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 MelliSFItaly
 Moritz LaneggerSGAustria
 Branislav DjekicCSerbia
 Andreja MilutinovicSGSerbia
 Tomislav ZubcicPFCroatia
 Leon RadosevicPFCroatia
 Nihad DedovicSGBosnia
 Tomas SatoranskiSFCzech Repblic
 Josep Franch de PabloPGSpain
 Carl Ona EmboPGFrance
 Richard GrznarPGSlovakia
 Deniz KilicliPF / CTurkey

2009 adidas US National Team

1Peyton SivaPGSeattle, WA
2GJ VilarinoPGMcKinney, TX
3Dexter StricklandPGRahway, NJ
7Lance StephensonSFBrooklyn, NY
8Dominic CheekSGJersey City, NJ
9Shawn WilliamsSFDeSoto, TX
10Noel JohnsonSGFayetteville, GA
11Jerry BrownSFEl Sobrante, CA
12Christian WatfordSFBirmingham, AL
14Tyler GriffeyPFWildwood, MO
15Brendan LanePFRocklin, CA
16Stephan Van TreesePFIndianapolis, IN
111Derrick FavorsCAtlanta, GA
19Erik MurphyPF/CSouthborough, MA

2010 adidas US National Team

11Joe JacksonPGMemphis, TN
12[Player:Ray McCallum]PGBloomington, IN
37Trae GoldenGPowder Springs, GA
33Brandon KnightPGFort Lauderdale, FL
26Trey ZeiglerGMt. Pleasant, MI
27Tony Wroten, Jr.GSeattle, WA
31LaQuinton RossSFJackson, MS
32Dwayne Polee, IIWFLos Angeles, CA
33Jared SullingerPFColumbus, OH
34Julian WashburnPFDuncanville, TX
39Joshua SmithCKent, WA
117Adreian PaynePF/CDayton, OH
40Evan AndersonCEau Claire, WI

adidas Team Canada

#PlayerPositionCountry
 Tristan ThompsonPFCanada
 Junior CadouganPGCanada
 Kadeem ColebyPFCanada
 Alwayne BigbySGCanada
 Myck KabongoPGCanada
 [Player:Cory Joseph]SGCanada
 Dwight PowellCCanada
 Jason CallisteSGCanada
 Renaldo DixonSFCanada
 Brady HeslipSGCanada
 Richard ArmardiSFCanada

adidas Team Latin America

#PlayerPositionCountry
 Vitor BeniteSGBrazil
 Gregory EcheniqueCVenezuela
 Rafael MaiaPFBrazil
 [Player:Fabrico de Melo]CBrazil
 Jonathon KingSGBrazil
 Rafael LuzPGBrazil
 Fabian Rameriz BarriosSFArgentina
 Jose Victor Ferreira JeronimoPFBrazil
 Jayson GrangerSGUruguay
 Diego GerbaudoPGArgentina
 Vinicus Gobor  
 Andre SilvaSFBrazil

adidas Team Africa

#PlayerPositionCountry
 Bandja SyPFMali
 Harouna AbdoulayePGNiger
 Amadou KabaSGMali
 [Player:Lens Aboudou]SGChad
 Amath MbayeSFSenegal / France
 Eric KatendaSFRD Congo / France
 Mohamed KoitaPGMauritania / France
 Youssaoupha MbaoCSenegal
 Abdou NiangPFSenegal
 Remi DiboSFIvory Coast
 Negueba SamakeCMali / France

adidas Team Asia Blue

#PlayerPositionCountry
 Dion Brewster (Dallas only)SFNew Zealand
 Liam McInerneyPFAustralia
 Mitchell YoungPFAustralia
 Shengyu LimForwardSingapore
 Calvin ChiaPGSingapore
 Changmin LeeGKorea
 Tsz Kin ChauSGHong Kong
 Ka Wai LiCHong Kong
 Sanggu LeeCKorea
 Shengyu LimSFSingapore
 Kevin Louie AlasGPhilippines
 Jose Eduardo LlanesGPhilippines
 Yi-Hsiang ChouFTaiwan
 Yu-Hsuan SungFTaiwan

adidas Team Asia Red

#PlayerPositionCountry
 Guo Ai-LunPGChina
 Tang Han-LinSFChina
 Jiang Jun-QiSGChina
 Wang ChaoPGChina
 Chen FeiPF/SFChina
 Toa Han LinCChina
 Cai ChenPFChina
 Raymond Tapusoa  
 Samer Jassar  
 Mingyu Lin  
 DeAndre MetlocCChina

adidas College Players

PlayerSchool
Cole AldrichKansas
Antonio AndersonMemphis
Olu AshaoluMemphis
Tyrell BiggsPitt
John BryantSanta Clara
Wayne ChismTenn
Darren CollisonUCLA
Henry DugatBaylor
Shaun DumasXavier ( La)
James HardenASU
Jrue HolidayUCLA
Scotty HopsonTennessee
Curtis JerrellsBaylor
Dominique JonesSouth Florida
Mac KoshwalDepaul
Gani Lawal Georgia Tech
Luke NevillUtah
Arinze OnaukuSyracuse
Quincy PondexterWashington
Diamond SimpsonSt. Mary’s
Dar TuckerDePaul
Jarvis VarnadoMississippi State
Terrance WilliamsLouisville

 

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