Mirza Sarajlija

Despite being the most experienced player at this tournament, with some heavy Euroleague minutes underneath at age 17, Mirza Sarajlija really looked quite average here, which probably had something to do with the fact that he was just returning from a knee injury. He basically shot the ball every time he touched it, showing a quick release and impressive mechanics, but wasn’t all that accurate when his team needed him most. Out of the 35 field goals he attempted in the three games here, only 5 of them came from inside the arc, which tells you quite a bit about his shot-selection. He showed very little in the ways of point guard skills, and turned the ball frequently as well. Sarajlija probably doesn’t share the upside of some of his counterparts seen here, but he’s likely a much better player than he was able to show in Berlin.

One of the biggest surprises in this year’s Euroleague was the (unexpected) emergence of this Slovenian guard. Born in 1991, Sarajlija has taken advantage of the departures of Jonathan Wallace and Vlado Ilievski to prove himself able to perform at decent level in the Euroleague (enough to average 6.5 points per game despite his logical inconsistency). Meanwhile, he had time to join Olimpija’s junior squad and lead the Citta di Roma tournament in scoring.

Sarajlija is much more of a scoring playmaker than a pure distributor. Relying on a very nice shooting touch, he shows excellent ability to pull up the ball off the dribble in a variety of ranges and modes (at the junior category he can even fire off post-up situations). A solid ball-handler, he can attack his match-ups with both hands, although he feels particularly comfortable going left, and sometimes pulls a nice crossover move to make things easier for him, as he’s not quite explosive enough to beat his opponents at will. Although he usually settles for the mid-range jumper, he might eventually go all the way to the basket, showcasing some decent athleticism and interesting ability to finish around the rim with his right hand (he rarely uses his left). Indeed, he doesn’t look like a soft player, just a little bit in love with his jumper.

Considering he’s strictly a point guard size-wise, his passing is not precisely the most intriguing characteristic of his game. He can do the basics (feed decently continuations in the pick and roll, dish the ball out of penetrations, or find the open man on the perimeter in clear situations), but he will rarely come up with truly creative solutions.

Anyway, we have to point out that Sarajlija doesn’t look like a top prospect in the making. He’s a bit undersized at 6-1, not greatly athletic, and doesn’t appear to be incredibly talented, but rather a nice youngster for the European scene.