Following 2019 draftees!!!

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#61
Nice find! Lemme throw an under-the-radar PG name into the mix too;


Dropped 30-6-6 in this game on efficient #'s.

Will be a So. at Cal this season. He's from Texas. 6'3" PG.
McNeill is definitely a player to keep your eye on. Not quite sure what he is just yet, as he played more like a SG than a PG at times. He needs to bring his assist numbers up. He played a lot of minutes for a freshman, so Cal is definitely putting its marbles in his basket. At least for now. He's fun to watch and he can score from anywhere on the court when he has it going. He shot the ball fairly well from the three, but his overall efficiency needs to improve. A lot to like though...
 
#62
McNeill is definitely a player to keep your eye on. Not quite sure what he is just yet, as he played more like a SG than a PG at times. He needs to bring his assist numbers up. He played a lot of minutes for a freshman, so Cal is definitely putting its marbles in his basket. At least for now. He's fun to watch and he can score from anywhere on the court when he has it going. He shot the ball fairly well from the three, but his overall efficiency needs to improve. A lot to like though...
Yep.. There's a few of these combo types I'ma be looking at. One wil lbe 6'4" USC 4-star Freshman Elijah Weaver.


there's also 6'4" Sophomore at Texas A&M Jay Jay Chandler, former 3-star, who if he can shoot it, he's certainly plenty explosive and has defensive potential. He actually kinda reminds me, slightly of Iman Shumpert (who was a way better college player as an underclassman).

the losses of Robert Williams, Tyler Davis and DJ Hogg should be way too much for them to overcome but I'm also gonna be keeping an eye on their Sophomore SF, Savion Flagg, he's got a chance.
 
#63
I have been watching the Fiba under 18's European Championship and there is one guard that really caught my eye and looks like the next up in line in terms of good Serbian guards Zoran Paunovic. They list him at 200cm (6'7) but he does not look that tall to me but anyways the guy has been insane in the 3-4 games I have watched of him so far.

He's amazing at getting to the rim and absorbing contact/finishing despite being Corey Brewer thin, he has a sweet pull up mid range and a so-so 3 point shot which should get better. He's by Euro standards an above average athlete really competes on D, the only thing so far I could fault him for is he's a bit like Bogie (at the NBA level) in that despite being a beast he plays within himself and never really forces despite tearing a game up.

His last 3 games
18 points (8/12) 3board 2 assists
Round of 16 23 points (10/11) 7boards 7 assists
Quarter Final 25 points (11/18) 8 boards 3 assists

He reminds me of a cross between Bogie/Dragic (minus the elite/good 3 point shooting) I know we got a lot of fans from the Balkan area on here maybe they would have better insight on him and maybe I'm grossly overestimating (no idea if he's an NBA prospect at this stage) his ability due to only watching like 5 of his games but he's impressed me more than any other player in the tourny so far.

 
#64
I have been watching the Fiba under 18's European Championship and there is one guard that really caught my eye and looks like the next up in line in terms of good Serbian guards Zoran Paunovic. They list him at 200cm (6'7) but he does not look that tall to me but anyways the guy has been insane in the 3-4 games I have watched of him so far.
interesting find! this will be his first year of draft eligibility. How has Marko Pecarski looked to you? and have you seen Luka Samanic yet?
 
#65
interesting find! this will be his first year of draft eligibility. How has Marko Pecarski looked to you? and have you seen Luka Samanic yet?
Marko is like a workhorse scoring machine I believe he leads the comp in points per game at 23ppg on 54% him and the other Serbian big (also looks like a prospect Petrusev with his massive size good mobility and skill 19ppg 62%) have been ZBo/Gasoling teams to death in the high low to a masterful degree. He reminds me a lot of a prime Carl Landry (also didn't look strong/athletic) with a splash or Saric the way he masterfully carves out space and uses simply effective moves while basically outworking everyone to death he's the engine of the team and go to guy. I have not seen Luka much to make a statement atm.

Paunovic going up at times against the defensive demon/great athlete that is Karlton Dimanche (4.3 spg had a 9 steal/5steal/7steal games) who most guards at the tournament struggle to get past or even not get the ball stolen off them had helped the team not allow France to pressure them in the backcourt using his solid quickness and skill to put up 13points (6/8) 3 boards 3 assists 2 steals.
 
