When the name of Pape Sy got called during the NBA Draft ceremony, there was a bit of confusion as nearly anybody had the French guard on its radar. Nobody except the Atlanta Hawks which was also the only Franchise that worked him out before the Draft. Who is this guy that got even “big man” comparisons as his height or position was not even known by some of the major news outlets.

Pape Sy was born in the small North-Western France city of Loudéac which is described as a “very pretty market town with many traditional buildings and mediaeval streets to enjoy” by Wikipedia. This does not really sound like the typical background of most of the French athletes that often come out of the suburbs of Paris or from French oversea territories. However, Loudéac has now among its most famous personalities two basketball players which indeed are siblings. Penda Sy is a French women international player and Pape Sy has been drafted by the Atlanta Hawks. Basketball is in the genes of the family, there is no doubt about it.

After learning the game in the local club, Pape Sy moved first to Massy before entering the Youth Teams of Le Havre in 2004 at the age of 16. The guard, who was known for his excellent shooting touch already at a very young age continued to grow in his game but also in height and reaches now an excellent 1m97 or 6 feet 6 without shoes. After several seasons in the U21 League, Sy earned a roster spot on the professional squad in 2009 and 2009/2010 was his first real season in the French top League LNB. After a slow start, Sy earned more and more minutes and was a clear back-up option on the PG position at the end of the season. You can watch some highlights of his year with Le Havre here or check out the video below of the excellent French InternetTV show “Vis mon match” of Poitiers Basket which features footage of the game versus Le Havre from approximately the 9minute of clip. (Pape Sy can be seen with #10 on the white team).

Athletic, good shot, great size; all the ingredients for a high-potential are there. But the limited stats for a 22 year old (he averaged 5.2ppg 1.7rpg 1.3apg and 0.6spg in just 14.2 minutes on the court) were certainly the reason why no NBA Team showed interest in him. He even got refused to play at the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso unlike his team mate Ousmane Camara who was an early-entry candidate with 2.8ppg. However, at the total surprise for everyone even in France, Sy got a 2-day-workout with the Atlanta Hawks on the 15th and 16th June, a workout that he has however paid all the expenses by himself. After this only workout, Pape Sy did not really look impressed with the opposition he got by the two other guards and had enough time to explain his strengths to the Hawks TV.

The Hawks themselves seemed very impressed as well as they told Sy that they are going to draft him in the second round but he needs to remain discreet. They probably have not seen so many athletic, tall PGs with an excellent shooting touch over their workouts. Therefore the team from Georgia wanted absolutely secure their pick on him. Sy did not do any other workouts and the absence in Treviso helped the Hawks to be the only team really aware of his potential. Coach Larry Drew was more than happy that it worked out like this as he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution before.

I’d never heard of him. I thought those guys (Darington Hobson and Stanley Robinson) would eat him up, but this guy challenged those guys. He didn’t back down.

And then, the incredible for most outsiders happened. The Atlanta Hawks picked Pape Sy with their 53rd pick in the NBA Draft 2010. The French kid has arrived where nobody expected him to be, his name was called in the Madison Square Garden and he got interviewed by Craig Sager for NBA TV. You could really see a young man that was so happy and proud about what has happened to him.

After the Draft, the Hawks staff could also come up with what they really knew about Pape Sy and coach Larry Drew revealed why he wanted the guard from Le Havre come over absolutely to Georgia.

I was really really impressed by Pape Sy’s workout. I was very intrigued with his size, he has a great body and he really plays hard, being very aggressive defensively.

Now it is up to Pape, whose first name in French means Pope, to have a better experience in Atlanta than fellow Frenchman Boris Diaw who never really broke out with the Hawks. But as several blogs related already, the last 6-7 tall player coming out of France and playing for the Hawks was Dominique Wilkins. The goals are high for Sy who now has to grow another step from his rural hometown Loudéac to the multi-million metropolis in the South of the United States.

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Nemanja Bjelica was the third European player that got called in the Madison Square Garden on Thursday. The Serbian forward was some kind of late developer as he was not considered as a major talent a few years ago. But over the last two seasons, he played himself into the Serbian Senior National Team and the automatic eligible player has now been drafted.

