Ersan Ilyasova talk

[Fort Minor]

I wouldn't mind having any young and talented player on the Bucks roster. If he wants to come back, I'd welcome Josh Hartnett back with open arms.

[Chuck Diesel]

[quote="oshmeehan"]Looks like Messina signed a contract extension today with CSKA Moscow whom also won the Euroleague Title today against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Not sure what that means for Ersan and being on Barcelona next season.

[/quote]


I'm pretty surprised about the Messina thing. A couple months ago all indications were that this would be his last season with CSKA. But after winning two of the last three Euroleague titles, it sounds like CSKA made Messina an offer he couldn't refuse to remain as head coach. The domino effect of Messina remaining in Moscow is that some of his players have already committed to staying, most notably Matjaz Smodis.

Hopefully what this means is that Ersan will remain with Barcelona and play a full season's worth of starters minutes before his contract is up and he returns to the Bucks for the 09-10 season.

[Chuck Diesel]

This is what Messina had to say about his situation in early March-

[quote]"We are talking with my club in Moscow, because obviously they have the first word here. And then we'll understand together what is better for both of us

[emunney]

Is Siskauskas going to exercise his escape clause now that CSKA won it all?

[redred9]

that CSKA team is goddam loaded- with Smodis, Andersen, Papaloukas, Khryapa, Siskauskas, Trajan Langdon..

its no wonder they seem to win every other year.

[Newz]

Who cares?

Ersan is terrible.

[MajorDad]

I can't see why so many bucks fans are so enthused about a guy after playing in the NBA averages less than 10 points in his Euro league this year. That would be almost like Purdue's martin leaving the tream and transferring to Valdosta and averaging 8 points next year as their 6th man.

if the Euro team that Ersan played for this year thought he had a lot of talent, I'm quite sure his playing time and stats would have been more significant than they were. There's a reason he didn't start for his Euro team this year. simply stated there were better players on that team. and those better players will probably be drafted in the second round of the draft or go undrafted.

Ersan has skills and talent - no doubt. but so do 1,000 other undrafted basketball players in the world. To expect Ersan to be anything more than a role player on an NBA team is like hoping gadz will be a starter for an NBA team or Simmons will win the 6th man or most improved player award again. or a new Bucks arena will be built in the next 20 years. it ain't goona happen. Deal with it.

[old skool]

I was shocked to see Ersan's shooting numbers from the Euroleague.

25% 3FGA%.

55% FT%.

He was much better than that in Milwaukee.

While I think that Ersan showed promise in 2006-07, he would have had a tough time getting minutes this past season. Any playing time would have come at the expense of CV and Yi. There's no way that LK could have sat one of those two for Ersan.

oLd sKool

[fam3381]

He was better in the Spanish league, shooting 39% from three and 72% from the line, but it's correct to say he was not a very efficient scorer this year. His playing time was limited until later in the season, so it's tough to look at his seasonal averages and get much of a feel for his progression.

On a positive note, he scored in double figures in the last three league games and had his best game of the season (21 points) last month against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which made it to the Euroleague final. I'll generally defer to Chuck's judgment on this since he follows the European leagues much better than any of us, so at this point I'm hoping Ersan can become a factor next season in Barcelona. Odds are we don't ever see him in the Bucks' starting lineup, but it sounds like he still has a chance to be a solid two-way player in the NBA.

[oshmeehan]

I can't see why so many bucks fans are so enthused about a guy after playing in the NBA averages less than 10 points in his Euro league this year. That would be almost like Purdue's martin leaving the tream and transferring to Valdosta and averaging 8 points next year as their 6th man.

if the Euro team that Ersan played for this year thought he had a lot of talent, I'm quite sure his playing time and stats would have been more significant than they were. There's a reason he didn't start for his Euro team this year. simply stated there were better players on that team. and those better players will probably be drafted in the second round of the draft or go undrafted.

Ersan has skills and talent - no doubt. but so do 1,000 other undrafted basketball players in the world. To expect Ersan to be anything more than a role player on an NBA team is like hoping gadz will be a starter for an NBA team or Simmons will win the 6th man or most improved player award again. or a new Bucks arena will be built in the next 20 years. it ain't goona happen. Deal with it.

You don't really understand. No one is saying Ersan will be a superstar at all, you need role players in the NBA and if he can be that then so be it.

Players don't average 30 ppg in Euroleague/ACB, it just doesn't happen. They only play 40 minute games in Europe, not 48. If you average 15 ppg you are going to be in the TOP tier in ppg in the entire league.



ACB/Spanish League Statistical Leaders Breakdown
6 players 15 ppg or higher (21.6 leads the league)
5 players 6 rpg or higher (8.1 leads the league)
7 players 4 apg or higher (5.5 leads the league)

Euroleague Statistical Leaders Breakdown
12 players 15 ppg or higher (21.0 leads the league)
7 players 6 rpg or higher (8.5 leads the league)
4 players 4 apg or higher (5.3 leads the league)



So lets not just go by the stats which you obviously are doing and think that his numbers are pathetic, when in reality they aren't all that bad at all when you look at the league averages, especially in the past dozen games or so in which I gave his numbers. Hell, if Ersan averaged literally only 1 more rebound per game he'd be in the Top 10 in rebounds per game in Euroleague

Saying there is a reason he didn't start for Barcelona (which is inaccurate cause he does start games depending on the matchups) is idiotic. There must be a reason then to that Manu Ginobili doesn't start for the Spurs (and no, its not cause there are better players in front of him). And please don't say I'm comparing Manu to Ersan cause I am not.

[MajorDad]

Manu doesn't start for the Spurs. Gordon doesn't start for the Bulls. but at least they put up nice stats and they also receive major minutes of playing time. ersan does neither.

