Ploiesti, Romania – NetScouts Basketball traveled to Romania and stayed from July 29-31 in order to get a real feel on all of the teams performing at the 2022 FIBA U18 Division B European Championship which was held in three cities – Ploiesti, Blejoi and Bucov.
In a span of three intense days, loaded with games that were being played at three different gyms at the same time, we managed to bounce around gyms, fighting with time and distances and eventually were able to scout live all 22 teams.
The tournament was dominated by the Nordic countries, as Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland played in the semifinals. In general, those countries prevailed over their opponents mostly due to a blend of better overall athleticism and strength of their bodies, consistent and harder play on defense and better offensive discipline. Sweden went all the way to win the gold medal after beating the other three countries – Finland in the group stage (78-67), Iceland at the semis (94-71) and Denmark in the final game (79-66). Finland got unlucky, as their leading player and Baylor-commit, Miro Little, had an ankle injury which kept him out of the medal rounds. Aside from the first four countries, Portugal was the pleasant surprise at the event, finishing at the fifth place, after losing a73-69 nail-biter against Finland at the quarterfinals.
Most Valuable Player – Elliot Cadeau (Spain)
All-Tournament Team:
Elliot Cadeau (Sweden) – 21.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 4.0 apg
Tunde Fasasi (Sweden) – 19.4 ppg and 4.3 rpg
Marqus Marion (Denmark) – 16.1 ppg and 10.0 rpg
Tobias Jensen (Denmark) – 13.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 5.3 apg
Almar Atlason (Iceland) – 17.9 ppg and 10.7 rpg
Here is more information on two prospects who played at the event who we consider interesting from college perspective. If you’d like to check out the full list of recruits we covered from the event with contact info, suggested rankings, video links, please contact Carl Berman at carl@netscoutsbasketball.com to subscribe.
Diogo Seixas ( 2004, 6’8”, SF, c/o 23’) – He helped his stock the most at the event by showcasing his game on full display. Thanks to it he took his team just a step behind the medals round, finishing at the fifth place. Seixas already holds several D1 offers – Indiana State, Central Arkansas, UC Santa Barbara and Montana State. Standing at 6-foot-8, Seixas will be able to play and guard multiple positions thanks to his intriguing versatility, capable of bringing the ball up the floor and making plays off the dribble for himself and his teammates, showing solid vision and nice ballhandling skills for his size. He should be a reliable shooter thanks to his soft lefty touch and fundamentally sound stroke, looking always ready to shoot the ball. As a finisher he will drive or cut strong to the basket, using his size and length, often finishing above the rim. His father, Carlos is a former pro player and captain of the national team of Portugal, having a long and successful career in Europe. Seixas could be a mismatch problem for most of his opponents in college due to size and promising skill set and a nice versatile addition to any college roster.
Almar Atlason (2004, 6’8”, PF, c/o 23’) – Another versatile player who had a breakout type of performance in Romania. Atlason, who stands at 6-foot-8 with a +2 wingspan, led the event in rebounding (10.7 pg) while also averaging 17.9 points and 2.4 assists a game. He’s a versatile modern big who will stretch the floor nicely thanks to his great perimeter shooting ability. He’s a very confident and dynamic shooter, but his ability to see the court and make plays for his teammates given his size and position, is the thing in his game which impressed us the most and eventually could separate him from many players at his size/position and age.
This article was written by Simeon Marinov, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
Please contact us at carl@netscoutsbasketball.com for information on our international recruiting service.