Point-Forward wrote:Hi people, im going to give my two cents about the upcoming european prospects, which I think nobody talked about in this thread yet (and excuse me if you did and I didn't see). My opinion is strongly based on what I saw in the last FIBA U-19 World Championship, and on the professional games I could catch of these players (for those who have actually played meaningful professional basketball, cause some of them haven't). So, there you go:
Furkan Korkmaz - TURKEY:
One of my favourite european prospects. A very talented and smooth SG/SF (although I clearly see him as a SG in the NBA), who can knock down the mid and long range shot (great mechanics, excellent 3pt shooting), and also drive/cut to the rim without the ball because he has deceptive athleticism. His athletic hability won't catch you at first sight because of his slim body, but believe me, this kid has some hops. Played great for Turkey in the last FIBA U19 WC, in which his country won the bronze medal (although the semi-final against Croatia was kinda dissapointing for the whole group). He is also a creative passer (has a strong bball IQ, very typical of the talented players) and can always find the open man. Not a selfish guy at all.
On the negative side, he still has a very thin frame which could cause him some problems in the NBA. I guess he still has time to develop his body and all, but will have to rely mostly on that tricky "Ginobili type style" to avoid the strong NBA defenders. Although he is not as athletic as young Ginobili was, but I can see the comparisons between the two players. Another thing I don't like about him is that he is kind of inconsistent throughout games: comes and dissapears. But hey, when he's on the zone he absolutely destroys teams, like in the 1/4 Finals against Australia when he dominated the 3rd quarter with 15 points and sealed the game for Turkey (and to that point, they were struggling a lot). His defense is still a work in progress at this point in his young career (like I said before, that slim body doesn't help), but I think he has the instincts and IQ to improve.
At Efes Pilsen (Turkish club) he has mostly been a spot-up 3pt shooter, with some very ocasional plays drawn up for him (he is too young to have the spotlight, of course). I expect him to enjoy more minutes and importance this upcoming season. Korkmaz is projected to be a lottery pick in the 2016 NBA draft, and I think he could really be worth the pick.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWhTCg6nQdw[/youtube]
Nik Slavica - CROATIA:
A very enjoyable surprise. Played an awesome tournament with Croatia, and had a game against USA in the final which turned out to be an automatic instant classic. Remember, this is the same Croatian team that played without Bender, Mazalin, Zizic, etc, and still managed to play head-to-head with the USA and almost beat them. It was incredible, and 80 % of the merit goes to Arapovic and Slavica. He wasn't that interesting of a prospect before the tournament, since he didn't really show strong performances in previous years playing for Croatia, but I guess players, like people, also progress both physically and technically.
Slavica is a SG/SF with a strong build. He is a very strong and athletic player, to the point of being clearly NBA-ready in that solely aspect. I mean, his hops are not that far from those of Hezonja's, just to name a player which everybody knows. Obviously, he is not that good of a shooter and shot-creator as Hezonja (in fact, he needs to improve in both these aspects), but his excellent body screams potential. Can also pass the ball and defend 2-3 positions in the perimeter. Moves well without the ball and has sure shown a lot of stamina, because Croatia relied heavily on him for perimeter scoring and defense. Like I said, he probably won't be as good as Mario Hezonja, but kinda reminds me of him a bit.
Against USA he put up this stat-line: 23 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. I recommend you people to catch the full game on youtube to see what this kid is made of. Oh, and of course, he made the highlight of the tournament with this incredible block on Jayson Tatum (considered by many to be a top-3 draft pick in 2017):
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAD18pdBOT0[/youtube]
And here you have another video of him with some highlights from that same tournament:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0B1k5utBwY[/youtube]
Tyler Dorsey - GREECE:
This player is probably much more familiar to some of you. He was born in LA, but plays with Greece because of his mother. Showed some strong promise on the high-school level but some scouts were not really sold out on him since he was ranked the 38th in ESPN's annual highschool prospects (which is nothing definitive, since Jimmy Butler didn't even crack the top-100 at one point). I've heard some scouts were not pleased with his cocky and ball-hogging approach, but honestly, I didn't see any of that in the past FIBA U19 WC. In fact, quite the opposite, he always sacrificed for the team and was willing to make whatever type of play to win the game. But oh well, maybe his stock will rise from now on. Will play in Oregon next season, so it will be interesting to see how he performs.
Dorsey is a kinda undersized SG (not too undersized, but lacks a tiny bit of height for that position) with a lot of athletic hability and a strong motor. Very good scorer, specially. Can drive to the rim at will, is faster than most of his defenders, moves well without the ball, can shoot from the outside (although he is still inconsistent, but he's not a bad shooter at all), and can defend at premium level thanks to his hand and feet quickness. Like I said before, he played a great tournament with Greece in which he was probably the best player of that team, with Charalampopoulos and Papagiannis following him closely. Dorsey draws a lot of fouls also, since defenders can't really keep up with that combination of quickness and athleticism.
He had 19 points against Turkey in the bronze medal game, 23 points/6 rebounds against USA in the semi-finals, and 25 points/7 rebounds/5 assists/4 steals against Tunisia in the quarter-finals, which was probably one of the most impressive stat-lines of the whole tournament.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_ItzSVdteQ[/youtube]
Like I said, if you guys can catch any of Greece's games in the secound round (Tunisia, USA and Turkey) you will see what this guy is made of. Great great player. There are also some highlights and mixtapes of him playing highschool tournaments.
Anyway, these are some of the players we will have to follow up closely. Later I will post my opinions on other strong prospects like Bender, Arapovic or the two spaniards, Sergi Garcia and Yankuba Sima. And please excuse me for my bad english.
BTW, the FIBA U18 European Championship starts today, and Korkmaz will also participate in this tournament with Turkey.
So hey, you can catch him there also.
