Nike Hoop Summit World Team

[jwfish6]

Ok so about a month ago word got out that Emir Preldžić was selected for the World Team, but that was the only name to be found anywhere? Does anybody know any other names and when they will be realeased. It is so annoying how USA Basketball announces the USA roster early on but takes several months longer to put together the World team. Hopefully we will get some intriguing names. Any ideas?

[Jonathan]

I know about 7-8 guys already, and will probably release what I have later on this week.

[jwfish6]

.......?

[KristianH]

It`s fairly exclusive information, so posting it in forum wouldn`t make sense.

[jwfish6]

that makes sense..i hope its worth the wait

[Jonathan]

ok, well it doesn't look like I am going to end up writing anything about this, so here is what I have:

Omri Caspi (Israel)
Alexey Shved (Russia)
Artur Urazmanov (Russia)
Emil Prezdlic (Bosnia)
Petteri Koponen (Finland)
Giorgi Shermadini (Georgia)

Nihad Djedovic (Bosnia)
Alexis Ajinca (France)

Nicolas Batum (France)

Let's see who ends up on the list, and who ends up making it.

[jwfish6]

wow that looks like a really really really talented list, probably the best ever especially with the French kids. it'd be nice to see them add a Gallinari or Rubio but since theyre probably too key to their clubs that has to be unrealistic. i would think keselj and aleksandrov would be nice canidates coming off injuries and not playing key roles in their squads.

[Jonathan]

the problem is the list always starts off great and then gets worse as players begin to drop out (usually because their club won't let them go). I'll believe that Batum is going to be there when he actually gets off the plane in Memphis.

[kuchini1]

I read that finally the complete international roster announced today.
Any link for the list?
Or maybe Jonathan can write it here..

[Jonathan]

where did u read that? Usually they email it to me, but I haven't gotten anything yet.

[wardjdim]

This is the final team:

Alexis Ajinca France 7.1 C/F Pau-Orthez
Nemanja Aleksandrov Serbia 6.10 F Crvena Zvedna
Nicholas Batum France 6.8 F Le Mans
Omri Casspi Israel 6.8 F Hapoel Galil Elion
Nihad Djedovic Bosnia 6.6 G Bosna Sarajevo
Chen Jianghua China 6.2 G Guangdong Tigers
Petteri Kuponen Finland 6.3 G Honka Espoo
Emir Preldzic Slovenia 6.9 F Slovan Ljubljana
Giorgi Shermadini Georgia 7.1 C Maccabi Tbilisi
Alexandar Uginoski Croatia 6.2 G Arkadia Traiskirchen (Austria)
Alexis Wangmene Cameroon 6.9 F Blair Academy NJ


Unfortunately, Shved is out... 11 players instead of 12. Is that the deal every year? I can't remember right now..

[KristianH]

Ugrinoski is averaging like 2ppg in Austria lol.

[jwfish6]

that is truly an amazing roster with tons of serious prospects...i wonder why shved is out..since he was loaned to Khimky and they say he wont play much why would he not come?

batum, ajinca, casspi, dedovic, aleksandrov...

[Jonathan]

Great catch guys.

I guess the Khimky thing messed Shved up. He actually is getting some minutes there I think, and there is no point in them letting him go.

I wrote an article about the International Team:

http://draftexpress.com/blogs.php?blogid=3

[kuchini1]

Who the hell is this Cameronian?
I neved heard about him..

[Jonathan]

6-8 kid, going to Texas, plays high school ball in the States. Sounds like a dirty work kind of player. Only playing basketball for a few years now.

[Mr. Body]

Who the hell is this Cameronian?
I neved heard about him..

He's a interesting case and I'm sure people will write some stories about him before long. He's slated to play for Texas next year, I believe, and has been playing in high school in NJ.

Nothing extraordinary there, but this is: his adoptive father is R.C. Buford, the GM for the Spurs. Buford met him during a recruiting trip in Africa (I think) and adopted him partially to help him play high school ball in the U.S. and get a toe hold here. He's projecting as a PF, so it'll be interesting to see if he can add a perimeter game. I've heard he has.

[Jonathan]

that is very interesting indeed. Another kid that RC adopted was Frans Steyn, who played at Oklahoma State and is now in the D-League. 7-footer from South Africa, former Rugby player.

[coachjon]

Alexis Wangmene is the 6-8 230lbs kid that you guys are referring to. He has a very good wingspan, strong, plays hard, good rebounder, runs the floor good, raw offensively (scores on putbacks and running the floor needs to develop post moves and midrange shot), poor ballhandler, poor passer, bad hands, lots of potential.

Like Jonathon said he is more of a hard worker right now, but he hasn't been playing basketball for that long and has shown alot of improvement already and the willingness to learn and practice to develop his skills.

