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 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 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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• The German Prospect Lucca Staiger (Iowa State) got elected Big12 Rookie of the Week. Staiger averaged 16.5 points per game in a pair of losses to Drake and Iowa and was 11-of-16 from 3-point range last week.
• Another European prospect is doing pretty well in the NCAA currently. I speak of Latvian shooter Rihards Kuksiks who averaged 17.3ppg at 14/28 from 3pt area for Arizona State
• The names of the 12 teams that will be participating at the 30th Hospitalet Tournament have been officially announced.
• FIBA Europe announces the official venues of the European Youth Championships this week. The Division A venues are already known as the U20 will play in Rhodes, U18 in Metz (France) and the U16 tournament will be played in Kaunas.
• Nando de Colo and Abdoulaye M’Baye have been selected by the coaches for the LNB ProA All-Star Game
• Tim Ohlbrecht got voted as Starter for the German Bundesliga All-Star game by the fans
• The following players have been selected by FIBA Europe for the FIBA Europe Young Men Player of the year award: Danilo Gallinari, Donatas Motiejunas, Enes Kanter, Kosta Koufos, Mario Delas, Milan Macvan, Miroslav Raduljica, Nikos Pappas, Omri Casspi, Ricky Rubio, Tomas Satoransky and Vladimir Dasic. You can vote here. My votes went for Nikos Pappas (1st), Ricky Rubio (2nd) and Tomas Satoransky (3rd).

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France-Germany

Nando de Colo is probably one of the most interesting names out of this list when it comes to NBA Draft chances, at least according to the Mock experts. After a summer between rumors sending him to Dynamo and his first game with the French NT (28pts 9/9FG), de Colo has to come back to Cholet and drive his team to the same success than it had last year with winning the Semaine des As.

Johannes Lischka is the main man when it comes to 1987 talent in Germany. The strong forward from Giessen 46ers is an important rotation in the system of head coach Simon Cote on the SF position and he showed during the preseason some very impressive stretches on the court. Nowhere close to be an NBA talent but certainly an interesting player for the future.

Nicolai Simon is a special case and also a personal favorite. The 1987 born PG signed a few years ago at ALBA Berlin and had a very promising first season. But a severe injury stopped his progression totally and now after nearly a 1 year break, Simon is back… in the third division. After he made some interesting games with the German B National team during the Summer, ALBA let him go back to Ehingen to gain some playing time this season and then come back. And Dirk Bauermann has high hopes of bringing Simon to the Senior NT soon as he explained in an interview today.

Spain-Italy

Luigi Da Tome is currently not sure about where he is going to play next season. He is still under contract with Montepaschi Siena but it is not sure if he comes back to Mens Sana Basket this season after his loan. The thing is that Roma wants to buy him out of the remaining two years of his contract and MPS can not guarantee him the necessary playing time probably. So we have to see how his situation continues.

Henk Norel is stepping up big in the preseason for Joventut Badalona. It looks like the Dutch Power Forward can make an interesting impact in the Euroleague right from the start. His versatile play may give him some backup minutes behind the experienced Hernandez-Sonseca and Pops Mensah-Bonsu. On the other hand, his correct shot may give him also the opportunity to play on the wing together with Jan-Hendrik Jagla.

Jonas Jerebko comes of a very successful Eurobasket campaign with the Swedish National team in Division B where he was the best rebounder and 2nd best scorer of the team. Now he tries to use the gained confidence in order to improve with Angelico Biella in Italy this season.

Sergi Llull may be on the edge of his development into a Euroleague players this season. The athletic guard of Real Madrid should see some minutes after the departure of Kerem Tunceri as back-up of Pepe Sanchez and Raul Lopez when Real plays against bigger guards.

Pau Ribas will discover the Euroleague this season with Badalona and form an excitingly young back-court at Joventut together with Ricky Rubio. His driving and good pick and roll play will help him as well as his excellent long distance shot.

Greece-Turkey

Dimitris Verginis made a big step by signing with Panathinaikos this summer. Now the question is if he sees any minute with the Euroleague powerhouse because the roster is so packed on the guard positions that I personally don’t see a lot of room for him. However, a year practicing with some of the best PGs in Europe is not the worst thing to happen.

Oguz Savas is slowly but steadily improving his numbers in the Euroleague with his unathletic but very effective style. With Omer Asik out and Semih Erden apparently injured too, Savaz remains the only true center on Fenerbahce’s roster and should see extended minutes in the beginning of the season.

Other countries

Rudy Mbemba is now moving to Italy after a season in his home country Sweden where he put up big numbers. Now he tries to finally translate his talent to the next level and Rieti will offer him the opportunity. Still considered by some as an NBA prospect, Mbemba struggles as PG and is too short to play as SG. We will see if he improves in this area this season after playing a whole season as PG in Solna.

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Today, the French press announced the MVP trophies of the last season for the ProA and ProB league. And the least one could say is that these votings have been dominated by young prospects.

As I Love Basket reports, Nando de Colo has won the MVP trophy of the regular season for the French players in the ProA. The 2nd place in that vote went to Nicolas Batum. De Colo is the youngest player to win this trophy since Antoine Rigaudeau who won this trophy at the tender age of 20 years. And the last winner of this trophy who was 21 like Nando de Colo was Boris Diaw. If these are signs, one could say that Nando will have a bright future. But it also gives credit to the extraordinary season of the young French player from Cholet who won already the MVP of the All-Star Game, MVP of the Semaine des As and now MVP of the regular season. And additionally, he plays the Final of the Coupe de France tonight, so maybe another trophy will be added to his extraordinary run this year. You can watch here some highlights of one of the last games of Nando de Colo.

