By Panos Katsiroumbas/ info@eurohoops.net
Galatasaray entered the summer transfer market dynamically, essentially signing two big men in one day. And if Austin Daye is not very well known, despite his excellent first European year with Scavolini Pesaro, we can’t say the same about the great Serbian center, Nenad Krstic.
A choice that contains the elements of experience and quality, which the Serbian undoubtedly has, but also one that is quite risky since Krstic didn’t play at all in the last season. The main reason was his injury to the Achilles tendon, which, in combination with Ivkovic’s departure from Efes’s bench, essentially kept him on the sidelines.
Biography
Even though we’ve been watching this particular player for many years, on NBA courts as well as in Europe, he’s going to be 33 years of age this July. He started out in Partizan and when he was 20 he was drafted by the New Jersey Nets. He didn’t go to the other side of the Atlantic right away, but stayed another two years in Partizan to mature as a player. He had a great rookie season in the NBA, where he was included in the All-Rookie NBA second team of that year. What followed in the next two years was even better.
An injury effectively ruined his best season in the NBA with the Nets in the 2006-2007 period, in which, until he got injured, he had almost 17 points and 7 rebounds on average. The injury essentially affected him at such a degree that, in the following year he offered very little, which resulted in him being released by the Nets. Next stop in the NBA was the team of Oklahoma, where Krstic spent two and a half years, providing a good solution in the Thunder’s frontline. Midway through the third year the Thunder traded him and sent him to Boston, where he played his last games before heading back to Europe.
CSKA Moscow offered him a very big contract to acquire him. He stayed there for three years, playing great basketball with very good stats. Despite his excellent presence he wasn’t able to lead his team to the top of Europe, something that stigmatized that particular roster considerably. Nevertheless, he won three championships in the VTB and was among the best five players in the Euroleague in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. His next home was Efes, where, after a relatively good year with some injury problems, he couldn’t lead his team to a title, while last year, as we mentioned before, he didn’t play at all.
What he can offer
Krstic is without a doubt a high quality player with a good game inside the key. He has a multitude of good moves in the post, while he can be a rather effective threat with his mid-range shooting as well. He’s a good finisher in his team’s pick-and-roll and his class in the post in general cannot be disputed.
Beyond that, though, some question marks begin to arise, with his condition being the first. Having stayed out for an entire season, nobody knows how good his condition is going to be and to what extent he will be able to offer Galatasaray what he offered his previous teams. He has lost his speed and explosiveness to a certain degree, and these are elements that are very important in the way the game is played now and despite his known class we don’t know if that alone is enough.
It will definitely suit him if his team plays in a set rhythm and utilizes him in a way that will not wear him out with continuous screens on the ball or hedge outs in defense away from the key that are sure to strain him. The more well built his team’s attacks are and the better the circumstances for supplying him, the more effective he can be. If he gets the ball deep inside the key and his teammates have some good spacing, he can do a great job in the one-on-one, while he also has the ability to pass well in potential double covers. Furthermore, his good shooting ability can provide many solutions in a different way of playing.
Protection in defense
The aspect of defense is the weakest point in his game. In his last year in Efes he had big problems in the defensive pick-and-roll. Aside from this, he was even exposed several times in clear personal defending, while in no way can he play switching defenses since his feet are slower now.
What his team must do is protect him in defense and not leave him exposed in a similar way in which Baskonia used Ioannis Bourousis. Which means to man the team with defenders who are good at pressing on the ball and are able to break up the screens, but also with very athletic and fast players along the sides in order to cover the weak side with speed and explosiveness and get to the close outs fast. In this way, Krstic won’t be forced to switch often, he won’t have to run out and hunt down the rival guards at 8 or 9 meters and generally he won’t be exposed or worn out mentally and physically so that he’ll be able to offer more on the offensive half of the court.