I truly was blessed this past season and post-season to have had the opportunity to closely cover college basketball’s most decorated player in Ohio State’s Evan Turner. “His Royal Smoothness” as we like to call him, won the Wooden, the Naismith and pretty much every other national college basketball player of the year award.  We all know how good he is; he’ll likely be the first or second guy picked in this June’s NBA Draft after Kentucky’s John Wall goes first overall.

We’ve already heard all about his many strengths. And he could very well be the next Scottie Pippen, but he’s still far from perfect. As transcendent as his game seems at times, there are still some flaws.

At times his appearance on the court is less than ideal. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he sounds like Kermit the Frog, or looks like a dinosaur. I’ve even heard these opinions expressed working for THE Ohio State University. During the tournament’s first weekend his body language and overall composure were less than ideal.

A reporter questioned his collegiate coach Thad Matta about this. He answered by deflecting and changing the topic. “I thought that there was a couple of things that were happening. I was trying to get changed as well. But he’s just got to keep the composure and keep playing through it…Nobody pays attention to his defense. He did a tremendous job defending us well tonight and really using his length off their stack actions,” Matta said.

I had some off-the-record conversations with the teams that OSU eliminated in the NCAAs, and members of the opposing coaching staffs basically told me they were disappointed in how Evan looked in real time when compared against how he looked on film. They were disappointed in his demeanor, how they perceived his maturity, and how he acted on the court given his prestigious stature as a player.

And when opponents got physical with him, he didn’t seem to react well. Turner got rattled quite a bit during the first game of the NCAA Tournament, a blowout win over UC-Santa Barbara. And in the Big Ten Tournament, the trash talking Illini got in his head and under his skin. Here’s a video I shot of him in the locker room after the game. He’s voicing his frustration over the Illinois “front-runners.”

Of course, polarization is just the nature of the beast when you’re a big star. Turner has a lot of BFFs among big-time college basketball stars, but he’s also so hated by opponents that his teammates  call him “The Villain.” But like Chris Rock says: “don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

In March, I actually got tired of coaches and announcers making the “he almost had a quadruple double, if you count the TOs” joke every time Turner got a triple double, or close to it. The joke eventually got more annoying and played out than “Flo” and her Progressive insurance advertisements.

During March Madness a reporter questioned Matta about Turner’s tendency to turn the ball over, and again he deflected the question without really answering.

“I love him being out there — a lot of times just for the defense. I think everybody only watches him on offense. But he gets his hands on so many balls and 6?7? with his wing span, he was challenging shots at 24 feet that you really don’t notice. And then when that thing goes up, a lot of times he’s coming up with the rebound, and he does a great job in that regard,” Matta responded.

Of course in the grand scheme of things, his turnovers are not that big of a deal because he’s going to be playing the three in the NBA. He only played the point at OSU, because they had absolutely no other options. Their best alternative was P.J. Hill for crying out loud. Of course, in the NBA the small forward position is to talented athletes what Elisabeth Hasselbeck is to sounding idiotic, so “His Royal Smoothness” will have some TOUGH matchups on his hands when he gets into the league.

But when you look at his entire upside, his TOs aren’t really the end of the world. Matta summed it up best following the Buckeyes’ final victory of the season; a second round defeat over Georgia Tech where Turner had 24 points, 9 rebounds and also 9 of his team’s 18 turnovers.

“As long as he gets me 24 and 9 and 9, I’ll leave with it. Obviously, we’d like it to cut down. In that type of situation we’re going to put the ball in his hands a lot and he’s going to make decisions…I thought when the time was needed, he delivered for us,” Matta said.

For an in-depth scouting report on Turner go here

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks and David Kay, President and V.P. of The Sports Bank.net

The Chicago Bulls could use a good perimeter scorer, someone who can really light it up from deep. Even though Kirk Hinrich played out of his mind for a couple games of the first round series loss to Cleveland, he’s not that guy.

John Salmons was not that guy, and the Bulls haven’t had “that guy” since Ben Gordon left town. Chicago doesn’t really shoot a whole lot of threes, because there isn’t anyone truly dependable out there beyond the arc to consistently drain them. Whoever replaces Vinny Del Negro needs to add this dimension to the offense next season.

Oklahoma State’s James Anderson, who should be available when the Bulls pick in the NBA Draft, could just be “that guy.”

Obviously this off-season is all about the free agent derby (you’ve heard a thing or two or three million about that, right?), but the Bulls could also find the long-distance marksman they need on June 2^4th; seven days before the free agency period begins.

Anderson, the Big 12 Player of the Year, is a surefire first round pick who could go as high as the mid-teens.  His athleticism is not at the elite NBA level which could drop him into the twenties, but he is a great scoring guard who could complement Derrick Rose and whatever big name free agent the Chi is able to land. I caught up to the 6-6 shooting guard at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center, following the final game of his collegiate career.

I asked Anderson if there was anyone he looks up to in the league, and his answer was a former Bull, the most famous of all. “I looked up to Michael Jordan ever since I’ve been a child, that’s about it,” Anderson said.

His biggest strengths include his pull-up jump shot, the quick release he has on it and the fact that he doesn’t need much space to get it off. He’s a great free throw shooter, possesses ideal size for an NBA two-guard, and is an effective slasher to the basket (granting him more offensive versatility) and a smooth finisher in transition.

Conversely, he has some weaknesses, including his tendency to dribble too much, his lack of creativity off the bounce and always favoring the left hand in driving to the basket.

But perhaps the biggest reason he’s a good in fit in Chicago is that Johngar Paxman (GM Gar Forman and Executive John Paxson actually make all personnel decisions together, so I just morphed them into one person) always likes to draft big school players, often stressing character issues. And character is perhaps Anderson’s biggest strength.

