Overview

Splitter is of German decent and was raised in Brazil, but has had a globe-trotting career that has seen him play for several teams since venturing to Europe in 2000. He began his International career with Tau Ceramica in April 2000 at age 15, as the club organized a team in the EBA category (fourth division in Spain called Araba Gorago) to give him playing time, and he delivered by scoring 16.9 points and grabbing 9.3 rebounds per game during the 2000-01 campaign.

Splitter was loaned to Basket Bilbao Berri of the LEB-2 (third division) for the 2001-02 campaign, where he was part of the squad that won the League Cup title that year. At age 17, he was the youngest player ever to take part in LEB as a foreigner and finished the season with 13.3 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Back with the Brazilian National Team, Splitter played in the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis at age 17, the youngest player to ever participate in that event. He was also named to the Pan-Am Junior Tournament team. The following year, he faced collection of NBA stars in the last Tournament of the Americas, getting six points and three rebounds in that game to help the Brazilian National Team win the South American Championship.

Splitter returned to Tau Ceramica in 2003-04, but could only play in the Euroleague for the first half of the season, since each team in the ACB league is only allowed two foreigners and Arvydas Macijauskas and Kornel David had already filled those spots as Tau's non-EU players. In January, Splitter finally got his Spanish citizenship, and was cleared to play in the ACB. However, he struggled playing at the higher level of competition and his averages suffered: 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in the ACB League, and four points and 2.4 rebounds in the Euroleague, as the team won the Spanish Super Cup.

Splitter rebounded in 2004-05, as he averaged 17.6 points in the preseason, taking advantage of the numerous injuries that plagued Tau's roster. He also suffered a back injury in November that slowed down his statistical production. After recovering from his back problem, he became a key piece in Tau's appearance in the Euroleague's Final Four and quest for the ACB title. For the season, he averaged 8.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and one assist in the domestic competition, while averaging 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and one assist in Euroleague action.

When Tau Ceramica replaced coach Dusko Ivanovic with Pedro Martinez, the new coach and his young player had problems communicating and Splitter's playing time and performance suffered. Martinez was soon replaced as coach by Vladimir Perasovic, a former teammate of Dusko Ivanovic. Perasovic then anointed Splitter the starting center over David and Peja Drobnjak.

The team would go on to capture the King's Cup and clinch a spot in the Euroleague Final Four. He finished the season with averages of 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals in the Euroleague. In the ACB League, he averaged 10.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and one steal.

His true "coming out party" came with the Brazilian National Team at the 2005 Tournament of the Americas, leading the team to the gold medal. With Brazil decimated by injuries and withdrawals, Splitter became the foundation of Brazil's zone. He averaged 14.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, one assist, 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocks (including a 25-point performance in the final against Argentina and a 16-point, 17-rebound showing against the American team in the semifinals), proving he was capable of assuming a bigger offensive role.

In 2006-07, Splitter played in 20 games for Tau Ceramica, starting 12, as he was hampered by back problems. He shot 58 percent from the field on 80 of 138 shooting and was 54 of 102 from the foul line, averaging 10.7 points and 24.7 minutes per game. He pulled down 120 rebounds, including 54 offensive boards, for a 6.0 average and dished out 15 assists while blocking 13 shots and coming up with 28 steals. He ran into foul trouble often (86) and had 39 turnovers.

During the regular season, he scored 11 points and grabbed 11 boards vs. Climamio Bologna, followed by 12 rebounds and a season-high 14 points at Prokom. In Top Sixteen play, Splitter accounted for 12 points and five rebounds vs. Maccabi Elite, adding 18 points and five boards vs. Lottomatica. He had another 18 points with nine rebounds and three steals in a return matchup vs. Lottomatica. During the 2007 playoffs, Splitter came up with 18 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals vs. Olympiacos.

