Germany opened the EuroBasket tournament with a victory against Ukraine.

international wrote:Germany won again today vs Georgia and Zaza Pachulia.Daniel Theis had 6 points ,4 rebounds and 5 STEALS in 19 minutes.Pachulia had 14 points and 8 boards in 28 minutes, Giorgi Shemardini a 7-2 center had 5 points and 2 rebounds in 19 minutes.Germany is undefeated with 2-0.Dennis Schroder was the best scorer again with 23 points.

Theis also had 2 blocks in this game. All in 19 minutes. I am starting to see him climb up my fantasy depth chart, at least in the 2nd half of the season after the plays start to become 2nd nature and would not be the least bit surprised to see him averaging 20mpg. Not bad for an NBA rookie.


bob


.

international wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRpbosEtzJk&t=2s

The more I watch this guy the more I like him. His defensive fundamentals look good, which should expedite his transition. He seems to around the ball a lot

And Theis is pronounced like "Tice".  Ice, with a T in front, and not Like Reggie Theus.

I'm assuming Daniel is the same.  

international wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GLZAc1WCpU

International,

wow.  I'm really, really starting to like him.  6 blocks ("von sech" means "Of six" in German).   Some were straight up man-to-man blocks at the rim, some were him swooping in from the weak side and one was a chase-down after getting beat at the perimeter.  I started out thinking he'd get 10-15mpg, like Jerebko.  Now I'm thinking he'll get 20mpg or more depending upon injuries (maybe more mpg than #3 pick Tatum).  He fills a definite need of ours.  When Al gets to sit Brad will have the choice of either going Bully-Ball with Baynes or mobile and long with Theis.  We have two legit shot blockers on the Celtics:  Horford and, now, Theis.  I expect, especially since they are both quite mobile and can shoot the 3-ball and Brad likes that in his players (pace-and-space), we'll see lots of both of them.

I don't get too excited by summer league or pre-season.  The quality of players, and their integration into a team, in summer league and pre-season are very low but these are pro players, playing with teams they play and practice with regularly (perhaps for years) that Theis is competing against.  They are men, veterans, not kids trying to prove they deserve a chance to just make the team.  Even if the German League isn't as good as the NBA it's still pretty good and if he's one of the top players there he almost certainly can compete and earn solid rotation minutes here.  

Furthermore, Theis is a 3x German League Champion.  He has been a 4x German League All-Star.  Setting aside any difference in quality between the NBA and the Euro league and the German league, just being in a Championship round and winning is a lesson and education you cannot buy.  You have to earn it.

In this video he gets a lot of dunks off of pnrs.  Ok great, I'm not impressed by 6'9" athletes dunking through a 10' high hoop, but he also has a very smooth shot from 3.  And, to my great joy, some Spalding Burgers fed to people who tried to take it to him at the rim (a very nice one at about the 1:00 mark).  His defensive timing looks very good.  A little experience to not be too quick to leave his feet in the NBA and I think we are going to be very, very pleased with Herr Theis.

3 minutes of fun.





bob


.