HarthorneWingo wrote:Nice scouting report from Magic announcer and former NBA and WNBA coach Ritchie Adubato.
https://nypost.com/2018/07/15/the-mario-hezonja-scouting-report-the-flashes-and-the-flaw/Magic radio analyst Richie Adubato has a Croatian neighbor who gave him a language tip. After every Mario Hezonja 3-pointer, Adubato bellowed, “Gee La Vee, Mario!” on the air.
That’s a Croatian expression for “Bravo.’’ The phrase wasn’t uttered nearly enough during Hezonja’s failed three-year run in Orlando.
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Adubato, whose coaching background includes helming the Mavericks, the Magic and the WNBA’s Liberty and Mystics — and stints as an NBA assistant coach for five teams, including the Knicks (1982-1986) — can’t say for certain about Hezonja’s future, but he is a fan of his talent.
“I bet on him turning the corner, but there’s never a guarantee,’’ Adubato told The Post during the Las Vegas summer league. “I’ve seen it go both ways and it’s mainly because of confidence. Can you keep the confidence? Coaches have a lot of say in building [players’] confidence up.’’
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“He’s a European,” Adubato said. “They always take time adjusting to our level of play. People don’t realize — they average 18 a game, come in and it’s a big adjustment. He’s very talented, you see why they drafted him. Athletic. [He’s] 6-8, runs the floor well, nice-looking shot, range to shoot the 3. But he had to learn the NBA game. It’s so different. Nowadays, so many great athletes. A lot of times when you’re a star at another place and coming off the bench, it’s a new world for you.”
Until Kristaps Porzingis returns from ACL surgery, Hezonja is the favorite to start at power forward with rookie Kevin Knox at small forward. Hezonja finished last season averaging 9.6 points per game. His career scoring and rebounding averages are, respectively, 6.9 points and 2.8 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game.
But the biggest concern is he’s always looked slow on defense.
“Defensively he needs some work,’’ Adubato said. “There’s no weakness in his game, except the defensive end. He has to work harder there and it will come, I believe.
“The lateral movement, I don’t see it as being a problem, but may have to work on it. But he’s an athlete. He has to do more drilling and understand how important it is. You play over in Europe and it’s all about offense over there. You average 10 points and play good defense, you won’t get noticed as much if you’re averaging 25 and not playing defense.”
Despite his inconsistency, Hezonja never heard any jeers. Adubato said Hezonja’s case reminded him of former Magic guard J.J. Redick, who took a few years before emerging.
“The fans were always hoping [Mario] was going to continue to develop and get better — never got booed,” Adubato said. “He thrilled them with his long jumpers and, in transition, he can really dunk. He was exciting.”
Lol this is so off-base. Mario wasn't a star in Europe. He came off the bench in Barcelona and played less than 20mpg. Also, even though the style of play may be slightly different in Europe it still has you way more prepared than playing against 18-22 year olds in the NCAA most of whom will not have a long-standing professional career.
