Bezhanishvili develops game in the mold of his idol Nikola Jokic

Champaign – Gonzaga bound and five-star center Drew Timme warmed up on a side-hoop before his work out at the Ubben Basketball Complex on Oct. 20.

Timme was on his official visit to Illinois, all the while, amid a heated recruitment. A serious tone reigned over the practice facility as Timme’s potential impact on the program circulated the atmosphere.

Then came a 6-foot-10, Georgia native who decided to wander over to the high-valued prospect. With a smile on his face, he completely changed the atmosphere in the gym.

Freshman forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili wanted to partake in Timme’s warmup, and, what’s come to become a custom for Bezhanishvili, began goofing around.

It started off with the left-handed Illini nailing jump shots with his off-hand. Timme, who was in disbelief of how easy Bezhanishvili made it appear, was challenged to do the same. He barely hit the rim.

Bezhanishvili continued with his shenanigans, this time by throwing behind-the-head and behind-the-back passes to Timme. These passes left Timme confused and laughing. Bezhanishvili recognized the puzzled look on his face.

“You know? Just like Jokic,” Bezhanishvili said.

“Huh?” Timme replied.

“Nikola Jokic, on Denver,” Bezhanishvili said as he threw Timme another behind-the-head pass that got more laughs out of the fellow forward.

Timme never really caught up with Bezhanishvili’s antics, but Bezhanishvili will always know of Denver Nuggets rising star and center Nikola Jokic; a player that Bezhanishvili resides with on and off the court.

“That’s his guy,” forward Kipper Nichols said. “He looks up to him.”

Dirk Nowitzki changed the game of basketball for Europeans when he put together a Hall of Fame NBA career. He paved a path for players to come overseas and play in the most competitive league in the world. But, he also paved a path for a direct comparison any time a talented European ventured across the Atlantic.

For Bezhanishvili, he can’t mold his skill set around Nowitzki and, frankly, he doesn’t want to.

But he sees the potential there with Jokic.

“I always watch the NBA and you obviously try to find the guy to learn off of and that you’d be similar to,” Bezhanishvili said. “I think I would be the most similar player to Jokic. We’re almost the same height. He may be a little bit taller than me. He has the weight on, but with the height and wingspan, we may be the same basically and I may be a little bit more athletic.”

Toward the end of Jokic’s rookie season, Bezhanishvili was hooked on the Serbian.

He went from scouring YouTube for 10-minute highlight reels to tuning into all of Jokic’s games, closely studying a playing style he gushes over. The mini-film session isn’t done there for Bezhanishvili.

All athletes must get acquainted with media relations at some point in time, and Bezhanishvili, once again, resorts to Jokic for guidance.

The way Jokic speaks, responds to reporters and interacts with the team are all observed by Bezhanishvili frequently.

And all this Jokic stalking isn’t only because Bezhanishvili resonates with him when it comes to basketball, but also because he connects with Jokic’s upbringing.

The two share “crazy stories” to the game (which the Chicago Tribune’s Shannon Ryan wrote about Bezhanishvili’s here).

“(Jokic) actually was going to go play for Barcelona and they almost signed him,” Bezhanishvili said. “They flew into Serbia to watch him play live before they signed him and he was so terrible. He had like 2 points, 3 rebounds, like he wouldn’t play any defense and (Barcelona) backed off. The Barcelona team said ‘we aren’t taking him’, then Denver picked him up in the second round.

“They just picked him up and developed him and let him play a year in Europe. So he’s got a crazy story just like I have a crazy story, so that’s why I feel more attached to him.”

Bezhanishvili is light years away from reaching the playing level of the likely All-Star garnishing MVP considerations this season. While this may seem obvious, some may still read this and believe it’s insinuating otherwise.

This is the disclaimer: It is not.

What makes Jokic one of the most unique big men to ever play the game is his passing ability. Jokic has made passes most guards don’t have the awareness, or capability, of making. He sees the cuts, the angles and the passing lanes before the defense can adjust.

