How Did Mirotic Sour On Spain?

Xplosive

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Nice article about Nikola being a bit of a prima donna whose act has worn thin in Europe...


http://sportscenterlive.net/how-nikola-mirotics-season-and-maybe-his-tenure-ended-with-real-madrid/

The Bulls have been high on the Spanish forward since he was drafted, but poor end with Real Madrid might have Chicago wanting to readjust its expectations.

The forward has changed his mind after head coach Pablo Laso decided to decrease his importance in Real Madrid’s system

It has not been an easy 2013-2014 season for Real Madrid Basketball. Under head coach Pablo Laso, the team signed one of Europe’s most dominating Centers in Ioannis Bourousis in order to win their 9th European title. After all, that was what the team was lacking when they lost against Olympiakos in the 2013 Euroleague Final. With Bourousis on the roster, Real Madrid had the best team in Europe and they were also playing a very attractive style of basketball. Everything was going well, and Real Madrid managed to break Spain’s record for most consecutive wins -28-, but a catastrophic loss against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 2014 Euroleague Final set the tone for yet another failure in the Spanish league Playoffs.

Nikola Mirotic, arguably one of the continent’s greatest players, never performed that way this season. He was so angry after the loss against Maccabi that he decided to stay another year in the Spanish capital and play another season for Real Madrid before joining the NBA. His performance on that Final was so bad that he felt he owed something to the fanbase and the squad. But during the Spanish playoffs, something happened. Mirotic still struggled and head coach Pablo Laso decreased his importance in the team. He wasn’t getting as many shots and minutes. It should be noted that Mirotic never was Real Madrid’s franchise player. Rudy Fernández and Sergio Rodríguez are Laso’s go-to guys, and although this might seem strange to some NBA fans that recall both Spanish players as mediocre, they’re still able to dominate European basketball. But still, Mirotic appeared to play carelessly throughout the Playoffs, so Laso decided to bench him more often. He pretty much made Bostjan Nachbar an NBA All-Star with his mediocre defensive game against him. And now, Real Madrid’s board is so tired of him that they want Mirotic to pay those 2.5M€ and join the NBA. That’s not a lot of money in American basketball, but Real Madrid can do a lot with that money, so considering that Mirotic now wants to leave as well, both parts are ready to say good-bye.

It will not be easy for Mirotic to adapt to the NBA. He definitely has the skills to be an important player in the future, but his mentality and attitude is what should be worrying every Chicago Bulls fan. Mirotic wasn’t ready to take a step forward when his team needed him, so how will he adapt to fight for a spot in a basketball team that will require him to prove himself? Those fans expecting a new version of Dirk Nowitzki need to lower their expectations. Again, he has the skills, just like many other players, but what makes a good basketball player into an All Star is a competitive mindset and hunger to be the best. Mirotic has not been that player in Europe’s biggest competition for the club that raised him and shaped him into the player he is today. If Mirotic finds that mentality and desire to be the best and gets rid of his agent -whose advice isn’t exactly good for him-, he will be able to succeed in the NBA and be an important player, but if he doesn’t, his skills will not be enough against much tougher defensive matchups and a league in which is not easy to get guaranteed shots when playing alongside Derrick Rose or any other star players.
 

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So we're getting another guy that struggles when it matters most?
 

ChiSoxCity

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The level of difficulty and competition in the NBA is exponentially higher. What Mirotic does/doesn't do in Spain is irrelevant.

He lacks the physicality to make an immediate impact, so he'll probably be a permanent fixture on the bench for a few years anyway.
 

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NOW the negative articles on Niko come out....now.
 

ChettheJet

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So we're getting another guy that struggles when it matters most?


That or he pouts when he isn't the center of attention and thinks he should be catered to. Which if he can play makes him an NBA fit. You'd like to hope he felt like he got the shaft from the coach because of a personality conflict and lost his focus. At least then you could convince yourself that he'll get a fresh start and will respond to being treated like everyone else on the Bulls. What scares you is he'll be living in America for the first time and everything will be new, maybe even the language. The Bulls have to have a support syatem in place for him to help him adjust.

The level of difficulty and competition in the NBA is exponentially higher. What Mirotic does/doesn't do in Spain is irrelevant.

He lacks the physicality to make an immediate impact, so he'll probably be a permanent fixture on the bench for a few years anyway.

We have been treated to an endless stream of how he was the best player in Europe and as soon as he would get a pair of red and black shorts and be a star. I didn't believe the hype but we're going to see if he's closer to Toni Kukoc or Dragan Tarlac.



NOW the negative articles on Niko come out....now.

There are ultra fans who aren't going to be saying much now that they've heard something negative because they idolized a player they had never seen play.
 

payton 34ever

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Where were these articles before he decided to leave Spain? Really? This is literally the first time I've seen something like this. Sour grapes?
 

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So when he's in Spain he's the next big thing, but when he decides to leave all of a sudden he makes NBA wash outs look like All Stars. Hmmm...that's not fishy at all.
 

