If you get the chance today, and you have NBA TV, the Euro Final Four is on. If nothing else hit it with your Tivo or DVR (6 pm I believe Oklahoma time). It will be maybe your first chance to see one of our players hit the court.
Yotam Halperin was the Sonics’ second round draft pick in 2006 and he is in the backcourt for Olympiacos along with Josh Childress, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks and Jannero Pargo, most recently for the Hornets.
Yotam wanted a guaranteed contract to come to America after the draft, and as you may know, 2nd rounders aren’t assured of guaranteed contracts, so he opted to stay in Europe. His rights still belong to the franchise however. The dude can really stroke it. He’s shooting 52% on his threes this season, but it’s not a fluke, the last three seasons he’s been over 44% from downtown, and north of 60% on his two pointers. He’s number 1 in all of Europe in true shooting percentage at 80%, and also in points per possession at 1.49!
He’s a 6’5″ combo guard from Israel who has been playing pro ball for a few years now. According to Draftexpress, he’s ranked at #18 among international players whose rights are held by an NBA franchise. I believe he has three Euroleague championships under his belt at 25 years old.
I’ve been waiting to see this kid play since that 2006 draft and am looking forward to seeing him against Europe’s top dogs. I’d love to see this kid in our summer league this year, or at training camp. Lord knows we could use somebody to fill up the basket from deep. I’ll have a short write up about the Olympiacos-Panathinaikos matchup tomorrow.
Here and here are the links for Yotam over at Draftexpress.
I watched this game on DVR. Halperin's teammates didn't seem to look for him much, but I'm not familiar with his team at all. There seemed to be a lot of players standing around and not moving without the ball. But when Haperin did get involved, I though he played well.
I love the 24 second alarm. And I had heard the singing at futball games, but didn't expect it for basketball. The fans sing the entire time. Crazy.
much better - thanks!
and thanks again for the posts - intelligent posts like yours are always welcome
I probably shouldn't say it if I can't say it better.
Take 2-
On average long-term only 1-2 rookies a year shot as much as Russell did. 80% shot it better. But a few big stars shot as poorly as him so rookie stats aren't the end of the story, only the beginning and in this group it is guys trying to write a big story. LeBron and Isiah Thomas built on their experience and became who they became. Westbrook as a rookie was a lot like Isiah, a name that hadn't come up in the comparison name game before. http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/tiny.cgi?id=mO3Pe
They were both 20. Isiah shot a little more and better, passed more but also turned it over more. They were similar at getting to the line though Russell shot his FTs better and also rebounder better. Overall they rate pretty close on PER and offensive and defensive rating. Will they look similar for their entire careers? Probably not. But I think it is notable that Russell got an opportunity as big as Isiah and went for a similar type big role as a shooter. Whether it fits him or not time will tell. It will be difficult to convince to become a young Antonio Daniels or some other moderate shooting PG now though after giving him so much freedom. Was the way they managed him so far the right way? It was sure different than the gradual method many coaches and teams use with raw PGs. But the end result is what ultimately matters. It could go either way. Rusell's work ethic, ability to get better and willingness to adapt will largely determine the outcome.
Any better Kev?
@Crow
are you saying that RW can become like those two or that the criticism on RW is justified - I'm lost . . .
anyway, it's good to hear from you . . .
Halperin might be the one mistake the former GM didn't make...
He's a 180 shooter...(for those who love the 180 stat)...
Would Pargo make a good back up guard? RW Livingston/Pargo wouldn't be awful moving forward...He played solid minutes with CP3
Maybe, as I kept open, I'll comment again or even occasionally.
I had forgotten about Halperin too.
Might make a decent a combo guard for an occasion 5-15 minute stretch but not sure I'd project above that.
This site has him as 16 best SG (due to size and low assists) behind David Logan and a lot people I mostly never heard of.
http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/eurobasketball/euroleague/players/stats/09/rkg-1-2-1
I'll also briefly say-
I like what I read about Jeff Pendergraph.
I could say I checked and found that there were 44 players who had usage rate above 24% and 10 had TS% below 50% in their rookie year over the last 30 years like Russell Westbrook did but that the bottom of the list also included rookie Lebron James and rookie Isiah Thomas who in a number of purely statistically ways looked fairly similar to rookie Westbrook but do people want to hear that?
Hey Man,
That is one of the first drafts I really followed! It was fun, until we drafted Sene, Denham Brown, and Yotam. That is only if I remember right. I have been ridin with the Captain tonight! Then I was bummed. Seems like he could help. The question as always is how will he hold up on defense!? Good size and as a backup, great stroke! Might not be too expensive? Wonder what it would cost to bring him over now? Missed you guys - got into the NFL draft - CRAZYNESS. :)
Could we bring him over for summer leauge???
I'll be honest, I had no idea we had the rights to this guy. This is why Joe is smarter than me. I'll absolutely be watching. I wonder if this guy has any future with the team. You can't ignore those shooting percentages.
Harden? Curry? What? BRING ON HALPERIN!
Seriously though. Do it.
Also, some of those camera angles are whack.