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By Simon Dresden
4/11/08
The 2008 Nike Hoops Summit game will take place on Saturday, April
12, at
the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. The game will be shown on Fox
Sports Net at will tip-off at 4:00 p.m. (EST). The following is
an analysis of the World Select Team.
Frontcourt:
Serge
Ibaka 6-10 PF Congo
He is the guy
every scout is coming to see. He is a force in Spain's second division
and hails as a special rebounder, put back dunker and shot blocker.
The way he moves makes some people think he may even play SF down
the line, but this is a far stretch from our perspective. Has a
nice array of moves on the offensive end but needs a lot more strength
in his body to hold and play this position in an NBA setting. He
will meet a lot of athletic players on the US squad which will be
a good judgment of his actual level of development. The way he has
been hyped has set the bar high for Serge and scouts will scrutinize
any misstep he makes here. Some see him as a young Kevin Garnett,
some see him as a Ersan Ilyasova type.
Alexis
Ajinca C 7-1 PF/C France
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Alexis
Ajinca |
Surprisingly
he got a second invitation to a once in a lifetime chance that he
blew last year. Ajinca still has intrigue galore as players with
his size, athletism and reach don't come along every year. The missing
piece for him is his body which is still thin, but said to be improving
rapidly. He has that one special skill he really excels in and that
is weakside shot blocking. The way he can jump, combined with his
7-6 reach and size is unmatched in this department and he is a force
around the basket. But on the other hand his strength is so weak,
that he can be bulled off balance, neutralizing his shot blocking.
Considering his NBA draft chances he will probably get picked first
round whenever he declares because of his physical tools and because
of the fact the team picking him will think that they can do a better
job on his body than all the others have done before. A risky thought
and history has proved this is seldom done, just think about Manute
Bol, Shawn Bradley, Jonathan Bender.
Boban
Marjanovic 7-4 C Serbia
Mobile bigman
with a nice frame and the intensity and fire to play basketball.
He is kind of fearless and plays really hard all the time. He is
not the fastest player out there but who can blame him considering
his size. This is also what makes him a capable shot blocker as
he is not a big leaper but has great reach. His offensive game revolves
almost entirely around tying to dunk whatever he gets near the basket,
which is good for percentages but also makes him easy to figure
out. His shooting is not yet on the level it should be but he makes
a fair amount of FT so there is hope he may be able to expand this
facet of the game. He could become a typical NBA big down the line
in the mold of a Rik Smits. To compare him to Ilgauskas is not fair
since he lacks that natural feel for the game, not to mention the
jumper.
Samardo
Samuels 6-8 PF Jamaica
Samuels is well
known in the States having spent the past few years dominating the
AAU circuit and high school ball. Hailing from Jamaica, he was one
of the most dominating performers ever at the NBAP camp. Samuels
lacks tremendous speed in the open floor, but his strength and length
make him a load in the paint. His has soft touch making him an effective
scorer around the basket, and he shows a high level of determination
to score and grab rebounds.
Angel
Garcia 6-10 SF/PF Puerto Rico
Combo bigman
that loves to take outside shots and has a crossover seldom seen
by a player 610. Right now he is more of a face to the basket player
than a banger inside, specially on the offensive end. On defense
he lack a bit of strength to really take it to some PF on the next
level but his long arms and his excellent size make up for a lot
here. If he wants to be a NBA player someday he has to find a true
position and right now he sees himself as a SF but his foot speed
and athletism are not up to that level and probably never will be.
If he can add some more muscle to his frame he should have a good
chance to become a steady PF in the Troy Murphy mold., so he is
to be kept on the radar and since he choose Memphis he will get
a lot of NCAA tourney exposure down the road in a system that favors
jump shooters. Sounds like a good mix.
Tim
Ohlbrecht 6-11 PF Germany
Player with
the most experience in this thing, should probably captain the squad.
