# El Corte Inglés Junior Tournament



## suspect (Sep 10, 2002)

Except for the F4, a junior tournament is being held at Barcelona as well with the best European Clubs
http://www.euroleague.net/finalfour/noticia.jsp?temporada=E02&jornada=20&id=408 
Does anybody know where I can find statistic from the tournament????

PS.
qwertyu or SEOK can you give me some info on Spiros Magounis AEK junior team???
I heard that he had 35 points 80 % field goal, 10 steals , 9 rebounds and that one NBA scouts that was at the game was so impressed that he called him on of the biggest talents in the world at his age.....Got any additional info???


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## SEOK (Apr 3, 2003)

I've found that: 

http://www.solobasket.com/leer_articulo.php3?id_art=362

_Spyros Magounis (AEK Atenas)
Altura: 2.00 Estadísticas: 22.7 pts y 5.5 rebotes
Tremendo anotador. Tiene carácter de líder, no se achica ante nadie. Muy bueno al contraataque y efectivo en sus lanzamientos desde casi cualquier posición. Inteligente defendiendo, manos rápidas y buenas piernas, roba muchos balones y ayuda en rebote. 
Debe trabajar su mano mala, la derecha, en ocasiones se hace bastante predecible en sus movimientos hacia canasta. _

If someone can speak Castillan... (I've understood something, but sincerely it's the classical stupid profile about a young player. "Good in that, perfect in this, he should improve in those skills".

I forgot: he's a 18 years old guy. If he'd be really "so" good, he would have already played in A1. I guess he won't be a crack in European basketball...


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## suspect (Sep 10, 2002)

And guess what i found:
ï íôáíåé ëïñåíò, ìáíáôæåñ áðü ôï ÍÂÁ, ìåôá ôïí ÷ôåóéíï áãùíá ,ôïí ÷áñáêôçñéóå ùò Ýíá áðü ôá ìåãáëõôåñá ôáëåíôá óôïí êïóìï óôçí çëéêéá ôïõ
And he is 17 years old (he is born 10 december 1985)


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## Chef (Nov 24, 2002)

well he won the MVP of the tournament and lead the tournament in points per game with 27. He averaged nearly 40 points  in efficiency per game.

That kid must be very good...


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## fried chicken (Jan 8, 2003)

i try to get more info on the tallest current player of the world sultan kosen but i couldnt come across any except from europe-basket.com !!!!!! can you guys give me a little more link for that ???????


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## fried chicken (Jan 8, 2003)

thank you very much !!!!!!


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## qwertyu (Dec 29, 2002)

Never heard of Magounis but he sounds good. I'll check him out and see what I can found. He'll probably play with the junior national teams this year so I'll guess we'll get to see him more often.

As for Sultan Kosen, yes he does exist and yes he is a freak of nature.
I don't think he has ever played basketball and I will assume that he doesn't even know the rules.
He comes from a remote area in Turkey and he only went to a basketball team to find an interest in his life (because as I said he is a freak of nature) and because he had a lot of problems with his legs and if he went to a sports club he would have access to the best doctors.
That's all I know about him.


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## Reznor (Jan 17, 2003)

as far as I was told..Kosen is back to where he grew up. Galatasary gave up on him, although they made a 2 yr program for him. but that's what I heard....not sure if it 100% true.

about the El Corte Ingl's Junior games... I had the pleasure to cover the games for Euroleague.net. I have all the stats and most of the games tottoed in my head 

so if u need any info...let me know. I'll be happy to spead it.


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## alister (Oct 12, 2002)

Hi again Reznor that's great man!!!Could you tell us about the most spectacular performances of the tournament and the best line up?Also, is there any site in the web that we may find the boxscores?


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## Reznor (Jan 17, 2003)

I don't believe there's a website with boxscores..

gimme a short time, and I'll write about the best players I've noticed there.


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## alister (Oct 12, 2002)

I just checked the link and saw Zalgiris won it against Macabi
but where was Halperin?I think it's his age.And Reznor PLS first of all could you make a short scouting report about Omerhozic???
I checked him in the Croatian Championship page and he has incredible stats at the junior level!!!The weird thing is that nbadraft.net mentions too little about him...Which player does he remind you from NBA or Europe?


