Nikola Mirotic

[NDave79]

I hope Niko stays in the role of the 6th man. His bball IQ is amazing for a rookie, reminds me of when Manu first came to the Spurs.

I agree that he is pretty great as a sixth man as it lets him be the focal point of the offense where he seems to excel and with Derrick and Jimmy, he will probably end up taking a bit of a backseat compared to his role this month with them injured. However, I think his game is going to mesh so well with Derrick and Jimmy (and Noah as well as he is also an attacker off the dribble) that I would like to maximize his minutes with them next year. Personally, I want to see Derrick, Jimmy, Noah and Mirotic (as a 4) starting next year. I'm not sure who I want the 5th starter to be yet. It could come from a trade. Maybe Snell. Maybe Dunleavy holds on for another year. Maybe Dougie has an amazing summer and forces his way in the starting lineup (this seems like an unlikely development if Thibs is still coach). Noah and Gasol together is just sorta blah imo. Their basically both centers and it just seems to clog up the lane somewhat. When Niko goes on the floor it just feels like your adding nitroglycerin to the offense. All of a sudden we have great spacing, the ball is flying around, and players are attacking the basket or shooting open 3's. I want to see this dimension with Rose and Butler.

[Rerisen]

The team's ultimate ceiling is Mirotic and Rose working together, a deadly 2 man game.

Like a upgraded Monta Ellis / Dirk combo.

For that though we'll need Mirotic starting and playing big minutes with Derrick next year. Who has to go to the bench, I'm not sure, but we need to worry about maximizing our team more than egos.

[P.C.]

There's really one and only one player anybody should be using as a player comparison, Detlef Schrempf. They share the same measurements, same moves, same mannerisms . . . it's not by chance either. Niko has obviously used Schrempf as his archetype.

It's good comparison, but Schremphf has a tougher post game, while Niko is more of a dribble drive kind of guy.

The Schremphf comparison IS a good one. As far as post play goes, we'll just have to wait until Thibs gives Niko more opportunities in the post. What little we've seen looks good though.

It has truly been frustrating to witness the mindless suppression of this talented player this season. I finally voted yes in the fire Thibs thread, and his stupid handling of Niko, Snell, Doug, Pau, Hinrich and Rose is the reason.

And I think the thing you have to ask yourself, does Detlef Schrempf play the same game he did in the 90's if he was in the NBA now? The answer has to be no. The NBA had no idea what to with bigs with guard skills in the 90's. Now, it feels like almost all starting bigs that can handle, pass and shoot. I just think there's a lot more skill at power forward and center now. Schrempf more than any other player may have suffered from being ahead of his time.

I mean, that guy was hovering around 60% TS for most of his seasons, and he regularly shot around 40% from three. In 94-95, Schrempf averaged 19.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists from the small forward position, averaging 64.1 TS%. I get the feeling that Schrempf was at the same time both tragically misued and way better than how we usually think of him.

[TimRobbins]

And I think the thing you have to ask yourself, does Detlef Schrempf play the same game he did in the 90's if he was in the NBA now? The answer has to be no. The NBA had no idea what to with bigs with guard skills in the 90's. Now, it feels like almost all starting bigs that can handle, pass and shoot. I just think there's a lot more skill at power forward and center now. Schrempf more than any other player may have suffered from being ahead of his time.

I mean, that guy was hovering around 60% TS for most of his seasons, and he regularly shot around 40% from three. In 94-95, Schrempf averaged 19.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists from the small forward position, averaging 64.1 TS%. I get the feeling that Schrempf was at the same time both tragically misued and way better than how we usually think of him.

I thought Schremphf was a great player, but he also played for some stacked teams. If Niko becomes as good as he was, it would be a great outcome.

[Mbrahv0528]

It's good comparison, but Schremphf has a tougher post game, while Niko is more of a dribble drive kind of guy.

The Schremphf comparison IS a good one. As far as post play goes, we'll just have to wait until Thibs gives Niko more opportunities in the post. What little we've seen looks good though.

