Spain (Mirotic) v. Greece - stream
[Happy Friday -ed.]
Jonathan Givony at DX has been tweeting about these Euro games, and he's been dropping some nice tidbits about our boy Mirotic:
"Mirotic just has far too much class to play at this level. Doing pretty much whatever he wants right now. 16 points in 14 minutes"
"One part of Mirotic's game that we didn't see much of in Real Madrid this season is his passing. Shown here that he can do that quite well."
"At least. Good enough to play 20-25. RT @SebastianPruiti: What do you think Mirotic's minutes will look like this year, 15-20 per game?"
"Very good first half. Spain up 46-37 on Greece. Mirotic dominating with 19 points, 4 rebounds."
"He's ready to get minutes in the NBA right now. RT @IIIWoodD: how many years until Mirotic is NBA ready for the Bulls in your opinion?"
"One NBA assistant GM told me he thinks Nikola Mirotic "would have been a top-10 pick had he been able to come to the NBA next year.""
11 months ago
arjoseph
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Matt - you getting excited?
Or are you still waiting for when he comes over to get excited?
"You can't be afraid to play somebody because they've got 3 really good players. How are you going to win if you're afraid to play? We're not going to be afraid to play - we're going to fight, we're going to attack, we're going to throw it out there and see what happens." - Carlos Boozer
New one:
During halftime, he discovered the cure for male pattern baldness
Recovering...
by Juiceboxjerry on Jul 15, 2011 3:16 PM CDT reply actions 3 recs
So he plays on the spanish national team?
But he’s from Montenegro.
He's a naturalized Spanish citizen
Teams in the Spanish ACB are limited to a certain number of foreign players. By becoming a Spanish citizen, Mirotic doesn’t give him that limit, which makes him a much more attractive asset to Spanish teams.
Pat Riley is the devil.
People do this all the time in soccer
Better endorsement deals for players who either come from a small country or can’t make their own national team.
I support the NBA player's union.
This kid may become the Bulls 2nd coming of Kukoc
by RoseFTW on Jul 15, 2011 7:22 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
That would certainly be nice. Kukoc was an above average starter to fringe All-Star level player for a decent chunk of his career.
I actually expect Mirotic to be a little bit younger when he gets stateside than Kukoc was when he arrived (25), but if he can be as good as Kukoc was, that’d be great. Mirotic is actually heavier than Kukoc was, which is kind of interesting. More solidly built, I guess.
by fundamentallysound on Jul 15, 2011 7:59 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think Mirotic is an insurance if and when we lose Taj Gibson to free agency.
Man that would be, sad.
My name is EARL
He's a Dirk replacement!
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by Andrew7 on Jul 16, 2011 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions 4 recs
Mirotic and Gibson are completely different players
Mirotic is more offensive player, while Gibson is likely the better rebounder and defender.
I think when Mirotic comes over, Boozer will be gone. Boozer should have 1 or 2 years left on his contract by then.
i think as it stands right now mirotic projects to be roughly tajs equal in rebounding, if you believe
in the numbers he put up this year and hollinger’s conversion rates. as for defense, i think we should wait and see. the draftexpress profile seems to think his D is quite good.
"Jimmer is going to take one of those crazy 3s, and DeMarcus Cousins is going to come at him like a rhino."
-Basketball Smurf
He's got good defensive fundamentals and awareness. The issue is whether he has the athleticism and footspeed
to defend at the NBA level.
by fundamentallysound on Jul 17, 2011 6:33 AM CDT up reply actions
i watched the real madrid games on espn3, and one thing that really stuck out to me was that mirotic
basically never got blown by when he switched onto a perimeter player (which happened fairly often), even if it was a PG. obviously i like the guy and the pick, so maybe im biased, but i think theres good reason to believe he’ll have a deng-like ability to use his length and uncanny anticipation to successfully guard perimeter players as well as stretch and face-up 4s.
"Jimmer is going to take one of those crazy 3s, and DeMarcus Cousins is going to come at him like a rhino."
