Deputy Director of International Scouting Luis Fernandez was in Zaragoza this past week watching the European U-18 Championship. This is part one in a series about the top NBA draft prospects that participated in the tournament. The first one discusses the tournament MVP, Sergio Rodr?guez:

This kid is a truly special and tireless creator. He was the brain, the heart, and the lung of the Spanish team. No other player at this tournament came close to reaching the level of influence and importance he had on the offense of his team. Sergio was by far the best passer here, averaging 8.5 assists...

LAS VEGAS ? At least from the perspective of being in a gymnasium, Saturday Day IV of the Basketball Watching Endurance Test (BWET, for those just joining us on the trek) got off to a distressingly slow start.

The hotel room 5 a.m. wakeup call jolted me out of bed via a vertical jump that would have done even the most spectacular of the 7,000 or so high school basketball players in town proud.

My late-night/early morning endurance is sputtering: By 12:45 a.m. on Saturday, all hopes of pounding out the Day III version of this diary had disappeared into Slumbersville.

If all had gone according to plan, I would have been in the Foothill or Basic High gymnasiums by 8:45 for a 9 a.m. tipoff.

But I didn't click on the "submit" icon to the computer software program we use to send stories and columns to the Press-Telegram until about 10:25 a.m.

Then I raced to the Key Largo/Quality Inn lobby to join San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and former Portland Trail Blazers' assistant GM Mark Warkentien for the beginning of the day's BWET Cross-Town Caravan.

LAS VEGAS -- Players say they're more important than their high school seasons. The NCAA says they might be the most concerning events on the calendar. Many coaches think they've grown out of control, but virtually all say they can't afford to ignore them.

Teenage basketball players have flown around the country each July for years, playing in sneaker company-sponsored events that draw criticism from those who feel summer-league coaches possess too much influence. But this month, with Reebok raising a new challenge to Adidas and Nike for summer basketball supremacy, excess has become the norm, and competition among the competing shoe companies has raged hotter than the triple-digit heat here.

The three shoe companies each spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on summer-league teams, in hope of signing the next NBA superstar or, as current pro standout Baron Davis said, simply "building the brand." While the increased interest has created additional opportunities for high school players, it has also made getting a handle on the summer camps even more untenable for the NCAA.

Over the past week here, some 700 summer-league teams competed in three simultaneous tournaments. Earlier this month, more than 600 of the nation's best high school players competed in summer camps in Atlanta, New Jersey and Indianapolis.

"There is a culture in the South: There was a gas station on every corner and a church on every corner," said Bobby Dodd, the president and CEO of the Amateur Athletic Union. "Now we have a summer basketball camp on every corner."

The camps are vital to players' success, as well. Former Nevada standout Kirk Snyder is an exception, someone who made the NBA without competing in a major camp. Snyder said he was invited to Nike's camp but did not attend because his mother needed him to stay home and care for his sister. Partially as result, Snyder received far less attention than his peers, many of whom were hyped since middle school. Only after leading Nevada to a surprising run in this past spring's NCAA tournament did Snyder begin to emerge from obscurity. The Utah Jazz made him the 16th overall pick in June's NBA draft.

Josh Smith, who was drafted straight from high school by the Atlanta Hawks in June, said camps are more important than the high school season because of who gets to see you play, namely college coaches and pro scouts.

But George Karl, the former NBA coach who addressed the players at Adidas camp, said he has trouble accurately evaluating talent in such a setting. "I'm not sure I understand" the camps, he said as his eyes bounced between two courts. "The games are [not good]. It's guard-dominated."

He doesn?t drive, and cannot vote, yet Greg Oden of Lawrence North High School in Indiana, is a lock to be the first pick in the 2006 NBA draft.

The 7-footer has been called a cross between Shaquille O?Neal and Tim Duncan.

When asked what he thought about his chances in 2006, Oden, who participated recently in the Reebok ABCD Camp, one of the premier showcases for high schoolers before college coaches and NBA scouts, Oden simply said, "Nowhere near close,"

The Spanish National team won the Under 18 European Championship earlier today in Zaragoza after defeating Turkey 89-71. Sergio Rodriguez, the extremely creative 6-3 Spanish PG was named the MVP of the tournament after averaging 19 points and 8.5 assists per game. If Rodriguez continues to amaze with his combination of quickness, flair and amazing court vision there is no doubt that he is NBA bound. You can read a scouting report on Rodriguez right HERE.

The finals and a few other games from the tournament including Nemanja Aleksanderov and Serbia & Montenegro are being streamed in high quality on Fiba Europe's website, linked below.

