Kosta Perovic

A guy who has also been on the radar for what seems like forever now, Perovic didn't seem to be that different of a player from what I saw of him last year, the year before, or even the year before. Judging by reports and from box scores towards the end of the year, he did appear to be turning the corner a bit with the way he's been playing in the 2nd half of the season. Unfortunately, most of the tapes I've acquired are from the month of February and prior, so that didn't really come out from what I saw.

He's still absolutely huge though, 7-2 to be exact, with good enough hands, long arms and a nice touch around the rim. The hook shot is still his best and most polished weapon to score in the paint, and it is pretty hard to stop because of his size. He has an excellent mid-range jumper, and seems to be a fairly skilled player for a player his size.

Athletically, he is average to below average, even for a player his size. His feet are very slow and it takes him a while to do almost anything it seems. His vertical leap looked to be almost non-existent, barely being able to get off the ground to challenge shots, which makes him a very average shot-blocker despite his height. Defensively, despite the fact that he is humongous, he is a liability almost any way you slice it, due to his poor lateral movement, strength and basketball IQ. He just doesn't seem to put any effort in at all on this side of the floor, and that's a shame because that's basically the only thing he can do in the NBA at his height. Offensively, he often lacks strength to finish at the rim, playing a bit soft and not always that focused.

There are question marks whether he will be able to adjust to the speed that the NBA game is played at, and he'll certainly have to bring it stronger every night than he did in the numerous games of his I watched with Partizan over the past two years. He's still fairly young, only a 1985 prospect, so maybe not all hope is lost at this point. He will have to hit the weight room, try to become a little bit more explosive, and learn how to use his size to his advantage better on both the offensive and especially the defensive ends.

All in all, this doesn't seem like the best time for Perovic to have his game evaluated by the NBA, as his season was fairly underwhelming and he'll have limited time for workouts to improve his stock. Regardless, he is in the draft for good, and is hoping to get drafted somewhere in the 2nd round based on his size. Stashing a player like him overseas is usually an option, but Perovic’s team Partizan isn’t interested in paying his huge contract next year and might insist that the team that drafts him signs him and even pays them a buyout for their trouble.

Perovic is playing less minutes than last season, and scoring less points, but is grabbing 1.5 more rebounds per contest. His numbers alone tell you the story, which always comes up when talking about Kosta. He is pretty much the same player he was a year or even two years ago, but now with more experience and additional weight. 7-2 players with soft hands like Perovic will always draw interest from NBA scouts, but as his career progressed, this interest appears to have regressed. As it currently stands, Kosta is barely on the verge of getting drafted. His feet are still very slow and he is still a soft defender and poor rebounder, not exactly the type of player NBA teams are falling over themselves for.

Perovic improved some on the already strong parts of his game, such as knocking down mid-range jumpers, positioning on the offensive end and finishing around the basket, but his weaknesses are still there. European players which are similar to Kosta in spite of being soft and unimpressive defenders such as Bruno Sundov, Antonis Fotsis, Hanno Mottola, Slavko Vranes and the like didn’t have much success in the NBA. He will need to be very lucky and land on a team that is willing to give him a chance and utilize his strengths, like for example what the Bobacts did with Primoz Brezec. Partizan is willing to let him go to the NBA, because he will be paid 500.000$ next year if he stays, which is a huge amount for a team whose superstar Dejan Milojevic gets around 350.000$ per year. NBA teams sometimes like to spend their late 2nd round picks on European bigs (Fehse, Gortat, Glyniadakis, Karaulov, Sinanovic, Van den Haare in recent years) so someone might give him a shot, since you cannot teach size and Kosta has plenty of it.

Perovic’s greatest assets are his height and very soft hands. He uses his length and soft touch to score in the post, as well as from mid-range with an accurate jumper. Defensively Kosta has once again been lackluster; outrebounded, outmuscled, outquicked...whatever word you like. For someone this tall he is an extremely poor rebounder, getting just over 4 per game. The reasons for this are his inability to get off the floor, lack of basic technique and poor body strength. He was a little better in man-to-man defense, where his length bothers opponents, but his slow feet hurt him in this area too.

Nothing has changed regarding Perovic’s attitude. He is still very passive on the court, showing a poor demeanor and body language. His stock continues to fall and after being considered a sure-fire first round pick some years ago, but now it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see him go undrafted. More realistically he’s someone that will be given a shot in the second round based on the potential he showed in years past and the lack of quality Centers coming out of the NCAA these days. However, as things currently look it is pretty hard to imagine Perovic being serviceable at the next level. He still has one more year left before becoming eligible for the draft, but considering how his stock has fallen every year after pulling out of the draft repeatedly, he might be wise to make himself available in June. He has a long term contract with Partizan and no buyout clause, but they could want to unload him since they’d have to pay around $500,000 to keep him around next season, and for that money they can get a much better Center on the European market.