Scoring 20+ points in one game is kind of a very small sample to say a player is doing well in Euro ball. the same statement could be made about every Euro ball player. I'm quite sure everybody in the league has scored in double figures at least once.

Rather than comparing Ersan to Manu, how about comparing wh t he has done in Europe this year to what Charlie bell accomplished in Europe? Charlie bell is a role player for the Bucks. but he was a star in Europe. When I saw ersan leave for Europe, I thought he would at least be a starting forward for the team he played on. otherwise, why give up his bench role for the Bucks? Ersan definitely didn't improve his stock playing in Europe this year. if anything, he took a step backwards. if Ersan was elligible for the NBA draft this year, i doubt highly based on his performance this year that any NBA team would draft him period.

Ersan's not a bad player. but he's proving he's not going to ever be a star. he's a role player. and there are plenty of other players who can fill that slot on the bench. landry was a second round pick who did wonders for the Rockets this year. i would rather the bucks find a Landry in the second round of this year's draft than to bring Ersan back.

Brian Cardinal has made a great career out of being a bench player. So have gadz and ZAZA and Simmons. they are all financially set for life thanks to herb kohl.

but the ever more pressing question would be - why would the Bucks want Ersan back? to sit on the bench? why do people care about ersan? he's making a nice living in Europe. I wish him well.

[ReasonablySober]

Ersan's only turns 21 next week. I think he's still got quite a bit of developing left in him.

[oshmeehan]

Well apparantly the organization still cares about Ersan. Why not just renounce his rights if they didn't? Why does Babcock still talk to him every week? Why does Ersan say he wants to come back to the Bucks?

Another thing to consider is that I know his younger sister is still living here in Milwaukee. For what reason would she have to stay here in Milwaukee than going over back to Turkey or to Spain with Ersan?

I'd bank on Ersan returning within the next 2 seasons to the Bucks

[fam3381]

That's some very interesting information, osh.

Btw, to provide a little bit of statistical perspective on Barcelona/Spain, here are their league team stats.

http://www.acb.com/stsacum.php?cod_comp ... &totales=0

No Barca player averages more than 28 mpg or 13.9 ppg and only two averaged double-digit scoring, so Ersan's mediocre stats aren't all that shocking. Fran Vazquez (remember him) averaged 6.5 ppg and 2.8 rpg in 16 mpg in the league this year. It's not to say Ersan's been amazing or anything, but it's simply not realistic for a guy like him to come in and dominate in a league like the Spanish one.

I think it's fair to say that the bigger you are, the harder it is to dominate in Europe relative to the NBA. Scoring guards like Jasikevicius, Trajan Langdon, Anthony Parker, Bell and Lynn Greer have always been much better players in Europe than the US in part because the style is simply different (obviously competition level is also a factor).

[paulpressey25]

I suppose I need to put Ersan's age controversy in my sig, as I think the guy is probably 24.

But he could be a decent 9-12th man for us IMO. But I don't see where we get the minutes for him if Bobby and Dez are still on the team. His game seems more cut out for SF and if it is PF, we've already got Yi there (and CV) and most likely need a banger type, not Ersan.

We're just loaded with bodies at the SF/PF position with guys who really are better than Ersan (albeit guys though that need to step up or be replaced)

[Chuck Diesel]

Barcelona's leading scorer was a guy named Jaka Lakovic, a 6 foot shooting guard who isn't bashful with his shot selection. Relative to the Euroleague, Lakovic is in the Eddie House/Janero Pargo mold.

[MajorDad]

the point I'm trying to make which is obviously lost on Ersan fans, is why would the Bucks want him back? I could care less that he wants to come back. Why would the Bucks want him?

Spreewell wants to come back to the NBA too. but nobody wants him.

I wanted rashard griffith to play for the Bucks, but it never happened. he had a nice career playing in europe. So did kobe's dad - joe bryant.

Why did ersan leave? obvious anser - he knew he didn't fit into the Bucks' future plans and he'd be spending a lot of time on the bench playing sudukos. and the reality is the reasons Ersan left still exist. he would have no role or future playing for the bucks. His future and hope would be for the bucks to trade his rights to some other team.

I can't really get excited about a former buck now playing in Europe who has no future ever playing a significant role for the Bucks. the same could be said about that other bucks player who left his DLNBA team for europe. His name escapes me. NOEL ? Noel! noel! Masters in this hall, here ye news today! how soon we forget the forgotten player who has no future and how long we remember the song which has absolutely nothing to do with that player. NBA projects are becoming a thing of the past just like Hamlet and the packers, and Latin and dancing with the stars and that Geico gecco and those cavemen and people who call others DUDE! Projects are so yesterday.

[emunney]

People who call others dude are only gaining in momentum, and you haven't seen Ersan play in a full year. Same goes for Noel. You're out of touch, Reed, and you're making judgments based on your own outdated information while ignoring the explanations of those who are better informed than you are. That is why you're confused.

It doesn't take a R.C. Buford to figure out why the Bucks would hypothetically want Ersan or any other player on their roster: because they think he would make us a better team. Chuck's position is that that will probably be the case after another full season in Europe for Ersan.

[Chuck Diesel]

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Blo ... Part-Two-/

Theodoros Papaloukas has apparently not yet given up on the possibility of playing in the NBA this summer, and has even hired a new American agent to help him with that cause. He was reportedly extremely close to signing with the Milwaukee Bucks last year, but Mo Williams

[fam3381]

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Blogging-through-the-Euroleague-Final-Four--Part-Two-/

"Theodoros Papaloukas has apparently not yet given up on the possibility of playing in the NBA this summer, and has even hired a new American agent to help him with that cause. He was reportedly extremely close to signing with the Milwaukee Bucks last year, but Mo Williams