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

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

Stats: 7.8ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.0apg

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

Stats: 7.0ppg, 4.3rpg, 5.5apg

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

Stats: 8.0ppg, 3.0rpg

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

Stats: 7.0ppg, 4.3rpg, 1.3bpg

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

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

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

Stats: 10.3ppg, 4.5rpg

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

Stats: 5.5ppg, 2.5rpg

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

Stats: 5.3ppg, 2.8rpg, 1.3apg

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

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

Stats: 4.0ppg, 2.5apg 2.3topg

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

Stats: 10.5ppg, 7.0rpg

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

Stats: 9.7ppg (5/11 3FG)

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

Stats: 14.3ppg, 3.3rpg

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

Stats: 4.5ppg, 6.8rpg

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

Stats: 7.5ppg, 2.3rpg

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

Stats: 7.3ppg, 4.3rpg

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

Stats: 7.0ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.3bpg

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

Stats: 4.3ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.5apg

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

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

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

Stats: 8.5ppg (72.7% 3FG)

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

Stats: 10.5ppg 6.3rpg 1.3bpg

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

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After a nice performance during the 2009 edition of the Nike Hoop Summit, a lot of observers had high hopes on the French Kevin Seraphin this season. With a newly signed three-year deal for Cholet, the 1989 born and 2m05 tall inside player had however a rough start into the season as he saw several DNPs or limited minutes. But the recent roster changes gave him several opportunities to show his talent and we go over him and his potential today.

Seraphin mainly plays in and around the key. You can rarely see him step out to the three point line, except if it is for transferring the ball on side swings. With his massive body, his area where he creates the most damage is clearly in the paint. However, he can be an interesting asset in pick and roll situations but I did not see him that often in game situations going for the pick. He prefers to bang down low, post up and use his variable back to the basket game.

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.

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.

Defensively, Seraphin holds his own in the low post, even if he is in trouble when he faces opponents that match him physically. He is present in the paint for block shots as he can go up quickly and reject the shots with both hands. However, he jumps a bit too often and puts himself in foul trouble situations through this. With a bit more high level experience, the 1989 born Center will avoid these situations. At least, it looks like after Nando de Colo and Rodrigue Beaubois, Kevin Seraphin is the next prospect coming out of the Cholet Basket youth systems that can get a look at in the NBA Draft, maybe even in 2010.

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The website of the French Espoirs League has published recently an article about the 5 former Espoirs players to follow this season. I took the freedom to translate the article into English and tell you about the 5 players that want to confirm their potential this year.

Kevin Séraphin (2m05 – PF/C – 1989 – Cholet Basket)

Kevin Séraphin is without any doubt one of the most promising players of the French ProA League, he is the symbol of the 1989 generation that has won the Silver Medal this summer at the U20 European Championship in Greece. After having integrated Cholet Basket in 2006, Séraphin has improved every year and is now at the edge of having an impact on the professional level. He finished the Espoirs League with 15.8ppg and 8.3rpg last year and led them to the National Championship in his age category.

Séraphin has a tremendous physical presence for a player of his age. He knows how to use it and took profit out of in the different youth championships. However, when he will play against professional players, this advantage has gone. He needs to polish his inside game in order to have different scoring options. Right now, he mostly scores on jump hooks, coming of both hands. In the season opener for Cholet last weekend, Séraphin did not play though.

Steeve Ho You Fat (2mo1 – Forward – 1988 – Antibes)

Ho You Fat played together with Séraphin in Cholet last season but he decided to leave his team on loan to the ProB squad of Olympique Antibes. The athletic and versatile PF made this choice in order to get playing time, become stronger and to confirm his talent. He is an excellent shot blocker, has a good touch in the paint and can also score from mid range. He started his season nicely with an average of 21 minutes per game. During the time on the court, Ho You Fat managed to scored 8.0ppg and grab 3.7rpg so far.

Seidou N’Joya (1m89 – Guard – 1989 – SLUC Nancy)

The Espoirs League 1st team member Seidou N’Joya is now ready to make the next step and get minutes with SLUC Nancy. He has so far been blocked by his nationality as he occupied one of the foreigner spots being from Cameroon. But this season, the SLUC staff decided to bring him as 2nd PG of the team. He has dominated in the Espoirs League where he finished the season with 12.4ppg (65.2% FG), 5.9apg, 2.1spg and 6.6rpg which are huge statistics for a PG. His season opener with the professionals was however not crowned with success as N’Joya could not avoid the defeat at home and played only 7 minutes for 1 point.

Nobel Boungou-Colo (2m02 – Forward – 1988 – Hyères-Toulon)

Nobel Boungou-Colo was the reason why Orléans had a nice season in the Espoirs League and finished the Trophée du Futur at the second place. The highly athletic wing finished his season with 15.7ppg, 8.6rpg and a stunning 4.2spg. Boungou-Colo lives essentially from his physical abilities and his speed which gives him the possibility to beat his opponents on the drive and finish close to the basket. He absolutely needs to develop his outside shot to become a player on the professional level. But he has all the tools to become a high-level defender and the move to sign with HTV is certainly a good decision even if he had only 4 minutes in the opening game of the ProA League.

