(https://i.ibb.co/fHHwpvP/IMG-20200423-182544.jpg)
Awesome. 6'10" big Daniel Batcho is our newest 'Cat. Batchonhad scholarship offers from Miami, Virginia Tech, Creighton, TCU — and ASU. He is legit.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/29085973/daniel-batcho-top-european-big-man-going-college-commits-arizona
Batcho highlights
Sweet! Based on the interview, he sounds like a competitor that cares about winning. With the top 2 euro prospects, we can add some immediate experience (as far as freshmen are concerned).
Nice! Sounds like a great addition for the cats. Fingers crossed
Wow, definitely fills a need! Welcome Daniel!
BearDown!
Highlights added above and interview below
Daniel Batcho was named MVP of Adidas Euroleague Next Gen Tournament over the a couple of months back, despite his side losing in the final. Batcho averaged 14.3 ppg, 70% FG%, 11.3 rpg, and 1.8 bpg. Creighton was thought to be in the lead to land the big man until Arizona got the commitment.
https://twitter.com/FIBA/status/1029410749540524032
Personally I am tired of soft euro's. Any guy who prefers to not dunk the ball scares me. For a guy his size, he does not get above the rim often; his shots will be easily altered unless he develops a hook-shot (a la Ristic).
Quote from: PacSouthwest on April 23, 2020, 11:22:32 AM
Personally I am tired of soft euro's. Any guy who prefers to not dunk the ball scares me. For a guy his size, he does not get above the rim often; his shots will be easily altered unless he develops a hook-shot (a la Ristic).
You do realize that most of the shots from our primary big (Nnaji) last season was below the rim right?
Miller has gone on record as saying that he wants his players to dunk the ball instead.
Honestly, I would love for anyone over 6'7 to punch it every time he gets the opportunity to do so, BUT you can't force that on a player.
He either has it in him, or he doesn't.
As for Batcho, I am surprised to see how fast Miller was able to turn the page after missing out on Haarms formerly of Purdue.
At this point, he is only missing the big wing that I would like for us to add to our 2020-21 roster.
Yeah, Doncic, Porzingis, Sabonis, Vucevic and our boy Markkanen are pretty worthless because they're white euros. I wouldn't want any of them on my team.
Quote from: mvpreed2 on April 23, 2020, 08:16:50 PM
Quote from: PacSouthwest on April 23, 2020, 11:22:32 AM
Personally I am tired of soft euro's. Any guy who prefers to not dunk the ball scares me. For a guy his size, he does not get above the rim often; his shots will be easily altered unless he develops a hook-shot (a la Ristic).
You do realize that most of the shots from our primary big (Nnaji) last season was below the rim right?
Miller has gone on record as saying that he wants his players to dunk the ball instead.
Honestly, I would love for anyone over 6'7 to punch it every time he gets the opportunity to do so, BUT you can't force that on a player.
He either has it in him, or he doesn't.
As for Batcho, I am surprised to see how fast Miller was able to turn the page after missing out on Haarms formerly of Purdue.
At this point, he is only missing the big wing that I would like for us to add to our 2020-21 roster.
You are supporting my point. Yes, most shots by the bigs take place near the rim; thus the reason to dunk it instead of a cute layup. I am sure I don't have to remind you of how many missed layups we have had over the years. Yes, Miller also believes in dunking, but Miller stating that does snot translate into more dunking; just that he WANTS his players dunking. Miller is not targeting players that "don't have it in them". Unfortunately, Haarms and Batcho were not Miller's first or second choice. Better recruits decided to go elsewhere, forcing him to settle with players with undesirable traits.
Quote from: KansasCityCats on April 24, 2020, 08:05:47 AM
Yeah, Doncic, Porzingis, Sabonis, Vucevic and our boy Markkanen are pretty worthless because they're white euros. I wouldn't want any of them on my team.
You think naming 5 euro white guys impresses me? Get off your "moral superiority" high. What is the percentage of white Euro's or Americans players in the NBA or college? There is a reason the number is so low, and for you to take offense is simply ignoring the reality. At Arizona, for every Markkanen or Walton, I can name 5 Kirk Walters.
There were 58 active players from Europe when the NBA season began. 5 was a brief list that doesn't scratch the surface.
I'm not offended by the assumption that big white foreign players don't live up to their expectations. I just realized that basketball has progressed internationally and the youth leagues are finally catching up to the US, in terms of talent.
The guys that Kyryl played at age 14 in Ukraine don't compare to the guys Jokic recently played before coming to the states. This seems to be a nice long term pickup for the Cats, but it could be risky as you can't watch these kids as frequently as an AAU recruit from SoCal. Fingers crossed.
I think this kid looks really solid I do wish he had a jump shot. But he looks good.
Quote from: PacSouthwest on April 24, 2020, 10:50:09 AM
Quote from: mvpreed2 on April 23, 2020, 08:16:50 PM
Quote from: PacSouthwest on April 23, 2020, 11:22:32 AM
Personally I am tired of soft euro's. Any guy who prefers to not dunk the ball scares me. For a guy his size, he does not get above the rim often; his shots will be easily altered unless he develops a hook-shot (a la Ristic).
You do realize that most of the shots from our primary big (Nnaji) last season was below the rim right?
Miller has gone on record as saying that he wants his players to dunk the ball instead.
Honestly, I would love for anyone over 6'7 to punch it every time he gets the opportunity to do so, BUT you can't force that on a player.
He either has it in him, or he doesn't.
As for Batcho, I am surprised to see how fast Miller was able to turn the page after missing out on Haarms formerly of Purdue.
At this point, he is only missing the big wing that I would like for us to add to our 2020-21 roster.
You are supporting my point. Yes, most shots by the bigs take place near the rim; thus the reason to dunk it instead of a cute layup. I am sure I don't have to remind you of how many missed layups we have had over the years. Yes, Miller also believes in dunking, but Miller stating that does snot translate into more dunking; just that he WANTS his players dunking. Miller is not targeting players that "don't have it in them". Unfortunately, Haarms and Batcho were not Miller's first or second choice. Better recruits decided to go elsewhere, forcing him to settle with players with undesirable traits.
The one thing that I will say in response to this is that Miller has been with these players for months.
He has the ability to FORCE them to play above the rim, if that is what he truly wanted to do.
I understand your POV.
The numbers support your argument.
For every international prospect that we have had that has not pan out (Kyryl/Ristic/Thielemans), we end up landing one that does (Markkanen).
What you are describing is no different from recruiting any other prospect.
We can recruit a 5* that is a bust, and recruit a 3* that ends up being a NBA lottery pick.
This is the beauty of the beast that is running a high-level college basketball program.
This kid looks solid an I think he will play major minutes I just wish Arizona could find a big that could space the floor like stone gettings.
Another thing it could lead to us getting his 5 star buddy .
Quote from: Jdmarti on April 25, 2020, 01:28:40 PM
This kid looks solid and I think he will play major minutes I just wish Arizona could find a big that could space the floor like stone gettings.
Sometimes, you don't need to get a "big" specifically, especially when you offer a forward from Turkey that is the same height as Gettings (6'9).
Just saying...
The reason I bring up stone is because he really helped with his floor spacing ability that I dont see on this team having a big that can do that is huge it really helped against zone defense this past year.
Let me just say WELCOME one more time.