This weekend, the BEKO Super-Cup is being held in Bamberg. Germany, Lithuania, Turkey and Croatia prepare the upcoming World Championship. Similar to last summer, the German National Team features a large number of interesting prospects like Tibor Pleiss, Elias Harris or Robin Benzing. The German website spox.com talked to the Oklahoma Thunder draftee and also quoted the German head coach on the development of their “super-talents”.

Dirk Bauermann, the head coach of the German National Team is not very satisfied with the development of Robin Benzing and Elias Harris over the last months. As I mentioned already on my Twitter account, Bauermann found very harsh words on their development.

They need to know that all the talk about the NBA and the Draft is one thing, but to play and be a factor on the European level is a different thing. They need to come at that point that they can use their talent here.

Tibor Pleiss, who did not play against Lithuania yesterday in order to get a rest, had to work hard alone after the game to be ready for today’s clash with Turkey. Bauermann said the following about Pleiss’ development.

As Turkey has a very physical team, it will be an important step for Tibor Pleiss to play hard against them. For experienced players, this is not a problem but for a young player as Tibor, he must first get acclimated to this.

Robin Benzing was so far not really a satisfaction for Bauermann as the 21-year old player had 0 points and 2 turnovers against Lithuania. The German head coach told the press the following about the player from ratiopharm Ulm.

Last year, Robin has grown yet again  to reach 2m10 now. That’s why he still needs to grow into his body and this takes some time. Therefore it is even more important for him to understand that he has to work even harder on his (physical) deficit than other players who may be less talented. He needs to get a slap on his cheek to recognize that he needs to develop massively in his physical presence if he wants to become an important player.

Elias Harris is certainly not behind in terms of physical development but the Gonzaga forward had to sit out for the second time already because of a shoulder injury. Bauermann explained that this is not bad luck but lack of experience.

Elias was close to disarticulate his shoulder for the second time because he runs into the screens of the opponents. This works against players of his age at College where the game is a lot less physical. But on our level, the shoulder is down the drain immediately. He needs to learn that playing the SF position, he needs to go around the screens and not through.

The Beko Super-Cup was also the opportunity for spox.com to go through a long interview with Tibor Pleiss on his current situation, future and the NBA. It was once again astonishing to see how the Oklahoma Thunder drafted player does not follow international and NBA Basketball. Here are some extracts of the interview that can be read in total in German here.

For the NBA Draft day in New York, I was not nervous at all, and this because of a simple reason: I did not know anyone of all those College players; also this guy called Wall, I have never heard of him before. The only one I spoke with a bit was Kevin Seraphin from France. I was only nervous because of the things going on around the ceremony. Knowing that millions of people in front of their TV can watch me when I eventually fall down walking up the stairs. Additionally, it was extremely cold and I was freezing. I did not really feel well in the Madison Square Garden.

In general, I am not really interested in International or NBA Basketball. Most of the players I play against during this tournament or the World Championship, I have never heard of. For example, when we played Serbia last summer as a preparation game for the Eurobasket, it was the first time I saw Nenad Krstic play. My ignorance may sound strange to others, but it has the advantage that I go unbiased into the games and take every opponent serious.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder Director of International Player Personnel and former International Scout Rob Hennigan looked really happy about the choice of Pleiss as you can see in the embedded video. Listen to his words as he seemed to be really in love with the potential of the German Center.

He is a guy who is pretty interesting player and a pretty interesting person. When we first started watching Tibor a few years ago, it was not so much the size we saw in him but more the substance: a guy who could move really well, we saw a guy who had some dexterity, a guy who really seemed to enjoy playing. And I know that sounds simple but it is hard to find nowadays players who really love to play, especially players who have Tibor’s size.

I don’t know when the Thunder saw him first but I had a story on him back in 2007 where I travelled to Cologne for the so-called “Circus-Tent”, which was the nickname of the now-defunct Cologne 99ers arena which was in fact a mobile tent with a basketball court, to watch a player who was back then standing out in the first ever German NBBL season by his size and his numbers. During this game, I could see a young player that had really a lot of talent. But as I was only starting to scout players back then, I was probably not aware of his potential as my scouting report on him was really not filled with hype.

