Miami announces the signing of forward Salih Altuntas

Trinton Breeze
1 min read

Comments (63)

Look, I'm not saying the guy has no chance. I just think there are certain things he's going to need to do here if he's to have any kind of impact on the team. In looking at his highlights he doesn't show an ability to score from outside. Will be very difficult for him on offense being non-athletic and not being able to shoot the ball. Not a good combo to have. By the way, as graduating seniors Timme and TJD were leaps and bounds better than Altuntas. Broome also edges him out as a prospect when you consider John was 17 when he graduated high school.
I didn’t say you were saying he had no chance. Although you agreed with hotshot, and called him a dinosaur: a species literally extinct….

I don’t consider it “unathletic,” the way he dunked in the clip i linked, at 18, in the second best league in the world, but okay. Just find it odd that miami fans are docking our two euro prospects for playing with grownups as teenagers

SA averaged better numbers with Turkey’s U18 than TJD did with Team USA at the same age; and Europe has better international teams than the Americas.
 
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I didn’t say you were saying he had no chance. Although you agreed with hotshot, and called him a dinosaur a species literally extinct….

I don’t consider it “unathletic,” the way he dunked in the clip i linked, at 18, in the second best league in the world, but okay.
Very difficult for any big man to find any kind of success if he can't rebound, block shots or move his feet. Saving grace for some is that they can shoot the ball and play facing the basket. If any big man doesn't have any of these qualities at a high level, then yes, they are extinct like the dinosaur. I've only been able to watch a couple of Altuntas' highlights and from what I can see, right off the bat he's going to struggle defensively defending the pick and roll. Miami will probably have to use him in drop coverage and hope guard misses uncontested jump shot, because he won't be able to switch, hedge or bust any p&r action. Seems like an adequate rebounder. Time will tell what kind of affect he'll have defending the rim and if he'll be able to score over the top of tall & athletic defenders.
 
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Very difficult for any big man to find any kind of success if he can't rebound, block shots or move his feet. Saving grace for some is that they can shoot the ball and play facing the basket. If any big man doesn't have any of these qualities at a high level, then yes, they are extinct like the dinosaur.
You think a EuroLeague team trying to win their third title in four years would put a 17 year old big who can’t rebound on their roster?
 
Altuntas is known for his offensive rebounding. Across all leagues, he has averaged 3 offensive rebounds for every 5 defensive rebounds he grabs. Should be able to help Miami there immediately.

Kanter played for the only other EuroLeague team in Turkey. Much like Salih, he was a third string center who didn’t play that much as a teenager. Kanter had some American experience before going to college though. He went to prep school his senior year.

Kanter and Sengun were better prospects at the same age. Kanter broke Dirk’s scoring record at the Nike Hoop Summit. Kanter’s FIBA numbers were much better than Altuntas at the same age. Kanter sat out a year and still was drafted third overall. I don’t think Altuntas is a 1 & done prospect.

Sengun and Altuntas had pretty identical stats playing for Turkey’s U18 team except Sengun’s team had much more success (5 wins compared with 2 wins). Sengun is like 2 years more advanced than Altuntas was at the same age. His similar performance w/ U18 came when he was 17. Sengun took a massive leap from 18 to 19, when he was MVP of best Turkish domestic league.
Thanks a lot for that.

Every team needs big men who hit the glass and rebound. As Salih acclimates to the college game and life in Florida, that's the contribution I expect Coach Lucas will focus on with him. The offense can come in time.
 
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Reminder that this kid has spent his last 2 years as a teenager playing w/ Shane Larkin. Going up against former NBA bigs in practice, etc. View attachment 327119

Think we got a steal & a player that will be extremely productive in college

I thought I was really good at knowing the flags of many countries, but you sir, have proven me wrong!!!!
 
To average those numbers IN TURKEY screams VERY BASIC offensively.
With all due respect, the top league in Turkey is extremely competitive in Europe.

I'm amazed that people question the skill of European players on here. People haven't been paying a lot attention over the past few years it seems.
 
With all due respect, the top league in Turkey is extremely competitive in Europe.

I'm amazed that people question the skill of European players on here. People haven't been paying a lot attention over the past few years it seems.
Yep. Just look at the NBA Draft every year. They haven't seemed to question their skills for decades now.
 
Yep. Just look at the NBA Draft every year. They haven't seemed to question their skills for decades now.
Tactically and fundamentally, they're well-coached and absolutely capable.

It's a team game. Ball movement, defense and rotation matters.
 
Look, I'm not saying the guy has no chance. I just think there are certain things he's going to need to do here if he's to have any kind of impact on the team. In looking at his highlights he doesn't show an ability to score from outside. Will be very difficult for him on offense being non-athletic and not being able to shoot the ball. Not a good combo to have. By the way, as graduating seniors Timme and TJD were leaps and bounds better than Altuntas. Broome also edges him out as a prospect when you consider John was 17 when he graduated high school.
TJD you can have as he was a potential 1 and done when he entered college. But Altuntas and Timme are about even entering college.

It’s interesting you say “will be very difficult for him on offense being non-athletic and not being able to shoot the ball” followed by calling Drew Timme leaps and bounds better the following sentence when Timme is unathletic with no outside shot.

As far as the Broome comment that’s just absurd. Broome had like 5 low major scholarship offers averaging a modest 19 and 10 at Tampa catholic. This guy got minutes with grown men in one of the best leagues in the world… Broome as a senior in high school wouldn’t have been a practice player on Altuntas’ squad in Turkey.
 