-Basketball Smurf
He has some post skills. I don't know if it qualifies for the "game" designation, but I have seen him make some clever
moves in the post. He’s very patient and has good hesitation and pump-fake moves. He is much more likely to want to face up or run a pick and pop, and in this way, he’s not much different from Boozer.
Boozer’s girth and rebounding prowess is obviously a big diffrence between he and Mirotic, but overall, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mirotic ended up the better player, especially given that Boozer is so bad on defense that he almost totally negates his positive offensive contributions and I don’t see Mirotic being that sort of defender. He’s actually pretty good and will probably at least decent on that end, even with the small concerns about how his athleticism translates on that end.
by fundamentallysound on Jul 17, 2011 10:26 AM CDT up reply actions
I worry about 3-4 tweeners.
Many of them do fine against lesser competition, but once they come to the NBA they aren’t quick enough to play the 3 or strong enough to play the 4. And from what I’ve read he doesn’t have the post game that Boozer exhibited in Utah.
I think Boozer had trouble with post offense in Chicago because 1) he could easily be double teamed, especially when playing with no-offense Noah, and was generous about passing out of the double team, but rarely got it back after doing so, and 2) at the end of the season, I’m very much hoping due to injury from which he will recover, he seemed to lose the lift he needs in the post against taller defenders. I’m hoping that as he gets healthy and as his teammates get better on offense (and Thibs, I hope, installs more offensive plays), he will exhibit the back-to-the basket offense everyone expected from him when he first came to the Bulls.
He definately looked hobbled going into the post season
but looked great 2-3 games after coming back from his had injury.
Let us cavort like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean.
by hedonism bot on Jul 18, 2011 3:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Hype
I’ll believe it when I see him play against legitimate NBA players. Right now all this talk is not helping because he’s not going to be able to live up to this mountain of expectations people are having.
We're not expecting him to be a hall of famed dide
I’m just stoked cause everything I’ve heard about him seems true
He’s so much more talented than these kids he’s playing against and he’s proving it. He’s clearly on another level when playing these games
And the beat part is that you can tell he’s playing within his limits. He’s so mature for his age and is only getting better.
Throw in his build, and you really have to get excited
by Option27 on Jul 16, 2011 1:44 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
I agree...
to an extent. I mean I would be worried if he did not do very well in a U-20 tournament. But it seems as if he is easily the best player on the floor for the first 2 games.
20 points in a half is huge… to disregard these dudes ’cos there not NBA players is ignorant. Greece are a very good team. This guy looks like he could potentially be a 20-10 player in the NBA someday…..if he makes it over he will be the perfect Booze replacement…
Given his perimeter proclivities, I'd be surprised if he ever averaged 10 boards. That's a lot tougher to do than people realize.
by fundamentallysound on Jul 16, 2011 9:38 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think he could potentially be a 20+ PPG scorer.
But 18/7 seems to be pretty close to what I expect. I think probably 20 and 8 in his best years with an insane TS%.
It probably doesn’t get said enough, but most NBA GM’s are idiots. The Bulls probably just got a top 5 player from this draft at the 23rd pick, potentially the best player in the draft. There was no reason for other GM’s not to see how good this guy is, like how often do we have a 20 year old playing well in the Euroleague Final 4?
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This is the greek B team
No Diamatides, no Greek Shaq.
There is nobody inside on the Greek roster to slow any interior passing or shots.
I can predict the future using Norm Van Lier's crystal balls.
"Sam has a tendency to denigrate reports coming from any reporter who didn’t also cover the day Naismith first put up the peach baskets." - snley
by NBA Observer on Jul 16, 2011 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions
is schortsanitis greek shaq?
i love that guy
by Bush League Bob on Jul 16, 2011 10:44 PM CDT up reply actions
its a U20 game. sofo is like 31.
"Jimmer is going to take one of those crazy 3s, and DeMarcus Cousins is going to come at him like a rhino."
-Basketball Smurf
by TheMoon on Jul 17, 2011 5:48 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
Against Austria he had 22/6.
