European Hoops Recap: NBA prospects everywhere you look

We’re reaching the turning point in all three European basketball competitions. In the FIBA Champions League, playoff spots are nearly set, with two weeks left in the regular season. In Eurocup, the Top 16 is opening up, with extremely thin margins in a six-game round-robin putting several teams behind the eight ball just two games in. And in Euroleague, the playoff picture is getting more fleshed out by the week, and teams like Maccabi Tel Aviv and EA7 Milano are starting to come to terms with their impending elimination.

Things get more perilous each week for teams on the fringes of the playoff races, which creates more exciting games outside of the top teams of each competition.

Vlatko Cancar: NBA prospect?

It was nearly a given that Mega Leks’s 86-82 win over Strasbourg was going to result in an NBA Draft-related storyline. Between Mega Leks’s bevy of young guys and top international prospect Frank Ntilikina, someone was bound to assert themselves. But while usual suspects Ntilikina, Alpha Kaba, and Kostja Mushidi all played well, it was 19-year old Vlatko Cancar who stole the show, with 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Read More: The Step Back’s NBA Draft Big Board, v2.0

Cancar has been a useful scorer for Mega Leks this year, providing spot-up shooting and occasional on-ball scoring from the small forward position. He’s part of a promising wing rotation that includes Mushidi and Grizzlies stash Rade Zagorac, and he’s by far the best shooter of the three. He is hitting 42.5 percent of his 3-pointers in Adriatic League play, and drained 3-of-4 spot-up shots in Wednesday’s game. While he hasn’t quite maintained that consistency in FIBA Champions League play (28.6 percent), he’s an 80 percent free throw shooter, and his mechanics are promising.

As is typical for these offense-focused Balkan forwards, Cancar isn’t the best defender. He’s limited in agility, relying more on positioning and the safety net of Kaba to contain opposing players. He can get overwhelmed by strong, athletic forwards, and while he’s a fine off-ball defender, he would struggle with the speed of rotation needed to contest 3-pointers at the NBA level. However, in situations like against Strasbourg, who likes to pound the paint with their forwards, Cancar can be an effective defender thanks to his toughness and length.

Cancar is a fringe player to keep an eye on in the next two drafts. He has great role player potential thanks to his jumper and smart decision-making, and if you look past his speed his physical tools are enticing if he can get into the right strength program. If he continues to solidify his jumper as a weapon, he’s on radars as a potential draft-and-stash and Euroleague player.

Stop, CSKA, they’re already dead!

The defending champions have looked vulnerable since the new year started. They had lost three straight games entering the week, and the defense was the primary cause, as they gave up 95 points to both Fenerbahce and Real Madrid, and lost to Crvena Zvezda by double-digits. Could it be that the defending champs are vulnerable and collapsing?!?!?!

Welp.

There’s nothing quite like getting Euroleague’s worst squad at home to work out some kinks. This game was absolutely no contest from the beginning, as CSKA jumped out to an 18-5 lead, behind their two MVP candidates, Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic. They were up 30 in the second quarter, and coasted from that point on to a 37-point victory. They hit 11 3-pointers, shot 67.6 percent from 2-point range, and forced 23 turnovers. This was a bloodbath, from beginning to end, as CSKA flexed Europe’s deepest roster on Euroleague’s most flawed one.

This game reinforced several overarching themes. First, that Andrey Vorontsevich is perhaps Euroleague’s deadliest sixth man. The Russian sharpshooter hit four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points off the bench, taking the reigns as CSKA began sitting their starters in the second quarter. Second, that it’s magical to see a fully healthy De Colo attack the basket relentlessly. This was his first game back from injury that he truly looked 100 percent again, and it showed, as he had 22 points and 3 assists in 25 minutes. And third, EA7 is an absolute mess. Their collection of mismatched offensive talent is at a significant disadvantage against your average Euroleague defense, much less a ruthless machine like CSKA. And when you’re stuck starting Andrea Cinciarini, a promising but dreadfully inexperienced point guard, against Teodosic, you’re going to struggle.

CSKA’s fine. The three-game losing streak was a surprise, but this course has corrected in the most violent way, with EA7 made an example of.

Janis Timma detonates again

A few weeks ago, we broke down Janis Timma’s NBA prospects, as the Zenit St. Petersburg forward shredded Unicaja Malaga for 33 points. He’s an interesting prospect to come over to the NBA eventually, given his combination of a strong frame and deadly 3-point shot. Consistency, however, has shown to be an issue throughout his time in Europe. With Timma going off again this week against Lietuvos Rytas, it became easy to identify the biggest reason for Timma’s successes, when they do happen: he exploits mismatches at a high level.

Rytas was rather shorthanded for this game without Arturas Gudaitis, and that meant Timma spent more time matched up with Rytas’s smaller forwards than against Drew Gordon, and that Rytas was without their best interior defender. That meant Timma was able to feast on the right block, hitting multiple shots off of post-ups, and that opened up ball movement for the rest of the offense with their hub clicking. When Timma did get assignment against Gordon, he pulled the Rytas shotblocker away from the rim, making him chase off screens and getting both quick shots and open looks for teammates driving to the basket. It helped that he was able to knock down 5-of-9 from three, of course – but the consistent theme was that Timma was going to get open looks, and where those came depended on who was guarding him.

