Croats Abroad 2008/09: Roko Leni Ukic

[mvblair]

So far this year, Ukic has not shown that he's an all-class player like he did under Represa. He's only averaging 3.2 points and 1.7 assists in 10 minutes a game for the Toronto Raptors. He's also shooting a lousy 27%. This is obviously disappointing to Ukic fans, who have seen him play extremely well on the Croatian NT, in Roma, and for TAU.

Last night, Ukic had his best game of the year. He scored 13 points (3-9 FGs, 6-6 FTs).

Lay-up around Jordan Farmar
Driving against Eddie House

[Picek]

truth to be told Ukic never really showed the talent everyone said he has..
not even while playing in Split..
he was good at some stages of his career but never extraordinary player..
I expected a lot more from his last year while he was playing under Repeša..
now that Mitchell is gonne we will see what will be his role in the team..

[Beva]

So far this year, Ukic has not shown that he's an all-class player like he did under Represa. He's only averaging 3.2 points and 1.7 assists in 10 minutes a game for the Toronto Raptors. He's also shooting a lousy 27%. This is obviously disappointing to Ukic fans, who have seen him play extremely well on the Croatian NT, in Roma, and for TAU.

Last night, Ukic had his best game of the year. He scored 13 points (3-9 FGs, 6-6 FTs).

Lay-up around Jordan Farmar
Driving against Eddie House

Well, no one expected something special from him... He has only one advantage from many other young players, he wants to learn... He doesn't think he knows everything, and that's good... And this may sound strange, but he fits better in NBA than in Europe, cause he's pretty 'one on one' and 'fast transition' oriented player...

[Picek]

he just had his best game for the Raptors..
10 points (2-2 FG and 5-6 FT), 5 assists and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes isn't that bad..
and it looks like Triani will be trusting him as a backup PG more then Solomon..

[Picek]

12 points, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers in 23 minutes..
he played entire fourth quarter and he hit a crucial jumper in the last minute to put his team 3 points up..
nice, that should give him some selfconfidence so he can prove he is a better player then Solomon..
Toronto without O'Neal and Calderon won at home against Orlando..
so that is basicly 2-0 without O'Neal and Calderon together..
Bargnani again had a good game, and so did Bosh with Parker finally doing something..

[mvblair]

nice, that should give him some selfconfidence so he can prove he is a better player then Solomon..

Do you think he's better than Solomon? I'm not sure.

Toronto without O'Neal and Calderon won at home against Orlando..
so that is basicly 2-0 without O'Neal and Calderon together..

It looks like Calderon will miss the next two games also, so be sure to check the box-scores!

[jugoplastika]

12 points, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers in 23 minutes... vs Orlando Magic

Fixed.

Roko's Highlights

[Picek]

Do you think he's better than Solomon? I'm not sure.

let's put it like this, on defensive end he is definitely a better player IMO eventhough he is a weaker player physicly..
the same goes in setting up plays department..
Solomon is a better shooter though..
like I said earlier I'm not a big fan of Ukic because on paper he was a significantly better player then he currently is..
but he is still young and can improve a lot, I don't see solomon doing that..

[Neozyrus]

Do you think he's better than Solomon? I'm not sure. It looks like Calderon will miss the next two games also, so be sure to check the box-scores!

They are doig a pretty good game tonight too without Oneal and Calde. If they win, they will be 3-0 since they play without them.
If Bosh get injured, they are definitely candidates for the ring

[Picek]

They are doig a pretty good game tonight too without Oneal and Calde. If they win, they will be 3-0 since they play without them.
If Bosh get injured, they are definitely candidates for the ring

you said that to early..
basicly Solomon decision making cost them the win..
2-13 from the floor..
but it was a Raptors coach decision to put him back in with Raptors regaining the lead after being 8 down early in the fourth..
Ukić then scored 7 in a row to bring them back and Bosh took over to put them back in the lead..
Solomon entered with two point Toronto lead..
Ridnour scored two 3p over Solomon in last two and a half minutes of the game..
nuff said..

[mvblair]

let's put it like this, on defensive end he is definitely a better player IMO eventhough he is a weaker player physicly..
the same goes in setting up plays department..
Solomon is a better shooter though..

I haven't seen enough of either of them to make a judgement. I just know that Solomon was a "heckuva" player in the NCAA and in Europe.

like I said earlier I'm not a big fan of Ukic because on paper he was a significantly better player then he currently is..

That is true.

but he is still young and can improve a lot, I don't see solomon doing that..

That is certainly true!

11 points (5-8) in 18 minutes for the kid last night.

Funny looking pass
Guarded in a game against Houston

[jugoplastika]

When two worlds collide: Toronto Star's columnist vs Raptors' fans (check out comments)

If only Ukic could play like he surfs Internet



Interesting, fans blamed the respected columnist Dave Feschuk. They agree with him only when Roko's jumpshot is mentioned.

[Picek]

Ukic with career high 16 points on 7/12 shooting in 23 minutes, with 3 rebounds and 3 assists..
but they lost to Celtics for the second night in a row..

[Alyosha12]

I'm glad he is doing good. I always liked his game.

And would always get mad when people said his game fits the NBA more, which is total BS he is a good player in europe and in the NBA he only needed a chance. As Repeša latter proved.
Too bad he lost all that time in Spain though.
Those spanish sure can make some bad decisions on benching non spanish players sometimes. A nother good example of that is E.Lorbek with Unicaja.

[jugoplastika]

Nice article on Roko's last performance: http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/586365

Ukić replaced starting point-guard Anthony Parker off the bench in 91-89 victory vs Spurs. He scored 22 points (FG 9-13, 3P 2-3, FT 2-2) including a couple of clutch shots down the stretch, rebounded 2times and dished 3 assists and had only 1 turnover in 30 minutes. 22 points is his season high.

Boxscore: http://www.nba.com/games/20090211/SASTOR/boxscore.html