Ben Saraf

The Israeli guard Saraf delivered a very dominant performance in the Next Generation team (in every tournament there is a team with top players from teams not participating in the tournament). While he was the main scoring option, he knew how to score or use his teammates in a versatile way. 

For his age, the guard is already very mature when it comes to controlling the tempo. You always got the feeling that he is controlling the whole game. He also knew how to spot the opponents’ weak spots by showing great passing skills. If then nevertheless times he must create, he finished by drive to the basket in many variants (eurostep, dunk, and one) or also by pull-up shots (even also from the three-point line) and hit likewise with a high probability. A weakness, which is however due to the wildly mixed roster of the next generation team, was the rather high turnover rate. 

His shooting, on the other hand, already looks very solid and clean. The left-hander has sped up his release a bit from last summer, which has also been noticeable in the shooting percentages from midrange and three-point range. That shot coupled with his explosiveness and speed in drives and starting fastbreaks makes him a strong player offensively at all times. Defensively he seems to be solid, at least he was in Patras. Especially as a ball thief he excelled again and again and often anticipated push passes in the fastbreak of the opponents well. His tournament stats: 21.3pts (50% 2FG, 32% 3FG), 6reb, 3ass, 3.3stl, 3.3to.

Ben Avraham Saraf (G | 195 cm | ’06) ~ Israel

24.3 pts, 6.7 reb, 4.1 ast, 2.3 stl, 0.4 blck, 2.7 to, FG 43.2%, 3P 31.0%, FT 77.6%

The scoring champion of the FIBA U16 European Championship, Ben Saraf played like the best player on the court in almost every single game. Saraf’s speed makes him one of the most dangerous transition players of his age and he showed it constantly during the tournament. His court vision, basketball IQ and passing ability makes it so hard to stop him, he seems to enjoy dishing out assists and creating for his teammates. He is not the most reliable shooter yet but he has the potential to be really really good at it. He can do it all; step backs, pull-ups, catch and shoots and his confidence is impressive. His crossovers were unstoppable and made it easy for him to drive to the paint but he still has to get better at finishing with his right hand and through contact with a little bit more control. Saraf averaged 2.3 steals per game and has really good defensive instincts. However, he tends to lose concentration and leave his man open sometimes, also needs to work on his timing for help defense. Overall, 2006-born player’s got a bright future ahead which might end up with him getting drafted into the NBA.

(Written by Doruk Karaca)