Why Perfecting The Euro-Pass Is A Priority For Vasilije Micić

Despite having almost 15 years of professional experience and a trophy case chock-full of awards, new Charlotte Hornets’ rookie point guard Vasilije Micić is still adjusting to the NBA game. Like how many fellow Europeans who came before him also did, the 30-year-old Serbian is utilizing a dazzling display of passing, flare, and trickery to assist with his assimilation. 

Micić (pronounced vah-SEAL-yeah me-chitch, or Vasa for short) was only 16 years old when he signed with Mega Basket in Belgrade, Serbia, a club that primarily caters to young up-and-coming national-level players. A handful of other NBAers, most notably two-time MVP Nikola Jokić, have also come through this program. After four years there, Micić then played for Bayern Munich (Germany), Crvena zvezda (Serbia), Tofaş (Turkey), Žalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania), and Anadolu Efes (Turkey), where he was the 2021 EuroLeague MVP and a EuroLeague Champion and Final Four MVP in both 2021 and 2022. Philadelphia originally drafted Micić with the 52^nd overall pick in 2014, then traded his rights to Oklahoma City in December of 2020.

Combining domestic league, EuroCup, EuroLeague, Serbian National Team, and then NBA competitions, Micić has probably played about 700 professional games over the course of his career. But unlike what has become the recent norm here in the United States, Micić’s early basketball development was largely centered on practicing, rather than just playing games.

 “[The Europeans] grow up in an entirely different way than we do here,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford. “They go to academies when they’re younger. They’re picked as elite athletes in their country. They’re living in basketball, and I think when you go over there, it’s all fundamentals. It’s learning to play without the ball, when to pass, how to pass. They just get so much instruction and spend so much time in the gym, that they develop. Right now, our younger guys [in the United States] are playing three-on-three, five-on-five and playing five games in a weekend, which is really the opposite of what the European guys are doing.”

Clifford added that while the shot-making and creation by American prospects is as good as it’s ever been right now, the basketball IQ and understanding of team concepts on both ends has dropped off. In essence, the modern developmental approach for Americans leans more towards the individual, while the Europeans focus on the team.

Which, especially for a distributor like Micić, means facilitating has been a staple since the onset of his career. It’s also a skill that becomes even more refined in group settings compared to solo ones. “We are playing from a very early age the pick-and-roll game,” he said. “Being able to read in the moment is something that you must have naturally. We have to find a way to play the game against guys that are very athletic, like Americans. They are very dominant physically. You must find different ways to contribute and one of those ways is to read the game well.”

Another reason that passing is so important in Europe is the size of the court. A standard NBA playing surface measures 94 feet long by 50 feet wide (28.7 by 15.2 meters), while the FIBA version is 91.9 feet by 49.2 feet (28 by 15 meters). It might not seem like much, but that’s a difference of 178.52 cubic feet. The floor shrinks even more with no defensive three seconds called in FIBA play, plus a 3-point line that’s 0.49 meters closer to the basket than the NBA’s.

Games in the EuroLeague (a year-long tournament between Europe’s best 18 teams from the previous season) are divided into four 10-minute quarters with a 24-second shot clock. Last season, Serbia’s Partizan had the EuroLeague’s top offensive rating (123.3 points per 100 possessions), with another seven squads finishing at 117.9 or higher. As for pace, Germany’s ALBA Berlin was the quickest (72.2 possessions per 40 minutes), followed by seven additional teams who all averaged at least 70.0.   

The 2022-23 NBA leaders in offensive rating and pace were Sacramento (118.6) and Golden State (102.54 possessions per 48 minutes; 85.45 per 40 minutes). Interestingly, the top half of the EuroLeague all registered an offensive efficiency comparable to that of the NBA’s best, though those marks came in significantly slower, likely heavier halfcourt settings. The scoring numbers only further accentuate this gap. Spain’s Baskonia led the EuroLeague with 103.3 points per 48 minutes, a mark well behind the NBA’s last-place-finishing Miami Heat’s 108.8. 

