Tracking Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk



  • Adding a link to the FIBA EUROPE site where you can follow Svi and Team Ukraine in the U18 European Championship tournament.

    SVIATOSLAV MYKHAILIUK - STATS

    TEAM UKRAINE | SCHEDULE | STANDINGS

    Svia



  • @bskeet I have been following him during this event. His shooting has been poor from the 3 but someone mentioned that the 3pt line is at the NBA 3. He has grown a few inches this summer as well. During his time on the pro team he played for in the Ukraine his shooting was average and he wasn’t THE guy. I do have to mention he is still averaging 17+ points a game and is only playing around 23 minutes.



  • 🏀

    How do I make it bounce?



  • @drgnslayr Dribble it.



  • @Statmachine His percentages have not been great. I’m not sure whether his shot selection is the issue or if the defense in the Euroleague is stronger… Anyway, he is the second leading scorer for Ukraine and I think in the top 5 or 6 for all players in the tournament (meaning, he’d be a top scorer for several other teams.)

    When he gets into the Jayhawk system, I suspect he’ll need to learn to be judicious about shot selection.



  • @bskeet

    The Ukrainian team is very talented and deep. The starters are averaging 23 minutes or less so his number would be higher if he would be playing 30+ minutes that most starters normally play. The player that is leading the team in scoring is 1+ years older than Svi, which at that age makes a fair amount of difference.



  • It appears there are 2 divisions in FIBA U18 European Championship. There are 16 teams in Division A and 22 teams in Division B. According to the Division A website’s Competition system, the last three teams will be relegated to Division B for the next season. Likewise, the top 3 finishing teams in the Division B championship will advance to Division A for the next season.

    Ukraine is in Division B. Looks like Ukraine being undefeated is in a strong position to qualify for Division A next season. Svi is the second leading scorer on the team. Hope he makes the senior national team. It will be a great experience and honor to play for his country.



  • @Wishawk do you think playing for his country will be better than getting here?



  • @Crimsonorblue22 Yes. It is the highest honor to represent my country. It may not benefit the club or make one more money, but it is a great honor. For many of the stars who shone in the World Cup in Brazil, the benefit is huge also. For example, a number of south American soccer players did very well while helping their national teams advance in the tournament, and now they are offered big contracts in Europe. Another young American player, DeAndre Yedlin who was relatively unknown before WC and is making $80k a year at Seattle, received a lot of attention for his brilliant play and may move to Europe and make millions soon. If Svi didn’t play for Ukraine U18 national team, KU probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to him. So the benefit is huge for him. How many 17 year olds get national TV time every week?



  • @Crimsonorblue22 By the way, I also saw your question to HEM about going to school. And I agree with HEM that the goal is to have a good job and a better life. A college experience is great if it enhances that prospect. Otherwise it is just a side note. Most of the professional athletes (NBA, NFL, MLB, etc.) don’t need the college degree after their playing career though many do choose to have it. But the reason probably isn’t because they are lack of money.



  • @Wishawk my point wasn’t his choice to play NBA now, because he can’t. It was to worry he’d play euro ball instead of coming here. Somebody had mentioned Svi red shirting or coming off the bench, then euro ball was mentioned, like mudlay(sp) going to china.



  • Hungary is up by 6 at the half. Svee is leading all scorers on the Ukraine team with 7 pts 4 boards.



  • Just a bit of info … Rustin Dodd had posted on Twitter that he didn’t think that the Portugal national U18 team (one of the Ukraine’s competitors) would be able to beat the Kansas all-star High School team, commenting on the level of competition at the U18 event.



  • @nuleafjhawk

    “Dribble it.”

    Hard to dribble the ball while my chops are dribbling!



  • To the point made a while back that European teams would not want Svi now because of his age, that he needs to be developed, etc., here’s what Fran Fraschilla said:

    “As a 17-year old, Mykhailiuk was actively pursued by a number of top European clubs, but elected to attend college instead. He will not turn 18 until next June, and may be the youngest player in a power conference this coming season. Despite his age, he is talented enough to help Kansas as a freshman.”



  • @Crimsonorblue22 I understand your concern, but my original reply was about him playing with the national team, not red shirt or playing pro ball. I didn’t really think about that being a possibility.

