Hey someone with ESPN insider post that article about International players please. [Archive]

Kori Ellis

11-30-2004, 05:33 PM

By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

Three months after being beat up in Athens and two years after getting demolished in Indianapolis, GMs still are asking a fundamental question about how teams are built in the NBA.

If a combination of Argentinean, Lithuanian or Serbian all-stars can beat the hell out of a team consisting of American stars, why haven't any of those countries produced a true NBA superstar?

Sure, Vlade Divac has been an All-Star. Peja Stojakovic might have been the most serious international MVP candidate ever last year.

And teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz are thriving with rosters filled with international players.

But, in large part, international players are still looking for respect in the arena it matters the most to them – the NBA.

Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni, who spent years coaching in Italy between stints in the NBA, says the internationals deserve that respect.

"They've come a long way," D'Antoni told Insider. "There was a time when they were just role players – sharpshooters or finesse players. Now you're seeing difference makers. That's the true test."

When D'Antoni's Suns take the floor in Utah and the Dallas Mavericks visit the Spurs in San Antonio on Tuesday night, fans can get their best view ever of what he's talking about.

Those four teams, some of the most successful in the NBA, have a combined 22 players on their roster who were born outside the United States. Of those players, 15 came directly to the NBA from an international team. Eight of the 22 are starters.

While there might be an international backlash brewing in the draft these days, these four teams are proving that not only do international players belong in the NBA – they can thrive there.

DALLAS MAVERICKS

There was a time when the Mavericks were the United Nations of the NBA. Don Nelson, in the now iconic Visa commercials, shouting out instructions in a number of languages to his player might have been some fans' first introduction to a truly international team.

Things have changed over the past year, and only one truly significant international player remains on the Mavs' roster. However, he just so happens to be the best one in the NBA.

Dirk Nowitzki is having a career year in Dallas and looks to be a serious MVP candidate this year.

"The absence of Stevie [Nash] has really put a different kind of pressure on him this year," Mavs president Donnie Nelson told Insider. "He's now got the ball in his hands in more conventional settings. Last year, it was Steve who made the tough decisions with the game on the line. That's Dirk's job now. He's responded as well as we could've possibly imagined."

Through Monday's games, Nowitzki was averaging 25.9 ppg, 11 rpg on 47 percent shooting. And he's shooting 44 percent from three-point range. These all are career highs.

Nowitzki's come a long way from a disastrous rookie campaign. Don and Donnie Nelson took a huge gamble in the 1998 draft, passing on Paul Pierce and then swapping Robert Traylor (who many thought would be a star), for the unknown and unproven Nowitzki.

The gamble has paid off big. But it didn't always appear that way. Nowitzki was pretty awful during his rookie season. So bad, in fact, that the Nelsons believed they'd be fired at the end of the season.

However, Donnie, firmly believed that it was just a matter of time before Nowitzki became a star.

"You just looked at what this kid could do at his size and felt like he had the chance to revolutionize the position," Nelson said. "How many 7-footers could shoot the ball or handle it that way? He wasn't your prototypical power forward. But we didn't want him to be."

Nowitzki was such a disappointment as a rookie, the Nelsons feared they would lose their jobs.

In fact, Nelson's international strategy over the years has been to find guys who don't fit a traditional mold.

"There is no mold," Nelson said. "We drafted Dirk exactly because he didn't really fit a mold. With the way he could shoot and handle it for his size, it was the chance to do something different. The only guy in the league that you could compare him to was Kevin Garnett. They are totally different players, but Garnett, in his own way, was redefining what it meant to be a power forward. Five years later, look at where these guys are.

"The common thread in international scouting is to find a guy who breaks the mold. Teams that are over there looking for clones are missing the point. It's finding unique talents that can take your team to a different level."

Nowitzki continues to take his game to another level. Nelson says that he comes back from Germany every fall with several new weapons in his arsenal. This summer, Nowitzki worked on his defense.

"The biggest difference I've noticed this year is how active he is on the defensive end. He's getting a lot more deflections and playing the passing lanes much better," Nelson said.

"Offensively, he's developed this sweeping hook that could eventually become a big part of his game in the paint. We haven't seen it too much yet in games, but in practice the thing is unstoppable."

While Nowitzki remains the only significant international player left on the Mavs, Nelson has a number of other projects that he's developing. DJ Mbenga is a 7-footer from the Congo that Nelson discovered last spring at the Reebok Big Man camp in Treviso, Italy. Mbenga had been playing professional ball in Belgium and had somehow slipped under the radar. At 23 years old, he wasn't draft eligible, but the Mavericks quickly realized his potential and signed him to a guaranteed free agent contract to keep him away from another team with sights for him – the Detroit Pistons.

