1. Lithuania (-)

There is not a lot to say about the generation except that it is dominating European Youth Basketball. Combined with the 2008 U16 European Championship, this team is on a 17 game winning streak with an average advantage of 23 points per game. The presence of the overall top-talent Jonas Valanciunas together with a nice variety of scorers on the wing and a PG in Vytenis Cizauskas who is able to run the team makes them one of the most dominant teams of the last years. It is probably the first generation since the 1987 born Serbians to go for the Grand-Slam by winning the Gold Medal in the three youth categories. Additionally, they are one of the top favorites for the Gold at the 2011 U19 World Championship in Latvia

2. Latvia (+12)

A Bronze Medal was the surprising result for this Latvian team that is improving before the upcoming World Championships in their country. The team around Davis Bertans has made the biggest step forward in our Ranking after being only at the 14th place before. Several players showed great progress over the last two years and their 3rd place was absolutely deserved. I put them ahead of the Silver Medalist Russia because of their main rotation being built on 92 born players like the above mentioned Bertans, Janis Timma or Edmunds Dukulis.

3. Serbia (+2)

Despite finishing fourth in the U18 European Championship, Serbia reached the third place in the Ranking because they could add some talent in Stefan Nastic but also because their full team is based on 92 born players. This generation, that is generally considered as “only” average in Serbia is however putting up nice results with a 5th and a 4th place respectively and may end up being a Medal candidate in two years at the U20 level.

4. Russia (+5)

Russia won the Silver Medal but moved up only to the 4th place in the Ranking because of the massive presence of 93 born players in the team. Dimitry Kulagin and Alexander Varnakov are the leaders of the 92 born players but the overall talent level of this generation is good. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the group develops over the next two years and if they are able to rival Lithuania as the top-team in two years.

5. France (+2)

Despite the absence of three major players, France could finish at the 7th place in Lithuania which was worth to upgrade this generation a bit more. With the return of Leo Westermann, Evan Fournier and Vincent Pourchot, this team looks rather interesting for the next years. Unfortunately, they could not qualify for the U19 World Championship next summer which would have been a great place to see them back at full force.

6. Turkey (-3)

The Turkish team finished at a disappointing 9th place at the U18 European Championship but the absence of top-talent Enes Kanter is a major explication for this result. With him, the team could have certainly gone higher but it also showed that the rest of the generation is nothing special for a country like Turkey that regularly produces interesting players. Therefore, the drop in the ranking is explicable despite having one of the most promising players of the generation. However, it has to be seen how Kanter has developed since he left for the United States.

7. Spain (-5)

Even more disappointing than Turkey was the result for Spain that ended up 11th which is the worst result since 2000 on the U18 level. In general, the 1992 born generation is not coming up with big results as these players also finished only at the 6th place on the U16 level. Their good result at the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament only underlined the limited level of that tournament compared to this European Championship.

8. Croatia (+2)

Croatia had a good tournament in Lithuania but it is difficult to say where they would have ended had they played without 94 born Dario Saric. Still, the result helped them to climb a few spots in our Ranking despite the absence of major talents in this age group for the country.

9. Greece (+3)

One top-player and an 8th spot in the end helped Greece to be among the top improvers of this update. Linos Chrysikopoulos becomes more and more a top 3 talent of the 1992 born players in Europe and he helped his team to reach the Quarter-Final round. Without him, they would have probably played the relegation round as the overall talent level of this Greek generation is limited.

10. Czech Republic (-4)

This Czech generation finished at a surprising 2nd place 2 years ago on the U16 level and now also helped the country to move up to Division A on the U18 level by dominating the B Division tournament in Tel Aviv. It is a quite balanced team with no outstanding prospects but a good overall talent level that underlines the progress of the Czech Basketball in general. In a few years, the republic will probably have an interesting senior squad.

11. Germany (-7)

The big loser of this Ranking is Germany as the talented generation could not confirm their potential in Lithuania and had to go to the relegation round. The main prospects did not show massive improvement either so it will be interesting to see how these players develop in the future.

