By Valentin Le Clezio
The French Espoir league (U20) is almost at his midway point as 2013 comes to an end. It gives us a good opportunity to have a look at the main potentials dominating at this level and, who could, sooner or later, have an impact in the Pros.
-Axel Bouteille (1995, 6"6, Shooting-Forward)
Top scorer of the U18 French National Team last summer (12,6 points and 5 rebounds a game), Axel Bouteille -at the pic- has been confirming his nice summer at the Espoir level this season. Averaging over 24 points and 6 rebounds per game with incredible shooting percentages (57% overall, 42% from 3, 76% from the charity stripe) Bouteille is dominating the "Espoir level" with efficiency. He is the best scorer of the league, while taking only over 13 shots per contest, showing great shooting selection. He very rarely forces a shot (only takes 3 three-point shots a game) and is a really unselfish teammate. Bouteille is a pure scorer with an above average scoring instinct and a good feel for the game. He is able to knock-down catch-and-shoot or off-the dribble threes on a consistent basis. He has a perfect shooting mechanic with a nice arc on his shot. Chalon also loves to run plays to get him open, shooting the ball following screens on the baseline.
He has been "money" from distance this season. He is also a high IQ player when it comes to attacking spaces on half-court situations which enables him to get easy buckets despite his lack of athleticism. He also lacks size and length for his position, whichdoesn’t help him at all on the defensive end of the ball. He will need to bulk-up, improve his explosiveness and always give a good effort on that end of the ball in order not to be a liability at the next level. If his lack of athleticism will ultimately limit his upside he is heading for a very good Pro career in Europe thanks to his scorer instinct and high basketball IQ. He may be wasting his time at the Espoir level. He only played a grand total of 28 minutes with Chalon’sA team this season (ProA + Eurocup). A loan to a second division team may help him to face tougher competition and continue his development.
-David Michineau (1994, 6’3, Point-Guard)
Bouteille’s teammate David Michineau is another dominant player at the Espoir level, possessing important upside. He averages 22 points a game despite playing only 28 minutes per contest with pretty good percentages (46% shooting, 34,5% from three). An explosive athlete, Michineau uses his speed and athleticism to easily get by his opponent. His quick first step makes him a dangerous player on half-court situation and he is even more deadly in transition where he can take advantage of his athleticism. He also seems to have improved his shooting stroke over the past two seasons. His mechanics is smoother and his jump shot is now very fundamentally sound. However, it needs to be said that he too often falls in love with his outside shot, attempting almost 7 (!) threes a game (one every 4 minutes). His main weapons being his athleticism and ability to get to the basket, he certainly needs to decrease the quantity of outside shots he is taking and focus on what he does best and with the most efficiency. As many other athletic Point-Guard, Michineau will have to improve his decision-making process. He has to learn when the ball needs to be pushed and when the tempo needs to be slowed down. He is not a pure Point-Guard but more of a scoring guard. He doesn’t have a great court-vision (only 2 assists per game) but won’t hesitate to find the open-man. He has a tendency of being turnover prone, averaging more turnovers (3) than assists per game. He will need to continue to improve his playmaking skills, in particular creating for players around him, if he wants to make the most out of his potential and be trusted by any coaches to run the point at the Pro level. Despite being quit skinny, he possesses a nice frame and should be able to add a good amount of weight. A very long and explosive athlete, he has good potential defensively. He is already showing the ability to guard the opposing Point-Guard full-court during long-stretches. He has a tendency to be a little bit "all-over the place" on defensive half-court situations and is not always a very focus weak side help defender.
Those types of mistakes are all correctable with more concentration, experience and dedication to become a better defender. He started off the season really well and even occupied the backup Point-Guard position behind Steed Tchicamboud during a few games in ProA (3rd and 4th contests). Unfortunately, he injured his knee in mid-November before coming back 10 days ago and reintegrated the Espoir and Pro team. He will struggle for minutes behind Tchicamboud with 1992 born Billy Ouattara. Eventually, he should become the full-time back-up Point-Guard as Jean-Denys Choulet seems to believe in him and has shown the willingness to hand him minutes. If it wasn’t the case, a loan to a lower-level team may be, again,his best option. He certainly is one of the two or three players at the Espoir level with the highest Pro ceiling thanks to his physical and athletic attributes.
-Guershon Yabusele (1995, 6’7, Shooting-Forward)
Guershon Yabusele didn’t exactly set the world on fire at the last U18 European Championship, averaging 7 points and 5 rebounds a game in 22 minutes. He looked like an athletic, though undersized, Power-Forward and only attempted one shot from beyond 20 feet. However, he seems to have implemented new weapons to his game that could make him a very intriguing prospect in the future. This season, with the RoanneEspoir team, Yabusele has made a full-transition to the Shooting-Forward position. So far, so good. The very young Yabusele (born in December 1995) has almost doubled his statistical numbers from last season : 17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals in 32 minutes per contest (58% from the floor). Possessing a very mature NBA body and elite athleticism, Yabusele is a man among boys at this level. The competition level is not high enough to make anything difficult for him. He is wasting his time at this level and, even though he received his first Pro minutes this season, will certainly need to be loaned to a second division team in order to get playing time against better competition and grown men. The visual impression that transpires when watching him in person is quit impressive. Not a really fluid athlete, Yabusele still possesses great leaping ability and good lateral mobility, which enabled him to make the transition to the 3. At this level he can just bully smaller player with his natural strength on the low block. In order to be able to impact a game at the next level he will have to develop the other parts of his game and that’s what he has already started to do. Very unselfish player, he never hesitates to make the extra-pass to the open man, especially when he is doubled on the preliminary or on the low-block. He possesses a great feel for the game and a high basketball IQ. He is Roanne’s main playmaker and is always looking to make the winning-play. Yabusele is able to attack off the dribble and get by his opponent on a consistent basis.
With his very strong frame and athletic prowess, Yabusele is an absolute monster in transition situations where the ball rarely ends up not being dunked. His shooting is the part of his game that still need the most work. He only attempted 16 threes in 11 games (made only 4) and doesn’t have much confidence with his outside touch. He is shooting from way above his head and his mechanic may need to be reconstructed. As a very smart player, he takes most of his shots in the restricted area, where he is the most efficient, waiting to develop more of an outside shot. Defensively he has no problem guarding anybody, from 1 to 5, at this level thanks to his physical attributes. It will be interesting to look at how he handles more explosive players at the next level. Yabusele has been used to guard slower-footed interior players for years and he will have to adapt to that new factor. Roanne having a very limited Pro roster right now, Yabusele may get some more minutes at the ProA level this season. However, long-term, it’s likely he will have to leave Roanne, at least temporarily, in order to get consistent minutes. He is too smart of a player and does possess too many physical abilities not to have a very good Pro career as a versatile wing in Europe.
Twitter of the author: @BBFromLA
Photo: FIBA Europe / Romans Koksarovs
