Here's my scouting profile of Marc from 2007 What are people saying? The most common things you'll hear about Marc Gasol are that he has a high basket ball IQ (+), he has good to very good hands (+), and he has poor conditioning (-). It is often said that he is a good team player (+), flashes a variety of post moves (+), passes well within the flow of the offense (+), is strong (+), but has limited quickness (-). The following also appear, with infrequency: Good vision, puts forth a great effort, good ballhandler, not a good athlete, takes good shots, a fundamentally sound player who is working on developing his post repertoire. While he seems to more than hold his own defensively, he is not a shotblocker and may not have the skill advantage over opposing bigs in the NBA that he does in Europe. What I saw: Physically, I see a very tall but apparently somewhat lanky player who has a big frame and room to grow. His physique looks a lot like older brother Pau's physique. He could add quality pounds to his frame with ease, it seems. A large frame that is currently fairly lean with some musculature. In a game setting, Marc seems to enjoy running the pick and roll, which he does fairly adroitly, using decent speed to get to the hoop. He fairly regularly takes contact yet succeeds in hitting the shots, including both layups and jumpers. He has the ability to score around the basket with either hand, even hitting layups left-handed while absorbing contact. He passes readily, hitting open men and cutters alike, unless he is very close to the rim for a score. Does drive occasionally, shows good handles when he does, but not great body control and speed. Marc will have to go to the basket with more authority or he will see more of his shots blocked and altered by body contact despite his strength. He tends to get up in the air a bit, tries to outmuscle his opponents. At the Center spot in the NBA, he will not have that luxury. Finally in terms of his offensive repertoire, Gasol can hit the 18 to 20 foot jumper with a nice stroke. He has some of the Euro touch, it seems. I noticed that he did a lot of his work out toward the perimeter, something that would not be ideal for a Center. Defensively, Marc is more than competent against generally less aggressive, weaker foes. He does get pushed around a bit because he doesn't keep his feet set defensively. He does not try to block many shots, but does serve to keep drivers out of the lane because of his size. He will have to work hard to become a good man-to-man defender, but would likely have the instincts and team-player mentality to be a solid help defender, making him the exact opposite of Kwame Brown, for instance. Player Comparisons: Frequently, his upside is likened to that of Mehmet Okur. On the downside, Marc Jackson's name appears. In between these extremes are several references to a less-talented Pau Gasol and the suggestion of Todd MacCulloch. With the exception of Pau, these are shooters and rebounders who do not have the athleticism or shotblocking skill necessary to be a dominant player, but they have all been serviceable as starters in the NBA. There is no reason to think that Marc does not have that potential as well. Here comes the bad part. While Pau was only 21 during his rookie season in the NBA, Okur made his debut at 23, MacCulloch at 24 (but gave only limited contributions until 26), and Jackson at 26 years of age. At 22 years of age, Marc Gasol could be as many as three years away from real contributions in the NBA. Depending upon what moves the Lakers make during the off season, Gasol could be forced to develop on the fly. This move seems to have been generally successful for Andrew Bynum, but he both saw his ups and downs and is typically considered a gym rat. Gasol's work ethic could be tested immediately. What might we expect? The closest estimate for someone of Gasol's position and draft position playing in a Phil Jackson team is approximately 196 minutes across 22 games. Will he remain in Europe, come to the D-League, or play in the NBA? I think the most likely answer is the first, followed by some hybrid of the second and third answers. All this depends upon Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm, and Andrew Bynum's health and trade status. If one of them goes, Gasol has a solid shot at coming to the USA, spending some time in the D-League. If two of them are gone, Gasol probably comes to the NBA immediately. In 8.9 minutes per game, what might we expect from Marc Gasol? 3.8 points, 0.3 assists, 2.5 boards, 0.3 blocks. Assuming he never becomes a starter, and there is good reason to believe that, Gasol's numbers would likely top out around 6 points, 4 boards.
I really want to stay away from these Marc Gasol comparisons. That's so difficult and unfair for this kid. He's just 19 years old and very raw. He's never seen anything like NBA level competition for any length of time. He's going to have an adjustment period, probably a long adjustment period. I see plenty of talent a lot to be excited about, but putting these kinds of expectations on the poor kid is going to leave us disappointed if/when he doesn't play like Marc Gasol in Summer League.
What's hard about looking at how Marc looked at 5-6 years older compared to same size now and kid muscled Zubac? Just saying he looks as coordinated now as Marc looked at 24. Heck read trodgers's scouting report above on Marc at the age of 22. It's just an eye test between the clips and what can very reasonably be expected to happen in his physical development next 4-6 years. Not unfair at all, no pressure on the kid .... it was my eye test. I think it's very clear but if it makes you uncomfortable.... fine. As well, Mitch brought up the Marc Gasol comparison.
