JL Bourg en Bresse guard Luka Asceric is using his first season in the 7DAYS EuroCup to take another step forward in a promising career.
Spotlight, Luka Asceric, Bourg: 'My contribution will grow'
Player Spotlight
5 mins read
The first time Luka Asceric played in France’s top division, he was a youngster on the rise. This time around, the 23-year-old is ready to leave his mark while also making his pan-European debut. Asceric returned to France over the summer and signed with JL Bourg en Bresse, a team making its maiden journey in the 7DAYS EuroCup in its fourth season in the French top flight.
"I wanted to take the next step in my career. Even though the pandemic situation brought a lot of difficulties to many players, I had the chance to pick a club on the rise like Bourg that plays on the European stage," Asceric said. "Coach Savo Vucevic contacted me early at the end of last season considering that I would fit well in his team and his basketball philosophy and promised me an important role. That's why I chose this well-organized club."
While Asceric has not yet filled the stat sheets, he has been doing the little things that help make a winner - and put Bourg in the thick of the Top 6 hunt from Group A with a 3-2 record.
"My goal is to keep developing as a basketball player at this level."
"My role is currently to help the team in the best way to win games and is more focused on defense," said Asceric, who is averaging 1.0 points and 0.8 rebounds in 13:20 minutes a game while having taken nine shots through five games.
"It could be better offensively and I know I can have a bigger impact on that end of the floor. I proved it against top European clubs in the Adriatic League the last two seasons where I developed my game. And that's why I hope my contribution to the team will grow as the games go on. However, my goal is to keep developing as a basketball player at this level by trying to use as much as possible the opportunity I get."
Asceric, who is averaging 4.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in the French league, spent the past two full seasons at Mega Bemax Belgrade in Serbia. Last season he was worth 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the Adriatic League, including three times scoring at least 15 points - and all three times hitting at least 3 three-pointers. That came after he had averaged 7.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the Adriatic League in 2018-19. Asceric poured in at least 16 points three times including flirting with a triple-double against Krka Novo Mesto with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists.
"What makes Mega great at developing young talents is, first of all, the team management and the coaching staff. They put you in a situation to practice hard, improve individually and maximize your qualities by the opportunity you get to play professionally at a young age," said Asceric, who moved to Mega when he was 21. "I liked it right away when I arrived at Mega: the coaching staff with great ex-players, the great atmosphere with all the young players and the confidence I got helped me progress. I felt happy and fulfilled in all kinds of ways."
"Playing for my father was both a good and tough experience."
It was also a chance for Asceric to get more experience with another culture. Asceric’s father is Neno Asceric, who is a Serbian-born former player who played professionally in Serbia, Austria and France from the early 1980s until 2006. His most successful times were in Austria, where he helped Sankt Poelten to five domestic league titles within six seasons and three Austrian Cups. It was also in Sankt Poelten where Luka was born in 1997. But the family moved around France starting in 1998, from Paris to Le Mans, Toulon, Vichy, Bourg, and Neno’s playing career ended again in Austria.
"My father used to bring me to the practices and games. I had to be quiet, sit and watch. That's how I learned many things in basketball because I used to imitate the players' moves when I got back home," he remembered.
Asceric started his professional career with Arcadia in Austria and then went back to France in 2015 to play for Lille in the French second division - playing for his father, who had since become a coach and was the play-caller there.
"Playing for my father was both a good and tough experience. He demanded a lot of me and pushed me every day to get better. But at the end, we managed to do it well since we finished third and I fulfilled a good role that season," Asceric said.
In 2017, Asceric made the jump to France’s top division and played for Hyeres-Toulon. "Coming to the first division at age 20 was a good step in my career. I had the chance to face off with very good players and teams and it helped me develop and grow as a player at a young age," said Asceric.
After averaging 3.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists for Hyeres-Toulon, Asceric received the call from Mega late in the season - in April 2018 - to join Megan and decided to leave France for the opportunity.
"Hyeres-Toulon was in a tough situation and the future was unclear. At that time, I received an offer from Mega and deciding to go to such a perspective club was the best solution at that moment," he said.
This season the time came for Asceric to return to France and take the next step in a promising career.