Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 3:17 pm  |  138 responses

The FIBA Top 50 Players

The 50 best non-USA players in the World Championship.

by Nick Gibson / @euro_adventures

However young, imbalanced or redundant this Team USA may seem, nobody can argue against the individual credentials we’ll trot out against Croatia on Saturday night. Odom and Billups are NBA champions, Rose has a ROY trophy on his mantle piece, and Durant’s had to slide his over to make room for the hardware that came with his scoring title. The other eight guys didn’t make it to Turkey by accident, either. But in the 16 years since we’ve won a FIBA World Championship, talent has never been the issue—save the 1998 lockout team which included collegiate guys like Mateen Cleaves and Trajan Langdon along with veteran non-NBAers like Wendell Alexis and Jimmy Oliver.

Where we’ve stumbled is in our approach; this is a basketball team, not a batting order. Taking turns dribble-driving a zone is a method not once diagrammed on a whiteboard nor featured in an instructional video, yet we’ve stayed at it for years and foolishly expected different results. This year’s team puts me more at ease as an American. Maybe it’s the way we’re using defense to spark breaks, maybe it’s the pleasant absence of egos and third person references. Can’t decide. And while I believe this is the year the drought ends, it’s not because we won’t face the deepest competition in World Championship history. Make no mistake that we’re no longer at the point where Dirk’s absence leaves Germany impotent or where guys like Andrew Bogut can’t afford to heal for a summer. The world has gone intLuis Scolao reload mode. Ignore these names at your own peril:

