By Rafal Juc

 

Unstoppable Dario Saric ('94) led Croatia to defeat European Championship in 1994 generation, at the same time gaining fully deserved MVP title as well as being selected to All-Tournament Team. Honored were also: Mikhail Kulagin ('94), Nikola Radicevic ('94), Marius Grigonis ('94) and Nikola Jankovic ('94). How did the play?

 

-Mikhail Kulagin (Russia)

Being selected to All-Tournament Team Mikhail has repeated achievement of his older brother, Dmitry (’92), who experienced the same achievement two years ago at the same court. Mikhail listed at 6-3 with shoes on, impresses with well filled out upper body and during European Championship U18 was used mainly on both backcourt position, while shooting guard seems his target spot for future.

Extremely athletic and explosive Kulagin went for double digits in all, but only one game, confirming that is not only consistent, but also focused. Bearing some resemblance to Mateusz Ponitka (’93), Russian guard was undeniably most dangerous offensive weapon in his team, always taking responsibility on his arms in clutch moments. He impresses with deep range, including even NBA 3-point line and quite quick release, however still needs to work on shoot selection as well as setting up legs, coming off the screens.

On the offensive end Kulagin showed himself as really efficient ball-handler. With his ability to get low with dribble, he was beating easily his opponents, breaking first line of defense often. 18-year old Russian is extremely competitive above rim, knows how to draw contact and stay stable, finishing with unconventional lay-ups or eurosteps. Thanks to his aggressiveness, intensity and quickness Kulagin was undeniably one of the best guards defensively. Usually he was the first one in transition defense and impresses, crashing the glass aggressively on both ends of the court.

Nikola Radicevic (Serbia)

After being honored in Nike International Junior Tournament in Belgrade and Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Manheim, Radicevic got to collection another award. Standing at 6-5 with already matured body and high explosiveness, Serb possesses all necessary tools to become successful player at senior level.

Left-handed Radicevic stands out with scoring instinct, however he presented himself as quite versatile player, playing at European Championship as playmaker and shooting guard. The first one position seems his targeted for the future, because 18-year old guard lacks consistent shoot due to quite non-bookish shooting release and deep range. However he is typical slasher, who thanks to strong dribble, long steps and explosiveness is able to beat off the dribble almost all defenders in one-on-one game.

During tournament Serb showed that is capable of being major contributor, not only finishing by himself, but also creating open space for his teammates. He controls game tempo well, keep passing accurate, deals easy with full-court pressure and shows natural-born leadership. Defensively, he still possesses plenty of room ahead to improve, while Radicevic sometimes seems to be not concentrated or passive, saving energy for offense.

Marius Grigonis (Lithuania)

While best Lithuanian scorer was Justas Tamulis, the most important piece in hosts offense was Marius Grigonis. Leader of youth team Zalgiris Kaunas is 6-6 swingman with a view to become point-guard. He seems a bit limited athletically and possesses plenty of room to strengthen his body, however should adapt to senior basketball without more problems.

At this stage of development Grigonis struggles with his shooting touch, finishing with only 20% beyond the arc. Nonetheless his release is quite mechanically, however 18-year old Lithuanian need to work on footwork to stay stable coming off the screens and better shoot selection. He lacks ability to create his own shoot off the dribble, being more efficient in spot-up positions. Quite aggressive and really focused Grigonis is extremely versatile and capable of playing at all backcourt positions. He can put ball on the floor and thanks to explosiveness, quick first step and body control he gets to the free throw line really often.

Grigonis is undeniably clutch player, who wants to have a ball in his hands in decisive moments. Being sometimes too selfish, he can find open teammate and is quite creative with his high basketball IQ and court-vision. With a view to adjust successfully in senior team, he musts improve game off the ball and become more efficient team player. Defensively, Grigonis always crashes the glass aggressively, shows nice mechanism in team defense, helps from the weak side. Only doubts is if he will be capable of staying in front of more athletic and quick guards playing as point guard at higher level.

Dario Saric (Croatia)

Compared to others, Saric during European Championship U18 looked as player from different level, what confirmed scoring 39 points in big final and averaging 23.7 points, 10 rebounds and 3.7 assists in general. Nothing surprisingly, especially that since of 16 Croat is considered as “golden kid” and clear-cut future NBA player.

Standing at 6-10 with well-developed body Saric displays ability to play at all 1-5 positions, what he was forced to do in Latvia and Lithuania due to quite narrow rotation on Croatian team. With this very high skill level Saric seemed to score his points so easy, that even double or triple team defense was not enough to stop him. Because of his high size he was matched up on the 4 or 5 from the opponents, what allowed phenomenal Croat to takes advantage of his athleticism, footwork, length and quickness. It led to impression that Saric was scoring mainly with easy baskets, while his shots were simply unable to be contested.

Saric is clear-cut future NBA player and already well-known to all basketball fans on both sides of Ocean. However, in scouts’ notes there are some doubts next to his name. It is still unclear which position is targeted for Saric at senior level, while at this moment small forward seems the most appropriate. Another question is how Saric will adjust to defensive game as backcourt player, defending stronger and more athletic 2/3 players. Questionable are also his body-language, attitude on court and mentality. Croat was many time on court to some dirty plays and on arguing with referees, losing concentration in result.

Nikola Jankovic (Serbia)

Averaging 14 points and 8.2 rebounds with almost 60% from the field, Nikola Jankovic was one of the most regular players at European Championship U18. Listed at 6-8 Serb is already fully matured, impresses with well filled out frame, being at the same extremely smooth and fluid athlete. 18-year old Jankovic is not extremely explosive, however stands out with footwork, leaping abilities, agility and well-centered center of gravity.  The biggest weakness of talented Serb is undeniably his shooting touch, while Jankovic struggles to create his own shoot on dribble, stay stable in release as well as shoulder work. He finished tournament with only 20% beyond the arc and 54.8% from the free throw line.

Nonetheless in other aspects of the game Jankovic is extremely skilled, what allows him to play really 3-5 positions, while power forward seems to be his targeted position for the future. He is typical face-up player, who creates shoots in the post well, finishing on many various ways. Being really competitive above the rim, Jankovic knows how to draw contact and create space even in the biggest traffic inside the paint. He not only understands the game well thanks to his high IQ, but also uses his extremely gifted legs, what makes his footwork almost perfect. On defensive end Jankovic is really versatile, displaying ability to defend typical post-up players as well as is capable of coming outside the paint to defend even ball-handler.

Jankovic has reached almost top of his potential in really young age and since being 16-year old is considered as typical skilled early-developed kid, however still confirms that is capable of playing basketball at the highest possible level, despite fact his opponents are increasingly stronger and higher. It leads to conclusion that even without transformation into small forward, Jankovic could be successful at senior level thanks to his high skill level, basketball IQ, brilliant mentality, ability to crash the glass well and pure footwork.

 

Twitter of the author: @rafjuc

 

Photo: FIBA Europe / Robertas Dackus

 

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