By Rafal Juc
GTK Gdynia has became winner of Polish U18 Championships, while ranked in our rankings Daniel Szymkiewicz (’94) was named Most Valuable Player and best scorer of tournament, which was held in 2-6 May in Poznan. This year’s edition of Final 8 round of Polish U18 Championships stood on quite satisfactory level. Mainly due to fact that it was possible to watch in Poznan such talented players like ranked in our rankings: Szymkiewicz, Mikolaj Witlinski (’95), Damian Jeszke (’95) or Filip Pruefer (’96). Eurohopes staff was there to keep you updated on all bests polish prospects.
After exciting battle GTK Gdynia led by tiny, but also tough point guard Jakub Derkowski (’94) and sharpshooter Bartosz Wrobel (’95) won this year’s Polish U18 Championships, winning in big final (link) over STK Czarni Slupsk (79-64). In bronze medal game Szymkiewicz and his Trefl Sopot were better than KS Rosa Sport Radom, winning 78-70 (link). Read below short reports on noticeable player:
Daniel Szymkiewicz: 1994, 6’5’’, SG/SF, Trefl Sopot
Szymkiewicz confirmed that still belongs to European elite on backcourt positions in 1994 generation. Over Polish U18 Finals showed outstanding talent, which goes in couple with constant improvement. Developing into point guard in senior team, Szymkiewicz at U18 category presented himself as the most versatile backcourt player in country, who feels the best on point-forward position. Standing at 6-5 he possesses excellent ball-handling and versatile repertoire of fakes playing 1-on-1 on ball very willing. 18-years old prospect since last year filled out his promising frame and gained needed experience, what showed with patient and calm, with which he plays at youth level.
Playing as playmaker at 6-5 due to great body-coordination and pure footwork he takes very often advantage of size, playing 1-on-1 against smaller or weaker defenders. What strikes eyes is fact that Szymkiewicz is natural-born leader, who step out on court only with one goal: to kill his opponent. In addition he is not afraid of taking responsibility on his shoulders in clutch moments. Must be noticed that Trefl’s leader improved shooting touch. Being quite inconsistent in previous years, now he is able to knock down deep three on average efficiency.
Mikolaj Witlinski -at the pic-: 1995, 6’9’’, PF, KS Rosa Sport Radom
To be honest Witlinski is backcourt player close in 6-9 size body. At last year’s European U16 Championships he presented himself as one of top25 player of 1995 generation. However, since last year he made surprising progress, showing that he still has got plenty of room in all aspects to improve. Over last season, which Witlinski spent in Sport School in Cetniewo he filled out his frame and add some new skills to offensive repertoire.
With really long arms, promising wingspan and well-coordinated body Witlinski runs the court well, being really often the first one in fast breaks. Listed at 6-9 he is always one of the highest players in his team, however must be noticed that Witlinski is typical face-up frontcourt player, who loves coming out on midrange and after receiving ball start 1-on-1 action on dribble.
Shooting really mechanically and using his arms as well as footwork correctly, Witlinski possesses quite promising shooting range, being even at this stage of development able to shoot beyond the arc. Using smartness and pure footwork he is capable of posting up very well on low-post, where Witlinski finishes generally with spin-moves to baseline. Continuing his improvement, Witlinski could develop in future into Maciej Lampe type power forward.
Damian Jeszke: 1995, 6’8’’, PF/C, Novum Bydgoszcz
Another top 1995 generation’s prospect, Damian Jeszke showed as one of the most productive player at Polish U18 Championships, finished tournament with average of 19.8 points and 13 rebounds per game. Really tough and wise power forward uses in his game combination of: mobility, versatility, nice wingspan, brilliant footwork, timing and smartness.
At first glance Jeszke is not player, who stands out. However, must be noticed that he always plays on both ends on high intensity, doing all things called “donkey work”. In addition he always is solid, playing in every single game on the same level. Standing at 6-8 Jeszke is used by his coaches as power forward or center. Nonetheless he avoids posting up, spending most of time being face up. He comes out on low-post and after receiving ball he could knock down pull-up jumper or beat off dribble his opponent. However, Jeszke thanks to crashing glass really strong, scores most of his points with put-ins. He possesses promising shooting touch, but needs to improve his offensive skills on ball.
Filip Pruefer: 1996, 6’10’’, C, PBG Basket Junior Poznan
Only 16-years old Pruefer is well-known at European market, mainly due to fact that last summer he took part in European U16 Championships and Jordan Brand Classic. Thanks to 6-10 size Pruefer must be considered as top prospect of his generation, but there is a lot of work ahead him to improve his game on solid level.
Over season 2011/12, where Pruefer had occasion to gain experience at senior domestic level in PBG Basket Junior Poznan, 6-10 center made tremendous progress in term of athleticism, mobility and motility. He lost some kilos, added muscles and improved way of running the court. Being still somehow row offensively, Pruefer playing with 2-years older opponent showed nice posting up on low-post, where he knows how to take advantage of his size and bulk. At this stage of development, polish center presents as not too creative, however over tournament showed some promising post-moves. Now he needs to work on footwork and add some offensive skills outside the paint.
Final standings:
1. GTK Gdynia
2. STK Czarni Slupsk
3. Trefl Sopot
4. Rosa Sport Radom
5. PBG Basket Junior Poznan
6. Novum Bydgoszcz
7. MKS Polonia Warszawa
8. WKK Wroclaw
MVP – Daniel Szymkiewicz (Trefl Sopot)
All-Tournament Team:
- Jakub Derkowski (GTK Gdynia)
- Bartosz Wrobel (GTK Gdynia)
- Jakub Garbacz (Rosa Sport Radom)
- Filip Taisner (PBG Basket Junior Poznan)
- Kacper Borowski (STK Czarni Slupsk)
Points:
1. Daniel Szymkiewicz (Trefl Sopot) 22.4
2. Bartosz Wrobel (GTK Gdynia) 19.8
2. Damian Jeszke (MKS Novum Bydgoszcz) 19.8
4. Kacper Borowski (STK Czarni Slupsk) 19.4
5. Artur Suchodolski (WKK Wroclaw) 18.5
Rebounds:
1. Kacper Borowski (STK Czarni Slupsk) 16.4
2. Damian Jeszke (MKS Novum Bydgoszcz) 13.0
3. Jakub Patoka (Trefl Sopot) 10.2
4. Grzegorz Kulka (MKS Polonia Warszawa) 10.0
5. Mikolaj Witlinski (KS Rosa Sport Radom) 9.8
Assists:
1. Jakub Derkowski (GTK Gdynia) 7.0
2. Pawel Dzierzak (Trefl Sopot) 4.2
3. Norman Zuber (WKK Wroclaw) 4.0
4. Marcin Deja (MKS Novum Bydgoszcz) 3.8
5. Arkadiusz Pilarski (MKS Novum Bydgoszcz) 3.0
Eval:
1. Kacper Borowski (STK Czarni Slupsk) 26.8
2. Damian Jeszke (MKS Novum Bydgoszcz) 24.3
3. Daniel Szymkiewicz (Trefl Sopot) 22.6
4. Jakub Patoka (Trefl Sopot) 20.8
5. Mateusz Migala (GTK Gdynia) 17.4
Twitter of the author: @rafjuc