[jwfish6]

sounds like more of a guy for basketball without borders rather than the NIKE Hoop Summit "WORLD SELECT" team...anways the other 10 guys are very solid...the finnish guard and the chinese guard sound very impressive..along with djedovic who is on track to be nothing less of a superstar...its hard to find a place to start when talking about this team..it could be a serious game this time..

mayo and rose vs the finnish and chinese..

beasely and love vs the french bigs and aleksandrov..

taylor king and singler vs casspi and batum..

the only true advantage i really see for the usa team is maybe the guard spot...but after the praise of the chinse kid it really looks like the world team has a shot

[coachjon]

Yes I really like the Finnish guard as well, Petteri Koponen. I wanted to post something on him earlier on his thread but he doesn't have one. He is a 6-4 195lbs PG that could develop into a solid starting PG in the NBA.

He is a good passer (knows how to hit the open man for very easy baskets), high basketball IQ, excels in transition game (needs to become better running an offense in the halfcourt), true PG, good off ball defender (getting into passing lanes and denying his man the ball), good winspan, slasher (drive and kick), can shoot out to 3 (quick release), plays hard, heady player, skilled, not very athletic, needs to get stronger, needs more expereince against top level competition, poor on ball defender, turnover prone, can force shots, not much of a scorer, can get frustrated/down on himself.

Career 10pts 4ast 1stl Prime 12pts 5ast 2stl. Rookie 3pts 1ast 1stl.

[Jonathan]

coach, have you had a chance to watch him play, or is that just based off scouting reports you've read on the internet?

[coachjon]

i have seen him play on video once. it was a game that had his honka team playing kataja. in the game he hits a three with about 10 seconds left and honka won by 1 pt. i have seen scouting reports on him as well and that is where i have heard he can get down/frustrated on himself, which i didn't see in the game that i saw. those reports have also compared him to luke ridnour i think a better comparison for him would be steve blake with a little more upside.

[xtf]

I must admit that he is good talent, I saw him play with the Finnish NT last summer and he impressed me a lot. When i watched the game, I did not know him before and saw him playing and doing a great job. After game at home, I checked him on the Internet and I saw his birth date and I said to me OMG, this kid has some potential. He played like a veteran and not like a rookie.

[DonMonte]

Teodosic and Dasic would be a nice addition to the team. But even if they were on the roster they wouldn´t come. They are to important for their teams.

[jwfish6]

thats why i thought keselj would be perfect because he plays no role in his team and his potential is greater than both of theirs.

[jwfish6]

with the hoop summit nearly a week away are there any suspected changes of the world's team roster?

[Matiz]

I don't think there are many chances that Preldžič (or any of Slovan's youngsters as a replacement) will play, he is playing 2 games per week now. Considering his role in the team that is fighting for the last place leading to adriatic league and the fact they barely beat the last opponent by 10 (after 27:7 partial in the last quarter) I don't think there are any chances he'd show up in US...

[jwfish6]

i sure hope that he does not show up because of the 11 players he is the worst prospect as far as the nba

[KristianH]

i sure hope that he does not show up because of the 11 players he is the worst prospect as far as the nba

He is actually one of most talented. 6-foot-9 SFs with his combination of athleticism, passing, defense and tenacity are rare.

[jwfish6]

do you think that he has the offensive game for the nba though? i mean 6'9 sf's with those detailed are usually lanky black american kids with amazing hops..the euro's are generally drafted for their offensive abilities

[KristianH]

He has enough talent to develop into a formidable offensive force, right now his jumper is very shaky, but he has good hands, understanding off the game, ability to put the ball on the floor and pass. I don`t rate him as a poor offensive player even at current stage. He is one of best all-around talents in Europe Imo.

[Jonathan]

Rodger just pointed out to me that the African dude Wangmene whatever was replaced by Solomon Alabi. He is a VERY intriguing prospect. Going to FSU. Top 25-50 high school recruit. Good size, athletic, but very raw.

[Matiz]

He has enough talent to develop into a formidable offensive force, right now his jumper is very shaky, but he has good hands, understanding off the game, ability to put the ball on the floor and pass. I don`t rate him as a poor offensive player even at current stage. He is one of best all-around talents in Europe Imo.
true + stats and hype don't tell everything ;)
100% effort in defense ussually means players aren't able to contribute the same effort in offense as well. When I see a guy posting 25 points per game I'd ask myself about his defensive effort prior to what he can offer in offense... a lot of times offense just comes along someday...
Preldžić and Klobučar are both suffering similary from 3point range (lacking of even a mediocre PG can "help" a lot with that), while Klobučar has all the tools for it and might just develope in one the deadliest shooters out of 87' generation... also interesting comparison might be Nachbar that was just as streaky shooter at the age of 18,19 as Preldžić is now...

nobody knows how he'll pan out, but right now as Kristian said has the tools to become a good player

edit: looks like I was wrong. media reported Preldžić will play on saturday, leaving out 2 games in national championship...

[coachjon]

yes alabi is a guy to look at when it comes to a nba prospect in the future after some years in college. he is 7-1 235lbs nigerian. he has developed a nice little jumphook down low but he is still raw offensively, good rebounder, good shotblocker, plays hard, lots of potential, needs to add strength, poor hands, needs to develop his skills.

