Welcome to Virtual Boston, Juhann Begarin!

[Curmudgeon]

I have no doubt that, barring injury, Begarin will be on the Celtics' roster next year, and that he will eventually be an NBA rotation player, and maybe more than that. He plays with tremendous maturity for a 19 year-old. If he were playing for Duke or Kentucky he would be a lottery pick in June.

[Hal14]

Smart2Nesmith,

I'd be interested in your take on Madar, since you seem to know Euroball well. Is he as strong a prospect as Begarin?

I haven't watched full games from Madar yet so I'm not nearly as well informed but based on physical tools alone, he has a much lower ceiling than Begarin. He's fairly skinny and I don't think he can add that much muscle on his frame. He doesn't seem super explosive either but there's a lot to like from a skills standpoint.

First off, I love that he went to play for Obradovic, the best coach in Europe (arguably the world). For those that don't know, he's the most decorated coach in Euroleague history with 9 titles with 5 different teams and in term of playing style he's all about team basketball. If you don't play with enough intensity on defense, doesn't matter if you are the biggest star on the team, he'll bench you. If you force a contested shot instead of finding the open teammate, doesn't matter if it goes in and it's a gamewinner, you'll see less minutes the next game. Can't think of anybody better to teach good habits to a young player. He is absolutely in the best environment for his development going up in practice against guys like Kurucs, Lessort, Zagorac and Smailagic who are all recent second rounds that couldn't make it in the league but aren't that far from being NBA players.

Since the draft Madar has shot above 40% from deep on three attempts per game in three different leagues with two different teams along with 80%+ from the line so the shot looks legit. He's probably the Celtics best passer the moment he gets signed. If he can hold his own against NBA athletes and the shot translates to the longer line, he should spend quite a few years as a backup point guard somewhere in the league. He's really scrappy so I wouldn't bet against him.

After Stevens cleaned out the back end of the roster, and with the first round pick gone, I expect both those guys will get a chance in camp this summer.

Thanks for the valuable scouting report. I suspect the Cs will find room for Madar and Begarin next season, with the expectation that they will spend most of their time in Maine. Since Brad looks to be in the trade no. 1 picks for veterans mode, these will be our youth projects.

I would not be surprised if Brad makes another international pick with our second rounder this year, and then stashes the guy for a year or two. He seems to be going full San Antonio.

You might be right. But I think what they do with Madar, a lot of it depends on how Pritchard is looking. And what they do with Begarin, a lot of it depends on how Nesmith is looking.

There's other factors as well...

Begarin - how is his shot looking? He shot 1/5 from 3 the other night. He's only made 2 out of his last 15 and 3 out of his last 18 from deep. He's down to 28.8% from 3 on the season. FT% is often times a good indicator of how well a guy projects as a shooter - Begarin is only shooting 57.1% from the FT line on the season.

The team may decide that Begarin needs to stay overseas for another year to keep working on his jumper - especially if Nesmith is playing well. Or, the team may decide that Begarin is more likely to improve his shot in Boston with better coaching/development - especially if Nesmith isn't doing so well.

Madar - can he get bigger, stronger physically?

The team may decide that Madar needs to stay overseas for another year to keep getting stronger physically - especially if Pritchard is playing well. Or, the team may decide that Madar is more likely to get stronger physically in Boston with better strength & conditioning programs, equipment and facilities - especially if Pritchard isn't doing so well.

I think all 4 players have good promise. But the team might not want to have all of them on the roster - that's a lot of young kids to try and develop - especially when you add in Hauser + whoever we pick in the 2nd round.... although to your point, I would not be surprised at all if our 2nd round pick this year is another draft and stash. There's quite a few draft and stash candidates in this year's draft..

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Begarin - how is his shot looking? He shot 1/5 from 3 the other night. He's only made 2 out of his last 15 and 3 out of his last 18 from deep. He's down to 28.8% from 3 on the season. FT% is often times a good indicator of how well a guy projects as a shooter - Begarin is only shooting 57.1% from the FT line on the season.

I only managed to watch a couple minutes from his last game which coincided with him confidently nailing a pull up three. I don't know about the other attempts though. Begarin is a better shooter than his number indicate. Most of his attempts are contested late clock above the break threes trying to salvage possessions gone wrong, he'll get cleaner looks in Boston for sure. Now there's a big difference between being better than 29% from three and 58% from the line and making enough shots to stick in the league.

