[skangles]

Those of you who know me from 24sec.net may recall that these are my favorite threads to start. With only one game left in Venezuela what players have helped their careers with their performance in Caracas?

For me there are a few obvious candidates:

1) Jack Martinez - Dominican Republic. Yack was dominating the boards last summer at the Tournament of the Americas but very few people took notice. He is 30 and plays in Argentina, I would think that there will be more than one European suitor going after Martinez next season.

2) P.J. Ramos - Puerto Rico. Like Martinez he was dominant in the paint. Ramos is a known commodity having played with the Wizards earlier in his career but he spent the past few years in China. The Chinese may be paying him well but I'd struggle to believe that he couldn't find an even more attractive contract in Europe.

3) Ike Diogu - Nigeria. Another known commodity who bounced around the NBA. He last played in China and recently signed with a team in Puerto Rico. He can surely do better than that and he's still only 28.

4) Eduardo Mingas - Angola. A substantially undersized player who still managed to average 20 points and nearly 6 rebounds against good competition. He also plays domestically in Angola. He could be a steal for a team with a limited budget but I couldn't imagine him landing with Eurocup-esque team due to his size.

This post has been edited by skangles: 01 August 2012 - 03:02 AM

[ZEUS]

Nice scouting report skang.

Where do you source your information from?

[skangles]

I am always looking up which clubs the players are on during the timeouts of the games that I'm watching. It helps to contextualize who's who and makes the games more entertaining to watch. Most of this information is on wikipedia or fiba.com.

For the guys above there is definitely a gap between talent exhibited and current club so I think that there is an opportunity for them to move up in their careers.

There are players like Vitaly Fridzon of Russia that I knew very little about before this tournament that have looked great but as he already on a big club like Khimki it is tough to say that his stock is really rising.

[skangles]

Thus far in the Olympics there are a few names that really jump out at me in terms of guys who have increased their market value:

1) Makrem Ben Romdhane - Tunisia. This dude just played the game of his life against the US. He was slashing at will, getting to the rim and was a beast on the glass. His stat line? 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Couple that with his 12 and 12 performance in the loss against Nigeria and the fact that he is just 23 years old and currently playing for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia and yes I'd say he just drastically increased his disposable income.

If I am any team in the French league I'm on the phone with his agent right now trying to lure him to France due to the linguistic familiarity plus I think the style of play in France would be conducive to what Ben Romdhane offers. There is no reason why he couldn't be playing for at least a Eurocup level team next season.

2) Yi Jianlian - China. Unlike Ben Romdhane who came out of nowhere Yi has been a known commodity for years after the Milwaukee Bucks wasted the sixth overall pick of the 2007 draft on him.

He's been an NBA journeyman ever since failing to be a mainstay anywhere but in this Olympic he has been doing a pretty good Yao Ming impersonation for China. He's gone 30/12 against Spain and 16/7 against Russia. That should be good enough to all but ensure that he is able to make an NBA bench next year for a team looking for interior depth. That was far from a given going into this tournament. I know some Euroleague teams are after him and I'd love to see him go over to Europe where I feel he could really make an impact. After all he is only 27 err...umm...24!

3) Saleh Mejri - Tunisia. Whilst Yi and Ben Romdhane have benefited from their electric performances thus far, Mejri has benefited from just being seen. He is 26 years old and legitimate 7'1" (217cm). He had 2 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks against Nigeria and 4 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks against the US. Like Ben Romdhane he plays for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia. While his statline isn't super imposing, I certainly would take a flyer on him if I needed to boost my presence in the paint.

This post has been edited by skangles: 01 August 2012 - 03:02 AM

[Kenneth23]

skangles, on 01 August 2012 - 03:00 AM, said:

Thus far in the Olympics there are a few names that really jump out at me in terms of guys who have increased their market value:

1) Makrem Ben Romdhane - Tunisia. This dude just played the game of his life against the US. He was slashing at will, getting to the rim and was a beast on the glass. His stat line? 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Couple that with his 12 and 12 performance in the loss against Nigeria and the fact that he is just 23 years old and currently playing for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia and yes I'd say he just drastically increased his disposable income.