[jwfish6]

hopefully the whole team actually comes to memphis this year considering usually only about half of the original list shows up....i cannot wait to see casspi (especially after the recent hype around him) along with datum and ajinca and aleksandrov...this game could make or break some of these kids (the way it MADE sane last year and the way it BROKE sakota and dilys the year before)

[Jonathan]

caspi is on the plane already too. Good start so far.

I slightly disagree with you John...Dilys and Sakota broke their own stock beforehand...the Hoop Summit just confirmed it.

[jwfish6]

does anyone know when most of the players are actually arriving in memphis..i am pretty sure it is today and i would like to try to go catch them at their hotel but im not 100% positive..although i highly suspect theyre already here in memphis (where i live)

[xtf]

Koponen left Finland too already after breathtaking performances in the last games in the playoffs

[jwfish6]

the world team easily handled the local memphis team today in a scrimage. they had a unanimous height advantage though, starting Alabi, Ajinca, Casspi, Datum, and Petteri, while the Mempis team didnt have anyone over 6'5...still they jumped out early 10-0 and looked pretty good in transition

aleksandrov and shermadini did not play today because of injuries

[sime0n]

how's chen?

[jwfish6]

he looks pretty good but the language barrier looks to be hurting him a little bit...his shot looks solid and his penetration abilities and finishing seem pretty smooth..thats about all you can take from these light practices

[jwfish6]

Aleksandrov is finally participating 100% and is looking really impressive. Today in the scrimage on the main court of the FedExForum Aleksandrov seemed to carry the World team down the stretch and converted on about every attempt he took. His shot is looking very smooth and he has hit countless threes. The part of his game that has shocked me the most however is his demanding off the ball in the post. He has posted up with a variety of hooks, turnarounds, and soft fadaway much more than I ever thought he would do. He's literally been inside and out.

[kuchini1]

Anyway,who the hell is this Ryan Richards you mentioned in your second coverage?
Is there any logical explanation why this anonymous 15 years old kid get the ticket(thats because of Shermadini's injury I guess..?) while so many others players whos having the suitable age and recognition wont?

[jwfish6]

I agree that he shouldnt be there, but him actually playing on the team would just be a last second insurance do to injuries i suspect. I think he was originally just going to practice with the team as a sort of a reward for being such fine prospect for the future, but if you look at him youd have no idea he is 15. Literally, he is probably the most filled out player on the team being 4 or 5 years younger than anyone else. He looks similar to Ajinca in the face, but is only about 6'10 and twice as filled out. Whether he plays or not, he has to be one of the top 15 year old prospects out there.

[sime0n]

he looks pretty good but the language barrier looks to be hurting him a little bit...his shot looks solid and his penetration abilities and finishing seem pretty smooth..thats about all you can take from these light practices

there seems to be no mention of him in the draftexpress world team practice articles so good to know he didnt disappear. did he bring a translator along with him to help him out?

[jwfish6]

theres like 3 chinese men with him

[Mike Schmidt]

I mentioned Chen in my recap from today, but the guy just isn't that good in my opinion. He doesn't see the court well, he's like 6 feet tall max, and he just isn't ready to play basketball at this level. He does make some nice moves to the basket, but he never does it from standstill, he has to use a shot-fake to get separation. He does have really nice shooting form though.

The main guy on the court with him translating is the assistant for the Guadong Tigers. I know one of the other Chinese guys is a media member, but not sure about the last one.

It was nice meeting you John, I wish I had more time to talk to you after the practices end.

[jwfish6]

i agree, he seems like the most disappointing player of all and he was the one with almost the most hype. this cannot be the same player the wowed lebron james and coach k. yes hopefully i will see you at the game today

[Srle]

This is terrible. They should send a team from one country and a couch too. I guess half of player dont understand that australian couch with his Australian accent(who is by the way terrible). Aleksandrov looks to me disinerested. He was good on the boardsa and he sowed good foot work. His 3 point shots didnt go down today. Still talent and potential is evident. Batum is the great athlete. He is a good slasher and he has n ice stroke. He picked up fouls too fast. Caspi was very good today. He is a good athlete too. Good slasher too. His country man is very,very raw. Has to work alot on everything,very skiny too. Alabi is this year Sene. Very raw too. Rest of the team is not worth to analyze. This is not best that world could offer. Its same like last year.

[jwfish6]

I agree, this team was very weak. In my opinion there were about 5 or 6 legitament players. The others (Ajinca, Chen, Ugrinowski) arn't bad prospects, but they are not on the U.S. level yet. When these players were on the court, it was a joke. The 5 players who half way held their own were Koponen, Batum, Casspi, Aleksandrov, and Alabi. Ajinca looked terrible today. Hopefully it was just a bad game.

