Similarly to all ex-Yugoslavia nations, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been good in producing basketball players for the highest level. Currently Mirza Teletovic and Jusuf Nurkic play in NBA. However if we counted all the Bosnian born athletes we would come up with more great names like Dragan Bender or Ivica Zubac.
Next on the way is definitely 1999 born Dzanan Musa from Cedevita Zagreb who is even considered close to being the 2018 Draft lottery pick. After him, Tarik Biberovic seems to be the best prospect from this country. However is he on that level? Can he match the achievements of his older landsmen?
Despite joining Fenerbahce Istanbul, Tarik seems to be a bit behind his predecessor. At his age Musa was already given Euroleague minutes and played regularly in ABA Liga. Biberovic is also rotation member of Spars senior team but Bosnian League displays much lower level of competition. We cannot also skip the difference in national team experience. As 16 year old, Musa led Bosnia to historic FIBA European Championship in Kaunas where he was named MVP. Next summer he followed this achievement with U17 World Cup Top scorer award and big minutes in Bosnia senior team.
As we are just after Belgrade Adidas Next Generation stats comparison between Tarik and Dzanan two years ago may be very on point. It won’t be perfect regarding the drop in level and slightly different format. Semifinals are no longer played and one game less make it easier to maintain production in such an intensive stretch. Moreover Cedevita finished 4th in 2016 while Spars won 7th place last weekend.
Overall bigger impact by Musa is clearly visible in the stats. He was more versatile player who displays better leadership qualities and possess ability to make teammates around him even better. However this piece is dedicated to Tarik so let’s focus on his scouting report.
Height is already highly desirable for a (shooting) guard. Biberovic stands above 6’7 with positive wingspan. Positional strength is also really good and he can throw his weight around and mix it up with a lot of forwards. The problem is not enough quick twitch muscles. Given that he is not overly bouncy or explosive as we always compare attributes of such a hot prospects to the highest level of competition.
Defensively Biberovic is far from being impactful player. He can ocassionally bother by his length but average foot speed allows other players to blow him by too often. He has stretches when he really digs in but typically for a prospect who got used to be go-to guy, overall effort is not imposing and he invests more energy on attacking end of the floor.
Tarik excels mostly as a shooter. He possess sweet and natural stroke . His mechanics is basically flawless and he reached rare consistency for someone who just turned 17 years old. He possess deep range, can come off screens with proper & quick feet set, fire it up in defender face and finally has some pull up game in his arsenal as well. However in order to become complete executor in this regard he needs to work on shot creation process. It doesn’t really come at will for him and separating from defender is very effortful. Tarik handles are good not great. He is neither the most powerful guy not the court not the one who has plenty of wiggle. Same case is with his pick & roll game. He is at least ok and can surprise with good dime from time to time or punish bad defensive rotation but nothing extraordinary. He also hasn’t found a way yet to be consistent finisher around the rim.
Mentioned Musa or Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovic whose career fully emerged in Fener before he made a NBA jump, seems to be more well rounded players. Bogdan offered even more than Tarik shooting wise thanks to ability to hit jumpers off the bounce and get buckets in unbelievably difficult settings. We also cannot underestimate his 6’11 wingspan and high level passing skills. Biberovic still has ways to go with crucial non shooting assets. Next years we will see if he can raise them to utilizable level regarding highest basketball standards. Without it he still can get there but just in more of a one dimensional shooter role who however provides a bit more than than typical off guard.
As history has shown not every OKK Spars product translated well and quickly for pro basketball. While Ali Nikolic is doing very well in his backup PG role either as Bamberg and Slovenia national team member others still didn’t meet the expectations from various reasons. Nedim Buza had big injury problems and Amar Gegic, Edin Atic, Sani Campara or Darko Bajo are doing just ok. So what the future in Istanbul is likely to hold for Tarik? Let’s hear from our Director of Scouting – Gokberk Yenitepe who was born, raised and resides there.
Getting a roster spot on Fenerbahçe is not an easy task considering the level they are playing at. Even though being one of the best potentials of 2001 generation, the objective is still far out of reach for Tarik Biberovic. There are lots of factors worth considering while trying to evaluate the future in Fenerbahçe.
Before breaking into the roster of Fenerbahçe, Tarik desperately needs to play some more high level games. Currently averaging 10 minutes per game in Bosnian Basketball League with Spars, it is very much possible to see him playing in another jersey as a loanee next season. He still needs time to gain more experience and also to translate his skills in youth level to pro level, best way of doing that is by playing more in a competitive environment.
Fenerbahçe is a strictly systematic team in every way if we think about it. Every first year player struggles in a totally new type of basketball scheme. Coach Obradovic is known for his attitude against the players, it is never OK to work just enough. Defensive rotation, freelance passing offenses, sets all suppose excessive concentration and learning period.
Bogdan Bogdanovic came to Fenerbahçe as a 22 year old player with two years of Euroleague experience in Partizan. Tarik Biberovic is still just a 17 year older with not much professional level experience. It is not very reasonable to draw comparisons at this stage. Biberovic transfer will not directly influence the next three seasons of Fenerbahçe, it is a long run investment with low level of risks. Now Tarik has a target at hand, which is doing everything possible in order to improve and prepare himself for the possible roles to be filled out in Fenerbahçe. It might be a totally different story if Obradovic leaves the club before Tarik’s permanent arrival. Another important variable is that whether Tarik will be able to get Turkish citizenship or not. In the past, lots of players from Bosnia got Turkish passports through “jus sanguinis”, which is getting citizenship by right of blood via their ancestors. It is still unknown if he has Turkish relatives or ancestors but it would not be surprising if we see him get a Turkish passport.
