<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">While it might not be fair to Lithuanian center Martynas Andriuskevicius, the struggles of fellow Europeans Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Darko Milicic could be held against him in this year's NBA draft. Last fall, Andriuskevicius was projected as a potential No. 1 pick this year. But the 7-foot-3, 240-pounder played sparingly for Lithuania Zalgiris Kaunas this past season and now may not be a top-five selection. Tskitishvili, a former Nugget, and Milicic, selected No. 2 two years ago, have rarely gotten off the bench in their NBA careers. When scouts look at Andriuskevicius, they see a similar project. His size, athleticism and potential in past years would have made him a lottery pick, but his lack of production could draw criticism for the team that drafts him. Andriuskevicius, 19, averaged 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 8.4 minutes and shot 31.2 percent from the free-throw line in 15 Euroleague games. "He will go very high in the draft," predicted Andriuskevicius' agent, Herb Rudoy. "He is from Kaunas where (former NBA player) Arvydas Sabonis and (all-star) Zydrunas Ilgauskas are from. This kid is really a special player. He's 7-3, 7-4. Gaining weight. I'm very excited." </div> Source
Damn, 31% from the FT line? I thought no one could do worse than the 40% clip I shoot at. The article is right in saying that the failures of Tskitishvili and Milicic would certainly cause Andreaskavisuis's stock to drop. It's becoming much more commonplace for European big men to suffer at the NBA level, such as the aforementioned two, and others like Carbakapa, Lampe and Slavko Vranes certainly hurt the stock of European big men who can shoot and display little toughness. Guys like Nenad Krstic and Dirk Nowitzki are becoming a rarity.
31%? Stevie Wonder shoots 31%! I'm sure Martynas will get a clue,and be at least a competant backup in 4-5 years,he may never be as good as Luke Schenser,since he's going to need a few years to equal a typical ACC starter. 7-4 means little if ya got no game....but someone will take the bait.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">It's becoming much more commonplace for European big men to suffer at the NBA level, such as the aforementioned two, and others like Carbakapa, Lampe and Slavko Vranes certainly hurt the stock of European big men who can shoot and display little toughness. Guys like Nenad Krstic and Dirk Nowitzki are becoming a rarity.</div> Actually Cabarkapa has been doing pretty well on the Warriors. He shot something like 60% in an entire month. I think he had fear of contact and leaping toward the rim after that Danny Fortson incident, so he settled for shots outside his range. But how many other 6'11 guys can drive toward the lane with a quicker defender on him and dunk in traffic? He's got such a huge first step he just goes right around players and floats the ball over the defense. Of course the biggest problem with the guy is he doesn't rebound like Nowitzki or block shots and he doesn't really posess a whole lot of strength, but he's shown signs of being able to get fouled a lot and hitting those 3 pointers. He got a career high 5 three pointers in one game this season and managed to get 10 rebounds off the bench in the same game, two of which were offensive boards.
