The only option that does exist, other than moving out of the country before the age of 15, is to postpone the army service, and start the process right after they return from college. Very few athletes of all sports get this clearance every year, mostly the very top notch of them. In the case of Carmel Bouchman it was clear that clearance will be granted, as he was projected as the “next big thing” in Israeli basketball from a young age.

The 205cm forward from Tel Aviv won titles throughout his entire junior career both with his high school and the Maccabi Tel Aviv team. In the last two years he missed just one title among high school league, national league and national cup. It was a loss in the finals of the high school league, in which the team’s co-star, Nimrod Tishman, got injured in the second quarter and Bouchman had to play by himself. That game exampled his great talent, when he had to play five positions, but it wasn’t enough to win. Nevertheless, his junior career was more productive and glorious than probably any other player of Israeli basketball in the last decade, even Omri Casspi and Yotam Halperin.

Yet the level of junior games in Israel isn’t much of a story to tell. The number of players with the size of Bouchman can be count on a hand of someone who likes to deal with explosives. As a Junior in high school he led his team to win the title when he wrote 18 points, nine assists, six blocks and no less than an all-time record of 30 rebounds, but he’s far from being monster rebounder. Playing with people much smaller than you usually helps.

Don’t take this the wrong way. Bouchman is a very skilled and promising player, yet college is the first where he’ll have his first real test.

We’re talking about a 205cm decently athletic player with long quick arms and a true winning spirit. His a very smart player with great understanding of the game, and has one of the best passing skills for a player in his size, and can really come out with some great passes some that would make some point guards turn green. It made people in Israel to compare him with Nikola Vujcic, only the Croat is a legit 212cm center while Bouchman is still looking for his position.

That hunt might take a while, and will be shaped in Temple, as Bouchman is the player with the least position you may have ever seen. He played the center and power forward positions in Israel, but that was a big sin for his future as he’s not the physical or aggressive type of player. He got the length for a PF, but his width is edgy and his lack of toughness won’t hold in the highest levels for that position.

He is quick and athletic but not in an extent to be a clear-cut small forward. Has no real post up moves, and not a clear jump shot, although he can surely score facing the basket even from the arc. He can put the ball on the floor, but still need to pick up how to finish it, as he hardly played that role in the Israeli Junior league. His passing skills can make him more unique at the four obviously, and are good enough to play as a guard, but his rebounding might be only solid for a four and great for a three. His ball handling is also better than the average power forward, but not good enough yet to be a real threat from the back court.

The debate over what is the real position of Carmel, either the small or the power forward or maybe even something else can go forever. He’s a probably a combo forward without any real spot on the floor, which made one college coach who tried to recruit him during the summer say: “I don’t know what position this kid is playing, for me he’s every position and no position, but he’s one hell of a player.”

What makes him such a great player? The fact he’s so versatile, intelligent and unique makes him that intriguing, but the coaching staff at Temple will have to make a very delicate job with directing his game to the pro career, as one wrong turn can make Bouchman a player with the right skills in the wrong position or vice versa, and that could be problem.

If there’s one role model Bouchman would need to adopt it’s Dejan Bodiroga’s game style at the top of his career. Bodiroga as well didn’t play with a true position. He was everything from the 1 to the 4, but none of the above at the same time. How he got his game going was by working on the mis-matches created according to the opponent’s line-up and his defender. If Bouchman would try to beat his guy with traditional basketball, sooner or later he’ll face problems. His only way to make it big would be to adopt the style of the great Serb.

Don’t expect him to be a 20 point guy or the main offensive player on any team. Carmel’s line in a good game would probably be 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, while on a huge night his points might jump to the early 20s but the others will tickle Mr. Triple or even Quadruple-double.

The fact he’s as hard worker as one can be, a magnificent human being with great social skills, who always look for the best interest of his team and gets upset if one team-mate dares to put himself for one second above the team is another positive aspect that will help a great teacher as Coach Dunphy to shape Carmel’s future.

Carmel had looks also from bigger schools with bigger tradition, bigger chances to go big in present but chose Temple as the school with the right staff, conditions and conference to develop his game.

written by Yarone Arbel

Living in America: Carmel Bouchman (Temple) 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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Carmel Bouchman was the surprising SF of the All-Tournament team. Surprising for two reasons. He barely played the SF position but mostly was working in the paint. And secondly, a SF Tournament team spot could have also been awarded to Mario Delas for example if they consider Bouchman as a SF. Whatever…

The 2m05 tall Forward from Maccabi Tel Aviv tried a lot of three pointers in the beginning of the first game I saw him in Douai. As he missed them all, he went a bit more under the basket to play some post game. During all his plays, he looks rather upright in his body but showing good control and knowing how to use his long frame to score.

Bouchman scored a lot of his baskets while cutting perfectly into open areas where he received the ball. Thanks to his correct athleticism, he can score in the paint but also with good shooting touch from outside the key. Additionally, he sees the cutters himself and is not afraid to give the nice dish to them if they are open.

