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
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Christophe Leonard – 1m96 – SF – 1990 – Cholet Basket

This season will be a very important one for the athletic forward from Cholet Basket. After having dominated the French Youth Leagues, it is now his turn to take over at professional level. Cholet is certainly the right place to do so as the team generally gives lots of minutes to its youngsters. Leonard played 9 minutes in the first official game of the season and will also see the court this season in the Euroleague.

Leonard was a member of the French U20 team that won the Gold Medal this summer at the European Championship but a quick look at his numbers shows his biggest problem. The Martinique-native needs to become more regular from behind the three-point line where he made only 20.8% of his shot attempts. Additionally, he had a horrible 5/15 from the free-throw line. This will of course not help him on the professional level and Leonard definitely needs to find a consistency in his shot. The French magazine Basketnews also features him as one of the French players that should explode in a positive way this season by claiming: This young man has too much talent to not make a good career. Christophe Leonard, it is up to you to elevate your level to ProA level now. Check the recent Video below where Leonard presents himself in a few Questions&Answers (in French).

Paul Lacombe – 1m97 – SG/PG – 1990 – ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne

Paul Lacombe is of course featured in this preview as he remains one of the favorite prospects of the author. His versatility, athletic abilities and basketball understanding make him a coach’s dream. Lacombe was also a member of the French U20 generation that won Gold this summer a bit by surprise for the local basketball followers. But Lacombe is probably the player who still has the most upside of this team and he will most likely have some important impact with ASVEL this season.

In the Euroleague Qualification Round, Lacombe averaged 4.75ppg, 1.75rpg, 1.75apg and 1.75spg in 18 minutes per contest. These numbers show that head coach Vincent Collet will use Lacombe as a full-time back-up and he even spent more than 20 minutes on the court twice. The French guard will bring some energy from the bench for ASVEL and he seems to be ready to make the next step in his career. Check out the video below for one of the best games of Lacombe in the U20 European Championship this summer where he scored 23pts and had 7rebs versus Spain.

Andrew Albicy – 1m78 – PG – 1990 – Paris-Levallois

What a summer this was for the tiny French PG who had a break-out season on the ProA level already last year. Gold Medal at the U20 and a selection for the Senior National team where he showed his potential during the World Championship in Turkey. So now, Albicy has to confirm and take over the team in Paris-Levallois and lead it to the next level. When he finds a way to create a better relation between drives until the rim and mid-range stops, he will have more scoring impact as well as his size limits him of course to become a huge scorer on layups.

Evan Fournier – 1m98 – SG/SF – 1992 – Poitiers Basket

The youngest player in this list is Evan Fournier who comes of a first professional season with JSF Nanterre in the French ProB after his drop out of the CFBB. Fournier played a good season in the second league but a small injury stopped him this summer so that he was not present in Lithuania with the U18. Fournier is among the most talented players in Europe playing on the wing and he may already get serious minutes with Poitiers this season turning only 18 by the end of October. His coach Rudy Nelhomme told the French press that the pre-season went well for the young prospect. Nelhomme likes his capacity to score and underlines the fact that Fournier is a “faux-lent”, a player who looks slow but is fast.

Nicolas Lang – 1m96 – SG – 1990 – Elan Chalon

27pts, 4rebs and a 31 evaluation versus Pesaro in the EuroChallenge 2009/2010; those numbers will stay forever and were the result of the best game of Nicolas Lang so far. So it is about time that Lang will show his full potential over a complete season from this fall. It looks like Chalon expects a lot from the Mulhouse-native as the roster is far from being packed in the back-court next to him. Lang is the fourth player of our preview who won Gold this summer and showed that he can work very well in a system. It is now up to him to make the next step and use the minutes that Greg Beugnot seems to give him. He averaged 9.0pts in the pre-season with a peak at 19pts so it looks like Lang will deliver.

5 players to follow this season in the French ProA is a post from: European Prospects
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Lens Aboudou (1m92 – 1990) : He is a penetration player, very active, and he should give us energy on both ends of the court.

Andrew Albicy (1m78 – 1990) : He is the key-player of our team because of his speed, his ability to re-launch the team and take shots.

Maxime Courby (2m03 – 1990) : A small forward who can give us a good defensive effort and who can create his shot but also play the intervals.

