Last Saturday during Euroleague Final Four weekend we witnessed first Adidas International All-Star game. Thanks to organizing this, company made up for withdrawing from supporting influential programs such as: Eurocamp, AdidasNations or PATH program caused by FBI investigation on their involvment in grassroots hoops. How did it go? Honestly very average. Selection of players was definitely not perfect (on the other hand some of them participated in Next Generation tournament or had duties at domestic championship). There was lack of informations until the very last days regarding rosters and no possibility to follow the action outside of Serbia. As usual in this kind of settings some players help themselves but majority of them struggle to find any role in new environment after barely two practises. Mostly in such games live scouting is about noticing flashes of excellent potential and body impressions. Below you can find short notes about each participant.

NBA PROSPECT

LEN SCHOORMAN (GUARD, GERMANY) – German high flyer made a big dunk (business as usual) and was clearly one of the best players. Super dynamic guard with 6’9 wingspan and already toned frame possess potentially NBA level positional profile. If he becomes legit playmaker (has some vision, possible to achieve) then I would not be surprised to see his name in the draft in 3 years considering latest Fraport success with promiting their top German young talent – Isaac Bonga.

OTHER HIGH LEVEL

TIBET DENIZ GORENER (FORWARD, TURKEY) – After great showing in Munich where he was aggressive and competitive vs two years older players, Tibet had somewhat disappointing showing. Turkish prospect doesn’t play like an alpha and that’s why he struggled to stand out but he possess great size, body type and all around shooting game.

MIHAILO MUSIKIC (BIG, SERBIA) – Mega Bemax talent could probably be a member of U18 roster and benefit more from this experience considering that pink AdidasNGT team was really average and didn’t have any chance to achieve good result. Slow but gifted wth size and skill. Can put the ball on the floor, shooting seems developable. Can very well end up in Euroleague one day.

LUKA TARLAC (FORWARD, SERBIA) – There is a lot of concerns whether he can function well within good team offense since he plays in small team where he is basically everything. This also wasn’t perfect setting to evaluate it but definitely Luka can play basketball and possess amazing tools. He is very good athlete for European standards, has really long arms and smooth shooting stroke. Top potential.

JUST GOOD

ANASTASIOS KOSTOPOULOS (SWINGMAN, GREECE) – Very mature from physical standpoint. Productive wing player but doesn’t appear to be top prospect. Not bad athlete, can shot it but feeds from early development. Stock is unlikely to go up next years.

IBRAHIM MAGASSA (GUARD, FRANCE) – There couldn’t be All-Star youth game without French participant but I don’t think he is clear cut starter caliber of U16 NT. Magassa resides in Spain and recently scored 32 points vs Estudiantes in Madrid U16 Finals. Possess nice body structure, good size/length (6’6/6’8) for shooting guard who can handle the ball. Quite smooth player but still raw in big degree and didn’t look electric. Anyway interesting and can end up on high level than most of French/African or Balkan players that Torrelodones bring.

2003 READY

ELETHERIOS MANTZOUKAS (FORWARD, GREECE) – One of the most intriguing names in the roster especially regarding his outstanding 12 point performance last week vs Olympiacos Piraeus. Mantzoukas helped himself one more time and finished the game with the only double double. Like most of the Greek prospects he is in big degree early developed but you have to give it back to his skillset which is polished way beyond age group.

FEDOR ZUGIC (GUARD, MONTENEGRO) – Huge game and MVP award for Montenegrin talent. Very athletic player who made two dunks in traffic during first half. Very electric, attacks constantly and is just hard to stop at U16 stage even being underaged. Projected more as scoring wing than main ball handler. Gets selfish at times. Had questionable defensive moments. Shouldn’t take very long for him to start competing with professional players.

2003 NOT READY

TRISTAN VUKCEVIC (BIG, GREECE/SERBIA) – Maybe wasn’t as good and productive as other 2003 players but definitely showed flashes of great upside. Already has highly desirable height. Was eager to make defensive impact by contesting shots. Can’t bend his knees much and is a little slow footed at this point of physical development because of growing. Tried to shot it from outside (looked kinda promising) and put the ball on the floor several times. Will most kiley play for Greece in future. Enough talent to hope he plays for Olympiacos senior team one day.

HAMZA CELIK (BIG, TURKEY) – Has a bit narrow shoulders. Around 6’10 and keeps growing. Light years away from building any muscles.

HARD TO EVALUATE

LUKA TEKAVCIC (FORWARD, SLOVENIA) and MATAS REPSYS (FORWARD, LITHUANIA) – Forwards with intriguing bodies and size. Struggled to make an impact on the game. Too small sample for more detailed breakdown.

ASIAN TEAM

Was older, played very hard but almost no one was paying attention at them.