By Vedran Modric
Balkan area is known for producing some of the best athletes in the world in all sports but basketball is the most important for this story. From last year 6 players from ABA League were drafted in NBA DRAFT 2014. And thats huge because for example the rest of the Europe had only 5 guys drafted (3 of them from France). No league in Europe produces so much talent as ABA League but the reason that happens is mostly money. Clubs over here don’t have big budgets and they need to constantly develop their younger players in order to sell them. To have a better picture of talent from Balkan area i will tell you that Spanish Powerhouses like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Unicaja and Caja Laboral in their youth categories have more than 20 players from this area. Next season the league will be weaker than last year but as far as prospects some new guys are coming.
-I will start with the last year ABA League champion KK Cibona Zagreb. At the end of the last season Cibona had very bad financial situation and even future of the club was at stake. But legend of the club Aleksandar Petrovic stepped in and things got a lot better. As everybody knows Dario Saric and Marko Arapovic left but the rest of the team is mostly the same with a few interesting prospects. Cibona biggest signing this offseason was the younger brother of Andrija Zizic, Ante Zizic (1997) (2.10 cm-C). A young player that doesn’t stay away from contact (unlike lets say Dusan Ristic-1995 prospect) and thanks to good physical abilities has bright future in front of him. He is still raw offensivly ,but his defensive presence, feel for the game and rebound ability are just too good to ignore. The other interesting prospect on Cibona team is combo guard Dominik Mavra (1994) (1.95 cm-PG/SG) who had very nice summer with the CRO U-20 NT where he emerged as the first option on point guard after couple of shaky seasons in Croatian clubs in the last 2-3 years. With his feet set he is lights-out shooter and has enormous potential in pick and roll sets due to his length but he need to work on his point guard skills. Cibona also has Tomislav Gabric (1995) (2.04 cm-SF) who has nice 3 and D potential but must improve on reading situations on the court.
-I will start with the last year ABA League champion KK Cibona Zagreb. At the end of the last season Cibona had very bad financial situation and even future of the club was at stake. But legend of the club Aleksandar Petrovic stepped in and things got a lot better. As everybody knows Dario Saric and Marko Arapovic left but the rest of the team is mostly the same with a few interesting prospects. Cibona biggest signing this offseason was the younger brother of Andrija Zizic, Ante Zizic (1997) (2.10 cm-C). A young player that doesn’t stay away from contact (unlike lets say Dusan Ristic-1995 prospect) and thanks to good physical abilities has bright future in front of him. He is still raw offensivly ,but his defensive presence, feel for the game and rebound ability are just too good to ignore. The other interesting prospect on Cibona team is combo guard Dominik Mavra (1994) (1.95 cm-PG/SG) who had very nice summer with the CRO U-20 NT where he emerged as the first option on point guard after couple of shaky seasons in Croatian clubs in the last 2-3 years. With his feet set he is lights-out shooter and has enormous potential in pick and roll sets due to his length but he need to work on his point guard skills. Cibona also has Tomislav Gabric (1995) (2.04 cm-SF) who has nice 3 and D potential but must improve on reading situations on the court.
-Next up is last year finalist KK Cedevita Zagreb. Season 2013/2014 was most successful in their club history and for this season they changed a lot of things. Biggest prospect on that team was selected in the first round of NBA draft by Denver Nuggets and Nurkic will continue his career in NBA. Best player Nolan Smith left for Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray. Club GM Kresimir Novosel and sports director Matej Mamic told me that compared to other Euroleague clubs they have one of the smallest budgets. As far as prospects, Marko Arapovic (1996) (2.07 cm-PF/C) and Lovro Mazalin (1997) (2.04 cm-SF) are guarantee that NBA teams will visit Zagreb on a regular basis. Arapovic is talented but his main problem is being stuck between positions and his body. His legs are to slow for PF, and his body is too weak for C. But his talent and basketball IQ are off the charts. And to a certain point body can be improved. Mazalin on the other hand doesn’t have a problem with his body because he possesses great size and wingspan for a wing. Has solid speed and athleticsm but the main problem with him is his shot. In order to fulfil his potential he must significantly improve his shot because players that size,great ballhandling and basketball IQ are hard to find.