12. Italy (-4)

Is Alessandro Gentile a plus or a minus for this Italian generation. In Lithuania, he could not really help his team to reach a good result as Italy continues to struggle in youth categories. Their last Medal is already 5 years old (U18 won Bronze in 2005) and the current trend is downwards.

13. Poland (NEW)

A good result in Lithuania that was however mainly based on the 93 born players. The 1992 generation does not feature great talent in Poland.

14. Ukraine (-3)

A 14th place in Lithuania that was built a lot on the progress of a 1993 born player in Olexiy Len.

15. Slovenia (NEW)

A 10th place in Lithuania helped Slovenia to enter the Ranking but the absence of any high-class talent limits them to a still correct 15h place.

16. Montenegro (-1)

The non-promotion to Division A at the U18 level still hinders the development of Montenegrin youth basketball. Maybe next year will be the right one to improve in the Ranking as well.

17. Israel (NEW)

With the extension of the Ranking to 20 teams, there are a few more new teams coming in. The 4th place at the U18 B gave Israel one of the spots.

18. Finland (NEW)

A totally surprising result (2nd in U18 B Division) which was probably based a lot on the high-quality coaching of Gordon Herbert. However, this Finnish generation features some interesting players and gives the opportunity to the 93 born guys to perform on A Division level.

19. Sweden (-6)

The relegation was a disappointment for Sweden as the team wanted to remain in Division A, especially for the more talented 1993 born players. Now, that generation needs to fight back to Division A next summer.

20. Bulgaria (NEW)

The last place at the U18 A Division in Lithuania means still a 16th place overall. So a 20th spot in this ranking seems ok as we don’t see many teams in B Division that could be considered more talented.

Generation Ranking: 1992 born players (UPDATE) is a post from: European Prospects
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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.

Generation Ranking: 1990 born players (UPDATE) is a post from: European Prospects
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One of the main conclusions to be taken from this tournament is that the presence or not-presence of major players has a big impact on the results of the teams. Imagine Turkey with Enes Kanter, it would have been a whole different team. Spain missed also three key players but they reached however a 5th place which did not really showed their level. They have been a candidate for a Medal spot and will certainly be one of the major medal candidates at the U18 European Championship this summer. The excellent team basketball practiced by the Spanish team, together with remaining undefeated against a European team results in one of the biggest movers in our ranking. Spain moves up from position 5 to position 2 in the 1992 born ranking.

Turkey played a so-so tournament considering that they missed Enes Kanter, their major inside force. This showed how dependant they are from their big guy and that the guards are not on the level to overcome this absence. This is why they have been downgraded to the third place considering that with Kanter in the lineup, they are a Top3 candidate in Europe at the U18 level.

The third placed France has been the biggest loser of the ranking because of their disappointing 13th place in the Albert Schweitzer Tournament.  Despite playing with Leo Westermann and Vincent Pourchot and starting very strong into the tournament, it were mainly the two losses against Israel and Greece in the second round of the tournament that are at the base of this fall in the ranking. Adding the fact that Westermann will most likely miss this summer’s European Championship, the French team is right now not among the top team of this age group anymore.

Germany showed that their 92 generation is among the best in Europe and that’s why we upgraded them to the fourth place in our ranking. They were however one of the few teams in Mannheim that played without major absences but they brought back good results so that this upwards move is necessary.

The rest of the participating European nations remained at their previous spots while nations like Serbia or the Czech Republic that were not present in Mannheim saw their ranking updated due to the moves in the top places.

Find here the updated 1992 born ranking.

