reasons for Giannis Antetokounmpo going 15th in the 2013 draft?

[Rondo9]

I watched the Bucks play the Bulls tonight, and all I can say is "wow!!"  The Greek Freak's potential to be a superstar is scary.  I don't think I've ever seen a 6'11" player who can get up and down the floor with the ball in his hands like this kid. 

Amazing!!

I'll be in shock if Giannis becomes a superstar...... Seriously the hype around him is crazy.

By the way I don't think I've seen someone brick a wide open shot like Giannis did in the fourth quarter.

[Celtics18]

I watched the Bucks play the Bulls tonight, and all I can say is "wow!!"  The Greek Freak's potential to be a superstar is scary.  I don't think I've ever seen a 6'11" player who can get up and down the floor with the ball in his hands like this kid. 

Amazing!!

I'll be in shock if Giannis becomes a superstar...... Seriously the hype around him is crazy.

We'll see. 

[Tr1boy]

I watched the Bucks play the Bulls tonight, and all I can say is "wow!!"  The Greek Freak's potential to be a superstar is scary.  I don't think I've ever seen a 6'11" player who can get up and down the floor with the ball in his hands like this kid. 

Amazing!!

yeah. He covers a crap load of ground in no time.    If you need some points in a hurry, have him grab the rebound and take it end to end himself .

He just needs to want to "dominate" more. The same issue we have with Kelly. 

Otherwise, he is going to be closer to a player like Pippen

[Tr1boy]

Nice play below. He looks like he has really bulked up. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El6IS00FFIY

[fitzhickey]

looks like he has a ceiling of Dirk Nowitzki?

naw.  A poor man version of Durant.  His dribbling skills for his height is definitely advanced

And his passing, which is already head and shoulders above Durant's.

My goodness, I like Giannis a lot but he gets way too much hype.

You have seen him pass before, right?  Durant isn't exactly Rondo when it comes to passing, lol, and Westbrook, who's supposed to be the point guard of that team, is even worse than KD haha.

Kevin Durant averaged a career high in assists last year. What makes you think that Giannis can average that many assists?

Because he doesn't pass because he has to, he passes because he wants to.  You can see it in his play.  Durant, on the other hand, has never been a playmaker.  He'll make a nice one occasionally, but it's not one of his strengths as a player, and he seems to view passing as a chore, like Jordan did and Kobe still does.  Hmm, perhaps Durant would thrive in the triangle, where he wouldn't be counted on to make plays for others because, "the system," takes care of that lol.  What a joke.

Plus, KD only averaged 5.5 assists last year - woo; and that's his career high?  That's pretty sad, imo, with the amount of shots he takes and how the ball is always in his hands. If Giannis gets the playing time, he could average that in his sleep, imo.  Some guys have the passing gene while others do not, and the Greek Freak would certainly appear to have it.  I wish he was on our team.  Now that would be fun - the passing ability of Rondo, Sullinger, and Giannis on the court at the same time.  Passing is contagious, and it would have truly been a joy to watch.  Sigh.  For what it's worth, I never watched his highlights before the draft (I guess that I was being lazy lol), and, had we stayed at #16, my pick was Tim Hardaway JR, who has turned out to be infinitely better than I had anticipated.  Still, I do remember a number of people lobbying for Giannis, and now I see why.

I really don't get this. Wouldn't taking heaps of shots be a reason he doesn't get assists? And not to mention he is the most efficient high volume scorer in the league. IMO I'd rather have a player who looks to score first (and does it better than anyone) than a player who wants to give it off to someone else and has difficulty taking over a game. Might just be me.

[BballTim]

looks like he has a ceiling of Dirk Nowitzki?

naw.  A poor man version of Durant.  His dribbling skills for his height is definitely advanced

And his passing, which is already head and shoulders above Durant's.

My goodness, I like Giannis a lot but he gets way too much hype.

You have seen him pass before, right?  Durant isn't exactly Rondo when it comes to passing, lol, and Westbrook, who's supposed to be the point guard of that team, is even worse than KD haha.

Kevin Durant averaged a career high in assists last year. What makes you think that Giannis can average that many assists?

Because he doesn't pass because he has to, he passes because he wants to.  You can see it in his play.  Durant, on the other hand, has never been a playmaker.  He'll make a nice one occasionally, but it's not one of his strengths as a player, and he seems to view passing as a chore, like Jordan did and Kobe still does.  Hmm, perhaps Durant would thrive in the triangle, where he wouldn't be counted on to make plays for others because, "the system," takes care of that lol.  What a joke.

Plus, KD only averaged 5.5 assists last year - woo; and that's his career high?  That's pretty sad, imo, with the amount of shots he takes and how the ball is always in his hands.  If Giannis gets the playing time, he could average that in his sleep, imo.