Mario Delas is one of my favorite forwards of the 1990 generation. The Croat plays fundamentally based basketball and has all-around skills. His 2m08 give him the ideal size for the European Euroleague forward which may be his future in a couple of years. With his already nicely developed body, he makes a lot of damage in the paint but can also play from outside if he has a bigger defender.

In his post up game, where he can score in different ways by fade-away shots or back to the basket moves, he also can go for the nice pass for the cutter from the weak side. Hard fouls don’t bother him as he can score even when he gets hacked in the break or on the layup. As he is fairly athletic, Delas is also not afraid at all to throw down a big dunk in traffic if needed.

He has also a nice timing to block shots, even if his defensive game is not based on pure athletic skills. He is more a finesse and technique player, also on the defensive end of the court. In the game for the third place, he totally outplayed Maik Zirbes who guarded him during stretches as he used his nice speed to beat the German big guy off the dribble every time.

Furkan Aldemir is a 1991 born forward from Turkey who may not be the biggest statistical contributor but he is doing all the dirty work that you don’t see on the sheet afterwards. He is a nice athletic shot blocker who has also a good offensive rebounding presence. Offensively, he looks pretty limited so far, but in a Turkish team with a lot of scoring options, he is not the first option either. His contribution comes from setting hard screens and battling in the paint.

Chrislain Cairo, the 1991 born forward from INSEP, did a nice job coming of the bench to bring his athletic abilities and aggressiveness to the court. Playing a bit a similar role than Aldemir for Turkey, Cairo was more present on the offensive end where he also showed correct shooting touch from mid-distance.

Niels Giffey was the all-around forward for the German team that finished on a surprising 4th place. He is another 1991 born player that excels on the defensive end of the court where he even guarded the Croatian 2m10 beast Leon Radosevic in post-up moves. Giffey can play nearly all the positions from 1-4 on this level, which he showed also with the NBBL team of ALBA Berlin in the Top4. His well developed basketball fundamentals help him on the offensive end to get his scores. With one year more, he should be a pretty decent forward next season.

Mamadou Samb did not play anymore the Sunday’s game as he headed back to Barcelona. During Saturday’s action, he showed his nice arsenal of offensive scoring possibilities. Baseline jump shot is present as well as jump hook moves coming from the post. He was clearly the most developed player of the whole Adidas Nations Africa team.

Bandja Sy did play a nice tournament in Douai. The forward, that is currently at the Gran Canaria Basketball Academy is a terrific athlete who possesses also interesting basketball skills. He netted some nice three pointers even if he sometimes tends to jump a bit forward when taking his hsots. His ballhandling still remains a bit weak but this can be further developed in the future. A nice prospect for the future.

Douai Tournament 2008: the forwards is a post from: European Prospects
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First of all, I wanted to mention a few quick general thoughts about the tournament. The level was excellent this year and the qualification process through different tournaments was a very good idea. The problem is that not every team from Europe can compete in these tournament and so virtually there might be a better team somewhere in Europe. I hope that the Euroleague can find agreements with other tournament for next season to have an even broader competition.

What is going to happen with the Spanish National Team in a few years? If you take the two represented teams (FC Barcelona and Real Madrid), they had not one Spanish inside player who had any kind of impact. I can understand the responsible persons of the teams to try to bring in the best talent available to have a competitive team. But what about their own National team? With these decision to take like 5 foreigners in a youth team (FC Barcelona), they will hurt the Spanish basketball and what has made him strong for the next generation.

The two teams that finished the tournament without any win were also the two Wildcard teams: Crvena Zvezda and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Both teams featured limited talent compared to the other competitors. While the Israeli team showed the traditional fighting spirit, the Serbian team had the typical Balkan type of players in their squad. Here are some short reviews of the players that caught my eye during the only game I observed both teams.

Carmel Bouchman (2m05 – PF – 1991 – Maccabi Tel Aviv)

The Israeli forward who is listed 2m05 but looks a bit shorter had his best game of the tournament against Zalgiris with 19pts and 12rebs. Bouchman showed nice athletic abilities and also some explosiveness, especially on the offensive rebound. His body is still very thin. His shooting mechanics look a bit strange but he showed long range and even netted several three point shots. He is working hard to rebound, at least in this game. Because he only 4 rebounds in the two other games of the tournament combined.

Lazar Radosavljevic (2m03 – SG – 1991 – Crvena Zvezda)

Radosavljevic showed some interesting skills in Madrid. Besides having a good size to play either as SG or SF, the Serbian kid has a very nice shot which he fire from nearly everywhere on the court. He excels in catch and shoot actions but he can also score close to the basket. He is however relying a lot on his outside stroke, not going too much for drives. On the other hand, he showed better than average passing and court vision.

Nemanja Nedovic (1m91 – PG – 1991 – Crvena Zvezda)

Sometimes, I like players for some kind of reason that I can not explain. Nedovic is such a player. He showed very good scoring skills but he also looked lost on the court during moments. What I liked were for example his drives which were nicely aggressive and he tried to score close to the basket. On the other hand, he also knocked down some three pointers and Nedovic was only 16 during this tournament as he is born in June 1991.

The reports about the teams of the NIJT will continue throughout the week.

Nike International Junior Tournament (Part 1) is a post from: European Prospects
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