    Back to playing for his country, in my opinion, he is playing organized basketball on the national team. He’d benefit from the experience more than he would playing unorganized pickup games. He is coached every day with the Ukraine team, but probably can only work with KU coaches a few hours a week if he were here. I’d say it is beneficial to his development to be on the national team. And if he is truly a top level talent, he will have no problem meshing with the KU players in a couple of months on campus. I’d prefer he develops as much as possible before the season if I were Coach Self because he is so young. Also if he were selected to the senior national team and play in FIBA World Cup in August, he’d be playing/learning/testing against the NBA or Euroleague pro players. I think it’s a win-win situation.



  • @HighEliteMajor I really hope Svi is truly as talented as everyone believe. And I’d love Svi provide competition to Selden, Greene, and Oubre, but I think he is behind these three. I’m looking forward to seeing him to be a star on our team when he is a Sophomore.



  • @Wishawk You’re right. Slips in as a starter at the 2 his sophomore season. That is a perfectly realistic expectation.



  • I hope Svi will be able to keep up with older American ball players. It looks like he needs to work on his shot selection also. A year or two in Bill’s system will help tremendously. If not he’ll be another Down’s and some other stud will replace him. It looks like Bill could use the scholarship next year anyway. I’d rather he panned out, but if not there’s always the next big thing on the horizon.



  • Svi led Ukraine to the finals in a 65-64 win over Finland with a 22 point /10 rebound performance. He led his team in both categories…

    Ukraine vs Germany in the finals



  • 7/30/2014 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk 2014

    U18 European Championship Men 2014 - DIVISION B Ukraine vs. Sweden on 30.07.2014

    10 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Ukraine)

    Photographer: FIBA Europe/Ville Vuorinen

    8/13/2013 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk 2013

    U16 European Championship Men 2013 - DIVISION A Ukraine vs. Montenegro on 13.08.2013

    10 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Ukraine)

    Photographer: FIBA Europe/ Ciamillo-Castoria

    Svi matured quite a bit since last year. It’s great sign and he might contribute significantly this year. We shall see.



  • Mesut Ozil

    A fan of USA basketball.



  • Football is King! I meant soccer.

    #Manchester United - Real Madrid smashes attendance record in USA

    Manchester United vs Real Madrid at University of Michigan

    3 Aug 2014 00:20:00

    Over 109,000 fans were packed into the stadium in Michigan to watch the Red Devils’ 3-1 win - more than the previous record set in the 1984 Olympics

    Manchester United vs Real Madrid at University of Michigan



  • I hope Svi sees limited minutes his first year. I’d rather see Greene get the minutes.



  • Just realized this today … the U18 European “championships” that Svi is playing in is the “B” division, not the “A” division. So not even the best U18 teams. So really, most likely, pretty average competition. As I’d posted before, Rustin Dodd had said Portugal would get beat by a Kansas high school all start team. Just pointing out that any apparent positives by Svi in this tournament really mean nothing when it comes to competing against real D-1 competition. Below is a link where you can see the A division, and B division.

    http://u18men.fibaeurope.com/en/default.asp



  • @rustindodd: Svi Mykhailiuk’s Ukraine squad went down to Germany in the European Championship “Division B” final. Svi had 8 points on 3-8 shooting.

    Hmmm? Not sure what to think!



  • @HighEliteMajor

    I am not impresses with Rustin Dodd’s writing, even if he is a KU graduate. The level of writing at the Star has gone down considerably since Joe Posnanski, a truly superior sports writer, left; even Jason Whitlock occasionally had decent columns. Not much influential writing coming from the Star nowadays. Now doubt that much better KU related coverage comes from the LJW and Jesse Newell in Topeka.



  • “Just realized this today … the U18 European “championships” that Svi is playing in is the “B” division, not the “A” division. So not even the best U18 teams. So really, most likely, pretty average competition”

    I’m pretty sure the divisions are set by past performance. The fact that Ukraine is in “B” division just points to Ukraine not being good enough to be in the top division. They most likely played better and worse teams earlier in order to establish themselves in “B” division. The competition in “B” is probably a bit lower, but hard to say how much lower than “A”.