Scouting Report

Positives: Has a well-defined, muscular frame with outstanding length and room to add more bulk...Has excellent quickness to run the court for a big man...Versatile athlete with the power to bang the boards as a center or power forward and has enough range to make perimeter shots as a bigger small forward...Has developed effective post moves and can take the defenders off the dribble and to the rim...Moves well without the ball and is a decent offensive rebounder and shot blocker, showing the court vision, timing and elevation to get to the rim in a hurry for putbacks...Has good footwork in the post and uses his body well to impede the opponent's inside shot...Plays better facing the basket, rolling nicely to the rim, looking for spaces underneath to get defensive position...Has large, soft hands and uses them well to finish in transition when running the floor...Has a nice touch working down low, but also demonstrates good spin moves to score on the lay-up...Is still a work in progress as far as utilizing his body to box out the opponent, but shows good coordination moving up and down the court...When he gets close to the basket, his money move is a right-handed half-hook shot...Not a great dribbler, but will put the ball on the floor in order to come closer to the basket...Has the lateral quickness and understanding for taking proper defensive angles and shows good balance trying to squeeze through tight areas...Creates good mismatches when moving out to the wing on pick-and-roll plays...Likes to get physical in the low post and keeps his hands active while getting into proper position when executing rotations...Shows good off-the-ball movement skills on the pick-and-roll and is effective setting screens...Shows no hesitation when asked to face up and defend against the layup (will get hit with costly fouls when he gets too wild swinging his hands in the air)...Still needs to show better determination attacking the glass, but with added bulk and strength, along with his length, he could become even more effective on the offensive boards...Good leaper attacking the glass and does a good job of seeing the floor, even when facing the basket...Has the agility, range and good quickness to beat the lethargic center when penetrating...Needs more strength, but generally shows good positioning and lateral quickness handling defensive changes...Team-oriented player who is unselfish with the ball and will not hesitate to sacrifice his body diving for loose balls.

Negatives: Likes to take the ball outside, but past the 10-foot mark, he fails to get enough arc and struggles protecting the ball from the quicker guards...Is a nice leaper, but lacks the ball anticipation skills to get to the defensive rebound (better on the offensive boards)...Good defender in the paint, but gets baited outside too often by the perimeter shooters and will lunge and overextend, resulting in costly fouls...Despite his muscular frame, he gets banged out of the paint often by a physical opponent and then gets frustrated, resulting in poor shot selection from the outside...Needs to develop better aggression playing in the paint and seems to lack confidence in his finishing touch, preferring to pass the ball off rather than shoot the easy jumper at times (mid-range shot is marginal at best and failed to take any 3s last year)...Needs to refine his mechanics at the free-throw line...Must develop better hands to secure the ball...Best shooting in close range, as his slow release and poor mid-range accuracy make him a liability taking jumpers at the perimeter...Even though he shows nice spin moves and a decent semi-hook shot, he is a bit stiff in his hips and looks too mechanical and slow getting off his hook shot vs. the taller defenders...Despite his size, he is not a prolific dunker (small hands cause the ball to slip out of his grasp) and also has problems holding on to the ball near the basket when he draws contact from the smaller opponent...A player of his size should be more of an intimidator in the paint, but he gets frustrated too often by his inability to box out the more physical opponent...Struggles at times with his back to the basket and might be a better fit at power forward than center because of this, but he will have to improve his overall strength to play there at the NBA level...Has had nagging back issues the last few years.

Compares To: Nene Hilario, Denver. Like the fellow Brazilian, Splitter is a work in progress with his mid-range game, but shows very good quickness to run the court for a big man. He has had back problems of late, but looked fully recovered. He needs to add bulk and strength to his frame and does struggle with the more physical forwards in the paint. But, he's an unselfish player with good passing skills. His small hands give him problems trying to dunk the ball and with ball security vs. smaller opponents. Despite his quickness, he is not a small forward and even though he has good muscle tone, he will get mauled if asked to play center in the NBA.

Personal

Speaks four languages: Portuguese, Spanish, English and German...Of German descent... Father, Cassio, played basketball in the Euroleagues until injuries ended his career...Born 1/01/85...Resides in Blumenau, Brazil.

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