-Partizan Belgrade out of all clubs in ABA League lost the most quality players. And also they will not play Euroleague this year so some prospects (Dangubic, Jokic) passed the opportunity to play there this year. But the team is stacked with talent and under the guidance of Dusko Vujosevic they will be again contenders. Nikola Milutinov (1994) (2.13 cm-C) is the most interesting prospect from ABA League regarding NBA DRAFT 2015. Scouting report of Milutinov is on the Eurohopes page so no need to write twice. Boris Dallo (1994) (1.94 cm-PG) is another interesting prospect but he didn’t develop how everybody in Partizan hoped so. Shot is still bad, he still plays passive and last year he didn’t improve at all. This year in off-season Partizan signed Greek U-20 NT player Ioannis Kouzeloglou (1995) (2.04 cm-SF/PF) who has nice size and length but he is kinda tweener. But as an athletic wing who can shoot Kouzeloglou could be surprise. Djoko Salic (1995) (2.10 cm-C) is another big talent that didn’t really develop like he was supposed to. Has incredible quick release on his shot and knows hot to play but dont see him playing big roles this season. The youngest guy who will make it Partizan roster is Vanja Marinkovic (1997) (1.95 cm-SG) who is showing great potential this preseason. Lethal shooter, but ballhandling is not so good and he needs to work on that.
-Red Star Belgrade rounds up the teams that went to Final Four Aba League last year. This year Red Star and KK Cedevita will be two teams to play Euroleague. For this year they made really good team and among newcomers is Nemanja Dangubic San Antonio Spurs draftee who came from Mega Vizura.In U-18 teams Red Star has so much talent but for this year only prospect in first team is late bloomer Luka Mitrovic (1993) (2.06 cm-PF) -at the pic. In the past Mitrovic had problems with the injuries so that stopped him from showing his potential on the court. Versatile big man with nice shooting range, quick feet and solid athleticism.
-KK Zadar is a club that last 7-8 years didnt have a serious prospect but for this year things changed. Domagoj Bosnjak (1995) (2.01 cm-SG/SF) came from KK Siroki on loan until the end of 2014/2015 Aba League season. Versatile guard with good wingspan. Very good shooter and his basketball IQ is off the charts. Has lots of room to add weight and muscle. The other interesting prospect from KK Zadar is Lovro Basic (1995) (1.90 cm-PG) who looks like a child but has nice body to build around. This year will be his first real season in ABA League (last year after the end of ABA League he played good minutes in Croatian League) and this preseason he showed flashes of his talent. Great point guard fundamentals, nice shot and impressive court vision. But he must become stronger if he wants to play at the higher level.
-Next club is KK Buduænost from Montenegro. In U-18 categories they are stacked with talent (Bacovic-1996, Carapic-1998 and Radunovic 1996) but i doubt that any of those guys will see minutes in Aba League next season because they have very deep and experienced team and the only prospect who will play is Nikola Ivanovic (1994) (1.90 cm-PG). It was year 2010 and the kid was selected in the best 5 of U-16 European championship and everybody was expecting big things from him but since then he didn’t become the player he can be. Last year played poorly first half of the season and then in the second half of the season started showing why everybody thinks of him as a next big thing from Montenegro. Great body control and court vision combined with great shot off the dribble makes him a very interesting prospect but as a spot up shooter he didnt improve at all. And there is only little room to improve his body.
-Now we are going to Slovenia where i will start with their 5-times consecutive Slovenian champion KK Krka. Krka has a terrific coach in Aleksandar Dzikic and he is also very interesting person to talk about anything so its easy to see why young players like to work with him. Imran Polutak (1996) (2.08 cm-C) is one of those prospects. He comes from Brcko, Bosnia and also like Jusuf Nurkic he started playing basketball very late (with 14 and a half years old). He is crafty under the rim but he is not explosive or quick which could be a problem at next level. Erjon Kastrati (1994) (1.98 cm-SG) is long, athletic guard with nice wingspan (6“10“) who also has a solid shooting touch but he had a poor showing at the Adidas Eurocamp 2014 in Treviso. Also he needs to hit the gym and become stronger.
