| 06 April 2011
The best high school basketball players in the world are all in Portland this week to participate in the annual Nike Hoop Summit, which will take place on Saturday at the Rose Garden at 7pm. The game pits the best U.S. high school seniors against the best international players, aged 19 and under.
An astonishing number of premier NBA players have previously participated in the Nike Hoop Summit, such as Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzski, Baron Davis, Tony Parker, the Blazers’ own Nicolas Batum, and many others.
While the next step for the majority of these athletes (primarily the U.S players) is freshman year of college, this year’s roster features two players who have already entered themselves into the 2011 NBA Draft: Lucas "Bebe" Nogueira from Brazil and Bismack Biyombo from the Congo. Both players are projected to be first-round selections if they choose to stay in the draft.
Most college players have to decide whether or not to withdraw by May 8th in order to retain eligibility, but international players have until June 13th to make that decision.
Last night, I was able to attend one of the international team practices and had the opportunity to talk to both Lucas Noguiera and Bismack Biyombo afterwards.
The Nike Hoop Summit is a huge opportunity for these kids. It’s a chance to compete against peers of equal talent, to potentially raise their future draft stocks, and to showcase their abilities on a national level.
Getting To Know Lucas "Bebe" Nogueira
Position: Center
Weight: 218 lbs.
Height (w/o shoes): 6'10"
Height (w/ shoes): 6'11.5"
Wing Span: 7'5.5"
Body Fat: 7.8%
Standing Reach: 9'3"
(measurements from DraftExpress)
Bebe is an 18-year-old big man with enormous potential. He first burst onto the scene during the U-18 FIBA Americas tournament in San Antonio in 2010 and hasn’t looked back since.
Note: Bebe primarily speaks Portuguese and very little English, so this interview was conducted with the aid of his translator.
When asked about the Nike Hoop Summit and what he most wants to showcase this year, Bebe’s translator responded with:
“He wants to show the same energy that he played with last summer in San Antonio. You know, blocking shots, running the floor, playing both ends of the courts, and showing some new things that he had to work on during this year in Estudiantes.”
Bebe often draws comparisons to players like Hassan Whiteside and JaVale McGee, but when asked about which player he tries to model his game after most, Bebe delivered a solid answer.
“LaMarcus Aldridge.” His translator added, “Yeah we actually took him to the [Blazers] game this past Sunday. He really liked it.”
If you’re wondering how a player that’s 6’10’’ got stuck with the nickname “Bebe” ("Baby" in Portuguese), his translator was kind enough to explain the story for me:
“He said that he’s always been much taller than the average, and people used to call him ‘Giant Baby’ when he was coming up, like, ‘He’s a giant baby!’ He always was bigger than everybody else, and at one point they got the 'giant' out and started calling him 'Bebe' cause he’s always been so tall.”
And, of course, as a child growing up in Brazil, it was no surprise to hear that Bebe also played soccer when he was young.
Bebe’s eyes lit up as he said, “Soccer, soccer, for sure! Soccer,” while his translator added, “When he was playing soccer in Brazil against some main teams there like [Flamengo and Vasco], once the game was over he’d have some guy from the team come and talk to him. And he always thought they were going to get him to play soccer there. But they’d say, “'Listen, you’re too tall. You’ve got to play basketball.'”
For all the positives there are to glean from Bebe’s game, he still has his faults. The main criticism that many scouts have is that Bebe is not strong enough. His frame is very slender and his upper body is relatively weak in comparison to other players near his size. However, he’s young and he claims that he is able to put on weight if he wants to.
When asked if he agrees with these critiques or if he is worried that the extra weight would just slow him down, his translator responded with:
“Last summer that was the same thing that some of the scouts told him, and last summer he was 200 pounds and now he’s 218, so he has worked some this last year and he’s put on 18 pounds already. He agrees with the scouts, he knows that he needs to put on more weight -- but the same way that he put on 18 pounds, [where] it didn’t affect his running. He should be as quick.”
He also specified that there isn’t an exact weight he’s trying to get to. “He just wants to get a weight that he feels comfortable and strong, to hold people down there, and once he gets there and feeling that way, that’s when he will know for sure.”
As mentioned above, Bebe has entered into the 2011 NBA Draft. However, his contract with Estudiantes is currently through 2014, meaning that if he is selected in the draft, he will either have to stay overseas for a few years or buy out the remaining years of his contract early.
