European Prospects

The review on the best players of the FMP City of Belgrade Tournament 2010 continues today with the wing players. The quality here was probably not as good as on the guard or inside positions, however there is some interesting talent that you can find right here.

Lambert Diacono (1m95 – 1992 – ASVEL)

Announced as born in 1994 in the official tournament booklet, Lambert Diacono turned out to be a 1992 born player. But still, he looks like a very interesting prospect as he combines a correct understanding of the game with a nice looking shot and above average athletic abilities. He was certainly among the most spectacular players of the tournament with several nice dunks.

Diacono can attack the basket very well as he has a nice first step and he can finish the drives with both hands, also with the foul. Being pretty physical and strong, he does not lose his balance when attacking the big guys in the paint. He has the scoring talent and wants to have the ball in the decisive moments. He can lead his team with making the big shots and the correct tournament of ASVEL was more or less his work. In general, his game is based on the drive where he has no problem to stop it and go for the jump shot or for the triple-thread position out of which he mainly goes for his own shot.

Diacono moves well without the ball and had several nice plays coming from the weak side using a good timing and knowledge how to use the screens. Out of these plays, he got a lot of open layups or dunks. He is nicely present on the offensive rebound where he fights for the ball, also on his own misses. Defensively, he has the tools to become a good player too, he is not afraid to take the charge against bigger guys. He is definitely a player to watch in the future and should settle on the SG position in the next years if he can work on his three point shot to get better percentages.

Stats: 18.2ppg (47.5% 2FG – 14.3% 3FG – 67.5% FT) 5.0rpg 13.0effpg

Adrien Coussy was “Mr. Everything” for Villeurbanne. With an excellent approach and fighting spirit, Coussy was the defensive leader of his team and he had no problem to chase guards all over the court and go for trap defense everywhere. He looked like the perfect team player and offensively, he had a correct impact too, mainly through hustle plays, fast breaks or open three point shots. He is certainly not an NBA talent, but he can develop into a perfect role player on the next level.

Stats: 10.8ppg (54.2% 2FG – 33.3% 3FG) 5.2rpg 2.4spg 2.0apg 1.4topg 11.0effpg

Jörg Dippold was the second best scoring option for Brose Baskets Bamberg next to the unmatched Philipp Neumann. Dippold was constantly attacking the basket and not afraid to get physical against the big guys in the paint. He is the type of player that you don’t see during the game but has filled the stat sheet in the end. His aggressiveness brings him on a regular basis to the free throw line where he nets the attempts with great accuracy. His three point shot forces the defense to come out on him so that he has enough offensive versatility in his game. However, next to the scoring, his impact is rather limited.

Stats: 14.0ppg (40.0% 2FG – 36.7% 3FG – 81.2% FT)

Nemanja Knezevic had a real up and down tournament like his team of Hemofarm Vrsac. Being the leader of the Serbian Junior league, a lot of observers had high hopes in Hemofarm but only a poor 5th place came out in the end. After a super strong opening game, Knezevic disappeared during long stretches of the other games played in Belgrade. I still however mention him as he is a player I like personally a lot. Not the most athletic or talented guy in the world, Knezevic understands the game pretty well and knows what he can do to be effective. He uses his strong body very well to score against the big guys and his major move is a very solid drive from the top of the key with either hand. He reminds me a bit of Predrag Suput in his playing style. The question is how much his current physical advantages in the youth categories are still worth in a few years.

Stats: 14.2ppg (51.1% 2FG – 30.8% 3FG) 3.8rpg

Nikola Pavlovic (1m95 – 1993 – FMP Belgrade)

Nikola Pavlovic played in my eyes a great tournament. I did not see the final where his stats did not look as great but before the last game, he had a 2pt FG percentage of more than 80% playing as a forward. Being one year younger than most of the players makes his performances even better. Pavlovic attacks the rim hard and can finish it with defense on him, also in difficult ways with tough up and under moves for example.

His fundamentals look to be excellent, he can attack and finish with either his left or his right hand when attacking the basket. His three point shot is not the most stable yet but the few he made look promising for the future as he can also net them very well out of the dribble. His effort on the court looks excellent, he is not afraid to dive for the ball even when his team is up by more than twenty points for example.

Pavlovic is quite a good athlete and can use his leaping ability to avoid the defense. He can also use the typical long European steps to attack the basket and avoid the defense by surrounding the last player. He may grow one or two centimeters still to have good size for playing SF. However, he may settle down as a SG on the professional level too as he has the the tools and versatility to play this position.

Stats: 11.8ppg (78.2% 2FG – 65.3% FT) 4.2rpg 15.0effpg

Stefan Popovski-Turanjanin is another FMP forward born in 1993 and looking to have an interesting feature. Being a bit taller than Pavlovic but showing a better three point shot, he looks to have a more interesting future in terms of scoring potential. Due to his size, he is able to go in the low post and play smaller defenders with his back to the basket. He dives and fights for the ball and has quite an interesting court-vision and understanding of the game. He can hit the three point shots in series, creating game deciding breaks on his own. However, his shot looks a lot better when taken in catch-and-shoot situations than when going for jump shots out of the dribbling.

Stats: 11.4ppg (72.2% 2FG – 60% 3FG) 2.4rpg 10.6effpg

Marko Josilo (2m01 – 1992 – Partizan Belgrade)

Marko Josilo may not be the most talented player in Serbia, but he has the will to improve and the fighting spirit to be a valuable member of a basketball team, also on the professional level. He loves to attack the basket with his right hand and go as close as possible for the score. He has a good feel for when to attack and how to finish against bigger guys. He is really present on the offensive glass where he can go for several rebounds at the time because he jumps pretty fast and creates himself an advantage out of this.

Josilo is also a surprising passer for a player of his size and playing style. He needs to become a more regular three point threat in the future if he wants to play fully on the Small Forward position. He can hit the occasional three point shot at the moment, he even hit a big one against INSEP in the money time. So he has the potential to be a scorer from long distance, but right now he mainly plays the drive and hustle plays to get his scoring.

Stats: 10.2ppg (54.5% 2FG – 33.3% 3FG – 45.0% FT) 5.8rpg 3.2apg 15.8effpg