By Rafal Juc
The level of play during the second play of Nike International Junior Tournament in Rome improved significantly, as decisive moments were coming. KK Spars Sarajevo as well as Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul remained unbeaten. Although level of an overall talent is not that high as expected, there is plenty of prospects, who not only might be eligible, but willing as well to continue their development in NCAA.
- Domantas Sabonis (1996): Younger son of legendary Arvydas Sabonis is working on his own name and is already considered by most of the scouts as top European prospect of 1996 generation on a par with another famous father's son Marko Arapovic ('96) from Croatia. Sabonis listed at 6-8 is modern combo forward, drawing some similarity to Houston's Donatas Motiejunas. He's quick on his feet, quite athletic and skilled. After dominating European Championship U16 as a clear-cut up-front player, Unicaja's coaching staff has decided to transfor him into tweener, so nothing surprisingly that in Rome Sabonis is seeing his playing time mostly at SF spot in Unicaja's packed with sized lineup.
- Ruben Guerrero (1995): Typical late bloomer. Never been selected to Spanish national team, but clearly possesses all tools to continue his career even at ACB level. Already 7-footer with limited and skinny, but wiry frame, Guerrero is modern face-up PF with nice midrange game. Thanks to his agility, center of gravity and footwork he's great in transition game, always running above the ball. Due to only decent frame by far he settles in mid-range area and knock downs open jumpers, taking advantage of good spacing, however he needs to fill out his frame and start taking advantage of his athleticism playing more isolations on the block. At this moment he doesn't show true post game, however is decent pick&roll executor, slipping into the basket quickly after setting ball screen.
- David Taylor (1995): Point guard of German National Team has been looking for a college scholarship, however to fulfil it, he has to improve his playmaking skills, limit turnover ratio and improve running team game in half-court. Standing at 6-3 with shoes on, Taylor is one of the most athletic guards in European 1995-generation, in particular thanks to his filled frame and blow of quickness. He has nice lateral quickness and can keep defenders out of balance with his ability to change gears in an open court. As a passer, Taylor is in his best running the pick and roll and using his speed to open angles. He attacks the defense rather with dribbling than passing, however still has to work on an accuracy of his passing skills.
- Dimitrios Nikolaou (1995): To be honest, Nikolaou isn't the most gifted guard of the tournament, however he makes up all his shortcomings with mental and physical toughness, feel to the game and leadership. He runs the team offense quite smoothly and doesn't have any problems with bringing the ball up the court, even facing with a pressure or full court zone press. I believe he could be solid rotation player in all four years of his eligiblity at some mid-major NCAA level. He isn't that athletic or quick as most of American guards, however he's hard-nosed.
- Tarik Asik (1995): Last name sounds similar, right? Tarik, 18 years old brother of Houston's Omer Asik is a benchwarmer in a competitive Fenerbahce team (saw only 6 minutes in total in first 3 games), however it should be taken into consideration that he has started playing organized basketball only few months ago. Being already listed at 7'0'', Asik shows nice body structure to play basketball as well as soft hands, however isn't as mobile and athletic as his brother is. He has some serious difficulties with fundamentals like catching the ball. On the other hand, NCAA could be a great way of development for him, because Asik needs to start working on his body as fast as possible, at the same developing his post game.
Photo: basketincontro.it
