Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann is one of the players where we were very surprised to not see him on the participants list, especially if there are two other Germans present that are not early-entrants or auto-eligible. The 2m07 tall big guy might have only played in the German 2nd League on loan at Rhöndorf but he had a great year and is certainly one of the players with the most upside in Germany. His agent Geert Hamminck confirmed us that WoBo has not been invited to the camp and is currently just in a “stand-by” status. However, there are several NBA team that showed some interest in him but no names have been revealed. The future of his NBA Draft process depends a bit if Wohlfarth-Bottermann gets a last-minute call-up for Treviso or not. So far, he has not worked out for any NBA Team but this might come if he will not be present in Treviso. The German has still 3 more years left in his contract with Telekom Baskets Bonn but he has an opt-out for this summer and gets some interest from other teams as well. However, Bonn seems to be cleaning up the roster in order to find playing time for their most talented prospect.

The second German that did not get an invite for the camp is the Crailsheim Merlins player Femi Oladipo. Like Wohlfarth-Bottermann, he played in the ProA this season where he earned a Youngster of Month award in October. His agent Gerrit Kersten-Thiele told us that his player did not get invited to the Adidas Eurocamp and the reasons that he was told of are because Oladipo was under the radar and only played in the 2nd division. For Oladipo, the next days look similar to those of WoBo as well, waiting and hoping for a last-minute call and according to that, the future will be decided in terms of individual workouts. So far, Kersten-Thiele got some positive feedback from the teams that have seen the athletic forward but nothing really specific in terms of indications or draft positions. Anyhow, the current trend is that Oladipo will play with a Bundesliga team next season but no rumors on his future destination have come up yet.

Tornike Shengelia was already at the Adidas Eurocamp last summer. However this year, despite being an Early-Entry, he has not appeared on the official list of participants. His agent Levan Mikeladze is still hoping that a spot opens up because of last-minute cancellations but even if he does not get in, it is not particularly dramatic as the Georgian forward has two more years before becoming automatically eligible. Mikeladze adds that the NBA teams that show interest in Shengelia probably do this on the long term. For the near future, Shengelia will most likely go back to Spirou Charleroi where he still has a two years of contract left. The 1991 born forward played on loan this season for the Belgian team Verviers-Pepinster where he averaged 6.5ppg and 4.1rpg.

The 5A’s agency of Pascal Levy has directly two players that have put their name into the NBA Draft 2011 pool and did not get invited to Treviso. We speak about Negueba Samake and Abdoulaye Loum. While the first one really had a poor season without playing a lot and moving around from team to team, Loum had a correct Espoirs year with Le Havre. However, nobody of the agency answered our questions on the Draft status of the players. The case of Nikola Mirotic is probably a bit different and will be treated in a separate article next week.

The “other” Early-Entrants for the NBA Draft 2011 is a post from: European Prospects
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook

Jan Vesely (CZE) – 2m11 – Forward – Partizan Belgrade – 1990

The Czech forward is one of the hottest prospects in Europe in terms of athletic abilities, energy and potential. The 2m11 tall forward played his second full season on the Euroleague level and underlined his status as one of the biggest potentials in Europe. However, you could not really see a lot of progress this season in his shooting skills, he remains for example relatively poor from the FT line. But he is among the best athletes that exist right now in Europe and has terrific length and motor to play the game. He will probably never develop into a major scoring leader on NBA level.

Prediction: stays in (Lottery)

Andrew Albicy (FRA) – 1m78 – Point Guard – Paris-Levallois – 1990

The tiny PG from Paris was a big name at the U20 European Championship last summer. He had an up and down season this year but he helped his team to find the way back to victory in the end of the season when he played his best games. Mostly an energizer and ball stealer on defense, Albicy needs to improve his shooting regularity from outside on offense. On NBA level, he might struggle to attack rim as he has not an outstanding leaping ability.

