Valanciunas' team believes that Rockets would select him if he can't reach a buyout

Bold1: This isn't Euroleague.

Bold2: I dare you to confirm that. You should probably take the guys job though.

 

Lots of Euroleague games broadcast to his mom's house in Arkansas.

DD

 

I dont believe in this guy, if we draft him hopefully it will be to include him in a trade

 

this..... i see nothing special in this guy's game other than that he shows athletism against players much shorter, and much leaner than him, and a hook shot that appears can be easily be blocked even against bums like samuel dalembert. when ever i do see vids of him against solid comp he does absolutely nothing. one link i seen of him on youtube, i had had no idea he was even in the game until he finally went to the free-throw line. thats saying something right there. im no draft expert at all, by any means man, but im just saying this guy looks like a potentail wasted pick easily. then having to wait two years just to see what he can actually do makes me even less interested on the rockets drafting him. I know developing centers take more time, and maybe he can improve drastically within the two years he's away, but i think the rockets honestly can find a betetr player that can contribute now.

 

Haha. Glad to see they are getting paid to do what they do and you who knows sooo much more on the topic just go on Internet forums to spread your knowledge.

 

Kinda back tracking on my Valanciunas comments a little bit. One thing people keep saying about Valanciunas is that his work ethic is off the radar.

hard work + skill+ size = not a bust???? then staying away a year or two can only help his game in the long run right? At the same time i remember people said Tiago Splitter was the truth also and was a gonna be a top rookie, and didn't even play much this season lol. if i recalled tiago was a beast in the euro leagues too. what is he doing now? hell mark madsen works very hard when he played in the league but he still sucked regardless of his work ethic. players like Valanciunas is just one big question mark that looks like crap in draft workouts and youtube videos. PROJECT

 

Ehhh.... Doesn't this describe basically every high school player to ever enter the NBA draft?

Heck, take a look at videos of 20yr old Yao in the 2000 Olympics when NBA scouts were raving about him. Dude was a pencil-thin dude with no muscle who seemed just "tall". Five years later and he demanded triple-teams and anchored top defenses.

That's why it's about "projection", not debating how good they are now. It's also why the draft is an exact science, since we don't have the benefit of time machines.

 

Valanciunas is a far different player than Splitter. Splitter was always a terrible offensive player in Europe. Splitter is a great defender (no disputing that), but his offense is terrible.

In Europe, Splitter was only able to be used in pick and roll. Other than that, his offense was high school level.

Valanciunas has good offensive potential and he is a bad defender at this time. Valanciunas has the potential to develop into something much more than what Splitter is.

Splitter has always in his whole career, at every level, been a defensive specialist, with no offense other than finishing on pick and roll. There are many centers in Europe that are better than Splitter is.

Don't put Valanciunas' ceiling or potential to Splitter. Quite frankly, Valanciunas is a lot more talented than Splitter ever was.

 

Valanciunas is more athletic than Thiago.

Thiago will be a good/very good NBA player. But let's give him some time, at least more than a year. One of the most criticized decisions with Popovich it was his faith in Blair/Bonner while keeping Splitter on the bench, during all season and specially at playoffs. At the playoff series against Memphis they severely accussed lack of size. Splitter played the last games ahead of Blair and helped more. When he was asked about this issue after the elimination, Popovich acknowledged the physical advantage of the Grizzlies during all series, and by the way said that he planned to give Thiago more responsabilities for the next season.

No, there aren't.
Splitter was a good post player in Europe, NBA is a different animal. He'll never be a reference (and never was expected) but will be fine with more time.

 

YES THERE ARE.

 

Really? Like Pekovic and Marc? Like Andersen?

You'll name Bouroussis, Batiste, Maric? Sofo? ...
I could accept Ioannis from that list. At a same level, not a better level. But you said that "there are many centers in Europe that are better than Splitter is", and now I can't wait to hear their names...

 

I'm not even wasting my time with you on that. There are many centers in Europe that are better than Splitter. Splitter was somewhere around 15-25 in the ranks of centers in Europe.

 

Ok.

 

Splitter is a really great defender. But his offense is just too poor.

 

Nope. Not in Europe. He had two 14ppg seasons (what Navarro, Spanoulis or San Emeterio scored this season) and another 13ppg season.

All-Euroleague first team in 2008. All-Euroleague second team in 2009 and 2010. Splitter was elite in Europe, I'm sorry. Next time you use the bold make sure what you're saying is true.

 

http://twitter.com/sam_amick/status/83957091684986880

Source confirms @RicBucher report that Cleveland looks to be back on Valanciunas at No. 4. I'll explaining in forthcoming updated mock...