By Marc Konsgaard
Some days ago there was the yearly Copenhagen Invitational in Denmark. The tournament is for U14 and U15 players and is primarily for national teams, but there were also squads from Berlin and USA. I didn’t see every single team and the level of the each player, but here is my recap for the tournament.
The Danish U14 NT looks bright in the future. Many of the players have done a great job for their clubs, and people were expecting great things. I was a little bit disappointed, but the team has a lot of potential. For Denmark U14 East players like Carlo Taylor Urne (6’1” ’00), Soren Hippe Larsen (6’4” ’00), and the former Scania King Oskar Buch Staehr (5’10” ’00) were disappointing. I had big expectations about these, but they only showed their full potential in few seconds at a time. Staehr did a great job attacking the basket, but didn’t score when he tried. Taylor Urne did a good job blocking shots, but he didn’t show anything special at the offensive end of the court. Igor Bakic (6’3” ’00) had some good moments in the game, in one on one situations. The Danish forward has potential to become a star in the Danish league if he grows some few inches more. Elias Ronnow (5’10” ’00) was the best player from U14 Denmark East. Elias has good ball-handling, and is really good attacking the basket. The Danish PG/SG can finish at the rim with contact and he really works hard, because he really fights for the team. His mentality for the game is just wonderful to watch from the sideline, and that can really make a coach happy. The youngster Danijel Marsenic (5’10” ’01) was a pleasure to watch. Marsenic is former Scania King, and was really showing people why. Has a great court vision and a good feeling for the game. In the crunch time he was really stepping up and showed himself as a team leader beside he is the youngest at the squad. His jumpshot is good but there is still long way to become a pro basketball player.
The Danish U14 National Team from West was not as good as the east team. They had only two players who were standing out from the crowd. Anton Harbo (6’2” ’00) was playing good defense and did a great job attacking the rim. Harbo isn’t anything special compared with his physical ability, but is good to read the defender and then attack the basket. The most outstanding player from this U14 generation in Denmark was with no doubt Emil Langager (6’6” ’00). Emil is really good to protect the rim and is a great shot blocker. The Danish PF/C was trying to take the leadership on this shoulder, and every single time the ball was dead he was trying to talk with his teammates. He does a good job in the post, where he has a great little jumphook, but he really needs to improve his post-moves. Langager has also a little jumpshot from midrange, but needs to develop his jumpshot in the future. The son of the former Real Madrid center Mikkel Langager has really potential to become a future Euroleague player.
I had the opportunity to watch Emil Langager facing up with Jarno Pomstra (6’10” ’00) from Holland. Pomstra is one of the tallest persons in his age, and he has potential to become something special. Pomstra is very thin and has long arms, which means he does a great job protecting the basket. With his size it is hard for the other team to attack the basket. Jarno is good to get position in the post and tries to finish with both hands. He still needs to improve his jumpshots and jumphooks, but his future looks bright. I didn’t have the opportunity to watch the Danish U15 team, but I was told that this group of players isn’t something special. This generation will probably be the worst for the Danes in many years. But there is one player you have to follow in the future – Kristian Bach (6’10” ’99). Bach has big potential and is doing a great job inside the paint in both ends of the court. The Danish center shines playing around high and the middle post, where he can faceup at the basket. Uses his footwork, and is pretty clever winning the offensive rebounds. Bach is a good rebounder at both ends, and is really fighting for winning position under the basket. Kristian still needs to develop his offensive game and especially his jumpshot needs to be improved.
Photo: C.I. (U14 All Star)
Twitter of the author: @MKP79
