Nike Hoop Summit International Prospects

[jwfish6]

The Nike Hoop Summit, which was played on April 8th, brought together a completely loaded American team against a World team that was missing some significant players. Once again, the World team has some disappointing pieces to it. Players such as Aleksandrov, Dasic, Ajinca, Tomic, Bojan Bogdanovic, Savas, Gomenyuk, and Zavoreuv would of really showed the worlds capabilities. Starting on Monday, the World team practiced twice a day(and had 2 scrimages verse Memphis High School teams), going over half court sets and indivdual shooting. This was a great time to see these players first hand.

First of all, I want to start by saying that it was completely ridiculous to leave Milenko Tepic off of the International Team preview. How can a person who plays the most minutes and scores the most points for a team not even be mentioned in that team's preview? That's insane! Milenko went 7-7 from the field, 2-3 FT's, in 27 minutes. The most impressive stat is that he did not even look for his shot. Were talking about an 18 year old 6'7 sg/pg from Serbia - THE BEST EUROPEAN COUNTRY WHEN IT COMES TO BASKETBALL. Besides his amazing stats at the Hoop Summit, he had imprssive stats at the u18 Euro Champs which his country won. I mean the guy played the most minutes on the best team. On top of all of that, Milenko plays HUGE minutes in his club NIS Vojvodina (goodyear league). Who ever made that preview should be completely embarrassed.

Next, I am sick of the lack of respect for Dragan Labovic. Dragan has all the tools to not only play in the NBA, but be a factor. He has an amazing shot for a big, incredible lost post skills, and unbelievable passing skills. He had a great game for the minutes that he was given. Dragan only played 14 minutes but still had 13 points, including 6-6 FT, 1-2 3pt, and a beautiful Pau Gasol-like spin move. After being the MVP of both the u18 Euro Champs AND the Sinalco YUBA League,this guy still gets no respect. He also has a great personality and is not selfish at all. He knows exactly when to get his teammates involved and when to take over himself. All week long he thought pass first, something impressive for somebody who could dominate so easily. I expect him to finish the YUBA League very impressively this year and have a strong season with Zeleznik next season before enetering the draft. He could easily be drafted between mid-late first round.

Artur Urazmanov looked pretty impressive as well. He was obviously affected by the language barrier but still did well all week. His shot looked a little inconsistent, but his guard leadership skills were nice.

Datome looked very nice too, as I stated in his individual thread. "Datome looked very impressive in Memphis at the Hoop Summit. All week long his shot looked very good, and he had just the right combination of team-involvement and his own determination to score. I think he will be a mid first round pick in 2 years. Bostan Nachbar/Jiri Welsch anyone?"

Daniel Clark's shot looked very nice, and he even began to mix it up inside in the second half of the actual game. He looks pretty soft though, but he still has lots of potential.

Saer Sene is probably one of the most NBA ready players on this squad. Although his skills are not up to par with the other bigs (Labovic), his athleticism is amazing. He will be an outstanding shot blocker in the NBA in 1 or 2 years. He plays alot like Sammy D.

[planaria]

How did Rafael H. look?

[Genjuro]

First of all, I want to start by saying that it was completely ridiculous to leave Milenko Tepic off of the International Team preview. How can a person who plays the most minutes and scores the most points for a team not even be mentioned in that team's preview? That's insane! Milenko went 7-7 from the field, 2-3 FT's, in 27 minutes. The most impressive stat is that he did not even look for his shot. Were talking about an 18 year old 6'7 sg/pg from Serbia - THE BEST EUROPEAN COUNTRY WHEN IT COMES TO BASKETBALL. Besides his amazing stats at the Hoop Summit, he had imprssive stats at the u18 Euro Champs which his country won. I mean the guy played the most minutes on the best team. On top of all of that, Milenko plays HUGE minutes in his club NIS Vojvodina (goodyear league). Who ever made that preview should be completely embarrassed.
Milenko Tepic wasn't on the preview simply because we didn't know he was playing (as far as I know, it wasn't announced in advance by USA Basketball, and I didn't get to learn it through any other way). Of course, he would have got his fair share of comments and praises, since he's playing a very nice season in the Adriatic League and he's a player who shows some potential.

[jwfish6]

Yeah it was very confusing actually finding out the final roster. USA Basketball did not do a very good job updating their website. At first Dusan Sakota was supposed to come and be the headline, but they did not even inform people he pulled out. I only found out about Tepic coming through a european website. What do you see his potential as? I talked to him several times and he said he was even playing the point some as his coach liked his slowed up style of play every now and then. He has to be a decent prospect because of his size and his experince. He also speaks English perfectly.

[jwfish6]

Rafael looked very good for a big man, but he did everything average, nothing exceptionally special. He could be an average big man in the NBA, but i did not see anything amazing. With the lack of centers in the league, he should be given a fair shot. He did not look as skilled as the other bigs (Sene, Labovic, Clark).

[KristianH]

Dragan Labovic doesn`t have NBA potential, it will be the same case as with Zadar`s Marko Banic who was dominant scorer in last Adriatic season, but now plays 5-10 minutes at weak spanish club. I believe Labovic will have more succes in Europe then Banic, but despite posting really impressive numbers and having great skill-set his physical limitation are too big to overcame if speaking about NBA game. Name me one european undersized PF with average/below average athleticism who enjoyed succes in the NBA?

