Manu vs Nachbar vs Jaric New Euro Talent

I think all these players will pan out. I think Gino is the best right now, but if Boki can develop a consistent outside shot he'll surpass Gino. They both attack the basket fairly well, with Gino having the edge. Who'll shot better from the 3 will be my choice as the best. I also think since Boki is younger, he has the slight edge on improving more than Gino.

Jaric is a good player, just not at the level of the other 2.

 

nikos, do you live in Europe or do you just follow euro basketball a lot? you sound like you know a lot about these guys.

What did you think about Tshkishisvili ?

 

This will definitely be a telling year of the Euroleagues. So far it has been mainly SFs coming in at a young age, to begin the career in the NBA early--Kirilenko drafted at age 18? and later entering the league at 21 is an exception. This is really the first time some prospects who were largely passed over at their eligibility age of 21yrs old start coming over.

For instance, guys like Tinsley come in at 23-24yrs old and Runner-Up in NCAA Player of the Year next to Battier, and got off to a quick start, but he seems to have been figured out quickly--that is, no shot, maybe leading to his assists dropping off to under 7pg after Rose left...and he was a non-factor in the playoffs (a lot of pine). He'll probably end up being a quality role-playing PG, maybe drop of as a bench player later, a taller Travis Best?? 38% shooting for a PG,,, woof.

I feel the league can't have too many shooters. There is always room for 6'9 or taller shooters, despite the fact Mirsad Turkcan (the reigning MVP of Euroleague) will never play in the NBA.

I think the big test is seeing how the SGs and PGs can do here. Not to disrespect Jesus Parker any, but he is only one PG (Nash was an NCAA player), and we haven't seen a SG start here for quite awhile (am I forgetting someone; was Drazen the last SG starter?), despite the fact that Dejan Bodiroga is widely regarded as the best player in Europe and in his prime, and he is a 6'8 all-round playmaker.

 

what about Raul Lopes? Is he the real deal? And also, is it true that this Mehmet Okur guy is good?

 

Drafted by Detroit 38th last year. He's 23yrs old and not putting up great numbers. Never seen him, but he's a teammate of Mirsad Turskcan at Efes Pilsen, and Mirsad is the MVP of the Euroleague and his teammate, so the apparent main-man of that team. Take that for what it is worth.

He's supposed to be a low post player...I wouldn't hold my breath on low post players from Europe.

 

Nikos....to me, you can't really compare Nach to Gino...they player different positions, right.

Gino has a really tough time playing SG in the NBA first year. We really have no precedence for that and how he will do.

Nach is protected as a bench player at a relatively unimportant position in the Rockets organization. Many rox fans might say how we love SFs and how we have wanted one (Pippen, Rice) but in fact, we have used this position less than others. We have few plays called explicitly for Rice or Walt, and I'd bet that is not changing first year with Nach.

I don't expect much from Nach other than what Rice can't bring. I suspect the Spurs will have different strategies for Bowen vs Gino.

Hopefully, injuries will not settle this debate....

 

Nice Euro coverage guys...

This thread reminds me of my days in highschool, when a bunch of my Japanese friends and I were shooting hoops at the Rockets court at Westside Tennis Club. It was the summer during the offseason shortly after we drafted that Mirsad Turkan guy. He was just shooting jumpers on one end of the court, while we were playing pick-up games as we often did on guest-free days.

So Mirsad walks over and interrupts are ballgame, and asks one of us "kids" to rebound for his @ss. I was well aware that he was drafted by the Rockets, so I obliged. But he had the audacity to act like a big-shot when he has yet to prove anything in the NBA level. Besides, we ran into many NBA stars at Westside (Shaq, Drexler, Horry, etc); Mirsad was no big deal...

Anyway, I ended up rebounding the ball for him for about 40 minutes, and I was pretty pissed about it near the end. I couldn't exactly tell him I had better things to do than to rebound for this guy, so I found the perfect escape route when he started macking on the power-dancer girl that was there working out. It was pretty funny stuff, but I gotta admit, Mirsad had some game (in macking, that is). Come to think of it, he was a pretty decent shooter, in practice anyway...

So I'm shooting around with my friends, and Mirsad calls me over AGAIN. I was like, "you gotta be kidding me". I wanted to tell him to go find a damn trainer, but he was acting like he was doing me a favor by demanding, so I went along with it. After about 20 more minutes of shooting and shooting and shooting, he finally called it quits and headed to the weight rooms. But before doing so, he took off his damp, sweat drenched Rockets T-shirt and gave it to me as if it was something of value. I was speachless. My Japanese friends laughed at me when I brought that stink rag back with me.
That T-shirt, by the way, is stored in a bag, never to be opened again unless he blows up in the NBA and it demands any kind of value over 5 cents.

Euro-players rule! Go Nachbar!