With the NBA Draft being held at the Madison Square Garden this Thursday, I go for a quick check of the most interesting European Draft candidates for the year 2009.

Christian Eyenga (1m95 – G – 1989 – DKV Joventut Badalona)

Eyenga did not see that much minutes with DKV Joventut Badalona through out the season. So at a first look, his presence here may be a surprise. The move behind this is however that Eyenga wants to go either undrafted or for a 2nd round spot which would give him more opportunities when being able to move to the NBA one day. First of all, he needs to crack the rotation of Joventut though.

Current mocks: Draftexpress #56 – NBA Draft.net undrafted

Rodrigue Beaubois (1m86 – G – 1988 – Cholet Basket)

Beaubois showed his great combination of athleticism and basketball skills at the Reebok Eurocamp. His shooting remains however a bit suspect at the moment even he has made a great move forward in that area this season. He has definitely nice upside but I have some doubts about his abilities to turn into a PG in the future. The team that will draft him will get a scoring guard with great athletic abilities.

Draftexpress #30 – NBA Draft.net #50

Nando de Colo (1m94 – G – 1987 – Cholet Basket)

Still being listed at more than 2m by some outlets, the guard from Cholet has been officially measured at 1m94 without shoes in Treviso. This does not take away from him his great creativity and passing skills that make him on of the most interesting PG prospects in Europe. He has already signed a deal with Pamesa Valencia according to different reports so that there is the possibility to park for a year or two in Europe. Lacks the athletic potential of Beaubois but has a great shot out of the dribble with a quick release.

Draftexpress #54 – NBA Draft.net undrafted

Omri Casspi (2m04 – F – 1988 – Maccabi Tel Aviv)

The Israeli forward has impressed quite a lot of people during his workouts with his toughness. He got used to play physically by getting lots of minutes with a Euroleague powerhouse. His good speed helped him to beat his man of the dribble in Europe but is this enough for the NBA when his shot does not fall? He looks currently as one of the most promising wings of the draft and he may be the first Israeli player to get drafted and actually play in the NBA.

Draftexpress #26 – NBA Draft.net #23

Henk Norel (2m12 – F/C – 1987 – DKV Joventut Badalona)

Norel was hyped a lot more one year ago and several minor injuries have slowed down his development this year. You have here a hard working big guy who can run the floor extremely well and is a fighter in the paint. He has a very nice shot from outside which he does not use that much for the moment but that gives him interesting offensive potential. Despite showing good athletic abilities, he needs to gain some weight in order to have an impact in the NBA.

Draftexpress #55 – NBA Draft.net undrafted

Milenko Tepic (1m98 – G – 1987 – Partizan Belgrade/Panathinaikos Athens)

The Serbian guard is not what you call a typical NBA prospect. Still he remains eligible due to his age but I doubt that any team will go after him especially as he has signed a deal with Panathinaikos Athens a few weeks ago. Tepic is a tall guard who can play all the 1-2-3 positions. He is a correct athlete but his main asset is his versatility and he has become a correct shooter from behind the three point line.

Draftexpress undrafted – NBA Draft.net #57

Emir Preldzic (2m06 – F – 1987 – Fenerbahce Ülker Istanbul)

The SF from Fenerbahce had a nice run in the middle of the season for his team. He displays excellent ball handling skills and creativity for a player of his size, something that made his coach play him as a PG during stretches. Currently, he is not really considered as a NBA prospect as his game and physical abilities translate more into the Euroleague type of basketball.

Draftexpress undrafted – NBA Draft.net undrafted

Gasper Vidmar (2m10 – C – 1987 – Fenerbahce Ülker Istanbul)

Vidmar has not seen the same development than Preldzic with Fenerbahce. Vidmar plays the Center position and his statistical progression has stopped this year in the Euroleague. This has of course not helped him to improve his draft stock and most of the observers don’t see a future for him in the NBA right now.

Draftexpress undrafted – NBA Draft.net undrafted

Victor Claver (2m04 – F – 1988 – Pamesa Valencia)

The Spanish forward had his season shortened by a broken leg but he is however in the Draft this year. His newly signed deal with Pamesa Valencia indicates also why he has chosen this option, getting drafted below the first round in order to be able to sign an open deal with a NBA team when he ever joins the league. He has the tools to do so but the next season in Spain will show how strong he can come back after this year.

Draftexpress #33 – NBA Draft.net #24

Sergio Llull (1m90 – G – 1987 – Real Madrid)

The Spanish guard showed a great season this year and he may end up in the Draft this week. Llull has tremendous speed and leaping abilities for a European player and his three point shot has made some interesting breaks for Real Madrid this season. His is very present in defense and offensively can create a lot of scoring in shots stretches. He may become a very interesting role player for a NBA team that creates the right situation for him.

Draftexpress #42 – NBA Draft.net #44

Ricky Rubio (1m92 – G – 1990 – DKV Joventut Badalona)

The top European talent in this Draft and even for the whole decade is Ricky Rubio. Everything has been said about the Spanish phenomenon already; great defensive instincts, fantastic drive and creativity and difficulties to shot out of the dribble. The question that remains is if Rubio will be able to lead a NBA team at his young age.

Draftexpress #4 – NBA Draft.net #2

Jonas Jerebko (2m06 – F – 1987 – Angelico Biella)

The Swedish forward has developed into a very interesting player over the last years. Being 2m06 tall and playing the SF, he has all the tools to be successful in the NBA. He has grown step by step by concentrating on his role, long distance shooting and aggressiveness attacking the basket. Jerebko may stay another year in Europe though to progress with a Euroleague team before joining the NBA.

Draftexpress #29 – NBA Draft.net #28

Rudy Mbemba (1m81 – G – 1987 – Vanoli Soresina)

The tiny PG is the second Swedish player that is available for the NBA Draft this year. He has been a player observed for years now and still the doubts remain if he can ever develop enough to be a player to be asked to run the PG. His outstanding athletic abilities are a major asset for him in Europe but don’t make him that special in the United States.  His decision making and shooting selection has improved this year but is it enough to see a team make a gamble on him?

