Blazers’ Jusuf Nurkic is turning heads in FIBA Basketball competition

Under the looks of Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups, Jusuf Nurkic is having a starring role for Bosnia-Herzegovina at EuroBasket 2022. The Portland Trail Blazers center is one of the leaders of a team that holds a 2-2 record and surprised the world by defeating Luka Doncic powerhouse Slovenia.

The Blazers’ executives made their presence felt from the first game when Bosnia-Herzegovina took on Hungary in a hard-fought clash that ended in victory for Nurkic’s team. The center finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 20:47 minutes.

Beyond the initial numbers, he could be seen fulfilling a different role than the one he has in Portland, building and generating from the low post for his teammates, and running fast in transition as in his times paired with Damian Lillard.

Bosnia-Herzegovina plays like the Portland Trail Blazers

Bosnia-Herzegovina’s playing style is benefiting him, as it is similar to Portland’s, which is, according to FIBA, the seventh-highest scoring team in EuroBasket (85.5).

Lots of possessions, quick attacks, and a little bit of low pace plays when they can’t run are things are greatly benefiting Nurkic heading into the 2022-23 NBA season.

Attentive on defense, and contributing on offense, he’s taking advantage of these games to display all of his scoring skills. Only 16 players are averaging more points than him in the tournament (16.5) and he carries them with 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 29.4 minutes.

Unfortunately, his weakness continues to be the three-point shooting and he only scored 5 of his 20 attempts in that area (25%). The important thing is that he keeps trying to get into a rhythm and fluidity for the NBA season, where he should create space from the line with his shooting.

Collectively speaking, Bosnia-Herzegovina could not hold in the second day against the Germany of Franz Wagner, Dennis Schroder, and company, and lost 92-82, until on the third day they came through with the surprise victory against the Slovenia of Doncic, who came from an unbeaten 11 games in the tournament.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJUGE9ggexM

Thanks to this, Bosnia-Herzegovina came second in Group B, which is being played in Cologne, Germany. But after that victory, the Bosnians lost by a small margin to Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier´s France 68-81, dropped to third place, and can only qualify for the next round today if Hungary beats Lithuania.

To finish the group stage, tomorrow they’ll have to face Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis’ Lithuania in the group of death to seek a place in the next round. If the Lithuanians win today, the winner of tomorrow’s match will qualify for the next round and the loser will be out.

What are the differences between FIBA and the NBA?

Finally, taking stock of the tournament so far, Nurkic reflected on the refereeing differences between FIBA and NBA and explained what happened in the decisive minutes against Germany in an interview for Eurohoops.

"“I think FIBA is struggling with the rules. They have to catch up with the NBA. I had so many opportunities to get fouls. For example, when Wagner was going to dunk the ball, it was a block and it was called a foul. Ok, let’s move on. And then when I turned around against Theis in the post, he was pushing me, and it was not a foul, it was a block by Wagner. At the end of the day, we understand that they are playing at their home, there’s the home crowd and the refs are not going to let us rest. We don’t care too much and we are going to move forward”."

Bosnia-Herzegovina still has a lot to fight for at EuroBasket 2022 and Jusuf Nurkic is competing well ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season and will be ready to train and compete with his teammates in Portland.