Mike Schmitz talks draft process on the Rip City Drive

Mike Schmitz talks draft process on the Rip City Drive

all right Trailblazers rookie Young Hansen from China was introduced today at the practice facility we’re going to hear that press conference again coming up at five o’clock our next guest is a graduate from the University of Arizona he got his start in covering sports in a he was a writer and video analyst covering the Suns he has served as an assistant coach for the Uganda national team and was a draft expert for Yahoo Sports Draft Express and ESPN he’s entering year number four with the Trailblazers it’s my pleasure to welcome Assistant GM Mike Schmidz to the Rip City Drive mike good afternoon thanks for the time yeah thanks so much for having me
oh it’s great you know before we focus on Hansen I I just wanted to give my listeners some details on your path to the Trailblazers because I think it’s fascinating from my understanding Mike you had a basketball in hand since about age three how did the game become a passion for you i think that’s a probably a longer winded answer than you you have time for but um just been around it since since I was a kid and and played and then you know followed my passion to uh the G- League as a video coordinator and some things on the coaching side and then you know really took that to scouting and more front office work on the media side with ESPN and Yahoo and Draft Express and then eventually found my way here so uh yeah it’s been a fun journey and you know really really happy to be here in Portland
how did you develop that skill for scouting and then the package the ability to package that knowledge into scouting videos that you used to make yeah I think it’s just a lot of reps a lot of watching games and breaking down film and really learning from people who you know are much smarter than than myself uh being able to you know travel to different gyms all over the world whether it be Europe or Africa or Asia uh and you know when I was younger in the business being able to pick the the brains of you know long-standing GMs and executives and you know sit in on different war rooms and just get a sense for you know how a lot of the brightest minds saw the game and you know that really allowed me to you know then eventually put that to good use and all the things that I learned and um So it’s yeah I’m very blessed to you know have spent a lot of time around a lot of really smart people and you know now with with the Blazers obviously having so many brilliant minds and in our war room and our organization it’s it’s been a lot of fun
you know you mentioned the travel North America Europe Africa Australia you’ve been everywhere around the globe now what what are some of the similarities and differences you’ve noticed in terms of basketball development around the world oh yeah it’s a great question um you know I think each country each continent you know has kind of different stylistic uh you know differences and similarities in terms of you know just kind of the Encore product uh you even see you know differences in in terms of players demeanors based on you know where they’re from uh you know the international game obviously for so long in in Europe has been you know very skill-based game uh you know shooting is a premium basketball IQ is a premium you know ball movement people movement all a premium and uh so I think you’ve seen that trickle into the the NBA game a little more and then you know really in in different countries as well like being able to see the development of basketball you know on the continent in Africa and the development of basketball in Asia uh it truly is a global game now and I think there was a tweet today about you know our team having eight or nine players from you know outside the United States and I I think that’s one something we take great pride in but also just that’s you go where the players are right and I think that’s that’s kind of where we’re at as a league right now which is great
we’re talking with Mike Schmidz Trailblazers assistant general manager here on the Rip City Drive yeah I was thinking about that this morning where when I was younger watching basketball there weren’t too many international players in the NBA but that certainly has changed and I love how the game’s become global Mike and I’m wondering how much of an impact do you think was it the 92 dream team that really changed everything to where we saw start to see basketball become so popular across the world yeah I think that definitely plays a role you know you I think part of it is the stars now in the NBA uh you know being so so global and international and then going to play for their national teams playing in the Olympics playing in in the World Cup and all these you know qualifying events so many of our best players take such great pride in that and I think you know when you have those those tournaments like people want to go see you know the best stars in the game and that’s a great chance to see them you know with their national team so I think it’s it’s kind of comes both sides of the coin there in terms of the growth of the game feeding into the NBA and then the success of those players you know in the NBA then being able to give back you know in those national team tournaments so uh definitely been really cool to see
that’s awesome how have you enjoyed your role as assistant coach with the Uganda national team oh it’s been great it’s uh you know one of the the better parts of of my job and and my you know my life in general and um you know really thankful for the Blazers to allow me to continue you know kind of pursuing that that passion of mine and we actually have the the Afro Basket you know this summer in Angola uh we qualified in our last FIA window awesome um a few months ago so yeah yeah really exciting to to be able to go participate in that and you know going to bring a a squad with you know a lot of talent and some younger talent and some of our veterans so I’ll be out in in Angola in in August with one of our video coordinators kind of smart as well uh he’s coaching with Nigeria and and they qualified as well so it would be great to be out there with Ike and uh just kind of continue that journey that’s great um that transition for you to go from ESPN to working for a team in the Trailblazers uh what was that like for you uh it’s been it’s been great you know just being able to kind of finally be able to focus on you know putting all the the scouting and count evaluation that that you do toward one specific team right i think previously my job was so much about okay who are all the best players in the world what level can they play at uh where should they be projected in terms of you know the NBA and you know what level can they play in college and where could they eventually play internationally and now to be able to kind of you know put that to to good use and and really help you know an organization and help you know Joe Cronin and the rest of the group as best I can um has has been great experience love the city of Portland love the organization and you know previously I could never contribute to drafting a player or you know helping trade for a player or you know sign a free agent and so to be able to kind of learn from Joe and the rest of the group and you know be able to contribute to those things has has been a great experience and uh just really excited about what we continuing to build here
