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I literally don't see one thing in his game that's similar to Gradey . There's no comp there...
I don't critic his measurements, I doubt them, that's different. And they're key as far as evaluating a prospect that I wouldn't like more if he were 6'8... Already mentioned, but he's a poor man's Gradey to me, without that NBA vibe Luka or Rubio or even TP had at his age. You know, that groove, that feeling they belong... Topic does look to me like your typical, euro, white PG who can do things here he could'nt in the NBA , whether it is driving by your guy or finshing... He's agressive but does'nt look that smooth, natural and actually that skilled. Even his layups are very "euro-ish". He's just a tad more aggresive Beno in my books with a longer neck. Not worth a lottery pick, not high lottery anyway. He's pretty high right now more by default than anything, with so few College guys standing out, but I can see him dropping getting closer to the draft.
I literally don't see one thing in his game that's similar to Gradey . There's no comp there...
I'm not seeing the Grady comp, sorry. In fact I'd say he's probably the exact opposite of in terms of play style, strengths and weaknesses.
I'm actually with Bruno on Topic. I'm probably not going to discuss him any further until I see him in Euroleague. It'd be one thing if he was playing ABA the entire season, then we could analyze his strengths and weaknesses ad nauseam here. But to me there's no point in speculating on how he'll translate to the NBA when we are going to have much better information on his abilities in just a couple weeks when he comes back from injury.
Unless Topic comes back and starts showing in Euroleague, I'm pretty much out on him.
My point is is what Topic would be in the NBA, as I don't see him being able to do all the stuff he does in Europe, just like Micic isn't. The pace is so diifferent, the game so much faster, so much more athletic... Topic would just be a bad or stricky shooter afraid to drive (like ) having a few moments but not a really productive player... He's playing in a pretty poor league and his defense is still just not good at all.. Put in Topic's league and I'm sure he would look good too.
But that's my personal scouting report and I guess some poeple would see otherwise, Just like some people thought Darko Milicic was worth a #1 pick because he was showing stuff in Europe but ended up as a stiff in the NBA. Topic hasn"t hwon anything that let me imagine he'd be anything than a Gradey out there, the equivalent of a stiff for guards... And I still beleive he'll badly fall in the mock drafts the next few weeks. Givony got him rising but I bet most GMs haven't even see him play.
Last edited by JPB; 02-14-2024 at 06:08 PM.
I literally don’t want us to get the best player from this draft. That would be a nightmare.
and topic are pretty close to polar opposites in style of play, i really dont see the comp unless you are just going a roundabout way of saying he's too athletically challenged to succeed in the nba
The problem is we Americans don't understand the Euro (especially Serbian) game and it's hard for us to understand how guys like Topic play or what they're capable of over here.
Our players succeed with speed and explosiveness (power).
The really high-end Euro guys succeed with angles -- they see the game as a series of angles way more than we do. And if they learn to see it that way instinctively, they're damn near unstoppable (in part because they seem so different to our players).
They use change of speeds way more than our guys do, they hesitate, Euro-step, change directions in ways we don't routinely see.
We always say they'll never be able to that here, but the really good ones do.
Jokic (although not a point guard like Topic) illustrates this. He's slow, fat, and can't jump but has a feel and sense for the game that our guys rarely develop.
Each player over there, from a young age learns how to play "total basketball" like the Dutch used to play "total football" -- all positions on the court.
The best American analogy might be Larry Bird -- he played with that sense of space and angles that allowed him to succeed way more than the measurables should have allowed.
Topic seems to exhibit these traits. Based on what I've seen, I think Topic has a very good chance to become a high-end player in the NBA.
That's all soccer, tbh. Soccer develops those skills like no other sport, and every European (and South American) player has played soccer as kids. BB players then translate it to their sport.
Watched parts of the Tennessee and Miami games.
Dalton Knecht. He's a workhorse for the Vols so the question is whether he can scale down. Question of whether he's physically matured compared to his compe ion is valid, but college isn't full of slender reeds. His defense is pretty good, good hands. May not get as many threes up as you'd like, although it's 5.5 per game for the season. If he's a SF, he rebounds a touch below what's optimal but still pretty good. In a normal draft I'd want him around the late teens, early twenties. Feel like he'd benefit a contending team. Otherwise I feel like he'll get figured out a bit and would work best as an off-ball role player. Sort of like Keldon in that regard: he's shooting or he's driving hard.
Kyshawn George. Got 13, 5, and 6 with 4 turnovers and 3-6 from range. Doesn't seem like he's 6'8" or 6'9". Miami has him initiate at times. Great hands, a little slow-footed on defense but I don't think it's because of athleticism, rather just adjusting and learning timing. Would not guess he's a freshman, one of the better Hurricanes out there for a veteran team that doesn't look like they'll make the tournament. Great range, good handles, not exactly a supreme athlete but quick and smooth.
I think George is really intriguing. Miami will full-court press him staying. If he won't go lottery, maybe will, but I'd go if I were him. Shades of Cameron Johnson. Connector, potential high end 3&D with ballhandling potential.
would knecht be a upgrade over champ tho
Not asking too much. Just the Toronto pick for this guy.
https://www.noceilingsnba.com/p/reed-sheppards-numbers-are-still
Assuming his shooting would translate and his defense would be at least as good as Champ's, sure. He'd be a slashing threat that Julian doesn't provide. Not sure he's the right pick for the team overall though.
