2011 draft.....

[Elizah Huge]

Now I actually would love it if we get the #3 pick in the draft, although it would be awesome to get the #1 or #2 pick I would settle with the #3 pick, plus the Jazz have better odds of getting it anyway and the Jazz would have their choice of Valanciunas and Kanter, also there is always a chance that Irving or Williams could fall to #3, but now I might prefer Valanciunas or Kanter over Williams and slightly behind Irving.

The Jazz have almost an 11% chance of getting the #3 pick, a 9.5% chance of getting the #2 pick, and a 7.5% chance of getting the #1 pick.

 

[Favors Flave]

What do you guys like about Valanciunas? I haven't followed him a lot. He seems to be lacking weight quiet a bit. He may also be the furthest from producing out of any of the guys in the draft but has great upside. ESPN shows him as a 6'10 PF, do we really need a Euro PF? I really like Biyombo because he is a defensive specialist with good athleticism, great weight, is very young and a great rebounder. Sway my opinion on Jonas!

 

[Jazz4ever]

Never saw that Kanter video before, good find. His jump shot has much better range than I thought, and his stroke is that of a pure shooters. He also shows strong post up skills including solid ball fakes, up and unders, and spins.
I don't think Kanter is a legit center though. Once Favors bulks up, he would make a more ideal center than Kanter. In this photo you can see Kanter next to Terrence Jones, who is 6'9", so he is 6'10", power forward size.

 

[zbone]

Never saw that Kanter video before, good find. His jump shot has much better range than I thought, and his stroke is that of a pure shooters. He also shows strong post up skills including solid ball fakes, up and unders, and spins.
I don't think Kanter is a legit center though. Once Favors bulks up, he would make a more ideal center than Kanter. In this photo you can see Kanter next to Terrence Jones, who is 6'9", so he is 6'10", power forward size.

His knees are somewhat bent though. He may be 6-11 as well. But as it was mentioned here quitre a few times you don't play with your head. We need to see his measurements before judging whether he can play C.

 

[BENTLEY]

Here's a video of Valanciunas. He sure is skinny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0PRXLHFDZg

 

[trigg3r]

Here's a video of Valanciunas. He sure is skinny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0PRXLHFDZg

Can't say that I am all that impressed. He looks like a stiff out there on the floor. I know he is a work in progress, but nothing in that video screamed out to me. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BENTLEY]

Yeah, I keep wondering what Jonathan Givony sees in him to keep rating him as the 3rd best prospect in the draft. ...still collecting info.

 

[davidbenoit]

Can't say that I am all that impressed. He looks like a stiff out there on the floor. I know he is a work in progress, but nothing in that video screamed out to me. Thanks for sharing.

That video should be terrifying for all jazz fans

 

[Sneakers]

Nope, no Euros. No no no no. no no. no no no

 

[Darkwing Duck]

Can't say that I am all that impressed. He looks like a stiff out there on the floor. I know he is a work in progress, but nothing in that video screamed out to me. Thanks for sharing.

What I see is that he's slow, and has average quickness for a center. However, he is quite light on his feet and is quite dextrous for his size. He definitely seems to like contact. He's got good hands it looks like and good touch and has learned good technique in keeping the ball above his head. I definitely see the plus side.

Looks like he could only guard centers, but his body looks much stronger than the stereotypical European prospect. He seemed to like crushing guys down in the post.

But there is definitely risk, and Europeans have the added risk of inability to adjust to American culture. Basement is definitely Rasho Nesterovic with no jump shot, but the ceiling is definitely comparable to someone like Dwight Howard.

 

[BENTLEY]

I watched it again and am a little more impressed than before. But I think that's 'cause the last time I looked I was disappointed. I keep going back and forth with this guy. "wow he's skinny" to "look at him run the court" to "but he's so thin" to "look at him handle the ball."

Toward the end when he's standing there receiving accolades I paused it to look at his frame and judge for myself what he might look like with muscle. I can't decide if his shoulders are wide or if even his head is skinny.

 

[Fakers Luck]

I watched it again and am a little more impressed than before. But I think that's 'cause the last time I looked I was disappointed. I keep going back and forth with this guy. "wow he's skinny" to "look at him run the court" to "but he's so thin" to "look at him handle the ball."

Toward the end when he's standing there receiving accolades I paused it to look at his frame and judge for myself what he might look like with muscle. I can't decide if his shoulders are wide or if even his head is skinny.