I'm in no way an expert on shooting form and I don't have stats to back me up but whether from three or midrange he seems to have a much better rythm and results by pulling up (especially after his crossover which tends to create a surprising amount of separation) versus catch and shooting. I wonder if there are some elements of his mechanics pulling up that could be added to his normal catch and shoot motion to improve his results. For instance the Spurs used elements of Tony Parker's patented teardrop to remake his outside shot early in his career, maybe something similar could be done for Begarin.

Maybe there is a little rookie wall phenomenon going on. He played heavy minutes for his team last year in a very physical league, went straight to preparing for the draft, then summer league then back to training camp for Paris and back into a big workload for his club. He really hasn't had a breather since the summer of 2020 and his legs might just be gone at this point which could explain the dip in efficiency lately. Like I said I didn't seem much of his last game but the game before that he did seem to be lacking a little juice in transition. He has games on thursday and saturday (against the number 1 and 4 ranked team in the league) so that theory will be put to the test quickly.

It could also be that he's struggling to find his spots for his shots with Toupane added to the mix. 4/21 from three since Toupane played his first game. Or you know the guy that has never made outside shots consistently in his life is in fact not making outside shots right now. Crazier things have happened I swear

Recent game highlights:

Watch on YouTube

I need a word with whomever put this highlight together. Not including Begarin's first block which is the best play of the game seems weird to me. It makes me appreciate more how lucky we are to have someone like Tomasz Kordylewski pumping out such high quality highlights on youtube.

I have no doubt that, barring injury, Begarin will be on the Celtics' roster next year, and that he will eventually be an NBA rotation player, and maybe more than that. He plays with tremendous maturity for a 19 year-old. If he were playing for Duke or Kentucky he would be a lottery pick in June.

Juhann's older brother is also a professional player. He is 33 years old, having the best season of his career, and he is the captain of his team despite only averaging like 8 points per game (it's not like he's the captain because he is the star player) so you know the guy is a grinder and a leader. I wonder how much that rubbed off on Juhann.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

]There was a round of 16 french cup tie between Paris and Boulogne Levallois tonight. So basically the french cup is a competition where every club in France participates and every game is win or go home until only one team is left standing and they are crowned winners of the competition. If people are wondering about the logistics, teams enter in the competition in different rounds based on the league they are in. So first division team like Paris enter later than your local club. That way they don't have to waste a day traveling to the other side of the country to beat you and your four friends a million - zero (unless of course you win enough rounds and you earn your place).

Boulogne Levallois is currently top of the league so pretty much the worst possible draw for Paris. The match was very tight until the end with Paris down just 2 with 40 seconds remaining but Boulogne ended up winning by seven. Begarin finished as his team best scorer with 16 points on 7/12 shooting (including 1/2 from three) and 1/2 from the line (both free throws coming on and ones). He also grabbed eight rebounds (three offensive), dished out two assists and drew three fouls in just 22 minutes.

For some reason he played the first 12 minutes of the second half, checked out with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter of a tie game and never came back in despite being the team's leading scorer, an everyday starter and zero foul trouble (he didn't commit a single foul all game). I'm not a basketball coach but that looks like a suboptimal rotation. If Udoka did that with Tatum, we would have a 50 page thread calling for his job

The bosxcore: https://fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com/u/FFBB/2021016/bs.html

A couple plays from the game:
Putback and one:

Read on Twitter

Nice crossover and drive:

Read on Twitter

[Kalela]

Watching Begarin highlights posted in the thread, I always confuse him with his teammate who wears number zero. The same exact hairstyle and build. Even the shape of their faces is similar. His teammate is just a little shorter.

[Hal14]

Watching Begarin highlights posted in the thread, I always confuse him with his teammate who wears number zero. The same exact hairstyle and build. Even the shape of their faces is similar. His teammate is just a little shorter.

haha yes they look very similar, Begarin is just bigger/taller.

#0 I think is Kyle Allman Jr. 24 yrs old. Went undrafted in 2019 out of cal state fullerton. This is his first season as Begarin's teammate for Paris Basketball. He's putting up 13.8 points and 4.8 assists a game.