Read the ringing endorsement his collegiate coach Travis Ford gave at the NCAA Tournament:

“If all my players were the type of person he is and as responsible and accountable, as nice, coming ready to practice every day as James was makes it a lot easier. As I’ve said, he’s the most coachable young man I’ve ever coached, and that’s a broad term and I can get into what that means. In my two years of James, I’ve never had to call him into my office one single time for something he’s done wrong or been late to or anything like that. I’ve never had to tell him something twice.

Anytime you see James, he’s extremely humble and very polite, in a good mood. He’s a “no, sir/yes, sir.” You tell him to do anything, he does it. Yes, it makes my job easy coaching a young man with his talent level, but also the type of young man he is. It makes everybody around him better. Makes me a better person. It makes his teammates better players and better people. There’s not many James Andersons that come around every day, there’s really not.”

To read an in-depth scouting report on Anderson go here.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

With the exception of his BFF Evan Turner, Illinois junior guard Demetri McCamey is perhaps the most written about individual athlete on The Sports Bank. Today “Baby Ben Gordon” announced his intentions to enter the NBA Draft sans agent.

So he will have a chance to return to college next season, and I think he will. Although this is a very weak point guard class, I don’t think he’ll end up a first round pick. So I’ll think he’ll back in Champaign next year. But I think he’s definitely doing the right thing by testing the waters.

Our good friends at Hail to the Orange found this exchange  on Illini HQ.com, it’s Bruce Weber discussing the reality of Cames’ possibly departure and how he’s preparing for it.

How concerned are you that he will leave?

I’m concerned. You know, if he’s a first-round pick, I’m happy for him. He’s got to go. Does it hurt us? Yeah, it hurts us. But a kid only has that window. If he’s not ready my concern is to make sure he does everything right, so he doesn’t get himself in trouble. Whether that’s the agents, taking care of his classroom stuff, so he doesn’t get himself in trouble. I don’t want him hurt for life because some guy on the street told him, “The NBA guys don’t know what they’re talking about, you’re a first-round pick.”

If you add another player in this (2010) class, what are you looking for?

One thing we’re looking for, obviously, is a backup point guard. Six weeks ago, or whenever it was that Demetri had that (good) stretch and his name popped up there, the first thing I said to the coaches was, “We better start looking ahead. Whether he’s a first-round pick or not, we have to look ahead.” We need to at least look around in case something happens. So a point guard. If we found somebody with a little toughness, I think we would look at that.

And here’s an interesting plea for him to stay on McCamey’s Facebook page. This was written on his wall

“1 more please 1 more we will have a chance at a championship richmond u griffey tisdale paul dj leonard bertrand please just 1 more year”

I’m sure Illini fans will agree. And just for s—ts and giggles, I felt it was time to re-publish my favorite Evan Turner quote ever. It’s about hit rivalry with McCamey and it’s from the first exclusive I ever had with Turner.

“We were just so competitive growing up, sometimes I’d be at the gym at night, leaving the gym and I say: ‘Yo fat boy I just put up 400 shots, I hope you’re doing the same thing, because when I see you I’m about to kill you.’ But you know he takes it all in fun. We take it all in fun. It’s about the need to push ourselves, back in high school it was like what did Evan do? What did Demetri do? How did he do? I’m gonna beat him. So it definitely helped us a lot,” Turner said about McCamey.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,

INDIANAPOLIS- Remember back to 1999, a time when Ricky Martin and really annoying “boy bands” were oppressively popular? Back then Michigan St. had a star point guard who had a monster junior season in leading his team to the Final Four. Mateen Cleaves, remember him? The guy who wore ugly Bill Cosby sweaters when injured on the bench, pondered jumping to the NBA before returning to East Lansing, and leading the Spartans to the Final Four. This year, another junior point guard is facing the same question.

MSU star Kalin Lucas projects as a late first round/early second round NBA Draft pick if he were to declare this season. Obviously, the unexpected run of his team has somewhat delayed his decision. “I’m still going to sit down with Izz, and my parents and make sure we make the best decision and work from there,” he said last Sunday.

This should come right after the season ends?

“I don’t know when, a week-week and a half (after the season completes),” Lucas responded when I asked him when his decision will be made. Lucas delayed his surgery in order accommodate traveling with the team to St. Louis. After the Spartans emerged as champions of the Midwest Regional, he came back home and had the procedure to repair his torn achilles performed. It was a complete success, and Lucas is expected to make a full recovery.

Obviously, suffering two major injuries this season could hurt his draft stock. But he will also have opportunities this summer, with combine and private workouts, to show scouts he’s 100%. This year Lucas has the benefit of an extremely weak point guard class, so there’s less competition. But next year’s draft will be like last June- loaded at the one.

Putting aside long term prospects, his injury has served as a short term rallying point for his teammates. It’s their “cause” to get to the Final Four and win, much like having the Final Four in their home state was the “cause” to fight for last season.

“And I think after Kalin went down, everybody just made that commitment to just join together, just try to make a run, And that’s what we’ve been doing,” Lucas’s replacement, another KL, Korie Lucious said.

Not only has Kalin’s injury served as inspiration for his team, his absence has thrust Michigan St. into the underdog role, and that’s served to bring the Spartans together; to prove critics wrong under the cliche, “us against the world” mentality.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas ranked State the weakest of the Final Four teams remaining, they were an underdog against lower seeded Tennessee last week and they won’t be favored against Butler, the fellow #5 seed that is America’s sentimental favorite right now.

I asked Kalin what he thought about opponents still taking State for granted, despite their phenomenal record in March during the past 12 years. “They don’t need to and I don’t know why they do it, cuz we got back to the Final Four. So if teams want to keep doing it, we’re just going to keep making runs,” he said.

So if Lucas comes back, what will his supporting cast be? The only notable senior gone in 2011 is Raymar Morgan, an all-conference honorable mention. He certainly is a key loss, but the Spartans will once again be locked and loaded next year. Their incoming freshmen class is very stellar- highlighted by consensus top 5 center Adreian Payne and Keith Appling, a top ten point guard. Durrell Summers and Draymond Green have NBA potential, but neither is ready to consider jumping at this point.