Prediction: stays in (2nd round to undrafted)

Furkan Aldemir (TUR) – 2m05 – Forward – Karsiyaka – 1991

A player that flew a bit under the radar the last years as he was active in a smaller team in Turkey. Additionally, he had an  injury this season that kept him of the courts from mid-December to mid-February. Doing a lot of little things on the court, Aldemir will not surprise you with big stat lines but he is a regular contributor on the Senior level for the second year in a row. His main force are his outstanding rebound skills, Aldemir is averaging 7.9 rebounds per game in the Turkish league and rejected 0.9 shots per game as well.

Prediction: withdraws

Bismack Biyombo (CON) – 2m03 – Forward/Center – no team – 1992

The big riser on the Draft boards over the last weeks comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bismack Biyombo used the Nike Hoop summit at its best to impress the NBA Scouts but remains though a very raw player. He has certainly a great upside and seems to be a quick learner but he lacks also on-going high level experience. But with his amazing body structure, he will certainly be among the players that will be analyzed in full detail by all the teams in the lottery.

Prediction: stays in (Lottery to mid-1st round)

Abdoulaye Loum (FRA) – 2m08 – Forward – Le Havre (FRA) – 1991

Abdoulaye Loum is one of the names that comes a bit out of nowhere as the French forward has only played 3 professional games in his career. The long forward is not a major scorer on the Espoirs level as well but he has a lot of tools to work with and develop into a good potential. The fact that Le Havre is known for good development of young players but a relatively late integration of these kids into the professional team might be an indication why he has not played more in the ProA so far.

Prediction: withdraws

Negueba Samake (FRA/MLI) – 2m11 – Center – 1990

A very long and athletic player but without any major experience on the professional level. Samake has switched teams over the last two years since he finished his Espoirs status with Le Mans but he never really could find his niche with Rouen or Limoges where he played as a sparring partner after having left the ProB team of Rouen.

Prediction: withdraws

Donatas Motiejunas (LIT) – 2m13 – Forward – Benetton Treviso (ITA) – 1990

The Lithuanian forward is one of the prospects that has been covered since his youngest age and he has now reached the moment where he is ready to be drafted. He played a nice season in Italy and reached the EuroCup Final 4 with his team Benetton Treviso. In the Italian League, he is one of the best Power Forwards and he seems to have become a regular double-digit contributor. He had his best game of his career a few days ago against Vanoli Cremona with 31pts, 14rebs, 5stls and 2blks.

Prediction: stays in (Lottery)

Davis Bertans (LAT) – 2m08 – Forward – Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO) – 1992

The Latvian shooter, who grew a few centimeters over the last year, is one of the players in this draft with the best combination of size and shooting skills. He was the leader for the U18 team last summer that won the Bronze Medal at the European Championship. Bertans is a correct athlete but not a really physical player. He moved to a Euroleague team during the season and he should be able to play serious minutes for Union Olimpija Ljubljana next season.

Prediction: stays in (1st round)

Lucas Riva Nogueira “Bebe” (BRA) – 2m11 – Center – Estudiantes Madrid – 1992

The Brazilian player from Estudiantes Madrid is one of the biggest projects of this Draft. The 1992 born; the same age than Biyombo; is far from being on the same level than the Congolese at the moment but Bebe has more pure talent to build upon. But on the other hand, despite a great wingspan, Nogueira is not a very physical player at the moment and he is years away from being able to contribute on the NBA level. The team that drafts him will invest into a project than can be rewarded nicely, or not at all.

Prediction: stays in (end 1st-2nd round)

Jonas Valanciunas (LIT) – 2m10 – Center – Lietuvos Rytas (LIT) – 1992

The Lithuanian big guy is another potential Lottery candidate from Europe for this year’s Draft. Valanciunas plays on the highest European level and is an important factor. He has a great body and concentrates on what he is doing best, scoring close to the basket, rebounding and shot blocking. You will not see him develop into a face-forward one day, he will play in the low post and set screens for the Pick and Roll. He might be able to contribute right from the start on NBA level.

