Tony Ronzone

[mercury]

He's also responsible for Delfino and Okur, isn't he?

Yes he was as well as this year's Jerebko.
Ronzone's strength is his deep rooted connections in the Euro Leagues... he's personal friends with several coaches which allows him invites to private workouts... Ronzone was known to arrange stashing of talented young players to remote area teams to keep them away from the scouting radar...
He even had Glyniadakis stay out of competition for a year before the Pistons drafted him.

If you want some more in depth discussions on Ronzone's tactics pull up one of Chad Fords Euro trips with Ronzone right before the 2003 draft.
Make no mistake Ronzone has a lot of pull... he was involved in Darko's buyout from Hemofarm.
He worked with Michael Curry (at the time president of the players association) and Stern to change the draft age of foreign players (right before the Pistons drafted Darko).

It would not surprise me if he isn't involved in the Rubio negotiations shortly.

[Klomp]

Montiejunas at 16?

[shangrila]

Montiejunas at 16?

I'd love it but I doubt he lasts that long.

But with Darko, does the team really want him?

[Esohny]

Montiejunas at 16?

I'd love it but I doubt he lasts that long.

But with Darko, does the team really want him?

Montiejunas seems like a really tall/long SF/PF a la Dirk, Gallinari, or I suppose Daye from Detroit. He's not big enough to be a true center, in my opinion.

[funkatron101]

Man, Montiejunas has been all over the board in this draft. I remember seeing him a 3 or 4 at one point. 16? Maybe.

[cityrock3]

Tony is a great dude and heavily involved with USA Basketball. I just hope this move doesn't change the job status of Pete Philo. With Pete and Tony, the Wolves would have 2 of the top international scouts in the NBA.

tony was close to going with ny knicks and houston rockets..this is great to have a person with a nba championship ring and gold medal..also saw he was with the chinese olympic team in 2001 and found yao ming....coached the team to gold medal in east asian games in 2001...great hire...

[shangrila]

Montiejunas at 16?

I'd love it but I doubt he lasts that long.

But with Darko, does the team really want him?

Montiejunas seems like a really tall/long SF/PF a la Dirk, Gallinari, or I suppose Daye from Detroit. He's not big enough to be a true center, in my opinion.

He's like 7-1 though isn't he?

[revprodeji]

He is a face up soft player. He would need time to develop into a full time NBA face up 4. He is a very different player then Darko. If anything, they would compliment each other.

[shangrila]

So he's basically Pau Gasol when he came into the league?

[revprodeji]

I have limited understanding of him (Philo will know) but I do not think he is the athlete that Gasol is or was. I also think he is a better jumpshooter. I see the Channing Frye DX comparison as pretty solid, but he is young enough to develop more.

Right now, DX makes it seem like he is a mess on defense, and really only a Pick/Pop mismatch type.

[shangrila]

So I guess he's a lesser combination of Dirk and Pau when they came into the league?

[Devilzsidewalk]

I'm disappointed, I google imaged him and he didn't have slicked back hair w/ those big glasses that are half tinted...basically didn't look anything at all like an extra from Goodfellas as I expected. weak....

[southern wolf]

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/video/2 ... index.html

...Ronzone interview from the Wolves site. Nothing out of the ordinary, but worth a watch.