Joe Ingles (art by Paul Munt)

The second day of the Toronto Raptors predraft workouts came and went, and no-one impaled himself – this is a good sign. But a number of prospects were able to show their stuff.

One of the names that stood out for me is the Australian Joe Ingles (I’m 1/32 Aussie, you see). Let’s get to know Joe a bit.

His vitals:

• Guard/Forward
• 6′8″, 194 lbs
• Born 10/02/1987

Analyzing the workout, HQ sez:

Ingles nearly declared last year but decided to withdraw in the end in order to beef up his game for this year’s draft. He’s incredibly long and at 6-7, has great size for the 2 guard spot, apparently the position he mostly plays, and is quite skilled offensively. I was a bit leery of his ability to play a guard position at first glance, wondering if his game wasn’t better suited for the 3 or 4, however in drills, he was absolutely lethal from long-range and also displayed some great one-on-one moves, at one point beating a much smaller and quicker defender and cramming it down. Ingles will need to bulk up a bit but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a team taking a flyer on him late in the second-round and stashing him overseas for a while.

And my favorite Aussie blogger/local correspondent, Mookie, has this to say about Ingles:

Joe Ingles has been talking about heading for the draft since about 2 years ago — he knew he wanted to hold off until he was ready. He’s a long, lanky swingman — stands 6′8″ and has great ball handling skills for his size — think Steve Smith maybe? He can score in bunches, either from the 3pt line or driving to the hole, or even on runners. Can play 2/3 and a little 1 (though that would be limited at NBA level).

Weaknesses: too skinny — the rap has always been that he needed to put on weight (muscle), but the boy is naturally a skinny dude. I’m pretty sure (though I haven’t really watched him since about Sept 08) that he still hasn’t been able to put on that bulk. Also, from an NBA perspective he’d be considered lacking in athleticism (although in Australia or elsewhere he’s probably considered just average athleticism-wise).

I can’t remember how old he is now — I’m going to guess 20/21? — but he’s one of these guys that has played at a high level from a young age and so has an old head on young shoulders. Has played a starring role for his team (NBL champions last year) for the last couple of years… was rookie of the year in Oz a few years back. The other rookies of the year in recent times (Brad Newley – Houston/Panionios and Nathan Jawai – Toronto/D-League) went on to the NBA draft…

He went through the very respected Australian Institute of Sport as a scholarship holder — which means he got the best of training in fundamentals. He was a member of the Aussie Boomers Olympic team in Beijing, despite his tender years. He was mired on the bench, but impressed in the closing stages when he would get minutes, including about 8 points in 3 minutes vs Team USA from memory!  Good composure for a guy his age.

In short, my concern is that his lack of athleticism at the NBA level will see him overlooked… and that he will end up serving a nice little career in Europe. From memory his father has granted him a British passport… though I might be wrong on that.

British passport? Correct.

Eight points in three minutes vs. Team USA? Not sure, but Wikipedia said 11 points (on 100% shooting from the field!), 2 rebounds and 1 assist in the final quarter.

The latest article about Ingles on DX is less positive:

Perhaps the most disappointing player among those with realistic draft chances from the automatically eligible class of 1987, Joe Ingles hasn’t progressed as expected this season, not exploiting his intriguing physical and athletic characteristics. Indeed he has regressed in most statistical categories from last year, even from two seasons ago in some of them, which is not a good sign for a player of his age.

The most frustrating part of his game, and likely the biggest reason why he’s not emerging particularly efficient on the offensive end, is that he looks pretty soft when it comes to scoring. Despite his quickness and decent ball-handling skills (still strictly with his left hand), Ingles rarely goes all the way to the rim when attacking the basket, struggling to finish with contact and tending to prefer looking for space to release the ball, which leads to unbalanced shots and usual misses. It’s true that he doesn’t enjoy great strength or leaping ability, but it’s still a waste of his size. Instead he likes to settle for jumpers, but his shot is looking highly inconsistent, enjoying poor accuracy and not enough balance on his release. 55% of his field goal attempts come from beyond the arc this season, compared with just 40% last season, and he’s making just 36% of those, compared with 38% last year. His free throw attempts are also down, from 3.9 per game last season to 3.