It has truly been frustrating to witness the mindless suppression of this talented player this season. I finally voted yes in the fire Thibs thread, and his stupid handling of Niko, Snell, Doug, Pau, Hinrich and Rose is the reason.

And I think the thing you have to ask yourself, does Detlef Schrempf play the same game he did in the 90's if he was in the NBA now? The answer has to be no. The NBA had no idea what to with bigs with guard skills in the 90's. Now, it feels like almost all starting bigs that can handle, pass and shoot. I just think there's a lot more skill at power forward and center now. Schrempf more than any other player may have suffered from being ahead of his time.

I mean, that guy was hovering around 60% TS for most of his seasons, and he regularly shot around 40% from three. In 94-95, Schrempf averaged 19.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists from the small forward position, averaging 64.1 TS%. I get the feeling that Schrempf was at the same time both tragically misued and way better than how we usually think of him.

There are very few bigs in the the NBA that can do what Niko can do at his size..that's what makes him so special. You're quite a bit off on the notion that bigs with skill are peppering the NBA, they are not.

[maynardo]

The team's ultimate ceiling is Mirotic and Rose working together, a deadly 2 man game.

Like a upgraded Monta Ellis / Dirk combo.

For that though we'll need Mirotic starting and playing big minutes with Derrick next year. Who has to go to the bench, I'm not sure, but we need to worry about maximizing our team more than egos.

Pau is gonna be 35, he should embrace the Ginobili role. Plus Noah with Niko has the highest net rtg of the bigs.

[aramada]

His level of confidence on offense is what sets him apart. He's not quite there yet on defense (mainly because you get exposed so much more for your mistakes) but when he is, watch out. He already showed a great demeanor handling some mismatches (against PGs or Cs at times), daring those players to come at him.
In the playoffs, I hope to see Thibs close with Rose-Jimmy-Snell-Niko-Jo (Assuming everyone healthy). Perfect combination of offense, defense, rebounding, spacing, ball handling, ability to go to the line...

[Ralphb07]

I think it's Pau due to age. You can have him off the bench and keep his minutes down to around 24. You also are guaranteed to have a legit C in the game at all times and don't need to play Noah or Gasol an whole qtr anymore. ..

To me the starting 5 should be Rose, Snell, Butler, Nikola and Noah.

[TheStig]

I don't really care if Mirotic starts or comes off the bench. It's more of his share of minutes. If you've still got 4 starting quality bigs than he's simply going to be playing half his time at SF and limited minutes.

You've simply got to move someone and sign a cheap backup pf like Ed Davis.

[coldfish]

The team's ultimate ceiling is Mirotic and Rose working together, a deadly 2 man game.

Like a upgraded Monta Ellis / Dirk combo.

For that though we'll need Mirotic starting and playing big minutes with Derrick next year. Who has to go to the bench, I'm not sure, but we need to worry about maximizing our team more than egos.

The team's ultimate ceiling would be Rose / Butler / Snell / Mirotic / Noah when balancing offense and defense. For offense, a lot of things have to happen to maximize it, including:
- Mirotic has to start making a higher percentage of his 3's. I can't believe how much teams continue to respect him given his cold streak.
- The team has to share the ball. If Rose wants to dominate it and freeze out Noah's passing or Butler then teams will just be able to load up on him.
- Rose and Mirotic have to get a lot better moving off ball.
- Snell has to shoot around 40% from 3 or better.

If you get all of that, you could actually have a great offense.

[FORMIDABULLS]

Speaking of which... Mirotic not only can he roll or pop, he made a few pretty nice plays not as the screener but as the ball handler as well. This guy probably can and pretty much 2 man with anybody big or small, that kind of crazy versatility is an awesome weapon.

[vvgotgame19]

For next year I still think it'd be ideal for him to be the 6th man. Let him be the focal point of the benche's offense. He should be closing games out tho. I think he/we would thrive with a Manu type role for year 2. Year 3 he should be starting. Hopefully Doug will live up to his potential and be ready to start by then. It's a damn shame Noah will be a little older by then because a 2014 Noah with year 3 Mirotic & Dougie, Jimmy Buckets and hopefully healthy DRose would theoretically be a nasty nasty starting 5. But even with an older Noah that's still a very strong team.

