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That is a really awesome article.
Beno sounds focused and truly happy here- which is great for him and the team.
Thanks for posting Bruno.
It's from hoopsworld but there aren't any trade rumor in it.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/global/article_19378.shtml
GLOBAL: Beno Udrih
By Nikola Olic
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Nov 10, 2006, 11:37
Beno Udrih has this thing he does before a game. The Slovenian guard stands at the three point line and plays a game with any willing Spur. He taps his ball against the opponent's, and then they both quickly launch a three. If you sit close enough, you can see why Beno usually wins: shooting arm bent perfectly at 90 degrees, non-shooting arm just slightly touching the side of the ball. Win or lose, Beno is looking forward to the next game, just like in real life.
Slovenia is a small, picturesque country in northern Europe, better known for its mountains than its NBA players. Yet there are six of them in the NBA, a surprising number for a country that has as many people as Houston, just over 2 million. While recently watching Beno Udrih from the sidelines, David Stern did the math himself -- that is the most NBA players per-capita of any country in the world: one NBA player for every 350,000 Slovenians. Sounds like lottery, but has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with hard work.
"I started out in Slovenia's second division but really started playing only when I got into the first division, where I won the Rookie of the Year award. I had a chance to change teams and I only considered our best team, Olimpia. In my first year, I was the backup point guard but I had more minutes than the starting point guard. When he left, it was finally my turn. So my career really started with Olimpia. They thought I would leave for the NBA in a year or two."
That happened a few years later. His agent's unfamiliarity with the NBA was a blessing in disguise. Beno stayed in Europe a few more years and gained valuable Euroleague experience. Among Europe's best, Udrih played 25 minutes per game in a league that one day might share some of it's teams with the NBA, as was temporarily the case this summer with Europe Live. After a few years in Israel, Russia and Italy and finally with a new agent, it was time for Beno's dreams to come true.
"Every kid dreams of playing in the NBA. I came for the pre-draft and my agent told me to just be myself. It made it easy for him and I both and I did not have to think about it any more. I went out there and played with confidence and everything went great. Many players would not play their game, dribble the ball or shoot the three. I was just doing what I know. When I was alone I would shoot. Otherwise I would make something happen for my teammates. I was happy with 15 points and 6 assists per game. I was not forcing anything, taking it step by step."
First step towards getting into the NBA is the same for every kid in every country in the world: you have to be better than those around you. Beno started with his ball handling skills outside of basketball. It was handball, a very popular sport in Europe, that gave Beno his first advantage, and it was his height that gave him the second.
"It was with my first team when I was 15. In a month, I grew three inches yet my game went down. I was not used to being taller, I could not dribble or hold the ball. I talked to one of my coaches and told him I didn't know what was happening with me. I practiced three times a day, from four in the afternoon until eleven at night. I became better than the players around me and I decided to go for it and make basketball my life."
In his house in Celje, a small town in northwest Slovenia, Beno saw a poster of Michael Jordan long before he ever knew who the skinny Chicago Bull was. Years later, Beno learned about the most influential basketball player of all time, and about the single skill that got him on his older brother's poster -- confidence. Many basketball players can make an 18 footer, but doing it in closing seconds of the '82 NCAA finals puts you on a poster half way across the world.
"When I was 16 I averaged 35 points and we were winning by a big margin. I was with my junior team but I did not have to play, I was already playing with the senior team. Only if it were close in the 4th quarter would I be brought in to help out. That is where my confidence started growing. I was having a great time in practice, it was always fun and my confidence was growing every day."
But the agent that ultimately got Beno into the NBA was not at first very optimistic. "Bottom of the second round at best", he said, "or maybe you won't be drafted at all". This was before Beno's impressive summer performance. He was so dominant that he just needed to play two games before the Spurs made up their minds. He was selected in the first round, as the 28th pick. Since then he had given the Spurs about six points, two assists in 13 minutes of play. And he also helped them win a championship ring.
