By Albert Juncà
From December 4th to 7th, the Spanish town of Íscar hosted the 28th edition of the Torneo Internacional de Baloncesto Villa de Íscar. The U16 teams of Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany, Türkiye and Castilla y León faced each other as they began preparing for the summer FIBA European Championship.
Spain finished the tournament undefeated, beating Italy in the final game (95–86). Türkiye completed the podium by defeating Greece (77–69).
Our Director of Scouting, Albert Juncà, attended the event and shares his insights on the players who stood out the most.
Pablo Mera – 6’3” – G – 2010 – Spain
Mera was one of the most productive players and a leader for Spain throughout the entire tournament, a performance that earned him the MVP trophy. Two 20-point performances against Türkiye and in the final game against Italy were crucial to his team’s success. In the game against Germany, where he wasn’t scoring at the same level, he shared the ball very well, finishing with 5 assists and 18 efficiency points.
The Real Madrid guard fit extremely well into the Spanish roster, bringing versatility from the perimeter. Combined with other perimeter players who can operate with the ball, this gave the team multiple tools to play in different registers. One of the pillars of his game is his ability to speed up the pace thanks to his high motor, generating advantages in traffic or when attacking closeouts. His strength and body usage also allow him to play through contact when slashing to the rim or drawing fouls in the paint.
Ayomide Ajayi – 6’9” – PF/C – 2010 – Italy / Great Britain
This was Ajayi’s first appearance with the Italian national team. The London Cavaliers player was one of the prospects with the highest ceiling in the tournament. He still has a large margin for improvement, both physically and basketball-wise, but his size, athleticism and instincts on both ends are very promising.
Offensively, he showed flashes of correct ball-handling skills for his size from the perimeter. Combined with fluid movements and length, this allowed him to finish in the paint with soft touch. On the defensive end, his instincts really stood out, showing good timing as a shot-blocker and reading penetrations from the weak side, making him a potential elite rim protector.
Danny Egbe – 6’4” – SG – 2010 – Germany
The Hamburg Towers guard has plenty of room to add muscle to his lengthy and skinny frame. Used as a primary or secondary creator, he gained space using his explosiveness and long steps to get into the paint, showing nice touch on extensions. During the tournament, he relied on his long strides and quickness to push the break and generate advantages in traffic. In this role, he will need to take better care of the ball and reduce his turnover ratio, adjusting the pace of play and reading what is happening around him.
Defensively, he makes great use of his wingspan and explosiveness to stay in front of the ball, turning his hips and sliding quickly.
Sergio Palau – 6’8” – PF – 2010 – Spain
A power forward who acted as a very interesting role player, not needing many dribbles to have a big impact on the game. His off-ball game is where he finds ways to score or generate advantages for his teammates. Most of his actions started on the perimeter, where he stood out throughout the tournament with an impressive shooting percentage, showing a clean and solid release in spot-up situations.
From the perimeter, when defenders overhelped, he showed interesting reads on cuts and backdoor actions to finish around the rim.
Ioannis Spanos – 6’6” – SF/PF – 2010 – Greece
The Greek wing was one of the most interesting players in the tournament. His strong frame, combined with his size and basketball skill set, makes him a very difficult player to guard. He showed great awareness of his strengths, punishing defenders depending on their profile: taking thinner players into the paint or attacking slower players from the perimeter. From deep, his shooting had some ups and downs in terms of percentages, but his mechanical base is correct and there is plenty of margin to improve his consistency.
Nicholas Conti – 6’5” – SF/SG – 2010 – Italy
Conti stood out during the tournament, displaying a high-paced game combined with a promising frame and plenty of room to add muscle. The championship game was his best performance of the weekend, scoring 27 points on 12/14 FG, along with 7 rebounds and 4 steals in 23 minutes.
He looked comfortable playing in traffic, going straight to the paint to finish or collapsing the defense to find open teammates on the perimeter. In static situations, his off-ball movement is quite interesting, reading the defense to cut or crashing the offensive glass for put-backs. He also fit extremely well into the team context, not needing many dribbles to make an impact and keeping the ball moving, helping the offensive flow and overall mobility.