What I want to mention about him is that he is a real inside player, trying to score in the paint. He can go out to the three point line and hit the shot from there, but he essentially plays inside. This is the main difference between him and Alexis Ajinca, who has nearly the same size and body, but is mainly playing outside at the moment with Pau-Orthez’s pro team. Pleiß has the advantage of having a coach that was an inside player too (Zoran Kukic) and he can teach him a lot how to use his size inside. His shooting touch helped to get an almost perfect 7/8 from the free-throw line, with his shooting mechanics looking nearly perfect. He uses his long arms effectively on the offensive rebound but he struggled several times on the put back as he lacks physical strength to get up again directly and throw down a hard dunk. He runs the floor very well, he even finished a fast break on a nice direction changing lay-up being the first one on the break and scoring it between two defenders. He used his good court-vision also on a few offensive sets where he saw the open man cutting through and dishing out a perfect pass.

Defensively, he looks really quick on lateral movements for a guy of his size. You could see him regularly go until mid court on the trap on the pick-and-roll defense. His long arms are a major defensive weapon as he has very good timing blocking the shots, without doing outrageous moves avoiding foul calls like that. On Post defense, it is difficult to say if he is any good, as he had no opponent playing him strongly one-on-one. The players that tried too, got blocked or missed their shot.

The few scenes I could tape back then also showed already what type of player Pleiss could become now that he has grown physically stronger. When you see him on the floor back then, you immediately recognize the moves and mechanics that make him such a special player today that the Oklahoma City Thunder are ready to pay 3 million USD just to have the rights to sign him.

After this season, Pleiss entered one of the more complicated years with Cologne as the team had high hopes with a team built around Immanuel McElroy and coached by Sasa Obradovic. Pleiss barely played at all (only 6 games over the year) and the team had major financial troubles in the end of the season with most of the stars leaving. However, the 2m16 tall player had an injury and could not really take profit of this situation and earn minutes unlike other young players on the team.

Everything changed then for him during the 2008/2009 season where Cologne had a lot less financial possibilities and Tibor Pleiss was their main prospect on the Center position. They had no choice but to give him minutes and the Bergisch-Gladbach native took his chance. I went back to Cologne in September 2008 to see how he did.

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.

Despite some problems to defend shorter and more athletic players, Pleiss worked hard and really wanted to improve. After his first full season on the Bundesliga level averaging 5.0ppg 2.9rpg, he got selected by Dirk Bauermann to represent Germany at the Eurobasket 2009. Here, he learned a lot and was also appearing in a highlight reel, unfortunately for him on wrong end of the court.

Pleiss signed that summer with Brose Baskets Bamberg and the fans were already considering this move as “too early” or “not good enough for Bamberg”. However, he took over during the 2009/2010 season and earned the Starting 5 job over former Virignia big guy Elton Brown. The Center started to dominate on both ends of the court and his scoring was only limited by the number of touches he got on offense. When I made a longer report on him back in December, he was already a step further than just being a prospect.

You can see him score the jump shot around the key with very nice shooting mechanics. His range is going out until the three point line, still he does not take a lot of shots from out there this season. Pleiss progressed a lot in the attack of the bucket with the dribbling this season. Either from the top of the key or from the side, he is not afraid to take the drive.

With his back to the basket, he displays different post-up moves that he can finish either on the jump hook, turn around jump shot or with underhand scoop finger rolls for example.

In rebound situations, Pleiss is regularly overmatched physically but goes hard for boxing out his opponents. He needs to fight maybe a bit more when he is in a bad position in order to gain the favorable position back. Due to his excellent presence in shot blocking and trajectory changing, he loses his spot for the rebound several times too and needs to find it back faster when the shots are missed.

Now it was Pleiss who shined on highlight reels and this especially on a set-up play drawn for him and which Bamberg used a lot through out the season to start quarters.

A German championship and cup win as well as the Rookie of the Year trophy later, Tibor Pleiss was ready for the NBA Draft. He entered his name and did not withdraw despite only having a very short time stretch to do some workouts. But right from the start, there was only one team that was really aware of his potential and tried to do everything they could to bring him over. The Oklahoma City Thunder are now thinking on either bringing him over immediately or letting him develop yet another year in Bamberg and gain more experience by playing Euroleague. Tibor Pleiss is set to show the United States that his hometown of Bergisch-Gladbach is not only able to produce Super-Models but also a Super-Center.

