One of three great young Croatian prospects (together with Dario Saric & Lovro Mazalin). Only 19 years old but has been playing in Euroleague & Spanish ACB (the next two best basketball leagues in the world after NBA). Born: 1995 (19 yo) Height: 6'8 Strengths: - Great shooter - Solid passer - Solid rebounder for a SG - Good leaper, explosive, fast, good on fastbreaks Weaknesses: - Poor off-ball defender - Needs to improve his ballhandling - Still has to become stronger - Needs to improve lateral quickness <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/UnIA8NX_T28?version=3&hl=lt_LT"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/UnIA8NX_T28?version=3&hl=lt_LT" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Honestly, unless those clips are altered somehow, he strikes me as a slower, less athletic Mike Dunleavy (Jr.), in terms of max ceiling. That could make for an NBA career though.
Really? Hm... The kid is only 19 and is doing stuff like this against the top competition in the world (outside NBA): <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/s97sRoz-xag?version=3&hl=lt_LT"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/s97sRoz-xag?version=3&hl=lt_LT" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
I mean, he would absolutely destroy the competition in D1 NCAA. I guess the fact that he's European is playing against him.
I'm not trying to rag on him. He just reminds me a *lot* of Dunleavy at a similar age. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EsmwYWtUoK0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Looks slow, a lot of hesitation, nonathletic, slow release. I can see him coming off the bench in a D-League team.
Wow. Those are actually really impressive (albeit it was against an inferior talent than what Hezonja is facing). I think I have to revise my opinion a little bit. But damn, this kind of illustrates why white guys suck at basketball. That athleticism in white dudes fades mighty fast.
His athleticism did not fade. It was just that those pump fakes worked less than 10% of the time in the NBA. And those clear paths to the basket did not exist as often in the NBA either. So many NCAA kids have played like Michael Jordan in the NCAA through the years but how many of them have become another MJ in the NBA? None.
Exactly. PLUS, contested shooting. Which tie's into your pump-fake comment. Dunleavy Jr. ended up not being as good a shooter as he needed to be to have a "great" career. Look at his mid-range shooting percentages throughout his career. His best years were when he was 27-31, as his mid-range shooting improved. Could have been a bit system based, too, as he finally made it out of Golden State, but I believe a lot of it was also about him learning how to adjust his game, how his game fit better in the NBA, and refining his mid-range and contested jumpers. With his athleticism, which was great in college, being average in the NBA, and without a Harden-esque balhandling ability, he needed that time to adjust. At 27, he put up nearly 20 points, 5 boards and 3.5 assists per game, and a steal... in 36 minutes which is a lot... but goes to show you at his best he was a pretty solid player. And he shot 42% from three that year. Chandler Parsons hasn't had a season that good yet, and he just got paid $15 million a year. So for Hezonja, for one, it's not a horrible comparison. If he has a Mike Dunleavy Jr. career... well that's be on the better side of average for Euro's who've had successful NBA careers. For two, he's still young. For three, highlights are hard. The real questions for him will be, imo, (1) how competent of a ball-handler can he be. If he can be an above average ball-handler, we can use smarts to get where he wants; (2) how capable of a jump shooter will he be in mid-range and when contested. His ball-handling might be better than I think, but I have a hard time envisioning him getting to the rim ala a Harden, Parker, etc. He will have to take what he can get at times. Can he hit those shots at an average clip?; (3) defense... though that's an issue for almost every young player. In my view, I don't see him having a better career than Mike Dunleavy Jr... but could be wrong.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>In-game windmill dunk for projected draftee Mario Hezonja. Broadcaster goes nuts --> <a href="http://t.co/EhgMVGenOu">http://t.co/EhgMVGenOu</a></p>— David Pick (@IAmDPick) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmDPick/status/544115176631304193">December 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
8/8 from three: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uowz0HBafrk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> And some dunks: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZUcrZ4y_Ccg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Croatia's 6-8 Mario Hezonja about to enter NBA Draft. Might be only guy this year that could win BOTH dunk & three-point contests some day.</p>— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) <a href="https://twitter.com/franfraschilla/status/591340116855001089">April 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>