Nice post. And...totally wrong! If this were true then Yao should not have been the number 1 pick. Nor would we have players like Manu Ginobili, Scola, Duncan (yeah Virgin Islands), and Peja tearing up the league. This is the problem with lots of American coaches especially when they bring in a Euro player. They treat them like rookies and glue them to the bench when in fact most are battle tested in International tournament play and do in fact have good basketball skills. They are more than rookies and somehow a bit less than full time starters because they still need to learn the speed and American game. There was an adjustment period for both Scola and Yao and certainly is for all FIBA ballers coming into the NBA.
Scouting is all about finding an edge. Look in baseball: Oakland thrived for a number of years by selecting for short pitchers as well as hitters that drew lots of walks and had high OBPs in spite of low batting avgs. Now that everyone is up to speed on the value of OBP they can no longer do this. That's why Bill James says the new revolution is in the area of defense, because it's the next thing statistics can be used at to demonstrate how what was traditionally perceived might not always be true. In basketball, for a few years the Spurs made/are making a killing off stockpiling international talent. They even have Ian Mahinmi and Tiago Splitter in the pipelines for next year. But for the ingenuity of the Spurs "farm system", there are many examples of organizational failures in overvaluing foreign talent (Darko, Skitishvilli, Bargnani etc). For the most part the league has caught up in understanding the worth of the international league players. What's great about Morey is he still has a plethora of avenues for winnowing out the chaff, finding the diamonds in the rough both in the US and outside it. The goal is to gain an edge, no matter how. Last year he got steals in Brooks because he was short and Landry because he was old (23) and still not 100% after knee surgery. It doesn't matter how you get that edge; when you pick in the 20's it's still very possible to get high impact players, you just need to take on some risk. Otherwise those players would have been picked already.
No, he's not kidding. Is it too hard to look up his stats yourself? http://www.nba.com/playerfile/sasha_vujacic/index.html He shot 45% FG, 44% from 3, and 84% from the line this season. In the playoffs he's shooting 52% FG, 56% from 3, and 89% from the line.
Perhaps you should sign up here - http://www.learntoreadfree.com - because none of your replies have been about anything I've said. Ginobili is an example of my point, not yours (what is your point, anyway?). Duncan? Lol, what does he have to do with this? Did he come to the league straight from the Virgin Islands Superstar Ballers Association? I'll give you Yao. He was one of the first who was a result of the sudden obsession with international players. As I said, it took some international players to become good and now every team is seriously reaching in the drafts to get the 'Next dirk' or 'Next Gasol' or next whoever. The time for international players to go from underrated to heavily overrated was very short, only 3-4 years but it happened. So, pop, http://www.learntoreadfree.com It's free, I think (well, the demo is). I agree with this. Teams have toned down the 'waste your lottery pick on an international bust' thing they did every year a few years back. Now teams how moved over to just outright signing veterans from Europe which is still a waste of time for the most part, imo, but at least there is a much lower risk involved.
Feigen joins the rumor mill... http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2008/05/time_to_make_the_rockets_fa_sh.html
He is in his 3rd NBA season. After his second, everyone thought he would be done and back in europe come this summer, but the light bulb came on and he figured out how to shoot, defend, and play again. Frankly we don't have 3 years. Even this year, Scola did not play really well until half-way to 2/3 of the way into the season, and if we had had a good PF, he would have still come off the bench. Due to the fact, we had to start Hayes, Scola started much earlier. Now I'm not trying to say Scola is bad or not good, but even he took time. Right now we are looking for bench guys, like guys who will play 7-20 min a night normally and can fit into the team quickly. Because of that you shouldn't be looking at a Euro to "be the answer", adjust to the NBA game and players, and produce well in that little playing time. Now if we find some answers elsewhere for that, and we can also bring an in euro to say replace a mike harris or luther head on the roster, then that would be great.
This guy looks unathletic and i haven't seen his D but he sure can score and is pretty fearless...he looks taller that 6'6" and one thing for sure is his arms are abnormally long and makes up for his like of jumping
We need guards with size and speed who can shoot. Siskauskas will have huge problems despite his ability to shoot.Quick defenders will have no problem is getting a hand in his face and might even be able to block his shot. Luis isn't the quickest PF but he makes it up to an extent with his fakes.This guy won't be able to do it IMO.Feigen is a fool if he thinks this guy can be another Scola this year.
You want a backup of this caliber that doesn't play a lick of defense, what a joke. Rafer exposed his a$$. Watch the games don't just focus on stats.
http://www.draftexpress.com/article...oleague-Regular-Season-Performers--Part-One-/ $3 Million would be the same money as his current contract with CSKA. At his age playing in the NBA could be a personal goal or prestige thing so it mighn't take an unbeliveable offer just playing time. Also a NBA contract is more secure than a European one where money may be guaranteed but payment isn't.
Maybe you should watch the games. Sasha has been money for the Lakers all year. We would be extremely lucky to land him. He would be a perfect complement to Yao and Tracy. He would be a much better pickup than Siskauskus.
Sounds like he's a assist machine who can shoot and finish at the rim. Definitely a PLUS for any teams he goes to. In terms of Rockets with the way we plays he can surely take the pressure off of Tmac on the offensive side. because he is 30 years old, he is good for only championship contending teams and I believe in terms on money compared to other championship contending teams have an advantage at least in the West. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BXBh_7iHa_o&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BXBh_7iHa_o&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
Maybe its just me, but the dude looks slow. I am not sure he could get get his shot off against quicker guards. (atleast from the videos I have seen of the guy).
Never seen this guy play; don't have an opinion on him. I just think it's funny that everyone is deriding him for his lack of atleticism when all I've heard since December is how we could have used Kyle Korver. Should I bump all the Brent Barry threads?
