Not sure why so many people like Semih Erden...

[guava_wrench]

Scal looked like a deer in the headlights half the time on offense. Erden looks like he really wants the ball and knows what to do with it.

By my count, Erden made 3 exceptional passes and no bad passes.

I will still wait to pass judgment, but I see no reason for some to be so negative. Even if Erden wasn't facing Brand, he was still facing players who will get minutes during the regular season. In other words, he was facing guys he would likely face as the 5th big off the bench.

Harangody looks horrific. I'll wait before passing judgment there, but he looks like you would expect from his draft position.

[xmuscularghandix]

Erden turned me tonight, I knew he’d look better with real NBA guys... but he really impressed. Semih can score, he can catch the ball, he can shoot free throws, and he’s not intimidated.

I’m slightly excited.

[LooseCannon]

I've thought that Erden had a shot of contributing about as much as your typical third-string center.  The box score says he had two blocks and five fouls.  I suspected he was going to be a bit foul-prone and that he's going to block enough shots that he's going to have a few crowd-pleasing swats that will earn him some fans.

How did those blocks look?  Were his fouls silly?  Did he foul anyone hard enough to make you think he can serve as a bit of an enforcer?

[GranTur]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

[guava_wrench]

Erden turned me tonight, I knew he’d look better with real NBA guys... but he really impressed. Semih can score, he can catch the ball, he can shoot free throws, and he’s not intimidated.

I’m slightly excited.

He definitely didn't look intimidated. He seemed unimpressed by his surroundings. I didn't expect the confidence level. Harangody looks like such a spaz next to him.

[Assassin70]

I will admit he looks good tonight.  But that is because of 2 things.

1.  Celtics >*100 then his Turkish teammates
2.  76ers are awful

Well if nothing else he is our new Scal.  

You mean New Victory Cigar, Maybe? He should provide more than Scal. More Rebounding, More Scoring, More Blocks, More Assists, and Less High 5s  

I meant this ^, meaning happy to see him do well/play well when he gets a chance.  I didn't mean skill wise.  Skill wise I /agree  Gody = Scal

[guava_wrench]

Nate called him Semih-automatic.

[EJPLAYA]

Erden turned me tonight, I knew he’d look better with real NBA guys... but he really impressed. Semih can score, he can catch the ball, he can shoot free throws, and he’s not intimidated.

I’m slightly excited.

Amen. He also looks like he can block a shot or two. This was an impressive performance. Keep it up.

[indeedproceed]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

He cannot defend at near the level Shelden Williams did, and he looked lost with the ball as much as he looked solid. Plus those "rookie" mistakes..the guy is 24 years old. Shelden is 26.

I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer..but the funniest moments of the 3/4 quarters was when Semih thought it would be a good idea to 'create' something on the floor. It was like watching a soccer player in a boxing match. He couldn't have flopped around or looked more out of place if he tried.

That all said I loved his aggressiveness and the parts he looked good, but this was a preseason game. What's he going to do against real competition?

I think he belongs on the team, but he's not a NBA player yet.

[Change]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

He cannot defend at near the level Shelden Williams did, and he looked lost with the ball as much as he looked solid. Plus those "rookie" mistakes..the guy is 24 years old. Shelden is 26.

Which Shelden you speak of? The Shelden from last was a terrible defender. He was always late making the rotation. He was a terrible PnR Defender. And fouled way to much. Semih is much more advanced when it comes to Defense. His national team ran similar Scheme. And Semih was their best defender.

[indeedproceed]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

He cannot defend at near the level Shelden Williams did, and he looked lost with the ball as much as he looked solid. Plus those "rookie" mistakes..the guy is 24 years old. Shelden is 26.

Which Shelden you speak of? The Shelden from last was a terrible defender. He was always late making the rotation. He was a terrible PnR Defender. And fouled too much on the one-on-one matcups. Semih is much more advanced when it comes to Defense. His national team ran similar Scheme. And Semih was their best defender.

That's simply not true, Shelden's defense 1 on 1 was pretty good when he wasn't completely overmatched, and Semih Erden was not Turkey's best low-post defender, in fact he usually didn't start so their best defender, Omer Asik (like 37% FT percentage) could anchor the middle.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/2010/09/omer-asik-playing-key-role-for-6-0-turkey.html

Omer Asik plays a key role for Turkey as their third leading scorer, leading rebounder, and interior defender.

EDIT: And I don't mean to say it like this is common knowledge. I drafted Omer Asik in the CB draft and looked up this stuff pretty extensively.

[Change]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

He cannot defend at near the level Shelden Williams did, and he looked lost with the ball as much as he looked solid. Plus those "rookie" mistakes..the guy is 24 years old. Shelden is 26.

Which Shelden you speak of? The Shelden from last was a terrible defender. He was always late making the rotation. He was a terrible PnR Defender. And fouled too much on the one-on-one matcups. Semih is much more advanced when it comes to Defense. His national team ran similar Scheme. And Semih was their best defender.