Defensively, Ingles plays very upright and seems to have very little lateral quickness, which makes it very difficult to imagine him defending perimeter players in the NBA. In a league that will never be known for the quality of defense teams here display, Ingles isn’t doing much to change that reputation.

Ugh. The Raptors need to D up in a hurry, and Ingles doesn’t seem to D up that well. But DX did highlight some strengths:

[...] for some stretches he looks like an excellent passer, finding his teammates and even playing some casual point forward. However, if we were expecting a catalyst and team leader at this point, Ingles looks like a complimentary player out there, which is not particularly exciting if we talk about the Australian NBL. We should mention that he does play for a much better team this year (currently 20-7, and ranked first) than he did last year (where they finished last).

Expectations?

[...] unless he makes an impression in the pre-draft process, he’s a bubble guy at this point, with enough potential to get looks late in the second round, but also perfectly capable of ending up undrafted. His best bet might be to take his English passport and find a good team in Europe where he can develop his all-around game against a higher level of competition.

Have fun in Europe, Joe. Don’t forget to keep your defensive stance low and your chin up.

Other links:

• Draft Express profile
• Getting to Know: Joe Ingles
• South Dragons profile
• Boomers profile
• Live Q & A (November 2007)
• Facebook

UPDATE: Video highlights, courtesy of Mookie -

Plus a couple of interview clips.

Here’s video of “the best basketball player ever.” Looks like the guy can score from anywhere, has great athleticism, handles and a killer instinct — he’ll literally take your head off. Judging from his uniform, he’s in the Russian Superleague:

What do you think: Dynamo Lego? Legomotiv Rostov?

(via GoMinimanGo.com)

I wouldn't be smiling, kiddo.

The year is done and the report cards are in. How did our student, Roko Ukic, do in his first year at the NBA School of Hard Knocks? The principal opinion belongs to Bryan Colangelo, who says, “the kid needs a chance,” but also ”the jury’s still out,” and made the backup PG spot the top priority this summer. Ominous.

What did Roko do well, and what does he have to work on? Here is the list of comments from the internets.

Mr. D. Smith says:
Did well on – having ice water in the veins
Needs work on – giving the ball up every now and then; jumper

Mr. HQ says:
Did well on – showing potential (see Spurs, Rockets)
Needs work on – jumpshot; dribbling; finishing at the hoop; decision making; defending the position

Mr. Chisholm says:
Did well on - tenacity; attacking the rim with vigor; court vision
Needs work on - shooting; making much better reads on offense

Mr. Shayan says:
Did well on – ballhandling; willingness to drive the ball; spin move; the floater
Needs work on - not taking it on his own too many times; making wiser passing choices; that mugly jumper

Mr. Arsenalist says:
Did well on – being lovable
Needs work on – handles; improved outside shot

Mr. Borbath says:
Get tutoring from Steve Nash

Mr. Marasmitch predicts:
Roko will be back with the Raptors as the third PG and will push for backup minutes. His overall improved play will be highlighted by a picture-perfect jumper, thanks to a Larry Bird instructional video.

That’s right. College Wolf and Nick have each submitted a YouTube clip of a great playoff moment in Timberwolves and Nuggets history, respectively. The clip you like more will propel one of them into the BHP Elite Eight.

Watch the clips and vote, after the jump.

(3) TWolves Blog offers:

(6) Nugg Doctor counters with:

And the poll:

You have until Saturday, April 18, 3PM ET, folks.

There continues to be concern over Roko’s playing time during this last handful of games. How do minutes help you now, Roko?

With minutes, you get more comfortable. It helps with your decision making first of all because you are not afraid you will go out if you make one mistake. With everybody it is like this, but especially with me. I am the type of player that needs to have at least five or seven minutes to feel comfortable and then I can be much more productive.

Coach Jay Triano is more comfortable now giving him those minutes. Why, Coach?

I think he’s starting to share the basketball a bit more and a bit earlier. He’s not dribbling it so much. When he does that, it makes him more dangerous as a driver. I thought (Friday) night [vs. the Thunder] was one of his better games as far as his balance between sharing the ball and driving to the basket.

