Trae is a generational type of shooter with phenomenal range (who can make a 100 threes in practice continously). Covington? Wtf is this comparison? Having a sky-high usage rate does not equal all time assist rate particularly if said player is a subpar playmaker more interested in chucking than creating. There was no progressive offense being employed by OU: Trae Young was THE entirety of OU's offense. I never said that NCAA defense was overall better than Euroleagues ones except that shortcomings in the athletic abilities of Euro defenders can mask the deficiencies of euro prospects which are then revealed when they come over.
The question was whether they were athletic or not. They clearly were. Next (1) KJ McDaniel, while being himself a good defender, has nothing on them lateral mobility-wise. (2) You can't prove that since they were indeed athletic (what was the question again ?). Having elite lateral mobility and lane agility may not be a sufficient condition to be an above average NBA perimeter defender but the eye-test and 50 years of NBA experience proves that it is absolutely a necessary one. (3) I don't know why I am replying to a guy who thinks that Thanasis is a better defender than Paul George.
Euro BBal fans usually don't buy into all the hype and inflated stats the media serves you each day. Then when they voice their opinion, they get "bad name".
If Young is such a "generational shooter" how come he flopped hard in SL? The reality here is Luka dominated the EuroLeague which every smart person knows is more difficult than NCAA. Name me one professional scout or analyst who will say NCAA is tougher than the Euroleague. If Luka was able to become MVP in a tougher conference then he can also dominate in a weaker conference against a weaker competition. He may not be the best player in this draft but not every college team has a De Andre Ayton on their roster, majority of teams have players wont make it in the NBA. If scoring in NCAA was so hard how come Beasely had 20 20s? If scoring against NCAA defenses are as hard as you say how come Adam Morrison had 28 ppg average? Explain to me how all these busts can put up god stats in NCAA if the comp is so high. Just listen to the experts dude, they scout talent for a living they know more about this than you do and they all say Euroleague is harder than the NCAA.
Euro prospects have never "come over" to the NCAA they come over to the NBA. You keep confusing NCAA with the NBA the NBA is the pinnacle of bball competition obv it will have all those amazing and athletic players who will expose these Euro prospects. However the NCAA is far from the NBA competition so what do these Euro prospects failing in the NBA have to do with the NCAA? Even your idol Trae Young who according to you is a generational scorer in the NCAA shot like trash in Summer League and would probably have been cut if he wasn't a lotto pick. So just because these Euro prospects struggled in the NBA doesn't mean they will struggle in the NCAA we have lots of examples of busts who are gods in NCAA but flops in the NBA. It doesn't translate because the comp in NCAA 10x weaker than in the NBA so don't use their experience in the NBA (ex Euro league MVP Vpan flopped in the NBA) to say they would flop in the NCAA. If you took Vpan at his peak he would dominate the NCAA he would be more skilled and experienced than everyone else because he'd be a 30 yr old playing against teenagers.
Harder does not equate to more talented. It’s harder because it’s basketball and in basketball when you have older players with more experience that have played together longer, it’s “better”. No different than when teams started beating the US in international competition. Is there a single other player in the Euroleague you would be happy your team gave a max contract or spent major resources (top 5 pick) acquiring?
But I've never said Euroleague is more talented though so what's your point? I'm just giving push back to all the posters here who assume Luka is some scrub because he didn't play in the NCAA by pointing out the Euroleague is a HARDER league than the NCAA because like you said over there the older players have more experience and have played together longer and then some other poster said Euroleague players are just washed up old men compared to the NCAA. Luka has become an MVP in a harder league so he will also do great if he played in the NCAA. The bolded part of your post doesn't have anything to do with my point. NCAA is just a mess of potential and that's what you spend your top pick on, has nothing to do with NCAA being harder or easier than Euroleague. Actually you know what? I take it back the Euroleague does have more talent than the NCAA. NCAA will have better top talent, but overall NCAA has lower talent because 99% of NCAA players are not good enough to play in the Euroleague. You can give NCAA the first top 100 picks, so what? NCAA has 460,000 players, if you rank all these guys starting from NCAA #100 these scrubs aren't good enough to play for the Euroleague. That's why guys like Adam Morrison can put up god stats in the NCAA, he only goes up against legit NBA potential guys 1-2 times his entire season, he probably won't even face up against other good players because his team loses early in March Madness or w/e. Most of his games are against scrubs who aren't even gonna be in SL. It's also the same case for Trae Young, he was doing his Steph Curry impersonation against NCAA cannon fodder, once he reached a level higher he stopped being a godly shooter. If Trae Young played in the Euroleague I highly doubt people will even think he is similar at all to Steph Curry because he can't even shoot well against SL level opponents and SL is still weaker than Euroleague.
