Golden State Warriors hire specialist coach Dejan Milojevic to boost James Wiseman's growth
Golden State Warriors hired a new assistant coach, Dejan Milojevic to help James Wiseman improve his game.
Milojevic is a former player who played in Europe for 15 years before subsequently becoming a coach. Although he never played in the NBA, he is a multiple-time champion and MVP at the international level. He has worked alongside the likes of Nikola Jokic, Ivica Zubac and Boban Marjanovic before.
The Warriors have tapped Dejan Milojevic to help accelerate James Wiseman's development (via @kendra__andrews)
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Meanwhile, James Wiseman didn't exactly have the rookie campaign he wanted with the Golden State Warriors. He tore his meniscus, and sat out a major portion of the season.
It took a while for him to adjust to the high intensity of the NBA as well, as the big man wasn't an experienced college player. Wiseman played just three games for the Memphis Tigers before he was selected second overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 2020 NBA Draft.
At the time of Wiseman's selection, the Golden State Warriors knew they weren't in title contention, so they gave James Wiseman the freedom to operate. They let him go out and show what he could do while they observed his game.
However, now with a championship on their mind, the Warriors are doing whatever they can to boost James Wiseman's growth. So signing Dejan Milojevic to improve James Wiseman's game is a big step in that direction.
Golden State Warriors' new assistant coach Dejan Milojevic lays out his plans for James Wiseman
Head coach Steve Kerr has never trained a young player with the type of potential James Wiseman has, so this is unchartered territory for the Hall of Famer coach.
Kerr signed with the Golden State Warriors in 2014, so he received Stephen Curry in his sixth year, who was already an All-Star. Meanwhile, Klay Thompson was in his fourth year at the time, whereas Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes were both in their third years.
Kerr agrees with Iguodala: James Wiseman can be a game-changer in bringing big men back 💪 https://t.co/XkRrEWUVPA
The Golden State Warriors are a first-class organisation who have hired one of the best assistant coaches for big men, Dejan Milojevic. The Serbian coach was known for his footwork back in his playing days, something he passed onto the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic. He will now look to train Wiseman the same way.
Milojevic will not solely work with James Wiseman, but rather all big men in the team, including Kevon Looney. However, he will spend most of his time with Wiseman. Coach Milojevic spoke about his first goal in the process of helping James Wiseman make a career jump, during an interview with Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area. He said:
"My first goal is to just have him fit in with Golden State...He's in a different situation than some rookies because he plays with several superstars. I think it's a blessing for him. Maybe he's not going to have as many shots as he would if he's on a less competitive team, but I think it's very beneficial for him. He's going to learn how to play with one of the best players ever."
Referring to Stephen Curry as 'one of the best players ever', Milojevic will train Wiseman accordingly because he has to play alongside a superstar player. Wiseman has the potential to be one of the best big men in the league, so he needs to be the best version of himself to help Curry lead the Golden State Warriors to a championship.
Dejan Milojevic believes just on-court work is not enough to train a player. He added by saying,
"When we talk about developing a player, there is a part where you learn skills, but there is a more important part where you work on decision making on the court...You're watching videos, analyzing films, explaining you should do this, you should do that. This part is even more important than that part of learning how to dribble and shoot. The most tricky part is to implement those into games, and some players, in practice, do great but can't implement them into their games"
Eventually, the goal of the new assistant coach and the Golden State Warriors is pretty clear: improve Wiseman.
"Our goal with James is that he becomes a real part of Golden State and the future," said Milojevic.