By Francesco Cavalli
The U15 National Teams of France, Spain, Italy and Greece played a three-day tournament (26-28 August) in Seregno, Italy.
Standings: Spain 3-0; Italy 2-1; France 1-2; Greece 0-3.
All-Tournament Team: Alexandros Sakellariou (Greece), Yohan Choupas (France), Mattia Palumbo (Italy), Gabriele Berra (Italy), Usman Garuba (Spain), Carlos Alocen (Spain - MVP)
Greece
The presence of the Greek team at the tournament wasn’t a done deal until the very last moment, as just few days before the start they told the organization they wouldn’t have been able to participate because of financial issues.
Greece looked like the smallest and less talented team, and they were outscored by an average of 37 points over three games. The only player who stood out was guard Alexandros Sakellariou, who was named to the All-Tournament Team: he’s an entertaining player with solid physique who plays at his own pace, not always taking good decisions in the flow of the offense. He had to take a lot of responsibilities because of the low level of his team, and showed great shooting ability and transition game. But he basically didn’t play defense, lacking effort and awareness on the court.
Small forward Konstantinos Altinis and guard Nikolaos Arsenopoulos were also able to show some promise, the first one being a solid athlete with good three point shot and the second one displaying high IQ and great fundamentals despite not being particularly explosive.
France
France roster (which missed Mathis Dossou-Yovo to injury after the first game) had above average physical and athletic tools, but the average level of fundamentals was not that high. Most of the players will enrol at INSEP this upcoming season though, so it will be interesting to follow their development over the next years.
Wing Yohan Choupas was impressive because of his explosiveness and continuous aggressiveness: he’ll need to develop his ball-handling skills, which sometimes looked below average also in transition, but he’s a fearless player who loves to attack the basket both in half-court and in transition and plays constantly above the rim; he showed also fairly good, but erratic, shooting off the catch and tireless effort on the defensive end. Small forward Babacar Niasse also lacked ball-handling but was the team’s best spot-up shooter and defender, guarding every backcourt position. Center Josaphat Bilau has huge body and athletic ability but struggled to perform in the first two games against quality competition; he had a solid game against Greece though, showing unexpected touch and skills with the ball in his hands, and his potential looks highly intriguing. Combo-guards Joel Ayayi and Johan Randriamananjara lacked quality production over the tournament, but both have some serious length and ball instincts to work on.
Italy
The host team had a 16-man rotation over three games in the tournament. The top prospect in Italian team is Nicolò Dellosto, a big shooting guard with solid all-around game; he had to play often out of position in small lineups, but played with impressive maturity and was able to score in many ways on offense. Dellosto played a full game only against France, as was kept on the bench in an easy win against Greece and injured himself against Spain. Guard Matteo Laganà, who like Dellosto played in the last U16 European Championship, was solid as well throughout the tournament: not a flashy player, he brought in lot of intangibles plays on both ends on the floor, hitting some key shot and being a pivotal defensive option thanks to his physique and footwork. Wings Mattia Palumbo and Federico Miaschi provided a much needed spark on offense: Palumbo is a confident player who loves to have the ball in his hands and to take responsibilities on offense, but will need to work on his shot selection and defensive awareness; Miaschi, who missed the first game against Greece, was a major factor in the other two games. He has high-level combination of physique, length, athleticism and ball skills, and was constantly focused and aggressive against France and Spain. Small forward Gabriele Berra had to play lot of minutes out of position even at the 5, but held his own pretty well and ended up as the second best rebounder of the tournament behind Usman Garuba. He’s able to properly use his already well-built frame to be effective around the rim and slashing to the basket, he’ll need to develop a proper outside shot and improve his touch.
Spain
Spain had by far the deepest and most physically gifted roster. Carlos Alocen, Usman Garuba and Joel Parra were three of the tournament’s top prospects. Parra, a lefty big man, has an impressive body for a 15-year old kid, unusually tall and strong; he already displayed good potential to play the power forward spot, with a soft touch in his jump shot and a natural ability to put the ball on the floor, but his production in the tournament was sometimes hampered by bad decision making and undeveloped off hand. Garuba was the youngest player in attendance (2002), but his physique, physical attitude and athleticism were unmatchable by any other big man in Seregno; he was a beast inside the paint, piling up blocks and offensive rebounds at an impressive rate, but also showed really good instincts and IQ for a kid that young, and can easily put the ball on the floor with his strong hand. His post defense wasn’t good enough for this level of competition, but he’s ridiculously young and his level of development is unbelievable. Alocen, a tall and long point guard, was named MVP of the tournament after being the pivotal leader for the Spanish team; a mature kid who plays older than his age, he loves to push the ball in transition and has great change of speed and ball-handling skills to easily beat his man and get into the paint. He showed to be able to easily create both for himself and his teammates, despite sometimes in the half-court he should just slow down a bit. Carlos Unanue displayed great fundamentals, IQ and shooting ability to play both guard positions, but his physique is just normal at this point of his development. Point guard Adams Sola also looked pretty solid, tirelessly putting pressure on the ball on defense and showing great quickness with the ball on offense.
