Friday, October 8th, 2010 at 10:15 am  |  63 responses

Could Regal FC Barcelona Compete in the NBA?

The best people to ask this question would be the Lakers, who lost to FC Barcelona yesterday. From ESPN: “They played really well [Thursday], but they’re not up to the competition that we face night in and night out,’ [Phil] Jackson said. ‘But that’s not taking anything away from them. The physicality of our game, the size of our players, those are things that night in and night out are very difficult to contest.’ When informed of Jackson’s comments, Barcelona coach Xavier Pascual pointed out his team beat the Lakers and came close to doing it in the previous matchup while playing with NBA rules instead of FIBA rules. ‘If we played [in the NBA] and we changed our way of doing things, I think we would be able to compete differently,’ Pasqual said. Kobe Bryant let out an exasperated sigh when told about his coach’s opinion (‘I don’t know why he says these things some time,’ Bryant said) and then disagreed with Jackson. ‘I think they execute extremely well, they know each other extremely well, they move the ball extremely well and that’s what you’re looking for,’ Bryant said. ‘In the NBA, teams that do that are few and far in between, teams that play together as a unit. You see a lot of isolation game; you see a lot of guys going one-on-one. They do a great job moving the ball, they do a great job helping each other defensively, so I disagree, but, what do I know?’”

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  • http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?clubcode=pan&pcode=BEZ ANTONIS FOTSIS

    @tealish……:i agree that they had more to prove, i don’t think Phil could do much more.

  • http://www.jewelzlopez.com -Mas-

    People in the USA don’t like to admit that the so called “World Champions” of any of the 4 major sports would probably not be the Champions if the World ad a chance to fight for that title. See Japanese o Venezuelan teams could gives the MLB Champs a run for their Pesos. NHL. I’m sure there is a Russian o Swedish team that could compete against any Stanley Cup Winner. Basketball. Well. Barcelona just proved that, even if they both are in pre-season form, they can compete with the NBA “World” Champs. Now, If you don’t believe me, let’s ask Stern for a pre-season 5 game series to decide on the court who deserves the title. By the way Fran Vesquez is better than any post player not named Gasol on the Lakers, Rubio is a better point guard than any on the Lakers and finally Juan Carlos “La Bomba” Navarro is a better shooter than any Laker player. This includes any player with the last name Bryant. The rest of them are good role players just like the LAkers.
    The only sport in which USA has the real “World Champs” for now if the NFL because no other country plays the sport. Yet.
    LA BOMBA DE TREEEESSSSS. Swoosh. Nada but net.

  • http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=BEZ&clubcode=PAN&seasoncode=e2010 ANTONIS FOTSIS

    @-MAS-……:though your player comments are obviously correct i still take Lakers&Celtics over Barca or Panathinaikos in a 7 game serious(4-1 or 4-2). I maybe even take a healthy Spurs over them….And,judging by your accurate observations , i think that you would propably do so….Now, are the top 3-4 teams in Euroleague able to compete&win most of the other NBA teams? I think any knowledgeble bball head (even in the states, don’t judge a whole country by some kids in this forum) can assure you about that. I mean,even the results in the last decade speak for themselves….

  • KB8toSG8

    LOL. Some of these comments really make me laugh.

    This was the Lakers’ 2ND game in a LONG time. 2ND. FC Barca was in the middle of a season. Kobe couldn’t even get ANY lift from his legs yet and looked totally rusty. Pau still seemed rusty and a bit flustered at playing in front of their home crowd. Hell, the only guy who seemed to be able to play his game was Odom. Lakers-June would’ve crushed them. CRUSHED them. And no, FC Barca can’t be a top tier team here. Maybe a mid-conference type team. A good team that can’t get over the hump.

  • KB8toSG8

    The Lakers, in their 2nd game…..while playing their C- game lost only by a freaking 4 points to a team that was playing their A- game. A team which was playing already in the competition there. And the Lakers lost only because of their abysmal 3pt shooting. Nothing to be worried about.

    And regarding the Timberwolves match. Trust me, that’s the last win they’re gonna get this season over the Lakers :D

  • http://www.borntocompete.com Money$hot

    I think the 3 second in the key rule is big, if a euroleage team ever plays with just NBA rules then we can see truly how good they are.

  • http://jayemmbee.blogspot.com Clutch Performer

    For the Love of God ITS PRESEASON and I hate the lakers, this Euro team cant hang, face the Lakers on Christmas day or even the heat, bring them back after the All star break, bring them back in June and see the massacre, its pre season Kobe is nursing and in all these games its the euro team that takes it more seriously, the NBA guys are testing out new plays , and theres guys tryna make the roster, and Vets avoiding injury, no one takes it seriously cuz it has no meaning if they win, but if they lose its like OMG end of the world, in all the years Euro teams have played NBA teams I think they only won 3 times, once against the grizzlies but hello, the raptor 81 points anyone? and now the Lakers who obviously are world champs and couldnt give a care, its nice they won but lets not blow this out of proportion

  • http://sdklff.com Jukai

    Didn’t Navarro already prove he could play in the NBA just fine?
    I’m not saying they’d be a contender, but like, saying they wouldn’t make the playoffs is downright silly.

  • Ammo

    Uhm, really? The Lakers lost in a pre-season game without Bynum, without a healthy Kobe, and by playing their scrubs/2nd unit/rookies big minuntes.

    And you think that Barcelona has a chance against the Lakers? Because of a pre-season, mean nothing game?

    Idiots.

  • http://www.jewelzlopez.com -Mas-

    It was a PRE-season game for both teams. Not just the Lakers. Make sure you know what your talking about before you show your lack of knowledge in a comment. And sure NBA teams go out to Win every time. It’s about the brand. Oh and Bomba Navarro held the NBA record for most 3′s made by a rookie before his buddy and Future BARCELONA player Rudy Fernandez broke it.

  • KB8toSG8

    @Mas

    Practice before you preach, my friend. They’ve played quite a few matches since August. This was the Lakeshow playing their 2nd game after a long layoff.

  • FoCo

    @Mas You are wrong about the MLB and NHL. Japan is where washed up Americans go to play. They definitely have some excellent ballplayers but they aren’t going to beat an MLB team with a Nippon league team. They may win the WBC but for most countries international competition is a big deal while we trot out teams with old guys and college kids all over the roster. As far as Venezuela all those cats are in the MLB (see the Colorado Rockies) the goal is to impress an MLB scout in the academy to come play major league ball.

    The KHL can’t even pay half their players and get old dudes like Jagr to come back from the NHL (i.e. where all the star players go.) Look at these teams Olympic rosters and see how many of the stars are playing in the NHL vs their home country. I love Peter Forsberg (one of the all time greats even with his health issues) but the dude skates all season with MODO but just can’t bring it to the NHL level.

  • Trey

    barcelona suck! they got lucky as hell. all those whack slow white dudes playing slow boring white basketball they wouldn’t win 12 games in an NBA season

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