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With the number of European prospects drafted this year, I decided to have a review on every specific player. The first name that has been announced was Kevin Seraphin from France. It looked like David Stern has specifically practiced his French before the draft as he started his announcement with a very proud “Now listen to this” that he found so funny that he continued his speech with a little smirk on his face. So let’s check out who Seraphin really is, you better listen to this Wizards fans.

Even if Seraphin was in reality selected by the Chicago Bulls, there are no doubts that the French Center will be traded to the Washington Wizards at the beginning of the NBA Trading period. A destination that was the first choice of Seraphin’s entourage as his agents confirmed to the press. Seraphin spoke about Washington while still wearing his Chicago Bulls head in the post-Draft press conference and he is already excited to play with John Wall.

I have a good feeling with the team in Washington. They told me they really count on me, and I’m going to work. I know that I have to work hard now. And to get the opportunity to play with John Wall is going to help me, too, because John Wall is a tremendous player.

When it comes to his playing style, Seraphin also gave the journalists and fans some indications what they can expect from him.

The career of Seraphin started back in 2007 when he joined for the first time the professional roster of Cholet Basket, a team that is known for producing a lot of young talent and its great relations with the different French oversea territories. A multitude of French players have their background in Guyana or Guadeloupe and struggle in the beginning when they come over the Europe. With other players having the same background in his team, Seraphin integrated quickly the real rotation of the professional team and was soon looked at as the next big thing coming out of Cholet. Nearly every year, the team produces NBA talent (2009: Rodrigue Beaubois, Nando de Colo, 2010: Kevin Seraphin) and the pipeline of future talents is full with prospects like Christophe Leonard or Rudy Gobert.

Seraphin developed step-by-step and earned more and more minutes during the season 2008/2009. With Comsport starting to take care of his career, the trip was predictable and the next stage was the participation to the Nike Hoop Summit in April 2009. The French guy used this event to put his name on the table of a multitude of NBA Franchises with an interesting performance.

Being only used during limited minutes in Cholet, the event in Portland was a bit of a coming out party on the highest level for the French Center. Displaying great athleticism and very large hands, Kevin Seraphin showed a big presence on the rebound on both ends of the court. You could see his arm raise several times out of the paint to get the ball far above the rim. He also had several blocked shots coming on help situations or as a second row goalkeeper.

Offensively though, Seraphin has still a lot of progress before as he is not very accurate when it comes to jump shots. Close to the rim, he finishes with dunks or layups but missed a couple of close shots around the basket. He has already a big body and knows how to use in order to gain a favorable position over the defenders. He should see a lot more minutes from next season on in the French championship and it will be interesting to see at what level he will be after a full season of professional basketball.

With the growth of Seraphin, his team Cholet Basket also grew in terms of competition it faced. While they played in the 3rd class EuroChallenge during the 2008/2009 season, the team from Western France qualified for the 2nd class Eurocup in 2009/2010. In the same line, Seraphin improved his game and averaged good 6.5ppg, 6.5rpg and 1.2bpg in this competition. In December 2009, I scouted him during a Eurocup game against Crvena Zvezda Belgrade. His game looked already improved despite a slow start into the season with a multitude of DNP-Coach Decision games.

Down low, once he has got the ball, he can easily dominate against smaller or less physical players than himself. The jump hook looks currently to be his main offensive weapon as he can use it either by turning to the baseline or by turning to the middle. Close to the basket, he looks to be ambidextrous even if he mainly uses his right hand for the hook. However, you could see him for example go for a nice post move where he used his left hand to turn around his defender and score on an underhand finger-roll. He also shows surprising mobility and speed in the post as he can also go baseline for underhand reverse layups.

Next to his low post game, he started to show some face-up game as well and how to use his interesting speed and explosiveness.

From the top, he can attack the basket with one to two dribbles, finish after a spin move or on a short jump shot. Seraphin is quite explosive off his two feet and dunks the ball with ferocity. He can run the break as a trailer but needs to be more effective on the finish of those situations as he got for example rejected on a layup attempt where he may have gone for a dunk. He showed the right reaction after that play as he has learned how to finish and concluded the next play with a massive one-handed thunder dunk after one dribbling.

