Posted by Nalod:


I watched a few games. LOoked for Vujanic, but he was not on Croatia squad. I he is getting his knee ready.

Its amazing how the pace of the game is over there. I though it was faster, almost frantic paced. Little if no Isolation (I did not watch germany) or posting. The point guards are maniacs!

I thought the game is less structured than the NBA and turnovers much greater.

ALso interesting was Serbias melt down. These guys pulled a diva act and lost! Reminds me of our problems the last 3 years in interenational play. A collection of players is not a "TEAM".

I was impressed with Spain, Croatia, and France. Freddy had a decent few games here and there! No, im not suggesting anything!

I was very intrigued with the point guard play.

The PG Toronto signed, Calderon, looked good--how that translates to NBA basketball---i dont know--but you are right, the nBA mentality has ooozed it's disease into the euro game. its funny walt frazier said this weekend in an article in orlando that todays teams would whoop up on his knicks. you know the man is brilliant, and you know what he speaks is subterfuge, the knicks couldve had the smartest team in nba history with a very high talent and fundamental level.. Think about the $$$ Clyde would make today as a 6-4 PG who shoots 50% and plays gat D---secondary max contract. you go back and look, all these guys shot 50% and its in part of what he said, he wants to abolish the three pt line
the one thing you notice though at these guys that their careers are done by 30-31 years old

Watching the euro league without the nba guys is better--but with the exception of a few, the USA still has a talent gap that is huge--talent doesnt always win and the USA gets blitzed by a *college* type of mentality--its how St Johns plays Duke tight and beats them sometimes---in a one game scenario--the crowd--the 3 pt shot and momentum with a shorter game 40 minutes and playing a team with more intensity can alter things quite a bit, especially when the rules of the game are not the same.

I suspect we will see some guys on the USA team that are not household names. You might see a guy like Kevin Pittsnoggle used as a 6-11 C 3 pt specialist off the bench coming into play with some of the big cheifs in the frontcourt--i think there will be 2-3 surprises on the roster.

Hey, finally! I really wanted to talk about the EuroBasket, but since is was not really Knicks related I did not do it. Sorry about my English...
The most important thing to say for me (being Spanish) is Fran Vazquez has really improved since being drafted. His moves in the paint are very very good and, although his defense is still just average, he is really starting to block shots more often. With Gasol and Vazquez in the same team Spain will really be a dangerous team in the paint. Calderon went from excellent to just decent through the tournament. I think he "can" be ok in the Raptors if he plays more solidly, but don't expect him to score 20 points or dish 10 assists. The other player you may know, Garbajosa, man I have disliked him since the very beginning of his career. Imagine Kurt Thomas but shooting 3's and not grabbing rebounds. He is responsible for us losing to Germany, which is a horrible team with possibly the best European player ever. Anyway, we beat Croatia because we were very lucky (Planinic and Magic's Kasum were both injured during the game) and because the refrees were very kind to Spain. So I think 4th is what we deserved. Oh, before I forgot, Rudy Fernandez did NOTHING. He is not going to the NBA unless he starts playing like a good player.
France, with Gelabale (who played very good although I don't like him), Pietrus, Diaw and Parker were very good, although Boris Diaw is worse tha Shaq shooting free throws! He went 0/11 in a game!!!! I thought Pietrus and Diaw were good shooters but they're just streaky. Even Weiss played well.
About Croatia, Giriceck played meh. He scores points, but he shoots too much. And Planinic has really been a surprise to me. He is way better than Jaric in my eyes. He shoots better and he is more intelligent.
The Serbian team was a joke, and the coach was even worse. Radmanovic (the best player there) was on the bench through all the 4th quarter while France was killing them. Jaric was a disaster. Bodiroga can't do anything, he is finished (as he has been for the past 2 years). And Milicic, hahahaha, he is lame. He just does not have any brain. With 3 seconds left and his team losing by 3, he grabbed and offensive rebound after a free throw, and instead of looking for someone to pass for a 3 pointer, he just shot an easy shoot near the basket and missed it. And, honestly, Krstic sucks.
Finally, I agree with Fishmike. The tournament has been very poor. Except for a VERY few games, no one scores anything and it is not just about playing good defense, it is about not being able to shoot well. The referees don't let people play defense and that is a shame, so most points come from free throws. Novitzki and Navarro were the better players of the tournament by far. I did not get to see the final, but it was clear that Germany was going to lose. I prefer watching NBA games, altough I know that most Europeans don't agree with me.

[Edited by - DarkKnicks on 09-26-2005 11:19 AM]

I agree that we will send a better TEAM next time. MIke Miller of Memphis comes to mind. Lets see how nate does, but we should send one of our small points to freak them out! I think almost a team of role players could do no worse than our all star divas.

First of all: Diamantidis is the HELL OF A DEFENDER, the best guard defender I've seen in both, NBA and European basketball in the last years. However, Papadopolous really disappointed me after great season with Dynamo. Boris Diaw also played a great tournaent despite his awful FT shoting. He showed how versatile he is and that he can play with his brain, no Amare/Miles-like pure athlete. Javtokas, Kirilenko, Brezec also played good tournament. And, of course, Dirk Nowitzki who showed that he is the best player in the world under FIBA rules, no Duncan, Kobe or Garnett are as dominant as him in international game.

[Edited by - Redtowel on 09-26-2005 10:43 PM]

i'm glad some international ballers check this site