1. Lithuania (-)
2. Spain (+3)
3. Turkey (-1)
4. Germany (+3)
5. Serbia (-1)
6. Czech Republic (-2)
7. France (-4)
8. Italy (-)
9. Russia (-)
10. Croatia (-)
11. Ukraine (-)
12. Greece (-)
13. Sweden (-)
14. Latvia (-)
15. Montenegro (-)

For the 1993 ranking, the only participant at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament that had an impact was the German U17 National Team. With their excellent third place, an upgrade was necessary as they were only at the 12th spot in our previous edition. We consider that this result gives them a positioning at number 8 right now with the rest of the top seeds not changing. Check here the updated 1993 born ranking.

Generation Rankings update: AST 2010 is a post from: European Prospects
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1. Spain
   Spain won the Gold Medal last summer during the U16 European Championship, and this is the reason why they top this ranking. Jaime Fernandez showed an excellent tournament finish and players like Daniel Diez may have a great feature. However, Serbia is just behind in terms of talent level here.
2. Serbia
   Despite only finishing with a Bronze Medal, I consider the 93 born Serbian generation as the 2nd best, if not the best in this age group. Nenad Miljenovic is the uncontested top-talent, even if his recent tournament played with FMP in Rome was not outstanding for his level. Together with Aleksandar Cvetkovic and Nemanja Bezbradica, Serbia has an excellent range of players that makes them one of the favorites for Gold this summer at the U17 level.
3. Lithuania
   Maybe Lithuania was awarded a bit too much with the Silver medal as they real super-talents lack in this age group. Tauras Jogela is considered being the leader but Tomas Lekunas seems passing him in terms of potential. Still, this generation is highly talented, they just lack a quality big man.
4. Poland
   The massive surprise of the U16 last summer in Lithuania was Poland that finished the tournament as the underdogs without a medal. Przemylsaw Karnowski is a huge Center talent and the generation features some additional highly talented players. Finally Poland sees a major generation of good prospects arriving.
5. Russia
   Russia features a highly interesting group of players here with the likes of Gleb Goldyrev, Andrey Loginov or Vladislav Trushkin. They could have been one of the secret candidates for a Medal this summer during the World Championship but their 5th place during the European Championship meant no qualification.
6. France
   A correct generation for France that has however some nice potential with the versatile big man Livio Jean-Charles or the scorers Hugo Invernizzi and William Howard.
7. Latvia
   This Latvian generation features two very intriguing players in Ojars Silins and Kaspars Vecvagars that both are highly scouted and recruited throughout Europe.
8. Sweden
   The 1993 born players represent probably the most talented Swedish generation for decades. William Magarity, Jonathan Person and Marcus Eriksson can all develop into high-level players, however the team could not managed to move up to Division A last summer in a B Division tournament of high format.
9. Turkey
   The Turkish U16 team won the Turk Telekom Tournament in 2009 but could only finish 8th during the European Championship. Those mixed results pushed them that low in the ranking, especially because the team highly profited from the talented 1994 generation.
10. Croatia
    A 6th place in Lithuania 2009 showed the regain of speed for Croatian youth generations. However, the 1993 born players do not feature that many high-level talent.
11. Bulgaria
    Pavlin Ivanov and Tencho Tenev are the stars of a highly successful team that won the Gold Medal in the B Division in 2009.
12. Germany
    The German team finished the U16 EC on a correct 11th place and had some good results during the Turk Telekom Tournament too. So a 12th place is appropriate for a team that will participate to the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament this spring in order to prepare the upcoming World Championships.
13. Montenegro
    Montenegro confirms their place among the top European nations in terms of youth basketball development with another early confirmation of non-relegation in Division A.
14. Denmark
    The massive surprise of the B Division in 2009 was the Silver Medal of Denmark. The future will tell if this generation is really outstanding and if they can confirm their status on the next level.
15. England
    The presence of an extraordinary talent like Devon van Oostrum together with other nice prospects for England helped them to reach this 15th place despite a mediocre result during the European Championships last summer.

