With the NBA Draft 2010 being held this week, it is about time to check the current situation of the automatically eligible Europeans.

Miroslav Raduljica would probably be a mid to end-of-first round option if the Serbian Center would not have declared and shown that he has no real interest to play in the NBA. Raduljica did not attend the Adidas Eurocamp and cancelled a workout specifically setup for him. He did not work out either for any NBA Team so far and will probably move to a top-level Euroleague team next season. However, there are certainly NBA Franchises that will take a closer look at him when he is still available during the Draft ceremony because the number of skilled and physical seven-footers is always limited. Raduljica averaged 13.7ppg at 57.6% in the Adriatic League where he added 6.4rpg in 26 minutes. The absence of NBA caliber athletic abilities and poor shot blocking presence combined with his “no-NBA-attitude” are probably the reasons why in the end, he may not get drafted at all.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #45 by Minnesota, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Alexey Shved has been a mystery on the Senior level for a lot of years as his talent level was uncontested but as he has been stashed on the CSKA Moscow bench over the last seasons, it was difficult to see what his real potential is especially as he lost several years of experience but not playing. But his move to Dynamo Moscow in December 2009 helped him to immediately get minutes on the highest level (Russian League and Eurocup) and show that he can play basketball against professionals. Shved should be able to play the PG spot in the NBA with his excellent size (1m96) and fundamentals and he has also the athletic abilities to compete. He finished his season in Russia with 10.3ppg at 55.7% 2FG together with 2.7rpg, 3.7apg and 0.8spg in 22 minutes on the court. He is probably the European played with the most potential upside of the 1988 born automatically eligible players.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #49 by San Antonio, NBADraft.net: #58 by Los Angeles Lakers

Nemanja Bjelica is probably one of the most interesting players in this draft as the 2m09 tall Serbian forward is really a versatile player that probably impressed several teams during his workouts with his skills. He has been reported to not be the most regular player in terms of production which is underlined by his stats of the past season. However, the Crvena Zvezda player is a talent on its own and can be used in different positions on the court and could be a match-up creator with his great size when used on SF for example. Together with Shved, he is the only 88 born player currently considered by the two main Mock Draft websites, both having him in the second round where he probably will end up. The question remains if he would try to gain a roster spot this summer or stay in Europe. His presence in the United States for workouts shows however that the NBA is in his mind and a goal for him.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #50 by Dallas, NBADraft.net: #40 by Indiana

Vladimir Dasic is another player that may have 1st round potential but the Montenegrin has shown serious mental problems over the last years that generate a lot of doubts about his professional career. After having signed a 3 year deal with Real Madrid last summer, Dasic could never fulfill the hopes that Madrid had in him and he moved away to Gran Canaria during to get ejected as well. He played only the first day of the Adidas Eurocamp because he was apparently injured and he did not appear in any NBA workouts over the last days. From the talent level alone, Dasic can be described as a physically strong wing who can score both from inside and outside. But the current situation implicates that the main topic for Dasic is to find a team whatsoever for next season.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Ludovic Vaty has done a multitude of workouts for NBA Teams in preparation for the NBA Draft and he was also present at the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. The French big guy did not impress though with any particular skills and remained in his rebounder role. He can score close to the basket but has no really go-to-move when playing in the low post. Vaty will probably remain undrafted as neither the talent level nor the athletic abilities are good enough to have a role in the NBA.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Paulao Prestes played his first full ACB season in 2009-2010 with CB Murcia and is a player that has not really drawn a lot of interest by NBA teams or international media. Draftexpress had a long article on him a few weeks ago and we have never covered him so far which may be also due to his Brazilian nationality. His ankle injury from end of April put him out of the Adidas Eurocamp as well as unable to do some workouts with NBA teams previous to the Draft. If there are NBA franchises that have done their homework, they have scouted him in the ACB over the season and are aware of his potential. Draftexpress sees him in the second round.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #44 by  Portland, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Stefan Markovic is a Serbian PG that is rumored to have signed already a two-years deal with Benetton Treviso this spring and not really considering the NBA as an option. He has not participated to the Adidas Eurocamp nor to any NBA workouts so far but several teams have certainly seen him play with Hemofarm this season and may consider him. However, Markovic is not really the prototype of the NBA Pointguard and it would be a major surprise if he gets selected on the 24th June.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Boban Marjanovic is probably an option that some NBA teams are thinking about as the 2m22 tall Serbian Center has played a fairly correct season with Hemofarm. However, Marjanovic’s name has not been mentioned in any NBA Workouts so far. Marjanovic brings fantastic size with him and is quite a nice basketball player, even if he is a bit stiff and slow, even for his size. But there may be some teams that take some bet on him and draft the Serbian giant. Remember Slavko Vranes who has been drafted also? This player is certainly a bigger talent on the offensive end.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Marko Keselj is yet another Serbian player that is automatically eligible in this year’s draft. Considered as a top-talent a few years ago, Keselj had made some choices in his early career that probably stopped his development when he saw no serious minutes with Girona. After a year in Germany, Keselj plays now an important role for Crvena Zvezda in Serbia where he averaged 9.1ppg in the Eurocup. The 2m09 tall wing was present in the United States for some workouts but we did not hear anything particular out of it and which teams may be interested in him. Keselj himself would like to play for the Los Angeles Lakers according to the presentation on his agent’s website.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Artem Zabelin played at the Reebok Eurocamp in 2009 and is currently in the United States to do some workouts with NBA Teams. The 2m15 tall Russian has however never really seen important minutes on the Senior level with CSKA Moscow so that it is hard to judge his real value. From a strict talent level, he has everything you need as the 7 footer is mobile, can shoot the ball, run the floor but remains however a really thin player who prefers to play on the wing than battling in the post. Maybe some franchise likes his potential and will spend a second round pick on him.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Tim Ohlbrecht has preferred to do his Draft preparations exclusively in the United States and did not participate to the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. We did not hear anything particular on how this choice has impacted his Draft potential. Ohlbrecht comes of a good season after a disaster in the last year he was in Bamberg. He can have a role a shooting and shot-blocking big man on NBA level as he has the necessary athletic abilities to compete. However, Ohlbrecht has not really developed a serious back to the basket game yet but his progress curve has again turned upwards over the last months.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

