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Danilo Gallinari: NBA Draft Profile

Jeff Fox — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:57:47 -0700

NBA Draft: Danilo Gallinari

Team: AJ Milano

Birth Year: 1988

Position: SF

Height: 6’9”

Weight: 209lbs

Accolades: Italian League All-Star (07), Italian U-16 National Team, Italian U-18 National Team, Italian National Team.

Scouting Report: A strong, highly skilled Italian prospect.

Strengths: Young but experienced – played pro since 2004. Plays in the top league outside of the NBA, the Euroleague. Despite being only 19-years-old, he is the best player on his team. Very good offensive player. Great shooting stroke. Long arms. Very good off the dribble – can go left or right and finishes strong. Great leaper. Can hit the tough shot. Shooting range extends to three-point territory. Good size and strength for a small forward. Solid defender – moves feet, blocks shots, grabs steals. Great free throw shooter and knows how to get himself to the line.

Weaknesses: Needs to improve his three-point accuracy, and get used to the deeper NBA line. Quick and strong for Europe, but is he athletic and strong enough to guard NBA small or power forwards? Still isn’t totally consistent – had a zero point Euroleague outing. Will take time to adjust to the NBA game. Still young – won’t turn 20-years-old until August.

Projected 2008 Draft Range: Lottery pick.

Consensus: Gallinari is a very impressive NBA prospect and should be a solid NBA pro. Whether he has as much “upside” as a prospect like Nicolas Batum is debatable, but Gallinari is definitely more NBA-ready than Batum and has the potential to be an above average NBA player.

Stats:

Italian League: http://195.56.77.208/player/?id=GAL-DAN-88&year=2007&team=1139

Euroleague: http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=KRD

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U19 World Championships Preview

Jeff Fox — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:16:24 -0700

Who’s got next? That question will be answered starting this Thursday as the world’s best young basketball players take part in the FIBA Under 19 World Championship in Novi Sad, Serbia. Last time the tourney took place, in 2003, Andrew Bogut led Australia to the title. In the past, many top prospects (including Vince Carter and Pau Gasol) have used this competition as a springboard to bigger things and this year should be no different. Here are some of the top pro prospects and NCAA players taking part in this year’s edition:

USA

Not surprisingly the States’ team is stacked with top pro prospects and NCAA talent, led by Kansas State’s incoming freshman Michael Beasley. Also expected to play key roles are Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan and Arkansas’ Patrick Beverley.

Canada

Due to various reasons, the Canuck squad is missing four of their best players. That said, they still bring a solid roster into competition, led by sharp-shooting Devoe Joseph (top 100 prospect, class of 2009). Also look for Boston University’s Scott Brittain and South Dakota State’s Kai Williams to be impact players for the team.

China

Guard Chen Jianghua, who appeared in this year’s Nike Hoop Summit and is considered a top international NBA prospect, is listed on China’s roster for this tournament. However, he is currently playing with the Chinese team in the NBA Vegas Summer League, so it is unknown if he will be appearing in Serbia also. To throw a further wrench into things, nbadraft.net reports that Chen is out with a serious injury.

France

The French have one of the tournament’s top young stars on its roster in the form of Nicolas Batum. Look for the 6’8” small forward to be a top five pick in next year’s NBA draft. The stacked French team also has pro prospects Alexis Ajinca (7’1”) and point guards Rodrique Beaubois and Antoine Diot. For NCAA fans, Utah Ute Kim Tillie is also on the roster.

Lithuania

The Lithuanian squad will be lead by 18-year-old point guard Zygimantas Janavicius, who plays professionally in Lithuania and is considered a NBA prospect.

Puerto Rico

Florida State point guard Josue Soto, who only appeared in 13 games for the Seminoles last season as a freshman, will help run the point for the Puerto Rican squad.

Serbia

The Serbian’s have a roster stacked with NBA pro prospects, led by 7’0” Miroslav Raduljica and 7’3” giant Boban Marjanovic. 6’10” small forward Marko Keselj and 6’6” point guard Stefan Markovic are also highly touted prospects.

