Filip Kruslin

Filip Kruslin delivered pretty much the same stuff he has been showcasing in the past year. He’s a very skilled and fundamentally sound player who primarily lives off his shooting touch. Enjoying fluid mechanics, he’s extremely solid from any range and also in off the dribble fashion. He often uses a crossover to unbalance his opponent before going up for the jumper. Despite being a solid ball-handler, he’s a poor one-on-one player who can’t beat his opponents on a regular basis, primarily because he’s not a very quick guy. Athleticism is an issue when talking about his potential. Anyway, he’s a fairly strong player that can take contact and still score from short distances.

Selected for the all-tournament team, Kruslin led Cibona with his offensive punch. We’re talking about a very skilled and fundamentally sound wing, with nice size, strength and limited quickness and explosiveness. Kruslin enjoys a nice and fluid shooting stroke, looking really smooth whenever he goes for the mid-range jumper. He also displays solid ball-handling skills to drive (even in traffic) and perform change of direction moves--like a reverse or cross-over for example-- nice passing skills and a good basketball IQ. You can tell he feels the game watching him evolving on court. Still, his athletic shortcomings limit his ability to beat his opponents off the dribble, as well as his long-term potential. The NBA seems out of reach for him at this point.

One of the most impressive players of this weekend was Cibona Zagreb swingman Kruslin. Already having a nice body and size for the shooting guard position, Kruslin showed outstanding skills and one of the most impressive athletic builds here.

Even though most players of his size and athleticism do not necessarily look to be creative, Kruslin seems to be different in this case. He came up with some nice assists, looking more and more confident with the ball with his hands. His outside shooting isn’t that bad, although the stats would argue the opposite, even though the strongest part of his game is his slashing. He can take the ball to the basket particularly well, aided by his speed and athleticism. On defense, he is a fine man to man presence, thanks to his strong legs and big body, and also a good rebounder who can come up with some nice steals.

On the other hand, he lacks the necessary experience to be a steady factor throughout the game. He doesn’t have stability on both ends of the court and is not necessarily something more than an average player for his team at this point, without necessarily excelling in many fields of the game. He is a pretty heavy player, in opposition to the more lighter shooting guards of the other teams and will need to improve his lateral quickness to become more agile and flexible. His all-around game looks potentially good, but not in order and as a result the only way for him to present it was against the much weaker Prague 2006 team. He probably needs to play more time against better competition to focus on the shooting guard fundamentals, in order to be judged accordingly. Therefore, there isn’t much more to say for him in this incomplete weekend, competition-wise. His status should be improving over time and especially when he plays against stronger competition over the summer’s Junior European Championships.