mojo13 wrote:Fair enough....I am more focused on this Olympic cycle though.
Per Jamal Murray nothing yet has me convinced he will be a better player than Stauskas. He is a little over-hyped in my opinion (as most young guys are - see Kabongo, Myck; Cadougan, Junior; Bennett, Anthony). I think Murray is a certain NBA player, but it is too early to tell if he is even starter caliber - let alone a star in the making. He is merely looking good in the NCAAs (not great) and is struggling a bit with the better NCAA athletes. The NBA is a giant step up from the NCAA. He has some major concerns with his game and we don't yet know if he is more of a SG or PG. I think he has a better chance to be a higher level contributor in the NBA as a PG, but he has Tyler Ulis in his way at UK. I am not saying Jamal is trash...but people who pencil him in as the next big thing after Wiggins, may be getting ahead of themselves. Regardless, if he can get to Cojo's level he will be a boon for the national team.
But don't count on Jamal being with the SMNT this summer....I can't think of the last time an NBA team allowed a NBA lottery pick to go play FIBA the summer he gets drafted.
Stauskas was actually one of our better all-around players this past summer in FIBA Americas. He seems to still be struggling with the size and speed of the NBA but this is not a problem in FIBA ball. He is just as athletic as most guards he will face and he may be much taller than most. That coupled with the experience he gained last summer - I think he'd be a superior option over Murray for this summer (likely a moot point).
Maybe at FIBA Americas level, but not against any decent teams at Olympics QR and/or Olympics.
mojo13 wrote:One guy who doesn't get talked about enough if you ask me is Khem Birch.
I really believed he should have had an NBA call up last year and this year he is confirming it. He is playing really well in Turkey for Usak Sportif. Putting up great stats, defending well and made the Allstar game. A week or so ago three or four Euroleague teams came calling trying to buy him out of Sportif (Maccabi, Olympiacos and a few others). Usak said no (unfortunately) but it shows how well he is playing.
He may be playing at a higher level than Pangos or Hanlan. Totally different players I know, but trying to make a case that Khem may be our best "non-NBA player" out there. We are deep up front, but this year and the future WC qualifying years where we need to lean on non-NBA players means he should be part of Team Canada somehow.
Pangos seems to still be playing really well for Gran Carnia. Havent heard much about Heslpi, Hanlan or Scrubb over the last few weeks. Some of the Zalgris fans in message boards seem to be quite pleased with Hanlan...but don't think he is NBA calibre.
Anyone have insight on Tyler Ennis's situation? Ennis has been pushed out of the rotation again, and it is a fair bet for Ennis to get his fourth year option declined this offseason.
Right now Birch is the best Canadian player in Europe.
As far as Hanlan goes, I have seen him playing several times in Euroleague Top 16 and he has been completely invisible and useless. As soon as Zalgiris got into the harder Top 16 stage, he became a useless player. I am sure he will be in either Eurocup or D-League next season. He's not ready for Canada's national team IMO.
Pangos has had a good season in Spanish League and 2nd level Eurocup, but he has cooled off a lot lately. Once teams got a scouting book on him and realized how he likes to play, his effectiveness lessened a lot. He is still playing well though considering his age. I have also heard that Pangos will be getting Greek citizenship, so that would open up the possibility that he could one day have a shot at playing in a big Euroleague club like Panathinaikos or Olympiacos. Although he's not ready for that yet.
Scrubb was sent on loan by AEK to play in the German League with Fraport Skyliners. He's doing a solid job there, and it's one of the better teams in Germany. The German League has improved a lot in recent years, however it's still way worse than Greek League, where Scrubb was at before. Ian Vougioukas was by far and away the best player in the German League last year. Vougioukas is a decent player, but that really tells about the level of the German League. When Scrubb was in AEK he only played as a shooting guard, and in Germany he's playing as a 2/3. AEK got him to be a combo guard, but they decided he was not capable of playing the 1 position, so he got loaned. As far as I know, he's being loaned to the same German team for next season also.
Pangos is pretty much a SG and not a PG in his team also, but he's too small to play good defense. He's like a more skilled, but less athletic Jaycee Carroll. I think he's going to need some years in Europe before he is playing in a rotation in a good club.
Undefeated wrote:Either France or Gilas will qualify for the Olympics. Gilas is playing in Manila so you know for sure they're going to get some home cooking. Serbia, France/Gilas and Greece for the last 3 spots.
No one knows what team Greece will send. The qualification tournament starts a few days after the big leagues in Europe end, so almost their whole team might not be able to play (since they are the one national team with most of their players in big European clubs), and the guys that do play from Greece will be completely exhausted. Already Zisis and Bourousis have hinted they won't play, and Spanoulis said he would only play if they didn't have to play in the qualification tournament (meaning he would only play at the actual Olympics if they made it). Also, Antetokounmpo has been hinting around already that he needs to work on his jumpo shot in the summer, rather than play in the national team.
The same scenario happened to Greece 4 years ago, when they had to play the qualification tournament like 3 days after the season ended for their players playing in Italy, Spain, and Greece, and they also lost their NBA players. If I remember right, 4 years ago, their head coach did not even get a single day of practice with the team, since he was coaching in his league's playoffs during the time the team had a few days to train. He just flew to meet the team at the qualifying round. That Greek team would have all the same scheduling issues and problems this time also.
frumble wrote:
So of their nine rotation guys from last summer, four are well into their 30s (Parker, Diaw, Gelabale, and Pietrus), and another two will be FAs (Batum UFA and Fournier RFA) at the end of the season? And their top guy who didn't play last summer (Noah) will also be a UFA?
If most of those guys are missing they will be very reliant on guys like Gobert, Lauvergne, and de Colo? Still a very good team, but not beyond the realm of possibility that we could knock them off.
Noah already retired from France's national team.
mojo13 wrote:I agree Bennett should head to Europe and refine his game (and confidence).
Jan Veesly is now one of the best players in Europe (and a one man wrecking crew for Czech Rep.) - this after a three year flame-out in the NBA on par with Bennett. It saved Joe Alexander too.
Czech Republic has several very good players. It's certainly one of the best teams in Europe. Vesely isn't the best player on their national team. As far as Joe Alexander goes, he's a bad example for a player going to Euroleague to improve and develop, if you want to say that could happen with Bennett.
Alexander in Euroleague these last 2 seasons = a player with great athletic ability, some modest playing skills, and absolutely zero basketball IQ, zero basketball instincts, and a complete inability to play defense under any situation. he also can't even grasp the simplest of fundamental concepts on the offense in half court. He can't even set a proper pick for example.
Alexander is basically at best case scenario, a borderline scrub in Euroleague, and that's in bad teams. I don't think he plays in Euroleague again either after this year.
Bennett better be much better than Alexander is, if he wants to make a career in Euroleague. Alexander's Euroleague career is already finished, I am 90% sure of that. Unless he takes a small contract as an 11-12 man on a bad team.