If I am any team in the French league I'm on the phone with his agent right now trying to lure him to France due to the linguistic familiarity plus I think the style of play in France would be conducive to what Ben Romdhane offers. There is no reason why he couldn't be playing for at least a Eurocup level team next season.

2) Yi Jianlian - China. Unlike Ben Romdhane who came out of nowhere Yi has been a known commodity for years after the Milwaukee Bucks wasted the sixth overall pick of the 2007 draft on him.

He's been an NBA journeyman ever since failing to be a mainstay anywhere but in this Olympic he has been doing a pretty good Yao Ming impersonation for China. He's gone 30/12 against Spain and 16/7 against Russia. That should be good enough to all but ensure that he is able to make an NBA bench next year for a team looking for interior depth. That was far from a given going into this tournament. I know some Euroleague teams are after him and I'd love to see him go over to Europe where I feel he could really make an impact. After all he is only 27 err...umm...24!

3) Saleh Mejri - Tunisia. Whilst Yi and Ben Romdhane have benefited from their electric performances thus far, Mejri has benefited from just being seen. He is 26 years old and legitimate 7'1" (217cm). He had 2 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks against Nigeria and 4 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks against the US. Like Ben Romdhane he plays for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia. While his statline isn't super imposing, I certainly would take a flyer on him if I needed to boost my presence in the paint.

Nice scouting report skangles.

I think Yi could still be a good role player of the bench for an NBA team. He has the skills but he needs to keep his confidence up and make sure that he play hard every night.

But you're wrong on one thing. Salah Mejri didn't play for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia last year. Mejri played for Antwerp Giants in Belgium. Now his contract is finished and he tried out for the Utah Jazz. After the Olympics he wants to impress teams in the NBA because he wants to fulfill his dream of playing there

[TeoTheGreek13]

skangles, on 01 August 2012 - 03:00 AM, said:

Thus far in the Olympics there are a few names that really jump out at me in terms of guys who have increased their market value:

1) Makrem Ben Romdhane - Tunisia. This dude just played the game of his life against the US. He was slashing at will, getting to the rim and was a beast on the glass. His stat line? 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Couple that with his 12 and 12 performance in the loss against Nigeria and the fact that he is just 23 years old and currently playing for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia and yes I'd say he just drastically increased his disposable income.

If I am any team in the French league I'm on the phone with his agent right now trying to lure him to France due to the linguistic familiarity plus I think the style of play in France would be conducive to what Ben Romdhane offers. There is no reason why he couldn't be playing for at least a Eurocup level team next season.

2) Yi Jianlian - China. Unlike Ben Romdhane who came out of nowhere Yi has been a known commodity for years after the Milwaukee Bucks wasted the sixth overall pick of the 2007 draft on him.

He's been an NBA journeyman ever since failing to be a mainstay anywhere but in this Olympic he has been doing a pretty good Yao Ming impersonation for China. He's gone 30/12 against Spain and 16/7 against Russia. That should be good enough to all but ensure that he is able to make an NBA bench next year for a team looking for interior depth. That was far from a given going into this tournament. I know some Euroleague teams are after him and I'd love to see him go over to Europe where I feel he could really make an impact. After all he is only 27 err...umm...24!

3) Saleh Mejri - Tunisia. Whilst Yi and Ben Romdhane have benefited from their electric performances thus far, Mejri has benefited from just being seen. He is 26 years old and legitimate 7'1" (217cm). He had 2 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks against Nigeria and 4 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks against the US. Like Ben Romdhane he plays for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia. While his statline isn't super imposing, I certainly would take a flyer on him if I needed to boost my presence in the paint.

Good work, I just want to point out that Yi ain't a surprise. He always plays great with China, the thing is that he can't translate his performances to the NBA games.

[Kenneth23]

TeoTheGreek13, on 01 August 2012 - 10:03 AM, said:

Good work, I just want to point out that Yi ain't a surprise. He always plays great with China, the thing is that he can't translate his performances to the NBA games.