From December 4th to 7th, the Spanish town of Íscar hosted the 28th edition of the Torneo Internacional de Baloncesto Villa de Íscar. The U16 teams of Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany, Türkiye and Castilla y León faced each other as they began preparing for the summer FIBA European Championship.
Spain finished the tournament undefeated, beating Italy in the final game (95–86). Türkiye completed the podium by defeating Greece (77–69).
Our Director of Scouting, Albert Juncà, attended the event and shares his insights on the players who stood out the most.
Pablo Mera – 6’3” – G – 2010 – Spain
Mera was one of the most productive players and a leader for Spain throughout the entire tournament, a performance that earned him the MVP trophy. Two 20-point performances against Türkiye and in the final game against Italy were crucial to his team’s success. In the game against Germany, where he wasn’t scoring at the same level, he shared the ball very well, finishing with 5 assists and 18 efficiency points.
The Real Madrid guard fit extremely well into the Spanish roster, bringing versatility from the perimeter. Combined with other perimeter players who can operate with the ball, this gave the team multiple tools to play in different registers. One of the pillars of his game is his ability to speed up the pace thanks to his high motor, generating advantages in traffic or when attacking closeouts. His strength and body usage also allow him to play through contact when slashing to the rim or drawing fouls in the paint.
Ayomide Ajayi – 6’9” – PF/C – 2010 – Italy / Great Britain
This was Ajayi’s first appearance with the Italian national team. The London Cavaliers player was one of the prospects with the highest ceiling in the tournament. He still has a large margin for improvement, both physically and basketball-wise, but his size, athleticism and instincts on both ends are very promising.
Offensively, he showed flashes of correct ball-handling skills for his size from the perimeter. Combined with fluid movements and length, this allowed him to finish in the paint with soft touch. On the defensive end, his instincts really stood out, showing good timing as a shot-blocker and reading penetrations from the weak side, making him a potential elite rim protector.
Danny Egbe – 6’4” – SG – 2010 – Germany
The Hamburg Towers guard has plenty of room to add muscle to his lengthy and skinny frame. Used as a primary or secondary creator, he gained space using his explosiveness and long steps to get into the paint, showing nice touch on extensions. During the tournament, he relied on his long strides and quickness to push the break and generate advantages in traffic. In this role, he will need to take better care of the ball and reduce his turnover ratio, adjusting the pace of play and reading what is happening around him.
Defensively, he makes great use of his wingspan and explosiveness to stay in front of the ball, turning his hips and sliding quickly.
Sergio Palau – 6’8” – PF – 2010 – Spain
A power forward who acted as a very interesting role player, not needing many dribbles to have a big impact on the game. His off-ball game is where he finds ways to score or generate advantages for his teammates. Most of his actions started on the perimeter, where he stood out throughout the tournament with an impressive shooting percentage, showing a clean and solid release in spot-up situations.
From the perimeter, when defenders overhelped, he showed interesting reads on cuts and backdoor actions to finish around the rim.
Ioannis Spanos – 6’6” – SF/PF – 2010 – Greece
The Greek wing was one of the most interesting players in the tournament. His strong frame, combined with his size and basketball skill set, makes him a very difficult player to guard. He showed great awareness of his strengths, punishing defenders depending on their profile: taking thinner players into the paint or attacking slower players from the perimeter. From deep, his shooting had some ups and downs in terms of percentages, but his mechanical base is correct and there is plenty of margin to improve his consistency.
Nicholas Conti – 6’5” – SF/SG – 2010 – Italy
Conti stood out during the tournament, displaying a high-paced game combined with a promising frame and plenty of room to add muscle. The championship game was his best performance of the weekend, scoring 27 points on 12/14 FG, along with 7 rebounds and 4 steals in 23 minutes.
He looked comfortable playing in traffic, going straight to the paint to finish or collapsing the defense to find open teammates on the perimeter. In static situations, his off-ball movement is quite interesting, reading the defense to cut or crashing the offensive glass for put-backs. He also fit extremely well into the team context, not needing many dribbles to make an impact and keeping the ball moving, helping the offensive flow and overall mobility.
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