A quick thought on Igor Rakocevic and Montepaschi Siena
By Rod Higgins
Ferdinando Minucci is smarter than me. The Montepaschi Sienna boss runs a tight ship, gets excellent value for money from most of his signings and knows when it is time to sell the rights of his players (see: McIntyre, Terrell). This is how he has built a true powerhouse in European basketball while spending much less money than most of his rivals. This is why it is hard to question any move he makes. Which is exactly what I am going to do regarding his decision to sign Igor Rakocevic.
The Serbian guard has been one of the most prolific scorers in Euroleague history and Siena tends to go through some dry spells on offense, but this does not mean that these two were made for each other. Rakocevic was brought in after Siena released the maladjusted DeJuan Summers, a big forward with a nice touch from outside, who in turn had signed with the Italian champs this summer, as replacement to Malik Hairston. In other words, Siena have gone small. Rimantas Kaukenas will see extended minuted at small forward and a backcourt featuring Rakocevic and Bo McCalebb will be among the shortest in Euroleague. How will this work for a notoriously physical team? Here’s a first idea, based on Siena’s recent game at Barcelona:
Offensively things look quite promising. Even with McCalebb on the floor, Rakocevic has the ball in his hands a lot, but this development is hardly detrimental to Siena’s spacing and ball movement. The first possession is a typical pick and pop with David Andersen. Fran Vazquez is too concerned with the Australian’s shooting and does not stay with Rakocevic long enough to prevent his drive. It goes without saying that both McCalebb and Kaukenas benefit from Siena’s big men ability to space the floor, so this is nothing new. However, an extra option in these situations doesn’t hurt.
On defense, we see a preview of what Siena will be up against when they go small - which they will, sooner or later: David Moss is the only true small forward on their rotation. Chuck Eidson is big for a shooting guard (where he plays on this possession), but pretty average for the type of small forward either Kaukenas or Rakocevic will have to guard on the post. Coach Simone Pianigiani is an expert at taking away the middle from his opponents thanks a series of double teams and attention to detail when it comes to weak side help, but in such matchups he will have to give up more open perimeter shots than he would like.
Finally, a big question is how McCalebb’s play will be affected. Rakocevic should open up more room for Bo to operate - not only by standing around on the weak side, but by forcing defenders to extend beyond the three - point line. On the second Siena possession of the video above, Vazquez is forced to hedge way out, in order to prevent a quick shot by Igor. This forces Victor Sada to rotate over to Andersen, leaving McCalebb unusually open. Even if Rakocevic does not hand out the assist himself, Siena’s big men are good enough passers to take advantage of this extra room. On the other hand, when Barcelona goes for a switch in Siena’s final possession, Rakocevic’s limitations as a passer are exposed.
So, what were Minucci and Pianigiani thinking? Maybe they were looking for increased offensive efficiency, even at the expense of Siena’s trademark physical defense. The best-case scenario is that improved shooting will benefit Siena’s execution inside and out. On the other hand, their old defensive tricks will not be as effective with a smaller team and their offense could become less balanced and even more dependent on perimeter shooting. Let’s see if the old man still has it.
Editor's Note: Rod Higgins is a featured blogger for 'the Basketball Post', providing insight on Greek basketball. More of his stuff can be found here, swooshnation, in-the-game, thrylos-fans or redhoops and he can be followed on twitter @rodhig7
Ferdinando Minucci is smarter than me. The Montepaschi Sienna boss runs a tight ship, gets excellent value for money from most of his signings and knows when it is time to sell the rights of his players (see: McIntyre, Terrell). This is how he has built a true powerhouse in European basketball while spending much less money than most of his rivals. This is why it is hard to question any move he makes. Which is exactly what I am going to do regarding his decision to sign Igor Rakocevic.
The Serbian guard has been one of the most prolific scorers in Euroleague history and Siena tends to go through some dry spells on offense, but this does not mean that these two were made for each other. Rakocevic was brought in after Siena released the maladjusted DeJuan Summers, a big forward with a nice touch from outside, who in turn had signed with the Italian champs this summer, as replacement to Malik Hairston. In other words, Siena have gone small. Rimantas Kaukenas will see extended minuted at small forward and a backcourt featuring Rakocevic and Bo McCalebb will be among the shortest in Euroleague. How will this work for a notoriously physical team? Here’s a first idea, based on Siena’s recent game at Barcelona:
Offensively things look quite promising. Even with McCalebb on the floor, Rakocevic has the ball in his hands a lot, but this development is hardly detrimental to Siena’s spacing and ball movement. The first possession is a typical pick and pop with David Andersen. Fran Vazquez is too concerned with the Australian’s shooting and does not stay with Rakocevic long enough to prevent his drive. It goes without saying that both McCalebb and Kaukenas benefit from Siena’s big men ability to space the floor, so this is nothing new. However, an extra option in these situations doesn’t hurt.
On defense, we see a preview of what Siena will be up against when they go small - which they will, sooner or later: David Moss is the only true small forward on their rotation. Chuck Eidson is big for a shooting guard (where he plays on this possession), but pretty average for the type of small forward either Kaukenas or Rakocevic will have to guard on the post. Coach Simone Pianigiani is an expert at taking away the middle from his opponents thanks a series of double teams and attention to detail when it comes to weak side help, but in such matchups he will have to give up more open perimeter shots than he would like.
Finally, a big question is how McCalebb’s play will be affected. Rakocevic should open up more room for Bo to operate - not only by standing around on the weak side, but by forcing defenders to extend beyond the three - point line. On the second Siena possession of the video above, Vazquez is forced to hedge way out, in order to prevent a quick shot by Igor. This forces Victor Sada to rotate over to Andersen, leaving McCalebb unusually open. Even if Rakocevic does not hand out the assist himself, Siena’s big men are good enough passers to take advantage of this extra room. On the other hand, when Barcelona goes for a switch in Siena’s final possession, Rakocevic’s limitations as a passer are exposed.
So, what were Minucci and Pianigiani thinking? Maybe they were looking for increased offensive efficiency, even at the expense of Siena’s trademark physical defense. The best-case scenario is that improved shooting will benefit Siena’s execution inside and out. On the other hand, their old defensive tricks will not be as effective with a smaller team and their offense could become less balanced and even more dependent on perimeter shooting. Let’s see if the old man still has it.
Editor's Note: Rod Higgins is a featured blogger for 'the Basketball Post', providing insight on Greek basketball. More of his stuff can be found here, swooshnation, in-the-game, thrylos-fans or redhoops and he can be followed on twitter @rodhig7
Posted by Rafael Uehara at Sunday, November 20, 2011 10:12:47 AM 
Categories: LegaBasket, EuroLeague
Tags: Rod Higgins
Categories: LegaBasket, EuroLeague
Tags: Rod Higgins
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