    Self said Svi would make an impact this year and I tend to believe him.

    The only thing I read into these stats is that Svi isn’t afraid to shoot the ball!



  • Svi was MVP on the Division B all tournament team according to FIBA Europe’s tweet. Hope it carries over to KU.



  • I guess I’m not down on Svi; I just am extremely skeptical of the instant or immediate impact this season. I think, at best (barring injuries to others), he’ll play Brannen Greene’s role from last season (5th perimeter guy). Who else does he beat out for time? PG? No. Selden? No. Oubre? No.

    That leaves two perimeter rotation spots left – a second PG and Greene.

    I think he’s the likely starter at the 2 if he’s still here for his sophomore season, and I think that gives us his greatest value. Great plug in and play for Selden.

    Plausible scenario: Svi, and Greene are our starters at the 2, and 3 for 2015-16 and 2016-17.



  • Ukraine is playing Germany in the title game today. Germany is always decent. There is no way a Kansas HS all star team beats Germany.



  • @drgnslayr Well, I’m guessing you’re right there. Dodd was referring to Portugal.

    Self has described Svi as “weak” physically, as I recall. We tend think these guys can just come right in and be effective, given the OAD culture. But what about this guy demonstrates that he will be anything but a normal, talented freshman? I’d say nothing. Heck, is Oubre better than Svi? Really don’t know until they lace 'em up.

    Exhibition football starts tonight. That just means we’re closer to hoops season.



  • @HighEliteMajor I would guess not just talent, but being a few years older would certainly qualify oubre as a stronger, more productive freshmen. I’m thinking Svi will need a guardian! Can you imagine if he would’ve had Tharpe for a roommate? That was low!!! Shame on me!



  • Germany didn’t qualify for the upcoming FIBA World Cup. Maybe Germany hasn’t been top notch in the recent times. According to Wiki, Ukraine is ranked 6th in Europe while Germany is 17th.



  • After looking at the box score of Ukraine’s 64-40 loss to Germany, I doubt that Svi’s role at KU will be backup point guard. Zero assists, 5 turnovers, and 0-3 on 3’s. Probably more of a project than a savior at this point. Perhaps when his body and his game matures, he’ll surprise us all.



  • @HighEliteMajor

    I just think he’ll find a way to contribute his freshman year. He definitely needs to strengthen up.

    Look at him like a big version of Conner. And Conner did contribute this past year… especially in March.

    I see this kid having a break out year his sophomore year. He sounds like he has the drive to be a big disciple of Hudy. He’ll be a different guy come fall of 2015.

    He did end up tournament MVP… so there must be something about his game that attracts someone (besides his mediocre stats).

    Think of him as a bigger version of Manu Ginóbili (and after a year of Hudy, more athletic). Manu looks like a shoe salesman, but there is no way in heck that San Antonio wins this past title without him.

    Basketball is more than stats and athleticism. Some guys just know how to get the job done. I find it very impressive that Svi shot a poor average in this tournament but took his team to the finals and won MVP. Maybe he impacted games in other ways, like helping control ball and pace.



  • @BonoboCongo Hard to know. He certainly had a poor game in the championship… and Germany appeared to be good competition.

    But Svi was named MVP of the tournament (despite his team losing the finals), so that’s an acknowledgement that must be one of the best players in Div B.



  • @Wishawk

    As you know, in Germany soccer is king and everything else a very distant second. In the past. the Senior German Team has depended heavily on foreign players with dual nationalities such as Kaman and Bradley and the one superstar Dirk Nowitski. As basketball becomes more popular the younger players are becoming better (Germans are generally good athletes) and it is is likely that when the current U18 team and U20 players get to join the senior team, it will be much better that it currently is.

    The same is true for soccer in America, where the younger generations have gotten consistently better due to the increased exposure of the sport to the younger generation and in the future we will have more world class soccer players.

    By the way, Mesut Özil had a very good World Cup.; he is a real classy player.



  • @JayHawkFanToo Yes, Germany has a really good system developing soccer talent from young ages. And soccer is getting more an more popular in America, but it is still a long way from the three major sports here. Hopefully the World Cup generated enough interest and more people will learn and enjoy soccer.

