Zaccharie Risacher

[Mr Peanut]

Couldn't find a thread on him anywhere. Seems like an intriguing prospect, already has a reliable three point shot and has the physical tools to be a good defender in the NBA.

Watch on YouTube

[Colbinii]

Better prospect than Coulibally who was drafted 7th last year.

[BigGargamel]

He may max out as a third option during his prime but he does a lot of things well. Handles the ball, shoots, plays defense, runs the floor. Definitely worthy of a top 5 pick in 2024. France is pumping out prospects by the boatload.

[MemphisX]

Emerging as my favorite Grizzlies target.

[Mr Peanut]

He may max out as a third option during his prime but he does a lot of things well. Handles the ball, shoots, plays defense, runs the floor. Definitely worthy of a top 5 pick in 2024. France is pumping out prospects by the boatload.

As a Pistons fan, we've had the Sekou Doumbouya and Killian Hayes experience which would generally be enough to put us off another French prospect. However Risacher seems to have a couple of NBA ready skills already, so his floor seems quite high and I can't really see him busting.

[peZt]

French prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones. You never 100% know which one you're getting.
Seeing him play mediocre at best during the U19 WC in the summer and being outplayed by a handful of his teammates, I would be vary. Let other teams take the risk on him

[Colbinii]

French prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones. You never 100% know which one you're getting.
Seeing him play mediocre at best during the U19 WC in the summer and being outplayed by a handful of his teammates, I would be vary. Let other teams take the risk on him

This seems like it is just non-sense, no?

"American Prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones."

[peZt]

French prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones. You never 100% know which one you're getting.
Seeing him play mediocre at best during the U19 WC in the summer and being outplayed by a handful of his teammates, I would be vary. Let other teams take the risk on him

This seems like it is just non-sense, no?

"American Prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones."

What I meant by that is basically the ratio of French Loterry busts vs good lottery picks is like 50/50. Every year there are several hyped up french prospects but it feels like half of them bust out

[Hal14]

French prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones. You never 100% know which one you're getting.
Seeing him play mediocre at best during the U19 WC in the summer and being outplayed by a handful of his teammates, I would be vary. Let other teams take the risk on him

This seems like it is just non-sense, no?

"American Prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones."

What I meant by that is basically the ratio of French Loterry busts vs good lottery picks is like 50/50. Every year there are several hyped up french prospects but it feels like half of them bust out

That's such lazy analysis. Just because they happen to be from the same country?

So because Yabusele didn't work out like 9 years ago, that somehow means Risacher will be a bust? Get real.

What's next? Is someone gonna come on here and say that prospects from the state of Oregon have a 50/50 chance of being a bust? lol

[BigGargamel]

LOL. 50% of prospects from anywhere bust.

Reminds me of the "never draft an Ohio State quarterback" then CJ Stroud came along.

[Colbinii]

French prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones. You never 100% know which one you're getting.
Seeing him play mediocre at best during the U19 WC in the summer and being outplayed by a handful of his teammates, I would be vary. Let other teams take the risk on him

This seems like it is just non-sense, no?

"American Prospects are simultaneously one of the most NBA ready ones but also the most overhyped ones."

What I meant by that is basically the ratio of French Loterry busts vs good lottery picks is like 50/50. Every year there are several hyped up french prospects but it feels like half of them bust out

Can you provide analytical data for this?

And then can you compare it to other countries to see the differences?

You do understand why there is doubt surrounding a dumbfounded, blanket statement with no depth or data supporting it, right?

[Colbinii]

LOL. 50% of prospects from anywhere bust.

Reminds me of the "never draft an Ohio State quarterback" then CJ Stroud came along.

I'd like to think this forum can provide better insight than "French players are so extreme, hurr durr!"

[bananazn]

He's not totally wrong since Gobert/Fournier, most french player that got drafted lottery or not never panned out, the best ones are probably Luwawu Cabarrot Ntilikina and Maledon fringe rotation player...
That said I have good feelings about Risacher, his jumper looks so nice and immaculate unlike all the previous french prospects
His comp would be like MPJ with less chucking and better offball + defense.

[peZt]

lmao are you guys the head of french basketball or why are you so tilted from a small statement

High french Picks in the last 10 years

Yabusele
Ntilikina
Doumbaya
Hayes
Ousmane Dieng
Coulibaly
Wembanyama

The only ones where you can safely say are worth their picks are Wemby and probably Coulibaly. Maybe Dieng, still early. All others are busts. All of them were somewhat hyped. Hayes was regarded as the best PG in the draft by many right here. That's 4/6 out of players that you can already evaluate.