[Fencer reregistered]

Strong skepticism.

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/celtics-draftee-still-2-years-from-nba/

[zoyathedestroya]

Watch on YouTube

[Feed Your Head]

Strong skepticism.

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/celtics-draftee-still-2-years-from-nba/

“At some point, you have to become a basketball player. I think we are seeing that with some other French guards, guys like Killian Hayes and (Theo) Maledon. Great athletes, can go 100 mph, but can you shoot? Can you do the things to make your team better? He has been a starter on a team that has some decent enough players, but it’s a bad team.

He has a lot of strides to make just in terms of, playing within himself, slowing down, using athleticism when you need it, not all the time. And shooting. I mean, he is a shooting guard who can’t shoot. He is going to have to learn these things. He is 19, there is time, but you’re not going to see him in Boston for two years at least,” A scout recently told Heavy.com.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Strong skepticism.

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/celtics-draftee-still-2-years-from-nba/

Adam Taylor usually puts out quality stuff but the arguments in this piece are non sensical.

- Starts by saying that the Celtics drafting is mediocre. Tries to prove his point by listing almost the entire rotation of one of the best team in the East as being homegrown talent but that's secondary to that one time Boston whiffed on the 28th pick 7 years ago. Hmmm ok. Nevermind that it's a different executive that made those selections so not sure how relevant they are to the topic at hand anyway.

- Comparing Begarin to Hayes and Maledon because they are all french is lazy and dumb. They play nothing alike. It would be like saying Nesmith is going to be a franchise player in the NBA because the last two guys who grew up in South Carolina that made the league are Morant and Williamson. Besides Maledon came into the league as a second round pick and a teenage ball handler on a team devoid of NBA talent and shooting. How exactly is that supposed to end well ? In term of athleticism Begarin is at least a tier above both Maledon and Hayes who really aren't special in that aspect. Begarin is a wing that will be asked to space the floor, cut and drive close outs while switching across multiple positions while Hayes and Maledon are point guards that need the ball in their hands to impact the game. I can't stress enough how those comparisons don't make sense. I mean might as well compare Begarin to Tony Parker and Rudy Gobert at that point. They are all french and have played basketball in their life.

- Paris Basketball is a bad team but it's all relative. They would still wipe the floor with any division 1 school but I don't hear anybody say Gonzaga or whatever school you prefer is a bad team. I also fail to see how it's Begarin fault that he is one of only three guys on the team that play any defense, the two starting guards freeze everybody out, O'Quinn is out there trying to sling passes like he is Jokic (spoiler it doesn't work) and the coaching is terrible. I'd say that has a much bigger impact on their record than Begarin not locating his jumper for the time being. Also it's weird that he should be held responsible for the team being bad when the offense runs smoother whenever they give him more responsabilities.

- Is it the same scout that said that Tatum only cares about his numbers ? He does seem to show the same lack of insight.

- The Euroleague and the spanish league are one thing but those other leagues aren't better to prepare for the NBA. If they did, they would send guys to the NBA on a regular basis. Who was the last guy out of the italian league to make it in the NBA ? Gallinari ? Before Sengun who was the last guy to be drafted out of the Turkish league ? You know which league sends at least one usually multiple guys every year to the NBA ? Yeah the french league. Most of the guys out of Pro A wash out of the league quickly, true, but that's because it's what happens to most guys in the NBA regardless of background. Those other leagues don't have as many busts because they can't even get anybody to the level required to be a NBA bust. Congrats I guess.

- Plenty of guys have made the jump straight from the french league to the NBA. I can even name a guy that went straight from the greek second division to the NBA and turned out ok. He was also supposed to be two years away from the NBA when he was drafted. Gobert was supposed to be a long term project (averaging fewer minutes and points than Begarin during his last season in France). He didn't play much his rookie season and then dominated Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka (back in 2014 when those guys were still really good) in the World Cup then went on to win the starting role in his second season. I am not saying that Begarin is going to turn out as well as Giannis or Rudy, I'm just saying that if there is a real NBA player there it's not going to take years and years to come out. His future in the league is not going to come down to where he spent his final season before coming over, it's all going to hinge on his jump shot. Like I said previously I believe the best place for him to fix that jumper is in Boston/Maine.

