Thus far JV game seems ahead of Enes Kanter

[Hotshot]

Really good analysis of Enes Kanter 3 exhibition games thus far with videos:

http://nbaplaybook.com/2011/08/15/fi...BA+Playbook%29

I know it is just three games, but I think finally being able to see Kanter play a live game has helped get rid of some of the mystery around him. Sure it is just three games, and while nobody in their right mind would use these games to prove that Kanter is a bust, it should become obvious that Kanter needs a little more work than probably expected. The good thing about it is that some of the things that need correct (help defense, recognizing double teams, setting screens) are things that tend to get better with more experience. While he may not get a ton of playing time during EuroBasket (both Erden and Asik are sitting these prep games out but should be ready to go for the actual tournament), Kanter is definitely someone you want to pay attention to and see if he starts playing a little better with more experience.

[albertan_10]

Kanter might have better post moves but i haven't seen him play a whole lot. He seems very smooth down there though

[Bendit]

He also hasn't played in game competition for over a year. These were the 2 real big men available at the top of the draft so it should be really interesting to compare JV against him this summer.

[Macc]

"However, as good as Kanter is on the ball in the post, he’s that bad away from the ball in help situations and when trying to defend on the pick and roll." And people wanted us to draft this guy as Bargnani's replacement?

[GarbageTime]

Just to make it clear this is not a statement about either Jonas or Kanter here. But is this from the same guy that talked about the "myth" of Andrea's D and how Jonas and Andrea could work together defensively?

Best part was reading the comments and seeing (for those that have had 'discussions' with him before):

Khandor : "Part of what I happen to do involves making assessments about a particular player's long term ability to succeed as a professional athlete. When I turn out to be wrong, then, I have no problem whatsoever with others holding me accountable for that inaccuracy"

hahahahahaha

sorry to distract from the thread.

[WhatWhat]

He hasn't played competitive ball in a long time... it's too early to judge him, despite how poorly he played in comparison to Jonas. I think all the time he missed stunted his defensive potential.

"However, as good as Kanter is on the ball in the post, he’s that bad away from the ball in help situations and when trying to defend on the pick and roll." And people wanted us to draft this guy as Bargnani's replacement?

You see, but Kanter can't shoot threes.

[Jaworski]

posted this in another thread: ESPN's Fran Frascilla's tweets on JV

http://twitter.com/#!/franfraschilla

"@nbadraftblog Agree hype is little over the top on Valanciunas. But solid for Sr.Team, so far. When Sabonis/Gasols praise, a good thing!"

"@franfraschilla I never understood why Jazz did not take Valanciunas at #3 over Kanter? I thought contract situation worked perfectly."

"I am not drinking Lithuanian kool-aid (has vodka in it) but would Valanciunas be No.1 if NBA Draft were today? Wonder what @lukewinn thinks?"

[Joey]

"I am not drinking Lithuanian kool-aid (has vodka in it) but would Valanciunas be No.1 if NBA Draft were today? Wonder what @lukewinn thinks?"

Interesting. I've been wondering the same thing.

[Bouncepass]

posted this in another thread: ESPN's Fran Frascilla's tweets on JV

http://twitter.com/#!/franfraschilla

"@nbadraftblog Agree hype is little over the top on Valanciunas. But solid for Sr.Team, so far. When Sabonis/Gasols praise, a good thing!"

"@franfraschilla I never understood why Jazz did not take Valanciunas at #3 over Kanter? I thought contract situation worked perfectly."

"I am not drinking Lithuanian kool-aid (has vodka in it) but would Valanciunas be No.1 if NBA Draft were today? Wonder what @lukewinn thinks?"

I am sure that everyone is remembering that JV is only 19 years old. If he was a US prospect he would have just finished his freshman year. Big men take longer to develop physically and to develop their game. At this point, I think it is important to look at traits that will determine his longer term impact. Size and length (yes). Motor (definitely yes). Athleticism (good, if not great). Hands (very good). Shooting touch (yes, based on FT%, and Sabonis says he has a great touch around the basket). Attitude / Coachability (very good, from all accounts).

At this point, if I were to describe his style, it would be a cross between Noah and Pau Gasol. He is a little less athletic than Noah, but has his fire and rebounding. He is less skilled than Pau, but has the same sort of knack around the basket for grabbing and converting ORs. He seems to have the attitude to fulfill whatever potential he has.

At this point, I wouldn't describe him as having "Franchise Player" potential, because he doesn't have the physically dominating attributes of centers like Shaq, Yao, Robinson and Howard, and he hasn't shown the supreme skillset of Duncan. But I will be very surprised if he doesn't become a top-ten center, with a strong defensive and rebounding profile, and this fills a huge need for the Raptors (and most teams). So, at the very least I think he will be capable of being a Center on an elite team (without carrying the franchise). Combined with the rest of their bigs, I would say that the Raptors front line looks pretty strong going forward. Now, the Raptors will need to turn their attention to filling in other gaps, which includes an elite wing and a top-grade point guard. They have pieces and financial flexibility to get there rather quickly.

[octothorp]

Kanter might have better post moves but i haven't seen him play a whole lot. He seems very smooth down there though

Don't know why he would think getting a brazillian makes him a better player. Unless he's getting ready to be Reggie Evans' bitch. If so, I'm sure Reggie will appreciate the effort.

[Tim W.]

Don't know why he would think getting a brazillian makes him a better player. Unless he's getting ready to be Reggie Evans' bitch. If so, I'm sure Reggie will appreciate the effort.

