Focusing on Tomic, he put up two very solid performances. First, he helped Zagreb get past Euroleague team Cibona with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 block in 26 minutes, and then posted 7 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists in a very competitive Final against Zadar.
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This game showed us exactly why Tomic is considered such a high-profile prospect, but also why he is still some years away from contributing anything significant at the highest level. Starting with the negatives, Ante was unable to establish good position on either block, being outmuscled and outhustled regularly. He was able to come away with 9 rebounds, but his work on the glass was poor in the first half when Zadar was able to get many offensive boards. After the halftime break, Tomic played with better intensity and showed much more poise coming up with some difficult rebounds. Even more concerning was that he gave up good position down low to anyone he guarded. While Tomic shows some toughness and hardiness, his slim and weak body greatly limits his production at this current stage. Crucial for him is to gain at least 30 pounds, which he should be able to do, although his frame doesn`t look particularly good. His shot-blocking is almost non-existent, as Tomic lacks vertical explosivness and is fairly limited when trying to get off the ground, rarely playing above the rim regardless of his great size. This also limits him on the offensive side where he somewhat stuggles finishing in traffic and sees his shots swatted away at a higher clip than most 7-foot-2 players should.
Tomic ran the court extremely well today, on couple of sequences being the first Zagreb player to get back on the defensive side. He has quick feet and nice mobility as well as good footwork in the paint. Tomic moves much better horizontally than he does vertically. He didn't score much today, but was an important part of Zagreb's offense, because of his nifty passing and great understanding off the game. Tomic fed his teammates very well from the high post, recognizing openings in the defense and making good decisions - not commiting single turnover in 30 minutes. Ante's upside lies largely in his great hands and feel for the game. He can catch anything thrown his way and has great tehnique, whether speaking about passing, shooting or ball handling. He got plenty of good looks from the mid-range area, but was able to knock down just two of them. While he has good touch on his jumper, more fluidity in his shooting mechanics would probably make him a much prolific jumpshooter, although he is already above average for a Center. Unlike many youngsters, Ante is also pretty skilled in the low post, possessing a variety of moves with his back to the basket. He can release a hook shot with either hand, although not with equal consistency. He is very assertive, being patient and not forcing the shot if the opportunity doesn't present itself.
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Ante Tomic is making baby steps towards becoming the player many project him to be. As it usually goes with Centers, especially this tall, Tomic is progressing slowly, but notably. His averages in the Adriatic league are significantly better than they were last season, and he is now a much bigger factor when on the floor, being an important facilitator in Zagreb's offense from the high post. His coach Zdravko Radulovic is also pleased with his development, saying after the game: " In a great final, maybe even the best in quite some years, two young players were brilliant in Zadar's Jure Lalic and my Tomic. Two young diamonds...it's a win for Croatian basketball. I have a personal satisfaction, because Ante is a better player than he was last year."
While Tomic would likely be eaten alive at the NBA level right now with his frail stature, he is considered one of the most talented young players in Europe thanks to his combination of size, skill and terrific feel for the game. Considering the tender stage of his development as well as the extreme depth of the upcoming draft, it would be a surprise to see him declare for the draft this year. With expected improvement, Ante has a good shot at being a lottery pick in 2008 or 2009. In the best case scenario Tomic, could develop into a quicker version of Zydrunas Iglauskas, while if he rushes
into the NBA too soon, could end up just like Z's countryman Martynas Andriuskevicius.
Ante's an interesting case as far as when to put his name in. He's obviously a 1st round pick, the question is how high does he go. Wherever he lands this year, should he enter, he's going to sit for at least a couple years. He could be taken and then left home for a couple of years, but you wonder if a team would draft him high enough to where they would want him to join the team. Tomic is definitely one of the more intriguing stories of the draft.
On the heels of signing Finnish point guard Petteri Koponen, agent Marc Cornstein returned a call from DraftExpress to discuss the prospects of his latest signing, as well as the many other international players he is currently representing in this year’s draft.
The most intriguing news to come out of that conversation is probably the fact that, according to Cornstein, 7-2 Croatian center Ante Tomic is planning on keeping his name in this year’s draft. “Barring an injury, Tomic is committed to being in this year’s draft,” Cornstein reiterated on numerous occasions. “This is not a case of a European prospect testing the waters looking for feedback. We are not looking to pull his name out.”
Cornstein and his partners at Pinnacle Management are not only expecting Tomic to stay in, they also seem to have a pretty good indication of where he’s going to land in this year’s draft. “I have a good feel for where he’s going to get picked, and I’m very pleased with it.”
Tomic is planning on coming to the States once the Croatian league playoffs are over, if his team makes it. His buyout situation will not be a problem according to Cornstein, as him and the team are likely to work something out for the standard 500K, plus a percentage of his rookie contract.
19-20 year old...he is worth a flyer late 1st IMO. I would take him over Aaron Gray and Nick Fazekas simply because he can stay in Europe for awhile if needed.
Saturday’s game against Split was one of Ante Tomic’s worst performances of the season. In 20 minutes of playing time, Tomic posted seven points while adding three rebounds, an assist plus three turnovers, but what was most importantly, his presence on the court was never felt.
He had no explanation for his terrible performance after the game, but he confirmed the speculations that he’ll enter this year’s NBA Draft. "Yeah, I guess my name will come up at this year’s NBA Draft", said Tomic in his post-game statement. But the young Zagreb’s center still doesn’t want to play for one of the NBA teams.
"I definitely won’t be going to the NBA next season. Even if they would choose me as the first pick, I wouldn’t go to the States. I’m just not ready for it at the moment", stated Tomic. Such a statement is quite surprising as there are reasons to believe that this 20-year old and 217 cm tall Dubrovnik native center could be one of top 20 draft picks. Zoran Planinic was the 22nd pick in the NBA Draft 2002 and so far he is the highest pick of all the Croatian players that were ever drafted to the NBA.
Ante Tomic is growing in consistency as the season advances. He has scored in double digits in the last 11 games he played in the Adriatic League. This past weekend, he scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 3 assists against Split, although it wasn’t enough for his team to get away with the victory.
It is just beautiful to see 7 foter that plays so smart, realy refreshing in modern basketball after tons of bricks like Bagaric developed over last few years. Watch how beatiful he plays, it is just to bad he probabley will never make some big things in basketball because lack of strenght.
some of his new videos: he is usualy yellow or black 4
Ante Tomic
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