TARVU SAJAI    6-0    169    PG   1986--Sajai is Greek's best NBA prospect at the moment, although that is not really saying much when comparing his NBA-related attributes with the top prospects of other EuroLeague teams. Sajai is the definition of grit and tenacity; a natural hard worker who is never satisfied, never gives up and wills himself to be effective on defense, which would probably be his calling card in the NBA. He is a true leader on the floor, always playing with pride, whether hustling to the floor for loose balls, being vocal, directing his teammates on the floor, etc. Unlike most Greek prospects as well, Sajai is fairly athletic to the point where at least he wouldn't be considered a liability there in the NBA. Sajai can drive to the basket using his deceptive speed and athleticism, sometimes making moves one would not expect him to make. The problems of Sajai reside in just about everything else, however; first of all, his height and weight. Sajai has a very slight frame at just 6 feet and a shade below 170 lbs. He gets knocked around quite a bit on defense, always playing his man tight but always throwing his body around to the point where he frequently falls (sometimes getting the benefit of drawing the charge. His defense might be rendered ineffective in the NBA where taller players can simply shoot over him as well. The rest of his game is merely below average to average; Sajai merely is an average three point shooter at this time, capable of missing open shots, and his mid-range game is sorely missing. And although Sajai is a great leader, he is by no means much of a floor general; he lacks good court vision, only making the simple pass and never being able to elevate the play of others through his passing ability. He is extremely tough, but lacking in key areas which might prevent him from being a good NBA prospect.

 

DELIOS MANTINEZZOS  6-6   185  SF  1985--Mantinezzos is a solid prospect, like Sajai, in his own right, but also missing in crucial NBA aspects of his game as well as some key athleticism. First of all, Mantinezzos is the prototypical fill-in-the-blanks wingman, one who wants to thrive making an impact without scoring. Mantinezzos is a great ballhandler who handles the ball effortlessly, even for NBA  standards, and knows the tricks of the trades in handling apt defenses to the point where he can limit his turnovers extremely well. That leads into his passing, where he makes the most out of his ballhandling skills to whip nice passes to cutters in the blink of an eye or simply find the open man off drawing defenses equally well in both half-court sets and transition game. Mantinezzos is a smart player who knows how to play the game, exploiting opportunities for others while keeping his composure. However, he is simply not just a tall passing wing, he is also a hustle type who is willing to sacrifice his body. Mantinezzos frequently chases after rebounds, going hard to the glass and fighting for loose balls against big men constantly. Mantinezzos never floats, always moving well off the ball and trying to make good use of himself at all times. The key problems in Mantinezzos' game, and this is a critical one, is his stunning lack of true offensive ability. He can sometimes surprise scouts by driving to the basket, hitting jumpshots and putting up a good scoring night, but often times he merely simply doesn't look to score--always in the lookout passing mentality. When he does take jumpshots, it is extremely streaky and erratic--he needs to improve upon his stroke and his release. Mantinezzos also has trouble converting chippies--his small hands make him lose the ball at times as he does not always catch the ball--and he can miss easy layups. Mantinezzos is extremely unselfish to the point where he even his coach blames him for not taking a bigger role when it is available for him. Mantinezzos' athleticism is the second question; he has limited athleticism, and tends to use his hustle and grit above all else. That won't be effective in the NBA, as his slight frame of only 185 lbs. needs to pack more weight and his athleticism definitely won't help him. Mantinezzos rarely dunks, and his vertical is poor as well. His athleticism coupled with his silence offensively are definitely huge hurdles for him to overcome.