1. Juan Carlos Navarro, Spain: He has more shots in his bag than John Daly at the liquor store.
2. Luis Scola, Argentina: Jordan had his tongue thing. Luis has his jet black hair neatly tucked behind his ears.
3. Tiago Splitter, Brazil: Antagonist of upcoming Stallone joint, Rocky VII: Rumble in Rio. He must split you.
4. Linas Kleiza, Lithuania: The Keanu of the court. You know he’s The One, but sometimes he disappears like Shane Falco. Exactly why Kestutis Kemzura brought along Laurence Fishburne and Gene Hackman as special assistants.
5. Ricky Rubio, Spain: A bell rings over the Target Center’s PA system every three hours. Moments later, you’ll find David Kahn facing Barcelona and praying on a bamboo mat.
6. Nicolas Batum, France: He’s done some serious work on the biceps, triceps and shoulders this offseason. That NBA Most Improved Player Trophy is heavier than it looks.
7. Goran Dragic, Slovenia: Derek Fisher just collapsed with dizzy spells.
8. Hedo Turkoglu, Turkey: Just received word that Hedo has asked Turkey to trade or release him. He could not be reached for comment, however, as he was being treated for flu-like symptoms at a Toronto nightclub.
9. Dimitris Diamantidis, Greece: The recurrence of Ds in his name is no coincidence. It would be the equivalent of Woolt Choomberlain or Karoom Abdool-Jaboor.
10. Viktor Khryapa, Russia: When Mikhail Prokhorov signed Travis Outlaw’s contract, he closed his eyes and imagined it was Viktor.
11. Ersan Ilyasova, Turkey: So you’d like to see the home team succeed but can’t get past your dislike for Hedo? Ersan’s your guy.
12. Leandro Barbosa, Brazil: Sofastthatpunctuationwasnotanoption.
13. Marc Gasol, Spain: More aerodynamic since edging up his Hagrid-esque facial sweater.
14. Jose Juan Barea, Puerto Rico: Barry Sanders with a basketball.
15. Milos Teodosic, Serbia: The owner of the floppy-wristed bitch jab that sparked the Krstic-Sofo-chair hullabaloo. That wrist will be just as floppy after stroking triples in your favorite guard’s grill.
16. Rudy Fernandez, Spain: If Nate McMillan wants to get anything for Rudolph the Blonde-tipped Rain-threer, he’d better hold him for ransom in Istanbul.
17. Vassilis Spanoulis, Greece: Team most likely to offer him another NBA contract: Minnesota Timberwolves. A) The Wrath of Kahn knows no bounds and B) Chances of being broadcast by ESPN—and Jeff Van Gundy—are minimal. Pen pals, those two are not.
18. Aleks Maric, Australia: If Nebraska had basketball fans, they would revere him.
19. Boris Diaw, France: Playing like the Diaw of ’06. Weighing like Precious at the Oscars.
20. Anderson Varejao, Brazil: Coming up with a quip neither hair nor LeBron-related has proven too difficult.
21. Carlos Delfino, Argentina: One of the few Argentinians not e-mailing FIBA about its 401 (k) policies.
22. Yi Jianlian, China: Yi’s teammates treat his scoring output like businesses treat charitable donations: they’ll match it, one-for-one.
23. Patrick Mills, Australia: Quicker than a Shake Weight. Slightly less suggestive.
24. Fran Vazquez, Spain: …is better than Tyson Chandler in 24 different ways.
25. Marko Tomas, Croatia: You can have your Jacob and Edward. I’m #TeamMarko. Yeah, I just tagged that.
26. Nenad Krstic, Serbia: The No-Hair Growing, Metal Chair Throwing, Kraljevo Serbia Phenomenon has been suspended for three games and docked 45,000 Swiss Francs for his callous acts against an innocent Athenian chair last week. The joke’s on FIBA though, as Nenad doesn’t even live in Switzerland. Silly FIBA.
27. David Andersen, Australia: Luckily the Hawks traded this guy away for absolutely nothing. Why? Because we’ve got Jason Collins and Randolph Morris. That’s why.
28. Marcelo Huertas, Brazil: For those who correctly pronounced Jasikevicius and instantly felt ahead of the hoop curve, add Huertas to your vocabulary.
29. Andy Rautins, Canada: Our three overlapping years at Syracuse gave me an inside look at Andy’s secret to injury prevention, so I’ve packed three extra cans of silly string in the case his joints unhinge.
30. Sasha Kaun, Russia: If this Jayhawk’s a rockin’, don’t come a chalkin’. That was pretty bad. He’s really good though.
31. Ante Tomic, Croatia: Euroleague.net’s player profiles do not include weight. Ante is among the chief beneficiaries of this policy.
32. Novica Velickovic, Serbia: Get ready for a lethal dose of Novicaine with Milos and No-Nads in timeout.
33. Omer Asik, Turkey: Don’t get he and his also-NBA-bound teammate Semih Erden confused. Asik (Bulls) is the one who actually belongs in the League. The Celtics will soon learn that Erden does not.
34. Sergio Llull, Spain: He has a playground game stuck in a professional body. And I mean that in the best way imaginable.
35. Angel Vassallo, Puerto Rico: The offensive half that Renaldo Balkman amputated years ago.
36. Roko Ukic, Croatia: Will Ukic and Tomas learn to share? Or will Marko be the Lennon to Roko’s Yoko?
37. Joel Anthony, Canada: Seeing as he’ll be the Heat’s number one scoring option this season, he’d be wise to hone his go-to guy skills in Turkey.
38. Ioannis Bourousis, Greece: Just because he’s getting the cast off his hand won’t stop him from playing like he has one around each foot. (He’s slow.)
39. Jan Jagla, Germany: You were expecting a different 7-foot, blonde-headed German with an affinity for the three-point line?
40. Bojan Bogdanovic, Croatia: With the exchange rate skewed in favor of the Euro, 1 Bogdanovic = 1 Jason Kapono.
41. Nic Calathes, Greece: His Florida Gator farewell was a tad less controversial than Christian Drejer’s. Results, also smoother. (Drejer retired at 26 due to foot injuries.)
42. Giorgos Printezis, Greece: Gerald Wallace thinks he’s reckless.
43. Elias Harris, Germany: Strange how a German will be an All-American come next April.
44. Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rico: PR’s newest reggaeton sensation hasn’t yet struck the balance between sports and music quite like Carl Lewis.
45. Kirk Penney, New Zealand: In a Group D that includes four of this list’s top six—Kleiza, Navarro, Batum, Rubio—this Kiwi will lead the way in scoring. Related story: are yawl as bummed as I am that they’re canceling Flight of the Conchords? Penney: present.
46. Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Greece: His two-game suspension came as a relief. You see how far he skipped across that floor in pursuit of Nenad? Dude’s not cut out for those sorts of cardiovascular challenges.
47. Timofey Mozgov, Russia: Run for cover. The Mozgov Cocktail’s about to blow.
48. Bostjan Nachbar, Slovenia: The ‘J’ in his name is silent, but you wouldn’t know when his stroke’s working.
49. Hamed Haddadi, Iran: My solution for world peace: Obama and Kwame Brown vs. Ahmadinejad and Hamed Haddadi. Winner gets the other nation’s nuclear weapons. Loser keeps Kwame Brown.
50. Sani Becirovic, Slovenia: Inclusion in SLAMonline’s top 50 is one of the perks of being the coach’s son.

The 10 that missed: Marko Banic, Croatia; Brad Newley, Australia; Nando de Colo, France; Ali Traore, France; Paulius Jankunas, Lithuania; Sergey Monya, Russia; Kostas Tsartsaris, Greece; Victor Claver, Spain; Zoran Planinic, Croatia; Fabricio Oberto, Argentina

Nick Gibson is the creator of Euroleague Adventures, an American blog/podcast devoted to international basketball. He took last year off of school to travel around Europe and track Nikoloz Tskitishvili’s development which, frighteningly, was far less expensive than a semester at Syracuse University. He can be reached at nsgibson@syr.edu.

