Kanter player comparsions and thoughts on his likely progression

[Qman]

It just hit me today- who does Kanter play like?

Tyler Hansbrough.

Both players have thick, muscular builds with limited explosiveness. Both players have very high motors. Both players have been stronger and bigger than their competition growing up. Both players love to bang and live in the paint. Both annoy opponents with their relentless drive for rebounds.

Kanter is a bigger, Turkish Tyler Hansbrough.

So what does this mean?

Because Kanter is so much bigger than Hansbrough he is better suited for the NBA on defense and on the boards.

This year Hansbrough is averaging 12.9 ppg and 7.1 rpg with good percentages in 28 mpg. He is more confident in his face-up and mid-range shot. Primarily Hansbrough is valuable because of the energy he bring to the court. He tries to make every hustle play and inspires his teammates to rise to his energy level.

Trying to project Kanter in the long term is really murky. Offensively he needs to find confidence in his mid-range jumper. He needs find the shots in the post that will be effective for him. I think he can look to Hansbrough for ideas on how to work around his limited explosion.

On defense Kanter has similar physical tools to Kendrick Perkins-a large, agile frame with decent length. Kanter needs to study video to see how Perkins controls the paint and forces offensive players in the post into tough shots. We have seen glimpses of how Kanter walls offensive players off and blocks shots without jumping.

Perkins was a key part of the Celtics championship teams on the defensive end. Kanter could become the same kind of paint controlling big man for us. His offensive game is already better than Perkins and will continue to improve.

The key thing to take away from this is that Kanter plays a winning style of basketball. With some modest improvements he can help the Jazz dominate the paint for years to come.

Does anyone see other good comparisions for Kanter?

 

[trigg3r]

It just hit me today- who does Kanter play like?

Tyler Hansbrough.

Both players have thick, muscular builds with limited explosiveness. Both players have very high motors. Both players have been stronger and bigger than their competition growing up. Both players love to bang and live in the paint. Both annoy opponents with their relentless drive for rebounds.

Kanter is a bigger, Turkish Tyler Hansbrough.

So what does this mean?

Because Kanter is so much bigger than Hansbrough he is better suited for the NBA on defense and on the boards.

This year Hansbrough is averaging 12.9 ppg and 7.1 rpg with good percentages in 28 mpg. He is more confident in his face-up and mid-range shot. Primarily Hansbrough is valuable because of the energy he bring to the court. He tries to make every hustle play and inspires his teammates to rise to his energy level.

Trying to project Kanter in the long term is really murky. Offensively he needs to find confidence in his mid-range jumper. He needs find the shots in the post that will be effective for him. I think he can look to Hansbrough for ideas on how to work around his limited explosion.

On defense Kanter has similar physical tools to Kendrick Perkins-a large, agile frame with decent length. Kanter needs to study video to see how Perkins controls the paint and forces offensive players in the post into tough shots. We have seen glimpses of how Kanter walls offensive players off and blocks shots without jumping.

Perkins was a key part of the Celtics championship teams on the defensive end. Kanter could become the same kind of paint controlling big man for us. His offensive game is already better than Perkins and will continue to improve.

The key thing to take away from this is that Kanter plays a winning style of basketball. With some modest improvements he can help the Jazz dominate the paint for years to come.

Does anyone see other good comparisions for Kanter?

I don't think he has an issue with confidence in his jumper. I think the Jazz coaching staff have told him that they would prefer that he focus on rebounding right now and scoring down low.

 

[Stoked]

I don't think he has an issue with confidence in his jumper. I think the Jazz coaching staff have told him that they would prefer that he focus on rebounding right now and scoring down low.

This. Plus while the siumilarities might be there I think people will be comparing Tyler Hansborough to Kanter in a few years. Not the other way around.

 

[vslice02]

Does anyone see other good comparisions for Kanter?

Best-case Kevin Willis. Worst-case Tony Massenburg.

 

[colton]

Best-case Kevin Willis. Worst-case Tony Massenburg.

Well Massenburg does hold a career NBA record, so if we have gotten that type of player with the third pick we should all be happy.

 

[vslice02]

Well Massenburg does hold a career NBA record, so if we have gotten that type of player with the third pick we should all be happy.

Absolutely, and maybe he could even break that record on his 3rd-stint with the Jazz!

 

[SojoDave]

I'll be surprised if Kanter ever develops an offensive game. I hope he can develop his jump hook and a turn around jumper. So far when he gets the ball in the middle of the key, he has been clueless.

 

[Bodhi]

I'll be surprised if Kanter ever develops an offensive game. I hope he can develop his jump hook and a turn around jumper. So far when he gets the ball in the middle of the key, he has been clueless.

I'm not at all worried about him developing an offensive game. In fact I think his will be more developed than Favors at the height of their careers. Watch his pre-draft videos for nothing more than his stroke from distance. He has a natural shot and isn't a project type big man with nothing more than a big body.

