Future of Serbian NT

[Katastroika]

Djurisic is a 16 year old player from Mega who plays KLS on loan for OKK Beograd.

Serbian Layup and me mentioned him as an interesting guard to follow. His first steps in senior basketball look promising. It's way to early for conclusions but it's nice to see that he has a "scorer's instinct" our main guards always had. I assume he will be a starter in Mega from next year as he is clear NBA potential and Raznatovic sends his slaves to draft pretty early in the last years, unfortunately European trend:

https://twitter.com/SerbiaHoop/status/1339548776948789249

If Mega wouldn't sell players on a daily basis this team would be a favourite of winning ABA in the next years with Petrusev, Simonovic, Djurisic, Jovic, incredible amount of talent. Besides all, even the school and project works, it's very critical to have a team that is in the hands of an agent and where the players are just being forced because of uplifting their market value for draft and European transfers.

[Serbian_Layup]

Djurisic is a 16 year old player from Mega who plays KLS on loan for OKK Beograd.

Serbian Layup and me mentioned him as an interesting guard to follow. His first steps in senior basketball look promising. It's way to early for conclusions but it's nice to see that he has a "scorer's instinct" our main guards always had. I assume he will be a starter in Mega from next year as he is clear NBA potential and Raznatovic sends his slaves to draft pretty early in the last years, unfortunately European trend:

https://twitter.com/SerbiaHoop/status/1339548776948789249

If Mega wouldn't sell players on a daily basis this team would be a favourite of winning ABA in the next years with Petrusev, Simonovic, Djurisic, Jovic, incredible amount of talent. Besides all, even the school and project works, it's very critical to have a team that is in the hands of an agent and where the players are just being forced because of uplifting their market value for draft and European transfers.

This video shows an array of scoring skills...spot up, pull up, step back, transition, penetration...super fluid for his age, it doesn't feel like he is just 16 while watching his highlights. KLS is not a quality league, but it's a great school for young kids experiencing senior basketball.

You mentioned earlier Lazar Stefanović from Partizan, I watched Partizan – Mega juniors game some days ago, and he was lighting it up for the whole game. Jović had a decent game for Mega (showed flashes of ridiculous shooting and ballhandling again), but Stefanović really stood out on offense. Very calm, potential to be a great shooter. He seems comfortable with ball in his hands as he created off the drible quite easily. I would also mention Mihailo Petrović from Partizan, a bit undersized point guard, but also a really good shooter who seems to have capacity of being a reliable floor general.

https://twitter.com/idprospects/stat...33742010851329

Thinking about top prospects born 2001-2004, it's obvious that most of them have potential to be sharpshooters and above average to great ballhandlers – Pokuševski, Nakić, Vukčević, Jović, Đurišić, Stefanović, Petrović, Belić, they all have advanced ballhandling skills for their age. And all of them project to be at least capable shooters, which is really important considering that shooting from the three point range is becoming vital these days. It's not a high probability that all of them will turn into game changers, but those generations are filled with extraordinary talent. And we have Petrušev/Smailagić as biggest talents from 2000 generation. Petrušev is dominating ABA legaue against high profile teams. He averages 20+ points, 10+ rebounds against Partizan, Zvezda and Budućnost this season. Most importantly for him and possibly crucial for his NBA career is that he is starting to hit his outside shot making clear progress. What's unique about him when I compare him to Jokić and Milutinov is that he runs the floor so well, which enables him to establish a good postion down low early on in possession or just finish in transition. This really stood out in the game against Budućnost the other day. He is really good at running up and down the floor, often out-running smaller guys on the floor. I think he is becoming a clear third option at center position ahead of Marjanović and Raduljica. Also, he fits perfectly into p&r sets with our guards, as he is quick and strong on his feet finishing well around the rim (though I think his touch needs a bit of refining, as well as his footwork). Defensively, when he is locked in, seems like a capable defender and rim protector, but focus on that end is something that needs work. He is progressing really fast, it's not like he is just pumping those numbers while his team is losing, because Mega is competitive against the best teams in the league, and he is the big reason for their success.

[Serbian_Layup]

Djurisic is a 16 year old player from Mega who plays KLS on loan for OKK Beograd.

Serbian Layup and me mentioned him as an interesting guard to follow. His first steps in senior basketball look promising. It's way to early for conclusions but it's nice to see that he has a "scorer's instinct" our main guards always had. I assume he will be a starter in Mega from next year as he is clear NBA potential and Raznatovic sends his slaves to draft pretty early in the last years, unfortunately European trend:

https://twitter.com/SerbiaHoop/status/1339548776948789249

If Mega wouldn't sell players on a daily basis this team would be a favourite of winning ABA in the next years with Petrusev, Simonovic, Djurisic, Jovic, incredible amount of talent. Besides all, even the school and project works, it's very critical to have a team that is in the hands of an agent and where the players are just being forced because of uplifting their market value for draft and European transfers.