Timma finished with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting overall, to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. But more importantly, he showed the recognition and guile of an advanced prospect to dictate the game by taking what the defense gave him based on matchups. As a 6-foot-9 stretch four, Timma needs to be able to hold his own against long threes and strong fours to be a success as an NBA shooter. Showing the ability to recognize where to attack is a good sign towards that transition occurring.

Keith Langford beat Brose Bamberg

Bamberg played a solid game for two and a half quarters on Thursday. They had a 42-30 lead midway through the third quarter, built on the strength of a balanced scoring attack led by Fabian Causeur, Daniel Theis, and Leon Radosevic. Their defense did a solid job as well, allowing just eight first half baskets. The 7-9 squad looked like their resurgence in recent weeks was going to result in another road win.

However, Bamberg lost this game, 63-58, because the Kazan Fighting Keith Langfords fought back in the fourth quarter. That’s what you could essentially call Unics, as Langford equaled the squad’s first half output by himself. He scored shot 7-of-13 for the half, scoring 14 of Unics’s final 22 points, and finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in the game.

Without a doubt, Langford is the most effortless scorer in the league, and this comeback was a microcosm of that. He creates separation at an elite level, and his stepback is simply breathtaking. And we here at the Step Back appreciate a good one when we see it.

His quick release also helps him be a strong catch-and-shoot wing:

Bamberg did a good job of bottling Langford up early on, walling off the paint for him and forcing him into jumpers, which he was cold on early. That switch flipped in the second half, as he started to knock down those isolation looks that he’s nearly unguardable on because of his quick release combined with the quickness and agility to get by most Euroleague defenders. When Bamberg was shutting him down, Langford was still able to make plays, most notably this insane feed to Latavious Williams out of a triple-team in the paint:

Langford has proven time and again that he’s able to win games by himself this year, and he’s surprisingly kept Unics in the playoff hunt while averaging an insane 24/4/4 per game. The former Spur is absolutely an NBA candidate, and is Euroleague’s answer for James Harden — a high-volume shooting guard creator who makes his money on forcing his defender into a massive guessing game that Langford nearly always wins. Not bad for the former fourth banana on the Drew Gooden/Kirk Hinrich/Nick Collison Kansas team.

Alessandro rises again

Panathinaikos’s 92-81 win over Efes featured tons of excitement, as an early PAO lead was squashed by a furious Efes comeback, only to see Mike James send the game to overtime after being fouled on a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. Once there, Panathinaikos sealed the deal, as K.C. Rivers and Ioannis Bourousis took over to help the Greens score 22 points in the extra period.

But the bigger storyline from the game was the emergence of Alessandro Gentile from the shadows, as he had his first big game since joining the Greek squad – -15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, in addition to 5 rebounds. Efes isn’t the best defensive team, but Gentile did an excellent job of scoring with the ball in his hands, operating as a secondary creator. Gentile had his off-the-bounce game working, creating space with hesitations and then shooting over Efes’s smaller guards:

This role for Gentile seems to be one that will work for him at Panathinaikos and beyond. Playing off more successful primary ball-handlers like James and Nick Calathes, Gentile was able to operate as an isolation scorer against Efes’s lesser perimeter defenders, dodging Cedi Osman and instead getting to take Jayson Granger or Thomas Huertel off the dribble and into the post. The Gentile iso was first, second, and third for EA7 on offense, but in a unit with multiple dangerous off-dribble scorers, Gentile seems more comfortable picking his spots and deferring. That deference will bode him well in a potential NBA spot, as he’ll never be the number one scorer as an NBA player. Keep an eye on Gentile moving forward if he keeps playing in this capacity.

Elsewhere around the continent

It’s time for this week in the Luka Doncic hype train! Doncic had 10 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in a 90-85 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv. Just one more reminder that Doncic is throwing up near triple-doubles and running the show for one of Euroleague’s top offenses and will be able to legally drink in Spain at the end of February.

This week saw two major signings at the Euroleague level, as two squads added power forward depth. Fresh off being waived by the Brooklyn Nets, Bennett followed in Anthony Randolph’s footsteps as a bust attempting to further his career in Europe, signing a multi-year deal with Fenerbahce. Here he will get tutelage from Zeljko Obradovic, who has worked wonders for reinventing Ekpe Udoh and Jan Vesely. Meanwhile at Barcelona, Brazilian Vitor Faverani will provide a much-needed bruiser under the basket after joining from UCAM Murcia. Given the limitations of Joey Dorsey, adding Faverani will strengthen the interior presence of the injury-riddled Spanish side.

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In Champions League standings, two groups appear set. Group A will see Monaco, Banvit, Nymburk, and Aris advance, while Group E appears finalized with Besiktas, MHP Ludwigsburg, Partizan, and AEK Athens. PAOK in Group C, Cibona in Group D, and a three-way 5-7 tie between Avtodor, Oradea, and Maccabi Rishon appear to be the competitors for the last few open spots.

Meanwhile in Eurocup, Gran Canaria fell to 0-2 this week after a surprising loss to Montakit Fuenlabrada. Gran Canaria’s defense has fallen off a cliff in recent weeks due to injuries, and they go into this week’s game against Murcia absolutely needing a win. It’s been a strange turnaround for a team that looked like a favorite to win the tournament.