republic), Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania), Donatas Motiejunas (Lithuania) and Bismack Biyombo (Congo).

Kanter: To me he’s the most intriguing. … I made the comment at the combine: ‘He’s like Bigfoot.’ This is the dilemma for the top-three teams. The dilemma is, you’re looking at a kid who whenever he has stepped on the court, has been easily one of the best players in his age group, whether it’s in Europe, last year at the Hoops Summit, and even at Kentucky. I talked to John Calipari about this many times. He felt that Enes would’ve been one of the couple best big men in college basketball this year, along with a guy like Jared Sullinger. So Enes is unique in that he measures out taller than people thought: 6-11 1/2 in shoes, about 260 with low body fat. There’s a knock on him — I think there are couple draft blog guys that don’t particularly like him — that he didn’t play hard in high school, and I think that’s just totally bogus. The one thing about Enes Kanter is he is a competitor, he throws his weight around. I spent day with him in Chicago; he seems like a great kid. I think what’s really happened with Enes is, what many NBA teams saw as a prototypical power forward may be able to play some center as well. And my comparison to him has always been an Al Horford type. Similar body type. Similar physicality. Enes is far more advanced from the perimeter than Al was coming out of Florida, but a similar type of ceiling. His best case-type scenario would be an Al Horford type. … The fact that Enes showed well in Chicago, even though it was pretty much a dog-and-pony show — running up and down the court, shooting some jump shots, drill work — the fact that he got out on the court and looked like a guy who could be a top-three pick, it answered some questions.

Vesely: You’re looking at a high-level athlete. I hate to compare him to Tom Chambers, who is probably beloved in the state of Utah, but he’s got that Tom Chambers flair about him. … This kid, what he is is, he’s a very good athlete who plays with high energy. His skill level is not up to where his NBA athleticism is yet. And, at worst, he’s like a Shawn Marion, Kirilenko-type, where you don’t have to run plays for him, he’ll just find plays to grab rebounds, get on the break and get some dunks, lobs behind the defense — he’s what I call an energy guy. He’s more of a power forward than he is a small forward. But quite frankly, in this draft, he might be among the big guys the best defensive prospect in the draft. The only guy I might say that would compare to him is Chris Singleton from Florida State. This kid can guard threes and fours in the NBA because of his athleticism. He’s not going to give you a lot of offense early, but he’s an energy player.

Valanciunas: I’d be surprised if [the buyout situation] is not answered by the 13th, when he has to make a decision, because the club is desperate for money. … I think it’s going to get resolved. In Valanciunas, you have the most interesting guy of the international — well, maybe not the most. But what’s interesting about him is, there are no pure centers in the top-20 picks in this draft. And he is a pure center at 7-feet. Very athletic, plays with a great motor, but he’s weak. He would be a dominant college player. But a team that drafts him, the general manager better have a five-year deal. You’re looking at a kid that is not going to reach his potential for three to four to five years. The upside, the climb up the mountain for this kid is not going to start until year three. The problem is it’s going to be a high-risk, high-reward. You could be looking at another Pau Gasol. … Valanciunas is interesting. I think even if you draft him, he needs to be in a situation where he plays a lot, and I don’t think that’s going to happen on a team that’s really trying to get to where they’re going right away.

Motiejunas: He’s the old-fashioned prototypical international player that we remember when he first started coming into the league. What we call the face-up four or five man. The guy that plays on the 3-point line, can stretch the defense with his shooting. He’s crafty inside but he’s not a physical player yet. He’s really one of those pick-and-pop four or five man. A lot of international experience for a young player … very successful — actually may have been drafted higher if he were in the draft last year. There was a little bit more intrigue about him. Now, people are looking at him after another full year in the Euro League, and they’re picking apart some of his flaws. Having said that, he’s your classic pick-and-pop big buy. Kind of like a Bargnani-type. Does need to get more physical. And there’s been some people that question whether he plays with a high enough motor, which has kind of been the argument with Andrea as well. Not nearly as good as shooter as Andrea Bargnani.