-Next club from Slovenia is Union Olimpija from Ljubljana. Alen Omic (1992) (2.17 cm-C) is a late bloomer so he is still interesting as a prospect. Had a solid season last year. Very mobile for a man of his size,nice wingspan but selfish on the court and not focused completly on his game. Gregor Hrovat (1994) (1.96 cm-SG) came to Olimpija from another Slovenian club Helios. Very quick and athletic guard, great in transition, nice body.Solid shooter but thats something he could improve. Agressive guard always on the move. Croatian Paolo Marinelli (1995) (1.91 cm-PG) will play this year as a back-up point guard for Olimpija. He improved his shot over the last year but still he needs to work on that, great ballhandling and good court vision. Also he bulked up his body so he can absorb more contact. Had a good showing at the Adidas Eurocamp 2014 in Treviso. The last one is Serbian Vasilije Vucetic (1996) (2.07 cm-C). Very strong center with good footwork and nice shooting touch. But he is undersized and because he lacks athleticism and speed its hard for him to play the PF spot. But he has a lot of talent.
-New club in the ABA League for next season is Metalac Valjevo from Serbia. Milos Teodosic who plays for CSKA Moscow is the most famous basketball player from there and a living legend. They have two talented prospects in Dusan Kutlesic (1994) (1.99 cm-SG) shooting guard with solid athleticism, his shot is his best weapon but on offense he is versatile, he can do damage as a pick and roll ball handler and also in transition. Defense is something he must improve. The other talented prospect is Petar Rakicevic (1995) (2.04 cm-SF) is extremely long forward with solid athleticism. Good shooter and also good in pick and roll sets. But he must learn to use his left hand more because he always goes right and its not hard to scout him.
-Also from Serbia comes Mega Vizura, club who gave 3 draft picks in Nba Draft 2014 (Micic, Dangubic, Jokic) and made history with that. Club is strictly oriented to talented young prospects. For season 2014/2014 everybody in the roster are born between 1990 and 1996 which makes them the youngest club in Europe. Nuggets draft and stash project Nikola Jokic this year will be no.1 option on offense but club is packed with prospects and i will single out three of them. Nenad Miljenovic (1993) (1.94 cm-PG) after departure of Micic will clock around 30 minutes per game and this could be his breakout year. Miljenoviæ has incredible court vision and great feel for the game. He is kinda streaky shooter but kid can play. The problems come on defense where he can’t defend stronger point guards because of his body. His frame is like a 12-year old kid and that is probably the only reason why we are not talking about 1st round pick in Nba draft 2015. Ognjen Jaramaz (1995) (1.92 cm-PG/SG) is more of a shooting guard in a point guard body. Jaramaz has incredible athleticism and quick first step. Good shooter and also very good ballhandler but he needs to improve his passing skills. Rade Zagorac (1995) (2.04 cm-SG/SF) is without a doubt the most interesting prospect in Mega Vizura. He has the biggest upside and potential due to combination of ballhandling,great shooting skills,mobility and his height. Right now he is not so strong but he has great body to build around.
-KK Igokea from Aleksandrovac, KK MZT Skopje, Szolnoki from Hungary and newcomer in Aba League Levski Sofia from Bulgaria have two things in common. They have teams with many experienced mid level players and not one interesting prospect.
Scouting in basketball is not only evaluating players basketball skills but also his backround and getting to know almost everything about him and around him. Balkan area is known for world class basketball talents so its very important from the start to know the most you can about any interesting player. This article would be a lot longer (and probably way more interesting lol) if i included backround scouting but then i would reveal maybe too much.
Twitter of the author: @vedranmo
Photo: Euroleague
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