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Marko Ramljak going to the NBA Draft: "The Rockets want me"

Discussion in 'NBA Draft' started by Croatian Sensation, May 3, 2013.

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  1. Croatian Sensation

    Croatian Sensation I'd rather be a forest than a street

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    Apparently, the Houston Rockets are interested in drafting Marko Ramljak, who is currently playing for my hometown club, Zadar in Croatia.

    Original article: http://www.jutarnji.hr/zadrov-marko...ba-draft---navodno-me-zele-rocketsi-/1100643/

    My translation, I added some bits and pieces in brackets:

    Ramljak is a 20-year-old 6'7 small forward. Here are his stats from this season: http://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/Marko_Ramljak/KK_Zadar/157145?AmNotSure=1

    I don't know how the hell did the Rockets scout this kid, Marko rarely got any exposure and Zadar is unfortunately an irrelevant team in Europe for a couple of years now. :(

    My small scouting report:
    I've been impressed with Ramljak since he signed for Zadar. He's very athletic, long and quick, a hustle player, solid ball handler, an absolutely relentless on-ball defender that can guard both wing positions, and a solid rebounder that always crashes the offensive boards and gets all those 50-50 balls. He's always been an excellent finisher around the rim, a really great slasher that excels in the open court. His shooting has been poor, but he's shown steady improvement over the course of the season.
    Ramljak has exploded recently with multiple 20+ point games and has been shooting the three ball with confidence and no hesitation. Teams are forced to guard him on the perimeter and then he just blows by them and scores a layup or dunk.
    Sure, the Croatian league isn't very good and the competition ranks from solid to poor, but if some guy named Adetokunbo who's been playing in the Greek second league (I guess that IS the definition of poor competition) can be considered a top 10 pick, why wouldn't Ramljak be drafted in the second round?

    Recent games:
    Zadar-Cibona 86:87 ; stats. Ramljak matched up with Dario Šarić, a lock for a first round selection in this year's draft. He outplayed and outhustled Šarić on both ends on the court, but in the end, Zadar came up short.

    Zadar-Cedevita 85:77 ; stats and video (home game for Zadar, Ramljak is #17, white jersey with a shooting sleeve)

    Zagreb-Zadar 80:82 ; stats and video (away game for Zadar, Ramljak is #17, blue jersey)



    I really wish this kid gets to play in the NBA one day, he's got talent and works very hard, but he's been playing against weaker competition his whole career and needs to keep up his hot shooting to convince me he's the real deal. I don't know how he'll manage against the big guys, but I think he'd be a good draft and stash option. :)
     
    #1 Croatian Sensation, May 3, 2013
    1 person likes this.
  2. haoafu

    haoafu Contributing Member

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    Interesting, but I don't find anything spectacular(to put it conservatively) in his stats. Did I miss something? Is he phisically talented? The link says he's a PF.
     
    #2 haoafu, May 3, 2013
  3. haoafu

    haoafu Contributing Member

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    After a second look, his recent games show very good improvement over his season average in the first link. Small sample size, but nice prospect...
     
    #3 haoafu, May 3, 2013
  4. sgl_carlos

    sgl_carlos Member

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    On Ball Defense huh? Could he be our next defensive stopper off the bench?
     
    #4 sgl_carlos, May 3, 2013
  5. Croatian Sensation

    Croatian Sensation I'd rather be a forest than a street

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    Eurobasket often makes mistakes regarding player positions, he's no doubt a SF.
    The stats are misleading in Ramljak's case. He came into the season as a defensive stopper and played his role well. He usually guards the best wing scorer of the opposing team and can sometimes switch over to the pg to disrupt the flow of the offense with his length. He's also very serviceable in late game situations when Zadar is pressing or trapping, as his quick and long hands come into play. Ramljak made some key steals this way and helped Zadar close out games.

    As the season progressed, he impressed during practices and was basically promoted to the 2nd option on offense, whereas at the start of the year, Marko was asked to focus exclusively on defense and rebounding.

    I hope I answered sgl_carlos's question with this post as well.
     
    #5 Croatian Sensation, May 3, 2013
  6. haoafu

    haoafu Contributing Member

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    Thanks for the info. Looks like draftexpress hasn't put him on the map yet.
    I'm not totally convinced, but he's definitely an interesting player to keep an eye on.
     
