Is Splitter A Possible Pick?

[fordronken]

If he was such a monster, why did he play only 18 minutes?

Maybe his coach is Larry Brown.

 

[planaria]

Maybe his coach is Larry Brown.

Lol.

Or maybe because he doesnt needed to. Tau won with a 30 points advantage...

 

[planaria]

Actually were 5 offensive rebounds and not 3.

 

[George O'Brien]

If he was such a monster, why did he play only 18 minutes?

This subject comes up a lot. One issue appears to be that on really strong teams, the coaches try very hard to spread the minutes around with younger guys getting shorted. Whether this is true in the case remains to be seen.

 

[hcsilla]

If he was such a monster, why did he play only 18 minutes?

Because Tau completely destroyed Ljubljana already in the 1st quarter so Splitter had to play basically in the garbage time.

Splitter played well but wasn't a monster, the two teams weren't in the same class last evening.

 

[elindholm]

Because Tau completely destroyed Ljubljana already in the 1st quarter so Splitter had to play basically in the garbage time.

Right, that's what I mean. So what does one game show against vastly inferior opposition? Not a whole heck of a lot.

 

[planaria]

What's the deal? NCAA players plays almost every night against students scrubs and when they put some nice numbers people say: WOW!

At least it was against pros with 6/7 years of experience.

 

[planaria]

Because Tau completely destroyed Ljubljana already in the 1st quarter so Splitter had to play basically in the garbage time.

Right, that's what I mean. So what does one game show against vastly inferior opposition? Not a whole heck of a lot.

Actually it wasn't garbage time, because garbage time is played by the worst players of both teams and Ljubljana were playing with their rotation guys, yet.

Look Pistons x Spurs tonight. Pistons completely destroyed Spurs in the first quarter. Would you tell that the game was easy for Pistons players after that?

I'm not comparing Spurs with Ljubljana, of course. But a big advantage in the first quarter dont make the 2/4 an absoluty garbage time.

 

[hcsilla]

What's the deal? NCAA players plays almost every night against students scrubs and when they put some nice numbers people say: WOW!

I guess that you don't really follow college basketball.

 

[Joe Mama]

I thought over the last year were to that splitter had dropped out of the draft now because of the evaluations of his talent but because his contract situations were making his stock drop.

Teams are going to get excited about a guy like Splitter because he's got good size at around 7-0, he's a better defender than most Europeans apparently, and to go along with that size he's fairly athletic.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

I thought over the last year were to that splitter had dropped out of the draft now because of the evaluations of his talent but because his contract situations were making his stock drop.

Teams are going to get excited about a guy like Splitter because he's got good size at around 7-0, he's a better defender than most Europeans apparently, and to go along with that size he's fairly athletic.

Joe Mama

My understanding has been that his contract scared off the lottery teams and his agent did not want him to get drafted late by a team that could let him stay in Europe (such as what the Pistons did with Delfino).

Splitter is under contract through 2008, but does have a buyout clause that is not totally impossible (according to Draft Express). If it weren't for the buyout, I'd expect him to be a mid to late lottery pick. However, after the Vasquez fiasco, lottery teams may be reluctant to get stuck.

Does that mean he will be a good NBA player? I haven't seen him play so I can't say. However, he's physically the kind of player the Suns are likely to be shopping for and the selection is not terrific.

 

[planaria]

I guess that you don't really follow college basketball.

Actually I follow NCAA very close since 1999. And also European basketball, because I'm owner of a site about draft.

There is a ENORMOUS difference of level between Europeans pros and college basketball USA.

Whats the deal? Europeans players have more talent than americans? OF COURSE not. But you cant compare a guy that play basketball for 15 years with a guy that has started to play 3/4 years ago.

The difference is brutal. 10 years of training, playing games, competing in high level tournaments.

Other stuff is that NCAA have 3094824920348209 teams and the most are SCRUBS with all letters. One in each 200 colleges players has talent or physical attributes enough to play pro basketball (and Im not even talking about NBA). Even the best teams hasn't their roster filled of full talent.

So, if you pretend to compare numbers between NCAA players and Euros, I wouldn't talk you to look in Euroleague. Take sub-21 games for their national teams, for example.

 

[hcsilla]

There is a ENORMOUS difference of level between Europeans pros and college basketball USA.

Generally that may be true but in your previous post you stated that "NCAA players plays almost every night against students scrubs and when they put some nice numbers people say: WOW!"

If you take the best conferences of NCAA I don't think that you are correct.

