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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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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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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Tim Ohlbrecht and Tibor Pleiss played with the German National Team this summer during the Eurobasket 2009 in Poland. Both changed their Club teams this summer too so that it was time to take a closer look at them how they have adapted to their new environment in a year that can already decisive in terms of NBA Draft for one of them.

Tibor Pleiss joined Brose Baskets Bamberg this summer after his previous team of Cologne 99ers filed for bankruptcy and disappeared from the German Bundesliga. The 2m15 tall 1989 born player faced a serious challenge when signing in Bavaria as the local fans are known for being very tough on their own players, something that the later spoken of Ohlbrecht has experienced during two seasons. But now, after several games into the season, the decision to move one step forward and sign for a Eurocup team was the right decision for Pleiss, who has gained the Starting Center job in a team that wants to play for the German title.

Pleiss, who showcased his talent to the international scene with the different Youth selections is now playing his first full season in a competitive team. His obvious physical tools; great size, excellent wingspan, good speed and nice hands; combined with the talent to play and the experience he has already gained makes him one of the most promising Centers in Germany. He moves extremely well for a player of his size, running the floor up and down with nice speed. He is used a lot by his team in Pick-and-Roll situations where he rolls very well to the basket. However, he sometimes struggles to catch the passes out of these situations, especially when the ball comes on quick or high passes. Due to his lack of physical strength, he prefers the bounce pass for the catch and the immediate move up to finish. He recognizes the defense on Pick-and-Roll already pretty well for a young player as you can see him also fake the pick and roll immediately to the basket when his defender tries to hedge the screen.

The Bergisch-Gladbach native has excellent hands though for the finish. 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. However, he struggles to finish these actions as he is not strong enough to dunk the ball hard when being pushed by the defense. His excellent mobility offers him the possibility to beat his opponents of the dribble or by going for greatly executed spin moves with the ball.

On the negative side, you can notice that Pleiss lacks sometimes the necessary intensity on the highest level. When I talk about intensity, I don’t mean that he lacks the will to play hard, but it is more a physical intensity that he needs to force out of him and which does not come alone. His coach needs to push him hard in order to go hard on the court too and as a result, Pleiss forces himself to go for strong dunks instead of the layup. 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 overmatch 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.

Currently, Pleiss is averaging career numbers with 6.9ppg at 55.1% and 5.1rpg together with 1.3bpg in the Beko Bundesliga. In the Eurocup, he is at an even better pace with 9.3ppg at 64.7% and 5.3rpg. Being born in 1989, he is automatically eligible for the NBA Draft in 2011 (Draftexpress lists him at the end of the 1st round in their 2011 Mock since recently).He has not made any official statement so far if he wants to test the waters in 2010.

In the 2nd part, that will be published in the next days, I will talk about Telekom Baskets Bonn player Tim Ohlbrecht.

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

Automatically eligible in 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stats: 2.7ppg 2.7rpg 0.8spg

Future potential NBA Draft picks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stats: 2.2ppg 2.3rpg

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

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

Stats: 1.3ppg 1.0rpg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Per Günther (1m84 – PG – 1988 – ratiopharm Ulm)

Probably the biggest surprise of the season is the impact of Per Günther in Ulm. The young German PG came from ProA team Phoenix Hagen to Southern Germany this summer and the least you could say is that he started the season like crazy. Being the starter for Coach Mike Taylor’s team in the beginning of the season because of injuries, he led the team to an outstanding win in the difficult JAKO Arena of Bamberg. He is now back on the bench and brings his energy as a substitution player for a current Play off team.

Günther is mostly playing in a role as true point guard, bringing up the ball and setting up the plays. He developed his ball handling and struggles less against pressure defense now, a problem that he had throughout the last years. Offensively, he is not afraid to take the open lanes to drive to the basket and score in traffic. He is not overwhelmingly athletic but strong enough to finish against bigger guys.

Defensively, Günther is very present as an on-ball defender and you can see Ulm play some press defenses with him on the court chasing the opposing PG up and down the court. However, he needs to get a better long distance shooter in order to become a constant offensive threat. For his coach, all this development is on its best way as he explained europeanprospects.com recently.

Per has played his role in our team to perfection, providing energy off the bench, excellent transition play, attacking dribble penetration and outstanding ball pressure on defense.  What impresses me about Per is his poise and basketball IQ.  We have a complex system here in Ulm and it usually takes veteran players time to pick it all up.  With most young players we would scale back our stuff and reduce the amount of systems to help them but with Per, he has complete mastery of our systems.

Per is so quick he gets into the lane anytime he wants, has improved steadily in ball-screens, has opened up vision to passing lanes above the rim with taller players and has continued to work on his perimeter shooting.  With his outstanding ability to finish at the rim for a small player, Per must improve his perimeter shooting and when that happens he will be a great point guard.

