YoungBucketsBL

Mikaela Damyanova (F 6’2”, 2003) from Bulgaria

Mikaela is a Forward with nice length at this stage, good coordination and she moves very well despite lacking above average explosiveness. Despite of that, she doesn’t possesses an elite athleticism package, yet. Her wingspan is also remarkable and she shows interesting footwork on both sides of the court. If Mikaela is able to add some strength to her lower-body, she will take her game to the next level in both sides of the court. Damynova has good hands and good feeling for the game (but shows some irregularity making decisions).

In the D end, Mikaela doesn’t display neither regularity nor great explosiveness, but she shows good activity and remarkable footwork when she is focused. She is also able to guard players of her size, but she is not quick enough for real perimeter players. The Bulgarian is really good stealing when she is coming from the weak side, because her long strides, positioning in the half-court and wingspan; and she is able to take the ball from side to side after the steal. We can usually see her in good position for rebounding, and she uses her wingspan and mobility for grabbing them. She can block shots chasing the dribbler.

In the O end, Mikaela displays an interesting O fundamentals package. Although she has still a raw ball handling skills set, she displays promising fundamentals with the right hand, which allows her both to play face-to-face from the top of the key or three point line and take the ball coast to coast. The Bulgarian takes advantage of her length for playing back to the basket against smaller defenders. Playing close to the rim, she shows soft touch with either hand. Her shooting fundamentals are really good and she usually hits from behind the arc (in a row with she is on fire). But Mikaela stands out sharing the ball. She shows a remarkable vison court, accuracy and skills for a player of her size.

Ana Milanovic (PF 6’1”, 2005) from Serbia

Ana is a lanky player who still has a skinny body, but she displays a really good mobility and who runs extremely well the court. If she puts some time in the weight room, she will be able to develop her game to the next level in a more than interesting way. She also has good hands and her mobility and O fundamentals are remarkable. Ana still strugglers playing through the contact due her lacks of weight.

In the D end, Milanovic shows a really good activity, and her footwork and mobility package allows her to have a good positioning in that half court. Despite of her lack of strength, the Serbian possesses an interesting boxing out discipline, good hands and good disposition for rebounding the D glass. After grabbing the ball, Ana is able to release good outlet passes. She also can disturb some shots because her mobility and WS, but she is still not a rim protector at this stage. If she works her strength of her lower body, we will think on her defending real SF in face-to-face situations (and switching on the ball screens).

In the O end, Milanovic runs extremely well the court (more than some real SF), and she is able to stay in the D paint until her team obtain the possession, and arriving to the O before than the most of rest of the players. Although Ana displays a more than a promising footwork, she is not an elite player creating her own buckets, yet. But, her good hands, soft touch and foot activity for getting a spot in the paint/low block are really good, which allows her to get some buckets close to the rim. The Serbian also shows an interesting shooting release from mid-range, which it makes us optimistic about the possibility of seeing her playing as a SF or Stretch 4 in a future.

Hennie Van Schaik (PF 6’3”, 2003) from Netherlands

Hennie is a PF with good mobility and interesting size for a PF at this stage. She has not an elite athleticism but it may be increased in the incoming years. Her wingspan and footwork are correct for a player of her age. She runs really well the court.

In the D end, Van Schaik shows a correct attitude and displays an interesting mobility when she is guarding other PFs; but stills struggles against quicker SF. Despite of that, Hennie is able to switch in ball screens situations in the correct way. Once he improves his athleticism she should increase her defensive skills. In the rebounding area, the Dutch shows a correct activity and positioning on the court; and she is able to take the ball in transition after grabbing the ball.

Van Schaik is an unselfish player who possesses good footwork and great offensive skill set. Her dribbling fundamentals are remarkable for a player of her length, and she displays promising passing skills and really good vision court. She is not quick to take advantage in face-to-face plays against real forwards (but she usually past the players with the same size). The Dutch doesn’t need to play with good facilitators to take his shots, because she is able to hit in step back situations or above the smaller defenders.