No need to take it personally, this is just the same situation with Ingram. It's hard to make these comparisons and then when you see the actual product NOT feel disappointed when he's lightyears away from the comparison. It's really not all that fair to these kids and sets us up for disappointment. You're not the only one who sees the comparison. Mitch made it, I see it, but as long as we all realize that he's not even close to Marc in that video ^ we'll be happier.
Okay to each their own. We'll see what he looks like in Summer League. Hopefully you're right and he's the next Marc Gasol who was on the 2nd All-Rookie team. If he's not I won't be disappointed. I'm not expecting much out of Zubac next season.
Marc was 24 years old for crissakes. That's my whole point. Why would you even say that?? sirron joked about the rookie awards, but I have zero expectation of Zubac in that regard.
We're in agreement: Zubac won't look like a young Marc Gasol, right? He won't look like a rookie Marc Gasol let alone a DPOY type Marc Gasol, correct? But just invoking those comparisons means that is what we're going to be hoping for that from him and that's just a tough place to put a kid like that. It's like comparing Simmons to LeBron or Okafor to Duncan or Russell to Curry or Ingram to Durant. When they don't look like that, we wonder why not? With those other more high profile players I understand the comparisons a little more because we've seen them play a bunch in college so the comparisons are at least somewhat more understandable even if they're still unfair. With Zubac we've seen almost nothing. The only site to give us concrete positives and negatives is DraftExpress and they like him a lot. I'd just like to get through Summer League and some evidence of his play against more NBA caliber talent. Then we can make more concrete observations of who he is as a player. I have high hopes for him, but low expectations. It's tough to live up to Marc Gasol as a 19 year old kid and I'm just going to keep my expectations low until we see it in person for ourselves that he can compete at a high level with NBA talent.
"We're in agreement: Zubac won't look like a young Marc Gasol, right? He won't look like a rookie Marc Gasol let alone a DPOY type Marc Gasol, correct?" I agree with the 2nd sentence. I disagree with the first sentence because after watching Marc at 24 and then later reading what trodgers wrote about him when we drafted him at 22 .... I think Zubac is further along at a younger age with his coordination, and expect him 4 and then 6 years from now after weight training and maturing with his body to possibly be more imposing physically. It's common sense with how these guys ....especially Big Men..... as espoused on CL and now LB develop physically with man muscle. Since 19 year old Zubac is "ballpark" same size as prime Gasol now.
I'm fairly confident we have a gem in our hands. We drafted Bynum, Marc and Zubac in the last decade. Clearly, our scouting department sees things in bigs of this mold that other teams do not. There's no need to downplay Zubac's projection. Mitch seems more excited about this kid than he is over Ingram. I'd say he's a future starter, possibly allstar.
I don't understand why we're arguing if we're saying the same thing. All I said was it's unfair to compare him to Marc Gasol similar to how it is unfair to compare Ingram to Durant. Those comparisons will always happen and are supposed to signify their maximum potential. Unfortunately not as many people talk about the other side of their potential. Zubac could be Marc Gasol if we're lucky. If we're unlucky he could be Cole Aldrich or Joel Pryzbilla or something like that. Just a big body. The truth is probably somewhere in between so while we wait to see whether or not he's ready for NBA minutes I'm going to keep my hopes and expectations as low as I can. I still have a great feeling about this kid, I just want to see it with my own eyes first. Mitch said he was a Top 20 pick in this draft on their board so there's good reason for optimism. I'm just trying to be patient.
I sure hope so. I'm just hoping he's a good starter. If he can end up giving us 10/10/2 in 3-4 years, we could end up winning three drafts in a row. 2014: Randle/Clarkson 2015: Russell/Nance Jr./.... Brown? 2016: Ingram/Zubac
weren't aldrich and pryzbilla lotto picks? i'm intrigued with this kid, but i agree with real (and might go further): there's not a lot of reason to expect fireworks, especially early. if he ends up a 15-20mpg backup, you nailed the second round pick. let's hope for that first.
No, he's wanting to play like Marc Gasol plays. What's wrong with that. Don't we all want a center that can shoot the ball at least from mid-range in addition to being strong and productive on offense and defense down low?
The development process might be like Bynum, but I think they're going to have pretty different games. Andrew was way more athletic than Ivica seems to be.
People need to chill with regard to Zubac. He might be another Marcin Gortat, Vucevic or Kanter...he might also turn to be as useful as Sacre. I think he is a couple of years away at this point but you never know. If he is anything better than a 3rd string C, thats a success. The problem is that backup Cs are usually defensive minded and come in and provide rebounding and energy. Zubac is a subpar rebounder and post defender and mostly offense-minded. I think thats a problem, if you are a backup C in this league.