If 1987 players are eligible, why dont we see Vasily Zavoreuv (thats a match up for OJ MAYO, not a 17 year old Chen), Oguz Savas (thats a match up for Kevin Love, not a rail then soft 7'1 guy like Ajinca who prefers to face the basket). What about Ante Tomic, Nenad Mijatovic, Milos Teodosic, Vladimir Dasic or any players that can physically help out the 4 or 5 legit currently-ready NBA prospects that the World team brings over every year. These players could actually give a US a legitament run for their money.
This isnt a knock on the current players, but obviously Ajinca and Chen cant compete with the current US players, so why not bring them back right before their eligibility ends. It is such an amazing event and its so disappointing that the World team gets destroyed every year because the US is not that much better than the rest of the World, they are just better than the here and there players that are brought over. In my opinion, if we're going to have the game, then lets atleast bring players that can make it an exciting game. This is the third year in a row an amazing week has been concluded by a very disappointing game. Props to Koponen, Casspi, Datum, Aleksandrov, Alabi and Preldzic though.

[Srle]

Absolutely agree with you.

[sime0n]

I guess we will have to wait for ricky rubio to come over and thrash the usa in 2 years.

[Srle]

One player cant win against USA.

[jwfish6]

Exactly, even this team has "1" player. Its gonna take an entire team because thats how loaded that they are. In a year or two though there could be a loaded team with Rubio and Musli.

[andrejjan]

Jwfish, most of the guys you are mentioning are 20 years old, basically older than most of all the elite 2006 guys- Oden, Durant, Wright, Hawes or Tyson are now. All of the current guys are 18 years old, with the exception of Mayo who needs one month to be a 88 player. So it is true that the world team was shortcut the last years regarding some of the best players but the same is true for the us team. I think the 20 point margin yesterday is misleading, because the us team is better than that. Give both teams 20 days to gel- it would be a massacre.

[jwfish6]

Yeah that is true, but if early born 1987 players are elegible, then why not bring them. I mean it would make more since to me to bring about half 87, half 88 born players this year rather than about 3 in each age class all the way down to 1990 and 1991. Still, I understand its hard to put a quality team together but I will never be sold that the U.S. is that much better than the rest of the World. I absolutely guarentee you if you took that U.S. team and put them up against some of these quality European teams, they would'nt dominate at all, and probably not win. For example, the current Serbian u20 National team in my opinion could route this team. From 1-5, they have better players. Teodosic, Tepic, Dragovic, Aleksandrov, Labovic, Stimac..they have all won EC U20 and u18 before, they could beat the US. Same goes with Turkey's team from last year. That's why I dont think the US is that much better, but who knows i guess we will see in future tournaments.

[andrejjan]

JWfish, I told you last year that you lack any perspective, but that is not your fault because You are probably very young. You do not stop to blindly overestimate serbian players, that is fine, I am serbian, but all the serbian guys you are mentioning will probably be good european level guys but I doubt there is a chance they will be more than nba fringe players- at best. They are basically older than Oden, Durant, Mayo, Beasley, Wright, Lawson, Hawes, Budinger etc. As talents they are not on the same plane. Wins on international levels are basically worthless in judging talent for the senior levels. Croatia and Serbia dominated all the U 18 and U 20 competitions in europe from 94 - 04. How many players made a mark in senior competition? Nilch. Look, I am following basketball since the mid-eighties, I was fortunate to watch a 17-year old Sabonis, a 15-year old Nowitzki, all the great yugos in their youth as all the greats like Jordan, Magic, Shaq, Lebron- in person. In my humble opinion this generation-by the way they won only the U18- will be a very disappointing class, neither will they make a boon in international competition nor will they be something like individual stars. The same turkey you think could beat the US played last june in the douai tournament twice against a USteam with budinger, tha. young, the lopez-twins, calathes and crittenton. They had 3 days after landing in europe, but they toyed with turkey which beat france in the semis with batum, vaty and co. I watched some 25- minutes on tape, it was ugly-real ugly.

[jwfish6]

I understand, but I dont think that I am too high on this Serbian generation becuase it's not like im speaking of Lithuania or Ukraine or Spain or Greece, the Serbian team has proven themselves a dynasty. I wasnt speaking of the 1988/1989 Turkish team that played in Doui, i was talking about the 86/87 Turkish team that lost to Serbia in the championship game the past 2 years. I know the US has alot of talent, but I dont think they are THAT much better. When I look at the young Serbian 86 and 87 generations against the US of this time I cant help but vision the World Championsips in Indianapolis when the Serbian team proved teams will prevail, not glorified individuals. I see where you are coming from though, I realize I'm high on this Serbian generation. But to be honest, I think I have every right to be. The bottom line is they are the best Europe has to offer (obviously they've proven that), so I would love to see them go against a US team.

You say this generation wont bring many players other than NBA fringe players, well besides Stojakovic and Divac what did the team in Indianpolis have? Bodiroga is a legend in Europe, but you cannot say that Tripkovic and Teodosic have that potential. Jaric was a key player, well all he was is an NBA fringe player, but obviously that was enough to lead the Serbian team to gold at the point guard spot.