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With the year 2009 coming to an end, it is time to look back at what happened during the last months. The EuroCup season is quite shorter than the Euroleague but the teams playing here are stuffed with interesting talent. So it is time to take a quick look at those players that are emerging in the 2nd best European competition.

Antoine Diot is currently playing his best season of his career. The 1989 born French guard of Le Mans is doing a great job leading his team and could also improve his statistics consequently. I had a long report on him this summer which I can only recommend to read as it describes the progress he has made, especially in the reading of pick and roll situations and with his long distance shot.

Stats: 7.8ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.0apg

Stefan Markovic is another PG that has made a big step this summer playing with the National Team and being now the leader of a Eurocup team. However, Markovic still struggles with his long distance shot these days as he is turning just around 18% from behind the arc. His all-around presence through strong rebounding and good defense overcome his decreasing scoring average over the last two years.

Stats: 7.0ppg, 4.3rpg, 5.5apg

Milan Macvan had one big game in this season’s Eurocup against Le Mans where he finished with 14pts and 6rebs. The 1989 born forward is imposing himself as a key player for Hemofarm, even he could not yet reach the level he played on last season.

Stats: 8.0ppg, 3.0rpg

Boban Marjanovic is still the 2m22 giant in the middle who has a major impact on both sides of the court. He is automatically eligible for the NBA Draft in 2010 so we could see him being a interesting pick down the road for several teams looking for a real big guy. Having a pretty nice shooting touch and a huge frame, Marjanovic has all the tools but currently is not yet making the next step in his development

Stats: 7.0ppg, 4.3rpg, 1.3bpg

Mindaugas Kuzminskas is one of the major surprises of the beginning of the Eurocup season. Kuzminskas who signed a long term deal with Zalgiris this summer but was loaned back to Siauliai is doing a great job as starter for the Lithuanian team. Being present both as a scorer and rebounder, Kuzminskas is doing an all-around job in his second Eurocup season. The 2m05 tall and 1989 born player is currently hitting his three point shots with great accuracy. His shooting mechanics look excellent with a quick release. He understand the game pretty well and he can use his size to post up smaller defenders when playing SF. He is also very effective when driving to the basket as he attracts the help defense and knows how to dish the ball to his open team mates. Fundamentally, he is at a very high level and athletically, he is above average for European standards. On the downside, he looks to be kind of a soft player when it comes to contact, especially in the lower body. He loses his balance in the air easily when going for the layup against defense and struggles to convert his attempts then. However, he is one of the most promising players in the Eurocup this season and I won’t be surprised to see him playing Euroleague with Zalgiris in 2010.

Stats: 12.5ppg (63.6% 7/11 3FG), 3.5rpg

Deividas Gailius is the 2nd player of BC Siauliai in this report and the electric combo guard born in 1988 is doing a great job in his first season with the team. Gailius is a highly energetic guard that displays a relentless effort on the court. He is more of a scorer, that’s why Siauliai uses him a lot on the SG position, even if he is starting most of the times at PG. The 2m00 tall guard pushes the ball very hard on the break and tries to go for the score against anybody. He looks like being always at full effort, it is not sure if he can really slow the speed down. In general, he has all the tools to become a very good player, he can shoot the ball in catch-and-shoot situations or out of the dribble. He is not afraid to drive hard and tries to dunk the ball when possible.

