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Fidel · 06-10-2003, 04:06 PM

Ariosto,
I agree that the hype some of the euros are getting right now might be a bit too much. Same goes for US highschool players though. IMO the whole draft process has changed over the last few years. While teams where picking guys for what they are actually able to do on a basketball court right now a few years back, it´s different now. Now it is potential over skills.

All of these 18 year old foreigners are draftet for potential obviously. When comparing them to other players who enter the league you can only compare them to US highschool players. That´s the reason why someone like Podkolzin hasn´t gotten any playing time in Varese. The italien league is pretty damn good with alot of european stars and former NBA players. Believe me there aren´t too many 18 year olds around who would crack the rotation in any of the european leagues. Why? Because other then the CBA or NBDL these leagues are no developemental leagues for the NBA. That seems to be a misunderstanding in the US. There´s alot of money involved in the euroleague and in some of the european leagues as well. So the teams want to win. They can´t afford to speed up the developement of someone like Podkolzine by giving him the playing time he needs.

The NBA teams on the other hand can´t wait. They are afraid to miss on getting someone like Podkolzin who might turn out to be a great player. That´s why they have started to draft younger and younger guys. I´m pretty sure though that all of the GM´s and coaches in the NBA know that someone like Skita needs at least 3 years to develope if not longer. The reason why they bring them over to the US is that they want to monitor and speed up the developement. Out of the 14 foreigeners that might be drafted this year plus the two or three high school kids, maybe three or four will be able to produce immediatly. All the other guys will need a few years.

And madape,
JO is a very good example of what I meant.

06-10-2003, 04:06 PM	#11
Fidel Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 3,283	"Europe's Next Big Thing" Ariosto, I agree that the hype some of the euros are getting right now might be a bit too much. Same goes for US highschool players though. IMO the whole draft process has changed over the last few years. While teams where picking guys for what they are actually able to do on a basketball court right now a few years back, it´s different now. Now it is potential over skills. All of these 18 year old foreigners are draftet for potential obviously. When comparing them to other players who enter the league you can only compare them to US highschool players. That´s the reason why someone like Podkolzin hasn´t gotten any playing time in Varese. The italien league is pretty damn good with alot of european stars and former NBA players. Believe me there aren´t too many 18 year olds around who would crack the rotation in any of the european leagues. Why? Because other then the CBA or NBDL these leagues are no developemental leagues for the NBA. That seems to be a misunderstanding in the US. There´s alot of money involved in the euroleague and in some of the european leagues as well. So the teams want to win. They can´t afford to speed up the developement of someone like Podkolzine by giving him the playing time he needs. The NBA teams on the other hand can´t wait. They are afraid to miss on getting someone like Podkolzin who might turn out to be a great player. That´s why they have started to draft younger and younger guys. I´m pretty sure though that all of the GM´s and coaches in the NBA know that someone like Skita needs at least 3 years to develope if not longer. The reason why they bring them over to the US is that they want to monitor and speed up the developement. Out of the 14 foreigeners that might be drafted this year plus the two or three high school kids, maybe three or four will be able to produce immediatly. All the other guys will need a few years. And madape, JO is a very good example of what I meant.