Vuk Radivojevic

Radivojevic helped himself with this performance, but he is still a long shot at being drafted, simply because he doesn't have that much potential. In the first game he shared the PG duties with Gerrod Henderson and did quite well. While in the semi-final he made some bad decisions and wasn't able to create shots for his teammates, so his coach quickly moved him to the SG position. In the game against Partizan he hit five 3 pointers, which is usually not his main weapon. His defense was good and intense as always, he was successful especially while guarding Uros Tripkovic. He is also automatically eligible for the draft, but his chances appear to be pretty slim. He will need to do something big from now until draft night to secure a spot in the 2nd round.

Strengths
Radivojevic is fairly athletic player with good footspeed, but what makes him better then most young European guards is his aggressiveness and competitiveness.

Vuk is overall a decent athlete with nice defensive footwork, good size and a very solid first step. He uses his quickness very well on offense while driving to the basket.

Offensively, he scores most of his points when beating his defender off the dribble. He is a pretty effective penetrator and gets to the foul line quite often. He posseses very solid court vision and passing abilities. Radivojevic has good handles with both hands and is solid decision maker.

Currently his main strength is his defense. He is extremely aggressive on the defensive end of the floor and always give 100%. He really knows how to frustrate his opponents and plays hard, often committing some very hard, but useful fouls. He posses nice footwork and is capable of defending some smaller and quicker players. He is also good a rebounder for guard.

Vuk is a mentally strong player who loves to take responsibility when the game is on the line. Because of his attitude and aggressiveness, he is fan favorite.


Weaknesses
While he has pretty good athleticism for the European level, it is clear that he will be an average athlete in the NBA. He lacks strength and I doubt that he capable of putting on a good enough amount of weight to his slim frame.

The biggest problem about him is that he is not really a point guard. His court vision and passing abilities aren't good enough for the PG spot and he certainly lacks real PG instincts. In the NBA the only position he can handle currently is SG and he is a bit undersized for that spot. He is not much of a shooter either, Radivojevic has a shaky jumper with strange shooting mechanics and a low release. He lacks a mid-range game and has problems while finishing in traffic.

Vuk lacks consistency badly, at 21 years of age he should be able to put together some good performances in a row, but he hasn't so far.


Competition
Radivojevic is playing over the last two seasons for one of best teams in Serbia, Red Star Belgrade. Last season he was starting most games on the bench and getting around 15 minutes per game in which he was able to score 6 points to go along with about 2 rebounds and 2 assists per night. This season he become the starting PG for his team and was playing extremely well in the first couple of games, but in the last couple of months he is really struggling and has scored in double digits in just 1 of the last 14 games. He closed the Adriatic league regular season with averages of 9 points 2 rebounds and 3 assists in around 25 minutes per game. He was shooting around 43% from the floor, 26% from 3 point line and around 62% from foul line.

Outlook
Automatically eligible for the 2005 draft, but has a very small chance of getting drafted. Maybe somebody will pick him and leave him in Europe to develop his skills, but i highly doubt that scenario since he just doesn't seem to have enough potential to be a good contributor at the NBA level.

Comments
I highly doubt that Radivojevic is ever going to earn a place on an NBA roster. There are just too many college players with more experience and similar skills. While I love his attitude and defense, I don't believe that is he capable of being more than a good role player at the highest level in Europe.

Facts
Radivojevic and his team won the 2004 Cup of Serbia & Montenegro.