    #6 haoafu, May 3, 2013
  7. RedIsen

    RedIsen Member

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    Very interesting. If he can guard the 1-3 positions I can see why the Rockets are giving him a look. But I wonder how much interest the Rockets actually have in him.

    At least now I won't be surprised if I hear his name on draft day.
     
    #7 RedIsen, May 3, 2013
  8. hooroo

    hooroo Member

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    Back to draft day when Gay was traded for Battier. A commentator said something along the lines of the Rockets being the only team to have scouted Thabo in Europe way before the lead up to that draft.
     
    #8 hooroo, May 3, 2013
  9. Nook

    Nook Member

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    He has been a prospect for a few years. Viewed as a second rounder to an undrafted free agent. Rockets like 3-4 teenage Europeans.
     
    #9 Nook, May 3, 2013
  10. iconoclastic

    iconoclastic Member

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    Sounds like Nicolas Batum.
     
    #10 iconoclastic, May 3, 2013
  11. Rocket Booster

    Rocket Booster Member

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    Eurobasket has hundreds of errors on it, much like Draftexpress.com.
     
    #11 Rocket Booster, May 4, 2013
  12. RickyNewport

    RickyNewport Member

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    We do need a wing player.
     
    #12 RickyNewport, May 5, 2013
  13. milica

    milica Member

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    I agree with you on Ramljak. One has to like his hustle, defence, finishing, a vibe of an inner drive to succeed...
    I'd personally draft him over Dario (just the female intuition thing :grin:).

    I know Zadar is bad now, but it must be only a temporary financial situation, because there is the right culture and the town of true fans... I'm really rooting for Zadar (and Split), the region needs these clubs...

    The scouting throughout the world has become crazy for years now... Darko was drafted ahead of Melo based on practice performances :rolleyes:
    For years Americans are scouting the late teens, and Spanish even the early teens (Dario was scouted at the age of 11 by Spanish Tau Ceramica). I know that being a son of a famous player probably put him on some charts early, but no big team scouts should be at little boys U12 tournaments... The kids immediately start dreaming about a professional carrier, studing the team strategies, and neglecting the basic things... Now we have no more shooters in the region, no future Pejas&Drazens...
     
    #13 milica, May 8, 2013
  14. Haymitch

    Haymitch Custom Title
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    I am pronouncing it Ram-ul-yak. Is that correct? And if so, is there a way to say his name without thinking of the "yakety-yak, don't talk back" song?

    Anyway, keep up that scouting, Morey and his unknown number of basketball operations analysts.
     
    #14 Haymitch, May 8, 2013
  15. milica

    milica Member

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    lol

    Ram-ul-yak is very close, although not completely perfect.

    The true 'lj' sound in Ram-lj-ak has no "yak", it's just like European Spanish 'll' (but not Latin American Spanish 'll') or Italian 'gl' (although Italians would choke themselves while pronoucing it after 'm' in "Ram").

    The closest you get to it in English is 'lli' sound in "million".
    So I guess you're stuck with the song. :grin:
     
    #15 milica, May 8, 2013
  16. dobro1229

    dobro1229 Contributing Member

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    Talk about off the radar. You google this guy, and about the only thing that comes up is a link to this thread.

    I would assume this guy would be a pure prospect in every sense of the word.

    However, his measurements look pretty good if they are looking at him as a potential SF. Would have to assume he would be purchased late in the 2nd round, and stashed for a few years much like Sergio Llull.

    I would think that the Rockets could get a much more proven player with their Suns pick this year. Someone that could possibly contribute next season where they are really going to need help with their limited roster space.
     
    #16 dobro1229, May 8, 2013
  17. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    [​IMG]
     
    #17 SamFisher, May 8, 2013
  18. mike_lu

    mike_lu Member

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    Beverley was a very good defender in the Eurocup that caught the eye of Morey when his 3pt shooting (and playmaking improved).

    I think Morey is interested in getting a defensive stopper that can guard the wings, and can shoot the 3.

    I also think Morey's back to drafting for role players now that we have Harden and could potentially land a star in the free agency this year or next year. And our #1 need is probably a wing defender that can shoot 3s, and a back-up center that can rebound (Furkan is close).
     
    #18 mike_lu, May 10, 2013
  19. TMac&Cheese

    TMac&Cheese Rookie

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    Interesting, I figured he would be flying under the Zadar
     
    #19 TMac&Cheese, May 10, 2013
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