NBA Draft 2012: 4 Surprise International Prospects on the Rise at Eurocamp
The adidas Eurocamp is always an interesting event to attend. The best international professional basketball talents perform in front of a slew of NBA and European general managers, scouts and other professionals.
This year's 10th annual edition of the event, which took place in Treviso, Italy featured over 45 early entrants and 2012 NBA draft eligible players. Included in the group were Evan Fournier (France) and Tomas Satoransky (Czech Republic), who are generally estimated to be selected in the late first or early second round.
However, other players took advantage of the environment to show the basketball world that they might be ready for the NBA. If not this year, then fairly soon. Let's review the players who made the best showing at the 2012 adidas Eurocamp.
1. Tornike Shengelia, 6'9", PF, Republic of Georgia (Belgium - Spirou)
Shengelia was the star of the event. NetScouts Basketball currently has him going at No. 41 to Portland in our 2012 NBA Mock Draft, but we may need to move him up.
He led the event in scoring at 14.3 points per game and pulled down 5.4 rebounds a game, shooting an efficient 59 percent (25-for-42). Shengelia is athletic, can score inside and out to near three-point range. He also showed good ball skills and passing ability. He had five assists in one contest. Look for Shengelia to move up to close to the top of the second round because of his Eurocamp performance.
2. Darko Planinic, 6'11", C, Croatia (Bosnia - Siroki)
Planinic was a late addition to the Eurocamp roster, and he made the most of his opportunity. He didn't show much on the boards, averaging three rebounds a game in about 20 minutes per contest. However, he showed nice moves around the basket and good touch out to 12 to 15 feet. He averaged 9.8 points and shot 56 percent (13-for-23).
He may have done enough for a team to take a chance on him in the late second round. This season in Adriatic League contests he averaged 9.2 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 68 percent from the field.
3. Tomislav Zubcic, 6'10", CF, Croatia (Cibona)
Zubcic hasn't developed as we would have liked since we saw him at the Nike Hoop Summit in 2010. His numbers actually went down this year as he only averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in the Adriatic League.
However, he does have an interesting skill set. He can play both forward positions and act as a point forward. At 6'10", that gets NBA scouts interested.
Zubcic had two decent games, averaging 10 points and shooting about 50 percent. He'd be worth a late second round pick to a team willing to see if he can really get his game together in Europe.
4. Rudy Gobert, 6'11", PF/C, France (Cholet)
Gobert will not be in the 2012 NBA draft, opting to wait a year and develop his game and add strength. But he looks like a first-round draft pick in the 2013 NBA draft. Playing for the Under-20 French team, Gobert averaged 14 points and shot 81 percent (13-for-16) from the field. He's still limited to scoring around the basket and does need to add strength, but the potential is definitely there.
One 2012 NBA draft early entrant who did not help himself was Josep Franch (6'3", PG, Spain—Murcia). Franch had a terrible final game, scoring one point in 31 minutes, shooting 0-for-5 and committing five turnovers.
Dusan Cantekin (7'2", Turkey) also showed poorly. He couldn't keep up with the action and was out of position on defense. In a combined 58 minutes of play he only grabbed five rebounds, averaged 4.3 points and was called for nine fouls. He may have played himself out of the second round.
For further description of the action in Treviso, you can check out our daily commentary.