Prediction: stays in (Lottery)

Nikola Mirotic (MNG-ESP) – 2m08 – Forward – Real Madrid (ESP) – 1991

One of the few players who is still active this season in international competitions is Nikola Mirotic as the Spanish forward will play the Euroleague Final Four in one week. Mirotic has made a huge step forward this season and has become even one of the more clutch players of his team Real Madrid. He is a real face-forward who can shoot the ball and understands the game well. However, the NBA does not seem to be a priority for him as he extended his contract until 2016 which might hurt his stock and put him in the 2nd round in a Nikola Pekovic way.

Prediction: stays in (mid-1st round)

Femi Oladipo (GER) – 1m99 – Forward – Crailsheim Merlins (GER) – 1990

A more unknown player coming from Germany is the athletic forward Femi Oladipo. He played with the German U18 National Team in 2008 at the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament where he had his best international outing so far. He moved to the 2nd division team Crailsheim where he improved over the last two seasons to be an important player on that level. His main forces are on the defensive end as he can guard players over several positions. Offensively, he remains a pretty raw prospect concerning his shot but he has undeniable qualities as a passer and slasher.

Prediction: withdraws

Nihad Dedovic (BIH) – 1m96 – Guard – Lottomatica Roma (ITA) – 1990

The Bosnian guard looks to be there for years but he still is not in his automatically eligible draft year. He is a regular scorer on a Euroleague team and has improved physically over the last season. Dedovic needs to become more accurate from behind the arc though as his slashing qualities are only average at best on NBA level. However, he has no problems attacking the basket on European level because of a good first step.

Prediction: stays in (2nd round)

Emanouil Koukoulas (GRE) – 2m11 – Center – Ilysiakos (GRE) – 1991

Emanouil “Manolis” Koukoulas is an unknown player to me. He played 9.1 minutes in the Greek League.

Prediction: withdraws

Joffrey Lauvergne (FRA) – 2m09 – Forward – Elan Chalon (FRA) – 1991

The French Power Forward is constantly progressing since he has left INSEP during the 2008/2009 season. He is playing nearly twenty minutes per game on the highest French level for a Playoff-team. Lauvergne is not your typical French prospect with outstanding athletic abilities and he has not played for any Youth National Team since 2007 which put him a bit out of the international focus and hype. But right now, he is among the best prospects in the ProA and he is learning quickly on the professional level.

Prediction: stays in (2nd round)

Leon Radosevic (CRO) – 2m08 – Power Forward – Cibona Zagreb (CRO) – 1990

Radosevic is maybe not the most talented guy but he looks to be a very hard worker with a great motor to run the floor. The Croatian big guy has good size and correct athletic abilities and mainly scores on the 5m jump shot or close to the basket. He does not put the ball on the floor that much but he can do it if necessary. Radosevic should excel as a back-up on NBA level when playing together with a good Pick-and-Roll guard as he can either finish on the Roll or the Pop-out.

Prediction: stays in (2nd round)

Tornike Shengelia (GEO) – 2m05 – Forward – Verviers-Pepinster (BEL) – 1991

The Georgian forward is a prospect that is there for several years already and playing for different teams but still has two years of eligibility left. This season, he was active in the Belgian League in order to get regular playing time but he remained relatively low key with just 16 minutes on the floor. Shengelia has no real quality in which he excels particularly but he is an interesting forward that can both shoot the ball and put it on the floor to attack the basket combined with good size for the Small Forward position.

Prediction: withdraws

Abdel Kader Sylla (SEY) – 2m05 – Center – SLUC Nancy (FRA) – 1990

The Seychelles born player dominates the French Espoirs League with great numbers and showed his potential in the few times he got minutes with the professional team. However, he remains undersized for the Center and he needs to find a team where he can play big minutes on the Senior level next season.

