Maik Zirbes is playing an excellent season so far from an individual point of view. The 2m07 tall and 115kg heavy Center from TBB Trier is averaging 11.7ppg at 61.9% shooting and 6.9rpg this season. He constantly improved his numbers over the last three seasons and earned his first All-Star selection this year. We have seen him several times already but this games was the first one for this season. And you could clearly see why Zirbes has again improved his numbers in all categories.

The automatically eligible Zirbes mainly scores out of Pick and Roll situation created by his PG Dru Joyce. He rolls well to the basket and knows how to open up for either the direct pass out of the Pick or with the opening pass to the wing player. He has good hands and can finish these plays around the basket with either the strong dunk (when open) or the more finesse play on the layup. He could go more often for the dunk as you have sometimes the impression that he does not want to dunk it but he has the necessary physical tools to do so. In the end of the game this week, he refused the slam in a situation after an offensive rebound trying the difficult layup and missed this crucial one. This is a part of his game that he can improve, but we said this already in our previous reports.

Where Zirbes has improved though is his game in the low post. He scored several times over Tibor Pleiß in a variety of ways. He started with a nice left handed hook shot and then had a Olajuwonesque low post move with two fakes and a double spin to get open. This move was very impressive and we have never seen him do anything like that before. In the second half, Zirbes also opened up against Pleiß to play him face-to-face and beat him on the dribble over the baseline to score with the foul. Additionally, he made his only mid-range jump shot from the baseline to finish on an excellent 6/9 FGs in this game. His free-throw shooting remains constant around 70% which is still improvable but already a correct number for a 21 year old big man.

On the defensive end, Zirbes has improved his boxing out but remains a limited rebounder though. He only averages 3.6 defensive rebounds in nearly 29 minutes on the court which is not great. However, he has a very good 3.2 offensive boards per game which gives him a multitude of second chances. The main weakness though remains his lateral speed and defensive footwork where he gets beat quite often. He is not able to stop big guys who face him to play the drive. He often has to commit fouls in these situations which is a problem for him and the team. On the long term, he needs to work on this which might open up some possibilities to play the PF position in the future, something that a previous coach tried him out at but it failed. This was though two years ago and with more maturity and improving fundamentals, this might remain an option for the future as his shooting mechanics and skills are there.

Overall, Zirbes can become an option for some NBA Teams that want to make a gamble in the second round even if he lacks a bit of size for the top level. After two seasons with good numbers and minutes in Trier, the next season might become crucial for him as he has to decide if he feels ready for making the next step and trying himself out on a Eurocup/Euroleague level team or stay another season close to his roots. An invitation to the Adiadas Eurocamp seems to be a “no-brainer” in our eyes as the number of productive big men in a serious league that remain undrafted is quite limited right now.

The surprise of the day came on the other hand from Philipp Neumann who got nearly 9 minutes of playing time in a tight game. With the problems of Pleiß against Zirbes and despite a stupid foul in the seconds he played in Q1, coach Chris Fleming is doing a great job in giving more and more minutes to the 1992 born big guy, even outside of the garbage time.

He scored his only basket of the game at the halftime buzzer with a two handed tip in. In the third quarter, Neumann played a longer stretch where he showed great intensity on both ends of the court setting screens relentlessly without even touching the ball once. He was not considered as an offensive option at all as his team mates did not pass him the ball when he was posting up. He grabbed a strong offensive rebound where he unfortunately fell back into his typical head-down forcing playing style as he tried to put the ball on the floor before going up. He got robbed the leather but could save the possession somehow through his fighting spirit.

Overall, his performance was very encouraging and coach Fleming has certainly gained an additional option for some regular minutes throughout the rest of the season. Neumann will of course make some errors as he is aware of his talent and is not shying away from trying something on the offensive end. With the current stagnation of Pleiß progress, Neumann might grab some more minutes here and there and should be ready to become a serious contributor by next season.

Maik Zirbes confirms, Philipp Neumann emerges is a post from: European Prospects
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Maik Zirbes – 2m06 – Center – 1990 – TBB Trier

The German big guy had a good season for TBB Trier in 2010-2011 under the new head coach Henrik Rödl who was not afraid to give his youngsters serious minutes. Now, Zirbes needs to confirm in his second full year with the Bundesliga team and show that he has improved over the summer. He did not play the Universiade and had enough time to work on his skill set. Zirbes is a massive inside player who excels in Pick and Roll situation. He can also hit the mid-range jump shot as he has a good shooting touch (also from the FT line). Athletically, he runs the court nicely and he can finish hard on the dunk with two hands. He sometimes shies away from the big finish but he showed some good improvement in this domain. Defensively, he needs absolutely to get quicker in his foot work as he struggles playing against big guys that attack him face-to-face. He can become a good rebounder as he has quite a good timing and goes hard to the glass with two hands. In the year of his automatic eligibility for the NBA Draft, he can put his name on the boards of the scouts by showing improvement in these areas and becoming a better finisher when playing in the low block.

Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann – 2m07 – PF/C – 1990 – Telekom Baskets Bonn

After having put his name on the NBA Draft board last spring but withdrawing it before the deadline, Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann comes now to his first full season on the German Bundesliga level. He dominated in the ProA last season and wants to confirm his talent on the higher level right from the start. However, a small injury took him away from the court during the preseason and he could only come back this weekend at the Maritim-Cup. The long and athletic big guy will certainly see minutes as a back-up on the Center position this year as his shot blocking qualities are good and he can create his shot either by facing the basket or in the low post. Of course, he will struggle in the beginning as he is not used to play on this level but WoBo should be able to adapt quickly. On the long term, he is among the most interesting players in Germany as he has great upside due to his skillset and above average athletic abilities. It is difficult to say right now what are his limits but to our knowledge, several NBA teams showed interest in drafting him already last spring. So it would not be a big surprise if several NBA scouts will find their way to the Telekom-Dome this season in order to see his progress.

