Laura Meldere (C 6’2”, 2001) from Latvia after FIBA U16 Udine 2016
Laura possesses a good size and a wide frame, and she also has a promising powerful (good athleticism basis in this item). She has an interesting (not outstanding) mobility for age and size at this stage. Meldere has good hands both catching the ball and grabbing rebounds. The Latvian runs quite well the court without the ball, and displays good fundamentals on the O end: she is able to put the ball on the floor, takes advantage of her body to getting seals inside the paint, promising footwork back to the basket, and soft touch close to the rim. Her shooting skills are remarkable from the 17 feet, where displays a reliable shot from. In the ball-screens, Meldere sometimes shows bit shy, but her great body and good hands allows her to be a dangerous player in these situations. Laura doesn’t display outstanding leaping ability after catch the ball inside the paint, but she knows to dish inside-outside passes to escape from some troubles. She also shows a good vision court and passing ability from the top of the key. On the D end, we can’t consider Laura as a rim protector, but her size allows Laura to disturb some shots and passes. She should improve her explosiveness, because she still displays a bit slow lateral slide in face-off game (D).
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