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Ben Saraf, is a 18 years old 6'6" point guard from Israel.

Israel's U-18 FIBA team continues to surprise and eliminating today the very strong team in France (with 4 NBA draft prospects), and qualifying to the semi Finals FIBA U-18 tournament. A lot of that is thanks to Saraf.

After scoring 40pts in the last game against Spain and Hugo Gonzales , Saraf was matching up today against projected 2025 top 5 pick Nolan Traore.

Saraf didn't have his best shooting night, and a technical foul led him to be in foul trouble (4 fouls) already during 6 minutes into the second quarter, but he finished strong and ended up with:
23pts, 5 rebs, 5 assists (0TOs), 2 stls, 1 BLK, plus minus +16 in 25 minutes.

Traore has shown good athleticism and passing but really struggled under Israel's on ball pressure, and ended up with :
12 pts, 9 assists, 8 TOs, 7 rebs, plus minus -12.

I'm super impressed with Saraf and I'm pretty shocked he's on no ones' radar so far, so I thought it's worth opening a thread for him.

Highlights from yesterday against Spain:



Pros:

Left handed, great size for a PG, very crafty player, great handle for his size, solid athlete with a really good ability to create his own shot in variety of ways. He's also decent passer and a decent rebounder. Seems to have a plus wingspan.

Cons:
Needs to improve his ability to drive right and use more often his weak hand (right hand) when finishing. He must add muscles and keep working on his explosiveness, though he's already have a good first step. He'll need to prove more consistency with his shooting.

He will be playing for Ulm the upcoming season. Certainly worth following.

He looked better than Hugo Gonzales yesterday and better than Nolan Traore in this game, which makes me wondering what his ceiling is actually is and how high he can be picked at the 2025 or 2026 draft.

I don't really believe in the shot, but everything else is pretty interesting. I've only watched him play in the Spain game, but going to watch a few others, as well. Full games are on FIBA's YouTube page, a good chance to check out some of the international prospects.

babyjax13 wrote:I don't really believe in the shot, but everything else is pretty interesting. I've only watched him play in the Spain game, but going to watch a few others, as well. Full games are on FIBA's YouTube page, a good chance to check out some of the international prospects.

Would love to hear your observations if you watch more of his film by chance.

Personally I have no concerns at all with his shooting. I'm buying his shooting. His pull up J looks great to me from en eye test and usually he's able to create good looks for himself even when under pressure or when contested.

What I'd want him to show in Ulm is whether he can develop his body better for an NBA game in terms of gaining muscles and add some burst. He's a solid athlete but I'd like him to improve it a bit more. Also would like him to show improvements at driving right and at reading defenses a bit faster. If he shows improvements in these specific areas in Ulm, I'd be confident to say he's a lottery level talent even in a strong draft.

Pistol King wrote:

babyjax13 wrote:I don't really believe in the shot, but everything else is pretty interesting. I've only watched him play in the Spain game, but going to watch a few others, as well. Full games are on FIBA's YouTube page, a good chance to check out some of the international prospects.

Would love to hear your observations if you watch more of his film by chance.

Personally I have no concerns at all with his shooting. I'm buying his shooting. His pull up J looks great to me from en eye test and usually he's able to create good looks for himself even when under pressure or when contested.

What I'd want him to show in Ulm is whether he can develop his body better for an NBA game in terms of gaining muscles and explosiveness. He's a solid athlete but I'd like him to improve it a bit more. Also would like him to show improvements at driving right and at reading defenses a bit faster. If he shows improvements in these specific areas in Ulm, I'd be confident to say he's a lottery level talent even in a strong draft.

Will def. comment after watching more. He was super fun, this draft class is going to be a good time to watch.

Not the greatest shooting percentages overall and he has all freedom on the court also he looks physically mature like he has been a veteran for 10 years, jury is still out on him.

Mickey8 wrote:Not the greatest shooting percentages overall and he has all freedom on the court also he looks physically mature like he has been a veteran for 10 years, jury is still out on him.

Saraf is more efficient scorer on this championship than Gonzalez, Traore and same as Saint-Supery.

It's in addition to fact that he scores more than others. He also distributes 5.4 assists per game with just 2.0 turnovers. Traore averages more assists, but with much worse ast/tov ratio and he really struggled ( 9 ast, 8 tov) first time he met competent defense against Israel

Ginobili vibes.

What he lacks in athleticism he makes up for in skill, hustle and IQ. Lottery potential.

Ya just based on that little clip this kid looks really interesting

Israel and Serbia were meeting in the FIBA U-18 Semi Finals today. It was insane game that went to double over times.

