Dec. 23, 2006 Happy Holidays, During the first half of December, Gianluca Pascucci, our International Scouting Consultant, set up a 12-day scouting trip throughout Europe for us. Gianluca did a great job of setting up our schedule to see the top prospects in Europe for the upcoming drafts in addition to seeing many future free agent players. We started out in Madrid, Spain, but our hectic scouting schedule didn't leave us with any time to absorb much of the culture. The games in Europe are usually played late (around 9 p.m. locally, on average) and we would normally spend the day after a game traveling to make at least one connection to our final destination. So 4:30 a.m. wakeup calls are more common than not. The trip turned out to be a big success because we saw more games (13) than we actually had scouting dates (12). I have to admit that, at times, I thought Gianluca was crazy for putting us on this type of pace. There were times when I thought Gianluca was starring in Too Fast, Too Furious when he had us flying through the mountains in Italy to get from game to game (Milan to Sienna), but I was so tired from the night before I did not mind being a human-test dummy. And we got a lot done. Typically, when NBA scouts go to Europe, we partner-up to help with the travel costs. When we shared some time with a couple of other scouts on our schedule, I got a couple of blank stares and few other "Are you guys insane?" comments when we told them about our trip. Chris Wallace, the General Manager of the Boston Celtics, joined up with us on a leg to LeMans, France to see Tau @ LeMans. The great thing about Chris is that he always has terrific stories and he is always willing to let you drive and pick up the dinner tab!!! Chris and I are both from small towns -- Chris is from the hills of West Virginia and I am from Clute, Texas. So at times, we are not the most savvy international travelers. I have been with Chris twice when he has not been able to turn on the shower. Therefore, he now has a new patent on the "Euro-Splash Bath Technique." My shower problems are of a different nature. I am totally incapable of showering without flooding the entire hotel room, therefore I now go by the tag of "Hurricane Dennis, the Natural Disaster." Many times, the trips are long and lonely, so the ability to laugh and create bonds with other basketball people is what keeps you sane. The good part of the trip was the last leg to Malaga, Spain where we watched Maccabi play Unicaja in a Euroleague contest. We have the NBA rights to a 21-year forward who plays for the legendary Maccabi Basketball Club. His name is Lior Eliyahu. I thought you might like some of our scouting notes on Lior from this game. Please excuse some of our scouting jargon, we have created language over a numbers of years that can be hard to understand outside of our circle: Maccabi @ Unicaja 12/14/06 #8 Lior Eliyahu Israel...Forward...2.07cm...1985dob… Big 1st dunk on a dive ... great hands to finish ... shot block/rebound/outlet ... team scored a lay ... middle iso to a spin and scoop lay under the defenders arm, yes ... assist on pass back to Jasitis ... unselfish play when he had the drive ... fouled on a elbow iso drive vs. Danny Santiago (2-2 fts) … plus length, hands, and agility… Very good w/the "get" pick and roll ... good sense when to pass and dive ... great hands to catch and finish on the roll ... has natural instincts on how to play ... great pass late to Jasitis on a duck in ... Came back in the 3rd quarter down 5pts, and finished the quarter up 9pts .. he and Halperin scored on the pick and roll 4 straight possessions ... they put Santiago in the play w/Lior setting the screen and got paint shots each time ... CHANGED THE GAME, TOOK THE CROWD OUT OF THE GAME... Scored on a lay on a step thru move and was fouled on a dive to open the 4th quarter (0-2 fts) ... took a charge on the next possession ... fouled on two straight possessions when securing defensive rebounds (3-4 fts)... Deflection that lead to steal and lay ... took on the diving 5 ... got switched on Santiago in the 2nd half and force him into a turn shot that Danny missed (showed some backbone)... Poor stab when loading to the ball on a full court play at the end of half ... his reach and lack of full body help opened the gate for the lay-up ... has to mature in this area... Needs strength and body maturation for the fight inside ... needs to increse his consistent shooting range ... such a good finisher he always looks drive 1st/2nd ... needs to run back harder in the load... Good performance that impacted the win for Maccabi … Go Rockets, Dennis http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Dennis_Lindsey_Blog-196692-34.html
If he was here with the rockets this season, sure he will enjoy his time with Novak and Vspan on the bench!
it's good to know that we have a couple of talents developing over seas. i'm sure it will take about 3 years before there is any talk of bringing him over... by the way, what the heck happened to badiane?
Wow....he's only 2.07cm? Isn't he a little undersized for a forward? I know, I know...2.07 m....but it's still funny
I wonder what type of player he would resemble most like. He sounds legit, playin in one top euro teams and hopefully he can become something for us.
I've caught a couple of Lior's games on NBATV the past couple of months and I was impressed, to say the least. My friend (also a poster here) happened to stop by my house just as one of Lior's games was starting a few weeks ago and jokingly I said "What a coincidence, you got here just in time to see our guy dominate!". Of course I was joking, but we sat down and watched the game for a little bit and frankly we were taken aback. At least 5 of their first 7 scores must have been either a dunk by him or a strong layup at the rim. He looked really mobile and aside from his height was built more like a small forward than a power forward. He didn't display any shooting range to speak of, but like Dennis Lindsey said, he loves to attack the basket and is great at getting there so I see why he wasn't taking jumpers. I don't remember much about his rebounding, which probably means it wasn't all that good, or all that bad either. Same thing with his defense. One important thing I noticed is that he didn't make stupid mistakes. He's only 21, but looked like he had a great feel for the game and very high IQ. A lot of his scores came out of the pick 'n roll. Where he rolled to the open spots perfectly. Each time he dunked it was with purpose...with attitude. I loved that out of such a young guy (and a stereotypically soft European player). I didn't see the second half of that particular game, but I had seen one other international game, as well as his game against the Spurs in the preseason where he had, I believe, 10 points and 4 rebounds. Overall, from what I've seen personally, he will contribute to this team sometime in the next few years. Depending on how the forward situation looks in the upcoming off-season, I might even be a fan of bringing him over right away. Yeah, so I'm pretty excited about this kid. If he bulks up to NBA standards he could be nasty. For those who really know absolutely nothing about him, here's a good write up (don't forget there are tabs to click at the top for "weaknesses", "competition", etc.: http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=449
mmmm i dont know whether this guy has a future with us or a future in the nba there are alot of players that can throw down monster dunks if he had something very unique we might be able to use him....otherwise i dont see this going anywhere
There's a lot more to my post than "he can dunk". By the way I found some video clips of him. Hardly a highlight reel, but some nice plays. Notice that a few of them are against the Phoenix Suns. They're at the bottom of this page: http://www.draftexpress.com/forums/showthread.php?t=793
Another hater.... Look, just re-read his post and you will see something very unique that you seek. Seems like Lior is consistenly described with having a high basketball IQ. Usually that is the unique quality young talents are missing, so I would say that is a very good sign for our Euro prospect. I, too, have seen a couple of his games on NBATV and both times Lior has been the impact player in the game.
If you will look back but I don't feel like searching. But I did play by play vs him when he played against the nba teams played reallllly well
2.07 cm is the size of his penis when the gym gets cold. Dennis makes sure he knows every prospect INTIMATELY.
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