You're right Teo. Yi always better with China but maybe this is because he's the star on the team. Yi is a good player and I believe that he can play for a NBA, the same way he plays for China but he'll have to go to a team where he can be the "star". And that's the problem, he can be a star but I don't know if team want to give him the opportunity to be the star on a NBA team

[skangles]

Kenneth23, on 01 August 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

You're right Teo. Yi always better with China but maybe this is because he's the star on the team. Yi is a good player and I believe that he can play for a NBA, the same way he plays for China but he'll have to go to a team where he can be the "star". And that's the problem, he can be a star but I don't know if team want to give him the opportunity to be the star on a NBA team

The Bucks gave him the chance to be a star. He was awesome in his first 20 games or so in the league. Then teams started to scout him and shut him down. He had absolutely no way to breakdown the defense from that point onwards. He still got plenty of playing time in Milwaukee until he was dumped with Bobby Simmons to the Nets for Richard Jefferson. He's been a journeyman ever since.

I think that he'll make an NBA roster because of his Olympic team but I cannot see any team offering major minutes until he earns it. His past 5 years in the league have left too much of a lasting impression to ignore.

I do agree with the general sentiment of your post whereby he really needs a situation like the Wolves gave to Darko to have a chance of success. I don't think that he'll get this in the NBA which is why I think that Europe is a better option for him.

This post has been edited by skangles: 01 August 2012 - 11:54 PM

[skangles]

Kenneth23, on 01 August 2012 - 09:50 AM, said:

Nice scouting report skangles.

I think Yi could still be a good role player of the bench for an NBA team. He has the skills but he needs to keep his confidence up and make sure that he play hard every night.

But you're wrong on one thing. Salah Mejri didn't play for Étoile Sportive du Sahel in Tunisia last year. Mejri played for Antwerp Giants in Belgium. Now his contract is finished and he tried out for the Utah Jazz. After the Olympics he wants to impress teams in the NBA because he wants to fulfill his dream of playing there

Damn it Wikipedia failed me! How was he doing in Belgium? It is a huge step up from the Tunisian league but I still think he is due for an even bigger pay day.

I know that NBA teams were looking at him and that seems a bit crazy to me. From the Olympics he looks like way too much of a project to be taken seriously and he is already 26. I don't see anyway he could deliver at the NBA level. I also think he'd get run out of town in the Euroleague. He looks more like the type of player who would be successful in Germany to me and that's not such a bad thing!

[skangles]

4) Antanas Kavaliauskas - Lithuania. Typing this even shocks myself. When Javtokas went down and Kemzura brought in Kavaliauskas, I thought Kemzura was really enjoying whatever it is that he was smoking. It turns out to have been a great decision. Here is another shocking statement: If you give me a healthy Javtokas or Kavaliauskas playing like he's currently been playing I would take Kavaliauskas

Kavaliaukas has been the ultimate role player. He's not going to take over the game, he's not going to create plays but he does all the small things that allow the Lithuanian "stars" to do their thing whilst anchoring it for the team. In short he just plays smart basketball and this won't show up in the box score.

At both ends of the court Lithuania plays more organized with a much better structure when he is out there than when they go with Valanciunas or Songaila. He has most definitely earned the playing time that he has received from Kemzura.

So let's go to his vitals, he is 27 years old and not huge at 6'10" (2.09cm) and he already plays for a pretty good team in VEF Riga. VEF plays in the VTB league and played in the Euroleague qualification tournament last year (losing in the first round to Alba Berlin). I'm not sure that Kavaliauskas will make a move since he's already playing at a high level but I could see a team like Lietuvos Rytas being interested in bringing him back to Lithuania to help fill the void of Valanciunas.

[Kenneth23]

skangles, on 01 August 2012 - 11:05 PM, said:

Damn it Wikipedia failed me! How was he doing in Belgium? It is a huge step up from the Tunisian league but I still think he is due for an even bigger pay day.

I know that NBA teams were looking at him and that seems a bit crazy to me. From the Olympics he looks like way too much of a project to be taken seriously and he is already 26. I don't see anyway he could deliver at the NBA level. I also think he'd get run out of town in the Euroleague. He looks more like the type of player who would be successful in Germany to me and that's not such a bad thing!