Stats: 10.3ppg, 4.5rpg

David Jelinek saw some playing time in the beginning of this EuroCup campaign and he used the limited minutes to show his scoring talent. The Czech born forward from 1990 will probably have more impact in the coming years as the 2m03 tall player has the talent to become an interesting rotation on ACB and EuroCup level.

Stats: 5.5ppg, 2.5rpg

Pere Tomas is improving his numbers throughout the competition as the 2m01 tall forward gained the starting lineup position for the last two games. The versatile 1989 born player is showing his all-around talent combined with his athletic abilities make him a prospect that should fulfill all the promises during the next years.

Stats: 5.3ppg, 2.8rpg, 1.3apg

Tim Ohlbrecht has been featured in a very recent report here on the website so I suggest you to read that piece.

Dimitry Khvostov seems to be there for years, he was present with the Dynamo Moscow team back in 2006/2007 already with similar stats to today. For me it is difficult to say anything else on him as I did not see him play in EuroCup action for several years.

Stats: 4.0ppg, 2.5apg 2.3topg

Alexey Shved has made the move that finally will give him the playing time to showcase his talent. Coming to Dynamo Moscow during the season, he exploded immediately in the EuroCup behind 16pts and 8rebs. In the year of his automatic eligibility for the NBA Draft, it is important for him to put some numbers on the table that are in line with his incredible talent. Hopefully, we will have more on him later in the season.

Stats: 10.5ppg, 7.0rpg

Marko Keselj is doing a good job this year with Crvena Zvezda but still does not live up to the major hype that was built up around him several years ago. Being born in 1988, the long forward who excels from behind the three point line, is probably not on the board of a lot of NBA teams at the moment. The financial situation of his team though brought him in a situation where is looking for a different club as he has not received his salary since March.

Stats: 9.7ppg (5/11 3FG)

Elmedin Kikanovic has not been discussed that much recently but the Bosnian 2m10 Center is once again producing excellent numbers with Crvena Zvezda. Living mostly from his excellent jump shot, the 1988 born player is not a massive physical force which does not make him that interesting for NBA teams. However, Kikanovic will certainly be a major target for Euroleague teams in the future.

Stats: 14.3ppg, 3.3rpg

Nemanja Bjelica is more interesting in terms of NBA potential as the 2m09 tall forward is showing excellent athletic abilities and large versatility in his game. Bjelica is also an excellent defensive player and one of the best rebounders on the forward position. Bjelica is however struggling with his shot at the moment as he connects only 34% of his attempts.

Stats: 4.5ppg, 6.8rpg

Donatas Motiejunas raised some eyebrows this summer when he announced that he will sign with Benetton Treviso. But the move seems pretty clever right now as the Lithuanian top talent is having a good role in the rotation of the Italian team and plays around 20 minutes every game. After the Euroleague qualifiers, I had no opportunity to see him play in the Eurocup thus far, so I hope to get a bit more on him later on in the season.

Stats: 7.5ppg, 2.3rpg

Alessandro Gentile is probably the biggest surprise of the whole Eurocup as the 17 year old player has cracked the rotation of Benetton and is putting on a scoring show during the minutes he is on the court. He scored 16pts in just 21 minutes against Dynamo Moscow and did better than the highly regarded Shved on the same game. Gentile plays with the Benetton Junior Squad at the Stella Azzurra tournament these days, so I will get a more complete report on him in the next days when I am back from Rome.

Stats: 7.3ppg, 4.3rpg

Kevin Seraphin has been covered recently in a longer report which you can find here.

Stats: 7.0ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.3bpg

Carl Ona Embo is getting some back-up minutes at the PG in Biella. He is currently doing a correct job as his three point shot is falling in the Eurocup competition. Still, Ona Embo is not a real PG but more of a scoring combo guard combined with PG size which makes it quite difficult for him to find the right position for the future.

Stats: 4.3ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.5apg

Pietro Aradori is simply among the best players of the competition. I had a long report on him a few weeks ago which you can read here.

Stats: 16.7ppg (65% 2FG), 5.0rpg, 2.3apg

Karsten Tadda is probably the best example to see that hard work pays off. The defensive specialist has worked himself into the heavy rotation of Brose Baskets Bamberg during last season and has progressed ever since. Being used mainly as a defensive stopper, Tadda is able to hit the three pointer with ease when being open as shows his current percentages in the Eurocup where he is at an incredible 72.7% from behind the arc. Tadda is starting now for his team at SG and may also see minutes on the Point Guard in the next years. The 1m90 tall and 1988 born guard may be limited in terms of pure basketball talent but he is the perfect role player and shows this already now on the Eurocup level.

