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Recapping Dario Saric’s Performance Against Italy in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament Final in Turin

Adrian Fedkiw|

Will Dario Saric follow in the footsteps of Croatian greats like Toni Kukoc and Drazen Petrovic?

It’s possible.

Saric had 18 points and 13 rebounds as Croatia held off Italy in overtime, 84-78, in the finals of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin. The 22-year-old was named the MVP of the tournament.

The announcers claimed that Saric had better games in the lead up to the finals, which was fascinating to hear because he wasn’t too shabby in this one despite some deficiencies. And it’s not like he was playing bad competition. Some NBA players on the Italian side included Marco Belinelli, Andrea Bargnani and Danilo Gallinari, while the Croatians featured Saric, Bojan Bogdanovic and Mario Hezojna.

Let’s take a look at what Saric did.

Like Simmons, Saric has the ability to grab the defensive rebound and head the other way, he’s just not as explosive in the open floor. At least he’s not afraid to pull-up for the jumper. This was a good shot from the right wing, it just didn’t go down.

Again we see Saric clear the glass and attack the other way. He executed a dribble handoff with Krunoslav Simon along the right wing and the pick-and-roll to perfection, but Simon didn’t get the ball back to him for the easy layup.

Here’s a third instance of Saric snatching the rebound and heading the other way. Just to highlight the difference between Saric and Simmons, Ben would’ve taken that all the way to the rim or dished it off to a teammate.

Following the turnover by Italy, check out the lovely look-ahead bounce pass by Saric. This was pretty.

A little pick-and-pop action with Saric and a swish on the right wing triple.

Saric showcased his ability to handle the ball and drove past Bargnani along the left wing before finishing with the left-handed layup.

Saric used his solid ball handling again, driving down the lane before stopping and using a step-through to convert a layup plus a foul.

Saric has a high basketball IQ and works well off the ball. He snuck to the basket off the inbounds play and drew a foul, which led to a pair of foul shots.

Here’s Saric using his wit to outthink a defender. He faked the screen and slipped smoothly to the basket before retrieving the pass and going up for the layup. And one!

We saw some of Saric’s vision and passing ability, hitting Mario Hezonja in the left corner with a right wing skip pass.

Saric was very aggressive on the boards in this game and always seems to be in the right place to get one.

I highlighted some strengths, now let’s take a look at some weaknesses I noticed. He wasn’t good in the post, turned the ball over and struggled to get separation so he could get his shot off. Saric had a mismatch in the post along the right wing and didn’t get good position. He then hooked his defender and committed an offensive foul.

Saric was late to recognize the double team in the post and turns it over.

And another example of Saric struggling in the post and turning the ball over.

Saric struggled gaining separation to get a shot off in the post.

Saric isn’t the best defender as of yet. He’s late in his close-out on Gallinari and then stumbled backwards before the Italian rose up and nailed the jumper.

Just from watching this game and nothing else so far, Saric appears to be a jack-of-all-trades type of player who does a lot of things well, but nothing great or exceptional. He’s a very good rebounder and can handle the ball for a big man. He possesses a high basketball IQ, which makes up for his athletic deficiencies and moves very well off the ball. He possesses some good passing ability as well. I’m curious to see how he is in the post over these other games because he was brutal in this one. There was only one instance where he scored on the low block and every time else he either turned it over or kicked it back out because he couldn’t get a shot off.

Saric will be signing with the Sixers later today after arriving in Philadelphia last night.

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