Has a whole season of actual Euroleague playing time on his back,
with some highlight games where he flashed some serious game. Extremely
athletic he runs the courts like few his size can and he possesses
a nice stroke from deep. He has all the tools to become a quality
NBA player but some people question his passion for the game. He
bulked up a lot and should have no trouble holding his ground and
even wreak some havoc on the small PFs of the US team. He has found
his future pro position already and can expand his game from there.
He is a gifted passer with good hands but to often settles for boxing
out instead of rebounding himself which hurts his stats. Can become
a first rounder in the future, because he has this NBA body and
athletism while also being able to make shots.
Emmanuel
Negedu 6-7 SF Nigeria
This prospect
comes with a ripe strong body of strength. He brings all the tools
to the table to become a great prospect after some more seasoning
at Arizona. He has athletism and size while already possessing a
US style game, he can play and guard multiple positions to some
extend and you can see he is really working on his game and body.
He could be primed to make a similar splash as luc Richard Mbah
a Moute as a freshman at UCLA as he is versatile and you cant point
out a special area where he is outstanding or failing, he is just
all around good.
Backcourt:
Diego
Gerbaudo 6-0 PG Argentina
Very skilled
playmaker with a little swagger to his game. He is not the best
ball handler, shooter, athlete, passer, you name it out there, but
he makes up for it with a winning mentality. He is as tough as they
come and never afraid to take his team on his back. For NBA perspective
he is probably not top notch enough in every category to be more
than a late second rounder. Maybe he could evolve into a Aaron Brooks
type of player far down the road.
Zygimantas
Janavicius 6-4 PG Lithuania
The lefty is
a gifted passer and playmaker who also lacks some of that special
incentive in the athletism and speed department, but usually he
get to where he wants on the floor with the ball in his hand at
will.
He clearly prefers his left hand and if forced to go right he is
very turnover prone. He is not what one would typically expect from
a Lithuanian prospect since he is not the best shooter around. He
has some size that speaks in his favor and being a lefty is an asset
in itself. Considering the success of European bred PGs in the NBA
there is not much hope that he will do any better than being a second
round gamble down the road. Remember how Euro-star Sarunas Jasikevicius
failed badly recently.
Devoe
Joseph 6-3 SG Canada
A shoot first
player in the truest sense of the word. He never met a shot he didn't
like. He is accustomed to shoot a lot and his game is up and down
with the consistency of his jumper. He is not blessed with that
strong body to overpower opposing defenders and his frame seems
to be not well suited to gain a lot of weight without losing some
of his already limited explosiveness. SGs with his size are called
combos or tweeners at the NBA level and one has to be very good
in putting the ball in the basket to convince a GM to go that risky
road of a pick.
Torgrim Sommerfeldt 6-5 SG Norway
No data
Alexander Kolchenko 6-5 SG Ukraine
Strong bodied
SG with good size and a good mentality. His main focus is scoring,
then some scoring and after that is left he scores some more. Has
a long reputation of being selfish and caring more about his scoring
output than his team's success. If he gets on a roll, there is not
much one can do and he always finds ways to get his shots flying,
even from long distance. Also he has unlimited self confidence in
his abilities. He is a very experienced and smart player with a
little mean streak to himself. He brings the size to play the position
but he is not speedy and explosive enough to guard anyone at his
position in the league. If he could get a team to use him as a spot
up scorer while hiding him on defense he may get some second round
attention, but right now that is a long shot. Maybe he could evolve
into a Mike Miller, Wally Szcerbiak kind of player. *** Will not
participate.
Outlook:
The World Select
Team is completely stacked in the frontcourt. A starting lineup
of Samuels, Ibaka, and Ohlbrecht with Ajinca and Marjanovic coming
of the bench is probably too much for the US to handle down low.