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  • CHICAGO SAID IT YUP Posted: Aug.27 at 3:22 pm
    i dont know this asik dude but i hope he is good

  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Aug.27 at 3:23 pm
    Not a bad list of talent at all. Legit NBAers in Marc Gasol, Barbosa, Barea and Fernandez not even in the top 10. Plenty of young international players ready for their coming out party. And, jumping to the end, Elias Harris and Haddadi in the final 10. Wow!

  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Aug.27 at 3:24 pm
    Asik is a defensive-oriented center. He’ll be good as a role player for the Bulls. Maybe 10 minutes per game type guy.

  • JTaylor21 Posted: Aug.27 at 3:37 pm
    How the hell is Ricky Martin Flukio #5. Dude is very average when compared to other great point guards. By him being AFRAID to come to the league only adds to my argument.

  • walt williams Posted: Aug.27 at 3:59 pm
    Rubio has seemingly added “15 lbs of muscle”, a stop on a dime jumpshot and quick defensive hands from what I saw in the exhibition game against the US. The whole Central Valley wanted this guy on the Kings and I can see why. Tyreke is a “grown ass man” but Rubio is will be very special in his own right.

  • JTaylor21 Posted: Aug.27 at 4:11 pm
    So your telling me that people in northern cali wanted a soft, gambling, risk taking, overrated eurosoft point over a certified, Coach Cal coached, big, quick, athletic point/shooting guard who put up rookie numbers similar to bron/mj/oscar. Wow, people on the west coast must have a hard time seeing talent when it’s right in front of them.

  • dsleepy21 Posted: Aug.27 at 4:13 pm
    very nice list. good work.
    “Jose Juan Barea, Puerto Rico: Barry Sanders with a basketball.” –> yeah, he really is. love seeing him play

  • Rodger Bohn Posted: Aug.27 at 4:35 pm
    I love Mozgov! Too bad he didn’t start really improving until after he was draft eligible, hence why no one owns his rights..

  • brett Posted: Aug.27 at 4:49 pm
    How is Rubio scared to come to the NBA? Hes like 19 years old, not 26. He’s in his home country making big money on a team that just won a championship, would you honestly want to take a flight to join the Timberwolves?
    Give him a break, he can do whatever he wants. And you can’t compare him to “other great point guards” while he is 19 years old playing in Europe. Not so much of an argument at all..

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Aug.27 at 4:50 pm
    Great piece. But Juan Carlos Navarro over LUIS SCOLA?! Scola is clearly better… Pretty much no discussion there. Although I’m discussing it.

  • Santi Posted: Aug.27 at 5:22 pm
    Watch Nathan Peavy (Puerto Rico)

  • Rodger Bohn Posted: Aug.27 at 5:48 pm
    Well, I meant in above post as to why no one held his rights and the Knicks were able to get him for nothing…

  • Reedan Posted: Aug.27 at 5:52 pm
    Most underrated player NOT in the World championship: Michel Morandais (France)
    Just sayin’!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.27 at 6:04 pm
    THE REAL TOP-20(RANKED):
    SCOLA
    NAVARO
    DIAMANTIDIS
    SPLITTER
    TOURKOGLOU
    RUDY
    ANDERSEN
    KRIAPA
    DELFINO
    RICKY
    SPANOULIS
    ILIASOVA
    KLEIZA
    BOUROUSIS
    TEODOSIC
    GASOL
    KRISTIC
    DIAW
    DRAGIC
    VELICKOVIC

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.27 at 6:19 pm
    I’m sorry, but Navaro in my opinion, is leagues better than Scola. Navaro and Rubio on the same Euroleague team is downright unfair.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.27 at 6:23 pm
    FUNNIEST RANKINGS:
    BATUM:not even his mother would have had him in the top-30…
    RUDY&SPANOULIS: did you see any of last years’ tournament..???(or the year before, or 2007,or2006,or…)
    VAREJAO&BARBOSA&BAREA: sorry, this ain’t the NBA…
    no28,29,30,33,37,42: simply not belong.
    CANADA guys:you cannot have 2 canadiens on the top 40 when they lose by 70+ (yeah you read correct) to greece. This doesn’t need further explanation…
    JAGLA !!!:he is in a league of his own,of course not in the top 150 but for comedy perposes i’m honestly gratefull that you mentioned him. Greatest waste of height in Europe….the guy simply C-A-N-N-O-T play.Looking like Dirk gave him a living through bball.imagine that….
    KALATHES & PRINTEZIS: not even top-100.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.27 at 6:25 pm
    my bad, i forgot ARROYO in my 20(put jim 18)…Bye ,bye Velickovic…

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.27 at 6:30 pm
    i think that i can come back for the next week and see Jagla over big SOFO ( Blat should see that when Russia collapses, it will make his days better!!!) and …..Carlos Arroyo???!!!!(i wonder if Arroyo even knows who Jagla is…)….JAGLA..????!!!!! Thankfully you didn’t included me….

