DAY 7: DEC. 14, 2004
Miles traveled: 318
City visited:
Dijon (France)
Prospects seen:
Boniface Ndong, Senegal, 7-0, C
Viktor Sanikidze, Republic of Georgia, 6-8, F
(Johnny Ludden/Express-News)
French team Dijon, featuring Spurs' draft pick Viktor Sanikidze, plays host to Greece's Ionikos N.F. at the town's Palais des Sports in 2004.
After spending the previous day watching their possible future draft pick, Buford wants to check on one of the Spurs' past selections. Viktor Sanikidze, an 18-year-old small forward taken in the second round five months earlier, is playing in Dijon.
After taking a two-hour train ride to Paris, hailing a taxi to switch stations and taking another two-hour train ride, Buford arrives in Dijon — the same Dijon of mus fame.
Dijon is playing host to a EuroCup game against Greece's Ionikos N.F. at the town's Palais des Sports. Dijon's blue-and-white fan club is noticeably smaller than that of the European powerhouses. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in spirit: A few fans beat drums throughout the game and one man shouts encouragement through a police bullhorn.
Though Sanikidze is noticeably younger than most of his teammates, he has a good feel for the game. When Ionikos' Saddi Washington flashes open in the corner, Sanikidze is able to make up ground quickly with his long wingspan and block the shot. A couple of minutes later, he makes a nice pass under the basket only to see it sail out of bounds when his teammate doesn't cut.
Dijon's center, Boniface Ndong, who would go on to play for the Los Angeles Clippers the following year, dominates most of the game. The real excitement, however, comes from the teams' coaches. After Ionikos' Zeygolis Giorgos argues a call with the officials, Dijon's Nicolas Faure yells at him to stop arguing. Giorgos has to be restrained from going after Faure.
The NBA should take notes. Who wouldn't pay to see a cage match between Popovich and Utah's Jerry Sloan?
Dijon holds on for a narrow victory, and the club president invites Buford to join him at the team's celebratory dinner. They both kid Sanikidze about not eating enough. Sanikidze is listed as weighing 200 pounds, but that might be 20 to 30 pounds too generous.
Sanikidze both looks and acts like a teenager. Born in the Republic of Georgia, he was surprised to even be in the NBA draft, let alone get picked.
At 15, Sanikidze was playing in a junior national tournament when a representative for New York's Globe Ins ute of Technology invited him and a teammate to join the school's junior-college team. The two, Sanikidze says, were told they would have to pay for a plane ticket to the United States, but would be reimbursed.
After agreeing, Sanikidze and his friend took a 15-hour flight to New York then went straight from the airport to practice. "On your first day you can't say, 'Oh, I'm tired,'" he says. "The coach will think you're lazy."
The two players, who knew only a few words of English between them, were given a small dorm room to share. Unimpressed by the Spartan accommodations — Sanikidze described the room as "trashed" — they both decided to return home as soon as they were paid back for their airfare.
"It was always, 'Next week, next week, next week,'" Sanikidze says. "So we went to the (school) president and he said, 'We don't pay for that.'
"We finally just decided to leave. Luckily we had bought a return ticket."
Sanikidze returned home and played for a local amateur team before signing with Dijon. As the 2004 draft approached, his agent told him a few teams were showing interest. Sanikidze wanted to wait at least another year before declaring, but was told he didn't have a choice: By playing for a U.S. college, even briefly, then turning pro in Europe, he had automatically entered himself in the draft.
The Spurs took advantage of the loophole and, in a prearranged deal, had Atlanta choose Sanikidze with its 42nd pick in return for a future second-round selection and cash. Sanikidze's agent called him with the news.
"It was the middle of the night and I was half asleep," Sanikidze says. "When my mom called the next morning, I told her, 'I think I was drafted by the Spurs No. 42 last night, but I can't remember clear. It might have been a dream.'"
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