So once again the Spartans will be a force! Even more so if Kalin returns.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

In case you didn’t notice, the Bulls drafted two power forwards in the draft last week.  A lot of questions arose about the Bulls faith in Tyrus.  Do they feel Tyrus isn’t good enough to start?  Are they preparing to move him?  Or did they just take the best available players (in their minds at least)?  Well Tyrus doesn’t seem all that concerned, as he stated in his Mouthpiece Sports blog yesterday:

The draft! I keep getting the question “what’s up with the two forwards?” Let me say this, I’m the starting power forward and I don’t plan on playing anywhere but Chicago. Some may say I’m arrogant, or full of myself, some may even say I’m crazy! I’m just giving yall the truth.

So there you have it.  A guy like Tyrus clearly has the upside to be a great or at least very good player in this league.  He has shown some flashes, but his on court IQ and heart for the game are glaring holes in any aspirations the Bulls and even Tyrus may have for himself.  We all want Tyrus to be the starter, I think we would just rather have him actually work for it and try to improve the weaknesses in his game, instead of declaring himself the starter on his blog and continuing to shoot 18 foot jumpers and not get back in transition.

Brandon Jennings recently decided to go to Europe instead of cheat on his SAT to play one year in college, thanks to David Stern’s highly questionable 1 year rule.  A lot of people questioned that move and…whatever, anyways the bottom line is he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 10th pick in the draft last week.  Unfortunately for our friend Brandon, he was talking to his friend, rapper Joe Budden and for some reason Budden videotaped it.  If you want to watch the video, you can see it here.  It’s pretty tough to understand, so here is a copy of the transcript of the conversation.  Jennings thinks he’s god, but knowing Scott Skiles like we do I don’t think that attitude will last very long:

On next season in Milwaukee …

Budden: You better worry about Ramon Sessions, diggin’ in your a**, pause.
Jennings: He’s not going to be here. [inaudible] That money is going to Charlie.
Budden: N****, Ramon Sessions is gonna be there.
Jennings: I doubt it.
Budden: They ain’t go no other guards.
Jennings: Ridnour.
Budden: N****, get that bum-a** n**** outta here.
Jennings: He’s going to be a backup.
Budden: To who?
Jennings: To who? Who else n****?

On what happened on draft night …

Budden: Who was hatin’ on you?
Jennings: Jay Bilas.
Budden: What happened? You ran in the draft late or some dumb s*** like a loser?
Jennings: No, I was at the hotel. This is what happened right. My agent is like “Well, we ain’t hear nothing .We ain’t have no guarantee.” So we makin’ phone calls and s*** and n***** is saying like “The workouts is great and everything and he’s the best point guard but we don’t know yet, we just don’t know.”
Budden: They didn’t say that about Rick Rubio, number one, and number two they didn’t say you the best point guard. They said your jump shot is shaky, you got some potential, but your work ethic is bull****. You averaged 3 points.
Jennings: You’re a liar. I know you’re lying now.
Budden: I’m just telling you what they said.
Jennings: That ain’t nothing but a college person.
Budden: Just tell me what happened. You end up running in the draft? I tunred it off after that.
Jennings: No, n****, I came out there and made my appearance n**** and I had the best appearance out of all them n******. And I was the best dressed, they said, by the way. I was the best dressed.

On whether he’ll start next season …

Budden: You think you gonna start for real though?
Jennings: I don’t know, actually, I really don’t know.
Budden: I heard that n**** Scott Skiles is an a**h***.
Jennings: That n**** tough, that n**** tough though. There must be a reason he liked me. There must be a reason.

On Ricky Rubio and the Knicks …

Budden: Let me know when Minnesota get there. So I can watch Rubio light your f****** a** up. I never seen a n**** hate on Rubio so much.
Jennings: [inaudible]
Budden: You know what’s funny? You’re the only guard in the draft talking s*** about Rubio.
Jennings: The other n***** are scared.
Budden: What are you going to do when Rubio comes to the Knicks?
Jennings: Rubio is not coming, they are not giving up Rubio. You got Jordan Hill, you happy with that?
Budden: I don’t really know enough about Jordan Hill to be happy … I’m happy with Toney Douglas.
Jennings: I know they were booing this n****.
Budden: What does that mean? They boo everybody n****.
Jennings: If it was Stpehen Curry, them n***** would’ve went crazy in there.
Budden: Shut the f*** up, you don’t even know nothing about New York basketball.
Jennings: F*** the Knicks, them n***** skipped out on me.
Budden: Oh man, you feel to the Knicks like I do about Jay-Z? [Laughs] Yo, the Knicks is your Jay-Z?
Jennings: F*** the Knicks, them n***** is always going to be weak.
Budden: This is where I f****** hang up on your f****** ass for talking stupid.
Jennings: Duhon ain’t gonna get it done.

He should do a boom roasted post for us about the Bulls here at NQTC.  He’s definitely good at ripping people.  What will happen first: he gets Skiles fired or Skiles gets him traded?

Oh, and who the hell is Joe Budden? (I have a feeling we might be asking that about Brandon Jennings in a couple years too).

You all saw my take on the Bulls draft yesterday night, but what are the reactions of other far more qualified bloggers than myself?  Looks like most had a slightly less optimistic take than I did, imagine that?  Here are some excerpts:

Ball Don’t Lie:  Are these really two players that you want to hand guaranteed contracts to for the next two or three years? Johnson is athletic, no doubt, but at what point do we start to expect actual, you know, “production” out of athleticism when you’re 22? Gibson? You don’t draft 24-year olds. You don’t do it. Unless they’re 24 and absolutely dominating college ball, and he wasn’t. And you hadn’t heard of Gibson, either. Both players might make the rotation, sure, but with Blair still available?

Score: 4/10

Luol’s Dong:  [James Johnson]‘s a good fit on the team, doesn’t indicate we’re shopping anyone (good news) but I was hoping we could pacakge our picks and get a better low post option. Whatever, right now everything depends on whether we re-sign BoGo and if Deng still has any skills.