Milenko Tepic is inconsistent, i watched him againts Cibona in Zagreb and he looked fantastic because his shot was falling, then in other game his shot was not there and his offensive game suffered mightly because defenders know he is gonna slash to the basket. Tepic has good physical tools, but must work on his shooting ability and technique if order to become draftable.

[jwfish6]

Labovic is 3 years younger, taller, and has much better skills than Banic. Labovic has a very consistent shot as well. It just seems amazing that a guy could be the MVP of the Euro Champs and YUBA League and not have NBA Potential. There are plenty of PFs in the nba with Labovic's characteristics. Elton Brand (6'8) is a good example. Its hard to imagine a guy with such good numbers, decent size, and skills of what he has can be considered not a prospect at only 18 years of age. I mean he would be a freshmen in college. What do you think his role would be in FMP had he stayed there this year? Do you think he is as skilled as Ilic, but his athleticism hurts him? I mean they guy posts better numbers in YUBA League then Samardziski does in the B league with other kids. Thanks for the reply.

[jwfish6]

Also, Labovic can shoot the ball very well. He has a very quick release out to NBA range and is very consistent. Do you think that he could play like Radmanovic? I think that he could play like an undersized Krstic as they both enjoy the same skills.With post moves like Gasol and a quick shot like Peja Drobnjak at 6'10 i would figure he could be a 7-10th man in the NBA. On top of that, there are a bunch of average guys on NBA teams from spots 12-15 that he is certainly better than. Does Tepic's game resemble Tripkovic's at all? Thanks

[KristianH]

I can agree that he could play in the NBA down the stretch, but NBA teams usually don`t pull the trigger on players like Labovic.

If he is so good why they choose to loan him to Borac, you know. I believe they could bring him back in middle of the season if they really wanted, like they did with Milos Teodosic during last season. I admire Labovic`s achievements, but as of right now i see him as a borderline prospect. His lack of lenght and jumping ability hurts his defensive potential a lot. He is certainly more skilled then Mile Ilic, who btw didn`t make progress i was hoping for and despite extremly weak Nets bigmen rotation i can`t see him playing there next year. Ilic is 7-footer with decent athleticism, Labovic is 6-9 that`s a big diffrence. With that said, i believe Labovic will be damn good european player a la Jorge Garbajosa.

Regarding Tepic and Tripkovic they are not very similar, Uros is more of a outside shooter while Tepic is primary a slasher. Tripkovic has tools to get into the lane, but finishing in traffic is major concern since he doesn`t have long 2nd or 3rd step and is not strong enough. Tepic is better defender, but much less of a scorer then Tripkovic and not that atracktive at the moment. He has athleticism to be a first rounder if he improves his skill-set. Uros is first rounder because of the way he can get his shoot off and put the points on the board quickly. His defense improved quiet some this year, but in other aspect`s he did not.

[Genjuro]

Kristian has explained it perfectly, although I see Labovic as a player with significantly better potential than Banic, as he's taller and more skilled.

I absolutely love players like Dragan Labovic (by the way, I liked a bit better the all-around cadet version than the more low-post oriented junior version, even if the second one was more effective), but you need certain characteristics to translate your game to the NBA, and Dragan will have a very tough time doing it. A guy like Elton Brand, not only is much more athletic and explosive, but he has a huge wingspan and tremendous strength. He's a beast.

Drobnjak is more of an accurate comparation, but again, he's a bigger player and he had a rather consistent shot with excellent range. I guess Labovic could bulk up, if not that much, at least enough to get along; he has a nice shot to work with, he has probably better post moves, better basketball IQ and I believe he has more character. But anyway, Drobnjak is out of the NBA after all.

You say he could play like an undersized Krstic, but that's not easy at all. Krstic uses his size to get a life in the NBA. I don't think he would be wearing a Net jersey if he were 3 inches smaller. Radmanovic is out of the picture in this case. He's much more athletic and can play small forward in the NBA. Lorbek could be another interesting comparation, but I think he's a bit longer and even more skilled than Labovic.

You mentioned before Datome and compared him with Nachbar/Welsch thinking about the first round. Well, take into account that no NBA team would spend today a first round pick in any of these two players.

As for Tepic, he has potential because he enjoys nice size and athleticism. He's an excellent slasher, but he will need more to succeed. For starters, to improve his shot.

It's really difficult to succeed in the NBA as a guard. How many white European guards are succeeding right now in the NBA? I might be forgetting someone, but I would say that Jaric and Giricek are the ones faring best. You get much more guys in the SF position, but they have great size (Kirilenko, Stojakovic, Radmanovic or Turkoglu). That's why I remain a bit skeptical even with very talented players like Tripkovic, Belinelli, Rodríguez or Fernández.

[jwfish6]

Those are all very good points. I guess it was just logical to loan him along with Teodosic to play 40 minutes a game rather than plaing 40 minutes a game against kids in the B League because they are deep with Savonovic. They have event sent Mladen Pantic and Zoran Ecreg back to Borac. Mile Ilic does not seem like he has improved which is very disappointing, along with Perovic and Samardziski. Do you see these 2, along with Ilic, just jumping to the NBA no matter where they get selected, as they have nothing to lose? What is the latest on Aleksandrov? Does anybody have any idea on what his agent means by him signing for a club in Yugoslavia? Would that mean hes not under contract with Zeleznik? I think that Zeleznik has hands down the best young players in the Baltic, if not all of Europe. ( Ilic, Pupovic, Savanovic, Samardziski, Labovic, Aleksandrov, Raduljica, Macvan, Musilj). Thanks for the reply!