Alexandre Gavrilovic (2m08 – 1991) : A player unknown to lots of people, good defender on the man and very good hands. He has the mobility we need from a big guy. He plays the low post but can also step out.

William Hervé (2m02 – 1990) : William has very good court-vision, good defensive positioning and he is able to hit the important shots.

Henri Kahudi (1m93 – 1991) : We saw what he is able to do during the LNB Finals (13 minutes, 4pts, 2rebs). We expect from him playmaking skills because of his experience, similar to Andrew. He can defend hard on the main and is good in the intervals.

Paul Lacombe (1m93 – 1990): He is the guy who can bring the “little plus”. He is able to create his shot, attack the basket and launch the fast break. He can control the tempo and is a good defender.

Nicolas Lang (1m96 – 1990) : Nicolas, we know him. He is our shooter, the guy who can take the big shots. He needs a good ball circulation to serve him as he is a very performing player coming of the screen.

Joffrey Lauvergne (2m07 – 1991) : With his versatility and court-vision, he helps us a lot. He is able to play close to the basket but also step out and play from outside.

Christophe Léonard (1m99 – 1990) : A physical and athletic Small Forward. He can bring a lot by his drives but he can also post-up, take some shots and play defense.

Ferdinand Prenom (2m03 – 1991) : An efficient inside player who operates close to the basket with good hands. He is also very good in rebounding. He is a determined person and always gives 100%.

Jonathan Rousselle (1m94 – 1990) : An excellent PG for Pick and Roll situations. He is also a player to make the big shots. »

Alexis Tanghe (2m07 – 1990) : One of our main players who has the versatility to play close to the basket and organize the gam. He is very technical and plays with finesse. We expect a lot from him in rebounding situations. He is on the same level than the best European players of his generation.

Mickael Var (2m05 – 1990) : A PF with a lot of energy and really mobile which gives us the possibility to be very present in the rebound and the intervals.

French U20 coach comments on his roster is a post from: European Prospects
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Mario Delas is considered as the main offensive inside option for the Croatian team right now. After a first Euroleague season with the Lithuanian team of Zalgiris Kaunas, the former Split player was looked at particularly as he combines excellent basketball fundamentals with great size. In Treviso though, Delas was not really as dominating as you could expect. He looked a bit overmatched physically by the athletic French inside players so that Delas mainly went for playing as a wing  coming from the weak-side or attacking the defense by putting the ball on the floor.

It was a good opportunity to see the limits of Delas when facing athletes that can dominate him physically. He is more of a floor player working with fakes and fundamentals but this did not gave him the necessary advantage to score easy baskets. Together with Toni Prostran, he went for a lot of Pick and Roll or Pick and Pop situations where he did particularly well when popping out to the three point line and bringing his defenders out of their comfort zone close to the basket. Delas can hit the three pointer from European range and has good enough handles to attack the basket out of these situations. One of his main strengths is his mid-range game where Delas did well either in catch and shoot situations, coming of the weak-side screen or when scoring out of his drives.

He recognizes the double-team situations when putting the ball on the floor and looks to be a correct passer out of the low post as well. The Croatian forward is not afraid to go for the coast-to-coast dribbles after the defensive rebound. However, the camp also showed that Delas most certainly lacks the athletic abilities to compete with high-level NBA prospects. He looks to be the perfect type of player to become a high-level Euroleague Power Forward in the next years.

Toni Prostran was the Point Guard of the Croatian U18 National Team last summer in Metz and despite being a year younger than the rest of the team, he was the clear offensive leader on the court for Croatia. Prostran is doing an excellent job in the Pick and Roll situations that he used a lot through out the games. He can shot the ball with a very fast release in catch and shoot or out of the screen going with either hand but showing probably a slight preference for going left when taking the out of the dribble attempt. His shot accuracy looks improved since the tournament in Metz despite having still a somehow strange ball rotation when going for the long-distance shot.

Because he hit his shots, also from NBA 3pt range, the defense needed to come out on him so that Prostran could use his main strength which is the drive to basket. Out of these situations, he could create a lot of nice opportunities for himself with hesitation moves or strong attacks of the basket with both hands. Prostran is doing a great job as well to setup his team mates in the Pick and Roll situations by going for the nice dish or the bounce pass for the rolling cutter. Some doubts remain though on his control of the game tempo in real game situations.