All I was trying to get at is that Europe has much more to offer then what the World team showed, and obviously Mijatovic and Teodosic come to mind first, could have held their own with US guards.

[andrejjan]

Look JWfish, it is not easy to argue with you because you are jumping from one tree to another. My point is- winning titles on the junior levels is really worthless in judging individual talent for the senior competition- You are basically saying labovic is gonna be a great player because he was a mvp in the U18 and is able to score 20 points in the domestic league and is serbian- I am saying if labovic is gonna make it to the the national team, serbia will be in great trouble, we could discuss every player, but I doubt that most of these guys are even nba fringe potential. As for Indy- nobody in these generations have not only the talent level of peja, divac or bodiroga but guys like jaric, radmanovic, a healthy vujanic are clearly more talented than these guys.
Your thinking that serbia has players 1-5 that are better than the guys in memphis is simply wrong. There is not one adaequate point guard from 86-91, not one I would trust. If you think teodosic had survived the us press better than the finn I think either you have never seen him play or do not know the game. And of all the wings, believe me there is not one in the same boat with batum. If you mention tepic, tripkovic or mijatovic, I have to laugh.

As I said before, I do not know if you have seen the guys you are hyping or you have no clue. In my opinion to give an assesment on the future of 14, 15, or even 20-year olds is a heck of a task and even guys that are paid to do this are often wrong. But seeing the skills, the body-structure, the coachability, the basket-IQ, the work ethic, athletic potential, coaching and having the ability to see the complete picture is 1000 times more worthy than dry statistics in a very bad league, winning titles in junior competition, rankings on web sites or being from one nation. Believe me, all the serbian cadet teams through the nineties had better talent than the current generations. So what, in the great scheme of things it means nothing-nada!! I would love to have a healthy discussion on some particular player, but I mean talking about ballhandling with the weak hand, foot speed or a hitch in the shooting mechanics, but not empty phrases like dynasty and so on.
But basically I believe only time can tell, so seven- eight years from now we can agree and you will start to reduce this senseless hypemachine.

[Genjuro]

In my humble opinion this generation-by the way they won only the U18- will be a very disappointing class, neither will they make a boon in international competition nor will they be something like individual stars. The same turkey you think could beat the US played last june in the douai tournament twice against a USteam with budinger, tha. young, the lopez-twins, calathes and crittenton. They had 3 days after landing in europe, but they toyed with turkey which beat france in the semis with batum, vaty and co. I watched some 25- minutes on tape, it was ugly-real ugly.
I pretty much agree with you, but I would like to get some facts straight. Serbia's 1987 generation has already won in U-16, U-18 and U-20 stage.

As for Turkey in Douai, you're talking about just a decent generation, 88/89, and they were playing without their best guys, like Hersek, Balbay or Ozcan. So in the end that was a lousy Turkish team in Douai any way you look at it.

As for the Hoop Summit, obviously the US produces the best players in the world (generally speaking), its teams in this event usually feature a better selection of players, we're also seeing lately great American high-school generations, and at these ages they usually have a great advantage in terms of physical maturity. Besides, international teams often use a better tactical discipline to overcome America's physical superiority, but it's very difficult to merge such a diverse squad in just a few days, with guys that even have troubles understanding each other.

A setting like the World Junior Championships should work well to make a fair comparision. Unfortunately, the US Team usually sends C squads. Hopefully, with the age limit in the NBA, we'll see better a US team this year in Novi Sad.

[Srle]

Labovic alredy proved him self in Serbian and Adriatic leagues and a second best competition in Europe,ULEB Cup. Many people down on him because he is not a great athlete. And i say that Labovic is very talented kid. He know what to do wit basketball. And he will be playing for national team. He is better than Dragicevic,Pekovic and other simillar prospects. Teodosic will be next great Serbian point guard. I am worried about Tepic. He didnt make good progress this year. He had couple of shining moments, but still very bad sesaon. He is still young player. Nemanja Aleksandrov show flashes of his potential yesterday. If he gets 100 % next year. He will be a lottery pick next year in NBA draft. I agree if this world team was made of Serbian,Turkish,Spanish and Russian players this event would be very intersting. I know this is the world team. But it gives a wrong picture. World have much better players to offer.

[jwfish6]

That is the point i was trying to make...the bottom line is that the world has much more to offer...maybe they will not win still but it will atleast not be a blowout. From sitting courtside yesterday it was absolue bullshit. the game was terrible. the only interesting part was batum's 2 amazing dunks and casspi's one.

Yes, the 87 Serbian team has one 3 times, and 2 of the times they did not have Aleksandrov. Of course I am new to European basketball i admit that and i do not know much about the history, but i would still expect a decent amount of respect for a generation that has one the last 3 EC for their age...

I think Tepic will be the one sure fire NBA player from this group. If I had to be honest, I can see him and Aleksandrov in the NBA. I personally think Mijatovic can play too because he plays like an American. Those 3, along with Tripkovic.