Mejri played good at times. He was a fan favorite of the fans of his team. In his second season he wanted to be the man and started taking shots that he can't make. He also started to take a lot of three-point shots for a center. He wanted to be the best player because he wanted to play in the NBA. You could see that he didn't wanted to stay in Belgium anymore. Against Andre Riddick, he often was outplayed. Riddick may be old but I love him as a player because he's defense anchor. Mejri is probably going to Spain to play for Lagun Aro

Btw good post on Kavaliauskas

This post has been edited by Kenneth23: 05 August 2012 - 03:16 PM

[skangles]

Apparently the correct answer to the stock rising question is Chamberlain Oguchi from Nigeria, as he is drawing interest from several NBA teams. He scored 35 points against France but he didn't look all that impressive in the games that I saw him play in London and Caracas.

[Kenneth23]

I agree with you Skangles. But this is an example of how one game can put you in picture of teams. He'll probably will go to a NBA camp but I don't think that he'll get a contract

[Raze Lupin]

Russia +7
USA +15

[Kenneth23]

Raze Lupin, on 10 August 2012 - 10:57 AM, said:

Russia +7
USA +15

I think you posted in the wrong topic Raze

[skangles]

5) Carlos Delfino - Argentina. This is another unconventional stock rising pick but hear me out. Carlos came into this tournament an unrestricted free agent having spent the past three seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. It was a bit of a risky decision given that he would have no guaranteed money should he get injured and given that he remained unsigned he wasn't garnering a great deal of attention (he was spurned by the Bucks which had him a bit worked up).

I suspect that the risk may have paid off for Carlos beyond the satisfaction of representing his country given how he has played in London (15 ppg and a perimeter threat). The Bucks paid Delfino $3.5m last year which I think was a heck of a bargain. Carlos will never be the star of the team but put him with some quality teammates and he can be a very, very good role player.

I think that he has been solid in Milwaukee but Bucks fans are pretty happy not to have him back. The real issue is that the Bucks lacked the quality teammates necessary for Delfino to thrive. I'm really intrigued to see if Philadelphia picks him up following the Bynum trade. They were already showing interest and moving Iguodala to Denver makes Delfino and even more obvious signing for them. Cleveland has also expressed interest. No matter where he signs, he has absolutely helped himself with his play in the Olympics.

[Kenneth23]

I agree with you Skangles on Delfino. He played good and I think that his playing at the Olympics will earn him a bigger contract. A team like Houston would be a good team for him or maybe Phoenix where his friend Scola is going to play. I think that Delfino would fit in the run and gun system of Phoenix. He could have a same role like Leandro Barbosa.

[skangles]

The Rockets signed Carlos Delfino to a one year deal with a second year team option. I haven't seen the value of the deal but on the surface it makes absolutely no sense to either Delfino or the Rockets. Houston now has 22 players under contract! And as Houston is going nowhere anytime soon, if I'm the Rockets, I'd want to give Jeremy Lamb as much playing time as possible. Jeremy Lamb could maybe pan out and has the potential of being a player that could lead the team back to success. Carlos Delfino certainly won't be that player.

Rumors have the deal at less than $2.5m. If that's the case, I'm shocked that he couldn't have gotten that type of money from a team that made more sense (Philly, Cleveland or Phoenix as you noted Kenneth). Actually for a one year guaranteed deal, if I were Delfino I would have packed up and come back over to Europe. His Khimki deal was 3 years 8.5m euros net!! He probably wouldn't get quite that much at this point as he is nearly 30 but now was the time for him to cash in and it looks like he blew it.

[Kenneth23]

A lot of players on Houstons roster are free agents or will be waived to make room for Delfino.
I agree with you Skangles on Lamb, I hope that he'll get enough playing time now that Delfino is signed.
I think that Delfino has signed with Houston because he liked the organization that they have with all the young players they have.

The agent of Delfino said in a newspaper that there was interest from European teams for Delfino but that Delfino doesn't want to return to Europe because he wants to keep on playing in the NBA. Maybe in a couple of years Delfino will come back to Europe