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I have been catching up on my DVR on some Texas games mainly to watch Hamilton and Thompson, and couldn't help but be distracted by the play of Dogus Balbay.

The case for him:
Following in the vein of many Turkish players he is a pretty good athlete, definitely NBA caliber IMO. He has a really good first step and strong ball handling ability. He shows nice finishing ability around the basket making NBA tyoe finishes and generally seems strong for a PG. He looks to be legitamately 6-6'1. Most interestingly his passing seems extradinalrily good, so much so that I was reminded quite a bit of my team's own Rajon Rondo, and has been the best PG I have watched actually running a real offense. Going back to numbers (per Hollinger) he indeed has a pretty high assist percentage. He also is a very good rebounder. He is also an above avg defender and is a part of Texas highly ranked defensive team. Additionally last year his team completely tanked when he went down with a knee injury. His PPS is a very high 1.48 and is shooting 60% from the field. He avg a steal per game. This years Texas team has been sneaky good in the sense they have lost by only a basket to some of the best teams in the country Pitt, UConn and have been blowing out everyone else they play

Against him:
Alas like Rondo he doesn't seem much of a scorer, or better yet a shooter. I say seems b/c he doesn't take jumpshot in the games I watched and he doesn't take 3s according to the stats. His FT% is poor and his motion has an ugly hitch in it so I imagine his jumpshot might be similar. 1.48 pps his a huge jump from his previous numbers of 1.12 pps. He only plays around 20 minutes a game. He is a senior. He is coming off knee surgery.

Still all in all I am impressed by him. The eyeball test tells me there is some legit talent. IT seems like if he could become a passable jumpshooter that he could be a backup PG in the NBA. Does anyone like him?

not only can he not shoot, but he's scared to shoot. i dont see him ever becoming a passable shooter. hes also more of a ball mover instead of a playmaker, which is ok for a PG i guess, but if hes not attacking the hoop hes a liability on that end.

he'll be playing in turkey next yr.

Good college player, zero NBA chances.

I would much rather have Cory Joseph then Balbay from the longhorn backcourt

Yeah, he'd have to at least shoot like Jordan Farmar to get even a look by an NBA team. He is a fun to watch PG, but with that small a frame, you almost have to be a great athlete or great shooter - as well as having his kind of PG skills - to get a shot. And he sure needs to play more than 18 minutes a game in his senior season. He could play professionally - but not in the NBA.

He definitely might not make it. But he does grade well in some advanced stats. While he is low in PER but his WS is 7th among PG from big programs just behind Kemba Walker. Irving, Wanamaker, Fredett, Mith, Shumpert, and Walker are the only guys from big schools ahead of him and all of them are listed on Draftexpress' big board, so I don't think its such a stretch to shine light on Balbay, esp since its not such a stretch to say if he improves his scoring prowess even a little bit (again maybe a stretch) he would be ranked ahead of a couple of those guys. Check for yourself.

http://www.draftexpress.com/stats.php?s ... =prospects

You undersold his defense. He is an unbelievably good defender at the PG position. Unfortunately, his shooting is completely non existent and his passing, while decent, is nowhere near Rondo level. He's a good transition player, but Texas has to be very crafty to use him on the half court. What they mainly do is use him as a screener and post up player.

I think it's possible he could be drafted in the 2nd round as a defensive specialist. There is something to be said about having a 12th man who can guard Chris Paul as well as anybody for a few minutes per game. But he's a very long way off from being a rotation player because of the other end.

I think Joseph is less of an athlete than Balbay, and I'm not sure I see him as being a great NBA prospect. What he can do however is actually hit shots, and he's a reliable ball handler, so he could make for a good backup PG. In terms of impact someone like Kyle Lowry or Eric Maynor.

Cory Joseph is gonna be bad ass in the league, I think it's a complete discredit to him to compare him with Kyle Lowry and Maynor even though both are good rotation guys.

Joseph plays almost exclusively off the ball when Balbay is in the game and still shows good ability there, but he's a natural point guard.

Serves to prove that he could probably be a great fit next to another ball handler and playmaker and he has shown to work very well with a high usage big man and scoring/shooter wing.

Cory Joseph has top 10 NBA point guard written all over him in a few years if he could bulk up a touch and get stronger without losing athleticism and quickness.

/end thread derailment

[quote="vincecarter4pres"]Cory Joseph is gonna be bad ass in the league, I think it's a complete discredit to him to compare him with Kyle Lowry and Maynor even though both are good rotation guys.

Joseph plays almost exclusively off the ball when Balbay is in the game and still shows good ability there, but he's a natural point guard.