Draftexpress undrafted – NBA Draft.net undrafted

Sergiy Gladyr (1m96 – G – 1988 – Mykolaiv)

The Ukrainian sharp shooter had one of the better showing during the Reebok Eurocamp which probably was the reason for him to stay in the Draft. Being represented by Comsport as agency is probably another reason as the team around Bouna N’Diaye is known for getting players in the right light to be drafted. Gladyr is a great scoring guard with interesting athletic capabilities but who has currently a certain lack of experience of high level basketball as he only played for a medium-level Ukrainian team.

Draftexpress #49 – NBA Draft.net #48

Vyacheslav “Slava” Kravtsov (2m12 – C – 1987 – BC Kyiv)

The Ukrainian Center may have a decent chance to hear his name called on Thursday as he offers a good physical built and jumping abilities to play as a role player in the NBA. He can make the difference with his rebound and shot blocking on the defense end while his offensive game is still improving.

Draftexpress #60 – NBA Draft.net #52

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In our first part of the review on the recent Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso, I took a look at those players being automatically eligible or early entrance candidates and that have a correct chance of being drafted. The review contains only information on the European players, so Patrick Mills or Patrick Beverley have not been included in this report.

When starting with the guards, the names of the two French players from Cholet, Nando de Colo and Rodrigue Beaubois come into your mind as first ones. Both of them did not play the full tournament but both of them grabbed their chance to show what they are able to do. While Beaubois had to set out with a minor wrist injury after day one, de Colo still played on the second day but has left Treviso on Monday.

Rodrigue Beaubois showed in his only game of the camp the absolute will to impress the NBA executives in attendance. He was present everywhere on the court, scoring, rebounding, passing and even going for two block shots on defense. However, this high energy game produced some mistakes so that his overall performance on that game was only medium. His display of potential though impressed with next to his above average athletic abilities a real potential as scoring guard.

Even if his shot was not there, Beaubois had several more opportunities to put points on his stats line, either by driving of his left hand or going for out of the dribble jump shots. The problem is though that Beaubois struggled when it comes to PG play. Being only 1m86 tall, his size may be a serious issue to play on the 2 spot on the NBA level. His impressive wingspan and leaping abilities helps him though to play bigger than he really is.

Nando de Colo looked as the better short-term option for a PG position. Displaying a better size but less athletic abilities, de Colo looked awesome when it came to creating opportunities for his team mates. Both on set plays, where he excels in pick and roll play, or on the break, his great court vision combines with a very precise passing on the right heights for his cutters. Several highlight plays have been remembered by the assistance.

The best thing about de Colo is probably his talent in these pick and roll situations. Next to his good view for his team mates, he has a good jump shot, which however has not the highest release point, that he can take out of the dribble. If the hedging defenders are not aggressive enough to come around the screen, he can pull it up easily until the NBA three point range. If the hedging on the screen is stronger, he has the nice feel for throwing the pass in the right moment for the rolling screener to give him open looks.

Defensively, de Colo may have some trouble to match up with ultra quick guards. He knows however how to draw a charge which helps him probably more in the European game than on the NBA level. He can definitely be considered as one of the top PGs out of this talent group.

Daniel Hackett showed an interesting camp in my eyes but was a bit behind de Colo when it comes to determine the top PG of the three days. Claiming the leader position on the team, Hackett tried to make his team mates better, talked a lot to them, organized huddles and motivated them in defense. However, it looked always like he was trying to much himself in the end forcing some decisions especially when it came to his own scoring. He finished the camp with an below average 7/17 shots.

Another player using the ball a lot was the Ukrainian SG Sergyi Gladyr. The 1989 born early entrance candidate managed however to put his name on the table and NBA Draft.net gives him now a spot in the second round. Gladyr is a typical SG scorer running through the screens to get open shots. Being rather quick and athletic, he has no problems to get open and his quick and high release gives him possibilities to take the shot even when the defender is on him. But he can also create opportunities for himself, either on the drive or for example with step back three point shots. He needs to work a bit on his shot selection though as his game looks at the moment a bit too forced instead of letting the opportunities come to him. So you can see him a bit too much going for difficult shots right now. A change to a more competitive team than his current Mykolaiv team in Ukraine would certainly help him to improve in this area.

The Swedish forward Jonas Jerebko was one of the most awaited participants in Treviso this weekend. And the player from Angelico Biella arrived on Sunday to participate in all of Monday’s action. He immediately showed his great feel for the game, never forcing anything but taking his open opportunities and converting them perfectly. His jump shot looks great, having a very high release point due to his size and jumping skills. Catch and shoot threes out of inside-outside dishes look very well for him. His athleticism gives him additional possibilities on the drive where he is not afraid to finish with dunks in traffic but also go for the elegant running hook shot. Jerebko has certainly not lowered if not increased his Draft stock by his only game he played in Treviso. Svensk BasketTelevision visited the 2m06 tall forward just before the camp in Biella and had also this following interview with his current head coach in Italy.

The Montenegrin PF Vladimir Dasic started the camp on a very disappointing note but improved over the days in Treviso to show again why he is considered by several observers as a legit NBA prospect. His physical attributes are above average for the European game combined with a high quality skill set give him a great natural born basketball talent. The question mark on him is of course his mental toughness to play Basketball on the highest level.

Dasic showed a full set of tools to score, strong and powerful drives, long distance shot, footwork and ball handling. Everything is present to become a real good player. His hands are really good for a player of his size and you could see him going for finger rolls, tips ins and even some kind of miraculous baskets after having lost the ball in the air already. On his drives, he also showed a spin move going in both ways which gives him lots of opportunities to beat his opponents. His athleticism helps him to create on the fast break too where you can see him in the action from the box out situation until the transition game by bringing the ball up over mid-court.

