Paul Pierce weighs in on GNob, Kobster

[jemagee]

Drazen Petrovich - Actually more talented and skilled than Manu but he did not really get the chance to shine like Manu because he was burried on the bench early in his NBA carrer.  The NBA got a glimpse of his talent in NJ but then the guy died in a car accident or something.

His name came to mind but I don't remember seeing him play much and his career was tragically cut short I wondered if maybe all the praise i hear is a 'remember the best' kind of thing and he wasn't as good as people say he is.

[WayOutWest]

His name came to mind but I don't remember seeing him play much and his career was tragically cut short I wondered if maybe all the praise i hear is a 'remember the best' kind of thing and he wasn't as good as people say he is.

Wonder all you want, I know how good he was since I watched him play since back in the late 80's.  He was arguable better than Dirk and Manu but IMO he was clearly the best non-USA scorer ever.

[Joe Vancil]

Glad to see folks have already hit on two players that I think were better than Ginobilli - Sabonis and Petrovic.

Given that Petrovic played the same position as Ginobilli, that's saying something when you bring him up.  Petrovic was just starting to really shine when he died.

Sabonis's stardom days were in Europe and in the Olympics.  By the time he came to the NBA, he already had a bad back and two knee surgeries behind him...and STILL finished runner-up for rookie of the year.

[JoMal]

Pierce mentioned Ginobili as being the best FOREIGN player to join the NBA, NOT European, which BTW, Manu isn't anyway.

The best foreign player was Hakeem Olajawon, hands down, anyway.

[WayOutWest]

Pierce mentioned Ginobili as being the best FOREIGN player to join the NBA, NOT European, which BTW, Manu isn't anyway.

The best foreign player was Hakeem Olajawon, hands down, anyway.

One of the guys I listed was not a Euro either, he was Brazilian.

[jemagee]

I always felt the term 'euro' was used to generalize foreign born players, i mean russia is in europe and asia, any one bother to find out which part of russia pavel podlodzne was from?

Snobbery/Self Centeredness/Whatever, most foreign born players are referred to as "Euro" players regardless of their nation of origin...maybe it's because that's where the better international leagues are (I don't know if that's true or not)?

[jemagee]

BTW - Luol Deng was born in the sudan moved to england and went to college at duke...where's he fit in?

[JoMal]

BTW - Luol Deng was born in the sudan moved to england and went to college at duke...where's he fit in?

Um.....foreign born category, I would think. Same as the Dream, who went to college at the University of Houston.

Now, if we are talking about foreign born NBA players who learned their games from only playing in foreign lands, then we have a whole new sub-category, don't we?

[jemagee]

What about foreign born players who still haven't learned how to play the game 3 years into a 60 million dollar contract?

[JoMal]

What about foreign born players who still haven't learned how to play the game 3 years into a 60 million dollar contract?

That would be a sub-sub-category, but unfortunately the largest of the lot.

[jemagee]

Oh really?  I thought Sam Dalembert was the only member

[JoMal]

Oh really?  I thought Sam Dalembert was the only member

Ah...yes. Sans the money issue, then.