OT: Thon Maker is actually 23 years old

Brinbe · Post #161 » by **Brinbe** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:09 am

No one should ever give these organizations the benefit of the doubt.

TheSamMitchell · Post #162 » by **TheSamMitchell** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 12:33 pm

S ID wrote:Damn... Dude is 23 and averaged 29 and 14 against Canadian high school kids.

And is about to become a millionaire because of it.

A 23 year old guy of average height that has actively played ball his whole life should put up at least 20 and 10 on high school kids easily. By the time a guy is 23 he SHOULD be a lot bigger and have a lot more experienced than the average 15-18 year old.

For this guy at 7'1" and at 23 years old, I think 29 and 14 is kinda light. Dude should've been averaging more against Canadian high school talent.

artsncrafts · Post #163 » by **artsncrafts** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 1:26 pm

TheSamMitchell wrote:
S ID wrote:Damn... Dude is 23 and averaged 29 and 14 against Canadian high school kids.

And is about to become a millionaire because of it.

A 23 year old guy of average height that has actively played ball his whole life should put up at least 20 and 10 on high school kids easily. By the time a guy is 23 he SHOULD be a lot bigger and have a lot more experienced than the average 15-18 year old.

For this guy at 7'1" and at 23 years old, I think 29 and 14 is kinda light. Dude should've been averaging more against Canadian high school talent.

Its true, I am sure some people on this forum played high school ball.

GreatWhiteStiff · Post #164 » by **GreatWhiteStiff** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 1:55 pm

I feel like the narrative he's around 19 is pretty strong, there's stuff like this:

I still think it is insane and very, very unlikely he has fooled Australian, Canadian, American immigration etc to improve his potential draft stock. Australian immigration and government stuff is really strict and complicated to forge something like this. I'm backing in the Bucks, Australian / Canadian immigration and school systems etc here over "the yearbook".

Also people saying he did in fact look like an awkward teenager 4 years ago (as well as looking physically rather undeveloped), as a sign he wasn't much older than his reputed age.

That said I'm still reading stuff on the bucks board, this controversy is so juicy 8-)

Got Nuffin · Post #165 » by **Got Nuffin** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 1:59 pm

artsncrafts wrote:
TheSamMitchell wrote:
S ID wrote:Damn... Dude is 23 and averaged 29 and 14 against Canadian high school kids.

And is about to become a millionaire because of it.

A 23 year old guy of average height that has actively played ball his whole life should put up at least 20 and 10 on high school kids easily. By the time a guy is 23 he SHOULD be a lot bigger and have a lot more experienced than the average 15-18 year old.

For this guy at 7'1" and at 23 years old, I think 29 and 14 is kinda light. Dude should've been averaging more against Canadian high school talent.

Its true, I am sure some people on this forum played high school ball.

Exactly. Imagine Valanciunas right now going back and playing competitive ball against Canadian HS kids. :lol:

Oh the highlights!

CunningLinguist · Post #166 » by **CunningLinguist** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 2:00 pm

Got Nuffin wrote:
artsncrafts wrote:
TheSamMitchell wrote:
A 23 year old guy of average height that has actively played ball his whole life should put up at least 20 and 10 on high school kids easily. By the time a guy is 23 he SHOULD be a lot bigger and have a lot more experienced than the average 15-18 year old.

For this guy at 7'1" and at 23 years old, I think 29 and 14 is kinda light. Dude should've been averaging more against Canadian high school talent.

Its true, I am sure some people on this forum played high school ball.

Exactly. Imagine Valanciunas right now going back and playing competitive ball against Canadian HS kids.

Oh the highlights!

What about Hoffa?

Got Nuffin · Post #167 » by **Got Nuffin** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 2:01 pm

GreatWhiteStiff wrote:Australian immigration and government stuff is really strict and complicated to forge something like this.

It's actually really not.

Saciid11 · Post #168 » by **Saciid11** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 4:26 pm

9 pages for player that doesn't concern raptors and on rumor that hasn't been proven to be true.

Remember Mutumbo was supposed to be 35 when he entered the league, but those rumors didn't stop him having 10+ years nba career and becoming top 5 greatest defensive big man to play the game ...