Daniel Theis – 2m07 – PF/C – 1992 – NY Phantoms Braunschweig

For Daniel Theis, it will be a highly interesting season as the athletic inside player will get his first regular minutes on the Bundesliga level. After having seen some garbage time before and having dominated the NBBL games, it is the right moment for the 2m07 tall player to make the next step. Theis’ impact will be mainly in rebounding and shot blocking as his back to the basket game is not yet polished enough for the professional level. He can make the mid-range shot but definitely needs to become more regular from around the key. Great jumper and runner, the Braunschweig player plays above the rim but his athleticism will be matched in the Bundesliga. He will only turn 20 in the next spring so he has still some time to develop but the fact that a potential play-off team wants to give minutes to him underlines his talent level. A talent level that he showed during the preparation where he finished several games in double-figures. We would not be surprised if Theis will enter his name into the NBA Draft pool for 2012 as an early entrant in spring.

Bogdan Radosavljevic – 2m11 – Center – 1993 – Bayern München

After travelling around for several years, the Serbian-German Center Bogdan Radosavljevic has finally found his home in Munich. After seeing some limited minutes with Bayern last season in the ProA, he might become a full member of the rotation of the ambitious team in the Bundesliga this year. During the preparation, he saw regular minutes and with the departure of Sharrod Ford (who will however be replaced), he might have a chance as a back-up in the beginning of the season. Radosavljevic has good hands to finish from close and can also score from mid-range or with the jump hook. Not overly athletic, he tries to finish strong in the paint with the dunk when he sees the opening but he might get in serious problems on the defensive end, especially against faster inside players. His playing time might remain limited this season but on the long term, he is foreseen to become the Senior National Team Center for Germany in a few years.

Maxi Kleber – 2m07 – Forward – 1992 – s.Oliver Würzburg Baskets

After having sit out nearly two seasons because of different knee and ankle injuries, one of the most talented German forwards is ready again to compete. Kleber can play on both forward positions and has some good jumping ability and a nice shot. As he missed two years in his basketball development and is considered a quick learner, he found his rhythm on the highest German level quite fast during the preparation phase. His coaching staff is very satisfied with his development so far and he has improved immensely in the short time that he is practicing with the professional team according to head coach John Patrick. We would consider him as our wildcard for the upcoming season as nobody really expects him to blossom but to what has been reported about the preseason games, he is ready to play some good minutes as back-up for Würzburg. And as his learning curve is quite steep, he can eventually develop into a serious player on the Bundesliga level faster than anyone expects.

Next to these 5 player, there are of course other prospects to follow. To name just a few that can expect to see regular minutes, you can think on: Maurice Stuckey (Brose Baskets), Philipp Neumann (Brose Baskets), Danilo Barthel (Frankfurt Skyliners), Nico Adamczak (BG Göttingen), Anthony Canty (Eisbären Bremerhaven), Besnik Bekteshi (EnBW Ludwigsburg), Michael Wenzl (ratiopharm Ulm), Femi Oladipo (ratiopharm Ulm), Simon Schmitz (BBC Bayreuth).

5 prospects to follow in the Bundesliga 2011/2012 is a post from: European Prospects
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The trip started with the game in Crailsheim which featured the dominator of the German ProA Bayern Munich with their star-ensemble against the small-town team of the Merlins. The locals have with Femi Oladipo an interesting player in their roster that we talked already about a few weeks ago while Bayern has with the 1989 born Bastian Doreth a future Bundesliga PG. However, none of the two had a major impact on the game. While Oladipo only took one shot during the whole game, Doreth had a least three attempts from behind the arc to make one.

The 1990 born forward was totally cut of from the Merlins heavily US-based offense. The team’s 5 German players that get significant minutes only took 13 shots of the 63 attempts of the team which underlines the overall poor team play. And a team player like Oladipo looks a bit lost on offense where all of his actions where just about sharing the ball and creating opportunities for his team mates. Despite being listed as 1m99 tall power forward, it was him that came up with some nice passes and good court-vision while the normal playmakers looked more for their own shot. Oladipo did a good job on the defensive end where he guarded every position from 1-4 and this especially in stopping Steffen Hamann during stretches but he needs to remain focused on his presence once he gets passed by the offense. However, offensively, this game was not really a good one for Oladipo as he had no influence at all. After his nice start into the season, he seems to have lost his confidence on offense scoring only 5.0ppg over the last 9 games after having started the season with 9.4ppg.

Bastian Doreth did a good job by running the point during his minutes on the court. When coming from the bench, you did not really feel a difference compared to Senior NT player Hamann, even if both have a very different game. Being pretty short with only 1m82, Doreth can push the ball on the break and has a very nice three-point shot. He rarely attacks the rim and takes more than 75% of his shots from behind the arc and hits them with great precision (45.9%). Additionally, he is a fantastic free-throw shooter (95.5%) but has some trouble to defend on taller or more athletic guards. If Bayern München wants to play for the Championship next season, he might not be strong enough as Back-up for them but he can certainly do a good job for mid-level Bundesliga teams next season.

Check the full game in Video (not available in every country)

We continued our trip to Bayreuth where the local BBC played against the surprising TBB Trier team. Both squads feature one player that has been mentioned in our 5 players to follow this season in the Bundesliga. Simon Schmitz decided to play his best game of the season for Bayreuth on Sunday so that it was a great opportunity to get an update on the 1990 born German PG. Additionally, Maik Zirbes did a good job as well for the guests so that this game gave us a nice possibility to scout both of them.

