Preseason is often the stage for rookies to emerge, and the same is true for sandro Mamukelashvili, the Bucks' second-round pick this year. After 2 pre-season games, Sandro has shown a good performance. On the way to defending the Bucks in the new season, will he become a Surprise Soldier?
In the first preseason, the Bucks lost to the Grizzlies 77-87, Sandro played 29 minutes off the bench, 4 of 6, 1 of 2 from the free throw line, with 9 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists; in the second preseason, the Bucks lost to the Nets 115-119, Sandro started 30 minutes, 8 of 14, including 3 of 5 three-pointers, 2 of 6 free throws, 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Born in New York on May 23, 1999, Sandro, 22, is a 2.06-meter tall, 109-kilogram, forward and dual U.S. and Georgian citizenship. Sandro is said to be fluent in English, Georgian, Russian and Italian.
As a child, Sandro moved with his family to Tbilisi, Georgia, where he grew up. He comes from a basketball family, and his grandmother, Ira Gabashvili, was a former Soviet women's basketball captain. But Sanders embarked on the road to basketball under the leadership of his brother David. His childhood idol was Zaza Pachuria, also from Georgia.
Later, Sandro went to high school in Italy and began playing basketball tournaments for all ages. In 2016, Sandro came to the United States to attend Montverde High School, a basketball school, and was teammate with the Knicks' 2019 Flower Discovery Show Barrett. Here, Sandro also met idol Pachulia, and through the latter's introduction, met a number of NBA players, including Curry.
In April 2017, Sandro declined invitations from prestigious universities such as the University of Southern California, Nancar and Van der Biot in favor of Seton Hall. He chose it because his high school mentor, Kevin Boyle, knew Kevin Willard, the school's men's basketball coach, and his brother David lived nearby.
In his four seasons at Seton Hall, Sandro made rapid progress one by one a year. By his senior year, Sandro played in 27 games, averaging 17.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals per game, shooting 43.4% from the field and 33.6% from three-point range.
With the 54th pick in the second round of the 2021 draft, Sandro was selected by the Pacers and then swapped for the Bucks and signed a two-way contract with the Bucks.
Sandro is considered an organizational striker with an arm span of 2.13 meters, a large mid-to-high level of possession, can break through, has excellent vision, is good at passing, good at blocking and attacking and defensive conversions. In addition, he has a soft shooting feel and has the potential to become an excellent space-type interior. However, Sandro is weak in attack and defense, not good at confrontation, slow lateral movement, easy to foul, average rebounding and basket protection ability, and due to lack of explosive power, singles ability is also poor. His template was set to Olynyk.
What surprises will Sandros bring in the new season? See. (Supine Braces/Hairy)