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5 - Alessandro Gentile

6-7, 230 Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Italy International
Birthday
11/12/92 (31.4 yrs)
Hometown
Maddaloni, Italy
International Team
Olimpia Milano
Team Site Profile
Statistics
Athleticism
7
Size
8
Defense
7
Strength
8
Quickness
6
Leadership
7
Jump Shot
7
NBA Ready
8
Ball Handling
8
Potential
6
Passing
7
Intangibles
7

NBA Comparison: Sasha Danilovic

Strenghts: Standing at 6-7 he has good size for the position, with a big solid body that allows him to easily withstand contact at the highest European level … He has a complete offensive repertoire: pull up jumpers, fakes, use of pivot feet and a great ability to utilize his body even in the post … He’s really aggressive on the floor, with a great ability to attack the basket and get to the rim … He has great scoring instincts, with the ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the close out … He also shows great body control, and a good use of both hands, which allows him to create from the dribble with a good variety of finishes …  He excels in the transition game,  often finishing with a dunk, plus he has an effective post game, using his strong body to post up smaller opponents, but his preferred option is always to attack opponents off the dribble … He’s an improved shooter in catch and shoot situations, especially from three point … He has solid game comprehension and good spacing … He’s not scared at all to take responsibilities, showing great poise especially in  clutch and difficult situations … Despite not being a pass first guard, he has good passing skills with the ability to find teammates on the perimeter … Gentile shows a solid defensive attitude, often being placed on the best scorer of the opposition, also showing his competitive personality … With his size and frame, he could guard power forwards in certain situations, plus with his good positioning and quick hands, he’s a good ball hawk …

Weaknesses: Even if his body is solid, he still lacks proper muscles … He lacks elite athleticism and explosiveness, for this reason the physical impact of his body will be less effective against bigger NBA level athletes … His shot mechanics have a big flaw: lacking fluidity with a slow release, with a little pause before the ball leaves his hand. This makes the trajectory of his shot predictable and flat, limiting the effectiveness and the percentages … He has to improve his pull-up jumper, working on his shot selection and his midrange game where currently he is struggling the most … He has to improve the use of screens in P&R situations, especially to create the space for the shot … For a 6-7 guard he could be a better rebounder, with an average of 3 rebounds per game thus far … Defensively his limited lateral speed makes him struggle while guarding smaller and quicker opponents, especially in ISO situations … Attitude and short temper are still one of his biggest shortcomings, he struggles in managing himself during stressful situations, often arguing with referees and opponents … This could be considered the other side of his strong, emotional personality.

Notes: Son of Ferdinando Gentile, one of the best Italian players ever, he was nurtured in fertile context from the basketball standpoint, including his father’s teammates and coaches, like Bogdan Tanjevic … He grew up with Benetton Treviso youth teams, and then he moved to Milan during 2011/2012 season … His style of game is sort of a European Melo … With his combination of skills and physical strength he could become one of the most dominant players in Europe for at least the next 10 years, if he’ll be able to control his temper and develop a winning attitude … In order to translate his game at the NBA level he should invest time in individual workouts with personal trainers and shooting specialists … He’s averaging 11 points 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists thus far in Italian first division …

Davide Bortoluzzi 4/28/14

Strengths: Although he’s still young (not yet 21), he has been playing professionally since he was 16 with enough success to be considered one of the future stars of Italian basketball … It took him some time to adjust his game to the senior level, but his greatest strength is the confidence that he has in himself … Sometimes perceived as arrogant, and there may be some truth in that, he seems to have matured considerably over the last 6 months … As a big 6’7 guard, Gentile is very skilled and aggressive when he decides to attack the rim … His ability to attack openings and finish around the rim handling contacts makes him potentially one of the most dominant players in Europe for the next 10/15 years … He is sort of the "Italian Melo" in the style of physicality and nose for scoring that he brings to the table. In Europe, he reminds of the great Sasha Danilovic in how easily he can put the ball on the floor to attack the close out, despite being so tall and big and how skilled he is in controlling his body and making the right decision … Left and right are equally adept, and when he’s around the rim, he can finish with floaters, power moves or nice finger rolls … Combined with his physicality and the control of his body explains his success in transition, where he often explodes for powerful dunks … His post game is very effective and being such a big guard, he knows how to take advantage of it, though he definitely likes to attack opponents from the dribble first and foremost… A big plus is the movement without the ball, he understand the game and moves without it to free himself to get open … Defensively he uses his body strength and good foot speed to create problems to his opponents, though he is not an elite defender he is extremely competitive and doesn’t mind taking on the opponent’s best player …

Weaknesses: Despite the “Space Jam” statistics he is putting up at the 2013 Eurobasket, the biggest dark cloud surrounding his NBA future is the mechanics of his shooting … The little hitch (pause) before his release has had a terrible effect on his shooting percentages over the last year … But on the bright side, this kid is highly competitive and is aware of it, so for certain he will work on it … Lack of consistency and confidence in his shot creates a lot of problems for him. He uses screens mainly to create an advantage to attack the basket, instead of shooting … In the same way he uses pick and roll, mostly hoping the defense will switch to take advantage of that … He will also struggle in the league because of his lack of athleticism and explosiveness; most of his game right now is based on overpowering defenders generally smaller or slower than him … In the NBA he will face players just as strong that are faster and more athletic. So continuing to develop his shooting and scoring ability will be key … Two other aspects remain very concerning for NBA scouts: His shots selection and his attitude … As we discussed his “overconfidence” leads to sometimes making bad choices on offense and though he seems to be very mature, I would expect him to impact the game in more ways than just scoring … 2.5 rebounds are too small of a number for a 6’7 player who is playing in an Italian national team with only two bigs and not any outstanding athletes … His attitude, which was a major red flag in the past, seems to have turned the corner in recent months, and being a leadership position will be absolutely beneficial for him under this aspect. One last question that must be asked is how strong his desire is to play in the NBA. Would he prefer to be a superstar in Italy, or a role player in the NBA?

Overall: Gentile represents one of the most intriguing European talents of his generation. Already captain of his team Armani Jeans Milano, he averaged more than 6 pts in Euroleague and 12 in the Italian league this past year … He has exploded in the 2013 Eurobasket where he’s leading Italy with 15 points per game, shooting an unreal 92% from the free throw line and 45.5% from 3 … Gentile has everything to be one of the best European players for many years; he is already dominating the Senior Nation team event "Eurobasket" at 20 years of age … But just like Danilovic his game could have great difficulty translating to the NBA, so it will be up to him to find a way to adapt his game. In which case he could become a key addition for NBA teams …

Rick Pietro 9/17/13

Strengths: One of the best international players born in 1992, and possibly the best prospect of this age… Certainly the best outside players in the group … Plays like a mini-Carmelo Anthony: the combination of quickness and size (6’6” for 230 lbs) is really amazing, and the talent is equally notable … His shot and his ability to finish in traffic make him a real scoring machine: in last “Città di Roma Tournament” he score 37.5 points per game, and in European Championship Under 18 he averaged 23.0 ppg (41% 3p fg) … He is an underrated passer and his maturity makes him  ready to play at high level … His athleticism allows him to defend against guards and small forwards when he feels like it …

Weaknesses: He lacks the eye of the tiger …His body language sometimes is hard to bear, and has gained the reputation of having a bad attitude, but he’s improving … He lacks consistency during games and often becomes too 3 point happy … He must improve his confidence at the free throw line where he is strangely inconsistent …

Notes: Alessandro is the son of Nando Gentile, point guard of Italian national team during the 90s.

Giovanni Conte 1/30/11

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