Ivan Ramljak played only one game and he did not even appear in the official stats of the camp. The long forward did some damage against the French National Team with his constant attacking of the basket mainly with his right hand. Ramljak looks quite athletic but somehow mechanical in all his moves. But he is excelling when attacking the hoop and he can score it out of difficult situations after pass or head fakes. The Croatian forward can also hit the three point shot even if his shooting mechanics are certainly perfectible. Fighting on both ends of the court, Ramljak looks however a bit to have a problem with one leg as he hobbled during moments on the court.

Paul Lacombe is probably one of the most under-rated prospects in France. The guard from ASVEL Villeurbanne earned the MVP Trophy of the recent Trophée du Futur but Lacombe has never been in the hype machine that other French prospects are included. However, Lacombe looks to be one of the most serious Euroleague prospects of the coming generations in France. Lacombe does not excel in any part of the game but he has the overall package of the modern European PG. Being quite tall at 1m94, Lacombe is nicely athletic, can shoot the ball and is also an excellent passer, especially in the fast break where he can use his speed to create good situations for himself or his team mates.

Lacombe reads the game very well, is always in the right place to play the steal or make the additional extra pass to get somebody open. Sometimes, he is even trying to pass too much instead of seeing his own opportunity. Lacombe can hit the three-point shot from NBA range with defense in catch and shoot situations as well. The thing that makes Lacombe however extra in my eyes is the feel he has for the game that is inborn. The French guard will earn a lot of minutes with ASVEL as a back-up on the PG spot next season after he cracked the rotation of Vincent Collet’s team this spring.

Andrew Albicy was a surprising name in the Draft pool 2010 as the tiny French PG has not really been in NBA considerations beforehand. Albicy withdrew his name for consideration but he was still a candidate during the camp in Treviso. The main strength of the Paris-Levallois guard is his defensive pressure. He did an excellent job on Toni Prostran on defense limiting the Croatian guard in his game versus France. With his very low center of gravity and excellent defensive fundamentals, Albicy is a full-court threat for any PG. His excellent lateral speed and quick hands give him a nice amount of steals.

On the offensive end, Albicy is not as strong as he is on the other side of the court. He fakes well to create for himself, he is more of a scoring PG than a playmaker at the moment. His three point shot is there but not a particular dangerous overall threat. Albicy attacks the basket nicely and creates some open spots for his team mates but his size limits him in order to look for his own options close to the basket. He prefers to stop in mid-range for the short jump shot. He does a nice job as well on the defensive rebound where he is present to start the fast break immediately.

Adidas Eurocamp Treviso 2010: U20 National Teams is a post from: European Prospects
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Kevin Serpahin – 2m05 – C – Cholet Basket – 1989

The French Center plays his first full season as a professional on the Starting Center position. Even if he had a lot of ups and downs in his performances, the Cholet-bound player is an interesting prospect in terms of NBA potential. Cholet is playing an excellent season and is about to qualify for the Euroleague which may influence the future of the 2m05 tall player. If Cholet runs deep in the French playoffs, Seraphin will mostly likely miss the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. Additionally, the French Finals are played on the 14th of June which is the Early Entry Withdrawal date. In the case, Cholet goes to the Finals, Serpahin may have no possibility to do individual workouts for NBA Teams which can hurt his stock. In any case, Seraphin will probably stay another year in Europe to play in the Euroleague with either Cholet or a different team.

Prediction: stays in the Draft

Thomas Heurtel – 1m88 – PG – Strasbourg – 1989

The question that we have discussed earlier this year is to know if Thomas Heurtel has progressed. The opinions were diversified and there came even the question on his future position, PG or SG. Right now, Heurtel does not really look like an NBA prospect and he put his name in certainly to test the waters and see if there are NBA teams that show interest in him. He will most likely be at the Eurocamp which is an event where he probably will excel with his flashy play.