This was in a write-up from Jonathan Givony: "Standing 6-6 ½ when he arrived in Vilnius in February of 2007, Valanciunas has grown at least four inches since (I'm now 210 centimeters [almost 6-11] without shoes,” he informed us) and has slowly grown into his excellent frame. He's retained all of the quickness he had earlier on in his career and still sports a mammoth 7-6 wingspan, (again according to him.)"

The kid is a late bloomer (unlike Kanter), so, considering his excellent hands, length, quickness and motor, if his body continues to mature and gain weight, he could be the better long-term prospect. Do you take the chance, though, and draft merely on potential? Kanter is ready to play now, while Jonas may never pan out.

 

[Chargers Jazz Angels]

Who was the last euro drafted that was an all star?

 

[billyshelby]

I don't know, that kid looks pretty skilled. But all these Euro videos kind of look the same to me. My only thing is don't take one of those Euro bigs unless the plan is to leave him overseas for a year. Even the Bismack kid. No sense starting the salary clock. Get Memo going, next year is the Al/Sap/Favors/Memo show with special guest star Evans, and roll into 12-13 with choices like Tomic and whoever we draft.

 

[Elizah Huge]

Who was the last euro drafted that was an all star?

I went through all of the recent drafts, and Yao Ming was the last euro drafted to become an all-star in 2002, he was the #1 pick.

 

[BENTLEY]

The kid is a late bloomer (unlike Kanter), so, considering his excellent hands, length, quickness and motor, if his body continues to mature and gain weight, he could be the better long-term prospect. Do you take the chance, though, and draft merely on potential? Kanter is ready to play now, while Jonas may never pan out.

Dunno. Jonas is inferior offensively to Kanter but I think he's superior defensively. Maybe that's just 'cause he tries. Granted a lot of my information comes from articles online and I've seen almost no game play of either of these guys. Anyone on here seen much? There was a poster - his name is something like Sepanol or something - and he's from Turkey so he's watched a lot of Kanter. He's a big fan of him. I wonder if he saw the two go up against each other, and what his thoughts are of Jonas?

Based on their current talent level I wonder how much difference there is between Kanter and Jonas. If it's marginal I think I might go for the Jonas boy and hope he fills out.

 

[BENTLEY]

I don't know, that kid looks pretty skilled. But all these Euro videos kind of look the same to me. My only thing is don't take one of those Euro bigs unless the plan is to leave him overseas for a year. Even the Bismack kid. No sense starting the salary clock. Get Memo going, next year is the Al/Sap/Favors/Memo show with special guest star Evans, and roll into 12-13 with choices like Tomic and whoever we draft.

Given the fact that the euro will be a big I too see no point in bringing them over right away. The Jazz frontcourt is full so they don't need a big (unless he's a dominant center) and the BPA will probably be a euro big - one that's not ready yet.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Can we just accept that Memo is not or should not be in the team's plans anymore? I'm not sure he ever should have to begin with, but where the **** are his minutes coming from if he plays next year? The Jazz would be in a situation where you could argue that all four bigs deserve major minutes and that is stupid when you KNOW one of them is not in the longterm plans.

 

[billyshelby]

Can we just accept that Memo is not or should not be in the team's plans anymore? I'm not sure he ever should have to begin with, but where the **** are his minutes coming from if he plays next year? The Jazz would be in a situation where you could argue that all four bigs deserve major minutes and that is stupid when you KNOW one of them is not in the longterm plans.

Healthy Memo is a floor spacing big who would be of interest to most contenders. Not as a starter, those days are over. But he's absolutely one of the Top 5 shooting big men in the game. If Memo can adapt to a 20 minute role we could actually get something for him. The only reason to trade Memo before the season is as a salary equalizer for a higher dollar player.

 

[The Thriller]

I went through all of the recent drafts, and Yao Ming was the last euro drafted to become an all-star in 2002, he was the #1 pick.

China is part of Europe now?

I think you folks need to realize, for every one Pau Gasol, you have 10 Fess's (sucky players), and probably about 5 Tomic's (guys who never even come over and play).

There are plenty of more proven guys out there. Lets stick with them instead of going after these 6'11" projects who will take years to even come over... And then will take years for us to decide on giving up on them (like so many other euro busts) because they do not have the strength to compete in the NBA.