TMTTRIO
06-27-2005, 04:07 PM
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-draft27jun27,0,3434294.story?coll=sfla-sports-front
NBA life is a jolt to foreigners
By Michael Cunningham
Staff Writer
Posted June 27 2005
In some ways, Beno Udrih is one of the fortunate international players in the NBA.
The native of Slovenia speaks solid English. He had already lived on his own when the San Antonio Spurs, who have a history of taking chances on international players, drafted him in 2004.
Udrih played on the Slovenian national team with Spurs center Rasho Nesterovic and saw Spurs guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in the Euroleague. He was nearly 22 when the Spurs drafted him.
Udrih's background and circumstance meant he had a head start on many of the challenges faced by international players coming to the NBA.
"Maybe it makes it a little bit easier," he said. "I talked to some [other] players from Slovenia and it is much harder [for them]. I knew Rasho before, I play against Tony [on] the international team, I play against Manu.
"It is a little bit easier, but still in the end you are here to play ball. You can't think about that a lot. You have to come here and do your job."
For international players in the NBA -- the league said there were 77 on rosters at the start of the season -- the job isn't about basketball, and even that part of it is usually different from what they are used to.
The international players say the NBA is a much faster game than any other league and the players are bigger and stronger. The rules are different, the scrutiny increased, there are more games and the referees, unaware of their reputation overseas, don't give them breaks they may be accustomed to.
"Everybody knows this is the best league in the world," said Pistons center Darko Milicic, a native of Serbia. "It is much faster, they play much more games. It is a lot different."
While they try to figure out the basketball part, international players also must learn to live and work in the United States. There are matters like finding a place to live, taking care of any family arrangements, handling their finances, dealing with media -- all usually done in a secondary language.
Pistons guard Carlos Delfino, a native of Argentina, said it's a lot to take in.
"It is not just [on-court] adjustment," Delfino said. "Out of court, it is big change, too. We need some time to make it. Some players like Manu make a fast adjustment and some players don't."
The NBA tries to help. The league has a formal program in place to help players who are drafted and continues to follow up throughout the year.
At the draft Tuesday in New York, the top international prospects will wait for their names to be called alongside an NBA international representative. Eleven other international players will be in the stands.
Soon after the players are drafted, NBA international officials will get together with them and their families and try to ease the transition.
"We take the families out and give them an overview of what the NBA is about, some of the pitfalls to look out for," said Kim Bohuny, the league's vice president of basketball operations-international.
"We try not to scare them too much. We tell them we have worked with many international players before, we know what works and what doesn't. We are going through it with you."
It would seem the Spurs, who won the NBA championship over Detroit last week, have some formula for figuring out how to find international talent and then integrate it.
Ginobili, selected in the second round of the 1999 draft, is an All-Star. He said he didn't even think he would be drafted after playing in Argentina and Italy.
Parker, born in Belgium and raised in France, became a starter soon after the Spurs took him with the 28th overall pick at age 19; he's now a budding star.
Nesterovic, signed by the Spurs as a free agent in 2003, fell out of favor a bit this season but signed a six-year, $42 million contract last summer.
Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford said there is no template for helping international players succeed.
"What you would assume works for one person might not work for somebody else," Buford said.
There are, however, some cues the Spurs look for to determine the prospects for international players becoming good NBA players, Buford said.
"English proficiency is first," Buford said. "Style of play. I think the age that they come over has a big impact.
"The environment that they were in before. Were they on teams that they get to play a lot and all of a sudden they are sitting? Or were they on a team that they didn't get to play a lot and now they are?
"I think it is a very individual thing. You can try to compare the international players and find that most everyone takes a different road map to success."
Nesterovic said it took him two years to adjust to playing in the United States. He said international players must deal with playing top competition each night, understanding their role and what the coaches want and traveling frequently.
He said circumstance many times can determine their fates.
"First, when they come to the team they are accepted well and ... supported and feel like they are wanted," he said. "The second thing is it depends on the role, what kind of role [they'll play]."
Bohuny's office does what it can to help the international players deal with those kinds of issues. There are two other full-time officials devoted to helping the players.
"We constantly call to make sure they are OK," she said. "The biggest problem at first is loneliness, especially if there are not a lot of international guys on the team."
The Spurs don't have that issue. They have six international players if Tim Duncan, from the U.S. Virgin Islands, is counted -- the league does, defining international as being born outside the 50 states.
Ginobili said learning to live in America was easy for him.
"Outside basketball was no challenge at all," he said. "The challenge was trying to become an important player in this league."
Ginobili is fortunate. For most internationals, those two facets can't be separated.
"It is not easy," said Delfino, who publicly expressed his frustration at being left off Detroit's playoff roster. "It is so different. You need to be patient, work hard."
