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By
Aran Smith
NBADraft.net
6/10/07
The first day
of camp began at 9 AM with station drills. It was an opportunity
for the International scouts on hand to see the players and how
they shoot and move as well as their coachability. One problem for
the campers is that around 60% or more of the kids speak little
to no English, so when the coaching gets too detailed, some of the
kids are not able to absorb the information. Regardless, the coaches
on hand bring a great deal of energy and passion and the kids quickly
seem to be figuring out what they are trying to do with them.
The games began at 4 PM, with 2 games. The camp consists of five
teams so one team sat out.
Team 3 (Orange) 65 - Team 4 (Black) 53
[Boxscore]
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Rodrigue
Beaubois |
The black team
squared off with the orange team with Russian big point guard Anton
Ponkrashov showing his experience with a game high 16 points
on 4-7 shooting. Ponkrashov and the young French point guard Rodrigue
Beaubois squared off for a quarter in the first half and
were pretty even. Beaubois played just two quarters so his stats
were limited, but it's obvious he's above the rest of the campers
in speed and quickness. He finished with 10 points, one coming on
a reverse jam on the break. He also attacked the basket and was
fouled after hanging in the air and drawing some oohs and ahhs from
the crowd.
For the winning squad Greek player Giorgos Printezis had a team
high 13 points. I had the opportunity to share a ride in from the
airport in Venice with Printezis. He's got a great attitude and
really wants to improve. He said he would love to play in the NBA
someday. When I asked him what he thought his weakness was, he said
everything. The surprising thing about him is just how much he has
changed his body in the past year or so. He's gone from a 225 power
forward to a 205 pound small forward. He really attacks the basket
and shows a willingness to be coached. He may be a cut below NBA
standard in foot speed, but he has some solid NBA attributes.
6-10 Russian power forward Artem
Yakovenko shows a lot of potential, although at times he
appears too passive. He threw down one monster dunk off a nice feed
from Beaubois and finished with 8 points.
Team 2 (Cardinal) 57 - Team 1 (Carolina Blue) 52
[Boxscore]
Marco
Belinelli showed up in the morning and played in the evening
game. He shot poorly at just 3-13 but had a team high 16 points.
He looks like he just rolled out of bed and doesn't appear to be
too excited to be in the camp. He's said to be here through Saturday
night and then flying to the States for a workout with Washington.
He definitely didn't help his stock with his performance so far,
but as one scout noted, nothing has really changed, he's still a
nice prospect who has struggled of late.
Swedish point guard Rudy
Mbemba led all scorers on day one with 20 points, 6 steals
and 4 assists. He made things miserable for the opposing point guards,
specifically Denmark's Adam Darboe as he picked his pocket twice
with Darboe just trying to bring the ball up the court. Mbemba's
reflexes and speed are on an elite level. After one rip, he took
the ball in for a jam with Darboe attempting to catch him.
Listed at 6'0", Mbemba looks closer to 5'8" or 5'9"
tops. But his excellent play is starting to raise some eyebrows
from scouts that he may have NBA potential. He's
1987 born and his game has definitely seen solid development, so
despite his big size disadvantage, he's beginning to catch some
buzz here in Treviso.
Two of the top wings in the event Victor
Claver
and Vladimir
Dasic squared off against each other. Claver appears to
be more polished and has a better feel for the game, while Dasic
is longer and maybe more athletic, although Claver is no slouch.
Claver finished with 9 points, but struggled some shooting 2-8 from
the field.
Dasic has impressed with his excellent mobility and length. He converts
on follow up dunks and has good hops. His passing, outside shot
and ball handling seem to be a work in progress. But he had 10 points
on 4-5 shooting.
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Mickael
Pietrus |
the most intriguing
kid in the camp is 18 year old 6'2" point guard Rodrigue
Beaubois from Guadeloupe, France. He's got an American point
guard swagger to his game and is extremely quick and athletic, and
his wing span is around 6'10. He's drawn comparisons to Rajon Rondo
from scouts, but he actually looks even more similar to Los Angeles
based high school PG Arizona commit Brandon Jennings.
He has a very American style of game so it will be interesting to
see how he (and the group of younger camp "all stars"
fares against the young (American high school all star) Team Reebok
tonight at 6:30. Also in that game will be Bill Walker who has just
been cleared to resume playing after his terrible knee injury at
Kansas State last year.
Michael Pietrus is here and it turns out Beaubois was discovered
at a camp that Pietrus runs each summer in the Guadeloupe Islands.
Instead of a camp such as this where the campers are all known ahead
of time and invited, the camp in Guadeloupe is more of a tryout
where half the kids just come and scrimmage and have fun. Around
500 kids in all participate each year according to Mickael. The
result is the top 5-6 kids from the camp then go to Atlanta and
work on skill development for 2-3 weeks and usually wind up at Insep
or other top programs for French youth players.
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