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.27 at 6:32 pm
    Thanks for the try though, it’s better than nothing.Thanks again (no irony).

  • Nick Gibson Posted: Aug.27 at 6:34 pm
    Anything for you, GB.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.27 at 6:37 pm
    i wish some U.S guys had actually seen Jagla…i always like to share the fun, tihs is like putting Benoit Benjamin in the top-50 NBA players in 1989 just because he looked like one walking out of the team bus.(i won’t get over this Jagla thing soon)

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.27 at 6:43 pm
    i think my brain can really use some sleep after this list…(JAGLA,jAGLA,jagla,jagla,Jagla,JAGLA,jag…)Anyway,
    tomorrow starts the biggest bball event in the world (and certainly more difficult than the Olympics). Enjoy!!! (If we lose on thursday to the Turks we face U.S. on the quarter-finals…JAGLA,jAGLA,jagla,jagla,Jagla,JAGLA,JAGLA,jAGLA,jagla,jagla,Jagla,JAGLA,jag…)
    GOOD NIGHT TO ALL!!!!

  • basketballll Posted: Aug.27 at 6:46 pm
    so Luol Deng and Pops Mensah-Bonsu of Great Britain aren’t involved then…….. looks like someone hasn’t done all their research

  • Luiyo Posted: Aug.27 at 7:47 pm
    How the hell you got JJ Barea above of Carlos Arroyo!?!?! Arroyo always has been an elite player in international competition and still the best player on PR squad, and that without talking about Vasallo, that’s blasphemous! I’m puertorrican so I know what im talking about!Remember that we are talking about international ball not NBA, I can tell you that our PF, Nathan Peavy is better than Vasallo!My rank of PR players that were mentioned:
    1-Arroyo
    2-Barea
    3-Peavy (mentioned in comments section)
    4-Vasallo

  • total scrotal implosion Posted: Aug.27 at 7:56 pm
    Gianna is an annoying little girl, I hope puberty isnt too awkward for her, but it will be. …… Arroyo should be higher. Navarro is nice, but scola is better, can affect the game in more ways

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Aug.27 at 7:57 pm
    Jukai: Are we talking as all-around play, NBA play, or International play? Because I would still choose Scola for all three.

  • frank Posted: Aug.27 at 9:03 pm
    I always hate it when this greek dude shows up. Just makes me angry.

  • Marco Posted: Aug.27 at 9:26 pm
    bargnani?

  • The Black Rick Kamla Posted: Aug.27 at 10:13 pm
    “quicker than a shake weight slightly less sugestive” LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL you a fool Nick

  • The Black Rick Kamla Posted: Aug.27 at 10:16 pm
    LOLOLOLOLOLOL @ #49, hahaha loser keeps Kwame lol. Ain’t that the same dude them commentators was tripping off of lol

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.27 at 11:25 pm
    A very thorough list, not as much a fan of Navarro over Scola (La Bomba really takes a lot of risky low percentage shots and his D is average at most) and Luis is a freaking low post beast. One prime example was the olympic semis in Beijing, where he truly kept ARG in the game and scored on an array of basic moves over Bosh, Howard and Melo.. Very impressive player.
    Also i read here that Timofey Mozgov is a Knick now? Can’t wait to see that raw talent play

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.27 at 11:30 pm
    Hahahaaaa, didn’t know Nenad was fined in Schweizer Franken!! Ouch.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.27 at 11:40 pm
    Umm, starting PG for Euroleague semi-finalist, Real Madrid anyone? How did Uki make this list but Lakovic (SLO) was omitted? I also firmly believe Delfino to be one of the deadliest perimeter players in FIBA ball. And he came back to the Nba after playing in Khimki, Russia and the lower rated Eurocup to be an important part of the Bucks. Puts him at Barea’s spot, iny book.

