Evaluating Giordano Bortolani

June 6^th, 2022

By Alan Lu

This time around, I decided to watch Treviso’s Giordano Bortolani, a 6-4 Italian sharpshooting combo guard that has received some draft buzz, and will automatically be in the 2022 draft due to being a 2000-born international player.  I took the time to watch him play in a March 22^nd Basketball Champions League game against Darussafaka, with thanks to YouTube via Basketball Champions League.  Here are my thoughts on how Bortolani fared, as well as how his game may translate to the NBA.

Giordano Bortolani played very well in his team’s loss to Darussafaka.  He did a very good job of shooting and scoring the basketball, and he is an agile, skilled combo guard that can put up points in a hurry.

He did a great job of knocking down threes to space the floor for his team on offense.  Bortolani showed a knack for making quick, open spot-up threes off the catch, and he also can knock them down from well beyond the arc.  He saved his best for crunch time, as he was able to quickly move off the ball to make a movement three, and he also ran off the ball to make a quick, contested three off the catch.  Bortolani showed that he can accelerate and use his burst to shake free from his man to get open, and he really excelled at making three-pointers in this match.

He also thrived at scoring on hustle plays.  Bortolani was able to score on a backdoor cut to the hoop while taking on contact at the rim.  He also flashed the ability to score off the dribble.  On one play, Bortolani got the ball on the break, took one dribble, and swiftly scored on a quick, acrobatic reverse layup.  However, after driving to the rim and splitting a double team another time, he missed a rushed shot in traffic.  He also missed badly on a contested, turnaround fadeaway long two, as he had drawn contact, but no call was made, and he picked up his dribble and took an ill-advised shot that time.

On the downside, he was fairly turnover prone on offense.  On the plus side, he was able to barely break the press when bringing it up and threw an accurate interior pass to notch an assist midway through the fourth quarter.  He also can make drive and kick passes, and he will look to find the open man.  He also was able to run down an offensive rebound off his own miss and quickly pass the ball to an open teammate around the hoop, which helped set up a score for his team.  Bortolani also set a solid off-ball screen to help his teammate get an open lane to cut to the hoop another time.  On the other hand, he also tended to throw hasty, lazy passes that would get intercepted.  Other times, he would be reckless when handling the ball and bringing it up the court, and on one play, he tried to evade a swipe, but lost the ball and had it stolen away from him.

Also, Bortolani did a decent job of rebounding the basketball.  He was quite active at crashing the glass, and he showed a good motor to get boards, as he especially excelled at getting offensive boards for his team.

He also played adequate defense in this game.  Bortolani was able to stay in front of an opposing ball handler, and contested a fadeaway mid-range shot to force a miss.  He also would apply pressure when defending opposing ball handlers, and he would aggressively fight through screens.  Late in the game, he and a teammate hounded an opponent in the backcourt, and they swarmed him and trapped him in the corner, and they were able to force a passing turnover.  On the downside, he would sometimes make bad gambles defensively, as he bit on a pump fake to allow a score at the rim, and he also committed an aggressive reach-in foul in the backcourt another time.  He also got beat off the dribble once, which led him to commit a foul.  On another play after initially hustling back after his own passing turnover, he then gave up on the play and allowed an opponent to score on a fast break.

In general, Giordano Bortolani is an agile, skilled sharpshooting combo guard that does a very good job of moving off the ball and knocking down outside shots to score on offense.  On the other hand, he will need to play more under control when he has the ball in his hands and improve his playmaking and defensive skills.  His ability to knock down shots and move off the ball could enable him to thrive as a role player in the NBA, and he could end up being a similar player to Jodie Meeks in the association.

Other Notes:

Enrico Vettori also played well for Treviso.  He is an agile, skilled combo guard that made a lot of good team plays in the second half of this game, as he would make sound decisions on offense, and he also played pesky defense to help his team late in this match.

Vettori was able to make a smooth, open three-point shot off the catch.  He didn’t take many shots, but he showed that he can make spot-up threes comfortably in rhythm.  Plus, he also would make the extra pass to move the basketball.  He showcased satisfactory playmaking skills, and he showed that he can make safe passes out on the perimeter.  He would swing balls to open shooters to notch assists.  On the other hand, on one play where he attempted to make a drive and dish pass on the break, he threw a bounce pass that got intercepted.

Also, Vettori did a very good job of rebounding the basketball.  He would chase down balls to get boards on both ends of the floor due to possessing a very good motor, and sometimes he would push balls quickly up the floor off of defensive rebounds.

He also played solid defense in this game.  Vettori ripped a ball away from an opponent to get a steal.  He would actively defend opposing ball handlers and apply significant ball pressure.  He stayed in front of an opposing ball handler to force a shot clock violation.  He also rotated to defend a big man and actively contested a mid-range shot to force an air-ball and a shot clock violation.  He did a great job of contesting mid-range shots to force misses.  Late in the game, he and a teammate hounded an opponent in the backcourt, and they swarmed him and trapped him in the corner, and they were able to force a passing turnover.  On the downside, he struggled to defend a stronger opponent in the post, which led him to commit a reach-in foul.  Another time, he over-helped in the paint and was late to rotate back, which led him to allow an opponent to score on an open corner three. Overall, Enrico Vettori had a strong showing in his team’s loss to Darussafaka.  Vettori will need to be more assertive on offense, but he made a lot of solid team plays, and he generally passed and defended well when he was on the court.  He will need to continue to hone and polish up his game, but if he can continue to progress as an overall player, his ability to make plays and compete could enable him to be a prospect to watch in the future.