They were just announced: The first team was interesting: Spanoulis and Teodosic are regulars, but I'd never even heard of Boban Marjanovic [edit: I am officially senile. Not only have I seen him play (for Atlanta) in last year's Summer League, I posted about him at least twice, and even made the Muresan comparison. In my defense, he had a different haircut.] and I knew very little about Nemanja Bjelica [I also posted about him. I will no doubt forget posting this, too]. Felipe Reyes must have found the fountain of youth - I thought he was washed up years ago, but he's making it there for the first time at age 35. He's like the Spanish Charles Oakley. Never mind the well-known players, though - it's the other two that interest me. Marjanovic first: he's like a shorter, more nimble Gheorghe Muresan, which is interesting in itself. He can't jump at all, but with a wingspan of 7'8" and a standing reach of 9'7", he doesn't have to. Doesn't stop him dunking everything: He's playing for a team in the Serbian league, but then again, he's winning a Euroleague award, which means he performed against the big teams like Real Madrid (who could almost certainly beat the Sixers in a series). I wonder if he'll get NBA offers. He's 26, which is mature but not old. He looks like he always had size he just had to get over his clumsiness. Bjelica: also 26, and perhaps more interesting, in that he's playing for Fenerbahce, the Turkish powerhouse. He seems like somewhere in the Hedo Turkoglu/Toni Kukoc mold of 6'10" with guard skills. I'm sure he's nowhere near those guys, but here: Apparently he's a "superstar" and the "Serbian Magic". Anyway, the Wolves have his rights and he may come over next season. (Incidentally: Rudy only made the second team, and no love for Sergio on either. Beaten out by Andrew Goudelock!)
Boban would be interesting but he'd get murdered defending the p&r. If you think Kaman is bad.... Though, he's probably the most skilled player at his size on the planet. Milos Teodosic is still high on my wish list. Backup PG with size to start at SG - 6'5"
Teodosic is pretty mercurial, though. I wonder if he or Spanoulis will ever give the NBA a(nother) try. Another ranking had Sonny Weems in the first team ahead of Reyes, and I'd love to offer him the mid-level. He's 28 and can back up both wing positions, and give us a shot of athleticism.
The two semifinals were played today. In the first one, Vassilis Spanoulis and Olympiacos again crushed the dreams of CSKA Moscow. Familiar figures in this one (besides Spanoulis): Kirilenko, Victor Khryapa, Sony Weems, Nando De Colo, Sasha Kaun and Milos Teodosic (that's just CSKA!) and Giorgios Printezis (whose rights the Blazers briefly owned), Brent Petway (played for us in Summer League) and Bryant Dunston (Euroleague defensive player of the year): In the second one, Real Madrid (Rudy, Sergio, Sergio Llull, Andres Nocioni, longtime Spurs draftee Ioannis Bourousis, Gustavo Ayon and first-team All-Euroleaguer Felipe Reyes) trounced Fenerbahce (Ex-NBAers Andrew Goudelock, Semih Erden and Jan Vesely, Suns draftee Bogdan "don't call me Bojan" Bogdanovic and All-Euroleague MVP (and future Timberwolf) Nemanja Bjelica. Clearly Real Madrid have the talent and are playing at home, but it would be tough to bet against Olympiacos. I bet if you constructed a 15 man roster from your pick of those 4 rosters you could make the playoffs in the East in the NBA... Here's a slideshow of the former NBA-ers.
I have always loved "Chacho" but I really would like at least ONE of our PGs to be able to play SOME defense.
More on Marjanovic: He's tied for 8th in the DraftExpress measurement history for height and 6th for wingspan. He's tied with Rudy Gobert for "reach". I compared him to Muresan, but he looks a good deal more mobile, and he dunks hard, apparently without jumping: Compare:
Neil missed the boat by not trading into the late first or early second for Jokic. He's been dominant the past few months.
Apparently the Rockets are really trying to get Llull to come over for next season. Morey does love his Euros. Not a fan of Llull myself, but he makes perfect sense playing next to Harden.
Rockets should be happy: Lull went 5/5 from 3 and Real Madrid outscored Barcelona by 21...in the first quarter:
Rasta, who is the deep cut euro that you think could be had super cheap and contribute in the NBA next year? There's gotta be a hidden gem somewhere.
I'm not really an expert - I just troll the internet obsessively. So it's unlikely I've heard of him. HOWEVER, more likely to be had super-cheap are American players desperate to get back home. If they're good, though, they do get offered million dollar contracts and more, even if nobody's ever heard of them back here. For example, Olympiacos and Fenerbahce are fighting over Bryant Dunston, who is a very undersized center. Meanwhile, Panathinaikos are trying to lure back Nick Calathes with a $3M contract. If you want a name nobody's really mentioned, how about this guy: Artsiom Parakhouski, a center from the team Babbitt played for for a while. But again, if I've heard of him, he's not likely to be super cheap. Or how about Adrien Moerman, who doesn't make the French National team but was called MVP of the French League (a poorer paying but more athletic league than the ACB). All right, all right, I've made my pick: Reggie Redding.
But the guy I'm really looking forward to seeing in the NBA is Bjelica. Imagine someone sort of between Toni Kukoc and Viktor Khryapa. Maybe that doesn't light your fire, but screw you. He'll be first team all-rookie, along with his teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, and the Wolves will shock the NBA by making the playoffs! Unless Rubio gets injured again, of course. (I'm also looking forward to seeing Marjanovic, and to seeing who's ready to sign him. It better not be Houston.)
I'm into the euros man, love me some Sergio, love me some Claver. Any euro on the blazers is ok in my book. I guess the pay over there is nore than comparable though for these fringe NBA players, so I don't blame them for staying overseas...just get jealous when other teams bring over rotation guys for 3 million a year.
