(Photo Courtesy of FIBA)
We are mere hours away from the start of the Round of 16 in EuroBasket 2025, where three Miami Heat players will be participating!
As we wrapped up group stage play this week, it was clear that one Heat player soared above his peers with their play on the court — even though the team success didn’t necessarily follow.
Second-year Heat guard Pelle Larsson, suiting up for Sweden, was the best player between he, Simone Fontecchio and Nikola Jovic, who has looked very good alongside three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. While his efficiency wasn’t exactly where it should be, Larsson finished toward the top of the leaderboard in one important statistic.
I know what you’re thinking.
His team isn’t as good and he’s thrust in a role where he has to score.
Yes, that is true.
But Larsson finished 11th in Group Stage play in scoring, averaging 19.8 points on 45.3 percent shooting from the floor — despite shooting just 25.9 percent from deep. One of those players above him, Giannis Antetokounmpo — perhaps you’ve heard of him — only played in three games. Larsson’s scoring neighbored that of Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, Dennis Schroder, Alperen Sengun and Franz Wagner.
Not bad company for a second-year pro trying to prove himself!
Scoring obviously isn’t everything. But Larsson, dating back to his days at Utah and Arizona, has largely been a glue guy in a secondary role.
He’s thrived in a primary role with better ball handling, decision-making and, most importantly, scoring! He’s also been continued to be good defensively, picking up ball handlers 92 feet from rim with physicality.
He’s going to need to improve his spot-up and pull-up jump shooting. That’s typically the tradeoff with having significant on-ball responsibility in the half-court. But that will be a non-negotiable once he’s reinserted back into a complementary role with Miami.
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