Monday, March 19, 2007

Perovic's been impressive in Europe

While his team goes about its postseason push, Warriors vice-president Chris Mullin is going global. Mullin left town on an international scouting trip to China over the weekend, and is expected in the coming weeks to travel to Europe to check up on Kosta Perovic, last year's second-round draft pick.

Perovic, a 22-year-old center from Serbia, is currently putting up impressive numbers for BC Partizan Belgrade in the Euroleague playoffs, which is entering its sixth and final week of Top 16 play.

The 7-foot-2, 240-pounder is averaging 11.2 points and 6.3 rebounds in 28 minutes per game after posting similar numbers for his club team in the Adriatic League.

Perovic's standout performance came two weeks ago when he posted 19 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to Greek powerhouse Olympiacos.

He spent part of the game matched up against Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the Clippers' second-round pick from 2003, and helped hold him to five points and one rebound in 16 minutes. Schortsanitis, better known as "Baby Shaq," led Greece past the United States in last summer's World Championships.

Perovic's agent, Rade Filipovich, compares his client's game to that of Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Mullin agreed with the assessment because of their similar high-post abilities. Perovic also carries a reputation for having soft hands and an effective mid-range jump shot.

Filipovich said the center's mobility and conditioning have improved after Perovic spent the past two summers training at the Athletes Performance Center in southern California and continued the program on his own this season.

"The main thing about him is he's a much quicker player," Filipovich said. "He's a high-post guy who can play, pass and shoot from outside and run the pick and roll."

Perovic has two years remaining on his contract with Partizan. Since NBA teams are allowed to pay only $500,000 for an international player's buyout, the rest would come from the deal he negotiates with the Warriors.

Filipovich believes Perovic, with his shooting range, can complement center Andris Biedrins and would be "surprised" if Perovic is not in training camp with the Warriors this fall.

"It doesn't matter what position a player is drafted, it only matters if he can play," he said. "You can see with Monta Ellis."

On his current trip, according to league sources, Mullin is expected to scout draft prospect Yi Jianlian, the 7-foot star of the Guangdong Tigers. The Chinese Basketball Association finals began Sunday.

Getting the point: Speaking of Ellis, he's started the third quarter in place of Baron Davis the past three games. Coach Don Nelson says the rotation allows him to have Davis fresh for crunch time while still keeping his minutes down.

The move, coupled with Davis and Jason Richardson's return from injuries, also appears to have helped Ellis regain his defensive form from last season. The second-year guard helped offset eight turnovers against Seattle with a career-high six steals.

Davis, who is averaging about 25 minutes a night since his March 5 return, said he welcomes the relief.

Briefly: The Warriors were fined $15,000 by the NBA last week for remarks by Nelson regarding college basketball stars Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Nelson was asked during pre-game interviews in New York on March 2 about his draft philosophy on big men and superstar players, but the league does not allow teams to comment on those who have not declared for the draft

Perovic's been impressive in Europe

Maybe Mulin is trying to hype up the big lug for a trade

TMC wrote:

Perovic's been impressive in Europe

I don't think any more needs to be said.

Maybe we can swing him for Milsap. He was picked higher than him . . .

OK, I'm conflicted here:

O.G. Broe wrote:Perovic's standout performance came two weeks ago when he posted 19 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to Greek powerhouse Olympiacos.

The guy's STANDOUT performance was a 19 & 11 night...? Didn't Troy Murphy used to manage those 3 or 4 times a month last year...?

This is a negative for me... but the following is definately a positive:

O.G. Broe wrote:He spent part of the game matched up against Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the Clippers' second-round pick from 2003, and helped hold him to five points and one rebound in 16 minutes. Schortsanitis, better known as "Baby Shaq," led Greece past the United States in last summer's World Championships.

If Perovic is responsible for holding Schortsanitis to only 5 points and 1 rebound, than that's damn impressive. But if he was simply in the right place at the right time, the comment loses steam.

Kosta was a 2nd round pick, so I really had no hope for him. Anything he can give us is gravy to me.

32 wrote:

O.G. Broe wrote:He spent part of the game matched up against Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the Clippers' second-round pick from 2003, and helped hold him to five points and one rebound in 16 minutes. Schortsanitis, better known as "Baby Shaq," led Greece past the United States in last summer's World Championships.

If Perovic is responsible for holding Schortsanitis to only 5 points and 1 rebound, than that's damn impressive. But if he was simply in the right place at the right time, the comment loses steam.

Schorsianitis is averaging 7 points and 2 boards this season. Not exactly an imposing player... Almost any center in Europe can stop him right now.

TMC wrote:

32 wrote:

O.G. Broe wrote:He spent part of the game matched up against Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the Clippers' second-round pick from 2003, and helped hold him to five points and one rebound in 16 minutes. Schortsanitis, better known as "Baby Shaq," led Greece past the United States in last summer's World Championships.

If Perovic is responsible for holding Schortsanitis to only 5 points and 1 rebound, than that's damn impressive. But if he was simply in the right place at the right time, the comment loses steam.

Schorsianitis is averaging 7 points and 2 boards this season. Not exactly an imposing player... Almost any center in Europe can stop him right now.

That's really strange, considering how well he did in the World Championships.

32 wrote:That's really strange, considering how well he did in the World Championships.

I havent' seen him much this season, but he seems overweigth. Really slow, which hurts his game... He ain't playing much, so it's probably related to health issues.

Haha, tough luck for the Clippers!

They thought this kid was gonna be big when he joined their roster.