And don't forget the Mavs' other big project, 7-foot-5 inch Pavel Podkolzin. Nelson fell in love with Podkolzin at the same Eurocamp and traded away the Mavs' first-round pick this year to Utah to acquire him on draft night. Podkolzin hasn't played a minute for the Mavs so far. Instead he's undergone a surgical procedure to fix an overactive pituitary gland and a bum ankle.

When he does begin playing, which probably won't happen until this summer, the Mavs are expecting big things from Podkolzin. Unlike other mammoths – Gheorghe Muresan and Shawn Bradley – Podkolzin is athletic and skilled. He can handle the ball, has a soft touch on his jumper and is a good passer. What he still needs to learn, however, is how to play like a 7-foot-5, 300 pounder. Once he figures out how to get physical in the paint, the Mavs believe he could turn out to be the steal of the 2004 draft.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS

On Tuesday, the Mavs will meet the team that has had the most success with an international roster. Sixty percent of the Spurs' starting five got its start overseas. Point guard Tony Parker (France), two-guard Emanuel Ginobili (Argentina) and center Rasho Nesterovic (Slovenia) are the three most important players on the team after two-time MVP Tim Duncan.

The Spurs have made a concentrated effort over the years to scout and commit to international talent. Some of it has been out of necessity. With the serious financial constraints that go along with being a small-market team combined with the low draft position the team encountered every year, they had to be creative.

Have they ever. The Spurs picked up Parker with the last pick in the first round of the 2001 draft. Ginobili was the second-to-last pick of the second round of the 1999 NBA draft. Former Timberwolve Nesterovic was picked up in free agency in 2003 at a relative bargain for the time.

Parker has gotten the most publicity. He's just 22 years old and has shown signs that he could be a star in the league down the road. He's quick, athletic and is great in the open court. He's struggled a little bit this season in an effort to live up to his $66 million contract extension this summer. Consistency is and has always been an issue for Parker.

When Parker plays well, the Spurs usually win. When he doesn't, they struggle. Parker still needs to improve his jump shot and his reads off plays like the pick and roll. But the Spurs believe he has the stuff to be an elite point guard in the NBA.

Nesterovic's numbers don't jump out at you. He doesn't score a lot of points. But he's an excellent offensive rebounder and a capable shot blocker. He won't ever be a superstar in the league, but he's more than adequate as a starting center. And when Duncan is out of the lineup, Nesterovic's averages on the offensive end increase.

That leaves Ginobili, a player many scouts are already calling one of the most underrated players in the league. His plus/minus numbers with the Spurs are right up there with Duncan's, and for good reason.

Not only has Ginobili become a respected second scoring option for the Spurs, he's their most cagey defender and reliable ball handler in the backcourt when Parker is struggling. Ginobili's plays with such reckless abandon that he's developed the rep as one of the toughest guys in the league to defend. He can get to the basket with ease on the offensive end, and on the defensive side of the basketball he's a good on-the-ball defender who knows how to pile up the steals.

D'Antoni, who coached against Ginobili in both the Euroleague Final 4 and the Italian league, saw it coming. He says there's a reason why players like Ginobili have succeeded while younger international players have failed.

"Ginobili came over after four or five years of professional experience," D'Antonio told Insider. "He was playing for a major team over there. He knew what it took to win. He had played under intense pressure. When he hit a speed bump or two over there, he had something to fall back on."

That said, D'Antoni has seen a major improvement since Ginobili came to the NBA.

"He's improved leaps and bounds. His confidence level is so high right now. I knew, while I was still in Europe, that there was no way he was going to miss. But he's even surpassed those expectations."

While those three are the staples, the Spurs have several other young international players who could become intriguing options down the road.

The Spurs selected another young international point guard with the last pick in the first round this season, Slovenia's Beno Udrih. Udrih, who is 22, has already worked his way into the rotation as Parker's backup. The coaching staff has raved about his ability to get the ball to players where they like it. Udrih can also score and expects to eventually see two guard sets with he and Parker on the floor together.

The Spurs have two other young international players of note. They took Romain Sato, who hails from the Central Africa, in the second round this year. They also have another Argentinean, power forward Luis Scola, who currently plays in Spain. Scola has turned into a star power forward in Europe and expects to join the club next season.

UTAH JAZZ

When the Jazz take the floor tonight, they are going to be playing without their best weapon on both ends of the floor, Andrei Kirilenko.
Kirilenko sprained his ACL over the weekend and will miss several weeks waiting for it to heal. It couldn't be a bigger blow to the Jazz. While none of Kirilenko's individual numbers blow you away, it's the combination of them that is staggering.