French prospects are always hyped up as the most NBA ready prospects in Europe. This tends to lead Scouts to overevaluate their talent, this leads to them being picked high, a lot of times too high.
All I'm saying is that maybe people need to rethink how to evaluate french prospects given their history. As soon as a french prospects plays somewhat solid in youth tournaments or overseas, people freak out over their NBA potential

[Chi town]

What makes Risacher better than Salaun?

[bananazn]

While French prospects garner considerable hype, I believe it stems more from their athletic predispositions rather than being NBA-ready.
Yabusele wasn't touted as being nba ready far from that, he was a reach from the Cs but their roster was already full so they pick a draft and stash guy
Doumbouya was really hyped indeed and he was raw as it gets on O and already had work ethic issue, thats why he fell from top 3 to the late lottery.

Ntilkina averaged 5 pts had the bag and handle of a center lol but he had elite size and okayish 3pt shoot, people deemed him as raw offensively and a + on defense which was correct. He was a good defender from his rookie year

French produce among the best athletes in Europe, nba scouts loves athletes and size that's pretty much it

Risacher is already well rounded and the french prospect with the most impressive shooting ability since Fournier

[bananazn]

What makes Risacher better than Salaun?

Salaun is a bigger and more athletic version of Risacher, he also shown more flash of shotmaking and handle.

On defense Risacher impressed me with his IQ he's never missing rotations, Salaun has active hands but less smart
Risacher has a cleaner handle but he never takes risks, Salaun show some flash of being unstoppable
Shoot both are good on CS but Risacher is elite and is developping a nice pull up, Salaun has shown again some flash of crazy shotmaking haha

So let's say Risacher have a higher floor with his defense offball play and good C/S and glimpse of being a glue guy connector player his ceiling is a high level role player
Salaun has lower floor but higher upside.

[Colbinii]

I think it is important to remember teams and management's are significantly smarter now than they ever have been--and significantly better at integrating foreign talent into NBA and American culture.

These players don't just have the shock of a significantly more talented league like College players have, they also have a culture shock.

This goes both ways as well--foreign players are simply better equipped to handle the culture shock now compared to yesteryear.

Risacher and Salaun both look like real talents. I think the NCAA is filled with low ceiling players while the real cream of the crop of this draft is overseas.

[Colbinii]

lmao are you guys the head of french basketball or why are you so tilted from a small statement

High french Picks in the last 10 years

Yabusele
Ntilikina
Doumbaya
Hayes
Ousmane Dieng
Coulibaly
Wembanyama

The only ones where you can safely say are worth their picks are Wemby and probably Coulibaly. Maybe Dieng, still early. All others are busts. All of them were somewhat hyped. Hayes was regarded as the best PG in the draft by many right here. That's 4/6 out of players that you can already evaluate.

French prospects are always hyped up as the most NBA ready prospects in Europe. This tends to lead Scouts to overevaluate their talent, this leads to them being picked high, a lot of times too high.
All I'm saying is that maybe people need to rethink how to evaluate french prospects given their history. As soon as a french prospects plays somewhat solid in youth tournaments or overseas, people freak out over their NBA potential

So out of 8 players, 1 is a ATG talent, Coulibaly looks like he will have a long NBA career while players like Ntilikina and Hayes look to be minimum players who will simply stay as 12-15 men if they want because of their defense.

But, that's 2/8 who have seemingly hit. Seems a bit worse than average, but the sample is also extremely small, and discounting guys like Gobert and Fournier seems misleading.

Look, I'm a huge data person both in basketball and my career, I think we need a larger sample to draw any meaningful conclusions.

[Chi town]

What makes Risacher better than Salaun?

Salaun is a bigger and more athletic version of Risacher, he also shown more flash of shotmaking and handle.

On defense Risacher impressed me with his IQ he's never missing rotations, Salaun has active hands but less smart
Risacher has a cleaner handle but he never takes risks, Salaun show some flash of being unstoppable
Shoot both are good on CS but Risacher is elite and is developping a nice pull up, Salaun has shown again some flash of crazy shotmaking haha

So let's say Risacher have a higher floor with his defense offball play and good C/S and glimpse of being a glue guy connector player his ceiling is a high level role player
Salaun has lower floor but higher upside.

Thanks. You confirmed exactly what I have seen.

I’d take Salaun. I like his frame/athleticism better too.