Biyombo: This kid is a beast. Physically, he should be playing defensive end for the Broncos. He’s a man child. But the first question is, he’s listed at 18. Is he really 18? Most people doubt that he is. Most people think it doesn’t matter. … This is not a Danny Almonte situation. But this kid is very athletic, long wingspan, has all the attributes to be a great defensive player, like a Ben Wallace-type of guy. But he’s got no offensive game, and he’s got limited experience at a high level of basketball. He played just a handful games … and that’s it. So you’re looking at a guy that is an absolute blank canvas. He could be Ben Wallace, he could be [Mouhamed] Sene, who played himself out of the league after a couple futile seasons in Seattle. And these people are comparing him to Serge Ibaka; they’re different type players. … I’m hearing he’s going to go as high as eight. He could be — in my mind, he is absolutely the biggest risk of the top-five [international prospects]. … He could be there at 12.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

“But a team that drafts him, the general manager better have a five-year deal. You’re looking at a kid that is not going to reach his potential for three to four to five years. The upside, the climb up the mountain for this kid is not going to start until year three. The problem is it’s going to be a high-risk, high-reward. You could be looking at another Pau Gasol. …”

Two thing, Pau Gasol was the Most Valuable Player in the Spanish National Cup championship game and Second Team All-Euroleague in 2001. At the age of 20, Pau Gasol was one of the best players outside of the NBA. How can anyone who has been around basketball for as long as Fran has want to put that kind of outlandish comparison onto him? Second, there are no such things as a five-year lottery project. They cost too much. It is nice to admit that this guy needs time, but when the league did away with the prep-to-pro thing teams have also done away with the project lottery pick. Hasheem Thabeet was dumped a year and a half in. Earl Clark and Joe Alexander had their third year options declined. Alexis Ajinca has been in the league for three years, done next to nothing, and now is an unrestricted free agent.

[kaceyParticipant]

Is it just me or did Fran repeat himself over and over in each player analysis. C’mon Fran the Man.

[AKOOParticipant]

He is more of a hype man for international players than someone that just gives analysis

[JimmeredYaWabafetParticipant]

 Fran himself recently just said Rubio is never gonna be an allstar and at draft night said he is a guy to build your franchise around lost a lot of credibility in my eyes there

[TheLastWordParticipant]

In Fran’s defense of Rubio, he was only 17 at the time. Who would have thought Rubio would not imrpove offensively from age 17 to 20? Overall I trust Fran’s call on international players more than anyone.

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

Give me the long shooter with tons of experience over the African with 10 games under his belt or the 5 year Euro prospect, I want the best for these guys but we have enough scrubs in the league…

[esperanzafleet69Participant]

still, i thought he made some good points about vesely…

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

http://www.adidaseurocamp.com/page.php?pid=100

This is a link to the Eurocamp statistics and such. I saw that Lucas Nogueira scored 5 in his first camp game, than 11 with the Eurocamp All-Stars against the Serbian U-19 team. Also know that Motiejunas, Vesely and Biyombo just got measured and had workouts. Valanciunas is apparently just practicing with the Lithuanian U-19 team. Also, Dario Saric is apparently going to be playing with the Croatian U-19 team, and is of course a potential NBA Draft pick in the next few years. Here is a link, some teams have still yet to be fully announced and Canada and the US still need to go through their full tryout process. The US has many guys that turned them down for the U-19 team this summer due to summer school and schedule conflict. Some include Jared Sullinger, Harrison Barnes, Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Michael Gilchrist and Marquis Teague. Just some names I had heard decided to stay at summer school rather than play for the US U-19 team. 

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/11/fu19m/p/index.html

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

"In Fran’s defense of Rubio, he was only 17 at the time. Who would have thought Rubio would not imrpove offensively from age 17 to 20? Overall I trust Fran’s call on international players more than anyone."

If he enters the league next year, and comes away running the offense efficiently but shooting only 36-39 percent from the field I think that would be par for the course. He is a pass first point guard. His job will be to get a team that didn’t pass the ball well at all to function at something more closely resembling a real basketball team. I think with Ridnour in the mix as mentor/backup/safety valve that Rubio will probably get between 25-30 minutes per game and finish the year with about 8-11 PPG, 7 or assists with a solid 2:1 assist-to-turnover, and obviously the bad shooting mark mentioned earlier. His length will get him some steals and for a point guard he rebounds well, but will make or break his ceiling is developing a respectable shot. The thing is Jason Kidd was sub-40 percent for his first two years when he entered the NBA (at the same age Rubio will be), and Brandon Jennings has been 37 and 39 in his first two years. Kidd won the rookie-of-the-year and Jennings was I think second or third in the voting. Rubio won’t be the first guy to need work and it won’t keep him fro having value in the mean time, but he has to get past this season’s disaster. He can’t be 32 percent, but for the three years prior he was 40 percent from the field. Unless the season has really gotten to into his head, I expect him to be closer to the player he was in 2007-10 than 2010-11.

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