Bezhanishvili takes great pride in his own passing ability, so, naturally, this was the first aspect of Jokic’s game that drew him in.

Passing

This first clip is simple, and some may say “routine” in most standard offenses, but it also illustrates a base idea of Jokic’s passing ability (1:40 mark).

As soon as Nuggets forward Tory Craig plants his foot to make the backdoor cut, Jokic knew he had the pass. He does a small, but essential, passing technique that separates the good passers from the great passers; he threw Craig open.

Jokic could’ve hit Craig right in the chest and he still probably would’ve scored, despite it more than likely being behind. But because Jokic threw the pass in the open space, the pass meets him perfectly and keeps the defense a step behind.

“That’s how I try to watch it,” Bezhanishvili said. “With the pass, you have to see it before it happens. So basically right now, people will see that pass when it happened, but he sees it before and that’s how I see it through the game. When (Jokic) catches the ball, I kind of anticipate what he will do whether he will pass or go on a run.”

Bezhanishvili has shown flashes of this “throwing them open” passing ability and does so here against UNLV on Dec. 8 (2:40 mark).

On this possession, the Illini were in one of their spread offense sets. Four players on the wing and the center in the paint. This play, Bezhanishvili sets up shop at the high post because of the multiple cutter action.

Guard Andres Feliz makes the entry into Bezhanishvili and immediately cuts toward the rim. Similar to how Jokic knew Craig was open as soon as he planted his foot, Bezhanishvili knew Feliz was open after he did the same.

Most passes Bezhanishvili makes in Illinois’ offense involve a dribble hand-off at the pinch post. But Bezhanishvili doesn’t elect to do that on this play and instead throws a bounce in the open space. Feliz meets the pass and gets an open look at the rim as a result.

“You see (Feliz’s) defender and him and you already have the picture in your mind on whether he will beat his defender or not,” Bezhanishvili said. “And if you know he will beat his defender, like you have the picture, you just throw the pass. I don’t even have to look. So, you just throw the pass and you lead him into the basket basically. You don’t pass to him, you pass to a space. That’s what Jokic does.”

Ball handling

With being nearly 7-feet tall and about 250 pounds – on top of possessing practically zero athleticism – Jokic handles the ball rather well. It’s what allows him to be the point man of Denver’s offense and even another ball handler if its guards are struggling.

When Nuggets’ point guard Jamal Murray hits the defensive glass, it’s the seven-footer that’s calling for the outlet pass at times and bringing the ball up the court.

Jokic’s ability to do this stress opposing defenses as it forces their frontcourt to defend on the perimeter, where they may not be as comfortable. This highlight is the perfect example (1:18 mark).

Jokic bringing the ball up forces Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams to defend him at the top of the key.

When Nuggets’ forward Juan Hernogomez meets them to set a pick, the Thunder aren't in their normal defensive positions. Adams’ feet suddenly froze as the pick-and-roll for Jokic achieved its purpose. Jokic’s ball-handling ability forced Thunder forward Paul George to show on the screen so the drive is cut off.

Both Jokic and Hernogomez knew before the play commenced Oklahoma City were all sorts of confused, so Hernogomez slips the ball screen and Jokic already has the pinpoint pass wound up.

This entire play is set up because Jokic’s ball-handling ability on the perimeter forced the Thunder into unfamiliar defensive positions.

Illini head coach Brad Underwood feels Bezhanishvili has the same ball handling ability on the perimeter and mentioned he’s struggled to insert that part of Bezhanishvili’s game into the offense.

“Giorgi’s got a lot of (Jokic’s) skillsets,” Underwood said. “One of my challenges as a coach is watching and allowing Giorgi to expand his game. One thing we haven’t seen from Giorgi is his dribble-drive game which he’s really good at… He’s got a lot of the same characteristics, but at the same time he has to figure out what he can and can’t do.”

Bezhanishvili gave a glimpse of his dribble-drive game in Illinois’ opening matchup against Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational (1:13 mark).

When Bezhanishvili caught the ball in the corner, Gonzaga’s Filip Petrušev figured Bezhanishvili would take the shot as that’s what film showed at the time. But Bezhanishvili caught the big man with flat feet.