So, smaller courts, less spacing, less game time, fewer possessions, and a much slower tempo all contribute to points being a premium commodity in the EuroLeague. But often, simple ball movement isn’t enough. Players need to use their imaginations and intuition to artistically manufacture these precious scoring chances. Charlotte fans have already witnessed several of Micić’s drive-and-kick, no-look highlight passes, with a few ball-fake layups also mixed in. There’s a visible dissection of the opposing defense whenever Micić has the ball, almost as if one can tell in real time he’s moving the metaphorical chess pieces in his mind.  

“For my specific game, passing is something I’m mainly showing here because it’s a way of transition,” explained Micić, who was seventh in both points (16.0) and assists (5.4) and third in minutes (31.3) over 31 EuroLeague outings last year. “Over there, I was also a really aggressive scorer and that’s something that helped me to be very productive with passing. You have to find a way to break the defense. We have a lot of hedge defense, a lot of trap defense, which forces everyone to be creative with their passing abilities. There aren’t as many isolation plays. It’s a different type of game, but it definitely forces you to think faster and create off the passing.” 

The NBA player who Micić was drawn to most growing up was two-time MVP and Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash. He also sampled from other Europeans like fellow Serbian and 2010 EuroLeague MVP Miloš Teodosić, who played with the LA Clippers from 2017-19, and Lithuanian Šarūnas Jasikevičius, a four-time EuroLeague Champion and his former Žalgiris coach (pictured below). Another was Greek guard Dimitris Diamantidis, a two-time EuroLeague Final Four MVP, a three-time EuroLeague Champion, and a member of the EuroLeague’s past two All-Decade Teams. 

Measuring six feet, three inches tall has opened Micić’s passing inventory, as it did too, for Nash (6’3”), Teodosić (6’5”), Jasikevičius (6’4”) and Diamantidis (6’5”). Taller point guards usually have clearer sightlines over defenders and thus, more available passing windows. European players are also taught ball-handling early on in development, which is usually another skill that stays with them even as they start growing and separating themselves physically.

Through Tuesday night’s action, three of the NBA’s top-five nightly assist leaders were all European (Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić, and Domantas Sabonis), in addition to four of the top 12 in passes made (Jokić, Sabonis, Dennis Schröder, and Dončić). Scanning the NBA’s assist leaderboard for centers, nine of the top-15 are either from Europe or were raised there (Jokić, Alperen Şengün, Jusuf Nurkić, Nikola Vučević, Victor Wembanyama, Jakob Poeltl, Jonas Valančiūnas, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Kristaps Porziņģis).

These special passing abilities have helped many past European big men with their adjustments to the NBA. Vlade Divac’s ball-handling immediately meshed with the high-octane Showtime Lakers. Toni Kukoč and Pau Gasol thrived in Phil Jackson’s Triangle offense, a formation that stresses passing, cutting, and spacing. Though injuries had begun taking a toll on seven-foot, three-inch center Arvydas Sabonis when he come over in 1995, his sensational footwork and court vision allowed him to play seven NBA seasons for Portland. Of the 29 all-time NBA players six feet, ten inches or taller with at least 2,500 assists, more than a third are European (10).   

Over the past decade or so, the NBA has become inundated with increased ball movement, an area that Europeans are more than well equipped for. “I think there was a lot of unknown fifteen or twenty years ago,” said Toronto Raptors Head Coach Darko Rajaković, another Serbian native. “Now that the game has become such a global thing, there is so much more information. Players know what to expect with their transition coming to the NBA. There is a much better support system that is ongoing now. I think it’s just going to continue to help bridge the difference between international basketball and the NBA.”

Right now, Micić is receiving almost double the minutes he did in Oklahoma City, where he was an on-and-off-again member of the rotation. The crafty maestro has instantly capitalized on his heightened role, posting averages of 8.6 points, 5.6 assists and only 1.7 turnovers in seven reserve appearances. A propensity for making brilliant passes has opened the NBA door for Vasilije Micić and now, a change of scenery should help him take the next steps through it.