Vladimir Dasic

After looking virtually asleep for much of the first day, Montenegrin Vladimir Dasic clearly came to life in day two, stringing together a pair of strong performances in the morning game and then in the evening’s all-star event. Dasic is extremely athletic for this setting, and he’s been very difficult for opponents to stop in transition and attacking the basket off a quick dribble or two from the high post. His body looks excellent as a 6-9 and very fluid small forward, and he was able to make shots both spotting up from 18-20 feet and pulling up off the dribble from mid-range, even if he wasn’t credited with any 3-pointers on the day.

He also had a number of very impressive possessions defensively, smothering his opponent on the perimeter with his terrific length and lateral quickness. He needs to work on maintaining his focus and not trying to do too much with the ball, as at times he tends to get a bit crazy going behind the back with his dribble and settling for wild shots. His ball-handling skills need some work, but it’s pretty clear that he is one of the more naturally talented players in attendance, even if he doesn’t always play up to his full potential.

Dasic may still pull out of the draft at the deadline we’re told, depending on what he’s hearing from NBA teams. While he’s probably not in the first round at this point, he’s the type of player that could get there next year with a good season in a strong European league. Since his buyout issues have apparently been resolved, he probably isn’t in as much of a rush to get to the NBA as he once was.

With the EuroCup (the second strongest inter-European competition after the Euroleague, formerly the ULEB Cup) group stage now behind us, and Montenegrin side Buducnost ousted after compiling a 1-5 record, this seems like a good time to check in on the progress of their top prospect Vladimir Dasic.

The 6-10 forward has been going through a very inconsistent season thus far, with plenty of highs and lows and a great deal of playing time in both the Adriatic League and EuroCup. Leading his team in minutes and second in scoring through 24 games, Dasic definitely is shouldering far more responsibilities than the average 20-year old in Europe.

The intrigue around Dasic still centers around his excellent physical profile, being a fluid and athletic 6-10 wing player with a great frame. He is seeing plenty of minutes at the small forward position this season, and surely has the skill-set to look comfortable out on the perimeter.

The best part about Dasic’s game surprisingly might be his defense. He seems to have no problem guarding wing players from what we’ve seen this year, getting low in a fundamental stance, moving his feet extremely well and doing a great job containing penetration and contesting shots with his length. He’s doing a solid job on both SFs and PFs this season, playing with good intensity, and sees production in the stat-sheet as well—as he currently leads the Adriatic League in steals per game.

Offensively, it’s been mostly a mixed bag, as Dasic has struggled a bit in his role as go-to guy. His jump-shot seems to have abandoned him, as he’s only made 26/100 3-point attempts through 24 games. His shooting mechanics look solid, but his shot-selection and overall decision making is very poor at times, as he tends to rush at times and force up ill-advised jumpers early in possessions. He needs time and space to get his shot off effectively, and he appears to be relying way too heavily on this part of his game, as nearly 40% of his attempts come from beyond the arc. For a player with his combination of size, skill and athleticism, that’s probably too much considering how erratic his shot has been this season. Even from the free throw line he’s been streaky this season, converting just 63% of his attempts on the year.

Quick, and highly skilled facing the basket, Dasic looks very good creating his own shot with his left hand and getting to the rim. He can pull down a rebound and take the ball coast to coast himself, and generally looks very effective operating in transition. You don’t see many players his size who are capable of putting the ball on the floor like him, but there is still improvement to be made in this part of his game as well. Dasic lacks a bit of strength and toughness to finish his drives around the basket at times, and the fact that he prefers not to drive right makes him a bit predictable at times. He almost never executes a jump-stop or pulls up off the dribble once he puts the ball on the floor, which makes him a somewhat turnover prone against better competition. Capable of operating decently with his back to the basket, he doesn’t utilize this part of his game very much at all, which is a shame considering the mismatch advantage he typically enjoys against smaller players.

Even though Dasic’s season may not be going quite as well as hoped, he’s still a big talent with a considerable amount of upside left to improve. It’s likely that he will declare for the draft this upcoming spring, and he’s more than capable of getting teams excited about the way he performs in private workouts—a setting in which he’ll likely thrive. His style of play might actually be better suited for the NBA than for Europe, as he’s much better in wide-open settings where his ball-skills and athleticism can stand out. The streakiness of his jump-shot is a major concern, though, and if he’s not capable of spacing the floor from the perimeter, he’s probably not nearly as interesting for the highest levels of competition.

