Today, I had the pleasure of attending the Summer Pro League at Cal State Long Beach for its opening day. This day will also be referred to as my first glimpse into the future of the Lakers franchise. I was excited to see Sasha Vujacic in action for the first time and since he was European player, I really had no idea what to expect. My first impression or rather stereotype of Euro players is that they are extremely soft and somewhat lacksidasical. From the moment the Lakers took the court today, I realized that Sasha was going to break down my stereotyping of Euro players. He was high-fiving his teammates, going hard in warm up layups, practicing his step back jumper as if Ron Artest were shadowing him, and acknowledging the crowd that was cheering for him with a wave and a bounce. His mannerisms throughout the game would continue to impress me. I don't know if all of you have read the interview of him on HoopsHype.com but if you get the chance and haven't done so, I encourage you to check it out. It gives a glimpse at the attitude of our new young star and he seems extremely humble, hard-working, and prepared for the difficulties he knows he will face over the next few years. As the game was about to tip off and he was introduced, I did not know what to expect. Was he going to be a Marko Jaric? Was he going to be a Jiri Welsch? Even worse, was he going to be a Bostjan Nachbar (no offense to Bostjan, I still believe in the potential but he just hasn't gotten it done so far, maybe this is his year). The answer was pleasantly surprising as the game progressed. From the tip-off, he carried the intensity that was reminiscent of my first time watching Manu Ginobili play. He is an up in your face, active handed, tough, aggressive, hard-nosed defender. He was also surprisingly quick with the hand-speed and foot-speed that seemed to me would leave him able to stay with even the quickest of PG's in the league. Next came the offense. Sasha uses his length well to protect the ball from defending PG's. This is not to say he is a boring Mark Jackson style PG. He is truly a face up, take his man off the dribble style player. On a move late in the second half, he left his defender who tried to pick him up full court on his hands and knees as a sweet behind the back move was enough to break the guy off hard. He's got a great first step and long strides that help him create spacing for his shot or clean passing lanes. His ball-handling skills are exceptional, while he did have a tendency to try and split double teams too often. His passing abilities are good as is but I have a feeling they will continue to improve. His shot, is money. An incredibly smooth stroke, consistent from all over both from a set shot and as a jumper off the dribble. He also had a couple nice runners that showed versatility on the offensive end. His shot form is very high up which will make him hard for opposing PG's of smaller stature to stop. The next great thing about Sasha was his poise. He was always in control of his team while he was out on the floor. Even when the game was tight, it was not Luke Walton or Kareem Rush giving direction on the floor, it was Sasha. He also cooly and calmly knocked down 4 ft's to seal the game for the Lakers despite a great effort by Devin Brown of the Spurs. They say great shooters are great FT shooters, and Sasha was 8/8 from the line tonight. His demeanor reminds me a lot of Madsen. You can tell he is a guy that is loving the opportunity he has in front of him. He high-fives teammates who are going in the game while he is on the bench, he roots on his team emphatically and cheers on the success of his teammates in a manner that makes you realize he really cares about the success of his team, and he takes direction and respects the other players on the court, on the bench, his coaches, and even the referees. He is a kid that referees will always respond to well because before the game, he made sure to meet them, and he thanked each of them and shook their hands after the game. There was a near altercation between he and Devin Brown when Devin Brown gave him a shove after a play was already dead but it was quickly resolved when Devin Brown took the stare down of Sasha and immediately reached out to acknowledge his mistake. They even exchanged a hug after the game. This was just one game, but I have extremely high hopes for this young player and I think he will be game ready much earlier than most people are anticipating (ie. I think he can be an impact player this coming season). From the interview, and from what I saw today, he seems like the type of player that will find out what he needs to improve, and work his ass off to do so. At 6'7" (he is taller than Brian Shaw), with quick hands, quick feet, a quick first step, a smooth jump shot, excellent play making abilities, and defensive intensity (he also only picked up 2-3 fouls if I counted correctly, he is sure to be a very special player for years to come. I am definitely going to be out there again soon to watch him play, and I would encourage the rest of you to do so as well. As an evaluator of talent, I am rarely wrong. I called the emergence of Marquis Daniels based on his on-court presence throughout last years summer league and he went from undrafted rookie to full-mid-level exception in one season. I also acknowledged that Jiri Welsch was finally ready to step into the spotlight after 3 years of watching him play in summer league and correctly predicted he would be made a starter (even though he was considered trade filler) in Boston the day the trade went down. You can ask Mel these things, I told him all about them. And now, I will stake my talent evaluating reputation on this kid and let everyone know that he is indeed the real deal. Congratulations to Mitch Kupchak and the rest of the Laker personnel staff. 1-2 years from now, I strongly believe that people will sit there and wonder how the Lakers got such a steal with the 27th pick in this years draft. Look forward to seeing some of you guys at future summer league games and to hearing your evaluations of this gem we found in the draft.
I've seen a lot of highlights of him, and I'd have to say I'm very excited about him being a Laker. I will also be attending a summer league game within the next two days, and I can't wait to see him.
Excellent stuff SCBrian. With everything that you've described about him, looks like his 1st year with the Lakers will be a nice productive season. I'm so hyped up about this kid that I have a new signature. What do you think?
thats an awesome sig...who made it for you? phreeze, if you get to watch him play, let me know what you think afterwards...imma be there again on saturday...the last time he and i went to summer league (together at least) was in 96...when we got to see another laker rookie that turned out to be pretty ok...=P
sasha pours in another nice game at the summer pro league vs the knicks on sunday... 26 minutes, 7/10 from the field, 2/3 3pt range, 3/3 ft line, 19 pts, 4 boards, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal keep it up!
That post is great. Very well written. It makes Sasha look amazing, I just don't wanna get over-hyped and then he'll end up like Darko. lol.
