Here is the part two of the NBBL Top4 Review.

Fabian Thülig (1m96 – SF – 1989 – Bonn/Rhöndorf)

Thülig had a tournament that was difficult to analyze as he probably could not play up to his possibilities due to foul trouble and injuries. Fabian is a player who looks like he is always fighting and showing extreme will on the court. He seems also to have a nicely developed basketball IQ which you could guess on some of his defensive plays.

On the offensive end, Thülig plays a lot inside despite his limited size for an inside player. He can hit an occasional three, but he mostly works inside the paint. He goes also for some nice drives where he loves to go baseline and score on laybacks. He can defend bigger post players as well and did a correct job on the press defense by stealing balls in the passing lanes.

Dominque Tholey (2m01 – SF – 1989 – Bonn/Rhöndorf)

Tholey had a good tournament as he was one of the first scoring options for the team from headcoach Pete Miller. Tholey has a nice size for a Small Forward and comes with a very nice jumpshot executed with excellent shooting touch. Additionally, he was present in rebounding and also showed some interesting presence in defense. Dominque will have a bigger role next season with his home team Dragons Rhöndorf that moves back to its roots which are the talent development.

Stefan Dinkel (1m83 – PG – 1989 – Breitengüssbach)

Dinkel played a good tournament according to his skills. He is a short but strong PG with great shooting skills. He went for incredible shooting series and hit for example 6 threes in one halftime. All of these shots came from catch and shot plays as he has serious trouble to create his own shot because of his short size. I doubt about his future development as he lacks the athleticism and speed to play a specialist shooter role on the professional level.

Dimitry McDuffie (1m98 – SF – 1989 – Breitengüssbach)

A player that can go for it all or totally bust. McDuffie has all the tools and skills to become a very interesting player. He can handle the ball, has a nice drive and has three-point range. However, he looks like being not really focused on what happens on the court and overplay in lots of situations. He totally missed his semi-final by firing from three instead of using his quick feet to pass his opponent with a drive. He definitely needs to clarify with himself what he wants to do on the court as he could develop well if focused to the game.

The next generation (91-92 borns)

Kevin Bright was clearly the player with the most impact of this age category. The Rookie of the Year showed an impressive debut in the semis where he scored the first 8 points of his team. Bright is also a great shooter from three-point area and has nice body control and already good athleticism. Definitely the leader of the German 92 generation.

Niels Giffey is present for several years now and he showed really interesting skills. Good defender and very versatile, Giffey played nearly every position during the tournament from PG to PF. He was also responsible for one of the most spectacular moves of the weekend with a nice hesitation move on the break concluded with a powerful one-handed dunk over the defense.

A player that may be worth to follow is the 2m01 tall guard Daniel Leithner. The left handed kid showed nice range in his shot. He did not see big minutes in the semi-final but showed some interesting skills during the Bronze medal game.

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• ALBA Berlin defeated Breitengüssbach in a relatively poor semi-final behind the nice scoring effort of Thomas Schoeps
• The second semi-final has been won like last year by Team Urspring. The guys from Southern Germany started with an incredible 16-2 run which they managed until the end of the game
• The tropical weather in Langen made a really heavy atmosphere in the gym. Extremely high humidity and temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius impacted the games.
• Maurice Stuckey came up with the most impressive performance of the semi-finals. One day after his 18th birthday, Stuckey hit 8 three pointers to score 28pts, grabbed 9 rebounds and stole 4 balls.
• The awards of the NBBL season were for Christian Standhardinger (MVP), Mathias Perl (Best defender) and Kevin Bright (Best youngster, born in 1992 or before)
• Bonn had to play without Sascha Wahlbröhl because he was not ready after his injury. For Urpsring, Thierno Agne had his comeback after a long pause.
• Michigan recruit Robin Benzing was also in the gym. He controlled the tickets of the spectators…

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In 10 days, the NBBL Top4 tournament will be played in Langen. On the 31st of May and the 1st of June, the German U19 champion will be decided. And the first thing to remember is that three of the four semi-finalist have already been at this stage of the competition last season. But let’s check the teams in general.

The first semi-final will be played between ALBA Berlin and TSV Tröster Breitengüssbach. The team from the German capital, that is coached by former North Carolina player Henrik Rödl, had quite a clear victory in the quarter finals against their rival from Berlin, IBBA. The team is led by 1989 PG Thomas Schoeps who is the top scorer of the team in the games he played during the regular season. He gets support from big guy Andreas Seifferth who recently signed a 3 year contract with the ALBA pro team. 14.7ppg and 8 rebounds are the numbers that are speaking in favor of the 2m05 tall youngster. Additionally, U18 National team player Niels Giffey is in the supporting cast for the only newcomer team of the 2008 Top4 tournament.

The big surprise is however the qualification of Breitengüssbach. With the loss of Tim Ohlbrecht, Karsten Tadda and Sajmen Hauer, I did not see them as strong this season. However, the team managed to beat TV Langen in a heavily disputed quarter finals where no team won a game on their own court. Europeanprospects.com reader Kris sent us a few of his thoughts as the was in Langen for the decisive game.