 

MICAH ROSSPEN   6-10   200   SF/ PF  1988--Rosspen is the primary potential prospect of Greece, and he packs a solid skill set in a budding frame; whichever forward position he will grow into is anyone's guess, but his skill set is solidly suited for both. First of all, Rosspen is an offensive-minded forward with naturally inherent rebounding skills, and those two qualities combined are usually enough to draw intrigue in the NBA. He's not tearing up the youth leagues at this point, at only 18 years old, but he has a slowly developing post game as well as flashes of a consistent mid-range jumper. However, what Rosspen is currently showing is nothing related to consistency; in fact, he is extremely streaky in just about everything he does, even when the competition is many notches below of him. Rosspen lacks a true killer instinct and doesn't know how to dominate, as he is slowly growing into his body (he had a 3' inch growth spurt over the past year). However, his flashes are enough to get scouts to salivate about his potential, especially with regards to his age; Rosspen can definitely get hot from range or from the post, hitting many shots from around the same area consecutively. Some games he gets hot from mid-range and everything he throws into the ocean hits, whereas other games he can back down his man, release a hook shot or slithery post move layup and that too would also fall down. Rosspen loves to take the offensive shot, showing little offensive judgment for better or for worse; when he misses, it's not because of mechanics or release, it is simply because of his lack of concentration, a common flaw found in almost all youngsters. Rosspen puts up very average stat lines in the Balkan youth leagues as of now, often not making the impact he should be until he has a game where he simply gets hot and dominates. Rosspen's rebounding ability is gifted; he doesn't need to hustle to get the best of it, he simply has the long arms, suction-cup hand grip and the nose for the ball to retrieve it. Rosspen excels in clearouts and defensive reobunding, always putting himself into an able position despite not boxing out. He frequently gets games of 10+ rebounds in his league. The primary concern of Rosspen, despite his inconsistencies and raw edges of his game, is his lack of a true position as of now. He is an inside-outside type as of now, but his frame cannot handle the toughness of most power forwards and his speed and shooting ability simply isn't on par with most small forwards. His athleticism is merely average, never really high-rising and simply taking advantage of his physical attributes over the unathletic Greek competition. However, Rosspen still has time to develop into his body and decide which position is best for him in the long run.

 

SALIVEKOS ORIKALKOS    6-2    202   SG   1984--Orikalkos is the definition of the undersized two guard gunner type, a common attribute among many players trying to make the NBA. Orikalkos looks for the shot, for better or for worse, and has the body type and game similar to Puerto Rican star Larry Ayuso. He can create his own shot at will, never getting blocked because of his extreme ability to get his opponent off balance as well as his own ability to get his shot off at the blink of an eye. Orikalkos is also clutch as well, taking a huge sample space of three pointers and hitting them when the defense least expects it. He gets into extreme spurts where he seems unstoppable, going on hot streaks and single-handedly carrying his team, and at those moments it is only himself who can bring himself back down to earth. He can rain three point shots off the dribble at will, or utilize his ballhandling skills to stop and drop for mid-range dimes or use his well-built body to ward off defenders in making layups. He is capable of the tricks-of-the-trade offensive game if he puts his mind to it. Orikalkos is also a mediocre defender, not good but not bad either, and he can step up to the occasion and use his bulk to harass slighter PGs. Orikalkos's problems reside in the fact that his game doesn't exactly match up with his body; he is a shooting guard in a PG's body, and he absolutely renders useless his passing ability, neglecting it most of the time. The offense is centered around him, and he is often the recipient of making offensive plays. Orikalkos's true passing ability and the ability to make others better has not been tested as a result--it is hard to gauge this aspect of his game. Orikalkos has deceptive athleticism to attack the basket, but oftentimes he doesn't use much of his mid-range or attack game, always sticking for the three pointer and making his offensive game quite predictable. And like most other shooters, his shooting can definitely get streaky--he can have real cold nights and be the cause of a loss as much as a win. Orikalkos has the bulk, but that is also a detriment as he has had some conditioning problems in the past, never being in top shape with some weight problems (although that has improved). That also affects his footspeed, where he looks quite slow attacking the basket and where he is not extremely effective in transition game (just average). He loves to play up-tempo, but not in attacking the basket. Overall, Orikalkos is simply a scorer with some other tools, but he is utterly one-dimensional and his size doesn't make up for it.

