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Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 6:40 am**

I know I said I was done with the Bucks until the draft after Kohl wouldn't allow any deadline trades, but I had to come back. It was nice taking a break, but I love this team too much to abandon it for 5 months.

Anyway I had a chance to catch a Euroleague game yesterday between Ersan's FC Barcelona and the Malaga Bucks (well actually the team is called Unicaja Malaga, but Jiri Welsch, Marcus Haislip and Daniel Santiago all suit up for the squad)

The first thing that that initially jumped out at me was how much Ersan's passing has improved. I remember being surprised at how bad of a passer he was during his year in Milwaukee, considering most Euros are so fundamentally sound when they come over. Ilyasova was making quick, smart passes that lead to easy baskets for his teammates. Instead of holding the ball and pump-faking 8 times, if Ersan didn

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 6:58 am**

Ersan turns 21 later this month.

If he can get good development for the next year or two in Europe, and come back to the Bucks when he is 23, he will probably be a fine player.

I am excited for when he gets back.

Great post BTW. Very informative.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 7:22 am**

Welcome back, Chuck. I've been keeping an eye out for Milan games so I can catch Gallinari and Watson. Any insight on those guys?

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 7:32 am**

Thanks for the update.

I know a few on the board aren't too high on him, but I think he will be a very solid player in the NBA.

How do u get to watch these games?

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 7:40 am**

DH34Phan wrote:Ersan turns 21 later this month.

If he can get good development for the next year or two in Europe, and come back to the Bucks when he is 23, he will probably be a fine player.

I am excited for when he gets back.

Great post BTW. Very informative.

BS! He should have never left here!They should have at least had in in the D-League to get that Euro ball out of him.

Ersan served no purpose in Europe. The way they are playing he should have been here if you were gonna draft and keep Yi.

The Bucks should have made up their minds and drafted to win now and not have taken Yi and let Ersan go unless they were rebuilding.

Other organizatins can afford to do that because they have experienced front offices and player personnel departments. The Bucks cannot.

Just like the Brewers you should do things the 'right way.' Ersan is at least more interesting then what you are trotting out right now.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 1:08 pm**

I love you Chuck and appreciate the reports.....

But this is a tough crowd. You do realize that noting Ersan outplayed Haislip, Santiago and Jiri might not exactly get people optimistic about his future.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 2:48 pm**

NotYoAvgNBAFan wrote:BS! He should have never left here!They should have at least had in in the D-League to get that Euro ball out of him.

As a third year player, Ersan would have been ineligible for the D-League this year.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 3:06 pm**

i still like haislip

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 4:03 pm**

jerrod wrote:i still like haislip

He's better than Gadz.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 4:26 pm**

I hope you were not implying that Santiago is a better 5 than Gadz, although it may be hard to believe Santiago is worse than Gadz, he is.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 4:29 pm**

smacks1 wrote:I hope you were not implying that Santiago is a better 5 than Gadz, although it may be hard to believe Santiago is worse than Gadz, he is.

Jerrod said "i still like haislip" and I responded by saying, "he's better than Gadz." No mention of Santiago anywhere in there lol. But I'm pretty sure Santiago could beat Gadz one on one.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 5:52 pm**

NotYoAvgNBAFan wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

BS! He should have never left here!They should have at least had in in the D-League to get that Euro ball out of him.

Ersan served no purpose in Europe. The way they are playing he should have been here if you were gonna draft and keep Yi.

The Bucks should have made up their minds and drafted to win now and not have taken Yi and let Ersan go unless they were rebuilding.

Other organizatins can afford to do that because they have experienced front offices and player personnel departments. The Bucks cannot.

Just like the Brewers you should do things the 'right way.' Ersan is at least more interesting then what you are trotting out right now.

I think it was a mistake to let him go for four reasons:

1) He was a fan favorite.

2) The Bucks had already invested hours to his development.

3) He is an international player, and with the Yi pick, the logical direction is to move towards a more global roster. Which is also wise, because most American players don't want to play in Milwaukee. Some high status internationals also (Yi), but I think he is more of the exception than the rule.

4) There is a good chance that he will eventually become a star in the Euroleague. If that happens he either won't want to come back, or will cost too much.

I also think it was a mistake for the Bucks to try and turn him into a NBA power forward, but that is besides the point...

