European Prospects

The German U17 National Team came with the ambitions to reach the Quarter-Finals in Hamburg. This goal was reached but somehow, the team of coach Menz disappeared a bit after their elimination on Friday and could not build on their excellent showing from the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament in spring.

Bogdan Radosavljevic – 2m11 – C – 1993 – no team

The Serbian born Center, who still has not announced his future team, was certainly one of the most interesting players in the German team. Radosavljevic has great size, can run the floor and displays nice athletic abilities. Additionally, he seems to be a correct passer, at least in the ideas he has to go for the pass. Defensively, he is not an amazing rebounder but has quite nice timing to block the shots. He can come very well from the weak side in order to help his team mates and go for the rejection.

On the offensive side, the 2m11 tall player tries to go a lot over his left hand. He can finish in the low post but his moves look sometimes a bit out of control. Radosavljevic can put the ball on the floor to attack the basket, but he does not go for this option that often. He needs absolutely to work on his shot and especially on the concentration during the shot which would help him to improve his percentages. This problem is also present on the free-throw line where the Center shot a subpar 40.9% during this tournament.

Stats: 8.9ppg (52.5% 2FGs – 40.9% FTs), 5.1rpg 3.0topg 2.0bpg

Besnik Bekteshi – 1m87 – G – 1993 – BBA Ludwigsburg

The top scorer of the German team was the Albanian born SG Besnik Bektishi from Ludwigsburg. Bekteshi excelled from behind the three-point line where he was a constant threat. His game is mainly built around his scoring talent despite showing some flashes in Pick and Roll situations to create opportunities for his team mates. Right now, he is playing the SG role for which he is a bit undersized on the international level as he does not have the necessary athletic abilities and density of defense. He likes to have the ball in his hands in the decisive moments and is able to connect the big shots on the buzzer or in the money time. Bekteshi probably needs to develop his PG skills and improve his penetration in order to be able to play some minutes as Playmaker in the future.

Stats: 15.5ppg (47.11% 2FGs – 40.7% 3FGs), 4.8rpg, 2.9apg, 2.3spg

Julius Wolf – 2m00 – F – 1993 – Urspring Academy

The sixth man from the German team always brought the necessary energy from the bench. Wolf was particularly active in the defensive rebound where he grabbed the ball and immediately launched the fast break with some dribbles or a long pass. He is not the fastest guy laterally which forced him to play defense mainly on Power Forwards. On the offensive end, Wolf showed his well-known skills as Point Forward with a playmaking role when receiving the ball on the high post. He forces sometimes too much his own shot though and continues to go for it even when he is not making his attempts. Wolf can put the ball on the floor, but he does not have a great first step and tries to score by imposing his physique. He is a good passer out of the post but loses his court-vision when putting the ball on the floor.

Stats: 7.8ppg (41.9% 2FGs – 25.8% 3FGs), 7.0rpg, 1.4apg

Jakob Krumbeck – 1m87 – G – 1993 – TuS Jena

The German scorer had not a great tournament as he struggled over the whole competition with his long distance shot. He could net only 22.7% from behind the arc which hampered his performance and confidence. Additionally, his limited size for playing most of the time at the SF position was a major problem for him in this competition where he had to face several wings that gave him more than 10cm. He definitely needs to play the SG in the future as he is too short for the wing. His great athletic abilities will help him to attack the basket and finish the tough layups. Once he has found the necessary balance between the shot and the drive, he can develop into a very interesting player for the future.

Stats: 9.0ppg (36.5% 2FGs – 22.7% 3FGs – 55.9% FTs)