Dr Positivity · Post #169 » by **Dr Positivity** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 5:14 pm

GreatWhiteStiff wrote:I feel like the narrative he's around 19 is pretty strong, there's stuff like this:

I still think it is insane and very, very unlikely he has fooled Australian, Canadian, American immigration etc to improve his potential draft stock. Australian immigration and government stuff is really strict and complicated to forge something like this. I'm backing in the Bucks, Australian / Canadian immigration and school systems etc here over "the yearbook".

Also people saying he did in fact look like an awkward teenager 4 years ago (as well as looking physically rather undeveloped), as a sign he wasn't much older than his reputed age.

That said I'm still reading stuff on the bucks board, this controversy is so juicy

I agree but it looks like the Thon is 23 theory would be:

- When Thon did high school the first time (06-10) nobody knew his age. He had no birth certificate so they guessed.

- After 2010 his shady basketball handler "discovers" a birth certificate (just pays for a fake one in Sudan or whatever) which says "Hey, we thought Thon is 18, but he's really a super old looking 14! Ha ha ha!" The Australian government goes OK, gives him the documents and he goes to the states as a 14 year old.

OTOH, it's also possible to me I guess, that he is 19 was put in classes with kids a lot older than him. Maybe they thought it would lead to better basketball development

Post #170 » by **theSkinny** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 5:20 pm

CunningLinguist wrote:
Got Nuffin wrote:
artsncrafts wrote:
Its true, I am sure some people on this forum played high school ball.

Exactly. Imagine Valanciunas right now going back and playing competitive ball against Canadian HS kids.

Oh the highlights!

What about Hoffa?

Hoffa would need to chase a chicken around the gym for an hour before he would consider it.

The_Hater · Post #171 » by **The_Hater** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 5:38 pm

TheSamMitchell wrote:
S ID wrote:Damn... Dude is 23 and averaged 29 and 14 against Canadian high school kids.

And is about to become a millionaire because of it.

A 23 year old guy of average height that has actively played ball his whole life should put up at least 20 and 10 on high school kids easily. By the time a guy is 23 he SHOULD be a lot bigger and have a lot more experienced than the average 15-18 year old.

For this guy at 7'1" and at 23 years old, I think 29 and 14 is kinda light. Dude should've been averaging more against Canadian high school talent.

Just saying he averaged 29/14 doesn't tell us anything positive or negative. What if he only played 15 mpg? Would he be a better played if his coach let him play 38 mpg and pad his stats in blowouts? Plus they played a heavy US schedule against all the strongest prep teams down south.

On top of all that, high school stats are historically inaccurate and often just estimates. Not just for Maker but for all high school prospects.

Edit: I just checked out their stat page and 29/14 was for 6 games only. They played 30-40 games so not sure what happened to the rest. 3.7 blocks 3.5 apg are nice. 6.2 TO's not so much.

omar36 · Post #172 » by **omar36** » Wed Jun 29, 2016 8:54 pm

https://twitter.com/Sky_Smith_/status/748228670020452352/
this is prob better evidence then reddit posters HS pictures.

if he is actually 19, (i believe so), i feel bad for him. this witch hunt is ridiculous

Post #173 » by **Latrell** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 4:58 am

omar36 wrote:https://twitter.com/Sky_Smith_/status/748228670020452352/
this is prob better evidence then reddit posters HS pictures.

if he is actually 19, (i believe so), i feel bad for him. this witch hunt is ridiculous

How though?

We all knew he already had a passport.

That's what people are arguing. How legit are his legal documents?

The picture of the passport still doesn't explain what Thon was doing at a Perth high school in 2010.

Tofubeque · Post #174 » by **Tofubeque** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 8:35 am

Latrell wrote:
omar36 wrote:https://twitter.com/Sky_Smith_/status/748228670020452352/
this is prob better evidence then reddit posters HS pictures.

if he is actually 19, (i believe so), i feel bad for him. this witch hunt is ridiculous

How though?

We all knew he already had a passport.

That's what people are arguing. How legit are his legal documents?

The picture of the passport still doesn't explain what Thon was doing at a Perth high school in 2010.

This counters the timeline people have, that Thon was going by his actual age in Australia but then somehow got the government to believe he was 4 years younger after he graduated. They knew in 2009 he was 12 years old.

