A little while back, Pete Marasmitch featured a post on Ingles, as a potential draftee for the Toronto Raptors. Jeff who runs the site put the question to me, prompted by one of the commenters there, as to whether Ingles’ prospects had been hindered by him not playing US College basketball.
The answer almost certainly has to be yes. American scouts are increasingly improving in their reach around the world, as they scour leagues everywhere to uncover the next Dirk Nowitzki or Manu Ginobili that goes unnoticed. However a GM is always going to be more comfortable drafting a player that they’ve seen more of, in a competition that they are more familiar with (such as the NCAA), rather than a player that has been outside of their radar in a league played deep in the southern hemisphere.
Meanwhile, Ingles had taken what many would argue to be the most sensible and astute route possible, being educated at the highly respected Australian Institute of Sport, before going on to star immediately in Australia’s National Basketball League.
Generally you could categorise potential NBA draftees into two groups: those with potential and those who can contribute immediately. Given that Ingles stepped into his NBL debut in 2006 for the South Dragons to put up 29 points without having ever played pro ball before, you could say that he’s definitely a guy who can contribute at a pro level straight away. Does he have potential though? Well, the guy is still only 21 yet has represented his country very solidly against the likes of Team USA at the Olympics — enough said.
Now, here comes the problem part. Many in the USA would say, “but what are these Aussie NBL teams like? We know nothing about them… we know what the NCAA is like, but we have no idea when it comes to downunder.” Well it is worth considering that NCAA teams tour Australia from time to time and play against NBL teams (as well as lesser, non-pro local squads) and the NBL teams usually come up trumps. A player like Ingles, entering a professional league at the age of 18 is a boy amongst men, so it makes sense that he is getting the best preparation possible to play in a league of amazing physical specimens like the NBA. However this factor doesn’t normally get taken into account by scouts.
So has Ingles ruined his chances of being drafted by not playing US College ball? Maybe. Maybe not. It just means that a lot more pressure is put on his performances at pre-draft camps. There have been mixed reviews on his performances to date — as you can imagine, it’s a helluvalot of pressure to put on someone to perform at their best in such a short space of time, having travelled to the other side of the world, with all of those eyes on you and your future riding on it.
The facts remain that “Jingles” is a superior shooter from all distances (2008-09: FG 45% // 3PT 37% // FT 81%), has great court vision (3.8apg over his NBL career) and is extremely versatile, being able to play three positions whilst standing 6’8″ and having a wingspan of 6’10.25″ according to his Draft Express Pre-Draft measurements. Basically, if a guy like Ingles existed in the NCAA, scouts would be drooling over him.
Fellow Aussie Olympian, Patty Mills is getting significant interest from scouts and is no doubt helped by his own solid NCAA showings (despite injury concerns). It just makes you wonder if Ingles would be getting the same hype if he was lighting it up around the USA the last couple of years.
Here’s Joe talking about his expectations for the NBA Draft
(image credit top: news.com.au)
