European Hoops Recap: 2017 NBA Draft prospects on parade

The 2017 NBA Draft’s international prospects haven’t had the best collective start to the season. Playing time is a fickle thing for young players in Europe, even when someone is playing well. It’s an entire continent operating under the Doc Rivers coaching philosophy, unless you’re one of the fortunate 12 or so under 22-year-olds playing for Mega Leks.

Even so, things haven’t been great for this year’s crop of talent. Rodions Kurucs and Jonathan Jeanne have been stuck on junior teams, and Kurucs is dealing with injury. Isaiah Hartenstein has barely played at the Euroleague level. Frank Ntilikina has alternated promising performances with equally disappointing ones.

But this week, things came together for several young prospects. At all three levels of continental competition, there was at least one strong performance from a player who NBA teams will be looking at closely in May and June.

Read More: Milos Teodosic should be Euroleague MVP

This will be a weekend that will be prominent on game film for guys like Ntilkina, Blaz Mesicek, and Aleksandar Vezenkov.

Frank Ntilikina had a Highlight Day Against Mornar

Frank Ntilikina hasn’t been able to get consistent playing time in the FIBA Champions League this year, but he’s still found some chances to impress. Playing a fair amount of shooting guard has limited his ability to display his point guard skills, but on Tuesday, he decided to show off his NBA-level athleticism. Ntilikina was responsible for two highlight plays in Strasbourg’s 93-62 blowout of Mornar. In the second quarter, Ntilikina was being guarded by Marko Mijovic and he used his athleticism to take full advantage of the mismatch.

Then, in the third quarter, Ntilikina made another nice play, using his quick hands to strip Octavious Ellis and throw down a fast break slam:

Ntilikina finished with 10 points and four assists in the win, an impressive overall showing serving as a reminder as to why he was considered a top-5 prospect before the season. It’s easy to forget at times why young international players like Ntilikina are rated highly, despite not playing consistent minutes. This week, Ntilikina showed us why you should pay attention to him — Because his athleticism is on an elite tier, even in what should be a strong draft class athletically.

Blaz Mesicek Explodes in Short Minutes

Ntilikina wasn’t the only 2017 Draft prospect to show off this week. Over in Israel, Union Olimpija’s Blaz Mesicek only played 11 minutes in an 81-69 loss to Hapoel Jerusalem, but he made the most of it, shooting 3-of-4 to go for 10 points in his short stint.

Mesicek is a very unorthodox player. The Slovenian shooting guard has a long, lanky frame at 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, and he relies primarily on a creative handle and off-kilter timing to score points, which he does in bunches, averaging 16.9 points per 40 minutes. Mesicek primarily got the ball in his hands through dribble hand-offs, which allowed him to fire up quick 3-point looks off the bounce, his preferred offensive weapon:

Mesicek can also be extremely erratic, which was also on display here, with three turnovers coming in his 11 minutes. Mesicek is still fairly unrefined — his shot can be wildly inconsistent, and his occasional passing brilliance can be offset by periods of Westbrookian carelessness. But still, he’s a shooting guard who looks to be able to handle the ball, shoot off the dribble, and defend at an NBA level in the future, and that’s why he’s a probable second round pick.

Aleksandar Vezenkov Is Bigger, Better, and Helping Keep Barca Afloat

Aleksandar Vezenkov has been a player on draft radars for a couple of years now. The Bulgarian national first surfaced in the discussion as a potential late first round pick in 2015, but ultimately withdrew from both the 2015 and 2016 drafts after testing the waters. He moved from Aris in Greece to Barcelona after the 2015 draft, and this year the 21-year old has played a valuable role for the Spanish side. Along with Tyrese Rice and Ante Tomic, he’s been one of the Barca rotation players to get through the first third of the Euroleague season without injury.

On Friday, with Joey Dorsey in foul trouble and Stratos Perperoglou struggling, the trio of Rice, Tomic, and Vezenkov was about all Barca had going for them. But thanks to Vezenkov, Barcelona was still able to come away with a 72-57 win over Panathinaikos. Vezenkov had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, along with five rebounds in the effort. It was a strong showing proving why he’s been on draft radars, and why he will be a more enticing prospect in this year’s draft than last year’s.

Vezenkov has always been a 3-point threat and his size at 6-foot-9, 225-pounds makes him all the more enticing. He hit 38.7 percent from 3 in 2014-15, and after dipping to 37.5 percent last year, he’s hitting a very strong 44.2 percent so far this year. He’s excellent at getting loose in transition, reading the defense and sneaking through for quick, decisive spot-up looks:

But while shooting was about the only positive in Vezenkov’s game last year, he’s found ways to contribute this year beyond that. Vezenkov’s gotten a lot stronger at Barcelona, and he’s become a better rebounder because of it, posting a career-high 13.9 percent rebound rate. He’s also become an improved defender, handling length better and developing an increased understanding of when and how to shade to help. His newly-found awareness was on display Friday, helping Victor Claver shut down Demetris Nichols (six points on 3-of-8 shooting) and Ioannis Bourosis (0-of-5 from the field). In a season that hasn’t gone how Barcelona would like, Vezenkov has been a definite bright spot.