Blogabull:  No trades? Pass on Dejuan Blair twice? Gar Forman looking like a zombie on national television, amazingly talking while John Paxson’s lips didn’t move?

This was far from Amare.

I suppose July 1st is just around the corner…but that brings us just as close to Ben Gordon walking as it does to any blockbuster deal (after cap figures are announced, etc.).

By The Horns:  Johnson has been criticized for inconsistency, lack of focus (scouts say he occasionally takes possessions off) and weight problems. Sounds awful Eddy Curry-ish, doesn’t it? I’m just sayin’…..Over his three-year career at USC, Gibson set the Trojans’ all-time record with 253 blocks, which also happens to be third-best in Pac-10 history. His age gives him maturity (or so the Bulls believe), and his wingspan(seven feet, four inches) gives him some serious length and shot blocking ability. However, he’s a wee bit on the skinny side — at 210, he’s almost 50 pounds lighter than the shorter Johnson — and his offensive game is pretty raw. So don’t expect him to bang bodies with the big boys or put up a lot of points.

Pippen Ain’t Easy: The Bulls instead opted for the talented James Johnson from Wake Forest. The immediate concern is that he is a tweener. He also liked to play more like a 3 at Wake Forest. Like Blair, he has a long wingspan and an NBA body, but he is much more athletic. Will he fit in at the 4? He better hope so, at least in the near future because Deng and Salmons will man the 3 for the Bulls. He’s an all-around solid player. I like the pick and he likely has more potential than Blair…Initially I was not pleased with the pick of Taj Gibson. My 2 first thoughts were: The Bulls just re-drafted Joakim Noah and then the Bulls just re-drafted Corie Blount. I take that back a bit.

Well that was an interesting draft.  A lot of big moves happened leading up to the draft and there were some minor trades during the draft.  Some guys slipped and some guys jumped, but for the most part there weren’t too many surprises once the draft began.

The Bulls:

With the 16th and 26th pick, I was hoping the Bulls would take a big man and possibly a big 2 guard to replace Hinrich and/or Gordon.  At 16, there were still a lot of big men on the table, but I was pushing mainly for DaJuan Blair.  I know he’s a bit undersized height-wise, but he is a beast on the boards.  Instead the Bulls drafted James Johnson.

Then the Bulls had another shot at Blair with the 26th pick, but they had already drafted a big man, so they wouldn’t need another one, right?  That was the wrong assumption, as Gar Forman selected Taj Gibson from USC.  Another undersized big man to compete with TT, Noah, Miller, and now Johnson in the frontcourt.

My initial reaction to the draft was “Well, I don’t hate these guys, but we needed a legit big man, or at least a 2 guard that would be serviceable if Gordon bolts”.  The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that this might work.  Both Johnson and Gibson have pretty refined offensive games for big men and are skilled enough to see time at the small forward position.  On top of that, I realized that perhaps this lends itself to the Bulls new philosophy of playing a more uptempo pace.  Perhaps they wanted big men that could run the floor, which would explain why they didn’t bat an eye as Blair tumbled down into the second round.

Overall it was a solid draft that gets a B from me as far as grades.  And at the very least, Taj Gibson “gets the blueprint”, so there’s always that.

Around The League (The Highlights of the Draft and the Days leading up to it)

Flurry of Trades:

• The Spurs moved Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas to the Bucks for Richard Jefferson.  Wow what a steal for the Spurs.  They also sent Fabricio Oberto to Detroit for Amir Johnson.
• The Cavs responded by trading away Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, a 2nd round pick in 2010 and some cash to the Suns for 1 year of Shaq’s services.
• The Magic, who reportedly have received word that Turkoglu will be opting out of his contract after making this trade, were able to acquire Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson from the Nets for Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston and Tony Battie.
• The Wizards and Timberwolves made an interesting trade.  The Wolves sent Mike Miller and Randy Foye to Washington in exchange for Oleksiy Pechorov, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and the #5 pick in the draft.  This trade looks very good for the Wiz, but very strange for the Wolves.  It leaves them with 10 forwards on their roster, and would lead to an absurd looking draft for them.

Draft Day

• Blake Griffin went first and Hasheem Thabeet went second, so no surprises there for the most part.
• The Timberwolves, with 6 picks overall and 4 in the first round, stunned most of us by selecting three point guards with the 5th, 6th and 18th pick, respectively Rubio, Flynn, and Lawson.  Then they traded Lawson to Denver for a future first round pick.  Now there are reports Rubio may stay overseas (probably because he hates the cold).  So it looks like the Wolves may have in fact gotten just one point guard.
• The Warriors took Stephon Curry one pick before the Knicks and just like every other year, a bunch of New York jackasses at Madison Square Garden got to boo like idiots.
• Hansborough went 13th to the Pacers, and Bulls fans let out a collective sigh of relief.  It’s not that he sucks or anything, we just don’t want him.
• At the 23rd pick, the Kings selected Omri Casspi.  The guy looks like he could be a beast, and he might get some run with the Kings, which would make him the first Israeli player to ever play in the NBA.
• At the 24th pick, the Mavs selected BJ Mullens, and then turned around and traded him to the Thunder for Rodrigue Beaubois taken with the 25th pick.
• The Knicks purchased the Lakers 29th pick for about $3 million in cash considerations.
• Apparently (and this seems very strange to me), the Blazers are sending Sergio Rodriguez, Jon Brockman, and the 38th pick to the Kings for the 31st pick, where they took Jeff Pendergraph.
• Both Sam Young and DeJuan Blair, projected as mid to late first rounders, slipped well into the second round.  They were selected 36th and 37th by the Grizzlies and Spurs respectively.
• There was a lot of second round trading of picks, but none that were all that notable beyond maybe Budinger, picked 44th (yikes, thats a bit of a drop) being sent by the Pistons to the Rockets in exchange for cash considerations.

Here is Part 4 of 4 of Gavin’s look at International players in the NBA.  Enjoy!

