INTRODUCTION
We do our best to follow all European prospects. We travel countless amount of miles to attend every major youth tournament on our continent. However domestic players who we have been covering for years are the ones we know the best. It’s borderline overscouting but with advanced knowledge of physical progress history or skills evolution your evaluation most of the times are very accurate. Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Munich was perfect opportunity to write this piece about our countrymen: mine (Andrzej Pluta) and Gokberk’s (Mert Akay) who are not only top domestic prospects but also highly notable europe-wide. Let’s take a look at their background, breakdown of skillsets and who has brighter future.
WHO THEY ARE
PLUTA: Andrzej Pluta Jr is the son of former long time member of Polish national team. His father had a successful career in best domestic teams as well as France. Andrzej is former MVP of U14 domestic championship where he averaged more points than minutes and ridiculous 3.3 three per game. Currently skilled guard resides in Real Betis Sevilla altogether with his 2002 born younger brother who plays for cadete team.
AKAY: Darüşşafaka Doğuş player Mert Akay is one of the top point guard prospects of Turkey in this decade. He is playing for Daçka for years, already established himself as a serious candidate for spot on Darüşşafaka Doğuş roster. Athletic playmaker also has a good academic background, studies in Deutsche Schule in Istanbul, one of the top high schools in Turkey.
WHAT MAKE THEM SPECIAL
PLUTA: Senior was specialised shooter well known also thanks to his tremendous work ethic. Unlikely to father who lacked height to be full time SG and playing as point guard was never really his first choice, Junior has qualities to mix both positions with ease. He is two inches taller and moreover displays much more natural talent. However grinding on practises every day was just instilled in him by father. And that’s truly what separates him from peers and allow to reach next levels consistently. Standing at 6’3 Andrzej has enough wiggle with the ball to put on skates defenders from his position or punish much bigger guys on switches. He pretty much creates shots at will and his non assisted three point efficiency is very rare skill which he by the way had basically since U14 age stage. You know that he is going to shoot but his gear changes, suggestive fakes, footwork and full range of combo dribble moves still allow him to create separation. Moreover he has solid speed to blow you by, sees teammates and can assist them with advanced pass off the bounce. Game is definitely shot based but he is not one dimensional player as it often happens with players with such characteristic. He possess high IQ, well rounded skillset, passion for the game and can get really pesky on defense where he is willing to press way above three point line.
AKAY: Mert has always been known for his ability to distribute the ball on offense and physical profile for his position but also he improves himself from every time we see him. He can already play both guard positions with ease thanks to his size and strength. Very skilled with the ball in his hands, he is also capable to do off ball cuts and he became a lockdown defender. Having a tremendous work ethic rewarded him in many ways in the last two years. Currently around 6’5 with long arms and bulked up body, he crushes defenders by furiously attacking the rim in Turkish Development League and he did the same in Euroleague Munich ANGT. Handles the ball very well on perimeter and devastates defenders with his speed in transition. Transition is the area where Akay excels, he throws down crazy dunks or makes the right pass most of the time. He is much more confident shooting the ball compared to couple of years ago, and it is still getting better. Constantly creates trouble for his match-up when he is on defense, disturbs passes and his body offers much more for his defensive potential. Rock solid mentality, terrific basketball IQ, aggressiveness on the court all makes up for a star in the making.
WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED
PLUTA: Size is good just regarding playmaking which is the position he either doesn’t prefer full time or doesn’t have a chance to play. In my eyes he definitely needs bigger minutes as point guard to make the transition for high professional level smoother. He displays OK strength for backcourt prospect however doesn’t have big room anymore to improve muscularity in his somewhat narrow frame. Also his silhouette is a bit hunched. We all admire his shooting skills but at times it seems like he falls in love with them too much. Some possessions seems to be planned and he takes unnecessary jumpers off balance.
AKAY: Shooting consistency is the crucial for Akay’s future. Today’s basketball dynamics externalize the guys who don’t have a serious shooting threat. He can shoot the ball but percentages are not on the ideal level yet. He shot 20% from 3s in Munich and he is shooting with 30% in Turkish Development League(U19). Another flaw of Mert Akay might be that he gets prone to turnovers while trying exceptional passes on set offense. He needs to adjust his aggressiveness and involvement a little bit better. This aggressiveness causes him foul troubles from time to time as well.
ADIDASNGT ROLE AND PERFORMANCE
Pluta jr played most minutes as SG next to Anthony Da Silva. I believe his positional minutes could have been balanced slightly better and I worry a bit if Sevilla has the appriopriate plan for his further development. He was reliable scoring wise but displayed extremely outside shooting heavy performance. Just 8 assists in 116 minutes and 29 2pt FG & FT combined while taking 43 threes are questionable numbers. Speaking of Akay, the gap in skills or production between him and other Darussafaka players was bigger than in any other participant. He was kind of one man army and led team in points, assists, rebounds & steals. At this point we have to mention his stunning performance in 5th place game which he collected triple-double in. Both teams were kind of outsiders without serious chances to get into medal zone. Unfortunately we didn’t witness direct matchup but at least we can provide pace adjusted statistic comparison:
WHO IS BETTER
Not only stats indicate the advantage of Akay. He is more gifted physically and possess better size. Besides his playmaking abilities are visibly higher and he has all the tools to continue his role on the next level. As for now Pluta stands the comparison thanks to being specialised shooter and mentioned work ethic may be the long term hope to become overachiever. However if Akay improves his outside stroke notably and increases the gap between them in this aspect, his level will be hard to reach for Pluta.
WHAT FUTURE HOLDS / PREDICTION
PLUTA: Poland has been always lacking quality native Point Guards. However there are quite a few promising talents nowadays. Lukasz Kolenda (1999), Marcel Ponitka (1997) or even Jakub Kobel (1998). Andrzej will challenge all of them and it’s not out of question whether he has the biggest chance to take over Lukasz Koszarek starting pg role in national team for years. As far as club basketball goes, stating that he makes all the adjustment I mentioned above I can picture him playing in mid/low ACB level or other good Euro leagues like let’s say Italian. And obviously the best Polish teams if he decides for such move at any stage of his career.
AKAY: It’s the similar case with Turkey, National Team has been lacking a pure offensive creator at point guard position and Akay can be a huge factor in the upcoming years. With his physical tools and basketball IQ, it is safe to presume Akay as a national team regular in the future. He has the work ethic and potential to have a roster spot on a Turkish Euroleague team in 4-5 years. It is not easy to see him as a future NBA player as the pool in his position is pretty loaded but if he keeps improving his jumper and adds serious game experience, he can even be a second round pick.
