10 Aleksa RADANOV (Serbia)
12/05/2016
David Hein's Eye on the Future
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Can Berlin give Real Madrid repeat luck at ANGT?

REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - Real Madrid go into this week's Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT) as defending champs and hope Berlin is their lucky charm while four other past winners are looking to hoist the trophy again.

Madrid enter the annual U18 club competition in search of the first repeat of the title since 2009 when FMP took the crown a second time. The Serbians grabbed that second title on the same court in Berlin where the ANGT final will take place - Berlin's Mercedes Benz Arena. 

But Madrid will not have an easy ride in the 14th edition of the tournament, which runs parallel with the Euroleague Final Four in the German capital from May 12-15. 

The Whites have been drawn into Group B with Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, hosts Alba Berlin and Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade. Many observers believe the penultimate game in the group - Madrid vs Zvezda - will decide the Group B winner, and the team which will take on the Group A champ in the title game. 

Real Madrid and Zvezda have squared off in the last two ANGT finals with Zvezda winning in 2014 and Madrid claiming their first crown last season in a 73-70 thriller in front of their home fans in Madrid.

Each team will have a couple of key figures from that game - Samba Ndiaye and Felipe Dos Anjos for Madrid while Zvezda have Alesksa Radanov and Borisa Simanic back. 

Of course that is not the only game, but it very well could decide on the champion of the tournament as both teams are loaded with talent and won their respective qualifying tournaments in L’Hospitalet and Belgrade. 

Should either Madrid or Zvezda claim the crown again, they would pull even with FMP and Zalgiris in second place with two ANGT titles. The all-time leader is CSKA Moscow with three straight wins from 2004-06. 

The other six teams will not just roll over and give Madrid or Zvezda the glory again.

Lietuvos Rytas, who lost in the Kaunas qualifier final to Zalgiris, won the ANGT in 2012 after having reached the final in 2009. The likes of Grantas Vasiliauskas and Aitis Pilauskas would like to experience the final in Berlin - just like the club did in 2009. 

Vasiliauskas hopes to help Lietuvos Rytas go far at ANGT

Alba Berlin are in the ANGT Finals for the second time after hosting the event in 2009 as well. The Germans have a couple of nice talents, especially Ferdinand Zylka and Philipp Herkenhoff, but it remains questionable if they could pull off at least two victories in the group. 

Group A features two past champions in the 2003 and 2007 winners Zalgiris and 2010 champs INSEP as well as two-time runners-up Barcelona, who advanced to the final in 2008 and 2013. The final team in the group is Serbs Mega Leks Belgrade, who are making their debut in the finals after winning the qualifier in Rome shortly after Christmas. 

Zalgiris, who also went to the final in 2005, 2006 and 2011, are in the Finals for the 12th time in 14 editions as the Kaunas qualifier winners. The Lithuanians’ biggest star is German Isaiah Hartenstein, but the power forward will not play and Zalgiris will definitely need Arnas Velicka and Gytis Masiulis to step up for the team. 

Mega will definitely be missing one of their top players as Aleksandar Aranitovic is out with a torn ACL. That means Novak Music and 2000-born star talent Marko Pecarski must play extremely well for the Serbians to have any chances. 

INSEP will have an extremely young group with just two 1998-born players - Bathiste Tchouaffe and Jules Rambaut - leading a group of seven players from 1999, two born in 2000 and one 2001-born youngster. 

Just like INSEP, Barcelona also received a wild card for the Berlin tournament after losing the L’Hospitalet final against Real Madrid. And the Spanish team is loaded with talent including Eric Vila, Sergi Martinez and Rodions Kurucs among others.  

Kurucs will be playing at his second straight ANGT Finals and the Latvian will be thrilled to be even playing after missing the L’Hospitalet tournament with a knee injury, which cost him the first two-thirds of this season. 

Barcelona also will go into the tournament having just beaten Real Madrid in the Spanish U18 championship final 65-58 last weekend. That would add that much more drama if Barcelona and Madrid both can get through their ANGT groups and meet again in the final.

The last six ANGT tournaments since FMP’s second title have seen a first-time winner. Barcelona would make it seven in a row, but Madrid are hoping that Berlin gives them the repeat magic.

David Hein

FIBA

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David Hein

David Hein

Walk into the media tribune of any major basketball event and there's a good chance you will come across David Hein. Having covered dozens of FIBA events, including numerous women's and youth events, there are few players Dave doesn't know about, and few players who don't know him. His sporting curiosity means he is always looking to unearth something new and a little bit special. David Hein's Eye on the Future is a weekly column digging out the freshest basketball talent worldwide and assessing what the basketball landscape will look like a couple of years down the line.