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## Reznor (Jan 17, 2003)

Halperin is too old to be a junior. he's 19 yrs old now, but Maccabi had a gr8 gr8 PG that reminds Halprin a little, but most people said he reminds them more of Kattache. His name is Avi Ben Shimol. 

Maccabi's story in the games was amazing... they opened vs. Olimpija, but lost in the 4th quarter one of their most important player - Yaniv Simpson, yet still won by 10. In the 2nd day each team had 2 games to play.

Maccabi first played AEK and..phew...what a drama... Maccabi won by 3 if I remember correctly after a huge comeback in the 4th. 

Then came the 3rd and final game vs. CSKA. Maccabi had to win to make it to the finals. A loss would have sent CSKA or AEK to play for the gold.

It took 2 overtimes to decide this game. Ben Shimol with a very acrobatic bucket, tied the score for the first OT. In the 1st OT Maccabi took I think a 7 point lead, but CSKA somehow made a comeback and tied. Ben-Shimol had the last ball, and made the shot, again, a very tough one. CSKA somehow once again tied in the last second. In the 2nd OT maccabi knew not to lose their lead again, and made it to the finals.

there....they met Zalgiris. By far the best team of all that didn't lose any game... but Maccabi, as showed vs. AEK and CSKA, were the best fighters. Maccabi's only big man is 206 and more of a PF than center, while Zalgiris' one is 217 (big NBA prospect...).

Maccabi players, still w/o Simpson, and after playing 90 minutes the previous day, put up a fight for 3 quarters, and even led by 5, but in the last quarter, Maccabi had no air to breath no more, and it was all Zalgiris. 

Maccabi had 2 big stars: 
Avi Ben Shimol - As mentioned, he reminded many people of Oded Kattache, but... he's different. he's a much better defender (was the best stealer of the games), he's smarter, he can be good and influence on the game w/o scoring many points. I really like him as a PG. 

Anton Kazarnovski. This guy is in a difficult situation. he's playing center for Maccabi, cause the Israeli junior league, and the team itself, is too short. He should have been developed as a 3 or 4. In the finals he was gr8 vs. the big center of Zalgiris. despite the height diff. (11 cm), he blocked him twice, and made a few buckets on him in the paint. he can take his guy outside and penetrate on him or take the 3, or he can post up and make his move. Very good rebounding, mostly on defense (but not only). 

The Liths had 3 stars. 
MARTYNAS ANDRIUSKEVICIUS - tallest guy in the tournoment (217), and he's only 17 yrs old. He will be a first round pick whenver he decides to apply to the draft. no doubt. tall, quick, good blocker and rebounder, nice moves in the paint. he has so many things to offer.

Vytenis JASIKEVICUS: well..name is no familiar for nothing. He's the young brother of Sarunas, and looks exactly like him. not only by face, but also in gamestyle. Not as good as his brother, at least not yet, but also kinsa short (184). He still managed to score the winning basket in the last second of the game vs. Barcelona's youth. 

MVP of the finals was Rolandas Alijevas. another very nice Lith forward (197 cm) added to the list. he can do everything on court. I don't see him become an NBA player, more of a top Euroleague player, but... he got lots of potential. that's for sure. I really like him. 

About Damir. he was 2nd best scorer of the games. one point less than Magounis (who was named MVP of the games as well). Yeh, Damir is playing for the farm team of Cibona, in the first Croatian league, and having gr8 gr8 numbers. he's 210 and very athletic. Great penetrations, good hand from outside. I think he should have some post up moves. Most of his guards were much shorter than him, and he didn't use that. defense wasn't a big hit of him as well, but...how many good defenders can u name from the former Yugoslavia? 

You could see he's in a different level than most players, since he's already playing for a senior team. He took alot on him in the games. Most of Cibona players worked for him, and he took like...double more shots than the team, but u can see he is a good player. I don't like to compare players with others, and say "He's the next Gasol!" or something like that, but... u know... think of the traditional tall SF role. 