That's simply not true, Shelden's defense 1 on 1 was pretty good when he wasn't completely overmatched, and Semih Erden was not Turkey's best low-post defender, in fact he usually didn't start so their best defender, Omer Asik (like 37% FT percentage) could anchor the middle.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/2010/09/omer-asik-playing-key-role-for-6-0-turkey.html

EDIT: And I don't mean to say it like this is common knowledge. I drafted Omer Asik in the CB draft and looked up this stuff pretty extensively.

You are looking at the physique, and assuming Shelden was a good defender. He is build like a brickhouse, but had IQ of a bird. Shelden never learned Celtics defensive system, or was too dumb to excute it. I'm not saying Semih is Ron Artest on D, but the fact that he knows where to go already shows a lot. Celtics run one of the most complicated Defensive System in the NBA. You can have all the physical tools, but without BBIQ it means nothing.

[Scribbles]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

He cannot defend at near the level Shelden Williams did, and he looked lost with the ball as much as he looked solid. Plus those "rookie" mistakes..the guy is 24 years old. Shelden is 26.

Which Shelden you speak of? The Shelden from last was a terrible defender. He was always late making the rotation. He was a terrible PnR Defender. And fouled too much on the one-on-one matcups. Semih is much more advanced when it comes to Defense. His national team ran similar Scheme. And Semih was their best defender.

That's simply not true, Shelden's defense 1 on 1 was pretty good when he wasn't completely overmatched, and Semih Erden was not Turkey's best low-post defender, in fact he usually didn't start so their best defender, Omer Asik (like 37% FT percentage) could anchor the middle.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/2010/09/omer-asik-playing-key-role-for-6-0-turkey.html

Actually Asik is the better offensive player of the two, while Erden is far and away the better defensive player.  The defense in that tournament when Erden was in the game was much better than when Asik was.  

Now as far as him and Williams go, I don't know.  Different positions really.  Sheldon is an undersized 4 while Erden is a normal sized 5.  I'm not ready to deem Erden as a role player after one preseason game but its basically what I saw from him in the Fiba tourney, he has solid hands, good athlete for his size, can run the floor, has solid defensive footwork, and is a solid passer. Plus like the above poster said, BBIQ can go a long ways.  He'll stick around on an NBA roster if he wants too.  

[indeedproceed]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

He cannot defend at near the level Shelden Williams did, and he looked lost with the ball as much as he looked solid. Plus those "rookie" mistakes..the guy is 24 years old. Shelden is 26.

Which Shelden you speak of? The Shelden from last was a terrible defender. He was always late making the rotation. He was a terrible PnR Defender. And fouled too much on the one-on-one matcups. Semih is much more advanced when it comes to Defense. His national team ran similar Scheme. And Semih was their best defender.

That's simply not true, Shelden's defense 1 on 1 was pretty good when he wasn't completely overmatched, and Semih Erden was not Turkey's best low-post defender, in fact he usually didn't start so their best defender, Omer Asik (like 37% FT percentage) could anchor the middle.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/2010/09/omer-asik-playing-key-role-for-6-0-turkey.html

EDIT: And I don't mean to say it like this is common knowledge. I drafted Omer Asik in the CB draft and looked up this stuff pretty extensively.

You are looking at the physique, and assuming Shelden was a good defender. He is build like a brickhouse, but had IQ of a bird. Shelden never learned Celtics defensive system, or was too dumb to excute it. I'm not saying Semih is Ron Artest on D, but the fact that he knows where to go already shows a lot. Celtics run one of the most complicated Defensive System in the NBA. You can have all the physical tools, but without BBIQ it means nothing.

Well I'm basing it on watching Shelden play. I never thought "Shelden can't D-up in the post"..I thought more "shelden should never touch the ball"

[indeedproceed]

Erden was pretty impressive tonight. Was in the right places on offense and defense, has nice court awareness (made some nice passes), and a decent pair of hands.

His fouls were kind of rookie-type touch fouls. He's young and new to the NBA so he'll learn what he can and can't do.

I don't know how much potential he has but there's one thing for sure:

He can do everything Shelden Williams did and more.

He cannot defend at near the level Shelden Williams did, and he looked lost with the ball as much as he looked solid. Plus those "rookie" mistakes..the guy is 24 years old. Shelden is 26.

Which Shelden you speak of? The Shelden from last was a terrible defender. He was always late making the rotation. He was a terrible PnR Defender. And fouled too much on the one-on-one matcups. Semih is much more advanced when it comes to Defense. His national team ran similar Scheme. And Semih was their best defender.

That's simply not true, Shelden's defense 1 on 1 was pretty good when he wasn't completely overmatched, and Semih Erden was not Turkey's best low-post defender, in fact he usually didn't start so their best defender, Omer Asik (like 37% FT percentage) could anchor the middle.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/2010/09/omer-asik-playing-key-role-for-6-0-turkey.html

Actually Asik is the better offensive player of the two, while Erden is far and away the better defensive player.  The defense in that tournament when Erden was in the game was much better than when Asik was. 

I only got to see 2 games where Turkey played, so I'm not really basing it on that.

Mostly its on what I read, and most people praised Asik's defense, while if anything defense was a secondary mention for Erden.

However as an aside...both guys aren't really good defenders at an NBA level IMO..after watching Rudy Gay and Lamar Odom steal boards and gain positon on both guys in the chip game, neither one is an NBA defender right now.