We'll start first with Yugoslavia, where Geronis Mathiadauki's account of Anton Marceco was true to form, was Marceco once again lit up Carsova Iltima with 37 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 7 steals once again filling up the stat sheet. Marceco may be Yugoslavia's top prospect in the history of their country, and he is absolutely tearing up the youth leagues with his spectacular play--both getting himself and his teammates involved efficiently. Naturally, he's still raw and has holes in certain aspects of his game, but that's acceptable given his youth.

 

Elsewhere in Yugoslavia, Ergy Salari produced yet another nice game for Lancienes by having 15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals on 6-8 shooting. The ever-moving and fairly athletic Selem Verjo also made some ground by scoring 23 points on 8-18 shooting, 3-6 from threes. He's still erratic and prone to making his shots harder than they should be, but there's no denying his latent talent. The big man combination of Dubei Seranine and Devla Teslev also worked to perfection today against Telnadi Ayers, as Seranine muscled his way against his frail competition to the tune of 16 points and 11 rebounds while Teslev made his impact as Seranine's PF with 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. In yet another game, Douvai Kursur showed his all-around ability with 7 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, showing some very nice passing skills for a big man in the process. Kursur has little NBA potential but has a chance to make it given his unique skill set. The youth leagues saw the 1989 born Arven Majeri step up. Majeri, a 7-footer with nice bulk, showed some mobility and quickness in getting to the basket, but his game still remains raw as he cannot often get into the speed and control of the game. Majeri did, however, record a nice 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocks in the youth leagues, and he does have a bright future ahead of him. Elsewhere, Rhondy Chasten, a 6'4" 210 lb. shooting guard and who has been compared to the European version of Dwyane Wade, went to the rack countless times, drew many fouls and made athletic and nifty reverse layups at will against Babacarsi. Chasten had 16 points going 10-15 from the stripe. He's athletic and undeniably talented around the basket, and sparks fears into the eyes of his opponents with his first step, but he can't hit free throws, lacks any semblance of a jumpshot and needs to improve upon his true PG skills. Nevertheless, he's in the draft radar as he has started the dominate the youth leagues.

 

Going to Croatia, we see the duo of Najuvett Pontja and Uros Kavalu also start to make names for themselves. Although none have unbelievable potential in part due to missing skill sets or lack of great athleticism, both have some useful tools and aggression which will definitely aid them in the European game. Pontja's aggression is infectious, continually slashing to the basket and spattering a few jumpers every now and then, and chasing missed shots continually. Pontja produced 17 points and 6 rebounds today, whereas his counterpart Kavalu had 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. The "Speedster", Timu Sur had 14 points and 5 assists for Glaveced, but also had 5 turnovers and fouled out. Nonetheless, he got his teammates involved well and scored when open. Forap Rensur, a power big, had an off-game getting into foul trouble, but did manage to hook himself with 3 blocked shots and numerous other alters.

 

Smalll countries also had countries with magnificent games today. Ukraine saw its very own Savre Jingen elevate his play for Kienmorad, with a blistering 32 points on 7-12 three pointers. Jingen has always had that ability, but to maintain that consistency is still in question. Hungary saw Tergo Selny have 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks as well. Poland's Enzerev Polatak, as usual, had his solid game of 14 points, 4 rebounds and an assist. Portugal's lone and raw big man prospect, Erzmaran Savejos, didn't exactly have the game of his life, but he did produce moving off-the-ball, setting screens and rolling for dunks with 8 points, 5 rebounds and a block.

 

Turkey had its multidimensional Sumy Vezghev produce 13 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists today. Jafur Mhazgry, a big man filled with raw talent, had an interesting up-and-down game with 7 points on 5-8 free throw shooting as well as 10 rebounds and 5 fouls, but he managed to rotate well in perimeter defense and alter many hoisted jumpshots. The Greeks saw Tarvu Sajai in Norvetti, the heart and soul of the team, willing his way to 16 points and 4 rebounds, playing suffocating defense which led to holding down Sapetti to only 51 points for the entire game. Delios Mantinezzos showed his offensive inabilities once again today, preventing him from being a lock draft prospect with only 2 points, 3 rebounds and a steal.

 

Lithuania saw a young player step up from within its ranks--Saras Kansiecis. The 6'8" 240 lb. big man showed a splendid offensive game from both inside and outside, pulling defenses away and bringing them to the post at least in the EuroLeague level, making him a tough matchup. What he sorely lacks in quickness and athleticism he exploits in skill set. While his NBA potential is limited, he may make a role player contribution for an NBA team down the road if he keeps improving at this rate. Other players with nice games include the gunning sharpshooter Sheveri Debess, who racked up the shots and in effect racked up the points. Debess shot his way to the 20 point mark today, raining threes off the dribble and stopping for the occasional slash. Flasjas Narvu, an underachieving but physically gifted big man, had 10 points, 5 rebounds and an interesting 5 steals for Larpetti Udova.

 

In Russia, sparingly used big man Rolmar Dasiev stepped up his production with 14 points, 9 rebounds while playing sound defense. Talaki Shorei had 17 points and 7 rebounds for St. Petersburg today. Slomans Dodde's Dmitri Vandervallis, the Russian gunner, had 27 points and 4 assists today against Lupriev Ivanotchev.  Ernst Polyn, the big man on Slomans Dodde, also had 8 rebounds and several key late game blocks, ending with 4 for the night. The youth leagues had Gurov Yasmir, a 5'11" PG, produce 15 points and 8 assists displaying some really pure PG skills. His jumpshot is in question, however, and the competition he faces is even easier than our next player, Drei Kurokas, who also managed to chip in with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 5 steals against Lasturiev.

 

That's it for updates. The focus will be on Spain, Germany and France, the Western Europe outputs of European basketball--in our next update. Also look for Buthel Dunlap and Jons Berzag to contribute with some Brazilian and English updates in basketball in that article as well.