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.27 at 11:43 pm
    Teddy: international play. Navaro did pretty great in the NBA with only a year of adjustment, but I think Scola’s made more for the NBA game.
    That being said, Navaro is way better suited for the FIBA game. Did you see the way he manhandled the USA in the last few plays? He runs the floor to perfection, has perfect spacing, and is clutch. Scola is great, but a bit overrated on the overall effect he has on the court.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.27 at 11:55 pm
    Judging from the past season, i’d take Nando De Colo over Jagla. Qyntel Woods was the man for the polish team that got eliminated by Olympiakos. By all accounts, Jahla had a solid EL-season but he sure sucked in that series. By comparison, Nando was fantastic during Valencia’s Eurocup campaign (saw at least 7 games featuring them), and they won the contest. Wild card: Matt Nielsen, Eurocup’s only Rodmanesque player.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 12:15 am
    Man i wish Dirk was playing. This young German team could use a superb go-to-guy. Oh well…

  • Chendaddy Posted: Aug.28 at 1:31 am
    Not a single NBA All-Star on this list. Established Euroleague stars just haven’t been as good in the NBA as Euro players who’ve gone over earlier in their careers like Nowitzki, Gasol, Tony Parker. Only exception is Manu Ginobili, but that’s it. http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com/2010/08/best-player-in-europe-how-good-is-he-in.html

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 3:57 am
    there are a thousand truly hilarious implications by having jagla top 40(or even top-100)….here is number 1237:(fantastic dialogue)
    Nick: Hi Mr Obradovic, my name is Nick and i’m writing for SLAM!!
    Obradovic(widely regarded top-5 coach in the world, most succesful Euroleague coach ever): SLAM..??Whatever…what’s up my young friend!
    Nick: Mr Obradovic i’m about to write a top-50 list and i’m having Jagla over your favorites Fotsis & Tsartsaris…
    Obradovic: oh, i see, so this SLAM ain’t a bball magazine….

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 3:57 am
    there are a thousand truly hilarious implications by having jagla top 40(or even top-100)….here is number 1237:(fantastic dialogue)
    Nick: Hi Mr Obradovic, my name is Nick and i’m writing for SLAM!!
    Obradovic(widely regarded top-5 coach in the world, most succesful Euroleague coach ever): SLAM..??Whatever…what’s up my young friend!
    Nick: Mr Obradovic i’m about to write a top-50 list and i’m having Jagla over your favorites Fotsis & Tsartsaris…
    Obradovic: oh, i see, so this SLAM ain’t a bball magazine….

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 4:08 am
    which brings us to this….Nick, you put a relatively nobody over Fotsis,..!!!!…you put somebody who has never done anything over the captain of the 4th best bball team in the world the last decade, 2 time Euroleague champion,etc….this is EXACTLY like having Darko over GARNETT in 2007(Fotsis is Europe’s Garnett, crazy talented that never actually fulfiled his potential cause of mental deficiencies. But their talent was anyway enough to make both of them great).Jagla over Fotsis&Tsartsaris……(if tihs was anywhere near true Panathinaikos president would love you cause you would have saved him many many millions of dollars!!)

  • aotearaw Posted: Aug.28 at 4:10 am
    Kirk Penney is a cold-blooded scorer, do not sleep

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Aug.28 at 4:24 am
    LMFAO @ frank’s reaction. “Just makes me angry.” Ahahaha.
    No offense to Giannis, of course.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 4:33 am
    Oh now KG never fulfilled his potential due to mental deficiencies? W.O.W. Guess playing for the Wolves (and still putting up numbers AND winning an MVP title and an Olympic Gold medal) had nothing to do with his inability to make strides in the playoffs. 1st time i’ve read of KG not living up to the hype.

  • hoopistani Posted: Aug.28 at 4:46 am
    great list, i have three problems. - too many wisecracks.
    - can’t believe you mentioned jordan and scola in the same paragraph
    - ricky rubio should be at least third. AT LEAST.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 4:56 am
    @Dark….:KG had physical talent to be the best ever or at least top-5. He ended up top-30/40. This is great but still not the max that he could achieve. What is so hard for you to understand…?

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 5:13 am
    Yeah, i guess Malone, Kemp, Barkley, Webber and a slew of others had the same physical advantages to be top 5 (however unproveable/subjective that particular list is) but their ‘mental deficiencies’ must have kept them from fulfilling that lofty goal. Not environment (teammates, coaches, management) circumstance(injuries, other dynasties i.e MJ, luck) or any other factors that influence the career arcs of these guys. Pretty sure i understood your statement earlier, up to you to try and belittle mine, isn’t that your modus operandi?

  • Chris6 Posted: Aug.28 at 5:13 am
    Joel Anthony in that list is the best joke!say what you want about sofo’s weight but he scored every time he wanted against him!and you choose china over Greece in the world hoops magazine..I guess that you will never understand international basketball..!luckily you are the best at everything around US basketball!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 5:44 am
    @DARK….:Garnett had the tools to be the most illegal forward of all time (Durant is called ‘ufair’ for opposing wing players and Garnett was taller much more explosive and equally flexible), none of the guys you mentioned(with the possible exception of Kemp who ,guess what, was also NOT the smartest guy around) had that kind of potential. I cannot help you more,it seems that the “Fotsis” comment was not an unlucky coincidence….(i guess you like Jagla also,don’t you ??!!)