    You got a good point about relying on dual citizenship. Until we develop the market in America, the foreign imports like Julian Green have their purpose and may help raise the level of the American soccer team. I’m hoping Gedion Zelalam of Arsenal will choose to wear the US jersey. He (17), Julian Green (19) and DeAndre Yedlin (20) may form the core of a young and exciting American team in four years. I’m looking forward to Jorgen Klinksman doing his magic again.



  • @Wishawk

    Yes, but these are really European players, playing in Europe and who would not have a chance to make their national teams and use the loophole to play in the USA team. Maybe they raise the level of the national team some and by extension exposure; however, they really do not advance the level of soccer here and maybe deprive local players from acquiring valuable international exposure. I believe we are at the point of using local players and not relying in loopholes. Look at what happened to German basketball, they relied in a similar loophole and development suffered, but not that they are not emphasizing this, their younger teams (and even their pro teams) are getting a lot better.

    I do understand that the majority of top players in the world play in Europe, look at the teams from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and many others and you will see that 80% of their national team players play in Europe, but at least those players were born, grew up and were developed in their own countries. I don’t mind if our better players end up playing in the top European Leagues like Tim Howard and others, but at least, it gives hopes to the current generation of local players that they can make it to the national team and the big time European Leagues, much like top European basketball players dream of playing in the NBA. I think the Jürgen Klinsmann’s approach is a band-aid that will work in the short time, but not a viable long term solution. Just my opinion.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I have to respectfully disagree that the foreign based players don’t help raising the over all level of play in the US. If you look at the less than die hard soccer fans, you will see many following the US national team rather than the MLS teams. The level of competition in US is incomparable to Europe or Latin America. This is not just limited to MLS, but also USL, and the lower club level. Like the debate of the shoe companies, I think the level of play in the US is directly related to the market share and the owners/league’s investment in the teams. The more soccer fans there are here, the better TV or market share soccer will have and more money will be spent on soccer, and more young talent will stay in soccer longer instead of moving on to football, baseball or basketball. If there is a viable professional outlet in soccer in the US, I’m sure more and more young talent in the US will stay with soccer. It is true what Jurgen Klinsman was forced to bandage the US team for this World Cup, but he had no choice. Most of the starters on the team were near or over 30. And the next crop was not quite there. Also it’s not like he brought teamful of foreign legions. We just need a few key players playing the lead roles. The US is missing key pieces in almost all of the positions, especially the strikers. Altidore is not a good striker, but the was all there was. And Dempsey is a midfielder and probably would have been better partnered with Bradley in the middle. The one bright spot is Tim Howard. But the reset of the team is mostly hard workers rather high talent. Based on the number of players in the NBA and NFL, as well as in the universities, there is no shortage of top athletes in the US. We just need ways to divert some toward soccer. In my opinion, MLS is getting more recognition, but at the present is not attractive to many athletic kids because it doesn’t provide nearly the same level of outlook to become professional athletes. Many should have never pursued basketball or football because their bodies are just not suited for either sports. Had soccer been an outlet, the level of play in the US would be much higher. Just think how many soccer teams you can have had some of the 100+ ranked high school basketball players chosen to play soccer instead? I think Jamari Traylor would have made a better striker than Jozy Altidore.

    I think Jurgen Klinsman is heading in the right direction by promoting US soccer and gain market share for the sport of soccer. In the end it will benefit the sport in the US in the long run.



  • @Wishawk you soccer guys should “fork this topic”. I don’t know how. Check the Thread tools.



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    Maybe we should, but I believe the administrator has to do it; I don’t seem to find the tools to do it.

    Having said that, the discussion is not that unrelated to basketball since the development of soccer in the US mirrors the development of basketball in Germany, and in many ways it also has similarities with the NBA and the “buy vs. build” philosophy we have discussed. In other words, you can buy short term success, but to ensure long term success, you have to build it from the ground up and yes, it takes longer, but the results also have a longer term effect as well.



  • @JayHawkFanToo well, ok!



  • @Wishawk

    I guess we just agree to disagree. Soccer is one of the few sports that has not had a decline in participation in the last 10 years, due to, in my opinion, the increasing number of kids playing video games instead of real sports. Nationally, there are more kids playing soccer now than baseball or football and only basketball has a bigger participation, and that is because it is played year around where soccer is only played a few months out of the year.