ASSESSING SOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS IN TONIGHT’S DRAFT

OMRI CASSPI:

The inspiration for these posts began with the news that the Bulls might draft Omri Casspi with one of their first round picks. My concern stemmed from the success rate in signing international players in a timely fashion and finding players that will be able to provide some impact in their initial contract without bolting back overseas. Since I found the percentages of success to be relatively small, I wasn’t very optimistic that Omri Casspi would pan out for the Bulls without researching more.

In reviewing some of the common draft sites, it appears that Casspi was projected as a potential late first round pick as early as 2007 based primarily on potential. For the next two years, Casspi received no guarantees of first round picks and took his name out of the draft. This approach seems to support my theory from my last post: that if a player is not excelling greatly or garnering much playing time (he was only playing 11 minutes per game for Maccabi Tel Aviv before moving on to Maccabi Electra this past season, where he was playing over 17 minutes a game), then an NBA team would be smart to hold off on drafting that player. Since Casspi is once again slotted to go later in the 1^st Round, it is not as if any of the teams are missing out on the opportunity to draft him this year because they passed on guaranteeing him their draft pick in previous years.

Such patience was rewarded in Casspi’s last year where his increased playing time also saw increases in some of his 40 minute averages to levels that suggest he might find some success in the NBA.  While my stance has softened towards Casspi, I still wonder whether an NBA team couldn’t find a similar collegiate player in the second round and still achieve the same result of saving money while also getting more immediate results (especially if Casspi or his NBA elects to have him play in Israel for another year).  For comparison’s sake, I looked at Dajuan Summers’ adjusted per 40 minute averages in his last year at Georgetown to compare against Casspi since both players are slotted at the SF/PF positions and both measure in at 6’8”, and between 220 and 240 lbs.

Here’s a chart with statistics courtesy of Draft Express:

So while there might be a slightly higher reward in drafting Casspi, I’m not sure if it is so guaranteed to warrant the risk of taking him with your First Round pick. Although, in a draft as weak as this one, it might be the perfect time to take him and not feel as guilty about reaching for such a player.

RODRIGUE BEAUBOIS:

Rodrigue Beaubois is a new name to pop up in some mock drafts out there, also going with one of the last picks in the First Round. While my stance has softened on Omri Casspi, I’m not sold on Beaubois. In fact, I’d say he is in the same position Casspi was in a year ago where he could use another year before a team should draft him. The reports have shown that he hasn’t played significant minutes for either his club teams or his national team. Slated to be a point guard, he pales in comparison to other PG’s in this draft, and not merely those first few names in the draft either.

Here’s an excerpt from DraftExpress analyzing Beaubois play:

“Beaubois is yet to prove to be a solid distributor and a good competitor. Actually he shows little emotion, sometimes even looking a bit passive. And of course, he’s a completely unproven player if we talk about high-level competition in Europe. Indeed he barely has any experience in the National Team with his own peers.”

These are exactly the reasons I argued should weigh against drafting an international player. An extra year or two would allow Beaubois to build on these experiences, and if he fails to make that jump, at least your team hasn’t wasted a pick on him.

In looking for another player in this draft to compare Beaubois to, I first looked at who I think might be the lowest ranked of the top PG’s expected to go earlier in the draft, Jrue Holiday. Holiday’s numbers were higher, while still being a few years younger. Instead, I compared Beaubois to Holiday’s more experienced teammate, Darren Collison.

Here are their adjusted per 40 minute averages for the past season:

Both are of similar height (6’1”-6’2” and are only separated in age by six months), and Collison has been compared favorably to Chris Duhon. Collison is slated to be drafted in the second round and fill some team’s slot as a backup point guard.  Wouldn’t you want someone who has proven himself in a competitive league and has no question marks about his desire to win or his ability to lead a team?  Once again not sold that a pick of Beaubois is the equivalent of that NBA team, saying “We’ll pass, and save the money for our free agents now or in 2010.”

HASHEEM THABEET:

I won’t spend too much time assessing Hasheem Thabeet since he is much less of an unknown. I only discuss him to offer a contrast to those international players being drafted from overseas rather than going the NCAA route. It is irrefutable that Thabeet improved his draft stock tremendously by attending the University of Connecticut. Incredibly raw when he came to the U.S., Thabeet enters the NBA with expectations to be good to above average defensively. The only question marks center around what his offensive ceiling is. Nearly every analyst I’ve seen has him reluctantly going 2^nd or 3^rd in the draft, but then harps on his offensive liabilities.  I still think he can have a long career, excelling on the defensive end and getting his baskets with relatively few plays run directly for him.  Needless to say it will be some time before Thabeet develops a 15 to 18 foot jumper.

In looking to compare Thabeet to someone, I thought it would be unfair to compare him to some of the recent centers drafted straight out of Africa. Thabeet has shown the ability to perform in the ever-tough Big East Conference and is not being drafted nearly as much for some unknown potential or his physical attributes alone.  Sticking with the Big East Conference, I chose to look at Roy Hibbert’s statistics from his last year at Georgetown and his first year with the Indiana Pacers. Admittedly, Hibbert had a little bit more of a jump shot coming out of Georgetown, but I think that may have hampered his offensive development in the NBA, relying too much on the outside shot and not enough on developing post moves to go up against the giants of the NBA.  Thabeet has no outside shot to fall back on so he will be forced to bang bodies in the post in order to get his points and I think his FG% and Offensive Rebounding rates will demonstrate this in the following season.  Hibbert’s numbers are not great and he certainly didn’t play as many minutes as he did in college, but Thabeet will look to have more minutes on the court with whatever team drafts him (looks like the Grizzlies or Thunder at this point).

Also, in the categories that he is expected to produce in, Thabeet outperformed Hibbert by some wide margins, while also limiting his fouls which will also aid him in gaining more playing time (both rebounding rates and blocks).

