Adrian Fedkiw
It might simply be known as “The Block” in Croatia, especially if Hrvatska makes a deep run in Rio.
So nice, you’ve got to see it twice.
Dario Saric blocked Pau Gasol’s hook shot at the buzzer and Croatia stunned Spain 72-70 to open up Group B play for both teams on Sunday night.
Undeterred by a woeful shooting night, the MVP of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin tallied just five points on 1-of-7 efficiency, Saric made his presence felt in other areas. His unique passing ability and vision was on full display, posting five assists to go along with seven rebounds.
Krunoslav’s steal and go-ahead layup off of a lazy pass by Sergio Rodriguez, Saric’s future teammate with the Philadelphia 76ers, put Croatia up 69-67 with 1:28 left in the game.
Rodriguez finished with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the floor to go along with a game-high seven assists for Spain, which blew a 13-point third quarter lead. Gasol netted 26 points and Nikola Mirotic added 19.
Let’s take a look at some Saric clips and start with the good, his vision and passing.
This was a nifty right block bounce pass underneath the arms of the help defender, which led to an open 3.
Saric exemplifies great touch with this look from the top of the arc to a left wing backdoor cutting Mario Hezonja. This was pretty.
Where Saric is most effective in the post is with his passing. He beat his man along the right baseline and found his teammate with a bounce pass.
Like Ben Simmons, Saric has the ability to rebound and go, although he’s not as explosive. He finds his open teammate down the floor with a beautiful lookahead pass.
Oh my god, this behind the back bounce pass!
Defense is Saric’s biggest weakness right now, especially when getting matchup up against stretch forwards along the perimeter. He was getting abused by Mirotic so bad in the first quarter that another defender was used to guard Mirotic from the second quarter on.
Here’s Saric in help defense keeping his hands up and holding his ground against Gasol, but he didn’t have the presence of timing a jump to challenge the shot.
This was a lot better from Saric, who recognized the rolling Willy Hernangomez immediately and timed his jump perfectly for the rejection.
Saric fails to battle through a screen and is very late to contest on Mirotic’s left wing triple
There were a few instances in this game where Saric’s lack of athleticism, strength and explosion at the rim came into play.
What irked me most about Saric’s play in Turin was how many times he turned the ball over in the post. His lack of strength down low caused the travel in this instance. When he gets outmuscled, he fails to generate separation and gives the ball away.
Saric got a bunch of open looks in this one, but was falling away on a couple instead of going straight up on his jumper. I did not see this as much in Turin. I’ll be keeping an eye on this during Croatia’s remaining tournament run.
Saric moves very well without the ball and always seems to find the open spaces on the floor, like he did here on the right baseline jumper and his lone field goal, but again he’s falling away on his shot.
Now it’s time to look at a couple Rodriguez videos. I’m going to show you all of Rodriguez’s assists in just a second, but before I do, appreciate the beauty of this right wing pocket pass through a trio of defenders. He excelled in pick-and-roll situations and his handles, vision and passing instincts were on full display.
And here are a few more of his dimes.
Fran Fraschilla compared Sergio Rodriguez to Jason Williams several times during the telecast and this nonchalant behind the back flip had some J-Will flavor to it.
Check out the vision here. Rodriguez gets double teamed in the right corner and calmly flicks an overhead skip pass to the left wing shooter.
Rodriguez’s biggest improvement since his first stint in the NBA is his ability to knock down a jump shot. Not that it’s suddenly a strength, but it’s become respectable. Here’s a pair of jumpers he knocked down.
Croatia and Spain both take the floor again Tuesday, with Croatia battling Argentina and Spain clashing against host Brazil.