:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47342424/455332432.0.0.jpg)
Fenerbahce Ulker put the ball in young Bogdan Bogdanovic's hands to win a preseason game against the NBA's Brooklyn Nets tonight by a final score of 101-96. The Turkish club came all the way overseas to play a couple of preseason games, and now stand 2-2 all-time in contests against NBA teams.
Phoenix Suns GM Ryan McDonough watched his draft stash (drafted in the first round by the Suns in 2014, but not expected to join the NBA until 2016 or 2017) score 17 points in the win while the Nets' Bogdanovic (this one named Bojan, no relation) scored only three points. Jan Vesely led Fener with 18 points.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had 17 points on 5-of-15 in 30 minutes. 2-of-6 from 3 with 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 turnovers.
His most impactful points came with less than two minutes left and his team holding a one-point lead. He drove into the basket for the hoop-and-harm to seal it.
Bogdan Bogdanovic hits a layup in traffic to give Fenerbahce a 96-93 lead. He has 16 points. Bojan has three. #Nets
— Mike Mazzeo (@MazzESPN) October 6, 2015
Now let's put this into context. Say it with me: it's a preseason game. It's a preseason game. It's a preseason game.
However, it's Bogdan's first taste of NBA competition so we at least smile at the result. Let's get Tom Lorenzo's first-hand scouting report. Tom runs NetsDaily.com, our brother SB Nation site in Brooklyn.
DK: How is he looking so far (early in the first half)?
Tom: So far what I can tell you, from what I've seen just tonight... He can score, was impressed with his aggressiveness on offense. On defense, he was pretty good -- better than I expected him to be -- though made a few questionable decisions (he lost Bojan on the fastbreak, and had a few moments overall on defense where he looked lost -- he was good, not great). That said, he pretty much shut down Bojan Bogdanovic in the first half, so there were moments -- but he got help on a few plays where Bojan beat him.
Again, this was my first time seeing him play live, but if I had to...this round goes to Bogdan. Pretty impressive kid. The offense is there and the defense looked promising, but still has some room to grow.
DK: Later in the game, I asked: what kind of scorer Bogdan is for Fenerbahce?
Tom: He was more of a shooter than a playmaker. For the most part he was standing around the perimeter, but in the third quarter they kept trying to free him up off the screen. He came off the screen a few times in the third, took it to the basket once (didn't score), and then looked to dump it off on the next play -- Vesely missed a long jumper with the shot clock winding down. He was looking more for jumpers, though. He's taken 10 shots, 4 of them are threes. Most, if I recall correctly, were long jumpers or pull-ups near the FT line. Overall, though, he was looking for jumpers and mostly (*mostly*) playing around the perimeter; catch and shoot.
And here's the footnote from Tom:
He just went hard to the hoop with Fener up 1 and just over 2 minutes and got the And-1. Strong drive -- granted, it's against the end of the Nets bench -- but their putting the ball in his hands and looking for him to win it.