Henk Norel came to Treviso fresh of an injury that prevented him playing for several weeks. This did not hurt him though to go for highly aggressive style of basketball. Being match with bigger and stronger players in the post, you could see him erupt for great steals out of the post play due to his great speed and arm movements. It is always difficult for Centers to play well in this type of settings, but Norel did a tremendous job to create opportunities for himself and his team mates by running with a second of rest up and down the floor, setting hard screens, working on the offensive glass and finishing on his own when an opportunity came to him.

The major asset of Norel is that he seems to understand the game very well. He sees how to create a good positioning for himself in the paint and is tough enough to use his elbows to get this done. Sealing bigger players is not a problem for him on this level. Additionally, Norel displayed a nice long distance shot even going for a camp-high 11/15 from behind the NBA three point line during the shooting exercises. It remains however rare that he takes that kind of shot in a game situation, he is more active down low on the block where he showed several interesting post moves including a left handed jump hook. Facing the basket, he prefers the jump shot out of mid-range than attacking his player on the drive which seems to be a good choice as his ball handling does not allow him to go for penetrations without risking to many turnovers.

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Here we go for quick recap of the action I was able to catch from the Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso so far. A camp that has representatives from all the 30 NBA teams in attendance in addition to a long list of Agents and representatives from European teams as well.

This report has been written Sunday at noon but is online posted right now due to Internet connection problems. More on the Reebok Eurocamp will follow later this week.

• The first game of the camp has been played on Saturday morning where I only arrived so I could not watch it. However, players that impressed were Stefan Markovic who run the PG job very well. Jaka Klobucar did what I like him for apparently. That means, a good shot from behind the arc and his typical left handed passes out of his wrist. Alexey Shved also showed again all his talent.
• In the 2nd game of the camp, Boban Marjanovic finished with an impressive 26 evaluation. The Serbian giant, one of the only Serbians allowed to play here, showed his incredible large game and scored with his typical post up move, some kind of jump hook. He did a good job from the free-throw line and was a big force in the defensive rebound. On the other side, Rodrigue Beaubois showed his nice combination of athleticism and skills but his shot was not falling and he got a little injury that took him out of the morning game of Day 2. Pablo Aguilar showed a good game, something he confirmed this morning. The 1989 born forward has an all-in-control type of play, going for both SF and PF positions. His range goes out to the NBA three point line, but despite not hitting that many shots you could see that he will improve in that area in the next years. The Czech youngster Tomas Satoransky impressed lots of people in the attendance with his great feel for the game and the possibility to see him run the PG in the next years.
• Nando de Colo showed his great court vision on Day 1 with a multitude of high light passes. Next to all these plays, there was one play that impressed me really while seeing him play. In fact, after a lazy behind the back pass by himself, he came back into the game immediately and stole the ball on midcourt to dish an easy assist for one of his team mates. This day was also a good opportunity to get a first impression of the Kazakh player Anton Ponomarev who definitely lacks of high-quality basketball experience and ball handling skills, but showed great will in the rebound and good scoring touch. The French guard Abdoulaye Mbaye showed his scoring talent on the 2-guard position but having a player like de Colo in his team, he had never to handle the ball on the 1 so that his potential on the PG could not be determined.
• On the downside of Day 1 were the disappointing play of guys like Vladimir Dasic, who still seems to have some concentration problems, Nikos Pappas, who struggles to bring up the ball against aggressive defense despite a great understanding in the half court offense or Roger Aboubakar Zaki who insists on shooting from behind the arc with a mediocre result.

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The Swedish guard Rudy Mbemba is in the NBA Draft, finally. After multiple seasons in different European teams, the 1m83 tall player is currently playing the Italian LegaDue Finals in order to earn a Lega spot for his team of Vanoli. I had the possibility to see several of his last games with the Italian team and check though if the multiple Reebok Eurocamp participant has a chance to hear his name called in the MSG soon.

Mbemba still impresses with a great physical built which is clearly above average for European standards. In a recent interview with a our friends at Svensk Basket Television, he admitted that he even gained 12kg of muscles in order to be ready for the NBA challenge.

Next to his short size (1m83), the main question on Mbemba is of course his understanding of the game and the possibility to play the Point Guard position. His shooting percentages have developed into a very good territory right now from what they have been the previous seasons; he turns currently at a correct 55.9% from 2FG and a good 37.5% from behind the arc. However, his FT shooting is dramatic with only 46.2%.

A first thing that you see is that Mbemba has improved his shooting selection, at least in the games I saw. And the improved percentages show that he only takes shots that he feels comfortable in. His three point shot in catch and shoot fashion looks correct right now and you don’t see him too often to go for these out-of-dribble shots anymore. The association with Troy Bell, who is another typical scoring guard forces Mbemba to play a pass first guard and you see during the games that Mbemba tries to force himself into a role that is not his inborn type of playing basketball.

And sometimes, his out-of-control style of play comes back again. Mbemba has no problem to beat his man of the dribble, but what comes out of these situations is often not a positive thing for the team. He sees his cutters pretty well, the problem is though that he tries to go for difficult passes for himself or for the cutter to catch. Several times, he tried to find back door alley-oop passes in traffic for his wings. These attempts ended more often out of bounds than in a high light real.

Out of his penetrations, Mbemba barely tries to go for the score as he has no real move to score of the drive. You never see him go for a running floater or tear drops, nor for a controlled jump shot. This lack in his offensive play limits him badly as he can not really play as a scoring guard because of these difficulties. With the gained muscular mass, he looks also a bit slower than he was before but still this is not really a handicap right now.

Finally, Mbemba probably needs to develop into a defensive stopper if he wants to become a better player than he is right now. He has all the tools to do so but he looks not all that focused on that side of the court. Being caught in pick-and-roll situations on LegaDue level shows that he really needs to improve in this area but it may be the specialty that he needs to develop to raise his level. The positive thing is that you see him progress, step by step. The control of the game is however still the part that he needs to develop the most if he wants to become a PG on a higher level.

