Stanford signee Andrej Stojakovic scores 16 in McDonald’s All-American 3PT
As part of the McDonald’s All-American POWERADE JamFest, Stanford men’s basketball signee Andrej Stojakovic scored 16 points in the 3-point contest. He had a solid outing but wasn’t able to out-shoot Duke signee Jared McCain, who won the contest with an amazing 27 point performance.
Stojakovic got off to a bit of a slow start, shooting 2-5 on his first rack from the corner, including the money ball. This gave him three points as he headed to rack number two. In the second rack, he went 3-5, but did not connect on his money ball. One of them did get a friendly roll, which if you got a stroke like he does, you’ll get. This gave him six points after two racks.
Moving on to the third rack from the center, this was his money ball rack. Stojakovic went 2-5, unable to get the last one to drop. This gave him 10 points after three racks. As for the fourth rack, Stojakovic went 3-5, including making the money ball. This gave him 14 points with one rack to go. In the fifth and final rack, Stojakovic went 2-5 though the last couple of shots he wasn’t able to get off in time. He thus finished with 16 points.
Looking back on the contest and what could have gone better, it was really the money ball rack that was a disappointment for Stojakovic. The money ball rack is where players need to really heat up from both because it’s a chance to get 10 points if they make all five shots and also because it’s supposed to be placed in their favorite spot on the floor. A lot of guys choose to have their money ball rack out on one of the wings, but Stojakovic liked it from dead center. He definitely has to wish he at least went 4-5 during that rack.
Of course, this is just a 3-point contest and it’s all for fun. The players are out there having fun and soaking up the atmosphere. So, no worries at all if you come up a bit short in one of these. The real victory is in getting to this stage at all.
When watching Stojakovic shoot, he has really smooth mechanics. He has a bit of a slower release than others, but he squares up at the basket really well with a good base, has a good flick of the wrist, follow through, and the right amount of arc on his shot. Some guys really moon ball it, which isn’t bad necessarily, but ideally you just make sure you have the right amount of arc to give the ball a good enough angle to go into the hoop and nothing beyond that.
Listed at 6’7”, 188 pounds, Stojakovic is one of the leaner McDonald’s All-Americans, so it’s clear that he needs to bulk up a bit and get stronger. If he is going to have an instant impact on The Farm next season, Jerod Haase and his staff are going to have to find ways to get him good looks at the rim. Having 4-star point guard Kanaan Carlyle coming in should help a lot with that.
All in all, the 3-point contest was a lot of fun as it gave us a good look at the kind of shooter Stojakovic is. You can tell that he’s been coached by the very best and has a tremendous future ahead of him in a Cardinal uniform.
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