So, Roko, will you be following Jose Calderon’s example and work really hard this summer?

Basketball is not like working in a factory: so I will work 10 hours and I will produce 10,000 pairs of shoes.

OK, I’m sure Jose worked (that summer). But I think that gold medal in ’06 (at the world championships) in Japan helped him more than all the work that he did.

Confidence is something that you can’t buy. You can practise your pull-up for 10 years, but if you don’t have the confidence to make it . . .

[pointing to his head] It’s in here.

Back to your playing time, Roko. Do you often ask the coaches why it goes like a yo-yo?

They don’t have to be so nice to me and talk with me all the time, and tell me why this, why that. I know I’m a rookie and I know sometimes I’ll sit without an explanation. That’s cool with me.

[...] I’ll try to work hard on my (weaknesses) and I know what I’m not good at.

Good to hear. Let’s hope you also get a good run with the Croatian nationals this September.

Here’s Roko with the winning basket at the Croatian Cup five years ago. Listen to the crowd chant his name!

To review, Pete Marasmitch combines Pistol’s flash …

and Smitch’s smash.

So, please go vote for Pete Marasmitch!

And while you’re there, vote also for Pete’s friends:

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Thanks!

How appropriate: courtesy of 2nd Round Reach.

Highlights of new Toronto Raptor Pops Mensah-Bonsu remind me of Jamario Moon, while his name brings to mind former Raptor Pape Sow. But is that all there is to Pops? I go as far as Spain to give you this Ultimate Scouting Report.

The basics:

• Full name: Nana Papa Yaw Dwene Mensah-Bonsu [translation: King (Nana) Father (Papa) Thursday Born (Yaw) Three (Mensah) Whale (Bonsu)]
• Position: Forward
• Measurements: 6′10″ (some say 6′9″), 240 lbs.
• Born: September 7, 1983

(Note: Key statements below are bolded.)

First, let’s look at the path Pops took after he injured his knee and came back too soon for the 2006 NCAA tournament:

• 2006 - goes undrafted, but gets a contract with the Dallas Mavericks, which left him in the D-League (Fort Worth Flyers) for the most part
• 2007 - signs with Maurizio Gherardini’s old team, Benetton Treviso
• 2008 – signs with DKV Joventut, which released him in December due to a shoulder injury
• 2009 (Feb.) – plays for the San Antonio Spurs’ farm team, the Austin Toros
• Feb. 25 – signs a 10-day contract with the Spurs (no, not this one)
• March 4 – is released by the Spurs
• March 6 – gets a guaranteed contract from the Raptors to finish the season

Boy, Pops’ head must still be spinning.

On to the scouting reports. Let’s go back to the beginning, Mike Fisher (DallasBasketball.com). What’s your take on Pops?

He’s long been intriguing to the Mavs because of his raw athleticism — and because he’s a quality person with good relationships with people inside the organization. But Pops has still never quite mastered any aspect of the game at the offensive end of the floor, and that’s the big thing that keeps him from getting into anybody’s rotation.

He doesn’t have handles … and probably never will; dribbling is something he simply did not grow up doing.

He has no perimeter game. … and again, looks very unnatural when even trying to develop one, as he certainly did try to do in Dallas, under the supervision of former NBA shooters like Brad Davis and Ro Blackman.

He ought to have an interior game, but he doesn’t … though someday, that could come.

At 6-9, he lacks a natural position.

[...] He kills every time he plays in the summer league (and I think he was a D-League MVP). The challenge for him is to transfer the limited skills that allow him to succeed against lesser competition — raw athleticism can be enough in D-League or in Spain, but of course not in the NBA — to a higher level.

There’s our cue to go to Spain and Pete Marasmitch’s favourite European correspondent, Raul Jimenez (RJM Basketball). What did you think of Pops, Raul?

Pops played two Euroleague games, and also five ACB league games before his injury this season. Last season he also played in ACB, he was signed by Granada for the last regular season game. Granada needed to win in order to avoid relegation and he was kind of a surprise signing. He played a GREAT game and they won, 22 points and 9 rebounds in his first and only game with that team!!! 

