Nikola Radovanovic

Nikola Radovanović (SF | 204 cm | ‘03) ~ Partizan

Interesting long-term prospect. Averaged 15.8 points and 6.5 rebounds (2.8 offensive rebounds) per game and finished in All-Tournament team. A competitive and hard working kid with high motor, plays with good energy and emotions. Has a hunched over posture, good length and very good athleticism. Especially dangerous on open court after he gets the defensive rebound and pushes in transition. Ambidexterity is still a problem, since he is not confident enough in his weak (right) hand dribbles and also finishes only with his strong (left) hand around the rim. Shooting technique looks better than before but still not consistent and accurate enough. Can get past his defender and attacks the rim aggressively. Also has a good ability to draw fouls and get to the charity line – accurate shooter from FT line. Not the best feel for game and decision making – makes kinda slow decisions with too many moves/dribbles before deciding what to do. On the defensive end he is a solid on ball defender but bad in pick & roll defense and getting around screens. He runs directly in screens and doesn’t position his legs good enough to go around them. Also frequently one or two steps behind on chases where his reads are pretty bad. Since his body is weak, he was also targeted a few times on low post where he tries to defend and plays hard but uses his hands too much. The talent is there but still needs to improve a lot things to be competitive on higher level too. Weak body, bad right hand, shooting technique and defensive game are the main categories that need improvements.

Nikola Radovanović (Partizan; SF | 204 cm | ‘03)

A really talented and unique prospect. Versatile player, can play on all position from 1-4. His shooting mechanics have improved a little in last year but still room for improvement. Expected to see him more in a playmaking role in this tournament with more ball in his hands. His movements are fluid for his size, has long strides, good agility and good body control on drives. Can be really dangerous on open court and hard to stop in fastbreaks. Left hander and need to improve his ball handling with right hand that looks really shaky so far. His first step in really good, can penetrate and get to the free throw line easily. In defense his length and solid footwork enable him to cover much ground and also has solid reactions in defense. The body isn’t fully developed yet but definitely a must follow player and one of the most talented in his generation.

Serbia had a disappointing summer all around in all levels and U16 wasn’t different. Nikola Radovanovic looked like the top prospect on the team even though having his ups and downs throughout the competition. He can easily be classified as an aggressive scoring first player that fights on the court all game long. Lefty player is a decent slasher even though body strength is not there, certainly has flair doing that. Shooting stroke is promising but consistency is yet to be seen and also, we have seen some bad decision shooting the ball in this tournament.  Another impressive thing is that he helped rebounding as the team lacked inside presence. For now, he lacks ball handling skills that will allow to unleash his gamestyle. Usually he does not operate with his off-hand, making him liable to mistakes most of the time.

NIKOLA RADOVANOVIC (WING, SERBIA, 2003) 13pts, 4rebs, 6Fdr

Nikola Radovanovic recently joined Partizan Belgrade after being somewhat one man army in Budocnost Bjelina where he at least logged minutes for pro team very early in his career. He is a sized wing with decent bounce who possess pure scorer mentality (had 38 points vs Bayern Munich in EYBL this season, on 36 shots though). Serbian prospect can really handle the ball and even seems capable of some PnR facilitating but attacking mode clearly overpowers his willingness to share the ball as of now. He is fluid in transition and gets to the rim almost effortlessly relying on long strides and knack. Jumpers looks workable but shaky. Lefty but still not much of an off hand. Posture looks a little concerning too given Musa esque hunch. Somewhere in between being raw and skilled but certainly very good (however not that elite?) prospect.