TJD you can have as he was a potential 1 and done when he entered college. But Altuntas and Timme are about even entering college.

It’s interesting you say “will be very difficult for him on offense being non-athletic and not being able to shoot the ball” followed by calling Drew Timme leaps and bounds better the following sentence when Timme is unathletic with no outside shot.

As far as the Broome comment that’s just absurd. Broome had like 5 low major scholarship offers averaging a modest 19 and 10 at Tampa catholic. This guy got minutes with grown men in one of the best leagues in the world… Broome as a senior in high school wouldn’t have been a practice player on Altuntas’ squad in Turkey.

I saw Timme on the AAU circuit for the first time as a 16-17 year old and comparing that to the little I've seen from a going on 20 year old Atlantas, I don't think there's any question Timme was a much better prospect.

Broome graduated high school as a 17 year old. By the time he was 19, he was a two-time All-OVC and Defensive POY.

Again, I'm not saying Altuntas sucks or doesn't have a chance to do well. Turkey's Super League is one of the top pro leagues in Europe. Very physical and competitive with some quality talent. Problem is, Altuntas has been playing in the 2nd division there. All I'm saying, from the little that I've seen in his highlights, I'm concerned how effective he will be in the college game with very limited athleticism and no jump shot.
 
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With all due respect, the top league in Turkey is extremely competitive in Europe.

I'm amazed that people question the skill of European players on here. People haven't been paying a lot attention over the past few years it seems.
With all due respect, I don't think you realize Altuntas was playing in the 2nd division of the Turkish basketball league (TBL), not in the Super Legue (BSL).
 
With all due respect, I don't think you realize Altuntas was playing in the 2nd division of the Turkish basketball league (TBL), not in the Super Legue (BSL).
That was not the question, I knew. Altuntas was a member of Turkey youth teams all the way up to the U20 team. Turkey has had very good youth teams in Europe and he's 19 years of age. No one in here has seen him play to accurately judge how he'll perform. I'm confident in how Turkey is developing youth prospects that he'll do fine here for us.
 
That was not the question, I knew. Altuntas was a member of Turkey youth teams all the way up to the U20 team. Turkey has had very good youth teams in Europe and he's 19 years of age. No one in here has seen him play to accurately judge how he'll perform. I'm confident in how Turkey is developing youth prospects that he'll do fine here for us.
True. I, for one, have not seen him play. I’m going solely based off some of his highlight videos. With that being said, if his highlights don’t show he can shoot the ball then chances are he’s not good at it and something he will probably need to add to his game in order to have a bigger impact here.

And aside from playing on national youth teams, he also played against grown men in their 2nd division.

I hope I’m not coming across as someone who writes off international players. I saw Enes Kanter before he got to Kentucky and right away I thought he was a future pro. Matter of fact, I thought he’d be 1 and done. That guy was a monster before stepping foot on US soil.
 

Interesting to monitor. From what I know, I don’t see why not.

Students on visas can work on campus and receive scholarships yet they not allowed to receive federal financial aid.

The NCAA & its schools aren’t classifying the players as employees so I see no reason why receiving a lot of money would undo the student classification for international players.
 
Just wanna clear this up because international stuff is confusing. S.A. played in the 1st division super league the whole year in 23-24 as the third string center cc: the instagram video with Shane Larkin. He also got a little euroleague play, which is the first division cross country league.

He was 17-18 years old that 23-24 season. This was a team looking to win their third euroleague title in four years. This team had two youngins, our guy was the one of em.

The other youngin, one year older than S.A., who ended up signing with Penn State, went to go play for a Eurobasket (2nd division inter-league champions league) yet still 1st division Turkish Super League team. He ended up getting 12 mpg and had a real off the bench role compared to barely playing at all the year before. They finished 8th out of 16 teams in the super league. Similar result in the Eurobasket.

The team S.A. played on this year was a makeshift squad of U-22 Turkish players in the second divisions men’s league. Just to get them better & more playing time.They were awful. 0-34 although our guy played well. Additionally, as in Tristian’s report, he played in a U-19 league where he dominated.

He was the best player on both teams. He played in a single game in garbage with Shane’s team as being signed to two teams seems to be fine over there. From what I’ll post below, it appears he was still apart of organization throughout the year.

In January, he had an ankle injury that required surgery. He hasn’t played on any team since then; From what I’ve read, he was going to get more opportunities later in the spring. He was invited to Adidas Nextgen but couldn’t play because of the injury.
 
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Here he is in October w/ the 1st division team. Jordan Nwora, from Louisville, who gave us the work prepandemic at the start. Played w/ the Bucks/Pacers/Raptors for a bit.



A couple months ago

 
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Some highlights. W/ the super league team last year



This looks like the youth league play not 100% tho

 
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I assume S.A. Is in the states already, however, if anyone wants to watch Shane play; their squad has a playoff game at 1:30 today
 
Reminder that this kid has spent his last 2 years as a teenager playing w/ Shane Larkin. Going up against former NBA bigs in practice, etc. View attachment 327119

Think we got a steal & a player that will be extremely productive in college
Freshman doesn’t play well in his first four games, including against the defending champions; let’s wrap it up & nothing to see here

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Lmaoo. Let’s also get rid of Timotej Malovec who was shooting well against g league teams & had an excellent summer for his men’s national team.

 
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