It was a three-point shooting outburst, as Sakota connected on almost everything he attempted from behind the arc. Its been no secret for many years now that his great shooting stroke is the main weapon of the Greek forward, and nothing seems to have changed. Exhibiting his excellent mechanics with a very quick release, he netted 6 of his 8 attempts in which every single scored shot looked perfect, going extremely clean through the net. On the other hand, he also exposed his limitations, as he looked again looked like too much of a one dimensional player, precisely relying excessively on his perimeter stroke.
Theres not much Sakota can do on the court with consistency besides launching long-range bombs. He can put the ball on the floor, but his first step is pretty average, and he doesnt show great ability working his way through opponents using his ball-handling skills and body. Indeed, hes still a rather skinny guy who needs to add weight. And even if he was never too fond of the low post, it might be a good reason why hes not trying to produce from there to take advantage of his 6-10 body. So he basically sticks to spot-up jumpers, preferably long-range ones (his three-point attempts more than double his two-point shots), where theres less risk of physical contact, sometimes in pick-and-pop plays, or just waiting for open looks within the ball flow, exactly what he did against Aris. At least hes really good in this department, a real gunner, and credits over 60% in field goals so far in the Greek League, with 53% from the three-point line and still staying perfect from the charity stripe after 12 attempts. Anyway, Dusan also showed a couple of very good passes from the arc, once feeding a continuation and another time finding a cutter. Hes a pretty decent passer indeed, amassing 3 assists in the game.
On defense, coach Markovic protected Sakota (while also protecting the team) by switching what should have been the logical match-up for him, Jeremiah Massey (a very aggressive and athletic player, a star in Europe), with the opposing centers, not so physical and not nearly as dangerous offensively as the American forward. Still, Sakota showed nice a attitude and activity, but luckily for him, his opponents werent physical on him and he ended up doing a fine job. Anyway, hes still a below average defender who needs to gain aggressiveness. Although not a great rebounder by any means, he also managed to contribute in this game with 8 boards.
In terms of his NBA draft outlook, Sakota can only hope for a call in the second round call, and still, it look like a long shot at the moment.
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