Generation Ranking: 1993 born players is a post from: European Prospects
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1. Lithuania
   The Lithuanian 1992 born generation can become a dominator in the next years. Next to super-talent Jonas Valanciunas, several other great prospects are member of this age group. To name a few, there are of course Vytenis Cizauskas, Dovydas Redikas or Rolandas Jakstas. Everything else than a Gold Medal this summer at the U18 European Championship would be a surprise.
2. Turkey
   Turkey has an extraordinary talent with Enes Kanter. The physical inside player chose the way over the Atlantic Ocean to continue his career, we will see how this changed his game. Together with Safak Edge, he forms one of the best 1-2 punches of Europe and makes Turkey a contestant for the U18 this summer.
3. France
   The French 1992 generation was already a major factor last summer at the U18 European Championship and earned a Silver Medal. Leo Westermann, Evan Fournier and the long Vincent Pourchot will try to go for more this year.
4. Czech Republic
   A great Silver Medal back in 2008 at the U16 level propelled the Czech Republic among the top nations despite the tragic loss of Milan Ryska last year due to an accident. Still, this generation is highly talented across the board with players like Ondrej Balvin or Jaromir Bohacik.
5. Spain
   Miguel Servera had already some major impact last summer and saw also some minutes with Unicaja Malaga on the professional level. Together with Michel Acosta and Joan Tomas, this Spanish generation has some promise but needs the support of the Gold Medalist 1993 players to be a contestant at the U18 level.
6. Serbia
   A 6th place looks like a disappointment for Serbia and this generation is probably not as successful as others. But still, players like Nikola Siladi, Djordje Drenovac or Nemanja Besovic represent a certain quality and should become interesting professionals down the road.
7. Germany
   The Gold Medalist of the 2008 U16 B Division comes up very high in the ranking because of their major impact with the U18 team last summer. Philipp Neumann is the physical leader of the group that has excellent quality on every position.
8. Italy
   Italy features some very interesting players in this generation and has one of the only players that has some major impact on the professional level already in Alessandro Gentile. However, the results on youth level have not really been great that far.
9. Russia
   Dimitry Kulagin looks to be a very interesting PG prospect and together with some of the CSKA Moscow Juniors like Alexander Tikhonin, Russia seems to have a nice generation here but they need to confirm it with results in the different youth championships.
10. Croatia
    The Croatian U16 team reached a good 7th place at U16 level with a generation without really outstanding prospects. Boris Barac was their scoring leader back in 2008 and he had also some minor impact last summer with the U18 team.
11. Ukraine
    Vyacheslav Bobrov is the clear-cut leader of this Ukrainian generation. He reached a 9th place at the U16 championships in 2008.
12. Greece
    This year should be the year of Linos Chrysikopoulos. The Greek forward was already the most talented player of the U18 team last summer and with one more year of experience, it will be interesting to see where he can lead Greece this summer.
13. Sweden
    Despite a fourth place in B Division in 2008, Sweden has made it to our top 15 especially because of their win in the Baltic Sea Cup a few weeks ago. Behind Viktor Gaddefors, they improved in the ranking and move above Latvia.
14. Latvia
    This Latvian generation seems a bit less loaded than other ones, but still earns a good 14th spot in the ranking. Edmunds Dukulis is the leader here and should also get some support from 1993 born Kaspars Vecvagars.
15. Montenegro
    A third place at the B Division U16 in 2008 showed the potential of this generation for Montenegro. Once again across the board some talented players but no really outstanding prospects.

