Gherardini scouting in Europe

[Shaazzam]

And by having connections deep in the European community, we can stash youngish draft picks over there and let them develop their games until they are ready to come over and play. Try and make minimal hassles with their agents, and get teams to be a little more pleasant in signing our assets to easily escapeable deals.

[JD225]

I did a quick cursory search of basketballreference.com to see if I could find a stat indicating what percentage of a team's shots were jumpshots.

I know I've seen that somewhere - I don't remember if someone just compiled it on their own or if it was accessible before, but I can't seem to find it now. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd love to have a look at it.

I seem to remember the Spurs being reasonably high on the list of jumpshooting teams, but it's unsubstantial without any evidence.

The internet is hard.

82games.com Under each team name > In Depth Team Stats .. and then look at shooting details.

So for the Raps http://www.82games.com/0708/0708TOR3.HTM

[ilikecb4]

Nikola Pekovic will fail miserably in the NBA..he's a big body..has no very average skills...and dominated because of his size (6'10 big body)...his skills wont translate to the NBA because he wont be able to muscle guys in..

[bargs]

I hope he finds a player like Garbo, who is tough and does a lot of the dirty work. I really think we have more than enough shooters at the moment, and it may even benefit us to trade one or two and get some tougher players.

Do you know how much longer the Raps have the rights to Ukic for?

chuck hayes man!! bring him to toronto!!

[Trilogy]

Nikola Pekovic will fail miserably in the NBA..he's a big body..has no very average skills...and dominated because of his size (6'10 big body)...his skills wont translate to the NBA because he wont be able to muscle guys in..

I tend to agree a little. I think he'll be an OK backup, but he'll suffer alot due to the change in physicalness.

I used him as an example as a tough Euro player earlier due to all the talk about soft euros.

[JN]

i dont noe why people on this board now just relying on euro talent
like they are better than the us or can talent

you guys are falling in love with the puzzyness

It's no worse then the people who wanted Juan Mendez here, or Carl English, or Denham Brown, just because they were Canadian.

I do think some overrate Euros. But I have always been a proponent of using second rounders on Euros, so we can stash them away, and hope they develop alot in the next three or four years/

[Tha Cynic]

When are people going to stop bringing up Parker and Ginobili to counter every argument that is used against European players? The fact that only these two are the only two brought up consistently should tell the story. How many Europeans play like Parker or Ginobili? They're unique cases, not the norm. There's a reason San Antonio is the closest to a dynasty the league has right now. If you compare Toronto and San Antonio, which team is labeled the European team? There's a reason for that too. While Parker and Giobili may not be American, they play an American style of game, and the Spurs run an American offense. Even Garbo, though he's looked upon as this great tough individual, is still a jumpshooter who stays on the perimeter, flops, and can't rebound.

I'm also of the belief that this team isn't going to get far if they keep stocking up on Europeans. If people cannot see that BC is putting a much heavier emphasis on European players then some of you are blind. This is the same guy who was going to draft some unknown European player over Amare, before his dad interfered. The best talents are still in NA. I would love for the Raptors to put as much focus here as they do in Europe. We have a great scout in Europe. Who are the great scouts we have here? Jim Kelly? It just doesn't seem like the Raptors are focusing much here. I certainly DO NOT want a FIBA team here. European players seem to be great role players who will fill in certain needs on teams, but are usually not the be all end all of a team. IMO this style we're playing right now is hurting Chris Bosh's game too. He's evolving more and more into a jumpshooter. What do you expect when that's what everyone else on this team does.

[Shaazzam]

Umm CB4's main weapon has always been his jumpshot. It sets everything else up.

[Alfred]

When are people going to stop bringing up Parker and Ginobili to counter every argument that is used against European players? The fact that only these two are the only two brought up consistently should tell the story. How many Europeans play like Parker or Ginobili? They're unique cases, not the norm. There's a reason San Antonio is the closest to a dynasty the league has right now. If you compare Toronto and San Antonio, which team is labeled the European team? There's a reason for that too. While Parker and Giobili may not be American, they play an American style of game, and the Spurs run an American offense. Even Garbo, though he's looked upon as this great tough individual, is still a jumpshooter who stays on the perimeter, flops, and can't rebound.

I'm also of the belief that this team isn't going to get far if they keep stocking up on Europeans. If people cannot see that BC is putting a much heavier emphasis on European players then some of you are blind. This is the same guy who was going to draft some unknown European player over Amare, before his dad interfered. The best talents are still in NA. I would love for the Raptors to put as much focus here as they do in Europe. We have a great scout in Europe. Who are the great scouts we have here? Jim Kelly? It just doesn't seem like the Raptors are focusing much here. I certainly DO NOT want a FIBA team here. European players seem to be great role players who will fill in certain needs on teams, but are usually not the be all end all of a team. IMO this style we're playing right now is hurting Chris Bosh's game too. He's evolving more and more into a jumpshooter. What do you expect when that's what everyone else on this team does.

First of all, I can't believe that you are blaming Chris Bosh's struggles with his jumpshot on the "European style" we're playing. That's totally absurd. The fact that he's struggling shooting the ball PERIOD is his own fault, not any of his teammates. The guy can't seem to sink a frigging layup anymore.

The style of game that we are playing right now is exactly what Sam Mitchell himself wanted from the very beginning: pick and roll offense with shooters to stretch the floor. It's on Bosh himself if he's not driving to the basket with regularity, not any of the other players on the team. In the past, Bosh was near automatic from inside the stripe, from almost anywhere. I guess it's the "Euros" fault too that his jumpshooting percentage is hovering around 33% on the season? Hmmm... Sounds like an excuse to me.

And as for your assertations that we aren't scouting North America, I think that's bunk. Look at the camp we had prior to the season starting where we picked up Jamario Moon. We looked at a backup PG in Pooh Jeter. We already picked up a North American shooter in Luke Jackson. We've been using our contacts here in North America for some time now to improve our team. If Bryan thought that the BPA was here in NA, like Oden, do you think he would have turned him down for Bargnani? Hell no! People are acting like LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy were these sure things coming out of college, but they had some serious questionmarks surrounding their games as well, and the clock hasn't even run out on Bargnani yet, no matter what people are prognosticating.

The reason we're doing what we are doing in Europe is because we have an advantage there. We have an advantage over other NBA teams in Europe, because we have a guy with some of the best contacts on the continent. You're telling us that we should be getting this guy to scout over here? Wouldn't that be a waste of his resources?

And as for your comment about Manu and Parker being the only good European players you can name anymore, I would totally disagree. The reason I picked them is because they were picked in the second round, due to a lack of knowledge about the European game. There are a ton of good, even great European players in the league. A good percentage of successful teams in the league have at least one high profile European on them. Hedo in Orlando, Peja in New Orleans, Dirk, Manu/Parker, Big Z, etc. etc.

Europe has proven that it can produce good, even excellent players in the NBA, not just FIBA, and you don't want us to scout there? Even when we are holding many of the chips there? Face it, the North American scene is incredibly overscouted, even by us. We have an advantage in a place that has a burgeoning basketball scene, which is getting bigger and bigger every year, producing more A-level prospects than ever before, and you're telling us to stay away. That seems incredibly shortsighted.