TBILISI (Georgia) - Nikola Kusturica's FIBA debut has been as good as advertised.
The 16-year-old wing entered this year's FIBA U16 EuroBasket as one of the top players in his age group due to his standout performances with Barcelona at invitational tournaments across Europe, and his play in Tbilisi has lived up to the lofty pre-tournament expectations.
Kusturica has emerged as a two-way force for Serbia; averaging 20.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while leading his team in scoring, steals, and blocks, being the key player for one of the top contenders remaining in the tournament.
In this Player Spotlight, we'll look at Kusturica's impressive showing at the U16s, his productivity in Tbilisi, and why, despite being early in his career, it's easy to envision him as an NBA-level prospect.
Breakdown
The first thing that stands out about Kusturica is his elite physical tools for the position. He stands at 2.02m (6ft 7.5in) with tremendously long arms, yet moves and plays like a wing.
This size advantage has made him a constant mismatch in Tbilisi. He can't be covered by smaller guards because he can simply overpower or shoot over them, so teams have tried defending him with bigger wings or forwards, which has proven to be tricky due to his combination of fluidity and speed with the ball in his hands.
This allows Kusturica to create drives almost at will. His first step is too quick for opposing wings and forwards to stay in front of, and he has been absolutely masterful at getting defenders off balance with dribble moves and pump fakes.
Once he finds those openings, he's quick to attack them, generating a great level of momentum on his way to the rim. His long strides allow him to get to the basket in just a few steps, which allows him to pick up the ball early in his drives. This helps mitigate one of his concerns which is his lack of elite shiftiness in short areas, as he can get tangled up and lose the ball if he's forced to dribble in traffic.
With his size, length, and the momentum he attacks the rim with, he's difficult to stop as a finisher around the basket. His slight frame makes him vulnerable to get thrown off balance and make it difficult for him to convert tougher off-balance shots around the basket, but he compensates with his combination of extension, hang time and versatility as a finisher, being able to change positions and look for the open space to finish mid-air.
Kusturica has also shown impressive moments as a shooter during the tournament. The 16-year-old has been inconsistent in this area, as evidenced by him shooting 21.4 percent from three, but that low percentage can be partially attributed to the difficulty of the shots he takes. He rarely gets opportunities as a spot-up shooter, having to create his own shot off-the-dribble.
In those situations, Kusturica has shown impressive flashes of shotmaking in tough situations, whether it's turnaround jumpers out of post-ups, or simply in pull-up jumpers in isolation, where he is able to create space with his ball-handling and footwork, and shoot over smaller defenders.
This shooting versatility, combined with a strong free-throw percentage for his age (82.9 percent so far), are positive indicators for his long-term development as a shooter.
The other aspect in which Kusturica has made a tremendous impact for Serbia is his defense. Despite being the team's leading scorer, he doesn't take plays off on the defensive side of the floor and has been able to contribute both as an on-ball and off-ball defender.
When he's guarding opposing ball-handlers, Kusturica does a good job of staying low, in a defensive stance and moving his feet to contain penetration, cover drives, and contest shots both in the paint and at the three-point line. He shows really good mobility and footwork to stay in front of opponents, while his length helps him bother and alter shots all over the floor.
Kusturica, however, has been even better as a help defender. He can rotate from the corner to the paint to block shots from the weakside, acting as the last line of defense, and when defending the perimeter, he also creates events by getting in passing lanes and intercepting passes.
Outlook
Kusturica's two-way production has propelled Serbia into the Semi-Finals in Tbilisi, where they will look to claim their first U16 title since 2007, and proved that his pre-tournament hype as one of the top players in the 2009 generation was 100 percent real.
It's still early, but with the unique combination of size, multi-level scoring ability and defensive productivity he has shown at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket, it's hard not to envision a very productive career for the Serbian national team and, eventually, the NBA on Kusurica's path.
FIBA