So far, Simon Schmitz never played longer than 17 minutes but this all changed on Sunday as the 1m85 tall and officially 65kg guard saw 20 minutes of action for scoring 14pts and having the best +/- of the whole team. The game was highly important for his team that tries to avoid relegation and improved their record with an important win. Schmitz entered the court at the end of the 1st quarter when the offense of his team was not turning very well. With him on the floor, the team shared the ball and the different players got excellent open shots. Schmitz himself was not afraid to take his opportunities and knocked down a long-distance shot from the corner followed by a three-pointer. He added a second triple and finished his first half with a very difficult drive that he could connect after a spin-move in traffic.

Next to his offensive aggressiveness and great shot selection and accuracy, it was under Schmitz’ control that the team made the game-winning break in the second quarter as he managed to change the game speed and put his team in a more setup-oriented offense than relying on pure 1-on-1 skills. When he went back to the bench and the starting PG Danny Gibson came back to the court, the team fell back into its initial problems and the lead was reduced. During the second half, Schmitz came back an assured the lead of his team and even help to increase the gap again during the third quarter. After another period on the bench, head coach Andreas Wagner brought the young guard back for the last minutes of the game in order to control the game speed and bring home this important victory and keep the hope alive to stay in the league.

Next to his great offensive game, Schmitz showed good improvement in his defensive attitude where he was doing an excellent job on Dru Joyce. He was not afraid to challenge the US guard physically and was always hard on him without getting passed over. Despite being physically one of the least impressive players of the whole Bundesliga, Schmitz showed that he can handle the pressure and be a factor on the defensive end as well. After having grown step-by-step over the last seasons, he has now marked his territory in the BBL and he will be measured on his performance from last Sunday. Bayreuth knows that they have an alternative on the bench to take over and coach Wagner might go to the German guard more often in the last games of the season.

Maik Zirbes has been a great story so far this season for TBB Trier and his head coach Henrik Rödl. We had already a longer report on him a few weeks back and the game in Bayreuth underlined again his forces and weaknesses. Physically impressive, Zirbes is having a lot of Pick and Roll situations where he gets fed by PG Dru Joyce. Out of these situations he comes up with great positions where he can finish with the dunk. Additionally, he has good timing for the offensive rebound but once again missed the necessary aggressiveness to finish strong on a second jump. You could see him several times come up with a good offensive rebound but instead of using his power to go back up for the dunk, he tried some soft shots from close that he missed.

Simon Schmitz keeps the hope alive for Bayreuth is a post from: European Prospects
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Maik Zirbes – 2m08 – C – 1990 – TBB Trier

The season 2010/2011 has definitely marked the beginning of the professional career of Maik Zirbes. After he only saw limited minutes last season, the German big guy gets a lot of confidence from his head coach Henrik Rödl and he is the starting Center of the Bundesliga Play-off contender from Trier. The main asset of Zirbes is his huge body; he has no problems to play his opponents physical, even if he can become tougher in the paint in terms of finishing. The main improvement in his game is his reduced foul-trouble and defensive awareness. After looking lost on the court last season, Zirbes has a lot of confidence this year and shows that he is already a good contributor for his team.

Zirbes mainly scores in the paint. Out of the back-to-the-basket situations, he can come up with the driving hook or pushing his defender backwards and finish with the jump hook. He has correct athletic abilities but the 2m08 tall Zirbes does not use them at its best for the moment. In my opinion, he should try harder to finish his attempts also with the dunk. He can finish it on a spectacular way, and he likes to do it as a trailer on the fast break. Zirbes has also a very good shooting touch. He can make the mid-range jump shot, also out of the post in turn-around jump shot fashion and he is doing a great job from the free-throw line where is close to 80% this season.

Defensively, he does not get put out of balance if he defends in the low post. The former NBBL-MVP has learned how to stay out of foul problems and does not go anymore for the cheap touches that can put him into trouble. He is not an amazing shot blocker but he can reject a shot here and there. In general, he is doing a good job boxing out and grabs the rebounds with two hands above the rim. I expected a lot from him this season and put him into my 5 players to follow for the 2010/2011 competition of the Bundesliga. For the moment, I must admit that he even exceeded my thoughts and is becoming really regular on this level already. With another season under his belt, where he should be able to get more offensive touches as well, Zirbes could be ready to become a rotation player on a team that plays internationally. The physical presence, athletic abilities and basketball skills are there.

Stats: 6.8ppg (59,5% 2FGs – 77.8% FTs), 4.4rpg, 0.7bpg 17mins

Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann – 2m07 – PF/C – 1990 – Dragons Rhöndorf

The total opposite to Zirbes in terms of physical body structure is Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann. The 2m07 tall player signed recently a long-term deal with Telekom Baskets Bonn and enjoys lots of playing time in the 2nd German division for Dragons Rhöndorf as cooperation partner for the Beko-BBL team. Wohlfarth-Bottermann, or WoBo as he is called, made his first steps on the international scene during the 2008 edition of the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament after which German legend Detlef Schrempf said that he has NBA potential. Being still pretty raw at that time, it was interesting to see into which kind of player WoBo has developed since.

The first impression that you get when seeing him on the court is that he is very long, a bit like a white and less muscular version of Kevin Garnett in terms of body structure. WoBo plays mainly as Center for his team, but he is a big guy who likes to go out to the three-point line in order to create spaces for his team mates. He likes to put the ball on the floor in order to set up some hand-off situations but he can also attack the basket on the drive. The former German Youth National team player is getting a lot of touches in the low-post where he tries to create out of the dribbling as well. He has no specific low-post moves that you would consider as his trademark-move but he can finish on the jump hook with his very long arms. He tries to score as well on his left hand but he is not as secure in these moves than when going over his stronger right hand. WoBo has range out to the three-point line and scores also on the jump shot from around the key despite perfectible shooting mechanics. He struggles to become regular from the free-throw line as his shooting touch is going up and down through the season so far.

