Cibona – Krka

My trip started on Monday with the match in ABA League between Cibona and Krka with another live look at Cibona’s prospects. Cibona won the game easily with 90-52 and as usual, their young players got quite a lot of playing time.

Roko Prkačin (’02) is obviously their main talent and he had quite a good game with 14 points and 4 rebounds in 23 minutes. He is struggling quite a lot with his consistency this season and we haven’t seen his best performances yet but from time to time he reminds everyone that he has a lot of basketball talent in him. In this game he showed a lot of versatility as a finisher and made some baskets out of pick & rolls, out of cuts, post ups, offensive rebounds and also made a corner three point shot. I’m not completely buying his shot from distance yet and there are some things to fix in his release to be more reliable as a shooter. Roko also had one post up action in the game where he bulldozed the defender from the three point line to the painted area and finished with an and1 and we don’t see that that often from players this age on pro level. He had a few nice passes after a quick decision and showed good basketball IQ and feel for game in those possessions. Didn’t impressed me that much on the defensive end and was late in rotations and on closeouts a few times. Also was pretty bad at defending post ups and was moved around too easily or thrown out of balance/position with a few moves. He was active as a rebounder on both ends of the court which is a good sign.

Lovro Gnjidić (’01) got two early fouls early in the first minute of the match but coach hasn’t subbed him and that was a good decision. Lovro finished the game with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 17 minutes. Showed his explosiveness when he was attacking the rim and beat the first line of defense easily with one or two dribbles. The way he transfers the energy in his forward movements is really elite and I would say that could translate to any level but I would love to see him attacking the rim more often. Also made a few nice passes and showed some good court vision and passing touch but a few passes were a little too optimistic that resulted in a sloppy turnover. Was playing good off-ball defense, covering much ground and making good reads on closeouts where he was moving his legs well. He was active as a defender a lot of the time and had an important role in defense even though he was usually guarding the player that wasn’t playing with the ball but lost focus a few times and left the player he was guarding get open too easily. 

Danko Branković (’00) got the opportunity to play in the last 15 minutes when the game was already decided and used the opportunity well. He finished the game with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals in 15 minutes. In offense he had a minor role mostly setting screens and playing as pick & roll roller. With his size and length he made some impact in defense with rim protection where he was contesting/blocking most of the shots. Not that quick in his legs and had some issues in defending pick & rolls but overall made a good job on the defensive end. 

Cedevita Olimpija – ratiopharm Ulm

Second game of the week was the Eurocup game in Ljubljana between Cedevita Olimpija and ratiopharm Ulm. It was a nail-biter and the game ended after two overtimes with Ulm winning 101-96.

Fedor Žugić (’03) was the only prospect at this game that got a little bigger role. He played 19 minutes and scored 6 points. He played good defense on perimeter against extremely talented offensive players from Cedevita Olimpija which surprised me a little since he isn’t known as a good defensive player overall. A few times he full court pressed Jacob Pullen and even when Pullen got past him, Fedor recovered well and came back in defense and contested the shot. He had some problems in pick & roll defense with fighting through the screens and the players from Cedevita Olimpija got a little too much space to operate so Fedor needs to improve in this aspect of his game. Another thing that stood out to me is that he forgot to box out a few times but luckily for him that wasn’t punished with an offensive rebound.  In offense Fedor was looking for points in transition with running in his lane without the ball and also made a nice assist in transition in 2vs2 situation and showed that he can be a really good player on open court. Otherwise didn’t get many touches in offense, made a three pointer that ended an 11:0 run from Cedevita Olimpija but also had an air ball three point shot later in the game.

Michael Rataj (’03), the other prospect in Ulm’s roster, played a little less than 6 minutes and didn’t get many touches on both ends. He had one drive to the rim where he wasn’t aggressive enough and it resulted in a turnover.

Luka Ščuka (’02): DNP

Crvena zvezda – Asvel

On Thursday it was time for some Euroleague action. Unfortunately Victor Wembanyama (’04) was out and also Kymany Houinsou (’04) didn’t get any playing time so the only prospect on that match was Matthew Strazel (’02).

Matthew Strazel (’02) got the opportunity to play early in the game. Played most of the time as a primary creator in offense and this is not an easy task against great and physical defense from Crvena Zvezda. Made some good passes out of pick & rolls and actually run the offense pretty good and finished the game with 5 assists. Played good in defense too, aggressive on the ball handler and didn’t allow any easy points. The only exception was in the last seconds of the 1st Quarter where he was responsible to defend the fast break but lost the focus and Crvena Zvezda scored in last seconds.