The NBA Draft seemed to come closer and with the announcement of his name as an early-entry candidate was not a big surprise. With the successful season of his team Cholet and a long run in the French playoffs, you could imagine already that Seraphin was not able to workout for a lot of teams or participate to the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. Additionally, a slight knee injury even took him out of the court for the French finals and reduced his visits to NBA Franchises only to Interviews and psychological tests. What looked on one hand as a handicap for him as he could not show his skills to interested NBA teams, those franchises that really wanted him and scouted him back in Europe knew that they have an advantage. With the announcement of David Stern as 17th pick and the trade of the Bulls sending him to the Wizards, the dream of the Cayenne native has come true.

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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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Ryan Richards from Great Britain is probably one of the more surprising choices if you only consider his past years in Europe. But the Brit has one clear goal in his mind which is the NBA despite all odds. Even going through the D-League process is an option for him so he stays in the Draft despite having not the best cards according to the different Mock Drafts. Richards has done a multitude of workouts over the last weeks and nearly every NBA Team should have seen him at least once. The potential is of course there, the doubts remain about his career choices so far and the fact of staying in the Draft and taking the risk of going undrafted or through the D-League is yet another one. The examples of some French players that took this way like Ajinca or Mahinmi and still struggle to get serious minutes on the NBA level are not hindering Richards to work his way through this direction.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Tibor Pleiss from Germany is currently still competing to win the Bundesliga title with Brose Baskets Bamberg (5.8ppg 8.0rpg 1.3bpg over the 4 Finals so far, the last game being played today). The rumors in Germany say that he has a promise by the Oklahoma Thunder at #26 but everybody knows that this may change with the NBA Draft coming closer. The German Center has also declared on multiple occasions that he will not play in the NBA next season preferring to stay in Europe to earn some Euroleague experience before moving over. This is certainly the better way as game experience on the highest possible level for the player’s abilities is an asset that nobody can take you away afterwards. Pleiss is on the right track and if the NBA does not work out for him, he will most likely be a long-lasting Euroleague-level center for the next decade.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Kevin Seraphin from France is the only candidate that is getting some consideration at the moment from all the different Mock Drafts despite being injured and not available for workouts. The Draft masters of Comsport (his agents) are certainly knowing exactly what they do by letting Seraphin in the pool for the 2010 edition. The teams that seriously consider the French Center have seen him in action during the season and additional workouts could even hurt his stock if he can not compete at full force. Seraphin’s team Cholet won the French championship and qualified for the Euroleague so that if Seraphin stays another year in Europe, he is sure to play at the highest level outside the United States and an additional year of experience will help him to be more NBA-ready, something that he is not at the moment.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: #22 by Portland, NBADraft.net: #32 by Oklahoma

Thomas Heurtel staying in the Draft is one of the big surprises of the announcement of the 14th June. The French PG played an interesting camp in Treviso and he probably impressed enough NBA Teams so that he chose to remain eligible for the Madison Square Garden ceremony. He is currently in the United States to work out for a couple of selected NBA Teams but it will still be somehow of a surprise if he gets selected on the 24th June. Heurtel’s game may be closer to the NBA standard than to the Euroleague but his physical limits may be a problem for him. He is still under contract with ASVEL Villeurbanne for three more seasons which is a point that NBA Teams consider. But getting a hand on him now is an option that some franchises probably consider for the future.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: #52 by Boston, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Dusan Korac stays in the Draft but remains a total unknown to me as to probably all of the NBA Teams.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

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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 check out the second part of the NBA Draft Early entrants from Europe. This list contains mainly those players where the presence for the NBA Draft 2010 has only been announced a few days before the early entry deadline.

Xavi Rabaseda – 1m99 – SG – FC Barcelona – 1989

A somehow surprising name here as Rabaseda has never been mentioned in any Draft related articles. It looked like he will play his career in Europe but with this presence, he shows to have NBA ambitions at least somewhere in his mind. The Barcelona player saw his minutes mainly for Cornella this season in LEB Gold and will most likely not be a name in the Draft in the end.