With the LegaDue Finals going on to at least a fourth game to be played on Sunday 7th June, Mbemba’s presence at this year’s Reebok Eurocamp is excluded so that he can not use his year-long showcase to impress the NBA scouts. However, the NBA teams interested in him and present in Europe because of the camp will certainly take the opportunity to make the trip inside Italy to go scout Mbemba in a competitive setting.

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• The French U19 for the World Championship got published today. The team of Coach Billant selected 15 players among which there are a few new faces like Bryson Pope (Jenks HS) or Stanley Dubois (Canarias Basketball School). The team will prepare from 24th May to 2 June and the play the tournament of Douai before flying to Australia
• The German Youth National teams were reunited in Paderborn this weekend and the different National team coaches published their preliminary lists for the summer tournaments.
• Split won the Croatian U18 championship by beating Cedevita in the Final this weekend.
• Here are the rosters of the different Serbian Youth National teams for this summer: U16, U18 and U20. The interesting part is the selection of 1993 born Center Bogdan Radosavljevic who got an invitation for both Serbian and German U16 National team. It will be interesting to see for which team he will chose to play.
• Great Britain prepares also for the U20 European Championship of Division B with the following roster
• Slovenia selects the following players for the upcoming U18 Championships
• While the team of the Reebok Eurocamp is still working on the definitive list of participant players, they announced that the FMP Junior team, that recently won the NIJT will be present at the camp and play against the camp All-Stars on Saturday and Monday evening.
• The French press announced a surprising workout for the automatically eligible Le Havre guard Fabien Causeur at the New York Knicks together with 1986 born Romain Duport
• Draftexpress chatted with Nando de Colo about his stock for the upcoming NBA Draft
• Early-Entrance candidate Victor Claver just signed a new three-year deal with Pamesa Valencia. The contract contains a NBA buyout which is “affordable” according to the press release. Additionally, Claver mentioned publicly that he will stay in the Draft this year what ever comes because he wants to be drafted in the 2nd round for salary reasons
• Clemson 1988 born shooter Terrence Oglesby who holds a Norwegian passport will end his College career and is looking for a professional contract in Europe

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Today, I give you a few thoughts on the different European playoff games I saw these last days.

• Let’s start with a player that got drafted already but who is still considered as a prospect. Joel Freeland, the 1987 born forward of Kalise Gran Canaria finished his season with the Spanish team this Sunday on a positive note despite the loss as he was the top scorer. Freeland showed a variety of ways to score from low post moves to jump shots and drives. In the post, he mostly used some kind of running hook which he executed of his left or his right hand. Additionally, he showed a nice catch-and-shoot baseline jump shot from 5 meters. He also beat his opponent of the dribble from the top of the key with very nice speed of his right hand. Freeland is also very present in rebounding where he essentially uses good positioning and boxing out go average nearly 6 boards per game in 22 minutes of play.
• Another 1987 born player in Spain but being automatically eligible in the Draft this year is Sergio Llull of Real Madrid. The guard impresses with great speed, good athleticism and a quick shot release on catch-and-shoot plays. And it is with these kind of skills that Llull scores the most for his team where he has a role a energy back-up and booster from the bench. Additionally, he has a role as defensive stopper if needed where he can use his athleticism to overpower the often smaller or less athletic European guards.
• Pau Ribas had a good game for Joventut in the last Playoff game of the season. The 1987 born guard scored mostly on difficult shots out of the dribble or with open shots around the arc. Not much considered as a NBA prospect, Ribas should however develop into a target for several high-level Euroleague teams in the next 2-3 years.
• It was probably the last game for Ricky Rubio in Europe and it was certainly not one of his best. Coming back from a small injury in a do-or-die game for his team, Rubio could not really make the difference as he still suffered from his leg. His defensive presence of course was not as usual and also his offensive creativity got hurt through the lack of speed he displayed. However, the overall talent level is not questioned.
• Recently elected Rookie of the Year in Germany, the 1988 born PG Per Günther finished his first BBL Playoff series against Bonn. The former Hagen player established himself as the backup of Dru Joyce throughout the season and all the executives of the team are highly satisfied with the work done by Günther. It would not be a big surprise if ratiopharm Ulm gives him the Starting job next season. The 1m84 tall guard is in fact doing an excellent job in running the point for the team of coach Mike Taylor. Setting up the plays, giving instructions to his team mates and calling them together for huddles, he looks like the future team captain already. Besides these soft skills, Günther scores mostly of open three point shots which he is not afraid of taking despite a pretty poor percentage so far. His ball handling skills have improved nicely over the season so that he gets less in trouble against aggressive defenses than a year ago. This skills together with nice speed open him some possibilities to attack the basket but his lack of athletic abilities prevent him often from scoring against the big guys.
• Another surprise in the German playoffs is 1988 born SG Karsten Tadda. Excellent defender (2 charges taken again this Sunday together with 13pts and 8rebs), Tadda played himself into the rotation of Brose Baskets Bamberg and is stealing the show from all the established pros of the team and also from the highly looked at NBA prospect Tim Ohlbrecht. The German PF is currently totally of and does not see many minutes with his team. I doubt he will stay in the draft or get any kind of return from his early entrance as it looks like his team will stay for a long playoff run which takes him away from possible NBA workouts.
• Another early-entrance candidate I had the possibility to see is Roger Aboubakar Zaki. The 7-footer from Nancy saw some Garbage minutes on Friday but he did not really display a lot of will for the few seconds he was on court. He was very active cheering on the bench but once on the court, all this energy was gone as you could see him walk up and down the court instead of trying to spring to get a possible look on the break. This did not look very promising in terms of mental approach for a NBA future.

