By Francesco Cavalli
PMS Basketball hosted U16 Novipiù Europe Cup from February the 26th to February the 28th in Moncalieri, Italy.
Final: Real Madrid – Stellazzurra Academy 70 - 43
3rd place game: PMS Basketball Moncalieri – Lithuania National Team U15 62 - 57
5th place game: Partizan Beograd – Cibona Zagreb 63 - 56
7th place game: Fenerbahçe Istanbul – Brose Baskets Bamberg 90 – 71
MVP: Mario Nakic (Real Madrid)
Best Scorer: Dino Bistrovic (Cibona Zagreb)
Best 5: Niccolò Dellosto (PMS Basketball Moncalieri), Heritier Tshiyoyo (Real Madrid), Laurynas Vaistaras (Lithuania U15), Mateja Jovanovic (Partizan Beograd), Luka Samanic (Stellazzurra Academy)
Brose Baskets Bamberg
The German team held his own against Partizan losing by 4 points, but was outscored by an average of 41 points over the other three games. Estonian Henri Drell (‘00) and twin brothers Brandon Tischler and Nicholas Tischler (‘00) looked like the top prospects in this team. Drell has a still undeveloped body, but has great frame and length for a wing player; he loves to play with the ball and looks natural handling it and beating his man off the dribble. His decision making is still questionable though, and his erratic attitude probably limited his playing time. The Tischler brothers have above average physique and athleticism for the guard spot, and where among the most aggressive players on the court. They have identical physical profile and looks like they have margin to develop in a wing-type of body; they also had similar production on the court, despite rarely playing in the same lineup. Kay Bruhnke (‘01) also showed some promise, as a long big man with interesting mobility and activity level.
Fenerbahçe Istanbul
Fenerbahçe brought in Moncalieri a young team which put some real effort on the court, playing with solid poise and attitude. Big man Ismail Karabilen (‘01) was their best prospect: a player with a strong frame but a still undeveloped body, he moves well for his size, has soft touch with both hands and showed excellent passing instincts. Guard Ekrem Sancakli (‘01) is interesting as well, as a strong guard who can handle the ball and play some pick and roll. An aggressive player, he was one of the top transition scorers in Moncalieri and did some serious damage filling the lanes for a quick shot. Another big man who showed some potential is Cem Kirciman (‘01): one of the toughest players in the tournament, he enjoys playing through contact and made a lot of hustle plays; he has a high-level motor, making good use of his mobile physique to run up and down the court.
Cibona Zagreb
Missing top prospect Oton Jankovic because of an injury, Cibona relied heavily on Dino Bistrovic (‘00), who ended up being the tournament’s top scorer. Bistrovic is a strong, aggressive wing with muscular body who is efficient using it to get to the rim and absorb contacts; he’ll need to improve his overall feel for the game and work on his ball-handling. Big man Danko Brankovic (‘00) is highly interesting: a tall, slender kid who is still at the very beginning of his physical development, he’s already around 6’9” and moves with nice coordination and speed. His ball skills and IQ looked good, and he showed some soft shooting touch as far as from three point range. Wing Ante Brzovic (‘00) and guard Lovre Maloca (‘01) deserve to be mention as well: Brzovic is still raw in his game but has good frame, fundamentals and personality; Maloca is a smart, tough player who can play both guard spots right now and puts real effort on the defensive end.
Partizan Beograd
Partizan had a physically gifted team which challenged Real Madrid for a full first half in the second game of the tournament. Center Mateja Jovanovic (‘00) ended up in the All-Tournament Team, as he was one of the most productive big men in Moncalieri: really big and strong for his age, he still doesn’t move with good coordination, but is a huge presence in the paint who loves to play through contact. Center Dusan Tanaskovic (‘01) has lot of upside: the youngest player in the team, he has a big body which will still likely grow up, he moves pretty well for his size and has some skill facing the basket, being able to put the ball on the floor and to pass from the mid-range. Other kids from this roster looks to have significant potential, but the mention goes to power forward Uros Isailovic (‘00) and point guard Aleksandar Davitkov (‘00). Isailovic has good speed and nice physical upside, he can slash to the basket with ease and will likely develop in a face up power forward, while Davitkov is still small but showed huge personality and leadership on the court, easily creating off the dribble thanks to his quickness with the ball.
Lithuania National Team U15
Obviously the youngest team in the tournament, Lithuania had a very promising roster not as big nor strong as the other teams. Power forward Laurynas Vaistaras (‘01) and wing Modestas Kancleris (‘01) showed the best things on a constant basis. Vaistaras, who made the All-Tournament Team, has a long frame, solid quickness and body control; able to put the ball on the floor and beat his man off the dribble with ease, he scored as well with his lefty shot, with natural range beyond the three point line. Kancleris has good length as well and plays with great poise and attitude, but his frame is still really light; he was one of the best shooter in attendance and showed also solid instincts on the pick and roll, despite lacking some explosiveness to play off the dribble. Big man Marek Blazevic (‘01) has good physique and length, but is still very raw in terms on how he moves on the court, lacking proper balance and coordination; his instincts and attitude looks promising though, and he has a solid basis to work on.
