By Jordan Sensi

For the second straight year, the French U20 National Team was in Treviso to prepare the U20 European championship. They played one game all three days of the camp, the first one was against the U18 USA squad. France won but suffered against the athleticism of the American players. Second game was against Carleton University, and the toughness of the Canadians, mainly in the paint, pushed the game into overtime. On last day, the French squad played against an «all-star» selection of campers and won in an easier way than in the two days before. A consensus in the scout area was made about the boring and maladjusted way of playing of this French team regarding the roster. Coaches wanted offensive plays with 15-20 seconds of possessions to have an open shoot or a good matchup. Nevertheless French prospects usually are, for a long time, good athletes and good 1 on 1 players, and this approach bridled some players. Now we will have a look on each players of the roster after those three games.

 

Mam Jaiteh (12.7 points 9.7rebounds and 1assist in 28 minutes)

He was a must-follow player who all scouts and NBA executives wanted to see during the camp. In three days he displayed a perfect condensed of everybody thinks about him. Jaiteh has a big talent, for sure, he has soft hands and good finishing abilities around the rim with an improved footwork and a much better left hand than one year ago. His back to basket game is interesting and he will be an offensive center in the future. Finally he is able to run the floor too, we saw him conclude some fastbreaks mainly with an alley-oop. After a great first game against Team USA, he quickly came back to earth against Carleton and bigger opponent than the physically light American centers. Even with some added pounds Jaiteh struggled to hold the position close to the basket, and he is not effective enough from the mid-range area to weight on the game. Double teams on him put the light on his poor game vision and his ability to tke the right decision. The third game confirmed that Jaiteh can be a big time rebounder in the next years thanks to a great instinct and a good mechanic. Behind all those pure basketball aspects, Jaiteh disappointed (once again) the crowd because of his attitude and his mentality. He is a well-gifted young guy but he is not focused enough and does not want to dominate the game. It is his biggest problem for two years, and despite a Euroleague experience this season he is still not mature enough to put his best intensity level in one of the biggest opportunity he had to increase his future draft stocks in front of a lot of executives.

 

Kevin Harley (10.7 points 4.7 rebounds and 3 assists in 25 minutes)

Because of the absences of Damien Inglis and Boris Dallo, Harley had to level up his game and we can say that he did it very well. He emerged as the second option in offense, and was the biggest satisfaction of this team. With a great body control, Harley used his athleticism very well to finish in the traffic. His self-confidence increased with a couple of long shot made off the screen and off the dribble that he does not score usually. His defense was very good during all three games, thanks to his lateral mobility and his IQ he was able to guard all both guards position. The last good point for him was his ability to assume the point guard position during a few sequences. After a complicated season in the French ProB in Poitiers where his coach allowed him a poor number of minutes, Harley seized this opportunity being one of the best player of the team to prove he is a good prospect.

 

Axel Bouteille (8.4 points 2.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 27 minutes)

This great time scorer was constant all three games long and the attendance really discovered him in Treviso after two seasons in the French Espoirs championship. Bouteille’s abilities to score seduced, as much as his unselfishness and his basketball IQ. On the other hand, the game pronated by the coach did not fit with him. Bouteille is a born scorer, who averaged 24 points per game this season. He can beat his opponent in a one-on-one situation or take a pull-up jumper after a couple of dribbles but in this system, he could not weight on the game as the use to taking only 8.3 shots per game. We also have to notice his defense this weekend. Bouteille was probably one of the worst defender this season in the Espoirs level, but, with a higher intensity level and being much more focused on this aspect, he was a correct defender, not great but clever enough not to penalize his team. If he plays at the small forward position, his future will probably be at the shooting guard spot, and his bad ball handling could be a big problem for him.

 

Alexandre Chassang (4.7 points 3.4 rebounds and 3 assists in 19.4 minutes)

From his power forward position, Chassang clearly was one of the best French players at the Eurocamp with his scoring abilities, his basketball IQ and his passing game. Showing off a great outside shooting from mid-range and from downtown he spaced the floor very to let Jaiteh working in the paint. But Chassang is not only a stretch four player, with an improved frame and both good hands he was able to score inside with hook shots and lay-ups but also in pick and pop situation. Besides all those positive aspects, Chassang turned too much the ball over, and he still has to improve his defense to be a great prospect.