Prediction: withdraws

Antoine Diot – 1m91 – PG – Le Mans – 1989

Is Antoine Diot an NBA player or not? The French guard is currently progressing in nearly every domain and will certainly become a high-level Euroleague player in the future. He has already lots of experience at a young age and plays the typical European basketball. His limits in creativity and athleticism will probably hurt him in terms of NBA potential but you never know. He will probably miss the Eurocamp also because of the potential of Le Mans to go deep in the French playoffs.

Prediction: withdraws

Edwin Jackson – 1m91 – SG/PG – Rouen – 1989

Together with Thomas Heurtel, Jackson represents the group of ASVEL players loaned out to a different team in France. The player from Rouen has the athletic tools and mentality to play in the NBA but a limited size for the SG position and still underdeveloped PG skills will hurt him down the road. Jackson will certainly by a good competitor in the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso and he needs to use this opportunity to boost his stock.

Prediction: withdraws

Andrew Albicy – 1m78 – PG – Paris-Levallois – 1990

The name of Andrew Albicy was quite a surprise for me when it was announced as the tiny PG from Paris has never been hyped up in France as a potential NBA player. The force of the U20 National Team player is of course his defense and he will compete during the Adidas Eurocamp with the U20 French team as guest. He uses this Draft to put his name on the boards of the teams that did not know him but in the end, he will most likely not play in the NBA one day.

Prediction: withdraws

Robin Benzing – 2m08 – SF – ratiopharm Ulm – 1989

The German forward played an excellent first season on the Bundesliga level after having his break out event at the Eurobasket in Poland. Benzing has an excellent combination of skills, height and speed but had lots of trouble on the defensive end. He is a below average rebounder for his size and needs to gain in strength. He will be at Treviso for sure and will certainly be a player that gets a lot of looks by NBA teams before the withdrawal date. And depending on what he will hear, he may stay in the Draft.

Prediction: withdraws

Tomasz Nowakowski – 2m09 – PF – Luka Koper – 1990

The Polish player came into the Draft as a total unknown so the main goal of his early entry is already reached: people know his name and at least check out who he is. He will probably be in Treviso for the Eurocamp where all the teams can evaluate him.

Prediciton: withdraws

Ryan Richards – 2m06 – PF – BBC Monthey – 1991

The British player is one of the youngest players that has entered his name this spring and he is all about potential at the moment. After an odyssey throughout Europe over the last seasons, Richards has settled down in Switzerland but he has not played a game there since March. He will probably be at the Adidas Eurocamp in June.

Prediction: withdraws

Mindaugas Kuzminskas – 2m03 – SF/PF – BC Siauliai – 1989

The Lithuanian forward had a nice Treviso camp last summer and entered his name to the Early Entry list this spring. He played an excellent season both in Baltic League and Eurocup and may go back to Zalgiris this summer as return on the loan. Kuzminskas tests the water this year to see his value for the NBA Draft and may remain in the pool if he likes what NBA teams will tell him. The big time potential is however not there.

Predicition: withdraws

Bojan Bogdanovic – 2m02 – SG/SF – Cibona Zagreb – 1989

Finally, Bogdanovic plays on the highest level after travelling through lower Spanish divisions for several years. He boosted his stock in terms of an NBA future nicely this season but is he the type of player NBA teams are looking for. I have some doubts if he will be at the Eurocamp in a month but the NBA teams had enough possibilities to scout him in real conditions so that those teams that may want to draft him should be aware of his qualities.

Prediction: may stay in

Tibor Pleiß – 2m14 – C – Brose Baskets – 1989

The German Center made a big step forward this season as he is a starter for an ambitious Bundesliga team. His presence on the defensive end as shot blocker is excellent and he also made some progress in his physical presence. Offensively, he is developing and he has still a major potential upside. Being seven foot tall and far from being stiff, he is certainly one of the European players in this Draft getting the most attention. It is highly possible that he won’t be in Treviso because of the German playoffs.

Prediction: stays in

Donatas Motiejunas – 2m13 – PF/C – Benetton Treviso – 1990

With the absence of Jan Vesely, the Lithuanian forward is the biggest stock from Europe this year. Combining excellent basketball skills with great size, Motiejunas is one of the players that lots of teams like because he has no real counterpart in College Basketball. He may be at the Adidas Eurocamp, living just next door. He may end up being the only European in the 1st round if he stays in which seems to be not so sure according to different sources.