IMO, like trigg3r said, he's being asked to do the basics at this point and as such is very tentative to take any shots beyond putbacks. Once he gains confidence in the offense and the with the coaches in him, I think his midrange game will be a huge asset for this team. That might not come till next season at the earliest though.

 

[Qman]

Best-case Kevin Willis. Worst-case Tony Massenburg.

Willis was far more explosive.

[video=youtube_share;Igsb0_YdlJI]https://youtu.be/Igsb0_YdlJI

[video=youtube_share;o84RivTdS2s]https://youtu.be/o84RivTdS2s

 

[green]

Not similar games, but I could see Kanter coming out with Kevin Love type numbers. They would get their 15 points in different ways, but both could easily average 15 and 15.

 

[Archie Moses]

If he really does have a jumper then I see a Scola and Randolph and Love in him.

 

[Beantown]

I'm really hoping for Kevin Love. But I will settle for Al Horford.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Tyler Hansbrough has never and will likely never show the rebounding prowess that Kanter has already shown. And size is only one factor in rebounding.

 

[NUMBERICA]

I don't think he's going to be easily comparable to anyone. He's already looking quite a bit like Charles Oakley to me but he's not done growing (as a player).

 

[Darkwing Duck]

I think Kanter is a better rebounder than Willis, but I do like the comparison. I guess one can hope for a Zach Randolph with his head on straight.

 

[jazzfan1132]

i like thread about Enes, thought about posting one. it seems like we didnt pass on anybody, although some rookies play far better than Kanter so far but He fits UTAH best way now and in the future.
Tristan Thompson is great NBA ready but we have Favors who is better and has better potential.
Jonas Valanciunas - we could't efford to wait for him he won't be better than Enes
Jan Vaseley - ??? played one game he could be 2nd AK but Kanter is C.
Bismack Biyombo- Enes Kanter win
Brandon Knight- heh some of us prefered him over Kanter, i'm interesing what they think now, Knight has nice tools could be our future PG, better than Kemba and fredett but we needed C
Jimmer and Kemba the same,

it's difficult to predickt how good he will be, one thing is for sure he is great rebounder,
https://www.nba.com/statistics/play...alified=Y&yearsExp=-1&sortOrder=7&splitDD=All Teams

3rd overall. He will be great in two years

 

[Qman]

i like thread about Enes, thought about posting one. it seems like we didnt pass on anybody, although some rookies play far better than Kanter so far but He fits UTAH best way now and in the future.
Tristan Thompson is great NBA ready but we have Favors who is better and has better potential.
Jonas Valanciunas - we could't efford to wait for him he won't be better than Enes
Jan Vaseley - ??? played one game he could be 2nd AK but Kanter is C.
Bismack Biyombo- Enes Kanter win
Brandon Knight- heh some of us prefered him over Kanter, i'm interesing what they think now, Knight has nice tools could be our future PG, better than Kemba and fredett but we needed C
Jimmer and Kemba the same,

it's difficult to predickt how good he will be, one thing is for sure he is great rebounder,
https://www.nba.com/statistics/play...alified=Y&yearsExp=-1&sortOrder=7&splitDD=All Teams

3rd overall. He will be great in two years

I am confident that a Favors-Kanter combo will be a defensive and rebound force. The offense is more of a question mark. But if our bigs can control the boards and protect the rim we will be ahead of the game. We do need a player to develop into a offensive force. Of course Big Al is a good offensive player now. And his D has been pretty good this year. Maybe the roster won't have to change too much.

 

[YB85]

I think Kanter is a better rebounder than Willis, but I do like the comparison.

If he's a better rebounder than Kevin Willis, I'll take that every day.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Hard to say. Right now he is offensively slow in the IQ department. He rebounds well, but doesn't finish strong. He has good footwork, but doesn't go up quickly or strongly enough off his fakes. He doesn't appear to be a natural passer. Hopefully all these things progress, but it is hard to say how much they will. People think there will a huge natural progression just because he is raw, but that doesn't mean he will progress. He may just not be that good. Right now everything we do on offense with Kanter in seems like an abridged version of a novel read by a child with poor reading skills. I can see the potential that the full book can be pretty good, but the kid is reading everything to slowly and leaving out the details that make the book great. Once Kanter gets his reading comprehension up, he can start reading the grown up version of the book and we will be able to tell how good he can or can't be.

Defensively I have been impressed by his showing on the pick n roll , even though he is slow sometimes to rotate back. He plays solid D all around. He has the luxury of going against back up centers, who are typically pretty poor. Kaman abused him in the New Orleans game at times with some veteran moves, same with Pau Gasol.

 

[NUMBERICA]

I think Kanter is a better rebounder than Willis, but I do like the comparison. I guess one can hope for a Zach Randolph with his head on straight.

I've used that comparison a lot, too. Although I try to stay away from such grandiosity in appraising a player since if it doesn't work out you can look like a fool.

All I know is that I am very pleased with what I've seen so far and I think he will become a lot better, too.