The third day of the camp resulted in another very solid outing by Vladimir Dasic, surely one of the players whose stock benefited the most by his performance in this year’s EuroCamp. Dasic went for 17 points (6/11 FG, 2/5 3P) and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes, as his jumpers continued to fall and he showed very nice activity on the court at the small forward position. Vladimir showed good shooting rhythm, with a very nice release, having even connected on some of his off-the-dribble attempts with a pretty natural flair. He also crashed the offensive board on a regular basis seeking for rebounds and second chance opportunities, usually enjoying a physical advantage over his opponents. Still, he’s not a greatly skilled ball-handler for a perimeter player, as he showed trying to get off the dribble by an opponent who was standing in front of him in the open court, exposing some troubles to change directions at full speed.

-Dasic had not one, but two of the best games of the entire day, starting with an excellent 15 point, four rebound outing in just 15 minutes, followed by a 16 point, 8 rebound effort in 25 minutes in the all-star game against the French U-20. He was super aggressive all day long, showing no hesitation putting the ball on the floor in the half-court or after grabbing a rebound on the defensive end, going coast to coast a number of times, and displaying an excellent first step and nice fluidity finishing around the basket.

He’s looking much more like a small forward than he did last year, which is a really promising development considering his excellent frame and above average athleticism at 6-9. His ball-handling skills look better and better, giving him the ability to create his own shot from the perimeter, while displaying great touch shooting the ball from beyond the arc, going 4/6 from that range on the day. He played smart basketball on top of that, getting in the passing lanes and coming up with an incredible 10 steals in the two games, many times to make good passes ahead to open teammates in transition. He actually ranked 6th in the entire ULEB Cup in that category (tied with Ricky Rubio) this year playing just 20 minutes per game, so maybe that stat shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise.

One good day at the Eurocamp doesn’t erase an entire season of disappointing play (and he’s not even in the draft, so it probably doesn’t even matter), but the background information we received about the professionalism of his team Buducnost from impartial people here at the camp leaves some room for optimism. At age 20, he clearly still has a lot of upside to continue to improve, so he’s surely a name to continue to follow. He was once considered by some as a potential first round pick down the road, and with a good season in a new situation, it won’t be too hard for him to get back there.

Vladimir Dasic has delivered a completely forgettable season for Buducnost in the Adriatic League, actually having regressed from the previous campaign. Usually playing as a perimeter-oriented face-up power forward, he has looked extremely inconsistent with his offensive game. Netting only 18.7% of his three-point attempts, he has been more prolific with his perimeter shots rather than the two-point attempts, which has resulted in very ineffective production (a horrible 35.7% from the field). Dasic hasn’t been able to smooth out his mechanics, and he’s settling for pull-up jumpers way too often.

Meanwhile, he hasn’t been able to build a solid slashing game. He’s a very decent ball-handler and pretty quick for a power forward, but he doesn’t look particularly skilled when it comes to going inside and finding a way to score, force a foul or dish the ball, lacking some better use of his body, more refined ability to finish around the rim against opposition and savvy reading defenses. Also, his off-the-ball game is far from outstanding. Indeed his basketball IQ looks average at this point. Underwhelming in the rebounding department (3.7 captures per game), he’s not showing great desire and positioning. Defensively he looks a bit better, showing nice lateral quickness and some intensity, but sometimes suffers as a tweener going against bigger inside guys.

All in all, this is pretty disappointing coming from a guy who looked really promising a few years ago.

Vladimir Dasic is playing terrible basketball at the moment and is not utilized properly in Buducnost’s team. The 19-year old is averaging a mere 3.7 points in 15 minutes of action, which is far worse than last season’s 8.2 points in 22 minutes. The Montenegrin is appearing more and more to be a typical example of a tweener who does not have enough skills and quickness to play on the perimeter, while not being strong enough to hold his own down low. The Coach has decided to stash Dasic around the three-point line, which has turned out to be a pretty bad decision so far.

