After struggling against New Zealand, Nando De Colo was back in action on Sunday when France played Turkey.
While De Colo was ineffective for all but one quarter against New Zealand, he remained consistent throughout the game against Turkey.
He got started early on a few drives to the basket and hit his first three of the game, but threw the ball away a few times and picked up a foul towards the end of the first quarter when Turkey built a five-point lead to end the quarter.
De Colo scored eight points in the fourth quarter when the game was already over and France’s fate was sealed. He finished with 15 points on five of eight from the field and three of five on three-pointers. De Colo also had four rebounds, but also turned the ball over four times. For the tournament, De Colo averaged 8.8. points, 2.2 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game.
France lost 77-95, ending their run in the FIBA World Championship.
As we’ve said all along, De Colo’s final two years with Valencia should help him work out some of the inconsistencies and flaws in his game before he has a chance to even consider the NBA. San Antonio Spurs fans should like what they see in De Colo, especially his shooting stroke, as he connected on 48 percent of his shots from the field throughout the tournament. If he is signed prior to the 2012 season, he may have a better chance making the team at shooting guard. During the tournament, he was much more comfortable spotting up on the outside instead of playing the role of a distributor and he has the size at 6-5 to play at that position.
Overall, based on his six games in the FIBA World Championship, he’s proven to be a good second-round draft pick for the Spurs in 2009.
While you may see De Colo in a Spurs jersey down the road, the one thing this tournament has sadly shown is that the Spurs are likely not in 2001 draft pick Robertas Javtokas’ future.
Javtokas started the tournament off struggling with a foot injury that kept him from playing major minutes, and when he has had the playing time, he hasn’t done enough to make an impact.
Against China today, he had four points, seven rebounds and one block in 22 minutes. Through five games (DNP against Lebanon) Javtokas is averaging 2.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.
While he hasn’t impressed yet, he’ll have another chance to do so as undefeated Lithuania faces off with Argentina on Thursday. But I wouldn’t hold my breath, Spurs fans, it appears Javtokas’ will be another of the draft and stash picks that will never make it to the NBA.
