European Prospects

The last part of my International Junior Tournament report talks about the two finalists: FC Barcelona and FMP Zeleznik Belgrade. FMP has reached with this win the deserved European crown for Junior teams and it does not look like any other European club team is at their level right now.

Nihad Dedovic (1m96 – SG – 1990 – FC Barcelona)

Having missed the first two days of the tournament, which probably took him away from the All-Tournament team instead of his team mate Dani Perez, Dedovic showed during the two games he played why he was with the LEB team in action before. With his perfect shot mechanics, the Bosnian native was the absolute first scoring option of the multi-cultural Spanish team. He can hit the three ball from everywhere around the circle and he has no problem either to take his jumper against opposition. Out of the dribble shots are also in his repertoire as well as surprising presence close to the basket. With his nice athletic abilities, Dedovic can help in the rebound and he even realized a block shot on Dejan Musli coming from the help side.

Papa Abdoulaye (2m09 – C – 1990 – FC Barcelona)

Abdoulaye’s presence was mostly felt on the defensive end. Offensively, he looks pretty raw, showing not one back to the basket move at all in the games I attended. He knocked down one baseline jumper in the two games. The other points came of put backs or dishes from his team mates. On the other hand, he has huge impact on the defensive game of his team. His presence in shot blocking is impressive, even if he is not the typical out-of-the-building jumper you could imagine when you see him first. His blocking is all about timing and he does not throw the ball into the stands when rejecting but tries to keep it in the game.

Andrija Milutinovic (1m98 – Guard – 1990 – FMP Zeleznik)

Milutinovic was the main outside threat of the Serbian team. Not the typical Serbian shooter, Milutinovic mixes shots and drives which he can conclude with surprising dunks against the defense. He also went for some floating jump shots during the game but mostly he tries to go the whole way to the bucket. Not outstandingly quick but good speed for his size, Milutinovic shows also the necessary aggressiveness to become a good scorer.

Bojan Subotic (2m04 – Forward – 1990 – FMP Zeleznik)

Born in late 1990, Subotic shows probably the most of promise of the Serbian team. Long, athletic and running the floor extremely well, Subotic is present everywhere on the court. When it comes to scoring, he can do it in every fashion. Three point range, penetration, back to the basket moves, Subotic showed a pretty nice arsenal of moves. He also displays interesting court-vision which he uses regularly to dish out perfect passes to his team mates. He likes to go coast-to-coast after a defensive rebound but he sometimes loses control then or gets the ball stolen away. However, he is probably one of the best talents that played in Madrid during the tournament.

Dejan Musli (2m13 – C – 1991 – FMP Zeleznik)

Only a few days younger than Subotic but belongs to the 1991 age category, Musli won the MVP trophy of the tournament after a domination of his full force in every game but one. Playing against Ryan Richards caused him a lot of trouble because of the physical approach of the Brit. Against the other teams, Musli could do whatever he wanted in paint, so that he not really had to force his talent. Posting up deep in the zone, he scored nearly every time on a sort of jump hook where he could not be stopped. When he sees some trouble in that area to score, he goes directly outside and tries long distance shots. His shot looks a bit strange as it goes up very high in the air. Musli does not look athletic or explosive at all, his body is not very defined for the moment and his speed is not an asset. However, due to his long frame and good timing, he is an excellent shot blocker and averaged 3.8 rejections per game. Despite showing nice shooting touch, his free-throw percentages can be improved heavily where he did not even go for 50%. Definitely a top talent, for Europe, but he has to get some real opponents to make it possible to give a more precise opinion about his future.