Based in Badalona, Spain – Club Basket Sant Josep hosted second edition of U16 International Cadet Tournament. Competition was played between 15th and 17th of September and gathered six very strong academies: C.B. Sant Josep, Joventut Badalona, Real Madrid, Barcelona, OKK Spars Sarajevo and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Here’s the rundown on the most notable prospects who participated in the tournament:
John Eli Ndiaye (2004, Real Madrid)
Plays 4 and sometimes 5 position. Athletic body, good coordination but still not developed in 100 % as he is extremely young. Promising ball handler at this stage of career. He is thin and does not gain space in low post. During the tournament he stood out with his jumping ability, since almost all the baskets have been made after offensive rebounds. Member of all tournament team.
Konstantin Kostadinov (2003, Real Madrid)
Tall and burly enough. Strong power forward in the lower body with improved upper part. Quite athletic for his corpulence. Demonstrated his attitudes despite being year younger. He has good body control and can be dominant attacking from the low post but had some problems at times against double teams. For his position he has a nice shot but has to improve percentages. He finished with either hand but should improve the touch in his left. As a rebounded he had advantage since almost all the opponents were lower and weaker. On the defense he was active and made some dunks in transition.
Rubén Lopez De la Torre (2002, Real Madrid)
Center or power forward with great physical profile. Pretty developed body which helps him at the moment to secure the rebounds on both ends. Has already good repertoire of low post moves and executes his advantage in this area. Was named the member of all tournament team. In order to become better player he will have to improve the percentages of shoot, and improve technically. Best for him would be to make a transition into 3 position. During the final his performance was a bit disappointing. Took a few incorrect decisions which caused turnovers.
Boris Tisma (2002, Real Madrid)
Lefty forward who already reached 2 meters. Quite athletic for height and slender. Great wingspan allows him to get into passing lanes and steal balls easily. He is very tall for his position and often has to defend players smaller than him. His ball dominance has to be improved because he killed some possesions by dribbling too much to no avail. The mechanics of his shoot is not correct because he gets it off from above the head. Good player without the ball. On defense he had problems since he does not have enough lateral speed and faster players blow him by at times.
Dan Duscak (2002, Real Madrid)
Underdeveloped and somewhat weak body. High character player. Possess good handles and passing skills of the live dribble. Also fundamentally sound shoot mechanics. Has a really high IQ and great understanding of the game. It is rare that Real made this signing since they usually get more physical players.
Adrià Domènech (2002, Joventut Badalona)
Possibly the best prospect of the Penya. Tall and slender with an athleticism uncommon for a player of his characteristics. Most likely will grow a little more. He is a player that is getting better and improving either his weaknesses and skills. His mechanics of shooting is not ideal at all but it is improving and he increases the percentages. He has to improve the finishing ability, especially with the left hand. In low post does not have go to moves but his height and wingspan help him to get buckets. Not productive against stronger centers. Has a notable court vision but sometimes wants to do things very fast and loses the ball. Needs to make a big adjustment defensively. If the attacker is faster he usually passes him by. And when more bulky he gains space and end up relatively easy.
Filip Siewruk (2002, Barcelona)
Filip is athletic forward who is very strong and should have 1-2 iches left. Offensively he can drive to the rim and it is very difficult to steal the ball from him as he protects it with his body perfectly. Can share the ball well while dribbling but passes better with the right hand than left. As far as the shooting he has a good mechanics and effectiveness of shot but he has to improve shoot creation process off the bounce. Defensively he is very good 1 on 1 thanks to advanced lateral speed. Good rebounder thanks to long arms and box out ability.
Lorenzo Guerrieri (2002, Barcelona)
Lorenzo is frontcourt player with a very good physicality and shooting touch. He is very tall and possess notable wingspan. Well coordinated for his height but he has some work to do with his explosiveness. Also he has to improve the dribble because it is very easy to steal the ball when he is dribbling especially with his back to the basket. On defense he displays very good anticipation but is unable to check faster players at the moment.
Nikola Micic (2002, OKK Spars)
Similar to Filip, he is a forward, with a very good shiftiness combined with the dribble control that allows him to cross rivals with ease. He is a bit thin but long limbed. His shooting mechanics is correct but he has to improve pull up repertoire. Plays with good effort and chases the rebounds outside of his area. Best scorer from entire tournament.
Amit Aharoni (2002, Maccabi Tel Aviv)
He is a corpulent guard with average height. Above all he is fast plyer with a great ability to change pace and surpass his opponents with style. Quite maximized development from physical standpoint. Has to improve finishing through contact as he posses tools to be efficient in this regard. Beside that he has good court vision although he could be more willing to make a pass at times. Speaking of defense his lateral movement is really fast and he possess quick hands.
Pau Tendero (2002, Barcelona)
Guard with a great athletic abilities. Very fast with good strength in upper and lower body. He is a good ball handler but what stands out the most is that he is a killer shooter. Possess rare skill to shoot of the dribble which most players his age lack. On defense is very active and has the ability to steal the ball. The rebounding is easy for Pau because he has very long arms and strong legs. Choosen to All-tournament Team.
