Breaking Down The Offensive Game of Italian Prospect Matteo Spagnolo
Writer Dakota Schmidt uses film to help break down the offensive play of Real Madrid product and current Vanoli Cremona guard Matteo Spagnolo
As we stand here in early February, college men’s and women’s teams across the country are in the midst of conference play. For the times themselves, they’re using these times to try to defeat their foes, climb their way up the conference ladder, and improve their stock to either get in or have a higher seed for next month’s NCAA Tournament. And for a certain group of prospects, they’re going to have to balance the grind that comes from those aforementioned challenges along with the immense stress of preparing for the next steps of their basketball career.
From now until the final buzzer of the NCAA Tournament final, the attention of the basketball loving American masses is going to be centered on that, whether they’re casual fans following the drama or online scouts trying to see who can go up or down on their draft boards. For that diehard group of individuals, their focus on the ongoing events of college hoops and its prospects eventually leads to one major oversight: international basketball.
While that lapse does make some sense, as finding international tape to scout prospects is simpler than simply turning on one of the many cable sports networks at any time of the day to watch college ball, it’s still unfortunate. As evident from a lot of the brightest stars in today’s game being born outside of the 50 states, the amount of talent that stretches across the globe is immense. Among the current group of international players looking to use this year’s Draft to break into the NBA, there might not be a more entertaining prospect than Matteo Spagnolo.
The pride of Brindisi, a city in southern Italy that sits on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, Spagnolo has been a phenomenon in the European basketball world since he was a 13-year-old that scored 78 and 77 points in the semifinal and final, respectively, of a regional under-14 championship. That jaw-dropping performance led to him joining Stella Azzurra of the Italie Serie B league at the tender age of 14. One year later, our subject moved to develop under the house of Real Madrid, becoming the first Italian to join that prestigious basketball institution in May 2018 when he was only 15.
In the nearly four years since then, Matteo has grown with their U18 team which was headlined by a great run in the 2020-21 Adidas Next Generation Tournament where he was named to their All-Tournament Team by averaging 14.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 45% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc on 4.8 perimeter attempts per game. During his five game run during that event, he wow’d the masses through the ways he was able to use creative ways to get his teammates involved, create his own shot off-the-dribble, and make the process of splitting pick-and-rolls look easy.
A few months after the youngster’s successful run with Madrid in the ANGT’s, Real Madrid made a deal with Vanoli Basket Cremona to have the guard return to Italy to play in the top flight Lega A league. While the level of competition in Lega A isn’t at the same level as the ACB or Euroleague competition that his parent club competes in, Spagnolo would still have an opportunity to play in a solid league consisting of a mix of the Italy’s finest and players like Cam Reynolds, Naz Long, and Jalen Jones that G League fans would be familiar with.
At least from a statistical perspective, Spagnolo is more than holding his own. In 15 games for the team, he’s averaging 12.4 points, 2.6 assists, and 3.3 rebounds on 51% from the field and 46% from beyond the arc on 2.6 attempts in 26 minutes per game. Those incredible efficiency numbers lead to him maintaining a 58% effective Field Goal Percentage ( eFG%) and 61% True Shooting Percentage (TS%), which places him in the top 5 among Serie A point guards. That mix of volume and tremendous efficiency against high-level competition is remarkable considering his age and the leap from playing against teenagers to high-level Europeans and American imports.
When you start watching Spagnolo, it won’t take long to see that he plays more like an experienced veteran than a teenager struggling to find himself against the experienced competition. That’s because the 6’4 guard exhibits tremendous confidence in his movements on the court. From an offensive perspective, he has this innate ability to recognize when to push the pace in transition or pull things back and let the offense run their half-court sets.
In transition, he does a good job of keeping his head up once he gets the ball, which allows him to survey the court and make quick reads. Once he spots his guy, our subject can really make the magic happen as he’s shown himself to be capable by finding his man by way of outlets, alley-oops from mid-court or slick bounce passes to cutters charging to the basket.
Along with being capable and willing to make magic for one of his teammates, our subject can also use the means of transition to score himself. That means of production in transition has come in numerous ways, from firing off the catch from deep, using his quickness to speed down the court, and doing a good job filling his lane and finishing around the rim after receiving the dish from a teammate. All of those skills have paid immense dividends as he’s averaging 1.65 points per possession (counting assists) which places him in the 90th percentile (very good), according to Synergy Sports.
