Brooklyn Nets: Dzanan Musa shows flashes in Bosnia loss

In his 1st game since being taken by the Brooklyn Nets in the draft, Dzanan Musa showed flashes of the future in FIBA World Cup qualifying play.

Dzanan Musa hadn’t been on the court for a competitive game since being taken by the Brooklyn Nets with the 29th overall pick in June’s NBA Draft.

On Thursday, playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the second round of European qualifying for the FIBA World Cup, Musa showed flashes of the future while also displaying undeniable signs of youthful inexperience.

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The 19-year-old took on the role of point guard for Bosnia on Thursday as the national team took on Finland in a road fixture at Espoo Metro Arena in Espoo, Finland.

First, the not-so-good. Musa turned the ball over four times, showing the tendency noted by scouts of over-committing to driving lanes that aren’t there and getting himself in bad positions to do anything with the ball

He also struggled at times from the foul line, going 9-for-13, including a crucial miss with 1:19 remaining after Bosnia had roared back from a 24-point fourth-quarter deficit to close to within four points at 81-77.

Musa did make the second attempt, cutting it to 81-78, but Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic committed an ill-advised foul in the backcourt and Alex Murphy drained both foul shots to push the lead back up to five.

With 19 seconds left, Musa grabbed a rebound of a missed 3-pointer by Murphy and had teammate Aleksandar Lazic wide open downcourt, but Musa threw the pass way too far out in front of Lazic. The ball sailed out of bounds along with Bosnia’s last chance to make a miraculous comeback.

Now, the good for Musa, and there was a lot of it.

His first step off the dribble is as explosive as you’ll see. Even at 6-foot-9, the lanky guard (make no mistake, his height may scream wing, but he is a guard) can blow by defenders, even when they know that quick first step is coming.

Musa has terrific balance as he drives, but does lack the upper-body strength to finish well through contact, which is how he got to the foul line 13 times on Thursday.

He can make some bad decisions with the ball, but those claims he made after the draft about being a capable point guard?

Absolutely true, with the caveat that he’s very much a work in progress with decision-making. His nine assists on Thursday included some very nifty passing in traffic.

Bosnia’s offense took on a very different look — and not a good one — when Musa was off the floor, which is why coach Jasmin Repesa played him a team-high 34:28 on Thursday.

His shooting range also was just like the scouting report said — solid driver, decent in the mid-range, not so much from outside the arc. Even on the shorter international 3-point line, Musa was 0-for-3 Thursday and hit 3-of-7 overall.

Turnovers were Bosnia’s biggest problem, particularly early as Finland jumped out to a big lead. Bosnia turned the ball over 10 times in the first quarter alone and had 21 giveaways in the game, many of them just that — the ball was just given away.

Finland didn’t have the size to go toe-to-toe inside with big men Nurkic and Elmedin Kikanovic, but the Finns shot the lights out from deep. They were 13-for-33, with the bulk of the misses coming as things unravelled for them in the fourth quarter.

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Sasu Salin, in particular, was unconscious, hitting 6-of-8 from deep en route to a game-high 27 points. His release, as quick as you’ll see, was pure all evening (well, late morning/early afternoon in North America).

Bosnia’s comeback, fueled in part by Nurkic’s inside presence, a commitment to defense that hadn’t been there most of the game and Musa’s ability to move the ball, came after Shawn Huff buried a 3-pointer for Finland that pushed their lead to 75-51 with 8:35 to go.

Nurkic made two free throws with 3:43 left that got the Bosnian deficit into single-digits at 79-70 and after Topias Palmi scored a nifty layup for the Finns, Bosnia scored the next eight points.

Finnish veteran Petteri Koponen added 15 points and seven assists, even as he was uncharacteristically loose with the ball, turning it over four times. Mikael Jantunen had six rebounds for Finland, which lost the battle on the glass 33-28.

Nurkic had a team-hgih 20 points for Bosnia to go with nine rebounds, but had five turnovers.

Bosnia and Herzegovina doesn’t have a lot of time to lick its wounds, as it will host the Czech Republic on Sunday from Dvorana Arena in the capital of Sarajevo.

With the loss Bosnia fell to the bottom of Group K at 2-5, while Finland took sole possession of third place at 4-3. The upset of the day in the group came in Botevgrad, Bulgaria, where France lost 74-68 to take its first loss in qualifying play.

Czech Republic, meanwhile, held on for an 80-78 win over Russia in Pardubice, Czech Republic and now is 6-1, tied with France atop the group.

Russia and Bulgaria are each 3-4, with the top three teams in group play advancing to China for next year’s FIBA World Cup of Basketball.