Game Scouting Report and Video Breakdown | Duje Brala: vs. Mornar U19— 11/30/2020

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32 minutes

24 points

10/15 FG

1/2 3PTS

3/5 FT

Nine rebounds

Four assists

One steal

Two turnovers

Two blocks

Paint Points: 12

Second Chance: Eight points

Fast Break: Two points

INDEX 30

Physical

Duje Brala had started physically developing in the 2018–2019 season and looked good at the 2019 U16 European Championship. DB showed how much he has developed in this regard since the first matches of the 2019–2020 season. In this match, his upper body looked good for a 16-year-old player. His arms are not very long but strong. Both biceps and triceps muscles are good. His shoulders are of average width but very good in an upright position. Brala’s shoulder looks better than many 19–20-year-old Serbs, Bulgarian, Hungarian prospect. He was thin in 2018–19, but this season looked completely fit. His lower body is strong but not fast. He has hip mobility, a good technique but speed is lacking.

Offense

My favorite thing about Duje Brala’s offense in this match was that he used his position well. I mean, in the first, second and fourth quarters, Brala went to the left corner and played off-ball motions. When the ball came to the opponent half, he did four different things. Using baseline and moving to the other corner, it disrupted the opponent’s defense geometry (once in the first quarter, six times in the second half). After take the ball, he drove to the right and went to the basket with perfect fluidity (first quarter, 07:37; third quarter 07:25). He went from corner to top using two screens and switched directions well, using the mid-range (twice in the first quarter, three times in the fourth quarter). He gave passes to his teammates while driving in his own way (nine times during the match). While doing these, his body coordination and footwork were good. He did not finish with a soft touch around the basket but made solid touches. Brala showed an excellent stepping repertoire that allowed him to gain momentum, I mean, stop-go-stop-go and burst were good. His shot was not good or bad. He shot well in the mid-range, but I saw the problems with his mechanism in the FT and his two threes. Brala bends his hip a lot before shooting. Here, he wants to energize the upper body from the lower body, but when the ball comes out of his hand, his acceleration deteriorates because he cannot coordinate his upper body well. He has to improve on this. Did not finish in traffic in four positions. Also, did not show his vertical pop. There is one last thing I want to mention. For most of the third quarter, Duje Brala played like PG. He organized the offense and showed his physical advantage in ISO games. I think it is a good signal for his future. Because Brala is not a good handler or passer, but if he learns to use his physical tools as PG, career projection can be much better.

Defense

This was generally bad. There is only one good thing. Off-ball defense. Duje Brala is a player who runs around the screen in off-ball motions. A player who can follow his opponent with good timing. But he was very bad at on ball action in 11 positions in the match. He made unnecessary help defense many times. In the face of Mornar’s pass-first game, he did bad work on switches and followed the wrong man. His motor and effort seemed good but fundamentals are lacking on defense. He couldn’t do anything against burst and change direction. He made rotate mistakes that caused his team’s defense shell to rupture. As I said, DB was bad on ball / PnR / ISO / closeout / switch defenses but good off-ball. He showed something in the third quarter that he could use his vertical pop well in defense, but it was not consistent. He really needs to improve on defense.