Turkish Prospects

[Straight forward]

Omer Kutluay is the best passer of his generation. Baris Ermis was a star point guard potential in his U16 - 20 days.

I thought so. But still Ermis turned out to be a no-name. Was Kutluay better passer than Hedo? More or less on the same tier, IMO.

Turkey is one of those countries who had many great bigs and forwards and few great shooting guards, but no point guards. Not a single truly elite pure point guard in history, right? Much like the majority of European countries, except such countries as Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Spain.

Europe always struggle to provide great PGs. To find all NBA level point guard is huge rarity. There was Parker, Dragic, Doncic as great NBA guards in recent 20-15 years. But tons of bigs and forwards.

[c-myers]

Baris Ermis? Is that sort of bad joke? Barış stood out in his early ages because he was physically superior compared to his peers. When he lost his physical advantage in senior lavel just ended up ordinary player.

As for the Derin can he is pure diamond.

[Toruko]

I thought so. But still Ermis turned out to be a no-name.

Ermis stopped working like many other Turkish players. There is definitely no guarantee that a prospect turns out to be great. One injury and its over but it is how it is. You believe in a prospect or not. When I praised the development of Sengun way before he attracted some eyes in his Besiktas time many guys also here opposed my view intensely.

The same feeling I had back then I have with Derin Can and Omer Kutluay too. Baris Ermis might have failed to develop into a solid player but he still was a great passer. This is why I compared him to Omer.

Was Kutluay better passer than Hedo?

Kutluay, the father, never passed the ball to someone, he always shot the ball. Hedo became a point forward because we did fail to develop a play maker but Omer offers so much more than his father and he has everything to be a great point guard. Thats also the position he inherited in Real Madrids youth team.

Turkey is one of those countries who had many great bigs and forwards and few great shooting guards, but no point guards. Not a single truly elite pure point guard in history, right? Much like the majority of European countries, except such countries as Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Spain.

Lets say this is correct. Does this mean that the country cant develop a star point guard? It does not. I am just watching what ceiling some guys have and yes Derin Can Ustun and Omer Kutluay offers so much that there is a reason to be optimistic. Late 2005 born Melih Tunca is also very talented but him being in Efes frightens and there are some question marks behind his ability to protect the ball from pressure.

Europe always struggle to provide great PGs. To find all NBA level point guard is huge rarity. There was Parker, Dragic, Doncic as great NBA guards in recent 20-15 years. But tons of bigs and forwards.

You are right. Many teams defends pick and roll action with a switching defense. Thats the reason you need guards who are able to attack the rim. You need athleticism and thats also where European guards lack the most. When I say star player I always mean European standards. So if we look at a Rubio, Rodriguez or different other European guards are worth mentioning. The goal is to come up with a guard who can start with a Euroleague playoff team. Right now I am even satisfied with a guard who can come from the bench for any Euroleague team.

We will see how they develop

[Straight forward]

Lets say this is correct. Does this mean that the country cant develop a star point guard? It does not. I am just watching what ceiling some guys have and yes Derin Can Ustun and Omer Kutluay offers so much that there is a reason to be optimistic. Late 2005 born Melih Tunca is also very talented but him being in Efes frightens and there are some question marks behind his ability to protect the ball from pressure.

Absolutely possible, just saying so far PGs didn't come easy for Turkey at all. And indeed Ustun, Jr. Kutluay seem promising. As well probably Tunca (I got an impression he's more of a swingman, but obviously I didn't see him much). Let's wait and see how they will develop.

The problem is with Turkey that there's no established PGs who would be from 1998-2002 gen. who could really impact NT now, like say next year in 2025 EB. Most likely Ustun is your next quality true PG and he's 2007 gen. It will take time for him to get there. We are probably speaking about 2029EB where he could take serious role. But Turkey surely can be very interesting at the end of the decade and early 30s with prime Sengun, Biberovic, Berke, Bona + Ustun, Kutluay at 1.

Going with more of a scoring PGs as naturalized players also was a fail. Maybe some kind of smart naturalization could solve Turkey's issues and you would win something in 2025 and 2027. Fundamentally sound PG who can control the team and truly facilitate is in need.

[Toruko]

UCLA big man Adem Bona, who ranks No. 49 in our Top 100, had a strong all-around day that suggests NBA teams should take a deeper look despite his up-and-down sophomore campaign. His measurements -- with a 9-foot standing reach and near 7-4 wingspan -- indicate he'll have little issue playing the center position at 243 pounds. He's clearly one of the best athletes in this draft as he reiterated with shuttle and sprint times comparable with many guards and an explosive 40-inch vertical that ranked second best among big men. Bona showed his power, mobility and intensity translates to the competitive 4-on-4 action as well, where he threw his body around and made his presence felt. While his rudimentary skill level and especially perimeter shooting might put a cap on his upside, he too could get looks starting in the late first round. -- Givony

It seems the draft combine went pretty solid for Adem

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/page/NBADraft24-40145332/2024-nba-draft-combine-prospects-workout-highlights-measurements-stats-more

[Straight forward]

It seems the draft combine went pretty solid for Adem

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...nts-stats-more

First Scrimmage not so successful:

https://twitter.com/NoCeilingsNBA/status/1790466662099255602/photo/1

[Toruko]

First Scrimmage not so successful:

https://twitter.com/NoCeilingsNBA/st...255602/photo/1

Not unexpected. Everyone knows that he is limited on the offensive end. He just needs to control his foul numbers but being so energetic makes it difficult to control himself at least for now

[Straight forward]

Not unexpected. Everyone knows that he is limited on the offensive end. He just needs to control his foul numbers but being so energetic makes it difficult to control himself at least for now

Yeah, ATM I would expect the blocking box to be filled. 4tos, 6pf and 0blk is bad for him.