[Kalela]

Strong skepticism.

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/celtics-draftee-still-2-years-from-nba/

Adam Taylor usually puts out quality stuff but the arguments in this piece are non sensical.

I was surprised it was him who wrote that.

[Hal14]

Strong skepticism.

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/celtics-draftee-still-2-years-from-nba/

“At some point, you have to become a basketball player. I think we are seeing that with some other French guards, guys like Killian Hayes and (Theo) Maledon. Great athletes, can go 100 mph, but can you shoot? Can you do the things to make your team better? He has been a starter on a team that has some decent enough players, but it’s a bad team.

He has a lot of strides to make just in terms of, playing within himself, slowing down, using athleticism when you need it, not all the time. And shooting. I mean, he is a shooting guard who can’t shoot. He is going to have to learn these things. He is 19, there is time, but you’re not going to see him in Boston for two years at least,” A scout recently told Heavy.com.

While the points made in the article may certainly be valid, there's some serious red flags with this article.

First off, the entire article seems to be based off a quote from a scout. Who is the scout? All, it says is "a scout". That's really vague and tells me nothing about the credibility this scout has. Would the scout have said these things if his name was going to be posted in the article? People have nothing to lose if they say something on the internet anonymously. But if their name is out there, now that's their reputation behind it. How many times has this scout seen Begarin play? Has he ever talked to any of his coaches before? Every talked to Begarin before, seen him play in person?

Secondly, lots of overly blunt, hyperbolic statements which make for a weak argument, like "it's a bad team" and "he's a shooting guard who can't shoot".. not to mention, shooting guard is a fairly outdated term.

Thirdly, what kind of credible article contains tweets from all kinds of random twitter accounts lol Matthew Wallace - who? Zeno? A 45 year old celtics fan named Davor lol

I feel like the timing is strange for this article. The celtics are playing great. best net rating in the eastern conference. Winners of 10 out of the last 11 games. Best defensive in the league. Why not write something positive? Instead, we get someone trying to shine some negativity on a 19 year old kid we have developing overseas, smh

[Kalela]

Watching Begarin highlights posted in the thread, I always confuse him with his teammate who wears number zero. The same exact hairstyle and build. Even the shape of their faces is similar. His teammate is just a little shorter.

haha yes they look very similar, Begarin is just bigger/taller.

#0 I think is Kyle Allman Jr. 24 yrs old. Went undrafted in 2019 out of cal state fullerton. This is his first season as Begarin's teammate for Paris Basketball. He's putting up 13.8 points and 4.8 assists a game.

That is him. They don't look much alike in close up but from distance, it is easy to confuse them.

[31to6]

whatever happens I think it's important that we keep calling this guy Le Predateur

[Curmudgeon]

I watched every second of every Celtics Summer league game, and I thought Begarin was close to being ready THIS year. He was already better than Romeo Langford in my estimation. Does he need to work on his shot? Sure. Lots of players already in the NBA need to work on their shots.

[31to6]

I watched every second of every Celtics Summer league game, and I thought Begarin was close to being ready THIS year. He was already better than Romeo Langford in my estimation. Does he need to work on his shot? Sure. Lots of player already in the NBA need to work on their shots.

I like his shooting form. Will more reps = better results? He's got the body and (to my eye, if not an anonymous European scout's) all-around game to find out.

[Half-Full]

From what I see, I think he is NBA ready. Shooting may not be his strong suit, but he brings a lot to the table besides that. Athleticism, strength, energy/hustle, defense, size (6'5", 7' wingspan). He may never be a good shooter, but he already is a good player. He can help us, and I feel confident that his play will make him a fan favorite.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Back from being a sparing partner for the french national team, Begarin had a game against Le Mans tonight. Paris was shorthanded with O'Quinn (got cut, somebody in the front office finally realized how terrible he was) and Toupane (flu like symptoms) out. Let me just start by ranting about how the match was filmed. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to show a replay of every made basket while the next possession was happening. Multiple times the other team had shot before the replay was finished so we ended up missing the entire possession. So I'll just recap what I saw wihch is not nearly as much as I would have liked.