He’s had problems with Joventut due to different points of view about his injury, the way it should be treated (where, how…). It all ended badly between the club and the player, and I can’t tell you the truth of the issue…

Anyway, I have watched him play a lot, and I can tell you that in Europe, he’s a very important player for an average team or even for a better than average team as Joventut is.

He and Ricky [Rubio] made me jump from my seat quite often. He’s not big but, man, he can jump!!! 

He’s fast and sharp when going towards the rim. He runs the break really fast, and he can finish in traffic. Nice dunker. His mid-range shot is good, but not great. He played the “5″ spot in Europe, although he was able to play together with a pure “5″. As I told you, he’s small to play the “5″ in the NBA, here he can do it because he’s strong, quick and because he jumps like a grasshopper, but I don’t see him playing against NBA big men… He’s a “4″ in the NBA. Playing together with Bargs? That means defensive problems, but with Bosh? Yes, they can play together. I’ve seen he’s said to be 6′10” but I think he’s smaller.

I suppose you’ve already seen this, but anyway… 

I don’t know if he is a player I would sign to take a step forward in the NBA but I would sign him to enjoy his game.

Ah, Raul. I can always count on you for YouTube magic.

But back to North America and back to the NBA. Michael De Leon (Project Spurs), what popped out to you about Pops?

Here’s my take on Pops from seeing him in a total of about three games and one Toros game before he signed with the Spurs.

Everyone knows he has a ton of athleticism and energy. Because of those gifts, he always seems to be everywhere. One game I was watching him any time the ball came off the rim, he was there to grab the board even when other players had better position.

He’s also got a ton of potential. For a guy with his size and tools, I would not be surprised to see him become a good player in the NBA. Boards and blocks are not a problem and if he works on his back-to-the-basket game a bit and has someone to show him the way, he may have an advantage against other centers and forwards. Some go-to moves in the pain combined with his speed could prove to be hard to stop.

The problem with this all is that it’s all just potential right now. How many players have we seen in his mold that do not succeed in the NBA? I had high hopes for Francisco Elson when he was in San Antonio because he was the most athletic and probably fastest center we had that could finish at the rim, block shots and rebound since David Robinson. Unfortunately as you see even now with him playing for the Bucks, he hasn’t developed at all and he’s all potential.

Right now Pops’ biggest challenge is himself. One of the things I noticed is that he struggles on one-on-one defense and he has the tendency to get a little lazy on his assignments. He’ll have to work on his work ethic as well, because this isn’t the D-League. As Scott from Ridiculous Upside said, he won’t be able to score 30 and 12 with a few blocked shots without giving much of an effort.

The other thing though is that Pops really needs to stick on a team. Ten-day contracts aren’t enough. He needs to have a chance to learn the offensive and defensive schemes for the team he’s playing for, in this case Toronto, and I think playing under Chris Bosh could really help him.

And here in Toronto we were well impressed with Pops’ debut. Here’s what the man himself said to Doug Smith (The Toronto Star) about his own scouting report:

Coming out of college, it was always, “great athlete, aggressive defender but …” I hated that, I hated being looked at as raw because people already had their preconceived notion of me before I even got a chance to prove.

I’m coming into work and they’re like, “Well, he’s not really a great shooter so if he makes a jump shot, oh, well, he got lucky.” Now I feel like I can shoot. I think playing in the D-League helped me, helped me get my confidence up and playing for those guys down there helped me show what I can do. I became more of a consistent jump shooter [...]

It made me more of a skilled player because over there, those big men have to learn how to shoot. You can’t get by on athleticism as much over there, I think it made me more of a skilled player and I’m getting closer to being that finished product.

I think from 17 feet I can hit a wide-open jump shot and help the team out. That’s where I think I’ve become more of a threat, they won’t just look at me as an athlete. People look at their scouting report, it won’t just say “athlete”; it’ll say “can hit the 17-foot jump shot.”

It’s good to see Pops wants to be a more complete player. What do you think will be the “finished product,” Mike Fisher?

