By Kostas Psimoulis
The U20 European Championship is over and here is my take on five players who performed really well - Jaime Fernandez, Kaspars Vecvagars, Andres Grazulis, Ioannis Papapetrou and Dani Diez. I don’t mean that they are the best, or the most talented, players, but they are the ones who intrigued me the most.
Jaime Fernandez
The Spanish scoring guard impressed with his speed and quickness, his ability to create space and his fancy dribble moves. He possesses great speed, and that’s critical for a player his size. Fernandez showed the ability to speed up and slow down either in the half court or in transition, and the capability to attack not only in straight-line drives but in curves as well. He is more of a scoring guard than a pure point guard; he played mostly as an off guard and got a fair amount of his touches on the move, on secondary actions. He showed that he can get to the basket at will, thanks to the combination of speed and dribbling ability, and that he can finish on difficult angles around the rim. He can create offense in PNR situations and can pass the ball (though he’s not a natural or instinctive passer), low or high, according to the screener and the screening angle. He probes defenses and possesses the ability to slow down, and then attack again when his defender gets off of his stance. He needs to improve his shot, especially the mid-range one, because the ball often finds the rim hard. If he manages to makes the mid-range shot a consistent part of his game, he could be very hard to play against. On defense, Fernandez showed that he can press the ball effectively; he also showed that he is adept at denying catches, forcing opponents to make a catch far away from the perimeter.
Kaspars Vecvagars
The Latvian guard helped his team to win the silver metal despite playing with a fractured finger. He also managed to make the All-Tournament Team thanks to his impressive performances, and he could have been the surefire tournament’s MVP had not Amedeo Della Valle made clutch play after clutch play in crunch time. Vecvagars possesses good size, and he is a decent athlete with above average speed and quickness. The first thing that stands out is his ability to use screens and reach the rim area. Once he gets there, he can finish with floaters with either hand, or jump stops and layups. He often beats his man with a quick first step and, immediately, creates space for his beloved floater. His confidence had been through the roof throughout the tournament and that’s the reason his field goal percentage was low (along with a questionable shot selection); he believed that he could make every shot he had taken. His ultra-aggressive style of play helped him earn lots of fouls and visits to the free throw line. He showed the ability to control the tempo of the game, while he was excellent in transition and in early-offense plays. He is not the pure PG you’d want to run an offense through, but he could fit perfectly on two-PG lineups and as scoring point guard as well. Defensively he is able to hold his own thanks to his athletic abilities, he also rebounds well and has good size and length to make plays away from the ball.
Andre’s Grazulis
Grazulis is one of the many players who don’t get much attention, but are so valuable to team success because they are able to make winning plays. Latvia faced Spain at the semifinal game, and it could not have beaten them had Grazulis not been on the floor at the final seconds. First he put his body in front of every Spanish player in a four-shot possession in which Spain could have gotten the lead, and then tipped the ball in off of a teammate’s missed free throw giving his team the win. He’s not big enough or a great athlete, but he’s strong and plays hard on both ends. He screens the ball well enough, just to give his teammates the chance to take the middle of the floor, but he can also adjust on the fly and slip the screen if he sees that the defense tries to overplay the angle he wants to screen. He possesses good touch around the basket and converts at high rates, knowing his limitations and never forcing things. He gets his points via drop offs, offensive rebounds and rim runs. On the defensive end he is an above average big man, who can put a body on opponents, make the right rotations, corral rebounds and do all the hard work. He is undersized for the “5” position, and doesn’t seem to have high ceiling, but he’s a hard worker on the floor and a good teammate; a guy coaches love to have on their teams.
Ioannis Papapetrou
Papapetrou was the most impressive Greek player throughout the tournament in Talin. He is a great kid, a high-character guy, who happens to be a son of a veteran basketball player. He was calm, confident and sure about his decisions; he never afraid to take a critical shot every time his team needed scoring help. Papapetrou has good size and length and is an adequate athlete for the European standards. He can shoot the ball from everywhere on the floor (55.6 eFG %); he possesses a remarkable range on his three ball, while his mechanics look solid and repeatable. He can also post up smaller opponents and finish in traffic or in transition. He showed that he can put the ball on the floor at times and make plays for others, although that’s not the best part of his game. On the defensive end he put in great effort and never shied away from tough match-ups (Daniel Diez). Good offensive players can beat him on one-on-ones, but Papapetrou is a good scheme defender, and if has drilled, practiced and learned the team’s defensive nuances he can be really effective on that end of the floor.
Daniel Díez
During his days in Talin Daniel Diez established his status as a top level European prospect and showed that he has improved over the year. He displayed a great arsenal of skills, and showed versatility on the offensive end. He showed throughout the tournament that he is a versatile forward who’s able to impact a game in a variety of ways. The first thing that stands out is his scoring ability; Diez showed that he can put the ball on the floor with either hand, can shoot the three with a compact and consistent motion, and can create offense through the low or the high post. However, the most impressive aspect of his offense is his off-the-ball movement. Diez showed that he’s adept enough when he hasn’t got the ball in his hands, moving into dead spaces, keeping the defense honest and making himself available. He earned a lot of buckets and free throws that way. Spain showed incredible movement, especially after post touches, having all players moving with purpose, and Diez was a consistent threat every time he positioned himself at the opposite site off the ball. The Spaniard passes the ball incredibly well and sees movements and angles most forwards don’t see. Defense is not his bread and butter, and he is not going to make a living thanks to his defense, but he was adequate on that end on the floor and showed good anticipation in passing lanes, effort and ability to rebound the ball in traffic.
Photo: FIBA Europe