 

Benjamin Sene (5.5 points 2.5 rebounds and 3 assists in 17 minutes)

With Axel Bouteille, Sene was the player the most constrained by the system of the team. With his quick first step and his athletic abilities, Sene is an excellent one-on-one player, but, even if he tried to speed up his team, he has to stay in definite playmaker role, where he is not consistent yet. Like Kevin Harley, Sene was able to defend very well on both guard position but a sprain ankle injury in the first half of the game against Carleton stopped him for the rest of the camp.

 

Timothé Luwawu (8.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2 assists in 22 minutes)

Luwawu was the best surprise of the French Team at the Eurocamp. He took the role thatbelonged to Axel Toupane in the 2012 Euro when France won the silver medal. Luwawu was the best defender of the team, and was very usefull against Carleton, in the first half Thomas Scrubb was red hot, and then in the second half, Luwawu managed very well to stop him. On the offensive hand, he made 5 of his 9 three points attempt and was very opportunist to score two pointers. He is a very good athlete with a solid frame, but with all his strengths he must be much more present to take rebounds.

 

Petr Cornelie (5.4 points 2.7 rebounds and 0 assist in 11.7 minutes)

Cornelie maybe was the most intriguing prospect of the squad. First, with his length, his wingspan and his athleticism he was an intimidator and a rim protector blocking in defense. Then, his shooting range and was excellent for a player of his size and he scored from everywhere, from downtown, from midrange and in the paint with a couple of lay-ups. On the other hand, Cornelie is still very thin to defend at the post against stronger player, and he has the bad habits of skipping the contact in offense and staying too much behind the arc.

 

Arthur Rozenfeld (5 points 1.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 13.4 minutes)

The ASVEL Espoirs’ team point guard had a very nice weekend in Treviso and was enjoyed by a lot of scouts. Thanks to the very high level of intensity he provided off the bench, he spectacularly raised the down-tempo of his team, which was a very good and needed thing for his teammates. His game vision and his ability to play the pick & roll were terrific during all three games, as much as his shooting range both in catch and shoot situation and off the dribble. Sometimes his high energy leaded him to make bad decision in offense and avoidable foul in defense. Being a bit undersized he struggled to defend taller point guard and tried to compensate with aggressiveness but referees did not like it. 

 

Matthias Lessort (1points 3.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 8.7 minutes)

The well-builded power forward from the espoirs team of Châlon sur Saône played exactly like we already know him. Lessort is a good rotation at the 4 behind Alexandre Chassang in a totally different register, he is a good rebounder on both hand of the floor and a solid defensive player. He brought a good energy from the bench and had a nice game against Carleton and their big guys in the paint. Lessort is an effective player, knowing his offensive limits, and never tried to do too much. A good role player in the future.

 

Anthony Labanca (7.4 points 2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 14 minutes)

Labanca was used as the outside shooter of the team, and we have to admit that he was pretty good in this role with a nice 6 out of 11 behind the arc all weekend long. In this offensive system looking for an open shoot he quickly has been considered as an offensive threat by the opponentteams. He mainly produced in catch and shoot situation but he also was able to score with a stepback 3’s. Labanca’s IQ is great and he has a good potential as a role player. However, his lack of athleticism and penetration game will make him an only one-dimensional player.

 

Charly Pontens (0.7 points 1.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 13 minutes)

The staff chose former INSEP point guard over the high school player Sidy N’Dir for the last point guard spot in the roster. Regarding the game advocated by the Head coach Jean-Aimé Toupane, it seems legit because Pontens is more an half-court point guard, and more a down-tempo guy. Nevertheless, he had a poor Eurocamp, because of a lack of confidence due to an unusual number of turnover and missed shot from him. Pontens was a bit nervous on the court, and shown his frustration after referee’s call too many times. His spot for the U20 Euro is clearly in danger because Boris Dallo will come back to France after the playoffs with Partizan Belgrad and his terrible last minute of the regular time against Carlton will not help him.

 

Photo: Dennis Smith

 

Twitter of the author: @Jordan_Sensi