Saraf, who tanked his FG% a bit in over time when he was exhausted (46% from FG in the game), just finished the match with 40 pts, 6rebs, 5 assists, 8 steals (!) and 1 BLK (in 46 minutes). I thought it should have been actually 12 steals for him and not just 8, he had intercepted a few more balls that they counted as a steal for the players who ran with the ball that Saraf deflected to them. Today he has shown me he's not just an elite scorer for someone his age, he's also a really good defender.

He had one big bucket in over time that led to a 100-98 leading with 1.5 seconds left to the game, but Serbia still had the last possession, Israel did an extremely poor job guarding in these 1.5 seconds, they committed a foul on their center, he made both of his free throws, and the game went to 2'nd OT. Then again, they were already leading in 5 points, the Israeli coach
for some reason was putting the ball in Omer Mayar's hands (their second best scorer, but a player who is much more shorter and skilled than Saraf), Serbia made a quick come back, and then scored a winning three on the buzzer. Serbia wins 115-114 and qualified to the Finals. tomorrow (August 4th, 11.30am EDT) Saraf will play against Slovenia on a back to back, for the Bronze medal.

His highlights from the game against Serbia:

And now it's Ben Saraf vs Euro U18 history

Even after this heartbreaking 2OT semifinals loss it should be said that Saraf is having most dominant Euro U18 in last 25 years and maybe even ever.

Before bronze medal match he averages 28.5 pts on 45.1/ 38.1 / 74.5 split (55.6 ts%) , 5.3 rbs , 5.3 ast (2.2 tov), 3.5 stl, 1.0 blk

He's obviously leading tournament in scoring, and also in steals, and 7th in assists (with better ast/tov ratio than any player with more assists)

The only other player which averaged over 25 ppg since 2000 is Dario Saric in 2012 - 25.6 pts.
The all times leader is Jordi Villacampa with 28.6 ppg way back in 1982. Sani Bečirovič averaged 28.1 in 1998.

In the last game if Saraf scores 10+ he will be best Euro U18 scorer since 2000. If he scores 30+ he'll became all times Euro U18 best scorer.

Slovenia beats Israel in the bronze medal battle, Saraf is so good, but Israel's supporting cast were simply not good enough throughout the tournament to be enough for finishing with a medal. And Saraf himself didn't have his best shooting night today, he looked extremely exhausted (has played 46 minutes yesterday).

Saraf finishes the game with 26 pts (8/19 FG), 3 rebs, 5 assists (though alongside 4TOs), 7 steals and 1 block.

But on top of that, he wins the FIBA U-18 MVP award, despite Israel finishing only at the 4'th place. I think it's very unusual for FIBA to reward a player who didn't participate in the Finals with this award (correct me if I'm wrong), which probably speaks volumes.

His tournament numbers:
33.4 mpg, 28.1ppg, 5rebs, 5.3 assists, 2.4 TOs, 4.0 steals, 1 BLK, 44.7% FG, 36.2% from 3pt.

It will be really exciting to follow him in Ulm the upcoming season and see if he can take even another leap in his game before entering the draft.

Ginobili.

If his 3 ball is real he’s a top 10 pick.

This top ten is going to be ridiculous.

What I like about Saraf the most is he’s a winner. He’s like BPod but better. Longer.

Saraf obviously has several areas for improvement: using weak hand (especially finishing), overall scoring efficiency (his efficiency on this tournament was ok, but not great at 55.5 ts%, in Israeli top league he scored 10.4 ppg for a team which made semifinals - but efficiency was problematic at just 47.5 ts%), and also he should work on improving his athleticism and adding muscles...

But still he's just 18, and no player (ok, more or less - not including Luka ) is perfect package in this age.

So given his advanced ball-handling, quick first step, elite deceleration, and overall ability to create his shot, very good court vision and ability to create for teammates, great size for ball-handling guard at 6'6" with plus wingspan, and already at least solid athleticism...

Is there any reason to not consider Ben Saraf lottery level prospect ?

Chi town wrote:Ginobili vibes.

What he lacks in athleticism he makes up for in skill, hustle and IQ. Lottery potential.

He really doesn't seem to lack athleticism, though I do wonder how he will do against the size of the NBA vs. this U18 situation. His professional experience next year will say a lot. I've watched the Slovenia game now, too. I'm really impressed with his vision and ability to throw pinpoint passes, his handle is obviously very nice, lots of shiftiness to his game, etc. I still don't love the shot, he kind of slingshots it, which makes me think he will need a bit of a rework to the form. He also favors his left hand in most situations. Regardless, looks like a lottery guy to me. I do see a bit of Dragic in his game, though Saraf is more athletic, I think he's a bit bigger, and he generates more rim-pressure.

babyjax13 wrote:I don't really believe in the shot. I've only watched him play in the Spain game

I'd suggest watching him play more before making such conclusive claims like this.

