Recently, Xirelijiang, who is studying in Serbia, posted a photo with former NBA giant Boban and said that he has been contacted by a CBA team.
Boban Marjanovic was born in Zajecar in 1988. He is a Serbian basketball player who plays as a center and stands at an impressive height of 224 cm.
Boban's basketball career began in the Serbian Super League, where he won the MVP award for three consecutive seasons. During the 2014-15 season, Marjanovic grabbed a total of 256 rebounds and recorded 16 double-doubles, setting new records in both categories in the EuroLeague.
After entering the NBA in 2015, he started his career with the Spurs and later played for teams such as the Pistons, Clippers, and 76ers. However, fans remember him most fondly for his time with the Mavericks.
One of Boban's most memorable performances was in 2018 when the Clippers hosted the Nuggets. In just 18 minutes on the court, he went 6-for-8 from the field, scoring 18 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. In the second game of the 2020 playoffs between the Mavericks and the Clippers, Boban scored 13 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and had 1 assist with a 75% shooting percentage. In the 7 minutes he replaced Porzingis, he efficiently scored 10 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, dominating and bullying Clippers' center Harrell.
There are many players over 220 cm tall, but Boban's success lies in his professionalism and diligence. He takes advantage of many rest periods to train. However, due to the popularity of small-ball in the NBA, with the court space being spread out, as the tallest center in the NBA, his slow movement and inability to keep up with speed have gradually led to him being marginalized.
In CBA games, the pace of offense and defense is not as fast, and there is no defensive three-second rule. Boban will be an unstoppable force in the paint defensively. Offensively, he would be more suitable for teams that play in a set position. Once he gets into position, it will be difficult for defenders to deal with him. Of course, his weaknesses are also obvious: slow transition speed, slow movement, unable to defend outside, and teammates having to wait for him to get into position.
The three fastest-paced teams in the CBA are Xinjiang, Shanxi, and Shanghai, and Boban would definitely not fit these teams. However, the three teams with the fewest offensive and defensive rounds are Liaoning, Guangsha, and Beijing. Although their pace is slow, they are all strong teams in the league. It can be said that the number of rounds does not necessarily correlate with team performance; finding what suits them best is key.
The same principle applies to foreign players, and what fits best is what matters most. Compared to Liaoning's two veteran centers, Guangsha has Hu Jinqiu, and Beijing has Zhou Qi, both of whom are faster-moving centers. They seem to be a better match for Boban.