NBA life is a jolt to foreigners
By Michael Cunningham
Staff Writer
Posted June 27 2005
In some ways, Beno Udrih is one of the fortunate international players in the NBA.
The native of Slovenia speaks solid English. He had already lived on his own when the San Antonio Spurs, who have a history of taking chances on international players, drafted him in 2004.
Udrih played on the Slovenian national team with Spurs center Rasho Nesterovic and saw Spurs guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in the Euroleague. He was nearly 22 when the Spurs drafted him.
Udrih's background and circumstance meant he had a head start on many of the challenges faced by international players coming to the NBA.
"Maybe it makes it a little bit easier," he said. "I talked to some [other] players from Slovenia and it is much harder [for them]. I knew Rasho before, I play against Tony [on] the international team, I play against Manu.
"It is a little bit easier, but still in the end you are here to play ball. You can't think about that a lot. You have to come here and do your job."
For international players in the NBA -- the league said there were 77 on rosters at the start of the season -- the job isn't about basketball, and even that part of it is usually different from what they are used to.
The international players say the NBA is a much faster game than any other league and the players are bigger and stronger. The rules are different, the scrutiny increased, there are more games and the referees, unaware of their reputation overseas, don't give them breaks they may be accustomed to.
"Everybody knows this is the best league in the world," said Pistons center Darko Milicic, a native of Serbia. "It is much faster, they play much more games. It is a lot different."
While they try to figure out the basketball part, international players also must learn to live and work in the United States. There are matters like finding a place to live, taking care of any family arrangements, handling their finances, dealing with media -- all usually done in a secondary language.
Pistons guard Carlos Delfino, a native of Argentina, said it's a lot to take in.
"It is not just [on-court] adjustment," Delfino said. "Out of court, it is big change, too. We need some time to make it. Some players like Manu make a fast adjustment and some players don't."
The NBA tries to help. The league has a formal program in place to help players who are drafted and continues to follow up throughout the year.
At the draft Tuesday in New York, the top international prospects will wait for their names to be called alongside an NBA international representative. Eleven other international players will be in the stands.
Soon after the players are drafted, NBA international officials will get together with them and their families and try to ease the transition.
"We take the families out and give them an overview of what the NBA is about, some of the pitfalls to look out for," said Kim Bohuny, the league's vice president of basketball operations-international.
"We try not to scare them too much. We tell them we have worked with many international players before, we know what works and what doesn't. We are going through it with you."
It would seem the Spurs, who won the NBA championship over Detroit last week, have some formula for figuring out how to find international talent and then integrate it.
Ginobili, selected in the second round of the 1999 draft, is an All-Star. He said he didn't even think he would be drafted after playing in Argentina and Italy.
Parker, born in Belgium and raised in France, became a starter soon after the Spurs took him with the 28th overall pick at age 19; he's now a budding star.
Nesterovic, signed by the Spurs as a free agent in 2003, fell out of favor a bit this season but signed a six-year, $42 million contract last summer.
Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford said there is no template for helping international players succeed.
"What you would assume works for one person might not work for somebody else," Buford said.
There are, however, some cues the Spurs look for to determine the prospects for international players becoming good NBA players, Buford said.
"English proficiency is first," Buford said. "Style of play. I think the age that they come over has a big impact.
"The environment that they were in before. Were they on teams that they get to play a lot and all of a sudden they are sitting? Or were they on a team that they didn't get to play a lot and now they are?
"I think it is a very individual thing. You can try to compare the international players and find that most everyone takes a different road map to success."
Nesterovic said it took him two years to adjust to playing in the United States. He said international players must deal with playing top competition each night, understanding their role and what the coaches want and traveling frequently.
He said circumstance many times can determine their fates.
"First, when they come to the team they are accepted well and ... supported and feel like they are wanted," he said. "The second thing is it depends on the role, what kind of role [they'll play]."
Bohuny's office does what it can to help the international players deal with those kinds of issues. There are two other full-time officials devoted to helping the players.
"We constantly call to make sure they are OK," she said. "The biggest problem at first is loneliness, especially if there are not a lot of international guys on the team."
The Spurs don't have that issue. They have six international players if Tim Duncan, from the U.S. Virgin Islands, is counted -- the league does, defining international as being born outside the 50 states.
Ginobili said learning to live in America was easy for him.
"Outside basketball was no challenge at all," he said. "The challenge was trying to become an important player in this league."
Ginobili is fortunate. For most internationals, those two facets can't be separated.
"It is not easy," said Delfino, who publicly expressed his frustration at being left off Detroit's playoff roster. "It is so different. You need to be patient, work hard."