On Friday the adidas Nations camp got underway with some of the world’s top 18 and under players competing. The camp runs from August 8th-11th with skills development and games between teams assembled from Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Around 20 US college players will also compete in scrimmages. Last year’s event featured a considerable amount of top college talent including lottery picks Derrick Rose, Kevin Love and DJ Augustin. This year’s camp’s headliners include James Harden, Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison.
Day 1 Games
Jrue Holiday | |
At 7:30 on day 1 the games got underway beginning with the camp counselors. With around 40 NBA scouts on hand, the competition level is strong. :Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday have been paired for one of the counselor teams.
The two seem to already have a nice synergy playing together. It’s obvious the pair has already spent hours together and they should make up one of the top back courts in the nation next year. Holiday had a stretch where he made two back to back turnovers, but overall has shown excellent confidence and decision making. A lot of the college counselors on hand have holes to their games but Holiday is about as complete a college freshman as you will find.
Collison is doing a solid job of knocking down his outside shot. He still has a slow release and unorthodox form which could spell trouble in stepping out to the NBA 3 and knocking it down regularly, however his body appears a little thicker and he’s looked good so far.
Tennessee freshman Scotty Hopson looked impressive slashing to the basket and knocking down some mid range shots.
James Harden missed the first night but is in camp and ready to go.
*Demar Derozan, Tyler Smith, DeJuan Blair and Kevin Rogers were listed on the roster but are not in camp.
Under 18s
In the marquee match up of the 2009 USA team and the European squad the USA guys used their strength and athleticism to get the win. The European squad coached by former NBA star Detlef Schrempf made a valiant second half comeback, but were unable to get the necessary defensive stops at the end. Lance Stephenson scored virtually at will going for 10 points in one 4 minute stretch in the final quarter.
While the European team has a number of quality guards, they had a lot of trouble with the speed and athleticism of Stephenson and others. The European group is talented and athletic in their own right, but they appear intimidated by the athleticism of the USA team and too often settled for fadeaway shots or contested jumpers instead of penetrating and forcing contact the way the USA squad was. While Stephenson impressed with his ability to attack the rim, he too often takes ill advised shots and plays an individual game instead of team ball.
The breakout performer for the European team was Czech Republic’s 6’6 wing Tomas Santoranski. The athletic 1990 born guard has a great combination of athleticism and skills. He can handle the ball in traffic, pass the ball and really thrives in transition. He broke out for a number of dunks on the break and did his best to help keep the European squad in the game. He has also supposedly already won a dunk contest back home at the senior level.
The 2010 USA team made short work of Team Africa rolling out to a 25+ point lead. The Wroten/Knight combination make this team very strong.
Rosters
adidas Team Europe
Nicolo Melli | SF | Italy | |
Moritz Lanegger | SG | Austria | |
Branislav Djekic | C | Serbia | |
Andreja Milutinovic | SG | Serbia | |
Tomislav Zubcic | PF | Croatia | |
Leon Radosevic | PF | Croatia | |
Nihad Dedovic | SG | Bosnia | |
Tomas Satoranski | SF | Czech Repblic | |
Josep Franch de Pablo | PG | Spain | |
Carl Ona Embo | PG | France | |
Richard Grznar | PG | Slovakia | |
Deniz Kilicli | PF / C | Turkey |
2009 adidas US National Team
1 | Peyton Siva | PG | Seattle, WA |
2 | GJ Vilarino | PG | McKinney, TX |
3 | Dexter Strickland | PG | Rahway, NJ |
7 | Lance Stephenson | SF | Brooklyn, NY |