Prediction: withdraws

Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann (GER) – 2m10 – Forward/Center – Rhöndorf/Telekom Baskets Bonn (GER) – 1990

The 2nd German player in this Early-Entry class comes as well from the 2nd League. However, Wohlfarth-Bottermann is a member of Telekom Baskets Bonn that loaned him to their co-operation partner Rhöndorf in order to get playing time. WoBo is an athletic player with great size and runs the floor very well while he has shooting range up to the three point line. He is an excellent shot blocker and has learned quite some back-to-the-basket moves over the last two years. He only started with Basketball at the age of 15.

Prediction: withdraws

Tomislav Zubcic (CRO) – 2m14 – Forward – Cibona Zagreb (CRO) – 1990

Zubcic was considered a major talent for several years but he needed some time before becoming a player who could contribute on the highest European level. This season was his first where he saw regular minutes with the Senior team of Cibona and his numbers have grown dramatically. Zubcic has excellent size, can handle the ball, is a good athlete and can play on the Small Forward position. He might be one of the players that will do really well in workouts because of his large skill set.

Prediction: stays in (2nd round)

NBA Draft 2011–Early Entrants Analysis is a post from: European Prospects
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook

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
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook

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
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook

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
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook

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
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook

The favorites

If you consider the different tournaments that have been played so far this season, the main teams to win this year’s edition of the competition are Greece and Serbia. After the astonishing dominance in Mannheim, the Greek team around Nikos Pappas showed a great talent level despite missing some inside forces.

On the other hand, the Serbian team, that is build around the FMP Junior Team core of Andrija Milutinovic, Bojan Subotic and Dejan Musli. The non-consideration of Branislav Djekic or Lazar Radosavljevic may be a surprise for some people but still Serbia looks like a clear cut favorite to reach the Gold medal game.

The outsiders

Some other teams can be considered as potential Medal candidates, and those are the traditional teams like Spain, France or Lithuania. The Spanish guys, that will of course play without Ricky Rubio may lack of some size because they don’t have any player taller than 2m06 in their roster. So the paint has to be kept clean by guys like Toni Vicens or Alberto Jodar who either miss the necessary size or are no inside players. The least that one could say is that the Spanish backcourt of David Garcia, Alejandro Hernandez and Dani Perez is ready to face some tough opposition.

I also spoke with Luis from Draftexpress.com and here is his opinion on the Spanish U18 team.

I think Spain has a chance to reach the medals, although I think Serbia is just on an entire different level and no other team should be able to challenge them (perhaps not even Greece, although they are the other top candidate for the final).

Regarding Spain, I like the fact we have a heady PG in Dani Pérez, a skilled guard in Alex Hernández, aggressive and skilled wings in Jorge Santana or Marcos León, both capable of slash and shoot, an all-around physical freak in Alberto Jodar, and finally, we’ve added some size. You probably remember Toni Vicens, the undersized and over weighted hustler quite effective under the rim.

For France, their performance in Mannheim was really bad, but the uncommon practice methods of their coach seem to have some results. Les Bleus won their tournament in Douai behind a great team effort and playing without their supposed best player in person of Christophe Leonard who signed a pro-contract with Cholet recently. Ludovic Puigcerbier, who is following French youth basketball for basketsession.com gave us his thoughts on the chances for the French in Greece:

After a difficult preparation, the French U18 team could hurt more than one team during this year’s U18 competition. Despite some bad results in Mannheim, Euro-Essone and Manzanares, the French team has however beaten teams like Spain, Croatia or Lithuania during their preparation and has also won the tournament in Douai. The team has the necessary talent with players like Christophe Léonard, Andrew Albicy or Alexis Tanghe but we have to see how the team will play and behave during the tournament. But they have the possibilities to beat every team on any given night. On the other hand, the inside sector looks pretty weak though to be a contender for a medal. I think, they will finish between 5th and 7th place.

