European Prospects

It is time again for another vote of the prospect of the month. After the victory of Nando de Colo in January, it is now time to check who were the performers in the month of February.

For the 1986 born players, I want to select this week Luca Vitali. His numbers are probably not overwhelming but he is leading a small team to a great second place in the first Italian league for the moment. The 2m01 tall guard is displaying very regular performances and averaged 12.0ppg over the last four games and also added 2.0apg in the tough Italian league. Probably not the best athlete in the world, Vitali lives from his excellent size for the guard play and a very high Basketball knowledge. (UPDATE:Vitali’s game winning shot in Pesaro from the 17th February)

For the 1987 category, it is actually very tough to make a choice as there are several players that would be worth of mentioning. Last month’s winner Nando de Colo is continuing at his actual pace. The dynamic duo of Sibenka Sibenik Luka Drezga–Zoran Vrkic is demolishing anything that comes on their way in the Croatian league at the moment. But one guy I want to point out here for his actual numbers is the Swedish PG Rudy Mbemba. We talked already several times about his ups and downs but he has established himself now as one of the top performers of the Swedish league. He led his team to a 15 victories in a row until the defeat this weekend against Akropol. 18.3ppg, 5.6rpg and 5.3apg speak in his favor at the moment and his three point shooting has attended an acceptable percentage with 34.6%. Still turning the ball over like 3 times a game but with the huge minutes he is getting, his experience should have increased significantly.

As you probably see, I go this month for some unusual choices and I continue in the 1988 category. Of course, I could have chosen Nicolas Batum or Danilo Gallinari. But I wanted to mention the interesting performance of Adrien Moerman in the 2nd French division. The 2m00 tall forward is actually playing in Nanterre and sees very big minutes which he uses at will. 15ppg and 10rpg are the numbers that he is putting on the board over the last weeks. His move from Roanne in the ProB was probably the right choice for him, even if he could not feel the Euroleague this season for this. But he showed what his actual level is and he should come back to the ProA next season and play a major role.

For the 1989 born players, of course the actual stand out is Serge Ibaka. The athletic forward from Congo is being hyped a lot around the net for the moment because of his excellent size-athleticism combination. He had a career game this month with 27pts, 11rebs and 4 blocks in a tough home loss against Alicante. There are still a lot of ups and downs in his games, but he is only born in 1989 and playing in the LEB Oro at that age is already a huge recognition.

Finally, the youngest players in the voting are always the 1990 born kids. While we still have here Ricky Rubio who is above all, I want to go for another kid that was shining in the month of February. Being elected Youngster of the month in Germany, Maurice Stuckey had an astonishing month with 17.6ppg in the third German league. His improvement was excellent in the half year he is now with Ehingen and he should be ready to be one of the leaders of the team next season. He will also be one of the leaders of the German U18 team at the AST later this month.