Global Games
Patricia Bender
and thought some here might find interest in my comments for the 4 Global
Games I caught this weekend (did the write-ups for a Mavs forum I read).
The Global Games is the brain child of Donnie Nelson and has grown since
he started it a few years ago (started as just a team of US players vs a
team of international players - Dirk Nowitzki made his US debut in these
games). This year, the Global Games is a week long tournament of 8 teams -
Africa, Croatia, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ukraine, United States (I
believe all are high school seniors), and Yugoslavia - of under-22 year-old
players. The games are taking place in Dallas and at least 17 NBA teams
have scouts or GMs in the stands.
----
Saturday's games
Caught the Croatia-Mexico and USA-Germany games yesterday and
thought I'd share a couple of thoughts.
The Croatia-Mexico game was the blowout you'd expect it to be.
Mexico just doesn't have much talent and the score was triple
at halftime. Mexico came out playing better after halftime and
Croatia was a little sloppy, so the final score was only double
(123-56). I don't think either is NBA-quality, but Mexico's
best players (from my viewing and this game) were #15 Jose
Bucio (who went down with a sprained ankle in late in the 1st,
but returned in the 4th) and #11 Omar Quintero. Both are short
guards (5-10 and 6-0). On the other hand, Croatia has some
good talent and one or two might make it in the NBA. #12 Ivan
Mimica was the star of this game (6-2 guard) and was money when
he shot. Damir Miljkovic (6-4 guard) also played well and
was stroking the 3 when given a look. He had the nice drives in traffic
and would make the extra pass. He had some nice passes, though
sometimes with a little too much mustard. [Didn't take notes
while watching, but #5 Ivan Tomas, #15 Jasmin Perkovic, #7
Marko Moric, and #8 Mario Kasun also showed promise.]
The USA-Germany game was not the blowout I expected. Germany
came out and played a solid team game with good defense and
pushed the ball while USA came out playing like an All-Star
team - lots of one-man play (can't call it one-on-one when the
player is facing 2 or 3 defenders), little passing, lots of
turnovers and fouls, and little team play. It didn't help that
the coaches were playing with a revolving door with a sub or
2 (or 3 or 4) coming in every couple of minutes [I don't
believe that just 9 players played as listed in the pseudo-box
in the DMN]. Germany lead most of the 1st quarter and some of
the 2nd quarter, but talent over team won out in the end (but
never a blowout). USA won 101-92 (with a gift of 3 points to
Germany with 8 seconds left when the big guy - 310 lb Kevin
Young - made the basic mistake of running at a 3-point shooter).
[There were lots of basic mistakes in this game by USA - allowing the
free throw shooter getting his own missed free throw, running
down a loose ball and throwing it back blindly under the
opponent's basket, ...] Germany's best player was easily #6
Steffen Hamann (guard, 193 cm [what ever that means]). He played
all but a minute of the 1st half and most of the 2nd half (sat
out a tad in the 3rd quarter and the last few minutes of the game)
and did a good job of running the team. Not quite sure he'd
make it in the NBA, but will probably make a good player in a
European league. No other German left an impression with me.
With the all-star team type play and the revolving door, I
didn't get much of a handle of any of the USA players. Chris
Bosh (6-10 F-C) blocked at least 4 shots and definitely has
talent, but is as thin as a rail. Bracey Wright had the play
of the game when he dove for a loose ball at halfcourt near
the end of the 2nd quarter and, while flying horizontal, passed
the ball to a streaking player for a layup. Daniel Horton played well
and was shooting well, but had a scary moment when his knee
buckled in the 4th - fortunately he was able to walk off the
court and the injury isn't too serious.
The USA-Croatia game at 6 pm tonight should be a good game -
and if the USA continues to play like an all-star team instead
of a real team, Croatia can beat them. I'm also curious to
see the Yugoslavia-Ukraine game (8 pm) and what type of talent
is on those teams.
----
Sunday's games
Caught the USA-Croatia and Yugoslavia-Ukraine games last
night. [Should have also opted for Moody instead of trying
to go the Mavs scrimmage - got to Fair Park a little before
4 pm following the directions the Mavs had given and saw
no sight of anything looking like a gym. Eventually parked
the car and got out and started walking around Fair Park
looking for Cobb Fieldhouse. Gave up after 25 minutes of
walking around in the heat (found the Coliseum, but it was
dark and locked up) and walked 15 minutes back to my car.]
The USA-Croatia game was a highly entertaining game. It
didn't start that way as Croatia came out the better team
and held an 11 point lead after 1 and pushed their lead
into the low 20s in the 2nd quarter. #7 Marko Moric had the
play of the night when he was doubled in the post with his
back to the basket and did a between the legs pass to an
open teammate for the easy layup. Jarrett Jack had the
2nd best play of the game with a crossover drive that left
his defender on the floor while he got the layup. USA
had a nice run to end the half and Croatia led 51-42 at the
half. USA came out on fire in the 3rd quarter and Bracey
Wright was hitting almost everything in sight (ya, a lot of
it was non-team play, but when you're that hot...). Antoine
Wright hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull USA within
75-77 after 3. [AWright also drilled an NBA-range 3-pointer
early in the game.] AWright got a bucket to open the 4th to
tie the game, but Croatia answered with 2 3-pointers (by
#12 Ivan Mimica and #6 Damir Miljkovic) to re-take the lead.