Curry shot like trash in summer league. Trae Young is different from Doncic in that he will be a shooter that will have to be defended from 30 yards out as soon as he steps on an NBA court. Doncic has yet to prove that he can be a credible threat from 3-point range to effect NBA defenses in the ways that many people are projecting him to do as a playmaker. Trae Young has yet to prove that he won't be such a negative on D that he won't be able to see the floor at all. V-Span could not dominate against regular ex-NCAA players in their rookie NBA year in his prime, let alone lotto picks.
Many Euro BBall fans have been hyping Doncic as the second coming of Jordan mixed with Magic and with a whiff of Bird. V-Span still has his stans. All based on glorified eurohoops stats and accolades that have never proved to be a sure barometer to success in the NBA.
But like I already said less than .01% of NCAA players make it in the NBA. There are around 18k NCAA players at any given year, only 60 get drafted abd probably half of those will be NBA talent. So even if Vpan can't dominate all the NCAA who got drafted he will still be in the top 100 NCAA player rankings. Adam Morrison didnt build his 28 ppg scoring on NBA level talent in the NCAA. If NCAA players were really good Euro league would be dominated by Americans since they are the 2nd highest payer after the NBA. NCAA is more than the 60 dudes that get drafted every year there are so many college scrubs out there thats why the talent level of the NCAA is so low. For every Lebron there are 10000 unathletic low bball iq kids who pull the talent level down.
NCAA has also never proved to be a sure barometer to success in the NBA otherwise there wouldnt be so many busts every year.
The post I was replying to was claiming that Euro BBall fans are not prone to hyping stats. I was only replying to this notion, period.
(1) Already discussed Adam Morrisson's case in prior post (2) Anthony Parker is an Eurohoop goat (3) Many divisions/conferences are found in NCAA. More likely to find the next Lebron's (or NBA reject/Euroleague star) in Division 1 than in Division 3 just like feeder clubs of eurohoops are literally 95% made-up of unatletic low IQ bball players compared to Euroleague clubs.
When you look at a league's strength you don't look at the creme of the crop you look at the average that's what you are missing. The top talent at NCAA is a lot higher than Euroleague that's why they are the ones who get drafted and play at the NBA. But on average, the average NCAA player's skill and talent is lower than the average Euroleague player because these are college kids who dont know what they are doing vs grown ass men with years of practice abd experience. US is just one country vs the entire Europe which is a freaking continent, the pool of available talent is a lot larger in Euro league pointing out guys like Anthony Parker actually shows the talent in Europe is higher because AP who became Eurohoop great would school AP who played in the NCAA. Even if you just limit it to Division 1 like I said only 60 guys get drafted which means on average only 60 guys can make it in the NBA, after that the talent drop off is a lot and since majority of these NCAA don't play in Euroleague that means their talent is inferior on average. Its just plain lpogic dude almost all of these NCAA players play overseas if they were all amazing they would be playing in Euroleague because it is the 2nd highest payer after the NBA and they would be owning all these Europeans. That's not really happening now, is it? Pointing out guys like AP is nothing because he is an outlier, we are talking about the average here I can say look at Zuckerberg he dropped out of school and became a billionaire therefore school sucks and we should all drop out.
For the last 20 post or so, you have been constantly mistaking experience with skill and talent. Doncic has been a professional player for way more years than his draft peers just like NCAA players have nothing on Euroleague players (often ex-NCAA players themselves) in terms of experience. A 28 year old Nick Calathes (the best PG in Euroleague) is way better than his 20 year old self in college because of experience accrued and not because of talent level or skills. You can learn to master sets and tactics but you will never be able to figure out elite shooting, lateral mobility, length and just plain explosive athletic ability, not in 100 years. Being able to jump like a pogo stick, shoot from the parking lot, blot out the sun and passing lanes with your wingspan .... those are the traits that can cross-over to any league regardless of era or experience level. A quite valid criticism of Doncic is that he has already matured as a ball player and not much growth is to be expected due to increase in experience (hence why 22 year old college players rarely project to become stars). The best player in Euroball history is actually a propduct of the american collegiate system : Galis. Anthony Parker, a scrub in the NBA, is not an exception. Epke Udoh, Andrew Goudelock, Devin Smith, Malcom Delaney....Who ? Exactly...
19 yrs old has already matured and has no potential left conpared to 23 yrs old? Lol! So based on this logic you shouldn't expose your kid to any form of training at all, just keep at home till he is 20 that way you will not have exhausted any of your kid's "potential". Galis, Ap, Devin Smith etc....again all of these are outliers which is what I have been telling you 20 posts ago. The average NCAA player is a total scrub and way worse than your average Euroleague player otherwise almost all Euroleague players will come from the NCAA that is why Euroleague is both harder and has more talent than the NCAA. When you discuss strength you look at the average not the top 3 or whatever the F you have been doing. Does the average NCAA student have extreme athleticism, can junp like a pogo stick, have arm length as long as Kawhi? Lol! NCAA has 18k players if all of them are as good as you say the NBA would be drafting 300 players a year not 30.
What??? You said that Calathes as a 20 y.o has the same skills as he has now? And since when is shooting in the same category as length and explosive athleltic ability?
