English prospect Joel Freeland

[BBallfanJ]

Does anyone know anything about this guy's talent? The first I read about him was today, when his name showed up for the first time in nbadraft.net's mock draft. He's projected as a late first rounder and is 6'11" 225 lbs. Nbadraft.net compares him to Keon Clark.

[PHILIPeurobasket]

Joel Freeland
Position: SG
Born: 1987
Team: Gran Canaria Fadesa (ESP) (2005-06)
Nationality: ENG
--------------------------------
Career / Comments:
Born: Feb.7, 1987 in Aldershot (ENG)
Full name: Joel Daniel Freeland
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Career:
2005-2006: Fadesa Gran Canaria Las Palmas (ESP-EBA,1T)
-----------------------------------
Awards/Achievements:
English U18 National Team -05
European Championships U18 Div.B in Ruzomberok -05: 8 games: 13.6ppg, 8.3rpg, 0.6apg, 1.3spg, FGP-1(65.3%), FT: 57.9%

[stuart]

Anyone ever actually watch the guy play?

Stuart

[elmercredi]

EBA league is the 4th league in Spain, so it is not very strong. And I don't think those stats are good enough to become an NBA player. That's to improve basketball situation in England, I think

[stuart]

Freeland was named one of the rising stars of 2010, from ESPN, but the guy calling his name writes for the London Times... but hey, who else would know better than he?

Ian Whittell, The (London) Times: By now you'll have noticed a certain British/European bias creeping into my answers, but bear with me on this as I throw the name Joel Freeland at you.

The 19-year-old, 6-10 forward shocked a lot of people when he became the first Brit ever taken in the first round of the draft by the Blazers this summer. Nobody was more shocked than Freeland himself, not least because he had never even touched a basketball until he was 16.
One NBA scout told me pre-draft he could see him developing into a Nowitzki-style player with his inside-out game and, having just spent a month covering him on international duty with the Great Britain team in their European Championship qualifying program, I can see what the fuss is about.

The kid has great mobility, foot speed, a nice touch, and is supremely coachable. Yes, he needs to hit the weight room (225 lbs) and he struggles to finish plays against older, bigger opponents. But he has two major things going for him: He is in a great system with Spanish team Gran Canaria and his attitude is phenomenal.

Gran Canaria did not want to release Freeland for GB duty this month and he quite simply could have stayed on the beach in the Canary Islands and worked out with his team. Instead, he risked an argument with his club and hauled himself around such European bright spots as Spisska Nova Ves in eastern Slovakia and Durres in Albania because he wanted to play for his country.

That attitude is just what the Blazers ordered. They have told him they will buy him out of his three-year Gran Canaria contract in two years and just watch how the youngster develops after that. Ten years from now he'll be 29, at his peak, and -- who knows? -- maybe Portland will be competing for the title. OK, maybe I pushed it a bit far with that last prediction!

[stuart]

Found another article, a lot of the same info of course, but some new little tidbits, from SportsFocus:

Freeland Blazes into the NBA
Last year Joel Freeland was playing in England Basketball’s RAF Under-18 National League - and working in a local supermarket to help fund his basketball development, including his participation with England’s U-18 team at the 2006 European championships.

Last night, just a year later, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Joel Freeland was on hand with his parents Rob and Gayle, to hear his name read out as a 1st Round draft pick by the Portland Trail Blazers.

This is an astonishing achievement for the young man from Farnham, in the south of England, who has only been playing organised basketball for three years.

Listed at 6’10” on NBA’s website Joel is just 19 years old. In the autumn of 2004 he was nominated for the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) by England Basketball’s Performance Manager Radmila Turner. The support from TASS enabled Joel to travel from his home in Surrey to Southampton to train with one of England’s best coaches of basketball fundamentals, Jimmy Guymon.