Bangaly Fofana  (2m12 – Center – 1989 – ASVEL)

Probably the biggest long-term potential of this group of players is the 2m12 tall Bangaly Fofana. Displaying extraordinary athletic abilities, Fofana will already earn minutes in the plethoric ASVEL roster this season and gain in experience for the future. His basketball technique is not yet developed because of his only recent integration of high level basketball but players with his combination of size and athleticism are rare and attract observers from all levels. He will play both Espoirs and professional team with ASVEL this season and after the excellent opening at the “Match des Champions” where he scored 10pts in 19 minutes, Fofana was calmer once the regular tipped off two weeks ago. However, he is the only one of all these five guys to play on the highest European level as he will be a member of the ASVEL Euroleague roster.

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The Nike Hoop Summit 2009 has seen the first victory of the World Select team since Dirk Nowitzki in 1998. The team of coach Rob Beveridge took over the lead in the final minutes of the game despite being athletically far behind the more spectacular US kids. Being more limited in that are was not a big surprise but the more intelligent and clutch play in the last quarter secured this big win. Beveridge said after the game that it was the most intelligent group of big guys he has coached in his 5 year experience of the Hoop Summit. Let’s talk a look at the players that used the event to boost their stock.

Milan Macvan (Serbia – 2m06 – PF – 1989) 23pts 14rebs 6asts

If there was one player that was supposed to struggle in this type of competition because of his lack of athletic abilities, it was Milan Macvan. But what a show he put on the floor in Portland, displaying that basketball is all about fundamentals, shooting and knowledge of the game. He outsmarted the whole US frontcourt with fakes and a massive presence on the offensive glass and you could easily see that he is the player that is currently active on the highest competition level  (EuroCup) of all the present guys.

Macvan, despite being undersized and slower than his opponents, showed a nice arsenal of offensive weapons that nobody could really respond. He excels in pick-and-roll or pop situations where his massive screens put the US team several times in trouble because they could not read his offensive positioning. As Macvan has deep range, he hit one shot in the money time to seal the game a good meter behind the NBA three point line, it is very difficult to defend him because he is not afraid of driving where he can protect the ball very well.

Out of these drive situations, he has a great court-vision to dish the ball to his open team mates. Defensively, Macvan tries to play more with his basketball understanding than with athletic abilities and speed. Laterally, you see him struggle when being attacked of the dribble but a faster opponent. This lack of athleticism may prevent him from being a real NBA prospect, but for the European level, he has every tool to become a dominant PF in a near future.

Donatas Motiejunas (Lithuania – 2m15 – PF – 1990) 21pts 8rebs

Donatas is one of these incredibly talented 1990 born Bigs with the combination of size and pure basketball talent. Together with Jan Vesely and Tomislav Zubcic, they represent the future of European basketball of this age category, not to speak of Ricky Rubio. Motiejunas came to Portland fully motivated despite missing the Final Four of the Baltic Challenge Cup with his home team. And right from the start of the game, you could see the talent level of Motiejunas is tough to be matched.

He started the game with two nice drives of his left hand where no defender had a chance to stop him. Out of these drives, he can go for a perfect kick out pass for the open shooter or finish of some kind of running hook shot, a shot that he handles also with his right hand. When posting up, he often goes for some kind of turn around jump shot, which he executes on both sides and that he knocks down even when being fouled.

In this game, Motiejunas was not highly present on rebounding, but his size and mobility give him the possibility to grab a nice amount of missed shots. His current position is being the PF but depending on the matchups, he can play either the SF or the C position during stretches. He is now back to Lithuania and will discuss the possibility to enter the NBA Draft with his parents and agent. He is certainly not ready yet to play on that level right now as he is physically only average at the moment. And the question how he develops when gaining weight has still to be answered.

Tomislav Zubcic (Croatia – 2m11 – PF – 1990) 17pts 5rebs 2blks

The Croatian forward has a really nice showing in this game despite playing a lot on the SF position because of the somehow strange selection of the World Squad that had no real SF on his roster. But Zubcic showed his nice versatility and ability to handle the ball. In certain press situations, he even took over the PG job to bring the ball up and use his size to pass the ball above the shorter US guards that were setting up the defense.

Zubcic used his size and timing to be very present on the offensive glass where he managed to capture several offensive rebounds and either finishing them with a layup or giving a nice pass to his team mate bigs. He had several strong drives of the baseline where he finished despite being fouled pretty hard at times. His nice execution speed helps him to gain advantage when he is guarded by a bigger player.

Nikos Pappas (Greece – 1m93 – PG – 1990) 10pts 3asts 3stls

After having put on a big show at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim one year ago, it was time again for Pappas to shine a little bit on the international scene. The Greek guard that plays currently in Spain showed that he is a nice scoring talent and can hit the three ball without any problem in catch and shoot fashion. To create a clean shot against the more athletic US guards is however not his strength and you could see Pappas sometimes go for some difficult running floaters, which he can hit even when jumping of the wrong foot.

I don’t know if it is because it is on TV, but to me, Pappas looked a bit faster on his drives where he beat the defense several times to finish of a layup. He can create for his team mates when driving to the hoop but he struggled sometimes to bring up the ball against the highly aggressive defense and needed the help of Zubcic to come over mid-court. Far away from being a NBA prospect right now, Pappas will probably move into the direction of becoming a solid Euroleague player in the next years and a constant member of the Greek national team once the current generation has retired.

Kevin Seraphin (France – 2m06 – C – 1989) 8pts 9rebs 4blks

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 big 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.

Watch here below the highlights of the game. (Courtesy of OregonLive)

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