Crosscourt: ‘People don’t see me as an NBL star’, says Sixers sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic

Vasiljevic is a two-time NBL champion and one of the league’s purest scorers, but feels like he isn’t rated as such and sledges regularly turn up in his DMs.

“I read comments sometimes and people say, ‘you’re too fat to play or you’ve got no neck’,” Vasiljevic told CODE Sports.

“People don’t see me as an NBL star – people just think I’m on a lot of money and I don’t contribute.

“Righto, cool mate. I make pretty much triple what you are making and you actually watch me play.

“So the fact they are watching me says something. People think our jobs are easy and they think they can do it.

“As a younger self I did read a lot of comments, but at the end of the day I’ll give you a pair of basketball shoes and you can come and do my job.”

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Online trolling is rife across all sports, but Vasiljevic says the abuse has reached new levels in the NBL.

He is pleased to see legal action was taken against a fan who racially attacked 36ers big man Montrezl Harrell via an account last season.

The Melbourne man has been arrested, charged and faces potential jail time and Vasiljevic hopes the case sets a powerful precedent.

“The Trez situation and that guy potentially getting five years jail – I think that needs to be the standard,” he said.

“I think the trolling has gone out of hand.

“There needs to be a way for the government to step in and actually do something about it.

“Look at the AFL with the (Izak) Rankine situation. You can’t be saying that stuff. “Racism and the homophobic stuff all fall under the one roof and there needs to be punishments for it.

“It doesn’t matter if you are an athlete or a regular person – it needs to be same for everyone.”

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For all the outside opinions, Vasiljevic, 28, believes he is entering the best years of his career.

He has dropped a record-tying 10 three-pointers in a 40-minute era game on two occasions: one for the Kings in January 2023 for a total of 42 points and another for the 36ers in Round 17 of NBL25.

Vasiljevic is contracted with the Sixers until the end of the NBL27 season and is determined to add a third championship to his resume.

“I’m not even in my prime yet, so it is just working hard and ignoring the noise,” he said.

“I don’t have any individual accolades and I don’t play for individual accolades.

“At the end of the day you are remembered by championships and I’ve got two of them with Sydney.

“It isn’t easy and you work your arse off to try and be the best version of yourself.

“If you want to have a catch up with me, you know where to find me. It’s the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and let’s catch up.”

COLLEGE RICHES LOOM AS NBL SET TO FIGHT FOR AUSTRALIA’S BEST 16YO

If you’re an Aussie basketball fan and haven’t heard the name Luke Paul by now, you might be living under a rock.

The best 16-year-old in the country has been on NBL Next Star radars for some time.

But, off the back of a remarkable MVP-winning performance at the recent FIBA U16 Asia Cup, the NBA lottery buzz around the 195cm WA wunderkind is now off the chart.

And, while he won’t even be eligible until the 2028 draft, it means the big US colleges will come calling with lucrative NIL offers that might price him out of the highly successful Next Stars program.

Sources told CODE Sports the Willeton product could command as much as $6.5 million over four years in the NCAA — if he’s there that long.

If the ultra-skilled positionless powerhouse continues his rapid ascension, there’s a real prospect he could be one-and-done in college, with the bright lights of the NBA draft looming.

Paul’s rapid rise comes as no surprise to NBL legend and former Boomer Mark Worthington, who joined Willeton in 2003 when he came out of retirement and immediately noticed the youngster’s capabilities.

“He used to train with us a couple of years ago and I knew the kid was going to be special,” Worthington told CODE Sports.

“He has obviously had to work hard and has unbelievably supportive parents, so I’m super happy to see his progression and success.

“He is an exceptional talent with an amazing basketball IQ and an incredibly high ceiling — and he hasn’t scratched the surface, yet.”

Paul led the Aussie boys to gold in Mongolia, averaging 14.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.5 steals in just 20.1 minutes per game.

His 26-point, 10-rebound, 9-assist near triple double in the final against China powered a remarkable 51-25 second half that secured gold.

Paul, who, in April, made CODE Sports All U18 Nationals Second Team as a bottom ager, is the newest — and youngest — addition to Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence, joining the elite pathway in Canberra just four weeks ago.

Men’s program assistant Braden Cotter said Paul already had a “professional mindset”.

