I saw this article on the BBC's website about an increasing number of non-US players in the NBA. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/us_sport/3002420.stm As someone who likes to watch the odd game (we get one or two live games a week during the season in the UK) I was wondering what people round here thought about this trend. Good or bad for the game? Good for marketing in other countries? Can you see a potential expansion into playing in other countries as part of the NBA season?
Euro players seem to come to the NBA with better all-around games-- they shoot inside and outside, rebound, pass well. American players who are good enough for the NBA now play one or at most two years of college ball and come to the league with the ability to dunk but little else, because they never had to learn those skills. They end up learning them over their first few years as a pro, which means that drafting a Euro player gives a team a better short-term return on their millions. I'd take a team made up of Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic, Manu Ginobili, and Darko Milicic-- throw Ilgauskas, Toni Kukoc, Vlade Divac, and Mehmet Okur on the bench and you can play some awesome basketball...
Very good. I think its excellent that the world is getting involved. The different styles of play brought in from South America and Europe add diversity to the league, making if far more entertaining. Is basketball popular in the UK?
The NBA is fairly popular on TV in the UK I think. British Basketball is also on TV, but is pretty poorly supported, both on TV and live.
I recently saw an interview with David Stern and some NBA players about a possible NBA expansion to Europe. Stern would love to see it, opinion among players is varying. What I considered to be funny is that many players fear the "hot-blooded European fans".
I heard that Euro expansion interview too. WHat Im wondering is how would they schedule games? I mean there is no concorde anymore so for someone on the East coast it might take them 6 hours to get there, which is roughly how ling it takes to get to the west coast, but what about teams in the Midwest or even West? And what about when the Euro teams need to come here? I think its a great idea but the technology isnt there. Once they make a plane that can get them there fast and no go bankrupt, I think it can work but right now it wont. I kinda see teams setting up shop in PR and Mexico before Europe. I think Stern was also saying he envision this happening in around 2010 so we never know...
That's what I was wondering too. Travel is a pain as it is. I guess they could teleport players but as we saw in the movie The Fly, the technology still has a few flaws. I know NBA has talked about having NBA-Europe to compete with the Euroleague - not sure if that's a different idea. This seems more realistic but I'm not sure if NBA-E can compete with the big Euro clubs.
I personally think the influx of foreigners is a good thing- increases the talent base. And it's not just the big men anymore. Hopefully, with more talent, I'll see less players who can't: 1) hit open jumpers, 2) make freethrows, and 3) pass the ball. Manu Ginobli is great to watch. And what if Drazen Petrovic... (yes, I've been a Nets fan that long). As for expansion to Europe- I doubt it. The travel issues are just diffcult, especially to the West Coast. What the NBA should be doing is making promotional deals and, more importantly, formalizing the NBA/International player transfer system. The current draft/buy-out system is broken. I don't know too much- but they could standardize buyout clauses, or come up with a standard formula for the buyout prices. The NBA could then allow teams to contribute more to the buyout- or even allow teams to send a player back in compensation.