Well guns...reading some about Splitter it seems his natural projected position is SF with some reports saying he is 'weak' right now for the PF position. I doubt we should pencil him in for our center spot.

he has nice foot speed! ala Dirk Nowitzki!


he's a lot more impressive than Fran Vazquez who is a big question mark offensively and is too small to play Center at 6'10 230LBS and at least Tiago puts up numbers and contibutes to his team. Vazquez averages 2pts a game or something! he's another Frederic Weis in the making
[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/17/2005 08:23:50]

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/17/2005 08:31:16]

If we are looking for offense then Tiago is our guy...

From NBADraft.net
NBA comparison: Pau Gasol

Strengths: In 3 years will surely be a top 5 player internationally, he has the typically strong Brazilian offense game. He's a scorer, and can shoot from everywhere on the court. He plays one-on-one very well, has nice moves around the basket where he usually finishes with power plays. He has excellent mobility and great foot work for a player his size. He already has more international experience than Nene and Anderson combined. His future is at the SF position, so you can imagine the troubles that a 6-11 guy can cause in this situation. It's possible that he is not finished growing!

Weaknesses: His body still very weak to play the PF position. He has problems defending stronger guys and playing post up on offense, has to improve his timing on rebounds and his patience on defense. His defense can improve a lot playing in Europe and his body will certainly develop.

Notes: Made the Brazilian National team as a 17 years old and competed in the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis. Very athletic player. Prefers to play on the outside. Shies away from contact. A bigtime scorer. Somewhat similar to Kirilenko with his rangy frame. Has a ways to go skill-wise.

The thing that I noticed right away is the ones I marked in bold.

I would be happy with either one.

Posted by gunsnewing:

Its weird how no one talks about this guy here. He's a hot topic in most other Knicks forums. All the talk here is about college players....

Yo, can u IM me some Taigo topic links when you come online? I havent read much about this guy.

Posted by VDesai:

I think we don't talk about Splitter and talk about College guys because haven't seen Splitter and we've actually seen college games. If you believe everything people write about Splitter he's the next Gasol. But every Euro seems to be either Gasol or Dirk.

One thing I like abotu Splitter is that he's been on the radar for 3 years now and has been considered by many scouts to be a better prospect than Nene or Anderson. They said last year he had no post game, so this year he made a conscious effort to focus on that and it looks he's developed a decent game there.

Exactly he could've been a lottery pick last year.

Silver check out draftcity.com and nbadraft.net

Splitter has star potential and yes he blocks shots.

Vazquez has bust written all over him since his numbers are atrocious against less competition. Splitter has good numbers and was impressive in the Olympics. The same things that were said about Nene and Varejao are being said about Splitter. Except Splitter can potentially become a star offennsively. And he plays hard and plays defense and blocks shots.

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/17/2005 18:43:54]

Posted by gunsnewing:

I realize we haven't seen these guys play and we only see the college players play but I don't think its that hard to pick out the good foreign players from the Frederic Weis's. Its quite simple if the foreign player is putting up big numbers in the Olympics and outplaying guys like Duncan like Nene did and is his team's best player and plays for the best team in his entire country, then its a safe bet that you're getting a really good player as opposed to a Adonal Foyle like bust.

Its really easy to tell who will be a bust by reading their extensive scouting report. If they are over 20 like Vazquez and hardly play for their team then they are a Bust most likely.

When you hear stuff like this guy has great footspeed and can score from anywhere on the court and is a great postup player you know you have a potential star in the making. That is Splitter imo

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/17/2005 18:46:55]

Thing is, it's not your opinion, it's someone elses. Your trusting a scouting report from ONE person. That's why I personally don't get too excited about these foreign guys. Lampe was supposed to be the next Dirk and he falls under all criteria you stated; good footspeed, can score anywhere, can postup, and he's what 21 by now? I'm also going to go out on a limb here, Fredrick Weis WAS NOT THAT bad. There were problems with him getting here for summer league and with JVG having a problem with coaching rookies. Weis was a great talent in Europe and the whole Knicks situation clearly had a terrible effect on his career as he now is barely even playing wherever it is he's playing. I guess we just have different opinions on these foreign guys.. I'm all for drafting them but I don't feel that anyone of us can really say whether whose good or not unless we've seen them with our own two eyes.

Here you go Silverfuel...

http://www.draftcity.com/viewprofile.php?p=25

http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/tiagosplitter.asp

http://www.hoopshype.com/draft/tiago_splitter.htm

this next one seems to be the most elaborate scouting report on him. It says he's foul prone. Lampe was foul prone too unfortunately but at least this guy is quick. What it comes down to is what these big Foreigners do in Rookie Camp against other draftees. I can't wait til rookie camp!
http://www.eurobasket.com/ESPplayer.asp?PlayerID=31230

http://www.hoopsworld.com/board3/showthread.php?tid=1390

http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?topic=347784

Andriuskevicius is 7'3'' but he is extremely raw but another interesting candidate and he might stay in Europe 1 more year. Splitter was high on most mock drafts last year but he also chose to stay in europe for another year. He will be 21 next seasonso its not like we'd be getting an 18yr old. Lampe was only 18 and a bad defender with slow feet...big difference. He should be pretty ready next year or the year after. He's 6' 11.75" w/shoes so he should be 7ft 240LBS by the time next season begins. He just needs to add 5-10LBS of muscle.

[Edited by - gunsnewing on 03/17/2005 21:00:36]

I am still hoping we get a chance to get Fran Vazquez though...

http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J20_franvazquez.avi

http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J19_franvazquez.avi

http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J16_vazquez.avi

http://www.acb.com/video/200405_J13_franvazquez.avi

This kid is a quick leaper, aggresive, blocks anything and is a consistent shooter from 12-15 feet. Dunks everything around the paint. Has tremendous wingspan. Quick feet. What is not to like?

Zeke also scouted this kid when he went to Europe a couple of months ago. Hopefully we luck out. It seems that he is climbing on the mock drafts though. We might not have a chance on him.