European Prospects

In general, not a lot of good forward material was present in Douai. The most talented one would have been Tomislav Zubcic but he was not present with the Croatian National team. So I included some PF into this category in order to have some guys to talk about.

Carmel Bouchman was the surprising SF of the All-Tournament team. Surprising for two reasons. He barely played the SF position but mostly was working in the paint. And secondly, a SF Tournament team spot could have also been awarded to Mario Delas for example if they consider Bouchman as a SF. Whatever…

The 2m05 tall Forward from Maccabi Tel Aviv tried a lot of three pointers in the beginning of the first game I saw him in Douai. As he missed them all, he went a bit more under the basket to play some post game. During all his plays, he looks rather upright in his body but showing good control and knowing how to use his long frame to score.

Bouchman scored a lot of his baskets while cutting perfectly into open areas where he received the ball. Thanks to his correct athleticism, he can score in the paint but also with good shooting touch from outside the key. Additionally, he sees the cutters himself and is not afraid to give the nice dish to them if they are open.

Mario Delas is one of my favorite forwards of the 1990 generation. The Croat plays fundamentally based basketball and has all-around skills. His 2m08 give him the ideal size for the European Euroleague forward which may be his future in a couple of years. With his already nicely developed body, he makes a lot of damage in the paint but can also play from outside if he has a bigger defender.

In his post up game, where he can score in different ways by fade-away shots or back to the basket moves, he also can go for the nice pass for the cutter from the weak side. Hard fouls don’t bother him as he can score even when he gets hacked in the break or on the layup. As he is fairly athletic, Delas is also not afraid at all to throw down a big dunk in traffic if needed.

He has also a nice timing to block shots, even if his defensive game is not based on pure athletic skills. He is more a finesse and technique player, also on the defensive end of the court. In the game for the third place, he totally outplayed Maik Zirbes who guarded him during stretches as he used his nice speed to beat the German big guy off the dribble every time.

Furkan Aldemir is a 1991 born forward from Turkey who may not be the biggest statistical contributor but he is doing all the dirty work that you don’t see on the sheet afterwards. He is a nice athletic shot blocker who has also a good offensive rebounding presence. Offensively, he looks pretty limited so far, but in a Turkish team with a lot of scoring options, he is not the first option either. His contribution comes from setting hard screens and battling in the paint.

Chrislain Cairo, the 1991 born forward from INSEP, did a nice job coming of the bench to bring his athletic abilities and aggressiveness to the court. Playing a bit a similar role than Aldemir for Turkey, Cairo was more present on the offensive end where he also showed correct shooting touch from mid-distance.

Niels Giffey was the all-around forward for the German team that finished on a surprising 4th place. He is another 1991 born player that excels on the defensive end of the court where he even guarded the Croatian 2m10 beast Leon Radosevic in post-up moves. Giffey can play nearly all the positions from 1-4 on this level, which he showed also with the NBBL team of ALBA Berlin in the Top4. His well developed basketball fundamentals help him on the offensive end to get his scores. With one year more, he should be a pretty decent forward next season.

Mamadou Samb did not play anymore the Sunday’s game as he headed back to Barcelona. During Saturday’s action, he showed his nice arsenal of offensive scoring possibilities. Baseline jump shot is present as well as jump hook moves coming from the post. He was clearly the most developed player of the whole Adidas Nations Africa team.

Bandja Sy did play a nice tournament in Douai. The forward, that is currently at the Gran Canaria Basketball Academy is a terrific athlete who possesses also interesting basketball skills. He netted some nice three pointers even if he sometimes tends to jump a bit forward when taking his hsots. His ballhandling still remains a bit weak but this can be further developed in the future. A nice prospect for the future.