By Davide Bortoluzzi & Luca Virgilio
Last weekend was played in Valjevo (Serbia) one of top youth tournaments throughout Europe, the Luka Stancic Tournament. It 's been a good level tournament, where some of the best 96-97-98 players faced for three tough days and at the end Partizan Belgrade won the final game against Olimpia Lubiana with the result of 75-65 especially thanks to the 28 points of the MVP Magdevski.
All Tournament Teams:
Andrej Magdevski (1996, 6’3”, PG, Partizan Belgrade, Macedonia): He was named the MVP of the tournament after three solid performances and an astonishing final game against Ljubljana. He’s the star of Macedonia youth national teams averaging 20.1 points 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 this summer with U16 national team. He’s a crafty combo guard with a good structure and height. He’s really mature, but more instinctive as a player, he should work also on his playmaking skills. In fact most of his assists come from his ability to create space beating the defenders, thanks to his lighting first step. He’s really effective attacking the basket, showing the ability to conclude in multiple ways and even in situations of limited balance, often drawing fouls. His midrange game is solid, also with a reliable floater. Despite being a clutch player, he needs to work on his shot, which lacks consistency especially outside three points line, starting from the dribble. Plus he needs to improve on the defensive side, putting more effort and energy.
Federico Mussini (1996, 6’0”, PG, Reggio Emilia, Italy): Mussini is a skinny and short combo guard standing 5’11”, with astonishing explosiveness, speed and feel for the game. His ball handling is amazing, allowing him to basically beat the defender in any situation, anyway he’s not a pass first point guard, due to his developed scoring instinct. His midrange game is well developed, especially the fade away and step back jumper, exploiting his lighting release. He also has a reliable three point shot. His body is really skinny for a senior level of competition, in fact the key point of his development will be the way in which he will develop a muscular basis, trying not to lose speed. He led the tournament in scoring with almost 30 points per game.
Milos Glisic (1998 , 6’7’’, SF, Partizan Belgrade, Serbia): is one of the brighter prospect of the 1998 generation and he confirmed the expectations here in Valjevo with 21 points and 9 rebound per game, and beyond stats he played a very mature and intelligent basketball despite he was two years underage. Glisic is an incredible shooter and I was enchanted by his perfect and clean shooting mechanics that allows him to get the ball and shoot in less than one second he also has the characteristic that he can play in different roles on the court because he has a good ability to pass the ball mainly thanks of his great vision of the game and thanks to his high IQ. His body will help him to become a high level player, but he must improve his defensive intensity and his left hand work to make further improvements.
Dragan Bender (1997, 6’9’’, PF, KK Split, Croatia): he is a player with an incredible natural talent and I am sure that he will have a very bright future. In Valjevo unfortunately he played only two games due to a slight ankle injury but he however showed all his potential: great passing technique, good vision of the game, good defensive rebounder and what is most impressive is his ability to move with elegance despite his height. He scored 14,5 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and served 3 assists per game but I think he still has limits and if he wants to become an NBA prospect he needs to improve his ball handling, he must learn to make a better use of his left hand and he needs to improve his one on one in attack. I think he could aspire one day to become an NBA player because his physique is great: very long arms and very fast feet, and he will have time to improve his weaknesses.
Markus Loncar (1996, 6’11”, C, Cedevita Zagreb, Croatia): Long and athletic center with good mobility and huge hands. He has a good physical basis, but he could work on his explosiveness and lateral speed. His hands are soft and he can conclude with a reliable hook shot both using left or right. He has a huge potential, but he needs to add consistency to his game and to work on the conditioning, an aspects that is currently limiting him. He’s not selfish at all, he always looks to open the court starting from post position, but he need to work on his game comprehension, since sometimes he causes turnovers due to interceptions. Plus his ball handling skills and ball control are still weak, and sometimes he tends to have early foul troubles. On the defensive side he has good intimidation sklls, thanks to his mobility and physical strength. Definitely an intriguing prospect, who needs to add fluidity and confidence to his game.
Honorable mention:
Filip Anicic (1997, 6’ 9’’, C, Partizan Belgrade, Serbia): played a good tournament and he has been one of the key factor that leads Partizan to the final win with 8 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. Anicic has an impressive body structure that allows him to be a dominant presence inside the area in offense and in defense and he has also the right center mental approach: he’s really tough and he’s not afraid to fight in every moment of the game. His defense footwork it’s not bad but sometimes he has some problem when he has to face smaller opponents and I believe that he has to work on mental approach during the game because he has the habit to disappear in some clutch moment. At the end I think that he is a very interesting resources not only for Partizan, but also for the Serbia national team because in this moment it’s not easy to find center with his size.