Labovic probably wont be, but he sure as hell will be playing for the Serbian National team. The guy can flat out score the ball and plays very smart. If you say Labovic cannot be like Scola or Garbajosa then I just do not understand...he is 10 years younger. He has proven himself in the ULEB cup and he will only be in FMP for maybe 2 more years before a Euroleague team snatches him up.

And yes, we will have to argue this in 5 years down the road, but I just cant understand how you dont think the Serbian NT would be a force in 5 years with Milicic, Krstic, Pekovic, Tripkovic, Rasic, Marinovic, Erceg, Teodosic, Labovic, Aleksandrov, Pavlovic, Macvan, Musli....

Put all the championships aside, i would like to see another counry with that much up and coming talent...

[DonMonte]

@adrejjan

You are right that most of the serbian players are not players which could succed in the nba. But that is something which could be a positiv thing for the NT. We have so many nba players and nothing is going with the NT. The most of the players are still young and i think in 2-3 years we will see how good they will be or not. Labovic is not a big athlet, but has a nice back to the basket game, a nice shoot and shows passion and heart on the court. The bad things are that he struggels against faster and athletic opponets in the defense and makes to much TO right now. But if he continues to work hard he will definetly be a EL-player on the level of Andrija Zizic at least. The talent is there so we have to use it.

[DonMonte]

That is the point i was trying to make...the bottom line is that the world has much more to offer...maybe they will not win still but it will atleast not be a blowout. From sitting courtside yesterday it was absolue bullshit. the game was terrible. the only interesting part was batum's 2 amazing dunks and casspi's one.

Yes, the 87 Serbian team has one 3 times, and 2 of the times they did not have Aleksandrov. Of course I am new to European basketball i admit that and i do not know much about the history, but i would still expect a decent amount of respect for a generation that has one the last 3 EC for their age...

I think Tepic will be the one sure fire NBA player from this group. If I had to be honest, I can see him and Aleksandrov in the NBA. I personally think Mijatovic can play too because he plays like an American. Those 3, along with Tripkovic.

Labovic probably wont be, but he sure as hell will be playing for the Serbian National team. The guy can flat out score the ball and plays very smart. If you say Labovic cannot be like Scola or Garbajosa then I just do not understand...he is 10 years younger. He has proven himself in the ULEB cup and he will only be in FMP for maybe 2 more years before a Euroleague team snatches him up.

And yes, we will have to argue this in 5 years down the road, but I just cant understand how you dont think the Serbian NT would be a force in 5 years with Milicic, Krstic, Pekovic, Tripkovic, Rasic, Marinovic, Erceg, Teodosic, Labovic, Aleksandrov, Pavlovic, Macvan, Musli....

Put all the championships aside, i would like to see another counry with that much up and coming talent...


The most important thing is to give the players time. The most players of the greek NT were nothing special before they turned 23-24. Now Greece has the 2nd best NT in europe and still a young one which can play together for some years. I am statisfied with the development of most serbian players. I am think on Labovic, Teodosic, Perovic, Erceg and Markovic. But they are still some big disapointments like Tripkovic, Tepic and Luka Bogdanovic. But there is also the chance that some players develop later which were not that good on the juniorlevel. Branislav Ratkovica (PG/Mega Ishrane) and Miljan Rakic (Hemofarm/PG) could be those players.

[Genjuro]

And yes, we will have to argue this in 5 years down the road, but I just cant understand how you dont think the Serbian NT would be a force in 5 years with Milicic, Krstic, Pekovic, Tripkovic, Rasic, Marinovic, Erceg, Teodosic, Labovic, Aleksandrov, Pavlovic, Macvan, Musli....
It's not that impressive. Check Italy, with guys like Bargnani, Belinelli or Gallinari (plus Datome or Vitali), besides their typical army of hard-nosed guys. Or Spain, with Sergio Rodríguez, Rubio, Rudy, the young Gasol, Claver, Vázquez, and again a good amount of solid role guys.

I think Yugoslavia/Serbia has always had at least that much talent coming, if not more. You can say they could be a force in 5 years, but not that they will be a force.

It's not only about talent and potential. You need players that have matured, that have become solid pieces at top international level. That's what you get with almost every single Greek player in the National Team or with the Spanish.

For some reason, I have the feeling that Serbian guys are struggling more than expected to take that final step that takes them from being promising guys to really solid players. I guess it probably has to do with the own weakness of the domestic competition.

[jwfish6]

Yeah that makes sense, they all have alot of talent and potential but they have troubel translating it to the senior competition, and good senior players werent always the main stars when they were young.

[KristianH]

Serbia had more talented generations in the past, not that this one is bad, but is nothing surprising when speaking about Serbian talent, they usually have a bunch of prospects at this stage.