PMS Basketball Moncalieri
The home team wasn’t as talented as other teams in the tournament, but looked well-rounded and put always high level effort on the court. They brought in on loan Niccolò Dellosto (‘00) from Servolana Trieste and Edoardo Buffo (‘01) from Libertas Cernusco for the tournament, who ended up being the top two prospects in this team, with the former named to the All-Tournament Team. Dellosto has a strong body for his age but at this level of competition looked stuck between the two forward positions: a talented scorer with excellent shooting tools and good instincts off the dribble, he’ll need to work on his lateral quickness on defense and his ball-handling on offense to develop in a point forward type of player. Buffo struggled to perform against the length and physicality, particularly when playing against Real Madrid, but he’s a talented guard with good instincts off the dribble and good touch in his jump shot, who plays with great maturity and leadership; he seems to have nice physical upside as well. Forward Amedeo Tiberti (‘00) and point guard Christian Abrate (‘00) had a strong tournament as well: Tiberti will need to improve his perimeter fundamentals, but his good frame and aggressive style of play allow him to be a very productive player on the court; Abrate is a talented scorer off the dribble who will need to improve his decision making and ability to play at a slower pace.
Stellazzurra Academy
The team from Rome featured the best prospect in the tournament with Croatian power forward Luka Samanic (‘00), on loan from KK Zagreb, who ended up in the All-Tournament Team. Already a legit 6’9” player, Samanic seems to have margin for a further growth and has impressive mobility, footwork and athleticism for his size. His face up game is extremely developed for his age, he’s an excellent shooter from long range and he’s natural in putting the ball on the floor with both hands. He struggled from the field against Real Madrid, but over the first three games he scored 55 points in 58 minutes, on a total 36 field goal attempts. Guard Mattia Palumbo (‘00) as well had some issue to score in the final, but over the first three games he scored 61 points in 67 minutes on a total 41 shots from the field. A talented player able to score in multiple ways, he has really good frame for his position and loves to handle the ball and score on isolations. Wing Paul Eboua (‘00), who is from Cameroon, showed some interesting potential. He’s highly gifted from a physical and athletic standpoint, and he has some crazy length for his position. He’s still raw in his game and doesn’t change pace that much on offense, but looked natural hitting some jumper from mid and long range, despite not having proper shooting mechanics or release. Serbian guard Djordje Pazin (‘01) didn’t have his best tournament, not shooting that much from beyond the arc and preferring to settle on long pull-up jumpers, but still showed some flash of his scoring talent. Point guard Saverio Bartoli (‘00) is still extremely undeveloped from a physical standpoint, but has some serious talent off the dribble and plays with great attitude.
Real Madrid
The deepest and most physically gifted team in the tournament, Real Madrid won every game by a comfortable margin. Wing Mario Nakic (‘01) was named MVP after scoring 20 points in the final against Stellazzurra: already listed at 6’4”, he has long frame and fluid athleticism to go along with some impressive guard-like skill, and his ability to make plays off the dribble and pull up for a shot made him tough to guard at this level of competition. Center Heritier Thsiyoyo (‘00), who comes from Democratic Republic of Congo, ended up in the All-Tournament Team after averaging 11 rebounds per game: his frame and already well-built physique are just ridiculous, and his impact in the paint on both ends of the court was unmatchable by any other player in the tournament; his points came mainly from power plays near the basket, but he looked good from the free throw line (9/12). Latvian big man Anrijs Miska (‘00) didn’t play up to his potential, lacking some toughness and focus on the court, but he’s long and moves well for his size, and despite his still slender frame he can play both inside or facing the basket. Small forward Diego De Blas (‘00) has size, length and athleticism, can score in transition and shoot off the catch, but his potential to play off the dribble looks limited at this stage of his development. Big man Usman Garuba (‘02) was the youngest player in attendance, and has impressive body, mobility and motor for his age; he’s still raw on offense, but was one of the best rebounders in attendance and his length and quickness were valuable on the defensive end. Carlos Unanue (‘00) played both guard spots, showing strong personality and solid fundamentals, but he had the tendency to settle on threes and lacked some aggressiveness off the dribble; now and then he made some play attacking the basket, but his frame is still really light and he has just average size for his positon. British guard Kareem Queeley (‘01) was another physically gifted prospect with above average strength for his age, and was a solid contributor particularly on the defensive end; but his decision making was average, and he had the tendency to overdribble on offense.
