Israel's Avdija, Turkey's Fitik named MVPs of Basketball Without Borders Europe 2018

BELGRADE (Basketball Without Borders) - The multi-faceted, star-packed Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Europe 2018 finished with a flourish in Belgrade over the weekend.

Of the many talking points about the event staged in the country for the first time, one that's always been among the hotbeds of basketball, Israel's Deni Avdija scooped the honor of MVP of the boys camp while Turkey's Göksen Fitik claimed the award for the girls.

Boys camp MVP Avdija was among the many talents at BWB Europe 2018 in Belgrade

FIBA, the NBA and the Basketball Federation of Serbia (KSS), administered the camp with 63 of the top boys and girls aged 17 and under from 25 European countries taking part. There was also a referees' workshop and clinic for coaches, the majority of the more than 110 that showed up hailing from Belgrade and Serbia.

"FOR THE YOUNG TALENTS, IT'S A CHANCE TO BREATHE BASKETBALL. WHEN YOU STEP INTO THE GYM AND YOU SEE PEJA STOJAKOVIC, VLADE DIVAC, DINO RADJA, DRAGAN TARLAC, ZARKO PASPALJ... IF YOU THINK ABOUT THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS, THEIR STYLE OF GAME, THE WAY THEY WERE PROS, I BELIEVE THIS IS ENOUGH FOR THE YOUNG TALENT THAT WAS HERE TO SMELL WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME A PRO."- Coach Andrea Trinchieri

Campers had "an amazing all-round" experience, according to Avdija, who won the FIBA U20 European Championship this summer. 

"I've made new friends, met new coaches that taught me a lot," Avdija said, "and I think it's going to be one of the biggest stations in my career. I learned a lot and it's going to help me improve."

Campers worked out with Serbia internationals Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica

He and many of the old continent's finest emerging players learned on-court drills from experienced coaches and players that will help their game skills. They were also taught valuable life lessons each day.

Fitik, a point guard that helped Turkey to a fourth-place finish at this summer's FIBA Women's U20 European Championship Division B, said: "This camp is special for us. We've learned about everything, defense, offense and we've made good friends."

Girls MVP Fitik of Turkey worked hard and dazzled in Belgrade

Andrea Trinchieri, one of the top coaches in Europe taking part in the BWB camp, said: "The format is amazing. For the young talents, it's a chance to breathe basketball.

"When you step into the gym and you see Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, Dino Radja, Dragan Tarlac, Zarko Paspalj, I can talk for 20 minutes about so many.  If you think about their achievements, their style of game, the way they were pros, I believe this is enough for the young talent that was here to smell what it takes to become a pro.

"It's a way to protect them and show them what's next. To be here with them, ask a couple of questions. Even for me, I was emotionally involved talking to these players. I grew up seeing them making plays, winning medals, winning titles and setting the tone for the next generation."

Other campers to receive awards were the MVPs of Saturday's All-Star Games. They were Kay Bruhnke of Germany and Denmark's Malene Pedersen. Thomas Exaucia of Finland, who got ahead on fast break and dunked early in the All-Star Game, received the High-flier Award. Poland's Zuzanna Kulinska and Italy's Edoardo Buffo won the Grit awards for showing tremendous determination and resolve on the court throughout the week. The winners of the 3-point Shooting Contests were Tarik Biberovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia's Veronica Pavliuchenko, the latter who drilled all 10 of her attempts from beyond the arc in the women's shootout!

Serbia internationals Nemanja Bjelica, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nikola Jokic, Boban Marjanovic, Ana Dabovic, Sonja Petrovic, Montenegro's Nikola Vucevic, Slovenia's Beno Udrih and Americans Gary Harris and Frank Kaminsky were current players at the camp. In addition to those greats mentioned by Trinchieri were many other wonderful players from the past involved at the camp.

Campers learned from San Antonio Spurs boss Gregg Popovich, who is also the USA senior men's team coach

There were also successful coaches, including USA senior men's national team head coach Gregg Popovich, who is also the long-time coach of the San Antonio Spurs and has led the team to five NBA titles.

There was an extremely well-received coaching clinic. 

Patrick Hunt, President of the World Association of Basketball Coaches (WABC), served as one of the camp directors and said of the clinic: "I thought the coaching clinic was well attended. The four clinicians who did such a good job - Jacque Vaughn, Popeye Jones, Nick U'Ren and Andrea Trinchieri - all did a fantastic job on a range of topics.

"IT WAS A GREAT DAY, FUN TO BE IN THE GYM WITH LOCAL COACHES AND OBVIOUSLY  IN THIS CITY, IN THIS COUNTRY, ONE OF THE BASKETBALL CAPITALS OF THE WORLD."- U'Ren

"They gave them some drills, some plays, some methods and more importantly how to teach and communicate with players. I think there was something in this clinic for coaches at all levels. The Serbian basketball basketball coaches there were very grateful to the NBA, FIBA and the World Association of Basketball Coaches for taking the time to conduct the clinic."

U'Ren, who has moved from the bench as an assistant with NBA champions Golden State Warriors to become the team's Director of Operations, was thrilled to take part.

"It was a great day, fun to be in the gym with local coaches and obviously in this city, in this country, one of the basketball capitals of the world," he said. "My topic was full court transition, transition attack. Obviously that's easy to talk about when you have (Golden State's) Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) on the wings but also difficult because not everyone has those tools.

"I did my best to give some insight to what we preach, what we teach and hopefully what we execute more times than not."

Campers listened to talks that will help them on the road to becoming professionals

Hunt says it was a huge success. "It was good in the tradition of Basketball Without Borders to be continued, a great variety and standard of coaches there. There were in excess 110 coaches there. The level of the presentations from Nick, Popeye, Jacque and Andrea enabled the coaches to gain further insights into methods of coaching as well as different ideas they can run with their teams.

"The traditions of these clinics that have been at the Basketball Without Borders the last 10 years have been tremendously received.

"Also the great thing about these clinics, particularly the one in Belgrade, is they are all filmed and they will be available through FIBA's coaching youtube channel as well as FIBA.basketball. So they are spread worldwide. We've had millions of hits on these youtube channels, coaches that are watching from all over. The important thing is it was fully endorsed by the Serbian Basketball Association."

FIBA