Here are the comparisons of Thabeet and Hibbert’s adjusted per 40 minute averages:

RICKY RUBIO:

I have to admit that I certainly would love to see Ricky Rubio do well in the NBA. If he grows a moustache and wears short shorts it would be like having Pete Maravich back in the NBA again. I like much of the rest of the NBA fan base, first was truly exposed to Ricky Rubio only last year during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. During that competition, Rubio stepped up in place of the Spanish National Team’s injured starting point guard and wowed the crowd with his leadership at the point. Also, viewing recent videos where Rubio has answered the questions of a potential costly buyout from his Spanish Team by saying he’s willing to play essentially for free in order to get a chance to play in the NBA, it’s hard not to root for him.

Yet all of the comparisons to Steve Nash, Pete Maravich, and Magic Johnson seem to be a little premature.  You see it was not too long ago (3 years ago) that we were talking about another Spanish point guard who analysts forecasted could, at his best, be the next Steve Nash.  They raved about his passing ability, his creative playmaking, his ability to create offense for teammates, a great skill set including superb ball handling, and his decision making on the fast break. (Is this sounding familiar?) Furthermore he led his Junior National Team to the Gold at the Junior World Championships, garnering the MVP award at the competition.  Shortly after being drafted in the 2006 draft, this player also played on the stacked Spanish Senior Men’s squad that won Gold at the World Championships.

Any idea who this player is? Yeah, Sergio Rodriguez. The player that fought for playing time with Steve Blake and Jerryd Bayless this past season. Even with his fellow countrymen, Rudy Fernandez joining him this year, Rodriguez struggled to improve on his numbers to supplant Steve Blake as the starting point guard for the Portland Trailblazers.

Here’s a comparison of Rubio and Rodriguez’s numbers from their ACB and Euro competitions (again, these are adjusted per 40 minute averages):

Based on these numbers, I do believe that Rubio will do well, but may take awhile to really adjust to the NBA’s 82-game schedule. Rodriguez obviously benefits from having Rudy Fernandez on his team, so one might think that Memphis would be a good spot for Rubio to land with Marc Gasol manning the paint. Yet, as astute observers have noted, Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro might not be so high on Memphis management and may deter Rubio from agreeing to play for the Grizzlies.  Please don’t think that I’m predicting a bust for Rubio but I don’t believe that he is guaranteed to have an MVP-effect like Steve Nash any more than some of the other PG’s at the head of this draft.

Thanks for reading these posts, and hope you can enjoy the draft tonight. I remember two years ago, sitting in a cafeteria in the middle of the campgrounds in the Yosemite Valley waiting to hear the Bulls call Joakim Noah’s name and seeing him in his sweet seersucker suit.  Let’s hope the Bulls can draft someone with an equivalent fashion sense and flair. Peace, I’m out.

Zoner over at Pippen Ain’t Easy summarizes the latest draft rumors swirling around the Bulls with the draft less than 36 hours away:

Here is Part 3 of 4 of Gavin’s look at International players in the NBA.  Enjoy!

No matter what you think about the NBA’s one-and-done rule that puts off high school players entering the draft for one year, it has become clear that there are a number of players each year that are good enough at 17 or 18 years of age to play in the NBA. This is not limited to just American-born players. There will be players across the globe who do not need the extra training provided in the NCAA or a year with a professional club overseas. While Brandon Jennings saved himself from any mildly embarrassing stories of faking test scores or accepting money from boosters popping up during his rookie season, recent revelations have raised eyebrows of the handling of these one-and-done players at schools like USC (see O.J. Mayo) and Memphis (see the anointed one).

American players are identified as NBA-ready through their year round performances in AAU Tournaments around the country, skills camps against college players, and international competitions representing the U.S.A.  Success in the Big East or ACC is generally a good indicator of potential success in the NBA. Unfortunately, we do not have these measuring sticks for international players. Success in a Belgian ‘B’ League when someone is 17 years old is almost as helpful as my performance holding down the center position for the Red Team at the YMCA when I was eight years old. International players’ participation in some of the big shoe company skills camps is limited, so we are left with two measurements. We can look at the players’ performances in the major professional leagues in Europe/China/Australia (although if you ask me Luc Longley is the best you’re getting from Australia and we should all stop trying to find anyone better from that continent of former convicts). And we can look to their performance for their national teams in international play.

Now we all know that playing time and the styles of play differ greatly in these leagues so we should not expect a player to put up numbers similar to Kevin Durant’s in his lone year in the Lone Star State (25.8 ppg and 11.1 rpg). Ratcheting down our focus on a player’s statistics (which will inevitably disappoint) the two things to focus on in his league play are whether he’s actually seeing the floor rather than losing minutes to a 38-year old chain smoking Turk named Gregori, and whether the young player is recognized within the league as a “Rising Star” or any other moniker they bestow upon their young players. These are important since so many of the players that failed to even sign with their NBA teams (see Part 2 of 4 of this series) were drafted simply because an international scout or an NBA GM started drooling over a 7’1” Russian/Frenchmen/Latvian/Slovenian who they saw walking and chewing gum at the same time, only to then walk over and sit on the bench while the aforementioned Gregori put up a nice 6 pts / 4 reb / 2 ast line for the evening. Regardless of the “fundamentals” they are being schooled on, nothing replaces the in-game experience and seeing whether your young prospect can actually respond to a setback or adversity.

Quickly referring to the “Rising Star” moniker, a player must be considered as an improving player or one to watch. Basketball is unlike other sports like Baseball or Golf where a change in mechanics with your swing or arm motion might lead to an off year statistically which can be explained away. Even if a player is changing the mechanics of his shot, he should be able to contribute in other ways, ratcheting up his defense, distributing the ball to players who are not struggling from the field, and grabbing every rebound in sight.  If a player is not consistently improving his game, I’d hold off on drafting that individual.

My thoughts on the second component of an international player’s value are that if a player’s country doesn’t think he’s good enough or ready for their national team, then why would your GM think he’s ready to be a part of his NBA team? Not only is such recognition of a player’s past performance, but it also opens the door for scouts to see the player perform against other good talents from around the world.  Whether it is playing against players his own age on a junior national squad or playing on his country’s senior squad, such an experience allows us to view his play in more competitive situations.