Dasic used his good athleticism and solid fundamentals to put up decent numbers last season playing in the mid-high post, but he now finds himself further from the basket where he’s just not comfortable. He has the size advantage, but has struggled mightily creating off the dribble and shooting the ball. Dasic is a good athlete with a nice frame and solid quickness for his size, but when put up against players who are 4 to 5 inches shorter than him, his average to below average ball-handling and shooting ability becomes much more noticeable.

Dasic has been terrible from beyond the arc this season (1/17), after not much better already last year (26.2%). His release point is inconsistent and it takes him time to set his feet. When he is forced to shoot on the move or under pressure, his accuracy drops dramatically. Dasic can get to the basket with his long strides, but it is usually a straight drive when he recognizes the opening. He has not shown the ability to change gears or directions, which has led to a large number of offensive fouls. In the post, Dasic establishes good position, but has shown only basic moves so far, and his footwork has a long ways to go.

The combo forward plays solid defense, switching well and using his size to cover multiple positions. He is not particularly good in straight up defense on the perimeter due to his lateral quickness, but has good awareness and is very solid help defender. Dasic is a tough kid with a good frame that should fill out nicely, and is already pretty strong for his age. When getting the chance to play under the basket, he shows good rebounding fundamentals, sealing his man and getting the job done on the glass.

Dasic is still a fairly young player and his recent slump should motivate him to work harder on his game. He has the physical package and basic fundamentals to succeed eventually, but will need to spend a lot of hours in the gym working on his technique if he is to live up to his potential and become a first round pick in a year or two.

It was the tale of two players today. The first one, a small forward who couldn't get the job done attacking his match-ups from the perimeter or attempting pull-up jumpers. The second, a power forward who moves extremely well around the basket, showing a very nice basketball IQ evolving off the ball. He did an excellent job rolling after picks, cutting and filling spaces in the lane. His quickness, body control, athleticism and ability to finish with both hands was a very difficult equation to battle against.

Inconsistent shooting the ball from the perimeter, he succeeded basically only in catch-and-shoot mode. Very active on defense, his strength, length and quickness are adaptable to the three frontcourt positions at this level. Actually, he spent many minutes guarding centers and did a terrific job anticipating and being physical on them.

Not a very impressive showing for the Montenegrin forward. His superb physical profile is there as always, as well as his nice athleticism, but he didn't provide consistency on the offensive end, especially considering that he's a well-known scorer in youth categories. After all, he's a player stuck between the two forward positions that still hasn't shown go-to moves here. Some good rebounds, igniting afterwards the fastbreak off the dribble, some ineffective spot-up perimeter shots (although showing good form), some penetrations (where he often tends to overdribble), a bunch of nice passes, he went pretty unnoticed though for what you expect from a top international prospect.

Dasic also had a good game, even if he missed important FTs in the closing minutes – finishing only 3 of 7 from the charity stripe for the game. Vladimir contributed with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. He was mainly playing at the Small Forward position, which was a bit of a surprise considering the reports we had from Junior Eurobasket where he was a full-time PF.

Vladimir wasn’t exposed on the defensive end, playing some solid perimeter defense considering his height - 6-9, possibly 6-10. He was able to stay in front of his opponent most of the time, even if his lateral quickness doesn’t seem outstanding. On offense, Dasic was playing with his face to the basket, falling in love with his jumper a bit, but hitting 2 of 4 3-point attempts, while missing all three shots he took from mid-range area. Vladimir scored some garbage points under the basket, but didn’t show any post moves. He is a tough kid, willing to fight for the loose balls, showing a good attitude and demeanor on the court. His ball-handling ability is decent enough to take advantage of his speed against slower defenders. He surprised with some nice passing off the dribble.

It is yet to be seen which position Dasic will play in the future. Right now he is a bit of a tweener. His perimeter skill-set needs some serious polish, while he is a bit to skinny to fight with the big boys in the paint currently. Considering his height and athleticism - which is good, but not amazing, he will probably end up playing the PF spot and should pan out accordingly considering the intelligence and motivation he shows on the court. Dasic is a probable future first round pick.

An athletic, versatile and skilled power forward, in this championship Dasic was the go-to scorer of the Serbian team, realizing some of the great potential he had shown the previous summer in Belgrade. From a complementary guy that looked capable of doing a lot of things but hardly found consistency displaying them, he successfully assumed his leading role as a talented, veteran and experienced junior.