Photo: Novipiú Europe Cup
PMS Basketball hosted U16 Novipiù Europe Cup from February the 26th to February the 28th in Moncalieri, Italy.
Final: Real Madrid – Stellazzurra Academy 70 - 43
3rd place game: PMS Basketball Moncalieri – Lithuania National Team U15 62 - 57
5th place game: Partizan Beograd – Cibona Zagreb 63 - 56
7th place game: Fenerbahçe Istanbul – Brose Baskets Bamberg 90 – 71
MVP: Mario Nakic (Real Madrid)
Best Scorer: Dino Bistrovic (Cibona Zagreb)
Best 5: Niccolò Dellosto (PMS Basketball Moncalieri), Heritier Tshiyoyo (Real Madrid), Laurynas Vaistaras (Lithuania U15), Mateja Jovanovic (Partizan Beograd), Luka Samanic (Stellazzurra Academy)
Brose Baskets Bamberg
The German team held his own against Partizan losing by 4 points, but was outscored by an average of 41 points over the other three games. Estonian Henri Drell (‘00) and twin brothers Brandon Tischler and Nicholas Tischler (‘00) looked like the top prospects in this team. Drell has a still undeveloped body, but has great frame and length for a wing player; he loves to play with the ball and looks natural handling it and beating his man off the dribble. His decision making is still questionable though, and his erratic attitude probably limited his playing time. The Tischler brothers have above average physique and athleticism for the guard spot, and where among the most aggressive players on the court. They have identical physical profile and looks like they have margin to develop in a wing-type of body; they also had similar production on the court, despite rarely playing in the same lineup. Kay Bruhnke (‘01) also showed some promise, as a long big man with interesting mobility and activity level.
Fenerbahçe Istanbul
Fenerbahçe brought in Moncalieri a young team which put some real effort on the court, playing with solid poise and attitude. Big man Ismail Karabilen (‘01) was their best prospect: a player with a strong frame but a still undeveloped body, he moves well for his size, has soft touch with both hands and showed excellent passing instincts. Guard Ekrem Sancakli (‘01) is interesting as well, as a strong guard who can handle the ball and play some pick and roll. An aggressive player, he was one of the top transition scorers in Moncalieri and did some serious damage filling the lanes for a quick shot. Another big man who showed some potential is Cem Kirciman (‘01): one of the toughest players in the tournament, he enjoys playing through contact and made a lot of hustle plays; he has a high-level motor, making good use of his mobile physique to run up and down the court.
Cibona Zagreb
Missing top prospect Oton Jankovic because of an injury, Cibona relied heavily on Dino Bistrovic (‘00), who ended up being the tournament’s top scorer. Bistrovic is a strong, aggressive wing with muscular body who is efficient using it to get to the rim and absorb contacts; he’ll need to improve his overall feel for the game and work on his ball-handling. Big man Danko Brankovic (‘00) is highly interesting: a tall, slender kid who is still at the very beginning of his physical development, he’s already around 6’9” and moves with nice coordination and speed. His ball skills and IQ looked good, and he showed some soft shooting touch as far as from three point range. Wing Ante Brzovic (‘00) and guard Lovre Maloca (‘01) deserve to be mention as well: Brzovic is still raw in his game but has good frame, fundamentals and personality; Maloca is a smart, tough player who can play both guard spots right now and puts real effort on the defensive end.
Partizan Beograd
Partizan had a physically gifted team which challenged Real Madrid for a full first half in the second game of the tournament. Center Mateja Jovanovic (‘00) ended up in the All-Tournament Team, as he was one of the most productive big men in Moncalieri: really big and strong for his age, he still doesn’t move with good coordination, but is a huge presence in the paint who loves to play through contact. Center Dusan Tanaskovic (‘01) has lot of upside: the youngest player in the team, he has a big body which will still likely grow up, he moves pretty well for his size and has some skill facing the basket, being able to put the ball on the floor and to pass from the mid-range. Other kids from this roster looks to have significant potential, but the mention goes to power forward Uros Isailovic (‘00) and point guard Aleksandar Davitkov (‘00). Isailovic has good speed and nice physical upside, he can slash to the basket with ease and will likely develop in a face up power forward, while Davitkov is still small but showed huge personality and leadership on the court, easily creating off the dribble thanks to his quickness with the ball.
Lithuania National Team U15
Obviously the youngest team in the tournament, Lithuania had a very promising roster not as big nor strong as the other teams. Power forward Laurynas Vaistaras (‘01) and wing Modestas Kancleris (‘01) showed the best things on a constant basis. Vaistaras, who made the All-Tournament Team, has a long frame, solid quickness and body control; able to put the ball on the floor and beat his man off the dribble with ease, he scored as well with his lefty shot, with natural range beyond the three point line. Kancleris has good length as well and plays with great poise and attitude, but his frame is still really light; he was one of the best shooter in attendance and showed also solid instincts on the pick and roll, despite lacking some explosiveness to play off the dribble. Big man Marek Blazevic (‘01) has good physique and length, but is still very raw in terms on how he moves on the court, lacking proper balance and coordination; his instincts and attitude looks promising though, and he has a solid basis to work on.