The game stayed close in the 4th quarter and USA had a
small run to get the lead. Up by 2 with less than 3 minutes
left, Chris Bosh blocked what was looking to be an easy
layup by Croatia and Kyle Wilson nailed a quick 3-pointer at
the other end. USA was able to hang on to their small lead.
USA lead by 5 points with 30 seconds left and Croatia
(Mimica?) hit a 3-pointer and intentionally fouled Bracey
Wright. He only hit 1 of 2 to give Croatia an opening, but
#15 Jasmin Perkovic missed a 3 with 6 seconds left [should
have got it to Mimica or Miljkovic] and Bracey hit 1 of 2
free throws for the final margin. USA won 108-104.
Chris Bosh showed more of his offensive game in this game
and you'll be seeing him in the NBA down the road (he does
need to put some meat on his bones, though). Bracey Wright
showed some nice one-on-one moves and his take-over play
in the 3rd quarter was impressive. Daniel Horton (who had
injured his knee Saturday) did play, but had a much quieter
game (he was the star Saturday). For Croatia, I still liked
the looks of Damir Miljkovic, though he didn't have as many
mustard passes in this game (but he was on the court a lot
with Ivan Mimica (who also looks good) who played point).
The Yugoslavia-Ukraine games was also very entertaining and
close throughout. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to simply
enjoy the game during the 1st quarter as I spent most of
the quarter trying to match roster numbers to the players'
names on my Ukraine roster. [Echoing the complaint about
incomplete and inaccurate programs for the Global Games -
the only reason I purchased a program was so that I'd have
names to go with the numbers (no names on the uniforms).
Not only did the Ukraine roster listing not have numbers,
#5, who was having a nice 1st quarter, wasn't even listed
(I found out who he was at halftime - Olexiy Onufrieu
(thanks Mark!)).] Ukraine actually led at half by 1, but
Yugoslavia took the lead led 76-69 after 3 and won 94-89.
For the Ukraine, #15 Srhiy Lishchuk was their best player.
He's about 6-10 (listed at 6-8, but near Krstic's height)
and has some bulk. He hit 2 3-pointers in addition to his
nice inside work and seemed to run the floor well. For
Yugoslavia, #8 Bojan Popvic caught my eye. He had an okay
game, nothing spectacular (hit some shots, made some good
passes off drives (tended to pass off each time he drove in
the 1st half, finished himself more in the 2nd half)), but
every time I looked at him I thought "player". It took me
a while to figure out what was so striking about him that
had me thinking "player" - he's got long arms. He's about
6-8 (the listing of 212 cm has to be wrong) and has some
muscle tone. #11 Nened Krstic (#24 NJ draft pick - NJ GM
Rod Thorn was in attendance) looked good and had some nice
moves, but is also very skinny for 6-11 - needs to bulk up
to make it in the NBA. The European kid that everyone has
been talking about, Darko Milicic, got some court time in
this game. He didn't do much (looked like he was new to the
team), but was spoon fed a couple of baskets, got a couple
of rebounds, and did have a very nice post move in getting
2 points on his own. #9 Aleksandat Pavlovic twisted his
ankle after a drive and pretty dish during the 4th quarter,
but he was walking it off behind the baseline the rest of
the quarter, so nothing serious.
The medal games are Tuesday at Reunion with Pueto Rico vs
Mexico at 2 pm, Germany vs Ukraine at 4 pm, Africa vs
Croatia (Bronze medal game) at 6 pm, and USA vs Yugoslavia
(Gold medal game) at 8 pm. The Gold medal game will be
broadcast on HDNET TV. Unfortunately, the DMN reports that
Team USA will be missing some players as Daniel Horton, Kyle
Wilson, and Eric Williams and maybe more have to return to
summer school.
----
patricia
(Hey, it's July; I'll take whatever basketball I can get.)
--
Patricia Bender pbe...@eskimo.com
For NBA stuff: http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/index.html
For Mavs stuff: http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/mavs.html
For NBA bean bears: http://www.patriciasstuff.com/index.html
Ryoga Hibiki
patr...@olagrande.net (Patricia Bender) wrote:
>#8 Mario Kasun also showed promise.
this year's second round pick?
>Steffen Hamann (guard, 193 cm [what ever that means])
something more than 6-4... you're really not able to handle the
international system, in the US? :O
--
Ryoga Hibiki (Marco Fracasso)
icq: #132215537 mail: ryogahibiki(at)tin.it
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
Quintus Iunius Iuvenalis B,SVAODNEVCUQQOOPJVE
Patricia Bender
Ryoga Hibiki <no...@fake.it> wrote:
>On Mon, 8 Jul 2002 17:29:37 +0000 (UTC), someone whose name is
>patr...@olagrande.net (Patricia Bender) wrote:
>
>>#8 Mario Kasun also showed promise.