Petrušev never expected Bezhanishvili to beat him on a baseline dribble-drive. And that’s because it’s not every day you see a collegiate player of Bezhanishvili’s size, at least in the Big Ten (Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ is the only other that comes to mind), dribble-drive from the perimeter.

Bezhanishvili got the step on Petrušev, drove strong along the baseline and finished gracefully at the rim. The play got arguably the best collegiate player of all-time enthusiastic while on the call.

“Look at Big G,” Bill Walton said. "That's not Big G, that's Giorgi B."

In practice, Underwood has been pushing Bezhanishvili to attack from the perimeter more often, and according to Bezhanishvili, he’s been executing. Bezhanishvili has tried to change his mindset as of late.

“As we see here, I can do it, I just haven’t been aggressive from the perimeter,” Bezhanishvili said. “It’s just me. I’m not really thinking about it, but I just haven’t been really aggressive since then and now I will be more aggressive. Coach told me to be more aggressive and to drive the ball from the perimeter. I can do this, I just have to be more aggressive.”

If Bezhanishvili is going to handle the ball more often, he needs to limit his turnover rate. He currently has the second-most turnovers on the team behind guard Trent Frazier. At times, he’s drove into the paint and has drawn a blank on what decision to make, causing a turnover.

At St. Edwards Patrick high school, Bezhanishvili played some point guard. He would bring the ball up, organize the offense and even run ball screens as the ball handler, all the while being close to his current size. These are all skills Bezhanishvili feels he can translate to the college game.

“(Coach Underwood) knows my skill set,” Bezhanishvili said. “As I’ve been saying, you guys haven’t seen any of my skills really.

“I used to go coast-to-coast, cross people. I used to play from the wing. I used to drive them, you know?”

Scoring

Jokic this year has shown that he can score consistently at all three levels. He’s shooting an okay 32 percent from deep, developing a Dirk-like midrange game and has plenty of post moves in his bag.

Bezhanishvili also showed he can score at all three levels, but consistency is the current issue.

A key area Bezhanishvili pays attention to is Jokic’s play in the pinch post. Denver runs offense, at times, through Jokic at the elbow. Nuggets’ players in the meanwhile are constantly cutting, trying to find a hair of daylight so Jokic can thread the pass.

If that fails, He immediately sets his attention to his defender. If it’s a mismatch, Jokic will bully him down from the pinch post and simply score (1:56 mark).

At a mere 195 pounds, Memphis Grizzlies wing Garret Temple didn’t stand a chance against the 250 pound Jokic. His mind was made up as he initiated the contact, took two dribbles and finished with ease over Temple.

Much like how Jokic made the read to attack the smaller defender, Bezhanishvili does the same here against forward Rui Hachimuru.

In the scouting report, Bezhanishvili said the weight and height of all players are written on the whiteboard. He then eyes in on every player’s weight, seeing who he can take advantage of in post situations. Against Gonzaga, Bezhanishvili knew he had the weight advantage on Hachimuru, and once he made the read to not give the hand-off, he attacked him from the pinch post (0:20 mark).

“In that Hachimuru back down, for example, that was just a read,” Bezhanishvili said. “I’m trying to think as less as I can in the game because I’m just trying to play on instincts. That’s what Jokic does, playing free. Like in a game, just playing in the flow of the game. So that was basically ‘okay, hand-off didn’t happen for me, okay I have Hachimuru who is not heavier than me. I can back him down.’

“I just backed him down, and once you’ve backed him down, it’s really easy for me naturally. Once I find the contact, and that’s what Jokic does; he finds the contact then plays off it. Then him, and me too, have both hands, so once I have contact, I anticipate whether the defender is more to the left or more to the right. It’s just a simple game from there.”

While some may take that last sentence from Bezhanishvili as cocky, he’s backed it up this season. Bezhanishvili’s shooting a solid 60 percent from inside the arc. In conference play, he’s shooting an even better 67 percent from two-point range.