8 | Dominic Cheek | SG | Jersey City, NJ |
9 | Shawn Williams | SF | DeSoto, TX |
10 | Noel Johnson | SG | Fayetteville, GA |
11 | Jerry Brown | SF | El Sobrante, CA |
12 | Christian Watford | SF | Birmingham, AL |
14 | Tyler Griffey | PF | Wildwood, MO |
15 | Brendan Lane | PF | Rocklin, CA |
16 | Stephan Van Treese | PF | Indianapolis, IN |
111 | Derrick Favors | C | Atlanta, GA |
19 | Erik Murphy | PF/C | Southborough, MA |
2010 adidas US National Team
11 | Joe Jackson | PG | Memphis, TN |
12 | [Player:Ray McCallum] | PG | Bloomington, IN |
37 | Trae Golden | G | Powder Springs, GA |
33 | Brandon Knight | PG | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
26 | Trey Zeigler | G | Mt. Pleasant, MI |
27 | Tony Wroten, Jr. | G | Seattle, WA |
31 | LaQuinton Ross | SF | Jackson, MS |
32 | Dwayne Polee, II | WF | Los Angeles, CA |
33 | Jared Sullinger | PF | Columbus, OH |
34 | Julian Washburn | PF | Duncanville, TX |
39 | Joshua Smith | C | Kent, WA |
117 | Adreian Payne | PF/C | Dayton, OH |
40 | Evan Anderson | C | Eau Claire, WI |
adidas Team Canada
# | Player | Position | Country |
---|---|---|---|
Tristan Thompson | PF | Canada | |
Junior Cadougan | PG | Canada | |
Kadeem Coleby | PF | Canada | |
Alwayne Bigby | SG | Canada | |
Myck Kabongo | PG | Canada | |
[Player:Cory Joseph] | SG | Canada | |
Dwight Powell | C | Canada | |
Jason Calliste | SG | Canada | |
Renaldo Dixon | SF | Canada | |
Brady Heslip | SG | Canada | |
Richard Armardi | SF | Canada |
adidas Team Latin America
# | Player | Position | Country |
---|---|---|---|
Vitor Benite | SG | Brazil | |
Gregory Echenique | C | Venezuela | |
Rafael Maia | PF | Brazil | |
[Player:Fabrico de Melo] | C | Brazil | |
Jonathon King | SG | Brazil | |
Rafael Luz | PG | Brazil | |
Fabian Rameriz Barrios | SF | Argentina | |
Jose Victor Ferreira Jeronimo | PF | Brazil | |
Jayson Granger | SG | Uruguay | |
Diego Gerbaudo | PG | Argentina | |
Vinicus Gobor | |||
Andre Silva | SF | Brazil |
adidas Team Africa
# | Player | Position | Country |
---|---|---|---|
Bandja Sy | PF | Mali | |
Harouna Abdoulaye | PG | Niger | |
Amadou Kaba | SG | Mali | |
[Player:Lens Aboudou] | SG | Chad | |
Amath Mbaye | SF | Senegal / France | |
Eric Katenda | SF | RD Congo / France | |
Mohamed Koita | PG | Mauritania / France | |
Youssaoupha Mbao | C | Senegal | |
Abdou Niang | PF | Senegal | |
Remi Dibo | SF | Ivory Coast | |
Negueba Samake | C | Mali / France |
adidas Team Asia Blue
# | Player | Position | Country |
---|---|---|---|
Dion Brewster (Dallas only) | SF | New Zealand | |
Liam McInerney | PF | Australia | |
Mitchell Young | PF | Australia | |
Shengyu Lim | Forward | Singapore | |
Calvin Chia | PG | Singapore | |
Changmin Lee | G | Korea | |
Tsz Kin Chau | SG | Hong Kong | |
Ka Wai Li | C | Hong Kong | |
Sanggu Lee | C | Korea | |
Shengyu Lim | SF | Singapore | |
Kevin Louie Alas | G | Philippines | |
Jose Eduardo Llanes | G | Philippines | |
Yi-Hsiang Chou | F | Taiwan | |
Yu-Hsuan Sung | F | Taiwan |
adidas Team Asia Red
# | Player | Position | Country |
---|---|---|---|
Guo Ai-Lun | PG | China | |
Tang Han-Lin | SF | China | |
Jiang Jun-Qi | SG | China | |
Wang Chao | PG | China | |
Chen Fei | PF/SF | China | |
Toa Han Lin | C | China | |
Cai Chen | PF | China | |
Raymond Tapusoa | |||
Samer Jassar | |||
Mingyu Lin | |||
DeAndre Metloc | C | China |
adidas College Players
Player | School |
---|---|
Cole Aldrich | Kansas |
Antonio Anderson | Memphis |
Olu Ashaolu | Memphis |
Tyrell Biggs | Pitt |
John Bryant | Santa Clara |
Wayne Chism | Tenn |
Darren Collison | UCLA |
Henry Dugat | Baylor |
Shaun Dumas | Xavier ( La) |
James Harden | ASU |
Jrue Holiday | UCLA |
Scotty Hopson | Tennessee |
Curtis Jerrells | Baylor |
Dominique Jones | South Florida |
Mac Koshwal | Depaul |
Gani Lawal | Georgia Tech |
Luke Nevill | Utah |
Arinze Onauku | Syracuse |
Quincy Pondexter | Washington |
Diamond Simpson | St. Mary’s |
Dar Tucker | DePaul |
Jarvis Varnado | Mississippi State |
Terrance Williams | Louisville |