Stats: 8.5ppg (72.7% 3FG)

Tibor Pleiss has been covered this week in a long report.

Stats: 10.5ppg 6.3rpg 1.3bpg

Janis Strelnieks (Stats: 12.3ppg 4.0apg), Lauris Blaus (Stats: 2.5ppg 1.8rpg) and Dairis Bertans (Stats: 4.0ppg 2.0rpg 1.3apg) have been covered during the Euroleague qualifiers and confirm their talent level in the current Eurocup competition.

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After having talked about the current rise of Tibor Pleiss, today’s article will focus on Tim Ohlbrecht, the 1988 born German player who is already on the radar of many scouts for several years. In the year of his automatic NBA Draft eligibility, Ohlbrecht is playing the best season of his career.

After two season in Bamberg, Tim Ohlbrecht signed this summer with Telekom Baskets Bonn and coach Michael Koch who is known for being a fan of the 2m10 tall player. Ohlbrecht is starting on the PF position for Bonn, a new situation for him as he was used mainly as back-up Center in Bamberg during the two last seasons. And this choice seems to be the right one as the Wuppertal native tripled his point average from 3.1ppg to 10.6ppg this season. He also increased his shooting percentage, especially from behind the arc. This season, he is a 46% shooter (17/37 in 13 games) so far. Another important statistical point is that Ohlbrecht is moving away from his foul-proneness as he is currently being called 2.9 times per game in more than 21 minutes on the court, an average he had as nearly as high last season while playing only 12 minutes.

When you analyze his game in more details, you don’t see that many differences to what Ohlbrecht has done before. He is present around the three point line for the open catch-and-shot three point occasions. His shooting mechanics have not changed either, he has still a bit of a “shoulder-shot”, but he nails his jump shots with great accuracy. The confidence boost he got by signing in Bonn is literally helping him to hit more and more shots and he currently takes 40% of his shots from behind the arc.

In the low post, Ohlbrecht still does not show a large variety of back to the basket moves. He mainly focuses on a jump hook which he can take immediately or after a dribbling. He prefers to conclude on the passes he gets from his team mates when they drive and dish the ball. He shows excellent hands in those situations and can finish easily with two handed dunks, he is not afraid to do so and prefers to finish strong than with a lay-up. Ohlbrecht has improved in the offensive rebound where he reads the trajectories of the ball very well and with his speed, he can surprise the defense and go for tip-ins or put-backs.

Defensively, his new role as PF forces him to become a quicker defender as he mainly has to guard smaller and faster players as German teams often use small and athletic power forwards. His lateral speed is not excellent, but he can hold his own to defend drives of his opponents. He will however be beat on the dribble several times but his block shot timing can help to recover and reject the lay-up attempts of the offensive player. As he is not jumping anymore on every fake, he limits the personal fouls and can use them more effectively and be a more dangerous presence in the paint for rejecting shots. Due to his size, he is doing a good job on more shooting orientated forwards as they have trouble to go for their jump shot directly on him. His explosive jump helps him to be present with a hand in the shooter’s face and give them a more difficult shot.

Ohlbrecht does not show a lot of emotions on the court, he looks pretty calm. He has improved his body language this season however as you see that he is pretty confident in what he is doing. This has changed to last year, where he looked very disappointed during the long stretches on the bench while this season, Ohlbrecht is supporting his team mates intensively from the bench. He knows that this season, he is under special observation by NBA scouts as he is automatically eligible for the 2010 NBA Draft. After his stock fell deep over the last 2 seasons, he is now moving up in the different boards. A 2nd round pick is certainly not unrealistic (he had a guarantee in the 2nd round already in 2009), but Ohlbrecht wants a guaranteed contract which means being drafted in the 1st round.

He is very confident about his future as he told europeanprospects.com.

The NBA is the goal of every basketball player because it is the best league in the world. I practiced with Dirk (Nowitzki) and Chris (Kaman) during the summer, played during the Olympic Games against the Best and I think I can play on that level if a team gives me a realistic chance. It depends a lot on the situation of the team that drafts someone. Look at the example of Omri (Casspi) in Sacramento, he gets a chance to play and you see what he does. Look however also at what happened to Darko Milicic. We will see how the situation will be for me. I don’t feel any pressure, I had the chance to become a professional in something I love to do. I can only influence what I am doing on the court, but not what people may see when scouting me.

Ohlbrecht also explained his view on what happened in Bamberg and impacted his decision to leave the team this summer.