But the question remains, can the World team's backcourt get the
ball to those bigs in the first place? In the past the athletic
USA guards have terrorized the World team guards (outside of Tony
Parker) and it is hard to figure out who will emerge to stand up
to the pressure best. Rebounding should be a clear cut advantage
for the World Select team and that is why they can come out on top
in the end. Team USA will not be able to contain Ibaka, Samuels
and Ohlbrecht inside and Ajinca and Marjanovic will take care of
protecting the rim and letting the US get no second chances. The
Lithuanian game and pride of Janavicius as well as the vast experience
that Gerbaudo brings with him give them a shot to beat the US press
and with a little shotmaking of either Devoe, Negedu the world team
can prevail. This is an extremely interesting match up, much better
than past years, and should provide for a fun and exciting game.
2008 USA Junior National Select
Team Roster
| Pos. |
Name
|
Ht |
Wt |
High
School (Hometown) |
College |
| SF |
Al-Farouq
Aminu |
6-9 |
210 |
Norcross (Norcross, GA)
|
Wake
Forest |
| PG |
Jerime
Anderson
|
6-1 |
165 |
Canyon (Anaheim, CA) |
UCLA |
| PF |
Ed
Davis |
6-8 |
225 |
Benedictine (Richmond, VA)
|
North
Carolina |
| SG |
Demar
DeRozan |
6-6 |
210 |
Compton (Compton, CA) |
USC |
| PG/SG |
Tyreke
Evans |
6-5 |
205 |
American Christian (Chester, PA) |
Undecided |
| PF |
Drew
Gordon |
6-8 |
230 |
Archbishop Mitty / San Jose, CA |
UCLA |
| PG |
Jrue
Holiday |
6-4 |
205 |
Campbell Hall (Chatsworth, CA) |
UCLA |
| SF |
Scotty
Hopson |
6-5 |
180 |
University Heights (Hopkinsville, KY) |
Undecided |
| PG/SG |
Malcolm
Lee |
6-4 |
170 |
John W. North ((Moreno Valley, CA)
|
UCLA |
| PF/C |
Greg
Monroe |
6-10 |
240 |
Helen Cox (Gretna, LA) |
Georgetown |
|
Head
Coach: Douglas Mitchell, North Central H.S. (Indianapolis,
IN)
Assistant Coach: John Olive, Torrey Pines H.S. (San Diego,
CA) |
2008
World Select Team Roster
| Pos.
|
Name
|
Ht |
Wt |
Pro
Team / College |
Country |
| PF/C |
Alexis
Ajinca
|
7-1 |
220 |
Hyeres-Toylon
Var |
France
|
| SF/PF |
Angel
Garcia
|
6-10 |
230 |
East
Chicago Central H.S., Ill. / *Memphis |
Puerto
Rico |
| PG |
Diego
Gerbaudo
|
6-0 |
174 |
Real
Madrid |
Argentina
|
| PF |
Serge
Ibaka
|
6-10 |
220 |
C.B.
L'Hospitalet |
Congo
|
| PG |
Zygimantas
Janavicius |
6-4 |
176 |
B.C.
Zalgiris Kaunas |
Lithuania
|
| SG |
Devoe
Joseph
|
6-3 |
180 |
Pickering H.S., Ontario / *Minnesota |
Canada |
| C |
Boban
Marjanovic
|
7-4 |
245 |
K.K. Hemofarm Stada Vrsac |
Serbia |
| PF |
Emmanuel
Negedu
|
6-6
|
220 |
Brewster
Academy, N.H./ *Arizona |
Nigeria |
| PF |
Tim
Ohlbrecht
|
6-11 |
225 |
Brose
Baskets Bamberg |
Germany
|
| SG |
Torgrim
Sommerfeldt |
6-5 |
180 |
Asker
|
Norway |
| PF |
Samardo
Samuels |
6-8 |
250 |
St. Benedict's (NJ) / Louisville
|
Jamaica |
|
Head
Coach: Rob Beveridge (Australia)
Assistant Coach: Marin Sedlacek (Serbia)
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Link:
USABasketball.com Rosters
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