Sandro Mamukelashvili is turning heads with his play for the Wisconsin Herd
I caught up with Mamu and talked to him, his coach, and an opposing team's scout on the big man's play in Oshkosh.
Let’s take a quick look at Sandro Mamukelashvili’s recent time with the Wisconsin Herd, including a conversation I had with Mamu on Monday night and some thoughts on him from Herd head coach Chaisson Allen and an Eastern Conference scout I chatted with at a Herd game. This is also found in audio form on the Gyro Step Podcast Network podcast feed, so be sure to subscribe for free on your platform of choice if you want to hear from Mamu in his own words.
Since the Bucks selected him with the 54th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Mamu has logged minutes at both the NBA and G League level. While he’s had ups and downs in his run with the Bucks so far – as you’d expect from a late second round pick asked to log rotation minutes for a contender struggling with tons of injuries – Mamu has really come on strong in the G League of late. Most recently he posted 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks in Wisconsin’s comeback win over the Windy City Bulls. For more on that game and Mamu, check out Jordan Treske’s recent article on the Herd and the Bucks signing Boogie Cousins.
I caught up with Mamu after the game to ask him about the vibes with the Herd, the big win, his fit with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and more. This conversation has been edited for clarity.
Ti Windisch (TW): You started off by saying stats don’t matter, winning does. You kind of did both. You had 28 points, huge role in the fourth quarter for the Herd. Before we get to individual games, what does this say about this team that you guys were struggling a little bit – 76 points through three quarters – but come out with a 48 point fourth quarter and get the win?
Sandro Mamukelashvili (SM): It says a lot. I feel like we got guys who just want to fight and want to win. Everybody on the team has a winning mentality. It doesn’t matter if you’re losing — like, if it’s 2 minutes left and you’re losing we’re going to do everything to come back and compete, compete, compete. We just play together, the best thing about this team is everybody is unselfish. Sometimes I’ll go off, sometimes Tucker is going to go off, sometimes Georgios will go off, and nobody’s kind of like a ball hog – everybody’s really really friendly, great teammates to have around. It was a great win, I feel like we just clicked and we’ve got to keep it going.
TW: Absolutely. I think you had 8 of the first points or the first 8 points of the fourth quarter there – was your mentality to take over and get the Herd back in the game, or were the shots just flowing to you?
SM: You see, it’s a team game, and I feel like sometimes you’ve just got to step up. And today was my time to step up. I feel like they were not guarding me that close, and I feel like I’m a great shooter, working on it, and confidence-wise when you hit one you want to go and hit another one, when you hit another one it’s like it’s your day, you just want to keep going. I feel like guys did a great job of just finding me and believing in me. You know, sometimes when the teammates are selfish they won’t give you the ball, but here everybody’s about getting assists and playing together. Today they found me, gave me the platform to go out there and help them, and then everybody just kind of all together got this win.
TW: You got a dunk earlier in the game, looked like you head faked into going into a DHO and then just took it – you’re a guy who everyone knows can read the game well, was that play just you kind of noticing there was a lane and figuring out how to take advantage?
SM: I watch a lot of film. I watch a lot of Bucks, I watch a lot of Giannis, Bobby Portis, I feel like those are great guys to look up to and learn. Plus the assistant coaches are amazing, they just kind of break it down for you. I just know whenever the defense is so up tight when I go for the handoff I got to fake it and drive it, so it worked out perfectly, I had speed coming down so as soon as I saw it I was like I gotta get it. It worked out pretty good.
TW: Definitely. You talk about Giannis, I think when you were first drafted, all the things you can do offensively, my first thought was that’s a tantalizing fit with Giannis. You’ve gotten to play with him a bit, how is that fit coming along and how do you feel like you’re doing up there with the Bucks?
SM: It’s amazing. It’s a great team to be around, great veterans, and I feel like they teach you so much and they’re all family minded. I feel like that translates into the team where you go in the locker room, everybody is really friendly, great teammates helping you out, no matter how I play they come to me, give me pointers, as I said, assistant coaches too. It’s very exciting, playing with Giannis – he’s the best player in the NBA right now to me, it’s arguable probably, for somebody, but for me he’s the best player in the league. You know, I looked up to him, I watched the Finals last year. Just having him there where I can ask him questions and learn from him is amazing. I just want to keep learning, keep getting better, listening, and just hopeful I can run with him more often.
TW: The time down here instrumental in that getting better process.
SM: 100 percent.
TW: Anything in particular you’re trying to work on in your game?
SM: Everything, to be honest. As I said, I come down and assistant coaches there, here, they do an amazing job of telling me okay, when you go down this is what you’ve got to do, this is what’s going to help you. Defensively I want to get better, I want to rebound every ball possible, get my shot more comfortable, getting more shots, stuff like that, getting reps. As I said, I love this team, I feel like there’s so much talent, everybody can step up any night. I’m just happy to be down here, everything is a chance so I just got to show off and win as much as I can.
The positivity was going both ways after the Herd continued its perfect start with a sixth straight win, as Chaisson Allen spoke highly of Mamu when asked about his fourth quarter takeover after the game.
TW: Seemed like Mamu kind of set the tone early in the fourth quarter with some decisive shot-making, what did you think of his game out there tonight?
Chaisson Allen: Yeah, he came in today with tremendous focus, tremendous effort, and made shots for us. He did the little things – rebounding, he had a tough assignment tonight, and I think he matched that assignment and played well overall.
It’s not just people within the Bucks org who are impressed with Mamu’s G League tenure, either. A scout for an Eastern Conference organization said he thought Mamukelashvili absolutely looks like a legit NBA player, and even said he’d be recommending his team sign Mamu if the Bucks were to let him hit free agency after his strong performance on Monday night.
It turns out Sandro is a generous guy as well – he came across a package of cookies after his postgame interview, and despite earning the right to eat them all himself with the show he put on Mamu nicely shared them with myself and some Herd staffers in the vicinity.
According to league sources – my taste buds – it was a pretty tasty cookie.