Stefan Jovic: The soil general that Panathinaikos was looking for a year and a half

Stefan Jovic’s name has been recorded in the protocol for Panathinaikos OPAP since last summer. That is, when the Greens looked for a commander in the position of point guard for the second time in a row, a player who has the ability (but also experience) to “decide” on most of his possessions.

However, the injury sustained in the Serbia-Dominican Republic game was enough to put his name in the green drawer.

Less than six months later, his case returned – for good – to everyday life at Klee, which prompted him to wear his jersey until the end of the current season. An agreement that (due to its background) is very similar to that of Panathinaikos OPAP a year and a half ago with Nemanja Nedovic.

If this “marriage” proves mutually beneficial, it will show along the way. First of all, Dimitris Priftis knows that – as long as he is healthy – he has found the general staff that the Panathinaikos OPAP organization had been looking for for a year and a half. That is, from the moment Nick Kalathis went to Palau Blaugrana.

The double meaning of rhythm

It is clear that after such a long absence from the event, nobody knows what condition Stefan Jovic is in. Physical readiness is one thing, the rhythm of the competition is another. And if the first is decided by Panathinaikos OPAP’s medical staff, with the second it will take a reasonable amount of time before the newly won point guard can keep up with his new teammates.

At the same time, the rhythm is about something else: the speeds at which Dimitris Priftis’ team is playing this year. You see, according to Instat Scout, Panathinaiko’s OPAP achieves 79.6 ball possession per game, a number that places it in 12th place in the relevant statistical category of the EuroLeague.

However, with Stefan Jovic at the top, this average has the potential to increase. We are talking about a playmaker who is characterized by his ability to “push” the ball into the front half of the floor and to lead the team to the change even more frequently. He’s not one of those who hesitate to pass half or the whole field in the appropriate corridors as long as the rest of the five have run properly. He knows and can (mostly) do it.

The security that has been missing for a year and a half

It goes without saying that as long as Stefan Jovic is perfectly healthy and finds his rhythm, he will balance the perimeter of the clover. After all, its quality is sufficient to strongly differentiate the development of things for Panathinaikos OPAP. Not in the sense that he will make the Greek team a playoff contender, but in the sense that Dimitris Priftis will be able to differentiate the rotation to increase the execution methods of “2” and “3” .

Quite simply because there will be the necessary security in the point guard position, from a player who knows exactly what to do and when.

The reasoning behind this is based, among other things, on the assist / turnover ratio. A category of advanced stats that is not very friendly with the greens this year as Dimitris Priftis’ players give (only) 1.09 assists for every mistake they make – it’s fatal in 16th place in the relevant category , just in front of Zenit and Villeurbanne – the French team is the only one with a negative sign).

In this case, Panathinaikos OPAP adds a regional team to the rotation that has more than twice as many numbers in the assist / turnover rate in the six years of experience from the EuroLeague. Specifically, in the 123 games he has played, he offers 2.65 assists for every mistake.

On the contrary, in the past year and a half (since the departure of Nick Kalathis) no cloverleaf player who – more or less – has carried the organization’s weight of “1” has not come close to such an achievement.

In this case, Kendrick Perry and Howard Sand Ross are the best (sic) in the category with 1.81 last passes per mistake. Example of the lack of a peripheral device that provides the necessary security for low-defect basketball required at this level from the point guard position.

Details of what the Clover Point Guards have been doing with the assist / turnover ratio over the past year and a half:

• Kendrick Perry: 1.81
• Daryl Macon: 1.65
• Lefteris Bohoridis 1.49
• Yogi Ferrell: 1
• Howard Sand Ross: 1.81 in
• Selvin Mack: 1.8

The direction of the pick and roll and the main responsibility

If Stefan Jovic shows it in the rotation of Dimitris Priftis, the friends of Panathinaikos OPAP should be prepared for enough pick-and-roll from “1”. But not with the logic we’ve seen so far from Daryl Macon (see Execution by the Periphery in Year One or Two If Opposing Defenses Change).

The newly acquired guardian is not the player on whom the whole thing in the execution level can be based. The main concern is creation for the rest, with their own shot being the last choice – among those he can get.

This is confirmed by the fact that in the last five years (since 2016/17, that is, when the format of the EuroLeague was changed) the isolation affects only 9% of the total holdings – a percentage that implies only 0.4 of such attacks by the same, per game.

On the contrary, as a creator through Pick and Roll, he works on almost half of his property. The 43.5% that emerged from InStat Scout is overwhelming and needs no further explanation. Together, George Papagiannis and Jeremy Evans are the first Panathinaikos OPAP players to “win” from this collaboration.

Of course not the only ones, because the weight of the decisions will be reduced to “2” and “3” in the first year – especially now to Nemanja Nedovic, Daryl Makon and Ioannis Papapetrou.

The leader of the greens has taken on great responsibility as an operator through the pick and roll due to the weakness of the rest and the lack of such point guards. It is gradually becoming clear, however, that this phenomenon is being reduced (ss: it will not go away, given), which gives the international striker more opportunities to execute either in the catch and shoot or through the low post.

The percentages don’t tell the whole truth

If you look at Stefan Jovic’s career share in a three-point game, you can see that the EuroLeague speaks of 38.4% in 123 games of the tournament. The truth, of course, is that he’s not as good a regional shooter as the percentage suggests. After all, he is a player who, from 6:75 minutes (1.96 threes per game in the EuroLeague), needs a small number of tries, simply because he knows that shooting from such distances is not his “burden”.

Opera and means that Panathinaikos OPAP does not solve exactly two problems with a transfer (see creation and margin setting).

It is precisely for this reason that Stefan Jovic’s scouting report in the EuroLeague focuses heavily on the personal opponent’s tendency to go under the screens he is using. Generally, opposing teams prefer to “play” with their own shot rather than their ability to create and pass the big one that cuts into the basket.

It is clear that Dimitris Priftis knows this detail well (he treated him as an opponent in the VTB league) so he knows the “pluses” and “minuses” firsthand.

But will an attack be possible in which Stefan Jovic and Howard Sand Ross coexist on the periphery? This is a question that makes sense given the competitive nature of both.

Solves fundamental problems

The big picture is what matters, but in this case it’s readable. Stefan Jovic comes to Panathinaikos OPAP to beautify the situation creatively and trend-setting enough to put a regional line in order, which suffers in the critical moment in size and decision-making ability.

So this is the major for Dimitris Priftis. How the 31-year-old point guard will react more confidently to what is happening on the ground from now on – if he is of course well prepared – limit the outbursts of instinct (see Daryl Makon) and invest in the philosophy of reading, defending the opponent and aiming the remaining five focus on getting the balls they need when the right conditions are right.

In other words, he will have the ground general who was robbed in the first half of the season, but also the one that both George Vovoras and Odent Katas were never available to.