Coach Jimmy Guymon was up all last night watching the draft on television and talking with Joel’s parents: “Joel made this happen because he was prepared to work on his fundamentals and put in the extra hours of repetitious training to improve his individual skills. To me this is what sets Joel apart from other talented players in England and has made his dream come true.”

Joel appeared in two of England Basketball’s National League Finals in 2005. At the Sure Shot Finals for the RAF Under-18 knockout competition he led his Solent team to the title with 26 points and was awarded the MVP trophy by ex-NBA star John Amaechi (see photo).

Joel also featured that season with the Solent Stars Division 3 team that reached the 2005 finals under the helm of experienced coach Mickey Byrne: “Joel’s dad had approached us regarding his son’s basketball development. We didn’t want to have him solely playing senior basketball straight away as it was important for his development to have him work on his fundamental skills first. He improved rapidly as the season progressed.”

Later in 2005, playing for the England U-18 team Joel averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game over eight matches at the European B Division championship. The 2005 England U-18 Coach Mick Bett comments that “Joel went to the tournament untried and untested at international level but really stepped up and rose to the challenge.”

His performances at the European championship encouraged a subsequent move to Spain. For the season 2005-2006, Joel Freeland played for the Gran Canaria Fadesa club in the Spanish U-22 national league and averaged 14.8 points (at 54% accuracy) and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Joel’s attitude and capacity for hard work, along with further quality coaching at Gran Canaria and playing at a higher level, have seen him continually improve at an impressive rate. He impressed the NBA scouts at the Reebok Treviso Eurocamp recently and proved he has acquired the fundamental skills to develop further.

The scouting reports state that he has the quickness, coordination and jumping ability to develop into a quality NBA forward. He is also described as being a good shooter from outside with excellent moves near to the basket, not afraid of contact and an excellent defender. Joel’s attitude, intelligence, work ethic, intensity and desire to improve are also commented on.

Upon being drafted Joel has been quoted as saying: “I feel I’m not yet NBA ready but I’m willing to work as hard as I can to be able to reach my goal, which is finally playing in the NBA”.

Basketball followers here will be hoping that a further goal will be to see Joel Freeland playing for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games.

[Run and Jump]

I have seen Joel play a number of times.

He is a player with good potential but this is the reason that he was drafted in the first round not because of his abilities at the present time.

This is a kid who less than a year ago was getting DNPs for the Gran Canaria B team in the EBA league in Spain. He has only been playing competitive basketball for 3/4 years and has come a great distance in that time.

He is at the moment on the roster for the ACB team at Gran Canaria but has not played in the first two games.

Joel is a very good athlete with good hands and a nice touch from mid range. He has a very good motor and runs extremely well for a player of his size and position. If he continues to develop then he should become a decent contributor in the ACB but I would be surprised to see him play minutes in the NBA.

[ArnoldPettybone]

Not a prospect for a long time now, easily one of the best power forwards in Europe. Don't know his CB Malaga buyout, but I see him as a starter in a Euroleague powerhouse/contender in the following years.

[raph]

Blazers still have an eye on him (and they did not give up his rights). It's prolly time for him to consider the nba, the opportunity is high for the blazers : przybilla's & oden's injuries - przy being sidelined for long since he re injured his knee and will most likely miss a good part of the next season -, knowing that przy's contract is expiring next season - player option though, it's still unknown if he takes it -, camby being most likely gone (nyk high on him recently)
They don't really have a good rotation from the bench, howard sucks defensively and pendergraph (contract is for the current season furthermore) is pretty raw even if he has some upsides. If camby is not signed (and the blazers won't have a lot to give considering that the 1st year of lma's and roy's big contracts will yield a big impact on the payroll), and if webster not traded (it could happen), i really think trailblazers will do what they can to convince him for moving there (providing they are still hot on him though).

Personnally i am not a big fan of the player (at least in malaga).

[CKR13]

Freeland has recently expressed his interest for playing in the NBA after the 2012 London Olympics.

FREELAND NOW EYEING NBA MOVE