For example Shelden Williams (who I would take over Splitter on every day of the week and twice on Sunday) plays against Cedric Simmons, Craig Smith, Tyler Hansbrough, Coleman Collins etc.

If you think that they are college scrubs then I'm still not sure that you really follow NCAA despite owning a draft website.

 

[George O'Brien]

Williams is generally projected as a top ten pick. I have no reason to believe he might fall to the mid first round.

 

[ProdigalSun]

Williams won't fall out of the top ten especially with a "weaker" draft class this year. If Splitter is there mid first round and his contract is no longer an issue, then he might be well worth a look . However, if someone like Redick is still there I'd grab him with our first pick and pick up a big man like Torin Francis, Paul Davis, Josh Boone or someone similar later in the first round.

 

[George O'Brien]

Williams won't fall out of the top ten especially with a "weaker" draft class this year. If Splitter is there mid first round and his contract is no longer an issue, then he might be well worth a look . However, if someone like Redick is still there I'd grab him with our first pick and pick up a big man like Torin Francis, Paul Davis, Josh Boone or someone similar later in the first round.

Boone is physically what the Suns need, but he's not played as well as he should. I'm curious whether he'll start playing well with the tournament being a big deal for how he gets slotted.

Unless someone sees something in Torin Francis and Paul Davis I haven't read, neither appears to be athletic enough to be worth the bother.

BTW, one guy I'd like to get more information about is Brandon Roy of U of Washington. He was incredible against U of A a few weeks ago and has some nice numbers: 6'6" 210

19.4 ppg in 28.4 minutes
5.6 rpg
3.7 assists
52.5% shooting
51.4% for three
78.5% from the line

The most recent profile was from draft.net of a year ago.

Strengths: Silky smooth swingman… Let's the game come to him…Very smart player … Extremely athletic and deceptively quick… Has the skill set to play multiple positions… Gets to the hoop and finishes well… Always in the right place at the right time… Defensive stopper… Has long arms and is always in the passing lanes… Locks up opposing teams best player… Sees the floor well and is very unselfish… Explosive… Plays hard all the time and has no problem banging down low with the big guys… Good at positioning himself for rebounds… Has the physical abilities and overall knowledge of the game to be a contributor at the next level…

Weaknesses: Would be a perfect SF if he had another 2 inches... At 6-6 Roy doesn't really have a position… Lacks the handle needed to play guard… A bit of a tweener… Like a lot of collegiate players his jumper needs work… Does everything well but doesn't stand out at any one thing…

-Mike Apodaca 12/21/04

He does not seem to have achieved any national visibility as draft.net has him in the early second round. Pac 10 does not get a lot of love, so he might be worth looking at with the Suns second pick.

 

[ProdigalSun]

Another guy to keep an eye on is Boone's teammate Hilton Armstrong. He's been coming on of late (19 pts and 6 blocks yesterday) and alot of experts say he may end up being a better pro prospect than Boone by the end of the year. It will be interesting to see how some of these prospects can improve their draft slotting come March.

 

[hcsilla]

Armstrong probably moved ahead of Boone on draft lists.

He is like a slightly more athletic version of P.J. Brown without the mid-range J.

 

[planaria]

Generally that may be true but in your previous post you stated that "NCAA players plays almost every night against students scrubs and when they put some nice numbers people say: WOW!"

If you take the best conferences of NCAA I don't think that you are correct.

For example Shelden Williams (who I would take over Splitter on every day of the week and twice on Sunday) plays against Cedric Simmons, Craig Smith, Tyler Hansbrough, Coleman Collins etc.

If you think that they are college scrubs then I'm still not sure that you really follow NCAA despite owning a draft website.

You didn't get my point. First, I don't say that all college students are scrubs. I'm not crazy. But even in the best conferece there are a lot of low challenge games for the biggest NBA prospects (6-9 centers, 5-11 shooting guards...just to talk about physical attributes).

Other important point is the age and experience in the basketball. To talk just about americans, while a NCAA prospect is playing against some guys that will have a nice career in Europe in the next 2/3 years, Splitter is playing against former NCAA players with 3 or 4 years of pro experience.

In the last PanAm games, for example, a lot of people was talking that guys like Emeka Okafor, Diogu and A. Johnson would destroy Splitter (at that point with just 17 years old) and another young brazilians guys. Actually, Splitter made a better tournament and the americans were owned in the directed match.

BTW,

I also would take Shelden Williams over Splitter. (look: http://www.draftbrasil.net)