Welcome back to the Taking The Charge Podcast. This week’s interview is with Rafael Barlowe - NBA draft expert, founder of the NBA Draft Junkies website who in April will be taking over the NBA Big Board newsletter and podcast from the retiring Chad Ford.
Before that … let’s take a quick look around the world of basketball with the Big Three
4:10 - Story we are watching - Unlike the seemingly prevailing thought out there … the Covid pandemic is not over and more evidence - besides the still record number of instances in Gemany - is two of the top young players in Germany having been hit hard by the virus despite being double-vaxxed and boostered. Be careful.
6:20 - Young player of the week - Alexandros Samountorov was clearly the player most people were anticipating going into the ANGT Patras and he didn’t disappoint.
7:40 - Up-coming event we are watching - That’s easy … ANGT Varese. Don’t need to say much.
Before we get into the talk with Jesus Ramirez , we would like to give you a sneak peak of the Taking The Charge Prospects Podcast interview with Turkish guard David Mutaf from Gran Canaria - which is part of the paid subscription section of the TTC substack.
9:20 - Sneak preview of interview
Rafael Barlowe - founder of NBA Draft Junkies and to-be author of NBA Big Board newsletter and podcast - 15:55
Here is a breakdown of the interview
17:35 - Thoughts about Alexandros Samontourov and Miro Little among other players at the ANGT Patras
23:15 - About his scouting process of looking at players
28:35 - How he got into the international game
34:30 - What European clubs do differently in player development and what impact less attention on social media such as in the United States has on that
40:30 - If he could market the game in Europe what he would do differently to increase the interest
44:10 - How he evaluates youngsters playing in a EuroCup or EuroLeague team
50:10 - Thoughts about Nikola Jovic and Ismael Kamagate and other Europeans who might be in the 2022 NBA Draft
59:45 - About most high schools in the United States not having a shot clock and college basketball having a 30-second shot clock and if players struggle initially with 24-second shot clock
1:05:15 - About taking over as the full-time author of the NBA Big Board newsletter and podcast from Chad Ford - and what he plans on doing. Breaking news: The Big Board Podcast will become five days a week
1:10:55 - If a growing family might be a problem with his career jump
1:12:55 - Which players may have helped or hurt their draft stock in the NCAA Tournament
1:16:45 - How he goes about building a mock draft
1:19:35 - Thoughts about the Australian NBL, Overtime Elite and GLeague Ignite as new avenues to the NBA
1:23:35 - What he would suggest to young scouts wanting to rise the ranks in the game
1:29:15 - What about the future of the NBA Draft Junkies website
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Taking The Charge Podcast: Rafael Barlowe of NBA Draft Junkies and NBA Big Board