Prospects notes from EuroCup and BCL #1
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, Sasa Obradovic, 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 age group in Africa and from U12 to U20 European and NCAA. MY BIGGEST GOAL IS SCOUTING! Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and feel free to DM!
There will be two primary parts of this new series. EuroCup and BCL in one part, and only EuroLeague in the other. I will share my game notes about prospects in these three competitions. EuroCup and BCL notes will be published every Friday and EuroLeague notes will be published every Saturday.
PS: I tried to choose the things that matter both good and bad offensively and defensively, instead of explaining all the positions one by one.
MoraBanc Andorra 76–82 AS Monaco
Abdoulaye Ndoye — 1998 — Guard — #11–6'6'’ — AS Monaco — France
20 Minutes
Seven points: 3/3 2FG, 0/0 3FG, 1/1 FT
Two assists, three pass to assists, had off the ball spacing effect to assists three times
Two rebounds
Two steals
16 EFF
First in: Starter
Last out: 06:25, fourth-quarter, 67–67
Who were his defenders on the offensive end and his opponents on the defensive end?
- Jeremy Senglin: 27 minutes and five points
- Oriol Pauli: 17 minutes and seven points
Overall
This game was excellent in all terms for Abdoulaye Ndoye in my opinion both offensively and defensively. Especially, in the first-half, Ndoye’s leadership skills, self-confidence and BBIQ impressed me. On the offensive end, his attack to the basket, his perfect right dribble, smooth athleticism and initiating the contact finishing ability were great in my opinion. Defensively, besides his two steals, Ndoye’s feel for the game, active hands and great lateral movement were very good. He didn’t have a perfect pesky defense, but his effort and also he showed that he can cover pass, dribble and shot angles around the perimeter very well.
Notes
First-quarter, 05:57
He dribbled the ball on the full-court, read his opponent’s defensive geometry well, showed a small speed change while on the right-wing, and started attacking the basket. During the attack, he gained momentum with a perfect hop, avoid the help-side defense thanks to his deceptive ballhandling ability, and shifted his body weight to the left, finding a good layup hit
First-quarter, 07:36
He started position on the half-court as a screen the screener, after the screen, he went to the left corner. While waiting for the ball, anticipated the defensive geometry well, after taking the ball, Ndoye gave a shot fake, used his burst and quick footwork, dribbled to the middle area and showed his drive-and-dish ability to the right-corner.
First-quarter, 07:25–03:20
Did a great perimeter defense on Oriol Pauli. His quick body coordination, game reading ability and nice team awareness dazzled me.
Second-quarter, 07:39
He started position as a primary handler. He waited for the placement around the basket with his game vision while he was controlling the tempo well. After gave pass to point guard, went to the right, after had the ball again, dribbled to his left, Monaco’s center did a great job on off the ball screen to create spacing for Ndoye, Ndoye saw it and finished position with soft-touch.
Third-quarter, 09:44
God… It was a HUGE sequence. He took the ball as a secondary handler. After that, he waited off the ball screen play between Khaeeden Carrington and Wilfried Yeguete but Andorra defense did a good job to cover this play. Ndoye saw it and started to attack the basket. Yeguete came for screen, Ndoye saw the right-channel space, dribbled the ball quickly and smoothly, again help-defense was here but Ndoye’s strong first step, change direction ability, ballhandling and inside hand layup finishing skills neutralized this defense. 2+1. And yes. 1/1 FT
Third-quarter, 04:23
He came to his half-court quickly on the defensive end. Saw his man and changed his corner from right to the left. His man made a great burst fake but Ndoye gave good reaction, and his BBIQ and eye-hand coordination gave him a steal in passing lanes.
Fourth-quarter, 08:30
He started position as a primary handler and on the court leader. While Monaco’s off the ball motions, Ndoye did a great job on control the game tempo. After two mismatches around the right baseline, he called a screen, run the pick-and-roll quickly and smartly, after that made a great assist.
Last words for improvement areas
I think Ndoye was good on both sides of the court in this game. But after the second minute of the third quarter, his pace decreased, especially on the offensive end. I think AN should learn to spread his energy into the game in a balanced way and to create consistent off the ball spacing.
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 89–72 Telenet Giants Antwerp
Vrenz Bleijenbergh — 2000— Forward— #11–6'8'’ — Telenet Giants Antwerp — Belgium
17 Minutes
Six points: 1/3 2FG, 1/2 3FG, 1/4 FT
Two assists, one pass to assist, had off the ball spacing effect to assists one time
Two rebounds
Four turnovers
2 EFF
First in: 01:49, first-quarter, 12–15
Last out: 05:21, fourth-quarter, 72–64
Who were his defenders on the offensive end and his opponents on the defensive end?
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas: 20 minutes and seven points.
- Stanislav Ilnitskiy: 28 minutes and nine points.
Overall
Vrenz Bleijenbergh showed some great flashes but also created some important question marks in my mind after this game. For example, why he forced the game in critical moments? From the good things window, his quickness with the ball, attack to rim ability and defensive willingness dazzled me.
Notes
First-quarter, 00:54
He did a great, really great job to defend Stanislav Ilnitsky. It was a great job because thanks to VB’s aggressive defense, other four man focused to the strong-side.