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Today, I took a first look at the upcoming NBA Draft from a European perspective. I will check who are the players that have already declared to enter the draft and who is supposed to do so in the next days. Who are the players that are automatically eligible?

I will start my roundup with the players that will or may enter the 2009 NBA Draft as early entrants. They can declare until April 26th if they want to put their name on the Early-Entrants list in order to test their value for the upcoming Draft. Then, the can withdraw their name until the 15th of June if they are not happy. As an international player, you can withdraw twice from the Early Entrants list, when entering your name for a third year, you are automatically in the NBA Draft.

Player having declared officially for the 2009 NBA Draft

The only International player that has officially declared so far is the French-German-Portuguese forward Fernando Raposo as reports jump-shot.net from France. The 2m06 tall and 1989 born PF, who plays his first full professional season with Elan Béarnais in France this year had some interesting games in a tough sportive situation. Having signed with agent Kenny Grant this season, Raposo is probably just testing the waters to see his value and put his name on the list of the different scouts that did not know him so far. Without going for some huge workouts or a mind-blowing Reebok EuroCamp, Raposo will most likely withdraw before the dead-line.

Brandon Jennings is a specific case as he is the first US born player to join a European professional team right out of High School. This makes him automatically a NBA Draft candidate according to a rule of the NBA Players collective bargaining agreement. His year in Italy has put him under different spotlights than the typical NCAA Freshman and gave the NBA scouts a possibility to evaluate him under professional circumstances.

Omri Casspi has declared to be officially eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft in different reports in the Israeli press. I consider the chances for him to stay in the Draft are pretty high, but he may not want to get drafted in the first round except if he becomes a Lottery pick which is highly unlikely. Casspi certainly can sign a more lucrative contract in Europe so a low first round pick is not that interesting for him. We will see how his situation evolves.

Players declaring highly likely during the next days

Rodrigue Beaubois will declare officially that he is in the Draft during the next days. His agent announced it already to Draftexpress, so it is pretty obvious that he will enter the early-entrants list for the third and will be in for good. Beaubois got quite some buzz over the last days and weeks due to his great play during March. If he can continue on that level, he will have good chances to see a very interesting Draft spot coming up.

More and more rumors say that Ricky Rubio will declare for this year’s Draft. The Spanish PG comes however from a season where his progress was a bit handicapped by a hand injury in the beginning of the 2008/2009 exercise. Still, he is considered as a top lottery pick and could even go as high as the Top3 according to the different Mocks.

Several sources indicate that Vladimir Dasic will enter his name to the NBA Draft 2009 during the next days. The SF from Montenegro has played a great U20 European Championship last summer but struggled a bit to put up regular performances throughout the season in the Adriatic League. He finished the season strong though with several big scoring performances but still not being accurate from behind the arc.

Testing the waters

Draftexpress also reports that Roger Zaki may enter his name this year in order to test the waters. Zaki comes of a season where he saw some minutes on the Euroleague level, but he showed that he is currently far away from being a factor on that level, especially defensively where he gets pushed around at will. He needs to find a team first where he can earn some minutes, and being born in 1988, he needs to do that quickly if his goal is to being drafted. Still, the potential is there, but is that enough?

Giorgi Shermadini is probably exactly the opposite case. The Georgian big man destroyed everything in his home league and moved to Panathinaikos in November 2008 and played only 4 league games since then.

Possible entrants

A player that may enter the NBA Draft after his recent performances at the Nike Hoop Summit (I will talk about that in a later post) is the Lithuanian Forward/Center Donatas Motiejunas. The seven footer with the great touch played a correct for a small team in Lithuania and managed to qualify the to the Challenge Final Four of the Baltic League.

Players that could have been ready this year for an early entrance but got kicked back by injuries or poor play are Victor Claver (broken leg) or Tim Ohlbrecht (limited playing time and multiple injuries). They may try to put their name back on the board of the NBA scouts by entering early and withdrawing before the deadline.

Ludo Vaty from Pau-Orthez is also a possible entrant according to several sources. The French PF played a good season and improved every season since he is with the former French powerhouse. He may have a future as a hard working rebounder and hustle guy in the big league.

Automatically eligible

On the list of players that are automatically eligible, being born in 1987, you will find also some interesting names.  Inside players like Henk Norel or Slava Kravtsov may get a shot somewhere in the second round. These type of players can boost their stock with a good performance during the Reebok Eurocamp in June.

A multi-task player like Emir Preldzic may be interesting for some franchises, something that counts also for Milenko Tepic. For both of these guys, the future will however be probably in Europe as they lack some NBA typical characteristics. Jonas Jerebko is another player that may have some NBA potential due to his interesting combination of size and shooting skills.

Finally, you have two guards that may get a pick this year as they played both some interesting seasons in the past. Sergio Llull had his breakout party this year and boosted the Real Madrid play during stretches with his athletic and speedy drives or three point bombs. While Nando de Colo had a great last season, he slowed down a bit this year but he may be picked down the road somewhere late in the second round.

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Per Günther (1m84 – PG – 1988 – ratiopharm Ulm)

Probably the biggest surprise of the season is the impact of Per Günther in Ulm. The young German PG came from ProA team Phoenix Hagen to Southern Germany this summer and the least you could say is that he started the season like crazy. Being the starter for Coach Mike Taylor’s team in the beginning of the season because of injuries, he led the team to an outstanding win in the difficult JAKO Arena of Bamberg. He is now back on the bench and brings his energy as a substitution player for a current Play off team.

Günther is mostly playing in a role as true point guard, bringing up the ball and setting up the plays. He developed his ball handling and struggles less against pressure defense now, a problem that he had throughout the last years. Offensively, he is not afraid to take the open lanes to drive to the basket and score in traffic. He is not overwhelmingly athletic but strong enough to finish against bigger guys.

Defensively, Günther is very present as an on-ball defender and you can see Ulm play some press defenses with him on the court chasing the opposing PG up and down the court. However, he needs to get a better long distance shooter in order to become a constant offensive threat. For his coach, all this development is on its best way as he explained europeanprospects.com recently.