Johannes Lischka (2m03 – SF – 1987 – LTi Giessen 46ers)

When looking at the stats, Johannes “Joe” Lischka is currently the best German player under 22 in the Bundesliga. And the recent injury of SF starter Maurice Jeffers gives the young Giessen 46ers more playing time that he knows how to use. Having changed his body completely over the last 2-3 years, loosing nearly 20kg, Lischka enjoys now a good size and athleticism to play the Small Forward position at the highest level.

Lischka is the type of player that does nothing spectacularly well but a bit of everything right. Rebounding, drives, three point shooting, he is present everywhere on the court and does only few mistakes. You can see him grabbing the defensive rebound and going for a coast-to-coast play finishing of a nice finger roll. His handles are correct and allow him to drive with power to the basket but always looking a bit slow. Check the video clip below for a typical Lischka drive.

Lischka has a three point shot but he does not use it that often with Giessen. However, with Giessen’s farm team in the German ProA where he still plays massive minutes, he has an excellent accuracy as he nails 48.8% of his long distance attempts and going for more than three shots per game. Currently, he gets more touches as the normal Starter on the SF is injured, but he could even see more shots as he is at 15/21 FG over these last three games.

Current Giessen 46ers assistant coach Gerald Wasshuber told us the following about Lischka and his potential.

His best scoring weapon is his strong drive to the basket and he can finish well near the basket because of his good body balance. Joe also has a very good shooting touch all the way up to the 3pt range. Besides his scoring abilities, he is a good rebounder on both ends of the court, because of his natural intuition for the ball and his strong body. Joe is used to play both forward positions, where he can be used for mismatches. His weaknesses are his lack of athleticism and his decision making, but on both things he still improves from year to year.

It would be no surprise to see Lischka as a member of the German National Team this summer during the Eurobasket as the SF position has some open spots because of the poor season so far of Konrad Wysocki and the probable non-participation of Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk Bauermann has already announced that Joe Lischka is among the top candidates to get a roster spot for Poland this September.

Tibor Pleiss (2m15 – C – 1989 – Köln 99ers)

The seven footer from Cologne has recently stepped up and is seeing regular and more interesting minutes. After several injuries over the last years, Pleiss seems finally to be healthy and is seeing the floor for around 10 minutes per game right now.

The main point where I see some progress in Pleiss game is his aggressiveness and confidence. In the league game against ALBA Berlin, he immediately knocked down an open jump shot from the baseline being 5 meter away. Additionally, he is not afraid to go for two handed dunks against opposition when catching the ball on a pick-and-roll situation.

Defensively, he is still lacking the necessary physical tools to battle in the paint but his long arms make him a nice shot blocker as he has the necessary timing to deflect the shots. The recent coaching change in Cologne may give him an additional boost in terms of playing time and we should normally see Pleiss at this year’s edition of the Reebok Eurocamp.

Tom Spöler (2m06 – SF – 1988 – Giants Düsseldorf)

One of the surprises of this end of the season is the impact that Tom Spöler is getting. After not seeing the court at all in the beginning of the season, Tom got some minutes because of injuries of some of the starters, and he used them pretty well. Not afraid at all and full of confidence, Spöler plays a role as long distance sniper and his shot looks pretty well and falls with high percentages.

He is currently mainly used in this role but it may be a specific reason as his team Giants Düsseldorf is a three point shooting squad and the players he replaced were playing the same role. We will see if he still sees the court when everybody is back in the rotation.

Karsten Tadda (1m92 – PG – 1988 – Brose Baskets Bamberg)

Tadda jumped into the Brose Baskets Bamberg rotation after several injuries in the backcourt of the former German champions. And the last you can say is that he did it pretty well. In his first game with significant minutes against Giants Düsseldorf, he immediately became a major factor by hitting 4 out of 4 three pointers and being a permanent defensive threat.

Tadda has now a role as defensive stopper as you could see him do a great job on Jason Gardner from Oldenburg today giving him a particularly tough job. The 1988 born guard had some open looks in the offense but two of his attempts from behind the arc were too short while his last shot, the possibility to tie the game for an overtime at the buzzer was blocked. The big thing though, at least for the game of tonight was that Coach Chris Fleming said before the game that Dan Dickau, who is back from injury is now only the third option. And Dickau did not play the whole game.

Two players that saw already big minutes the last season but had a more or less disappointing season so far are Philipp Schwethelm and Tim Ohlbrecht. While the first one had a good game tonight in a disastrous loss of his team from Cologne, Ohlbrecht came back tonight after multiple injuries and scored a nice three pointer and a dunk in just 5 minutes of game time.

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