Dario Saric – 2m04 – SF/PF/PG – 1994 – KK Zagreb

It has only been a few months since I saw Saric for the last time in Mannheim during the Albert-Schweitzer Tournament but he looks already a lot older and more mature. Gone is the moustache and the whining, Saric seems to have grown a bit more both physically and mentally. Next to those obvious developments, his game is also improving knowing that he was two years younger than the competition. Saric is becoming more and more a match-up nightmare for the opponents as he is developing quite an interesting back to the basket game which he uses when he is defended by smaller players. When guarded by the taller or more physical defenders, he steps out and plays them on the drive. He is still finding when to go inside or outside but overall, he is on the right track. The question remains which position will be his future as he is not playing as a full time wing nor is he spending multiple minutes on the PG. Because Saric looks already now as he is the player who needs to have the ball in his hands in order to create for himself or his team mates.

When attacking the basket from outside, Saric likes to start the drive with several dribbles in order to get the necessary speed. He sometimes goes for a bit too much cross-over dribbles but he mainly can beat his defender. Out of the drives, he goes either with very long steps until the basket for the finish or can also kick it out to the waiting shooters. He prefers the right handed finish, even when it is tougher or coming of the left handed drive but it does not look like he tries to avoid the lefty finish. The Croatian uses a lot of different fakes in order to get open or for putting the defense in trouble and create out of that. He remains a bit turnover-prone though but this is the result of him dominating the ball so much on offense. Saric is present on rebounding situation where he uses his size nicely. The same counts for the shot blocks where he shows the right feeling, especially against smaller players. He needs to improve his shots out of the dribble, especially from long range in order to become an even more highly-versatile player in the future. Being only 16 years-old is of course a good starting point with the rest of his basketball skills being way above average for a player of his age.

Stats: 12.8ppg (56.5% 2FGs – 42.1% 3FGs), 5.4rpg, 2.3apg, 1.4spg, 0.7bpg, 3.0topg

Rezultati polufinala:

ZRINJEVAC - DRAŽEN PETROVIĆ (Šibenik) 42:52
ZRINJEVAC: Bilić, Palinić 2, Karamarko 4, Turina, Bičanić 18, Starčević, Herendić 5, Perić 2, Urli 7, Sremić 2, Skočir, Raškaj 2
DRAŽEN PETROVIĆ: Rekić, Junaković 14, Protega 5, Dvoršćak, Petrović 2, Dobra, Gulam, Alviž, Škugor, Spahija 2, Ercegović, Šarić 29

DUBRAVA-LAVIĆI - ZAGREB 75:54
DUBRAVA-LAVIĆI: Kevilj 2, Ljolje, Oršanić 7, Pavić, Brzoja 33, Beća, Babić 1, Semren 4, Bešlić 17, Galić, Bukić 9, Bikić 2
PRVI KOŠ-ZADAR: Bašić 9, Škara 21, Piasevoli 3, Longin, Mandić 2, Dujić, Čule, Stipić 2, Jukić 2 , Rutar 3, Mavra 13, Mujagić

Finale:

DUBRAVA LAVIĆI - DRAŽEN PETROVIĆ (Šibenik) 46:54
DUBRAVA-LAVIĆI: Kevilj 5, Ljolje, Oršanić 4, Pavić, Brzoja 20, Beća 3, Babić 1, Semren 2, Bešlić 7, Galić, Bukić 2, Bikić 2. Trener: Damir Beneta
DRAŽEN PETROVIĆ: Rekić, Junaković 20, Protega 1, Dvoršća , Petrović 3, Dobra, Gulam, Alviž 4, Škugor, Spahija , Ercegović 2, Šarić 24. Trener: Branko Klisović

Naj strijelci:
Mislav Brzoja (Dubrava Lavići) 176
Mateo Rakitić (Valpovo) 155
Mario Hezonja (Dubrovnik) 137
Dario Šarić (Dražen Petrović(Š)) 131…

Naj petorka Prvenstva:
Dario Šarić (Dražen Petrović (Š))
Mislav Brzoja (Dubrava Lavići)
Martin Junaković (Dražen Petrović (Š))
Dominik Mavra (Prvi koš Zadar)
Ivo Bukić (Dubrava Lavići)

Najbolji igrač prvenstva:
Dario Šarić (Dražen Petrović (Š))

Evo i slika mladog wunderkinda