I'll write some more on the other stars soon.


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## alister (Oct 12, 2002)

Great post Reznor, waiting for the next one! Macabi is traditionally a good fighting team and they prooved it even in a junior tournament...Avi Ben Shimol must be a very interesting player,Kattache with defensive skills, even if Kattache played very good defence under Obradovic's orders, but to tell my sin, I prefer
the offence oriented Kattache...Does he have the same damn great ball handling skills that Kattache possesed???Damn it, I've missed a lot this player,the Euroleague would be better if he still played,especially for a run n' gun team such as Fortitudo...Macabi seems to have a great future with Halperin, Ben Shimol, Burstein, Karzanowski and the older Shelef, Bloothendal.BTW even if a bit out of subject, could you tell me a bit of Tamir Goodman? I heard many years ago that he was nicknamed the Jewish Jordan, then he left to play college bball in states and this year he got back, signed with Macabi and got loaned to another team,Ramat Gan I think but didn't have very spectacular stats? What's he game style and does he have the potential to play at top level or he was just overhyped as a junior? I also heard that he had problems with his coach in US...
About Omerhozic u know I just asked you to compare him to somebody in order to understand some better how he looks like as I didn't have the oportunity yet...Does he have anything exceptional?To me the fact alone that he is a 2.10 SF that can rebound and shoot that well makes him a bit rare...Probably sth like Lampe.Damir played for Sanac Karlovac this year. http://www.hks-cbf.hr/vijesti.php
He was able to make big numbers in many statistic categories, like hitting 6 3 pointers once, making many 30 point games but he was really unconstitent considering rebounding...But I remeber him at the cadets NT making around 20 rebounds sometimes.He also has quite a few assists for a 2.10 player. Is he really that quick to play SF?Waiting for more Reznor...


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## Reznor (Jan 17, 2003)

Well... As I wrote about Damir.. he was pretty much most of Cibona's game. I don't know if it was a decision of coach Kengo or what...but almost all balls went to Omerhodzic. so...maybe it wouldn't be fair for me to judge his lack of assists, but... I'll check the stats later and let u know if I find something. 

Ben Shimol and Kazarnovski are suppose to join the Senior team next season, but there's a chance Kazarnovski will go to college (Memphis are after him) and Ben Shimol might be loaned (Ramat Gan probably...). We'll see... Halperin will get a much bigger role next season for sure, and that will mean Ljubin is on the way out. I really like Ljubin, too bad he didn't get a chance in the Euroleague...but nevermind that. Bluthenthal is also some1 Maccabi have high hopes for. Shelef will probably stay next season, but I really don't like him. He's a stupid player.

About Goodman...well... he grew up in the USA. Never played in israel before this season. He was nicknamed Jewish Jordan well...for the mass media thing I believe. He had gr8 numbers, he can dunk well, and if u had that to the fact he's an orthodox jewish (and I don't remember having any Orthodox jewish play even in the Israeli top league...) so... u know... it doesn't take more than that for American media to attach nicknames. Jewish Jordan sounds nice, but... the "Jewish" part is the one to pay attention to It's not the exact same thing, but if u hear of a Jewish Carl Lewis, don't fall for that. the Israeli record for men in 100 meters dash is worse than the world record in 100 meters dash for Women... 

Goodman made his big numbers in a league of "Yeshivot", which are schools for orthdox jews... so... if u have some more than average skills... even u can make 30 ppg there... He was signed by Maccabi for 3 seasons (100K per season) but I think it was more of a PR thing. to have the name Maccabi Tel Aviv mentioned in some american papers and maybe some world wide jewish papers. u know... with that every Jewish player in the world will think first of Maccabi... he was loaned to Givat Shmuel. The team had its best season ever (Lost in both Semi Finals and Cup Finals to Maccabi), but Goodman wasn't a big part of it. He's a hardworker, athletic but...not more than that. His numbers are far from impressing....


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## Reznor (Jan 17, 2003)

Oh yeh,
I've found the Boxscore of the finals game Between Zalgiris and Maccabi.


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