U18 Belgian Lions – EC2019 – Full Highlights (Video)

Quinten Smout (4.6 ppg): the ultimate team-player. Constantly encouraging and firing on his teammates. And when he wasn’t firing on his teammates he was firing his long-range bombs as he shot 38.5% from behind the arc, getting his offensive output almost solely on 3pt shots.

Thomas van Hille (2.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg): Van Hille was the 11th/12th man in the rotation, playing only 8.8 mpg. Wasn’t really able to show much, other than his agressive drives to the basket and his lefty floater. Struggled big time from behind the arc, going 0 for 14. Continued to work hard defensively despite his offensive woes.

Forwards:
Tom Mark (7.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.3 spg, 2.3 bpg): showed to be the best all-rounded player of the squad, doing a little bit of everything. Beautiful athlete with an impressive wingspan. Seemed to be all over the court and led the team in blocks and steals, while also being second in rebounding. Recorded an impressive 6 blocks against Iceland and added another 4 against Ukraine earlier today. Had the most impressive statline of the tournament with a 10 pts, 10 rebs, 8 asts, 5 stls & 6 blks performance in the win against Iceland. Showed plenty of highlight plays. Somewhat inconsistent with his outside shooting though. Still, I was impressed and definitely will continue to follow his development.

Aaron Verstraete (7.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.1 spg): quick trigger and deadly on the catch-n-shoot when he can place his feet. Shot 30.8% from behind the arc. Good size and skills for a modern 4. Rarely mingled in the paint and mostly roamed the threepoint line and the top of the bucket looking for the quick shot or the occasional drive to the basket. With mixed success. When his shot was dropping, he had a huge impact, but when the shot wasn’t dropping he tended to become almost invisible on the court. Still, a very interesting player to follow.

Joël Ekamba (8.0 ppg, 2.6 pg, 2.5 apg, 1.0 spg): Very quick and shifty player who’s hard to stop when going to the basket. Has nice athletic skills which he uses to his advantage to finish against taller opponents. Can change his shot mid-air and has the touch to still finish around the basket. Mostly focusses on attacking the basket but did show to have a pretty solid outside shot as well, shooting 3/10 from behind the arc. Provides a lot of energy on the defensive end as well.

Marlon Makwa (3.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg): started the tournament with a bang with a 13 pts & 10 rebs double-double but dropped off significantly after that. Not sure whether he got a small injury or if there was something else going on, but his minutes dropped after that opening game and he was the only player to not play all games as he sat out the game at Estonia. When he did play he showed flashes of the skills he displayed in last summer’s U16 tournament where he was one of the key-players.

Centers:
Godwin Tshimanga (3.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg): although one of the most experienced players of this group Tshimanga alternated between being 2nd and/or 3rd option at the center spot as he played an average of 12.6 mpg. Wasn’t really able to have a big impact on the floor but did show some of his solid post-moves and his reliable mid-range jumper.

Aubin Gateretse (5.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg): at 2m05 the tallest player of the squad and the only true center. Worked hard in the post and ended amongst our top-rebounders despite playing only 12.5 mpg. Had his best game against Romania when he recorded the 11 pts & 10 rebs double-double. Showed some nice post-moves but clearly still needs work on his shooting. Only made 1 or 2 jump-shots throughout the entire tournament and shot only 54.2% from the FT-line.

Allen Mukeba (6.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.8 bpg): our starting center despite being only 2m00 tall. Very strong and physical player with excellent athletic skills. At times ‘Lebron’esque in his drives to the basket Mukeba had plenty of highlight dunks and finishes above the rim throughout the tournament. Recorded a double-double against Iceland when he scored 10 pts and grabbed 11 boards. Needs to work on his overall decision-making and his stamina as he frequently ran out of steam in a game, having to ask for a substitution. Impressive athlete but will have to further expand his game to translate well to the pro level.