What we’ve learned so far in the Euroleague is that there have hardly been many improvements in Perovic’s game. And when a 20 year old is looking exactly the same way he did a year ago that can’t be a great sign, making you wonder just how much potential he has left.

He looks quite good offensively, showing soft hands and good positioning under the rim. The problem is that a large part of his scoring depends on his partner Dejan Milojevic, one of the best power forwards in Europe who commands a double team on a regular basis. Perovic can hit the mid-range jumper at a solid clip and lately has shown some ability to put the ball on the floor and beat his matchup, but not really that impressively due to his poor foot-speed. In the post he still has same issues as always-- being pushed around and hardly scoring any points he created on his own.

His defense is still below average as he is often either too thin or too slow to keep up with his opponent. His soft attitude and poor athleticism get exposed to the fullest extent on the glass, coming up with just over 3 rebounds a game. He isn’t much of a shotblocker either as his vertical leap is limited. His man to man defense has improved some, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

Once an exciting prospect, Perovic is not really living up to the expectations so far, looking less and less like a legit NBA center everyday. Since he does have more size and offensive skills than your average NBA center he is likely to get drafted somewhere, it just looks like the first round might be out of his reach if he doesn’t dramatically improve in his last few games this season in the Euroleague.

A guy who has also been on the radar for what seems like forever now, Perovic didn't seem to be that different of a player from what I saw of him last year or the year before. Judging by reports and from box scores towards the end of the year, he did appear to be turning the corner a bit with the way he's been playing in the 2nd half of the season. Unfortunately, most of the tapes I've acquired are from the month of February and prior, so that didn't really come out from what I saw.

He's still absolutely huge though, 7-2 to be exact, with good enough hands, long arms and a nice touch around the rim. The hook shot is still his best and most polished weapon to score in the paint, and it is pretty hard to stop because of his size. He has an excellent mid-range jumper, and seems to be a fairly skilled player for a player his size.

Athletically, he is average to below average, even for a player his size. His feet are very slow and it takes him a while to do almost anything it seems. His vertical leap looked to be almost non-existent, barely being able to get off the ground to challenge shots, which makes him a very average shot-blocker despite his height. Defensively, despite the fact that he is humongous, he is a liability almost any way you slice it, due to his poor lateral movement, strength and basketball IQ. He just doesn't seem to put any effort in at all on this side of the floor, and that's a shame because that's basically the only thing he can do in the NBA at his height. Offensively, he often lacks strength to finish at the rim, and plays a bit soft and not always that focused.

All in all, this doesn't seem like the best time for Perovic to have his game evaluated by the NBA, as he'll have a hard time making it over for workouts to improve his stock, and I doubt he wants to be judged based on the way he played this past year. I'm not really sure he will be able to adjust with the speed that the NBA game is played at, and he'll certainly have to bring it stronger every night than he did in the numerous games of his I watched with Partizan. He's still young, only a 1985 prospect, so he has two years to hit the gym, try to become a little bit more explosive, and learn how to use his size to his advantage better on both the offensive and especially the defensive ends.

Perovic helped himself quiet a bit with this performance. He was playing very well on the offensive end, showing good touch around the basket and being more energetic and aggressive when taking to ball to the hoop than in previous games. He hit almost every mid-range jumper he attempted. Perovic really stepped up in final game and was keeping Partizan in the game on his own for some time by giving his team a basket whenever they needed it. While he was very solid on offense, his defense was as usual poor, showing again his lackluster footwork and really struggling in man-to-man defense against most of his opponents. He blocked a couple of shots, but only because of his height and wingspan. According to some sources, Perovic will certainly declare for this year's draft, but it is not clear under which conditions he would stay in. Just like Mile Ilic, he is probably somewhere between the late 1st and early 2nd round currently.

Strengths
Kosta Perovic is a semi-mobile center with great size and a soft touch around the basket.

Perovic possesses average athleticism, but runs the court well and has a decent vertical leap. He has a good wingspan which might allow him to become a shot-blocking threat in the future, although at this point he isn't much of one at all. His wingspan will help him defensively and on the glass, though, as well as giving him more options to finish around the basket.

Perovic has the potential to become a very good offensive center; he has very soft hands and is a good finisher around the basket. Right now many of his points come off of offensive rebounds, where he uses his size and long arms to grab rebounds over small opponents. His go-to-move is the hook shot and it's a pretty effective weapon. He can use it with either hand, and generally has no problem using his left around the basket, which speak volumes about his skill level. He has a decent post-up game, where he takes advantage of his size to release mainly those half hooks. And while his quickness is not good at all, he shows some flashes of using the footspeed he has there, being able, for example, to spin quickly towards the hoop trying to beat his matchup off the baseline to score with a reverse lay-up. Kosta also has a very nice mid-range jumper. His mechanics and shooting stroke are surprisingly good for a center, and most importantly, he is an accurate shooter with range out to 18 feet. Perovic is also a good free throw shooter for a big man. He also has very good court vision and is a very good passer out of the low or high post.