Alexandar Lazic (1996, 6’7”, SF, Olimpja Ljubljana, Bosnia Herzegovina): Athletic forward with amazing physical skills, great mobility and leaping ability on a potential NBA body. He uses his gifts mostly on the defensive side, showing good attitude and intensity, with good instinct for the steal. On the offensive side he has some struggles, first is the lack of consistency on the shot, even if his mechanics has a good basis he should improve the selection and the release. This leads to his poor game comprehension, he’s really intense but sometimes he tends to lose focus generating turnovers. Plus he absolutely needs to work on his ball handling gaining more confidence and fluidity. He’s more effective in off the ball situations, especially in catch ad shot or after an offensive rebound. A prospect with huge ceiling that needs to work hard on the technical standpoint.
Goran Filipovic (1996, 6’0’’, PG, KK Split, Croatia): is a very intense player able to break the rhythm of the game with his play as happened during the games of KK Split in the tournament in Valjevo where he scored 8 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and stole 3 balls per game . Filipovic is a pure guard with not to much points in his hands but he has a good physical structure, with an upper part of the body sufficiently developed muscularly and this allows him to be a very effective defender very difficult to face for every size opponents. He does not have much natural talent but he is a very fast player and he is able to steal a lot of balls thanks to his fast hands and his excellent footwork.
Jules Akodo (1996, 6’1’’, PG, Olimpia Lubiana, England): is a devastating player thanks to his enormous physical power and also thanks to his explosiveness becomes a rebus for all defenses that he face. Akodo plays mainly as a guard, but occasionally can also play as a playmaker because even if he is slightly messy he has a good vision of the game. In defense he can recover many balls because he is very quick in lateral movements and he has very fast hands, also thanks to his physical he is also an excellent blocker. During the tournament he scored 16 points per game with good percentage from 3 points and he also grabbed 7 rebounds per game.
Andrea Rovatti (1996, 6’5’’, SF, Reggio Emilia, Italy): is a hybrid player capable of playing both power forward and shooting forward with good results and he gave me the impression of being able to do the important things in the right way. Rovatti is a player who always brings a lot of balance within the team and with his high IQ his play are never banal. During the tournament he scored 15 points and grabbed 4 rebounds per game with good shooting percentages.
Haris Cucovic (1998, 6’8”, PF, Olimpja Ljubljana, Serbia): Lanky power forward with long arms, big hands and a solid physical basis. He has amazing mobility, running the floor effectively during transition, even if he should work on his posture. He has great basketball IQ and feel for the game, reading correctly lots of different situations. Even his technical basis is good, he’s able to put the ball on the floor and to beat the defenders with both hands, ability that shows also when he concludes to the basket with the hook shot starting from post position. He has also a good attitude , with a blue collar style of game. His main flaw is the shot, he absolutely needs to work on it since it’s totally not consistent.
Ante Zizic (1997, 6’9’’, C, KK Split, Croatia): and Bender are the heart of KK Split and together they form a well-matched couple under the basket. Zizic played the tournament one year underage but he proved to be a very effective player with 9 points and 5 rebounds per game and good post movements. He has a very interesting body and I think he can still improve.
Vasilje Vucetic (1996, 6’9”, PF/C, Olimpja Ljubljana, Serbia): Polished big man with great ceiling since his physical development is yet to be completed. His body is still not defined at all from the muscular standpoint, looking like a “big baby”. Nevertheless he’s tough and he stands contacts quite effectively. Standing 6’9” he’s a bit undersized for the role, but he will probably grow a couple of inches in the next years (his older brother Sergej is a freshman at Nebraska and stands 7’1”), plus he has long arms and big hands. He has an old school game, with good fundamentals a great use of pivot foot and shooting range. His post game is already developed, with some solid movements back to the basket, plus he has a reliable jump shot, with a good range. He’s also a good rebounder, with great sense of position. He’s able to put the ball on the floor effectively and he has also great instincts as a passer. Vucetic is really a gifted prospect with a good potential, especially if he’ll develop from the physical standpoint, working on his conditioning and speed.
Sebastian Brusewitz (1996, 6’10’’, C, Reggio Emilia, Sweden): is without a doubt the player with the best physique in the whole tournament: excellent musculature, long and powerful arms with still good growth potential. My impression is that he at this time is not yet in a position to be a dominant factor on the court but he still has a good impact in the game (in Valjevo he scored 3,5 points, grabbed 7 rebound in 22 minutes per game) and I think if he continues to work hard he can make very interesting improvements and become a top level player.
Photo: memorijallukastancic.com/index.php