Prediciton: stays in

The 2nd part of the analysis will follow later.

NBA Draft 2010 European Early Entries Analysis (Pt. 1) is a post from: European Prospects
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Thomas Heurtel (1m88 – PG – 1989 – SIG Strasbourg)

After a very active summer both on (Silver Medal with the French U20 NT) and of the court (Transfer from Pau to ASVEL and then loaned to SIG), Thomas Heurtel has earned the Starting PG job of a SIG Strasbourg team coached by Fred Sarre. The player from Southern France came of an interesting first professional season in the Béarn that he finished with 10.0ppg and 6.2apg and he is considered as one of the most talented PGs of the future.

Heurtel displays a nice understanding of the game and through his handles and speed, he can create a lot of open opportunities for his team mates. He excels in Pick and Roll situations out of which he has the eye for the weak side pass, his own drive or the open picker on the roll or the pop. With his cross over dribbles, he can put his defender in big trouble and give himself also good looks for his own scoring. Despite being not really physical, he is not afraid to drive to the hoop but prefers to go for tear drop shots or mid range jumpers. However, he struggles some times to keep his balance when going up out of full speed for the mid-range shot.

From long distance, his catch and shoot three point shot looks particularly well as he can shoot with good height and despite being guarded by a taller player. Additionally, he has a good scoring mentality as he takes a good amount of shots without falling into a too bad shot selection for a player of his age. Heurtel wants to have the ball in the hot moments and he displays some coolness on the court that will probably help to become a decisive player in the future.

On the downside, the PG needs to develop his left hand, especially when it comes to finishing close to the basket where he goes mostly of his right hand despite coming from the left. Additionally, his strong drives are going most of the times on the right hand after faking the left handed penetration. Heurtel also needs to put down his turnover numbers where he is again on a very high level so far for this season (14 out of three games after averaging 3.0TOs per game last season).

Heurtel has however managed to become a starter for both of his seasons on the professional level so far. He has the qualities to become a vocal and playing leader on the court. His sometimes cocky playing style gives him star potential as he can go for the crowd-pleasing plays and big important shots. At the age of 20, he has already gained a lot of international experience and the fact that he entered the basketball scene only late (like Nando de Colo for example) compared to other French prospects gives him some major upwards potential. ASVEL has probably done an excellent move by signing him on a long term contract and loaning him away to a smaller team. But Heurtel needs to prove now that he can also lead a team and avoid relegation. He did not succeed last year with Pau-Orthez and so far, SIG Strasbourg has come up with 3 defeats out of 3 games.

Stats (after 3 games): 29mpg, 9.0ppg (50% 3FG, 33.3% 3FG), 1.7rpg, 5.0apg, 2.7spg, 4.7topg

Andrew Albicy (1m78 – PG – 1990 – Paris-Levallois)

Andrew Albicy sees his second full professional season with Paris-Levallois this year. After a first one in the ProB which was crowned by moving up to ProA, Albicy plays now on the highest French level in a role as back-up PG for the experienced Jimaal Ball. Two short-sized PGs that even see minutes together on the court during stretches for a Paris-Levallois team that opened its season with two wins and a very short loss against SLUC Nancy.

Albicy’s main strengths are a his tight defense where he can become a real threat for the ball-handling offensive player because of his quick hands and close to floor play. However, he is not going that much for the steal and losing control in defense therefore, but being more of an aggressive defensive player who makes it hard for the offense. He avoids it also very well to get posted up despite his short size as he is rather strong and has an excellent defensive positioning of the ball.

Offensively, Albicy lives mostly from his jump shot. Because of his reduced size, he is not attacking the basket that much and prefers to go for the mid-range jump shot, a domain where the young French guards in general have made a nice development over the last years. With his excellent speed, he can split defenses in pick and roll defensive hedging situations and stop around 4 meters to hit the jumper. He can nail those also when being out of balance or under pressure.

Through his nice ball handling, he can create open space for himself, even on the three point line to fire his long range jump shot. He shots the ball with good percentages, especially from the three point line where he is around 40-45% over the last competitions. He is a real team leader which he showed during the U19 World Championship this summer where his coach Richard Billant considered him as the main player of his team and already close to the French Senior NT.