The U15 National Teams of France, Spain, Italy and Greece played a three-day tournament (26-28 August) in Seregno, Italy.
Standings: Spain 3-0; Italy 2-1; France 1-2; Greece 0-3.
All-Tournament Team: Alexandros Sakellariou (Greece), Yohan Choupas (France), Mattia Palumbo (Italy), Gabriele Berra (Italy), Usman Garuba (Spain), Carlos Alocen (Spain - MVP)
Greece
The presence of the Greek team at the tournament wasn’t a done deal until the very last moment, as just few days before the start they told the organization they wouldn’t have been able to participate because of financial issues.
Greece looked like the smallest and less talented team, and they were outscored by an average of 37 points over three games. The only player who stood out was guard Alexandros Sakellariou, who was named to the All-Tournament Team: he’s an entertaining player with solid physique who plays at his own pace, not always taking good decisions in the flow of the offense. He had to take a lot of responsibilities because of the low level of his team, and showed great shooting ability and transition game. But he basically didn’t play defense, lacking effort and awareness on the court.
Small forward Konstantinos Altinis and guard Nikolaos Arsenopoulos were also able to show some promise, the first one being a solid athlete with good three point shot and the second one displaying high IQ and great fundamentals despite not being particularly explosive.
France
France roster (which missed Mathis Dossou-Yovo to injury after the first game) had above average physical and athletic tools, but the average level of fundamentals was not that high. Most of the players will enrol at INSEP this upcoming season though, so it will be interesting to follow their development over the next years.
Wing Yohan Choupas was impressive because of his explosiveness and continuous aggressiveness: he’ll need to develop his ball-handling skills, which sometimes looked below average also in transition, but he’s a fearless player who loves to attack the basket both in half-court and in transition and plays constantly above the rim; he showed also fairly good, but erratic, shooting off the catch and tireless effort on the defensive end. Small forward Babacar Niasse also lacked ball-handling but was the team’s best spot-up shooter and defender, guarding every backcourt position. Center Josaphat Bilau has huge body and athletic ability but struggled to perform in the first two games against quality competition; he had a solid game against Greece though, showing unexpected touch and skills with the ball in his hands, and his potential looks highly intriguing. Combo-guards Joel Ayayi and Johan Randriamananjara lacked quality production over the tournament, but both have some serious length and ball instincts to work on.
Italy
The host team had a 16-man rotation over three games in the tournament. The top prospect in Italian team is Nicolò Dellosto, a big shooting guard with solid all-around game; he had to play often out of position in small lineups, but played with impressive maturity and was able to score in many ways on offense. Dellosto played a full game only against France, as was kept on the bench in an easy win against Greece and injured himself against Spain. Guard Matteo Laganà, who like Dellosto played in the last U16 European Championship, was solid as well throughout the tournament: not a flashy player, he brought in lot of intangibles plays on both ends on the floor, hitting some key shot and being a pivotal defensive option thanks to his physique and footwork. Wings Mattia Palumbo and Federico Miaschi provided a much needed spark on offense: Palumbo is a confident player who loves to have the ball in his hands and to take responsibilities on offense, but will need to work on his shot selection and defensive awareness; Miaschi, who missed the first game against Greece, was a major factor in the other two games. He has high-level combination of physique, length, athleticism and ball skills, and was constantly focused and aggressive against France and Spain. Small forward Gabriele Berra had to play lot of minutes out of position even at the 5, but held his own pretty well and ended up as the second best rebounder of the tournament behind Usman Garuba. He’s able to properly use his already well-built frame to be effective around the rim and slashing to the basket, he’ll need to develop a proper outside shot and improve his touch.
Spain
Spain had by far the deepest and most physically gifted roster. Carlos Alocen, Usman Garuba and Joel Parra were three of the tournament’s top prospects. Parra, a lefty big man, has an impressive body for a 15-year old kid, unusually tall and strong; he already displayed good potential to play the power forward spot, with a soft touch in his jump shot and a natural ability to put the ball on the floor, but his production in the tournament was sometimes hampered by bad decision making and undeveloped off hand. Garuba was the youngest player in attendance (2002), but his physique, physical attitude and athleticism were unmatchable by any other big man in Seregno; he was a beast inside the paint, piling up blocks and offensive rebounds at an impressive rate, but also showed really good instincts and IQ for a kid that young, and can easily put the ball on the floor with his strong hand. His post defense wasn’t good enough for this level of competition, but he’s ridiculously young and his level of development is unbelievable. Alocen, a tall and long point guard, was named MVP of the tournament after being the pivotal leader for the Spanish team; a mature kid who plays older than his age, he loves to push the ball in transition and has great change of speed and ball-handling skills to easily beat his man and get into the paint. He showed to be able to easily create both for himself and his teammates, despite sometimes in the half-court he should just slow down a bit. Carlos Unanue displayed great fundamentals, IQ and shooting ability to play both guard positions, but his physique is just normal at this point of his development. Point guard Adams Sola also looked pretty solid, tirelessly putting pressure on the ball on defense and showing great quickness with the ball on offense.
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