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#66
Marko is like a workhorse scoring machine I believe he leads the comp in points per game at 23ppg on 54% him and the other Serbian big (also looks like a prospect Petrusev with his massive size good mobility and skill 19ppg 62%) have been ZBo/Gasoling teams to death in the high low to a masterful degree. He reminds me a lot of a prime Carl Landry (also didn't look strong/athletic) with a splash or Saric the way he masterfully carves out space and uses simply effective moves while basically outworking everyone to death he's the engine of the team and go to guy. I have not seen Luka much to make a statement atm.

Paunovic going up at times against the defensive demon/great athlete that is Karlton Dimanche (4.3 spg had a 9 steal/5steal/7steal games) who most guards at the tournament struggle to get past or even not get the ball stolen off them had helped the team not allow France to pressure them in the backcourt using his solid quickness and skill to put up 13points (6/8) 3 boards 3 assists 2 steals.
I'm watching the 3rd place game now will catch the championship for sure. Interested to see this Latvian guard/lead scorer Arturs Zagars.

Filip Petrusev will be a Freshman on one of the better teams in college basketball Gonzaga this year. Will be interesting to see how that goes. He's got a younger brother David who's 6'10" IIRC, but he's not relevant to this 2019 thread.

Pecarski is a player I first read about many years ago. Seems he's a shoe in to win the MVP. Glad to see he's shooting the 3. I had always hoped he'd get taller, I;m guessing he's still about 6'10". Will write up more after the game.


Also, I didn't see the games can't wait to see some highlights but it's relevant to this thread, Luka Samanic shot it at a near 50% clip from 3 this tourney.
 
#67
Impressed with Karlton Diamanche. That kid could play high-major college basketball and transition fairly easily.

France's talent pool in these youth tournament usually always has some impressive athletes. Their activity defensively combined with the length definitely slowed Russia down and secured the victory.

Kenny Baptiste on France seems have immense defensive potential too. hes about 6'7" but i'm quite sure his wingspan is freakishly long. He moves well. Very raw obviously but doesn't seem crazy limited, hope he gets good coaching. plays for Espoirs Le Mans. Born-2000
 
#68
I'm watching the 3rd place game now will catch the championship for sure. Interested to see this Latvian guard/lead scorer Arturs Zagars.

Filip Petrusev will be a Freshman on one of the better teams in college basketball Gonzaga this year. Will be interesting to see how that goes. He's got a younger brother David who's 6'10" IIRC, but he's not relevant to this 2019 thread.

Pecarski is a player I first read about many years ago. Seems he's a shoe in to win the MVP. Glad to see he's shooting the 3. I had always hoped he'd get taller, I;m guessing he's still about 6'10". Will write up more after the game.


Also, I didn't see the games can't wait to see some highlights but it's relevant to this thread, Luka Samanic shot it at a near 50% clip from 3 this tourney.
Not gonna overreact about Zagars, but he reminds me of Kyrie Irving.

Love him been following him as a native Latvian since 2015 Tbilisi Youth Olympics where he looked like a 10 year old on the floor, but when he got the ball, he made all of the opponents silly because of his handles, quick first step and IQ level.

NBA scouts are high on him my sources are telling to me, because of his play at the NBA Global Games this year.


Now in this U-18 championship he showed everyone who was not able to see him before how big of a talent he is, in semifinals and finals he avg 30.5 ppg whipe dishing 9.5 assists per game... and yall have to remember it's tougher to get assists in Europe.

Like 4 years ago was watching him Live when he was still in Latvia playing as a middle schooler and I really thought he would be nothing special, because of his size and back then ability to constantly shoot the ball in the net, but in these last few years it looks like he has worked on his game a LOT... now he is a deadeye shooter, his feel for the game and ability to find the open man is off the chart.

He can go drive past his defender with either hand, is great finisher around the rim, explosive first step... and his signature move at the age of 18? Rajon Rondo fake behind the back pass.

His only weakness what can be a big issue is he is not athletic enough.

To me he is the most talented Latvian player ever, even I take him over KP, but I can't really compare them because he is a PG while KP is a big.

Zagars draft class is 2019, but I think he will enter the draft at 2020, I will be surprised if he will not be a first round pick then.
 
#69
Great games to end the tournament in the end the Serbian team was just to big and to well coached and beat a insane 3 point shooting Latvian team with basically 80's basketball which suited there roster since they have no real snipers that actually got meaningful playing time.

