The adidas Next Generation Tournament is Europe´s biggest stage for under-18 basketball prospects at the club level. The first qualifier event was held in Munich from January 20-22 where Real Madrid won. The second qualifier was held February 10-12 in Patras, Greece. This event was won once again by a Spanish club, this time by Joventut Badalona in a 71-56 victory over French club ASVEL Villeurbanne. 3rd place winner was also a French club Cholet. As time progressed it was clear that the first game of the tournament (9am on a Friday morning) was the best game in terms of talent and play. It was arguably the game that determined the automatic qualifier as Joventut narrowly defeated Cholet 60-57.
Juventut Badalona as the winner of this event joins Real Madrid with an auto bid to the ANGT Finals (8 teams) held during the Euroleague Final Four held this year in Kaunas, Lithuania from May 19-21. The overall talent and quality of teams was not quite as good as the ANGT Munich but there was still some noteworthy talent to mention; here is the list of the top prospects and performers from this event.
Top 10 Prospects:
Tidjane Salaun 6’8, SF/PF, 2005 Born, Cholet
Salaun (pictured) voted on the All Tournament team and did very well for himself the weekend before he heads to the BWB Global event held in Salt Lake City and part of NBA All Star weekend festivities. Salaun has a long athletic build, with good strength, wingspan, and athleticism. He can shoot the 3 ball and isn’t afraid of shooting from well beyond the arc (7/17 or 41.2% for the tournament). After 2 qualifiers he is the second leading scorer at 20.5 ppg, along with 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals (top 10 in steals). He is a very high energy player, constantly moving without the ball, cutting, screening, offensive rebounding, and getting his hands in the passing lanes. He is very quick and effective around the basket. Despite being arguably the best talent at this event, he is also a very selfless player, very encouraging with teammates, a wiling passer, and fills the lanes on the fast break. A late bloomer (he was cut over the summer from the French u18 team), he still has a bit of growth to do in terms of honing all that energy he possesses. He can play a little too fast for himself and can take questionable shots at times (his shot was blocked a tournament high 6 times). He shot just under 70% from the line (68.8%) as he can rush things at the charity stripe at times. While his handles are passable, he has a high dribble which can get a little loose at times. With his strong ability to finish with a dunk with both his left and right hand and with the ability to absorb and create contact, his value as a prospect would be stronger if he added a change of pace aspect to his game. While he lacks some polish, he is the type of player that coaches love to have on their team.
Ruben Prey 6’10, PF/C, 2005 Born, Juventut Badalona
Prey, MVP of this event, is also heading to the BWB Global this weekend in Salt Lake City. Given his age and play over the summer at the FIBA European U20 (article here) Prey was probably expected to be the best performer at this qualifier, playing this time against competition in his age category. Prey was solid, averaging 14 ppg 3.2 blocks and leading all ANGT qualifiers, averaging 13 rebounds. Prey is long, and can show versus guards on a pick and roll, but his running style and movement laterally can be a little awkward at times and he lacks some strength which works at this level but may cause him problems at the next level. It’s something to pay attention to when he gets his cup of coffee on the senior team of Juventut Badelona. He finishes strong to the right and has a good feel for when to shoot or pass. He is a wiling outside shooter but for the moment hasn’t been able to show any efficiency from beyond the arc or from the free throw line (25% and 57.1% respectively). He is a good shot blocker at this level and has a very good understanding of how his length causes opponents to take poor shots. On offense, he still is overwhelmingly a right hand dominant player. Even in the key, he will finish 9 out of 10 times with his right even when opponents give him the left side. One example of this was against ASVEL where he spun left and instead of laying it up with his left hand and returned it to his right hand. A month of only left hand basketball use in the off season would be an idea to strengthen his ability to play ambidextrous.
Dwayne Aristode 6’5, Wing, 2006 Born, Joventut Badalona
Aristode was one of our top prospects last summer at FIBA U16 Europe (article here), Good athlete with long arms, he has been well coached in playing his role for the club. He was their assigned defensive stopper going against the top athletes and scorers at this event. He averaged 12 points 7.75 rebounds and an almost 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. He showed the ability to self create and to get down hill and has good shooting mechanics. Unfortunately his shots did not fall at a rate that you are looking for from a wing: (29% from 3 and 67% from the charity stripe and a dismal rate from the field). He shot roughly 1/3 more 3’s than 2’s during the tournament and whether its role or not with his ability to put it on the floor, it may be something he can adjust as his game matures.
