Joel Freeland
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Joel Freeland
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Joel Freeland
I found an update on Joel Freeland. It appears that he is contributing very well to his team this year. Check out his stats....
http://www.ulebcup.com/ulebcup/competit ... ubcode=can
http://www.ulebcup.com/ulebcup/competit ... ubcode=can
- Yadadimean
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- mojomarc
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Yadadimean wrote:i dont know...judging by those numbers, he'll probably never play in the NBA
Those number certainly suggest that if he ever does, it will be at least two or three years from now before we could expect him to even make the team, and probably two-three more before he makes a contribution.
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He'll be competitive in the NBA as early as the 2009-10 season. He's making excellent progress, playing tough and developing a solid PF game on offense and defense. Can run the floor too. Excellent the other day - albeit in limited minutes - in a very convincing win over Barcelona, a top-notch ACB and Euroleague club. What more do you want from a 20 year-old in the world's No. 2 league?
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mojomarc wrote:Remember--he's the biggest guy in a league notoriously short of quality big guys.
You aren't all that well-versed in international basketball, mojomarc, are you?
Joel is 6-10. He competes in Spain's ACB league. There are many bigger players in that league... and several of them are either NBA prospects or have already been in the NBA, so it's obviously not "notoriously short of quality big guys"...
Just as a reminder, the guys who are bigger than Joel in Spain are the following:
Akasvayu Girona: 7-1 Marc Gasol
Alta Gesti
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salaner wrote:mojomarc wrote:Remember--he's the biggest guy in a league notoriously short of quality big guys.
You aren't all that well-versed in international basketball, mojomarc, are you?
You missed a key word in my original statement. Let me repeat, and see if you can catch it:
He's the biggest guy in a league notoriously short of QUALITY big guys.
You see the difference? You listed a bunch of players, but pardon me if I'm not impressed by mediochre numbers against the likes of PJ Ramos (who absolutely stunk in the NBA), Fred Weiss (drummed out for not being assertive enough defensively to keep Vince Carter from completely jumping over him for the ultimate posterization) and Curtis Borchardt (who played a whopping total of 1117 minutes in the NBA, the last being in 2005). You can say these are former NBA players, and while that is factually true, it like like saying I'm a movie star just because I was an extra in the crowd scene in Rocky V. Sure, I was on-screen (possibly--I've never found myself), but it's not like I made a huge contribution there.
As for the other "prospects," I'd say only marc Gasol and Tiago Splitter are the only things approaching real quality. Barac's been drafted, but he's even more of a project than Freeland and really not athletic.
That's 27 taller (and usually bigger) guys, count'em. Not to mention a whole bunch of players the same size as Joel...
And virtually none of 'em are quality players. Seriously, dude--when a player has the same PER (in half the minutes) as Paul Shirley, you're not talking about a real NBA prospect that can contribute anything meaningful.
So, yes, he gets all the competition he needs at this point. Against Barcelona he held Kasun down rather brilliantly.
You're talking about a guy who played less than 600 minutes in his entire NBA career and who wasn't considered good enough to get minutes for the Clippers. If he is your definition of quality in the ACB then I think you made my case for me.
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Those expecting him to someday contribute to the bright future ahead in Portland may come away disappointed. It's nice to see him playing for Gran Canaria now instead of sitting on the bench, but really I just can't see Joel progressing to the stage where he will be able to contribute something to what will be a pretty freakin' awesome team. I see him as an end of the rotation guy at best judging by him at the moment with his predicted development in mind.
I have seen Joel play basketball for a number of years, I have seen a fair bit of his progression through English junior basketball, he started fairly late to the game(age 15/16) and the progress that he has made is outstanding. He picked up the game exceptionally quick, and it seems as if he is a real quick learner, many have praised him on just how coachable he is.
He certainly is a very skilled young talent, I guess it all hinges on how his PT is distributed in Gran Canaria, which he seems to be playing and starting a lot now, which is fine compared to the situation a year or two ago.
Whatever the case, he will go on to have a solid career in Europe, I'm just not confident on how he will progress and translate into an NBA player. He is doing pretty well as of late, I'm still not convinced though. And thats coming from a guy who wants to see Mr.Freeland do extremely well.
I think he is mainly being judged on his potential, I think many are going by how quickly he developed when he originally started playing and are basing his future assuming he continue progressing at that speed. When you first start playing basketball, the improvements are bigger and easier to obtain. As you start filling out your bball skill set is gets harder and harder to improve, therefore the progression rate will slow down some what. It's wrong to think that he will continue to develop as quickly as he did.
I have seen Joel play basketball for a number of years, I have seen a fair bit of his progression through English junior basketball, he started fairly late to the game(age 15/16) and the progress that he has made is outstanding. He picked up the game exceptionally quick, and it seems as if he is a real quick learner, many have praised him on just how coachable he is.
He certainly is a very skilled young talent, I guess it all hinges on how his PT is distributed in Gran Canaria, which he seems to be playing and starting a lot now, which is fine compared to the situation a year or two ago.
Whatever the case, he will go on to have a solid career in Europe, I'm just not confident on how he will progress and translate into an NBA player. He is doing pretty well as of late, I'm still not convinced though. And thats coming from a guy who wants to see Mr.Freeland do extremely well.
I think he is mainly being judged on his potential, I think many are going by how quickly he developed when he originally started playing and are basing his future assuming he continue progressing at that speed. When you first start playing basketball, the improvements are bigger and easier to obtain. As you start filling out your bball skill set is gets harder and harder to improve, therefore the progression rate will slow down some what. It's wrong to think that he will continue to develop as quickly as he did.
- d-train
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mojomarc wrote:Question for all of those guys who want to see Freeland over her to bang a bit: why shouldn't we just resign Raef for the vets minimum instead? At least we know he won't make mistakes, is a pretty good rebounder when given minutes and has a lot of NBA experience as a pretty darned good player.
LaFrentz might be a decent alternative to Freeland but what we really need is a better alternative.

