[JunkYardDogParticipant]

Just a topic to talk about the lockout effects on the top european teams and on the nba players :

– who are the players going to escape from the nba lockout ? (after kirilenko, parker….)

– where they could play ? 

for example I’d like to know where nowitski could end up this season if he decided to come back to europe : russia, bayern munchen….

– with the kobe’issue (with bologne) and deron’s failure…. is it a goog idea for all the nba players to come back and face a different way of playing, living….

just want to know your opinion (I’m from france)

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

Well D-Will definitely needed the run or at least some sort of exercise, so I’m not sure if it was a failure. Maybe it was a wakeup call. 

Let’s get more of those games streaming or on TV!

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

Seem to be playing back in their countries of origin, or adopted countries of origin. I am sure Dirk could play anywhere, but I might think he plays in the German leagues. Either way, Kirilenko and Parker both have NBA out clauses, even with Andrei being a Free Agent. The bottom line is, the game is different in Europe and the money is as well. I am guessing that since these are established NBA players, they will be making money and getting paid, but sometimes, the money situation is incredibly shady. Guys like Kirilenko and Parker make much more playing in the NBA, and the pay check is guaranteed.

At first, I kind of thought it was cool that guys were going to Europe to play. Now, I am not as down with it. I just want the lockout to end, and it seems pretty obvious that these guys going to Europe has created next to no leverage for that to happen. The one team that looks to be screwed if the season happens would be the Nuggets, as they have 3 guys in China with no out clause. But, everyone else has an out clause as soon as the NBA season starts back up.

Deron Williams and Besiktas lost yesterday to a Belgian team, featuring such former NBA players as Shan Foster, Ahmad Nivins and Sean Singletary. They beat them in his first game, but this seemed to be a different story, and word was, Deron played pretty poorly. The bottom line is, European basketball is a very different game. To a basketball purist, it may be a beautiful thing, but it is not as fast and free flowing as the NBA Game. I feel that if more guys were focused on getting the NBA season to start, the lockout could be over sooner rather than later. I guess the bargaining process is the real killer, and that the players will have to take an L as far as dropping their percentage of the BRI, but I for one would love to see these out clauses being excercised and guys getting ready for the NBA rather than playing in Europe.

I am sure it must be awesome to have Nicolas Batum and Tony Parker playing in France, but I have a feeling you probably enjoy watching them in the NBA just as much, if not more. This whole thing is just messing with my head. This did not really happen on a major scale during the last lockout with players going overseas. The European game is incredibly different, and I know that Deron’s team is trying to qualify for EuroCup play, which is the level below Euroleague. Well, I for one am more concerned about the NBA hopefully having a season than to where these guys will play internationally. Especially when you consider the fact that many of them might not even be competing at the Euroleague level.

The highest caliber NBA player I know set to compete in Euroleague play is Kirilenko right now. Others who are signed with teams include:

Real Madrid: Rudy Fernandez

Maccabi Tel Aviv: Jordan Farmar

Partizan Belgrad: Acie Law

Anadolu Efes: Ersan Ilyasova

Olympia Milano: Danilo Gallinari

Caja Laboral: Reggie Williams, Joey Dorsey

Nancy: Nicolas Batum

Zalgiris Kaunas: Ty Lawson, Sonny Weems (don’t think Sonny has an out clause, though he was a Free Agent)

Montepaschi Siena: DaJuan Summers (Not sure of his contract situation)

Prokom: Alonzo Gee, Devin Brown

Union Olimpija: Danny Green

Galatasaray: Darius Songaila

If you count Kirilenko, that is 16 NBA players suiting up for teams in the Euroleague (24 teams). While I am sure they would be playing against some teams in Euroleague during play in their own leagues, to know that they are not playing at the highest level of competition is disheartening. The guys playing in Euroleague are not exactly the best and brightest. My guess is, most teams do not want to spend a lot of money on players who more than likely will split when the season starts. To me, this whole thing with players leaving for international teams is a mess, it is hard to be excited about it anymore. The odds of seeing the best NBA players play against each other in Europe seems little to none. It is great exposure for some fantastic players playing in Europe rather than the NBA, but I just want NBA basketball back. If not, than maybe these guys would start playing over in Europe for real, but I have a feeling that this trend is not going to continue, and if it does, I think their are going to find out that playing in Europe is not as glamorous as playing in the NBA. I know Deron Williams already has.

http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=tur&Team=1035

http://www.euroleague.net/

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

 maybe if the gasols, dirk and some others come back…. maybe it could make some great opposition during euroligue battles.

For now there are few players, but if (when….?) the nba can’t start at all… there will be some moves. Dirk said he didn’t want to play in germany so I think he could go to CSKA. I’d rather watch him under bayern munchen’ jersey.

I’d like to see the nba come back too but I’m getting more and more fed up (and angry) with that sh*t towards the global economical situation. I am a bball lover (live by and through it from the first to the last second of the day) and I can’t see them (stern, the players, the owners…) p*ssing on what should be their passion. The fan is the only loser.

But bball is not an "nba’ monopoly". Euroligue basketball is great and a very tough competition. To succeed you need great bball IQ (coaching is so much important) and being able to adapt (being humble can help). I want to watch bball and if the nba is not there I’ll watch euroligue’ battles (with great pleasure). And I can just encourage, you guys, to do the same thing….

[boshjonesfordParticipant]

I heard Montepaschi Siena is also trying to get Andrea Bargnani

[theEDGEParticipant]

All of the overseas players can be seen on this link.

http://hoopshype.com/overseas.htm

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