Prediction: withdraws

Stefan Bircevic – 2m09 – PF – Metalac – 1989

Unknown player to me that used this opportunity to get his name around and may be present at the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. He saw some minutes in the Balkan League and the Serbian League this season but nothing really to hit the eyes from a statistical point of view.

Prediction: withdraws

Uros Lukovic – 2m12 – C – Radnicki – 1989

What counts for Bircevic is also the case for Lukovic: not very known so far but having played some minutes in the Serbian League and signed with the same agent. We will see what he is able to do in Treviso in June if he gets an invitation.

Prediction: withdraws

Bangaly Fofana – 2m12 – C – ASVEL – 1989

The French Center is certainly one of the main prospects when it comes to athletic and physical gifts. However, Fofana could so far not really crack the tough rotation of ASVEL on a regular basis. He showed sometimes that he can be a factor but still remains really raw. As ASVEL is out of reach for the French playoffs, it is highly likely to see him Treviso where he may impress some NBA teams with his potential.

Prediction: withdraws

Pablo Aguilar – 2m03 – SF/PF – Granada – 1989

Pablo Aguilar had a really nice showing last year in Treviso and there were certainly some NBA teams that have put his name in the books. This year he is back as an early entry candidate and it depends on the ACB playoffs where Granada is not sure to qualify if the forward will be in Treviso again or not. His fundamentally sound play is certainly very interesting for the highest European level but for NBA teams, Aguilar must play fully on the SF spot to be a factor.

Prediction: withdraws

Ousmane Camara – 2m04 – PF – Le Havre – 1989

Camara is a surprising presence here as the French Center could only crack the rotation of the weak Le Havre team late this season. His potential seems to be limited as well as he has neither the size for playing C nor the ball handling skills to move outside the paint. Treviso will be a good opportunity for him to showcase what he is able to do.

Prediction: withdraws

Miralem Halilovic – 2m06 – SF – Fenerbahce – 1991

The Bosnian forward was already last year in Treviso as a late addition and maybe did not get the most looks at as not everybody was aware of him. Still, Halilovic has a good combination of size and skills and can be an interesting player down the road once he gets regular playing time on a good level.

Prediction: withdraws

Dusan Korac – Centar BP – 1991

Totally unknown and no information available on him for me.

Prediction: withdraws

Luc Louves – 2m07 – PF – Maurienne – 1989

Louves has not been seen on courts in France for quite a long time. After leaving Orléans this summer for Aix-Maurienne in the second French division, he did not play one game there so far. 

Prediction: withdraws

Fernando Raposo – 2m06 – PF – Pau-Lacq-Orthez – 1989

The French-Portuguese Fernando Raposo comes of a season in the 2nd French division where he had lots of troubles to get into his rhythm because of injuries. And later on, he went through lots of ups and downs which certainly did not help his draft stock. He will probably be in Treviso and needs to have a better showing there than last summer where he did not really impress anyone.

Prediction: withdraws

Semen Shashkov – 2m00 – SF – Ural Ekaterinburg – 1989

It’s time for Shahskov to show something as the former top prospect is currently playing in the 2nd Russian League only. His potential is of course interesting but so far, he could never really impress anyone with results. Maybe Treviso 2010 will be his coming out party as at least he saw some minutes this season on a correct level.

Prediction: withdraws

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Today, the NBA released the official Early Entry Candidates List for the NBA Draft 2010. You can find the list of all the European players here. We will go through all of them and check where they will probably end up.

Kevin Serpahin – 2m05 – C – Cholet Basket – 1989

The French Center plays his first full season as a professional on the Starting Center position. Even if he had a lot of ups and downs in his performances, the Cholet-bound player is an interesting prospect in terms of NBA potential. Cholet is playing an excellent season and is about to qualify for the Euroleague which may influence the future of the 2m05 tall player. If Cholet runs deep in the French playoffs, Seraphin will mostly likely miss the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. Additionally, the French Finals are played on the 14th of June which is the Early Entry Withdrawal date. In the case, Cholet goes to the Finals, Serpahin may have no possibility to do individual workouts for NBA Teams which can hurt his stock. In any case, Seraphin will probably stay another year in Europe to play in the Euroleague with either Cholet or a different team.

