By Rafal Juc
Friday was quarterfinal time at European Championship U16 and nobody in Siemens Arena could not be disappointed with level, while all games were tied till the final minutes. We opened day in almost empty Siemens Arena from really entertaining game between Italy and Poland. Both teams were changing the lead, however 2 final minutes were owned by Italians, who won this game with pressure defense and more cold blood. To 82:79 victory led them Federico Mussini (’96), at the pic. He is 5-11 and really skinny, but also gifted point guard. Mussini, who already shocked the world at Jordan Brand Classic is natural-born scorer, always being able to find way to make basket. He impresses with natural flow and understanding to the game and shows that strength it is not always the most important. However for the future he needs to fill out his frame to be able to stay stable on contact. Nonetheless at this moment he scored mostly in transition or with open shots thanks to his deep range. In this quarterfinal all observers were enjoying his battle with another really talented playmaker, Kamil Zywert (’96). 6-3 and quite long Pole is more first-pass than first-shoot type of point guard, who handles the ball and creates open spaces for teammates with unconventional passes. What impressed in game of this right-handed player is fact that he makes almost all passes with his lefty, making him actually both-handed.
Second quarterfinal was even more entertaining, especially that Spain, which led in third quarter 55:39 lost the game 68:67 almost at the buzzer. Who drew our attention? First of all Serbian swingman Stefan Lazarevic (’96). Long and athletic forward standing at 6-3 and is perfect role-player. He impresses with self-control, versatile offensive package, but mostly with the way he crashes the glass, rebound 10 ball per game so far. Worth to mention great substation by youngster Stefan Peno (’97) in clutch moment. He showed not only already matured body, but brilliant mentality, while he did not feel fear of taking responsibility on his arms in decisive moments. Between Spaniards our attention caught up Marc Garcia (’96). 6-5 swingman from Manresa is pure shooter with dangerous pull-up jumper thanks to his high release point. Moreover, even being really skinny, he is not afraid of driving into the basket and knows how to draw contact to find himself on free throw line.
We expected Germany - Turkey game as a Okben Ulubay (’97) against Jan Wimberg (’96) show, however the game was stolen by frontcourt players headed by German youngster Niklas Kiel (’97) and Turkish big man Egemen Guven (’96). The first one after couple of colorless games has developed into major impact under the German basket. 6-7 Kiel possesses natural instinct to catch the ball inside the paint and in addition is posting up well, playing consistently back to the basket, what is rare in so young age. However, he got lesson of basketball by Guven, who finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds. 6-9 Turk is really long, has more than average wingspan and with all that said is really mobile, what makes him candidate for power forward in future, especially thanks to his promising shooting touch.
Surprisingly day finished with loss of extremely-talented Croatian team 64:67 to well-coached France. This time phenomenal Marko Arapovic (’96) played mostly outside the paint and hit four 3-pointers on all possible way. He makes well-matched frontcourt duo with youngster Lovro Mazalin (’97), who is sensation of European Championship U16. He impresses with matured body, basketball IQ and versatile offensive package. However in future needs to develop into small forward with his 6-5 frame, what will be not an easy task due to his poor shooting mechanism.
Twitter of the author: @rafjuc
Photo: FIBA Europe / Gintaras Siuparys