The Russian ranks among the league leaders in blocked shots, steals, scoring and rebounding. His plus/minus rating is consistently in the top 5 in the NBA. There isn't a more complete international player in the NBA.

"Kirilenko was a lot like Dirk," Nelson said. "He's revolutionized the position in a different way. He was the first Euro I believed that had a chance to be a dominant defender. He had the athleticism, great instincts and a nose for the ball. He was unlike anything we'd ever seen overseas.

"I think he's the closest player in the league to Kevin Garnett."

Now AK's getting paid like he's close to KG. Kirilenko signed a six-year, $86 million extension this summer, becoming only the third international player to get a max contract in the NBA. Nowitzki and the Grizzlies' Pau Gasol (Spain) are the others.

Even without Kirilenko, the Jazz sport more international players than any other team in the league. Starting point guard Carlos Arroyo is from Puerto Rico (technically a U.S. territory, but they play as their own country in international ball).

Their starting two guard, Gordan Giricek, is from Croatia. Sixth man Mehmet Okur is from Turkey. Backup point guard Raul Lopez hails from Spain. Reserve Raja Bell grew up in St. Croix (also a U.S. territory) and backup center Aleksandar Radojevic hails from Serbia.

Was the building of this international dream team a deliberate move on GM Kevin O'Connor and coach Jerry Sloan's part?

"I don't think so," O'Connor said. "We just look for basketball players who are good fits in Jerry's system. We also aren't drafting real high, and we're also watching what we spend.

"So we're looking for guys who, for whatever reason, slip through the cracks a little bit. But I don't think we're trying to build an international team."

With the success of international teams against NBA players, maybe the Jazz are onto something.

"We have a lot of international players, but basketball is an international sport," said Boozer, who learned that firsthand this summer playing for Team USA. "The great thing about our international players is that they work hard, and everybody knows how to play. It's the best of both worlds. We have a great mix. These guys will help us out. We learned that from the Olympics."

"Maybe that's the way to build a team," Kirilenko said. "I think it will help us, especially in this system. We are used to a coach who demands perfection, and that is coach Sloan."

Still, don't get ahead of yourselves, Euroleague fans. While the team might be stocked with international players, it doesn't mean the Jazz are playing the international game.

"Maybe we add some European flavor, but we are playing coach Sloan's system," Giricek said. "It isn't a European system. We play his way."

PHOENIX SUNS

It depends on your point of view whether you believe Canada is a foreign country. As far as the NBA goes, it might as well be. There are only two Canadians in the NBA right now making a difference. Jamaal Magloire of the Hornets is one of them. Steve Nash is the other.

And what a difference he is making.

"You could make the argument that no player has meant more to his team this year than Nash has meant to us," D'Antoni told Insider. "You take him out of the lineup and everything on our team changes. He controls the tempo, the offense and the energy of our team. He's been fantastic."

Has he ever. Nash is currently leading the league with a whopping 11.2 apg. In his last six complete games, he's averaging 13.6 apg – all Suns victories. The Suns have been transformed overnight by Nash's presence. Last season they were the worst team in the West. Now they're the best.

The rest of the Suns' international players, Brazil's Leandro Barbosa, Serbia's Zarko Carbarkapa, Poland's Maciej Lampe and Japan's Yuta Tabuse, are planted firmly on the bench right now.

All four have shown signs of being special.

Barbosa took over as the team's starting point guard in the second half of last season and put up strong numbers. In the summer league, many scouts claimed he was the best player on the court. With Nash now on the team, he's playing under 10 minutes per game this season. But the Suns believe his role will continue to grow again as the season continues.

Lampe has also shown signs that he could be special. He's isn't the quickest or most athletic big man in the league, but he's a got a killer jumper and looks for his shot every occasion he can get it – a rarity among big men. In the preseason, he excelled playing in the high post with Amare Stoudemire down low.

Carbarkapa and Tabuse are both on the injured list. Carbarkapa is a 7-foot sharpshooter, though his lack of quickness might make him a liability on the defensive end. Tabuse is one of the quickest players in the league, but at 5-foot-9, he's at a pretty big height disadvantage.

D'Antoni has high hopes for all four, but recognizes that Barbosa and Lampe, in particular, represent the dark side of the international movement.

"The only thing that worries me about the international kids is whether they've come out too early," D'Antoni said.

"It's not the fault of the players or the teams. The players have to take the money, and the team has to take risks. But deep down you know that players never reach their potential until they get a chance to play."

"Too many kids aren't really playing in Europe and then they come here and they don't play. It retards their growth. There are exceptions, but the norm is what our kids are going through. On a good team, it's tough to put in a kid who has no experience. It doesn't mean that they're not good players, it's just a reality."

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.