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I'm watching France vs Great Britain right now. De Colo is getting plenty of playing time. I missed the first quarter but it looks like something happened to Parker in the first quarter cause he was being taken to the locker room when i first tuned in. Parker looks okay now and is back on the bench, but it's not looking like he'll be playing again. It's just a friendly game after all.

Anyways, De Colo is getting a whole lot of playing time because of this. Now, granted it's just one game, but **** man... There is no way De Colo get rotation time on our team.

Let's see here... From what I've observed.

Colo can't get to the rim because he has average/below average quickness and speed. I think the ability to penetrate is important in our offense because that's how things opened up on the perimeter. Colo doesn't have this skill. If he does, he's definitely not showing it. He played the whole 2nd quarter (it's just halftime right now) and has yet to penetrate to the rim.

And then there's also his shooting. Well, he didn't shoot much. But when he did, his shot selection was questionable. Both of his shots weren't even close to being in.

Passing is also an issue. He had one nice assist to Turiaf and that's it. I'll even complain about that assist because he went airborne and then passed. It's the sort of thing Neal liked to do. 50% of the time, it ends up as a turnover. Anyways, passing is not exactly his game. He's making passes that nearly get picked off.

Floor general? No. Even the commentators are saying how France offense is all messed up now because the ball movement is non-existent and guys are taking bad shots.

France was the favorite to win by 12 points in betting lines. Half time, and I believe the score is 20-40 in favor of Great Britain. Please... France will be lucky to steal this game.

I watched this game with the hope of seeing De Colo. I hope the second half is different for him, but he's beyond bad so far. I see nothing about his game that will translate well to the NBA. His problem is that he does nothing elite. The things he does well, it's still below average on the NBA level.

Looks like something happened to Parker's knee because he's icing it.

Wow.. France came back to win it. Diawara was the show and Boris Diaw iced it late in the game. He did his best Duncan impression.

Anyways, France made their comeback with a similar tall white PG. Last name Westermann. The commentator said he's under 20 and he's not gonna be in the France team in London but they made their run with this kid running the PG replacing De Colo.

He looks tall. Atleast the size of De Colo so i'm assuming somewhere around 6'6. Left handed. I didn't see him shoot the ball, but he was penetrating, making the defense collapse and sharing the ball. Very quick player. I would say he's the quickest player from both teams. The offense was running well ever since he came in. De Colo didn't even come back to the floor ever since this Westermann kid took his place. De Colo actually played better in the 3rd quarter scoring 6 points but this kid Westermann looks really good.

Started searching around for this kid.

Leo Westermann. 6'7'' PG 199 lbs.

June 13, 2012
-French point guard Leo Westermann had a very nice showing in Treviso, showing the same excellent basketball IQ and maturity as a floor general we saw from him at the Hoop Summit. He excels in settings like this playing against his peers, showing great patience offensively, making shots from the perimeter, and getting his teammates involved. He did a tremendous job finding Rudy Gobert in position to score, but struggled a bit with turnovers today. A 1992-born prospect, Westermann did little to dispel notions that he's one of the most mature lead guards in his age group.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz1zxgrauk2
http://www.draftexpress.com


The most experienced prospect participating at the Nike Hoop Summit, Leo Westermann is a starter for a team vying to make the playoffs in ProA France, which was very evident watching himself conduct himself on and off the court.

Measured at 6-7 in Portland, Westermann has outstanding size for any of the backcourt positions, even if his average 199 pound frame and mediocre 6-4 wingspan aren't feathers in his cap. He's not an impressive athlete either, noticeably lacking great quickness and explosiveness.

What Westermann does possess is a terrific feel for the game, which has allowed him to establish himself as one of the most productive players in his age group in Europe, and should help him reach a very high level in professional basketball when it's all said and done.

Despite his height, Westermann operates primarily as a point guard for his ASVEL team in France, which operates at a deliberate pace that suits his style of play. A big part of his offense comes on the pick and roll, where he does a good job getting his teammates involved intelligently, using both hands and making crafty passes in a variety of ways. He likes to throw lob passes over the top of the defense when trapped out on the perimeter, and has excellent timing using bounce passes to find cutters diving to the rim.