Spain

The always-tough Spaniards are led by 6’9” forward Victor Claver, who is one of the top young NBA prospects in Europe. Claver’s strong play in this year’s Reebok Eurocamp has him projected as a possible top 10 pick in the 2009 draft.

NBA Draft: Answer Man

Adam Stanco — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:34:49 -0700

Adam Stanco answers your questions.. and the one’s you should be asking. If you have a question, send it to BasketballWriter@cs.com

How much did Mike Conley’s NCAA Tournament performance increase his draft stock?

More than you think.

If Ohio State had lost to Xavier or Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament – two teams who realistically could have beaten the Buckeyes – we would’ve been deprived of his best performances. But Conley got to play three more games on a national stage and he clearly took advantage of the opportunity, averaging 18.0 points and 4.7 assists against Memphis, Georgetown, and Florida.

Before the start of the tourney, Conley was standing on equal footing with Javaris Crittenton and Acie Law. Now he’s considered the head of this year’s point guard class.

But Conley’s numbers on the season (11.3 ppg, 6.1 apg, 3.4 rpg, 2.2 spg, 51.8% FG, 30.4% 3FG) are very comparable to Crittenton’s (14.4 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 spg, 45.0% FG, 35.6% 3FG). Conley is quicker and a better finisher; Crittenton is a much better outside shooter and quite a bit bigger. The two freshmen are supremely talented and should excel on the next level, yet Crittenton is tagged with the “raw” label, while Conley is considered “extremely polished.”

When you consider that Conley played with a loaded team featuring Greg Oden, plus Daquean Cook (a projected late first rounder) and Ron Lewis (a possible second rounder), it’s easy to see how the talented Crittenton went under-the-radar simply because of his early tournament exit.

How many players in this year’s draft could’ve gone first overall last year?

Five. Meaning Andrea Bargnani should be feeling like a world-class thief.

Greg Oden, Kevin Durant Durant, and Brandan Wright were the first victims of the NBA’s minimum age rule. Any of the three could have been taken first overall had they been able to declare for the draft last season.

After Joakim Noah’s outburst in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, his stock was sky high. At the time, he probably would have been chosen before Bargnani.

And, had Yi Jianlian declared last year, the top spot still would have gone to an international sensation, but he might’ve been from China, not Italy.

Adam Stanco answers your questions.. and the one’s you should be asking. If you have a question, send it to BasketballWriter@cs.com