Need scoring? Chris Babb is available

You probably don’t remember Chris Babb’s NBA tenure. After all, it only lasted 14 games at the end of the 2013-14 season, off of a D-League call up with the Boston Celtics. The former Iowa State guard averaged 6.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game despite a very poor shooting performance. After another year in Maine, Babb found his way to ratiopharm Ulm in Germany, where he has found a much more optimal situation, averaging 14.4 points on 46.3 percent shooting this year.

Wednesday, Babb had perhaps his biggest moment in Europe, delivering a 30-point, five-rebound performance in a 105-101 overtime win over Lokomotiv Kuban. Babb lit up a struggling Kuban defense, helping Ulm keep pace with a Kuban second quarter surge by posting 12 points in the frame. Babb then came back in the fourth quarter, hitting a pair of 3s and another pair of shots at the rim to help push the game to overtime, where former Rocket Tim Olbrecht took over to seal the win.

Babb’s most noticeable improvement has been using athleticism to create looks for himself. Able to use his size to overwhelm most Eurocup guards, Babb has shown great improvement at getting to the rim and finishing through contact. This has led to more free throw attempts, which helps the career 80-plus percent free throw shooter add efficiency to his game. He’s also another player, like Darius Miller at Brose Bamberg, who’s made a leap as a shooter playing in Germany. After shooting 35.9 percent from 3 in college, and 22.2 percent in the NBA, Babb is up to 43.9 percent in Europe. He used that shooting to his advantage in this game, hitting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

The combo of Babb and Olbrecht has helped Ulm rally after a small stumble the two weeks prior. With an NBA-caliber scoring guard and the powerful Olbrecht inside, Ulm looks like a dark horse threat to cause a ruckus in the next round.

Fenerbahce’s Back!

A three-game losing streak had some wondering if there was a big problem in Istanbul. Two weeks ago, Fenerbahce was suddenly sitting at 5-3, with no impressive wins (a one-point win over injury-plagued Barca was their best), and a murderer’s row of opponents coming at them to end 2016. But after winning comfortably over Olimpia Milano last week, Fenerbahce looked every bit like the title contenders they are, securing a big 78-77 victory over Real Madrid at home.

This was the game of the week for many reasons. The largest lead was a six-point Fenerbahce first quarter lead, and the game featured nine lead changes. We got a very fun Othello Hunter/Jan Vesely smash fest in the 2nd quarter.

Rudy Fernandez turned back the clock, showing off his passing ability in a nine-assist effort. Ekpe Udoh had 14/10/4, even showing off a mid-range jumper that would shock Bucks and Warriors fans. Anthony Randolph went nuts for a bit, with 16 points (Good!), and then squandered it all with a technical on a key fourth quarter defensive possession (Bad.).

But the real deciding factor in this game was James Nunnally, and Real Madrid’s complete inability to defend him. Nunnally finished with 18 points on the day, and he was really effective off the ball, where he destroyed Madrid’s normally smart defense with back cuts towards the rim.

With Nunnally commanding attention off the ball as a cutter and scorer, it opened up driving lanes for Bobby Dixon and Kostas Sloukas, which in turn opened the offense for Vesely and Nikola Kalinic to benefit from drive-and-kick. It was an impressive performance overall from Fenerbahce. This was a game where two heavyweights traded haymakers for four quarters, but if Fenerbahce can get open looks like they did against Real Madrid, this might prove to be a nightmare matchup in a future playoff series.

Elsewhere on the continent

Olympiacos was able to edge Darussafaka 77-71, despite 21 points from Will Clyburn. Clyburn has been the generator for David Blatt’s offense this year, operating in a primary creator role from the wing and really coming into his own in his first Euroleague season. After Friday he’s up to averaging 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and he’s one of the most fun players in Europe to watch as a scorer.

Lietuvos Rytas avenged an early season loss to Bilbao, winning a big game at home 83-71 against Dominion Bilbao. Rytas is now in second place in the group, and may have knocked Bilbao into the elimination spot in Group B. Arturas Gudaitis had 10 points and 16 rebounds in the win, putting him up to averages of 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Watch for him to be brought over by the Kings this summer.

Cedevita lost Pierre Jackson to the D-League last week, but signed former UConn guard Ryan Boatright to replace him. That appears to have been a good move, as Boatright was huge in the team’s 95-61 thrashing of MZT Skopje Aerodrom. He had 20 points and three assists in the win, and provides a level of raw shot creation that Cedevita missed in their early season struggles. The win helps them get to 5-2, meaning they’re in a good spot to advance.

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Jonathan Jeanne got his first action with the Le Mans senior team in the FIBA Champions League, playing two minutes in the squad’s blowout win over Avtodor Saratov. He hit his only shot in the game, but earning minutes here is the real positive. With Le Mans in the driver’s seat at 6-1 in Group B, hopefully this means Jeanne will get more chances at action in the coming weeks, with a spot in the next round all but assured.

CSKA Moscow-Brose Bamberg didn’t look like a marquee matchup, but it did turn out to be one of the better games of the week. CSKA won 90-88, a much closer affair than expected, and the game featured two of the best individual performances of the year. Nicolo Melli had his best contest of the year, posting 26 points, five rebounds and three blocks to pace Bamberg. But the upset bid wasn’t completed, because Milos Teodosic lit up Bamberg at the point of attack, going for 31 points and eight assists to keep CSKA at the top of the Euroleague table.