Generation Ranking: 1992 born players is a post from: European Prospects
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1. Serbia
   The Serbian 1991 generation is on a way of domination like the 1987 born players, grab three Gold Medals in all three competitions. Dominating inside players like Dejan Musli and Branislav Dekic are already getting their first minutes on the professional level in European competitions. They have good support from long-distance shooters like Danilo Andusic and their guards have the necessary skills to bring the team to the Gold Medal.
2. France
   France reached the 2nd place in the ranking because of the Silver Medal they won last summer at the U18 level. There are some interesting players in their 1991 generation like Mael Lebrun or Fabien Paschal but they got massive support from their 1992 born youngsters.
3. Spain
   Spain started strong with their 1991 born players as they won the Silver Medal on the U16 level but it was not enough to go better than a 5th place last summer. Alberto Jodar and Josep Franch are probably the most interesting players.
4. Lithuania
   A third and a fourth place are the results of a generation driven by excellent defensive guards like Augustas Peciukevicius or Mantas Kadzevicius but also the highly talented but 1992 born Jonas Valanciunas. The wings also feature some interesting potential.
5. Turkey
   An average Turkish generation that was however driven by 1992 born Enes Kanter to a third place last summer. Maxim Can Mutaf or Furkan Aldemir are the players from 1991 that are among the most talented and successful so far.
6. Italy
   Italy is lead by the top-talent Nicolo Melli who is doing also a lot of damage already on the professional level. But he gets good support from players like Riccardo Moraschini or Simone Centanni and Andrea de Nicolao is doing very well so far for Benetton Treviso.
7. Russia
   Despite the injury of some of their players, the Russian U18 team reached a nice sixth place on the U18 level last summer. They were lead by the highly talented Pavel Antipov and the long Ivan Lazarev who may develop into interesting players down the road.
8. Croatia
   Croatia has a nice 2-men punch with Toni Prostran and Dragan Sekelja to reach two times the 8th place on U18 and U16 level. While Sekelja is going through freshman duties at Baylor, Prostran has so far missed the full season due to an injury.
9. Latvia
   Latvia is comforting its place among the Top 10 nations in Europe also in this generation behind some players like Martins Meiers or Armands Osins who reached a 9th place on both U18 and U16 level.
10. Czech Republic
    Despite some mediocre results in general, the Czech Republic has been ranked on the 10th place because of the extraordinary talent of Tomas Satoransky who did not compete for example with the U18 team last summer.
11. Slovenia
    Slovenia could do a lot better as the talent of Mirza Sarajlija is uncontested but the scoring guard has not confirmed yet what he showed with Union Olimpija in the Euroleague.
12. Greece
    A mediocre generation for the Greeks has reached a good 7th spot at U16 level but will probably not bring out high-level players for their own high standards.
13. Ukraine
    Ukraine also confirms their position among the top 15 countries of basketball talent with yet another generation having correct results. Andriy Lebedintsev is a nice scoring guard who can develop into a good player in the next years.
14. Germany
    Despite a disappointing 10th place in the B Division on U16 level, the 1991 born players in Germany have some good potential behind Niels Giffey who comes back strong after a months-long illness.
15. Sweden
    The Swedish U18 generation reached the Gold Medal of the B Division European Championship this summer and has some interesting players like the Davidson recruit Christopher Czerapowicz or Andreas Person.
16. Poland
    Sebastian Szymanski is the leader of a Polish generation that marks the beginning of better results in the youth competitions.
17. Israel
    Carmel Bouchman is the leader of an Israeli generation that had to go down though at the U18 level last summer.
18. England
    The 1991 born players from England have a clear leader with Ryan Richards. But even with him only playing 2 games on the U18 team this summer, they reached a good 4th place.
19. Bulgaria
    The Bulgarian U18 team did a nice job this summer with a 10th place at the European Championships. But the disastrous result at U16 level brought them back to the 19th spot.
20. Montenegro
    The Balkan 1991 born generation could not manage to bring their U18 team on the A division level but a Bronze Medal is a good result in a year where B division was pretty strong.

