I have to admit that there is a type of player that I like to call the Jasaitis profile. Let me explain what the great former Palencia player has to do with this post. Gold teams often think of filling their gaps with proven players who are war veterans, with wandering trajectories at times, but with a solid and consistent game. Undoubtedly, they will not be stars, but they will be very valid players due to their know-how and experience, so the fans of the team who enjoy them will see with good eyes the profitability of these incorporations. Today we are going to talk to you about two Croatians with CVs behind their backs from many European countries and who have been in the ACB seven seasons ago. Fran Pilepić (HLA Alicante) and Mario Delaš (Acunsa Gipuzkoa Basket) they are our protagonists today.
Fran Pilepić
Croatia / 1989/194 cm
It has been several seasons since this Croatian shooter played in the ACB. As a young man he stood out in low-medium-profile teams in his country, but the Bosnian Široki, always attentive to these profiles, signed him for the Adriatic League 10/11, where in two years he stood out as a scorer before arriving in Bilbao on 12 / 13 (5.5 pt on 13/14), with a stellar moment such as when he took advantage of Vasileiadis’s injury. After finishing his contract, he returned to his country to join Cedevita, playing Euroleague for two seasons (6.4 pt on 15/16). In 16/17 he would play in Italy (Cantú: 9.9 pt), signing the following campaign in a Turkish league always very economically powerful (Belediyesi: 16.1 pt, 3.5 re), sounding his name for Gran Canaria.
The 18/19 season would head to Lithuania to defend the Lietkabelis jersey, but after 11 games (8.1 pt) he went to Cibona, where the season ended and won the Croatian league (19 dc, 16 mi, 7.2 pt, 1.9 as), with a great performance (22 points) in the last game of the final against Cedevita (his former team). That season would mark a before and after, since since he arrived at La Cibona he began with injury problems, playing with back and hip pain. Thus, the 19/20 passed blank, undergoing a hip intervention, although the back pain disappeared after a treatment in Germany, as he himself related. Finally, last 20/21 he returned to the ring, but it was a gradual process. He did it in the ranks of Škrljevo, a Croatian team from the midfield that always gets an interesting player and who convinced the outside world little by little through his coach. The proximity to the place where he lives and the recovery from his problems made him return to training, gradually picking up the tone to have good performances in January (20 dc, 23 mi, 11.1 pt, 2.3 re, 2.6 as, 1.1 ro). In addition, it should be noted that the new Lucentum Foundation player has been international with Croatia on several occasions (the last one, in the 18/19 season).
Based on what has been seen in the last season, it seems clear that Pilepić, beyond showing if he is 100% recovered, there is something that he has not lost and that is his condition as a shooter (his percentages do not lie: 48% T2, 43% T3, 91% TL), something that can be verified by watching their matches. It’s about a shooter in its best definition. That tripler who comes off the screens and scores with speed of execution, despite his unorthodox mechanics. Always on the treble line to receive and shoot, he is a real threat; He can also come out of the blocks to try to reach the basket, although he lacks physique when defining. Without being his strong suit, in certain situations he dares to play with the ball, trying to find his shot, win the baseline or even dare with fade away while he knows how to find his companions. As a good shooter, he suffers from the back against physical players, although he is smart and knows how to position himself on the passing lanes.
With some bases that know how to push back like Llompart and Noguerol, Gonzalo García de Vitoria’s team can allow their backcourt have two ‘deuces’ more scorers than defenders. With a player like SimmonsWho creates with the ball and has a killer instinct, Pilepić can perfectly be a fearsome executioner. The Croatian can bring experience and, above all, reliability, as well as being a plunger in hot moments. If he does not relapse from his physical problems, he is a good signing, maybe not at a star level, but as a very useful player.
Mario Delaš
Croatia / 1990/207 cm
Like the first protagonist of the article, he has also played in Spain for a long time; The Croatian interior did it in ACB with Obradoiro after standing out in European training (MVP of the 2009 U19 World Cup), doing the same in Split and being recruited by Žalgiris to play Euroleague on 09/10, leaving on 10/11 on loan to the legendary Cibona and the Lithuanian Šiauliai. The next one was halfway between Baltai and Zalgiris, arriving on 13/14 his aforementioned signing by Obradoiro, where he fulfilled his mission (9.4 pt, 4.0 re). He would return to Croatia on 14/15 to play Euroleague with Cedevita, coinciding with Fran Pilepić. In the middle of 15/16 he signed in Estonia one with Kalev (6.9 pt, 3.2 re) where, as in all the teams he has been in, he has fulfilled his role. Orlandina (Italy) arrived on 16/17, renewing after his good course (9.3 pt, 5.1 re), although the season is not the same and he ends up playing in Varese. In October 2018 he joins the Hungarian Kormend (8.9 pt, 5.6 re), another year of balance. The 19/20 once again did not have a team at the beginning and ends in December signing for Split, but soon he goes to Italy (Serie A2, Montegranaro: 5 pa, 7.8 pt, 8.8 re), stopping the coronavirus the season. Last season he arrived in Poland (GTK Gliwice) in January, where he plays 10 games (4.8 pt, 4.6 re). Croatian international in his early days, he played the 2013 EuroBasket, but his lack of stability has hurt him, making his career a true globetrotting journey.
In his third preseason as a preseason reinforcement of an ACB (Baskonia, Andorra and this summer Bilbao) he has finally reached LEB Gold, reaching a GBC that has bet heavily on him, although for a totally different profile from that seen in the ACB. The new interior of the San Sebastian team has been starting its activity for two consecutive years with the season already halfway through, but now it starts from the beginning, something that is important in an already veteran player and that should give solidity.
It is a good-sized ‘four’ who, due to his physique and knowing how to be, can also exercise a ‘five’, a position that he will probably play this season with Gipuzkoa and that, for example, he has done in his last experience in Poland. He understands the game and knows how to position himself (taking advantage of the gaps and moving perfectly without the ball). In addition, without being excessively fast, he can lower the ball and attack the ring, he dares to post with his footwork or stays open on the triple to shoot (although he does not lavish from that distance, even from his work on the offensive rebound create options). In defense, he is not afraid to hit, but in that position of 4.5 he suffers against big and / or physical centers; Although he can make up for it with his reading of the game, his physique is no longer the same as before, suffering from fast fours.
The arrival of Delaš has surprised me. The GBC’s very brave bet on a battery of tall men with no big fives. His ‘fours’ are rather open (Beraza, Mallers and Simons) and, inside, the jumping Roker, who must pay the toll of rookie, it stays small; Delaš is not a pure ‘five’, as we told you, but it strikes me that neither of the two centers are great blockers, something important in today’s basketball. Mario Delaš seeks to recover sensations, he has basketball and finally starts a season from the beginning, but he has never been a superlative player, but a serious and reliable player who offers balance. He will probably suffer before big fives, although he has his weapons to avoid losing sight of a team, that of Lolo Encinas, which will give war for sure.