  • funkdoc Posted: Aug.28 at 5:46 am
    I was surprised to see that Diaw even gained MORE weighth. I mean, is that even humanly possible? If you’re playing basketball at the highest level and practice at the highest level, there’s no way you can gain that much weighth. Seriously, his coach is freakin’ Larry Brown. There’s only one possible anwser to this mess: he eats 70 Royals with cheese a day. Just look at the highlights on nba.com of France vs. USA. Dude’s about to explode! I’ve never could have guessed that when I saw him dunking on Nowitzki back in 2006 (?). I guess you just can not be out of shape when playing with Nash. As far as playing with Felton though…

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 5:47 am
    @Chris6….:what is this ‘world hoops magazine’ and who is the mastermind who choosed China over Greece..??(the chinese themselves said that for them to have chances agaist greece the FIBA should have suspended the whole greek team..)

  • funkdoc Posted: Aug.28 at 5:48 am
    Btw, remember back in a Slam issue of 2002? It had a big pic of Diaw doing a windmill at the ABC camp. I guess if he tries this now, he hits the floor harder than Julian Wright.

  • funkdoc Posted: Aug.28 at 5:49 am
    *weight x3

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 6:03 am
    @funkdoc….:i also don’t understand what happened with Diaw…he used to be a terrific athlete/leaper one of the most explosives to come out of europe…(his mother was high-jump champion if i remember correct)

  • Nick Gibson Posted: Aug.28 at 6:06 am
    @Chris6: Slightly confused. Am I the one who contributed to this ‘world hoops magazine’? If so, I don’t remember doing it. In my predictions on EuroleagueAdventures.com I have China going 1-4, their lone W coming against Côte d’Ivoire. And as for Jagla, I don’t think he’s a better player than Sofo/Fotsis, but which one of those three will lead his team in scoring this tourney? Jaglameister for life. And it really is a shame that Garnett fella never panned out…

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 6:46 am
    @Nick…..:be carefull cause you’re gone lose whatever credibility you are left with…now you tell us that you include jagla on top-40 in the world (i laugh as i type this) based on the fact that he might lead his sorry team in scoring….???!!! Then you should mention the propable Tinisia,Jordan,libanon top scorer as a top-50 in the world also!!! (this list is getting funnier and funnier, thanks again Nick!!)
    Anyway, i know you are not a professional writer but an article with a “The 50 best non-USA players in the World Championship” title should include the ‘best 50 players’ and not those who might lead their vastly inferior teams(lebanon,canada,tynisia,germany,iran,etc) in scoring….propably you should call your article: “the top-50 most propable guys to lead their teams in scoring in the 2010 world championship” . (a friendly tip: 90% of the Spain & Greek team could lead Germany,iran,canada,tinisia, in scoring. Be sure about it).

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 7:02 am
    It’s ok, Spanny. The day i need ‘help’ from you is the day i take your rants seriously. As usual you prefer to play the internet thug/comedian rather than take actual part in the argument at hand (the fact that you claim KG’s mental capacities have stunted his potential: a ludicruous statement if i’ve ever read one here) that’s cool. Have fun with your delusions of grandeur. Guess i’ll just have to settle for my discussions & workouts with actual NBA players to gain insight into their world. We’re done, i’ll just ignore your rants like most do here, from now on.

  • ab_40 Posted: Aug.28 at 7:19 am
    where is wang shipang that name should be enough to give him a shoe in on this list…
    I’m watching greece china as my first game. Very curious how the dynamics of this years team china are. And greece without papaloukis is gonna be weird he was their alpha dog in crunchtime and I really wanna wee who steps up to the plate.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 7:23 am
    @Dark….:and i’ll talk from now on only with my close friens (yeah right..) Stankovic,Teodosic,Obradovic,Diamantidis,etc,ha,ha,ha !!!!! (well, when the going gets really tough,…little kids hide behind illusionary BIG BROTHERS !!!) JAGLA FOR LIFE!!!!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 7:25 am
    BREAKING NEWS!!!! Fotsis is about to follow a different hair color in every tournament game to honor Rodman and all the bad boys before him !!!! (Dirty guy….)

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 7:41 am
    i better tone done a bit with my little ones…and in honor of what happened exactly 47 years ago (28th of august 63′) , I HAVE A DREAM !!!! That one day we will all come together in the same hardtop (or videoconsole for eboy, jukai tavoris,hursty,etc) all SLAM readers !!!!!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 7:42 am
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4AItMg70kg&feature=player_embedded#!

  • Hursty Posted: Aug.28 at 8:44 am
    Jukai
    I’ve gotta go with Scola over Navarro too. Dude was absolutely unstoppable in Beijing. Like, 18foot inwards, everything went in.
    LOL @ Paddy Mill’s description.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 8:44 am
    Internet wanksta’s, an impressive species.