When he works to settle down Cremona’s offense so they can run half-court sets is when Spagnolo’s immense strengths and growth areas persist. As mentioned before, the young Italian already has the poise of a veteran that doesn’t let the stress of playing against solid competition get to him. It’s not just that as it seems like the game actually slows down for him when he’s working through the intricacies of being a playmaker within a half-court offense.
For example, our subject already can both utilize and take advantage of a ball screen in numerous ways. The most notable of them is how he uses pace to maneuver around the screen set by his big to get to his spot before the drop big can take advantage.
While on the topic of screens and drop bigs, Matteo has already shown a real knack of getting bigs to switch on to him and them using low dribbles, crossovers, or step-backs to create his space and just embarass the poor giant. A great example of that is evident in the clip below where he uses slick handles and the threat of a drive to make the big stumble before hoisting up the mid-range jumper.
Away from using screens to help himself put numbers on the board, the Italian sensation is already excellent at using that craft as a means to help as a facilitator. The perfect example of him utilizing those traits are evident in the gif below. After receiving the pass, Spagnolo does a great job of wrapping his way around the ball screen which both forces the defending guard to commit but gives him enough space where the drop defender needs to stay because of the ongoing threat of a mid-range jumper. Our subject uses that threat to his advantage by contorting his body to make it look he’s going up for the jump which confuses the defense even more and gives the roll man an opening to dunk it home. ALl of that plus the precise feed from the Italian prospect makes this a textbook example of how to excel in the pick-and-roll as a ball-handler.
As you’ve seen over the last few parapgrahs, the Brindisi-born chap has real knack controlling the action when he has the ball in his hands. That’s incredibly fortunate for Vanoli Cremona due to him maintaining a hefty 22.6% Usage Percentage, the third highest number on his team. However, our subject has shown more and more flashes of being able to make an impact when he doesn’t have possession of the ball.
The most glaring example of this is how he’s shooting 40% on 25 total catch-and-shoot attempts that come from beyond the three-point line. While nobody would throw that percentage out of bed, it does currently stand as an example of small sample size. Along with that, most of his shots in that area come from him standing in his spot waiting to receive the pass. As his career continues to progress, it would be great to see him be put in more challenging situations, like manuevering around screens to get to his spot and figuring out his footing quickly before catching and releasing.
Along with showing flashes as a strong catch-and-shoot threat, our subject has shown himself capable of finding others when working off-ball as a secondary facilitator. As is the case when he works in transition or controlling the action in the half-court, Spagnolo is able to use his 6’4 frame to look over the court and make quick decisions with the ball.
As you can see from the play below, those traits come in handy when put to that challenge as he uses a pump fake to get around the closer, probe the paint to catch the defense’s attention, and then make the kickout to the corner shooter. All of that happening in a span of only four seconds from when he receives the pass to throwing out to the shooter keeps the defense on their toes and prevents them from getting settled.
While his knack both on and off the ball has allowed him to shine as one of the best young players in Serie A, the 19-year-old still has some areas that he’ll need to grow and develop in. The most glaring example is seen by how he struggles to create separation from his defender, whether it’s a guard or big switched onto him, when trying to drive towards the paint. That puts Matteo in predicaments where he needs to score through traffic. Although he’s had some success in that area, as the 19-year-old can make acrobatic finishes worthy of a good YouTube complation, it has hurt his efficiency at the Italian level. Currently, he’s shooting just 39% from around the rim on 33 total attempts, which places him in the 11th percentile (not good), according to Synergy Sports.
Another area of growth for the young prospect would be his decision maker. Although I’ve used this piece to fawn over his knack as a passer and ability to get to his spot as a shooter, the 19-year-old has plenty of moments where you can say that plays like someone that is too big for his britches. That thought is most evident when he creates turnovers by trying to throw no-look passes or put too much zip on the ball when a simple soft feed would do the job.
I’m not trying to be too harsh on the young guard, however instances like what you see below where the ball hits the head on the defender rather than the hands of a teammate is just incredibly frustrating to watch because you know the guard is capable of so much better. However, plays like this has hindered the young guard as him averaging 2.2 turnovers per game has allowed him to maintain a less than stellar 1.2 Ast/TO ratio.
Despite his struggles with not having the burst needed to make clean on-ball drives and his decision-making with the passe sthat he makes, this is still a fantastic prospect with real upside at either guard position due to his ability to use screens to get to his spot, knack as a facilitator in transition and half-court, and promise as an off-ball guard. While I won’t tell you my full projection on him until the next piece that will break down his defense, it’s crystal clear Matteo Spagnolo is a real talent that basketball fans in the United States should know about before this summer’s NBA Draft.