Re: Should the Celtics look at Thon Maker?

by **gyso** Thu Jun 23, 2016 8:50 pm

A no money team like Milwaukee can take the risk for these unknowns like Thon and The Freak. The Boston Celtics do not have that luxury.

by **arambone** Thu Jun 23, 2016 9:41 pm

Ram wrote:I said Thon could go in the late lotto, might not be there at 16 and said he almost definitely wouldn't be there at 23.

You said Thon was a better prospect than Bender and that scouts/teams were down on him and he was going to drop significantly and teams would find he was not worth a top 10 pick, let alone top 5. Bender still went #4.

Let's not celebrate too hard arambone. Your Maker love was shared by many here and while your Bender hate was shared by many in the fact that we didn't want him chosen at #3, NOBODY but you thought he could fall out of the top 7-8 and he did not.

I know that most/all here shared my Thon enthusiasm.

It was half of twitter that ridiculed and mocked me.

by **arambone** Thu Jun 23, 2016 9:42 pm

gyso wrote:A no money team like Milwaukee can take the risk for these unknowns like Thon and The Freak. The Boston Celtics do not have that luxury.

What's funny is both Thon and Giannis have little bros who are hight nba draft prospects

by **Ram** Thu Jun 23, 2016 9:48 pm

arambone wrote:
Ram wrote:I said Thon could go in the late lotto, might not be there at 16 and said he almost definitely wouldn't be there at 23.

You said Thon was a better prospect than Bender and that scouts/teams were down on him and he was going to drop significantly and teams would find he was not worth a top 10 pick, let alone top 5. Bender still went #4.

Let's not celebrate too hard arambone. Your Maker love was shared by many here and while your Bender hate was shared by many in the fact that we didn't want him chosen at #3, NOBODY but you thought he could fall out of the top 7-8 and he did not.

I know that most/all here shared my Thon enthusiasm.

It was half of twitter that ridiculed and mocked me.

Ah ok, well some big 'ol f-bombs to twitter then

I am preparing myself to be disappointed when both Skal and Davis are taken between 20-22 before we can pick one at 23.

by **arambone** Thu Jun 23, 2016 9:51 pm

High School teammates Murray and Maker embrace after both being drafted top 10

Should the Celtics look at Thon Maker? - Page 9 ClrWjDJWgAAD05q

by **Ram** Thu Jun 23, 2016 10:02 pm

I'd rather have Murray and Maker than Brown and Yabusele

by **arambone** Thu Jun 23, 2016 10:16 pm

Ram wrote:I'd rather have Murray and Maker than Brown and Yabusele

Me too, but as is we have a lot more strength in our two, plus now Zizic.

by **Ram** Thu Jun 23, 2016 10:20 pm

We have some tough defenders and rebounders that is for sure.

by **arambone** Thu Jun 23, 2016 10:21 pm

Ram wrote:We have some tough defenders and rebounders that is for sure.

YES!

by **arambone** Thu Jun 23, 2016 10:23 pm

Ram wrote:We have some tough defenders and rebounders that is for sure.

But either Murray or Maker could easily be the best player to come out of this draft. We only got one with that potential in Brown. But he does have that potential.

The draft nerds overreacted to his shooting in college, but he's probably a slightly better 3 point shooter than Crowder, who has gotten pretty good.

by **steve3344** Fri Jun 24, 2016 2:20 am

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bucks-made-sure-thon-makers-014432501.html

http://www.brewhoop.com/2016/6/23/12020226/thon-maker-nba-bucks-draft-jason-kidd-john-hammond-ben-simmons-brandon-ingram

by **bobheckler** Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:30 pm

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/4q3bvy/research_into_thon_makers_age_probably_far_older/

On draft night, fellow user /u/bigcritic produced a compelling photo of a yearbook which suggested Thon Maker was far older than 19. However, the snapshot was vague and couldn’t conclusively support these accusations. People remained unconvinced, arguing that all the students could’ve been listed alphabetically regardless of grade or were just members of a particular club.

When the Bucks drafted him with the 10th pick the debate about his age continued amongst our fanbase. Apologists were vehement that these were all just rumors from other teams trying to crash his draft stock. One of our users on realgm was able to locate a former student of his old high school who had the actual yearbook and he was kind enough to submit more conclusive photos showing Thon graduated in 2010.
Original by /u/bigcritic: https://imgur.com/WjzgdGI
New: https://imgur.com/a/Lu7Ws

BONUS: 2007 yearbook photo showing Thon in the 9th grade credit to /u/Spangher (if you compare the two photos you can see a few of the same classmates, just older) https://i.imgur.com/R1kBhD3.jpg

BONUS video: for the skeptics who think it's photoshopped: https://vid.me/ncxK
-courtesy of our anonymous Aranmore college pupil

Rough timeline of his journey from Perth schoolboy to NBA lottery pick

200x-2010
Thon Maker is enrolled in Aranmore Catholic College, a high school in Perth. He was part of the 2010 graduating class.