Begarin started his game by missing a catch and shoot corner three. On the next possession he tried to make up for it but just ended up forcing a transition lauyp against two defenders and missing. The only time they let him run pick and roll in the first quarter, he had a nifty bounce pass in traffic to hit his roll man, Kamagate, for the dunk. He also had a nice defensive possession where he held his ground in the post aginst a big man, and forced a kick out that ended up out of bounds.

He started the second quarter with a excellent closeout forcing an airball. Then he had a post up where he completely overpowered the opposing guard and layed the ball in. He missed another catch and shoot three. He had good agressive drive to draw a foul and made both free throws.

In the second half, Begarin missed a layup in transition but kept battling and at least got the offensive board. Clearly he didn't have his usual legs because he missed another layup in transition even if he eventually got he putback to fall. He had a turnover trying to trigger a transition by passing ahead to Sleva but there were too many guys in the way and it was never going to get through.

Begarin started the fourth with a steal but missed the layup at the other end. He then got to run his second pick and roll of the game. He kept his man on his back and calmly threw the lob for another Kamagate dunk. Begarin had a drive where he got a step on his man but he didn't quite get his normal lift and left the layup short. He had a nice block when the big man from Le Mans tried to post him up. Begarin missed another catch and shoot three but then swished a three after a nice crossover and pull up. On the very next possession he got a steal but got called for a charge trying to go all the way (bad call, the other guy never got set but whatever). He didn't really touch the ball after that because his teammates did a competition of who could do the dumbest turnover in the money time.

TL;DR: Begarin seemed pretty tired, left everything short and probably missed more shots in transition in this game then the last ten combined. Both times he was the ball handler in pick and roll he had a nice pass to find the roll man for a dunk but I guess the coach didn't want to run this play too much because then they might have scored enough to win the game.

The boxscore: https://www.lnb.fr/elite/game-center-resume/?id=24008

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Big game between Paris and Monaco today. In fact, Paris played the game in a bigger arena than the one they usually use. Monaco is one of the two team in the french league that also play in the Euroleague and they are currently second in Pro A so they were big favorites. Begarin started on the bench presumably because the coach wanted to start Toupane and he isn't aware that you can play two wings at the same time.

When he finally got into the game, Begarin drove past his man for the layup and one. The rest of the quarter was more difficult as he gave up and one lauyp to Dwayne Bacon. Begarin was also tripped while splitting a double team. With his team in the bonus, he got two free throws that both rimmed out. He also got beat backdoor when he was a bit too agressive trying to double team the ballhandler in a low shotclock situation.

He was much better defensively in the second quarter. One of the highlights was a great rotation and vertical contest at the rim, before his ball pressure on the player that got the offensive forced travel. Begarin also took a steal coast to coast for a dunk. He turned the ball over trying to dribble through a crowd.

Begarin came back into the game a minute into the second half after Kamagate's 4th foul and as a result he had to guard much bigger guys. He was very aggressive in that period offensively starting with a missed catch and shoot three. He then grabbed a board, went coast to coast, including a behind the back cross at full speed to get by his man then got fouled at the rim. Made one of two free throws. As Monaco tried to bring the ball up after the free throws, Begarin picked up full court and forced an eight seconds violation. On another possession, he crossed and drove to the rim but his layup over the contest was a little too high off the glass and rimmed out. He drove from the corner to the middle of the floor, pulled up, got fouled and made both free throws. He grabbed another rebound, again went coast to coast but was blocked by the help man. He also ended up on a poster but I love that he went up to contest.

In the fourth quarter, Begarin got the ball off an inbounds with two seconds left and with his back to the basket and he missed the desperation turnaround. He also missed a couple corner threes.

He had a nice drive that he finished with a layup and the foul but he didn't get the continuation so he got two free throws instead (his team was in the bonus). He made both. He missed a last chance three down seven with ten seconds left.

So in the end Begarin didn't start the game, came after 5 minutes and played 32 of the 35 minutes (including the last 19 minutes). I'm sure there's a logic behind that rotation but I fail to see it. Begarin also had a few nice passses today but his teammates failed to convert so the bosxcore doesn't show too many assists.

The boxscore: https://www.lnb.fr/elite/game-center-resume/?id=24027

[remi_222]

29 pts, 6 out of 9 at 3 for a great victory today ! a nice resume of the game will be dne y our expert on this thread, and highlights coming soon !