Minnesota Sports Forum

Does anyone know whether Wolves still have draft rights of their 2nd round pick 2014 Alessandro Gentile? At least Basketball reference won't have any transactions registered after Minnesota drafted him. If Minnesota still has his rights, he seems to have been pretty good draft and stash pick from Flip.

Gentile is 22 year old 6'7 shooting guard and he has been arguably 2nd best player of Italy team after Gallinari. He had pretty good year in Euroleague last season and is currently averaging 17.8 pts, 5.0 rbs, 3.8 asts, 1.3 TOs with .56 TS% in 33.5 minutes in Eurobasket. He was clearly best player of Italy in their quarter final win over Israel. Today Italy has real test in game against Lithuania.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cacnBVPGSl0Highlights from Israel game

Mikkeman wrote:Does anyone know whether Wolves still have draft rights of their 2nd round pick 2014 Alessandro Gentile? At least Basketball reference won't have any transactions registered after Minnesota drafted him. If Minnesota still has his rights, he seems to have been pretty good draft and stash pick from Flip.

Gentile is 22 year old 6'7 shooting guard and he has been arguably 2nd best player of Italy team after Gallinari. He had pretty good year in Euroleague last season and is currently averaging 17.8 pts, 5.0 rbs, 3.8 asts, 1.3 TOs with .56 TS% in 33.5 minutes in Eurobasket. He was clearly best player of Italy in their quarter final win over Israel. Today Italy has real test in game against Lithuania.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cacnBVPGSl0Highlights from Israel game

They traded that pick to Houston for cash. Flip said they didn't believe in any of the players that were left so he sold those late picks. I would have taken a flyer on someone but oh well I guess.

Serbia advanced to the Semifinals, beating the Czech Republic 89-75. They will play the winner of Italy/Litthuania with the other Semifinal being France/Spain. I didn't see any of the game, but Bjelica's stat line was good again...14 points on 5 for 8 shooting (2 for 5 on threes), 10 rebounds , 2 assists and 2 steals.

longstrangetrip wrote:Serbia advanced to the Semifinals, beating the Czech Republic 89-75. They will play the winner of Italy/Litthuania with the other Semifinal being France/Spain. I didn't see any of the game, but Bjelica's stat line was good again...14 points on 5 for 8 shooting (2 for 5 on threes), 10 rebounds , 2 assists and 2 steals.

Apparently he was quiet for the first three quarters and then came alive in the 4th. Bodes well for those of us who think he will be on the court at the end of games.

Bjelica was in foul trouble in last night game and played fewer minutes in first three quarters. Also his backup Erceg was in fire against Czechs. He scored 20 points with just 7 shots.

But Bjelica played 7 and half minutes in 4th quarter and hit big three pointer with five minutes left to get lead back to ten points. He also grabbed four defensive boards and had a two pointer in addition of his trey in 4th quarter.

Bjelica and Serbia go out with a fizzle, similar to Canada. Man, they were on such a nice run, but just couldn't make shots.

Well, that pretty much ends current and future T-Wolves FIBA play. The good news is that Dieng, Wiggins, AB, and Bjelica all escaped without injury. From a developmental perspective, I think Dieng and AB benefited the most. Bjelica is already a fully formed player and Wiggins would have probably been better off working on specific skills in a gym. Given all the minutes he played last year, getting game-time reps with Team Canada probably isn't much of a growth accelerator (not that I blame him for wanting to play for his country).

Next up...Camp.

I should probably defer to Mikkeman when it comes to Euro FIBA basketball, but I didn't really see a physical team until I saw Lithuania today. Raduljica was able to overpower every front line he faced and Bjelica seemed comfortable going inside too, but not tonight against Lithuania's bigs. Bjelica was largely invisible for most of the game, seemingly content to just hang around the 3-point line. I think it was a little bit of a reality check for Bjelica bandwagon jumpers like myself who perhaps got a little overheated about Nemanja's prospects. I still like him as a shooter and facilitator, but it looks like he might be overmatched inside in the NBA...looks like he is what some of us originally thought he was. Regardless, he can be a valuable addition emphasizing the things he does well, but I don't know that I see him as our future starting PF.

Power Forward is the easiest position to fill, so I am not worried at all about filling this position. Towns, Dieng and Bjelica are all potentially the guy. I really don't want to see AB or Payne ever be the starter, but I'm ok with either being a rotation guy if they improve enough to be a net positive player. We also have free agency and a lot of capspace going forward as well the draft to add a power forward if we don't already have the right guy on the roster.

longstrangetrip wrote:I should probably defer to Mikkeman when it comes to Euro FIBA basketball, but I didn't really see a physical team until I saw Lithuania today. Raduljica was able to overpower every front line he faced and Bjelica seemed comfortable going inside too, but not tonight against Lithuania's bigs. Bjelica was largely invisible for most of the game, seemingly content to just hang around the 3-point line. I think it was a little bit of a reality check for Bjelica bandwagon jumpers like myself who perhaps got a little overheated about Nemanja's prospects. I still like him as a shooter and facilitator, but it looks like he might be overmatched inside in the NBA...looks like he is what some of us originally thought he was. Regardless, he can be a valuable addition emphasizing the things he does well, but I don't know that I see him as our future starting PF.

Fiba games seem to have less spacing due to shorter 3pt arc. Also I don't remember a single defensive 3 second call in the games I saw. It can be really clogged there. It's more of a shooter's game. So I don't think that you can have a good indication of how Bjelica will be able to penetrate in the NBA.

Brooklyn_Wolves wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I should probably defer to Mikkeman when it comes to Euro FIBA basketball, but I didn't really see a physical team until I saw Lithuania today. Raduljica was able to overpower every front line he faced and Bjelica seemed comfortable going inside too, but not tonight against Lithuania's bigs. Bjelica was largely invisible for most of the game, seemingly content to just hang around the 3-point line. I think it was a little bit of a reality check for Bjelica bandwagon jumpers like myself who perhaps got a little overheated about Nemanja's prospects. I still like him as a shooter and facilitator, but it looks like he might be overmatched inside in the NBA...looks like he is what some of us originally thought he was. Regardless, he can be a valuable addition emphasizing the things he does well, but I don't know that I see him as our future starting PF.

Fiba games seem to have less spacing due to shorter 3pt arc. Also I don't remember a single defensive 3 second call in the games I saw. It can be really clogged there. It's more of a shooter's game. So I don't think that you can have a good indication of how Bjelica will be able to penetrate in the NBA.

Good points. LST also has a little bit of Lipoli in him, in that he tends to make summary judgements based on a one-game outcome......but then may change positions again after the next game.

By the way, that's not necessarily a criticism of Lip or LST, it's more of an observation of fan behavior in general during or just after a game, especially in Lip's case. who is often there in person. Once the dust settles and we have a chance to review things in totality, logic tends to prevail.

My hope for Bjelica is that we have a smart, competent backup PF and spot starter that won't hurt us while on the floor and may at times be a catalyst with the right matchups. A rich man's Robbie Hummel is what I'm hoping for.