By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
It wasn’t necessary for Bogdan Bogdanovic to put on the floor one pretty all-around performance against the San Antonio Spurs in order to earn the praise of Gregg Popovich.
Bogdanovic scored 16 points, dished out 5 assists and grabbed 5 rebounds in the Sacramento Kings‘ 107-101 loss but the five-time NBA champion had already commented the Serbian guard for his basketball skills and fearless attitude, prior to the game.
“He’s a pretty good athlete, but he’s a fantastic basketball player,” Popovich said. “He’s really got a high basketball I.Q. He really understands innately how to play the game. He’s built for it mentally, whether it’s shooting the ball or understanding spatial arrangements on the court. Who is playing with, what shots are good and what shots aren’t.”
Of course, Popovich is well aware that while a rookie in the NBA, Bogdanovic is battle-hardened with experience from crucial games, in which he carried a significant role.
At 25 years of age, Bogdan has already played in Olympic Games (2016) plus World Cup (2014) Finals with Serbia and he also led a heavily shorthanded national team to the EuroBasket 2017 title game. On a club level, he had participated in three EuroLeague Final Four tournaments (2015, 2016, 2017) and two Finals (2016, 2017) with Fenerbahce, winning the trophy in 2017.
“He’s not intimidated by the NBA, he’s played in a lot of big games. You don’t have to play in the NBA to play in big games, they do that all around the world,” Popovich added.