Prediction: stays in the Draft

Thomas Heurtel – 1m88 – PG – Strasbourg – 1989

The question that we have discussed earlier this year is to know if Thomas Heurtel has progressed. The opinions were diversified and there came even the question on his future position, PG or SG. Right now, Heurtel does not really look like an NBA prospect and he put his name in certainly to test the waters and see if there are NBA teams that show interest in him. He will most likely be at the Eurocamp which is an event where he probably will excel with his flashy play.

Prediction: withdraws

Antoine Diot – 1m91 – PG – Le Mans – 1989

Is Antoine Diot an NBA player or not? The French guard is currently progressing in nearly every domain and will certainly become a high-level Euroleague player in the future. He has already lots of experience at a young age and plays the typical European basketball. His limits in creativity and athleticism will probably hurt him in terms of NBA potential but you never know. He will probably miss the Eurocamp also because of the potential of Le Mans to go deep in the French playoffs.

Prediction: withdraws

Edwin Jackson – 1m91 – SG/PG – Rouen – 1989

Together with Thomas Heurtel, Jackson represents the group of ASVEL players loaned out to a different team in France. The player from Rouen has the athletic tools and mentality to play in the NBA but a limited size for the SG position and still underdeveloped PG skills will hurt him down the road. Jackson will certainly by a good competitor in the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso and he needs to use this opportunity to boost his stock.

Prediction: withdraws

Andrew Albicy – 1m78 – PG – Paris-Levallois – 1990

The name of Andrew Albicy was quite a surprise for me when it was announced as the tiny PG from Paris has never been hyped up in France as a potential NBA player. The force of the U20 National Team player is of course his defense and he will compete during the Adidas Eurocamp with the U20 French team as guest. He uses this Draft to put his name on the boards of the teams that did not know him but in the end, he will most likely not play in the NBA one day.

Prediction: withdraws

Robin Benzing – 2m08 – SF – ratiopharm Ulm – 1989

The German forward played an excellent first season on the Bundesliga level after having his break out event at the Eurobasket in Poland. Benzing has an excellent combination of skills, height and speed but had lots of trouble on the defensive end. He is a below average rebounder for his size and needs to gain in strength. He will be at Treviso for sure and will certainly be a player that gets a lot of looks by NBA teams before the withdrawal date. And depending on what he will hear, he may stay in the Draft.

Prediction: withdraws

Tomasz Nowakowski – 2m09 – PF – Luka Koper – 1990

The Polish player came into the Draft as a total unknown so the main goal of his early entry is already reached: people know his name and at least check out who he is. He will probably be in Treviso for the Eurocamp where all the teams can evaluate him.

Prediciton: withdraws

Ryan Richards – 2m06 – PF – BBC Monthey – 1991

The British player is one of the youngest players that has entered his name this spring and he is all about potential at the moment. After an odyssey throughout Europe over the last seasons, Richards has settled down in Switzerland but he has not played a game there since March. He will probably be at the Adidas Eurocamp in June.

Prediction: withdraws

Mindaugas Kuzminskas – 2m03 – SF/PF – BC Siauliai – 1989

The Lithuanian forward had a nice Treviso camp last summer and entered his name to the Early Entry list this spring. He played an excellent season both in Baltic League and Eurocup and may go back to Zalgiris this summer as return on the loan. Kuzminskas tests the water this year to see his value for the NBA Draft and may remain in the pool if he likes what NBA teams will tell him. The big time potential is however not there.

Predicition: withdraws

Bojan Bogdanovic – 2m02 – SG/SF – Cibona Zagreb – 1989

Finally, Bogdanovic plays on the highest level after travelling through lower Spanish divisions for several years. He boosted his stock in terms of an NBA future nicely this season but is he the type of player NBA teams are looking for. I have some doubts if he will be at the Eurocamp in a month but the NBA teams had enough possibilities to scout him in real conditions so that those teams that may want to draft him should be aware of his qualities.

Prediction: may stay in

Tibor Pleiß – 2m14 – C – Brose Baskets – 1989

The German Center made a big step forward this season as he is a starter for an ambitious Bundesliga team. His presence on the defensive end as shot blocker is excellent and he also made some progress in his physical presence. Offensively, he is developing and he has still a major potential upside. Being seven foot tall and far from being stiff, he is certainly one of the European players in this Draft getting the most attention. It is highly possible that he won’t be in Treviso because of the German playoffs.

