It had been nearly 2 years since Utah Jazz rookie Enes Kanter played meaningful minutes on a basketball court. After generating quite a buzz around NBA Draft circles by out-playing playing his American counterparts in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit, then playing one season at Stoneridge Prep, the Turkish born big man was wooed by John Calipari to play collegiately at Kentucky.
Unfortunately, the NCAA Clearinghouse had other ideas for Knter, as they ruled him permanently ineligible to play college basketball for receiving benefits above the NCAA mandated limits for living expenses during the ’08-’09 season in Europe. Essentially they felt he was paid to play professionally for Fenerbahce in the Turkish Basketball League as a 16 year old.
After serving as an honorary assistant coach and learning Calipari’s pro style offense while taking classes at Kentucky over the past season, Kanter was selected by the Utah Jazz with the #3 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He should help bolster the Jazz frontcourt for the foreseeable future alongside Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap.
But with the NBA currently stuck in a seemingly never-ending Lockout, Kanter finally got to get some playing time while starring for his native Turkey in the 2011 European Championships. On the Turkish National Team that also features a bevy of experienced NBA players like Hedo Tukoglu, Omer Asik, and Ersan Illasova, Kanter was forced into bench duty.
After shaking off some obvious rust, Enes responded well by posting 3 double digit scoring games in the 1st Round, including an 11 point, 5 rebound, and 3 block game against Luol Deng and Great Britain. So far in the Tournament, Kanter ranks 3rd on his team in both scoring(10.2 ppg) and rebounding(4.2 reb), in addition to being among tourney leaders in FG% and FT%, despite playing limited minutes.
Thanks in part to Kanter, Turkey is 3-2 in the tough Group A, featuring international heavyweights like the Ricky Rubio and Gasol brothers led Spain and the Jonas Valanciunas led Lithuanian squad.
Check out Enes Kanter in action vs Germany:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