In Bamberg, Coach Fleming had a problem with me from the beginning. He promised me things that he did not fulfill later on and tried to put the blame on me for his errors. I do not accuse him for this, he had to fight hard for his job in Bamberg, so someone had to be the loser and that was me. Humanly, I expected more from him. I practiced hard during the week, he supported me, told me that I am doing well during practices and will see major minutes on the weekend. But then, when you don’t play a lot once again, you start to doubt and the coach becomes non-credible in your eyes.

Currently, Ohlbrecht is working very hard in preparation for the NBA Draft.

I work every day on myself and on my game. Coach Koch and Coach Günschel are supporting me all the time. The conditions in Bonn are fantastic with the newly built practice facilities. I try to share my experience with younger players like Jonas Wohlfahrt-Bottermann too. Last summer, I worked individually with personal coaches which helped me a lot in my development.

Ohlbrecht also wanted to mention his career choices and explained the following.

My personal goal is to win every game. Several people say that I am too social, but I don’t care. I am only 21 years old and I have experienced already so much (Olympic Games, German Championship with important minutes, different titles in the youth categories, best rebounder at the U18 European Championship in 2006, starting five at the Nike Hoop Summit, 2 times Bundesliga All-Star,…) and I play currently for the Bundesliga leader. I mean that this is already a pretty nice career. I have so far only played for big teams where other players were the stars. I could have signed for a smaller team, play a lot of minutes and take a lot of shots. But I prefer to win games and be a part of a team. If this is too social, It is okay for me, I can live with that.

Tim Ohlbrecht averages 10.6ppg (60.0% 2FG, 46.0% 3FG, 75.0% FTs), 4.2rpg and 1.2bpg in the Beko Basketball Bundesliga after 13 games. In the Eurocup, Ohlbrecht averages 7.0ppg (42.9% 2FG, 22.2% 3FG, 80% FTs), 5.8rpg and 0.5bpg in 26mpg after 4 games.

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The Eurobasket 2009 is history now and I take a look at the players that can be considered as the most interesting prospects of the tournament. The players featured in the article are those that are still potentially NBA Draft candidates, so all the players born in 1988 or earlier but not drafted yet.

Automatically eligible in 2010

Tim Ohlbrecht (2m10 – Center – 1988 – Germany – Telekom Baskets Bonn)

The German PF/C Tim Ohlbrecht is currently in a situation where he gets more playing time on Eurobasket level than with his former club team of Brose Baskets Bamberg. This situation should change next season as his new coach (former EL winner Mike Koch) and team (Telekom Baskets Bonn) foresees him as a Starter on the PF position for a EuroCup team.

Ohlbrecht needs absolutely to develop either a back to the basket game to play C or to improve his ball handling in order to be able to attack his defender from outside with the drive, something he should be able to go for with his speed. Basically, he scores right now out of dishes from his team mates, which he does pretty well and what he will improve next season with a pass-first PG (Jarred Jordan) and on offensive put backs. His athletic abilities help him a lot in this domain. Defensively, he needs to get better in terms of avoiding foul trouble. As he is an above average shot blocker, he tries sometime to go too much for the rejection and gets called a lot on cheap fouls in these situations. Right now, it was not a big problem as he did not play major minutes (or did he not play major minutes because of foul trouble) but for the next season, which will be determining for him as he is automatically eligible for the NBA Draft (NBAdraft.net foresees him right now at the end of the 2nd round), he needs to work on this point in order to go for more than being just a rotation guy.

Stats: 5.0ppg (9/17 2FG 9/13FT) 2.2rpg 0.4bpg

Nemanja Bjelica (2m09 – Forward – 1988 – Serbia – Crvena Zvezda Belgrade)

Nemanja Bjelica is one of the most interesting prospects who played at the Eurobasket 2009. Being 2m09 tall, Bjelica can play the SF position and even if he never found his shooting rhythm during the tournament, he showed that he has all the tools to become a great player in the next years. Athletically, Bjelica has quite nice leaping ability, has good speed with the ball and also laterally on defense and he displays a nice wingspan. Everything is there to become a high class defender on the wing, the role that he saw the most minutes in with Serbia during the Eurobasket.

Due to his athletic skills, he is an above average shot blocker for his SF position and he is not afraid to go reject the big guys from the help side. He is highly active in the defensive rebound (he was the best Serbian rebounder of the tournament despite playing only 17 minutes per game and grabbing only 2 in the last two games combined). Offensively, it was not the best days for Bjelica as his shot was not falling at all, but he never lost his confidence and took the open looks that he got. One play that I remember particularly well was an offensive situation where Bjelica missed a dunk on the drive, sprinted back on defense and on the next offensive situation immediately got the ball back in the corner to hit the big three pointer from there.