Bjelica was a member of the different Partizan Belgrade Youth teams in his early days but he could never crack the rotation of the Senior Team back then. At the age of 19, he transferred to Austria where he played for Arkadia Traiskirchen which is the place where his agency Interperformances places lots of young players that need some playing time. Normally, the prospects that the agency sends there are not the top prospects in their portfolio as so far, none has really shined after the Austrian experience. Nemanja Bjelica however used his season in Traiskirchen where he averaged 8.5ppg, 3.5rpg and 1.2apg while shooting 41.5% from 3FGs at his best and came back as a better player. Luka Bassin, who is the youth coach of Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia followed his career and told us the following about Bjelica’s debuts.

His career is very strange and I always admired players with great character. He was member of Partizan Youth teams and after that, as a junior, he went to Austria and when he came back to Serbia (Crvena Zvezda), he  was a prospect. Before, he was even thinking about quitting basketball.

His first season back in Serbia for Crvena Zvezda was already promising but still far away from being a NBA consideration prospect by just looking at the stats. He played 24 games in the Adriatic League where he had 4.0ppg, 2.4rpg and 1.4apg at the age of 21 already. In general, the best Serbian prospects at this age are already major contributors on that level. But the word on him spread slowly around the globe and Jonathan Givony had the following on him when he travelled Europe back in November 2008.

Luck would have it though that we would be able to take in a short glimpse at what might be an intriguing prospect for down the road, Serbian Nemanja Bjelica. Surprisingly never having played for any of the various Serbian national teams, Bjelica is having somewhat of a breakout season, seeing solid playing time at a very high level of competition, in basically his first season of professional basketball.

Despite standing 6-10, Bjelica saw some minutes as a defacto point forward, being asked to bring the ball up the floor and get his team into their offense in this all-important road game in a fairly hostile environment. That should tell you a little bit about the confidence that Pesic has in this kid, and he couldn’t help but smile when asked about him afterwards in the press conference, noting that he is indeed a very intriguing prospect, while taking the politically correct approach to saying that they have many nice youngsters they are developing. He did throw out the obligatory Toni Kukoc comparison, which we heard from other sources as well.

Bjelica is a very long and skinny wing player, reasonably athletic, with a solid, yet underdeveloped frame, looking quite comfortable putting the ball on the floor with solid ball-handling skills and a nice first step, and even going into the paint to post up his matchup on one occasion. His decision making skills seemed a bit too erratic to fully trust at this level, and he was quickly benched after just a few minutes out on the floor. Defensively he has the length and footwork needed to compete on the perimeter, even if there is obviously work for him to do on this end of the floor. Still, he’s a guy to keep under the radar for now to see how he develops. He did show a very nice stroke from beyond the arc in warmups.

Out of this first season, Bjelica was selected to play for the Serbian team at the Universiade in Belgrade during the summer of 2009 and he averaged 7.0ppg and 5.7rpg to win the Gold Medal. This performance helped him to earn a first ever selection for the Serbian Senior National team.

With the National Team, Bjelica played an excellent Eurobasket in a specific role as defender but without scoring a lot. I covered the tournament in Poland and had the following on him after the impressive run of the Serbs.

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.

After the trip to Poland, Bjelica really improved his numbers with his Club Team as well as the 2009/2010 season that led him up the NBA Draft helped him to produce 8.5ppg, 5.8rpg and 2.0apg in the Eurocup. Draftexpress scouted him again in February 2010 and was still very high on him.

Bjelica’s biggest strengths revolve around his terrific ball-handling ability and passing skills. He can grab a rebound and take the ball coast to coast without the slightest bit of hesitation, and is extremely dangerous creating shot-opportunities for himself and others out of pick and roll situations. He does an excellent job of finding the open man in transition, and makes some extremely creative drive and dish passes thanks to his terrific court vision. Watching him play, it doesn’t take long to come to the conclusion that his feel for the game is obviously very good.

Players with his combination of size, skills and basketball IQ are quite rare, which is why many respected NBA scouts are very high on him, even if he has some glaring flaws to his game that must be addressed. Reportedly not being in a huge rush to make the jump to the NBA at this point, Bjelica is the type of player a team can draft and stash in Europe to see how he develops over the next few seasons, which makes him a solid candidate to hear his name called somewhere in the second round.

It comes clearly out of all these reports what makes Bjelica so special that the Timberwolves really wanted him: versatility, size  and athletic abilities; a real Swiss Army knife. The Wolves really wanted to get the most information on him as possible as the management travelled to Serbia to scout him in person. Even some late minute rumors about a potential deal with Benetton Treviso which has been denied in between did not prevent the team from Minneapolis to get him through a trade with Washington.