gosh that’s really cool we’re talking with Mike Schmidtz Portland Trailblazers assistant general manager all right take us back a couple of years how did Young Hansen hit your radar initially yeah so it was June of 2023 uh one of our key international scouts his name is Nico Matu he’s based in in France he was at the FIA under 19 World Championships and saw 7 foot you know Chinese big man and was really impressed with his passing his feel for the game his his instincts and so he let the rest of the scouting staff know wrote a scouting report and uh one of our personnel analysts who does an excellent job for us Jake Fox uh always you know evaluating film you know writing reports you know looking at data uh he was just diving deep into his film and saw a lot of really unique traits just in terms of you know some of the passing uh the IQ the feel the size and it was coming against you know some of the best players in his age group in the world uh a lot of players who were you know drafted in the top five of the last couple of drafts and so uh I hadn’t really heard of him i I’d never seen him play and so that led us to kind of dive deeper and you know Sergio Oliva one of our other assistant GMs who uh you know does a great job uh was he was all over it uh he was you know really active and aggressive in terms of making sure that you know we got over to China uh you know I helped him kind of put a plan together uh along with the help of Pu Jeder uh one of our player development coaches and assistant general managers for the Rift City remix he actually played in China for for eight years and you know is from the played for a team in the province that Hansen is is from the Shandong province and you know Duoparath was actually his teammate in 2022 so it’s like all these different pieces and factors coming together and then you know Sergey being you know very proactive about us getting over to to China and and evaluating him and we liked what we saw uh we you know considered what would something in in the 2024 draft look like if he were to to enter uh he opted not to we continued following him really closely and you know eventually were able to get our hands on some unique data uh that Sergy and the research and development team um you know was able to track down and that allowed us to get a better look at the impact he had in the CBA and uh you know how impactful he was offensively defensively what type of pick and roll defender he was and so all these inputs coming together and then getting him in front of Joe in front of Chanty and the whole group really kind of unanimously being impressed uh kind of led to us being able to go get him on on draft night
yeah you mentioned basketball IQ and that’s something that both Joe and Chanty mentioned today at the press conference i’m curious because I I I want a better understanding of that like what are some of the specific things that you see when you’re scouting young Hansen that like is it certain plays or like positioning like what are some of those things that that would explain uh basketball IQ yeah I think it’s it’s the passing for him you know you see it in in different ways right like for different players i mean I’ll use Donovan as an example like Donovan’s uh pick and roll defense and rim protection for his age was incredible like you you just didn’t see those type of defensive instincts his ability to pass offensively as well you know ahead of most prospects his age but the defensive instincts the timing that that Donovan showed and then you sat down with him and watched film for five minutes and you could tell okay the way he processes the game especially defensively is really really unique and rare and I think for for Hansen is the offensive side of the floor uh as a playmaker you know his his passing his ability to handle at his size uh you know not afraid to take risks i mean he’ll handle in in transition and you know throw a lob like a point guard uh there were times they used him as a pick and roll ball handler so like just kind of unique different things that you don’t traditionally see from you know a 72 center and that’s really what stood out uh was you know the passing uh some of the defensive IQ stuff as well but definitely offensively and his ability to make his teammates better
you know you mentioned that he did not declare for the draft last year and decided to stay in China so over that year as you continue to scout like what were some of the improvements that were maybe um surprising or pleasing to you as you continue to watch him throughout last year i would say his body is the biggest progress he’s made when when Sergy and I went over there we spent about eight days we saw multiple games and you know he was still carrying some some extra baby fat and you know wasn’t nearly as nimble as he is now uh when he got to the NBA combine this year I think he was 7% body fat just under 8% body fat uh our health and performance team when we brought him in was really really impressed with just kind of his movement patterns and you know his ability to kind of change speeds and change direction and for a player his size just was was very unique and so I think he’s done a tremendous job you know with his frame with his body with his agility uh and then just continuing to get even better at the things you know he was already great at as a young prospect so definitely saw some some impressive development and then also just being able to see it you know along with the rest of the league uh at the at the combine uh being able to see it in our building in a workout you know you evaluate him at the FIA youth level against players his age or you know in the in the CBA the the Chinese basketball league against players who’ve played in the NBA or were college stars but to see him against you know fellow draft prospects at a similar stage of development always gives you you know a little more confidence in in your evaluation and I think just overall uh really proud of the the process that you know our whole group put forth in terms of you know the evaluation of of Hansen hey Mike how difficult is it to look at a a tantalizing prospect like young Hansen and then being able to know how that his game especially when they play overseas will translate to the NBA game yeah you don’t fully ever know right i I think if if we all knew 100% then you know we would all be GMs in the NBA right and and executives of the year and it’s you know it’s they always say it’s uh it’s you know you want to take all these inputs and and scouting is inexact it’s an inexact science