European Stock WatchBy:

By Borko Popic

Spanish Star Switch-eroo

Ricky Rubio 6-3 175 PG DKV
Joventut (Spain) 1990

Big news this week is undoubtedly the return of Rubio,
while he only played 3 minutes in an easy Euroleague win, his playing time and
production should both increase with each outing. It will be interesting to see
how fast he can get back into the flow of things and how much of an impact he
can make for the, at times struggling, Joventut squad.

	Victor Claver

Victor
Claver 6-10 236 SF Pamesa Valencia (Spain) 1988

While this week saw the return of one of the top prospects in Rubio, unfortunately
it was also the same week that Cleaver was lost for possibly the remainder of
the season. He suffered a fracture in his left leg and the stated recovery time
is 5 months, but that will fluctuate depending how well Cleaver responds to treatments.
At this point his stock has seen a nice rise during a fairly productive year and
this injury shouldn’t affect him that much, but it may force him into waiting
another year to enter his name into the draft. However, if he is able to return
to full form before the season is over and he can show some of the things he already
has, then he could still be a possibility for this year’s class.

90s Gems

Jan Vesely 6-11 C Partizan
(Czech Republic) 1990

The big man has been starting the last few games and has gotten a nice amount
of playing time to show his stuff. His touches in the post are somewhat limited
but that doesn’t stop him from crashing the boards and creating opportunities
for himself. He has good length and solid mass on his young body, but he will
still need to put on more muscle. For a player his size he is extremely active
and he moves very well, showing good foot work and coordination. Although he has
yet to convert on a three, he is not afraid to let it fly from deep. His stroke
is extremely fluid and he is showing sings of becoming a very dependable outside
threat. One of his most appealing skills (just like we have seen in many European
big men) is his ability to pass the ball. He is playing some key minutes even
in crunch time and for a guy who is so young to be getting that kind of experience
should go a long way towards moulding him into a top level prospect.

Mirza Sarajlija 6-1
PG Union Olimpija (Slovenia) 1991

With the departure of Jonathan Wallace an opportunity has presented itself for
Sarajlija to step in and get consistent minutes and the young playmaker has not
disappointed. Playing in two Euroleague games he has shown some very nice things
going for 13 points (3/6 from beyond the arc), 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 8 points,
3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. He has turned the ball over a number of times
(that is to be expected) yet it has not deterred him from continuing to attack.
His outside shot has been consistent and he’s shown his confidence as he’s made
a number of shots off the dribble and under heavy pressure. He has good speed
in the open court and he is able to use his quickness to get into the lane off
the dribble and from pick and roll situations. Right now he is still fairly skinny
and weak, he also has trouble with more aggressive defenders, but that is all
part of the growing process. With continued growth and development Sarajlija could
make some serious noise in the near future.

Keep an Eye on

Stefan Sinovec 6-5 G
Vizura (Serbia) 1988

Plays on a very young team, but being the main scoring option he is getting a
ton of playing time and all the touches that he desires. He is averaging 17.1
points, 2.8 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals. With the top Serbian teams playing
in the Adriatic League, the domestic league is fairly depleted, but it will be
interesting to see how he plays against the top guns once they join the league
upon the completion of the Adriatic competition.

Nicolo Melli 6-9 F Trenkwalder
(Italy) 1991

Plays on a 2nd division team, but the league is still very competitive and the
most important thing is that he gets about 25 minutes per game. His season averages
of 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds are solid, but he has games where he explodes,
like the 12 point, 18 rebound, 4 steal, 3 block outing he had a few weeks back.
He will need to take his game to the top division in order to get the right exposure,
but right now his development is definitely on the right track.