Per has played his role in our team to perfection, providing energy off the bench, excellent transition play, attacking dribble penetration and outstanding ball pressure on defense.  What impresses me about Per is his poise and basketball IQ.  We have a complex system here in Ulm and it usually takes veteran players time to pick it all up.  With most young players we would scale back our stuff and reduce the amount of systems to help them but with Per, he has complete mastery of our systems.

Per is so quick he gets into the lane anytime he wants, has improved steadily in ball-screens, has opened up vision to passing lanes above the rim with taller players and has continued to work on his perimeter shooting.  With his outstanding ability to finish at the rim for a small player, Per must improve his perimeter shooting and when that happens he will be a great point guard.

Johannes Lischka (2m03 – SF – 1987 – LTi Giessen 46ers)

When looking at the stats, Johannes “Joe” Lischka is currently the best German player under 22 in the Bundesliga. And the recent injury of SF starter Maurice Jeffers gives the young Giessen 46ers more playing time that he knows how to use. Having changed his body completely over the last 2-3 years, loosing nearly 20kg, Lischka enjoys now a good size and athleticism to play the Small Forward position at the highest level.

Lischka is the type of player that does nothing spectacularly well but a bit of everything right. Rebounding, drives, three point shooting, he is present everywhere on the court and does only few mistakes. You can see him grabbing the defensive rebound and going for a coast-to-coast play finishing of a nice finger roll. His handles are correct and allow him to drive with power to the basket but always looking a bit slow. Check the video clip below for a typical Lischka drive.

Lischka has a three point shot but he does not use it that often with Giessen. However, with Giessen’s farm team in the German ProA where he still plays massive minutes, he has an excellent accuracy as he nails 48.8% of his long distance attempts and going for more than three shots per game. Currently, he gets more touches as the normal Starter on the SF is injured, but he could even see more shots as he is at 15/21 FG over these last three games.

Current Giessen 46ers assistant coach Gerald Wasshuber told us the following about Lischka and his potential.

His best scoring weapon is his strong drive to the basket and he can finish well near the basket because of his good body balance. Joe also has a very good shooting touch all the way up to the 3pt range. Besides his scoring abilities, he is a good rebounder on both ends of the court, because of his natural intuition for the ball and his strong body. Joe is used to play both forward positions, where he can be used for mismatches. His weaknesses are his lack of athleticism and his decision making, but on both things he still improves from year to year.

It would be no surprise to see Lischka as a member of the German National Team this summer during the Eurobasket as the SF position has some open spots because of the poor season so far of Konrad Wysocki and the probable non-participation of Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk Bauermann has already announced that Joe Lischka is among the top candidates to get a roster spot for Poland this September.

Tibor Pleiss (2m15 – C – 1989 – Köln 99ers)

The seven footer from Cologne has recently stepped up and is seeing regular and more interesting minutes. After several injuries over the last years, Pleiss seems finally to be healthy and is seeing the floor for around 10 minutes per game right now.

The main point where I see some progress in Pleiss game is his aggressiveness and confidence. In the league game against ALBA Berlin, he immediately knocked down an open jump shot from the baseline being 5 meter away. Additionally, he is not afraid to go for two handed dunks against opposition when catching the ball on a pick-and-roll situation.

Defensively, he is still lacking the necessary physical tools to battle in the paint but his long arms make him a nice shot blocker as he has the necessary timing to deflect the shots. The recent coaching change in Cologne may give him an additional boost in terms of playing time and we should normally see Pleiss at this year’s edition of the Reebok Eurocamp.

Tom Spöler (2m06 – SF – 1988 – Giants Düsseldorf)

One of the surprises of this end of the season is the impact that Tom Spöler is getting. After not seeing the court at all in the beginning of the season, Tom got some minutes because of injuries of some of the starters, and he used them pretty well. Not afraid at all and full of confidence, Spöler plays a role as long distance sniper and his shot looks pretty well and falls with high percentages.

He is currently mainly used in this role but it may be a specific reason as his team Giants Düsseldorf is a three point shooting squad and the players he replaced were playing the same role. We will see if he still sees the court when everybody is back in the rotation.

Karsten Tadda (1m92 – PG – 1988 – Brose Baskets Bamberg)

Tadda jumped into the Brose Baskets Bamberg rotation after several injuries in the backcourt of the former German champions. And the last you can say is that he did it pretty well. In his first game with significant minutes against Giants Düsseldorf, he immediately became a major factor by hitting 4 out of 4 three pointers and being a permanent defensive threat.

Tadda has now a role as defensive stopper as you could see him do a great job on Jason Gardner from Oldenburg today giving him a particularly tough job. The 1988 born guard had some open looks in the offense but two of his attempts from behind the arc were too short while his last shot, the possibility to tie the game for an overtime at the buzzer was blocked. The big thing though, at least for the game of tonight was that Coach Chris Fleming said before the game that Dan Dickau, who is back from injury is now only the third option. And Dickau did not play the whole game.

Two players that saw already big minutes the last season but had a more or less disappointing season so far are Philipp Schwethelm and Tim Ohlbrecht. While the first one had a good game tonight in a disastrous loss of his team from Cologne, Ohlbrecht came back tonight after multiple injuries and scored a nice three pointer and a dunk in just 5 minutes of game time.

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Kristof Ongenaet (2m03 – PF – Syracuse – 1985 Senior – Belgium)

If your team needs a hustle guy, check out Kristof Ongenaet. The Belgian inside player has a very special background as he passed by the small Junior College of Cuesta JC and signed afterwards with the prestigious Syracuse. Ongenaet is currently being used as defensive power player in order to close the paint and dive for lose balls or offensive rebounds. Being too short to play at C, Ongenaet is however extremely present in the paint and is working extremely hard on every ball.