Bjelica is certainly a player that some NBA team will take a closer look at as he is one of these rare combinations of height, athleticism, shooting and overall basketball skills with a defensive presence. With Crvena Zvezda in Serbia, he will certainly get a lot of minutes this season in the Adriatic League as well as in the EuroCup and he should be able to get a look at in the 2nd round in 2010.

Stats: 2.6ppg (4/13 2FG 3/12 3FG) 5.1rpg 1.0spg 0.4bpg

Stefan Markovic (1m91 – Guard – 1988 – Serbia – Hemofarm Vrsac)

The Serbian PG had a tough role behind the scoring leader Milos Teodosic. But Markovic earned his minutes through big time defense and unlimited fighting spirit. He was very active on the court, finishing the tournament with a nice stat line except for his shooting percentages. I don’t know what happened to his long distance shot, even if he has never been a tremendous three point shooter, but in Poland, he was simply ice-cold. So with the time, he started to recognize that and you could see him follow his own misses pretty well to get offensive boards. With his club team, he will go back into a more offensively minded role as scoring PG and we will see how he develops over the upcoming season.

Stats: 1.8ppg (4/10 2FG 0/16 3FG) 3.0rpg 1.8apg 0.7spg

Miroslav Raduljica (2m13 – Center – 1988 – Serbia – FMP Zeleznik)

Miroslav Raduljica had only a limited role with the Serbian team despite being a Starter at times. With Nenad Krstic as clear inside leader and the improvements of Kosta Perovic during the tournament, the minutes for the young big remained limited and he could not show that much. With the two aforementioned and the unlimited number of new quality bigs coming out, Raduljica will be in a constant battle in order to secure his spot in the National Team for the upcoming years.

Stats: 3.3ppg (8/14 2FG) 0.9rpg

Baris Hersek (2m07 – Forward – 1988 – Turkey – Banvit)

The Turkish Power Forward got some minutes during this tournament when there was either no danger of losing the game (against Bulgaria) or after the injury of Ersan Ilyasova during the 5-8th place games. Hersek is a very active guy on the court with a lot of energy. When he gets the ball, he goes mostly in a head-down style of play where he tries to score with his physical presence. After a full season in the Turkish first league, he needs to confirm with Banvit in order to show if he is ready for the next step. Right now, he does not look like being a candidate, even for the 2nd round of the upcoming NBA Draft.

Stats: 2.7ppg 2.7rpg 0.8spg

Future potential NBA Draft picks

Robin Benzing (2m08 – Forward – 1989 – Germany – ratiopharm Ulm)

Coming out of the second division in Germany (ProA with TV Langen) to play the Eurobasket is not the easiest thing. But Robin Benzing showed that he is already now a serious rotation player on the European level and probably one of the most interesting SF prospects. Playing against Euroleague and NBA level players have certainly helped the young kid to develop and he should be able to play a major role in the Bundesliga next season.

Benzing is a 2m08 tall forward with a nice out side shot and an interesting drive. His three point shot is falling at a correct 35% right now (he scored 2 out 6 in Poland with a game winning three against Russia and went for 52/166 over the full last season) and he shots most of it in catch-and-shot fashion. The release is not the quickest one but this may be the result of his height. His drives look very energetic, especially of the left hand where he manages despite being not that physical to reach the rim most of the times and where he can finish it with both hands under pressure. His footwork on the drives gives him the possibility to go for very nice spin moves to pass his defenders as he did for example very nicely against Antonis Fotsis of Greece. Additionally, his drives give him a lot of foul calls and he connects it very well from the free throw line.

Because of his size, he can offer his team lots of mismatch situations as he is able to post up smaller guys and to finish with some basic back to the basket moves. Defensively, Benzing struggles of course against smaller and faster wings, but he did for example a nice job to guard Zoran Planinic against Croatia during the few moments he defended against the long guard. Benzing, who has signed a deal until 2011 with the German Bundesliga Team ratiopharm Ulm, needs now to confirm his status on a regular basis (he went for ups and downs in Poland: 0pts against France, game winner against Russia, 2pts against Latvia, 16pts against Greece). His first season on the highest German level will show where he might go in the next years.

Stats: 5.5ppg (8/15 2FG 2/6 3FG 11/12FT) 1.6rpg

Lucca Staiger (1m94 – Guard – 1988 – Germany – Iowa State)

The Iowa State player came up here in this Eurobasket with his first games on the European senior level and he showed quite some interesting moments on the court. After a more or less slow start, Staiger improved his game in the 2nd round of the tournament and having a great shooting night against FYROM where he made 14pts at 4/6 3 point shots, the two misses coming in the final minutes where he took difficult shots to come back in the game.