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Kevin Seraphin – #17 by the Bulls – most likely traded to the Wizards

Seeing the French Big Guy from Cholet in the first round is not really a surprise but he was not foreseen to be drafted that high as most observers saw him between 20 and 30. It will now be interesting to see if Seraphin will stay in France and play the Euroleague with Cholet or if he decides to come to the United States immediately. The PF/C is on the list of France for the upcoming World Championship in Turkey but on the other hand, the Wizards will most likely try to bring him over to play the Summer League as well which looks like a first conflict situation.

Bouna N’Diaye and his team have once again showed that they can place a player in the first round. The future will tell how Seraphin will adapt to the NBA where his skills and physical built are not as special as they are in Europe.

Tibor Pleiss – #31 by the Nets – traded to the Thunder

With the first Pick of the Euroleague players Draft, the Nets select Tibor Pleiss from Brose Baskets Bamberg. With Nikola Pekovic in 2008 and the German Center this year, the #31 spot is looking more and more to become the best place to get future high-level Euroleague talent as the top pick in the second round gives the team all possibilities in terms of salary to sign the player in the future. Pleiss has declared several times that he will not come over immediately and at least play one year in the Euroleague which he can do with his team next season.

Additionally, he will be a member of the German National Team this summer and play major minutes during the World Championships in Turkey. It would be a surprise for me if he comes over this Summer to do some workouts or Summer Leagues. The Oklahoma Thunder got what they wanted in Pleiss as the rumors were around that Sam Presti was really high on him and they even thought about bringing him in at #18. But at #31, they go their big guy that may end up as the better player than their #11 pick Cole Aldrich.

Nemanja Bjelica – #35 by the Wizards

With the rumors around his signing with Benetton Treviso being denied by the player himself, Bjelica looks to be very open in terms of possibilities for next season. The 2m09 tall forward found an NBA home with the Wizards now but it is not so sure about what he is going to do. Several European teams are chasing him as well and Bjelica will most likely be a member of the Serbian National Team for the World Championship which prevents him from participating to some Summer Leagues.

Bjelica has interesting tools for the NBA and seems to be a late developer as coach Luka Bassin explained in our Draft countdown. With Seraphin, he is the second European selected by the Wizards in this year’s Draft but he will most likely remain in Europe for some time. At least, everything else would be a surprise for me.

NB: Bjelica has been traded to the Wolves

Ryan Richards – #49 by the Spurs

The Brit got what he wanted, he is drafted by an NBA team. Even if he was announced “not falling lower than #33”, he ended up with the Spurs at #49. The team from San Antonio is known for drafting high-reward long-term prospects and Richards may be in the same mold. The fact that the British player wants to absolutely stay in the United States, most likely means that he will go to play for the Austin Toros, the Spurs NBDL team. With the rumors of the Spurs bringing Tiago Splitter over, the roster seems a bit stacked on the frontcourt and it would be a major surprise to me if Richards will crack the rotation immediately.

Pape Sy – #53 by the Hawks

The big surprise of the Draft from a European point of view is Pape Sy. He did exactly one workout, at least that is what we heard and he got selected by the Hawks that have seen him play in their facilities on the 16th June. Sy is a tall guard (1m97) that takes the PG spot during moments and is an interesting three point shooter. But still, this does not make him an NBA player nor do his stats: 5.2ppg and 1.3apg in the French League. But the Hawks must have seen something special in him as they were the only team inviting him for a workout and finally also drafted him. Maybe their scouts were present in France on the 27th February where Sy had his career game with 17pts, 7rebs and 4asts.

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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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Today we continue our review of the players from the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso with a few additional names that we are thinking are worth to be mentioned.

Nihad Dedovic – SG – 1m97 – 1990

The Bosnian guard had one of the fastest shot releases of the whole camp. The release is so quick that it looks like he does not really prepare his shot. But he needs to fire the ball that quickly as he has the ball a bit before his face when taking the shot and therefore is always at risk of being blocked in his attempts. He likes to come of the screens and immediately fire the ball from any distance. Coming of the curl on the weak-side and receiving the diagonal pass is one of the situations in which Dedovic excels and scores with high percentages.

Additionally, he is very active on defense with his hands and steals quite a few balls. Dedovic is doing a nice job on the fast break as he can accelerate nicely and score the layup with the foul as he is a correct athlete. A first season on the ACB level with regular playing time behind him, the Bosnian will now make the next step forward and knowing that he came back from a injury recently, there are some nice things ahead for him in the next years. It may not be enough for NBA level but we should see him play on Euroleague level in a few years time.

