European Prospects

In our series of previews on the upcoming Albert Schweitzer Tournament 2012, we will check out the team from France today. A French team that is generally stacked with above average athletes and NBA talents as explains Anthony Ponte.

The French team will participate to the AST Tournament for the 20^thtime. Many French NBA players played in this tournament before going overseas : Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf or Nicolas Batum lately in 2006, the AST remains a traditional event for future professional players.

For the 2012 edition, Philippe Ory will come to Mannheim with a roster of 12 players, after a 4 day-practice with 14 players in early April. Among these players, some of them are already known, thanks to the Nike International Junior Tournament in Belgrad, where the INSEP Team played and finished at the fifth place. In this French team, five players from INSEP will play and among them, all eyes will be set on Mouhammadou Jaiteh, one of the biggest prospects in Europe. The 2m06 center plays a great season in the French third league where he averages 15.1 ppg and 10.1 rpg, but he didn’t have great games during the NIJT in Belgrade. For sure, he will want to redeem himself during the AST. With Jaiteh in the frontcourt, Benjamin Meriwill have certainly big minutes after his good games with Chalon/Saône during the NIJT in Kaunas. This 2m07 center is not a serious offensive weapon, but he does the dirty work with effectiveness.

The French team has also many weapons in its backcourt : Anthony Racine, from INSEP, has also a good season in French 3^rd division with 14.3 ppg, with a nice 49% FG. Racine came this year with more shooting skills, especially behind the arc, but remains mostly a first class scorer who loves to attack the rim. His teammate Boris Dallo will complete the starting backcourt, playing the PG position with greatness, thanks to a good basketball IQ and his effectiveness from his drives. He just needs to improve his 3 point range, which isn’t great for a guard. On the bench, David Michineaucould be a good surprise for Philippe Ory’s team, a player who loves to be compared to the Dallas Mavericks player Rodrigue Beaubois,

On the wings, look out for Kevin Harley from Poitiers (yes, the same team than Evan Fournier), who has a great season in the French U20 League averaging 15.7 ppg and 5.2 rpg, and who already played some minutes in Pro A. Maxime Claveau, who plays for Le Havre, can be a great offensive player for French team (he had two 30+ pts games this season in the U20 League), but needs to be careful about his shot selection.

Anthony Ponte is currently studying at the ENSAIA Nancy. He is a write for BasketEvolution.com. You can follow him on Twitter @anthonyponte