The Adidas Next Generation Tournament is back on and it’s time for a stop in Munich, Germany for the first ANGT qualifier in the Bavarian capital. There are four teams in the competition – hosts FC Bayern Munich, Brose Bamberg, Alba Berlin and ratiopharm Ulm – as well as the 2015 ANGT champions Real Madrid. The other three teams are Darussafaka Istanbul, Olympiacos Piraeus and Real Betis Energia Seville.
Here is a rundown of some of the big names and storylines for the ANGT Munich from February 9-11.
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Alba Berlin
Alba head down to Munich with a team featuring a couple of interesting players who are close to making contributions to the BBL team.
Point guard Jonas Mattisseck (2000) is a pesky defender who attacks the rim on offense and does a solid job running the point. He has already made his BBL debut with Berlin and has played in the German youth national team system for years already.
Hendrik Drescher (2000) is a big bodied center/power forward who in the process of learning to play away from the basket as well. Drescher dominated at the youth level but partially because of his size. He has really done a lot to improve his outside shooting, which has made him a more legitimate prospect as an inside-outside threat. If he could add some more quickness and athleticism that would make him even more intriguing.
Franz Wagner (2001) has loads of talent but it’s unclear if he will be fit to play in Munich. The wing is a great shooter and is beginning to become more of a driver as well. He has great length and will likely grow more. Wagner is the younger brother of Moritz Wagner, who is playing collegiately in the United States at Michigan.
Elias Rödl (2002) has a great skillset, not to mention great bloodlines – his father was Alba legend and European and NCAA champion and Germany national team head coach Henrik Rödl. Elias has a great understanding of the game and limits his mistakes. He also is a good shooter.
Evans Rapieque (2002) has drawn good reviews but this will be the first time I have seen him. And it is interesting that Abdulah Kameric (2000) was born in the United States and is playing in Germany.
Max Stoelzl, Joshua Luebken and Lorenz Brenneke (all 2000) all played on the Alba team at the ANGT last season.
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Brose Bamberg
Bamberg are back in the competition after not playing last season. The number one guy for Bamberg is 2001 talent Kay Bruhnke. The wing played just one game at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017, limiting how much I could see him last summer. He has an excellent understanding of the game and does not shy away from the competition despite being quite a bit younger. He has been playing much younger than his opposition for some time – playing in the U19 NBBL all season last year at 16 years and this season he is playing for the ProA second division side Baunach Young Pikes.
Henri Drell (2000) has continued to improve in the Bamberg system. The Estonian talent has great length and also has a good skillset. He enjoys driving to the basket and finishing – also in traffic. Drell has a good first step.
Jekas Beck (2001) is German-Latvian and decided to play for Latvia last summer at the FIBA U16 European Championship. He is a serviceable big man who will need to develop quickness and an outside shot if he wants to play at the next level.
Joshua Obiesie (2000) is a loan player from IBAM. The lefty has an athletic build and good quickness. He can also shoot from the outside.
One other player to watch is Finn Fleute, who is another loaned player – from ETB Essen. He also played in the NBBL All-Star Game this season.
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Darussafaka Istanbul
This is not a team I can say too much about. Mert Akay (2000) is the clear leader of Darussafaka and the talented point guard has had much success in the past with Turkey’s national team – taking third place in the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016 and fourth place at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017. He had good size for a point guard and good length. Akay also has excellent passing skills and court vision.
Cagdas Atbas, Can Turgut, Efe Arikan and Olle Stumer all were also part of Darussafaka’s ANGT team last season.
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FC Bayern Munich
Bayern have quite a few interesting players. The top guy is 2001 talent Matej Rudan from Croatia. Rudan played last season in the ANGT in Coin for Cibona and has joined Bayern on a long-term deal. He has great basketball bloodlines to go with his great skillset and length. Rudan can already hurt teams from outside and also possesses some skills to play inside. He has an excellent understanding of the game with fine passing skills. He was named to the All-Star Five of the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017, where he helped Croatia to the Semi-Finals and a spot at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018.
Sasha Grant is another 2001-born import from abroad as he played for Italy at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017. Grant is a strongly built wing who can score and also defend.
Actually the number one player on Bayern’s team will be 2002-born Luc Van Slooten, but he is a player on loan from Rasta Vechta. Van Slooten is one of the top prospects in all of youth basketball and is working on his leadership skills and trying to limit his poor decisions. But the skillset is tantalizing and it will be interesting to see how he fits into a team not his own.
Also with Van Slooten from the Vechta team on loan will be Nat Diallo. The 2000-born athletic big man was still raw the last time I saw him but he is getting there. This will be a good experience for him, playing for a team that has a lot of talent throughout. He played for Fraport Skyliners in the ANGT last year.