Iliyana Georgieva (SF 6’0”, 2003) from Bulgaria

Iliyana has a filled frame with great strength at this stage. Her length is not outstanding for a SF but she possesses good enough size and wide shoulders. She has not an elite leaping ability yet, but she is able to create space from boxing out for rebounding. It seems that she has already finished her body developing stage.

In the D end, Georgieva has good instinct for the game which allows her to be a threat on passing lanes to steal and taking the ball in transition. She shows quite good enough IQ and promising positioning on the court, but her effort and continuity are still not reliable. Iliyana is a good rebounder because her strength, wide frame and positioning.

In the O end, the Bulgarian displays promising ball-handling with her strong hand dominant in her game (should improve her left hand ability), and joined to her strength and size package allow her to get coast-to-coast buckets easily. She prefers to play facing the basket and being able to attack from the perimeter, but shows some instincts also in her low post game. Georgieva shows good shooting skills and she is able to hit from deep from time to time, but we shouldn’t think on her as a shooter player so far. The Bulgarian has great court vision and hands at this stage (4,5apg), being able to frequently find his teammates with difficult solutions. Despite of that, his decisions with the ball are sometimes shaky. It would be interesting to follow how she is able to adapt her size and skills in the next level.

Karyn Sanford (G 5’9”, late 2003) from Norway

Karyn is an all-around player who is able to play either as a Guard or as a SF. She has a filled frame, wide shoulders and quite good wingspan. Despite of that, Sanford has not a great athleticism yet and her explosiveness and strength should be in the radar in the incoming years. Her knowledge and feeling for the game is remarkable, and she displays a great O repertoire.

We can’t think on Sanford as a great defender yet. But her size and knowledge allow Karyn to stop the opponent through the contact and stealing from the passing line due to her good hands and intuition. She is a good D rebounder (almost 5rpg in the last U16 at Sofia) for a Guard, and she is able to take the ball after grabbing the ball. The Norwegian can block some lay-ups as well when she is guarding smaller Guards.

In the O end Karyn is where she feels more comfortable. The Norwegian has remarkable O fundamentals: her shooting release allows her to display reliable shots (even from deep), Sanford shows interesting dribbling skills (she can use whichever hand with same efficiency) and her passing skills and vision court package is one step above the other players at this stage/level. Karyn possesses quite good basketball IQ, and she loves taking responsibility. Despite she is not a selfish player, Sanford is able to create her own buckets (driving or shooting).

Vivien Nejasmic (F 6’0”, 2004) from Croatia

Vivien is a talented PF with a regular length, but her body is still developing. Her mobility and footwork package makes us think on her in a future F who will be able to play face-to-face game. She has not an outstanding athleticism but she runs quite well the court and she doesn’t refuse to play through the contact.

In the D end, Nejasmic still lacks athleticism for being a great defender, but her footwork and knowledge allow her to stay in the right spot for rebounding or deflecting passing lines. Her mobility might help to Vivien in her future Forward’s game.

In the O end, the Croatian still displays raw explosiveness, but she possesses good fundamentals. She can put the ball on the floor, shooting from deep and her passing skills and vision court are remarkable. Vivien works the O glass in the correct way, and her footwork and dribbling skills allow Nejasmic play the baseline in the good way.

Emma Rinat (SG 5’9”, 2003) from Israel

Emma is a future SG with good length, promising wingspan and interesting athleticism at this stage (despite her body is still under construction). She has a promising scoring instinct. Rinat has enough explosiveness for passing the defender in the first dribbling. She is able to run the floor in the correct way (with or without the ball) and displays a remarkable knowledge for the game.

In the D end, Emma shows quite good mobility and attitude, but we can’t talk on her as an aggressive defender (Israel used to play zone defence most of time). Her good mobility and quick hands package allows her to steal or create doubts to the dribbler. She shows some flashes of interesting D activity when her team played in one-to-one defence.

Is in the O end where Emma feels comfortable and it’s the time when she doesn’t refuse get the ball. She possesses really good fundamentals. Her dribbling skills allow her to drive to the rim (even in traffic) in the correct way, despite that she should improve her left hand (we should not think on her as a future primary PG). Rinat loves to run through the screens for creating a space for displaying her good shooting release. She is a real threat behind the arc, mostly when she stays in the corner. Despite of her scoring ability, Rinat is not a selfish player, and her vision court and passing accuracy is always remarkable. She is the player who you would like she has the ball in the last minute, with no doubt.

