By Cesare Milanti/ info@eurohoops.net
EuroBasket 2022 is getting closer. In Milan, Prague, Cologne, and Tbilisi we will see not only the main stars of the 24 national teams ready to fight to get on the European roof, but also some new faces: young and upcoming elements who will be the future of their respective teams, but also players at the height of their basketball maturity who have only reached a similar stage in this moment of their careers.
You would be surprised to know that Nikola Jokic is a Eurobasket rookie and the same applies to German youngster Franz Wagner, but they are both included in our Top 10 players of the competition, so they are not on this list.
So, let’s discover the Top 10 EuroBasket 2022 Rookies presented to you by Eurohoops. Be careful, because in 2017 a rookie was decisive to get Slovenia on the golden step of the podium. Luka Doncic, does that ring a bell?
Simone Fontecchio – Italy
Since he left the Italian championship, Simone Fontecchio has become an absolute star both in the EuroLeague and with the jersey of his national team. The experiences with ALBA Berlin first and Baskonia then made him a decisive player on the offensive end of the floor, with many solutions in his arsenal: you can’t leave him space on the perimeter, but a late close-out by the defense automatically turns into a basket for the new Utah Jazz player.
Decisive in bringing Italy back to the Olympic Games 17 years after the great run in Athens 2004, he wants to lead the team of Gianmarco Pozzecco to a EuroBasket medal that has been missing since 2003.
Alperen Sengun – Turkey
A guy born on 25 June 2002 who between 2020 and 2021 dominated a championship in which you could have found players such as Shane Larkin, Vasilije Micic, Chris Wright, Mouhammadou Jaiteh, Kyle Wiltjer, and Nando de Colo? The answer is easy and immediate: Alperen Sengun, who since that season as MVP in Turkey has taken flight.
Landed in America with the #16 pick of the 2021 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, he showed immediately to be ready for a similar stage, without fear of making mistakes or awe towards his more experienced colleagues, perhaps Americans. In the first NBA season, he averaged 9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, with spectacular plays in the low and high post.
Basically, the modern big par excellence, since he can do everything: equipped with an excellent dribble, he shoots very well and he can use the physical advantage as few of his peers in the world. Turkey will lay its foundations on Osman, Korkmaz, and Larkin, but it is the youngest that will have to pass if Ergin Ataman wants a medal.