(rodhig) A quick search through Youtube provides plenty of evidence for Nemanja Nedovic’s (File) star quality. The Serbian guard introduced himself with this dunk a couple of years back and has gone on to produce enough highlights to get Lietuvos Rytas fans quite excited about his signing.

Of course reality tends to be a little more complicated than the promise of the occasional mixtape. Nedovic was merely a rotation player for Red Star Belgrade last season, as he is not polished enough to run the offense like a point guard and his shaky jumper prevents him from producing consistently when playing off the ball. However, there are other parts of his game that would allow him to contribute immediately to a Euroleague team – even when there is no room for his trademark drives.

Nedovic tends to look for his own shot coming off the ball screen. His shooting percentage and assists-to-turnover ratio suggest that he would be better served if he involved the roll man more often, as opposed to attacking the rim even when there is no opening. But he is not comfortable doing that – at least not yet.

This means that Lietuvos Rytas should introduce him to a somewhat limited role and see where he goes from there. Under coach Svetislav Pesic, Nedovic did a good job off the bench, pushing the ball in transition and finding the open man on the wings. He also learned how to keep the ball moving through simple, fundamentally sound passes. He may not be ready to be the primary ball handler, but he can help his team play fast-paced, efficient basketball, even though his shooting will probably not help with spacing. More importantly, though, he can help Lietuvos Rytas play better defense.

If you watched the Lithuanian League finals this past May, you probably noticed that Zalgiris Kaunas guards had their way against the likes of Tyrese Rice (File), Aleksandar Rasic (File) and Renaldas Seibutis (File). And while the team from Vilnius had deeper defensive issues than the individual shortcomings of its backcourt players, the addition of Nedovic should help. Thanks to his combination of athleticism, footwork, aggressiveness and anticipation, the Serbian guard has the opportunity to evolve into an above average defender, both on and off the ball, provided he doesn’t foul as much. Although that problem could also be the product of Red Star’s relentlessly aggressive defense.

Nedovic is not as hyped as the previous generation of Serbian exports to Euroleague teams (Milos Teodosic (File), Novica Velickovic (File), Nemanja Bjelica (File) etc), mainly because he hasn’t gotten the same amount of playing time. But you should keep in mind that all those talented young guns struggled with the transition from Adriatic League stars to Euroleague contributors, in large part due to the lesser freedom they were granted. Nedovic does not appear ready to take on a great deal of responsibility, but his career so far has prepared him for life as a rotation player at the highest level of European hoops.

Fabien Caseur’s (File) highlight reel is not as exciting, but the French guard is exactly the sort of intriguing signing you have come to expect from Josean Querejeta and Caja Laboral. Of course this intrigue does not always translate into championships. Caja Laboral has been a model organization in terms of their scouting network, talent evaluation methods and player development program. This attention to detail has turned the Vitoria club into a true force in the transfer market, but over the last couple of seasons the product on the court has not met the offseason promise.

In any case, Caja Laboral are looking to address a significant deficiency in last season’s roster through the addition of Causeur. The failed Reggie Williams experiment, along with Thomas Heurtel’s (File) growing pains and Fernando San Emeterio’s (File) up-and-down season, forced Dusko Ivanovic to restructure his offense, attacking from inside out. The emergence of Mirza Teletovic (File) as a low-post threat allowed Caja Laboral to rely less on their drive-and-kick game, but this option will not be available next season. In other words, they needed another slasher. Causer is exactly that.

With Maciej Lampe (File) spreading the floor and Milko Bjelica (File) being capable of stepping out of the paint as well (with varying degrees of success), Causeur should have plenty of opportunities to showcase his ball-handling skills. At Cholet, the French international was at his best in pick and rolls, where he would use the screen to create his own shot, draw fouls and occasionally find the open man. His court vision is quite promising – notice how he doesn’t limit his passing options within the context of the two-man game, hitting shooters in the weak side. And for a guard that had the ball in his hands so much, his turnover numbers are not that bad, but Causeur was asked to score and he obliged.

At the same time, his athleticism raises some questions. Despite his great size and the fact that his first step allows him to create some separation between himself and the defender, he seems to lack the strength and vertical that would help him finish in traffic with consistency. Moreover, athletic guards have an opportunity to catch up with him after he has made his initial move. The fact that he seems to always go left, along with the occasional Teodosic-esque quick three off the dribble also tend to undermine his efficiency.

