<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The 17-year-old forward from Uzbekistan is widely considered the best prospect to ever come out of Turkey. Since Ilyasova burst onto the scene at an international tournament last spring, sightings of him have been fleeting. An ankle injury shortly after his breakout performance kept him out most of the season. Since his return in February, his playing time has been sporadic. Five minutes here, 10 minutes there -- a glimpse of a practice in between. The few scouts who have seen him play claim he has the same type of talent and energy as Andrei Kirilenko. Last spring, several claimed he was the best young international prospect, period, after ? at the tender age of 16 ? he dominated the competition at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim, Germany. But the ankle injury has hurt Ilyasova's stock. Surprisingly, he has declared for the draft anyway, and now scouts must determine whether he's worth the risk. Given the slow to nonexistent progress of other young phenoms, such as Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Darko Milicic, they are understandably wary. That's why missing the game really stings right now. Ilyasova's next game for Ulker is against stiffer competition, which puts into question whether he'll see significant playing time. Thousands of dollars and a full day of travel halfway around the world for a box score and the hope that tomorrow brings more than just tales about the ghost we hunt. </div> Source
One of these guys is going to turn out to be a fictional person,a non-existant hoax. Ersan has been mentioned as a mid-first. Maybe so. Maybe not. If Euro scouts can't get a look,I sure won't base an opinion on fragments.
It's funny how you mention that he might be a fictional person. In part, rumors surrounding his age actually come into play because of strange public reports. According to reports, there was a boy with a similar name who came into the country, then vanished. Many speculate that Ersan is that person - possibly making him two or three years older if that border crossing document is correct. Then again, people lie all the time about age, and there may have been circumstances. Anyway, despite all the soap opera problems, this kid has some offensive skills. The reason he's not playing major minutes is because his team is full of veteran guys at his position , and their philosophy is to not play the rookie. But, his body isn't too bad for a SF. If his age is real, it'd be like having a high school kid, though, and you can't expect too much out of him. There's little chance he'll contribute immediately, but he wants to get some money and get out of Europe and eventually play here, and he figures his best chance is now. It'd be better than sitting behind washed up NBA stars like Dion Glover, don't you think? My personal experience with him is limited to a tape from last year of the Turkey junior national team. This is probably the same tape which put him on the map. He played very well and led that team to victory. But he had a major ankle injury which required surgery, and even though he came back, you have to wonder about such a serious injury at a young age. He's gotten some minutes on his team as time has passed. I'd consider him an early second rounder at best due to these high risk flags. Even if he weren't injury-prone, he'd still be only an above-average offensive player and below-average defensive player with an above-average body and with potential. Scouts probably disagree with me, though.