    In the KC area, the growth is unbelievable. In Johnson County we have soccer fields sprouting all over the place and on weekends, games start at 6:00 AM and go well into the night with lights…Perhaps our area is not typical since we have now the League Champions Sporting KC professional soccer team that sells out every game and tickets are not cheap. I looked into tickets for the August 16th game and GA tickets (behind the goals), if you can find them start at $50, and tickets on the side stands start at $150 and go to well over $200, again if you can find them. A couple of years ago you were able to get Groupon packages but those have not been available for while now. The soccer complex at the Legends is a state of the art facility, the Sporting KC attendance averages above the stated capacity of 18,500 for the stadium, compare this to the Royals that average 21,000 to a stadium with capacity of almost 40,000. Now we have the U.S. Soccer National Training Center heading to Kansas City to an area next to the stadium and it is expected to bring a lot of money to the local economy.

    You saw the audiences for the games played by European teams here. Once we develop that level of game domestically, the audiences will be there. With bigger audiences come higher salaries and with higher salaries, better athletes will opt for soccer.

    P.S. I don’t believe Jamari has the build to be a soccer player; too big and too heavy and he would drop after 15 minutes…

    How far do athletes run in different sports…



  • @JayHawkFanToo You have all good points. I certainly agree with you that the grass root is taking a hold in America. It’s similar to KC, but not as much in Wisconsin. We have many kids playing soccer. But we don’t have any pro team here other than indoor. So once the players reach 16, they must make tough decisions to go into either basketball, football or baseball because there is no semi-pro or little league for soccer for them to go. So the soccer talents stop developing and don’t make to the next level.

    It’s really a great article you found on the distance players run in different sports. Many people still don’t want to admit soccer players are as much athletes as all the other sports. 😞 It’s not easy to run all over the field.

    I love Jamari’s energy, but I agree with you that he won’t last long on a soccer field at the present shape. 🙂 Basketball requires different body shape and build. Had Jamari trained for soccer, he could very well be 180lb of all muscle at 6’7", and that would be a very imposing center forward!



  • Why soccer is silly, my top 10 (all in fun):

    1. A clock that counts up, not down
    2. Penalty kicks at point blank range - goalie just guesses
    3. Tie games being a “victory”
    4. Fake injuries as part of the culture of the sport
    5. Yellow cards and red cards
    6. Stoppage time - not stopping the clock so you actually know how much time is left
    7. Best of two series/aggregate goal
    8. Urine Bombs and freaky third world fans
    9. One ref on a field that is bigger than a football field
    10. Use by Americans of the word nill, instead of zero

    Plus, I would add the soccer players don’t “run” as much as advertised. They jog or trot 3/4 of the time. Bursts here and there. Plus they play positions on the field. Basketball, in my humble opinion, requires one to be in the best shape of any sport.



  • I’m a medium soccer fan. I embrace the World Cup and some big games here and there, but don’t follow teams with regularity. I started getting interested in it while living abroad. Had I not lived abroad I would have never embraced the game.

    But I see a major reason why it hasn’t caught fire in America like it has in other places. We have so many sports going on that it has to fight for space. And scoring is low and our culture is based on “instant gratification”… meaning… we prefer games with lots of scoring, lots of highlights. I believe baseball would be more popular if it had more scoring, too. If baseball suddenly had more 1-0 games, it would lose crowds.

    I kind of like the low scoring. It puts emphasis on how important those moments are. I know I get tired of NBA games and some college ball where teams just run up and down and score like a pinball machine.

    My issue with soccer is all the flopping and whining. It has become a necessary part of the game because you just won’t get the calls without faking a near-death injury. I’ve tried to apply comedy to it all… laughing when guys go down on a flop and they show the replay and the guy was untouched. And then after the call is determined and after he has gone through his wincing painful injury, he bounces up and immediately sprints at full speed without a limp.

    If they would fix that part of the game (which they have somewhat promised to do, but haven’t) I would become a much bigger fan. But until then, when I want to see acting and drama, nothing beats a Broadway production!