Marko Simonovic | Scouting report
Who am I? I’m Kuzey, 19. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I have been working in Eurosport Turkey for the last 1 year. I have written on various sites and magazines before. I’ve been working as a freelance scout for three years. I’ve worked as a consultant for a few clubs. I have interviewed dozens of prospects such as Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Henri Drell, Aleksej Pokusevski, and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Dimitris Itoudis, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams. I live in Turkey, I go to all the Euroleague and Youth League games. Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@ kuzeykg) and feel free to DM!
Best scenario: He can be 20 MPG C in the team which wants to create spacing, has traditional C and stretch PF.
Realistic: Top of rotation.
No: 11th role.
Like? Donatas Motiejunas/Nikola Mirotic (of course he has to get stronger but his career lines like Mote and Mirotic)
Quick notes
Good things
Pick&roll.
Off ball motion plays.
Rebounding.
Court vision.
Footwork.
Stretch potential.
Off ball defense.
Work ethic.
Good-Bad
Shooting.
Bad things
Post up.
Decision making.
Athleticism.
Rim protection.
Language of stats
Height: 6'11
Weight: 220
Age: 20
Position: C
Ideal role: PnR/P
2019–2020
P&R roll man: 1.17 PPP
Spot up: 1.29 PPP
Cut: 1.2 PPP
C&S: 0.9 PPP
P&P: 0.7 PPP
Post up: 0.6 PPP
Transition: 1.13 PPP
MPG: 29
PTS: 16.2
FG2%: 55.7 (102–183)
FG3%: 31.5 (17–54)
FT%: 81.1 (86–106)
DRB: 4.4
ORB: 3.2
AST: 1.2
STL: 1.1
TO: 2.4
Scored double-digits all games this season.
Personality
Actually, I did not interview him. But according to reports in Serbia, Simonovic is quiet, willing to learn and disciplined in the team. When you observe him in matches, you can see how carefully he followed the game when he came to the bench. His engine is always active during off-ball motions. Friendly.
Frame Overview
Good feet, good hip turns for a big.
Quick laterally for his physical measurements with smooth and pretty quick hips. Covers ground well. Good frame. Gets off the court pretty quickly but limited. Poor vertical athlete. Doesn’t have great burst and plays around the rim but thanks to his handle, IQ and mobility he can do it sometimes. Shoulders are wide. Chest muscles distribution and core strength are evident. His legs are a bit frail.
Has a lot of room to get stronger in both upper and lower body
Finishing
Very very soft touch around the rim. Can finish both hands. Does a pretty nice job getting the ball up quickly. Good leaper after the roll. Can finish fast. Can play and finish through contact. His biggest plus around the rim are soft-touch, leaper, smart moves, footwork and using the rim to protect the attempt from opposing centers.
So yes, after the roll, he goes to the basket with soft touch with very fast and smart moves.
But of course, he still has three big question marks in the paint:
1. Strenght
He has a good base, but he cannot pass NBA level centers.
2. Decision-making
Sometimes he overwhelms and forces the position.
3. Handle
After the roll, if he could not find the gap, the ball quickly loses.
P&R
Great p&r player. (28/44 in the p&r as roll man) Has awesome body control tightroping cluttered areas, baseline, etc. He can be a roll man all over the court. His screen timing is perfect. He can reverse after screen and move towards the weak side of the opponent defense. So he adds fluency to the offense. He does a good job making himself active for the pass with hands ready to catch the ball thanks to his footwork and IQ. Lack of consistent explosiveness
Simonovic is not a very good roll man passer. Not awful, average. He reads the action in defense and finds the open man, thanks to his court vision but makes simple mistakes in some simple positions. End of the day, I buy his P&R package.
P&P-Shooting
Surprise. His shooting improved a lot this season. His volume has gone up (really up). He did not find a hit with a very high percentage, but he was at a good enough level to create spacing for his team.
Improving shooter with smooth form. He has a consistent timing, arc and footwork with no major problems.
Has a good shot IQ. He knows his role as a roll man but also knows his pop role. This is the place that creates the real question mark. Simonovic is a promising shooter. Even though his percentage is not very high, what his promises are good. In addition to creating “madness” as a roll man, he can create spacing as a pop man.
But his shooting choices are sometimes so bad that you don’t want to take his shot. If he also matures about shooting, which is highly likely, this issue can be solved and Simonovic can take a good roll/pop role.
Post up
Bad. With a lack of physical strength, minor problems in the decision-making mechanism, Simonovic is a bad post-up player. Yes his footwork, paint touch, softness, first step to second step change direction ability are good but he is not center who can play post up.
He is very good at middle drop steps, baseline spin and rim basket but he is not especially capable anywhere besides going over the left shoulder.
I guess that’s what I’ll never buy in his post up game.
Handle-Passing
Decent handle for a 5 overall, but not someone I would want to create in the halfcourt. Can dribble open court or after a rebound but he is not someone you want creating space with his handle. Can grab and go and actually create a bit for himself off the bounce. If he gets a good momentum after the roll (usually yes) his handle is perfect. But he is bad in double team and forced positions.
Improving passer. Solid passing ability but telegraphs passes at times and can limit the turnovers. Not a good decision-maker, as I said. Flashed a bit of passing skills after transition, PnR and STS. He has also shown some really rash cognizance plays where he knew fully where to pass the ball instantly on the catch if help was coming in one action. But inconsistent.
Rim Protection
Nice, promising rim protector. He is good at blocks with the advantage of following the position well and stepping. Good game reading and footwork. Quick and smart. But frame…
Can’t protect rim in post up defense. And his weaker frame really hurt him. Also vertical pop. He should be strengthened urgently and should show an improvement in vertical pop. Because he’s really smart about rim protection. Only his capacity is low.
PnR Defense
Inconsistent. He is good at closing the passing lines and following the roll man. Good footwork here. But sometimes he creates weakness by defending the handler where he has to follow the roll man.
Off Ball Defense
Good. His motor is always active. Good to follow his man. Active. He covers the area around the perimeter with his wingspan and game reading. His out-in balance is also good. A good defender in actions off ball.
ISO Defense
Hmm. If he is defending ISO against 4 and 5 numbers, he makes good moves and steal thanks to his quick hand, eye-foot coordination and game knowledge. Ability to defend in space. But he is really bad when switch against other positions. He can’t balance like a boxer who fight 12 rounds against Joe Frazier. He opens his feet in parallel but cannot close the base. He has to work here.