Josep Franch – PG – 1m87 – 1991

Josep Franch played a very interesting camp and is considered already as the future PG of Joventut Badalona. The fast Spaniard broke the defenses on multiple occasion with his hesitation moves or accelerations and was not afraid at all to go against the big guys to score on a multitude of different underhand lay-ups. He looked to be more of a scoring guard in the camp as he did not particularly show amazing passing skills and mostly went for his own options.

Pietro Aradori – SG – 1m93 – Auto-Eligible – 1988

The Italian guard had an up-and-down camp and showed that he is not really NBA material at the moment. Aradori had some limits when it came to the NBA three-point line as his shot did not look regular when going for an attempt from that distance. Athletically, he is not quick enough to defend SGs despite correct leaping abilities for a European player. His skill set is a lot more adapted to European basketball and he will certainly do a lot of damage in the next years. With his scoring skills and understanding, Aradori will probably be among the major scorers for the next years in European basketball.

Dairis Bertans – PG/SG – 1m93 – 1989

The Latvian guard showed an interesting scoring talent in Treviso combined with good athletic abilities. More of a scoring guard than a pure play maker, Bertans has already some high-level experience due to the minutes he plays with Ventspils. Bertans’ main offensive options are his three point shot and driving hard to the rim. He is not afraid to dunk on the big guys and got some severe rejections during the camp that did not de-motivate him to try again. He likes to go for several cross-over moves to create the necessary space for his shot. The Latvian guard is able split defenses with his speed and is high-percentage long distance shooter.

David Jelinek – SG – 1m94 – 1990

One of the younger players that I really liked was David Jelinek. The Czech guard showed excellent athletic abilities and a real will to score the basketball. He has already NBA three point range in catch and shoot situations, which he executes particularly well. Jelinek can speed up the fast-break and finish on highlight-reel like dunks. He has already a nice arsenal of ball and pass fakes when driving that give him the opportunity to score the ball close the basket. He needs to develop his mid-range game a bit and probably get a bit stronger but the minutes he gets on ACB level are certainly helping him in his development.

Nikos Pappas – PG – 1m91 – 1990

The Greek guard looked improved this year compared to what we had in mind of him. Still not a NBA or European top-level athlete, Pappas has the feel for the game and he is far from losing it. His dominance from two years ago on U18 level is not there because he can not outsmart the players on every occasion anymore. But his passing skills are excellent even if he forced too much the highlight play in the camp which gave him a terrible amount of turnovers. As we heard, he did quite well in the Greek League this season on the Senior level so it will be interesting to see what is next for him.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas – SF/PF – 2m03 – Early Entry – 1989

The Lithuanian early entry candidate played a camp where you could barely see him, somehow similar to last year. But he has a very interesting arsenal of offensive moves and showed in Treviso that he has NBA three-point range as well. Kuzminskas can put the ball on the floor and finish with two-handed dunks against the defense when attacking the basket. He is doing also a lot of the dirty job that is not seen in the stats which is a bit different to his role he has with his team in Lithuania. This shows that he is a guy who can easily adapt to any situations.

Dejan Musli – C – 2m11 – 1991

The best Center in the camp was the Serbian Dejan Musli who looks better and better when it comes to his body structure. Still not a very explosive or elegant player, his moves look a bit smoother right now and he feels a lot more confident when putting the ball on the floor. During the camp, there was nearly anybody that could stop him once he has found his position in the low post and received the ball. He can finish here with either hand on the jump hook but most of his moves look a bit soft. His hands are great and he nearly catches all the passes he gets out of the Pick and Roll situations to finish.

Musli has clearly improved in his game when he needs or wants to dribble the ball. He can easily bring his man down to the low block when he receives the ball on the wing by backing him up with a few dribbles and moving closer to the basket. He is also not afraid to start the fast break with several dribbles, even if this is not really his role. As he is not the fastest player, it would also be a better decision making if he shares the ball on these moments and runs the break as a trailer option. He needs to finish stronger though when he is close to the basket to become a really dominant player on this level but being born in 1991, there is still a lot of progress margin left.

Ousmane Camara – C/PF – 2m04 – Early Entry – 1989

One of the more unknown players in the camp was the French Center Ousmane Camara. Even if he has only limited offensive skills because of poor hands, the player from Le Havre showed an extreme will and massive presence on the rebound. He worked very hard throughout the camp in this aspect of the game and nearly score all his baskets on offensive rebounds or after good passes of his team mates. His Free-throw shot looks very bad and underlines his current weaknesses. Camara can score the basketball only when being very close to the basket and the question is how much upside he has when it comes to his shooting touch. Physically, he has all the tools to become a high-level player, but he needs to work on his basketball skills and fundamentals if he wants to have an impact on the next level.

