[morestealsthanscoresParticipant]

First off- shame on every single one of you that just logged in just to neg EuroBaller 😉

OK, so I’ve been keeping up a bit with the European U20s, and there’s one guy absolutely dominating the field, leading the tournament in points and rebounds, and third in FG%. Admittedly, he’s playing in a weak team, but the numbers are still crazy impressive and he’s certainly caught the eye. And unfortunately, whilst he’s half Greek, he’s playing for Bulgaria- Aleksander Vezenkov.

Watching some of the highlights, he reminds me a bit of Mirza Teletovic, but with better footspeed and ball handling skills. He hasn’t blocked a single shot this tournament, however, so doesn’t have the explosiveness you’d want an NBA big to have. But a lot of players like him have succeeded in the NBA- Okur, Ilyasova, and others.

He plays in the Greek league and won their best player award for the last 2 years. He dominated the U18s and has moved seamlessly up to U20s. The other site have him at #45 in next year’s mock- and I think this will rise after this tournament.

Here’s a nice video of a cup game last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT4xIp05sOk

You can also catch his latest highlights at the Euro U20s website: http://u20men.fibaeurope.com/en/default.asp

[christebasParticipant]

 If he’s so great why didn’t Masai Ujiri draft him  🙂

[christebasParticipant]

 If he’s so great why didn’t Masai Ujiri draft him  🙂

[NihochuParticipant]

He was previously comitted to play D1 at Xavier but elected to turn pro in Greece 

[NihochuParticipant]

He was previously comitted to play D1 at Xavier but elected to turn pro in Greece 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Euroballer isnt so bad. He is just very misunderstood. He actually exposes us to alot of talented players and I think he has had a rant about Vezenkov before.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Euroballer isnt so bad. He is just very misunderstood. He actually exposes us to alot of talented players and I think he has had a rant about Vezenkov before.

[GrandmamaParticipant]

Other than calling people racist and telling everyone how stupid they are, I’m sure he does bring up some players who may have upside.  I wouldn’t know though, I refuse to read anything that guy writes.  He can’t be taken seriously in my opinion.

[GrandmamaParticipant]

Other than calling people racist and telling everyone how stupid they are, I’m sure he does bring up some players who may have upside.  I wouldn’t know though, I refuse to read anything that guy writes.  He can’t be taken seriously in my opinion.

[HitsterParticipant]

 We aren’t anti Greek on here, Giannis the Greek Freak at the Bucks is one of the most popular players amongst regulars on here. Euroballer gets negged when he starts saying some Greek League player is better than an established NBA player usually.

[HitsterParticipant]

 We aren’t anti Greek on here, Giannis the Greek Freak at the Bucks is one of the most popular players amongst regulars on here. Euroballer gets negged when he starts saying some Greek League player is better than an established NBA player usually.

[christebasParticipant]

speak for yourself. I’m very anti-greek, I can’t stop eating those Gyros and Baklava and it’s making me fat

[christebasParticipant]

speak for yourself. I’m very anti-greek, I can’t stop eating those Gyros and Baklava and it’s making me fat

[pe3ucTopParticipant]

He’s actually Bulgarian. He was born in Cyprus and that’s where his Cypriot citizenship comes from.

He’s a 6’9 power forward and he’s actually still 18(I think he turns 19 next month). He’s a leftie and is a great scorer and shooter. He’s been dominating the European U16, U18 and U20s for the past 5 years or so. For the U16’s several years back he had a 27ppg/10rpg championship. Last year he averaged 22.4ppg and 10rpg at the U18. His shooting % are in the range 50%FG, 40%3Pt, 80%FT. And this current U20 he’s actually having kind of a bad shooting performances at 49%FG and 29%3Pt.

His scoring dominance no doubt has something to do with him being part of otherwise pretty bad team – he’s the focal point of the offense for the whole team, but still… it looks quite impressive. His athleticism and defense leaves a lot to be desired, but he seems to have great positioning and rebounding skills.

As, somebody else said – he committed to Xavier last year, before deciding to stay in Europe and turn pro for the Greek Aris. His season was pretty good(for an 18 year old) – played 28mpg and had 11ppg, 6 rpg, 2 apg, 0.9spg and 1.6TO. His shooting % were 49/39/76. There were some rumors in Bulgarian media that he’s about to be traded to Greek basketball powerhouse Panathinakos, but I don’t think those have been confirmed.

Here’s another video of his performance from last year’s U18 European championship:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp6fiJ_Ngkk

[pe3ucTopParticipant]

He’s actually Bulgarian. He was born in Cyprus and that’s where his Cypriot citizenship comes from.

He’s a 6’9 power forward and he’s actually still 18(I think he turns 19 next month). He’s a leftie and is a great scorer and shooter. He’s been dominating the European U16, U18 and U20s for the past 5 years or so. For the U16’s several years back he had a 27ppg/10rpg championship. Last year he averaged 22.4ppg and 10rpg at the U18. His shooting % are in the range 50%FG, 40%3Pt, 80%FT. And this current U20 he’s actually having kind of a bad shooting performances at 49%FG and 29%3Pt.

