2008 adidas Nations Camp: Top Prospects

adidas Nations Top Prospects

2009 adidas USA

	Dexter Strickland

Derrick Favors -- Favors might be the most dominant bigman on the high school level. His huge wingspan and bigtime hops make him a force on both ends of the floor. His problem is that he is a little on the skinny side from an NBA post player standpoint and lacks great touch and offensive skill. His post game has not shown a great deal of development in the past year, and his shot blocking while impressive, may not be as effective at the highest level. Outside of freaks like Josh Smith (Favors isn't nearly that athletic), there aren't many 6'9 forwards who can be as effective rejectors in the NBA as in HS and college. But regardless of these flaws, bigmen with his length and agility are not a dime a dozen. He gives solid effort every time out and with wide shoulders, it's conceivable he could put on substantial weight without limiting his leaping ability greatly. Unfortunately Favors had to get back to summer school so he left camp early and missed the final day.

Dexter Strickland -- While Strickland is rail thin and undersized at 6'3, you have give him credit he got the cajones to take the big shots and seems to enjoy the pressure of close games. He thrives at attacking the rim off the dribble but can also knock down shots from the perimeter. He's a nice athlete but his lack of height will make it difficult for him to play the 2-guard position at the NBA level.

Noel Johnson -- Johnson's another kid who left camp early so we didn't get to see what he could do as the pressure intensified. He's got good size and is very versatile with the ability to bring the ball up plus excellent length and athleticism. It seems he's always playing with bigger name guys like Favors and appears content to differ to teammates, which shows his unselfishness, but he could stand to be more assertive. Johnson could be a late bloomer with a lot left to develop, so he's definitely one to watch for in college.

Lance Stephenson -- "Born Ready" is a highly effective player at the high school level, but there are major red flags surrounding his body language and demeanor. He's been hyped up as the next great NYC prospect but doesn't appear to have advanced his game in the past 2 years. He dominates inferior athletes using his tremendous strength and ball handling ability, but his understanding of the team game is severely lacking. If he tries to be a one and done college player, his NBA dreams could fall far short.

	Peyton Siva

Peyton Siva -- Siva's an explosive scorer and athlete. He has a real sense for the moment, consistently taking over offensively at the most opportune times, and his outside shooting can be very effective when he's hot. He's not as proficient at setting up teammates as getting to the basket and creating offense for himself. For the NBA, he's undersized and lacks great point guard ability, but his positive attributes give him a shot if he develops at Louisville.

Christian Watford --Watford had a solid camp. He's got excellent size and athleticism for the NBA wing position. He also shows some decent skills. He just needs to add polish and consistency. He's still raw offensively as he'll need to improve his ball handling and shot off the dribble. He got lost in the shuffle to an extent as the camp went on struggling to get playing time, but looked like a legit prospect when he played.

2010 adidas USA

Trae Golden -- Golden left camp early but made some solid plays in the early games. He's got excellent strength, quickness and athleticism. And he's certainly not afraid to shoot the ball and shows a lot of determination. His point guard skills could stand to improve as ball movement isn't always the best when he's in the game.

Jared Sullinger -- The interesting thing about Sullinger is that he looks about 6'7 but when he stood next to Joshua Smith they looked nearly the same height. So either Smith is barely 6'9 or Sullinger is actually closer to 6'8 and change. While Smith has a lot more potential, Sullinger is a better player right now than Smith as he's a 6'7 1/2 center with long arms, great strength and solid touch. He's proficient at using the hook shot. If he was 2 inches taller he would be a bigtime prospect, but as it is he's a Mike Sweetney type of beast who should be a load at the college level, but he'll need to grow some to find success at the highest level.

	Brandon Knight

Brandon Knight -- Knight was the most impressive kid in the entire camp. One NBA scout noted that he stood out among everyone. Although he hit a major cold spell in the second half of the finale, his feel for the game and ability to dissect a defense makes him extremely difficult to contend with. He didn't have quite the same effectiveness with Wroten that he'd had playing alongside Kenny Boynton in Vegas, but that's probably because those two are so familiar with one another. Knight's blinding first step and ability to blow by defenders and hit floaters or get to the rim is reminiscent of a player who was in the gym on the final day, Jason Terry. He's got Terry's quickness and smooth shooting ability only he's bigger. Knight is also has the killer instinct to make the dagger shots and crush the spirit of opponents.