Players that caught my eye

Marko Pecarski (SRB)‎: Saved his best for last coming up HUGE 34 points and I compared him to Landry which he does plau a bit like but it was another Houston Rocket who he plays exactly like and that's a young Louis Scola easily MVP of the comp

Filip Petrusev (SRB)‎ Just simply to big/physical and athletic for everyone basically has nice hands/size/skills should be a really good player in the future

Zoran Paunovic (SRB)‎ : My new personal favorite player outside the NBA showed INSANE cardio (33mpg) to go all 40 in the final and play hard non-stop just does everything and a excellent finisher around the hoop high IQ just love him

Federico Miaschi (ITA)‎ One of the best slashers I have ever seen period there is not a gap/crack this guy cannot get to, if he fixes his shot (very flat)/broken amazing natural feel for getting to the hoop

Nikita Mikhailovskii (RUS)‎: Probably the most explosive athlete in the comp he looks like a big guard extremely smooth good skills and powerful finisher just one of those guys who if you have played basketball you would want to be able to emulate

Mattia Palumbo (ITA)‎ 6'5 SG/PG version of Gallaneri has a lot of his movements and his single handed destruction of Croatia with a complete overall game was a sight to behold

Karlton Dimanche (FRA)‎ Would have won first second and third for DOPY the guy had a 9 steal game vs Montenegro 5 steal vs Serbia and 7 steal against someone else, he's a freak defender and not only can you pick you but he can stay in front of you with the best of em.
 
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bajaden

Hall of Famer
#71
I'm watching the 3rd place game now will catch the championship for sure. Interested to see this Latvian guard/lead scorer Arturs Zagars.

Filip Petrusev will be a Freshman on one of the better teams in college basketball Gonzaga this year. Will be interesting to see how that goes. He's got a younger brother David who's 6'10" IIRC, but he's not relevant to this 2019 thread.

Pecarski is a player I first read about many years ago. Seems he's a shoe in to win the MVP. Glad to see he's shooting the 3. I had always hoped he'd get taller, I;m guessing he's still about 6'10". Will write up more after the game.


Also, I didn't see the games can't wait to see some highlights but it's relevant to this thread, Luka Samanic shot it at a near 50% clip from 3 this tourney.
I'm pretty high on Zagars. He's definitely on my watch list this year. I saw his game against Serbia. Also high on Samanic. Should be a fun year...
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#72
I could not resist had to put this together Zoran Paunovic full Fiba under18s highlights
There are some very good young players over in Europe, especially lead guards. Impressive video of Paunovic, who frankly, I haven't seen that much of. His is now on my to do list. The kid is a quick second leaper.
 
#76
I wonder; Will any of these posters who were trying to bash US HS's/AAU ball/College kids to hype up Doncic here comment on UK (who's roster is filled with many kids that were in HS not long ago) beating the smithereens out pro teams?




I'm gunna guess...... NO

LOL
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#77
Yeah, watched the game. I knew that Herro could shoot, but he was more impressive than I expected. We'll have to see once we get into the college season, but so far, I'm impressed. He reminded me of Booker at times. Nice to have all their games on the SEC channel.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#78
Kentucky stomped Serbian Pro team Mega Bemax (Formerly Mega Leks) today 100 - 64 ...

http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/BBFN/880626/bs.html

Keldon Johnson looked particularly good.

Kostja Mushidi's draft buzz seems to have disappeared, Mega Leks has Adam Mokoka and Goga Bitzade who are hopefuls, both were ineffective.
You know, I was a bit skeptical about how good this Kentucky team might be, but they're starting to make a believer out of me. One thing is for sure, they look like a team that will put points on the board. Johnson was very good in this game. The player I want to see break out this year is Washington. Looks like he's going to have a more featured role. I was high on him last season, which I thought was disappointing in regards to him.

For those of you interested in European basketball, you can watch all the games either live, or at a time of your choosing from their library. It isn't free but the cost is minimal. Here is the site: http://www.livebasketball.tv/
 
#79
Yeah, watched the game. I knew that Herro could shoot, but he was more impressive than I expected. We'll have to see once we get into the college season, but so far, I'm impressed. He reminded me of Booker at times. Nice to have all their games on the SEC channel.
hehe sweet yea. I actually first saw him play many years back when he was like 6' or 6'1" max, and he was super skilled back then too.. very sharp game. I remember thinking this kid is definitely gonna be good enough to get offers from big schools.

That was back when people used to say wisconsin was a weak state for HS competition, used to hear it a lot the class with Diamond Stone and Henry Ellenson, but there's some gems on the way from that state for sure.
 
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#80
Ty Jerome could be an interesting fit for the Kings off the bench...