His scoring dominance no doubt has something to do with him being part of otherwise pretty bad team – he’s the focal point of the offense for the whole team, but still… it looks quite impressive. His athleticism and defense leaves a lot to be desired, but he seems to have great positioning and rebounding skills.

As, somebody else said – he committed to Xavier last year, before deciding to stay in Europe and turn pro for the Greek Aris. His season was pretty good(for an 18 year old) – played 28mpg and had 11ppg, 6 rpg, 2 apg, 0.9spg and 1.6TO. His shooting % were 49/39/76. There were some rumors in Bulgarian media that he’s about to be traded to Greek basketball powerhouse Panathinakos, but I don’t think those have been confirmed.

Here’s another video of his performance from last year’s U18 European championship:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp6fiJ_Ngkk

[European BasketballerParticipant]

Don’t start this BS just to discredit Greek basketball. Cypriots are Greeks genius. That’s why he has Greek citizenship. Because people from Cyprus are Greeks.

Besides this, he has been living his whole life in Cyprus and Greece and has been living in Greece since he was a little kid, and he has been training and developed as a basketball player in youth and pro level in Greece. He went to play in Aris cadet team and then now in Aris senior team.

I think he has been playing in basketball acadamies in Greece development system since he was like 13 or something like this.

And if you still don’t think he is Greek, you can see in YouTube for yourself him speaking Greek language fluently right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33X2xcT3GDA

He sure speaks Greek awfully well for someone that isn’t Greek………….

In case you wonder, his father is Bulgarian, and is connected to Bulgaria’s national  basketball program so that’s why he plays for their national team. So yes he is half Cypriot (Greek).

It’s unfortunate for him because both Bulgaria and Cyprus have terrible national basketball programs. But maybe after he is done playing at the youth level and getting tons of playing time and exposure, maybe he will transfer to Greece’s national team for senior level. Who knows? It would obviously be much better for him.

Anyway, he is supposed to make an announcement after the Under-20 championship on whether he is staying with Aris, or moving to Panathinaikos. Of course if he moved to Panathinaikos then he would be in a big club and in Euroleague and would get more money.

But I think for him it would be much smarter to stay in Aris. He has been getting a lot of playing time in Greek League (like 20 minutes a game) with Aris, whereas in Panathinaikos he will be a 3rd string power forward, and the coaches in Aris are always very good and do a very good job at developing young players. And obviously it is working very well for him.

He seems to want to get drafted and play in the NBA, so if that is his goal then he should stay in Aris. if he wants to make a lot of money and start trying to make it in Euroleague, then of course he should move to Panathinaikos if he can.

[European BasketballerParticipant]

Don’t start this BS just to discredit Greek basketball. Cypriots are Greeks genius. That’s why he has Greek citizenship. Because people from Cyprus are Greeks.

Besides this, he has been living his whole life in Cyprus and Greece and has been living in Greece since he was a little kid, and he has been training and developed as a basketball player in youth and pro level in Greece. He went to play in Aris cadet team and then now in Aris senior team.

I think he has been playing in basketball acadamies in Greece development system since he was like 13 or something like this.

And if you still don’t think he is Greek, you can see in YouTube for yourself him speaking Greek language fluently right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33X2xcT3GDA

He sure speaks Greek awfully well for someone that isn’t Greek………….

In case you wonder, his father is Bulgarian, and is connected to Bulgaria’s national  basketball program so that’s why he plays for their national team. So yes he is half Cypriot (Greek).

It’s unfortunate for him because both Bulgaria and Cyprus have terrible national basketball programs. But maybe after he is done playing at the youth level and getting tons of playing time and exposure, maybe he will transfer to Greece’s national team for senior level. Who knows? It would obviously be much better for him.

Anyway, he is supposed to make an announcement after the Under-20 championship on whether he is staying with Aris, or moving to Panathinaikos. Of course if he moved to Panathinaikos then he would be in a big club and in Euroleague and would get more money.

But I think for him it would be much smarter to stay in Aris. He has been getting a lot of playing time in Greek League (like 20 minutes a game) with Aris, whereas in Panathinaikos he will be a 3rd string power forward, and the coaches in Aris are always very good and do a very good job at developing young players. And obviously it is working very well for him.

He seems to want to get drafted and play in the NBA, so if that is his goal then he should stay in Aris. if he wants to make a lot of money and start trying to make it in Euroleague, then of course he should move to Panathinaikos if he can.

[TheTruth86Participant]

I posted threads about him twice, he’s got his flaws but I see him improving and drafted in 2nd round next year.

[TheTruth86Participant]

I posted threads about him twice, he’s got his flaws but I see him improving and drafted in 2nd round next year.

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