Generation Ranking: 1991 born players is a post from: European Prospects
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1. Greece
   This is what you can call a golden generation with highly talented players on nearly every position. Nikos Pappas, Kostas Sloukas, Vladimir Jankovic, Kostas Papanikolaou and Zisis Sarikopoulos form a core to which you can add Leonidas Kaselakis and you have one of the main favorites for the Gold Medal this summer, a Gold Medal that these guys already won in 2009 with the U20 National Team.
2. Spain
   Ricky Rubio is the most talented player in Europe of the last 10 years, but the rest of the Spanish 1990 generation is more or less average. This is why they only reached the 2nd place. With Rubio, they won the Gold Medal back in 2006 at the U16 level. In 2008, they only reached the 5th spot in a tournament set up for them. Without Ricky, Spain would probably not be among the Top 5.
3. Croatia
   It is not a surprise that Croatia is the host of the U20 European Championship this summer as this generation is the most talented for years, especially on the inside positions. Mario Delas chose to move abroad, Leon Radosevic is playing a nice Euroleague season and Tomislav Zubcic still needs to really break out on the Senior level. A Bronze Medal at the U19 Worlds and the U18 Euros shows the talent and the results. Can they go for Gold this summer?
4. Lithuania
   For Lithuania, it is a bit the same situation than for Spain, having one outstanding talent in Donatas Motiejunas and for the rest a more or less average group. Tautvydas Slezas showed some promise last season and Gediminas Orelik is doing so this year, but will it be enough to go higher in the next years?
5. Turkey
   A nicely equilibrated Turkish generation with interesting players on every position is this group born in 1990. Deniz Kilicli will start his NCAA career these days and it will be interesting to see how the physical forward will play with West Virginia. Together with Birkan Batuk and Melih Mahmutoglou, he forms a nice trio that can be one of the surprises this summer.
6. France
   The French 1990 born players had good results without being outstanding. They feature some interesting talent like Andrew Albicy, Christophe Leonard or Alexis Tanghe but only the first one is currently seeing regular minutes on the professional level. The upside though of this generation is interesting.
7. Serbia
   Serbia does not have any extraordinary talent born in 1990 except maybe Andrija Milutinovic. The good results of this generation come also from the participation of the 1991 born Dejan Musli in most of the campaigns.
8. Czech Republic
   The Czech Republic is on its way back to the top basketball nations in Europe with the 1990 borns being the first step. Jan Vesely is currently already a good Euroleague player and a NBA prospect too. Together with David Jelinek, they managed to move up to Division A in both U18 and U16 categories.
9. Russia
   A Russian generation with no big-time talents once again but with a Silver Medal on the U16 level. Hard to see though what they can show in the next years.
10. Latvia
    Latvia is a regular presence among the top 10 nations in our generation rankings, and it is true also for the 1990 born players that reached a good 7th spot in the U18 European Championship in 2008.
11. Israel
    Israel reaches the 11th place in the ranking because of the good results of the U16 and U18 teams despite having once again no outstanding talent in their generation.
12. Italy
    Italy has done ok with the 1990 born players, but it was mainly because of the good support coming from several 1991 born players. This is why the ranking place is lower than the actual results were.
13. Ukraine
    Nothing special to mention for this Ukrainian generation. They managed to stay in Division A with a correct talent level and the necessary wins back in 2008.
14. Slovenia
    A clear leader with Dino Muric in the 1990 born players supported the talented 1991 generation in their move back to Division A.
15. Germany
    A generation featuring some interesting players but they lacked the results to pretend for a higher spot. Maybe they can improve it during the summer.
16. Bulgaria
    Two highly talented players in Bozhidar Avramov and Hristo Zahariev are however not enough to be ranked higher than 16 as the rest of the group is just average, even for Bulgaria.
17. Austria
    The most talented generation for Austria for about anytime is the reason why the B Division European Championship will be played in the Alps this summer. Moritz Lanegger and Rasid Mahalbasic know what they have to do.
18. Sweden
    A correct Swedish generation with Christopher Ryan and Omar Zaghden as leaders has earned yet another top 20 spot, mainly because of their nice Albert-Schweitzer Tournament in 2008.
19. Poland
    Mediocre results but some interesting players mark this Polish generation with Jakub Wojciechowski as clear leader.
20. Portugal
    A 14th place on the U16 level back in 2006 was enough for Portugal to qualify for an unexpected 20th place in the 1990 born players ranking.

