Game Scouting Report: Croatia U16 v Israel U16, 2019 | Emanuel Sharp

I’m Kuzey, 19. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I have been working in Eurosport Turkey for the last 1,5 years. I have written on various sites and magazines before. I’ve been working as a freelance scout for three years. I worked as a consultant. I have interviewed dozens of prospects such as Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Henri Drell, Aleksej Pokusevski, Arturs Kurucs, Yves Pons and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Xavi Pascual, Jonathan Givony, Dimitris Itoudis, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams. I write an article every day. I live in Turkey, I go to all the Euroleague and Youth League games. My main areas are all of the age group from Africa and U14 to U22 European, also, NCAA level. MY BIGGEST GOAL IS SCOUTING! Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and feel free to DM!

35 minutes

29 points

0.97 PPP

Five steals

Seven rebounds

6/9 2FG

4/14 3FG

5/9 FT

Physical

I think Emanuel Sharp physically fine for his age. He is not very tall, his shoulders are narrow and his muscle mass is not very good, like undersize but his arms are long, he does not have a very critical physical deficiency. I think ECS has physical tools that can give him an advantage in contact play. His lower body is fast, his hips are mobile, and his feet are fast. Sharp knows where and how to use his body and go to the basket. He is good at both vertical pop and lateral movement. Sharp can dunk easily, of course, he cannot highlights dunk. He is good at offense laterally and knows how to use the court both laterally and linearly. He has neither fluid nor explosive athleticism. He can use both things at average levels.

Offense

My favorite thing about Emanuel Sharp’s offensive performance in this game was the 3-pointers. With 03:13 minutes to go to the end of the first quarter, he hit the three-pointers without hesitation at a critical moment (Israel needed momentum) within one second of taking the ball. He showed similar positions in the match five more times: 01:31 in the first quarter, 06:59 in the second, 06:50 in the third quarter, 02:24 in the third and 01:09 in the fourth. The most important thing in these shots was Sharp’s fearlessness and shooting BBIQ. I mean, with the confidence that many 15-year-old players don’t have, Sharp, within a second of picking up the ball, set up his feet and used 3-pointers with his solid shooting mechanism. In addition, before taking the ball, he created spacing for himself with screen and burst fakes. The negative point here is Sharp’s decision-making mechanism. Three shots in total in the third and critical moments of the last quarter were unnecessary. When he had an ideal pass and dribble angles, he shot but couldn’t find a hit. It is perfect to be confident and play like a hot shooter, but I think he should learn to be more balanced. I think it is necessary to divide his off-ball performance. While in the off-ball scorer role, he struggled many times to overcome Nikola Lebo’s pressure defenses, but while in the on-ball role he outperformed his opponents by using hesitation, burst, go-stop-go, and defensive ballhandling. He did overcome the pressure with the ball, but I think Emanuel should make the screen fake sometimes on off-ball situations more consistently. He did not go on a pick-and-roll offense. He showed another good offensive performance in his dribbles from the left corner. Sharp took the ball from the left corner in most parts of the match, with perfect body coordination, hesitation, strong first step, fluent athleticism and ability to use rim, went to the basket, and finished in traffic. ECS got three positive results. He has no soft touch, I think he should learn that. Another thing I want to mention is the gravitational effect he creates. Sharp hardly hit the ball in the first five minutes of the first quarter, but I think this was a tactic that Israel was deliberately used. I mean, Sharp stood close to the half-court during that time, sliding the opponent’s trap defense out of the painted area and had his teammates find spacing. Sharp is not generally a player with a great offensive weapon, needs weapons to his arsenal but I think his decent slashes tools can help him. Because his body balance, athleticism, and aggressive scorer instinct can make him a good slasher. He is very weak as a passer. In the third and second periods, Sharp showed a drive & dish example twice, but apart from that, he generally gave transition and read & reacts passes. Not very very good, but average. I think he should know better to open space for his teammates.

Defense

Here, first of all, I will talk about an issue that I want to touch upon in offense. Sharp stole the ball with pesky defense six times in the match and entered positions where he dunked or assisted in transitions. He used quick hands, BBIQ, and great body coordination while stole the ball, along with a solid stance. Although his court vision was not very broad, Emanuel Christopher Sharp had a good read of the opponent’s defense and dribbled to the right channel. Their best thing on defense was generally around the shooting line. I mean, Sharp is not a player you want to run around screens, switch, wait for smart moves during pick-and-roll situations, or want rim protection. He often plays with perfect pesky in the space between the three-point line and the perimeter. In doing so, he uses his body and game BBIQ. He showed excellent examples of this in the fourth period of the match. He’s good at pressure on shooters also only on-ball. He can align his feet with his hands and move. I think his defense is not bad, just above average. Because he has an on-ball intensity and aggressiveness that most of the 2004-born prospects I’ve watched so far don’t have. However, I can easily say that he does not have a team awareness and defensive playmaker feature in general.