Last year we wondered about the eventual position on the court of this forward, but after a complete season in Buducnost and this tournament playing power forward, and actually looking like one, he seems headed there.

Anyway, Dasic still displays the same impressive physical and athletic set. He’s long, strong, fluid, quick, coordinated and a good leaper. His body is extremely well built, with excellent shoulders, a strong and balanced upper and lower body, but keeping a certainly slender figure and his flexibility. All in all, an excellent basketball weapon that, standing somewhere between 6-9 and 6-10, has nice but not great size.

Skill-wise, Dasic is a versatile threat in the ways he puts the ball in the net. He’s more of a face-up forward, a guy who likes to attack the basket from the perimeter, although he can also evolve effectively near the basket. He enjoys remarkable ball-handling skills for a guy his size, which allows him to create advantages from the perimeter, as he’s capable of regularly beating his power forward matchups. Showing nice footwork, he can do fairly complicated stuff for a big such as change directions, or eventually even with a reverse move off penetrations. He can attack his rival, as well as finish around the basket, using either hand, while he is quite physical with the way he slashes, using his body pretty well to create space.

A solid shooter, he enjoys three-point range and has the ability to release mid-range jumpers off the dribble or coming off a screen, always delivering very good mechanics. He’s quite a fluid guy playing the game. Not really a virtuous of the low post, he has quickness, some length and especially strength to be effective. With some turnaround jumpers or semi-hook shots, he regularly cashed in on that superior strength. His physical set is as good for defense as it is for offense, if not better. He shows excellent lateral quickness, never got outmuscled in this tournament and he can be a pretty intense guy.

Dasic is a very interesting prospect, perhaps not top-class NBA-wise, especially if he sticks to the power forward spot (which seems likely but not 100% certain), but a guy with the tools to play in any kind of league he wants, providing he continues to improve.

So the real intrigue starts with Vladimir Dasic, an athletic 6-9 (perhaps near 6-10) combo forward who seems headed to the power forward spot at this point, where he has been playing in this tournament. Last year we mentioned his amazing physical built; this year, he's using it at full strength, physically and athletically dominating his rivals. He's effective facing the basket, shooting the ball with good range and taking advantage of his quickness, handles and excellent body control: but also he regularly produces in the low post, with simple stuff, especially his turnaround jumpers, and physical dominance near the basket. Active on defense, smart playing the game, he shows some nice character on the court.

Out of the 1988 crop, Dasic showing was one of the most anticipated in advance. And even though his performance might have been a bit disappointing considering the expectations, he certainly left a very good impression in terms of potential.

The first thing you notice about him is that he already enjoys an amazing physical profile for such a young play. Not only is he 6-9 and very athletic, but he shows an impressive frame in an already quite strong body. His broad shoulders promise a physical force in the future. As it looks right now, he seems to be able to physically fill the small forward spot, but he should be careful about the amount of bulk he adds to his body in the following years, particularly watching to maintain his athleticism and elasticity if he wants to play on the perimeter.

Skill wise, he showed enough signs in Belgrade to realistically think about a future on the wing, even if right now he’s more of a power forward. Near the rim, having the strength to make the difference at these group ages, is where he felt more comfortable in this tournament. He asks for the ball down low, receives, turns quickly to jump and deliver a semi-hook shot. It’s mostly about simple movements, no footwork exhibitions, but really nice footspeed, and he can finish wit both hands. He’s rarely intimidated near the rim even if he has strong opposition, and he’s patient enough to know when to release the ball to avoid the block. He also establishes position in the paint rather well to rebound the ball.

Vladimir is also a pretty good slasher. Enjoying a good first step, he’s really quick on penetrations. He can put the ball on the floor with both hands, although he was more prolific attacking with his left. When it comes to shooting, he seemed to have nice range, but he was extremely inconsistent. There’s a lot of work left to do there, because his mechanics still look rather unpolished. In the passing department, he didn’t show anything special. He seems to know the game, but he’s not too much of a distributor right now. On defense he looks very promising, enjoying quick lateral movement and having the tools to be very reliable.

So this was Dasic, a player whose physical set might have made many people forget his youth, but you can bet he’s still immature regarding his game. It will be very interesting to see how he evolves, particularly position wise. Not many players in Belgrade shared his potential.