Scoot Henderson & Deni Avdija have their Best Games of Preseason | Scouting Ben Saraf & Noe Essengue

[@guyben1657]

I was very impressed with Saraf at the first half. Weirdly at times he looked like the best player on the court. He was their primary ball handler for 30 minutes and, for playing first time ever against an NBA team, he dealt well with the pressure the Blazers were putting on him. He needs to work on his off hand creation and his body strength, it appears its holding him back from getting to the rim more often. I don’t know what to make of Essengue yet. He’s very long and tall, and he had a great stat line today, but he seems to lack skills you want from top prospects. Very solid performance by him though.

[@בנילוי-ו2ק]

tomani and deni are also very good defense players

[@MoritzAdler]

Crazy thing about Essengue and Saraf: They are 17 and 18 and will get to play another year against grown men with NBA experience on the highest level in Europe. They will grow a lot before they enter the draft. And Ulm is becoming a real powerhouse: two draft picks this summer, two more next year including possible 1-2 top ten picks. Impressive work.

[@modax0]

Saraf is a legit 10-15 first round pick. Imagine him and Deni playing together next year, two point forwards in the same team 🎉❤

[@pinkdifferent5533]

Saraf is a point guard

[@kneelpdx1]

OK, Scoot starts… while Shaedon is out. I think I’m more interested to see what a healthy Sharpe looks like this season.

[@jonathanevers8019]

I had a different takeaway re: Scoot vs Tou. I thought this was evidence in favor of Scoot coming off the bench. He feeds off the energy of playing well and rides his own momentum. His best game so far (yes, limited sample size, but insofar as we can evaluate preseason…) was against a non-NBA team. It’ll be so much easier for him to gain that momentum when he isn’t beginning the game against opponents’ best players. Tou’s skillset as an on-ball perimeter defender is much better utilized against better players

[@LockedOnBlazers]

This is very fair

[@michaellevi8905]

דני עדיין יש לא בכושר משחק.. הוא ממש חלוד אבל לדעתי כדאי לשחק בסגנון שלו.. במעבר ומיתפרצות

[@brettb3919]

I love seeing the balanced scoring throughout the roster in every preseason game so far. If that can be consistent, it should equal more wins than is currently predicted.

[@israteeg752]

Ben Sa'raf. The Ra is emphasized, with sa sounding like "sun" and raf sounding like "rough." The name derives from the Bible and refers to one of God's angels. Although it is spelled Seraph in Latin, the Hebrew (Semitic) pronunciation begins with a "Sa" instead of a "Se." I became knowledgeable on the subject while studying a particular chapter from the Bible about the Seraphim as this was the parting (haftara) that I read for my Bar Mitzva. Hopefully, that wasn't too much information.🙃

[@LockedOnBlazers]

This is what I was looking for. So for my American brain something more akin to Suh-RUFF?

[@תתקשרואלשאול]

Great analysis of both the Portland squad and the two foreign prospects Saraf and Essengue! Ben must’ve had a crazy high usage rating (like a true #77) and it’s crazy for someone who is only 18! Noa is also fun to watch and once he starts bulking up he will become somebody in this league (again, only 17!). Deni is looking very much at ease as the new guy, and I can already see that he has a good connection with Ayton and also Grant while on the bench. Once they get more time to gel they will have some fun plays together. Deni loves to feed his bigs and I’m sure Ayton will appreciate that.

[@MordDresner]

Ben Saraf, emphasis on the second syllable of saraf, rhymes with carafe. Son of an angel, literal translation. Probably will go by “The Sheriff” if and when he makes it..

[@liveride59]

Portland vs Wizards games' gonna be epic😂

[@RAIN_FALL2]

Hey Mike, long-time listener, and first-time KZbin commenter. I know it's a very small sample size, but I think Clingan can be a real defensive clean-up guy with his shot-blocking ability and pure size. A couple of times throughout the game, the guards were cooked off the dribble, but Clingan's positioning deterred shots at the rim several times. He is definitely a couple of years out, and DA is the obvious starter. But I am beginning to see that Clingan can make up for a lot of mistakes on the defensive end. Which I think can be a big positive in the future. I thought that clean up presence was a lacking factor with the later Dame era teams. Appreciate all your work. Have a good one.