Ana Vita Micunovic (G 5’7”, 2003) from Slovenia

Ana is a Guard with a skinny frame, regular length but quite good explosiveness. Micunovic runs really fast the court and she is able to pass the defender in the first dribbling. Despite she struggles playing through the contact because her lack of weight, Ana doesn’t refuse to play from contact and she always displays good attitude. She should show more Killer Instinct in some phases of the game.

In the D end, Micunovic shows remarkable activity, mobility and footwork. She is able to stay in front the dribbler most of the time. The Slovenian has the ability of steal anticipating the passing line due to her mobility and explosiveness; even her desire for staying in front of the dribbler allows her to block shots from time to time.

In the O end, Ana displays interesting dribbling fundamentals, but we should not think on her as a primary PG in a future. She is an unselfish player, and her tactician game and passing skills are good enough. We used to see her sharing the ball behind the arc with efficiency and quickness (extra pass included). But Micunovic can score. She takes advantage of her quickness for finalizing in open court after she had stolen in the D end. She struggles driving in traffic because her lacks of weight, but she has a remarkable 1st dribbling and good enough basketball IQ for pass the defender and score. The Slovenian has interesting shooting fundamentals (both spot shots and pull-up shots) and promising average behind the arc.

Hana Ivanusa (F 5’11”, 2004) from Slovenia

Hana is a Forward who has an interesting O fundamentals package who displays quite good mobility and runs well the court. She has a correct length for a Forward at this stage and good hands, but Ivanusa has not an outstanding athleticism yet. Her footwork it’s a promising point which makes us think in a future Forward who might play face-to-face in a short space of time.

Sometimes, in the D end Hana shows herself as a shy player, but she doesn’t refuse play through the contact when is necessary. Her mobility allows her to disturb passes from behind, and she is able to still using her hands in the passing lines. Her footwork in D on the ball is still improvable, but she has the desire for following the play until the end. Ivanusa is able to boxing out against bigger players. She is not a rim protector, but she has the ability to grab rebounds in traffic.

In the O end, the Slovenian displays good fundamentals: shows flashes of “Guard dribbling skills”, solid shooting release and enough passing skills. Hana can put the ball on the floor and she likes to use it in a spin move, starting back to the basket. With good hands, Ivanusa can score from floaters. She has an interesting basketball IQ for a player of her age. Hana is a kind a player who is able to hit from deep due to her shooting release and her capability for creating spaces for herself. As unselfish player, she doesn’t use to take bad decisions.

Mojca Jelenc (C 6’6”, 2003) from Slovenia

Mojca is a lanky player with remarkable length, good mobility and great wingspan. Her frame is still under construction and she still lacks huge explosiveness. Her body control and coordination are good at this stage and she possesses good hands.

In the D end Mojca shows an interesting lateral mobility, which allows her to stop face to face plays even when she is in front of Stretch-4s. She is able to put multiple shot blocks in the same sequence because her mobility and wingspan. She still struggles boxing out against player with more weight, but her coordination and good hands package helps her for grabbing rebounds in the D glass. After the catch, the Slovenian is able to put the ball on the floor for taking the break or dishing a good outlet pass. Her mobility and footwork might allow her to switch on D in ball screen situations in a future.

In the O end Jelenc displays multiple basketball resources for scoring: her dribbling fundamentals (which are remarkable for a player of this length and age) allows her to execute face-to-face plays against inside players, she has a reliable mid-range shot (with great release and body control) and her footwork back to the basket is hard to stop at this stage. She is also able to finish close to the rim with an efficient bank-shot. In the ball-screen situations, the Slovenian is still a bit weak (lacks of huge strength and not wide shoulders yet), but she displays a good fundamentals, and she uses to score because a good roll (mobility), soft hands (catching the ball) and back to the basket fundamentals (footwork). Great average from the charity line (88%).