Playmaking Mirko where he feels at home

Featured image: Jason Hill / @Pinnacle_Images

He proved himself a lethal NBL shooter but Mirko Djeric always wanted to get back to his playmaking roots and he is doing that now in a first NBL1 South season at the Diamond Valley Eagles on the back of smashing some assists records in Sweden.

If you've only seen Djeric play in the NBL where he started at the Wollongong Hawks as a 17-year-old in the 2012/13 season before three seasons with the Townsville Crocodiles and then four at the Cairns Taipans, and you'd be excused for thinking he's a one trick pony as a spot up three-point shooter.

And he did some great things in the NBL in that role going 196/605 at 32 per cent across 171 games up until the end of NBL23 where he had the ability catch fire like few players could, and was fearless in the shots he would attempt.

However, Djeric grew up in Bankstown and with his Serbian background a natural playmaker, and he always wanted to show he was much more than just a lethal shooter and now he's proving that around the world.

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Djeric's first NBL1 season as a genuine point guard was back in 2024 at the West Adelaide Bearcats where he averaged 5.2 assists before taking that to Sweden over the past two seasons with KFUM Nässjö where he just finished averaging 9.8 dimes this past season including a game where he dished out 21.

Now this NBL1 South season with Diamond Valley, Djeric is going at 8.5 assists a game and he's playing the type of basketball that he believes it should be played with a genuine pass-first point guard.

"Honestly I find joy when I can set up someone and I see them getting happy when they're scoring or whatever," Djeric said.

"I just think team chemistry wise it's better because sometimes if an NBL1 team signs an NBL level guy or a pro from Europe, they will just come in and jack up shoots and I don’t really like that sort of way.

"I prefer the local guys as well getting involved and the guys that are trying to make the NBL helping them out too. I'm 31 now so I've got a lot of experience playing in NBL and across Europe, and everywhere, but it sort of started happening maybe three years ago when I was with West Adelaide Bearcats.

"I was playing more as a point guard there and it sort of felt natural again and it's been a long time since I was a point guard after having a lot of running to the corners and being a spot up in the NBL."

Embracing the pass first mentality

Obviously to play almost 200 games in the NBL, Djeric was happy to play whatever type of role he was asked and he had some monster three-point shooting nights where he would be no stranger to knocking down at least five three-pointers a night multiple times a season.

But he did grow up with the ball in his hands and being a playmaker and distributor, and wanted to get back to that and got that first real chance in the NBL1 Central at the Bearcats in 2024 where he had the 5.2 assists while shooting the three ball at over 40 per cent.

From there he had his first of two seasons in Sweden with Nässjö where he had 6.3 assists while shooting the three at 38 per cent before playing at the Inner West Bulls in NBL1 East in 2025 for 7.1 assists.

It was back to Sweden where he set a single game record with 21 assists on his way to averaging 9.8 dimes across the season with 37 per cent three-point shooting, and now he's been handed the reins at the Eagles this NBL1 South season.

"I definitely have enjoyed it and after playing in Sweden the last two years, that's been pretty much my position and it's been going well. I've had some big games assist-wise and I'm enjoying it honestly," Djeric said.

"It's brought a different sort of love to the game and gives me a bit more control and allows me to get other guys involved.

"As a shooter you want a point guard who passes so I've sort of lived both worlds and I understand that as a shooter you want a guy who pushes the ball ahead or driving and kicking, and it just feels the right way to play.

"A lot of that credit for me goes to Ian Stacker and he put that in my head when I was at the AIS with him and he was always going to keep telling me to shoot. I can hear his voice even now, but he always was about making that extra pass and it helps us as a team I think."

Playing the game the right way

While basketball all over the world is trending towards having point guards who think about scoring and shooting first, there's something pure about seeing a team having a pass-first point guard who just wants to set his teammates up first without thinking about shooting necessarily.

Djeric has all the physical tools to run the point exactly like he feels it should be and he's thankful to have now been given those opportunities of the past three years.

"That's just how basketball has tended to go with the point guard being the scorer as well," Djeric said.

"Most of the imports in the NBL have the point guard as their main scorer, but growing up when I was a kid in the Serbian basketball environment, it was always about team first and it's always been in the back of my mind the way I would like basketball to be played.

