Parker to play for French NT in september

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Originally Posted by Chinook

Sorry, he's played four times in the last seven years. Big difference.

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I count 7 out of 10 years... Why are you looking at the last 7 years only?

Anyway, I agree with most of what you said.
Player don't chose country over money because they don't have too.

But for some players, including Parker and Ginobili, representing their country is something special.
For some others (Noah for France) it is not.

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Originally Posted by mathbzh

I count 7 out of 10 years... Why are you looking at the last 7 years only?

Anyway, I agree with most of what you said.
Player don't chose country over money because they don't have too.

But for some players, including Parker and Ginobili, representing their country is something special.
For some others (Noah for France) it is not.

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I only counted five. I don't count the qualifying tournaments. The reason why I'm looking at recent history so much is because as Dirk's gotten older, Cuban's convinced him to play less. I doubt Cuban cared about Dirk playing before he started to show his body couldn't handle it anymore.

Again, I am not ragging on players for participating in the tournaments. As I said in my first post, I actually support it. I just don't like the characterization of the issue to be about greedy, materialistic American fans verus virtuous, nationalistic international players.

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Originally Posted by DesignatedT

Is Diaw playing in this as well? jw

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Yes, he is captain

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Originally Posted by romain.star

You're missing the point here, and I guess it is because of a massive cultural difference between the US and the rest of the world. Here in Europe, the NTs matter big time to the fans and the players (with the exception of every French Big men, but that is another problem).

The important matter is not "who pays who" or "who makes profit". What really matters here is to represent your country, beyond any business consideration.

But I guess that in a world where money is everything, it is a little bit complicated to understand...

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Originally Posted by Chinook

I'm not going to attack players who play for their national teams. Indeed, I might be one of the few on this board who is looking forward to Leonard playing for the US when the time comes. I think playing games in the summer can be a good way to stay in shape, while allowing some players to play roles they can't in the NBA. And hell, as a fan, I want to see great players play as much as possible. But I don't think your characterization of the argument against NBA players participating in FIBA tournaments is correct.

From what I gather, people are not upset because players are, as you put it, representing their country above any business consideration. Indeed, they're NOT doing that, hence the need to get insurance and the general reluctance of many players to participate in tournaments while they're free agents. Players are very well aware of the business considerations of their participation, and they take precautions to protect themselves.

What people see as the problem with this is that the NBA teams then carry the risk for the player, while receiving none of the gain. (So goes the argument. Pop disagrees with that part.) In essence, Parker in this case isn't taking any risk himself. The Spurs have to pay him even if he breaks his leg while playing in September. Although insurance would compensate San Antonio, they'd still lose out on investing Parker's $12.5 Million into making their team better, or at least get diminished returns. Even if Parker survives the games unscathed, if he runs out of gas later in the year because of his extra games in September, then it's the Spurs and not Parker who will have lost out on the money they could have gained.

Players aren't putting nationalism over money by entering the tournaments. If they were doing that, they'd assume the financial risk themselves. Instead, they get to have their cake and eat it to. What they're actually doing is choosing their countries' interests over their NBA teams' interests. They're risking screwing over their NBA teammates for their friends and family back home. There's nothing particularly virtuous about that.

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The latest example of a prominent player putting personal business interests ahead of representing his country:

Basketball Federation of Montenegro confirmed that Nikola Pekovic won't be at Eurobasket in Slovenia next September. The big man is restricted free agent in the NBA and is negotiating with the Timberwolves on a new deal. The contract problems in the NBA did not allow him to join the Montenegrin National Team Training camp. Pekovic, his agent and the Federation agreed that Pekovic won't travel to Slovenia with his National Team.

http://www.sportando.net/eng/nationa...negrin-nt.html

Everytime I see Parker's stats, it's always like limited minutes 3 pts 2 assists 1 reb. Why even play?

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Originally Posted by look_at_g_shred

Everytime I see Parker's stats, it's always like limited minutes 3 pts 2 assists 1 reb. Why even play?

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The tournament doesn't start until September 4th. These games are just exhibitions, part of the train up for the tourney.

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Parker was hit above his right knee during practice but the injury doesn't sound at all serious, and he should be fine for the duration of the EuroBasket tournament.

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http://www.rotoworld.com/content/pla...=212409&spln=1