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 6:20 pm**

Daniel Santiago, NBA Legend

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 7:07 pm**

Rockmaninoff wrote:1) He was a fan favorite.

Really? People certainly wanted to see him do well because he was a hard-working young player, but did anyone not renew their season tickets because Ersan went to Spain?

Rockmaninoff wrote:2) The Bucks had already invested hours to his development.

I think sticking with someone just because you have done so in the past isn't a very good reason to re-sign them, especially given the Bucks still have his early Bird rights in the NBA. If the Bucks didn't think he was ready to contribute then paying him $3-4 million to be a bit player doesn't make a ton of sense when he can go to Spain and work on his game at no charge to the Bucks.

His performances both in Milwaukee and Spain haven't suggested he would have been an impact player for us. Maybe we win a couple more games while Mason was out, but in general we're still a sub-.500 team with him. I'm not saying give up on him, but letting him play for Barca isn't giving up on him either.

Rockmaninoff wrote:4) There is a good chance that he will eventually become a star in the Euroleague. If that happens he either won't want to come back, or will cost too much.

Well he really hasn't done much in Barcelona and he doesn't have a long-term deal, so the Bucks should have another shot at him. I think many people mistakenly assumed that as a guy with some NBA experience he could be an impact-type player in Europe, but as a young player on a good team that hasn't happened. He certainly has the skills to be a good player there, but he's still young and it's not easy adapting to the style of play there.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 7:27 pm**

[quote="NotYoAvgNBAFan"][/quote]

I honestly dont think you have ever contributed anything useful...

now please go away for good.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 7:30 pm**

fam3381 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Rockmaninoff wrote:
1) He was a fan favorite.

Really? People certainly wanted to see him do well because he was a hard-working young player, but did anyone not renew their season tickets because Ersan went to Spain?

Rockmaninoff wrote:
2) The Bucks had already invested hours to his development.

I think sticking with someone just because you have done so in the past isn't a very good reason to re-sign them, especially given the Bucks still have his early Bird rights in the NBA. If the Bucks didn't think he was ready to contribute then paying him $3-4 million to be a bit player doesn't make a ton of sense when he can go to Spain and work on his game at no charge to the Bucks.

His performances both in Milwaukee and Spain haven't suggested he would have been an impact player for us. Maybe we win a couple more games while Mason was out, but in general we're still a sub-.500 team with him. I'm not saying give up on him, but letting him play for Barca isn't giving up on him either.

Rockmaninoff wrote:
4) There is a good chance that he will eventually become a star in the Euroleague. If that happens he either won't want to come back, or will cost too much.

Well he really hasn't done much in Barcelona and he doesn't have a long-term deal, so the Bucks should have another shot at him. I think many people mistakenly assumed that as a guy with some NBA experience he could be an impact-type player in Europe, but as a young player on a good team that hasn't happened. He certainly has the skills to be a good player there, but he's still young and it's not easy adapting to the style of play there.

I guess I would of rather seen the Bucks give him the money that they gave to Jake Voskuhl. That is all.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 8:04 pm**

Rockmaninoff wrote:I guess I would of rather seen the Bucks give him the money that they gave to Jake Voskuhl. That is all.

I think that's a very reasonable position. I don't know why Voskuhl all of a sudden is playing behind Gadzuric, but if he's not going to play then it certainly makes more sense to have a guy with some upside instead.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 8:58 pm**

Could it possibly be that the Bucks wanted Ersan back?

They worked with him all summer when he was a RFA. He has 2 agents, one American and one European, I'm pretty sure the Bucks wanted him back but the offer was big and came out of nowhere.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 10:38 pm**

MartyConlonOnTheRun wrote:Could it possibly be that the Bucks wanted Ersan back?

I believe GAD said the Bucks encouraged him to explore his options in Europe...it didn't seem like the Bucks had big plans for him. At the summer league I can remember LK talking about essentially the entire roster and not even mentioning Ersan until the guy interviewing him asked him about it.

Posted: **Fri Mar 7, 2008 11:33 pm**

Whats up with all the former Bucks? How'd Marty Conlon play?

Ersan appeared like a house elf out of nowhere and powerfully rejected the mammoth Puerto Rican from behind.

Sounds like an episode of Oz.

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Scouting Ersan

Scouting Ersan