And if this was not enough, the MVP trophy of ProB went to Adrien Moerman. The young French PF who has been loaned to Nanterre from Roannne played a huge season in the second highest French league.

And finally, the trophy of the best young player of ProA went to Nicolas Batum, just ahead of Alexis Ajinca and Ludo Vaty.

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The list of the European early-entrants has been published a few days ago, so I took the time to go over it and give you my opinion, who will get drafted, who will take his name out again and other thoughts on the list.

Alexis Ajinca
Outlook: will stay in the Draft and will probably go in the 1st round

Nicolas Batum
Outlook: will stay in the Draft and can go for a lottery pick. According to the different mocks, his stock was dropping however the last weeks.

Rodrigue Beaubois
Outlook: is in the pool for the 2nd time after his surprising declaration last year which gave him a huge buzz. This season, Beaubois is doing pretty well and could stay in if he gets a promise

Mikheil Berishvili
Outlook:???

Omri Casspi
Outlook: boosted his stock during the season with some very interesting performances. But will take his name out probably and go for another season playing in Europe

Victor Claver
Outlook: testing the waters in my opinion and we will see his name dropping out before the deadline

Nando de Colo
Outlook: probably testing the waters to see how high he can go. Played an outstanding season so his stock may be at its highest point right now.

Danilo Gallinari
Outlook: lottery pick

Serge Ibaka
Outlook: has to go for a good camp in Treviso in order to keep the buzz on him alive.

Sergey Ilin
Outlook: unknown but 7″6 tall

Jonas Jerebko
Outlook: a little surprise to see his name here. Jerebko will only test the waters and show his skills at the Reebok Treviso Camp and drop out

Mladen Jeremic
Outlook: another surprising name in this list. The same that coutns for Jerebko will also count for Jeremic: name advertising, Treviso, drop out

Maxym Korniyenko
Outlook: ???

Luc Louves
Outlook: did not see any minutes in France but could go for a Beaubois-like buzz 2008 edition

Rudy Mbemba
Outlook: has been in the Draft process for ages and played a great season in Sweden. But is that enough to stay in the candidate list?

Henk Norel
Outlook: Steady progess over the last years for the Dutch big man. He can use Treviso to show his potential and maybe some team falls in love with him like Joel Freeland

Maxim Sheleketo
Outlook: I am very surprised to see him here but this maybe the Latvian VEF Riga attack to the NBA.

Giorgi Shermadini
Outlook: has a promise for the 1st round according to his agent so he will stay in the Draft

Ante Tomic
Outlook: is this year the year of Ante Tomic? Maybe a 2nd round spot is the ideal for him so that he can develop 2 more years in a top European team.

Maksym Vilkhovetskyi
Outlook: name dropping and testing the waters. He will hit some threes in Treviso and take his name out.

Ronalds Zakis
Outlook: cf. Sheleketo

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This Friday, three very interesting French prospects have been on the court together in Pau in the league game between Pau-Orthez and Cholet. I speak of course of Ludo Vaty, Nando de Colo and Rodrigue Beaubois. Here is a short recap of the games of the three players.

Ludo Vaty (2m06 – PF – 1988 – Pau Orthez)

The French power forward, who is a key member of the different French youth teams the last years is really having a very interesting season this year. After two poor games, Vaty came up with a nice scoring effort against Chalon where he made 25pts and he also did a nice job against Cholet. Nearly all of his scores came from a very good looking turn around jump shot after having received the ball with his back to the basket. He turns and has a very high release so that he is nearly unblockable on that move. His presence in the rebound is correct, without being enormous. He could eventually use even better his nice athletic tools but he relies a lot on his very soft touch around the key. Physically, he also looks like he has bulked up a bit in his upper body. Defensively, he can defend in the low post, even against bigger guys, an effect of his improved body structure. Vaty is currently not getting as much hype as for example Alexis Ajinça because his upside may look more limited. However, he looks like a much more complete player on the offensive end for the moment.

Nando de Colo (1m92 – SG – 1987 – Cholet)

Two times MVP Nando de Colo is really playing a fantastic scoring season this year. Playing mostly on the SG position because of his excellent scoring talent, I could imagine him also playing the PG spot in the upcoming years as he lacks a bit of size for the SG on the highest level. So let’s focus now essentially on his SG talent. De Colo is first of all an excellent scorer, mostly of three point shots. Without any problem, he can shot from nearly everywhere on the court when he has just a minimum of space. His shot release is not particularly high so that he risks his shots getting blocked. However, his basketball intelligence looks very well developed so that he rarely comes into difficult situations. When getting defended aggressively, de Colo can drive to the basket with excellent direction changes and fantastic ball handling. He went for a fantastic score after an around the back up and under move finished with the left hand; very nice. Defensively, de Colo is not a stopper, he looks like saving his forces for the offensive end which is legitimate with his scoring skills. Why I consider him however as a possible PG in the future? Well, he has such a good court vision and precise passing, that he can play this spot in the future with out problems. But in a role as a scoring PG, not the pass-first guy.

Rodrigue Beaubois (1m82 – PG – 1988 – Cholet)

The highly athletic PG that got his first real hype when he declared for the NBA Draft last year is really coming back from his injury in the middle of the season. Beaubois has taken over the starting job for Cholet and he is doing a pretty correct job right now. His scoring efforts come mostly from a already very precise three-point shot which he takes with a still to be polished move. Because of his excellent athleticism, he can go for the drive and score against the big guys, but he is not using this too much for the moment. Beaubois, who should be a key member of the French U20 National team this summer after he has preferred to go for the NBA Draft camps last year is most likely forming the most attractive back court of the French league next season together with de Colo. Coach Kunter is having a real gem here who looks extremely promising right now.

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