Analyzing Amar Gegic

July 21st, 2020

By Alan Lu

This time around, I decided to switch things up and watch OKK Sloboda Tuzla’s 6-7 Bosnian point forward, Amar Gegic play in a Bosnian League game against KK Vogosca that was played on October 26^th, 2019, as I was able to see this with thanks to YouTube via KS BiH.  I had seen Gegic play two times previously, and he is an athletic playmaker that is automatically eligible for the 2020 draft due to being a 1998-International born player.  I wanted to know how far along he was as a player, so here is my breakdown of how he fared on this day, as well as how his game may stack up in the NBA.

Amar Gegic displayed decent playmaking skills in this game.  He is an unselfish player that can pass and handle the basketball, and he will keep the ball moving and look for his teammates to rack up assists.  He can throw sharp interior passes as he can make quick reads to find the open man, and he also excels as a passer out of the post, as he can find cutters to set up scores for his teammates.  He also used a nifty behind the back dribble move while pushing the pace and then threw a nice interior pass to get the ball out to a teammate on the break due to possessing good court vision.  Sometimes though, he can tend to throw hasty, inaccurate passes that may end up getting intercepted.  He also was called for traveling once when taking the ball to the hoop.   He also pushed off when going up for a lob catch that led him to commit an offensive foul and a turnover another time.

Gegic also excelled at scoring on hustle plays.  He moves fairly well off the ball, and he can draw fouls off of quick cuts to the hoop to get to the free throw line.  He also managed to score on a quick put back in traffic late in this game.  On the downside, sometimes he may be prone to rushing his shots, as he also missed on a tip-in another time.

He also showed a good ability to score off the dribble.  Gegic didn’t look to score often, but he was able to use a solid crossover to his left to get a strong score off of a drive while getting an extra free throw.  Plus, he also showed off fairly good low post scoring skills.  He used a quick spin move to score from the post due to possessing good footwork and scoring touch, and he also scored around the basket on another possession.  However, he did miss on a contested turnaround jumper late in this game, as he can sometimes take tough shots that may lead to misses. Also, he struggled to knock down jumpers outside of the paint area.  Gegic missed all of the three-point shots that he hoisted up from beyond the arc, and he will need to improve his jump shot moving forward.

Plus, Gegic did a decent job of rebounding the basketball.  He would leap up to collect multiple boards on both ends of the floor, as he would actively look to crash the glass.  He also would tend to bring the ball up the floor off of defensive boards to create transition scoring opportunities or early offense to help his team.  However, there was one play where he committed a loose ball foul when going for an offensive board, as he ended up tripping his opponent.

In addition, Gegic looked to be fairly average defensively.  He is an active help defender that will poke balls away to help get deflections and to force turnovers, and he possesses good length, hands, and instincts to do so.  He also will make quick rotations to contest shots both inside the paint and out on the perimeter, and his leaping ability and timing can enable him to make it difficult for his opponents to easily get their shots off.  However, he also tended to struggle to defend opponents off the dribble, as he didn’t show great lateral mobility, and there would be times where he would struggle to stay in front of his man, which would lead him to commit reach-in fouls.  His tendency to go for steals can lead him to be out of position, and he also can tend to give up too much space to opponents on the floor.

In general, Amar Gegic is an athletic, skilled playmaker that played fairly well in the Bosnian League, but he will need to show that he can succeed at higher levels in international basketball.   He will need to greatly improve his jump shot, free throw shooting ability, and perimeter defense.  Right now, he is a long shot to be drafted, but over time, if he can significantly improve upon his weaknesses and most notably his jump shot, he could end up being an effective rotation player similar to Boston Celtics’ guard, Brad Wanamaker in the NBA.

Other Notes:

6-5, 1999-born Bosnian guard, Emir Cerkezovic played very well to help lead OKK Sloboda Tuzla to a win over Vogosca.  He is an athletic, energetic swingman that excelled at making plays on both ends of the floor.  Cerkezovic would often run the floor to beat his man down court, as he would score on thunderous dunks and layups on fast breaks.  He also made an open, spot-up three off the catch to show his ability to knock down outside shots.

On the downside, he was quite turnover prone in this game.  For the positives, he was able to kick a ball out to a shooter off the dribble to notch an assist, and Cerkezovic is an unselfish player that can handle the ball on the break and find the open man.  However, he tended to commit ball-handling turnovers, as he can struggle to handle the ball in traffic, and he also threw an ill-advised jump pass that ended up getting picked off.

Cerkezovic also did a good job of rebounding the basketball.  He was active at crashing the glass to haul in boards on both ends of the floor, and he also tipped a ball to help his team get a defensive rebound once.   Plus, he also displayed adequate defensive skills.  Cerkezovic is an active help defender that would play passing lanes and challenge shots to get steals and blocks, and he also did a good job of defending in the post to force misses.  However, he had trouble defending opponents on drives, as he would tend to get beat and commit reach-in fouls.  He also misplayed a ball when defending in the post, which caused him to allow an easy catch and a score another time.

Overall, Emir Cerkezovic is an athletic, energetic swingman that could project to be a defensive specialist at higher levels of basketball.  He will need to take more jumpers in games and tighten up his handles, but if he can show that he can succeed at higher levels of international basketball, he could perhaps be an intriguing option for NBA teams to consider late in the 2021 draft.

OKK Sloboda Tuzla’s 6-3, 1999-born Bosnian guard, Sani Campara put forth an uneven performance in his team’s win over Vogosca.  He struggled to consistently make shots from the field, as he especially struggled to make mid-range jumpers or floaters, but Campara showed the ability to knock down spot-up threes, and he also scored on a layup off of a right-handed drive after dribbling off of a screen to get to the hoop.

He also displayed solid playmaking skills.  Campara is a good passer that can throw sharp interior passes to set up scores for his teammates, and he can throw good lobs to get his teammates the basketball.  He also has good acceleration that allows him to effectively turn the corner off of pick and rolls, and he does a good job of finding teammates on the move to get assists.  However, he also had a tendency to throw lazy entry passes that would get intercepted.  There was also another play where he had a ball poked away off of a drive to lose it to an opponent another time.

He also would aggressively look to defend his man, but sometimes his lack of size would make it difficult for him to contest shots, as he was prone to allowing taller players to shoot over him to get scores.

Overall, Sani Campara is a skilled, crafty playmaker that can effectively run a team with the ball in his hands.  He lacks elite size or physical tools, which could limit his upside, and while he may likely go undrafted, Campara’s ability to run the point could enable him to have a long career in professional basketball, as he could be a solid role player in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s top basketball league overseas.

KK Vogosca’s 6-6, 2000-born Serbian swingman, Filip Njegovanovic really struggled in his team’s loss to OKK Sloboda Tuzla.  He really had trouble knocking down jumpers, especially from beyond the arc, but he did run off of a ball screen to make a quick corner three in this game.  He also is an unselfish player that can throw long passes to set up scoring chances for his teammates.  However, he didn’t really stand out in this game, as his struggles from the field hurt his team on offense.    Njegovanovic is a fairly athletic player that will need to show that he can succeed at this level, and at higher levels of international basketball.