[RebuildaBulls]

Rose/Mirotic pick-and-roll/pop would potentially be unstoppable, but its a been a rarity to see it this season. But I expect to see it often in the coming years. Rose would need to improve his three a bit to make it even more deadly

[Rerisen]

Thibs said something interesting in his postgame the other day, that other teams weren't really preparing for Niko yet, which lets us exploit him. SportVU backs this up. Right now Niko is the 3rd most open player on our team when he shoots compared vs the closest defender. The other two are Hinrich and Dunleavy, who mostly just spot up, and Kirk doesn't get a lot of respect.

Eventually, for all the offensive tools he provides, teams will have to start sticking to Niko much tighter. Once they do, his efficiency may go down some, but the tradeoff is spacing gets way better for the rest of the team and other players should get better opportunities. Or they may just choose to continue to hedge strongly off him, not wanting their 4s that far out sacrificing help defense. Which case Niko will continue to thrive.

Average Defender Distance

1 Taj Gibson 2.720
2 Joakim Noah 3.560
3 Nazr Mohammed 3.585
4 Aaron Brooks 3.631
5 Derrick Rose 3.748
6 Pau Gasol 3.814
7 Jimmy Butler 4.062
8 ETwaun Moore 4.159
9 Doug McDermott 4.295
-- Dirk Nowitzki for comparison 4.488 --
-- Kevin Love for comparison 4.493 --
10 Cameron Bairstow 4.579
11 Tony Snell 4.824
12 Nikola Mirotic 4.882
13 Kirk Hinrich 4.951
14 Mike Dunleavy 0.519

[vvgotgame19]

Thibs said something interesting in his postgame the other day, that other teams weren't really preparing for Niko yet, which lets us exploit him. SportVU backs this up. Right now Niko is the 3rd most open player on our team when he shoots compared vs the closest defender. The other two are Hinrich and Dunleavy, who mostly just spot up, and Kirk doesn't get a lot of respect.

Eventually, for all the offensive tools he provides, teams will have to start sticking to Niko much tighter. Once they do, his efficiency may go down some, but the tradeoff is spacing gets way better for the rest of the team and other players should get better opportunities. Or they may just choose to continue to hedge strongly off him, not wanting their 4s that far out sacrificing help defense. Which case Niko will continue to thrive.

Average Defender Distance

1 Taj Gibson 2.720
2 Joakim Noah 3.560
3 Nazr Mohammed 3.585
4 Aaron Brooks 3.631
5 Derrick Rose 3.748
6 Pau Gasol 3.814
7 Jimmy Butler 4.062
8 ETwaun Moore 4.159
9 Doug McDermott 4.295
-- Dirk Nowitzki for comparison 4.488 --
-- Kevin Love for comparison 4.493 --
10 Cameron Bairstow 4.579
11 Tony Snell 4.824
12 Nikola Mirotic 4.882
13 Kirk Hinrich 4.951
14 Mike Dunleavy 0.519

I'm guessing that doesn't count foul shots tho, something Niko seems to be good at getting. It also seems like a lot of his open shots are 3's, something he hasn't been good at to date. He should be able to maintain his efficiency simply by hitting his 3's consistently, which I think we all expect to happen at some point.

[Rerisen]

I'm guessing that doesn't count foul shots tho, something Niko seems to be good at getting.

Wonderful at getting actually. Outside James Harden, no big time scorer is getting fouled more per FG.

Code: Select all

Field Goals Attempted / Free Throws Attempted

1   Tyler Hansbrough    0.883
2   DeAndre Jordan      0.847
3   Mason Plumlee       0.638
4   Rudy Gobert         0.633
5   Tyson Chandler      0.573
6   Omer Asik           0.569
7   James Harden        0.558
8   Tristan Thompson    0.491
9   Gorgui Dieng        0.477
10  Nikola Mirotic      0.466

[Gray Poster]

Thibs said something interesting in his postgame the other day, that other teams weren't really preparing for Niko yet, which lets us exploit him. SportVU backs this up. Right now Niko is the 3rd most open player on our team when he shoots compared vs the closest defender. The other two are Hinrich and Dunleavy, who mostly just spot up, and Kirk doesn't get a lot of respect.