PMS Basketball Moncalieri
The home team wasn’t as talented as other teams in the tournament, but looked well-rounded and put always high level effort on the court. They brought in on loan Niccolò Dellosto (‘00) from Servolana Trieste and Edoardo Buffo (‘01) from Libertas Cernusco for the tournament, who ended up being the top two prospects in this team, with the former named to the All-Tournament Team. Dellosto has a strong body for his age but at this level of competition looked stuck between the two forward positions: a talented scorer with excellent shooting tools and good instincts off the dribble, he’ll need to work on his lateral quickness on defense and his ball-handling on offense to develop in a point forward type of player. Buffo struggled to perform against the length and physicality, particularly when playing against Real Madrid, but he’s a talented guard with good instincts off the dribble and good touch in his jump shot, who plays with great maturity and leadership; he seems to have nice physical upside as well. Forward Amedeo Tiberti (‘00) and point guard Christian Abrate (‘00) had a strong tournament as well: Tiberti will need to improve his perimeter fundamentals, but his good frame and aggressive style of play allow him to be a very productive player on the court; Abrate is a talented scorer off the dribble who will need to improve his decision making and ability to play at a slower pace.
Stellazzurra Academy
The team from Rome featured the best prospect in the tournament with Croatian power forward Luka Samanic (‘00), on loan from KK Zagreb, who ended up in the All-Tournament Team. Already a legit 6’9” player, Samanic seems to have margin for a further growth and has impressive mobility, footwork and athleticism for his size. His face up game is extremely developed for his age, he’s an excellent shooter from long range and he’s natural in putting the ball on the floor with both hands. He struggled from the field against Real Madrid, but over the first three games he scored 55 points in 58 minutes, on a total 36 field goal attempts. Guard Mattia Palumbo (‘00) as well had some issue to score in the final, but over the first three games he scored 61 points in 67 minutes on a total 41 shots from the field. A talented player able to score in multiple ways, he has really good frame for his position and loves to handle the ball and score on isolations. Wing Paul Eboua (‘00), who is from Cameroon, showed some interesting potential. He’s highly gifted from a physical and athletic standpoint, and he has some crazy length for his position. He’s still raw in his game and doesn’t change pace that much on offense, but looked natural hitting some jumper from mid and long range, despite not having proper shooting mechanics or release. Serbian guard Djordje Pazin (‘01) didn’t have his best tournament, not shooting that much from beyond the arc and preferring to settle on long pull-up jumpers, but still showed some flash of his scoring talent. Point guard Saverio Bartoli (‘00) is still extremely undeveloped from a physical standpoint, but has some serious talent off the dribble and plays with great attitude.
Real Madrid
The deepest and most physically gifted team in the tournament, Real Madrid won every game by a comfortable margin. Wing Mario Nakic (‘01) was named MVP after scoring 20 points in the final against Stellazzurra: already listed at 6’4”, he has long frame and fluid athleticism to go along with some impressive guard-like skill, and his ability to make plays off the dribble and pull up for a shot made him tough to guard at this level of competition. Center Heritier Thsiyoyo (‘00), who comes from Democratic Republic of Congo, ended up in the All-Tournament Team after averaging 11 rebounds per game: his frame and already well-built physique are just ridiculous, and his impact in the paint on both ends of the court was unmatchable by any other player in the tournament; his points came mainly from power plays near the basket, but he looked good from the free throw line (9/12). Latvian big man Anrijs Miska (‘00) didn’t play up to his potential, lacking some toughness and focus on the court, but he’s long and moves well for his size, and despite his still slender frame he can play both inside or facing the basket. Small forward Diego De Blas (‘00) has size, length and athleticism, can score in transition and shoot off the catch, but his potential to play off the dribble looks limited at this stage of his development. Big man Usman Garuba (‘02) was the youngest player in attendance, and has impressive body, mobility and motor for his age; he’s still raw on offense, but was one of the best rebounders in attendance and his length and quickness were valuable on the defensive end. Carlos Unanue (‘00) played both guard spots, showing strong personality and solid fundamentals, but he had the tendency to settle on threes and lacked some aggressiveness off the dribble; now and then he made some play attacking the basket, but his frame is still really light and he has just average size for his positon. British guard Kareem Queeley (‘01) was another physically gifted prospect with above average strength for his age, and was a solid contributor particularly on the defensive end; but his decision making was average, and he had the tendency to overdribble on offense.
Photo: Novipiú Europe Cup
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