Soccer update

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:40:41 -0700

1. Gold Cup Semifinals Well, the Gold Cup is down to its final four, and three of the remaining countries were expected to be here. The United States, Canada and Mexico have done what they were expected to thus far, albeit in underwhelming fashion. Joining them in Chicago on Thursday night is Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France that isn’t even recognized by FIFA, soccer’s governing body (yet Turks & Caicos is). Now conventional wisdom would lead many to anticipate a US/Mexico final, but given some dangerous offensive options for Canada (Dwayne DeRosario and Julian DeGuzman) and Mexico’s tendency to play to the level of their opponents, who really knows what could happen on Thursday night. But look for the two favorites to play better than they have and move onto Sunday’s final. 2. How can CONCACAF ensure the growth of its “other” nations? It’s pretty much become a given that two of the region’s slots in World Cup qualifying will go to the United States and Mexico. And when you can make an assumption like this, you have to look at the other nations and wonder what can be done as a group to make them stronger. Jamie Trecker of foxsoccer.com made a good point in an article that he wrote this past weekend on making players in the region exempt from MLS foreign player rules (http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6926522), but there’s another area that CONCACAF really needs to look into: officiating. If you’ve watched any of the Gold Cup to this point, then you know that some of the match officials have been an outright disgrace. Of course, with the amount of diving taking place in some of these matches, it has to be more difficult than usual to distinguish a malicious act from an embellishment. But a lot of these officials seem to lose control of the match at the first hint of trouble. Handing out cards like candy does nothing to ensure the quality of the match; it only escalates things. And until a lot of these game officials realize this, the region’s going to end up with two teams capable of making noise every four years, and an also-ran or two happy just to make an appearance on the world’s stage. 3. The United States: who’s done well and who’s hurt themselves on the market? There’s been a lot of talk about the lack of a controlling presence in the midfield for the US since the international retirement of Claudio Reyna. This is still evident in some of their performances in the Gold Cup, and there may not be an opponent that can properly expose this (and make them pay) until a possible meeting with Mexico in the final. But, one can’t help but be impressed with the play of youngsters Benny Feilhaber and Michael Bradley. Despite their lack of experience on the international stage with the USMNT, both have done well in their time of the field. Others who have impressed me to this point in the Gold Cup are Clint Dempsey, DeMarcus Beasley, Taylor Twellman, Jonathan Spector and Carlos Bocanegra. As for the flipside, you have to wonder what clubs in the EPL thinking of signing Oguchi Onyewu are thinking right now. Gooch did redeem himself somewhat in the final group match against El Salvador, but he looked out of sorts in the opener against Guatemala, receiving two yellow cards in the process. In fairness, however, it must be noted that the Guatemala match was a chippy affair, one in which a defender of his size is very likely to get booked due to the official not keeping a lid on things. With his contract not picked up by Newcastle after this season, Onyewu really could use a couple of good performances to finish up the Gold Cup, and solid play in Copa America in a couple of weeks wouldn’t hurt either. Also in need of a boost is the ability of the players up front to take full advantage of their scoring opportunities, especially Landon Donovan (although he’s tied for the team lead in goals), Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson. Far too many chances have been left on the table, but they haven’t run into a side that can fully make them pay as of yet. 4. What’s going on in MLS? Quite simply, the East is far superior to the West at this point in the season. While the majority of pundits concentrated on Red Bull New York and New England at the beginning of the season, Kansas City made a run that saw them at the top of the conference for a short time. And don’t look now, but DC United is unbeaten in their last seven to move within four points of first place Red Bull New York. And newcomer Toronto has proven to be anything but a pushover in their inaugural season, soundly beating Western Conference (and league leader) FC Dallas 4-0 on Sunday. It doesn’t help that Dallas will be without forward Kenny Cooper for awhile thanks to a broken leg, but they do get back Carlos Ruiz from his tour with the Guatemalan National Team. Chivas USA, Houston and Los Angeles have all been hit hard by national team call-ups, so maybe things will improve once they get all their players back. But with the new playoff rules (the top two teams in each conference qualify, then the next four regardless of conference), there may not be a lot of time left for these squads to make dent in the playoff race. 5. How do my MLS Power Rankings look? 1. Kansas City 2. Red Bull NY 3. New England 4. DC United 5. FC Dallas 6. Chivas USA 7. Toronto FC 8. Houston 9. Colorado 10. Chicago 11. Los Angeles 12. Columbus 13. Real Salt Lake And an extra point, or penalty kick if you like: Can anyone out there understand the European transfer system? Seriously, I have a hard time comprehending some of the moves and figuring out if they're fact or fiction. Case in point, David Suazo. A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that the Cagliari forward was on his way to Inter Milan. However, news over the past couple of days like the Honduran to Inter's chief rival, AC Milan. Both claim to have signed Suazo, leaving one sure truth to this episode: David Suazo will be playing his home matches at the San Siro. But for which team? Sorry to drop this on the college hoops page. Have a good day.

Kyrylo Fesenko: NBA Draft Profile

Jeff Fox — Sun, 27 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700

NBA Draft: Kyrylo Fesenko

Team: SK Cherkasy

Year: 1986

Stats: EuroCup Challenge

Position: C

Height: 7’0”

Weight: 245lbs

Accolades: Ukrainian Under-20 Team, Ukrainian Under-18 Team.

Scouting Report: A young, skilled 7-foot Ukrainian.

Strengths: Good rebounder. Good shotblocker. Good NBA size – 7-footer with a good “length”. Considered to be quick and athletic for a big man. Considered to have good outside skills – prefers to play outside. Said to move his feet good considering his size. Upside.

