Milos Vujanic article

[sunsfn]

Milos points to N.Y.


By FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Vlade Divac is confident that his countryman Milos Vujanic will join the Knicks next season.
"Personally, I think he's ready," the Kings' center said last night. "He's improved a lot. I think this year will help him be even more prepared for the NBA. He made a good decision to stay one more year."

Vujanic, a 6-5 point guard, was the Knicks' second-round pick in the 2002 NBA draft. Last June, Vujanic left Partizan of Yugoslavia, a team Divac co-owns, and signed a two-year deal with Skipper Bologna of the Italian League.

Vujanic's contract with Bologna includes a buyout after the 2003-04 season, fueling speculation that his arrival in New York is imminent. Vujanic said last April that part of his reason for remaining in Europe was because the Knicks already had three point guards under contract. Charlie Ward, however, will be a free agent this summer.

Divac has stated that Vujanic could be the Knicks' starting point guard. Divac said if Vujanic comes to New York, he, too, might sign with the Knicks. But the 36-year-old Divac quickly added that he still plans to retire after this season. "It's a long shot," Divac said. "But I love this city."

 

[green machine]

A buyout after this year? I imagine the Suns would do the best they can to make that happen. Would something like that, if the Suns payed it, count against the cap?

 

[sunsfn]

This is on the NBA draft site. http://nbadraft.net/index.asp

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2003 International Prospects

By Cristian Biagini

This page is a ranking of the top International talents OVER the age of 22. These players are undraftable because they are over 22 and not playing in the NCAA. Some examples of players who after being drafted, stayed in Europe developing their games are Arvydas Sabonis, Zeljko Rebraca, Andre Kirilenko, to name a few. Some of these players may already belong to NBA teams while others are free agents. Also included on this list are players who have already been drafted. Not included in this list are players deemed too old to make an impact on the NBA.


Updated 1.5.03

Milos Vujanic 6-3 PG Partizan Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 1980 -- The best PG on the Knicks right now. The only problem is he is playing in Europe! Last year we ranked Vujanic as the 12th best prospect out of Europe, and the top overall pure point guard. Since being drafted he has completely blown up. This guy is now the best player overall in Europe, not just the best prospect. He's a point guard with good size and strength. He can take contact, and is very creative with a nice shooting stroke. He's a wonderful freethrow shooter. He's not a pure PG, he has a scorers mentality, but he has developed a pg's mentality to boot. Has the quickness to go 1on1, and uses the change of speed well. (Was drafted in 2002 by the New York Knicks at the 36th pick.) He is a play-maker with great scoring mentality but also a player who can elevate his team finding scoring opportunities for other players. He has great court vision and when he decides to go 1on1 on the pick and roll, you can’t stop him because of his ball-handling and change of speed. He can finish in traffic because he has a strong body which handles the contact. He'll usually find the open man with a dish at the end of drives. He is still a play-maker who thinks shoot first, pass second, but his overall skills have really developed in the past year.

 

[SirStefan32]

I've seen this kid play many times, and he is flat out amazing.

 

[arthurracoon]

Is it just me...or does he seem a bit like Marbury?

 

[SirStefan32]

He is not quite as quick as Marbury, but he passes the ball inside much better, and he has a much better jump shot.

 

[arthurracoon]

What about the shoot first pass second mentality?

Is it too bad?

Does he get his teemmates involved?

thanks

 

[SirStefan32]

He can do either- if you ask him to pass, he'll pass, if you ask him to score, he'll score. He is a very smart player. He doesn't force shots- he takes what the D gives him. He is no more "shoot first, pass 2nd" then Marbury is.

 

[George O'Brien]

Actually, at 6'5", he might team up with Barbosa in a duel combo guard offense.

BTW, he has much better reviews that Parker did.

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
Actually, at 6'5", he might team up with Barbosa in a duel combo guard offense.

Vujanic is 6'3''.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by hcsilla
Vujanic is 6'3''.

I used the heigth the Daily News guy gave.

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
I used the heigth the Daily News guy gave.

I know, but he is listed at 190 cm in Euroleague which is a bit smaller than 6'3".

