knickstorrents wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:John Wall went 4-19 tonight--someone was good enough to disrupt him

My favorite summer league player Jeremy Lin did some of that. Did you see that 4th quarter? It was fun to watch.

The kinds of Euros that transition best to the NBA game are pure shooters, or guys deft at the high post. I wouldn't let Timofey anywhere near the high post for anything but a screen. By Euro standards he's probably a "banger," but anything but by NBA standards.

He's got size and a modicum of athleticism, but no real skills. I wouldn't even try to teach the guy to shoot or score for the first year. I'd simply focus on boxing out, rebounding and bodying up on D -- the things most important to an NBA center and the things he's most clueless about. If he gets a couple of alley oops for the year it's gravy.

BRIGGS wrote:

BlueSeats wrote:I've seen nothing from this guy. He's never faced contact in his life. He's got no footwork, no shot, doesn't box out, can't play back to the basket. All he can do is be available for an alley oop if no one is near him.

Not trying to dog the guy but he's an absolute project. I wouldn't expect to see him at all for the 1st half of the season at least. Then maybe for 5 mins in blowouts after that.

Thabeet had 23-14-6 blocks tonight and he's considered a scrub--do you think this guy would sniff those numbers if given 30 SL games?

I'm sorry but really? Thabeet? A top 5 pick who does well in the summer league. If you watched him for 5 minutes w/ NBA players you walk away thinking this guy is never going to be a good pro. How did BJ Mullens look last year? Sorry dude, but I bet the Russian would put up good numbers playing against teams loaded with 6'8 players and average college talent.

Lets see how he looks. He doesnt need to be Ewing part II. How many times did we talk about how great it would be to have an atlhetic 7+ footer who can board, block and finish around the basket? Now we have one next to Amare

Childs2Dudley wrote:http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/exec_mozgov_has_st_round_talent_pSEfalhG21kwXr6H3c7syN?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

A-ha!

LAS VEGAS -- One NBA executive who deals extensively with Europe credited the Knicks for showing the guts to sign 7-foot-1 Russian center Timofey Mozgov, saying he would be a mid first-round pick had he been in June's draft.

The executive said he likely would have gone between 15 and 25.

"It's a gift for them, give them credit," the executive said. "A lot of teams didn't know how to handle the buyout. It's a Russian team. It's a different world. You have to have relationships there. A lot of teams were scared.".....

"He was No. 1 on my list for European free agents," the executive said. "His upside is unbelievable. He's bouncy. He needs to get stronger, learn the NBA game and terminology. It's a no-brainer. The way you got to look at him is they drafted him a couple of years ago, held him over there and now they bring him back."

Looks like Donnie did very well.