7 Bogdan BOGDANOVIC (Serbia)
10/05/2015
Jeff Taylor's Eurovision
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Bogdan Bogdanovic continues rise to stardom

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - Serbia's Bogdan Bogdanovic is on the way up.

This is not a revelation, but a reminder.

The sky is the limit for yet another player from the Balkans.

The Fenerbahce Ulker guard has, for the second straight year, been named as the recipient of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Rising Star Trophy.

He scooped the honor last year as a Partizan Belgrade player.

How good is he?

The 22-year-old is just the second player to go back-to-back as the winner of the trophy, with Montenegro-born Nikola Mirotic having done so in 2011 and 2012 while on the books of Real Madrid.

Mirotic embarked on his NBA career this season with the Chicago Bulls and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Canadian Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

To win this year, Bogdanovic beat out Croatia's Dario Saric and Turkey's Cedi Osman - both of Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Croatian Mario Hezonja of Barcelona and Italy's Alessandro Gentile of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.

Selected 27th by the Phoenix Suns in the 2014 NBA Draft, Bogdanovic will eventually join Mirotic across the Atlantic.

The 1.97 shooting guard has many other important things to occupy his mind right now.

The Belgrade native is concentrating on Fenerbahce and the Euroleague Final Four, which is to be held this coming week (15-17 May) in Madrid, Spain, and the end-of-season playoffs in Turkey.

This summer, he will be a star attraction for Serbia at EuroBasket 2015 when they take on Spain, Iceland, Turkey, Italy and Germany in the Group Phase.

If they reach the Final as they did at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Serbia will qualify for the Olympics.

Bogdanovic does a lot of things well on the court.

When national team coach Sasha Djordjevic talks about convincing his troops that they are the rightful heirs to the great legacy of Yugoslavian basketball, Bogdanovic is one of the first players that comes to mind.

The Serbians are sure proud of him.

Phoenix, who drafted Bogdanovic knowing that he would have an opportunity to develop overseas, are looking smarter by the day.

The Suns have liked what they have seen in Bogdanovic since drafting him.

Their general manager, Ryan McDonough, watched him tear apart Greece at the World Cup last summer with a four-of-seven effort from the arc and 21 points overall.

"He was very efficient and got his spots and got the shots he wants to shoot," McDonough said after that performance.

"He scored on spot-up shots, off the dribble and going to the basket.

"I'm impressed with his playmaking.

"He's got long arms.

"He's strong and he has a feel for the game.

"He can make a lot of plays other guys can't make."

Phoenix will have to meet a big buyout clause if they want Bogdanovic for this coming season.

They will be happy to just wait and let him get more experience.

It's not going to hurt Bogdanovic's career to play for Fener coach Zeljko Obradovic, one of the top play-callers in European basketball history.

The Suns are likely to get Bogdanovic in 2016.

I remember listening to USA coach Mike Krzyzewski after his team's blowout win over Serbia in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Final.

He brought up the name of one Serbian and spoke about him being an NBA player.

It was Bogdanovic.

Enjoy him while he's on the old continent, folks.

Eventually, he'll be gone on a new adventure.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor, a North Carolina native and UNC Chapel Hill graduate, has been a journalist since 1990. He started covering international basketball after moving to Europe in 1996. Jeff provides insight and opinion every week about players and teams on the old continent that are causing a buzz.