 

[Chaplin]

RealGM and CNNSI also have him listed at 6'3".

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Chaplin
RealGM and CNNSI also have him listed at 6'3".

That would put him at about the same heigth as Barbosa.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Right now he's averaging

19.2 ppg, 30 mpg, 59% 2pt, 36% 3pt,
http://www.legabasket.it/player/?id=VUJ-MIL-80

 

[Joe Mama]

If Leandro Barbosa plays well this season I assume it will be very difficult to get Vujanic to come here. I mean playing those two in the backcourt together is an interesting idea, but in the long run I'm not sure the Phoenix Suns could be as successful as they want to be with an undersized backcourt.

Of course Barbosa is still young. He's got arms down to his ankles, and he is already 6' 3". Perhaps he could play shooting guard, especially since the illegal defense rules were done away with.

Joe Mama

 

[PhxGametime]

Milos was/is about same height as Baron Davis and Andre Miller - for those that don't remember World Championships...

 

[SirStefan32]

Originally posted by Joe Mama

Of course Barbosa is still young. He's got arms down to his ankles, and he is already 6' 3". Perhaps he could play shooting guard, especially since the illegal defense rules were done away with.
Joe Mama

Exactly.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by Joe Mama
If Leandro Barbosa plays well this season I assume it will be very difficult to get Vujanic to come here. I mean playing those two in the backcourt together is an interesting idea, but in the long run I'm not sure the Phoenix Suns could be as successful as they want to be with an undersized backcourt.

Of course Barbosa is still young. He's got arms down to his ankles, and he is already 6' 3". Perhaps he could play shooting guard, especially since the illegal defense rules were done away with.

Joe Mama

Small backcourts of really quick players can be tougher to attack than ones with taller but slower playes. If nothing else, most guards are inexperienced at posting up and a quick guard can play closer to a shooter than a slower but taller one. The backcourt of Stockton and Hornacek was shorter than Barbosa and Vujanic would be.

 

[Goldfield]

I could care less about tall or short back courts, as long as the guys are talented.

We have gotten bigger and even more athletic in the frount court with the addition of Lampe & McDyess. Once we get Amare & Zarko back, we might just have one heck of a good frount court for once.

6'3" is'nt that small. not enought to worrie about if the guy can play.

 

[SirStefan32]

Height is not an issue. Defense, and arm length are real issues. I think Barbosa could defend shooting guards easily. That would also give us advantage on offense (two guards who are very quick)

 

[slinslin]

Height is an issue because taller players are most of the times also stronger.

If you put Kobe Bryant on Barbosa he has a lot of strength and size on him to post him up and make easy plays.

Barbosa/Vujanic starting backcourt will never happen in my opinion.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by slinslin
Height is an issue because taller players are most of the times also stronger.

If you put Kobe Bryant on Barbosa he has a lot of strength and size on him to post him up and make easy plays.

Barbosa/Vujanic starting backcourt will never happen in my opinion.

While bigger guards do a much better job of stopping Kobe.

 

[SirStefan32]

Kobe Bryant is not a good example. Sure Kobe, T-Mac and perhaps Q are going to post up Barbosa all day. That's why you do one of the following:

1. Put a bigger SG on them. (JJ)

2. Put your SF on their SG, and shift Barbosa to a less talented SF (George, Fox)

Kobe is quick enough to guard Barbosa on on the other end, as are Ginobilli, Christie, etc, but an average shooting guard is not as good defensively or offensively for that matter as Kobe and T-Mac.

I don't think Barbosa/ Vujanic would start and play 40 minutes each, but I think they could be like Nash and Van Exel in Dallas last season.

Besides, Kobe will be our SG in the future.

 

[F-Dog]

I don't think starting two small guards on a regular basis is a good idea. Houston's inconsistency seems to bear this out, although they have plenty of other issues to deal with as well.

One possibility is that the Suns can use Vujanic and Barbosa like the Kings use Bibby and Bobby Jackson (or like Dallas with Nash/NVE). Bring one off the bench, but both play significant minutes, and both play together in spots.


The Suns are still going to need a bigger SG to start in that scenario. Who knows, maybe Joe J will still be around then...