A new edition of the U14 Slovenia Ball, held in Slovenj Gradec (Slovenia), started today in the slovenian town, with Eurohopes staff updating the information on live for second summer in a row. This is the first international tournament for most of the prospects, and today many of them showed bad percentages due to the long trip and the nerves of the first tournament wearing their NT jersey. Most interesting names? After one day (12 hours in the gym) we've seen great details of Jonathan Barreiro ('97, Spain), Mark Sisko ('97, Slovenia Green), Oliver Dvojakovski ('97, Macedonia) -who has signed for Olimpija Ljubljana-, Alvaro Reyes ('97, Spain), Nenad Dimitrijevic ('98, Macedonia), Nikola Lucic ('97, Montenegro), Matej Gaspert ('97, Croatia), Dragan Bender ('97, Croatia),... Let's check what happened in each contest.
-Slovenia Green 66 Spain 88: Spaniards started well the tournament with an easy win behind talented Barreiro (6'8'') and Reyes (6'6''). Both have great potential, good bodies to grow and big wingspans. Intriguing prospects. At the other side 5'9'' guard Sisko showed skills dribbling and passing. Also skinny arms and legs. Barreiro led the victory with 17 points and 5 rebounds, while Reyes added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Juan Oliva ('97) also shined with 10 and 6 boards. At the losing effort 6'2'' forward Miha Princic ('97) had 11 points and 4 rebounds, while 5'9'' guard Marko Matijevic ('97) added 11 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Sisko ended with 9 points, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals.
-Macedonia 46 Slovenia Blue 63: Slovenian kids found more problems than they expected against macedonians, who fought and showed a more consistent game than last edition. 6'8'' center Djovakovski has grown a lot in many aspects, with a great wingspan. Youngster 5'5'' guard Dimitrijevic keeps playing with a great ball-handling, hurting with pick-and-roll and assists. At slovenian squad there are tall prospects, with good potential. 6'2'' forward Marco Travica ('97) is one of them, with shooting ability, while 6'0'' skinny guard Blaz Mesicek ('97) hurts with shots and penetrations. Who ended as the best players of the game? For Slovenia Blue Mesicek had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, Travica added 11 points, 2 boards and 1 steal and finally 6'4'' power-forward Tilen Jakupovic ('97) nailed 12, pulling down 5 rebounds. At the other side 5'10'' guard Dejan Srbinovski ('97) had 11 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, while Dimitrijevic added 11 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound. Finally 5'11'' forward Miodrag Todorovic ('97) scored 6 points, with 3 steals and 1 rebound.
-Montenegro 64 Estonia 41: Montenegrin team started well with an easy win behind its physical superiority, with many rotations. Intriguing prospects? 6'3'' guard Lucic sent us good sensations, with a good body to grow up. His teammate Todor Radonjic ('97), a 6'4'' power-forward, is also interesting. For Estonia its taller player is 6'2'' center Karl Suurorg ('98), with a good mid shooting range. Lucic led the win with 11 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, while 6'3'' guard Gavrilo Vujacic ('98) had 9 points, 7 boards and 1 block and 6'4'' power-forward Gordan Glomazic ('97) made also a good job: 9 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block. At the losing effort 5'1'' guard Norman Kabin ('97) finished as the best scorer with 11 points, 2 assists and 1 steal and 5'11'' Martin Utsmuts ('97) added 8 points, 8 rebounds and 1 steal. Finally 5'11'' Olger Antsmaa ('97) tallied 8 points, with 3 rebounds and 1 block.
-Spain 83 Macedonia 39: A great defense of spaniards in the first two quarters gave them the second win in two contests. Srbinovski battled with much intensity and good skills, but wasn't enough. At winning effort PG Pablo Pérez ('97) showed he is a good shooter, while Oliva played again with much intensity. Best scorers? Pérez ended with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, Oliva added 17 with 6 boards and 1 block and finally Alexander de Miguel ('97) scored 5, with 6 boards and 1 steal. At macedonian side Dvojakovski had 10 points and 6 rebounds, while Srbinovski added 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Their teammate Kristjan Nedelkovski ('97), a 6'1'' forward. had 6 with 2 rebounds.
-Slovenia Blue 63 Montenegro 46: Really tied game during the first half, but with slovenians winning after small details and some montenegrin turnovers. The big players of Montenegro fought trying to come back, but the threes scored by the opponent gave them the second win in two contests. Montenegrin Vujacic, a power-forward who runs the floor very well, and slovenian Urban Durnik ('97), a 6'6'' center who damaged the paint, two players to follow. At the winning effort Durnik ended with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block, while Masicek added 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Klemen Kuznik ('97) scored 8 points, pulling down 4 rebounds and dishing 2 assists. For Montenegro Vujacic made one of the best performances of the day with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Radonjic added 4 points, 8 boards and 1 assist. Mitar Petrovic ('97) had 7 points, 2 boards and 1 assist.
-Estonia 51 Croatia 67: In the last game of this first journey the taller croatian prospects decided the result. Their defense put estonians in trouble during many minutes. Croatians Gaspert and Bender are some of the most intriguing players in the event. At the other side Utsmuts fought against Gaspert from outside to inside, but not enough. 5'11'' Julijan Zadravec ('97) led the victory with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, while Gaspert added 13 points and 5 boards and Bender 8 points, 6 boards and 1 assist. At the losing effort 5'9'' Sander Viilup ('97) ended with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals, while Utsmuts had 6 points and 7 boards and Kabin 9 points and 2 rebounds.
Standings: Spain and Slovenia Blue (2-0), Croatia (1-0), Montenegro (1-1), Slovenia Green (0-1), Macedonia and Estonia (0-2).
Photo: Eurohopes
