Quotes
Hilario and Nikoloz Tskitishvili,
who was drafted by the Nuggets with the fifth pick, are two highly-skilled,
ultra-athletic players. However, both are two or three years away from
making a big impact. Hilario has been compared to NBA rebounding champ
Ben Wallace. The Brazilian star is very athletic, blocks shots and rebounds
very well, but his offensive game is nearly non-existent. Tskitishvili,
who has a sweet stroke from the outside, is further along than Hilario,
but still needs time to adapt to the physical nature of the NBA. However,
his athletic ability is not a question mark. Bryan McGovern,
NBA Analyst (Basketball.com)
Tskitishvili
is 19, stands 6-11 and can shoot it. Now don't believe all the Internet
hype; he's good but he's not Nowitzki and he may not be Pau Gasol. But
he's good. "He's way better than any of the high school kids who
came out last year, and I was a big Tyson Chandler guy," a Central
scout says of Tskitishvili. "This guy's right up there with him.
Once he matures a little physically, he's gonna be real good. If he
comes in the draft, he'd be tough to pass, particularly for a team that's
good right now and could wait a year." But Tskitishvili's agent,
Marc Fleischer, will take him out of the draft unless he's a certain
top 10 pick. And there's this other small problem: "It's hard to
judge," says one scout, "because the kid never plays."
Tskitishvili came to Benetton midway through the Italian League season,
and given his age and standing, he had to sit and watch for most of
the year. "In practice you do all these individual drills and it's
hard to tell," the Midwest scout said. "Does that equate to
being a basketball player?"
David Aldridge - ESPN.com (May 19th, 2002)
When
NBA general managers fly across the ocean to watch you practice, you
can be assured that you have arrived on the league’s radar screen.
That’s just what happened this year with this tall native of the
Republic of Georgia, who plays only about 13 minutes per game for veteran-laden
Benetton Treviso, coached by former NBA player and head coach Mike D’Antoni.
But D’Antoni would be the first one to tell you, Tskitishvili’s
modest playing time and stats belie his enormous potential.
“He
started playing basketball at about 15 and was a classic ballet dancer
until then,” D’Antoni said. “He grew so tall that
he couldn’t find partners, so he got out of dancing and into basketball.”
“He’s
seven feet and has incredible foot speed and agility for that size,”
D’Antoni said. “He has a great shot, can put the ball on
the floor, he can run the break, and has good timing on his passes.
He plays very hard. He is very active in getting loose balls and always
seems to find a way to get open. Of course, he is only 19 and has a
very slender body, weighing about 225 right now. I would think two or
three years from now he is going to be a very, very good player.”
Ezboard.com
The
slate is clean and the Nuggets are starting anew. They nabbed two
extremely raw but promising prospects in Tskitishvili and Hiliario.
Skita seemed ecstatic about becoming a Nugget. He was a very sharp
and alert young man on draft night. Despite his lack of actual playing
time in Europe, he has shown Kiki Vandeweghe enough that would make
him the fifth player taken overall. They call Denver the “Mile
High” city. Well the sky is the limit for Skita.
Justin Young www.nbadraft.net / www.realgm.com
The
player the Nuggets DEFINITELY will pick is "Nene" Hilario.
The 6-11 power forward from Brazil was impressive in his recent visit
and workout in Denver. Hilario is another special foreigner and will
help the Nuggets immediately.
The player the Nuggets DEFINITELY should pick is "Skita"
Tskitishvili. The 19-year-old 7-footer is a small forward. You heard
me. Small forward.
The Nuggets should go hard for the Georgia Peach.
Tskitishvili - Mr. 4-i's - would be the best athlete out of Georgia
to play for a Denver professional team since Terrell Davis.
Only Tskitishvili is from another Georgia. Not the redneck Georgia,
but the ex-Red Georgia, the Republic of. They don't wave the Rebel
flag or the Soviet flag in this Georgia. Woody Paige -
Denverpost.com