If a player is successful on these two levels, then by all means, NBA teams should give a hard look towards drafting him, especially for the prior reason of saving cap space. (Side note: Did you know that in 2010 there will be some free agents available that teams are willing to clear cap space for them now?  I had no idea!)  But if a player has not reached these levels, then why not hold off on drafting him for a year or two to see if he can actually make this leap?

Conversely, if a young international player is facing the option of starting off on a professional career where he would struggle for playing time, why wouldn’t he want to try out the NCAA for a few years?  I know the knocks on going the college route are that the player isn’t focused on developing his basketball skills 24/7, like he would be in Europe, but I’d counter that he would be exposed to the national culture of basketball in the USA (while also acquiring an education while he’s at it).  The game is different here with an emphasis on the star players, so unless that international player is destined to be a star, he’d better learn how to effectively play with those stars. And that’s what we’re looking for from that caliber of player, a guy who can play third or fourth fiddle, a glue guy, an “insert your own sporting colloquialism here” guy.

Dikembe Mutumbo is a prime example of such a player, although he initially intended to come over to the states to become a doctor anyway. He matured under the tutelage of John Thompson into an elite defensive player, and a player who was capable of putting up solid offensive numbers in the post for much of his career.

When I was thinking of other such examples of international players who came to the US for college, prospered under the blend of basketball/academics/socializing that the NCAA provides, I looked to the playoff performances of the past few years. Linas Kleiza (Lithuania/Missouri/Denver) was clutch in providing an outside threat when JR Smith or Carmelo Anthony was struggling from outside. Ronny Turiaf (France/Gonzaga/Lakers/Nuggets) offered that mix of toughness and spark off the bench that he acquired during Gonzaga’s frequent visits through March Madness.  I also looked to the team directly up I-94 from us, the Milwaukee Bucks to see two other successful transitions in Andrew Bogut (Australia/Utah/Milwaukee) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (Cameroon/UCLA/Milwaukee). Hell, Mbah a Moute turned down being a prince back home to attend college at UCLA (I’m envisioning a lot of ‘Coming to America’ moments while Luc was on UCLA’s campus).

While you may argue that Canada is not a country, it still counts as international to me and we’ve seen Samuel Dalembert, Steve Nash, and Jamaal Magloire all pass up international play for the chance to get a degree while also developing their basketball skills. Francisco Garcia came from the Dominican Republic to excel in the NCAA. I’ll admit that these countries do not have the established professional league options that many of the European countries have, but these players still chose the opportunities by playing college ball. I’d argue that by doing so they achieved a number of valuable traits. They performed in high intensity settings against quality competition while also getting all of the attention of literally being a Big Man on Campus. The constant media coverage of NCAA games built these players name recognition among NBA fans. And they learned to interact with teammates and opponents who still make up the majority of players in the league.  For these players, the learning curve is far less steep, and there is far less potential for a player to fail not because of his skills, but his inability to acclimate to the US and his American teammates.

This opens up the bag to the last question we’ll discuss tomorrow… what is the potential for players like Hasheem Thabeet and Ricky Rubio, and to a lesser extent Omri Casspi?

Here is Part 2 of 4 of Gavin’s look at International players in the NBA. The numbers and analysis he has done are very intriguing. Enjoy!

Growing up a Bulls fan and suffering through the post championship era where grown men’s affinity for Benny the Bull and the Luv-A-Bulls greeting them at the gate at O’Hare was grossly overestimated, the draft was an eagerly awaited opportunity to reel in additional players to supplement our free agent splashes like Ron Mercer. In addition to those American college, high school, and elementary school players we drafted, we also were told of the mysterious present Jerry Krause had wisely selected in 1995, and tucked away until the time was right in 2000: Dragan Tarlac.

As each year passed, it seemed that the chances of ever signing “The Red Dragon” were growing more and more remote.  While we eventually did sign Tarlac five years later, it made me question how many players are drafted but never actually sign with an NBA team (regardless of whether they play or are assigned to the NBDL).

How many international players that are drafted eventually sign with an NBA team?

2008 – 4 of 10
2007 – 6 of 13
2006 - 9 of 15
2005 – 11 of 15
2004 – 8 of 13

These numbers look encouraging for those who argue that drafting international players is advantageous for teams looking to defer the hit to their cap in a given year. While a majority of players do not sign with an NBA in the first two years after they are drafted, they are still building their skills in competitive leagues overseas while the NBA team that holds their rights hopefully stays under the cap while remaining competitive (see San Antonio for the blueprint on this).  After two years or more, the chances of signing international draftees increase as players have been allowed to further build their skill sets while exhausting their contractual obligations to their club teams. In theory, not only does the NBA team receive a better player than they originally drafted, they no longer have to worry about any contract buy-out clauses that might dissuade the drafted player from joining the NBA.

I have to admit I found these numbers interesting in the sense that they seemed low since almost a third of the international players drafted in the 2004 and 2005 drafts never signed a rookie contract with an NBA team.  Yet, they also seemed high in the sense that you don’t hear of too many new international players playing in the league each year.

This led to a logical follow-up question: How many international players that were drafted are currently with an NBA or NBDL team?

2008 – 4 of 10
2007 – 6 of 15
2006 – 4 of 15
2005 – 4 of 15
2004 – 4 of 13

Those numbers from ’04 –’06 that seemed to support the tactic of keeping players overseas for a couple years in hopes of signing a player with some staying power do not pan out.  Instead, we find that 50% or more of the players drafted and eventually signed to NBA contracts three to five years ago are no longer playing for an NBA team or their NBDL affiliate. It’s also not as if these players are putting in extremely productive stretches before they leave to return to international clubs. (Google Martynas Andriuskevicius to see an extreme case of the struggles that an international player faces when assigned to the NBDL).

