NBA teams are getting pretty confident about drafting European players
these days. Two Europeans were lottery picks in this year’s draft, and
Pau Gasol (3rd pick) was drafted higher then any European has ever been
selected.
It's not just the current success of Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic
and Hidayet Turkoglu or predictions that the new rules will "Europeanize
the NBA" that have changed attitudes. The NBA may be moving towards Europe,
but European basketball has been moving in the direction for years.
Once known for its plodding style based mainly on team play and outside
shooting, for the past fifteen years European basketball has been trying
to emulate the NBA. Today their game has become more open and faster paced.
Players display athleticism and creativity as well as fundamental skills.
The 24 second clock was introduced last season.
Players like Nowitzki, Stojakovic and Turkoglu have open court skills
and proficiency in the half court game. There are more European players
with similar skills on the way.
There are certain advantages these days in drafting European players.
With so many under-trained high school players and college underclassmen
entering the draft, European players arrive with several years of experience
in professional leagues, which generally are at higher level than NCAA
play. They have also had the experience of playing with and against older,
experienced American players, now playing in Europe.
The European leagues are so thoroughly scouted today that the risks
are not terribly greater than the ones involved in drafting college players.
The basic task of any NBA scout is the same no matter whom he evaluates;
assessing a players talent and emotional make-up and projecting if he can
play at a higher level.
Europe’s bridge to the NBA has been Yugoslavia, and today the states
that constitute the former Yugoslavia. During Tito’s reign, Yugoslavia
was the only Soviet block country with an eye to the west and somewhat
open borders. That basketball crazy nation surely benefited from the small
window of opportunity that Tito allowed.
The late Drazen Petrovic, a megastar in Europe who also starred for
the New Jersey Nets before his tragic death, would, as a kid in the 1970’s,
watch NBA broadcasts from Trieste, the Italian seaport just across the
border from Yugoslavia. He would imitate all the moves that he saw and
later incorporate them into his game.
The Yugoslavian national team in the late 1980’s was an esthetic masterpiece
as well as a powerful, dominating force. They played with flair and creativity,
open court wizardry and solid fundamentals. They could have held their
own on any NBA court. Petrovic, Dino Radja, and teenagers Vlade Divac and
Toni Kukoc were all on that squad. All would have successful NBA careers.
There were several more players on that team with NBA level skills who
never made the journey across the Atlantic.
Since then, Yugoslavia and the states that comprised the former Yugoslavia
have remained dominant. The majority of Europeans in the NBA come from
that region. Foreign contract players on every European league team are
invariably either Americans or from the former Yugoslavia.
Coaches from the Yugoslavian states have monopolized European basketball.
This year, for the first time in memory, the European cup winner was coached
by someone not from the former Yugoslavian states.
Two generations of European youngsters have been influenced by the NBA,
through TV broadcasts, the infusion of former NBA players into European
leagues, teaching clinics and instructional tapes. Go to a playground anywhere
on the continent these days and you’ll see youngsters wearing those ubiquitous
NBA T-shirts, practicing slam dunks and crossover dribbles.
What was once only in Yugoslavia is now the norm throughout the continent.
All over Europe, the game is more open, faster and in some ways reminiscent
of NBA basketball. There is still much greater emphasis in Europe on fundamentals
and outside shooting than you’ll see in America. The pace and level of
athleticism is still below NBA standards. But it’s very easy to see how
the top European players, particularly perimeter players with open court
skills, are able to make the transition to the NBA game.
