HERAKLION (Greece) - Andrej Bjelic has been considered as one of the top European players of the 2008 generation among scouting circles for the past two years.
After a number of standout performances with Borac Cacak in his home country, Bjelic was named to the Serbian national team for last year's FIBA U16 EuroBasket. Despite playing one year up in age, he led his team in scoring - helping them secure a seventh-place finish.
Over the past 12 months, Bjelic has taken a significant leap forward. He made the move to the junior ranks of powerhouse Real Madrid, where he has consistently stood out in various invitational tournaments. Currently, Bjelic is making a tremendous impact at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket in Heraklion, leading Serbia to the Semi-Finals while also being the top scorer in the competition.
As Bjelic heads into the final weekend of competition looking to secure Serbia's first U16 title since 2007, we look at the offensive prowess he has displayed in Heraklion in this Player Spotlight.
Offense - A Scoring Virtuoso
Bjelic's scoring profile is built from the outside in, with his exceptional shooting ability being the cornerstone of his entire offensive repertoire. The 1.94m (6ft 4in) guard has shot 43.2 percent from three-point range on a high volume of 8.8 attempts per game.
Bjelic is nearly automatic in the catch-and-shoot game, thanks to his ability to quickly set his feet and get into his motion, as well as his consistent mechanics on spot-up jumpers. The Serbian guard however, plays primarily with the ball in his hands and he has been downright excellent when it comes to shooting off the dribble.
The Real Madrid product is a confident shotmaker who combines his footwork and touch off-movement to create space for his jumpers. Bjelic utilizes screens effectively, punishing defenders who go under in pick-and-rolls, while also being able to simply cook defenders off-the-dribble in iso situations.
This ability to create shots for himself off-the-dribble is a crucial aspect of his skill set. Bjelic is a ball-handling virtuoso who is consistently unfazed by defensive pressure. He strings dribble moves together with tremendous ease, using an array of crossovers, changes of directions and off-beat dribbles to get by opposing defenders, despite his lack of elite explosiveness.
The lack of vertical burst, does limit Bjelic to a degree, particularly when trying to finish around the basket, as evidenced by his 31.4 percent in shots from inside the arc during the tournament. While the Serbian guard has struggled to finish reliably against contact, he with his touch in tough shots in the paint. Bjelic has the ability to convert floaters, hook shots and other complex finishes, which could help him overcome some of his finishing limitations as he continues to develop.
Although the scoring has been the highlight for Bjelic in Heraklion, and he's definitely bold in his shot selection, the Real Madrid guard has shown some passing chops, mainly as a passer on the move. Bjelic capitalizes on the double teams that he attracts as a scorer, while also showing interesting moments of advanced passing off screens, where he shows the ability to find the screener in pick-and-rolls and to identify open shooters in pick-and-pop situations.
Defense
Due to the significant offensive load that he carries for Serbia, Bjelic plays mostly in an off-ball role defensively, covering opposing shooting guards on the perimeter, which makes his numbers in steals and blocks rank on the lower end of the spectrum.
While Bjelic is not often tasked with on-ball defense, he has provided a value for Serbia with his off-ball defense, using his length to contest shots and, especially, to get in passing lanes for steals and deflections.
Outlook
Even after an inefficient performance against Israel, where he went 2-for-15 from the field, Bjelic has been impressive at Heraklion with his ability to take over games on the offensive end of the floor.
In recent years, a number of Serbian players have been drafted into the NBA and while it's early to make definitive projections, it's easy to envision Bjelic following in the footsteps of recent draftees such as Nikola Jovic, Tristan Vukcevic, Nikola Topic, Filip Petrusev and Nikola Djurisic, given the level of polish as a shooter and ball-handler that he has showing at just 16 years of age.
Should Serbia win their next two games, they will secure their second-ever U16 EuroBasket title, but even if the team fails to reach the top in Heraklion, the team has already found something tremendously important: in Bjelic, we are seeing the future of the Serbian national team at the shooting guard position.
FIBA