Serves to prove that he could probably be a great fit next to another ball handler and playmaker and he has shown to work very well with a high usage big man and scoring/shooter wing.

Cory Joseph has top 10 NBA point guard written all over him in a few years if he could bulk up a touch and get stronger without losing athleticism and quickness.

/end thread derailment

I agree that he will be a good PG in the league. he is a sold defender not sure if he is as good as Bradley but hes quiet impressive. I would of liked to see him running the point this year in Texas rather then playing more of the ball and allowing Balbay to run the PG spot but they are ranked 3d in the nation so i wont complain.
Also, if CoJo stays which he probably will i would wonder how he would play with Kabango next year (that would be a killer back court) but he will probably again pla off the ball so when scouting him, scouts will have to evaluate how well he will translate to a full time PG in the league.
Getting back to Balbay, some decent talent is comming out of Turkey (Turk,Asik,Ilyasova, Balbay, Erdin) not great but decent

Its weird how athletic a lot of the turkish guys are. Not to stereotype, but are Turkish athletes generally better raw athletes than the eurasian countries (for instance in soccer)?

As a Texas Fan, I've seen almost every Longhorns game over the past few seasons. I've likened Balbay to "the Rondo of college basketball" as well for a long time, due to his good athleticism, passing ability, speed, defense, and... poor shooting. Balbay doesn't quite have Rondo's elite athleticism, or length, and even Rondo's shown considerably more shooting ability than Balbay has while Rondo was at Kentucky, so obviously Balbay doesn't translate to the NBA quite as seamlessly.

On offense, Balbay only scores off pushing the tempo during transition, or the occasional play where a big runs to the top of the key for a hand-off from Balbay who then cuts straight to the basket for an alley-oop. Obviously needs to work on shooting. His assist numbers are a little low (2.5 apg), but that is a product of the offense(!) Texas has been running this year and that he doesn't need to dominate the ball on a very talented college team; he's a very good passer.

On defense, Balbay is very good, gives a lot of effort and uses his quickness well to stick on his man. At the college level he's sometimes asked to guard the other team's best perimeter player (often times SFs) which he doesn't really have the length to contest shots for. He shouldn't have to do that on the next level, so that shouldn't really be an issue.

All-in all, his strengths and limitations are blatantly obvious, but he has very good basketball IQ and NBA level athleticism, which are two great qualities to have and make him worth a 2nd round flier imo. If his offensive game ever develops, then he can be a quality NBA player.

How tall is he?

KayAllTheWaay wrote:How tall is he?

I think he's a legit 6'1 (maybe 6'1 barefoot?). He has plenty of height for the PG position IMO, especially considering how strong and athletic he is.

Cammo101 wrote:Good college player, zero NBA chances.

I have to agree with you there, there are a number of college guards who are getting overhyped on here because of the team they play on. Balbay is a solid guard at both ends of the floor and looks to be a guy who could be a solid contributor and will have a lengthy tenure as an International player. Doesn't mean he's a bad player, just saying that he's not a NBA prospect and hasn't showed signs of being one throughout his time at Texas.

travisjordan wrote:

Cammo101 wrote:Good college player, zero NBA chances.

I have to agree with you there, there are a number of college guards who are getting overhyped on here because of the team they play on. Balbay is a solid guard at both ends of the floor and looks to be a guy who could be a solid contributor and will have a lengthy tenure as an International player. Doesn't mean he's a bad player, just saying that he's not a NBA prospect and hasn't showed signs of being one throughout his time at Texas.

I don't think anyone has said that he's an especially great prospect, just that he has a few tangible NBA skills and thus may be worth a pick towards the end of the 2nd round. Definitely agree that anything more than that is silly.

Also it's worth mentioning that he could get drafted, play overseas for a few years, and then come to the NBA with a more advanced jump shot.

I really doubt he gets drafted but he could be an undrafted rookie free agent that gets into maybe 25 to 35 games over the course of a season, averaging like 6 minutes per game, put in the game for situational purposes for short spurts and because of inevitable injuries.

It's certainly possible he gets taken late second in this draft though.

kidKompton wrote:



Getting back to Balbay, some decent talent is comming out of Turkey (Turk,Asik,Ilyasova, Balbay, Erdin) not great but decent

You forgot Kanter and Kilicli (West Virginia).

If this guy can develop a jump shot, I see him having Tony Parker type potential. Although the Rondo comparisons aren't all that far off.

If he's considered one of the best guard defenders, why do mock drafts ignore him?

KayAllTheWaay wrote:If he's considered one of the best guard defenders, why do mock drafts ignore him?

Because he can't shoot. If he can develop a consistent jumper he'll be the steal of this draft no question.