Yet he’s only played 5 so far and is a little shorter (listed at 6’8" so I’d guess he’s 6’7" without shoes right now). He’ll probably primarily be a 4 next year, but I would bet that Johns ends up spending a lot of time at the 5 post-Teske as well.
And it seems that Franz is probably gonna grow another inch or two since it looks like he’s exploding through a growth spurt like Mo did.
We ALSO viewed Mo as a wing when we were recruiting him. I feel like I’ve learned my lesson on that, lol.
I do remember people thinking he’d be a 4 when we were recruiting him. Although while Dylan describes him as a skilled 4 man, he also described his game to a T. Mo had the skills to be a 4 imo, just too slow and nonathletic.
DJ would have real quick guards get by him but he at least had the agility to contest. To me Franz seems like a Brandon Johns/DJ Wilson PF that could be a small ball 5. Although with less defensive upside. Also I wouldn’t say we unlocked DJ when we had him as small ball 5, he still played way more 4. We just found that to be a good option for us if Mo was struggling. If Franz ends up filling out like Mo, then yeah he’s a 5.
I went back and watched some of Mo’s vids and then watched Franz. All of Mo’s defensive highlights were at the rim. Franz looks much quicker side to side and was somewhat capably guarding professional wings on the perimeter and didn’t look out of place.
His comment about Stanford is so funny to me
“The academic part obviously. I like that a lot. That’s probably it. Basketball-wise there are schools that are way more competitive but I think it’s unique that you can play NCAA and at the same time get that kind of education”
Franz has been my favorite option if we need to add someone late in the game. If Iggy leaves I’d offer Franz immediately. Sounds like his timeline will fit well with us, saying he’ll try to head stateside for visits over the summer.
Would be a great late add but curious if he is redundant from a roster management standpoint with Wilson, Bajema and Johns around and lack of depth at the 2.
I don’t see this in the thread, but I just learned that Derrick Walton hooked up with Alba Berlin in February. So he and Franz are (at least occasionally) on the same team.
Don’t know how much playing time they share (per Alba’s stats page Walton is averaging 20 minutes a game, but he’s only playing in Budesliga games, presumably not eligible for the Eurocup, and I believe Franz isn’t exclusive to Alba) but that would be fun. Can’t hurt efforts to scout and recruit Franz, can it?