2010-2011
During this time he was discovered by Edmund Smith, an extremely shady talent scout who worked mainly with Sudanese kids and had a reputation for being controlling. He saw Thon’s size, athleticism and potential but also knew it would never work with him being 18 already and still so raw and skinny.

2011
In early 2011, Thon Maker resurfaced as a 14 year old prodigy in Sydney where he joined the local club, St George Saints, an U/16 Division 2 squad. He didn’t attend school at this time and just played basketball, away from anyone who had previously known him and was a way to build credibility around his age. I suspect his age was somehow changed in the transition from Perth to Sydney.

Late 2011-2012
He had gone to camps in the US by this time and the highlight reels of the amazing “8th grader” had started to emerge.

2012-2015
Maker began 8th grade in the 2011-2012 season. Afterwards he was bounced around various schools, at least 3 in the US and a couple as well in Canada.

2016
Edmund Smith’s plan had succeeded and this was the first of his projects to get him a cut of NBA salary.

After hearing John Hammond’s responses on the radio I suspect he knew or suspected Thon was older, he just didn’t care. He connected personally with Thon and was willing to invest in his strong intangibles and it was an age range he could work with. Only time will tell if he made the right move. Obviously, being a raw 21-23 year old is completely different from being raw at 19.

TLDR: Thon Maker graduated high school in 2010 in Australia and 6 years later was drafted fresh out of high school. We have a 2010 yearbook photo showing him in 12th grade and a 2007 photo showing him in 9th grade. Evidence pretty strong now to suggest he could be as old as 23.
Discussion is encouraged, happy for others to point out the flaws in this

edit: bonus anecdotal evidence found on the web, some from years back which support these claims
https://imgur.com/a/8DUeU

bob
MY NOTE: It doesn't really matter anymore, he was drafted however old he is and he'll succeed or fail upon how well he plays from here on, it's just going to make GMs do more homework before drafting a kid from a part of the world where reliable birth certificates aren't a matter of course.

.

by **arambone** Mon Jun 27, 2016 7:30 pm

I don't know if this is true or not, but I definitely think he's ready to get minutes in the nba. The Bucks GM Hammond thinks so too.

by **dboss** Tue Jun 28, 2016 7:52 am

I cannot recall in recent memory a player who shot up the draft board like he did.

Dboss

by **bobheckler** Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:16 am

arambone wrote:
Ram wrote:I said Thon could go in the late lotto, might not be there at 16 and said he almost definitely wouldn't be there at 23.

You said Thon was a better prospect than Bender and that scouts/teams were down on him and he was going to drop significantly and teams would find he was not worth a top 10 pick, let alone top 5. Bender still went #4.

Let's not celebrate too hard arambone. Your Maker love was shared by many here and while your Bender hate was shared by many in the fact that we didn't want him chosen at #3, NOBODY but you thought he could fall out of the top 7-8 and he did not.

I know that most/all here shared my Thon enthusiasm.

It was half of twitter that ridiculed and mocked me.

arambone,

That's why they are called "Twits".

bob

.

by **arambone** Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:18 am

bobheckler wrote:
arambone wrote:
Ram wrote:I said Thon could go in the late lotto, might not be there at 16 and said he almost definitely wouldn't be there at 23.

You said Thon was a better prospect than Bender and that scouts/teams were down on him and he was going to drop significantly and teams would find he was not worth a top 10 pick, let alone top 5. Bender still went #4.

Let's not celebrate too hard arambone. Your Maker love was shared by many here and while your Bender hate was shared by many in the fact that we didn't want him chosen at #3, NOBODY but you thought he could fall out of the top 7-8 and he did not.

I know that most/all here shared my Thon enthusiasm.

It was half of twitter that ridiculed and mocked me.

arambone,

That's why they are called "Twits".

bob

.

good point.

by **arambone** Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:36 am

dboss wrote:I cannot recall in recent memory a player who shot up the draft board like he did.

Dboss

You confuse internet draft boards with TEAM draft boards. I tried to tell you he was high on team draft boards all along, and draft express and everybody else was full of sh!t.

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