About Mega, well, it's a fact that Ražnatović has something like monopoly on young talents in Serbia. It's also a fact that he is working very well with them, way better than Partizan and especially Zvezda are working with their talents. The trouble is that Ražnatović is in a classic conflict of interest..of course, legal papers will say it differently, but it's obvious that he is both the owner of the club and manager of all players who play for his club. And what to make out of this? It's clear that his main interest is not to win games but develop players in order to sell them to highest bidders. He is probably treating those players well (especially the most talented ones), because he knows he will get a lot of credit for their success (which is important for luring most talented kids from next generations), and of course he will have a substantial share of money from their contracts (his ultimate goal is to send his players to NBA, and with Jokić success he gained certain attention and reputation among NBA GM's, not to mention young kids whose dream is to play in NBA). The trouble is that he is doing it in a professional league, where all teams compete to win games, while he competes to showcase his clients/players to bigger markets, even if he has a chance to win a title in ABA league by just holding those players for another season. A couple of years ago in the middle of the season when Mega was fighting for top 4 seed in ABA league, they decided to send couple of their most talented players to some prestigious camp only to showcase them in front of NBA scouts. Things like this put doubts into league's regulations because it affects a bunch of other teams and general standings. On the other hand, Mega might be the best thing that happened to Serbian basketball in recent years, because lots of talented kids have a chance to compete at a high level in young age, which is something they could only dream of in Partizan (post Vujošević years) and Zvezda (it's mind-boggling what Zvezda has been doing with their talents for years now - zero vision and courage to throw them into fire, and the saddest part is that they aren't doing anything special in Euroleague, rather opposite - they are pretty bad). So basically, there are two sides of the coin like always, bad and good mixed together to the point that you can't really judge them, but it's also clear that they are not a paradigm of honesty or legal cleanness.

Speaking of conflict of interest, what to say about Čović? Both FMP and Zvezda are his toys. Both teams compete in the same professional league. Now imagine all of calculations, transactions, illegal moves that are just hurting the league's regulations. Look at FMP this year...they are left with basically nothing after Čović transferred Radanov, Reath, Uskoković from FMP to Zvezda. He runs both clubs, so he will do whatever he likes and what is more convenient for Zvezda in a given situation because right now Zvezda is his shiny toy with big expectations. Ridiculous conflict of interest, this shouldn't be happening in a serious league. But there is a hole in the law which recognizes only papers, and since there are million ways to mask illegal doings by the use of paper, and also calculating political favoritism which is crucial (because Zvezda is actually a toy of president Vučić), they can get away with anything. There is a term called affiliate, defined as an organization attached to or subordinated to a larger organization, in this case - team. NBA G league, for example, consists of teams that are all affiliates of NBA teams, competing at lower levels in order to develop players for NBA, and that's fine, developing is the purpose of that league. But you can not have both primary and affiliate team at the high level in the same professional league, because it gives you huge competitive advantage over your opponents and a possibility to do lots of illegal stuff (fixing results, transferring players however you want and whenever you want, financial fraud, illegal transactions etc.).

Ražnatović uses Mega solely for developmental purposes in a league that requires professional competition and winning to play in European cups or stay in the league. It happens that Ražnatović can always construct a good enough talent to stay in the league, but he doesn't want to win for the purposes of the team but only to introduce his clients to the big market. It happens to be a good thing for Serbian basketball (maybe not so good, it remains to be seen), but it's not honest competitiveness or legally clean in a professional league. Basically, Mega looks more like a marketing instrument of his BeoBasket agency than a sports team.

[Katastroika]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2-wukK6AZg

Finally debut in EL. What impressed me more than the offensive sequences whas his very good defensive participation. Only way to gain minutes in Radonjic's system is just to continue to play good defense. I really have no clue why he didn't get a chance from Sasa. Totally clueless about this one.

[Serbian_Layup]

Pokuševski getting more and more comfortable with NBA offense/defense game. I knew he has potential to be a good help side defender with his size and wingspan to protect the rim and disrupt passing lanes, but I didn't expect he would look this good defensively on the perimeter staying with smaller players. That last game he played vs Lakers reminded me of Kirilenko in terms of defensive awareness and great motor on chasedown blocks.

I've been browsing through some Thunder forums, and basically they are all in on his potential and surprised that he is showing better than expected defensive awareness so quickly. At this stage of his development it's definitely better to show defensive progress as offense will probably come naturally for him at the time. He is making a jump from Greek second division to NBA basketball, that kind of transition is rare in many ways.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Thunder/com...hunder_10_pts/

[Katastroika]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZsQkoef6ec&feature=emb_title

Kid's looking quite good. Was a very good decision to spend this season in Belgium. I watched a game of their domestic league where he had a lot of freedom but still looked like the best player of the team.

[Serbian_Layup]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZsQ...ture=emb_title
Kid's looking quite good. Was a very good decision to spend this season in Belgium. I watched a game of their domestic league where he had a lot of freedom but still looked like the best player of the team.