In the first half.
The legend grows. :)
The poster formerly known as Freethefro.
by MPG on Jul 16, 2011 3:45 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
(think he only missed one shot, too.
The poster formerly known as Freethefro.
He finished the game with 28 points and 7 rebounds with 10 for 12 shooting....in 16 MINUTES!
I knows it’s U20 FIBA European Tournament, but DAMN!
Good tournament for Nikola thus far
He’s averaging more than a point per minute and shooting 70.7% fg (29/41). Granted the competition isn’t great, but standing out in his age group is a lot better than the alternative. Here are his cumulative stats and game logs (from eurobasket.com):
Season: 2011 (European Championships U20 )
SUMMARY
G MIN PTS 2FGP 3FGP FT RO RD RT AS PF BS ST TO
3 73 75 27-34 2-7 15-18 5 15 20 4 6 3 4 1
AVERAGE
3 24.3 25 79.4% 28.6% 83.3% 1.7 5 6.7 1.3 2 1 1.3 0.3
Season: 2011 (European Championships U20)
DETAILS
DATE VS TEAM MIN PTS 2FG 3FG FT RO RD RT AS PF BS ST TO
7/14/2011 Turkey 23 15 04-04 1-5 4-4 0 3 3 1 2 1 1 0
7/15/2011 Greece 34 32 13-18 0-1 6-9 4 6 10 3 4 1 1 1
7/16/2011 Austria 16 28 10-12 1-1 5-5 1 6 7 0 0 1 2 0
by from the window to luol on Jul 16, 2011 6:14 PM CDT reply actions
averaging a point per minute through three games with a grand total of 1 TO is pretty awesome
for a 20 y/o big man.
"Jimmer is going to take one of those crazy 3s, and DeMarcus Cousins is going to come at him like a rhino."
-Basketball Smurf
by TheMoon on Jul 17, 2011 5:49 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think he could end up averaging 12 PG and 6.5 RPG based on his preference to play outside of the box.
in how many minutes per game?
"Jimmer is going to take one of those crazy 3s, and DeMarcus Cousins is going to come at him like a rhino."
-Basketball Smurf
by TheMoon on Jul 17, 2011 5:53 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
I could average 12 points and 6 rebounds
I would just have average about 500 minutes a game or something like that.
Pat Riley is the devil.
by Poloplaya14 on Jul 18, 2011 10:45 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Oh but there's so much more!
Mirotic shot 10-16 fg, including 4-4 3fg. His teammates shot a combined 5-30 fg and 1-9 3fg. This was the toughest game of the tournament thus far for Spain. They trailed by 11 midway through the 4th quarter. Then Mirotic scored 8 to lead a 13-0 run, and after Ukraine regained a 2-point lead with a minute or so remaining, Mirotic got to the line and hit 4 high-pressure free throws to win the game. The legend grows…
by from the window to luol on Jul 18, 2011 7:31 PM CDT up reply actions 3 recs
what a badass. imagine if he were doing this in the pac-10 tournament: people would be going
completely nuts.
"Jimmer is going to take one of those crazy 3s, and DeMarcus Cousins is going to come at him like a rhino."
-Basketball Smurf
by TheMoon on Jul 18, 2011 11:57 PM CDT up reply actions 3 recs
He couldn't
do it in the Big 10 tourney
by Dennis Hopson2 on Jul 19, 2011 12:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Only because teams combine
for about 60points
by Dennis Hopson2 on Jul 19, 2011 12:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Mirotic's PER is an insane 34.0!
Quote:
Simon from in-the-game.org has forwarded us his advanced statistics about the tournament for the first 4 games. Without any surprise, it is Nikola Mirotic who is dominating the 28 minutes pace-adjusted Efficiency stats with 34.0 in front of the surprising Bojan Dubljevic (MNG – 25.8) and the limited-minutes center Artem Pustovyi from Ukraine who plays only 15.5 minutes per game but averages 22.7eff pace adjusted.
http://www.europeanprospects.com/con…hip-in-bilbao/
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