KK Zemun U15 – KK Banjica Mega U15

On Friday I started with the match of Serbian U15 league between Zemun and Banjica Mega. The only player that really stood out to me was Ognjen Srzentić (’07), a versatile player that can play on many position but probably his main position will be SG/SF. Has above average size and length for his age and loves to initiate the offense. Good ball handling skills and feel for game for his age and was active all over the floor. Definitely one of the prospects to follow from Mega’s youth program. Finished the game with 28 points and led his team to an 84-76 win.

FMP – SC Derby

Offensive minded ABA league match with many prospects getting a lot of minutes. Home team won in the end with 104-99.

Tomislav Ivišić (’03) finished the game with 8 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes. Was active as a screen setter in pick & roll actions, created a lot out of short rolls with quick and good decisions/passes and made some easy buckets when he was open under the rim. Took a few shots from distance that didn’t find the target but he has the potential to be a reliable stretch option in the future. Also had a few post up actions where he showed some good low post game and some soft touch. Struggled in pick & roll defense a few times and allowed some easy points.

Boris Tišma (’02) is slowly getting in better offensive shape after not that good start of the season and had 8 points in 16 minutes on this match but scored 16 in 10 points in last two round of ABA league. Played most of the game off-ball and sink two open three point shots. Had some post up and some drives but didn’t managed to create any separation for an uncontested shot on those attempts.

Kenan Kamenjaš (’00) had a double-double performance with 11 points and 13 rebounds in 28 minutes. Started the game strong and scored most of his points in the 1st quarter. Hasn’t shown anything spectacular that we haven’t seen from him yet. Played physical and with much contact, set strong screens, grabbed most of the available rebounds and scored some points in the vicinity of the rim.

Marko Pavićević (’01) had a good game with 11 points in 14 minutes for the winning team. The mobile big man showed some inside and outside game and also scored his first career three pointer in ABA league. When SC Derby was playing full court press on FMP guards, Marko even dribbled the ball over and showed some good ball handling skills. Has good understanding of the game and can make some good and quick decisions. Played good low post defense, too, wasn’t moved around and contested most of the shots in the paint. Sometimes was late in pick & roll defense and not a player that could switch in defense even though he is pretty mobile. Interesting big man with solid tools for the future. 

Zvonimir Ivišić (’03) and Eray Buyukcangaz (’04): DNP

Dynamic Belgrade – OKK Belgrade

This game was loaded with many prospects but most of them didn’t have the best game. 

Mihailo Bošković (’02) was in my opinion the prospect with the highest ceiling in this match.  A versatile player with great size that can play on many positions and has an all-around skillset. He was scoring points in many different ways, was active as a rebounder and made a few good plays in defense. Has still a lot of room to improve and he could be a prospect to follow in the next years.

Ilija Milijašević (’04) didn’t have a big offensive impact in this game as he usually does. Was playing mostly off-ball and wasn’t taking many shots or initiating the offense. Took a few three point shots but most of them missed the target and made an important and1 in transition when Dynamic needed some points. Proved in some possessions that his ball handling skills are tight and on elite level when he has thrown the defense out of balance easily. 

Yigit Onan (’02) was bringing some energy to the floor and went for every possible rebound. Turkish forward can play on both forward positions and also played some possessions as an initiator in offense and made one off-the dribble three point shot and finished some drives with finishes at the rim. He is not scared to play through contact and this differentiated him from most players at this match.   

Oleksandr Kobzystyi (’03) was probably the best prospect in the losing team. Finished the game with 11 points and 5 rebounds. A versatile scorer that can score in different ways; there was a nice dunk in transition, a three point shot and a drive to the rim.  Looks uninterested and without energy most of the time when playing and needs to bring “more life” to the floor.

Crvena zvezda – Partizan

Finished the week with the biggest match in the region, the derby between two top teams in the competition – Crvena Zvezda and Partizan. Partizan has a young and talented team but their two draft eligible prospects (Uroš Trifunović & Gregor Glas) didn’t played much in this game so the focus was mostly on two already drafted players – Yam Madar and Balša Koprivica.

Yam Madar (’00) got almost 13 minutes but except two hard fouls in defense and one nice drive in offense hasn’t shown much. Was pretty aggressive as an on-ball defender but didn’t force any turnovers or mistakes from Crvena Zvezda guards.

Balša Koprivica (’00) played 10 minutes and scored 2 points and grabbed 3 rebounds. He competed well against physical players from Crvena Zvezda and played good in defense. Good rim protector and interior defender but didn’t have any role in offense. Improving really well this season and looking better and better every game.

Uroš Trifunović (’00) played less than 3 minutes, missed two three point shots (both were really bad misses even though they were open looks) and made a few mistakes in defense so he didn’t used his chance the best way possible. 

Gregor Glas (’01): DNP