Lithuania is always present when it comes to Youth Championships. And this year, with super talent Donatas Motiejunas in the middle, Lithuania could eventually be considered as one of the main teams for a medal. But one player does not make them a Gold Medal team as they significantly miss some offensive quality in the back court. For the Lithuanian federation, the official goal is between 3 and 8 but the current results made some people think that this goal will be hard to reach especially if you take into consideration that Motiejunas was injured during two weeks and he is badly wanted by the U20 team to play with them. So eventually, he may leave after a few games if the U18 team can not reach a medal. Because of the lack of potential in the 1990 generation except Motiejunas and Tautvydas Slezas, the coaching staff added some interesting 1991 born guys where especially Gilvydas Biruta showed good talent so far.

Who else do we have?

Another team that has to be mentioned is of course Croatia and their impressive front court composed of Tomislav Zubcic, Mario Delas and Leon Radosevic. With the addition of Toni Prostran in the backcourt since the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament, the team is improving on the talent side but now remains the question if they can translate this into decisive games. The Croats, who should win their group will have their real opponents in the 2nd phase where they will play against France, Russia, Germany or Ukraine.All in all, this side of the table looks a lot easier to reach the semis than the other side where Serbia, Lithuania, Greece, Spain and Italy fight for the two spots most likely.

The Turkish team played also a interesting tournament in Mannheim and showed some stints of talent in Douai too. However, I have some doubts if they can go for it all in Greece as they seem to depend too much on their PF beat Deniz Kiligli who is not the most regular player in the world. They have some good scoring in the backcourt and feature 16yr old Enes Kanter who can dominate in the paint but it really looks like the left-handed hook machine from Fenerbahce is the guy that decides about the performance of the Turkish team. And one bad game may be enough to fall from 1-4th to 5-8th place.

Germany played an interesting tournament in Douai where they won the games they have to win. In their home event in Mannheim, they lost the game they had to win to qualify for the Top8. So Kay Blümel and his team know how good or how bad they can play, especially after the poor performances in Spain a few days ago. But the absence of some of the main players may be a reason for this as explains the German head coach:

After the very bad performance during the tournament in Spain, where we played without six of our first 10 players (Maurice Stuckey, Simon Schmitz, Robert Hülsewede, Femi Oladipo, Niels Giffey and Alexander Schrempf) and lost heavily against Spain, France and Croatia, the motivation of the team was really down low. We tried to improve this during our training camp these days. Unfortunately, we have to play without Oladipo (torn ankle) and Hülsewede (broken foot) during the Championships which lets a big hole on our SF position. Our goal is to reach the third place in our group first of all and avoid the relegation round.

The game against France in the beginning will be extremely important for us, because they have a team that we can beat.  Russia has improved and showed good games in the Moscow tournament and seems hard to beat. Ukraine is the unknown team in our group and it’s hard for me to predict how good they are right now. But as it will be our third game in the tournament, we have enough time to scout them during the Championship. If we reach our goal and qualify for the next phase, we will see how we continue. But we don’t want to become to high on ourselves and remain with both feet on earth. A place somewhere around 9th like last year would be very satisfying for us.

The Russian U18 team was very disappointing in Mannheim but has found a way back to be a serious outsider in Greece after their performances at the Petrenko Cup in Khimki. The squad has beaten Italy, and the Czech Republic while only failing shortly against the top favorites from Greece. Currently, no world class talent has emerged of the 1990 generation in Russia but the mixture of aggressive guards and long tall forwards that characterizes the Russian game is still present. So they are definitely a team to watch in Amaliada and Pyrgos.

Italy that played a correct tournament in Mannheim will see their top talent of the 1991 generation Nicolo Melli joining them. And with this addition on the wing, everything is possible for the Squadra. The young forward may be one of the best talents in Europe and if he can elevate his game to what he showed during the LegaDue semi-finals, he may be the leader that could help the Italians reach an unpredictable success in the tournament.

Fighting for relegation

Belgium went up to Division A in 2007 behind a great team effort and the nice games of Jorn Steinbach and Jean-Marc Mwema. But these two guys are born in 1989 and will not be available anymore. But some talent of the last year’s win is still on the roster and the addition of Yannick Moray should give the team of Fred Wilmot the necessary power in the back court. On the other hand, no real inside presence on this level will be tough to handle.

