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Could Marcelo Huertas be the mentor of our young PG's?

FabioJazz

FabioJazz

Well-Known Member
Brazilian point guard Marcelo Huertas planning move to NBA

By Adrian Wojnarowski
42 minutes ago

After years of playing significant roles in the Euroleague and on the Brazilian national team, point guard Marcelo Huertas is planning a move to the NBA next season, Yahoo Sports has learned.

Huertas, 31, a savvy, athletic 6-foot-3 playmaker and a deft shooter, is expected to be aggressively pursued as a backup guard in July free agency.

Huertas has been anchored to the Spanish ACB League the past six years with long-term deals that contained significant NBA buyouts, but finally is free of those hurdles. He hasn’t ruled out returning to FC Barcelona next year if the right NBA offer doesn’t emerge, but Huertas is determined to take a serious look at joining the NBA.

“This is the right time,” Huertas told Yahoo Sports.

Huertas has played six seasons for FC Barcelona of the Spanish ACB, leading Barca to three consecutive Euroleague Final Four appearances. He’s averaging 7.4 points and 4.9 assists for Barcelona this season. Huertas is a career 87 percent free-throw shooter.

Huertas has been Brazil’s point guard in numerous Olympic Games, World Championships and FIBA America tournaments. He averaged 11 points and five assists for Brazil in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The natural comparison to Huertas will be Houston’s Pablo Prigioni, an Argentinian point guard who came to the NBA later in his European career at the age of 35.

“Prigoni is the guy most likely to get compared to me, because our career trajectory had been similar in Europe,” Huertas said. “And like him, I can run a team without worrying about scoring.”

Nevertheless, Huertas is a more dynamic playmaker than Prigioni and far closer to his prime at 31.

“There’s so much more space in the NBA,” Huertas told Yahoo Sports. “It’s not like Europe now, where you have one guy full-time in the paint. Space is harder to come by. One of my strengths is playing in the pick-and-roll, finding open guys and making shots in the mid-range game off the dribble.

“I think that part is harder to find now, because you mostly have guys who get all the way to the hole, or they’re three-point shooters. And if I’m open, and I can get my feet set, I’m going to make a lot of those kind of shots.”

Huertas thinks he can make a difference in the locker room, too, by mentoring young players and meshing with veterans chasing playoff runs. Barcelona’s season could run into late June, especially given its standing as one of the Euroleague’s top teams.

“If you look at NBA rosters, there are unbelievable starting point guards, but maybe not as many guys who can come off the bench able to run the team, score the ball – as well as being able to be a leader for young players,” Huertas told Yahoo. “Those are things I know I’ll be able to bring with me.”
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What do you think, guys? Marcelinho Huertas is a pass-first PG, has a high basketball IQ and he can shoot too.

He is not in his prime (31) and I know Bryce Cotton played well this month. But i love Huerta's game.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBouJSKccw4
 
Oh yes please. Pretty limited defender, but such a fun offensive player. Wish he would've come years ago. But yeah, sign him up!
 
FabioJazz said:
What do you think, guys? Marcelinho Huertas is a pass-first PG, has a high basketball IQ and he can shoot too.

He is not in his prime (31) and I know Bryce Cotton played well this month. But i love Huerta's game.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBouJSKccw4
Click to expand...


Wow. Reminds me of Rusty Larue. Or perhaps John Crotty.
 
It's weird seeing a PG who actually passes and makes assists. It's been so long since we've had someone like that.
 
He is clutch too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STt8A3pcTxY

I can imagine the new edition of duo Marcelinho to Tomic!
 
The no-look at 1:20 was sweet. Classic break-down of the defense. I think he might work out alright, although you never really know how the game will translate. I still do not believe we will ever see Neto here (or Tomic for that matter), so if we can sign a top euro prospect for a decent amount for a few years to strengthen our bench for our next few title runs I say do it.
 
I'm not really a fan of this, perhaps irrationally so, because I really don't know enough about the situation to assess it (so tell me where I'm wrong).

I've looked at all the NBA-level talent Barcelona has had over the past 5 years or so, and yet they almost never give Madrid a serious challenge in the biggest games. For some reason I've gravitated toward thinking that Huertas might be a major reason for this.

From what (little) I've seen/read (including watching Brazil last summer), his game seems more flash than substance. No doubt he can make some great passes. And I don't doubt that he can at least adequately lead a team. But I've not regarded him as one who really has enough of the full package. I'd expect his NBA defense to be terrible. And aside from possibly being an adequate shooter (actually I'd expect below average on the NBA level), I just don't know that he brings much else to the table. I don't think he's an NBA-level athlete.

At 32 years old, I think he career is winding down. I'd much prefer Temple or Koponen (though either would certainly come at a higher cost). And wouldn't it be kicking Neto in the nuts to likely have him wait his turn behind Heurtas again, as he does with the national team?
 
Just say no to Huertas. He's been declining for the past 3 seasons. He has always been unatletic and a poor defender, but right now he would be THE WORST defender in the League. And no, i'm not being hard on him. I'm brazilian, loved the guy, he was lots of fun to watch for our NT. His defence was always terrible, even at FIBA basketball, but he kinda made it up offensively. The problem is that not only his defence got worse somehow, but his offensive game also looks like **** right now. He lost a couple of steps and it is showing. He began the last 2 or 3 seasons as a starter and ended as a bench player on all of them due to his decline offensively and being one if not THE worst defender in Europe.

Victor Sada, a journeyman spanish that plays decent defense and is nule offensively took his starting spot a couple seasons ago, and Satoransky, a prospect who used to be a SG was moved to PG and took his minutes this season.

Even in the World Cup with the Brazilian NT he started to lose his minutes for Raul Neto, who currently is already better than Huertas. The only reason behind Huertas keeping his starting spot on the National Team is 'cause he's the captain and one of the favourites of our coach. But if you watch all Brazil's games in the last World Cup you'll see that the team was better with Raul playing.

There's a reason why Barcelona let him go, and already signed Carlos Arroyo, there's a reason why he hasn't signed with an NBA team (actually i haven't heard of any NBA team interested in him) and there's a reason why just Galatasaray offered him a contract in Europe. The reason is: he's declining fast, he can't defend a chair, if he wanted the NBA so much he should've tried a contract 6 years ago, when he was in his prime. Now it's too late.
 
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