Prediction: stays in

Donatas Motiejunas – 2m13 – PF/C – Benetton Treviso – 1990

With the absence of Jan Vesely, the Lithuanian forward is the biggest stock from Europe this year. Combining excellent basketball skills with great size, Motiejunas is one of the players that lots of teams like because he has no real counterpart in College Basketball. He may be at the Adidas Eurocamp, living just next door. He may end up being the only European in the 1st round if he stays in which seems to be not so sure according to different sources.

Prediciton: stays in

The 2nd part of the analysis will follow later.

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The German Center Tibor Pleiss gave recently an Interview to spox.com where he spoke about very interesting details on his past but also showed some surprise about the interest NBA Teams are having for him. You can read the full Interview in German here, I summed up the main parts in English.

Tibor Pleiss on his weight

I gained 30 kilos in 1.5 years. I always wanted to gain in weight as I was too thin for my height and I spoke to several nutritionists. It didn’t really help though, so I drunk a full bottle of water before games to feel mentally stronger. At one moment, I started to eat way too much. When I was still playing in Cologne, the team could get free meals at Burger King. That’s why we went there often and when some of my team mates bought too much, they told me to eat their rests, which I did. Also, at the sports school where I lived back then, I always filled 3 to 4 plates with food and took them to my room and ate it.

At one moment, my body did not react anymore and I never had a feeling of being sated. That’s why I had a stress fracture in my foot afterwards as the muscles and bones were not prepared for the gained weight. I had to sit out half a year and came back as a totally new player. I gained weight and felt stronger but lost my speed and mobility. So I lost some weight again. What happened can not happen again, I pay attention on my nutrition now. I want to add 3-4 more kilos of muscles but I feel pretty well now with 116-117 kg.

Pleiss on his development over the season

I came to Bamberg with the hope of playing 10 minutes per game. But now, I am the Starting Center and get about 20 minutes. I need though to become more regular and being present on both ends of the court. It is not enough when I score a lot in one game but I am not present in defense. This is a mental problem. Sometimes, I think too much instead of just playing intuitively and free. I tell myself to be aggressive and then miss the layup because of over-aggressiveness.

Too much thinking is not good, but I consider my analytical mind as one of my strengths though. I try to read what my opponent does und analyze their moves to get a strategic advantage by good positioning. Slowly, I start to know how to play against the best Centers in the league. Dirk Bauerman, the German NT coach, helps me a lot in this process. I can call him at all time and he comes once a week to Bamberg to practice with me.

Pleiss on the NBA

I know what I can do on the court. And I know, that I want to play in the NBA. Until now, I always progressed step-by-step. This is the way I earned the starting job in Bamberg. And that’s why I believe that I can make it in the NBA. I don’t know if there has been a lot of interest by NBA teams this season as they don’t tell me when they come. I heard that there has been a scout once but I have no idea from which team. In Cologne, it was a bit different as such info was going around faster. Back then, scouts from the 76ers and the Raptors came to practice.

Spain has been an option before this season because I thought that it would be easier to reach the NBA by playing in Spain. Real Madrid and some other teams tried to convince me to sign for them. But I learned that a season in a top league is not absolutely necessary to make the step to the United States. I see how my former team mate Marcin Gortat did it. But this year, the NBA Draft comes too early, I still have two years of contract with Bamberg where I want to develop at best. I feel how much upwards potential I still got.

I know that I have a certain market value, however I still think that it is surreal that there are people in the US that follow exactly what I do and that are interested in me. That sounds strange to me.

Tibor Pleiss on the past Eurobasket

In the first games, we played against Serbia with NBA Center Nenad Krstic. To be honest, I did not even know who he was. I want to play in the NBA but besides Dallas and Dirk, I don’t follow the league that much, at least for the moment. Because of the games at the Eurobasket, I gained a lot of confidence as I saw that I can play on that level. Now I hope to get more minutes at the World Championship this summer, Chris Kaman being present or not.

The Interview has been realized by Haruka Gruber for spox.com.

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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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