“He has been here for four weeks but it seems like he has been here for a lot longer with how he has integrated himself into the program,” Cotter said.

“He has impacted our day-to-day environment with his ability to spread the floor with his passing and decision making.

“He has been fun to coach.”

FROLING: ‘I’M NOT A FINISHED PRODUCT’

Harry Froling has dropped a whopping 33 kilos since ballooning out to 160 following life saving brain surgery, but he says this is just the start of his remarkable comeback.

In one of the most inspiring stories in NBL history, Froling has returned to basketball with the Illawarra Hawks after a horrific one-punch attack in 2023.

He was told he’d never again, but he has overcome the odds to sign a one-year deal with the Hawks.

Froling is treating NBL26 as a rebuilding season as he looks to regain the form that saw him collect the league’s Rookie of the Year award in 2019.

“I want to keep building because I’m still not a finished product,” Froling, 27, said.

“I didn’t come into this pre-season fully ready to go because 12 months ago I was 160 kilos and I’m still working at that and getting better.

“I’m about 127 kilos, so a couple more kilos to go but I’m doing the conditioning.

“It feels good to be back — I haven’t played at this level for over two years, but for me it isn’t be all, end all.

“This is me getting back into it. I’ll keep being a good teammate and my role will be what my role is this season.

“But I love being back around the team environment here at the Hawks. It’s a privilege to play again.”

CAN YOU BEAT THE SUPERCOACH MONSTA?

Box office former NBA star Montrezl Harrell has selected his NBL SuperCoach squad for week one and it’s jam-packed with some of the league’s best and brightest.

But is there a weak link SuperCoaches can exploit?

The Adelaide 36ers’ star will be hoping boom New Zealand Breakers import Izaiah Brockington can carry over his form from the CODE Sports NBL Blitz into the start of the NBL26 season.

Trez has slapped the orange C on the former New Orleans’ Pelican, who claimed MVP honours as the Breakers won the pre-season competition.

Brockington should feature prominently, with an easier match up against Brisbane at home to open the season, before a tougher ask against last season’s beaten grand finalists Melbourne United in Melbourne.

The VC is on United’s greatest player Chris Goulding. Goulding is an elite shooter and one of the league’s most dangerous weapons but, for SuperCoach purposes, he has not traditionally been a consistently big scorer and, after an injury-interrupted pre-season, Trez will be hoping for a couple of vintage explosions from long range.

Brisbane’s NBL25 MVP Casey Prather is Harrell’s highest-priced selection at $351,400 and the versatile forward is a nightly double-double threat and produced one of the best seasons of his career last campaign.

Sticking with the Kiwis, he’s gone with bruising big Sam Mennenga, while new Tassie antagonist Ben Ayre gets the nod as the man he hopes can deliver above his cut-price value.

It’s the $235,700 Harrell has forked out this round for new Cairns Taipans’ million-dollar man Jack McVeigh as his Sixth Man.

The former NBL grand final MVP and Boomers Paris Olympian is in for a massive season after returning to the league from a stint with Houston in the NBA.

But Harrell is risking leaving SuperCoach points on the table — and here’s why.

Five of his six selections all play two games this round but McVeigh’s Taipans are only slated for one — and it’s on the road against a tough and deep South East Melbourne outfit.

SuperCoaches might look elsewhere to ensure they trump Trez.

At just $143,200, Melbourne United’s Finn Delany looks like one of the best-value players in SuperCoach, with his ability to contribute statistically across the board.

Next Star Karim Lopez is still just 18 but, with a big role and NBA draft hopes, at $202,000, he could be the answer — although he’s yet to suit up for the Breakers this off-season due to injury, so the Mexican might be a wait-and-see for now.

If you can find the $50k to get up to Tassie’s Josh Bannan, he looks like a walking double-double — if he can stay healthy, while new NZ import Rob Baker II impressed on debut during the Breakers’ tour of Asia. United’s new import centre Jesse Edwards, who is enormous and has NBA experience and lightning quick teammate Tyson Walker should both have large roles, while Milton Doyle has a chance to bounce back from a down season at his new club.

Tassie import guard trio Bryce Hamilton, David Johnson and Tyger Campbell are all $277k and all appeal.

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