Westermann is generally a very unselfish player who reads the floor well and likes to make the extra pass. He shows excellent leadership skills despite his youth, constantly directing teammates and doing a good job executing in the half-court.

Also capable of playing off the ball, Westermann stood out as one of the purest shooters on the Hoop Summit World Team, with his picture-perfect mechanics. That's translated to his play this season as well, as he's hit a terrific 47% of the shots he's taken with his feet set through 38 games according to Synergy Sports Tech. This gives his coach some nice versatility to work with, allowing him to be paired alongside a smaller scoring combo guard in the Monta Ellis/Lou Williams mold.

Westermann's biggest shortcomings revolve around his inability to create shots efficiently inside the arc. He does not possess a great first step or overwhelming quickness, which makes it difficult for him to beat his man off the dribble and renders him fairly ineffective in transition and isolation situations. Westermann does not get into the paint all that often in the half-court, and when he does, his average frame and explosiveness make it difficult for him to draw fouls or convert at a high rate around the basket. Unfortunately his team has been relying on him pretty heavily for offense since Tony Parker left at the end of the NBA lockout, which he's struggled with at times in the form of turnovers. He coughs the ball up on nearly 25% of his possessions, amongst the highest rates in Pro A.

While Westermann is clearly skilled and versatile enough to find a niche for himself on the offensive end, defensively is where scouts might have the biggest question marks about his NBA potential. He shows nice intelligence, timing, intensity and toughness using his size to his advantage jumping in the passing lanes and doing his best to compete in one on one settings, but often has a hard time staying in front of quicker guards due to his average length and lateral quickness and will need to add strength to his frame to help fight through screens.

Although he is not oozing with potential due to his average physical tools, Westermann shows an intriguing skill-set as a big, unselfish guard with strong perimeter shooting ability and intangibles. While his stat-line didn't jump off the page at the Nike Hoop Summit, it was obvious that his smarts and experience played an important role in the World Team coming up victorious. Westermann will likely continue to move up the European ladder and looks like a strong candidate to reach the very top-level of competition there, which could make him an interesting player for a NBA team to “draft and stash” for a few years to see how he continues to develop.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz1zxhGiAVb
http://www.draftexpress.com

Guys, I'm European and I could offer some more insight into De Colo and Westermann.

De Colo does not look like an NBA player to me. He has decent size for a combo guard but is not strong enough and would have trouble against big guards. He is slow on defense and will either be foul-prone or a horrible defender.

On offense, he is no playmaker. He is shoot-first but also has trouble creating for himself. There are often games in which he struggles to get his shots. He is an OK shooter and in our system he could develop a deadly corner shot or a good spot-up shot but that's all he can bring to the table.

Westermann, on the other hand, is almost your prototypical Euro PG who can't and won't shoot.

I was able to see them both live last season and neither of them impressed me. I know De Colo is supposed to be another steal but unfortunately, I don't believe in him.

De Colo isn't a natural playmaker but he can show glimpse of amazing vision and he can create for himself. When he woke up in Eurobasket 11 for France in the final run he was a game changer. I didn't watch him closely this season, but dude is streaky as ****, when he's on, he looks like the best player on the court but well he's far from alive being on.

He kinda of remind me of a less athletic Jamal Craworf with his upside and all his downside. But hey, Jamal Craword is still a freakin good player not the guy who would make you a championship caliber team but still a talented fearless player who can bail you out.

BTW, I think he can give something to the Spurs especially in this team and way of working, but I'd be surprised if he's a really really good player in NBA...

I knew I have a good eye for talent.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... EuroBasket

Leo Westermann Named MVP Of U20 EuroBasket
Jul 23, 2012 10:38 AM EDT

Leo Westermann was named the Most Valuable Player of the U20 European Championship.

Westermann, a 6-foot-6 point guard, averaged 12.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists for France.

Westermann will play next season for Partizan Belgrade.

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... z21T3Q5xGj