So why would a 12 year old then be "graduating high school" a year later in 2010? Because, as already revealed, Aranmore College in Perth is a grade 7-12 school with an ESL program that takes students of various ages. Thon was "graduating" from that program, not from year 12.

Also I find it doubtful he was 17 in that passport photo and then his face changed that much between 17 and 23 to look how he does now. But I don't want to open that can of worms for all the armchair child development experts here.

Tofubeque · Post #175 » by **Tofubeque** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 8:42 am

omar36 wrote:https://twitter.com/Sky_Smith_/status/748228670020452352/
this is prob better evidence then reddit posters HS pictures.

if he is actually 19, (i believe so), i feel bad for him. this witch hunt is ridiculous

From the sounds of it, not much of it is reaching him. He's surrounded by people who know better, and you wouldn't be hung up about the idea that you're 4 years older than you are if it's obviously not true.

No actual, credible news organizations are going to run with this story, so it will stay in the realm of internet conspiracy theorists and reddit trolls, where it belongs.

Kevin Willis · Post #176 » by **Kevin Willis** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 12:19 pm

Actually when he was drafted they asked him to confirm his age. I forgot his response though, guess I didn't really care.

NG15 · Post #177 » by **NG15** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:37 pm

I've interviewed Thon on countless occasions and I never once thought that he was older than 18-19. I know you can't make judgments by simply just looking at someone, but there's no way he's the same age as Bismack. Just can't fathom that.

artsncrafts · Post #178 » by **artsncrafts** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:43 pm

NG15 wrote:I've interviewed Thon on countless occasions and I never once thought that he was older than 18-19. I know you can't make judgments by simply just looking at someone, but there's no way he's the same age as Bismack. Just can't fathom that.

There is a 0 percent chance Biz is 23 though.

Mr. Natural · Post #179 » by **Mr. Natural** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 2:08 pm

Tofubeque wrote:This counters the timeline people have, that Thon was going by his actual age in Australia but then somehow got the government to believe he was 4 years younger after he graduated. They knew in 2009 he was 12 years old.

So why would a 12 year old then be "graduating high school" a year later in 2010? Because, as already revealed, Aranmore College in Perth is a grade 7-12 school with an ESL program that takes students of various ages. Thon was "graduating" from that program, not from year 12.

Also I find it doubtful he was 17 in that passport photo and then his face changed that much between 17 and 23 to look how he does now. But I don't want to open that can of worms for all the armchair child development experts here.

Why would Thon be in the Grade 12 section of the yearbook if he was doing an ESL program there?

Post #180 » by **Latrell** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 5:34 pm

Tofubeque wrote:
Latrell wrote:
omar36 wrote:https://twitter.com/Sky_Smith_/status/748228670020452352/
this is prob better evidence then reddit posters HS pictures.

if he is actually 19, (i believe so), i feel bad for him. this witch hunt is ridiculous

How though?

We all knew he already had a passport.

That's what people are arguing. How legit are his legal documents?

The picture of the passport still doesn't explain what Thon was doing at a Perth high school in 2010.

This counters the timeline people have, that Thon was going by his actual age in Australia but then somehow got the government to believe he was 4 years younger after he graduated. They knew in 2009 he was 12 years old.

So why would a 12 year old then be "graduating high school" a year later in 2010? Because, as already revealed, Aranmore College in Perth is a grade 7-12 school with an ESL program that takes students of various ages. Thon was "graduating" from that program, not from year 12.

Also I find it doubtful he was 17 in that passport photo and then his face changed that much between 17 and 23 to look how he does now. But I don't want to open that can of worms for all the armchair child development experts here.

Well there are a lot of holes in either story , no matter what side of the debate you are on.

I believe it's been confirmed from Aussies on the Bucks board that they wouldn't put your picture in the yearbook if you are just taking English classes. There are also a number of newsletters from that school suggesting that Thon was indeed a full time student there.

Thon and the Bucks pretty much have their bases covered though. They can trot out the passport and visa and go " see! here you go guys! here's proof of his age!" ' The trail stops at Aranmore because Aranmore has been advised by someone (Bucks, Thon's handler) to keep their mouth shut.

Bucks fans will never know the truth, and at this point the truth is honestly irrelevant. It's gonna be all about if Thon is good at basketball. If he's good like Bismack or Serge this will eventually go away even if most people have doubts about his age.