Being in a different role than Heurtel who has played as starter nearly all of his games with Pau-Orthez and Strasbourg, Albicy has an experienced PG before him in the rotation who can help him to develop over the next years. This factor may give him a certain advantage in a long-term projection for the next years. However, the size may hurt Albicy to become a top-level player. But in a French League that loves short-sized PG, he should be able to become a major player, at least.

Stats (after 3 games): 18mpg, 6.3ppg (45.5% 2FG 40% 3FG), 1.3rpg, 3.0apg, 0.7spg, 0.7topg

Thomas Heurtel vs. Andrew Albicy: a PG watch is a post from: European Prospects
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• Andrew Albicy: exceptional in every part, on and off the court. He lead the team from the beginning until the end. He should play on the highest level in France. On a long term basis, he is close to the French Senior national team
• Nicolas Lang: the big revelation of the tournament. Regular from the beginning to the end. 50.8% from behind the arc which is exceptional for a French player. He needs to gain some physical in order to play on the next level
• Christophe Leonard: a lot more efficient as a PF where he played 80% of the time. Best scorer and rebounder of the team but a lot of problems with his shot and shot selection. He should score at 50%. He needs to become a better passer if he wants to play as a SF
• Jonathan Bourhis: a good World Championship, over his level except the last two games. We repositioned him as a pure shooter. He had some big games with nice series of shots
• Alexis Tanghe: no regular enough. He had some good stretches but he misses the regularity in general. Very soft. He showed his limits in terms of fighting and lacks of leadership in the inside sector. We would have needed him to have gained some places in the final ranking
• Landing Sané: Satisfaction. A good World Championship in relation with his lack of experience. He had the best shooting percentages of the team. Seven very correct games of the nine in total. Probably the best one of the inside players
• Yohann Jacques: Mediocre. One very good game, against Iran. Misses the toughness, like Alexis Tanghe. He can play basketball but he lacks the experience and the regularity. He needs to get stronger physically and simplify his playing style
• Tanguy Ramassamy: We dealt with his recurring knee problems. A lot of values, a very mentality, a warrior. He lacks the touch close to the rim though (27% 2FG)
• Stanley Dubois: a good defensive booster. Misses enormously the experience as PG. Very mediocre in the offense. A little bit just at the level.
• Paul Lacombe: Had some little injuries at the beginning. He did not play the expected World Championships. He needs an outside shot to reach the next level
• Bryson Pope: Globally disappointing. We had a lot of hopes on him. Played with an ankle injury. One very good game against Lithuania. Apart from this, he lacks a lot of shooting touch and had some trouble to become a member of the team
• Miguel Buval: had only very little playing time. Way too just for this level and we have six inside players with Leonard on the PF spot. Really lacks experience

FIBA U19 World Championships: France is a post from: European Prospects
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The French team is based on two players, PG and last year’s MVP Andrew Albicy and the athletic wing Christophe Leonard. While the first one earned once again an All-Tournament team spot, Leonard had more of an up and down tournament which he crowned however with a great individual performance on the last day, but it was not enough to secure the first place for his team.

The first thing that I was thinking when seeing Christophe Leonard is that he got larger in his upper body. He seems to work pretty hard in that area and that will be of great help for the French team as he had to play the PF positions for several minutes as the inside players on this generation look less talented than the years before. However being listed at only 1m99, he has of course limits to play on this position but currently, his long distance shot (10% 3FG, 26% long 2s) does not give him a serious future on the SF. This is the main point where Leonard needs to focus on during the next years.

Christophe Leonard had a tournament high 34 points on Sunday

And because of that underdeveloped shot so far, his shot selection look a bit hazardous over the two days I saw him playing in Douai. As long as the defenses let him open on the wing as did Australia, Leonard is not a serious offensive threat anymore. Coming of a poor 2/8 against the Aussies, Leonard could use his strong drive to create a bit for his team mates though and not insisting too much on his shot (0/3 3FG that game). That strong drive gives him first of all several scoring possibilities as he displays great speed and explosivity going to the rim. His large body helps him to protect the ball pretty well and his good body control in the air opens him possibility to score even out of difficult positions.