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With the signing of Kim Tillie this Tuesday, the French team of ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne has brought the next high-quality prospect to their team after having confirmed the arrival of Leo Westermann a few days ago. With the already under contract Bangaly Fofana, Paul Lacombe, Thomas Heurtel and Edwin Jackson and some interesting young players growing with the youth sections, it was time to take a closer look at all these interesting prospects that are being guided by Vincent Collet in the next years.

Collet spoke about his recruitment in an interview for the club’s homepage and here are the most interesting parts concerning the young players.

What can you tell us about Kim Tillie?

Kim is an athlete. He is very tall and can move very well which makes him a real potential to become a modern basketball player of high level. He is PF with energy, particularly on the rebound, and a good shot even if he did not have the possibility to show it that much with Utah where he was playing in a very strict system with very little personal initiative allowed. That’s mainly the principal challenge for him: the discovery of the professional world and its expectations and therefore the satisfaction of what we want him to achieve. The expectations will be high because we believe in the potential of somebody who has been European Champion and Bronze Medalist at the World Championships with his generation.

With Kim Tillie joining Paul Lacombe, Bangaly Fofana, Edwin Jackson and Leo Westermann, ASVEL is building a really young team. Is this done by conviction or because of lack of other possibilities?

We have announced that we are going to build a younger team. This is my philosophy. It is not in contrary with the expectation of results. All the files on which we advanced this spring turned in a positive way for us. That’s good for the future. We have now a group of players with high potential and which are all under contract for at least two years. And I don’t want to forget Thomas Heurtel who is still under contract with us for three more years. But Thomas does not want to accept a back-up role. As we can not guarantee him a starting job immediately, he will be loaned for another season. I expect from all these players that they will bring enthusiasm and freshness, values that we missed sometimes this season. Additionally, we fulfill future recruitment needs with having already now the necessary number of Home Grown Players. We have now all our back-ups and can start to build our “real” Starting Five in a very open market of American players.

Don’t you think that these young players will offer you some negative surprises?

We know three of the five players very well as they have played with us this season. We are not moving into unknown territory with them. Kim has shown good potential with the National Team and at Utah and we followed him over the last two years. For Leo, the situation is different. He is from the next generation only and we give him more time even if we are convinced that he can contribute quickly. We know exactly what are the forces and weaknesses of the guys so that our goal is to find five experienced players with complementary qualities to the five youngsters. We have of course no possibilities to take the wrong pieces for this puzzle in order to avoid putting the youngsters into difficult situations or urgency of result.

So far what Collet is saying about his young guns. Here is short recap on the five players that will be on the ASVEL roster for next season.

• Leo Westermann: will probably only play with the Espoirs team next season as he is recovering from a severe knee injury. His goal will be to become the leader of the team in the next years as the 92 born player is a real presence on the court and was a major piece of the French Silver Medal at the U18 European Championships last summer.
• Edwin Jackson: after a season with Rouen where the son of Skeeter Jackson played major minutes and could work on his scoring talent, the guard needs now to become a booster coming from the bench. Collet had him already in his preliminary group for the Senior National Team last summer and it seems that he is awaiting a lot from the athletic back-court player.
• Paul Lacombe: cracked the rotation a bit by surprise last season and played more minutes as the season went on. The versatile guard can play the PG position and should be used as a back-up to bring the necessary size and surprising athletic abilities to the back court. The 1990 born player is somebody to watch in 2010/2011.
• Kim Tillie: athletic wing with a nice shot from around the key, especially from the baseline. He is used to play a back-up role as he did it with the French Youth National Teams for years. The son of former professional volleyball playing parents has the necessary athletic abilities for the French league but may need some time to find his marks after four years in the United States.
• Bangaly Fofana: long and athletic center that had some impact this season already when given playing time, especially as a shot blocker and finisher close to the basket. He has entered his name to the NBA Draft pool this year and will probably play at the Adidas Eurocamp in June.

The situation of Thomas Heurtel remains the same than a few weeks ago when we had already a longer article on him. Collet is not sure about him being a starter for his team right now and as Heurtel does not want to be a back-up, he will not play for ASVEL in 2010/2011.