I wouldn't say he's an elite shooter (very rate for anyone to be a truly elite shooter at such a young age..just turned 18). But he seems to be pretty good at hitting shots off the catch or off the dribble.

Hal14 wrote:

babyjax13 wrote:I don't really believe in the shot. I've only watched him play in the Spain game

I'd suggest watching him play more before making such conclusive claims like this.

I wouldn't say he's an elite shooter (very rate for anyone to be a truly elite shooter at such a young age..just turned 18). But he seems to be pretty good at hitting shots off the catch or off the dribble.

He shot 39/29/69 last year
32% from 3 in Adidas nextgen
Splits in U18 are by far the best for him, he shot 36% from 3 and I think some of that was just being on the lucky side of variance.

I'm not saying he can't improve as a shooter, but I've now watched the Serbia game, too, and I'll catch more. Maybe my mind will change, but I haven't seen anything to indicate that he is even an average shooter for his position as a prospect at the moment. Young players improve rapidly, though, so that could change.

babyjax13 wrote:

Hal14 wrote:

babyjax13 wrote:I don't really believe in the shot. I've only watched him play in the Spain game

I'd suggest watching him play more before making such conclusive claims like this.

I wouldn't say he's an elite shooter (very rate for anyone to be a truly elite shooter at such a young age..just turned 18). But he seems to be pretty good at hitting shots off the catch or off the dribble.

He shot 39/29/69 last year
32% from 3 in Adidas nextgen
Splits in U18 are by far the best for him, he shot 36% from 3 and I think some of that was just being on the lucky side of variance.

I'm not saying he can't improve as a shooter, but I've now watched the Serbia game, too, and I'll catch more. Maybe my mind will change, but I haven't seen anything to indicate that he is even an average shooter for his position as a prospect at the moment. Young players improve rapidly, though, so that could change.

Shooting splits for a 17 year old kid playing in a pro league vs grown men are pretty much always bad..gotta take it with a grain of salt.

babyjax13 wrote:

Hal14 wrote:

babyjax13 wrote:I don't really believe in the shot. I've only watched him play in the Spain game

I'd suggest watching him play more before making such conclusive claims like this.

I wouldn't say he's an elite shooter (very rate for anyone to be a truly elite shooter at such a young age..just turned 18). But he seems to be pretty good at hitting shots off the catch or off the dribble.

He shot 39/29/69 last year
32% from 3 in Adidas nextgen
Splits in U18 are by far the best for him, he shot 36% from 3 and I think some of that was just being on the lucky side of variance.

I'm not saying he can't improve as a shooter, but I've now watched the Serbia game, too, and I'll catch more. Maybe my mind will change, but I haven't seen anything to indicate that he is even an average shooter for his position as a prospect at the moment. Young players improve rapidly, though, so that could change.

Yes. 39/29/69 is not great.

But he played in very good professional league though which is barely worse than German or Australian.

Troare scored 12.3 ppg in better league but it was in very small sample size of just 9 games and his split was basically same as Saraf's at 39.6 / 30 / 70.2

Most of other prospects never played in league of even remotely close to Israeli top division level, and most of them would not break into rotation of playoff team in this league.

Young prospects almost never efficient in any good professional leagues. LaMelo's splits in Australia were 38 / 25 / 72

Just to explain situation: in semifinal series (1 W / 2 L) Saraf averaged 11.3 pts, 4.3 ast against Hapoel Tel-Aviv which is top-8 EuroCup team.

Hal14 wrote:

babyjax13 wrote:

Hal14 wrote:I'd suggest watching him play more before making such conclusive claims like this.

I wouldn't say he's an elite shooter (very rate for anyone to be a truly elite shooter at such a young age..just turned 18). But he seems to be pretty good at hitting shots off the catch or off the dribble.

He shot 39/29/69 last year
32% from 3 in Adidas nextgen
Splits in U18 are by far the best for him, he shot 36% from 3 and I think some of that was just being on the lucky side of variance.

I'm not saying he can't improve as a shooter, but I've now watched the Serbia game, too, and I'll catch more. Maybe my mind will change, but I haven't seen anything to indicate that he is even an average shooter for his position as a prospect at the moment. Young players improve rapidly, though, so that could change.

Shooting splits for a 17 year old kid playing in a pro league vs grown men are pretty much always bad..gotta take it with a grain of salt.

I'm not saying not to, as has been pointed out, there is quite a history of kids in grown men's leagues shooting poorly. BUT, I don't love the mechanics of his shot.