  5.5 assists a game is more than PP has ever averaged, and he's a very good passing forward. From hoopdata, looking at assists for everyone they list as a forward from 06-07 to 12-13, aside from LeBron there was 1 forward to get more than 5.5 assists a game (Stephen Jackson, once) and 1 forward to get as many as 5.5 assists a game (Iggy, once). I'm not saying KD is the best passer ever, but the only forwards in nba history that you could ever say could average that in their sleep were Bird and James. I hope you aren't claiming Giannis is remotely close to that level as a passer.

[greece66]

If you were one of the 12-13 gms why are you passing up on him?

IMHO two reasons
a) He was very young (b. 1994)
b) he had only played in the second division of Greece.
Other than that, it is  now clear he is much better than most of the guys drafted before him. But these things happen very often, especially with non-American players, check out for instance Tony Parker s, Ginobili's and Marc Gasol's draft numbers.

[greece66]

I'll be in shock if Giannis becomes a superstar.

Prepare to be in shock really soon.
His shot is not great but is respectable for a 19 yo guy (FG41%, 3P 35%)- K. Leonard averaged 25% at 3P in college.
And do you know many ppl 2.11 m tall who can handle the ball so well?

[Tnerb02]

This guy is the next Anthony Randolph.

[mgent]

looks like he has a ceiling of Dirk Nowitzki?

naw.  A poor man version of Durant.  His dribbling skills for his height is definitely advanced

And his passing, which is already head and shoulders above Durant's.

My goodness, I like Giannis a lot but he gets way too much hype.

You have seen him pass before, right?  Durant isn't exactly Rondo when it comes to passing, lol, and Westbrook, who's supposed to be the point guard of that team, is even worse than KD haha.

Kevin Durant averaged a career high in assists last year. What makes you think that Giannis can average that many assists?

Because he doesn't pass because he has to, he passes because he wants to.  You can see it in his play.  Durant, on the other hand, has never been a playmaker.  He'll make a nice one occasionally, but it's not one of his strengths as a player, and he seems to view passing as a chore, like Jordan did and Kobe still does.  Hmm, perhaps Durant would thrive in the triangle, where he wouldn't be counted on to make plays for others because, "the system," takes care of that lol.  What a joke.

Plus, KD only averaged 5.5 assists last year - woo; and that's his career high?  That's pretty sad, imo, with the amount of shots he takes and how the ball is always in his hands.  If Giannis gets the playing time, he could average that in his sleep, imo.

  5.5 assists a game is more than PP has ever averaged, and he's a very good passing forward. From hoopdata, looking at assists for everyone they list as a forward from 06-07 to 12-13, aside from LeBron there was 1 forward to get more than 5.5 assists a game (Stephen Jackson, once) and 1 forward to get as many as 5.5 assists a game (Iggy, once). I'm not saying KD is the best passer ever, but the only forwards in nba history that you could ever say could average that in their sleep were Bird and James. I hope you aren't claiming Giannis is remotely close to that level as a passer.

Really?  Iguodala's only done that once?  I thought he's gone higher than that.  I would have thought TMac would still be up around there in that time period as well.

Edit:  Yeah, I'm seeing Iguodala with a 5.5, 5.7, 5.8, and a 6.3. 

[BudweiserCeltic]

looks like he has a ceiling of Dirk Nowitzki?

naw.  A poor man version of Durant.  His dribbling skills for his height is definitely advanced

And his passing, which is already head and shoulders above Durant's.

My goodness, I like Giannis a lot but he gets way too much hype.

You have seen him pass before, right?  Durant isn't exactly Rondo when it comes to passing, lol, and Westbrook, who's supposed to be the point guard of that team, is even worse than KD haha.

Kevin Durant averaged a career high in assists last year. What makes you think that Giannis can average that many assists?

Because he doesn't pass because he has to, he passes because he wants to.  You can see it in his play.  Durant, on the other hand, has never been a playmaker.  He'll make a nice one occasionally, but it's not one of his strengths as a player, and he seems to view passing as a chore, like Jordan did and Kobe still does.  Hmm, perhaps Durant would thrive in the triangle, where he wouldn't be counted on to make plays for others because, "the system," takes care of that lol.  What a joke.

Plus, KD only averaged 5.5 assists last year - woo; and that's his career high?  That's pretty sad, imo, with the amount of shots he takes and how the ball is always in his hands.  If Giannis gets the playing time, he could average that in his sleep, imo.

  5.5 assists a game is more than PP has ever averaged, and he's a very good passing forward. From hoopdata, looking at assists for everyone they list as a forward from 06-07 to 12-13, aside from LeBron there was 1 forward to get more than 5.5 assists a game (Stephen Jackson, once) and 1 forward to get as many as 5.5 assists a game (Iggy, once). I'm not saying KD is the best passer ever, but the only forwards in nba history that you could ever say could average that in their sleep were Bird and James. I hope you aren't claiming Giannis is remotely close to that level as a passer.

Really?  Iguodala's only done that once?  I thought he's gone higher than that.  I would have thought TMac would still be up around there in that time period as well.

Edit:  Yeah, I'm seeing Iguodala with a 5.5, 5.7, 5.8, and a 6.3. 

He's often listed as SG.