"I'm happy that I can do it now in the teams that I'm in and I just feel like it's the right way to play. I think in the long run it will be good and the guys around me will get more confidence as the games go on this season, and they'll hit shots that might be a 50-50 but they can make it because they've got the confidence.

"That's the way I've been seeing basketball now in the last couple of years and I want to keep going with that in this role that I'm enjoying."

Team coming together

While the Eagles did lose seven of the first nine games this NBL1 season, they've now won four of the past including last weekend to the impressive Dandenong Rangers so Djeric remains confident they can still mark a charge.

"Obviously at the start it was getting all the pieces together and we had a couple of new faces, and we've got a pretty young team as well," Djeric said.

"Then Archie Woodhill was out for a little while with a calf as well so he's been a big help coming back in, and we've been figuring out how everyone plays together.

"I think we're finding our groove now at the right time and it sucks that we dropped a couple of games that we shouldn’t have earlier, but it's good to beat Dandy and now we've got a tough double header this weekend. It will be a real test to see where we are."

Talented squad at the Eagles

While still having work to do if they want to finish in the top 10 this season, Djeric sees no reason why should they stay healthy and build on that win over Dandenong ahead of this week's double against the Casey Cavaliers and Melbourne Tigers that they can't make a run.

After all, there's no shortage of talent with Djeric, Manny Malou, Archie Woodhill and Ryley Haywood have all stepped onto NBL courts, Xavier Bledson is a talented import and Noah Todd, Aleksandar Bandilovski, Daniel Poelsma and Mitch Blackburn have plenty to offer too.

"I've also completely changed how I play now as well going from being a spot up shooter in the NBL to sort of playing how I was in the juniors as a creator, and I'm enjoying it because I think we have a lot of talent out on the court," Djeric said.

"I think it works the more I create for them and the more successful as a team we will be so it's going good. We've got a talented squad, we've just gotta knuckle down a bit more on the defence and the rebounds and we'll be a tough match up for anyone for sure."

Splitting year between Europe and NBL1

While back in the early years of his career when at the Crocodiles, Djeric was able to go straight from an NBL season to playing state league both in Townsville and back in Bankstown, that simply wasn’t possible in the three years after that in Serbia with the length of those seasons.

But once he got to the Taipans, Djeric played NBL1 each off-season and now even while playing in Sweden the past two years, he has continued playing NBL1 as well and doesn't have too many complaints of this new way of life.

"I experienced it after I was with the Crocodiles and they folded and I went to Serbia for three years," Djeric said.

"I was there for three years, but those seasons go on forever man, that's like nine, 10 months and that was just next level.

"But for example in Sweden, it goes the same sort of length of NBL and maybe a touch longer, but it gives you the opportunity to come back and play in Australia with NBL1, and get yourself ready again for the next season.

"I don’t know where I'm going to go for this upcoming season and if it's going to be in Europe or Asia or who knows, but I'm open to anything. I'm enjoying it and it's a different lifestyle definitely in Sweden and it's very cold that's for sure.

"So there's that aspect to it, but wherever I've been in Australia or in Europe or whatever, I've settled in pretty well. I don’t need much to keep me happy and the older I get, the less I need so that's pretty much it."

Home will always be Sydney West

Now that Djeric has played in the NBL in Wollongong, Townsville and Cairns, in the NBL1 in Townsville, Cairns, Adelaide, back in Sydney and Melbourne, and has played internationally in Serbia and Sweden, and there's part of him in plenty of different places.

But growing up in Bankstown and given that's where his family still lives, that's always going to be where he calls home.

"Home is always where my parents and sisters are and now I have a partner as well who I actually met in Sweden so we are trying to work that out as well where we can spend the most time together," Djeric said.

"Sydney West is always going to be home because obviously I was born there and grew up there, but I've got soft spots for everywhere I've been.

"I met incredible people in Townsville and the Norton took me in when I was young there and Mitch helped me out a lot. Then I was in Cairns for four years and obviously I met some good people there and still stay in touch with people from there.

"Then obviously Serbia where my parents are from, I've got a connection there and everywhere I've been has a little piece of me I guess, but Sydney West is always going to be home."