European Prospects

The last group of this year’s Euroleague competition is a bit more limited in terms of interesting prospects by the number. However, there are some quality young men playing with the Group D teams. Here we go to present the most interesting of them.Union Olimpija Ljubljana

The Georgian Center Giorgi Shermadini came to Ljubljana on loan from Panathinaikos for this season in order get some playing time. Even if his minutes in the first game of the season yesterday were limited to about 16, he showed that he can be an interesting factor for the Slovenian team as he finished with 11pts but also 4 fouls. The 2m16 tall and 1989 born player has good hands and can run the floor well without being overly athletic. Shermadini mainly finishes close to the basket on the dishes of his team mates as he has not a large arsenal of back to the basket moves. He needs to better take care of his fouls as he will be needed to play a lot of minutes in Ljubljana this season.

Sasu Salin came a bit surprisingly to Slovenia this summer from Finland and he is a shooter in the tradition of the former Ljubljana player Teemu Rannikko. Salin is used mainly as a SG where he has a scoring role coming of the bench. He did also a good job in the opener during his minutes in the overtime where he played defense against the Efes Pilsen guards not allowing them any easy scores. I had already a longer story on him a few weeks ago which I recommend to read to get more info about the 1991 born guard.

Dino Muric got already some interesting minutes with Ljubljana in the Adriatic League this year. However, as all the transfer players got cleared to play in the Euroleague, the minutes for Muric will however not be very important in the major competition.

The 1992 born Jan Span may get a chance in a few years to be a factor for Union Olimpija. Right now, he will probably be limited to some garbage time minutes only this season.

Panathinaikos Athens

Giorgos Bogris comes of a learning season with Panathinaikos and wants to see more minutes this year. The 1989 born big guy knows how to score when being close to the basket and he will most likely develop into one of those typical European big guys with a limited but effective skill set, physical play and being used to set a lot of tough screens. The minutes behind Aleks Maric will however be limited as Panathinaikos has several experienced Greek big guys on the roster as well.

Nick Calathes got drafted already in 2009 by the Minnesota Timberwolves but the 1989 born guard decided to sign a 3-year deal with Panathinaikos afterwards.

Armani Jeans Milano

Nicolo Melli is one of the most talented Italian players of the current generations. The 1991 born player had already some major impact in the second league and got chased by AJ Milano over a long period. He will be used as a back-up on both forward positions as his great size gives him the possibility to be present as well inside and outside. Melli is effective on both positions as he has good athletic abilities and understands the game quite well. He is not forcing his game too much but he needs to become more regular from behind the arc if he wants to be used fully on the SF position in the future. His first season on the highest Italian and European level will show what the future development for Melli could be.

Power Elec. Valencia

Jose Simeon came a bit out of nowhere last season for Valencia as the 1991 born guard has never been a major factor for the Spanish youth National Teams. But Simeon moved quickly into a role of back-up PG in the second part of the season by averaging 3.0ppg and only 6 TOs in the 29 games he played. At the beginning of this season, his minutes are again a bit more limited as he is only the third option behind Omar Cook and Nando de Colo on PG. He should however make his Euroleague debut tonight versus Panathinaikos.

Efes Pilsen Istanbul

Burak Yuksel is part of the Efes Pilsen Euroleague roster but the 1992 born forward will most likely be limited to some garbage minutes if any.

CSKA Moscow

No major prospects to follow