By Kostas Psimoulis
Stephane Gombauld selected the MVP of the All Star Game and for a good reason. He showed great motor by running up and down the floor hard, getting on the glass on both ends and hitting outside shots thanks to his improved stroke. Gombauld now has a consistent outside shot which extends to the three point line while he seems more confident and determined when it comes to knocking down shots from the perimeter. 6’9 Gombauld was the best athlete out there (along with his countryman Luc Loubaki) and made a dozen impressive plays over the rim. He needs to add strength in order to be a full time power forward but he’s still young and has improved his game since the last time we saw him in Belgrade.
The other Frenchman, Luc Loubaki, seems like the European version of Michael Kidd - Gilchrist. A full of intangibles guy with nice motor, good teammate, tough and aggressive. Loubaki sacrifices his body to get charges, talks on defense, dives for loose balls and makes it extraordinary difficult for the offensive players as he moves his feet and stays in front of the ball. On the other hand, Loubaki has ways to go skill wise ; average ball skills and basketball intelligence to be a point guard, inconsistent shot and subpar scoring instincts to be a shooting guard. He can defend both positions at the higher level but it remains to be seen what exactly he can do on the other end of the floor.
Once was in Eurohopes Top-10 ranking regarding ’97 generation but he’s fallen down for good after displaying the same bad attitude time and time again. Stefan Peno displays some bad habits and character issues. Always ready to whine to officials, doesn’t really play hard enough and rarely shows the willingness to listen and learn. As for his skills, Peno hasn’t really been special at any aspect of the game ;his shot is inconsistent and often tries to make the complex pass instead of the easy play.
Ante Zizic was without any doubt the best big man of the camp, a camp that didn’t feature many good bigs either way. The 6-foot-10 Croatian has a strong body for a 17 year old, runs the floor very well and goes directly under the basket. Zizic has learned how to use his lower base in order to lock opponents and then find a good angle to finish around the rim. He showed some interesting moves in the post and was very good on the glass on both sides. If he was 7 feet instead of 6’10 his upside would have been a lot higher, whereas now there are some question marks regarding his effectiveness at the higher level.
Martynas Echodas is another young player from Lithuania who’s got very good athletic tools (Martynas Varnas and Tadas Sedekerskis to name a few more). Echodas showed the ability to connect from the mid range areas and was very effective close to the basket where he was able to use his strength when he was matching up against smaller guys. Echodas displays some decent back to the basket moves, however it’s doubtful if he can use them at next level standing at 6’7. Echodas needs to keep working on his perimeter skills but he already possesses a nice frame to come along with solid athleticism.
Foto: NBA
Twitter of the author: @Gus_bball
