European Prospects

Next to the four European teams that have reached the quarter-finals, I will take a quick look at the other participants to the U17 World Championship 2010. As Spain did not qualify for the last 8, I did not really have the opportunity to scout them so that they ended up in this review only.

Kevin Pangos – 1m86 – G – 1993

The comparisons to Steve Nash are obvious as both PGs like to run and have the ball in their hands. Pangos can attack the basket and score from mid-range with the jump shot out of the dribble or go for the floater. His three point shot looks great when he has his feet set but he struggles sometimes a bit when he has to take it out of the running. As Pangos wants to have the ball, he commits a lot of turnovers. He struggled particularly against the athletic US defense where he had 7TOs in the first half alone. Even his good court-vision did not help him out in several trap situations as his limited size was a problem against the bigger American guards. The Canadian player is a real scoring PG who is also nearly automatic from the free-throw line. I don’t know if he will reach the level of Steve Nash but the more realistic comparison may be Derek Raivio even if Pangos seems to have a better first step than the former Gonzaga player.

Stats: 15.8ppg (53.3% 2FGs – 39.1% 3FGs – 82.8% FTs), 5.0rpg, 4.1apg, 4.6topg

Andrew Wiggins – 2m01 – F – 1995

Probably the most talented player in the whole tournament was the only 15 year old Canadian forward Andrew Wiggins. The forward amazed the attendance with his freaking athletic abilities which he used at best to score a lot of high-flying dunks or reject some shots. But his game is not only about athleticism as Wiggins is also able to put the ball on the floor to attack the basket and go for fast spin moves. He needs to work on his shot which is correct at the moment for a 15 year old but in order to develop a more polished game, it would help him to become as well a serious threat from outside. Physically, he has already the level of his opponents and he seemed to understand the game quite well as he read trajectories very well and was a huge asset on the offensive glass as he had 50% of his rebounds on Canada misses.

Stats: 8.1ppg (51.0% 2FG), 3.2rpg

Dyshawn Pierre – 1m98 – F – 1993

Dyshawn Pierre did an excellent job for the Canadian team on both ends of the floor. He used his good athletic abilities in order to be highly present in rebounding situations averaging even nearly 3 offensive boards per game. Pierre scored a lot of baskets close to the hoop by either posting up his defender or by going hard to the rim as well as on put backs. He was no real threat from outside which is of course the main thing he needs to work on together with his poor free-throw shooting (50.0% over the tournament).

Stats: 10.6ppg (54.0% 2FGs), 8.2rpg, 1.1bpg

Daniel Diez – 2m03 – F – 1993

The Spanish team was quite a disappointment in Hamburg so that it was difficult for me to see them enough to go for an in-depth scouting. Daniel Diez though showed a correct tournament as the Real Madrid forward lead his team in rebounding and scoring. Diez is a PF with a nice shooting touch and a great presence on the offensive glass. He can run the floor nicely and should move eventually to the SF spot in the future as he is a bit limited in terms of size to play PF or even C which he had to do in Hamburg during stretches.

Stats: 12.9ppg (49.3% 2FGs), 7.0rpg

Jaime Fernandez – 1m84 – G – 1993

Jaime Fernandez looks like he has improved his decision making and passing skills over the year. The guard from Estudiantes still played a sort of scoring guard but he was leading the Spanish team in assists. His three point shot remains his main offensive weapon but he is not afraid to attack the basket hard. Fernandez is officially listed at 1m88 by the World Championship program but the website of the tournament has him at 1m84 which seems to be closer to his real height. He will have to play PG in the future as he lacks the size to defend SG when they post him up. But he seems to have the fighting spirit to go his way.

Stats: 12.9ppg (46.3% 2FGs – 30.8% 3FGs), 3.7rpg, 4.3apg

Owen Odigie – 1m97 – F – 1993

The Australian Forward Owen Odigie played a very interesting tournament showing some nice versatility and good athletic abilities. Next to his obvious physical presence, Odigie has quite a nice mid-range jump shot. His presence in rebounding situations forced him to play a bit of PF despite his size but his future should clearly be on the SF position. He needs to develop his ball handling, especially with the left hand as he has not the fastest first step in order to attack the basket. He goes however past his defender with long steps but is unfortunately a bit afraid when attacking the rim. He gets out of balance easily when defended hard and should use his leaping ability to finish stronger on the drive.