Yi Jianlian, considered by most NBA scouts up until today to be one of the top prospects in the world for the 2006 draft, surprisingly had his age changed by the Chinese Basketball Federation (CBA), according to a report on Sina.com yesterday (July 13th), the largest website in China. (Link: http://2004.sina.com.cn/bk/2004-07-13/31357.html)

Up until yesterday afternoon Jianlian's birthdate was believed to be in June of 1987, making him first eligibile to be drafted in the 2006 draft. His age has now been "relisted" for the upcoming Olympics in Athens, which he will be attending along with Yao Ming on China's national team.

The CBA submitted a list of players for the Four Nations basketball tournament in northwest China, and had Jianlian's age on the list.

His "new" birthday is in October of 1984, making him nearly 3 years older then he was first believed to be, which deals a major blow to his potential to be drafted as the #1 pick in the 2006 or any draft.  

This comes amongst news by asiabasket.com that three young Chinese players -- Yang Ming, Wang Zhanyu and Chen Jianghua -- did not show up at the Adidas Superstar Camp (ABCD) in Atlanta last week because of questions around their ages.

Jianlian has been competing for years on the national team level with players in the 1987 group--against teenagers three years younger then him-- dominating for most of the way as he should have and impressing scouts with his smoothness, athleticism and precociousness. This was until he was invited to San Antonio for the Hoop Summit game to compete with other top players who are in his real age group or younger such as Al Jefferson (3 months younger then Yi) and JR Smith (1 year younger).

Jianlian could not find a way to help out his team there which was made up of the top International prospects in the world and was abused by Al Jefferson in their time together on the floor. Jianlian finished the game with 7 points on 2-6 shooting and 7 rebounds to go along with 3 turnovers in 28 minutes.

His average performance in the game was explained by experts as a result of the two to three years his counterparts had on him, along with his extremely thin frame--which was supposed to eventually even out--that made him drift towards the perimeter.

To Jianlian's credit, he participated in the World Championships for Juniors in Greece last summer against players we now know are his age such as Andrew Bogut and Linas Kleiza (the top two players there) and performed extremely well, averaging 19 points and 11.5 rebounds in the tournament.

Jianlian's age has been considered a question mark for quite some time now, the biggest question now is whether his new age can be believed either. The article linked below claims he is 18, not 19 as the CBA states.

Yao Ming said in that article: "I'm not talking nonsense, I think that Little Yi will one day be better than me," Yao told China Soccer News on Tuesday.

"Look at his build, his jumping ability, I don't have that at all. If he can continue to develop in the right way, he will be able to surpass my achievements," he said.

The NBA all-star centre from the Houston Rockets added: "Little Yi, he will rise, without a doubt."

The assistant coach of the Chinese national team Jonas Kazlauskas from Lithuania says about him: "The only problem is that he is still too young, he is thin and immature and his technical ability is rough. But all of these can be developed."  

The question is exactly how much upside does Jianlian have now in the eyes of NBA scouts? There is no doubt that he is talented, but the obvious flaws in his game just became that much more glaring considering that he would be entering his Junior year of college if he were American.

Luckily for Jianlian, there have not been any 7 footers emerge from the pack yet as guaranteed top 10 picks in next years draft. The closest things to that so far, Martynas Andriuskevicius from Lithuania and Johan Petro from France are both squaring off in a youth tournament in Spain as we speak. Those games will be broadcasted on fibaeurope.com starting this weekend.

This also adds another twist to the Athens Olympics as a strong performance for Jianlian next to Yao Ming can give his stock a large boost. He certainly needs to at least play and hold his own before he returns to the Chinese league when the games are over, where the level of competition he goes up against might be questioned, and he only managed to average 8 points and 5 rebounds last year anyway.

RealGM affiliate DraftCity.com's Deputy Director of Scouting Jonathan Givony was in Orlando last week watching the Pepsi Pro Summer league. Here are his thoughts on the players and teams which impressed or disappointed.

Al Jefferson: The player that really impressed me the most in Orlando. I was initially shocked by how skinny he is after hearing about how much of a beast he is in the paint, but then I was even more shocked by how much of a beast he really is even despite his obvious lack of bulk. Once this guy puts on 20 pounds or so of muscle he is going to be really tough to guard in the post. His footwork is light years ahead of anyone his age, especially Dwight Howard. His hands are absolutely terrific; he catches anything and everything thrown in his general area, especially with those long arms of his. I think he is a little more athletic than people give him credit for, he got off his feet quite nicely to block some shots and he runs the floor pretty well. He even hit a couple of shots from the perimeter, which makes his offensive game that much more lethal. Defensively, he still has a ways to go, but gaining experience and growing into his frame should help him out with that considerably. Ball-handling is another one of his biggest flaws. I suspect that those who called him a bust right after the draft are going to be eating their words for years to come.