Staiger excels when coming of the screen for the catch and shoot three point shot. He does not look particularly quick when running but his shooting mechanics allow him to fire the ball up immediately after catching it, even out of a direction change or spin. But he can also hit the ball out of the dribble as he showed once or twice, especially with a nice fake, dribble step back three against Croatia. He nailed some clutch free throws in the final seconds against Russia in order to secure the only German win in the tournament. With his massive physical presence and good athletic abilities, Staiger is also able to become a high level defender in the next years. After yet another season with Iowa State, Staiger should be ready to take over the Starting SG job in the German National Team.

Stats: 5.0ppg (2/2 2FG 8/14 3FG) 1.2rpg

Elias Harris (2m01 – Forward – 1989 – Germany – Gonzaga)

Elias Harris was a major factor in the preparation games for the Eurobasket as well as during the 1st round. But since the game against Greece, his playing time was reduced (his PT went up steadily through the first 4 games from 11 to 23 minutes but then fall to 6 and then 4 minutes in the last two games). This was probably the result of the emergence of Lucca Staiger late in the Eurobasket as Coach Bauermann used Harris mainly as back-up on the SG position, the same spot that occupied Staiger.

The usage as SG backup was one of the big surprises that Bauermann created with this young German team as Harris was so far considered as a PF who may play SF one day if he improves his shot. The problem was that with his size (2m01), he is a bit short to guard European PF so that the German coaches decided to play him as defensive stopper against the opposing guards, something he did very well through his excellent physical and athletic abilities. Offensively though, he was not a real option with the team this year, maybe because he had to play a position that was unusual for him. When joining Gonzaga this fall, it will be interesting to see how the College coaches will use him and what will be the future position of Harris.

Stats: 2.2ppg 2.3rpg

Tibor Pleiss (2m15 – Center – 1989 – Germany – Brose Baskets Bamberg)

This Eurobasket was more of a learning process than a playing time outburst for the tall German C prospect. With limited minutes, Pleiss could not show his nice shooting touch and suffered from his physical deficits. With Brose Baskets, he will need to get stronger physically as he will arrive there as a successor of Tim Ohlbrecht in a role as back-up Center and will also face the more physical but younger Philipp Neumann to grab the minutes behind the Starter Elton Brown.

Stats: 1.3ppg 1.0rpg

Milan Macvan (2m03 – Forward – 1989 – Serbia – Hemofarm Vrsac)

After a strong start into the tournament, the impact of the youngest Serbian player of the tournament decreased in order to be a minor role player at the end. Macvan still displays a limited athletic ability combined with  nice basketball IQ, good positioning and an improving shooting. His three point percentages are improving over the years but his limited speed hurt him when attacking the basket. He can however overcome this weakness with his understanding of the game.

Stats: 2.8ppg (3/12 2FG 4/10 3FG) 1.9rpg 0.9apg

Antoine Diot (1m90 – Guard – 1989 – France – Le Mans)

The French Guard finished a dream-like summer on a very strong note. After a Silver Medal with the French U20 team, Diot got a call-up to play with the French senior team this summer, earned his rotation spot during the Additional Qualification Round and became a member of the 12-men roster for the Eurobasket 2009 where he finished strong on two great games with either 13 and 18pts. Antoine Diot is now a full member of the French Senior National Team.

Diot is currently playing a role as combo-guard with a tendency for being the backup of Tony Parker as the PG of the French National Team. His great improvements in terms of long-distance shooting helped him to be an asset that the French team is looking for, a reliable exterior threat. It was him who initiated the turn-around in the game for the fifth place by netting 4 FTs in a row after having opened the comeback run with a three point shot. His long-distance shots are especially effective when he can take them from the corner in catch-and-shoot fashion after receiving the pass out of drives from his team mates.

When positioned to play the PG, he likes the Pick-and-Roll situations where he has improved over the last season. He can drive to the basket and can also finish close to the rim as he is a correct athlete and pretty strong physically. On the defensive end, he can hold his own against big European guards and be very aggressive to harass the opposing PG bringing up the ball.

Stats: 5.1ppg (5/13 2FG 9/21 3FG) 1.9rpg 1.0apg

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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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• 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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Cologne has changed its team and its ambitions according to their now limited financial possibilities. So there is the opportunity for some youngsters to get considerable minutes. And one of the most promising players in their roster is the 1989 born 2m15 tall Tibor Pleiss. He started the game against Frankfurt Skyliners but he looked a bit nervous in the beginning and had some problems to defend the shorter but massive Frankfurt inside guys. But his very long arms changed some shooting directions and made it hard for the players that wanted to drive. Of course, the foul calls were falling on him as he had no bonus with the referees anywhere today. Two offensive foul calls were absolutely incredible and prevented him from more minutes and scoring. His finally only field goal came on a nice post up where he captured the high pass with ease and made some king of lay-up shot from the front of the rim without taken the ball down after the catch. Pleiss has to use the minutes he gets at the moment in order to gain as much experience as possible, especially on the defensive end, as he has the tools to develop into a very mobile and versatile big man in the future.

