With a spin move, Irving effortlessly floated past Collison’s prone body. In a sequence that featured 11 total dribbles, Irving needed just three to ratchet up his speed while splitting Myles Turner and Bojan Bogdanovic before finishing on the opposite side of the basket. “His feet. His feet are always moving,” Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown said. “He has good handle, of course. But his feet, he can change pace at a drop of a dime. “I think that’s what helps him take it to another level.”
Bojan Bogdanovic Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: G-F
Born: 04/18/89
Height: 6-8 / 2.03
Weight:216 lbs. / 98 kg.
Salary: $10,500,000
Born: 04/18/89
Height: 6-8 / 2.03
Weight:216 lbs. / 98 kg.
Salary: $10,500,000
J. Michael Falgoust: Bogdanovic is practicing today. Young is off to the side shooting on his own still #Pacers
The NBA offseason seems to shrink each year, but that’s especially true for Bojan Bogdanovic as the Pacers carefully bring along their projected starting small forward in training camp. After two-a-days to opened Tuesday, they held out Bogdanovic from Wednesday’s single session at St. Vincent Center. He played for his homeland, Croatia, in the 2019 FIBA Basketball Cup European Qualifiers and that stretched until late in September.
“I’m a little bit fatigued but I’m ready to do whatever they ask me to do. I’m ready for practice. I’m not tired,” Bogdanovic said. “Every summer is always the same for me. I spend almost the whole summer with my national team in training camp. That’s what I love. That’s what I’m proud of.”
Team officials are alerted to the fact how nine players (Darren Collison, Cory Joseph, Tyreke Evans, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thad Young, Kyle O’Quinn, Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, and T.J. Leaf) could all be free agents after the season. That means the competition within the team should be even greater, but it could cause issues if a player becomes number (and thus contract) driven. “That can be a blessing or a curse,” McMillan admitted. “The big thing is that chemistry that was so good last year — do our guys all of a sudden come into this season and get to thinking about yourself, as opposed to sacrificing and playing the game the way we play?
The NBA calendar consists of two seasons — the one in winter where you play games in pubic arenas that count and the one in the summer that is nearly as structured and demanding in which you where you grind in private gyms. The offseason is a misnomer, rendered moot by the natural evolution of players competing to get better. What the Pacers did a few weeks ago, however, pushed the envelope beyond anything that’s occurred in franchise history. Every player except Bojan Bogdanovic, who is playing for his national team in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Europe, flew to Miami to work at the request of Victor Oladipo, who has established his summer base in the city.
Dmitry Planidin: NBAers in today’s #FIBAWC qualifiers: Cedi Osman vs Slovenia (19p/11r/3s), Ersan Ilyasova vs Slovenia (14p/6r), Forkan Korkmaz vs Slovenia (24p/5r/3s), Alex Len vs Montenegro (13p/7r), Svi Mykhailiuk vs Montenegro (15p/5r), Dario Saric vs Poland (17p/7r/4a), Ante Zizic vs Poland (13p/8r), Bojan Bogdanovic vs Poland (22p/5a)