Stats: 8.1ppg (58.8% 2FGs), 6.5rpg, 2.1apg

Daniel Carlin – 2m02 – F – 1993

Daniel Carlin is an interesting player with his scoring ability in the low post. He is not afraid to attack the basket hard from the low block or by taking the open shots around the key. However, his shot is quite streaky so that he can come up with 1/9 efforts as well as 10/16 games. He uses a lot of different fakes when playing with his back to the basket and goes aggressively to the rim to score. He is athletic enough to dunk the ball out of these situations but he is not the most explosive player. Carlin needs to work on his jump shot in order to become more reliable and absolutely needs to improve his presence in the rebound where he is quite below average for playing the inside positions, even if he is quite short at 2m02 for this job.

Stats: 10.5ppg (43.2% 2FGs – 50.0% FTs), 2.9rpg

Patricio Garino – 1m96 – F – 1993

The most interesting player out of the Argentinean team in my eyes was the athletic SF/SG Patricio Garino. Even if Garino was mainly used as a wing, I would not be surprised if he makes the step to play PG one day as he has nice court-vision and seems to have the control over the tempo of the game. Garino likes to attack the hoop with either hand and mostly going until the rim to finish it close to the basket. He can score with both hands around the rim and showed different finishing options with the dunk, the powerful layup or the underhand scoop shot. He is also very present on the defensive rebound and likes to run the fast break. More surprisingly, Garino is an excellent shot blocker where he can use his great timing and athletic abilities to come as a help defender from the weak side. He is said to move to the United States next season to play High-School Basketball in order to prepare for a scholarship offer of Temple University.

Stats: 13.3ppg (46.7% 2FGs – 30.4% 3FGs), 6.4rpg, 2.9apg, 2.7spg, 1.3bpg

Ailun Guo  – 1m92 – G – 1993

The Chinese PG was one of the most dominant players in the whole tournament as he scored nearly at will when having the ball in his hands. Guo dribbles the ball a lot and can explode out of cross-over moves to attack the basket nicely. Additionally, he sees his team mates very well on the cuts but goes for his own shot first. He is doing an excellent job especially in Pick and Roll situations where he can use his speed and vista in order to create good situations. He is not afraid to go against the big guys for the layup but he needs to take better care of the ball as he was among the players that turned the ball over the most.

Stats: 22.4ppg (55.1% 2FGs – 33.3% 3FGs), 4.9rpg, 5.5apg, 4.3topg

Bradley Beal – 1m92 – G – 1993

The US guard was elected MVP of the tournament which was not really a surprise when looking at his great statistics throughout the World Championship. Beal lead the US team in scoring and hit an amazing 47.7% from behind the arc. The Florida-bound guard has a nice elevation for his jump shot that he can hit from nearly everywhere on the court. He did a nice job as well on the fast break where he could finish some nice athletic plays. But the main offensive weapon is the jump shot. He is not particularly attacking the basket in set offenses where he was however the main reason why the zone-defense was not an option against the American team.

Stats: 18.2ppg (59.4% 2FGs – 47.7% 3FGs), 3.5rpg, 2.0apg, 1.3bpg

James McAdoo – 2m03 – F – 1993

The US PF James McAdoo was one of the most effective players in the post of the whole tournament. During the games I saw, McAdoo tried no fancy stuff and scored most of his attempts with ease, either on the dunk or with some kind of sweet jump hook. On the defensive end, McAdoo seemed a bit like a wall in the middle of the US defense as his great explosiveness together with his size helped him to reject a multitude of shots. Not much of an outside threat, McAdoo plays mainly in the paint where he is also the most effective.

Stats: 14.5ppg (66.7% 2FGs), 7.9rpg, 2.1bpg

Michael Gilchrist – 2m01 – F – 1993

Gilchrist came often from the bench to give the American team a scoring boost when they were in trouble. The forward was an excellent presence on the wing as he constantly attacked the hoop in order to go for the score or trying to get the offensive rebound. So far, Gilchrist did not show any three-point shot at all but his excellent percentages from the FT line should be a sign that his long-range effort is in the making. Similar to McAdoo, he had a terrific shot selection going only for shots in his range and making them with extreme precision.

Stats: 14.8ppg (69.5% 2FGs), 7.2rpg

The US Team was really loaded with talent and I could go on with mentioning nearly all of their players. Quinn Cook or Marquis Teague played as well a great tournament and combined for 13.4 assists per game which is an outstanding number for such a talented PG duo that could easily dominate in scoring as well. Anthony Wroten was another player that could be named here as the athletic guard combined for some nice scoring efforts and altruism as well. Andre Drummond was probably a player that could have been more present in terms of statistics but the 2m11 tall Center only played 13 minutes per game which shows how dense the talent level on the US team was.