By Kostas Psimoulis
Red Star won it again
When we had the first chance to watch Red Star on December, we concluded that the chances of them winning the NIJT in Belgrade were very high. Red Star won their ticket to Milan without facing any real pressure at all, even though INSEP gave a good fight at the final game. The Serbians have yet to lose an official game this season (they are 19-0 if we combine the Serbian juniors league and the NIJT in Belgrade) and it’s not that difficult to understand why; they are a true - well coached - team which combines athleticism, skill and unselfishness. They are big and strong at every position and extremely difficult to be matched up. They can post up opponents inside with the likes of Stojanovic, Lazarevic and Miladinovic, get out in transition thanks to their cut-throat defense or create half-court offense with good ball movement and high-lows. The great challenge would come in Milan if they get to face Real Madrid, Red Star defense is going to be challenged in way it has not been challenged so far.
Lovro Mazalin is probably the best ’97 prospect
After being very good with Croatia’s U16 and U18 teams this summer, Mazalin -at the pic- put up some great performances in Belgrade with Cedevita’s junior team. He even took a break from the NIJT contests to join the senior team of Cedevita for an ABA league game on Saturday afternoon. Mazalin is special for a 15 year old, he does so many things at a very good level; The combination of skill-set, physical appearance (excellent size, long arms) and feel for the game make him one of the top players of his generation. Mazalin possesses nice balance when attacking the rim, his height helps him to take his shot off whenever he wants (in the junior level), rebounds the ball very well and creates fast break opportunities with dribble or pass. Additionally, Mazalin can create shots from the blocks, taking advantage of his advanced height and basketball IQ, by posting up smaller defenders, and as we saw many times throughout the weekend, when defense tries to send a double team Mazalin can find the open man most of the time. He sometimes tries to do too much and throws difficult and excessive passes, but that would change with further maturity and experience.
INSEP level was subpar
Even though INSEP reached the final the level of the team and its prospects wasn’t good. Most of its games were hard to watch as the French guys were making one turnover after the other (they averaged 22.4 turnovers and 13.4 assists per game), mostly traveling violations, 3 seconds and offensive fouls. Bad passing and mediocre point guard play made things worse. Luc Loubaki and Stephane Gombauld are the top prospects of the team, even though both have long ways to go to become solid pro players. Loubaki showed once again that he probably can’t be a point guard on a good level as he has average handles and struggles to create for himself or his teammates. He’s a good defender, brings energy, plays the passing lanes extremely well and can deny any pass while shutting down the best player of the opponent. Gombauld showed some nice offensive skills close to the basket, he has good hands and touch and some basic but effective moves. He needs to polish his offensive repertoire, become more aggressive on both ends and take better care of the ball.
Twitter of the author: @Gus_bball
Photo: KK Cedevita