Israel, who plays Belgium in the group stage may be the team that can avoid relegation the easiest way in beating the before mentioned in their opener. The departure of Daniel Rom back to Russia lets a big whole in the middle of course but the typical fighting spirit and the athleticism of Carmel Bouchman may help them to stay in the league. This opener will be extremely important for both teams.

Estonia will feature one of the most interesting players to follow of the tournament with Siim-Sander Vene who played already a good tournament last season. Next to him, not too much talent is to be seen but maybe it is worth to take a closer look at the 1991 born Kristjan Rinaldo (yes, that’s his name) who put up some correct stats with the U16 last summer and plays for the Honka Academy in Finland.

Not much to say about the Ukrainian team as I barely know any player there and could not find any results or comments on them on the net. The main goal for the team is to stay in the Division as they have a pretty interesting 1991 generation that could compete next season on the highest level.

Lauris Blaus tries to lead his Latvian team to the necessary wins in their group to stay away from the Relegation round. He will hopefully get some support from the talented 1991 generation around Janis Antrops and Harijs Rubenis.

Bulgaria will be built around their back-court combo of Hristo Zahariev and Bozhidar Avramov. I have put them in this part of the preview one loss against Latvia could mean that the team has to play on relegation round. On the other hand, the team has the talent to pass against Croatia or Turkey but I don’t know how they could handle the inside presence of these two nations.

U18 European Championship Division A – Preview is a post from: European Prospects
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook

Tomislav Zubcic (2m08 – Forward – Croatia)

Zubcic was probably the biggest pure basketball talent of the whole tournament. Nearly seven foot tall, incredibly quick for his size and able to play both the forward positions as well as PG if necessary. In the only game of him where I was present, he showed all he can do in just one quarter. Post-ups against smaller guys, jump hooks, finger roll finishes after powerful drives, but also a very nice eye for his team mates and three point shots without any problem.

The Croatian was clearly also the go-to-guy of his team and he tried to play the big points. However he failed sometimes but also came up with nice plays. He still needs to improve his passing timing to become also a perfect passer even if he was the third best passer of the tournament. But his huge number of turnovers shows how often he has the ball in his hands. He is definitely one of the players to follow in the future. I did not agree on his selection in the All-Tournament team not because of a missing talent but of the poor results of the team.

Femi Oladipo (1m99 – Forward – Germany)

The German SF was probably one of the surprises of the tournament. With his athletic playing style, the Bremerhaven forward was the top scorer of the German team. He is a good offensive rebounder and scores a lot around the rim. He has 3pt range, but only took 2 shots from behind the arc, and he netted both of them. His shooting mechanics have to be improved, he has no fluid jump shot move to score. He can finish with both hands close to the basket and has good control of his body. 

Leon Radosevic (2m08 – Forward – Croatia)

Another interesting player from the very strong Croatian front-court. Radosevic showed a very good mid-distance shot and he rebounds strongly. He is not driving that much, relying more on his jump shot which he can also nail in the big moments of a game. Radosevic is highly athletic and is present on the shot blocking section as well. He was the top scorer of the Croatian team during the tournament with also very good shooting percentages.

Honorable Mentions

Other player that I noted were: the Russian forward Vladimir Ivlev, a 2m04 inside player who a nice defensive presence in the paint and also showed some interesting offensive moves. Pasquale Paolisso, an Italian forward who excelled in the rebounding and inside working section to score multiple free-throws. Maik Zirbes, the large German center who was the top rebounder of the team and showed some powerful moves around the basket. Simon Schmitz did a nice job as PG of the German team. He drives a lot to the basket and can control the game very well.

Albert Schweitzer Tournament 2008: the best of the rest is a post from: European Prospects
Follow me on Twitter to get even more updates or become a fan on Facebook