Today, I'm taking a swing at Marko Todorovic.
An international phenom with potentially legitimate size to bang inside, Marko is one of those project players whose success will depend largely on what situation he is drafted into. There's a certain chicken and the egg dynamic with draft choices by the San Antonio Spurs; are the players they draft really particularly skilled before they come to the NBA, or does being part of the arguably best coached team and constantly making deep runs in the playoffs help these players pan out? Also, how little pressure is there for these players to turn out? Anyway, a digression, as I'm watching the Spurs destroy the Warriors by sheer force of will in game 4 at the moment.
Aside from being a dead ringer for Justin Bieber, which may paint a big target on his back (or face) as he enters the league, Marko also speaks very little English at this point. He's the kind of guy every bench deserves to have at the end. You know, you've got Big Z and old Alonzo Mourning in foul trouble against Shaq, and boy do you wish you had Kyrylo Fesenko at the end of the bench to take a few slaps at him.
While there's very little on the kid to this point, available highlight videos are either more than a year old or curiously set to "private", a level of mystique around a second round pick is not a bad thing. I always wonder what keeps less hyped picks (relatively unknown international players, college seniors) from purposely hurting their own stock to ensure they're drafted by a contender. The fear would be not getting drafted at all, so this would require a lot of swag to pull off. Probably terrible press for an agent.
Draft express has him listed third overall on their list of International players born in '92. Is this a bad year for International scouting? Or just that weak of a class? Are foreign leagues flooded with washed up American players, and is it that much more competitive than previous years? Or, another conspiracy theory, do foreign coaches understand that by giving these types of players limited time on the floor that they're contributing to their mystique?
I'll share this particularly unexciting video of Marko. But seriously, I think I played against these guys at the YMCA last week. Another smoke screen! The flashy players are always going to get drafted higher. A big man with athleticism is the highest potential boom/bust pick in the league. For me? Give me the meat and potatoes, blue collar grinder type who is going to use his fouls, make some dirty plays to attempt to level the playing field with more physically gifted types, and play within his limitations.
Not unlike my previous two picks, most of this is going off of my gut. If you're going to reach into a box without seeing what's in there beforehand, I say you go big in the second round. He's not going to be upset about playing time, considering he got none overseas, and sitting on the end of the bench he's going to be spending a lot of time learning English from the class clowns of the league (Sasha Vujacic, Drew Gooden, Bobby Simmons).
I'm not going to give him my "sure bet" sticker, because if he deserved that he wouldn't be in the second round. I'm just saying, let's give the poor kid a chance.
-Justin
An international phenom with potentially legitimate size to bang inside, Marko is one of those project players whose success will depend largely on what situation he is drafted into. There's a certain chicken and the egg dynamic with draft choices by the San Antonio Spurs; are the players they draft really particularly skilled before they come to the NBA, or does being part of the arguably best coached team and constantly making deep runs in the playoffs help these players pan out? Also, how little pressure is there for these players to turn out? Anyway, a digression, as I'm watching the Spurs destroy the Warriors by sheer force of will in game 4 at the moment.
While there's very little on the kid to this point, available highlight videos are either more than a year old or curiously set to "private", a level of mystique around a second round pick is not a bad thing. I always wonder what keeps less hyped picks (relatively unknown international players, college seniors) from purposely hurting their own stock to ensure they're drafted by a contender. The fear would be not getting drafted at all, so this would require a lot of swag to pull off. Probably terrible press for an agent.
Draft express has him listed third overall on their list of International players born in '92. Is this a bad year for International scouting? Or just that weak of a class? Are foreign leagues flooded with washed up American players, and is it that much more competitive than previous years? Or, another conspiracy theory, do foreign coaches understand that by giving these types of players limited time on the floor that they're contributing to their mystique?
Not unlike my previous two picks, most of this is going off of my gut. If you're going to reach into a box without seeing what's in there beforehand, I say you go big in the second round. He's not going to be upset about playing time, considering he got none overseas, and sitting on the end of the bench he's going to be spending a lot of time learning English from the class clowns of the league (Sasha Vujacic, Drew Gooden, Bobby Simmons).
I'm not going to give him my "sure bet" sticker, because if he deserved that he wouldn't be in the second round. I'm just saying, let's give the poor kid a chance.
-Justin
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