Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 3

[God Squad]

As much as I like James Johnson I think that if we don't get really lucky with the lottery balls we are going to make Terrance Jones a member of the Toronto Raptors on draft day. He fits with BC's recent track record of going after a mixture of youth, upside, proven stats at the NCAA level and positional need.

I have no problem taken TJones. I actually like his play. He's still a work in progress. But the upside is there. He should make up for some of DD defensive woes.

[God Squad]

As much as I like James Johnson I think that if we don't get really lucky with the lottery balls we are going to make Terrance Jones a member of the Toronto Raptors on draft day. He fits with BC's recent track record of going after a mixture of youth, upside, proven stats at the NCAA level and positional need.

I don't think Johnson will differ us from taking a SF. For one, JJ is more of a bench contributor on a good team anyways unless he can find his offensive sea legs. Secondly Terrence Jones will be able to log PF minutes in the NBA... he might be ONLY a PF... so he can play beside James Johnson at times next year

I'm not too sure about that. Yeah he plays major mins at PF now, but he has the skill set imo for the 3.

[Dr Positivity]

Well to be a full time 3 he'll need a certain degree of perimeter skills and shooting and he'll need to prove he can defend the position. It's better to give up a few inches to your defender than to be slower than him and have him blow by you every play - So you can hide small PFs more than slow SFs. Also if TJ's 3pt shot isn't great, teams will be hard pressed to field him as 'just' a supporting player cause you want supporting SFs to hit 3s. Whereas at PF he can carve at a niche as a rebounder, energy guy

[TheRealDeal]

If basketball is the number one sport in Europe, it will be easier to find a good basketball player there. The fact of the matter is it is not. Don't need to over analyze the situation.

I have no idea what that means. Basketball isn't the No. 1 sport in America either. It's football, followed by baseball.

By far #1 in inner-city America. I'd estimate about 99.9% of boys in the inner cities try playing basketball.

[Big Shot]

[quote="TheRealDeal"

By far #1 in inner-city America. I'd estimate about 99.9% of boys in the inner cities try playing basketball.[/quote]


That's what I thought.

[dagger]

If basketball is the number one sport in Europe, it will be easier to find a good basketball player there. The fact of the matter is it is not. Don't need to over analyze the situation.

I have no idea what that means. Basketball isn't the No. 1 sport in America either. It's football, followed by baseball.

By far #1 in inner-city America. I'd estimate about 99.9% of boys in the inner cities try playing basketball.

And again, what's your frickin point? Basketball is the Number 1 sport in Lithuania by far. What would you deduce from that?

There are more basketball players in China than in the US. What would you deduce from that?

[karolis1221]

I have nothing against European players. Maybe I should've said that it's easier to find a good football player than a good basketball player in Europe since football is the #1 sport there.

first in Europe we dont have such a training facilities like in US,second nobodie cares about high school basketball and college basketball,and last europeans dont have such a strong physic and athletic bodies to jump like americans lol its fact, Soccer is number one in the world not only in europe

Yeah I know soccer is the #1 sport in the world. I intentionally wrote "football" because that's what they call( in England at least) over there.

yeah football here aswell mate

[dagger]

There is definitely a transition period that most International players go through, probably more apparent for this generation of players than before.

We are seeing less Nowitzkis, less Stojakovics, less Ginobilis, less Gasols, less Kirilenkos, etc. All-star calibre players. I'm sure I'm missing some other names, it's early in the morning.

However, the group of Europeans in this upcoming draft have been touted by scouts as being above average.

Valanciunas and Vesely are very good prospects. Valanciunas, for one, has demonstrated an ability to rebound and play big, so he should not be compared to Bargnani in any way.

Not even in terms of demeanor or temperament?

Both Valanciunas and Vesely are different personality than Bargnani. Vesely, for one, is outgoing, emotive, even supercharged on the court. He's a power dunker among his many attributes. Valanciunas relentlessly attacks the offensive boards, which is hardly an indicator of impassiveness. He's probably the best offensive rebounder in Europe - as an 18 year old.

[Double Helix]

I definitely think T-Jones has the skills to be an NBA SF.

It's important to remember he's doing all of this at the tender age of 19 which is pretty remarkable so he certainly has far more upside than James Johnson as a result of that.

[TheRealDeal]

And again, what's your frickin point? Basketball is the Number 1 sport in Lithuania by far. What would you deduce from that?

There are more basketball players in China than in the US. What would you deduce from that?

that basketball is the #1 sport in the inner-cities of America

[dagger]

And again, what's your frickin point? Basketball is the Number 1 sport in Lithuania by far. What would you deduce from that?

There are more basketball players in China than in the US. What would you deduce from that?

that basketball is the #1 sport in the inner-cities of America

So that's the point? Nothing else? Hockey is our #1 sport. What do you deduce from that? That you wouldn't draft Alexander Ovechkin because he's not Canadian?

[TheRealDeal]

I have no idea what that means. Basketball isn't the No. 1 sport in America either. It's football, followed by baseball.