Regarding Tepic he is disappointing if you just take a look at the boxscores and don`t watch games closely. Milenko is very important for Partizan with his very good perimeter defense, great passwork and even leadership directing his more experience teammates on both ends. This stuff doesn`t show up in the stat-sheet, but are certainly very much appericiated by Dusko Vujosevic. When he improves his jumper, has a solid form just needs to gain some consistency, Tepic will be a much more effecitve player on offense....his ability to defend PGs at 6-foot-8 clearly shows off his excellent lateral mobility. I see him as a blue-collar role player that every good teams needs.

[KristianH]

Labovic probably wont be, but he sure as hell will be playing for the Serbian National team. The guy can flat out score the ball and plays very smart. If you say Labovic cannot be like Scola or Garbajosa then I just do not understand...he is 10 years younger. He has proven himself in the ULEB cup and he will only be in FMP for maybe 2 more years before a Euroleague team snatches him up.


Labovic will hardly ever develop such a strong post game as that off Luis Scola, his defensive ability, passing and understanding off the game aren`t on level of Garbajosa and is tough seeing him ever reaching it. With that said, i think he will certainly be a good player for a Euroleague competition, i just don`t see him a a real star player even at the european scene. He reminds me a bit of Marko Banic, who is now riding the pine at low-level ACB team Lagun Bilbao. Banic was also tearing up competition in the Adriatic league and Uleb Cup, but stuggled once left Zadar. They are similar in a way that they are both short, not very athletic, have good post game...Labovic has better jumper and that will make enable him to have a better career than Banic.

[jonathan watters]

I've watched this game the last three years and this was by far the most talented and most dangerous International team I've seen.

[Genjuro]

Labovic probably wont be, but he sure as hell will be playing for the Serbian National team. The guy can flat out score the ball and plays very smart. If you say Labovic cannot be like Scola or Garbajosa then I just do not understand...he is 10 years younger. He has proven himself in the ULEB cup and he will only be in FMP for maybe 2 more years before a Euroleague team snatches him up.
Wow, I had missed this part.

Scola was a more talented player than Labovic at U-20 stage for sure. He led Gijón Baloncesto to promote to the ACB League being 18/19 years old. By Labovic's current age, he was already scoring around 15 points per game in the ACB League. And that's are just stats. If we talk about his game, he's probably the world's most skilled post player (I'm not meaning the best post player) while he's a lot quicker than Labovic.

As for Garbajosa, he's an extremely unique case of late development, a guy who completely changed his playing style at the age of 22 when he went to Treviso and became one of the top players in Europe.

I would be going to far to say that Labovic can not reach that level by any means, but realistically speaking, will he? Chances are he won't, that he will be a nice player but not such a great player. You can't always count on the best possible scenario.

[Genjuro]

I've watched this game the last three years and this was by far the most talented and most dangerous International team I've seen.
That has to be right, but the two previous squads where pretty awful, right?

[stelman]

I would like to ask you if there is any web address that we could see part of the game or the whole game?

[sime0n]

Found this interview over at yaomingmania forums with chen jianghua after the game:

This is an interview of Chen Jianghua by Titan Sports in Memphis.

http://sports.tom.com/2007-04-09/0829/85225040.html

If you were the interviewer, would you be p!$$ed by the way that Chen Jianghua brushed aside your questions ?

Quote:


TITAN Sports: Towards the end of the game, you missed that reverse layup. Was it due to that you were fouled? If you made that layup, then you would have scored in this game.

Chen Jianghua: The opponent did not foul me. I would not have made that kind of reverse layup. I could not make that kind of shots even during team practice.

TITAN Sports:Well during 2nd quarter, if you can take good chance of that baseline 3-pointer, you can score too.

Chen Jianghua: For that kind of shots (at zero degree from the baseline), I can't make them.

TITAN Sports: How do you rate yourself in this World Youth Hoops Summit?

Chen Jianghua: Definitely it will not be the same, if I can be given a week's rest before I come over to participate in this summit. I just finished playing the CBA Final on March 28, and I flew over on April 1. I don't even have time to adjust.

TITAN Sports:Just now, OJ Mayo played one-on-one against you. OJ Mayo said he wished to play for USA in 2012 Olympics. Do you think you will play against OJ Mayo by 2012 Olympics?

Chen Jianghua: It will all depend on whether I will make the national team by then.

TITAN Sports: How do you rate your team mates in the World Youth Team?

Chen Jianghua: They are all very good players. Capability wise, I am far inferior compared to them.

TITAN Sports: The player sitting next to you is Nicolas Batum from France. Alot of scouts have high praises for him, and he might go for the NBA draft this year. Batum plays in the same position as Zhu Fangyu. How do you compare Batum versus Zhu Fangyu?

Chen Jianghua:I don't know. Please ask the coach.

TITAN Sports:Both the head coach and the assistant coach of the World Youth Team recommended you need to learn your English quick. What is your plan?

Chen Jianghua: What for ? I have no plan to play basketball abroad.

TITAN Sports: When you return to China, what is your plan for strength and condition training?

Chen Jianghua: You have to ask our strength and conditioning coach.

TITAN Sports:What is your impression of Memphis?