[Toruko]

https://x.com/canpekerpekcan/status/1791374510848876992

Look at 0:23. What a freaking vertical jump.

[TurkfromGermany]

I had said that no one except Anil Alyanak had shined at AST. Mert Kocagozoglu had also shined, but we are not here to talk about Kocagozoglu, we are here to talk about talents who could be really interesting.

Turkish U14 was not on a good level. The most dominant players, Kuzey Baysal(Bahcesehir), Oguz Emir Cetinkaya(Bahcesehir, big), Mehmet Akif Ozturk(Petkim) were the most dominant players but all 3 are mature. Mehmet Akif Ozturk, a lanky, long scorer, should be the most interesting one out of those 3. All 3 must impact immediately at U16 because they are mature, if not then their is not much upside. I didnt really followed the 2010 generation. Of course there are also interesting players like Kaya Sari from Efes which could shine in 1-2 years.

2011 born player Umut Mindik from Bahcesehir Izmir showed why we should follow him in the next seasons. Very good showing from him. Bahcesehir Izmir is very productive, Sarp Coskun(07), Kocagozoglu(07), Mustafa Yigit Acar(08) and already best youth team in Izmir. This team should be followed.

https://youtu.be/Hf9JsCKNRvo?t=4507

https://youtu.be/Hf9JsCKNRvo?t=4850

https://youtu.be/Hf9JsCKNRvo?t=5276

https://youtu.be/Hf9JsCKNRvo?t=5374

And here we have most likely a really special prospect with Ates Tuze from Darussafaka. Im following him since last season. He is born in september 2011, younger more than 1 year as the competition and without maturity. Look at this talent. Note this name........ATES TUZE

https://youtu.be/6C65yUoRPFI?t=2034

https://youtu.be/6C65yUoRPFI?t=2109

https://youtu.be/6C65yUoRPFI?t=3968

https://youtu.be/6C65yUoRPFI?t=8319

https://youtu.be/6C65yUoRPFI?t=8753

https://youtu.be/6C65yUoRPFI?t=9109

Some players can already be recognized in the u12 that they will become good talents. Efes has a player called Deniz Efe Unlu. We could see this kid in the next years as a good prospect. I dont want post videos of him because people will not value it correctly. Sometimes competition is not important, sometimes the ability of the kid is enough. He has the physical parameters of Okben Ulubay, Baris Ulker(97) at the same age. At U12 you could see the talent of Okben, Baris Ulker, Omercan Ilyasoglu, Demir Dogan, Derin Can Ustun. And he shows much better agilty as Okben & Baris Ulker. We will see what Deniz Efe Unlu show us in the next years.

Baris Ermis? Is that sort of bad joke? Barış stood out in his early ages because he was physically superior compared to his peers. When he lost his physical advantage in senior lavel just ended up ordinary player.

As for the Derin can he is pure diamond.

Every word of this post is correct. Baris Ermis was never a good prospect. The story is this = Turkish bb had a good hype in the early and mid 2000 years. Ender Arslan(83), Engin Atsur(84), Baris Ermis(85) were all Efes products. The turkish media thought they had 3 elite pg talents and the youngest out of the 3 is even the biggest talent, because younger and best body of those 3. Its so simple. They thought Ender Arslan and Baris Ermis will play in NBA. In reality Baris Ermis was the weakest talent of those 3. Ermis also had big luck in his career, Orhun Ene gave him starting PG role, back then only 3 foreign players were on the court etc.....If a PG has no ballhandling then we dont need to talk about him, its so simple.

[peker]

Our 20-man U20 European Championship candidate squad: Efe Demirel, Emre Melih Tunca, Salih Altuntas, Samet Yigitoglu, Kerem Konan, Yusuf Gunduz, Ata Ozbek, Bugra Cal, Berk Can Akin, Tolga Kay, Faruk Biberovic, Karahan Efeoglu, Emir Arda Sivas, Bartu Encu, Kaan Berk Tarla, Ozgur Cengiz, Tan Yildizoglu, Zekeriya Tekin, Derin Saran, Berke Buyuktuncel.

[Toruko]

Turkish U17 beating German U17 team twice. Very good second game of Derin Can Ustun.

GPFA6yeWsAEzb2C?format=jpg&name=large.jpg
Kaan Onat seems to be a complete scorer except shooting. Shooting will define his ceiling. Kocagozoglu looks also very talented. The team lacks talented bigs but quarter finals should be no problem at home.

[Toruko]

Berke Buyuktuncel has committed to Nebraska. I expect him to play at least 25-30 Minutes per game. Nebraska "produced" 3 NBA players in the last 5 years.

[Toruko]

After taking TT Ankara over, Erdem Can signed late 2005 born Melih Tunca of Efes. He is one of the best 3 play maker potentials Turkey can offer rn.

[Camoka]

I hardly watched our u20 team games via Instagram because there is no broadcast from TBF. Derin Saran is out as always. Buyuktuncel has good stats but I do not like him physically. He seems slow and fat. NCAA did not help him, even he gets worse physically. I do not think NBA is a possible destination with that shape.