Trey Zeigler -- Zeigler came in as one of the less heralded players, and used the camp to make a name for himself. His thick, athletic body is reminiscent of Austin Freeman only not quite as robust. He has a steady game with a solid understanding and good athletic ability. He started over Wroten and actually outperformed him for most of the games. Zeigler has the look of a coaches son. He's an intense defender with a mature game, and even though he's just 6'4, he appears to have the intangibles and athleticism to play in the NBA someday if he continues to develop.

Ray McCallum -- McCallum had a very nice showing. He's got good focus and leadership ability and seems to have a very nice understanding of the point guard position. His body looks extremely young, as if he's still got a lot of physical development left in him. He flashed a deadly crossover and the ability to get by his man and to the rim.

	Tony Wroten

Tony Wroten, Jr. -- Wroten looked far more comfortable in Las Vegas playing with his Seattle Rotary AAU team in front of college coaches. Maybe it was the idea that NBA scouts were in the gym watching him, or maybe it was just the cumulative effect of a long summer wearing him down, it's hard to be superman everyday, and while Wroten didn't look terrible and did have his moments, it's way too early to anoint him the "next" anything. First off, he's closer to 6'3 than the 6'5 he's been listed. Next he's got some major work to do on his body language. If he grows a few inches, the sky's the limit for him, especially considering he's born in 1993. Right now, he's hands down the top player in his class, but he had difficulties standing out coming off the bench and with so many talented players on his team.

LaQuinton Ross -- Ross is just a sophomore but already has a lot of hype behind him as a potential top 3-5 player in his class. And while he's got good length and showed solid skills, he has a long ways to go. He took a while to get comfortable in camp. His focus and intensity were not always great, although it's important to consider that he was competing against players 2 years older than him. Ross shows nice potential, but will need to continue to work hard to stay among the elite players in his class.

Dwayne Polee -- Polee has an apropos last name as he is a pole but has very nice length and athletic ability. Right now he's a long way away from having a complete game. His skills are very raw and his understanding is low. His game has a lot of developing in order to catch up with his physical attributes. Polee also had trouble getting playing time with so many talented underclassmen on the 2010 team. Nevertheless a nice prospect to track for the future.

	Joshua Smith

Joshua Smith -- Smith barely got off the bench in the final. At times he looks like a bigtime NBA center prospect with the strength to impose his will in the paint and the soft touch to knock down midrange shots and post moves. Other times, he appears slow and disinterested. He is extremely wide making him appear shorter than he really is, but it looks as though he's probably just 6'9. Without growing he will be extremely short for the NBA level as a center, but considering he's 1992 born there's reason to believe he could grow a few inches.

Evan Anderson -- Anderson looks like the type of guy that could develop into a back up center in the NBA someday. He's got huge feet, so there's a good chance he's not done growing and could top out in the 7'1 to 7'2 range. At times he looks somewhat agile, and other times he appears to have trouble moving his huge feet. At 6'11, he's sure to be a high level center in college and depending how his body and skills develop could easily have a solid NBA career.

adidas Team Canada

Tristan Thompson -- Thompson has star quality about him. He's got the size, fluidity and athleticism to be a bigtime wing player. The one big complaint is that he still can't do much off the dribble. While he does show some ball handling ability, it's rarely used to create offense facing the basket. He's most comfortable spotting up for 10-12 foot jumpers or scoring in around the basket. Thompson shows a lot of potential and can become a pro in a short time at Texas, but needs to work on his perimeter skills to make a full transition to the small forward position.

Junior Cadougan -- The Khalid El-Amin clone has a lot of game. His weight slows him down laterally, but he uses his bulk well to screen off defenders and get shots off on drives. He's aggressive attacking the basket and shows very good scoring ability and leadership. While playing at the NBA level seems like a stretch right now, he looks like he'll be a big impact guy at Marquette. He'll need to substantially improve his body to have legit hopes of playing in the league.

adidas Team Europe

Tomislav Zubcic -- Zubcic had a solid showing in Dallas. While he's not overly athletic, he's got great length and nice speed and agility. He wasn't able to lead team Europe into the finals, losing to the eventual champion 2010 squad. But he showed solid aggressiveness and versatility. He made some nice plays in the open floor as well as making some hook shots and points in the paint. Zubcic still must get stronger and tougher but playing against Amercan guys didn't affect his game as bad as some of his teammates which is a good sign for him. Scouts commented that based on his size, skill level and age (1990) he's an intriguing prospect.