Weaknesses: Considered to be inexperienced and unpolished. Very turnover prone, especially for a center. Doesn’t put up big numbers on the offensive end. Still hasn’t played many minutes professionally in Europe. Poor free throw shooter.

Projected 2007 Draft Range: Mid second round pick.

Consensus: Fesenko entered and then pulled out of last year’s draft so he is in this one for keeps. He has good size and athleticism and may be a good pick for a team willing to store him in Europe for a few more years to work on his game.

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NBA Draft Profile: Ali Traore

Jeff Fox — Tue, 22 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700

NBA Draft: Ali Traore

(no stars)

Team: Le Havre

Year: 1985

Stats: French League

Position: PF/C

Height: 6’9”

Weight: 240lbs

Accolades: French League (Pro A) All-Star (06), France Under-16 Team (01).

Scouting Report: A physically strong French post player.

Strengths: Experienced – has five seasons of pro ball under his belt. Fairly athletic and quick in the post. Can score with either hand. Has a good left handed hook shot. Decent rebounder. Big wingspan – listed as between 7’3” and 7’5”. Very strong – good NBA body.

Weaknesses: Short for the NBA – plays center in France, but is listed as just 6’9”. France league is good, but the NBA is a big step up. Has played for France internationally but hasn’t cracked the National Team roster. Not a real big scorer – only averages around 10 a game in France. Doesn’t play a lot of minutes – only about 20 a contest.

Projected 2007 Draft Range: Mid second round pick – undrafted.

Consensus: Traore looks to be a bit of a long shot to make it to the NBA. However, he has a strong body and long wingspan that will impress scouts.

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0 stars = Life in the Minor Leagues

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2007 NBA Draft: Top 10 By Age

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:37:54 -0700

Top Ten Prospects By Age

Last Updated May 16. The ranking will be updated periodically as players officially announce their intentions for the 2007 NBA Draft.

18/19

1) Kevin Durant - Texas - (18)

2) Greg Oden - Ohio State -

3) Spencer Hawes - Washington -

4) Mike Conley - Ohio State -

5) Javaris Crittenton - Georgia Tech -

6) Thaddeus Young - Georgia Tech - (18)

7) Petteri Koponen - Honka Espoo -

8) Artem Zabelin - Avtodor Saratov -

1) Al Horford - Florida -

2) Josh McRoberts - Duke -

3) Jeff Green - Georgetown -

4) Ante Tomic - KK Zagreb -

5) Daequan Cook - Ohio State -

6) Marcus Williams - Arizona -

7) Roy Hibbert - Georgetown -

8) Sean Williams - Boston College -

9) Dominic James - Marquette -

10) Wilson Chandler - DePaul -

1) Brandon Rush - Kansas -

2) Corey Brewer - Florida-

3) Marco Belinelli - Fortitudo Bologna -

4) Glen Davis - LSU -

5) Nick Young - USC -

6) Jason Smith - Colorado State -

7) Rodney Stuckey - EWU -

8) Jared Dudley - Boston College -

9) Sean Singletary - Virginia -

10) Gabe Pruitt - USC -

1) Joakim Noah - Florida -

2) Tiago Splitter - Tau Vitoria -

3) Acie Law - Texas A&M -

4) Rudy Fernandez - DKV Joventut -

5) Marc Gasol - Akasvayu Girona -

6) Aaron Gray - Pittsburgh -

7) Herbert Hill - Providence -

8) Morris Almond - Rice -

9) Jared Jordan - Marist -

10) Chris Richard - Florida -

23+

1) Al Thornton - Florida State -

2) Alando Tucker - Wisconsin -

3) Derrick Byars - Vanderbilt -

4) JR Reynolds - Virginia -

5) Brandon Heath - San Diego State -

6) Mario Boggan - Oklahoma State - none

7) Reyshawn Terry - UNC - none

8) Stephane Lasme - UMASS - none (24)

9) Chris Daniels - TAMU-CC - none

10) Carl Landry - Purdue - none