Given that the HotSpot compilers are not Graal and HotSpot's scalar replacement optimisation is notoriously fragile, I think the original statement was fair. Once Java 9 rolls around and Graal is just a plugin instead of a whole separate VM build, it'll be less fair, and if Graal ever becomes the default compiler that replaces C2 then it'll be even more fair, but I guess that is years away at best.

The biggest constraint by far is the reliance on inlining. Inter-procedural escape analysis could potentially remove the need for value types in many places, but it doesn't seem like the JVM engineers believe that's feasible.