"The team is great, the teammates are great, the situation is great. I can't wait to help bring our championship trophy back to San Antonio. They recently took care of my contract, I am very happy about that. I am ready to play, I had an injury before the start of the season and I did not want to come back half way. Coach Popovich said some things about me being the fourth guard in the rotation, but I know how I feel and only when I feel ok can I play. I don't let it get to me. I don't want to get injured again. You are your own best doctor and you have to care about your body. I make a living with my body."
Beno was drawn to the American style of living even before he made it to America. "They call Israel Little America" Beno explains of a country he lived in for a year. He remembers people always out on the streets, socializing and having a good time. Beno replaced the calm and quiet of Slovenia and enjoyed all of Europe for its basketball and its lifestyle. When the NBA opportunity came, he was again ready. He knew only one thing about San Antonio, the same thing every school kid knows: The Alamo.
"No matter where I play, I would live in San Antonio, I won't go anywhere else. San Antonio has a lot of people, because of the Riverwalk. The weather is great and the people are great. I will keep my house here and maybe get an apartment somewhere else. I like it here. Nothing draws me back to Slovenia, except my family. Their mentality no longer fits me. It is more exciting here. People are more open. Everybody will come up and talk to you: men, women or children. In Slovenia, people watch from a far and do nothing. Same if you approach them. They look at you as a star, they think you are not approachable."
Unlike in his early day, the Spurs' backup guard does not get more minutes than the starter. Beno was a promising rookie which in his second year shared minutes with Nick Van Excel, an experienced veteran with guts for making big plays. Experience trumped potential and Beno saw decreased playing time. But during the summer, Udrih was a member of the Slovenian National team that competed at the World Basketball Championships in Japan. On the national team, Udrih is a starter. This season with the Spurs, he wants to go in the same direction.
"Last two weeks I have been practicing more. I know all our plays and I have no problems. I know what I should do on the floor. I feel much better than last year. I can only play my game and prove to everybody that I am the backup point. I don't worry about my compe ion at all."
Udrih is aiming at the backup point guard position and nothing more - at least for now.
"Parker and I have that European mentality. He feels pressure when he sees me. We played against each other as juniors in Europe. I once torched him for 35 points. If I had been traded to some other team, I could have maybe started. But I wanted to stay here. I am still in the proving phase of my basketball career. If I can play here, I can play anywhere."
Before a game, Beno takes up all of his NBA-allotted 45 minutes on the floor. He shoots a few free throws and a few three pointers, chats with his teammates and then finally slowly walks of the court and into the locker room. Of all the basketball influences in his life, it was the basketball court itself that he really could not resist. In his hometown of Celje, he lived "just a few trees away" from a basketball court. He would try to do his homework, but the sound of a ball bouncing in the distance was just too much. Maybe that's why he likes that pre-game game so much.
That is a really awesome article.
Beno sounds focused and truly happy here- which is great for him and the team.
Thanks for posting Bruno.
good article, I'd love to see Beno improving and bieng cosistent.
So beno still grow three inches a month ?In a month, I grew three inches yet my game went down. I was not used to being taller, I could not dribble or hold the ball.
Spurs will have soon another slovenian center.
So beno still grow three inches a month ?
Spurs will have soon another slovenian center.
I remember having those rapid growth spurts as a kid.
I was such a klutz- not that I was a great ball handler before that point.
Thanks for article. Beno is great.
Lazy fat without work ethics, should train 24/7I practiced three times a day, from four in the afternoon until eleven at night.
sincerly T Park, Timvp...
Don't be too hard with you.not that I was a great ball handler before that point.
Even in France, we have heard of Angel's sick crossovers.
We moved to north Europe? No wonder the mediterranean sea was cold this year.Slovenia is a small, picturesque country in northern Europe, better known for its mountains than its NBA players.
You think that is bad odds? how about being one of 1000 hockey players and making the NHL.Yet there are six of them in the NBA, a surprising number for a country that has as many people as Houston, just over 2 million. While recently watching Beno Udrih from the sidelines, David Stern did the math himself -- that is the most NBA players per-capita of any country in the world: one NBA player for every 350,000 Slovenians. Sounds like lottery, but has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with hard work.