[karolis1221]

basketball is more like a coulture in lithuania,we have some great idol players for young kidos to be their inspiration to come train and be like them,almost 80% of funds for our country sports are going to basketball,our national team showing good results and after each good championship basketball is even more popular than everyone is on hype,we have one of the best basketball schools for youth players in europe you can check that u16-18 we win everything i think this is the main thing why we have some players. USA i think is almost the same in idols aspect

[Double Helix]

Paul Pierce's junior season at Kansas:

Code: Select all

MIN   FG%   3P%   FT%  RPG  APG  TPG  BPG  SPG   PPG
30.4  51.3  33.9  73.8  6.7  2.6  2.9  1.1  1.1  20.4


Antoine Walker's sophomore season at Kentucky:

Code: Select all

MIN   FG%   3P%   FT%  RPG  APG  TPG  BPG  SPG   PPG
27.0  46.3  18.8  63.1  8.4  2.9  2.5  0.7  1.7  15.2


Wilson Chandler's sophomore season at De Paul:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/46508

Lamar Odom's redshirt freshmen season at University of Rhode Island:
http://www.databasebasketball.com/playe ... d=ODOMLA01

Michael Beasley's freshmen season at Kansas State:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/pr ... erId=36671

Terrence Jones freshmen season so far as University of Kentucky:
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pla ... ste06.html

I know stats aren't interchangeable or terribly reflective season to season but there's no denying the fact that what Jones has done so far as a freshmen at Kentucky has been remarkable. I don't see how this guy won't end up becoming an impact SF down the road.

Here's a good write-up about him from ESPN during recruitment.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... ence-jones

[dagger]

By the way

Does anyone know why Kendall Marshall isn't starting to show up in mock drafts, either 2011 or 2012? I find it strange he isn't earning his way into the draft discussion.

Has he said something, like taken a vow that he won't turn pro until his senior year. Usually, the mock drafts will rank you highly based on just a few really good games, and in six weeks he has turned around NC's year. He's more responsible for its recent success than Harrison Barnes.

[TheRealDeal]

By the way

Does anyone know why Kendall Marshall isn't starting to show up in mock drafts, either 2011 or 2012? I find it strange he isn't earning his way into the draft discussion.

Has he said something, like taken a vow that he won't turn pro until his senior year. Usually, the mock drafts will rank you highly based on just a few really good games, and in six weeks he has turned around NC's year. He's more responsible for its recent success than Harrison Barnes.

Marshall hasn't proven enough to play in the NBA yet. His D started out weak but UNC fans seem to think he's improved and might be one of their best defenders now. His shot needs a lot of work but he has nice footwork to get to the rim. If he can get the spin move that he did against Duke down it could be lethal. He'll add size to be able to compete with stronger guards before he declares. Marshall will wow everyone with his play-making in the next year or two and shoot up the mocks imo.

Zeller, Henson and Barnes deserve a ton of credit for UNC's success as well. If Barnes didn't absolutely shut down Kyle Singler in the Duke game it could have been a different story.

[TheRealDeal]

btw the awards are announced Tuesday but this is one site's predictions

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14783838/conference-awards-handing-out-kudos-with-some-help

[dagger]

By the way

Does anyone know why Kendall Marshall isn't starting to show up in mock drafts, either 2011 or 2012? I find it strange he isn't earning his way into the draft discussion.

Has he said something, like taken a vow that he won't turn pro until his senior year. Usually, the mock drafts will rank you highly based on just a few really good games, and in six weeks he has turned around NC's year. He's more responsible for its recent success than Harrison Barnes.

Marshall hasn't proven enough to play in the NBA yet. His D started out weak but UNC fans seem to think he's improved and might be one of their best defenders now. His shot needs a lot of work but he has nice footwork to get to the rim. If he can get the spin move that he did against Duke down it could be lethal. He'll add size to be able to compete with stronger guards before he declares. Marshall will wow everyone with his play-making in the next year or two and shoot up the mocks imo.

Zeller, Henson and Barnes deserve a ton of credit for UNC's success as well. If Barnes didn't absolutely shut down Kyle Singler in the Duke game it could have been a different story.

That's not my question. Of course Marshall is a future talent, but even kids in high school are part of the 2012 mock drafts, so why not a starter at UNC. I'm not talking 2011, although I've seen kids who were not supposed to go into a particular draft get in based on a strong March or April. Gordon Hayward was a nobody until he had a particularly strong finish with Butler. I would have expected by now that at the very least, someone would have tried to slot Marshall into the 2012 mock drafts, let alone 2011.

[TheRealDeal]

By the way

Does anyone know why Kendall Marshall isn't starting to show up in mock drafts, either 2011 or 2012? I find it strange he isn't earning his way into the draft discussion.

Has he said something, like taken a vow that he won't turn pro until his senior year. Usually, the mock drafts will rank you highly based on just a few really good games, and in six weeks he has turned around NC's year. He's more responsible for its recent success than Harrison Barnes.

Marshall hasn't proven enough to play in the NBA yet. His D started out weak but UNC fans seem to think he's improved and might be one of their best defenders now. His shot needs a lot of work but he has nice footwork to get to the rim. If he can get the spin move that he did against Duke down it could be lethal. He'll add size to be able to compete with stronger guards before he declares. Marshall will wow everyone with his play-making in the next year or two and shoot up the mocks imo.

Zeller, Henson and Barnes deserve a ton of credit for UNC's success as well. If Barnes didn't absolutely shut down Kyle Singler in the Duke game it could have been a different story.

That's not my question. Of course Marshall is a future talent, but even kids in high school are part of the 2012 mock drafts, so why not a starter at UNC. I'm not talking 2011, although I've seen kids who were not supposed to go into a particular draft get in based on a strong March or April. Gordon Hayward was a nobody until he had a particularly strong finish with Butler. I would have expected by now that at the very least, someone would have tried to slot Marshall into the 2012 mock drafts, let alone 2011.

Does it say when they were last updated?

[wanker]

Do you think Jonas Valanciunas congratulated Rasho Nesterovic after he was announced as the Euroleague MVP (for the month of February), or do you think he was too jealous?