[DolanCareParticipant]

I really excited for him to come over finally. I’ve only watched him play like 2-3 times, but each time he has impressed me. Everyone talks about his jump shot which is solid, but he’s also a great rebounder and slasher. He has good instincts, and can dart into the paint fairly successfully.

[avavalisParticipant]

HUGE game by Mirotic in arguably the toughest arena in Europe , Zalgirio Arena, Kaunas, Lithuania. He sank 18/18 FT and despite hitting only 5/15 from the field he was the main reason Real Madrid came back from a 10+ deficit. He had 16 points 2 minutes before the end but he was money from the line and grabbed a huge o-rebound that led to 2 free-throws tying the game 3 seconds before the buzzer. In OT he hit a 3 and a dunk plus 2 FT . He finished with 31-10-2(blocks) and Real Madrid won in OT.
What a steal he is for the Bulls!!

[SiggyParticipant]

Wish he would come over for next yr but he likely won’t. It’d be more lucrative for him if he didn’t. Maybe if he wins the chip over there he’ll feel accomplished enough to make the jump.

[Moon RiverParticipant]

I have only read about this guy but know there are a lot of giddy Bulls fans looking forward to seeing him in Chicago. For those who have seen this guy play, any current NBA comparisons to Mirotic?

[zolaParticipant]

Ersan Ilyasova

[King CaluchaParticipant]

Actually, he reminds me of Toni Kukoc

[RafterParticipant]

Detlef Schrempf springs to mind as a best case comparison, he could really be that good. I suspect he’ll be a Ryan Anderson type in terms of being somebody that can space the floor and be a reliable second or third option scorer which does suit the Bulls because they already have a go-to scorer that’s not going anywhere (barring injury) in Derrick Rose.

[avavalisParticipant]

It may sound a bit exaggerating but he reminds me of a poor man’s Dirk Nowitzki. He is a very good shooter spotting-up even off the dribble but not elite. He has a knack for drawing fouls and like Dirk he is CASH MONEY from the line in key situations. In the clutch, he is extremely reliable. Good rebounder , get’s caught out of position sometimes but solid overall. He has 3-4 post moves including a simple dropstep and a hook but because of his EXCELLENT touch he can make unorthodox baskets from the post. As amare_apache said he is now a reliable slasher. He has grown to almost 7 feet w/shoes now and he has impressive agility for a European at his size coupling it with solid dribbling skills . Do you remember the young Dirk slashing and driving? He is operating similarly , nothing too fancy but OK. What impresses me most is his will to play defense. He doesn’t shy away from contact in both ends and his insticts are very good. ( 0.7 stl 0.9 bl per 25 min. while playing PF next to 7’3” Mirza Begic and athletic freak Marcus Slaughter. While he is not extremely athletic vertically and laterally his fundamentals on D are strong. To sum up his comparison he is a mix (of course not on elite leve) between Dirk and Kevin Love. Don’t get me wrong, he is not THAT good but he plays like them.

[avavalisParticipant]

It seems that i am a bit too high on him but i really have faith in his abilities.

[Moon RiverParticipant]

Thanks TK and avavalis.

I love the comparisons and since he most likely won’t be a Bull until the summer of 2014 (at the earliest) the Bulls seriously need to NOT make the playoffs this year, get a decent lottery pick and let D. Rose get completely healthy. They are not doing anything this year with D. Rose. Let everyone get healthy for next year and see what this team can do in 2013-2014. If it doesn’t work, amnesty Boozer, re-sign Deng at a more cap friendly number and finally get a legit scoring shooting guard.

[European BasketballerParticipant]

Totally overrated player by American hype machine bullshit. You guys are really ridiculous.

[HadzialijagicParticipant]

Better than any Greek player thats for sure

[pohani komaracParticipant]

To me he would be even lot better if he played in other team system then Pablo Laso. His game is more oriented to guards. Lot of drive and kick game, specials fo shooters etc while bigs are not much involved besides for screans and spacing. Especially Mirotic could be and should be used more with back to basket game wich would gain him more consistancy

To me he is there with Lorbek and Khrjapa alredy best PF in Euroleague. Besides better athletic abiltys he has full skill set of modern PF and his IQ and mental toughness folow that

He is defenetly closest thing to Dirk since Dirk. He may never be his star level as lacks go to move Dirk had (and is bit shorter) but I’m sure he will be good NBA player

[European BasketballerParticipant]

Better than any Greek player thats for sure

————————————–

He is not even half as good as Spanoulis or Diamantidis.

Anyway, he’s a very good player, but hugely overrated by USA. He’s like new Rubio or something. Certainly good player, but all this “best player in Europe” talk is just flat out crazy and ridiculous.

I like Mirotic a lot as a player, he is similar to Dirk style player. But still NBA fans are way into crazy talk with how they overrate him, same as was the case with Rubio.

[avavalisParticipant]

@European basket

I agree that in the European level Mirotic is not as good as Spanoulis or 3D but he is only 22 years old and he has is not the alpha dog on his team for whatever reasons. Also his game is more translatable to the NBA level than Spanoulis’ or Diamantidis’ because he is a big man with good athletic gifts for a European. Spanoulis and Diamantidis have great NBA-level skills but these skills are very difficult to be translated in the NBA because the standard NBA player is more athletic than those 2 (for example) . Just saying Spanoulis is great slasher but his first step, good enough for Europe, can’t get the job done in the NBA. He might be a better mid-range shooter than Westbrook for example but Russell can get anywhere he wants on the floor first to launch his jumper. I think that this is the main problem for Greeks and generally Euro guys in the NBA . That’s why athletic ability is so coveted by NBA scouts. Also, it’s not solely a problem of Euro players. How many great college players can’t make the leap to the NBA because they don’t possess the speed or the leaping ability to get the job done with the big boys? Huge number. It’s not a matter of skill level , it’s mostly about athletic ability and how it affects those skills.

[European BasketballerParticipant]

Spanoulis is much more athletic than 90% of NBA players.

Everything you said is just racist bullshit.

[avavalisParticipant]

I am a Greek. So i am a racist towards my own countrymen?

[European BasketballerParticipant]

Yes you are. For saying this ridiculous crap that Spanoulis isn’t athletic enough for NBA. He has played multiple times against Team USA which is the absolute elite of NBA and no one could stay in front of him.

He was blowing past every Team USA defender with absolute ease over and over again and again until finally he was even double teamed in the Olympics 2008 game.

PLEASE

I cannot believe some of the insane bullshit that people say here.

[JoeWolf1]

The U.S. blew out Greece by 20 + points in 2008, He freaking went 4-13

[JoeWolf1]

Not to mention in the 2010 FIBA matchup vs Team U.S.A. he had 7 points and 7 turnovers. You act like he destroyed team U.S.A., but I watched both the 08 and 10′ matchups and they were blowouts. Spanoulis is a fine pro, but your lying when you’re saying he tore up team U.S.A.

14 points of 3-13

7 points 7 turnovers

both in 20+ point losses.

[European BasketballerParticipant]

Oh, look the racist comes to the rescue.

[European BasketballerParticipant]

“Not athletic enough for NBA”

= “white boys can’t play a black man’s game”

“you just don’t understand”

=

“shut up white boy”

[Author]

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