Eventually, for all the offensive tools he provides, teams will have to start sticking to Niko much tighter. Once they do, his efficiency may go down some, but the tradeoff is spacing gets way better for the rest of the team and other players should get better opportunities. Or they may just choose to continue to hedge strongly off him, not wanting their 4s that far out sacrificing help defense. Which case Niko will continue to thrive.

Average Defender Distance

1 Taj Gibson 2.720
2 Joakim Noah 3.560
3 Nazr Mohammed 3.585
4 Aaron Brooks 3.631
5 Derrick Rose 3.748
6 Pau Gasol 3.814
7 Jimmy Butler 4.062
8 ETwaun Moore 4.159
9 Doug McDermott 4.295
-- Dirk Nowitzki for comparison 4.488 --
-- Kevin Love for comparison 4.493 --
10 Cameron Bairstow 4.579
11 Tony Snell 4.824
12 Nikola Mirotic 4.882
13 Kirk Hinrich 4.951
14 Mike Dunleavy 0.519

I wonder if this has changed over the last month?

[Rerisen]

I wonder if this has changed over the last month?

I don't have the split, but I'm sure it has gone down some. Considering Niko has a 30% Usage in March, which is as high as Derrick Rose.

[bentheredengthat]

I don't really care if Mirotic starts or comes off the bench. It's more of his share of minutes. If you've still got 4 starting quality bigs than he's simply going to be playing half his time at SF and limited minutes.

You've simply got to move someone and sign a cheap backup pf like Ed Davis.

It's not a matter of playing PF or SF.

The problem is that if you don't start a player, but you still want him to have his share of minutes, he ends up doing things like playing 16 straight minutes in a half.

OTOH if you start them, they can play something like two 9 minute stretches a half instead.

I got the feeling in the last game that Thibs held Niko out as long as he could in the second half to avoid the 16 minute stint scenario. Niko came in late & was able to light up the entire 4th quarter with great intensity.

[bentheredengthat]

Thibs said something interesting in his postgame the other day, that other teams weren't really preparing for Niko yet, which lets us exploit him. SportVU backs this up. Right now Niko is the 3rd most open player on our team when he shoots compared vs the closest defender. The other two are Hinrich and Dunleavy, who mostly just spot up, and Kirk doesn't get a lot of respect.

Average Defender Distance

1 Taj Gibson 2.720
2 Joakim Noah 3.560
3 Nazr Mohammed 3.585
4 Aaron Brooks 3.631
5 Derrick Rose 3.748
6 Pau Gasol 3.814
7 Jimmy Butler 4.062
8 ETwaun Moore 4.159
9 Doug McDermott 4.295
-- Dirk Nowitzki for comparison 4.488 --
-- Kevin Love for comparison 4.493 --
10 Cameron Bairstow 4.579
11 Tony Snell 4.824
12 Nikola Mirotic 4.882
13 Kirk Hinrich 4.951
14 Mike Dunleavy 0.519

What in interesting statistic.

To be useful it seems as though you would have to separate out different types of offense - like post up vs spot up etc.

Eventually, for all the offensive tools he provides, teams will have to start sticking to Niko much tighter. Once they do, his efficiency may go down some, but the tradeoff is spacing gets way better for the rest of the team and other players should get better opportunities. Or they may just choose to continue to hedge strongly off him, not wanting their 4s that far out sacrificing help defense. Which case Niko will continue to thrive.

Don't see a downside there!! Niko's ability to pump fake & drive helps him deal with close outs. His b-ball IQ will help him counteract ball denial (we've already seen him succeed w/ back cuts, etc.).

And you know Rose is salivating at the improved spacing.

What kind of feel do we have for his court vision & creating off the dribble? That's the only thing I can think of that could hamper him - if they start overloading on help D against his dribble drive. Something tells me Niko can deal with that too.