Ironduke81 wrote:

Styles1229 wrote:

Of course I will take any positive away from something happening for the Dukes in July. So this Necas stuff is all good. But can someone enlighten me about the talent level of this competition. It’s U20 right? So he’s playing with high school types correct? And are they at the level of our High School teams? Would, say, Pine Richland beat this team Necas is playing on?

Watching South Sudan on Fox sports kicking the crap out of the NBA all star team in London. Out of respect I have for this board I will bite my tongue in regard to your Pine Richland comment. If basketball started a golf typeRyder cup tournament the Euros would own the US

That team would be tough because most of the great Euro's are in the NBA.
 

Ironduke81 wrote:

Styles1229 wrote:

Of course I will take any positive away from something happening for the Dukes in July.  So  this Necas stuff is all good.  But can someone enlighten me about the talent level of this competition.  It’s U20 right?  So he’s playing with high school types correct?  And are they at the level of our High School teams?  Would, say, Pine Richland beat this team Necas is playing on?

Watching South Sudan on Fox sports kicking the crap out of the NBA all star team in London. Out of respect I have for this board I will bite my tongue in regard to your Pine Richland comment. If basketball started a golf typeRyder  cup tournament the Euros would own the US

My point was that he is playing for a small country and it’s 19 y/o and under.  I’m sure Dayton or VCU would crush those kids so I used a big a big American High School to make my point. Clearly European basketball has an excellent skill level the smaller the country and younger the age of the competition diminishes the skill level.  Were you even watching those games?  They did not look a whole better than a Div 2 college basketball team.

Regardless of the various perceptions of the quality of competition in this FIBA tournament, here is what I see from Jakub. I see a player whose confidence level soared in his last 8-10 games as a Duquesne freshman. I see a player who parlayed that confidence into a stellar performance in the U20 Euro Tournament. I see a player who works very hard at improving his game, especially defensively. I see a player who is fully connected and committed to Dru Joyce.  I see a player who has gotten taller and stronger. I see a player that is ready to take a huge leap from his freshman to sophomore season.

If he continues down this path, I see a player that can be one of the best that Duquesne ever produced and will play in the NBA. Time will tell.

I love Necas.  The Dukes do not close out those last games against VCU and BYU without his major contributions.  I love his development and I expect some big things from him.   I was simply pointing out that he was playing with and against mostly high school age and slightly older kids in this tournament and next winter he will primarily be playing against men multiple years older.  I watched about 20 minutes total of 2 different games and I was struck by how young the players looked and it was by no means rough and tumble.  But Necas mostly dominated so no negative to draw from that.

Necas highlight tape from the tournament:

https://x.com/ehoopsscouting/status/1819021947524530318?s=46