Still, Causeur should help a team that was held under 70 points by Real Madrid (not exactly a defensive beast) in the final two games of their playoff series. Incidentally, the only Caja Laboral guard to reach double figures in either of those games was Brad Oleson. This is one example of the need for extra scoring punch in their perimeter. And if the rumours about Roko Ukic (File) returning to Vitoria are true, Causeur will not have to do too much. On the other hand, Caja Laboral’s offensive woes were trivial compared to their struggles on defense, at least in Euroleague competition. For the third season in a row, Ivanovic watched his team posting a below average defensive rating and Causeur does not promise to help turn things around.

The good news is that effort or attitude are not the reasons for his weaknesses on that end of the floor. The bad news is that Causeur simply lacks the physical tools – namely lateral quickness and upper body strength – to become a serviceable defender for his new team. His size should help him in switches against bigger opponents, but other than that, it is hard to see how even Ivanovic’s notoriously hard practice sessions could help him improve dramatically.

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(sJacas) Elsewhere:

• Big things have been happening since we last met here. The Panathinaikos ownership decided to hand the keys to low-profile coach Argiris Pedoulakis, later announced Michael Bramos (File) and Sofoklis Schortsanitis (File) as their first summer signings. Bramos should provide defense and three point shooting, whereas Big Sofo shares many similarities with Ian Vougioukas, namely inside-scoring, drawing fouls, crashing the offensive boards, but also piss-poor defensive rebounding and more than suspect pick and roll defense. Pedoulakis is known for dealing with inexperienced players, but if the first signings are any indication, building a young roster is not what the ownership has in mind. Pao’s youngest rotation player from last season, Nick Calathes, meanwhile left for Lokomotiv Kuban.
• Montepaschi signed notorious ball thief Daniel Hackett (File) to a two-year-deal.
• CSKA’s summer has not been overly spectacular so far, but the roster additions do speak of a certain awareness of where they are planning to go this year. Both Vladimir Micov (File) and Zoran Erceg (File) are fine passers for their respective positions and should thus fare well in Messina’s do-pass-don’t-dribble halfcourt offense, and with Erceg also shooting the ball extremely well for a power forward – one of the best three point shooters among more than 500 power forwards in the database – , floor spacing should be guaranteed to establish.
• EA Milano’s 2011/12 Euroleague troubles were largely connected to poor scoring output. With the addition of Keith Langford (File) and the return of Malik Hairston (File), those issues should be addressed. David Chiotti (File) adds rebounding qualities.
• Alongside Causeur’s reported 500k € deal, Caja Laboral signed Tibor Pleiss (File) to a one-million-Euro-per-year deal, according to German yellow press. Pleiss was outstanding in offensive and defensive rebounding as well as shotblocking in the BBL. His pick-and-roll game has seen major improvements, too.
• Partizan signed French playmaker Leo Westermann (File), a fine high-IQ allrounder and personal favourite of mine, to a three-year-deal. He’ll be coached by Dusko Vujosevic, as the legend makes his return to the Partizan sidelines.
• Lietuvos Rytas, alongside Nedovic, added sharp-shooting Latvian guard Janis Blums (File) from Bilbao and took Croatian big man Leon Radosevic (File) on loan from Milano, for one season.
• Zalgiris is keeping Paulius Jankunas (File), Marko Popovic (File) and Vytenis Lipkevicius for another season.
• In Germany, ALBA re-signed power forward Sven Schultze (File) for the 2012/13 season, while Brose Baskets re-signed defensive swingman Karsten Tadda (File). Brose is dealing with the departure of the entire frontline (Pleiss, Slaughter, Suput, Tucker) but should have a decent chance on re-signing guards Roberts, Gavel and, if fit again, Goldsberry. Clearly the most difficult task lies in finding two mobile fours who score the ball well from both two- and three-point-range, which is precisely what Suput and Tucker did.
• Anadolou Efes added Pinar Karsiyaka shooting guard Birkan Batuk (File) and announced former Galatasaray head coach Oktay Mahmuti to guide the ship.
• Elsewhere in Istanbul, Fenerbahce announced Simone Pianigiani, while Besiktas appointed Erman Kunter as head coach.
• Last but not least, Real Madrid announced the signing of Rudy Fernandez (File) today. Real still owned Rudy’s ACB rights, and he is only going to make the ACB vice-champion even quicker in half court. With the departure of Velickovic and Tomic, Laso appears to be aiming to conclude his project of turning Real into a high-speed train next season.