[@anonymous-mn1ri]

Saraf pronounced like you would pronounce barack (like former president) just with an 's','r' & 'f'

[@tomerbendavid2288]

The vowel of how you pronounce normally the 'ra' in 'Saraf' is also how you should pronounce the 'sa' in 'Saraf' as well, so both syllables are heard and spoken with the same vowel.. hope you understand and that it makes sense to you..

[@YoniTeitelbaum]

For saraf- sarr like Alex sarr, and then ahf like the word ah (in relaxation)

[@gmoney8399]

Deni literally had to say give me the damn ball and get the hell out of the way . Deni should be their primary ball handler. He’s got legit star point forward potential. Scoot come off the bench and dominate running that second unit. Deni, Simons. Sharp, Camara, and Ayton. Scoot the first guard off the bench, Murray the first forward, and DC should get a good amount of minutes off the bench (like Lively and Gafford).

[@livingthefight3539]

Is it the same Raphael Barlow that thinks the world of Anfernee Simons!?

[@GilTheCohen]

It is pronounced Sah-rough. It literally means "Seraph"

[@anonymous-mn1ri]

It also means "tree resin"...

[@GilTheCohen]

@@anonymous-mn1ri true, but that is not the actual meaning

[@marcusbenjilake]

Uh, actually it’s pronounced “Scoo-it”.

[@terminus2624]

Ben`s Family name is pronounced : SA-RA-F

[@yotammegged3532]

its Ben Saraf :)

[@orishechter1]

From a Hebrew speaker: Saraf is pronounced with the 2 vowels sounding like the vowels in cut, shut, blunt, etc. The second vowel is the stressed one

[@LockedOnBlazers]

Hahaha everyone seems to have a different pronunciation. Thanks for the clarification here

[@pinkdifferent5533]

sa raf. like Sa like in Samuel. raf like rough.

[@תתקשרואלשאול]

The radio announcer had it right: saRAf, kinda like Steffi Graf

[@omril1]

More like Sa-rah-ph

[@JefferyPhillips]

I would've love to have seen the game, but BlazerVision was down last night. They assured us it will be up on Friday tho. Cross fingers.

[@LockedOnBlazers]

It wasn't down (as in, broken) they just didn't broadcast the game. The league pass feed was a bizarro in-arena feed from the jumbotron with highlights that skipped a lot of the Ulm offensive possessions with no clock or score bug or any graphics. There was no actual television broadcast of the game. The game will be broadcast over the air and on Blazervision on Friday.

[@ejshypetrain4126]

As good as Scoot’s playmaking is, I don’t think he should be a primary ball handler

[@E_y_a_l]

You can hear exactly how Saraf is pronounced in the first seconds of this video: AVujmuH2Po4 The good news, at least you're pronouncing Deni's name correctly, that's not something to take for granted and quite nice after hearing numerous commentators and announcers butchering his last name during his first years in the league.

[@markl.2209]

I feel like this is a bit of fool’s gold. I don’t think Scoot is nearly as athletic as evaluators say. The fact he looks great against G-league and foreign teams doesn’t feel coincidental.

[@RoniCohen1000]

Saaraf

[@Elishon_HaTapuzon]

im sorry but this game say nothing about the blazers❤

[@Fox250R]

Against a non-NBA team.

[@m0shman]

Its sha-raff (rough)

[@rileymcphee9429]

Scoot lookin like Downtown "Funky Stuff" Malone 😅

[@doublee3886]

Medical issues. Get a better coaching staff, better trainers, and doctors. Until that happens, the Blazers will continue to struggle to compete in a very deep western conference.

[@yonihalevi2017]

SA-ra-f