Don't knock it 'til you try it.

[Fully]

Don't know why he would think getting a brazillian makes him a better player. Unless he's getting ready to be Reggie Evans' bitch. If so, I'm sure Reggie will appreciate the effort.

I laughed.

[mcHAPPY]

Is Kanter ready for the NBA?

You can say this about the kid -- he sure has a nice following from the Turkish fan base.

About a-half-hour before tip-off at SuperCup at Stechert Arena in Bamberg, Germany, five guys sang and danced as their Turkey National Team took the floor. Each wore the same white silk-screen tee shirt with Enes Kanter dressed as WWE wrestler, the Undertaker on the front.

The wording underneath the picture in black bold lettering: “UnderKanter”.

Kanter’s signature adorned each shirt in black marker.

But not everyone around Kanter’s native country and even national team is so sure the rookie for the Utah Jazz and third overall pick in June’s NBA Draft is ready to leave his mark on the NBA. Certainly not right now at 19-years old and surely without major game play over the past two years after a failed college career at Kentucky.

“All the coaching staff and people around basketball think that it is too early for him to go there (to the NBA),” said Nihat Izic, an assistant head coach of the Turkey National Team told Beyond the Beat.


“He has the chance to play in the Euro League and then after that, when you feel you are ready, then you go to the NBA. He decided to go, and I’m not sure who gave him that advice. I don’t want to go there.”

Trusting Izic’s opinion on Kanter comes easily.

He’s known Kanter since he was a kid growing up in Turkey and hand picked him to be groomed for the national team. It’s part of Izic’s role – to plant and cultivate talented basketball players in Turkey – since being assigned by the Turkish Commission for Youth Basketball to develop such a program in 1994. In addition to serving as an assistant coach for the Turkey National team, Izic was the one-time head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Cadets, and coached their Junior and Men's National teams. His coaching resume includes stints with Antalya, Bursa, and Fenerbahce in the Turkish Division I, and long before he was helping develop Enes Kanter, guys like Hedo Turkoglu, Mehmet Okur, and Ersan Ilyasova among many others have played underneath Izic.

And just like those who have gone to the NBA before Kanter, Izic only wanted the best for them. That part of this whole maturation process for Kanter has not changed, even when Kanter decided to jump to the States, where he played at Stoneridge Preparatory School in Simi Valley, California.

“I was sad when he went to the United States, but they put in the newspaper that we (Turkey) were against him going to the NBA or something like that,” Izic continued. “But in Turkey, we are very proud when one of our players succeeds and just doesn’t go there to sit on the bench and they become the star on any team they go to.”

A lot has changed since Kanter dropped 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds at the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit. He was on top of the world. Now Kanter simply considers himself, “the unluckiest guy ever” (from my feature story on Kanter with the Deseret News).

"I haven't played in almost two years and it's hard within that time to go from not playing to being ready for games," said Kanter.

Izic believes it will take time and patience to get the most out of Kanter’s potential. Fans thinking the Jazz drafted an impact player just because he was selected in the Top 5 of the draft could be mistaken and Izic hasn’t seen anything lately that’s lead him to believe Kanter is ready for the NBA – at least not right now.

“I think he understands what kind of mistakes he makes now when he comes to the real world where big guys play basketball. Those two years of not playing hurt him a little bit and he’s a little lost in space. Sure, you can practice but without playing games in two years, that’s not easy to take care of five or six things on the court at once.”

So where does Kanter go from here?

Right now, back to practice to help Turkey prepare for EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania. Yet it’s just not Kanter who needs work. The whole national team does, proven by their 1-3 showing at SuperCup over the weekend. With Kanter, the more court time he sees, the better. It’s all for the better of polished footwork, soft hands, head smart play, court awareness and overall game time conditioning. Even if that means having to stomach stretches were Kanter merely looks like a boy amongst men.

“Over the years he’s improved and some of that is genetics. He’s very strong and very athletic and a big fighter. He motivates himself in those big game situations. But he is emotional and upset about the lockout,” explained Izic.

“He doesn’t want the money. He just wants to play.”

http://beyondthebeat.net/articles-20...-think-so.html

[stretch]

If we are comparing fledgling careers then Kanter had a good start in the Eurobasket tournament while JV didn't get a chance to work up a sweat. Kanter scored a co-game high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds against Portugal. Kanter also clocked a team-high 21 minutes, 58 seconds.

[mcHAPPY]

An opinion on the subject from Alex Kennedy at HoopsWorld.com:

Bill
After seeing the U-19 tournament and all the latest international play post draft. Who would you prefer as a prospect if you were a GM: Enes Kanter or Jonas Valancious

Alex Kennedy
Jonas Valanciunas and it’s not even close. I liked him more before the draft and he’s proven that he’s the real deal during this tournament. He’s excellent in the pick-and-roll, skilled offensively, athletic and has a ton of upside. I was always concerned about Enes Kanter’s time off and lack of experience. When there is only 50 minutes of game film on a player, it’s tough to fall in love with him. Now that we’ve seen him play, it’s clear that he has some potential, but he’s still very raw. His coaches have openly questioned if he’ll be able to make the transition to the NBA, which is never a positive sign. I was told by several teams prior to the draft that Valanciunas would have been picked much higher – definitely ahead of Kanter – if it weren’t for his buyout situation. Both players have upside, but I would take Valanciunas if I was a general manager.