Stefan Dinkel and Marco Völler were the two guys that lead their respective teams. Dinkel was always there in the big moments with the three pointers. Völler had some great plays but he was too tired at the end as the rest of the Langen team that did not substitute enough to be fresh in the money time. This was the key factor in the game in my opinion. Dimitry McDuffie was really in a bad day, but played 37 minutes while shooting 0/10 from behind the arc. Robin Benzing was ok in the first half but after that, nothing anymore from him and he was also in foul trouble so that he could not go hard in defense. Erik Land did a great job in the post but he did not get enough possessions. He finished the game with 18pts and 7/12 shots.

So can Breitengüssbach also go over ALBA and reach the final, something they could not do last year. I think their chances are there as they really seem to have a team with alternatives coming from the bench. And they can even win big games when one of their top players is having a total nightmare day.

The other semi-final will be a remake of last year’s game between Team Bonn/Rhöndorf and Team Urspring. And even the main players of both teams are still the same. Bonn/Rhöndorf is having in Fabian Thülig its all-around player that does everything on the court. He leads the team in scoring and in steals which shows his skills on both ends of the court. Long-distance shooter Sascha Walbröhl needs one of his better days in order to give a possibility to his team to put some pressure on the guards. The player to watch is however U18 National team center Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann who showed exceptional progress over the last year and is the team’s best rebounder and shotblocker.

The main favorite in my eyes is of course the defending champion: Team Urspring. Having lost their big guys since last year, the addition of Maurice Stuckey gives them even more potential in the backcourt. The emergence of Kevin Bright brings also more possibilities on the wing where the most dominant scorer of the team is still Christian Standhardinger. The PG duties are executed by Frank Wiseler and you have still guys like Akeem Vargas or Thierno Agne doing their job. I could continue with some more people just to show how incredibly deep the Urspring roster is this season. So, I don’t think anyone can stop them during this Top4 and the 1989 born generation can probably end their NBBL career with back to back champion titles. But still, the games have to be played and Bonn/Rhöndorf is known for their extraordinary team effort and defense so the game may become closer than one thinks.

I will be present in Langen on both days and cover the games extensively. If you need further info, feel free to contact me.

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Elias Harris: 15pts (88%) 4rebs MVP

Extremely athletic forward who excelled with powerful drives which he finished easily on two handed power dunks. He goes to the offensive board where he can also finish with put back jams. Unselfish player who sees the open man when he drives and is not afraid to go for the dishes to the cutters. His athleticism is way above average for this level. His shot however looks a bit perfectible as he does not stretch out the arm completely when shooting. Defensively, he has good quickness and can block shots due to good timing and his leaping abilities. He is surely the best combination of physical gifts and basketball skills in his age category in Germany. His future is not sure at the moment as he will stay for another season very probably with his actual team in the third German league (ProB). After that, when he has finished his high school, he looks for a college scholarship.

Christian Standhardinger: 19pts (71% 9/11FT) 7rebs

The top scorer of the game. Standhardinger showed once again his great scoring skills. He draws a lot of fouls, especially in his right hand drives and in the open court where he excels in running the breaks. He has good size and very quick feet. He played SG during the game for some stretches but his future will probably be more on the SF position. His right hand is really his best offensive weapon, so far that you can say that his left drive is nearly non-existent. His only out shoot was taken out of balance from the top of the three-point line, and was missed.

Thomas Gajda showed why he is one of the best scorers in the NBBL. The forward has a very nice and fluid shot. He can also drive with nice direction changes or spin moves. He is working also in the rebound with an already good developed body and nice size for the SF position.

Thomas Schoeps had a good first half where he showed interesting skills on the PG position. He had a very difficult drive where he scored with the foul against several defenders. Not the best athlete and he was missing some of his mid-distance shots. He got a little injury in the second half.

Fabian Thülig is still the all-around guy we knew from last year’s NBBL Final Four. He is present everywhere on the court, doing a good job in rebounding but also having the ability to score, especially on hustle plays. He finished the game with 100% on his shooting.

Azeez Oladimeji was one of the players I was really curious to see for the first time. The 2m06 PF came to Oldenburg this season via the same agent that also brought former NBA player Olumide Oyedeji to Germany. Oladimeji impressed with good power moves but was very unlucky around the basket missing some dunks. His FT shots looked very ugly and he only made 1 out of 6 attempts. Defensively he had a lot of trouble defending the drives of Elias Harris in the beginning. All in all, he looks like a very impressive physical specimen but showed only limited basketball skills, at least in this game.

Robin Benzing who is considered as one of the top talents in Europe of the 1989 generation did not have a good game. His shot was not falling (1/6) and he looked very fragile. However, he is still impressive with his size running the floor standing 2m10 tall. He showed on the other hand a good defensive presence despite a still very underdeveloped body.

Stefan Schmidt may not have scored a lot, however he was another player that stood out in my eyes. The 2m08 tall Center showed good mobility for an inside player of his size. He is not the best athlete but showed good basketball IQ and also a very nice spin move basket in the paint. He is definitely a player to watch as he is also seeing already some limited minutes in the 2nd German league.

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