ANGT Finals: Players to Watch | Adidas Next Generation Tournament

The Adidas EuroLeague Next Generation Tournament Finals begin on Thursday in Kaunas, Lithuania. The top junior club teams on the continent will come together seeking glory led by the stars of tomorrow. Here are some names to watch out for from each of the eight teams.

Neoklis Avdalas, U18 Panathinaikos Athens

Neoklis Avdalas is playing his second ANGT season and his first ANGT Finals. The point guard averaged 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.0 steals at the ANGT Munich. He played in one Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game this season, with 1:37 minutes against Real Madrid. That came after he made six EuroLeague appearances last season and tallied 2 points and 1 assist in 15 minutes. Avdalas also played for Greece at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2022 and averaged 14.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals. He has good size with great length and long arms. He is a good creator who can pass the ball really well. Avdalas is a good shooter off the catch. Defensively he is a good shot-blocker but needs to continue to improve his body and his on-ball defense.

Mohamed Diawara, U18 Next Generation Select Team

Diawara will be playing for the Select team for the fourth time in the last two seasons. He averaged 7.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals at the ANGT Finals last year, including 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in the ANGT Championship Game. The French wing averaged 11.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists at the ANGT Munich. Last summer he helped France take third place at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022, contributing 4.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 steals. Diawara this season played for Paris Basketball and compiled 9 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in 14 games in the 7DAYS EuroCup. he is a good team player and is very versatile with the ability to play multiple positions. Diawara is very good on defense and rebounding the ball. He still needs to become a more consistent three-point shooter.

Hugo Gonzalez, U18 Real Madrid

Gonzalez dominated at the ANGT Munich earlier this season, averaging 19.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 steals to earn the Most Valuable Player award. It was his first time appearing in an ANGT event. Gonzalez scored 22 points in the ANGT Munich first-place game. The wing has already played four games for Real’s first team and scored 6 points in a combined 9 minutes as the fourth-youngest player to play for Los Blancos. Gonzalez also starred for Spain at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, tallying 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists, including 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals against the United States in the final. Gonzalez has a strong athletic frame, impressive explosiveness and excels in finishing on the break. He relentlessly attacks the basket when given the chance and also is a good outside shooter. Gonzalez has an excellent basketball IQ and good defensive instincts - both inside as a shot blocker and intercepting balls on the wings. He still needs to polish his decision-making.

Kasparas Jakucionis, U18 FC Barcelona

Jakucionis is playing his first ANGT season and he shined at the ANGT Zadar, collecting 19.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals to win the Most Valuable Player award. The Lithuanian left Vilnius prior to the 2021-22 season and he is spending his second season with Barcelona, where he plays for the club’s team in the fourth division EBA and averages 9.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. Jakucionis also made his Spanish League debut, playing 1 minute and hitting a triple for 3 points against Granada in mid-April. The guard helped Lithuania to the title at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2022, tallying 9.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.4 steals. Jakucionis is an excellent shooter - including on pull-ups, catch-and-shoot or in movement. He also can finish at the basket thanks to his solid frame. Jakucionis excels with his aggressive on-ball defense. He needs to work on his play-making and ball-handling.

Filip Jovic, U18 Mega MIS Belgrade

Jovic is playing his second ANGT season and he will be playing his second ANGT Finals. He played for the U18 Next Generation Select Team at the ANGT Finals last season and averaged 7.5 points, 6 rebounds and 1.8 assists, including 11 points and 6 rebounds in the ANGT Championship Game against Mega. He moved to Mega for this season and averaged 19.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in the ANGT Belgrade. The 2.05-meter power forward helped Mega win the U19 ABA League Championship with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the final against Crvena Zvezda Belgrade. Jovic tallied 12.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals for Serbia at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022. This season he has played for both OKK Belgrade and Mega in the Serbian League. Jovic is a great athlete, who can defend multiple positions. On offense, he is excellent at driving to the basket and is a great spot-up shooter.

U18 Joventut Badalona, Conrad Martinez

Martinez is playing his third ANGT season and will be appearing in the ANGT Finals for the first time. He starred for Joventut at the ANGT Patras, averaging 15.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals. The point guard helped Spain take second place at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 with 9.1 points and 3.9 assists per game. Martinez spent this season playing for Joventut’s EBA fourth division team (17.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg 3.3 apg) as well as Prat in Spain’s second division (4.2 ppg 2.2 apg). He also guided Joventut to defend its Spanish U18 championship with 20.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists including 23 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in the final against Real Madrid. Martinez is an undersized guard but tough as nails and possesses a great basketball IQ. He has a killer instinct - both shooting from the outside and driving to the basket. He is an excellent long-range shooter. Martinez defends adequately but could use a bit more quickness.

Justas Stonkus, U18 Zalgiris Kaunas

Stonkus is playing his second ANGT season and he starred at the ANGT Munich with 17.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals. The forward also helped Lithuania reach the semifinals of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022, where he averaged 12.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. Stonkus played this season for Zalgiris's teams in the second and third divisions, averaging 14.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the third division. He is a good shooter and a good penetrator. Stonkus is physically advanced for his age and has excellent toughness. He still needs to work on his decision-making in traffic and shot selection as well his general defense.

Andrija Vukovic, U18 Crvena Zvevda Belgrade

Vukovic is playing in his third ANGT season and will be appearing in his third ANGT Finals. After totaling 4 points and 5 rebounds at the 2021 ANGT Finals, the center averaged 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds at the 2022 ANGT Finals. He collected 8.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks at this season’s ANGT Belgrade. Vukovic has played in four ABA League games for FMP, compiling 6 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes. He is a traditional big man with good size at 2.09 meters who excels at the pick-and-roll game, on which he almost always attacks the rim for dunks. He also rebounds well and plays solid one-on-one defense in the paint. Vukovic does not yet have reliable a mid-range shot and is not strong on the offensive glass.