Perovic seems to have a very good knowledge of the game to go along with his above average basketball IQ. He is a very experienced player compared with most 20-year olds, European or not, and has already had a chance to test himself against some of best centers in Europe, at all age levels.

Weaknesses
Perovic`s athletic abilities are barely adequate for the center position in the NBA. He is still as skinny as he was 2 years ago, and still often gets out-muscled in the paint. He suffers very much against stronger players and doesn't seem to like physical contact at all. While he can run the floor well and has shown some very decent footwork in post, he is a rather slow player overall, which is especially notable on defensive end of the floor.

He is good offensive player, but his back to the basket game is still developing and adding some moves to his post repertoire is necessary to be a scoring threat at the next level. Because of his lack of strength, Perovic struggles to establish good position in the post to catch passes. He sometimes has trouble finishing around the basket and takes a world of time to put the ball in the basket. He spends way too much time gathering himself to dunk the ball and often gives the defense a good chance to stop him in the process. He causes a few turnovers every game, mostly because of a lack of concentration and focus. Kosta should take better advantage of his mid-range jumper and just generally should show more aggressiveness on offense overall since he has the tools to be a reliable scorer at this level.

Right now it is clear that he will be defensive liability in the NBA if he goes there next season. There are really few things that he does properly on the defensive end of the floor. His man-to-man defense is poor due to his slow defensive movement and lack of strength and aggressiveness. His rebounding skills are also below average. He is 7-2, but struggles to catch anything that doesn't fall directly in his hands. He is a poor shotblocker for his size and rarely shows any desire to contest shots. His defensive intensity is just as big of a concern and sometimes he does not even appear to be trying to play good defense. Overall, he will need a lot of work to get rid of the soft label that he has been tagged with, which appears to be completely deserved.

His mentality in the way he approaches the game is also somewhat of a question mark. Kosta is almost the same exact player he was two years ago and doesn't appear to be working much to get better. He lacks fire in his game badly, especially on the defensive end.

Competition
Perovic has been playing for the last three seasons for the Serbian powerhouse and legendary European team Partizan Belgrade, who have recently fallen on hard times. This season in the Adriatic League he averaged around 12 ppg, 5rpg and 1 apg, while shooting 50% from field and 72% from foul line. He also played in the Euroleague with Partizan and contributed 9 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 0.9bpg, while shooting just 43% FG and 62% FT. Kosta was surprisingly called up to the Serbian national team for last European Championships in Sweden in 2003, but didn't get many chances and only managed to score 2 points in the whole tournament. It is highly unlikely that he will get a chance to play this summer in Belgrade at this year's European Championship.

Outlook
Considering where his stock is at right now, Perovic will probably be best served not to enter his name in this year's draft, but because he has nothing to lose by doing so he might declare and then withdraw, once he and his agent find out that his chances of landing in the first round are extremely slim. Kosta was projected as a top 10 pick, at worst top 20, two years ago, and now it's questionable whether he will ever be a first rounder. His team Partizan, headed by Vlade Divac, made it nearly impossible for him to even think about leaving for the NBA until now (and maybe still), thanks to a high buyout sum, and Perovic is now the one who is paying the price. Surely Kosta is a talented player, but he will need a lot of work and will probably need at least 2 more seasons in Europe before he'll be able to make the jump to the NBA and expect to contribute there. He has two more years before he becomes automatically eligible so there is still time for him to bring his stock back to where it originally was.

Comments
Two years ago I was very high on him, but since then he hasn't improved his game at all, and it seems like he will never live up the expectations that were once placed on him. Many people like to compare him with Nets starting center and his ex-teammate Nenad Krstic. Perovic is as talented as Krstic is, but he lacks Nenad's hard working approach and his offensive game is far from being polished like Krstic's is. It is really hard to say how he will end up, but unless he completely changes his attitude I don't see him becoming more than a backup center in the NBA.

Facts
He won the Serbian National Championship in both of the last two seasons with Partizan.

If you look at his stats, you might think that Perovic has played quite well this season. The fact is that before the season he was considered a late lottery pick, and now he's at the very best a late first rounder. He's still very soft and his offensive game hasn't developed. Despite possessing great size and decent athleticism for his size, he isn't a defensive force. He is very passive on the court and it seems like his work ethic isn't the greatest. Recently he's playing well, and maybe that's a sign that he's starting to improve. If he declares for this year's draft, he would probably go anywhere from late first to mid 2nd round.