nemanja-bjelica-hd.jpg

44 - Nemanja Bjelica

6-10, 223 Small Forward
Serbia International
Birthday
01/01/88 (36.2 yrs)
Hometown
Belgrade, Serbia
International Team
Red Star
Statistics
Athleticism
7
Size
10
Defense
6
Strength
6
Quickness
7
Leadership
8
Jump Shot
8
NBA Ready
6
Ball Handling
8
Potential
9
Passing
9
Intangibles
8

NBA Comparison: Hedo Turkoglu/Jiri Welsch

Strengths: An extremely versatile player, capable of playing a number of positions thanks to his size and ability to handle the ball … Has a great feel for the game and makes plays thanks to his natural basketball ability … He is a playmaker and is able to create scoring opportunities for teammates thanks to his great vision, ability to see overtop of defenses and passing precision … He sees the floor well in transition and in the halfcourt, keeping his head up and looking to make reads … Plays the pick&roll well, can shoot overtop the screen, off the dribble, or make the play with the pass … Has become a very reliable shooter, he has extended his range and is now very dangerous from beyond the arc … He is a good spotup shooter, but is much more dangerous creating his shot off the dribble … Shoots a well balanced and good rhythm midrange pullup, making it very difficult to contest because of his size and high release point … Handles the ball with ease, and has a nice mix of change of pace and direction moves … Can play as the primary ballhandler but is also very good in a point-forward type of role … Has a great nose for the ball in terms of rebounding, he hangs around the basket and gets a high number of missed shots …  Plays on a fairly bad team, but continues to play the right way without dominating the ball and forcing bad shots …

Weaknesses: Does not have great explosiveness, both in terms of a first step and leaping ability … Struggles against smaller and quicker defenders who are able to get into his legs and force him out of driving lanes … His body is still very skinny and he lacks the muscle to finish against contact … He is not a good finisher around the basket, he looks to finesse his shot inside and does not convert at a high percentage … He is a streaky and rhythm player, he can go for long stretches where he has a very low impact on the game … Does not play with great aggressiveness, he plays soft at times and doesn’t look to attack … He is not ball strong, getting stripped often when slashing to the basket … He becomes too unselfish and will pass up very good looks to get teammates the ball in worse positions … Has a tendency to throw passes while in the air, causing him to get caught without any targets …Will have problems defending a position at the next level, his body is too weak to battle inside and he is not quick enough laterally to stay infront of wings … At this point he doesn’t put a lot of energy into playing defense and gets beaten of the dribble on a regular basis … Needs to become more effective playing off the ball …

Notes: He is a player who is much more effective with the ball in his hands where he can be the facilitator and create plays for teammates and himself, his success at the next level could be heavily influenced on how much freedom he is given to operate with the ball …

Borko Popic – 05/18/2010

Borko Popic is a lead scout/contributor to NBADraft.net. Please check out his premium website / scouting service hooprospects.com, an essential tool for Pro teams from around the world.
 

YouTube Clip – 5/29/2009

Facebooktwitterredditmail