In addition to his offensive skills and potential, Wohlfarth-Bottermann is already a terrific presence on the defensive end. With his long body and great wingspan, he is a tremendous shot blocker and goes up high on nearly every shot attempt. He had a season-high 7 rejections a few weeks ago and with him going up straight, he does not risk to get called for the foul that often. He has a very quick jump of two feet which makes him a serious threat on the man but also coming from the weak side. His lateral speed is improving and he is able to stay in front of shorter wing players when they try to pass him on the drive. With an improving footwork and a more regular jump shot, Wohlfarth-Bottermann should be a serious candidate for getting minutes on Beko-BBL level next season. He showed that he can dominate in the 2nd league and a loan to a smaller Bundesliga team next season might be a good option for him, if Telekom Baskets Bonn does not want to use the services of the 2m07 tall youngster for themselves.

Stats: 11.4ppg (51.8% 2FGs – 53.6% FTs), 7.6rpg, 2.1bpg 24mins

Femi Oladipo – 1m99 – SF – 1990 – Crailsheim Merlins

The third member of the German AST team from 2008 in our analysis today is Femi Oladipo. The Small Forward plays currently for the Crailsheim Merlins where he has made a constant way upwards over the last two seasons. After a first season on this level, he has nearly doubled his stats this season and has become a major part for his team right from the start. Oladipo is some kind of multi-use forward who is displaying a surprising court-vision and excellent defensive abilities. Being too undersized to play in the paint, he is mainly used on the Small Forward position this season where he can use his above average athletic abilities and speed to attack the basket. He likes to put the ball on the floor with his left hand from outside and despite being let open to take the long-distance shot, he manages to beat his defenders at multiple occasions with a good first step.

When coming close to the hoop, Oladipo is able to finish or score on the put back. However, the main question mark is his jump shot. Shooting with a very high curve, his shots always look like a prayer with the hope of going through the net. Here is a major point to work on for Oladipo as well as his terrible percentage from the free-throw line in order to become a more versatile player. As for the moment, he mainly relies on his driving skills out of which he shows good passing abilities to the cutters (he had a season-high 7 assists two weeks ago).  It is interesting to see that he is often showing his team mates where to run on the court and helping the other guys in the set plays. He makes some good passes from the top of the key to swing the ball and he is rarely forcing the decisions on the offensive end.

Oladipo is able to defend multiple positions. If he might be not strong enough physically to stop big guys in the low post, Crailsheim uses Oladipo during stretches to play on the opposing guards. He has good lateral speed and his athletic abilities help him to put pressure on the smaller players. He has very quick hands to play the steal in traffic and immediately launch the fast-break where he is doing a good spacing job as well. When playing defense on the man, he stays in front of the offensive player but could be more active with his hands to make the passes more difficult. Oladipo should be an option for several Bundesliga teams next seasons in order to have an athletic defender and fighter for the rebound. If he can develop his shot and become more secure from the free-throw line, Oladipo should be able to become a highly interesting player in the next years.

Stats: 8.4ppg (61.5% 2FGs – 46.9% FTs), 4.8rpg 22mins

1990: the in-between generation for Germany is a post from: European Prospects
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Robin Benzing – 2m09 – 101kg – SF – 1989 – ratiopharm Ulm

Next to the already drafted Tibor Pleiss, Robin Benzing is of course the player to watch in terms of NBA potential of the talented 1989 born German generation. After an excellent first season on the highest level, a great Eurocamp in Treviso, Benzing needs to confirm now his status as top talent by pushing his team not only with his scoring but also by leading it to win more games. His limited impact on the National Team level this summer showed him that it is still a long way to go before being a regular contributor on the international scene and the lanky forward will have to work even harder this season.

The whole ratiopharm Ulm team is built around him as first offensive option and the number of NBA scouts coming to Ulm will certainly not decrease. Benzing needs to become a tougher player on defense where he still sees a lot of problems when getting posted up. Additionally, his rebound average is somehow subpar for a nearly seven-footer. On the offensive end, his lack of athleticism is one of the reasons why he may not dominate as expected but at 21, there is certainly a progress margin to overcome these deficits. The season will start on a tough note as Ulm will travel to the German champion Brose Baskets on Sunday and the opposition of a Euroleague team will immediately show what Benzing took out of this summer on the Beko-BBL level.

Michael Wenzl – 2m10 – 110kg – C – 1991 – ratiopharm Ulm

One of the surprises of the Pre-season is the young Michael Wenzl who is yet another member of the ratiopharm Ulm team. Having never seen him play, I checked with the Ulm head coach Mike Taylor to get a bit more information on a player who has never played in any Youth National Team but who made a steady progress over the last years in the different Ulm youth teams. Wenzl, who has a 2 years younger brother being as tall as him, plays also with the ProB cooperation team of SG Illertal where he scored 23pts and grabbed 7rebs in the first game of the season last weekend. So who is Michael Wenzl, coach Taylor?

Michel “Michi” Wenzl is a hardworking physical young post player. He is raw and very new to basketball so he is learning quickly about the game. He is benefitting from the presence of smart post players like Sean Sonderleiter, John Bryant and Coleman Collins who are helping him every day. We plan to use Michi as a backup post man and get him minutes every Bundesliga game this season. In our preseason, he picked up things quickly and contributed well. I believe he will help our team as an extra big man who can defend, rebound and execute our offense. He will have a role and we will work to develop him. Offensively, Michi has potential to be a very skilled player but right now he is learning how to use his body and create shots in the post effectively. He is an active rebounder but will learn to be even more aggressive as he develops his strength. Michi learns quickly and has picked up many details and applied them well. Defensively, he is physical and will bang. His size and true-five physical playing style make him an excellent prospect for the future and we are really excited about helping Michi make the next steps.