Indeed...quick first step, nice and quick dribble in transition/traffic, got some crossover moves...not very athletic but first step and handle seem to be very quick/crafty. We'll see if/when he will choose to start his NT career. Would be great to invite him for this February window if there is a willingness from his side. Promoting Nakić and Radanov in February games would be dope for our NT.

Speaking of Radanov, he looks good. I'm surprised with his aggressive dribble moves and finishing at the rim. Has a great energy and motor on defense, whether he's rotating or playing 1 on 1 defense, he seems very eager to play some quality defense. Offensively, I like his discipline, decision making, he takes what defense gives him and he is very good at exploiting it. Also a willing passer, high understanding of the game. He has potential to be a very nice two way player. I don't see why he shouldn't be getting around 20 min per game for the rest of the season. Zvezda is not going anywhere in Euroleague, and the only positive outcome for them is developing players for future. I mean, it's not a rocket science, in their situation it's the only right approach with possible positive consequences.

[Katastroika]

I totally agree about Radanov. Besides all I am happy that he got the chance and wasn't wasted without any reason.

I am not sure whether February is the window when they will start, if Radonjic gives Radanov "free" we will see him, for Nakic I think that qualifiers for next World Cup will be the first games when we will see him.

[Katastroika]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4432829/balsa-koprivica

This guy is the classic example of an accelerant who dominated with his body in youth categories and where his domination gradually declined as older as he got. I am pretty sure he will get drafted because out of some for me not really understandable reason Americans hype him extremely but I really don't expect anything from him and when I compare him to e.g.: Petrusev he seems to be 3 classes worse. He is a kid and I always have stomacheache when I write bad about young players but I think that this won't be good at the end. Hope I am wrong.

[Serbian_Layup]

Radanov looking nice. Missed some bunnies vs Real, made some usual turnovers due to inexperience, but he makes really nice impression on both ends of the floor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfmeK5lDQhE

He scored all points on drives with Deck, Tavares and Thompkins as a defensive block, which is impressive. That last play was a beautiful assist to Reath, knew what he was doing from the start, showed nice handle and ability to pass.

I have to mention Petrušev, he connected for 10 straight games with 20+ points...I don't know if the competition is too weak or he is just too good...Might be the latter, cause ABA got some good competition this year and a very successful campaign in European cups. Far more important for him is that he is showing a range, shooting over 40% from three. Showing quick development in that area. Also, he can face-up, attack close-outs with athletic finishing above the rim. He is definitely raising his draft stock if continues to show range in his game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QaD6QLTjA

[Katastroika]

Filip looks really great this season but I still have my doubts. His usage is way too heavy, it looks kinda unrealistic still with this sample size It's a fact that he gets a lot of easy points in his hands. At least he is not camping at the free throw line and his points come out of the game and as you said, most importantly his shot looks great from both half distance and 3. I am very positive about his future. Generational talent.

[Katastroika]

Pavle Stošić debuted with 16 years for Zaragoza senior team. Goes under radar here but one of our youngs with heighest ceiling.

[Katastroika]

I know this is quite a sensationalistic information but after watching Zvezda - Dinamik cadets. I think I have never seen a more dominant cadet guard in Serbia than Milijasevic in such a game. This is incredible domination and pure talent without physical superiority. He will be a very good player rather sooner than later. It was really hurting me that zvezda's guards looked that worse besides those from Dinamik. We have serious issues in our youth school.

[Serbian_Layup]

Filip looks really great this season but I still have my doubts. His usage is way too heavy, it looks kinda unrealistic still with this sample size It's a fact that he gets a lot of easy points in his hands. At least he is not camping at the free throw line and his points come out of the game and as you said, most importantly his shot looks great from both half distance and 3. I am very positive about his future. Generational talent.

I don't have a problem with his usage. As long as his efficiency is as good as it is and Mega is competitive, heavy usage is tolerable. In fact, heavy usage is exactly what he needs right now in order to develop and expand his game. You saw a game vs Cibona, he was matched up against a strong center like Planinić and he was denied and pushed out of the paint couple of times, which means his plan A to attack from the post was taken away from him. In those cases you have to have a plan B, and that is to stretch the floor, which is exactly what Petrušev did and immediately nailed two open threes because heavy guys like Planinić can't defend on the perimeter. That is why Petrušev left Gonzaga for Mega, he wasn't allowed to stretch the floor, because Gonzaga uses their bigs primarily in the paint area. And now he has a freedom to expand his game and become a complete offensive player who's got more than one trick up his sleeve. Also, I noticed those one legged fade-away jumpers, which he seems comfortable taking. I'm not sure what his ceiling is, but he is developing really fast.

https://twitter.com/okcthunder/statu...37909656281100
Poku! Most of the time he doesn't have good games offensively, but his defense has been quite good thus far. Most of his blocks came on drives and ability to stay with his man. He even contained Chris Paul on the perimeter and made him shoot an air ball.

Đurišić scored 28 points..I noticed a flaw though, when he doesn't have ball in his hands, he seems to be completely uninterested in whatever his team is playing. Gotta be better off-ball player.

[Katastroika]

That Petrusev turnaround fadeaway was really mmmm.....