Philipp Schwethelm is already a bit further in his development as he played already big minutes during the last season. So it is no surprise to see him playing the game in a more confident way. After a very disappointing Reebok EuroCamp this summer (where Schwethelm flew in with only 3 days of preparation after being on holiday), he looks a lot more in shape right now and scored a very difficult shot to start the game. After that, he was not very present except for two long distance shots in his little fade-away style. If Schwethelm can gain a bit of speed and athleticism, he should be very interesting to follow on the guard position as he has excellent size and a good shooting touch. And he is quite confident as his minutes are guaranteed with the current roster of the team.

Everything was set in the second game of the afternoon for Tim Ohlbrecht. After a nice debut during the week, the Bamberg Power Forward was supposed to play big minutes as Starting Center Alexander Johnson was injured. But directly in the first minutes of the game, you could see that it would not going to be Ohlbrecht’s night. Being very passive, Ohlbrecht did not see a lot of ball in the offense and struggled in defense. Göttingen immediately attacked him in the first possessions and Ohlbrecht did not went out for the jump shots of his opponent. And on the drives, he came up with some stupid fouls so that his playing time was limited to about 7 minutes in the first half without any offensive play. Ohlbrecht started the second half on the bench because of his foul trouble and only came back into the game in the mid of the third quarter. He was then more present in the defensive rebound but offensively, his participation to the game was limited to set screens. All in all, it was a disappointing game by the German top big man prospect.

What should have been a Tim Ohlbrecht party came out to be the big game of the surprising 1985 born Dominik Schneider who impressed with his hustle play and hard screens.

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With the Reebok Eurocamp starting off in just 10 days, I will give an update on those players that did not get invited or won’t be present in Treviso for several reasons. I will start with the German PF Tim Ohlbrecht.

Ohlbrecht is on the Draft radar already for quite a time, and Europeanprospects.com gave a big update on him just one year ago during the NBBL Top4 tournament. Now, Ohlbrecht has come of his 2nd season with Brose Baskets Bamberg and earned his first minutes in the Euroleague and has also become a full member of the rotation of the German team.

While the season of Bamberg ended surprisingly already in the first round of the playoffs, it was once again in the post season where Ohlbrecht showed his best games. With limited playing time, Ohlbrecht did the maximum out of the minutes where he was on the court (5.8ppg 6.3rpg in only 11mpg). Very aggressive in the defensive rebound where he picked the ball high in the air with two hands and protecting it very well once he grabbed it, Ohlbrecht was also by far the most present player of the team on the offensive boards. The most of his points still came from tip-ins or open lay-ups he got from his team mates passes. However you have to mention his agressivity in this area where he mostly finished with powerful dunks.

This gave him excellent shooting percentages (80% over the game series) as his attempts were mostly in the key. He did not show any kind of back-to-the-basket move for two reasons. The very few times he got a ball down low, he either went for a pass out or got fouled. When this was not the case, he struggled to put any kind of real move on the floor. He tried some kind of dribble to the middle action but could not connect it. But most of the times, he was the 5th option on the court. In several situations, he posted up well, but his team mates did not pass him the ball, for whatever reason.

As he knows that his minutes will be limited, Ohlbrecht can go hard in defense and try to block shots as his foul trouble is not that much of a problem at the moment. Even if he goes for two quick fouls, this did not put him in trouble as he is not a main part of the rotation at the moment. So it is hard to analyze if his defensive presence has improved or not. Still, he is pretty slow in lateral moves when he has to defend smaller or quicker forwards, which happened quite sometimes as he mostly played on the PF position. His game in the offense has however moved really inside. You don’t see him that much waiting around the three-point line for the open shot. Something that happened often the years before.

How will the future look like for the top German prospect of the 1988 generation? Ohlbrecht has signed a 1-year deal with Bamberg for next season this spring, at a time when head coach Dirk Bauermann was still supposed to stay with Brose for another season. Despite several offers, Ohlbrecht wanted to stay in Bamberg where his role in 2008/2009 was supposed to be more important. But with the current situation and the fact that no coach has been named so far, this role will mostly depend on the direction to which the new coach will move.  For the summer, Ohlbrecht can play everything from nothing to the Olympics. For the moment, it is not clear if he gets selected for the Senior National Team or the U20 National Team or both. It is also possible that Ohlbrecht may take a time-out in order to prepare individually for next season. We will keep you updated on this…

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