But the reason Bezhanishvili’s shooting percentage rest at 52 percent and not higher is because of his three-point shooting.

This offseason, Bezhanishvili said he didn’t leave practice until he made 1,000 threes and some days it was 2,000. The shooting regiment, however, hasn’t translated over into his freshman season as he’s shooting 18.5 percent from beyond-the-arc.

Seeing the ball rattle out from deep has affected his overall game, Bezhanishvili said.

“Little bit. To be really honest some players would say no and like ‘no I’m still confident’ but it just plays with you and yourself,” Bezhanishvili said. “I haven’t really shot it well so I’ve been hesitating to shoot. I still shot it against Missouri, but I was then hesitating and then I didn’t shoot like two of the shots I had from three. Once I start thinking, like I told you, I get lost in the game. I just have to get in a flow and then it will naturally come. I practice so much, I don’t think anyone practices as much (shooting threes).”

When, for a complete 40-minutes, he starts playing instinctively instead of thinking, Bezhanishvili feels his jumper as well as his overall game, will flourish.

“It’s just being mind free. When your mind free and your just free and into the flow of the game and playing off your instincts. That’s when you’re at your best,” Bezhanishvili said. “That’s what I’m trying to get to; not thinking about anything and just play.”

Believe it or not, there are two ends of the court. While we’ve only really talked about Bezhanishvili’s offensive abilities, his defense is where questions got raised the most about the young Georgian.

And for the most part, Bezhanishvili has silenced those questions, according to Underwood. He’s proven himself as a great defender in ball-screen coverages, hedging it hard and cutting off the drive at a successful rate.

Underwood has also praised Bezhanishvili’s post defense and called him one of the Illini’s best defenders.

“Giorgi’s one of the best defensive post players I’ve coached,” Underwood said. “I hope I don’t jinx it by saying that.”

When he gets switched out to guards on to the perimeter, Underwood noted Bezhanishvili has been able to use his quick feet and large wingspan to keep up with the guards and successfully defend them.

Bezhanishvili’s favorite basketball moment, in fact, came from this exact situation while playing a pick-up game in high school. At St. Patrick high school in New Jersey, alum and current Boston Celtics superstar Kyrie Irving stop by and played Bezhanishvili and his team.

Irving drew a switch onto Bezhanishvili and felt he had an easy advantage on the big man. Irving pulled his dribble out and sized up Bezhanishvili. In response, Bezhanishvili sagged an exceptional amount because, well, it’s Kyrie Irving.

When Irving made his inevitable move to the rim, however, it was Bezhanishvili that got the best of him, blocking his layup.

“He still tried to get inside, and I blocked him,” Bezhanishvili said. “I was SO excited. You can imagine how my excitement was. Then the next possession, you know how Kyrie is. He’s a competitive guy. The next possession, he crossed a guy up and then said, ‘hey Big George, come here.’

“Then I started guarding him and I did the same thing. I gave him a lot of space… And then he scored. I thought I had him on a second block but there was no way that was going to happen. From that point on, once I blocked him, he took over just so bad. It was a bad feeling for us. We played like five games to 25 and he had like 100 points.”

If there’s been a significant weak spot of Bezhanishvili’s game, however, it’s been his rebounding. A near seven-footer that weighs roughly 245 pounds should be bringing down more than five rebounds a game. But to counter that point, Bezhanishvili gave his best rebounding performance of the year when he collected eight boards and six offensive rebounds in Illinois’ win over Minnesota last Wednesday.

At the well over halfway point of the season, Bezhanishvili’s one of the top freshmen in the Big Ten. He ranks fourth in the conference in points per game for a freshman at 11 points, a stat Underwood never saw coming before the season.

Bezhanishvili is also pretty happy with his play up to this point but also acknowledges he can do a lot more for the team.

Social media has already deemed him a star and just like there’s no debate Jokic is a star, there’s no doubt from Bezhanishvili on whether he should be considered one as well.

“Hell no,” Bezhanishvili said. “LeBron James is a star. I am not a star, yet, hopefully.”