Maik Zirbes – 2m08 – 122kg – C – 1990 – TBB Trier

Big Maik was supposed to get some serious minutes already last season but it did not happen. With a new head coach (former Tar Heel and ALBA Berlin player Henrik Rödl) and a new concept, this can be the break-out year for the big guy. Zirbes is built like a bull but his game is a lot softer than his look. After being used one year as a PF under the previous coach, he is now back on the Center position and he may be even the starter right from the start in front of the veteran George Evans. Zirbes played an excellent pre-season, being even the top scorer of the team in some games. The 2m08 tall player is mainly scoring close to the basket on Pick-and-Roll or help situations but he is also doing a nice job on the offensive glass.

Zirbes has really improved on defense and is less foul-prone than we knew him from last season. An interesting U20 National Team summer and the intense practices with the new head coach helped him into this direction. In the recent season preview of the local newspaper, team-captain Dragan Dojcin underlined the potential of Zirbes with the following words:

His body is his capital. Maik is really tall and good in the paint. He lacks consistency in defense: sometimes he is good, sometimes he is bad. He needs to work on this and try to stay at the same high level.

Simon Schmitz – 1m85 – 71kg – PG – 1990 – BBC Bayreuth

Simon Schmitz climbs the ladder slowly but surely year after year. 2008-2009 he was a starter in the ProB, 2009-2010 he was a starter in the ProA and now for 2010-2011 he will play in the BEKO-BBL but most likely not as a starter. BBC Bayreuth signed the young German PG this summer after he was supposed to stay yet another season in Jena and get some minutes with their cooperation partner MBC on the Bundesliga level. Looking at the preseason, Schmitz will be used as a back-up PG with a team that will fight to remain in the league.

Schmitz is a scoring PG who understands the game pretty well and has a nice shot but lacks the physical presence. Therefore, it will be very interesting to see how he will do against the mostly US-guards dominated opponents in the league. Last season, Schmitz showed that he has the level of ProA without any problem on offense but the coaching staff at MBC did not use him on BBL level yet, probably because of his problems on defense against stronger guards.

Philipp Schwethelm – 2m00 – 94kg – SF/SG – 1989 – Eisbären Bremerhaven

Schwethelm goes already into his 4th full Bundesliga season this year after having spent two years with Cologne and one with Bremerhaven. The 2m00 tall wing started most of the games for the Icebears and is doing some good progress as a regular scorer from outside. His lack of athleticism is however preventing him from being a bigger potential but his feel for the scoring will probably give him bigger roles in the future on the German level. He should be able to move up among the top German scorers this season and become a fix spot for the National team in the future.

Author’s Pick: A special mention goes to Mathias Perl from the LTi Giessen 46ers. I spoke already about him and his tremendous defensive potential a year ago and it seems that Perl has made the next step as he is planned to be the back-up PG of the Bundesliga team this season. He even played several games as a Starter for Giessen in the pre-season before they signed Giorgi Gamqrelidze. We wish all the best to the 1989 born guard and hope he will earn his minutes on the court. It is always good to see how a player develops over the years by staying at the same team and without being hyped as so many others.

5 players to follow this season in the Beko-BBL is a post from: European Prospects
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The defending champions of Urspring Academy had to suffer the most this weekend. Heavily favorite once again, their top scorer Maurice Stuckey had a double rupture of his ankle tendon last week and some of their players were also heavily engaged in different tournaments (Rho, NIJT) over the last weeks. This can however not been seen as an excuse for the extremely poor display of the team during the semi-finals where they really looked bad against a short but aggressive Paderborn Baskets team. And it was this team, coached by Artur Gacaev that came out of the tournament with highest number of new gained supporters.

The team displayed a very pleasant to watch basketball, based on tremendous defensive pressure, excellent offensive organization and a player in Lars Wendt that emerged as a top prospect for Germany during this tournament. The 1m83 tall guard formed an electric back court duo together with his twin brother Ole Wendt (NBBL All-Star this winter). Being born in October 1992, they were among the youngest players of the tournament giving more than 2 and half years to some of their competitors. But they came out great in my eyes.

Ole Wendt takes more care of the PG duties where he sets up the game perfectly using his excellent handles to put the defense in trouble. His drives create a lot of open positions for his team mates on the wings and he drew a large amount of fouls. He had several nice plays, especially during the final where he scored a huge three point shot after a behind the back dribble to create the necessary space to shoot. And he does not need that much of space to go for it.

His twin brother Lars Wendt looks even more interesting in my eyes. It was him that took all the big shots of the team, increasing his playing level through out the game. You could see him several times asking for the ball and do his stuff, and most of the times it was great. He has tremendous three point range and very quick release that allows him to shot against any defender. He scored even several three pointers with the foul, some of them from 7 to 8 meters. While most of his scoring comes from behind the arc, his size limits him a bit when driving as he is not particularly athletic. But his drives were excellent and mostly were stopped by fouls where he was nearly automatic from the line. He is definitely a player to watch for the future and it will be interesting to see if he can develop into a PG as he will probably lack of size to play the SG on the highest level.

However, during the final of the tournament, the team of Paderborn could not hold his playing and intensity level through out the 40 minutes. After another great performance during the first 20 minutes, everything looked like it is going to be the major upset. But ALBA Berlin behind a great Niels Giffey took over the game in the final quarter. In front of more than 2000 fans, the German SF made several big plays to take the lead back for his team. And it was him that nailed the highly important three point shot after a perfectly executed setup in the decisive moment of the game. Giffey scored in multiple ways, including post up scoop shots with his left hand, mid-range jumpers of set threes. And he did not show any kind of nerves when he needed to score his FTs in the money time. To get an even better insight on him, you can find it here in my post about the forwards of the Nike International Junior Tournament that was played in Berlin a week before.

