Skita also officially gone

[Boomer]

Blazers claim Tskitishvili off waivers

The Blazers claimed former lottery pick Nikoloz Tskitishvili off waivers from Phoenix on Friday.
If the Blazers lose Joel Przybilla to free agency, Skita may be the best option they have in the middle, along with rookie LaMarcus Aldridge. He's expected to play in the summer league in Las Vegas with a chance to be invited to training camp. Tskitishvili was selected with the fifth pick in the 2002 draft by the Denver Nuggets, but he has struggled in the NBA, averaging 2.9 points in 11.3 minutes in 172 career games. Jul. 1 - 11:22 am et Source: Oregonian

 

[Arby]

Nikoloz Tskitishvili - F - Trail Blazers


The Blazers claimed former lottery pick Nikoloz Tskitishvili off waivers from Phoenix on Friday.
If the Blazers lose Joel Przybilla to free agency, Skita may be the best option they have in the middle, along with rookie LaMarcus Aldridge. He's expected to play in the summer league in Las Vegas with a chance to be invited to training camp. Tskitishvili was selected with the fifth pick in the 2002 draft by the Denver Nuggets, but he has struggled in the NBA, averaging 2.9 points in 11.3 minutes in 172 career games. Jul. 1 - 11:22 am et

 

[devilalum]

And so the great Skita odyssey finally came to an end.

 

[jbeecham]

Skita is one of the worst busts in recent draft history. A #5 pick that's done virtually nothing in the league but play poorly in garbage minutes. Is Portland his 4th or 5th team in the last 4 yrs?

 

[JS22]

I was actually hoping to see him for 1 more year. D'antoni himself said that this was a signing for "next year." (Being this year, now.)

They must have been REALLY unimpressed.

 

[jbeecham]

I think Skita's biggest problem is he has no drive to become a better player. He still has all of the same deficiencys he had when he was drafted. He's not strong enough, he can't play inside, he has no post moves, he likes to hang out on the perimeter shooting jumpshots but isn't a great shooter, is a poor defender, is a poor rebounder for his size, etc etc.

He hasn't improved on any of this stuff in 4 yrs and that's why he can't stick around with any team. He's lazy. He should've been working out in the gym adding bulk since the day he was drafted. He should've been at the Newell big man camps working on post defense, offense & footwork.

I don't think he'll do anything in Portland (or anywhere else) if he even makes a team next season. he should go back to Europe where he could be a decent role player for a Euroleague team.

 

[George O'Brien]

Lazy and soft. But he does do a great job in summer league.

 

[tobiazz]

For four months, Tskitishvili went Hans and Franz, working out six days a week, seven hours a day. The regimen included stretching, martial arts, weightlifting, running, agility drills and a 4,000-calorie-a-day diet.

Fifteen months after Denver made him the fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, Tskitishvili has transformed himself from a scrawny, 7-foot, 214-pound stick figure into a 243-pound power forward. In the process, he added less than 1 percent of body fat.

That doesn't sound lazy to me. I think the problem is that he just isn't very good. He was drafted for his body; he didn't even play substantial minutes in Europe before being drafted.

(source)

 

[jbeecham]

That doesn't sound lazy to me. I think the problem is that he just isn't very good. He was drafted for his body; he didn't even play substantial minutes in Europe before being drafted.

(source)

Everywhere I have looked has his weight in the 220-225 range. Maybe he put on that weight, but he hasn't kept it on and it didn't seem to help him at all.

 

[sly fly]

Everywhere I have looked has his weight in the 220-225 range. Maybe he put on that weight, but he hasn't kept it on and it didn't seem to help him at all.

Beech, you should do your homework a little better before ripping on a player.

 

[slinslin]

Like I said at the time we picked him up... What a wasted 2nd round pick we gave up for him... pointless trade.

 

[jbeecham]

Beech, you should do your homework a little better before ripping on a player.

lol, I did, try googling Tskitishvili and see what you find, mostly draft articles from 2001-2002 because he's done nothing article worthy since then. The one article he found about Skita putting on 30 lbs of muscle was from the Republic of Georgia in Euorpe. It doesn't change the fact that Skita has sucked and is soft. I don't care how much muscle he put on while he was in Denver 3 years ago because it doesn't show now and hasn't helped him at all. Apparently it didn't help him in Denver either because they traded him to Golden State, who traded him to Minnesota, who sent him to the Suns, who released him. Maybe if he worked that hard on his actual basketball skills every year then he could actually play in NBA and not just watch from the bench while collecting millions.

