Mario Saint-Supery

PROFILE

FIBA U18 European Championship- August 2024
By Artau Pascual

Mixed bag of results and sensations. The environment wasn’t the ideal one to unplug his game: it wasn’t a team designed for running up-tempo basketball, and the lack of ball-handlers, left him as the only PG for most of the time. The absence of hierarchy around him gave him a lot of freedom, and every so often he turned it into an overexcited playing style that led him to questionable decisions. As a slasher,  he demonstrated that he’s capable of finding unexpected solutions in traffic: his touch is good, his body-manipulation in both tight and wide spaces is great and, even in the mentioned questionable decisions, he gets to the spots he wants. His main strengths on the drive are how well he turns the corner, his burst, and the length and width of his steps. His main areas for improvement are handles, since he doesn’t separate enough the ball from his body when he dribbles, and left-hand control. Perimeter shooting has improved during the last months and as of right now, he feels more comfortable pulling it up off the dribble in pick&roll, as well as when in spot-up. However, he will need to speed up the release to keep translating this skill to the upcoming levels.

On defense, Saint-Supery needs to be smarter. He associates defensive intensity to trying to steal the ball, and because of this, he often gets in foul trouble. Because of his lower body and hand activity, he has the potential to be an excellent on the ball defender, but the first thing he will have to work on is his maturity and poise.

Loan review- March 2024
By Artau Pascual

Saint-Supery's first steps in LEB Gold have been encouraging. He has stepped up in a role that benefits him and has been given the margin and freedom to handle a prominent offensive assignment. Puts a ton of rim pressure by attacking the paint in the first seconds of possession either in transition or in high-screen schemes. Draws plenty of fouls and plays up-tempo. Feels comfortable playing alongside another ball-handler. Will improve his off-ball once his spot-up shot gains smoothness. On the defensive end, he's currently more active than efficient. His strong and explosive lower-body provides him the foundation to be a solid on-ball defender, and he likes attempting to draw charges.

U18 European Championship- August 2023
By Artau Pascual

Remarkable athlete for European standards in the Guard position. Not especially wide or muscular, but his positional size is good enough, and he does great use of his main attributes: smoothness, shiftiness and fluidity. Was asked to play PG for some minutes, and he did well, although he’s more of a CG willing to take risks. His footwork is elite: wide variability package, always under control. Plays with balance and can finish either off one or two feet. His first step is elite, and he knows how to hunt mid-range spots and end with runners or floaters. He can get to the rim and finish with extensions or initiating contact. Didn’t show a lot of self-creation from the long-range, but during the season he did it. Was really consistent in spot-up. He provided big tons of effort on the defensive end drawing offensive fouls, putting his body on the line to navigate through screens and mirroring crafty ball handlers. When he plays with a sense of urgency he leads by example.  Torneig L'Hospitalet- December 2022

In the first two games, he looked bad: poor decision-making, anxiety to score with tough shots that often broke the flow of his team’s offense, and concerning disconnections. He also struggled on the defensive end, especially against Real Madrid because they challenged him in most of their game's possessions in the first half. He recorded the best individual performance of the tournament against FC Barcelona. He was able to get to the rim at his will with an awesome vertical leap and great coordination and fluidity, he showed NBA range and led his team in clutch situations. He has the leader’s mindset and his game style is unique in Europe.

July 2021
Saint-Supery is a very skilled guard with scoring abilities, very fluid handling the ball. He also has a very good shot, with a long range, and is able to pull up off the catch with ease.