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Tee hee...that's funny...."What the did you just say"....
Sports Update
Eight players in West finals are from foreign nations or territories
By Craig Morgan, Tribune
NBA officials like to talk about their game going global. San Antonio is the poster team for those multicultural dreams. The Spurs’ roster boasts five foreign players from four different nations.
Guard Manu Ginobili is from Argentina, forward Sean Marks is from New Zealand, guard Beno Udrih and center Rasho Nesterovic are from Slovenia and point guard Tony Parker was born in Belgium but grew up in France.
Even forward Tim Duncan was born on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Listen in during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the Suns tonight at America West Arena and you might hear commands, curses or wise cracks barked out in French, Italian, Slovenian or Spanish — or at least English with odd accents.
"We like to kid Tony Parker because of his pronunciation," Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "We have a play called ‘wedge roll’ but it’s usually ‘redge roll’ when he says it."
International players are not solely the domain of the Spurs. As of February, the NBA featured 77 international players from 34 countries and territories.
China’s Yao Ming, Zaire’s Dikembe Mutombo, Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki, Brazil’s Nene, the Spurs’ Marks and countless Americans give the NBA a presence on every continent but penguin-dominated Antarctica.
Even the Suns boast two foreign players in Brazilian Leandro Barbosa and Canadian Steve Nash, who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team had three others at the start of the season in Japan’s Yuta Tabuse, Poland’s Maciej Lampe and Serbia and Montenegro’s Zarko Cabarkapa.
But Suns president Bryan Colangelo said the Spurs are in a class of their own when it comes to culling international talent.
"The Spurs organization has really been ahead of the curve on a lot of what has gone on," Colangelo said. "I know they spend a considerable amount of time and have great resources in Europe. As a result, they made a great selection, by way of example, in Ginobili, who was a secondround pick and is now a star."
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and coach Gregg Popovich are two of the biggest reasons behind the Spurs’ international a en.
"I know that Pop respects the international game a lot," Ginobili said. "Whenever he thinks there’s a talent or somebody that can collaborate, he’s going to bring them in."
But Carlesimo said the Spurs’ success — they’ve won two NBA les and five division les in Popovich’s eight years — is predicated on more than simply finding foreign talent.
"It’s the type of guy they bring back," Carlesimo said. "If there are guys who won’t fit in they’ll get them out of here. This franchise likes to bring in people that get along, that understand the team concept and like to play defense."
While the cultural mix often makes for an enlightening experience, Spurs forward Robert Horry admits there are times where communication simply breaks down.
"The worst is Manu," Horry said. "When he gets excited during the heat of the game and the crowd is yelling, he’ll yell out a play in Spanish and it sounds like ‘blblblblbl."
"I’ll be like, ‘What the did you just say?’ "
Which makes it tough to execute the play.
"Everybody speaks English, so that’s not a problem," Udrih said. "But if Rasho and I don’t want somebody to hear what we’re saying we can just say it in Slovenian and laugh about it and then when people ask us what we’re saying we just go, ‘oh, nothing.’ "
"When you see Beno and Rasho talking Slovenian," Parker said, "you know they’re cursing us or something like that."
On some level many of the Spurs are accustomed to playing with foreigners from their days in international leagues. "I haven’t been on a team without foreigners," Ginobili said. "For me its natural."
Still, Ginobili said the foreign-born players never grow so comfortable that they lose sight of their role in building the game in their own nations, thereby building it around the world.
"The game is growing a lot in Argentina. There are a lot of kids focusing on basketball, trying to get better and make it to the pros," Ginobili said. "I hope it’s a little bit of what’s going to happen in the future even more."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=41882
Tee hee...that's funny...."What the did you just say"....
The funny thing is, I have seen Manu screaming and muttering to himself so many times, and usually the Parker or Horry just look at him. And when Tony is bringing the ball down the court and he screams out a play, I always wondered how the the SPurs knew what the he was saying!
Nice find. I love it when you can see Manu cursing in Spanish after something happens
Everytime 4-Down is called by Pop, you hear " !" in 6 languages on the Spurs team.
The funniest is to see their reactions to a bad call. Manu is so dramatic he might as well get on his knees and ask "Why Lord!!!"
"Manu is so dramatic he might as well get on his knees and ask "Why Lord!!!" and Tony reacts like a typical frenchman, looking at the ref like he lost his mind."
LOL. OMG, that is so true! Actually, I think Tony learned his reaction from Timmy, except Timmy adds in a stare-down with the ref also.
Oh yeah, I forgot about Timmy, he tries some sort of mind control on the refs, I swear he got some mental powers 'cause on the next play the call will go on Tim's favor
They definitely don't react like typical american players though, they add some flavor to the game.
Last edited by nkdlunch; 05-24-2005 at 11:52 AM.
Doesn't Pop speak Slovenian?
I'm sure Pop is right there cursing off Tony, Manu, and Duncan along with Beno and Rasho
Do You Understand The Words That Are Coming Out Of My Mouth ?
Thats funny... This whole thread is funny!!!!!
I think Pop knows some choice words in Slovenian... He calls the refs those words thinking that they are complimentary, because that is what beno and Rasho tell him..
A scene from practice
Pop to beno and rasho " yell yell yell yell... Chew ASS, Chew ASS, rip new asshole , yell!!!!!" -
Beno and Rasho to pop " slovenian talk( means stupid asshole) slovenian talk (means I am going to kill you) slovenian talk( means I swear if you yell one more time I will cut your balls off)
Pop to Rash and beno " what the are you guys saying?"
Beno and Rasho to Pop " just saying that you are a mentor, a leader, and one of a guy!!"
Pop " ahh, thanks"
I think Pop speaks a little bit of Serbo-Croatian, as does Rasho.
Terrific article!
AFAIK Pop know some Serbian. Since Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia a lot of Slovenians understand Serbian and Rasho also has Serbian origins. Ginobilli played together with Marko Jaric, so I am sure he is familiar with some Serbian curses also.
LOL, I didn't imagine that before
‘blblblblbl'
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