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Today, we will talk about a young player that was one of the surprise of the French Semaine des As played one week ago. Nicolas de Jong, a 1988 born and 2m09 tall center from Vichy, was recently featured in a nice article and interview on the new French website Catch-and-shoot. Europeanprospects.com will translate in the future the most interesting articles from this new website in order to share them with a worldwide audience.

Nicolas de Jong had his outing during the two games Vichy played last weekend during the Semaine des As. He used the playing time accorded to him after the injuries of Dounia Issa and Zoch Moss to produce more than his usual figures (9 minutes with 2pts and 2rebs versus Le Mans and 11 minutes with 5pts 1 reb 1ast versus Orléans). However, the potential of de Jong is beyond these simple numbers.

De Jong has not played in any Youth National team, not even on regional youth selection team. He has not even played in a Youth League as de Jong started to play Basketball in 2006 when he was 18. But today, he is there and plays on the French professional level in the ProA.

He was discovered two years ago in an amateur game of the 4th French division. De Jong only played some garbage minutes with the 4th division team and most of the times was playing with the reserve team on a regional level. However, after that season, he signed a three-year contract with Vichy during the summer of 2008; a contract that surprised him but also motivated him to go further. But when you think on him, you see great size (2m09) and good hands which should help him to integrate a development pool but he jumped the stages and is now in the rotation of the professional team. He played already some garbage minutes last season (7 games with about 4 minutes) but this season should be the break out.

After having practiced during 1 month and a half last summer together with some NBA players in Dallas, he started nicely into the season with 6pts and 5rebs in the first game. But he suffered a lower back vertebra fatigue fracture in the 2nd game of the season and he had to sit out until last weekend. So his performance during the tournament in Villeurbanne may show the direction in which de Jong may heading.

Original Article: Catch-and-shoot.com

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The German All-Star Day 2010 was on the schedule this Saturday in Bonn. With the move from Mannheim to the Telekom Dome, the BEKO BBL has made an excellent decision as the arena was sold out and a great atmosphere throughout the event confirmed the popularity of the sport in Bonn. Even Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu flew in for the day to check the situation of the Bundesliga (and eventually check the Telekom Dome as a potential EuroCup Final 4 arena, who knows?).

The day started with the very interesting NBBL All-Star game that was however once again played in 4*10 minutes where the first three quarters had an unstopped clock. After some turnovers in the beginning, the game developed very well and finished with a big show in the end. A long three point shot to force OT and a MVP performance by Patrick Heckmann in the 3 supplementary minutes marked a huge game for this type of event where both teams wanted to win . There have already been about 5000 (!!) fans in the arena and the youngsters made them go crazy in the final moments of the game. The German youth system is progressing very well, the talented 1992 generation is looking very promising and may be at the same level than the already succesful 89s. With the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament and the U17 World Championship coming later this year, the German basketball fans are not lacking major youth competition either in the next months.

Patrick Heckmann (1m97 – Guard – 1992 – ASC Theresianum Mainz)

Patrick Heckmann was one of the players in this game who I have not seen before. This has changed now and I must admit that it was about time. The 1m97 guard, who is listed as a forward but played most of the time as PG, is definitely among the most talented players in the NBBL and in Germany in general. After a year with Cheyenne Mountain High School in the US, where he transformed a losing team into a Play-off participant, the athletic guard came back to Germany and plays an outstanding season with the ASC NBBL team but is also one of the team leaders of the ASC Seniors in the Regionalliga (4th German division).

Heckmann displays a rare combination of basketball understanding, leadership qualities, athletic abilities and a winning spirit. He led his NBBL to a surprising 8-1 record and showed also in the All-Star game why he is considered as a top talent, he scored 7 of the 9 points of the South team in the overtime to secure the win and earn a deserved MVP trophy. In the beginning of the game, Heckmann showed some nice drives out of the catch immediately beating his opponent with either the left or the right hand. He finished those penetrations very well and close to the basket where his good athletic abilities helped him. He can create for his team mates, this is why he should play Point Guard on the professional level.

The guard from Mainz showed all his leadership and basketball skills in the three-minute long overtime where he decided the game nearly all by himself. A nice drive on the break finished from 45 degrees of the glass with the foul, another drive finished with a finger roll and a ultra tough 3pt fade-away jump shot to seal the deal were the plays that earned him the MVP award. He finished the game with 19pts (7/8 FGs, 4/5FTs), 1reb, 2asts, 3stls and 1blk. With his basketball skills and a good body structure to build on, Heckmann looks right now as a very interesting prospect. Several professional teams tried to sign him after his year in the USA, but he returned to his hometown Mainz where he will stay until 2012 and get his high school degree. Afterwards, everything should be possible for him.