Leonard will most likely earn more minutes with Cholet Basket next season where he only had limited playing time this year and walk in the footsteps of current NBA Draft prospects Rodrigue Beaubois and Nando de Colo. However, he should really work hard on his shot in order to add this scoring possibility to his skill set. Right now, he is no reliable enough from behind the arc or even mid-range jump shots despite having nailed a real big three in the Overtime on Sunday. The most of his scoring came from inside the paint where he used his good touch for the ball and showed some nice back to the basket plays even. On one play, he scored a very difficult left handed underhand layup after having passed his defender over the right shoulder.

Stats: 16.6ppg (46% FG 55.8% FT 6.6rpg)

Andrew Albicy is clearly the head of the French U19 team. The PG from Paris-Levallois earned his All-Tournament team spot more or less because of the absence of any other quality PG in the tournament but Albicy showed that he has a future on the professional level despite being only listed at 1m70. France is in fact becoming more and more of a league that features a high number of pocket-size PGs (Marc-Antoine Pellin or Aldo Curti to just name two other young French examples). And it looks like Albicy is developing more and more in the same direction as defensively minded pass-first PG.

Andrew Albicy averaged 6 assists per game

Because currently, Albicy is not a big scored. He can hit the three pointer in catch and shoot fashion and tries sometimes the long distance jump shoot out of full speed on the break, his scoring possibilities are more in the fast break or on quick drives. He is currently improving in his intermediary game though which you could see on some plays where he went for the mid-distance jump shot out of the drive; he nailed a big baseline jump shot in the money time in that way against USA on Sunday for example. He struggles a bit though when he tries to take the ball to the rim as he needs always to go for very tough layers if he can not put the defense out of balance with his direction changes. He is capable of making the lay-ups of both hands in traffic though even he missed the game winner of his left hand against the US from pretty close.

With his very low dribbles, he is not getting stolen the ball that often as his handles look decent too. However, Albicy was very turnover prone in Douai which may be explained by the fact that he only arrived late with the team as he was still in charge with his pro team in the Playoffs. Because he likes to create out of his drives that always attract pretty much of defensive help and he can dish it out to the wings or his cutters for open possibilities. Defensively, he reads the passing lanes pretty well as he excels in stealing the ball there more than being a player that creates that much of defensive pressure to force the ball handling turnover. Being pretty athletic, Albicy is present in the defensive rebound where he takes advantage of the boxing out of his team mates to grab the rebound and start the fast break immediately.

Stats: 10.7ppg (33.3% FG 11.1% 3FG 90.0%FT) 3.7rpg 6.0apg 4.0spg 5.3topg

Alexis Tanghe is player where not much of a development has been seen since last year. He struggled to impose himself in a French inside sector that is stacked with extraordinary talent at the moment. His game looks pretty polished though but on the other, it looks also pretty soft. He tries most of his scores coming from jump shots and besides a turn around jump shot, not much of a back to the basket game can be seen coming from the 2m07 tall forward. And as he is not used at all at the SF spot because of a probably limited ball handling, it is not clear right now how he will move on during the next years.

Alexis Tanghe struggled to impose himself in the paint

A player that I personally like but who did not see much of playing time with the French team is the ASVEL Villeurbanne SG/SF Paul Lacombe. He displays a pretty interesting physical built around a nice wingspan and good speed for a player of his size. His shoot looks pretty well and he can net the long distance basket in catch and shoot fashion. Lacombe is also able to go for powerful drives where you can see him holding the ball pretty strong to not get it ripped away. Why his playing time was limited to only about 15 minutes was more of mystery to me as he managed to be pretty aggressive during these short stretches going for 7.8ppg and 3.0rpg while hitting 40% of his shots and having nearly 4 fouls shots per game.

The inside sector around the massive Tanguy Ramassamy needs to display more of an offensive game if France wants to be a medal team in New Zealand in July. The Pau PF is still looking pretty big but not that explosive enough to be a intimidating force in the paint. He is however really needed on the defensive end where he closes the gaps in the rebounding and working hard on the screens.

Douai 2009: France Review is a post from: European Prospects
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You can watch here a short video commented by the National Team coach of a test game against the ProB team of Paris-Levallois.

French U19 test game is a post from: European Prospects
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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
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