that’s that’s the phrase that you hear but I think you just want to be really solid in your process with all prospects uh this one is maybe a little more unique just because it’s not quite as easy to access you know playing over in China but uh I think that’s the key to feeling firm about about your evaluation is you know being able to see them for multiple years in in different settings and I think that’s an approach that’s you know helped with previous prospects in the past like being able to see you know Denny play at the you know under 16 European Championships the under 18 European Championships the under 20 European Championships and then going to watch him with Makabi Tel Aviv and then going to watch him in the Euro League and the Israeli League like getting all these different inputs and seeing them in in different evaluation settings at different points of their life I think allows you to build confidence in the scouting that you’re doing and then you add in you know the analytics piece like I said like our research and development team did a incredible job you know gathering all of that data and and really being able to evaluate and quantify uh his impact and so once you put all those things together sit down spend time with him meet him you know do your intel calls talk to his his teammates his coaches uh you just want to put all those things together and and the more inputs that you have I think the more confident you can feel about your evaluation
well I really appreciate that answer and the insight you know Chanty Phillips said something today that I think you’re probably um you know more than qualified to speak to yeah he it was brought up the concern about the language barrier and Chanty said that you know basketball is like a universal language well you’ve been all around the world and so you’ve seen these type of challenges before would you agree with that assessment that basketball is a universal language and and what have you seen in terms of you know players trying to learn a second language and and and that process of developing as a player when they’re trying to overcome that yeah I love the way you know Chanty put that earlier i think the moment you get out on the floor and are able to you know play play with freedom and cohesion and the way he plays he’s he’s very unselfish uh he celebrates the success of others like like a lot of our players do and so I think once he gets you know between the lines in a game setting you know some of those concerns uh will probably dissipate a little bit i think it’s it’s more about you know you have you have film sessions you have team meetings you have preparation all those things and I think you know continuing to improve his English is going to be paramount you know for those type of settings uh but I think once you get between the lines and you know his ability to connect with people is something that’s that’s been really impressive you know if you if you’ve seen I don’t know if you’ve you all have met him yet but if you’ve seen some of the videos and things like that like he’s he’s very outgoing he has a big personality he’s smiley he’s he’s you know plays with this joy and and I think his style of play will allow him to you know connect with his teammates and his coaches um rather quickly but I think from a preparation standpoint from a feedback standpoint you know so much of the NBA is you know you you have a walkth through and you know you’re going through scouting reports and how are we going to guard pick and roll and and how are we going to guard this guy and then the next day it’s all right here’s a sit down with your coach we’re going through film on you know what what you did well what you need to improve moving so I think it’s really for all those moments um where you know there’s going to be a little bit of a learning area but you know I wouldn’t put any limits on his ability to improve rapidly just because that’s something he’s done you know on the court every time we’ve seen him so uh I I do definitely agree with with Chanty about just the fact that once once he’s on the floor and it’s this this global game um where you know the ball is moving and and there’s so many nonverbal communicating keys and all these things like I think he’ll be fine at at that point especially with the style that he plays
yeah it’s great once he said that and hearing you explain it it it makes perfect sense to me i’ve just got a couple more questions for you look I I’m not a part of your front office and but but from the outside looking in what what what I’m most excited about is it appears that you guys you and Joe and the rest of your team have great synergy uh amongst the staff and the way you work together joe mentioned on after the draft that the the teamwork that was involved in being able to locate and draft a player like Hansen you just talked about that but can you speak to the synergy and the way that you guys are able to work together and how that’s led to the successes you’ve had thus far yeah it’s it’s been incredible just the the cohesion of the of the group uh front office wise for sure i mean you know Joe uh Sergey who I mentioned Andre Patterson who’s done an incredible job in so many different areas of of the front office from basketball to health and performance uh you know Asia Jones um Sheree Sam Jake Fox Danny Connors like there’s there’s all these different contributors sean Kylie Zach Williams like we have an incredible group that uh I think is is really connected and brings you know various different skill sets to the table and I think anytime you have that many smart people able to sit down in a room um you know Alexander Powell our director of basketball innovation BJ Domingo our director of player personnel we there’s just there’s so many bright minds um that you know can add value in in different ways and have different perspective on things and that’s what’s really exciting for us is just to have so many people from different backgrounds uh that can contribute to you know building this thing out and then you know working closely with with Coach Bops and and his staff and having cohesion there too has has been a joy I think for for all of us and um I definitely think there should be a ton of optimism just about the team you know moving forward and the the steps that we’ve we’ve taken and made and uh you know obviously draft night with with Hansen is a is another exciting development as well so
all right the Trailblazers assistant general manager Mike Schmidtz here on the Rip City Drive hey Mike i got nothing but respect for you and the work that you guys do as a team thank you for your time and that was fascinating to go through the entire process all the work that you guys put in over the last couple years and it came to fruition today when he was announced as the newest trailblazer congrats on the work thanks so much really appreciate it there you go mike Schmidz

Trail Blazers assistant GM Mike Schmitz talks draft process on the Rip City Drive