Compliments to the Joventut quarry in the US: “These guys have been trained very well”
In the United States they have known for years the talent that is forged in the Asisa Joventut youth academy. The cases of Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio They are the best-known and paradigmatic cases for the NBA, especially that of Ricky with more than 10 years that he played in the best league in the world. A talent that is now being felt especially on the benches with Jordi Fernandez as coach of the Brooklyn Nets, although the Memphis Grizzlies also has the rookie homegrown player from La Penya Karim Lopez.
However, in the NCAA – which can be considered the NBA’s quarry – they also know of the talent factory that Penya is with the several players in American university basketball trained at the Badalona club. Two of them are Catalan Jordi Rodriguez and the canary Miguel Allenwho plays for the Charlotte 49ers.
Your coach, Wes Miller, He praised the work that the coaches of the green-and-black club have done with them in conversation with MD.
“We have high expectations with Jordi and Miguel here in Charlotte. As you mentioned, they both played for Joventut, so they played against players of a really high level. They have been trained very well, with Jordi it is a little different because he has already been here for a year in Cincinnati, a fantastic shooter. But, more than that, he has great vision to play when the ball is not in his hands,” highlights Miller, who had Rodríguez last season with the Cincinnati Bearcats, where Baba Miller He played his last year in the NCAA before making the jump to the NBA with the Clippers.
“Jordi moves very well without the ball, he has a very high IQ. Perhaps the most underrated part that we rely on a lot here in Charlotte is his ability to create shots for others with his movement and quick decisions when catching the ball. But after having been in the United States for a year, he has already made the transition and this can be a year in which he explodes,” emphasizes the 49ers coach.
The escort of 22 years and 1.99 has not had very good numbers in the first three games he has played so far, with averages of 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds with 30% in field goals and 22% in triples in 16 minutes. Jordi has started in two of these three games.
The Charlotte coach also spoke about the specific case of Miguel Allen, who is facing his freshman year in the NCAA. Allen joined Penya after his time in the youth ranks of the CB Santo Domingo de Tenerife.
“Miguel is going through that transition of a different style of basketball than the one we play in college. But physically he is healthy, which is important because I think he had some injuries the last two years with Joventut, but he is healthy. He is very athletic, very versatile in attack and defense and we need him to quickly make the transition of adapting to our style and playing fast and playing a role similar to that of Baba Miller a year ago,” explained Wes Miller.
Allen, a 23-year-old, 2.05-meter forward, is recording numbers of 5.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1 assist in 17 minutes from the bench at this start with 70% shooting from the field. The Charlotte 49ers, in the American Conference, won the first two games against Indiana State and Georgia State and have lost the last two against Seton Hall and App State. The 49ers had the former Barça player last season Raul Villarnow with Elon Phoenix, a team in which the former Barça and Joventut player also plays. Iker Garmendia.
La Penya is also represented in the NCAA with other players such as Michael Ruzic (LSU Tigers), Rubén Prey (St. John’s Red Storm) and Ian Platteeuw (Davidson Wildcats).
Wes Miller also praised the quarries of the ACB clubs in general, since he has also coached the aforementioned Baba Miller -trained at Real Madrid-, and a proven ACB player such as Francis Alonsoformed in Unicaja and now in the Breogán River.
“I really enjoy coaching Spanish players going back to Francis Alonso, who I was able to coach at UNC Greensboro years ago, he had an impressive career. Then Baba Miller and, now, Jordi and Miguel. I have great respect for Spanish players. When they come to the United States, most of them have been in ACB clubs and grew up in those youth programs,” Miller highlights.
“They are very, very skilled, they have a great IQ, they handle you training them, they handle high standards and demands, it is the basketball culture that exists in Spain. I have enjoyed training their players,” added the coach of the Charlotte 49ers, where Jordi Rodríguez and Miguel Allen are a sample of the diamonds that come out of the quarry of the Asisa Joventut.