Tomas Satoranski -- The Czech wing has a lot of potential. He's a smart kid who shows a good feel for the game. He has an excellent basketball body with room to improve. At 6'6, he has good size to play the wing position. His athleticism is at a high level for a European player as he gets out on the break and dunks with ease. He also showed solid ability to handle the ball and made good decisions passing. Unfortunately Satoranski was another camper who only played the first two days.

	Nihad Dedovic

Nihad Dedovic -- Dedovic is a solid athlete with good speed who competes hard, displaying toughness. He showed a lot of heart on the second day taking the European team on his back, making numerous plays late to beat a tough Latin American squad. He's a bit of a streaky shooter but he's definitely not afraid to shoot the ball. At 6'6 Dedovic has a good body with long arms and big hands and has the potential to play in the NBA someday. While he didn't make many acrobatic plays around the rim, his athleticism didn't look overmatched facing American players.

Andreja Milutinovic -- Milutinovic seemed to be affected by being away from his FMP teammates. His jumpshot was dreadfully off as I'm not sure he hit a three pointer in any of the games. As impressive as he looked in Madrid, leading FMP to the junior title, he looked like a fish out of water in Dallas. Scouts commented that he had to be a Kyle Korver level shooter to make it at the NBA level based on his terrible footspeed. He is more athletic than Korver, without question, rising up at one point on the break and attempting a dunk over Knight. While the dunk attempt missed, his athletic ability was apparent. He is an excellent shooter, but you'd have a hard time knowing it based on what he showed here.

Nicolo Melli -- Nicolo is a tremendous kid with a very good understanding of the game. He appears to have grown an inch or two just in the past few months. At 6'10, he has an excellent jumpshot with range. His willingness to listen and be coached makes him a coaches dream. His lack of footspeed was exposed in Dallas, playing against American athletes he appeared quite slow and unathletic. While he's a nice shooter, he isn't a deadeye type that can overcome the lack of athletic ability so therefore it appears his game is better suited for Europe where he can become a high level player. But he's younger than most of the others, so never say never.

Leon Radosevic -- The bigman has a lot of athleticism, getting up for a few eye opening dunks. His problem is that his feel for the game and confidence level are not great. He gives solid effort and shows nice potential, he just needs to keep gaining experience and improving his post skills.


Rosters

adidas Team Europe

	adidas Nations

 

	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

Peyton Siva	PG	Seattle, WA
GJ Vilarino	PG	McKinney, TX
Dexter Strickland	PG	Rahway, NJ
Lance Stephenson	SF	Brooklyn, NY
Noel Johnson	SG	Fayetteville, GA
Jerry Brown	SF	El Sobrante, CA
Christian Watford	SF	Birmingham, AL
Tyler Griffey	PF	Wildwood, MO
Brendan Lane	PF	Rocklin, CA
Stephan Van Treese	PF	Indianapolis, IN
Derrick Favors	C	Atlanta, GA
Erik Murphy	PF/C	Southborough, MA

2010 adidas US National Team

Ray McCallum	PG	Bloomington, IN
Trae Golden	G	Powder Springs, GA
Brandon Knight	PG	Fort Lauderdale, FL
Trey Zeigler	G	Mt. Pleasant, MI
Tony Wroten, Jr.	G	Seattle, WA
LaQuinton Ross	SF	Jackson, MS
Jared Sullinger	PF	Columbus, OH
Julian Washburn	PF	Duncanville, TX
Joshua Smith	C	Kent, WA
Adreian Payne	PF/C	Dayton, OH
Dwayne Polee	SF	Los Angeles, CA
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
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
	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
	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	La Tech.
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
Diamon Simpson	St. Mary's
Dar Tucker	DePaul
Jarvis Varnado	Mississippi State
Terrance Williams	Louisville