My last few columns have discussed what Eurosyndrome is, and has put players through the test. We started with Milos Teodosic and then moved to Cedi Osman and Aaron Jackson. All three players passed so we officially have a player at three of the five positions who pass the Eurosyndrome test.
In this piece, we’re going to fill out the five positions proving that there are a good number of players in Europe who could be regular rotation players in the NBA.
The first player we’re going to discuss is Nicolo Melli, but we’re not going to go into too much depth as Orazio Cauchi did that for us with his column last week. Instead, we will just put him through the tests and see how he does. If you want more info on him and highlight clips, be sure to check out Cauchi’s piece.
The first test is the numbers test where we evaluate usage rate and PER. If both numbers are incredibly high, it’s not a good sign for success in the NBA. Melli’s career usage rate is 16.59, which is a very good number in this case. Conversely, Melli’s career PER is 13.04 which isn’t the best; it’s just south of where we want him to be.
Similar to Cedi Osman, we’re going to break the tie by looking at this year’s numbers. This season, Melli is posting a usage rate of 19.55 and a PER of 16.53 which puts him right over where he needs to be. This season, Melli is showing that he can impact the game more when he has the ball, but can still be effective when he doesn’t.
One thing to point out is that for the past two seasons, he’s been with Brose Bamberg and has posted career highs in PER and near career highs in usage rate. Previously, Melli was with EA7 Emporio Armani Milan but has since shown incredible growth. Now, Melli is just more proof that everyone plays better when they get away from Milan.
For the second test, we need to evaluate if Melli’s best skill is his ability as an isolation scorer—which it isn’t. Again, I’m just going to go over this in broad strokes as Cauchi evaluated his game in detail last week. Melli’s best skill is probably how lethal he is from behind the arc. He’s currently shooting 38 percent from deep in all competitions for this season and shot 44 percent from deep in all competitions last season. He’s also a very skilled post scorer and an even more skilled passer in the post.
Melli’s offensive arsenal would make him a fantastic backup stretch four option for NBA teams. He could take on a role very similar to that of New York Knick’s forward, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, who has become a nice backup stretch four and has flashed the ability to pass out of the post.
The last test for Melli is an evaluation of his defense. He doesn’t have to be a good defender, we just need to make sure he’s not a lazy one. Thankfully, Melli passes this test. Melli isn’t a good defender, but he most certainly isn’t a bad one either. Most importantly, he isn’t lazy. The effort has always been there. He’s also become a better rebounder, averaging six boards per game this season. His rebounding ability and his offensive skillset will easily outweigh any struggles he has on the defensive end in the NBA, especially if he’s coming off the bench.
Melli does not have Eurosyndrome.
The final player that we’re going to put through the Eurosyndrome test is Canadian center Khem Birch who plays for Olympiacos. Birch is 6’10” and weighs 220 pounds. He played one season in the D-League with Sioux Falls Skyforce before heading overseas to Turkey, and then to Greece.
Birch passes the number test easily. Although he’s only spent two seasons in Europe, there is something really impressive about Khem Birch’s numbers. His career usage rate overseas is 17.16 and his career PER is 20.87. For his first season in Europe, he signed with Turkish Super League club Usak Sportlif and posted a usage rate of 17.42 and a PER of 20.2. This past summer, Birch signed with Greek giants Olympiacos who is a force in the Greek A1 League and Euroleague basketball. He is now with better teammates—which means he’ll get the ball less—and played against better players more regularly. This should provide a good gauge for his game. Birch’s usage rate did drop a little bit since the move (16.89), but even though his usage rate dropped, his PER went up (21.56). A clear example that Khem Birch can still impact the game without having the ball in his hands.
As we approach the second test with Birch, we’re going to learn he passes the third test as well. Birch’s best ability is not his ability to score, it’s actually how versatile a defender he is. We can start by looking at the numbers and see that birch averages nearly one block per game and six rebounds. The numbers aren’t enough for to truly appreciate his defensive ability. For that, you’ll have to watch him.
To start off, we’ll look at some clips from Olympiacos vs Fenerbahce in Athens. In this game, Khem Birch really showed how valuable he is as a defender.
In this first clip, we see him get switched onto Fenerbahce point guard Kostas Sloukas after they run the pick and roll and Birch handles him easily.
In the second clip, Birch is guarding Ekpe Udoh in the post. Udoh is one of the better post scorers in Europe but he doesn’t look like it when Birch is guarding him.
On this highlight, we see Birch’s great anticipation. He was initially going to be in the pick and roll but as Efes swung the ball, Birch was able to react and swat away the lay-up in time.
Birch does have some ability on the offensive end as well. In this clip, we’ll see him anticipate an offensive rebound and finish with a putback dunk.
Here, Birch shows us a little back to basket skill as the pick and roll doesn’t create an easy score. Instead, he posts up and hits a nice little turnaround hook shot.
As stated previously, Birch clearly passes the third test of whether or not he’s a lazy defender. Clearly, he isn’t. He’s one of the best defenders not in the NBA. So since we’re not discussing that, I’ll say what role I think he could take on in the NBA.
If an NBA team is a contender, or at least a 50-win team, and they’re short on cap space and need a solid backup big, then Khem Birch is their guy. He’s a fantastic defender which is a great asset to be able to bring off the bench and he can finish around the rim and potentially score in the post if needed. Birch could be a very similar player to the San Antonio Spurs Center Dewayne Dedmon, who we all know is having a great season that should lead to a nice payday.