Dogus Balbay (1m83 – PG – Texas – 1989 Sophomore – Turkey)

The Turkish PG has made a different career development decision than most of his fellow players and moved to the United States for his HS Senior year. After having lost one season due to an injury and suspension, Balbay starts now to adapt to the level of the Big 12 and has taken over the starting PG job at Texas since mid-February. He has bulked up his upper body in order to play against the very athletic guards of the conference, having lost maybe a bit of his speed.

Offensively, his game is still based on drives, drives and drives. His long distance shot is still non-existing and he even struggles from the FT line being below 40% over the season so far. He is being let open above the FT by the defense which takes him away his good drive. But still, he manages to create of his penetration and he can go for some acrobatic lay-ups as we were used to see by from him with the different Turkish youth teams. He looks also more under control right now and does not go for every drive possibility being more relax and looking for the open team mates. The lost year seems now forgotten but Balbay absolutely needs to work his shot in order to become a serious player for the high level.

Rihards Kuksiks (1m98 – SF – Arizona State – 1988 Sophomore – Latvia)

A player who has developed very well over this season is the Latvian shooter Rihards Kuksiks. Showing an interesting size for playing the SG, Kuksiks is essentially used as SF or even PF by his Arizona State team. His progress in defense may be a reason for this but it can also create some offensive match-up situations. But the main reason to follow Kuksiks is his three point shooting ability.

So far, he is scoring more than 46% of his long distance attempts which shows his great progress in this area in terms of confidence. His shots come mostly in catch-and-shot situations as he is not the guy to create the space himself by penetrating. Excellent player to attack the zone, Kuksiks loves the receive the ball and fire it up immediately. He is definitely a player to follow for a future shooter role on the Euroleague level.

Nikola Dragovic (2m06 – PF – UCLA – 1987 Junior – Serbia)

The Serbian forward, who I last saw with the U20 NT in 2007 in Slovenia is doing a good job right now at UCLA and is getting more and more minutes as a wing scorer, especially from the three point line. Dragovic is not the guy that creates his own open three, but he is living more of the creation of his team mates. He excels in these catch and shoot or pick and pop situations when he gets the ball for the long shot.

With his good size, he works on the offensive glass too where he is quite explosive of two feet. It will be interesting to see how he develops over his last year at UCLA in 2009/10 and it would not be a surprise to find him afterwards in some EL team as rotation guy.

Daniel Hackett (1m96 – PG – USC – 1987 Junior – Italy)

Well, Daniel Hackett is not the player I personally like, but the Italian guard is going his way. Playing mostly as a PG, with great size and good athleticism, he can dominate his defender when posting him up down low. Hackett is a guy, that is always in the hot situations on the court and not afraid to talk to everybody and use his elbows. He needs the ball in his hands and wants to take the big shots.

On the offensive end, you can see him drive of his right hand a lot despite being left-handed. He can hit the jump shot out of those drives, even in the step back of fade away style. Not that much of a three point shooter, he can hit the open shots when getting a good pass. In his role as a PG, he is more like a scoring guard than a pass-first players. Having one year ahead of him, he may develop his playmaking skills a bit more in order to become a more complete player for his entrance to the professional level in 2010.

Nikola Vucevic (2m08 – PF/C – USC – 1990 Freshman – Montenegro)

A few words about this young man who joined USC this summer. Vucevic is the son of Borislav Vucevic who had an extensive career in Belgium. Nikola is playing essentially in a role as hustle guy in the paint to grab offensive boards and block shots. Being only a Freshman, his time on the court is of course limited so I can not tell a lot more about him than this.

Terrence Oglesby (1m88 – SG – Clemson – 1988 Sophomore – Norway)

Terrence Oglesby is Norwegian, at least he played for the Norwegian U20 NT this summer. So I followed him a bit throughout this season and the Sophomore guard from Clemson is an important factor for his team. His role is essentially the scoring one, where he excels in running through the screens to come up with long distance shots. Being only in his second year at Clemson, Oglesby will probably develop into one of the best shooters in all College basketball over the next two years. Unfortunately, his size limits him a bit for the next level to play on the SG position so he has to develop more of PG skills in order to play on the highest professional level.

Jeffery Taylor (2m01 – SF – Vanderbilt – 1989 Freshman – Sweden)

The Swedish Forward is showing a lot of promise for his Freshman year at Vanderbilt. His great athleticism , wingspan and defensive pressure makes him one of the players to follow closely over his four years. Additionally, he is scoring nicely in double figures which is already a terrific achievement for him being in his first year only. Not that much of a shooter, Taylor can handle the ball very well and likes to drive it on one-on-one situations and is not afraid to run the break.

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Elias Harris (2m00 – 1989 – Forward – BIS Speyer)

In a recent article by the German magazine Forward, the current German U18 National team coach Kay Blümel considers Elias Harris as the biggest German prospect right now. Nobody else has the same combination of athleticism and basketball skills in the youth categories. Harris is also a house-hold name for all the followers of European Youth competitions and the possibility to see him play in his daily setup of Speyer was very interesting.

Harris is still present on the floor through his great athletic and physical skills. He is currently in process of developing a Small Forward type of play, as he was always used to play more on the PF position. So you see him attack the basket from the top, in a face-to-the-basket style. He can go down low on the block if he has a smaller defender on him but most of his plays are currently energetic drives to the hoop in a special off two feet jumping style. He uses this technique in order to surround players and it helps him to turn his big physical presence into an advantage.

The main question in Harris’ game was and still is his shot. While his mechanics look already better, most of his jump shots in this game looked pretty short. From the outside, he seems to miss the necessary shooting touch. However, this is a work in progress and his nice accuracy from the FT line shows that he is on the right way. What can be added in his favor is that he saw that his shot was not falling in the first half and relied more on the drives in the 2nd period; drives that he often scored of with the additional foul.