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Just my two cents. I follow the ACB every week and I dont see Freeland playing in the NBA, let's say, in the next 3 years?
If, after this time, he improves in every aspect of his game, then we can talk again, just my opinion.
If any NBA team needs a backup big man, there are many players who could play that role better than Joel.
Edit: by the way, another great game by Rudy today although his team wasnt able to win. I will update his numbers in Rudy's post.
If, after this time, he improves in every aspect of his game, then we can talk again, just my opinion.
If any NBA team needs a backup big man, there are many players who could play that role better than Joel.
Edit: by the way, another great game by Rudy today although his team wasnt able to win. I will update his numbers in Rudy's post.
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d-train wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
LaFrentz might be a decent alternative to Freeland but what we really need is a better alternative.
How many minutes do you anticipate this "better alternative" playing? I'm thinking that with LMA and Frye in the rotation, we only have maybe 6-8 minutes per game for this banger. Who is better out there that would accept that kind of role?
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mojomarc wrote:How many minutes do you anticipate this "better alternative" playing? I'm thinking that with LMA and Frye in the rotation, we only have maybe 6-8 minutes per game for this banger. Who is better out there that would accept that kind of role?
I would like to see the Blazers stockpile physically strong, tough, competitive, quick, and smart players that can rebound and play defense. I don't care who gets minutes but I want Nate to have a roster full of players that can team with Oden, Roy, and Aldridge to win a championship. This team doesn't have the type of players we should have to complement our big 3. Despite our recent success, this team is not built to win IMO. We have a great star in Roy and next year Oden will give us the low post player we need to complete the inside outside combination to compete for championships but our complimentary players are not the level of competitors we need.

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d-train wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I would like to see the Blazers stockpile physically strong, tough, competitive, quick, and smart players that can rebound and play defense. I don't care who gets minutes but I want Nate to have a roster full of players that can team with Oden, Roy, and Aldridge to win a championship. This team doesn't have the type of players we should have to complement our big 3. Despite our recent success, this team is not built to win IMO. We have a great star in Roy and next year Oden will give us the low post player we need to complete the inside outside combination to compete for championships but our complimentary players are not the level of competitors we need.
I question if that is true. It may be but I'm not sure you could make that call yet.
Compare to the Spurs. Their 'big 3' of Duncan, Ginobli, & Parker is very good. But assume that portland's big 3 of roy-oden-aldridge will reach a nearly comparable level.
The Spurs have the defensive specialist Bowen. Portland appears to be developing Outlaw as quite a specialist as well.
Then the question is if the spurs role players of finley, barry, horry, oberto, vaughn, and elson is that superior to the future role-rotation of webster, jones, blake, pryzbilla, sergio, and frye.
I don't see that it's true, as a matter of fact, projecting just a little, I'd think portland's 'complementary' players could be superior...maybe substantially.
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By far Portland's bench is better than San Antonio's. The only difference is the Spurs know how to move the ball. The Blazers haven't reached that level yet, as evident in the Houston game when the Rockets doubled Roy on the pick & roll, which will happen in every game from here on out. The lack of ball movement in the offense shines like a light in the dark when the Blazers miss shots. When they get good buckets inside, the ball movement is there.
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^^^ You forgot to mention Rudy.
The way I see it is next year Pryz is going to be much more valuable to someone else than he is to us. Tough mobile enforcer type defensive centers are at a premium in this L. Frye and LaMarcus can man the 4-5 when Oden sits(especially if LA gets a little bigger), and I feel Travis will get the majority of his PF minutes when Greg is in the game, this will solve our toughness problem as we will not see as many Trout/Frye or Trout/LaMarcus weenie roasts. The way Pryzbilla is playing he could be a key peice in a package to move up in the draft. As far as Freeland goes none of us really know for sure, I trust KP and I'm sure he has a plan for this kid.
With all that said I wouldn't mind us picking up Marcus Haislip to crack the occasional skull and grab some boards.

With all that said I wouldn't mind us picking up Marcus Haislip to crack the occasional skull and grab some boards.
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