First-quarter, 00:25
Tried spot-up 3-points shots, no hit, and I think it was an unnecessary shot. Because his defender was on him and VB’s team had still 15 seconds.
Second-quarter, 09:44
Did a great cut from the left corner to the right-rim area but he didn’t handle the ball due to his lack of elite ballhandling and reactions and had TO after this position
Second-quarter, 09:24
Gave two good passes against Mindaugas Kuzminskas’ pesky on the ball defense. Handle the pressure. This was a good sequence for him.
Second-quarter, 06:16
Went to the right-corner while their PG coming with the ball on the Kuban’s half. Took the ball after nine seconds in this position. After that, screen was here on his left and VB gave an amazing screen fake to the left but he choose dribble the ball on his right and MK’s defense neutralized. Changed direction on the ground and drew the foul very well. However, 0/2 FT.
Second-quarter, 04:12
This was a great sequence for him. He grabbed the rebound on the defensive end. After that, dribbled the ball quickly (also he created the shield around the ball with his right hand) and had two points in three seconds… I think that’s what he should do more. Attacking the basket with aggressiveness, quickness and determination by keeping his motor high.
Third-quarter, 02:22
Stopped Kuzminskas: He used his lateral movement, great length and body coordination on the defensive end.
Third-quarter, 01:50
Had the ball on left-wing. He absorbed the contact and dribbled again, showing his agility and determination in his first step again, and after half a spin he went to the basket and drew the foul. 1/2 FT.
Third-quarter, 00:58
Tried a stepback 3-points shot but his shot is blocked. Forced the game…
Third-quarter, 00:48
He took the ball around the perimeter, uses his burst and hop against the physical defender, after the quick moves, he had space to make points but he tried a hard dunk and no hit.
Fourth-quarter, 09:28
While Antwerp was behind 62–57, VB hit the spot-up 3-points from the deep range. The speed and wrist agility in his shooting form were striking. This was a nice sequence too.
Fourth-quarter, 06:59
Had TO due to travel (67–64, Kuban)
Fourth-quarter, 06:11
Had TO due to forcing the game (69–64, Kuban)
Last words for improvement areas
I think it was good that Vrenz Bleijenbergh was so aggressive and willing to do something in the first EuroCup game of the season. It was also good that, as I said, it showed what he could do when he was aggressive in both offensive positions and overall defensive performance. But sometimes he got too caught up in the mood of the match and away from playing team games. I noticed some of his awareness issues. It may be possible to make some more logical comments about these problems after the next two or three games.
Umana Reyer Venice 85–78 Unics Kazan
Davide Casarin— 2003 — Guard— #11–6'3'’ — Umana Reyer Venice — Italy
14 Minutes
Six points: 2/2 2FG, 0/2 3FG, 2/2 FT
Three assists, two pass to assists.
One rebound
One turnover
2 EFF
First in: 10:00, second-quarter, 19–21
Last out: 06:07, fourth-quarter, 78–64
Who were his defenders on the offensive end and his opponents on the defensive end?
- Dmitrii Uzinskii: 22 minutes and nine points
- Jamar Smith: 35 minutes and 25 points
- Nate Wolters: 9 minutes
Overall
Was a great game for Davide Casarin in my opinion. Showed a lot of great things on the offensive end just in 14 minutes both find scores and make assists. On the defensive end, not good things but this is a normal thing because he is 17 years old played his first serious high-level match.
Second-quarter, 09:30
This was his first position in this game and he showed excellent determination. He ran very well in transition to around the rim. When he got the ball, two physical defenders were around him. But Casarin showed his BBIQ (uses glass very well) with good jump to the air and timing, had two points after this position.
Second-quarter, 09:10
Made unnecessary help-defense, so, his man was open on the left corner.
Second-quarter, 07:30
God… No look assist to Gasper Vidmar. Look at how he ran pick-and-roll action, and the more important thing here is that Casarin’s self-confidence in my opinion. Because when he did it, he just had 146 seconds. Great hop and eye fake. Also his game vision impressed me.
Second-quarter, 05:31
Davide Casarin uses his body well, absorbed the contact, did a “drive, snake, wash” cliche and drew the foul. 2/2 FT.
Second-quarter, 04:57
While he played post-up around the right channel, Michael Bramos running to the basket very well. And Casarin gave amazing pass to him. Nice timing and arm angle. His body is really looking good to make some crafty, shifty things on the court.
Third-quarter, 00:52
The Italian prospect made good use of Vidmar’s two screens to the left and right, did not force the position against the hard hedge, but when he saw Kazan’s minor timing error, he drove and hit pull-up jumper.
Last words for improvement areas
I don’t have words to say some negative things about him on the offensive end FOR THIS GAME. However, he really has a lot of room to improve defensively.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch these matches in detail, I just got messy special notes.
Joventut Badalona v Partizan NiS Belgrade
Nenad Dimitrijevic (Badalona, 1998): 14 points, four assists, one steal and one TO in 20 minutes.
Uros Trifunovic (Partizan, 2000): Eight points, two rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes.
Unijaca Malaga v Metropolitans 92
Yannick Nzosa (Malaga, 2003): Two rebounds, one assist one steal and one TO in nine minutes.