I just realized who Dalton Knecht is. He's Dan Majerle.
For those who have done some scouting on Risacher and Salaun. Bruno? What are some of the differences and similarities y'all are seeing?
I read that Wemby's and Salaun's family are very familiar with each other. They also worked out with each other and Wemby complimented him on his work ethic. Maybe he is option #1 if they fall out of the top 3/4 or get TOR's pick.
So far, I would feel better with Salaun with TOR pick than Risacher as a top 3 pick.
I don't, and hold your horses anyway (if I may)... The kid has proved absolutely nothing so far at the highest level in Europe. He's the definition of a prospect most people here didn't know about 3 months ago... How many live games from him did you see to be so categorical? Don't tell me you're making your judgment on YT highlligts where he doesn't actually look that good vs. no names...
Besides, the myth of "smart" euro players vs. dumb, jumping US athlets is also mostly that, a myth nowadays that Im' mostly hearing US people drop. Otherwise, the NBA would be full of euro, starting PGs. It's not... There's plenty of US players who can understand and read the game as well, while more athletic. Euro players have no choice and just have to compensate because of lack of that athelticism.
Sure the US didn't win the last WC, but they didn't send their best players while other national teams have years of corporate knowledge and collective experience vs. a couple of weeks of training camp for the US with different rules and environment.
Nobody, including himself, expected Jokic to be that good, reason why he's been selected in the second round as a somehow, skilled big... Using him as an example to tag an unathletic, 18 euro guard who just looks like that as a probable high end player is really far fetched to me... And how many Jokices in the NBA are we talking about? he's an exception...You wanna make more pertinent, closest comparisons? Compare Topic, to other ,"smart, I can read angles" former Euroleague MVPs like Teodosic and Micic in recent years. They're the closest you can compare Topic to... How did it go for them in the NBA in their prime? How did it go for Nando, another Euroleague MVP? If they're so smart, how many euro, young PGs ended up as "high end players" in the NBA the last 10 years?
The couple ones who succeeded (Rubio and Luka) were "wonder kids" you could already tag as "special" as teens.. you knew, you could see they had it, they had that superior talent, and those superior skills aknowledged by everyone.... Topic is an intriguing, unatheltic guard people talk about because it's a weak year and Givony put him on top of his mock drafts... Watch him drop quickly when people really start to watch his games and suspect defense or shooting...
Last edited by JPB; 02-15-2024 at 05:37 AM.
That sounds pretty damn interesting if true. Majerle was gritty MF’er
Risacher is a little older and more advanced as a shooter. He's also the better defender. Salaun is a little taller, but that relatively new to him because he's had a couple growth spurts. His ball handling is better probably due to the fact thst he was more of a perimeter guy before the growth. I think Salaun is more athletic with more upside, but Risacher will be better earlier in their careers. Salaun also has a higher bust potential due to being so raw.
It's a fair point: is he the right fit? I think he has more talent and better scoring potential than Champ. To me hesn upgrade in a simple sense. But if Sochan is our 4, we need more help with
rebounding, for example, among other things. Yeah, the team needs high end talent at the 1 and 3. Knecht isn't that. Not a great rebounder, either.
To me, a question I have is, is he better than Reed Shephard, another player in consideration for the Toronto pick.
Anyway. Just rambling.
Good points. There's no guarantee Topic will make it in the NBA, but he passes the eye test IMO -- that's the bigger key for me, not his pedigree.
So the main point I would dispute is that Topic is unathletic or that he can't get to the hoop against better athletes. I think he can.
The other quibble I have -- and it's my fault because I didn't make it clear enough -- is that all Euro players possess the qualities I was touting that Jokic has and that, I think Topic may have. The guys that have that mostly come from the former Yugoslavia, i.e., Serbia, Croatia, etc. They play a different game there than elsewhere in Europe.
For example, French players, although very good in their own right, don't generally have those skills. Wemby doesn't -- he's great for more obvious reasons, a physical freak.
There are a lot of European guys the Spurs drafted that I thought were wasted picks at the time. You mentioned Nando DeColo -- I thought he was downright slow and I'm still shocked that he had as much success in Europe as he did. Never thought he would make it over here. I thought Livio Jean Charles looked like a raw athlete with almost no basketball skills and thought he was a wasted pick. The Spurs drafting Luka Samanic was also a mystery -- he didn't fit the Serbian model I was describing at all -- he actually was athletic and had none of the basketball skills that I was touting. I didn't like any of those guys that much on draft day. I like Topic.
One thing we can agree on, Topic is moving up in class and he'll have to prove himself all over again. Hopefully we'll know a lot more about him by the time the draft rolls around.
Speaking of Topic, when is he returning to action?
Absolutely would not hate having a modern day Majerle on the squad. I get wanting to go for home run picks, but there seem to be several high-floor guys (like Knecht) in this draft who could immediately improve the awful Spurs bench unit. Save the home run swings for better drafts in '25 and '26 imo
Someone said that he was basically ready, but Euroleague teams are on a break to play national team ball until the end of this month.
The odds of hitting a home run pick go up the more times you swing for one. I’d hate to go through this absolute season, and settle for a bunt single. I’d want PATFO to get into the batters box, eradicate the back line, and ing swing from their heels.
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