Yet for those who remain, after whittling down the players that remain under contract with NBA teams, we find a mix of above average players and those who may help off the bench.

The draft class of 2008 has seen Danilo Gallinari struggle with back injuries while playing for the Knicks, Alexis Ajinca play spot minutes for Charlotte (averaging 2.3 ppg and 1rpg) before getting assigned to the NBDL, Nathan Jawai playing six games for the Raptors, while Goran Dragic, who was drafted with the 44^th pick, might have put up the most encouraging numbers, nearly matching Gallinari’s average stats while playing in twice as many games.

2007 might be the most solid of the recent international draft classes with Yi Jianlian, Marco Belinelli, Rudy Fernandez, and Marc Gasol all looking capable of being key contributors to their teams. While Fernandez has garnered a lot of hype, I don’t see him taking that next step to being an All-Star caliber player. Sun Yue and Kyrylo Fesenko also had spot minutes with the Lakers and Jazz, respectively while also playing in the NBDL.

The 2006 draft class finds Andrea Bargnani, Saer Sene (already on his fourth NBA/NBDL team), Thabo Sefolosha, Oleksiy Pecherov (of the Stewie look-a-like fame) and Sergio Rodriguez all still hanging around. I will discuss Sergio Rodriguez in the next few days when we discuss the potential future of Ricky Rubio in the NBA.

In the last draft class we’re reviewing in this series, the best international player drafted in 2005 had actually already acclimated himself to the US brand of basketball by playing at the University of Utah for two years. For this reason I did not include Bogut or other players like him in my figures. The remaining individuals who continue to whiff even the slightest bit of success include Johan Petro, Ian Mahinmi, Roko Ujic, and the Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat.

While Gortat certainly helped the Magic advance to the Finals this past year, there is a more glaring name omitted from these lists that would certainly have aided the Magic in their playoff run. Fran Vazquez is the poster child for what can go wrong in drafting an international player who lacks the confidence or drive to measure himself against the best in the world in the NBA. Even with the success of the Magic, it’s unclear whether Vazquez will be able to untangle himself from his contractual obligations with his club team in Barcelona.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss the development of the international player in the NBA and the development of international players in the NCAA environment. Thursday will conclude with what all of this means for the potential success of Hasheem Thabeet, Ricky Rubio and Omri Casspi.

NQTC Reader/Contributor Gavin will be doing a 4-part series leading up to Thursday’s draft discussing, among other things, the pros and cons of drafting an international player.  Enjoy!

The Chicago Bulls organization has never been afraid of drafting international players, and as of a few weeks ago some pundits opined that the Bulls might add another name to the historic list of drafted internationals: Kukoc, Tarlac, Duenas, Bagaric, Sefolosha (immediately swapped Carney for him), and Asik (immediately traded for from Portland).

After seeing articles like this one in the Sun-Times (raising the possibility that we might see the Bulls drafting Omri Casspi with one of their first round picks) it got me thinking of the whole idea of drafting international players. Sure these picks are great for a GM to sell to their fan base, explaining that the team is getting a “fundamentally sound” and “unselfish” player who they can hide overseas for a couple years for extra seasoning while saving some cap room to sign that key American free agent you are much more familiar with immediately after the draft. A number of questions came to mind as I contemplated the Bulls drafting Stormin’ Norman’s favorite Israelite, the Maccabi Tel Aviv product who is working on an answer to Kareem’s signature move which he calls the “Hebrew Hook.”

These questions included: 1) How many of these foreign draft picks actually get signed by the team that drafts them? 2) If they do get signed, how many make it onto a roster? 3) How long does it usually take for these players to make it to the NBA, or in other words how much “seasoning” do they get before they are ready? 4) Is Fran Vasquez then officially over-seasoned? 5) For as much as international players are hailed for their sound fundamentals honed in team-focused basketball academies rather than individual-focused AAU tournaments, does that skill set prepare them any more for the NBA than going to a U.S. college for a few years (a question that Memphis is undoubtedly asking in its analysis of Ricky Rubio and Hasheem Thabeet)?

Over the next few days leading up to the 2009 NBA Draft we’ll look at previous drafts and look to answer these questions and others that pop up, while also offering some advice to Gar Foreman and the rest of the Chicago Bulls’ braintrust. (Psst… Gar… don’t draft Omri Casspi. Stick to the Blueprint. Say it with me and Commissioner Stern: “the Chicago Bulls with the 26^th draft in the 2009 NBA draft select Wayne Ellington.” Trust me, we won’t be angry with you.) (That’s a USA jersey, he’s wearing. His nation wants him Gar. If you don’t pick him, the terrorists win.)

Gordon, Hinrich, Gordon, Hinrich, Gordon, Hinrich…the debate over the Bulls backcourt has focused on that since Derrick Rose was drafted.  Who to keep and to trade/not sign?  Well according to some extremely unreliable internet sources, Bulls management is not framing the issue the way us fans are.  According to Bulls confidential:

Sources close to me have told me that Kirk Hinrich will be traded sometime before next season starts.   His status seems to be independent on whether the Bulls are able to bring back Gordon.

We have all been so focused on Gordon vs. Hinrich, but if you think about it Hinrich’s contract needs to go regardless of whether Gordon stays.  The Bulls have given hints that seem to add credence to this rumor, bringing in college point guards to work out leading up to the draft to replace him as the back up point guard.  And then there is this little rumor:

Don’t really know why the Bulls, who now have a nice three-guard combo, would go for this, but the Mix hears that the Wolves could offer the No. 6 pick in a very weak draft for Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich. Think of it: A combo guard who can even defend (including forwards as big and strong and talented as Paul Pierce). One down side: He has already been in the league for five years. Trent Tucker’s idea might be even better: Offer Mike Miller for Hinrich.

We don’t want Mike Miller, but that 6 pick would be great.  I’m not sure how the salaries work, I assume we would take on some expiring deals if they were offered.  Either way stay tuned, as the draft approaches I’m sure there will be more developments.