Handball players have glue to help them with grip. Maybe that is what he's missing.Beno started with his ball handling skills outside of basketball. It was handball, a very popular sport in Europe, that gave Beno his first advantage, and it was his height that gave him the second.
Celje is the 3rd biggest town in Slovenia. There are no "big" towns in Slovenia.In his house in Celje, a small town in northwest Slovenia, Beno saw a poster of Michael Jordan long before he ever knew who the skinny Chicago Bull was.
People don't talk with people they don't know. About celeb status: Slovenia is small, if i would freak out everytime i meet some "famous" Slovenian i would freak out all the time. I don't approach you because i don't give a about you.In Slovenia, people watch from a far and do nothing. Same if you approach them. They look at you as a star, they think you are not approachable."
I haven't noticed.But during the summer, Udrih was a member of the Slovenian National team that competed at the World Basketball Championships in Japan. On the national team, Udrih is a starter.
Yes as I cross one leg over the other and fell flat on my face. hehe
I don't like him anymore. He's an ass. Talking like this about your home country. You can stay there Beno. We don't need your sorry ass.
Agreed.
Kori please change my le to: Beno is our quitter
I understand why you guys took a little offense to what Beno said, but I don't think he meant to hate on you.
Maybe it's the English translation that made it harsh?
Who cares if Beno doesn't like us, we are afraid that this warm and loving man called T Park doesn't like us and that is the real shame. Because when T Park loves a man he really loves a man.
Did anyone else get the impression from this article that Beno is really arrogant? I re-read the thing about Parker and Im not so sure why he would say that.
he probably said it with a smile on his face. kinda jokingly, u kno...the thing about torching parker
C'mon guys, don't be like that. I don't think Beno meant to insult Slovenia. He can't do what he wants to do in Slovenia, he can in the US. People move on all the time, it doesn't mean they don't love their home.Agreed.
Kori please change my le to: Beno is our quitter
I wonder how Michael would feel about the word "skinny"? Maybe "lithe", or "athletic", but "skinny" sounds like a pimply kid with thick rimmed glasses sitting in front of his Commodore 64...Beno saw a poster of Michael Jordan long before he ever knew who the skinny Chicago Bull was
, I'm proud of being Mexican, but there's no ing way I'm going back to Mexico.
People don't move all the time in Slovenia. And he didn't insult the country - he insulted the people who live there (can't say that i blame him - beautiful countryside is not the reason for a high suicide rate in Slovenia).
If I'm Slovenian, I take what Beno said with a grain of salt. He's talked about a couple bad experiences he had before regarding some people there who doubted him, but Beno is young and he'll eventually remember where he comes from. Without the basketball system in Slovenia, Beno is nowhere near the NBA.
Overall, article is pretty good. Beno IS arrogant ... but that's actually a good trait in a point guard. Worst thing you could have is a passive lead guard. In a radio interview the other day, they asked him what the toughest part transitioning from Europe to the NBA was and he said it was really easy ... much easier than he thought
Has Beno lied? I don't think so.Agreed.
Kori please change my le to: Beno is our quitter
If he likes it in the USA, and especially in S.A.: good for him!
And just one question? How good do you know USA? Or even better, have you ever lived outside of Slovenia for 6 moth or more.
Because it was so. It is all do ented. And why, if it hapened, he should't say it? Now, arogant would be if someone ask Parker and he denied it.... even if it was true.
I donīt give a if he moves to USA, good for him if he likes it (maybe I would move to San Antonio too if I had a chance) BUT donīt talk about Slovenians, coz you donīt know tham all. I NEVER had such problems like he supposed to has (yes I know I am not a "star").
YOU Beno, you donīt know about my mentality (well, maybe now you know).
So, what part you don't understand?
He didn't qualified mentality good or bad, he just stated, that (in general) it doesn't fit him. What is wrong with that?
And your reaction speaks a lot about YOUR mentality! (I am guessing that exactly this kind of mentality doesn't fit him, and frankly, me neither)
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