Notes on Ilija Milijašević
Name: Ilija Milijašević
Born: February 6, 2004
Nationality: Serbia
Team: KK Dynamic
Height: 6’2’’
Wingspan: N/A
Weight: 180-pound
Shooting hand: Right
- Primary position: Point guard
- Secondary position: Shooting guard
- Archetype models: Offensive scheme changer
- NBA projection: One position defender + Skilled Shooter + Secondary Ballhandler
Starting to play basketball in 2008. Older-brother, Stefan, played basketball. Sources defined him as a coachable kid. Completely cold-blooded star of his team. Doesn’t show his emotions too much but feels the storm. Ideal leader. Talks with his teammates all the time on both sides of the court. Good gestures, body language. Knows his lines, waits his time while works. Had minor leg injury.
Outcomes
Primary: Exceptional shooter who has an NBA range, is able to hit the trigger quickly, is a shot creator, and cold-blooded killer shooter. Aggressive slashing scoring due to changing direction, quickness, crossover dribble, hesitation, and advanced moves with the ball in his hands. One defender who is undersized but strong to keep his stance in front of his man. Improves shot selection and boy.
Mid: Exceptional shooter, shifty creator, and one defender. Improves shot selection and body.
Low: Versatile shooter who can rarely attack to the basket. One defender. Physical development could be the key.
Question marks
Physical improvement, shot selection, defense, and athleticism.
Stats from 2020–2021 season; JLS & KLS
KLS = His peers
- Seven games
- 187 minutes
- 182 points: 53/60 FT, 33/60 2PTS, 21/68 3 PTS
- 19 assists
- 29 rebounds
- 22 steals
- 18 turnovers
JLS = Olders & Peers
- Six games
- 119 minutes
- 63 points: 14/15 FT, 5/15 2PTS, 13/36 3PTS
- 10 assists
- 15 rebounds
- 14 steals
- 10 turnovers
Physical Tools & Athleticism
Ilija Milijašević is an undersized guard. He doesn’t have the requisite length for a guard. However, he fills up his whole body impressively. He has good popping on biceps and triceps. Doesn’t have width on his shoulders but the degree of neck-shoulder very well, which allows him to get low while dribbles to the basket and get low his stance while defending the ballhandler. He possesses good core strength, absorbs contact. Doesn’t have impressive mobility on hips, but can rotate and bend while shooting. Has good sensitivity on hands and feet. Feels the ground. He moves laterally and linearly very well. He is very fluid while attacking the basket with the ball in his hands but isn’t a traffic finisher. Limited vertical pop hurting him but it isn’t a huge problem as he isn’t a primary slasher. It is easy to dislodge him for the offensive player if he has quickness and strength. Overall, I don’t think Milijašević’s undersized frame hurts his offense critically. Of course, he absolutely should be better to make an impact at higher-levels but his basketball wises make up for it. Defensively, well, his size is a problem.
Notes
I think Ilija Milijašević is the best shooter of the 2004 international generation right now. Although he has issues to fix as a pull-up shooter, Milijašević can convert all kind of 3-point shot types. He has good balance, high arc, high, very high release on his shot, and takes his power from the ground. Quick one-motion shooting form but sometimes can lose a little bit much time while turns his body to the basket. The Serbian prospect isn’t looking comfortable while going for pull-up but is an outstanding shooter to make 3-points off movement, against his man, against the intense defense, off-screen, and also is a good shooter as a stationary man. He is very comfortable to convert shots after pump fake. My only concern about his shot selection is sometimes he tries unnecessary shots, which is very natural. Because he is a star, and great at shooting. However, he shouldn’t habit this.
His shot creation is almost perfect. IM can create separation by using the screen or by attacks the defender’s hips. This where his advanced dribble moves come to the table. He has pretty nice hesitation dribble, can use both hands to bait the defender, is able to show various crossover moves, and attacks the legs or hips usually. If the defender made the mistake on stance movement, IM steps back and makes shots quickly. Speaking of his dribbling, Milijašević’s physical tools hurting his slashing skill-set. However, he makes up for it with his aggressiveness, good first step, fluidity, advanced dribble tricks, ability to create his spacing, and shifty ballhandling.
He does a great job setting up drives, changing his direction, and change of speed to gets the defender off balance. He doesn’t have an advanced handle repertoire but emphasise his craftiness and BBIQ with the ball in his hands. He can handle the ball easily against pesky defenders, uses rip move to reject the intense defense.
Ilija is a good right-handed solid finisher. Despite he is undersized for a guard, his strong upper body allows him to absorb contact and finish over the rim protectors. This catalyzed by his tight hands, timing, and mini jump.
Ilija Milijašević is a good, very good operator as a passer in general. The Serbian point guard possesses good court vision, nothing outstanding, but above the average. He is very comfortable to make one-handed passes, two-handed passes, over-the-head passes, skip passes, coast-to-coast passes, bouncing passes, etc. However, he can’t make efficient passes with his left hand.
Where he creates differences is in the pick-and-roll situations. He is a good operator who forces defenders with his advanced dribble moves, forcing the big defender(s) to help. He can split the screen and knows how to take advantage: can go to basket, make a pass to corners, etc. He does make advanced reads and is a good decision-maker in terms of where he should throw the pass. As a PnR scorer, he could be a prolific 3-level scorer, should add a consistent pull-up threat.
He is a disruptive defender both on the ball and off the ball actions. His level of awareness is very high, he talks with his teammates to shows them rotation, slides around the perimeter very well, and eyes always looking for a steal the ball chance. He is very active in the passing lanes, shows very good dexterity for steal the ball from the ballhandler’s hands. He has basic defensive footwork and this usually enough to keep his stance. He plays with good intensity, has good poise, and hands very quick but his undersized frame hurts him a lot. He can’t chase his man around screens, and isn’t able to defend PnR (actually, he has shown flashes of he rejected the ballhandler’s pass to the roller but not always, rarely.) There is just one improvement room that he has on the defensive end which isn’t result of his undersized frame, he can be very inactive while closing out. He runs very well but doesn’t have technique. Hands down, easy to pass him after pump fake, etc.