Jusuf Nurkic Wins MVP, His Team Wins Championship
By Len Nunes
Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Jusuf Nurkic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number sixteen overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets drafted Jusuf Nurkic 16th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft. Much kerfuffle quickly ensued when Nurkic opted out of the Las Vegas Summer League. Nurkic opted instead to play for his home country,Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Under 20 European Championships. Nurkic has allowed his play in the Euro Championships to silence many of the kerfufflers.
Jusuf Nurkic scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Bosnia’s victory over Belgium in the championship game. Nurkic was named tournament MVP after averaging 21.4 points, 12.0 rebounds in eight games.
I don’t know how Euro ball compares to Summer League, but averaging a double-double in any competitive tournament is impressive!
The absolute best part of the article the Denver Nugget website wrote about the success of Jusuf Nurkic in the tournament, is as follows:
"After going 16-for-28 from the foul line in the first four games, he made 35-of-39 in the final four games – including 16-of-18 in the title game."
Oh baby, a big man that can shoot from the free throw line!!
That would be a new commodity amongst Denver players who played the 5. JaVale McGee is a career .584 from the charity stripe. JJ Hickson is a slightly better .637 from the stripe. The best career free throw percentage from a center on the Nuggets roster last season was Timofey Mozgov. Mozzy is a career .739 from the line.
Now to get Jusuf Nurkic off this ESPN list:
"Here are the 2014 first round picks that remain unsigned:Atlanta: Adreian Payne (No. 15) Charlotte: Noah Vonleh (No. 9), P.J. Hairston (No. 26) Chicago: Doug McDermott (No. 11) Cleveland: Andrew Wiggins (No. 1) Denver: Jusuf Nurkic (No. 16) Houston: Clint Capela (No. 25) Oklahoma City: Josh Huestis (No. 29) Philadelphia: Joel Embiid (No. 3), Dario Saric (No. 12) Phoenix: Tyler Ennis (No. 18), Bogdan Bogdanovic (No. 27)"