[FoxdashmanParticipant]

 I never fully understand how certain European players are projected and Mario Hezonja is a total mystery to me. If he is being considered for a top-20 pick in a deep draft this year, why can he barely log ANY minutes on his team in Barcelona? I’m curious what minds greater than my own have to say about him. Here is a sample from Ford’s latest Big Board on Hezonja:

 

"Hezonja continues to be stuck right here because he isn’t getting enough playing time in Barcelona to move the needle one way or the other. He did get 17 minutes against UCAM Murcia on Sunday, and had one of his better games of the season with seven points, two rebounds and two assists."

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10294910/2014-nba-draft-joel-embiid-vaults-top-spot-andrew-wiggins-falls-no-2

 

 

[TenSecondTomParticipant]

 Mario Hezonja is playing on a top 5 euro team with professionals who have tons of experience. You have to remember he’s 18 years old competing with grown men. If he were to play on a team like Cibona like Šarić, he would be the star of that team. The plus for staying with Barcelona is that he’s learning the game and developing with the best training staffs in Europe. He’s a top 20 prospect based on potential and natural ability. He probably isn’t expected to contribute for an NBA team immediately anyway. I believe he will be overlooked because of the lack of playing time but I think teams will be sorry they didn’t take the risk on him long-term. He should go in the 10-15 range imo.

[TenSecondTomParticipant]

 Mario Hezonja is playing on a top 5 euro team with professionals who have tons of experience. You have to remember he’s 18 years old competing with grown men. If he were to play on a team like Cibona like Šarić, he would be the star of that team. The plus for staying with Barcelona is that he’s learning the game and developing with the best training staffs in Europe. He’s a top 20 prospect based on potential and natural ability. He probably isn’t expected to contribute for an NBA team immediately anyway. I believe he will be overlooked because of the lack of playing time but I think teams will be sorry they didn’t take the risk on him long-term. He should go in the 10-15 range imo.

[FoxdashmanParticipant]

I’ve never really watched Eurobasketball, so that was actually really illuminating. Thanks for the breakdown!

[FoxdashmanParticipant]

I’ve never really watched Eurobasketball, so that was actually really illuminating. Thanks for the breakdown!

[European BasketballerParticipant]

 NBA ONLY FAN

 

You probably think Euroleague is some kind of joke rec league. 

 

PLEASE JUST STOP. No 19 year old kid is logging minutes on a big Euroleague team. Wiggins would not be logging minutes in that team. GET SERIOUS.

You are talking about one of the biggest clubs in Europe. They would crush any NCAA team by 30 points or more. Maybe even 50.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[European BasketballerParticipant]

 NBA ONLY FAN

 

You probably think Euroleague is some kind of joke rec league. 

 

PLEASE JUST STOP. No 19 year old kid is logging minutes on a big Euroleague team. Wiggins would not be logging minutes in that team. GET SERIOUS.

You are talking about one of the biggest clubs in Europe. They would crush any NCAA team by 30 points or more. Maybe even 50.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jester87Participant]

Top european ball it’s pretty tough. Remember when Brandon Jennings came to Italy as the top player in his high school class and he struggled to get into the rotation? He ended the season playing 17 mpg with terrible stats and he was still drafted as high as #10. And the Spanish league it’s a lot better than the italian’s as of now. It’s also not only a matter of competition, the game it’s much different in Europe because some rules are different, there’s no defensive 3 seconds rule, the 3 point line is shorter, the court is narrower, the handchecking rule it’s different. It’s easier to clog the lanes in European ball, because big men can camp in the paint not having to worry about anything, so it’s much more difficult to attack the basket and isolations/drives aren’t nearly as efficient. Moving the ball, executing it’s all more important. Slow players are less exposed on defense. Being able to create off the dribble, while it’s still a valuable skill (as pick and rolls are a big part of the game), isn’t as necessary as it is in the Nba. While in the Nba being a jack of all trades, master of none kind of player is usually a bad thing, in Europe it’s sort of a need. You have to be able to pass the ball, move without it, shoot it. You don’t necessarily have to be great at one specific task. Athleticism it’s important, but you can’t fully take advantage of it. Coaches and schemes play a larger role, in Europe you often play just one game every week, so coaches have 6 days of practice to prepare their game plan and work on it with their players. The game is usually slower, but more cerebral, at least compared to the Nba average regular season game (obviously the playoffs are another story). So it’s not the best setting for young, unexperienced players. It’s rare to see a player younger than 20 playing a large role for european teams. And anyways there are so many examples of players who have been better in the Nba (Rubio, Jennings, Neal, Lawson) while many european leagues legends couldn’t play in the Nba or really struggle there (Jasikevicius, Garbajosa, Macijauskas, Spanoulis).

[Jester87Participant]

Top european ball it’s pretty tough. Remember when Brandon Jennings came to Italy as the top player in his high school class and he struggled to get into the rotation? He ended the season playing 17 mpg with terrible stats and he was still drafted as high as #10. And the Spanish league it’s a lot better than the italian’s as of now. It’s also not only a matter of competition, the game it’s much different in Europe because some rules are different, there’s no defensive 3 seconds rule, the 3 point line is shorter, the court is narrower, the handchecking rule it’s different. It’s easier to clog the lanes in European ball, because big men can camp in the paint not having to worry about anything, so it’s much more difficult to attack the basket and isolations/drives aren’t nearly as efficient. Moving the ball, executing it’s all more important. Slow players are less exposed on defense. Being able to create off the dribble, while it’s still a valuable skill (as pick and rolls are a big part of the game), isn’t as necessary as it is in the Nba. While in the Nba being a jack of all trades, master of none kind of player is usually a bad thing, in Europe it’s sort of a need. You have to be able to pass the ball, move without it, shoot it. You don’t necessarily have to be great at one specific task. Athleticism it’s important, but you can’t fully take advantage of it. Coaches and schemes play a larger role, in Europe you often play just one game every week, so coaches have 6 days of practice to prepare their game plan and work on it with their players. The game is usually slower, but more cerebral, at least compared to the Nba average regular season game (obviously the playoffs are another story). So it’s not the best setting for young, unexperienced players. It’s rare to see a player younger than 20 playing a large role for european teams. And anyways there are so many examples of players who have been better in the Nba (Rubio, Jennings, Neal, Lawson) while many european leagues legends couldn’t play in the Nba or really struggle there (Jasikevicius, Garbajosa, Macijauskas, Spanoulis).

[Author]

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