But the question is, will he even stay in this year’s draft or will he withdraw before the deadline and try his chances again next year?
His translator’s response was understandably vague. “I can’t say that for him. I mean, we’re going to see how he’s going to be doing all week long and then we’re going to sit down and think about what he’s going to do.”
Right now, most mock draft boards have Bebe going anywhere in the mid to late first round. I know many Portland fans would be quite happy if the Blazers selected Bebe with their #21 pick, and this wouldn’t be too far a stretch, as the team has already shown interest: it was reported back on March 20th that the team had sent scouts to go watch Bebe play for Estudiantes.
Getting To Know Bismack Biyombo
Position: Power Forward/Center
Weight: 243 lbs.
Height (w/o shoes): 6'7.75"
Height (w/ shoes): 6'9"
Wing Span: 7'7"
Body Fat: 4.8%
Standing Reach: 9'3"
(measurements from DraftExpress)
Congo-born Bismack Biyombo is another 18-year-old who has received much acclaim due to his outstanding athleticism and defensive prowess. Just by looking at his wing span and standing reach measurements, it’s obvious that Biyombo has a body built for terrorizing the NBA.
Biyombo talked about some of his individual goals for this year that will help elevate his overall game and make him a more well-rounded athlete.
“Right now, I mean, I can say probably I’m a good defender. My first strength is to defend the ball. I want to get stops on defense, and then we see about offense. We can make it better. I have one coach who says that the best offense is defense. So, if your defense better, then you can offense."
A player that Biyombo often gets compared to is Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka. Both players are from the Congo and they also share similar body types and styles. However, Biyombo is hesitant to push this comparison too far:
“We pretty much similar, but not completely. I will never gonna be Serge and he will never gonna be me. The way it is, I really do respect it, and I talk to everybody that Serge is first and not me, so he’s good friend to me. I like him – I’m not sure I’m going to be 100% Serge and he’s not going to be 100% me. But there is at some points, people are going to say we’re pretty similar. You know, good body, we block shots, which allow us to be good defender, we run on the floor, so I can say we’re pretty similar.”
Since he is so often compared to Ibaka, I asked if there are any other NBA players that he feels are more appropriate comparisons or that he strives to model his game after.
“There is, Kevin Love is a good rebounder. He’s a smart guy. You know, every time he play, he know the good position he can be to grab the rebound. So that’s my favorite player. And Kevin Garnett is a good player to me. He play intense, every time. When he’s not on the floor, the team really miss him.”
Unfortunately, coming to Portland to play in the Nike Hoop Summit created some controversy for Biyombo with his current team, Fuenlabrada. His coach didn’t want Biyombo to take the time off because doing so required missing multiple games. They even went as far as to threaten Biyombo, throwing out the idea that he would lose his spot in the rotation if he left.
At the end of a victory last week, coach Salva Maldonado said: "[Biyombo] said he is going so the player has decided to leave the train and this train will not wait for him. . . We will have to reinvent the team again."
However, those bullying threats carry no backing, as Biyombo specifically has a clause in his contract that allows him to travel to international events, such as the Nike Hoop Summit. When asked if he was worried about returning home to drama with his coach, Biyombo shrugged it off.
“I’m not worried bout it. I’m not worried bout it. You know, I do the right thing. It is something that I have in my contract. If I didn’t have it in my contract, I would never gonna be here. But like I have it in my contract, it’s something we signed, me and the club, and people knows that we signed it. It’s something that we were working on and when we signed, I asked that question two, three times. Are you gonna let me go? They say yeah, we take care of that, don’t worry. But anyway, I don’t worry bout it. I would go back there. I would play ball. Anyway, it’s not a problem for me. It’s not a problem.”
I expressed that I was glad that Biyombo did end up making the decision to come, anyway. He responded with saying that his team should feel the same way.
“Yeah, of course they should be glad, you know. Young talent you got on your team and if he coming to special thing like this, I’m sure you should be glad.”
Finally, similar to Bebe, Biyombo has declared himself eligible for the 2011 NBA Draft. Also similar to Bebe, this weekend’s game could play a large role in whether or not he decides to stay in the draft.
“The decision will be make in . . . four days. I might be on the draft this year, but we see what’s gonna happen today, tomorrow. We’ll figure out, me and my agents. And if I have to be on the floor, I will step on it. I will step on it, ready to go.”
photo 1: usabasketball.com
photo 2: nba-draft.com
photo 3: baloncestofuenlabrada.com
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