Other players to watch are Bruno Vrcic, Kilian Binapfl, Daniel Zdravevski and Jonas Gieseck.
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Olympiacos Piraeus
Olympiacos are playing in the ANGT for the first time since 2007 and the EuroLeague giants are trying to build up a youth program. A couple of their leaders were part of a Greece national team that was relegated to the Division B at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016 – Nikos Arsenopoulos, Georgios Balis and 2001-born Thomas Zevgaras. It’s unclear if Arsenopoulos will be fit in time to come to Munich and he might be limited if he does. The other player to watch is 2001 Serbian born Aleksej Pokusevski.
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ratiopharm Ulm
Ulm are making their debut in the ANGT and have one of the biggest prospects in German basketball in their ranks. Jason George (2001) is a thrilling player who gives tremendous effort on the defensive end with his excellent athleticism. He joined Ulm this off-season after coming in the Urspring/Ehingen system, where he collected 39 points and 31 rebounds in a U16 JBBL game against Crailsheim in February 2017. George can also light it up on the offensive end. The one question is if he’s big enough to play at the next level. But the skill set is breath-taking.
Mate Fasekas (2000) is a Hungarian-born big man who has been in Ulm’s system for four years now. He has great size and has developed some excellent moves around the basket. Fasekas has great hands and can really shoot for his size too.
Tim Koepple (2000) is an excellent game manager at the point guard. He is not overly athletic but he can get to his spots and has a good understanding of the game.
Timo Lanmüller (2001) is a pure shooter and defenses best not give him any space.
A couple of other names to watch: Zach Ensminger (the son of two-time German league champion and three-time All-BBL First Team member Chris Ensminger), Moritz Krimmer and Hungarian 2001-born Adam Krasovec.
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Real Betis Energia Seville
Betis have a handful of interesting players. Speaking of bloodlines, Andrzej Pluta’s father – who had the same name – played for Poland’s national team for 11 years. The younger Pluta made the All-Tournament Team at the ANGT Coin last season. He is a great scorer and shooter.
Lou Demuth is a lefty big man (will probably be one of the biggest players in Munich) who has an excellent skillset considering he comes from Luxembourg. Definitely has a chance of becoming one of the greatest players from Luxembourg. Great size and has some good footwork around the basket.
Tomas Balciunas (2000) is a strong Lithuanian wing who can shoot and play a bit inside around the basket. Balciunas really shows his emotions on the court and is a big effort guy.
Betis also features two guards who faced off in the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017 Final in France’s European champion Anthony Da Silva and Montenegro’s Stefan Vlahovic.
Da Silva is the son of Philippe Da Silva, who played for the Portuguese national team between 2001 and 2011. Anthony has been with Betis for two years now.
Vlahovic is a fighter and winner. He was a huge part of Montenegro reaching the U16 European final. The point guard can drive to the basket, shoot and puts others in good position to score. He possesses a huge will to win and wears his emotions on his sleeve.
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Real Madrid
This is a loaded Madrid team. First off there is Usman Garuba, the 2002-born jewel who will be burning to play after missing both the ANGT Coin and ANGT Finals last season due to injury. Garuba was the MVP of the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016 – as a 14-year-old with a triple-double (with 10 blocks) in the final. He loves to get out and run and has a great court vision – though he still plays with a bit too much flash. He also is a great rebounder and can score in a number of different ways. He is truly a joy to watch with his passing skills
Joining him on the 2016 U16 title-winning team were glue guys Diego De Blas and Carlos Unanue as well as 2001-born Golden Dike, a physical low post presence who can finish around the basket and take his game outside a bit.
There is also the 2000-born Swedish combo guard Melwin Pantzar, who is very athletic with good length and gets after it on defense. He also can finish around the rim.
Amar Sylla is a 2001-born Senegalese who is a walking highlight reel. Sylla is very long and lanky with great leaping ability. Still needs to work on his shooting but you best not blink your eyes when he’s on the court – at either end as he can wow you defensively as well.
The 2001-born Mario Nakic hails from Serbia and is an offensive force – both from the outside and driving to the basket. He can score in bunches and from anywhere.
Kareem Queeley is a 2001-born Great Britain talent who can shut down people defensively. He also can score at will – though he understands his role very well and can execute it excellently.
Boris Tisma is a 2002-born talent from Croatia who played at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2017. The long and lanky lefty is a great shooter who can also handle the ball a bit and can finish around the break.
Two other names to watch are Ziga Samar (2001-Slovenia) and Ruben Lopez (2002).