Hey guys, I took the liberty to watch some film on Australian shooting guard Dejan Vasiljevic. I actually watched his game against USA Basketball in the FIBA-U17 championship, so thanks to whoever shared that video. I'll break down his game for you in three categories: Strengths, weaknesses, and overall.
Strengths: Dejan Vasiljevic can score. More specifically, he can really shoot. He has a very quick release on his shot, he spots up well, and can kill teams from outside. He also is very fearless and isn't afraid to take any shot. He can get into the lane and kiss it off the glass with a floater, etc. So, he can score in a variety of ways. He isn't afraid to put the ball on the floor, absorb some contact, and get to the line. He's a tough kid in that regard. He moves well without the ball, comes off screens well, and knows how to get open. He plays the shooting guard position well for a guy that is 6'2. He also shows some point guard potential. He had a nice dish inside to a big that was cutting to the basket.
Weakness: The most obvious weakness in his game is that he's a 6'2, 175 lb. shooting guard. Even at the D-1 level, that is really small for a shooting guard. While he has a quick release on his shot and you can't give him any space, he still struggled against wings with more length. He also had a hard time scoring over length inside due to his smaller size. As for defense, his lack of length will make it hard for him to defend larger wings. A lot of teams will try to put a bigger wing on him that can just shoot over him. He'll likely be a liability on defense early on in his D-1 career and perhaps throughout his career he'll be a liability on defense. One other thing he can work on is his shot selection. Sometimes he forces up tough shots that he really shouldn't be taking. He's got a shoot-first mentality and that can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes he takes shots that really are ill-advised. Also, his stats in the FIBA-U19s showed a regression from his FIBA-U17s. He shot a slightly better 37.9% from the field, which still isn't very good. His three-point percentage dropped to 28.9% and his free throw percentage dropped to 71.1%. His scoring averaged also dropped from 17.4 points per game to 13.3 points per game. It seems like as competition gets tougher, he struggles more. That's true for all players, but he is no lock to be an elite player in the Pac-12 or some other Power-5 conference judging by his stats.
Overall: Dejan Vasiljevic has the potential to be a really good college player because of his scoring abilities. He has a quick release on his shot and he knows how to put up points. However, he still seems like somewhat of a volume scorer at this point. He really needs to improve his efficiency and know how to score 20 points on a third less amount of shots. Defensively, he needs to improve and show that he won't get burned by bigger, more athletic wings. His ceiling is Jimmer Fredette. He could morph into a number one option and be a guy who you give the ball to and have him take over for the game. He could reach this level of excellence after 4 years at the D-1 level.
However, Jimmer Fredette never was a very good defender, even at the college level, and I'm not sure Cal would want to be a team that relies on one guy so heavily to score all their points anyways. Being more realistic, I see this kid being another Jordan Mathews, only a little less athletic. He is cut out of a very similar cloth only he is slightly smaller.
Do I think he's a kid Cal should sign? If possible, I would say yes. He's got enough offensive weapons to work with that he's worth a scholarship. However, he'll have a lot of work to do to improve his defense and play smarter basketball in terms of taking better shots and playing "team basketball." I like what he can bring to the table, but like all guys his age, he has a lot to work on.
Strengths: Dejan Vasiljevic can score. More specifically, he can really shoot. He has a very quick release on his shot, he spots up well, and can kill teams from outside. He also is very fearless and isn't afraid to take any shot. He can get into the lane and kiss it off the glass with a floater, etc. So, he can score in a variety of ways. He isn't afraid to put the ball on the floor, absorb some contact, and get to the line. He's a tough kid in that regard. He moves well without the ball, comes off screens well, and knows how to get open. He plays the shooting guard position well for a guy that is 6'2. He also shows some point guard potential. He had a nice dish inside to a big that was cutting to the basket.
Weakness: The most obvious weakness in his game is that he's a 6'2, 175 lb. shooting guard. Even at the D-1 level, that is really small for a shooting guard. While he has a quick release on his shot and you can't give him any space, he still struggled against wings with more length. He also had a hard time scoring over length inside due to his smaller size. As for defense, his lack of length will make it hard for him to defend larger wings. A lot of teams will try to put a bigger wing on him that can just shoot over him. He'll likely be a liability on defense early on in his D-1 career and perhaps throughout his career he'll be a liability on defense. One other thing he can work on is his shot selection. Sometimes he forces up tough shots that he really shouldn't be taking. He's got a shoot-first mentality and that can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes he takes shots that really are ill-advised. Also, his stats in the FIBA-U19s showed a regression from his FIBA-U17s. He shot a slightly better 37.9% from the field, which still isn't very good. His three-point percentage dropped to 28.9% and his free throw percentage dropped to 71.1%. His scoring averaged also dropped from 17.4 points per game to 13.3 points per game. It seems like as competition gets tougher, he struggles more. That's true for all players, but he is no lock to be an elite player in the Pac-12 or some other Power-5 conference judging by his stats.
Overall: Dejan Vasiljevic has the potential to be a really good college player because of his scoring abilities. He has a quick release on his shot and he knows how to put up points. However, he still seems like somewhat of a volume scorer at this point. He really needs to improve his efficiency and know how to score 20 points on a third less amount of shots. Defensively, he needs to improve and show that he won't get burned by bigger, more athletic wings. His ceiling is Jimmer Fredette. He could morph into a number one option and be a guy who you give the ball to and have him take over for the game. He could reach this level of excellence after 4 years at the D-1 level.
However, Jimmer Fredette never was a very good defender, even at the college level, and I'm not sure Cal would want to be a team that relies on one guy so heavily to score all their points anyways. Being more realistic, I see this kid being another Jordan Mathews, only a little less athletic. He is cut out of a very similar cloth only he is slightly smaller.
Do I think he's a kid Cal should sign? If possible, I would say yes. He's got enough offensive weapons to work with that he's worth a scholarship. However, he'll have a lot of work to do to improve his defense and play smarter basketball in terms of taking better shots and playing "team basketball." I like what he can bring to the table, but like all guys his age, he has a lot to work on.