Giffey got some important support during the final from the strong but short PF Steven Monse who used his wide body to create some trouble in the paint. Probably a limited player when it comes to upside, Monse can develop into a solid role player in the next years as he displays the necessary work ethics and physical build to compete against professional opposition. Another key player for ALBA Berlin was their PG Konstantin Klein who came up with the game winning steal 10 seconds before the end of the game and converted the necessary FTs to seal the victory.

The game for the third place saw Breitengüssbach bring home the Bronze medal behind the nice scoring effort of their PG Daniel Schmidt who displayed some good understanding of the game and correct long distance qualities. Erik Land however was a bit of a disappointment for me as he could not lift his team to the Final in the semis and was unlucky too during the Sunday game. However, his combination of intensity, footwork and post game can help him to grab Bundesliga minutes in the next years.

Urspring Academy finished 4th this weekend and besides the rebounding presence of Justin Raffington (30 rebounds in two games), it was difficult to see something positive. Raffington showed some abilities to hit the jump shot around the key but his post play needs some polish. His year long injury did not help him on this point for sure. Top 92 talent Kevin Bright looked tired like he did already during the NIJT last weekend. At least, he came up with a correct individual performance on Sunday where he scored 17 and had 11 rebounds. But it was time for him to get some rest before the summer and the upcoming preparation for the U18 European championships.

Some other notes

• The weekend was also used to give away the season awards of the NBBL. Coach of the Year was for Henrik Rödl of ALBA Berlin, MVP of the season went to Maik Zirbes from TBB Trier, Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann won the defensive player of the year award and the best Rookie (born in 1993) was Alexander Blessig from FC Bayern München
• Despite being a popular success with several thousand fans, I was a bit disappointed by the small number of Bundesliga coaches or officials in the Arena. A League that is desperately looking to create a “more German” image seems not to be very interested in its future players. Except for the ALBA Berlin staff, I did not see a lot of other teams that were present despite having no Bundesliga games during the Final day.
• My personal All-Tournament Team:
  PG Ole Wendt 8.5ppg 3.0apg
  SG Lars Wendt 24.0ppg (10/21 3FG 14/17FT)
  SF Niels Giffey (MVP) 25.0ppg (14/19 2FG 4/7 3FG 10/10FT) 5.0rpg
  PF Steven Monse 8.5ppg 8.0rpg 1.5bpg
  C Justin Raffington10.0ppg 15.0rpg 2.0bpg

Highlight Videos of the tournament

Thanks to the great work of schoenen-dunk.de, you can find here highlight videos of the four games of the tournament

NBBL Top4 2009: the Wendt-show was not enough (UPDATED with Videos) is a post from: European Prospects
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• The main event may be the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland. The World team is this team made of mainly European players and it features some of the most prolific prospects around. While the US eyes will probably be mostly on Donatas Motiejunas, the roster features some future Euroleague players like Milan Macvan or Nikos Pappas. Draftexpress is covering the event live from Portland and has a first look at some of the major Europeans (Motiejunas, Macvan, Jackson) in the event. The excellent Blazer’s Edge is also covering the days as the event is happening at their home base in Oregon. They cover Motiejunas too in their first article about the world team but give also a first look at Mamadou Samb. The main sponsor of the event has of course also big coverage from Portland and gives the writing pen to some of the players of the event. Read here what Donatas Motiejunas (again him) tells us about his first time in United States and also what the French Edwin Jackson has to report
• The second place to be these days is Vilagarcia in Spain where one of the biggest U18 tournaments is played these days. Spain, Angola, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, New Zealand and the Czech Republic are playing here to see who has the best cards for the upcoming Summer Championships. Next to the official website, our Spanish friend Jaime Martinez Lafargue at Solobasket gives a great coverage of the Tournament, unfortunately only in Spanish. Read his scouting report of the first day right here.
• Eurobasket.com reports briefly about the Final tournament of Serbian U17 teams in Belgrade
• It has been last weekend already, but Serbia has won the prestigious Bellegarde tournament for U16 teams in France. Second place was for Greece while Turkey finished third and France on the last place. This weekend, Serbia plays in Ragusa (Italy) another U16 tournament against Spain, Russia and the home team of Italy. The opening game of the tournament saw Spain beat Italy 77-63.
• To stay in Italy, the 5th edition of the Memorial Graziano Barila is taking place these days and feature a couple of interesting teams. Team Ohio, the Sabonis Basketball School or Olimpija Ljubljana are the most notable names coming to the tournament to fight against the local youth teams from Italy. You can follow the results and check the rosters right here.
• The Cholet Mondial Basket Tournament will start today in Western France and will feature some very interesting teams too. Despite the withdrawals of some teams before the tournament for different reasons, the organization has managed to bring in such talented squads like Real Madrid (without Nikola Mirotic though), BCM Ostrava or Stella Azzurra Roma next to the traditional French professional Farm teams. Follow the tournament on the official website
• Finally, the German U19 league is looking for its last Final Four participants this weekend after the qualification of ALBA Berlin and Paderborn Baskets. In a highly anticipated (some considered it as a potential Final) game between Trier and Urspring, the team around Maik Zirbes tries to go for a decisive game after having lost the opener of the series one week ago and Maurice Stuckey’s team. The other quarter-final should see TSV Tröster Breitengüssbach qualify against Bayern Munich.

