Kostas Kaimakoglou & Marko Banic Add Balance to Unics Kazan’s Offense
By Rafael Uehara
Solobasket first reported on Monday – July, the 9th – that former Panathinaikos’ forward Kostas Kaimakoglou reached an agreement with Russian club Unics Kazan on a two-year deal that will pay him €1.5 million for the duration of the contract. On the heels of Nathan Jawai’s departure to Regal FC Barcelona, Kaimakoglou is a great addition to a squad that won 10 games and reached the quarterfinals in the EuroLeague last season, eventually falling to Barcelona in a three-game series decided by an average of just eight points per game.
But Jawai’s shoes will be tough to fill. Unics Kazan got as far as it did because it played defense at an elite level, allowing just 95.8 points per 100 possessions and 47.5% opponents’ effective shooting in 19 games, ratings that placed them third in each category in the EuroLeague. Jawai was not a transcending defender nor was he all that above average for that matter, which may be a challenge for him in Barcelona, but he did perform adequately in the middle of that scheme, with the team allowing 3.75 points per 100 possessions fewer with him on the court in comparison to him on the bench. Jawai also posted an 18.2% rebounding rate.
Meanwhile, Kaimakoglou arrives from having posted an 11% rebounding rate with Panathinaikos in 23 games of EuroLeague play last season. Although, to be fair, Zeljko Obradovic’s team featured a wing that crashes the boards hard in Romain Sato and a couple of guards that are bigger than most players their position that pitch in on board protection too in Dimitris Diamantidis and Nick Calathes. Playing upfront full time in Russia should improve those numbers. In a similar situation to Jawai’s, playing alongside really talented defenders in a disciplined scheme, Kaimakoglou’s also performed his defensive duties adequately, with the team allowing just 97.41 points per 100 possessions with him on the court, 2.72 points per 100 possessions fewer than with on the bench. He does add a new dimensional of versatility to the scheme, capable of checking athletic swingmen on the perimeter.
Offensively, he and Marco Banic, who arrives from Gescrap Bilbao Basket on a three-year deal, will be responsible for balancing the team’s offense, upgrading the team’s scoring upfront. Jawai was terrific generating some interior scoring last season with his terrific post-up skill set, work on the pick-and-roll and activity on the baseline but Unics Kazan’s offense lacked balance as the team had the second fewest attempts in the lane through the initial group stages and the fewest over 19 games among teams that reached the quarterfinals.
It was great for Unics Kazan to have in Henry Domercant the league’s seventh highest scorer and in Terrell Lyday another high profile option in the perimeter but it became evident in the series against Barcelona that in order to compete against the powerhouses that usually are defensive juggernauts, Unics needed to finish better in the lane (60.8% on the three-game series) and you do that by generating a higher amount of high percentage looks.
Banic ranked fourth in the EuroLeague in points in the lane last season and he shot 50% from mid-range, showing how he can also be affective off the ball when Domercant and Lyday are doing their thing. Meanwhile, while Kaimakoglou isn’t a high percentage effective shooter (56.5%), he was terrific from three-point range shooting 44.1% over 68 attempts, resulting in the 1.05 point per possession average he posted last season. And they did on their respective teams with a combined 39.5% usage-rate, which should replace Jawai’s 34% well.
Playing the third slowest pace in the league helped maximize the impact of the stops Unics Kazan got but scoring at an average of 97.8 points per 100 possessions and effectively shooting 50% eventually caught up with them when they met Barcelona. Aco Petrovic is replacing Evgeny Pashutin as head-coach but it’s fair to assume he won’t disrupt the rhythm this core, which has Lyday, Domercant, Vladimir Veremeenko and Mike Wilkinson all returning, has used to pacing. So, adding two efficient scorers to the deck is a great move for Unics considering the way the team plays offense, with every trip down the court mattering.
Editor's Note: All statistical data on this post was researched at in-the-game.org, one phenomenal website dedicated to keeping track of advance statistics in the EuroLeague. Simon Jatsch does an amazing job and I hope he knows how much his work is appreciated.
Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
Solobasket first reported on Monday – July, the 9th – that former Panathinaikos’ forward Kostas Kaimakoglou reached an agreement with Russian club Unics Kazan on a two-year deal that will pay him €1.5 million for the duration of the contract. On the heels of Nathan Jawai’s departure to Regal FC Barcelona, Kaimakoglou is a great addition to a squad that won 10 games and reached the quarterfinals in the EuroLeague last season, eventually falling to Barcelona in a three-game series decided by an average of just eight points per game.
But Jawai’s shoes will be tough to fill. Unics Kazan got as far as it did because it played defense at an elite level, allowing just 95.8 points per 100 possessions and 47.5% opponents’ effective shooting in 19 games, ratings that placed them third in each category in the EuroLeague. Jawai was not a transcending defender nor was he all that above average for that matter, which may be a challenge for him in Barcelona, but he did perform adequately in the middle of that scheme, with the team allowing 3.75 points per 100 possessions fewer with him on the court in comparison to him on the bench. Jawai also posted an 18.2% rebounding rate.
Meanwhile, Kaimakoglou arrives from having posted an 11% rebounding rate with Panathinaikos in 23 games of EuroLeague play last season. Although, to be fair, Zeljko Obradovic’s team featured a wing that crashes the boards hard in Romain Sato and a couple of guards that are bigger than most players their position that pitch in on board protection too in Dimitris Diamantidis and Nick Calathes. Playing upfront full time in Russia should improve those numbers. In a similar situation to Jawai’s, playing alongside really talented defenders in a disciplined scheme, Kaimakoglou’s also performed his defensive duties adequately, with the team allowing just 97.41 points per 100 possessions with him on the court, 2.72 points per 100 possessions fewer than with on the bench. He does add a new dimensional of versatility to the scheme, capable of checking athletic swingmen on the perimeter.
Offensively, he and Marco Banic, who arrives from Gescrap Bilbao Basket on a three-year deal, will be responsible for balancing the team’s offense, upgrading the team’s scoring upfront. Jawai was terrific generating some interior scoring last season with his terrific post-up skill set, work on the pick-and-roll and activity on the baseline but Unics Kazan’s offense lacked balance as the team had the second fewest attempts in the lane through the initial group stages and the fewest over 19 games among teams that reached the quarterfinals.
It was great for Unics Kazan to have in Henry Domercant the league’s seventh highest scorer and in Terrell Lyday another high profile option in the perimeter but it became evident in the series against Barcelona that in order to compete against the powerhouses that usually are defensive juggernauts, Unics needed to finish better in the lane (60.8% on the three-game series) and you do that by generating a higher amount of high percentage looks.
Banic ranked fourth in the EuroLeague in points in the lane last season and he shot 50% from mid-range, showing how he can also be affective off the ball when Domercant and Lyday are doing their thing. Meanwhile, while Kaimakoglou isn’t a high percentage effective shooter (56.5%), he was terrific from three-point range shooting 44.1% over 68 attempts, resulting in the 1.05 point per possession average he posted last season. And they did on their respective teams with a combined 39.5% usage-rate, which should replace Jawai’s 34% well.
Playing the third slowest pace in the league helped maximize the impact of the stops Unics Kazan got but scoring at an average of 97.8 points per 100 possessions and effectively shooting 50% eventually caught up with them when they met Barcelona. Aco Petrovic is replacing Evgeny Pashutin as head-coach but it’s fair to assume he won’t disrupt the rhythm this core, which has Lyday, Domercant, Vladimir Veremeenko and Mike Wilkinson all returning, has used to pacing. So, adding two efficient scorers to the deck is a great move for Unics considering the way the team plays offense, with every trip down the court mattering.
Editor's Note: All statistical data on this post was researched at in-the-game.org, one phenomenal website dedicated to keeping track of advance statistics in the EuroLeague. Simon Jatsch does an amazing job and I hope he knows how much his work is appreciated.
Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
Posted by Rafael Uehara at Monday, July 09, 2012 11:16:06 PM 
Categories: Russian league, Euroleague
Tags: Rafael Uehara
Categories: Russian league, Euroleague
Tags: Rafael Uehara
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