NBBL Stats: 25.7ppg (47.7% FG 89.3% FT), 5.5rpg, 2.3apg, 2.4spg, 0.7bpg

Besnik Bekteshi (1m86 – Guard  – 1993 – BBA Ludwigsburg)

The youngest player in the game was far away from being shy. The team leader of BBA Ludwigsburg showed interesting scoring skills, especially from behind the arc where he can knock down the threes easily. Despite looking a bit frail and not very explosive, Bekteshi created himself always the necessary space to get the open shots either by the dribble or by moving off the ball. His shot does not look super quick but the mechanics are very regular and he is not afraid to fire it up.

The guard is also driving to the basket and finishing the moves in a soft but intense way. He has some nice fakes that give him the necessary opportunities to score but he may lack a bit of the playmaking skills to become a real PG. However, as this was just an All-Star game, it is important to see how he acts when the normal regular games are going on. Despite being not too tall, he recognizes well when he is guarded by smaller players to go post them up and finish against them in the low block. His All-Star stats looked excellent though with 18pts (4/7 3s) and 7rebs. With two more seasons to go in the NBBL from this summer, Bekteshi has yet a long way to go, but he will probably be one of the main players of the German U17 National Team this summer.

NBBL Stats: 23mpg 15.6ppg (54.1% 2FG, 45.7% 3FG), 3.7rpg, 3.0apg, 3.6spg

Philipp Neumann (2m06 – Center – 1992 – Breitengüssbach) took the game pretty serious as the German Center was as happy as no one else on the final buzzer that his team has won. Playing as physical as ever, the 2m06 tall player did not show that much of progress in terms of forcing it inside tough. With his outstanding physical and athletic skills, he was very present in the low block where he saw several double or even triple teams on him and managing to score anyhow. Several of these moves looked forced but they worked. The main problem for Neumann is that he does not know yet when to give the ball back out and when to play it inside. However, he gave some passes back out yesterday which shows that he is working on this. It is important for him to do so if he wants to make the next step. Right now, he is still a very impressive player on this level, showing excellent scoring skills and big presence on rebounding and shot blocking. He may add some long distance threat in the future too but did not show much of face-up plays though. Most of the scores came from powering in the low post. He finished the game with 12pts (6/9 FGs), 7rebs and 5blks.

NBBL Stats: 22.0ppg (76.7% 2FG), 13.8rpg, 2.2bpg

Dennis Ogbe (1m97 – Forward – 1991 – Franken Hexer) was one important player for the South team as the PF from Franken Hexer did a lot of dirty work in the paint which you may not recognize like setting screens, boxing out and playing strong defense. It was always his task to defend the best scorers of the North team and he did a good job there. Offensively, he emerged in the last quarter where he hit two big baseline shots in the money time, one was a tough 3 pointer from the corner with 1.2 seconds on the clock to force the overtime after having seen his previous drive rejected badly. Ogbe needs to progress in his ballhandling as he is only 1m97 tall which limits him to play the PF spot in the future.

NBBL Stats: 21.4ppg (55.8% 2FG), 9.1rpg, 2.0spg

Niels Giffey (2m00 – Forward – 1991 – ALBA Berlin) is definitely back. After having missed several months because of a mononucleosis, the forward from ALBA Berlin showed in Bonn that he is still one of the most talented players in Germany. He can do it all, rebound, score and win games, even if the last did not happen yesterday. But it was him that had the big plays for the North just before the overtime with a huge three-point shot with Ogbe’s hand in his face from about 7.5 meters and 2 clutch free-throws made several seconds before the end of the regular time. His shot looks improved and he showed nice range throughout the game and can vary the outside-inside game pretty well. With his shooting improving, Giffey is on the right move and the long-time illness seems gone. He finished the game as top scorer with 22pts (8/11 FGs and 4/5 3FG) and 4rebs.

NBBL Stats: 13.6ppg (61.8% 2FG, 44.4% 3FG), 4.4rpg

Daniel Theis (2m05 – Center – 1992 – Braunschweig) came up with a very nice game in Bonn. The highly athletic and explosive center had several highlights in the game like a two handed slam over Neumann and Ogbe as well as an impressive rejection above backboard square height in the money time. He is very present in the paint with good work and he did a nice job on defending Neumann, giving him a hard time to score. Close to the basket, Theis tries to finish strong with the dunk and draws a lot of fouls with this presence. He is going hard for the rebound on both ends of the floor and showed also some correct skills for attacking the basket on the drive. The shot looks improvable but he can make the mid-range jumper correctly. He finished the game with 12pts, 8rebs and 2blks.