Generation Ranking: 1990 born players is a post from: European Prospects
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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.

Generation Ranking: 1989 born players is a post from: European Prospects
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1. France
   France has clearly produced the most talented generation of players born in 1988. Two Gold Medals in U18 and U16 as well as a 1st place in the 2006 edition of the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament and a Bronze Medal at the U19 World Championship underline this. However, the generation has not yet reached major results on the Senior level despite players like Nicolas Batum or Ludovic Vaty stepping up lately. The race was close, but France is first because of the better results of the generation in the younger years.
2. Serbia
   Serbia was a tough match for the 1st place as the generation around Miroslav Raduljica, Stefan Markovic and Marko Keselj improved over the years to play right now on a higher level than France. Coming back from a 9th spot at the U16 level, most of the players are right now already a major part of the Senior level national team and it looks like this generation will take over European basketball in the next years together with the talented bunch of 87s and 89s.
3. Lithuania
   An average Lithuanian generation only in general but it was boosted by one extraordinary player in Martynas Gecevicius who is playing at his best in the Euroleague this season. He lifted the team to two Silver Medals in U18 and U20 European Championships though which makes it the third best generation in Europe of this age group.
4. Spain
   The Spanish 1988 players around Victor Claver ended up with 2 Bronze Medals in U18 and U20 and therefore end this ranking on the 4th place. None except the before mentioned Claver has reached high European level so far and the overall talent level seems only mediocre for Spanish standards.
5. Turkey
   Turkey had some great results with its 1988 born generation, but it was mainly the results of the efforts of Baris Hersek and the 1989 born Dogus Balbay. A 2nd place at the 2006 Albert-Schweitzer Tournament and a Bronze Medal at the U16 level show the good results of this age group.
6. Italy
   Two great players in Danilo Gallinari and Pietro Aradori were not enough for Italy to reach better than 6th place and it was not enough for them to make good results with this team. The best moment were 6th places in different major competitions.
7. Russia
   Alexey Shved may be an extraordinary talent but he could not lift Russia higher than rank 7.
8. Montenegro
   One participation only (5th) in the 2008 U20 European Championship and Montenegro can earn the 8th spot behind its top player Vladimir Dasic.
9. Israel
   Omri Casspi may play in the NBA but he could not help Israel to reach anything better than average results.
10. Germany
    The 1988  generation marks the return of Germany among the top 10 of European nations with Tim Ohlbrecht and Lucca Staiger as their  leaders.
11. Croatia
    One of the very Croatian generations that showed nothing outstanding except a surprising 4th place at the 2006 AST.
12. Latvia
    Rihards Kuksiks shot Latvia to a nice 12th place in the ranking despite no extraordinary results for the Baltic nation.
13. Ukraine
    The 1988 born generation from Ukraine is growing nicely throughout the years.
14. Greece
    A good start for this generation but since then, not a lot of interesting players came out.
15. Bulgaria
    A great tournament by Chavdar Kostov at the U18 level was enough to bring this Bulgarian generation a 15th spot.
16. Slovenia
    One of the poorer Slovenian generations that lacked outstanding talent.
17. Belgium
    For Belgium, 1988 means a bunch of good players for their level like Yannick Driesen or Thomas Dreesen. A Silver Medal during the U20 B Division in 2008 was the result.
18. Estonia
    Estonia showed good results with this generation on the U18 level where the team managed to earn a Silver Medal in the B Division with players like Timo Eichfuss and Tanel Kurbas.
19. Romania
    A Gold Medal during the U18 B Division in 2006 helped the team around Titus Nicoara and Vlad Moldoveanu gain the 19th spot of this ranking. They could not confirm though since then.
20. Iceland
    A move up to Division A where they created the major surprise to beat France back in the U18 EC 2006 were the standouts for this talented generation from the Nordic Island.

Generation Ranking: 1988 born players is a post from: European Prospects
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