European Prospects

With the U20 European Championships of Division A and B coming to an end last weekend, it was about time to update our Generation Ranking of the 199o born players. With the Gold Medals of France in the higher competition and Austria in the 2nd one, there have been some changes that we will go through in the following article.

1. Greece (-)
   Despite winning only the Silver Medal at the U20 European  Championship in Croatia, Greece remains at the top position because of the incredible depth of this generation. The big question is: When do these players break out on the Senior Level? The only player, who saw major minutes on the professional level was Nikos Pappas and it was him who was also the clear leader of the team in Croatia. It is now time for the others to step up if they want to continue to improve. 
2. Spain (-)
   Spain wins the Bronze Medal with a great team effort that was however built on mainly the 1991 born players. But the presence of the best PG in Europe with Ricky Rubio is the reason why this somehow limited Spanish 1990 generation remains at the second place of our Ranking.
3. France (+3)
   The Gold Medal came a bit as a surprise for the French team but the good development of players like Andrew Albicy, Alexis Tanghe and especially Paul Lacombe makes them a worthy 3rd best on the ranking. All of those three saw good minutes on the professional level which helped them to become better players. Despite having no top-level talent in the group, this generation may bring more senior National Team players in the future than previously expected.
4. Croatia (-1)
   What a disappointing ending for a generation that had the chance to win it all at home. Croatia featured the most talented 2m10 trio of the event but it was not enough. After the incredible win over Serbia in the quarter-finals, the players could not step up and go for more. Mario Delas is now the clear leader after his move to play Euroleague with Zalgiris Kaunas while the development of Tomislav Zubcic is questionable.
5. Russia (+4)
   This Russian generation came back to the top level after a poor U18 campaign and grabbed the 5th place after having won already the Silver medal during the U16 European Championship 4 years ago. Vladimir Ivlev was one of the most impressive players in Croatia from a statistical point of view as he averaged a double-double at 14.8ppg and 11.4rpg. None of the players has however made big-time impact on the professional level.
6. Lithuania (-2)
   The Lithuanian 1990 born generation is a bit of a strange thing as it features some high-level talent in Donatas Motiejunas but the team could never reach anything else than a Silver Medal on the U18s two years ago. Now, playing once again without the Treviso forward, the 1990 born players reached a 9th place and there is not much coming out at the moment which can be considered as a Senior National Team players of the future.
7. Serbia (-)
   One of the more average generations in Serbia without any clear-cut leader is the 1990 born group. Aleksandar Mitrovic lead the team in scoring during the European Championships and the Partizan Belgrade back-up is on the edge of getting a bigger factor on the Senior level. Andreja Milutinovic does already play an interesting role with FMP but he had a mediocre tournament compared to his talent. The rest of the team are mainly the 1991 born players.
8. Czech Republic (-)
   This was a discussable selection as the Czech Republic was relegated to Division B in the Croatian tournament. Despite the presence of the improving David Jelinek, the absence of the top-talent Jan Vesely explains the poor result this summer. But as Vesely is currently among the top-5 young players in Europe, I decided to have the Czech Republic at their position in our Ranking.
9. Montenegro (New entry)
   The big surprise of the tournament in Zadar was the 6th place of Montenegro with a generation featuring any big names. The team was lead by the Mornar Bar guard Vladimir Mihailovic who was not known as major talent before, at least to me. The rest of the team was built around the 1991 born players but this excellent result helped the small country to enter our ranking.
10. Ukraine (+3)
    Ukraine finished at the U20 European Championship with an excellent 8th place and were lead by their scoring duo Ruslan Otverchenko and Kyryl Natyazhko. The second one is expected to make some impact at Arizona next season while Otverchenko is looking to get more playing time in the local Superleague.
11. Latvia (-1)
    The Latvian 1990 generation is still around their previous level as they finished at the 11th spot in Croatia. They are lead by Lauris Blaus and Martins Laksa while Kristers Zeidaks continues to improve while playing in Italy for Casale Monferrato.
12. Turkey (-7)
    Turkey was probably one of the biggest disappointments in Croatia as the team finished at the 13th place despite having some talented players in their group. But it looks like this generation misses the necessary leadership in order to go for more as the performances have dropped year after year.
13. Italy (-1)
    A mediocre generation that was boosted by the scoring talent of a two-years younger Gentile and reached a correct 10th place during the European Championship. Roberto Rullo or Daniele Sandri are interesting players but they do not seem to become part of the European gratin one day.
14. Germany (+1)
    Despite finishing only 14th at the U20 Euro, Germany moved a step forward because they managed to beat Spain in the opening round and the nice progress of some of their players. With the addition of T.J. di Leo, the generation has gained in depth as well. Several players are on the edge of becoming contributors on the Senior level.
15. Austria (+2)
    By winning the Gold Medal in the U20 European Championship B Division at home, the Austrian 1990 born generation showed that they represent an extraordinary talent group for their country. Momo Lanegger and Rasid Mahalbasic are a very nice duo of players that helped them to move up in our ranking and reach the Top 15 in Europe.
16. Slovenia (-2)
    This Slovenian team reached a good 12th place with earning only two wins, over Germany and Russia. They could have moved up in our Ranking therefore but the absence of major talent is the reason why they even dropped. The absence of big upwards-potential of the main contributors is yet another reason.
17. Sweden (+1)
    The Swedish U20 was the second nation that managed to move up to Division A but the team was mainly lead by their 91 born players. However, because of this result, they also advanced in our generation ranking by one step.
18. Israel (-7)
    An Israeli generation that was lead by the new arrival Jacob Cohen, dropped heavily in our ranking because it could not manage to reach the results it has accomplished in previous years. Together with Yotam Shiran, Cohen will try to bring back the better results for the 1990 born Israelis.
19. Netherlands (New entry)
    The Netherlands did a very good job with the U20 team at the A Divison and moved up in our ranking despite their relegation to Division B. The scorer Jessey Voorn and the athletic Mohammed Kherrazi are the leaders of this generation in Holland.
20. Bulgaria (-4)
    A Bulgarian generation that certainly features some interesting talent in Bozhidar Avramov, Hristo Zahariev or Aleksandar Georgiev but the results were not great compared to the potential. They stay in the ranking though but were close to being dropped out by Poland.