The name of Drazen Petrovic has regularly been associated with Luka Doncic since the start of his career. It was enough for the latter to record a historic performance against France to bring up this comparison between the two prodigies. Comparison to which Aleksandar ‘Aco’ Petrovic, who is none other than the brother of the “Mozart of basketball” who died in 1993, does not taste much.
” I heard those comments, it has to do with the way he expresses himself on the pitch and the ease with which he plays. But I also have to say that Drazen mostly played in a noticeably different way than Doncic does today, which is to say as an off-screen shooter. “Summarizes the former coach of Croatia and Brazil, who emphasizes that the Slovenian is first and foremost a playmaker enjoying a lot of freedom.
Summarizing the style of Drazen Petrovic to this role alone seems reductive as the Croatian could be a brilliant creator with the ball in hand. But his qualities as a shooter (44% career 3-point success) made a big impression. Reggie Miller considered him, for example, the best shooter against whom he played, at a time when Stephen Curry was obviously not yet in the league.
Beyond the style of play, the brother of the Hall of Famer goes further in the parallel by evoking the national team in which evolved Drazen. ” With all due respect to Slovenia, Drazen had teammates like (Toni) Kukoc, (Dino) Radjah, (Vlade) divac, (Zarko) Paspalj and others“, Lists Aco Petrovic in reference to the Yugoslav team gold medalist at Euro 1989. He implies that the Slovenian, less well surrounded, can more naturally achieve great performances.
” This EuroBasket was the toughest European championship in history, the Yugoslav national team won by around thirty points several times in a row, notably against Nikos Galis’ Greece finally. That’s why it’s hard to compare “Judge Aco Petrovic by exaggerating a little the score of this final (98-77).
His brother, despite the quality of the squad, had still averaged 30 points in the competition – only Nikos Galis had done better with an average of 36 points! – and logically won the MVP trophy.