 

[tobiazz]

I have read about the weight gain in the past. Probably on ESPN or something. There is no debate that he stinks, but I wanted to point out that there's a difference between having the drive to get better and the capability to do so. Skita is probably more laking in capability than drive, otherwise I doubt the Suns would have even taken a look. I've also never seen a team call him lazy, though it's possible.

I'm guessing he was zero challenge to Amare in the one-on-one matches and the Suns realized his ceiling was too low.

 

[reader]

Strange, I have not seen that posted anywhere other that in the Portland story.

Has this been confirmed in the Phoenix press, or on the Suns site?

edit ... looking for confirmation

 

[jbeecham]

My reason for thinking he's lazy is because he hasn't improved in the core areas of the game for an NBA PF in 4 years in the league. A #5 pick should be contributing in his 1st yr and should be in the rotation. Darko may be an exception to this because he wasn't given a chance by Larry Brown in Detroit but did ok in Orlando.

 

[F-Dog]

Skita was in a tough spot. The year he was drafted, he should have spent the next couple of years learning to play in Europe...instead, he got big money to come to the NBA, where he was in over his head from the start.

Anyway, he apparently did a nice job as a workout and practice partner for Amare, which is all the contribution anybody could expect from him in Phoenix. He also didn't embarrass himself in garbage time.

It's a little odd the Suns waived Skita before they knew TT would sign.


Oh well, best of luck to him.

 

[reader]

Found the confirmation on another board.

Portland claims Nikoloz Tskitishvili off waivers from Phoenix.
http://www.nba.com/transactions/current_month_transactions.html

 

[Gaddabout]

I've been to Oregon. They know what a big Skeeter is supposed to look like, especially in the summer.

 

[Joe Mama]

You see this more often in the NFL, but Tskitishvili is a classic example of somebody getting drafted on potential/workouts rather than gameplay. I don't feel like doing it right now, but I wonder if we went back and looked at the drafts how often players like him really pan out. So many of the "sleepers" over the last several years have been guys who had really good college careers but slipped in the draft because players with "potential" were taken before them.

Btw, I can't believe the Blazers really think Tskitishvili could play center for them. That's laughable.

Joe

 

[Nash]

Skita seems like a very affable guy from what I've seen of him on TV and Suns' "behind the scenes" videos. All year he's been rooting his heart out for the team from the sideline (sure he couldn't play well enuf to be in the games). I just used to feel sorry for the kid seeing how excited he was for his team- there aren't too many guys who'd do that if they weren't given playing time.

It has become apparent though, that he is too soft for the NBA. The best thing for him would be to go back and compete in Europe. He may be earning decently here but I'm sure his confidence will take a heavy knocking in this league. Hope he realizes that and goes back to Italy so he can be the no.1/2 guy on a team.

 

[Errntknght]

I think the Suns waived him for his benefit - to give him a chance to find a situation where he will get some PT. When they signed him for 'next year' they didn't realize that next year they would be top contenders for the title - and not about to let him get anything but garbage minutes. I saw a few glimmers of fiestiness on his part last year and, who knows, with some confidence he might shoot pretty well. I certainly wouldn't say he's an odds of favorite to succeed in the NBA but I don't think he's a completely lost cause either. He needs to stay healthy and get in very good shape for starters....

 

[George O'Brien]

I think the Suns waived him for his benefit - to give him a chance to find a situation where he will get some PT. When they signed him for 'next year' they didn't realize that next year they would be top contenders for the title - and not about to let him get anything but garbage minutes. I saw a few glimmers of fiestiness on his part last year and, who knows, with some confidence he might shoot pretty well. I certainly wouldn't say he's an odds of favorite to succeed in the NBA but I don't think he's a completely lost cause either. He needs to stay healthy and get in very good shape for starters....

I didn't see it, but I did not watch every game. What I saw was that he is not very quick and not very tough.