Chen Jianghua: It is too cold.

TITAN Sports: There is a Mississippi river in Memphis, and there is a Zhujiang (river) in Guangzhou. Do you find similarities between the 2 cities.

Chen Jianghua: I (can't tell as) I have no feelings (about the difference).

[jwfish6]

Yeah, his attitude must not very very good. From what i heard, he was very secluding and kept to himself and his chinese companions the whole week.

[andrejjan]

As for Douai, turkey beat basically the U 18 champs in the semis, and I think there is more talent in this generation than the results are showing. My point is, you are playing on the junior levels to find players and if you are dead last in the competition but are getting a supernova you will take the one and lonely player above 6 or 7 solid players. Sometimes it is possible to receive a group of players who are winning big- like spain with gasols generation. Hey, gasol was considered to be only the 5th or 6th best talent on this team by some of the evaluators and by the end he is the only real difference-maker even if spain would have won the U 19 worlds without him.
Yes good teamplay matters, but in the long run I prefer the talent. In knockout competition there are many factors like luck and with regards to greece, yes they are tough, well-coached, solidly skilled but be real-the last 2 years the stars aligned and it would not be surprising if they did not qualify for peking.

There is one great difference with most of the european players and the high school players and I beg to differ, it is the advantage that the european kids have in their physicality. In the US no high school kid ever ever sees weight lifting with the exception he is on the football team. In europe the last 10 years it has become an disease, the game on the superior euro levels is much more physical than high school or AAU ball, I do not want to start talking about the kids who are playing in men leagues. Of course there are exceptions but someone with no knowledge would be shocked how skinny high level high schoolers look compared to-say the junior teams of cska, fmp or real.

[jwfish6]

As for Douai, turkey beat basically the U 18 champs in the semis, and I think there is more talent in this generation than the results are showing. My point is, you are playing on the junior levels to find players and if you are dead last in the competition but are getting a supernova you will take the one and lonely player above 6 or 7 solid players. Sometimes it is possible to receive a group of players who are winning big- like spain with gasols generation. Hey, gasol was considered to be only the 5th or 6th best talent on this team by some of the evaluators and by the end he is the only real difference-maker even if spain would have won the U 19 worlds without him.
Yes good teamplay matters, but in the long run I prefer the talent. In knockout competition there are many factors like luck and with regards to greece, yes they are tough, well-coached, solidly skilled but be real-the last 2 years the stars aligned and it would not be surprising if they did not qualify for peking.

There is one great difference with most of the european players and the high school players and I beg to differ, it is the advantage that the european kids have in their physicality. In the US no high school kid ever ever sees weight lifting with the exception he is on the football team. In europe the last 10 years it has become an disease, the game on the superior euro levels is much more physical than high school or AAU ball, I do not want to start talking about the kids who are playing in men leagues. Of course there are exceptions but someone with no knowledge would be shocked how skinny high level high schoolers look compared to-say the junior teams of cska, fmp or real.


I agree with that. I play high school ball in the states and weightlifting is not empasized like it should be. The myths of it hurting your shot are blown way out of proportion. I love the way Euro junior teams strongly emphasize it on a daily basis. CSKA is obviously the prime example. Do you think Macvan is just big and strong genetically?

[Genjuro]

My point is, you are playing on the junior levels to find players and if you are dead last in the competition but are getting a supernova you will take the one and lonely player above 6 or 7 solid players. Sometimes it is possible to receive a group of players who are winning big- like spain with gasols generation. Hey, gasol was considered to be only the 5th or 6th best talent on this team by some of the evaluators and by the end he is the only real difference-maker even if spain would have won the U 19 worlds without him.
Sure. I completely agree.

In knockout competition there are many factors like luck and with regards to greece, yes they are tough, well-coached, solidly skilled but be real-the last 2 years the stars aligned and it would not be surprising if they did not qualify for peking.
Here I disagree. Greece was/is for real. Of course you can always lose one game and got away with nothing, but they are a top-2 favourite for the Eurobasket, no doubt about it. It's an incredibly solid and deep team, with some of the best playmaking in the world.

[Hardgraf]

I play in England & guarded Ryan Richards last year. He was just 15, around 6'9 but real thin with virtually no athletic ability. He didn't post up at all & relied completely on a high post jumper which was very reliable.

Looks like he's grown an inch or so & they've packed a lot of muscle on him in Spain. Should a 15 yr old be lifting heavy like that? I don't know.

He has obviously improved his range & ball handling a lot as he didn't show me any perimeter ball handling or post moves. Maybe he's lost some arrogance & has started to work hard on his game.

Hopefully in the future I can watch him in the NBA knowing that I dunked on him in 2006!

[Mike Schmidt]

Richards didn't seem cocky to me at any point during the week. I talked to his guardian there every day, and it seemed that the improvement to his body was strongly related to diet rather than intense weight training. The guardian is the same guy who developed Joel Freeland, and he seems very knowledgable when it comes to developing body mass properly.