His upside now? Maybe Travis Outlaw, at best. … Outlaw has found a way to make room for himself by serving as an athletic shot-blocker on one end and as a dunker on the other end.

His realistic goal? Maybe James Singleton of the Mavs, who has developed an outside shot to go along with his hops and his hustle. Pops is about the same size as Singleton, so he might just need to be in the right place at the right time with the right instructor.

Here’s the other Singleton comparison: James was in the NBA as a younger player, getting some time with the Clips. But then it became very profitable for him to go overseas. Pops has that same problem/solution: He can make a lucrative living overseas without ever having to improve his game.

[...] So, he dreams of being Outlaw. He really could be a Singleton. But the guy he ends up reminding me of in a Dallas uni is Donnell Harvey, who was here I think a decade ago. He probably could’ve been an Olympic track guy, he had boundless energy, he dominated in loosey-goosey 3-on-3 work. … but got exposed as a non-basketball player any time the situation was cranked up.

That might be Pops’ future, too.

Summing up…

Pros:

• has physical tools – athletic, nice hops, fast, 6′9″
• can dunk and finish in traffic
• shows effort and energy for rebounding and blocking
• is developing a mid-range game
• is a quality guy
• best-case scenario – Travis Outlaw

Cons:

• is a 6′9″ tweener
• can’t handle the ball
• needs to improve offensively, both inside and outside
• struggles one-on-one (shades of Jamario?)
• could improve focus

Analysis: A keeper, if the price is right; everybody will be looking for a bargain with potential like Pops’.

“Head, move!!!”

So, if we can get over this Sputnik-like hurdle, maybe Pat Riley would deign to give us Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, resulting in:

C: Bargnani, Voskuhl, Jawai (IL)
PF: Bosh, Humphries, J. Graham
SF: Marion, Moon, Kapono
SG: A. Parker, Solomon
PG: Calderon (IL), Banks, Ukic

With the addition of the Matrix, our mediocre perimeter D would improve for the balance of the season. On the other hand, Jamario Moon would lose a few minutes, I dare say; he’s practically a Marion Lite, isn’t he? What do you say, 2RR and GMTR: Time for fantasy GMs to trade Moon?

And with the addition of Banks, our point guard slot gets pretty crowded. Don’t know what he’s capable of, but I’m guessing the answer is “not much” judging by his lack of minutes for the Miami Heat. On the other hand, Banks got $9 million remaining over the next two years, which kinda demands that you find some use for him — maybe he can rediscover that 12-points-a-game form that got him that big contract in the first place. So it could mean fewer minutes for Roko.

Anyway, this move would be great for the team overall. Even if Marion pulls a Mourning, we still have his expiring contract. Hurray for cap flexibility.

Thanks to Luis in Doug Smith’s comment section.

UPDATE: Some thoughts from Raul Jimenez -

It’s a McDonald’s campaign. I watched it on ACB.com and they have also created a Youtube channel. Ricky is 18 years old now and he’s starting to appear in commercials (he didn’t do it before, except for an ACB sponsor’s commercial). His parents and his club, Joventut, took care to keep him off that world while he was younger (in Spain, 18 is the age to be considered an adult). This advertisement reminds me of the classic one with Larry Bird and M. Jordan in the eighties [Pete's note: It's the early nineties].

It’s not that I have something against this, although I don’t think McDonald’s is the best brand to represent. I mean, it’s not the healthiest food to eat as we all know, and with everybody from governments talking about fatter kids, about not abusing fast food … but, you know, that’s the way life is. Anyway, I think that many brands will fight for him now, and I suppose that he’ll get good money with advertisements which is fine (his contract with Joventut isn’t really high).

UPDATE 2: More Rubio videos at RickyLaCuela.com (”Ricky The School puts it in”).

Hassan Adams is off to join Baron Davis, Zach Randolph et al in L.A. What treasure was Hassan guarding from the Raptors — just luxury tax money and a future second-round pick? Or, as E-Smith suggests, could this also be a precursor to something more exciting, something that will make Raps fans feel like “happy misers”?

UPDATE: Hassan has been chopped by the Clippers.