Enes Kanter, who is a native of Turkey, was the 3rd pick in this year’s NBA Draft. The Utah Jazz took Kanter despite him not playing at Kentucky due to NCAA rules violations. The NBA lockout could have not come at a worst time for Kanter because he needs the work.
Some thought this was to high for Kanter, but I think in the end his potential was too much to past up. Kanter is still raw; he still needs to learn the game. It will likely take Kanter a couple years for him to develop into his full potential. He’s a dominant player one on one in the post, but he needs to learn how to play offense within a team. Kanter also needs to work on his defense.
Anyways right now Kanter and his Turkey team is getting ready to compete in EuroBasket 2011. Recently they played a tune up game in Germany, and there the blog beyondthebeat.net talked to Turkish assistant coach Nihat Izic. Izic basically said he doesn’t think Kanter is ready for the NBA.
“All the coaching staff and people around basketball think that it is too early for him to go there (to the NBA). He has the chance to play in the Euro League and then after that, when you feel you are ready, then you go to the NBA. He decided to go, and I’m not sure who gave him that advice. I don’t want to go there.”
He may be right time will tell. I am sure he will struggle right away in the NBA, but in 5 years he will be a pretty good player, an all star who knows. The only time I saw him play in the2010 Nike Hoop Summit he looked dominant scoring 34 points and adding 13 rebounds.
Tags: Enes Kanter, Utah Jazz
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