 

ELEAZAR RUGIOTH   6-11   244    C   1986--Rugioth, nicknamed "The Mammoth" by his fellow Greek teammates, is a soft-spoken big man who makes his impact through his plays. Rugioth is a natural shotblocker who gets exponentially as he receives more minutes, as he needs to have a feel for the court to be in top form. Rugioth makes his impact primarily in the rebounding and defensive side of the floor, often being neglected on offense. However, Rugioth is more than capable of getting offensive rebounds and putbacks, as well as scoring through easy dunks off passes. Rugioth accepts his role and has solid shotblocking skills off-the-ball and the appropriate body to make a stand in post defense, and although he is not excellent at both, he tends to improve on them as his minutes increase. Rugioth's name has gotten out primarily because of his clutch defensive plays over the course of the EuroLeague playoffs in the past and in the games this year; he gets crucial blocks and gobbles up key rebounds. His jumpshot and free throw touch (45%) are sorely lacking, as well as any semblance of a post game, but he has potential to improve on them; his post game and his solid defense are slowly drawing intrigue.

 

VAPIN DOLASSIENOS  5-10   162   PG   1986--Dolassienos is the glue-guy, the primary point guard, of one of Greek's finest teams, Lepart DuPassier. A very smart and heady PG, he is extremely good at gauging trade offs for the better of the team, sacrificing his own individual stats in the process. Whether by taking key fouls to stop transition points, passing smartly, avoiding mistakes, etc. Dolassienos has helped bring his team to tops in the Balkan League, and thus deserves special mention in this column despite his rather meager stats. Dolassienos does a little bit of everything; he's a good passer who can find the open man, but he's not flashy, rarely uses the drive and dish, and doesn't get as much assists as one would think. He passes the ball within the system and doesn't care about numbers, acting as an extension of his coach on the floor. He is also a very heady defender, not a gambler, but one who stays on his man, anticipates movements well and has the lateral quickness to stay with him. Dolassienos is a primarily a spot-up shooter, not a good one, but a reliable one as he hits around 35% on three pointers. Dolassienos simply knows how to control the pace of the game, taking his own shots while getting everyone involved at the right amount. He doesn't excel at any one aspect, and this may be further pronounced (along with his lack of height) in the NBA, and thus he doesn't seem like much of an NBA prospect.

 

ASHUR MOSSARI    6-6     171   SG  1987--Mossari is Greek's player making the most impact in the EuroLeagues. He has extremely good scoring skills, utilizing shift of gears, change of pace and all other crafty tricks to get to the basket. He is in constant attack mode, moving restlessly on the court off-the-ball, forcing the issue in attacks or simply cutting to the basket for easy points. Mossari also gets fouled at a constant clip due to his rather aggressive nature in attacking the basket without abandon, but at the same time mixes up his stat sheet with a fair share of turnovers and offensive fouls in the process. Mossari has a solid step-back jumpshot which is not utilized too often, but he can also hit at a decent rate up to even three point range, although not consistently. Mossari is a very solid free throw shooter as well (78%). However, the problems of Mossari is that he's extremely underweight; normally, that wouldn't be much of a problem as he can gain it as he matures, but not only does Mossari not look like he has the body to take in weight, he also gets into many injuries ranging from dislocated shoulders to bruises which make him sit out many games in the youth leagues. He is quite injury prone primarily due to his lack of strength and aggressive abandon. His offensive game also needs to be more diversified; that works in the youth leagues but not even in the domestic leagues. His passing ability is slim, as his ballhandling skills need work and he doesn't look too fluid attacking the basket. He can as excessively turnover prone as much as he scores. He also has a tendency to get lazy on defense, not showing the best work ethic as well. (or receptiveness to coaching). Overall, he can dominate the youth leagues with his offensive attacks, but that won't work at the next level.