By Darko Ivanovic
The Serbian U15 Final tournament was held in Cacak, and the new champion is Partizan Belgrade. Partizan beat Banjica Mega in the final 75 to 54. The champion maybe had even bigger challenge in semi-final where they met Crvena Zvezda. That match was close and only in last minute of the game you could see who is going to the final. At the end, Partizan was more focused and came with the victory 61 to 56. Crvena Zvezda found consolation in winning 3th place by beating Spartak Subotica 80 to 48.
Some of players made mark on this year tournament, and we will mention the best of them. First at all the point guard of Partizan Branislav Suznjev (’01). He was the motor of his team, and you can see on his face how much he wants to win. He did almost everything on the court. When it was important, he scored. Against Crvena Zvezda he was the best scorer of his team with 19 points. He has great ball-handling and passing skills, and he likes to shoot off the screen. At the moment he is 5’8 tall and we have to see how big he is going to be, because with solid size, there is great talent with bright future.
Same we can say for Dusan Tanaskovic (’01) who plays position 5. He is 6’8 at the moment, and he has solid inside game. There are moments where he over dribbles close to the basket and as result there is almost five turnovers per game. However he has good inside shot. With great passing skills and good basketball IQ he easily finds open men. Even though he has solid 3p shot, when he is on perimeter he likes to fakes and attack with dribble. He looks like out of shape, but he runs good for his position. Despite this, Dusan Tanaskovic is the leader of this team for more than 4 years and he is considered a perspective of BC Partizan, and one of most talented players in his generation in Serbia.
On the same level is Lazar Vasic (’01) from Crvena Zvezda. He was the MVP of tournament and the best scorer. Most of his points came from transition, where he beats his defenders off the dribble. Vasic has great ball handling skills and with his 6’2 a great rebounding potential, 7 rebounds per game during the tournament. Most of the time he plays on position 2, and you can see glimpses of his talent when his team plays set offense. Even in small space he finds a way to drive to the paint and pass the ball if he is in a bad situation. He is constantly moving without the ball, and always go to offensive rebound. With a smoother shot he could even explore more his penetration skills because, at the moment, defense is more focused to not get beat by penetration than shot. He likes contact when he is in the lane and if he adds an inch or two in height he could be one of the top prospect on shooting guard position.
Some players were not so flashy in statistics, most because of his role in their team or lack of minutes, but you can see that talent is there. Great example of role play was point guard of Crvena Zvezda Bogdan Tejic (‘01), who played hard defense and had positive TO/asst ratio during the weekend. He turnovers the ball only two per game which is good for his position and the minutes that he played. Almost the same you can say for Vladan Music (’01) of Banjica Mega who had more a defensive role in the team, and to bring the ball safe to offensive end. He showed some leadership skills in the final where he tried to use his size, 6’1, over Branislav Suznjev, posting up Partizan point guard and showing great IQ when it is most needed.
Milos Vicentijevic (’01) from Mega, Veljko Culibrk (’01) from Partizan and Jovan Kojic (’01) from Spartak have great body with potential to growth, and we can expect their best games in the next years. The same we can say of the trio from Crvena Zvezda, Petar Rasic (’01) 6’1, Kosta Uskokovic (’01) 5’8 and Matija Guduric (’01) 6’4, they all have body that is still in development. They spend less minutes on the court but you can count on them in the future because even with margin role they showed great attitude and will to win.
Andreja Marinkovic (’02) is still enigma only because he played for Sumadija 1991 that was eliminated in quarterfinals. He averaged 25.3 points, 7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. There is not much to say because it is hard to predict how he will play when he is in a team where there are more quality players. There is something to begin with, he scored 36 points to Crvena Zvezda.
Photo: 34sad.com
The Serbian U15 Final tournament was held in Cacak, and the new champion is Partizan Belgrade. Partizan beat Banjica Mega in the final 75 to 54. The champion maybe had even bigger challenge in semi-final where they met Crvena Zvezda. That match was close and only in last minute of the game you could see who is going to the final. At the end, Partizan was more focused and came with the victory 61 to 56. Crvena Zvezda found consolation in winning 3th place by beating Spartak Subotica 80 to 48.
Some of players made mark on this year tournament, and we will mention the best of them. First at all the point guard of Partizan Branislav Suznjev (’01). He was the motor of his team, and you can see on his face how much he wants to win. He did almost everything on the court. When it was important, he scored. Against Crvena Zvezda he was the best scorer of his team with 19 points. He has great ball-handling and passing skills, and he likes to shoot off the screen. At the moment he is 5’8 tall and we have to see how big he is going to be, because with solid size, there is great talent with bright future.
Same we can say for Dusan Tanaskovic (’01) who plays position 5. He is 6’8 at the moment, and he has solid inside game. There are moments where he over dribbles close to the basket and as result there is almost five turnovers per game. However he has good inside shot. With great passing skills and good basketball IQ he easily finds open men. Even though he has solid 3p shot, when he is on perimeter he likes to fakes and attack with dribble. He looks like out of shape, but he runs good for his position. Despite this, Dusan Tanaskovic is the leader of this team for more than 4 years and he is considered a perspective of BC Partizan, and one of most talented players in his generation in Serbia.
On the same level is Lazar Vasic (’01) from Crvena Zvezda. He was the MVP of tournament and the best scorer. Most of his points came from transition, where he beats his defenders off the dribble. Vasic has great ball handling skills and with his 6’2 a great rebounding potential, 7 rebounds per game during the tournament. Most of the time he plays on position 2, and you can see glimpses of his talent when his team plays set offense. Even in small space he finds a way to drive to the paint and pass the ball if he is in a bad situation. He is constantly moving without the ball, and always go to offensive rebound. With a smoother shot he could even explore more his penetration skills because, at the moment, defense is more focused to not get beat by penetration than shot. He likes contact when he is in the lane and if he adds an inch or two in height he could be one of the top prospect on shooting guard position.
Some players were not so flashy in statistics, most because of his role in their team or lack of minutes, but you can see that talent is there. Great example of role play was point guard of Crvena Zvezda Bogdan Tejic (‘01), who played hard defense and had positive TO/asst ratio during the weekend. He turnovers the ball only two per game which is good for his position and the minutes that he played. Almost the same you can say for Vladan Music (’01) of Banjica Mega who had more a defensive role in the team, and to bring the ball safe to offensive end. He showed some leadership skills in the final where he tried to use his size, 6’1, over Branislav Suznjev, posting up Partizan point guard and showing great IQ when it is most needed.
Milos Vicentijevic (’01) from Mega, Veljko Culibrk (’01) from Partizan and Jovan Kojic (’01) from Spartak have great body with potential to growth, and we can expect their best games in the next years. The same we can say of the trio from Crvena Zvezda, Petar Rasic (’01) 6’1, Kosta Uskokovic (’01) 5’8 and Matija Guduric (’01) 6’4, they all have body that is still in development. They spend less minutes on the court but you can count on them in the future because even with margin role they showed great attitude and will to win.
Andreja Marinkovic (’02) is still enigma only because he played for Sumadija 1991 that was eliminated in quarterfinals. He averaged 25.3 points, 7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. There is not much to say because it is hard to predict how he will play when he is in a team where there are more quality players. There is something to begin with, he scored 36 points to Crvena Zvezda.
Photo: 34sad.com
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