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The level of difficulty and competition in the NBA is exponentially higher. What Mirotic does/doesn't do in Spain is irrelevant.

He lacks the physicality to make an immediate impact, so he'll probably be a permanent fixture on the bench for a few years anyway.

It's not the 90s. It's quite favorable for guys like Mirotic now.
 

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So when he's in Spain he's the next big thing, but when he decides to leave all of a sudden he makes NBA wash outs look like All Stars. Hmmm...that's not fishy at all.

My thought as well

----»Sent from above.
 

Johnnyt237

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I've seen him play alittle bit. He's got a nice shooting stroke but needs to get stronger and refine his game. I don't think he's Dirk good but that kind of improvement from when he first got in the league to at least try to round out his game some.
 

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So we're getting another guy that struggles when it matters most?

Okay. Who in the hell is this "expert" anyway? Am I supposed to believe some douche named "sportsfan"? I vision some pimply faced nerd latched to a computer that gets 10 bucks an hour to write for a blog. I prefer NBA scouts who have called him the most NBA ready player since Dirk to come from Europe.
 

CODE_BLUE56

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Regardless, it's going to be a big transition from Euro to the NBA. The NBA is a different style of play, a different level of basketball. Mirotic can live well as a stretch 4, but he needs to get a little bigger if he wants to be more than a spot up guy. The extra weight will help him a lot on defense so he won't give up positioning so easily. I wouldn't expect a lot in his first season(assuming that he does indeed come across the pond), but I'd like to proven wrong.

Also, it seems like this meeting with the Bulls was news to them, according to an article I just read. The article also stated that Mirotic is on the backburner for the Bulls with them considering Anthony and all. I'm not sure how true that is, I think it's a matter of how things play out for them and whether Mirotic and the Bulls can come to an agreement. We'll see.
 

Raskolnikov

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The level of difficulty and competition in the NBA is exponentially higher. What Mirotic does/doesn't do in Spain is irrelevant.

He lacks the physicality to make an immediate impact, so he'll probably be a permanent fixture on the bench for a few years anyway.

ooopps!!

I hope the euro-soft label is dissappearing fast. I didn't expect his arms to be so useful. Clearly Mirotic is going to get 1-2 steals per game, while McBuckets gets none, ever.

Interesting article form OP, it raises questions about his last 15 months, but it sounds like the team knew he wanted NBA and it was a toxic relationship with coach/management and if his minutes were reduced that could have even been agent initiated to preserve him for NBA. I don't think he is a premaddonna, I don't get that vibe form him, but I could see how he would be percieved that way from a bitter ex-girlfriend spanish club sad their asset is leaving.
 

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LMAO who is this "Sportsfan", never read such a pile of dribble. Saying it's not been an easy season for Real Madrid is like saying Joakim Noah finds it hard to stand up. Real Madrid breezed the league, they finished number 1 seed in the ACB and lost just 2 games in the regular 34 game season and 4 of 10 games in the playoffs... they just got coached bad in the finals against Barca and Barcelona just had more in the tank and thats it. They sailed into the finals of the playoffs too, before the 1st game they only lost a combined 3 games all year in the domestic league.

Anyway just to prove its a useless pile of dribble... It says...

He was so angry after the loss against Maccabi that he decided to stay another year in the Spanish capital and play another season for Real Madrid before joining the NBA. His performance on that Final was so bad that he felt he owed something to the fanbase and the squad. But during the Spanish playoffs, something happened. Mirotic still struggled and head coach Pablo Laso decreased his importance in the team.

Now both playoff finals happened in May this year... the seasons only started on the 4th and 16th of this month for those competitions so I as im sure you all are sure too am pretty convinced he didnt stay another year. Also if I was the coach of Madrid and had a kid that guided me to 2 ACB Playoff finals winning one and being MVP, as well as 2 Euroleague finals in the same seasons then Im pretty sure I wouldnt be blaming a 22/23 year old for not performing in 1 game when theres also very experienced guys like Llull, Nocioni and Rudy Fernandez in the team.

Rubbish article from some guy that I doubt really watches the Euroleague or ACB.

Pffffft Vent over :p
 

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The level of difficulty and competition in the NBA is exponentially higher. What Mirotic does/doesn't do in Spain is irrelevant.

He lacks the physicality to make an immediate impact, so he'll probably be a permanent fixture on the bench for a few years anyway.

To me, that article was a hit piece by a guy who had a hard-on for Mirotic. The guy has a big time amount of talent and will be an all-star in the league. It is up to Thibs to figure out how to mix and match the guy because I could see he and Rose making things very easy for each other.
 

JaySix

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what I read was that he got so angry about losing a game that he stayed on for another year then got pissed off when his minutes was decreased in favour of Ex mediocre NBA players while he himself is regarded by just about anyone to be one of the best european prospects out there....

as a Bulls fan I struggle to see the problem here...
 

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