Ben Saraf 6’5, Guard, 2006 Born, Elitzur Maccabi Netanya
Saraf played for the ANGT Patras team, an assembled team just for this event, including players from various clubs. Saraf, who was voted onto the best 5 team this event, is a scorer averaging 18.8 ppg for the event on 40% from the field. He was one of the tournament’s leaders in steals at 2.8 per game. He has a deceptively quick first step, can finish with either hand, and is best scoring around the rim. He is working on a turnaround mid range jumper that has had limited effectiveness in terms of efficiency so far. He shot just under 30% from 3, going 7/24 and was a 67% free throw shooter (10/15). He has decent size of a guard but has work to do in terms of being a lead guard (roughly 1 to 1 assist to turnover ratio) and becoming more efficient mid range and beyond the arc shooter. He is also a very poor defender at this stage. Has a tendency to go for steals and lose vision of his man and/or difficulty staying between his man and the basket.
*There’s a drop off in talent after these 3 both in terms of preparedness and ability that is significant enough to note.
Amael L'Etang 7’0, Center, 2005 Born, Cholet
L’Etang’s best performance was on the first day against Prey and Joventut. In this game he hit his only shot from beyond the arc. He has good height and length for his position but needs to add strength. He has good shooting potential as well shooting 72% from the charity stripe and showing good form from the mid range and beyond. He has good feel for the game and was clever jumping passing lanes. He can finish well and overall showed some good things scoring 14.5 ppg and 9.5 rebounds. He had 12 assist in 4 games, showing another aspect of his skill set. He did not have overwhelming block numbers (4 in 4 games) which was probably due to his strength issues. Development of strength without losing agility will be big for his future.
Johann Gruenloh 6’10, Center, 2005 Born, Rasta Vechta
Gruenloh broke Victor’s Wembanyama’s block record at this event, with 25 in 4 games which is 6.2 per contest. He was voted onto the best 5 and added 16.8 points and 13 rebounds per game for this event. He was highly efficient around the basket and even went 2/8 from beyond the arc. He is more of a traditional big than the mobile shooting big that the NBA is looking for. He needs to continue to work on his efficiency from the charity stripe (11/20) and prove he can handle pick and roll situations on defense.
Killyan Toure 6’2, Point Guard, 2006 Born, ASVEL Villeurbanne
Toure did not overwhelm, statistically speaking, but has some good tools in his bag. He showed some solid athleticism and was one of the few guards that could affect the game defensively making it difficult for opposing teams to run their offense. He showed some potential, getting to the cup on offense and good form from the free throw line and on his jump shot. He can get a little foul prone, which negatively impacted his team in the finals versus Joventut.
Iker Garmendia 6’7, Forward, 2006 Born, Joventut Badalona
Garmendia averaged 13.2 points and 7.5 rebounds for the event with good shooting numbers from the 2 and the free throw line, 60% and 90% respectively. He also went 5/16 from long distance making 3 of 5 in the championship game. He has good strength, solid footwork, hustle, and is a good floor spacer when on the floor. However he does not possess elite athleticism which limits his potential some, considering his height.
Roman Domon 6’8, Small Forward, 2005 Born, Graveline
Domon played for the ANGT Patras squad. While his numbers did not pop, he has good size, demonstrated sound footwork and shooting form. He was very efficient from the field and from the line. He’s not going to blow by people but probably could have taken a few more shots while on the floor. He played just under 20 minutes per contest and averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Karim Lopez 6’6, Forward, 2007 Born, Joventut Badalona
At 15 year of age, Lopez is probably a more promising long term prospect than some of the other players on this list. With his limited minutes (roughly 12 minutes per game) he showed some potential as a hybrid forward. He can rebound, guard players that are older, taller, and stronger and was a key sub in the championship game versus ASVEL.
Some other young players showing intrigue included Maikol Perez (2007 Born) and Giannis Odzebe (2008 Born) both playing for Orange1 Bossano.
The next ANGT qualifier will be held on March 3rd – 5th in Zadar, Croatia.