NBBL Stats: 18.7ppg (79% FG), 9.2rpg, 2.7bpg

About the Senior All-Star Game, there is not that much to say. Tim Ohlbrecht missed it with a last-minute illness and was not replaced. Robin Benzing did not see a lot of offensive opportunities as one of the Rookies in the game. And when the few attempts he got do not fall, it is hard to judge on what he did, especially in an All-Star Game. What can be said, is that he did quite a good job defending the smaller and more athletic forwards of the North and he had a very nice drive and dish in the beginning of the game. But it will be more interesting to come back on him once later in the season after having seen more of him in normal game action. Per Günther, Benzing’s team mate in Ulm, was voted into the Starting Five by the fans, but the small guard did look a bit lost among all the highly physical and athletic US born players around him. He did a correct job without a score tough but he is probably not the right player for an All-Star game as he is not particularly flashy or known for producing for the highlight reel.

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The German Bundesliga is still a US-dominated League but more and more young players are earning their minutes and showing good progress. Today, I discuss two young Shooting Guards that come from very different backgrounds. Both are having their first real impact season on the highest professional level and both are set for improving in the next years.

Karsten Tadda (1988 – 1m92 – Brose Baskets Bamberg) is the perfect example of a player that is earning minutes from hard work. The German SG is currently playing 20 minutes per game in the German Bundesliga and has the starting job for Chris Fleming’s team. Tadda has never played U16 or U18 national team and has only emerged on the highest German level during the 2008/2009 season where he saw his first regular minutes with Brose Baskets. He never caught one’s eye with athletic abilities or extraordinary talent during his young years. However, Tadda is an extremely hard worker, being the first guy in the gym and the last one to leave. Through these hard efforts, he has risen the steps of his career ladder one-by-one, from being a member of the local youth teams to the NBBL, Pro B, ProA and now Bundesliga. He is at the edge of the German senior national team and is probably the secret star of Bamberg

Tadda excels first of all as a defensive stopper. With his relentless effort, he can push his opponent full court and use him physically. He is not a outstanding ball stealer, but he can play the deny-defense at his best and run through the screens. He is also improving in drawing charges as he is not afraid to offer his body in the lane. Offensively, the shooting guard is mainly used as a catch-and-shoot player coming of the screens or in dish outs. He is feeling very comfortable in that role, nailing currently 34% (18/53) of his three-point attempts in Bundesliga and an amazing 66.7% (10/15) in the Eurocup where his team reached the Top16. While playing ProB last season with Breitengüssbach, Tadda also saw minutes as a PG and could connect for 3.8apg. Right now, he has not to fulfill these duties with Bamberg but he may grow in this role in the future with hard work. He is currently at the step from being a role player to become a team leader and it would not be a surprise see him reach that level in the next years.

Stefan Tapuskovic (1989 – 2m00 – LTi Giessen 46ers) is having a very different background as the Serbian guard has gone through the talent school of Partizan Belgrade, played with the Serbian U18 National Team and was highly praised as an outstanding shooter with great size. However, he never could crack the rotation of Partizan Belgrade’s senior team so that he played for the Junior team in the 3rd Serbian league until last season. He managed to lead the team to the 2nd division though and had a career game during the Serbian Korac Junior Cup Final with 48pts. Giessen’s head coach Vladi Bogojevic brought him as a total unknown to Germany this summer and he is now a member of the Bundesliga team of LTi Giessen 46ers.

Tapuskovic struggled a bit in the beginning of the season as he was benched a lot or even did not play at all. Even now, his minutes are really like a roller-coaster (26 against Oldenburg to DNP against Hagen), but he can always erupt with nice scoring efforts like he did in the heart-breaker against Frankfurt recently with 15pts in 19 minutes. His main offensive weapon is his long distance shot which he fires up with a nice quick release, even against the defense because of his good size for the SG position. He has very good fundamentals and recognizes well the situations when to alternate between drives and shots. He can attack the basket with both hands but mostly prefers to finish the plays in mid-range through floaters, jump-shots or with a pass. Defensively, he suffers in the athletic German league in one-on-one situations but compensates through good positioning and understanding of the defensive team concepts. Tapuskovic, who has signed for two years in Germany needs to improve his physical presence to become a more regular contributor on this level, something that he should be able to do in the next seasons.

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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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