Official Raptors 2011 NBA Draft Thread, Part 7

[God Squad]

May I just ask a silly question? When will be the correct date and time for lottery?
Some say 1mth before draft,some say 18th. Just want to make sure I have a free night.

Cheers

Tuesday, May 17th at 12pm I believe

The draft lottery is normally held between 7pm to 8pm before that night's playoff game. I dont ever remember it being at 12pm in the afternoon.

Yea, I'd also think its around 6-7. But I could be wrong. Can anyone clarify to be certain?

[Alfred]

^^ he'll certainly declare, the question is whether he comes over now or not.

As Dagger has mentioned multiple times, I'd be happy with Val sticking around in Europe for a year or two. He wouldn't get much PT here behind Andrea, Amir, Ed and w/e vet big that we'll likely bring in. Jonas can spend him formative (pro) years at home in Lithuania where he'll gain confidence and learn how to dominate. We also don't have to pay him for a year or two and he won't help us win any games during a 2012 tanking season. Jonas would still be on his rookie contract during the beginning of DeMar & Ed's prime years.

Lithuanian big men have a good track record (Sabonis, Ilgauskas) and the country is obsessed with basketball. They work very hard (former USSR) and take pride in their basketball. Andrea didn't have to do much to become the best big man in Italian history but Jonas will have to work his ass off to come close to Sabonis. I watched a documentary on Lithuanian bball that was pretty incredible. It's pretty amazing to see how big of a role sports can play on social issues. Here's the trailer:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mc-USW5BSc[/youtube]

Throw in the huge Lithuanian population in Toronto and Jonny Valentine seems like a good fit. JV would be happy here while guys like Kemba Walker would likely bolt the first chance they get.

Wow, that's a great video, thanks for sharing it with the board!

[Alfred]

Here's a Valanciunas highlight video from this season in Rytas:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLa5yFCF6Go[/youtube]

[Alfred]

He seems to be really, really good at the pick and roll. He uses his length really well; almost everything out to like 10 feet is some sort of hook shot or layup.

[5DOM]

Here's a Valanciunas highlight video from this season in Rytas:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLa5yFCF6Go[/youtube]

Looks really good to be honest. Obviously needs to get stronger and bulkier.

Was nice to see Rubio, Jasikevicius and Gherardini too lol

Part 2:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYAiv2EOsx8&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]

[RaptorReloaded]

The music was awsome in that mix. I like how he sets pretty good screens too which would be great for DD and Bayless. I've come to accept that everybody in this draft has their own flaws. I really am leaving this up to Raptors management to make the right choice. Who ever we draft I'm going to support wither It be Val, Kanter, BB, Knight, Irving, Williams or Walker. I have my preferences of course but for me to say my guy is clearly better then the other is idiotic.

[Alfred]

From what I've seen, I like him better than Kanter. He seems to be way more active and agile, and Kanter looks sort of stiff and glued to the floor. I think when it comes to young prospects, you really have to project their learning curve and look at their physical tools.

[TDotRep]

I can't see him putting on 30 pounds of bulk and being able to move at all, especially since he had a huge growth spurt and hes not use to his height, he was probably skinny all his life and you can tell the way he moves it looks awkward and not the fastest examples. 2:04 2:13 3:09 and each time he scores the first few steps he takes are extremely slow. In the NBA most of the time he will be setting picks near the 3pt line which is further out defense's can recover extremely easy on this kid especially if he adds bulk. All the question about kanter's mobility when in fairness he may be more mobile, especially when looking at the vid of him at stoneridge prep over a year ago.

[Alfred]

Wow, the second mix is much better than the first. Starting at 1:30 in the second video, he just starts catching absurd alley oops.

[wanker]

Here's a Valanciunas highlight video from this season in Rytas:

After watching this video for about a minute, I could no longer tell if they were showing new clips, or if they were simply showing the same 3-4 layups/dunks on a loop.

Looks really good to be honest.

He looks like a seven-foot white guy doing layups against some of the worst defense I have ever seen on a basketball court. If you want honesty, I will tell that (between Biyombo and Valanciunas) your evaluation of talent leaves much to be desired.

[5DOM]

His movement doesn't seem very fluid, but he actually looks very quick (in both short and long distances) to me. I think Part 2 shows his quickness better. Ran like a deer at 6:25 too.

[TDotRep]

Show me some damn blocks, I don't want to see the some replay 3 times of someone passing to him when hes wide open, it looks like the teams don't care about him and put a defender somewhere else

[TDotRep]

His movement doesn't seem very fluid, but he actually looks very quick (in both short and long distances) to me. I think Part 2 shows his quickness better. Ran like a deer at 6:25 too.

Hes fast when he gets momentum but faaar from quick

[Kevin Willis]

Jan. Vesely. Where are his highlights?

Jonas V. is Rasho with a bit more athletecism. Kanter is Horform with a bit less athletecism. Vesely is AK47. Let's NBA.

[5DOM]

His movement doesn't seem very fluid, but he actually looks very quick (in both short and long distances) to me. I think Part 2 shows his quickness better. Ran like a deer at 6:25 too.

Hes fast when he gets momentum but faaar from quick

He looks quick for someone his size.

Btw, part 2 has some blocks and alley-oops if you don't like weak dunks and layups. Dunks are a little better in part 2 as well

[5DOM]

Looks really good to be honest.

He looks like a seven-foot white guy doing layups against some of the worst defense I have ever seen on a basketball court. If you want honesty, I will tell that (between Biyombo and Valanciunas) your evaluation of talent leaves much to be desired.

Perhaps, that's why I am not working in the industry. But guys who do, like Draft Express, have the two of them as first two big men off the board

[TDotRep]

draft express also had epke udoh ahead of ed davis greg monroe paul george and alabi going 21st

[Alfred]

Show me some damn blocks, I don't want to see the some replay 3 times of someone passing to him when hes wide open, it looks like the teams don't care about him and put a defender somewhere else

In the second video from 4:30 onwards, it's a bunch of blocks.

[5DOM]

draft express also had epke udoh ahead of ed davis greg monroe paul george and alabi going 21st

No one's perfect, but if I had to choose who to trust between Draft Express and anyone on this board, I'd choose them. And I think the reason why Udoh was ranked higher is because he was more likely to go higher which he did, not necessarily because they thought he was better than the guys you mentioned. I could be wrong.

[Alfred]

draft express also had epke udoh ahead of ed davis greg monroe paul george and alabi going 21st

Draft Express has it right more often than they have it wrong.