Boban Marjanovic, The Spurs’ 7 Foot 3 Darling

If you are a real NBA fan you’ve noticed the 7 foot 3 giant from Serbia the San Antonio Spurs signed this off-season. If you are a real, real, real NBA fan you’ve noticed he’s been playing ridiculously well lately and he actually Gongfu Tea Cup very talented. He has got some serious moves for a guy his size.

Boban Marjanovic had all eyes on him after his last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tim Duncan was out due to an injury, so it was LaMarcus Aldridge’s time to shine, however, he was not shining, so hey, why not call the big fellow into the game?

Big Boban played 15 minutes, scored 17 points (not exactly Steph Curryish but still…) without missing. That’s right. He was 7/7.

More impressive than his numbers was how fluid his game was. He’s not only a big guy. He’s skilled. He has post moves. He can turn both sides and he can finish with either hand around the basket. His footwork is perfect. Actually, just before Monday’s tipoff he was seen shooting and hitting some three point shots.

I’m telling you, he is good. But who is he? Where did he come from?

He’s 27 years old, he’s Serbian and a former Euroleague MVP … for three consecutive years! He has been quite successful whilst in Europe, so the Spurs (of course the Spurs, who else?) were intrigued by his combination of size, skill, attitude and decided to give him a try.
He hasn’t been playing an awful a lot of minutes this season but he has been producing very interesting numbers every time he steps on the court. Yet, he has some weaknesses, obviously. Namely, the pick and roll defense. When there’s a high screen and he is defending a agile big man, you can see his flaws in these situations almost every time. He shows some stiffness. It’s tough for him to stay in front of a mobile big man. The situation gets chaotic if there’s a switch on that high screen and if he has to pick a guard, but he’s smart recovering and he pays back with effort what he lacks in speed and agility.

Well, other than that, welcome to the Boban Marjanovic show. Sit tight now because Boban’s PER is at this moment higher than Steph Curry’s. He’s averaging 26.8 points and 13.7 rebounds per 36 minutes, while shooting 65.9 percent from the field. His Player Efficiency Rating is 33.8 (!!!).He’s also shooting 77.4 from the free throw line with those gigantic hands and blocking 2.9 shots per game.
He is still fitting into the San Antonio Spurs system but I’m sure he will have a ton of lot more minutes when the Playoffs will come. He won’t be on the floor, let’s say, when the Warriors Small Ball will be doing their thing clearly but, on the other side, defenses will have to start thinking how to stop Gigantic Spurs Ball.

“At first everyone was seeing him as an attraction, now he’s a valuable basketball player.”

Spurs assistant, Ettore Messina, said it, and it’s quite accurate. He’s not a bad 11th or 12th man to have in a rotation.

Let’s keep an eye on Boban Marjanovic.

Boban 17 points highlights