What sometimes catches American fans by surprise is the fact that basketball is played outside the States. There’s an occasional footnote on Marbury flaming the Chinese league. Aussies obviously have one of their own, and if you are over 6’4’’, you can quickly become a star of the Filipino league.
Then there’s that mystique thing called EuroLeague. Each year, a talent or two get lured over the Atlantic to play in the NBA. Some pan out to be really good and some fail to impress. That’s about what an average NBA fan knows about the basketball played abroad. And there’s no need to apologize. Pro basketball in the NBA is the best basketball in the world, period. What does go overlooked is that Europeans also have a terrific league, the EuroLeague.
Most of the teams that compete on the high level in the EuroLeague are better than the worst in the NBA. But it’s a completely different game there. It’s not just the rules, it’s the training, the basketball style, the fans interaction and the players’ approach to the basketball. The players who come to the NBA from the EuroLeague at a young age quickly learn how to play basketball the American way, but if you look closely, most of them are still easily recognized by the mechanics of movement and the differently taught fundamentals.
Most importantly, the players in Europe are nurtured to play for the team and not for the personal accolades. That’s probably the biggest part of why you rarely hear about any basketball stars from Europe before they come to NBA, and some of them never do – like Diamantidis or Bodiroga – despite having the talent to compete with the best of the best. Some of the best euro players opt to make the jump late in their careers, mostly out of curiosity, intrigued by the tales of the NBA, or simply because they are looking for a new challenge.
Arvydas Sabonis was a 30-year old rookie when he joined the Blazers. NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1996, Toni Kukoc was younger when he joined MJ’s Bulls but was already a four-time champion of the Old World and a massive basketball star on the continent. Even coming as formed players, these players had a significant NBA careers. Others failed to make a mark.
The newest member of the Los Angeles Clippers, point guard Milos Teodosic, is an enigma for most US fans but is a household name in European basketball. Have the Clippers managed to get a star for the size of a tax-payer’s mid level exception, or just a 30-year old backup? Will he succeed to leave a mark on the NBA despite coming in so late? Who is Milos Teodosic?
Milos Teodosic bio
Milos Teodosic is a 6’5’’ Serbian point guard who has most recently played with one of the top 4 teams in Europe, Russian CSKA Moscow. He has previously won the EuroLeague MVP award with the Greek powerhouse Olympiakos in 2009 and managed to lift the EL trophy in 2016 as the captain of CSKA. He’s also internationally acclaimed, leading the junior team of Serbia to a championship and getting to the senior Finals three times, in Euros, Worlds and Olympics in the past decade.
With the CSKA Moscow, Milos Teodosic played Russian national league, Baltic league and EuroLeague, averaging about 15.5 points, 6.5 assists and shooting around 40.0 percent from beyond the arc (European three is a bit shorter than in the NBA, but the assists are not given as generously as in the NBA).
He signed a two year $12.3M deal with the Los Angeles Clippers where he’ll be reunited with Patrick Beverley, his backup from the Olympiakos days.
He has been considered one of the best, if not the best, non-NBA player in the world over the past five years or so.
Scouting report
The Clippers got a master passer. Teo is not a poor man’s Chris Paul when it comes to finding open teammates at the right moment – it’s more of the other way around. Milos Teodosic has incredible court vision and the courage to attempt passes most of the NBA point guards would never even consider, so the Clippers should benefit from cuts, curls and pick and rolls. Clippers fans should book some seats close to the floor as they’ll be entertained by the magical ball distribution.
If you’d like to compare him with another European pass first point guard, Ricky Rubio, mind that Milos Teodosic can also shoot. He has an unlimited range and good accuracy from the deep, where he takes most of his shots. He either shoots a three or a layup, showing basketball smarts with his shot selection as well.
Milos Teodosic is a bit of a streaky shooter, missing and hitting shots in succession, but is also a big time clutch scorer, unfazed by any moment. Over the years of playing top level basketball in Europe, he has established a great reputation, so don’t read too much of his ability to get to the free throw line. He’ll have to adjust to the athleticism and the length of the NBA defenders in the paint, but he has always relied on his deceptiveness to finish in traffic, so it might work both ways.
However, his lack of athleticism might turn out to be his demise in the NBA. Milos Teodosic is slow. He uses offensive flopping (emphasizing any contact with the defender while trying to drive past him) to gain a step on the primary defender, and has excellent understanding on how to step so that the defender can’t return to his position. His timing to come to the NBA on the peak of the referees allowing such acting to influence their calls will probably help him maintain his play.
Had he come over ten or five years ago, he’d likely be ridiculed. Milos Teodosic is a great pick and roll player. He won’t hesitate to pull up if the defenders go under the screen and can masterfully use any space given by the big’s screen. What makes him special in action, is that he can fluidly evolve the play from 2-on-2 to include all spacers on the strong and weak side with his pinpoint and creative passing. As with the players who attempt risky passes, he’s prone to turnovers, averaged more than 3.0 giveaways per game in the last three seasons. While his assists per 48 minutes would be at the top of the league, don’t expect his assist to turnover ratio to be nowhere nearly as good as Chris Paul’s.
His most glaring weakness is his defense. Due to lack of quickness and strength, his size doesn’t matter and there are no tricks to hide his inability to guard anyone. Zone defenses are much more often employed in Europe, so he could be hidden. In the NBA, it’s going to be much harder to do so, and the main problem to have him play with in the starting Clippers unit.
However, as Louis Williams projects to be the backup off guard, it’s going to be very hard to match Teo with him as well. His ideal pairing would be with Beverley, as they compliment each other well. With coach’s son in the equation as well, there’s also a chance that Rivers utilizes him only when his team needs an offensive kick, which would be a very different role from which he had his entire career.
I’m not sure Milos Teodosic can succeed in the NBA as he needs to play many minutes to prove useful to his team, but lacks physical attributes to do so. Still, this is an era of offensive ball in the NBA, and some other great players are getting away with playing little to no defense, so it’s going to be exciting to see Teodosic’s crafty hands and high basketball IQ in the next couple of seasons, even if he doesn’t establish himself at the same level had in Europe. NBA needs to be reminded that the pull up three isn’t the most attractive move a point guard can make. Milos Teodosic can do that.
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