UVA has a handful of players worth monitoring. Jay Huff and Mamadi Diakite are under the radar, and UVA should easily be one of the best teams.

Guy is good too.
 
#81
Mississippi State is a team that has a few nice prospects on it. Their bigman anchor Abdul Ado is a good sleeper candidate to creep into draft discussions. He's got the NBA build for sure at 6'11" with a 7'5" wingspan.
 
#83
Ozy give me some breakdown of Zion. He's a beast
I've bumped him up my big board from the late lottery to about the 5th pick. I've followed his story since before the hype btw, I remember reading about him before ESPN had him ranked.. Back when local colleges like South Carolina and Clemson thought they had a chance...
He's a wrecking ball, built something like Larry Johnson and Rodney Rodgers except even more explosive and left-handed.. tough kid who plays with ferocity.

What I love about his game, and it's always stood out to me, was his ability to get spectacular weakside and chasedown blocks. With all the dunks people seem to omit this. To me, he screams two-way player.

Obviously he's utterly unstoppable in transition so there's not much need to dwell on that...

His shooting is not pretty but if it works it works. He's got plenty of time to prove himself and has a major work ethic.

I like his handle, you can see it in the highlights, Duke/Coach K will have actually done a great job showcasing him if they get him going coast-to-coast like that all season. He's able to keep his dribble low and he's got some shiftiness for sure.

The talk about his height and weight i find ridiculous... He's 6'7", will be listed at 6'7" and I don't even really care to address this topic as it's just super-duper-casual as far as im concerned..


Zion or Sekou Doumbouya should be an interesting storyline in this draft...
 
#84
I've bumped him up my big board from the late lottery to about the 5th pick. I've followed his story since before the hype btw, I remember reading about him before ESPN had him ranked.. Back when local colleges like South Carolina and Clemson thought they had a chance...
He's a wrecking ball, built something like Larry Johnson and Rodney Rodgers except even more explosive and left-handed.. tough kid who plays with ferocity.

What I love about his game, and it's always stood out to me, was his ability to get spectacular weakside and chasedown blocks. With all the dunks people seem to omit this. To me, he screams two-way player.

Obviously he's utterly unstoppable in transition so there's not much need to dwell on that...

His shooting is not pretty but if it works it works. He's got plenty of time to prove himself and has a major work ethic.

I like his handle, you can see it in the highlights, Duke/Coach K will have actually done a great job showcasing him if they get him going coast-to-coast like that all season. He's able to keep his dribble low and he's got some shiftiness for sure.

The talk about his height and weight i find ridiculous... He's 6'7", will be listed at 6'7" and I don't even really care to address this topic as it's just super-duper-casual as far as im concerned..


Zion or Sekou Doumbouya should be an interesting storyline in this draft...
Duke listed him at 285 lbs, would make him the second heaviest player in the NBA behind Boban. What position do you think he will play in the NBA? Can he play the 5? He has the weight to bang and the athleticism to cover up his lack of height. My very early option is he could be a force as a new age small ball 5.
 
#85
Duke listed him at 285 lbs, would make him the second heaviest player in the NBA behind Boban. What position do you think he will play in the NBA? Can he play the 5? He has the weight to bang and the athleticism to cover up his lack of height. My very early option is he could be a force as a new age small ball 5.
He's a forward but it's possible, I'd say PF/SF right now, he'd fit in perfectly with this Kings team... I'd definitely like to see him test Draymond at the C position.... matchup dependant ofc he could play some 5. What will push him higher on draft boards tho, towards 1, is if he can play SF.

He doesn't have some crazy wingspan, 6'11" I think.

He doesn't move like he's 285 so I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#87
Duke listed him at 285 lbs, would make him the second heaviest player in the NBA behind Boban. What position do you think he will play in the NBA? Can he play the 5? He has the weight to bang and the athleticism to cover up his lack of height. My very early option is he could be a force as a new age small ball 5.
you have to worry about a player like Zion because he seems like a player that can easily pack on pounds and if he lets himself go too much, he could be out of the league before we know it
 
#88
you have to worry about a player like Zion because he seems like a player that can easily pack on pounds and if he lets himself go too much, he could be out of the league before we know it
If he didn't have this insane vertical.. maybe.. seeing as he can jump like 45" i'm not too worried.
 
#90
Zion is shocking.

He's a must watch this year. How he translates to the NBA is really the only concern here. But so much fun so will just enjoy watching him this year.