Heavy weekend picks is a post from: European Prospects
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Maik Zirbes had an impressive playoff opener with his TBB Juniors Team and showed why he is considered as one of the most interesting inside talents in Germany. For those who don’t know Zirbes, you see here a massive 2m06 tall guy who dominates easily in the paint due to his large frame. Additionally, Zirbes shows a sweet stroke and is running the floor decently. However, he showed no precise moves with his back to the basket, mostly trying to go for a spin move start and beat his opponent of the dribble or a jump hook. It was him though that held his team in the game, from the outside. Baseline jump in catch and shoot fashion or one dribbling jump shot from the top are in his arsenal as well as the hesitation three point shot with a defender on him. He jumps not very high on the jump shots and his shot release is not super quick, but the mechanics look very good.

Most of Zirbes’ 38 points came of situations that his team mates created for him and he finished close to the basket. His positioning and pass reading is working very well and he is trying to finish with fancy dunks and goes mostly for two handed layups off the glass. Defensively, Zirbes is not a huge shot blocker, he does not try to reject his opponents even when not being in foul trouble. His rebounding is coming mostly of positioning and physical presence and less of jumping the highest. However, Zirbes is a pretty decent athlete and had also two nice dunks on the break. He will finish his high school this summer and then continue with Trier as a full-time professional basketball player.

Another interesting player on the Trier team is the 1992 born PG Maxim Schneider. The 1m85 tall guard had a nice first half but disappeared a bit during the 2nd 20 minutes when the team played a lot better.

The main player to observe with Basketball College Rhein Neckar was the 2m09 tall Small forward Danilo Barthel. After having some break out games with the ProA team of USC Heidelberg, Barthel showed his nice offensive game during the first half. Three point shot, beating his opponent of the dribbling, post moves, he looks like a very skilled forward with great size. Being also very altruist, he did not try extraordinary things and relied on those that he knows he can do. Behind his emotional effort in the first half, his team managed to lead against the highly favorite team of Trier by 13 points at halftime.

In the second half though, Barthel was nowhere to be found. He did not try anything and passed the ball every time to his team mates. This looked like he is currently somebody who runs with the team but is not ready to become a leader. You can however say that he did not force anything and did not refuse any open shots. He had no clear scoring options out of game situations and he did not try to create some for himself. Defensively, Barthel showed some presence in the defensive rebound but can not be considered as an extraordinary player in this area. He is present but not going to crash the boards aggressively.  Talentwise, Barthel is a very nice prospect and his recent selection for the U18 National team is underlining this fact. But he needs to get tougher and grow into a leader role. Being one year younger than the competition may be a reason for this.

Max Bohrmann showed a correct game defensively against Maik Zirbes making him take tough moves on the post up. However, he went often for help situations on Trier drives and let Zirbes open. Offensively, Bohrmann was not very lucky and his different drives from the top finished off the rim. He scored however 15 points on hustle plays and of situations created by his team mates. The 1991 born 2m07 tall Center looks a bit limited by the absence of a good shooting stroke.

Another player to watch is the 1992 born Alexander Kuhn who played a correct game on the Small Forward position. Kuhn showed the nice combination of having a good long distance shot and an aggressive drive.

The game to watch in the North Playoffs was the ALBA Berlin versus Team Bonn/Rhöndorf match-up. In the video below, you can follow two very interesting prospects with Niels Giffey from Berlin and Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann from Team Bonn/Rhöndorf. And it was Giffey who finished the game with the best statistical numbers with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

NBBL Playoffs started this weekend is a post from: European Prospects
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Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann (2m07 – C – 1990)

The long Center player from Bonn won the MVP trophy in this game which is of course a nice award for the efforts of the still very raw player. Wohlfarth-Bottermann can still be considered as a long term prospect and the recognition as “NBA-talent” by Detlef Schrempf after the Albert Schweitzer Tournament will make him a target of lots of scouts.

In Mannheim, JWB showed his very interesting defensive possibilities as he finished the game with 4 block shots, and there could have been even more if the referees would have been All-Stars too. He has already nice boxing-out reflexes as he had to go against the massive Maik Zirbes. His great athletic abilities and skills to run the court make him an excellent transition player where he can follow the break as a trailer.

Offensively, he is still pretty raw. You could see glimpses of back to the basket moves but he struggled to score against Zirbes. However, he looks to have made a step forward when it comes to explosivity and overall power in his game. You could see him score on powerful dunks, often coming of two feet. He will probably gain a spot in the U20 National team this summer and his evolution is to be followed intensively.

Femi Oladipo (1m99 – PF – 1990)

The athletic forward was the MVP from a statistical point of view as he finished the game as best scorer and rebounder. With his unorthodox playing style, Oladipo managed to score a good number of easy baskets either on offensive rebounds or even by going for a coast-to-coast dunk in traffic.

Oladipo is very active on both sides of the court when it comes to rebounding. He needs to work there very hard, as his jump shot is still far from being reliable. He did not even try one outside shot during the game, relying more on his interesting left handed drive. However, his ball handling needs some improvement, as he always puts the ball up very high which is risky especially when driving.

His limits in terms of shot are hugely pointed out when he steps to the FT line where his mechanics look very strange and not regular at all. Additionally, his situation in Bremerhaven was not positive for either him and his team and he is currently on the transfer market.

Philipp Neumann (2m06 – PF/C – 1992)

The surprise of the day for me was the game of Philipp Neumann. The MVP of the U16 Division B from 2008 put already very impressive numbers to the table in the NBBL and gains also some minutes in the ProB so I really wanted to know more about this player. And he looks like a very promising player to me.

Being not skinny at all, even looking a bit out of shape, Neumann is a highly intense player. He has very interesting footwork and he was one of the few centers on the court that showed back to the basket moves. He has long arms and also a sweet shooting touch in the key. The more surprising part in his game is his athleticism as he does not look at first sight being a great leaper. However, he showed some impressive dunks during the game.