  • Hursty Posted: Aug.28 at 8:44 am
    Oh, and Kirk Penney will lead the competition in PPG.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 8:57 am
    Woooh, 1st Game of the WC starts in a few minutes. I luv International Tournaments!

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 11:07 am
    GRE just attempted thirty nine 3′s vs. the PRC. 39 threes in 40 mins. of play, against a scrappy but faltering chinese 2-3 zone. Wow, and i thought zone busting was a european staple. Yi Jianlin was a BEAST against Tsartsaris and Bouroussis with 26 & 14. He surprised me with loads of strong seals in the low post and spectacular dunks/rebounds/blocks. Winnable game for China, too bad their ballhandlers were not up to the task and either forced up bad shots early in the shotclock or lost the ball (Sun Yue is a maddening player for a coach). Hood scrappy game.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 1:02 pm
    one more legendary block under Diamantidis belt, on 7 footer NBAer Yi Jianlian this time !!!San yue’s dunk was also great,second best play of the game.

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.28 at 1:58 pm
    Fotis is a cartoon. He’s awful. A player who can play FIBA but is not an all-around basketball player good enough to make the NBA so he can’t really be ranked that high in the world rankings!!
    FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!! FOTIS!!!! KUKOC!!!!!

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.28 at 1:59 pm
    Fotis isn’t even a top-10 point guard in the Euroleague. Why should he appear on this list? What crap.

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.28 at 2:01 pm
    GIANNIS is lowering his credibility everytime he talks about Fotis. What a joke player!!!!!! He’s got decent BBall IQ but is an absolute joke on the court. LOL!!!!!!!! What has he done? Nothing!!!!! Because, you know, in order to do something with yer talent, you have to do more than win an MVP, an NBA championship, an olympic gold medal, and a defensive player of the year award!!!!

  • Phil Dailey Posted: Aug.28 at 2:05 pm
    guys let me say…. Drazen you can goggle the rest now he was and should be on the “TOP” of this list oh….. yea playing on two spent wheels Saboins just to name another player so when you do these list current or backintheday list goggle it 1st yeaknow. HOLLA

  • Chris6 Posted: Aug.28 at 2:13 pm
    By world hoops magazine I meant the special edition mag with kd on the cover.and I read again the article about group C and I apologize, I read that crap that I wrote before from another source..p.s. 1963 a year for all to remember..

  • Andrew Posted: Aug.28 at 2:15 pm
    Fadi El-Khatib of Lebanon! disrespect, why isn’t he on the list. Dude just dropped 31 on Canada

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.28 at 2:18 pm
    I can’t even keep this ploy up. GARNETT DID NOT HAVE THE PHYSICAL TALENT TO BE A TOP-5! He didn’t even have close to that athletic talent. He wasn’t more athletic than Jordan, Lebron, Chamberlain, Russell, Olajuwon, Malone, Kemp, Barkley, Shaq, Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, David Robinson, f it, I’d say Tom Chambers was more athletic. This is such a ridiculous thing to say!!!

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.28 at 2:23 pm
    Jukai: way to feed the troll, good luck with that. hope you don’t expect sane answers from someone who calls grown men “little ones” on a bball website.

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.28 at 2:58 pm
    Darksaber: True, originally I just wanted to mock him by writing 10+ posts saying the same wrong thing again and again and again, but the Garnett thing was just so dumb, I just couldn’t.
    I mean, really!!!!

  • pais Posted: Aug.28 at 5:00 pm
    I’m 32 and spent half my life in Europe & the other half in North America, currently in Germany. Been to plenty euroleague games. Gotta say it’s glaringly obvious you guys know very very little about European basketball and yet try to come across like experts. You might know NBA but the internet is not enough to imbibe you with expert knowledge on what happens over here. The list is obvious in some parts and ridiculous in others. Jagla, hillarious. NBA aside, Navarro over Scola is a given, no question it’s not close.

  • Miguel Posted: Aug.28 at 5:28 pm
    Spanoulis is by far the best. How the hell can he be at #17? Spanoulis should be first, Navarro 2nd……the rest don’t really matter.

  • Miguel Posted: Aug.28 at 5:41 pm
    pais, if you read ALL these SLAM articles here about the Euroleague you can see they are totally lacking in even basic Euroleague knowledge. if you read this site here, you will think Rubio is the European basketball messiah, when in truth he’s a fairly average Euroleague player.

