KBP's revenge

[mogrovejo]

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:Ubpi_DYWHNkYiM:http://content.draftexpress.com/gallery/BrandonJennings/1229492844.jpg
7.6 ppg, 1.6 apg. Bench player for middle-of-the-pack team.

19 years old rookie PG leading a decent team. One of the draft steals. Running for rookie of the season. Good passer and defender. Averaging 20 ppg and 6 apg. Number of non-HoFers doing that in their rookie season in the league history: 0.

http://img2.blogcu.com/images/b/a/s/basketballlover/ersan_ilyasova_6.jpg
10 ppg, 7 rpg last season for Barcelona.

Second round draft pick. $2 M contract. Draft steal. Averaging 12/8 in 26 mpg. Very good rebounder, defender and 3 pt shooter.


http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:PYfnNH8NenfeyM:http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2009/basketball/nba/06/25/draft.day.blog/omri-casspi.jpg

8 ppg, 4 rpg, for Macabbi.

23rd pick of the draft. Steal. 11/4 in 22 minutes, athletic player, good shooter and rebounder.
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:aZngodht_FGsBM:http://blog.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2009/06/medium_2009-06-15-jonas-jerebko.ap.JPG

Never played at the Euroleague level. 39th pick of the draft.

Steal. Starting for the Pistons. Already one of the best wings defenders in the NBA. Tough and athletic player. 8/5 in 27mpg.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:kHuLJ4ocLKy87M:http://blogs.pe.com/prosports/Rodrigue%2520Beaubois.jpg

Never played at the Euroleague level. 10ppg/2apt in the lowly French League. 25th pick in the draft.

Steal. Good defender at the PG position. Amazing athleticism. Efficient scorer. Improving passer.

[BlackSwordsMan]

somewhere in little rock arkansas is a sad disgruntled greek

[Brazil]

Lies !!!

[L.I.T]

Is that like Montezuma's revenge?

[endrity]

well, the people that really know Euroleague in here never argued with KBP regarding the numbers. Basketball in Europe is played at a slower pace, less minutes per player, and offenses that tend to spread the ball much more. So yes, there will be players putting up what seem like average numbers in the US who are in fact very good and talented. Plus don't forget that all these players are young, which means they are due to improve quite a bit.

On the other hand, he is ridiculous when he insists that Spanoulis is right now a better player than X or Y All-Star in the NBA!

[Bukefal]

:lol I wonder what he's been up to lately.. In Panama? Or Buttcreek, Arkansas? :lol

[Bukefal]

well, the people that really know Euroleague in here never argued with KBP regarding the numbers. Basketball in Europe is played at a slower pace, less minutes per player, and offenses that tend to spread the ball much more. So yes, there will be players putting up what seem like average numbers in the US who are in fact very good and talented. Plus don't forget that all these players are young, which means they are due to improve quite a bit.

On the other hand, he is ridiculous when he insists that Spanoulis is right now a better player than X or Y All-Star in the NBA!

KBP had a big knowledge of European basketball, it was not bullshit. He knew alot and was up to date on almost every team, game and player in Europe.

But yeah, he was over the top with Spanoulis and Bourousis :lol And with getting pissed at every little thing :lol

[endrity]

He got on the Bourousis bandwagon late, and I think he is right about him. Bourousis could be borderline All Star in the Nba, arguably better than what Scola is right now. But yeah, he was pretty easy to rile up :)

[FkLA]

Who are these people? The only one I know for certain is Jennings. The last one Im guessing is the Roddy guy from Dallas and the third one is the Israeli dude that plays for Sacramento? The other two I have no idea about.

[mystargtr34]

What's your opinion on Splitter this season mogro? I have seen his stats and have only seen highlights really. How does he look?

[Indazone]

He got on the Bourousis bandwagon late, and I think he is right about him. Bourousis could be borderline All Star in the Nba, arguably better than what Scola is right now. But yeah, he was pretty easy to rile up :)


And this is the reason everyone including me clicked on his threads first of all. It was pure Greek comedy.

[mogrovejo]

What's your opinion on Splitter this season mogro? I have seen his stats and have only seen highlights really. How does he look?

He looks as good as ever - ACB MVP so far IMO - with the worst supporting cast of his career. Splitter needs to move to the NBA to give the next step, he needs new challenges.

[mogrovejo]

Damn, I forgot Gallinari! He's playing like shit today, but he's been the Knicks best player this season.

[mogrovejo]

Who are these people? The only one I know for certain is Jennings. The last one Im guessing is the Roddy guy from Dallas and the third one is the Israeli dude that plays for Sacramento? The other two I have no idea about.

Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova and Pistons' Jonas Jerebko.

[mystargtr34]

He looks as good as ever - ACB MVP so far IMO - with the worst supporting cast of his career. Splitter needs to move to the NBA to give the next step, he needs new challenges.

Good to hear. How do you rate him compared to Marc Gasol? In terms of what they did in their last years in Spain, and their physical game overall.

[mogrovejo]

Good to hear. How do you rate him compared to Marc Gasol? In terms of what they did in their last years in Spain, and their physical game overall.

Interesting question. Marc is a late bloomer, his development is quite unprecedent. He went from being a 20 years old scrub in Barcelona (year 0), solid player with limited potential in Girona (year 1), excellent player for European standards (year 2), very solid NBA rookie (year 3), excellent NBA sophomore (year 4). In his last season in Spain, Splitter was a better player than him (Marc won the MVP because he carried his team to a good season all by himself, the same reason why Splitter will probably win it this year, while Splitter was playing in a loaded team with lots of guys to share the burden, but the Brazilian was better). Right now, if I had to pick one for the Celtics, I'd go with Marc because he's already proven he can contribute at the NBA level (and there's always the adaptation thing - the most accomplished and skilled player to join the NBA from Europe this season was Andersen and he's sucking in Houston: wrong team for him, the situation the players fall into is very important, while lesser guys like Ilyasova or Casspi are playing great ball - although I doubt Splitter won't find a way of being at least a decent role-player, his defence is too good). But they are different players: Gasol is a much better rebounder and more skilled offensively, better passer and much better in the high-post. Splitter is way better defensively and he's better in the blocks and in the pick'n'roll. I think they both have great hands and touch. Gasol is a way better shooter, Splitter is quicker and more coordinated putting the ball on the floor. A hybrid of the two would be one of the best big man in the history of the game.

I'm not sure what you mean by "physical game", but basically Gasol is bigger and Splitter is more athletic and agile (he isn't more explosive or a bigger leaper than Gasol, he's just incredibly quick for his size). None of them is particullary soft, but Splitter plays more physically as his kind of game is more conductive to that.

In any case, where Splitter is really impressive is defensively. You'd be hard pressed to find another 7 footer in today's NBA with his combination of quickness, length, size and fundamentals besides Garnett. In the pro-game there's so much pick'n'roll that this kind of player is a game-changer by default. He's a good post defender, but it's his ability to show up aggressively and recover that makes the difference, he's a guy that erases a lot of ballscreens from the opponents game.

Btw, Splitter had a great game this weekend, delivering Real Madrid their 2nd loss of the season (and in a blowout!!!), pretty much dominating the entire game.