On defense, Harris is very present in rebounding and has the necessary speed and athleticism to defend Small Forwards. In his particular match-up with the quick Christian Standhardinger, he effectively blocked the way to the basket and forced the Ehingen forward to take mid-distance jump shots. Harris has the timing to become an interesting shot blocker too. In the rebounding area, he is very present through his good positioning and physical force.

After a slow season start, Harris has now found his rhythm and plays nearly 40 minutes every game. It is well known that he wants to join the NCAA next season, but for the moment, nothing official has been published. He will in any case be one of the leaders of the very talented German U20 team for this summer’s European Championship.

Statistics after 10 games: 19.1ppg (52.5% 2FG 20.5% 3FG 77.4% FT), 8.2rpg

Simon Schmitz (1m88 – 1990 – Point Guard – BIS Speyer)

Simon Schmitz is one of the nice surprises for me this season. The 1990 born PG has nearly doubled all of his figures in his second full season on this level. Together with Elias Harris, he represents the a very nice talented combo for the team of Speyer. Schmitz is a regular member of the different German Youth National teams and it would be no surprise if he joins the U20 squad this summer despite being one year younger.

Being physically quite the opposite of Harris, Schmitz displays a good size but a very thin and fragile body. He gets banged around and has to take lots of off-balance shots in a league that features quite a number of very physical players. But he is not afraid and drives with nice speed and mostly of his right hand to the basket. He normally does not go until the rim but mostly finished of some kind of driving lay-up a bit off the basket in order to avoid the big guys.

He can also hit the jump shots out of the dribble without any problem and even nets them when getting fouled. He looks under control in what he does and is very good in avoiding turnovers. Even if he plays more than 33 minutes per game, he loses only 1.8 balls per game, quite a great figure for somebody touching the ball so often.

Simon Schmitz, who is a coach’s son, looks to me like one of the most promising PG prospects in Germany right now. His development since the last time I saw him is good, and his numbers are also improving big. Of course, he needs to work on his physical abilities in order to get stronger and resist better on the shocks in the game.

Statistics after 9 games: 15.8ppg (54.7% 2FG 41.2% 3FG 77.8% FT), 3.9rpg, 3.6apg

Christian Standhardinger (2m01 – 1989 – Forward – Erdgas Ehingen)

Christian Standhardinger is in his first season where he only plays for the ProB team of Ehingen after winning two times the NBBL championship with Urspring. His slashy style of the last two years was somehow limited so that he works hard in order to add some additional tools to his offensive game. The 2m01 tall forward is for the moment the second best scorer of the whole ProB and the game that I had the opportunity to see him was simply the best scoring game of his season so far with 41 units.

And Standhardinger started the game with a very nice 3 point shot coming of a multitude of screens he used over the baseline. It showed that he has worked a lot on his long distance shot as Speyer tried to control his drives and he answered with some very nice shots from behind the arc or jump shots out of the dribbling. His one dribble jump shot seems to connect now on a regular basis off both sides when driving.

Of course, his main weapon remains the right handed drive which he tries to use up until the rim and where he collects a lot of fouls. He shots a high percentage from the FT line (more than 90% in November – 40/44) which makes his play very effective. Additionally, he reads the defense well as he uses the help defense to dish out easy assists to his team mates. He came for example up with an 8 assist effort recently.

Defensively, he lacks of course the physicals in order to stop a guy like Elias Harris on the block. On the other hand, he is going for every rebound on both sides of the court and has good instincts to play the steal. In order to be considered as a great prospects, Standhardinger needs to improve his physical presence, especially get stronger in his legs. His future is surely on the SF position.

Having participated to the ALBA Berlin training camp in Slovenia this summer, it is highly likely that Standhardinger will join the NCAA this summer though. His scorer and winning mentality makes him a very promising player, even if his sometimes arrogant behavior is not liked by all the observers.

Statistics after 13 games: 22.0ppg (57.4% 2FG 32.6% 3FG 73.3% T), 8.5rpg, 2.5apg, 1.7spg

Nicolai Simon (1m91 – 1987 – Point Guard – Erdgas Ehingen)

Nicolai Simon was considered as the top Point Guard talent in Germany 2 years ago. But a very long-lasting back injury (he did not play for about 14 months) pushed him backwards in his development. At one moment, he was coming up with promising games for ALBA Berlin, he is now back in Ehingen where he played before signing with the German powerhouse.

Simon’s play is still characterized by a very good jump shot, control of the game and leader qualities on the floor. He lost a bit of his speed which is quite normal and he has now the time to regain his full physical form. He is not yet having a big impact in terms of scoring, but with his 21 years of age, he is one of the oldest players right now of Ehingen and has additional roles to fulfill. And with Standhardinger on the team, he does not need to score that much.

Nicolai Simon likes to to for the drive where he has no particular preference for one side. He can go for the score until the rim, and even nets in with the foul after a spin-move for example. His range is great and he can hit the three-pointer without any problem. However, his shot does not really fall for the moment but this will come back for sure.

This season is very important for him as he needs to play a full season without any physical problems in order to show himself that he is really back and gain in confidence. The coaching staff at Ehingen gives him this possibility and he plays big minutes. And he claims himself that right now he is 100% free of pain so that everything looks well for him to come back at his potential level.

Statistics after 12 games: 6.7ppg (40.4% 2FG 23.3& 3FG 81.3% FT) 2.5rpg, 3.2apg

Other players

The game between Speyer and Ehinger featured some other interesting players in Ehingen’s roster. I saw a particularly nice game of Cornelius Adler, a 1989 born forward who is doing really well in the last games. The 1m95 tall former Braunschweig player scored 15pts in just 17 minutes and showed a nice arsenal of offensive possibilities. He made a good score of a post-up move, finished a drive on his left hand and also netted one three pointer.

Maurice Stuckey had not his best day and he finished the game scoreless.

Thierno Agne was present in his typical defending rebounder style. Offensively, he was not very present as his shots did not fall.

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