European Prospects

The German U19 League NBBL is developing into one of the most interesting youth leagues to follow in Europe. This season, a quite unknown name is leading the league in both scoring and rebounding (25.2ppg, 56.0% 2FGs, 13.5rpg, 2.3spg, 1.9topg, 36.1mpg), the 2m04 tall inside player Till Gloger from Paderborn. After the departure of the Wendt-twins due to age reasons, Gloger helped his team to qualify for the playoffs and that’s when I had the possibility to scout him this weekend.

When you see Gloger for the first time, he does not stand out on a physical point of view. More looking like a forward than an inside player, Gloger is not very large or muscular and was mainly doing jump shots and ball handling stuff during the warm up. He did not show any kind of athletic abilities or dunks during the lay-up lines so you were wondering how this player could lead the NBBL in both scoring and rebounding. But when the game started, you quickly understood where Gloger’s strength are. He does not do anything special but all he does is executed quite well and makes sense.

On the offensive end, Gloger is mainly used in the low post where his team mates tried to find him in the beginning with multiple weak side screens to get him open. Once he got the ball there, he tried to score even against the double team and he showed a nice arsenal of moves to be successful. He netted some turn around jump shots but also showed a nice hook out of the dribble or a good spin move towards the basket. All of these finishes were not very explosive but done with good footwork and good fakes to overcome his athletic deficits. He also faced the basket and attacked it on the dribble out of which he can come up with the dish on help situations.

Gloger tried to get open in the low post despite the opposing defense that was very focused on fronting him but he was not really asking for the ball. The guard play of Paderborn was not really good either to get him the ball so that Gloger could have got a lot more offensive opportunities. He is a real team player, not forcing anything but sharing the ball when his team mates are open or he has no opportunities to score. Because of his fakes and moves, he goes quite often to the free-throw line (he could have had a couple more fouls on him) from where he is very regular. His overall shooting touch is very good around the basket and he should also be a good jump shooter around the key. He nailed also a mid-range shot out of the dribble once but he is not really focused offensively on this kind of shot at the moment. With his mechanics and touch, he should be able to develop into a good shooter from long distance which is a domain where he is working on. A regular three-point shot should only be a question of time.

Because of his athletic limits, he is working to develop a SF game in the future. His ball handling is not good enough yet, even if he can come up with a few dribbles out of the rebounding situations on this level against defense. He is doing a good job running the break overall and he can finish also with his left hand even if you see that this is still a work in progress. But also in game situations, he does not come up with the dunk when there is a slight opening. His offensive positioning is good but still improvable. He goes to the offensive rebounds but does not force in order to stay out of foul trouble probably. He likes to go up quickly after the offensive board but he sometimes executes this kind of situation a bit too hasty.

On the defensive end, Gloger is doing an excellent job boxing out which explains his great numbers in that area. He goes up strong with two hands to catch the ball and protects it well. He might struggle against more athletic players but he was doing an excellent job against this competition and hustles to get the ball under control not shying away to dive on the floor. Out of the rebound situations, he can put the ball on the floor, even against full-court pressure but it is not his main job. His overall defensive positioning is excellent and he can read the passing lanes quite well to get the occasional steal. When guarding a smaller player, he showed good lateral speed and did a nice job on hedging situations as well even if he was a little slow to find back his rotation. On the other hand, his lack of length and explosiveness makes him only an under average shot blocker.

Gloger is finishing his high school this summer and he is currently weighting his different options. There are some Colleges that showed interest in him, but he might also stay in Paderborn. He needs to find an environment where he can work individually on his skillset in order to develop a full Small or at least Power Forward repertoire. When he remains limited to an inside position, he will struggle on the next level to become a serious factor as he lacks the necessary athleticism and physical presence.

Gloger’s stats from today’s game: 24pts (9/22 FGs – 6/6 FTs), 23rebs, 3asts, 2stls, 4tos

On the Bramfeld side, Marco Lewitz showed an excellent game. The bulky forward nailed several three-pointers with good mechanics and quick release and was one of the reasons, why Gloger had some problems to finish close to the basket as he put a lot of physical pressure on him together with his team mate Marc Nagora. Lewitz was the vocal leader for his team and the main reason why they won in Paderborn and are still able to qualify for the next round. Next to his shooting skills, Lewitz also had a couple of nice assists but tried to score often by driving hard to the basket but without being really under control.