Jarvis Hayes: The best player on the court in Orlando. What a shooter this kid is going to be, he?s got such a sweet stroke. Takes him about a quarter of a second to set his feet and get his shot off, can do it moving in all directions and especially while fading away. Very athletic too, he?ll take you right to the hoop and finish strong if you get too close. If the Wizards let him play his natural position at the two he should really start to come into his own his year. I?ve always been super high on this kid since his SEC days; he?s developing into a fine player now.

Dwight Howard: Very up and down. Looked like a future superstar for stretches, then got dominated by NBDL caliber scrubs. Lack of strength is his biggest detriment at this point, he just can?t do anything inside the paint in a half-court offense. Gets frustrated and settles for ugly jump shots from outside, or if he?s lucky--a funny looking hook shot from 5 feet out. Had a couple of nice weak-side blocks and did a great job rebounding in general, the Stromile Swift comparisons look pretty accurate at this point, but he?s got a world of potential to keep improving if he works hard. There is no doubt that this kid has talent, but the Magic would be smart to keep Drew Gooden around for at least a little while longer because it?s probably going to take him some time. Howard certainly got the benefit of the doubt from the referees, though, every time someone breathed on him he was sent to the line, he got away with goaltending, traveling and push-offs on a number of occasions.

Dajuan Wagner: I am not sure if there has ever been a more frustrating player to watch than this guy. The term ?point guard? should never be placed anywhere near his name, he has to be one of the most selfish players I have seen in a long time. It takes him about 12 seconds to even get the offense started as he dribbles and dribbles and dribbles the ball until he absolutely has to give up, and then demands to get it right back. From there he will either pull up for an impossible fadeaway shot off the dribble with a hand in his face (which he sometimes makes) or he?ll take the ball with a head full of steam all the way to the basket. His teammates may as well start walking back up the court at that point because everyone in the gym knows he?s not going to pass it. Any assists he made in this summer league were purely incidental, I assure you. No defense, terrible shooting, he?ll dribble the air out of the ball if you let him. That?s Dajuan Wagner for you right there, a homeless Allen Iverson.

Follow the link for more.

Only a few days from the 2004 NBA draft have passed and already there is much speculation on potential high school prospects.

Without even waiting to see how this year?s picks will pan out, many soon-to-be high school seniors are already declaring their intentions to bypass college for the pros in 2005.

Brandon Rush, a 6-foot-6 forward from Mount Zion Academy in Durham, is honing his game for a quick entry into the NBA draft next June. Rush denies it.

"I'm thinking college right now," he said, phrasing his response in the typical PC manner.

Some analysts have already put the number of early entries at six or more, and the school year hasn?t even started yet.

This article isn?t really NBA draft related, but sometimes players we scout aren?t ready for the NBA when their eligibility expires or when they declare themselves eligible for the draft. They need a few more years to continue to hone their game and work on their weaknesses, and they might still be considered good prospects for the best league in the world a few years later and are therefore worthy of being scouted.

Not all of the best NCAA players always make it to the NBA, sometimes certain prospects slip through the cracks (for various reasons, mostly justifiable ones) and it?s only natural to continue to watch them carry on their careers in Europe and evaluate their progress to see if they have improved on the weaknesses that kept them out of the league in the first place. This helps estimate whether or not they are ready for a first or second shot. With the recent influx of high school players and extremely raw Europeans on to almost every NBA roster, more and more potential NBA players are being pushed aside right from the get go because of a relative lack of upside, and solid NBA veterans are losing their spot on NBA rosters to make way for potential laden players who are being stockpiled for the future. It isn?t ?out of sight, out of mind? for this group of outcasted players as far as NBA scouts are concerned, there are too many good examples of players who were brought into the NBA after a year or a couple of years of seasoning in Europe to ignore them. Some great examples being: Brad Miller, PJ Brown, Stephen Jackson, Udonis Haslem, Carlos Arroyo, Bruce Bowen and others.

This type of scouting is becoming more and more important then ever now. The following players have caught our eyes over the past year and could be considered NBA prospects this summer. None of them are going to be stars right off the bat, if they were, they most likely wouldn?t be in Europe in the first place, so please take what is said here in relative terms, and assume that unless noted these players would be brought in to serve as excellent role players off the bench.