>
>this year's second round pick?
Yup. He wasn't at Sunday's game, though (speculation that he headed to the
summer league).
>>Steffen Hamann (guard, 193 cm [what ever that means])
>
>something more than 6-4... you're really not able to handle the
>international system, in the US? :O
I knew someone was going to give me a hard time about that and realized only
after I posted that I should have added a note. I was short on time when I
was doing the write-up and did have the conversion formula handy.
I really did like Hamann's play and maybe I'll get another look at him
tomorrow and catch some of the 4 pm game (plan on heading over after work).
So, anyone in California catching any of the Long Beach summer league that
kicked off Sunday (they've got boxscores at http://www.proexposure.com/)?
There were some interesting names there (Keith Closs, Billy Owens, Darrick
Martin, the LAL-Mem game, Bo Outlaw, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Jr., ...).
patricia
Patricia Bender
> For Yugoslavia, #8 Bojan Popvic caught my eye.
Turns out the roster listing was wrong (surprise, surprise)
and #8 was Milutin Aleksic.
I arrived at halftime for the Germany-Ukraine game and
Germany was up double and won easily 102-73. I still like
the looks of Steffen Hamann and he does a good job of
running the team.
The Croatia-Africa game (bronze medal game) started off
good and Croatia led 21-19 after 1. #8 Amadou Koundoul for
Africa looked good during the quarter, but didn't impress
after the 1st. Africa went flat in scoring only 9 points in
the 2nd quarter. #7 Marko Moric had 2 nice drives and a
banked 3-pointer to help Croatia to a 43-28 lead at the
half. Croatia was hitting 3s and Africa was still
struggling in the 2nd half (they picked it up some in the
4th quarter, but it was too late) and Croatia won 91-76.
#10 Andrija Zizic (6-8 center) and #13 Domagoj Vidkovic
(6-4 forward [has to be taller than that]) played solidly
and had some nice moves. Guards #12 Ivan Mimica and #6
Damir Mijkovic continued to be deadeye from 3-point land.
For Africa, #10 Fred Adjinawou left a small impression and
#6 Noha Diakate had a nice block and 2 strong dunks (one in
the 1st quarter and one in the 4th).
The Gold medal game of USA vs Yugoslavia started off with
a big disappointment - the 17 year old kid Darko Milicic
did not dress (he's being described as the 2nd best
youngster to LeBron James). USA was missing their 2 big
men as Eric Williams and Kevin Young had to return to
summer school (Kyle Wilson did remain and play, but had an
uneventful game and fouled out in the 3rd quarter). Daniel
Horton also was not there. Yugoslavia took advantage of
their superior height and jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Bracey
Wright got the USA into the game by hitting 3 consecutive
3-pointers. #13 Chudi Chinweze (USA) had the play of the
game with a monster slam-rebound in traffic. Yugoslavia had
a run to end the quarter and led 28-16 after 1. USA used an
aggressive trap during the 2nd quarter to cause 2 quick
turnovers and 4 easy points and Yugoslavia's frustration
resulted in 2 technicals [a T results in 2 free throws and
the opponent getting the ball] to make it a tight game, with
Yugoslavia still holding the lead. #8 Milutin Aleksic had
a nifty over the shoulder pass while driving to a teammate
for a layup. Yugoslavia led 46-41 at the half. The 3rd
quarter stayed close and the USA tied the game for the 1st
time since 0-0 at 65-65 with a minute left. Yugoslavia led
67-66 after 3. 2 free throws 50 seconds into the 10 minute
quarter gave USA their first lead of the game. The game
stayed close and both teams held small leads. USA had a 3
point lead with 2 minutes left and was able to hang on. A
quick layup pulled Yugoslavia within 86-89 with 16 seconds
left and they intentionally fouled. #15 DeAngelo Alexander
hit 1-2 FT and Yugoslavia missed. Antoine Wright hit 1-2
FT for the final point. USA won 91-88.
NJ draft pick Nenad Krstic looked more impressive in this
game (but he still needs muscle) and had some nice moves
inside. Chris Bosh and Bracey Wright will likely find
their way to the NBA (though Bracey needs to learn some
when to play the team game and when to be selfish and do
the one-on-anyone play (had a tendency for the latter)).
Antoine Wright also might make it and has NBA range from
the outside. Bosh is going to Georgia Tech, Bracey is
going to Indiana, and Antoine is going to Texas A&M.
Ryoga Hibiki
patr...@olagrande.net (Patricia Bender) wrote:
>I knew someone was going to give me a hard time about that and realized only
>after I posted that I should have added a note. I was short on time when I
>was doing the write-up and did have the conversion formula handy.
an important note about european players' heigth: that's their REAL
heigth, measuerd without shoes. So if you read 192cm (6-4) he would
probably be listed as 6-5 in the NBA.
So, when comparing college and european players, remember that the
firsts are probably one inch shorter (Udonis Haslem 6-8? he's MAYBE
6-6 with the shoes on!), the seconds one taller.