His coach describes him as a very mobile inside player who will develop long distance shooting qualities in the future. With his interesting defensive timing. he can become also a shot blocker and good rebounder.  If Neumann can slow down a bit and concentrate on the important things on the court, he has a very interesting potential for the future.

Maik Zirbes, who recently entered the Draftexpress 90s born Internationals Ranking, was not in his best day in Mannheim. The massive Center got well guarded by Wohlfarth-Bottermann but he impressed with a nice buzzer-beating three pointer. His above average athletic abilities are of course impressive on this level and he should develop well in Trier under coach Defraigne and having a sparring partner like George Evans.

Simon Schmitz was not in a scoring day but the PG, who I recently featured in a longer article, showed that he is able to control a game and its tempo. His sometimes hara-kiri like drives against the bigs look impressive but he seems to be more focused when playing a real game than in such a show event.-

Robert Hülsewede showed an interesting polyvalent game. The 2m00 tall player looks already very well built physically and his a very quick shot release in catch-and-shot plays. This is nothing new but what impressed me was the fact that he played the PG position during some stretches and he came up with some very nice looks in those situations.

NBBL All-Star game review is a post from: European Prospects
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Team North

Ole Wendt (Paderborn Baskets – 1992 – 1m83 – PG)

Either as a starter or as energizer coming of the bench, the young guard of Paderborn is always giving 100% in the offense and in defense.

Jusuf El Domiaty (NY Phantons Braunschweig – 1990 – 1m87 – PG)

Top scorer and assist player of Braunschweig, he also plays important minutes in the ProB and that’s why he had only 2 NBBL games so far.

Janek Schmidkunz (Central Hoops Berlin – 1990 – 1m81 – PG)

He led the surprising team to a 2nd place in the North-East division. He is the second best scorer of the team and plays 34 minutes per game.

Mathis Mönninghoff (Bayer Giants – 1992 – 1m98 – SG)

Mönninghoff has made a giant step this season and works a lot on his all-around skills. He has still two years to go in the NBBL.

Nico Adamczak (ALBA Berlin – 1990 – 1m92 – SG)

15ppg and 8.4rpg are the figures that characterize the player of the current vice-champions. He is an excellent long-distance shooter and gives always 100%.

Niels Giffey (ALBA Berlin – 1991 – 2m00 – SF)

The most important player of ALBA Berlin. He has grown particularly quick into the role as team leader this season and is the current top scorer of the team.

Robert Huelsewede (Paderborn Baskets – 1990 – 1m98 – SF)

The skinny forward shows the versatility of the Paderborn team. He can dominate in the paint but also score from outside.

Max Schulze-Pals (Phoenix Hagen – 1990 – 2m01 – PF)

Schulze-Pals is a big fighter and gives always his maximum, characteristics that always are the trademark of the Hagen team.

Femi Oladipo (Eisbären Bremerhaven – 1990 – 1m99 – PF)

An incredibly strong athlete who is barely unstoppable on his way to the basket. He is also a member of the professional roster of Bremerhaven.

Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann (Bonn/Rhöndorf – 1990 – 2m05 – C)

He does not play organized basketball for a long time and has made his way from the tiny team of BSV Roleber to the AST and NBBL Top4 in a very short time. Dirk Bauermann considers him as a legit future Senior NT player.

Team SOUTH

Simon Schmitz (BIS Speyer – 1990 – 1m88 – PG)

28.5ppg 6.5apg 7.5rpg – Schmitz has the whole package. Two times player of the day and big time minutes with Speyer in the ProB show how important Schmitz is to his team.

Daniel Schmidt (Breitengüssbach – 1990 – 1m86 – PG)

He is the head of the division leader and distributes 6.4 assists per game. Additionally, he scores 10.2 per game and has already been a member of the Brose Baskets roster.

Akeem Vargas (ALBA Urspring – 1990 – 1m93 – SG)

He is not the guy you see on the court, but he is even more effective. Vargas is known for his great defensive presence.

Kevin Bright (ALBA Urspring – 1992 – 1m98 – SF)

The NBBL Rookie of the Year shows already good maturity and excellent body control. He has already a huge impact on his team despite being one of the youngest players around.

Filmore Beck (Eintracht Frankfurt – 1991 – 1m89 – SF)

The 6th best scorer of the NBBL who likes to shot from downtown and hits with great accuracy. He might be the leader that bring Eintracht Frankfurt for the first time into the Playoffs.

Tobias Korndörfer (Bayern München – 1990 – 2m02 – PF)

He is a hard worker in the paint and had already three 30+ games this season. He is doing all the work to hold the Bayer Munich team in the playoff race.

Robin Christen (Giessen 46ers – 1991 – 1m98 – PF)

Christen delivers strong 18.1ppg and 7.8rpg and he is the main reason why the Giessen 46ers can still dream of reaching the Playoffs this season.

Alexander Heide (Ulm – 1991 – 2m04 – C)

Heide is the shooting star of the Division South. With his 13ppg and 8.4rpg, he has transformed Ulm into a team that is difficult to beat.

Maik Zirbes (Trier – 1990 – 2m05 – C)

Physically, he has nobody to match with in the whole NBBL. He averages a double-double (22.0ppg and 11.0rpg) and has already played minutes in the Bundesliga with TBB Trier.

Erik Land (Breitengüssbach – 1990 – 2m05 – C)

Erik Land averages a double-double too (16.2ppg 10.6rpg). He is the most important player of the Division leaders and has played already a NBBL Top4 last year where his team finished 3rd.

NB: All the scoutings have bee translated from German as they have been announced officially by the NBBL organization.

NBBL All-Star Teams published is a post from: European Prospects
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