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Generation Ranking: 1989 born players

January 21st, 2010 · No Comments

After the 1988 born generation, we take a look today at the 1989 born players. In general, it is one of the poorer generations in Europe over the last years, so  the number of outstanding players is limited. However, several players have already reached a very good level in Senior basketball which gave their respective nations a good boost in the Ranking.

  1. France
    Yet another first place for France as the French 1989 generation was probably the most regular in terms of results. Additionally, several players improved their level over the years or only came out in the last seasons. With a clear-cut leader like Antoine Diot at the top, this French generation is however not as brilliant as the 1988, but Kevin Seraphin, Thomas Heurtel or Edwin Jackson will be good players down the road.
  2. Spain
    Two Bronze Medals and two high-level ACB players helped Spain get this second place. In fact, Pablo Aguilar and Pere Tomas have improved over the years and played a good season so far, despite the injury of the first one. And there are still several other players that will probably emerge on the ACB level in the next seasons like Xavi Rabaseda.
  3. Greece
    This was a tough choice as Greece dominated the U20 in 2009 and also had a Silver medal in 2007 with these players. However, the U20 Gold was mainly due to 1990 born players and the 1989 born top stars Kosta Koufos and Nick Calathes did not play this summer. Georgios Bogris played maybe a huge U20 summer but he struggles to fulfill the promises on the Senior level right now.
  4. Serbia
    Here is another tough call as the Serbian 1989 generation was boosted nearly by one player who is Milan Macvan. The PF led the team to Gold in 2007 at the U18 level but the rest of the players are not exceptional for Serbian standards. This is why it was only enough for a 4th spot.
  5. Lithuania
    The Lithuanian 1989 generation never reached a Medal in the three European Championships they played but still there are interesting players like Mindaugas Kuzminskas or Zygimantas Janavicius coming out.
  6. Germany
    1989 is probably the most talented German generation for years and it features several highly talented players. Elias Harris is rocking Gonzaga, Tibor Pleiss is progressing very well and Robin Benzing is on the way to become the new German SF sensation.
  7. Turkey
    Dogus Balbay led Turkey to Gold back in 2005 with the U16 National Team and the PG is now playing massive minutes for the #1 ranked College team Texas.
  8. Croatia
    Bojan Bogdanovic
    was once considered as an extraordinary talent but he chose only this season to really emerge on the Euroleague level after spending several years with Real Madrid’s reserve teams. However, the Croatian National Teams never really showed good results with the 1989 born players.
  9. Italy
    The Italians did not feature any outstanding players but it was enough to reach a good 4th place last summer with the U20 team. Nicolo Martinoni is standing out of the players however as the 2m01 tall player is doing very well for Varese this season.
  10. Latvia
    A surprising Bronze Medal with the U18 National Team back in 2007 was the highlight of the Latvian 1989 generation that has an outstanding scoring leader in Dairis Bertans.
  11. Ukraine
    Sergiy Gladyr
    is doing some damage in the ACB already but the rest of the generation was not strong enough to earn anything better than average rankings in the different European Championships.
  12. Russia
    The Russians have a 1989 generation with some interesting talents like Semen Shashkov or Dimitry Khvostov but they never could fulfill the expectations, at least not until now.
  13. Montenegro
    Sead Sehovic
    is the scoring leader of a talented Montenegrin generation and the emergence of USC forward Nikola Vucevic makes them a potential raiser in the rankings for the future.
  14. Slovenia
    Not a very talented year of birth for Slovenia but with limited potential, the players reached correct results on the U20 level. For the future however, there does not seem to be that much hope on these players to play for the Senior National team.
  15. Belgium
    A gold Medal at the U18 B Division back in 2007 was the highlight for the Belgian 1989 born players. Jorn Steinbach is currently playing a nice season in the US-dominated Belgian league and he could end up with a Senior NT spot in the near future.
  16. Sweden
    Jeffery Taylor
    rocks the rims for Vanderbilt and is one of the few NBA potentials from Europe born in 1989.
  17. Netherlands
    A surprising Gold Medal at the U20 B Division last summer give the Netherlands an unexpected 17th spot in the ranking behind their twin towers Hieronymus van der List and Thomas Koenis.
  18. Estonia
    Estonia reached a nice 12th place with their U18 back in 2007 but did not compete on the U20 level last summer.
  19. Georgia
    Giorgi Shermadini
    is an outstanding talent but the poor results of the Youth National Teams result in the ranking for Georgia.
  20. Czech Republic
    The Czech Republic managed to earn a Silver Medal at the U20 B Division this summer which helped them improve to division A and earn the 20th spot in this ranking.

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