  • will Posted: Aug.28 at 6:49 pm
    David Anderson played for the rockets, not the hawks

  • Nick Gibson Posted: Aug.28 at 7:00 pm
    David Andersen was drafted 37th by the Hawks in 2002 and his right were traded to the Rockets in 2009 for $2 million and a future 2nd rounder. An Jagla 8 points, 10 boards against Scola’s Argentina. Fotsis…didn’t play because he likes picking fights with people six inches shorter than him.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 7:39 pm
    @pais@miguel….:i’m trying 3 years and look what i’ve achived…but i don’t give up. They may look basic knowledge but since i’ve been around u.s. hoop circles since the 80′s i can i asure you that there IS some progress.
    @Nick…..:chill out, it’s not the end of the world, i guess even larry King at the beggining of his career has propably written some things that now he is propably assamed of. Get over it and next time do a better preperation/research, this Jagla thing and the list in general(batum,multiple canadian&german nobodies in the top-50 in the world,etc) was off the charts…

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 7:43 pm
    @Nick…..:even Andrew (2:15 pm) is making fun of your bizare reasoning. it’s not just me, face reality and keep going strong and better prepared.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.28 at 7:48 pm
    @all….by the way; if you ever get at bucharest tell me, i’ll take you to the best clubs and we got some really good ones and romanian girls are “tare de foc !!!”…(just got back from one of them).
    Good night to all!!!

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Aug.28 at 8:13 pm
    Joel Anthony >>>>>>>>>> Andy Rautins.

  • Leoni Posted: Aug.28 at 8:14 pm
    Papaloukas anyone?

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.28 at 10:06 pm
    Spanny is still scared to go toe to toe with me after embarrassing him in knowledge about his own nation’s team.

  • Coco Posted: Aug.28 at 11:46 pm
    Tiago, Kryapa and Batum are better than (say) Varejao, Delfino and Marc Gasol. This list is serious bisnizz!

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.29 at 12:58 am
    Yeah, Batum sure didn’t justify being on this list last night when he was the main disruptor on D and sparkplug in France’s win vs the reigning Champs, Team Whine di Espana. Gotta luv when Basketball is dealt with in absolutes here by ‘experts’ who’ve been around since the 80′s. (big deal, been playing since 87, watching since 86, coaching since 98, participated in multiple Nba licensed camps or workouts since ca. 2005 and met and practiced with/played against numerous US-Pro’s including Bogut, Dirk, Horford, Ariza and Garcia) And i don’t dare say Bball rankings are absolutes) It’s alllll up for discussion and Nick put a nice list together. No need to belittle the man

  • Coco Posted: Aug.29 at 3:42 am
    so you’re saying Batum is better than Varejao, Delfino and Gasol (just as examples)? really? and if “disrupting D” in 1 (one) game qualifies him to be 6th, then why Oberto didn’t even made the list when he was the most important player for Argentina in 1 (one) game? Let’s go further: would you say Batum is better than Diaw and/or Gelabale by FIBA measures? would you say Batum played better than Gelabale against Spain? if so, I gotta ask: did you see the game? Let’s be clear, Batum is a good player, but nowhere close to be 6th between FIBA players. Let alone Khryapa, the last reserve for every team he played in NBA but it seems he’s better than all NBA starters. Give me a break. Tiago? A giant question mark, IMHO he’ll be just average in NBA and not even the best player in his own national team in Worlds, so who’s drawing the line and where is the line itself?

  • Coco Posted: Aug.29 at 3:44 am
    I forgot: yes, I know Khryapa can play D. So does most of Argentina, Brazil, Greece and Spain players, as well as many others from other teams, yet the “1 trick pony” seems to be like the second coming of Jesus in rollerskates. Yeah, really

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 4:55 am
    @coco….:it is Darksaber. spend some more time here and you will understand.
    @Dark….:by reasoning the way you do, YOU make it obvious that you’ve never even come close to an actual bball expert/coach/etc.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.29 at 5:23 am
    Greek internet wannabe’s, probably more impressive than the wanksta breed. Oh well, no reasoning with the delusional, i guess. Done.

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.29 at 5:27 am
    Did Coco just imply that Varejao was better than Splitter? Because if so, he’s simply trolling and looking to incite people. No one could honestly believe that.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 5:36 am
    @coco…..:last comment(5:27am) was the best of them all (couldn’t be much different, it is jukai&tavoris after all !!). Somebody who most propably doesn’t even know if Tiago is black or white, making affirmations about his reative value to Varejao !!!!! (Tiago is Splitter my little one. I just saved you half an hour googling)
    @Dark…..:this is the 3rd time you are “done”,hope you finally achieve it !!!

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.29 at 5:38 am
    Juk’s: can’t even start with that. Reading comprehension is needed to understand what i wrote about Batum earlier (where i did not mention a thing about his rank, but understood his placement on the list in general). This is an exercise in futility, and i’ll just go back to enjoying the articles and state my opinion on ‘em. Getting into childish spats here is a waste of time. WBC is on, all is good!

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.29 at 5:46 am
    Well Nick’s gotta be happy with the quantity of comments on his piece… That’s something, i guess.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 6:09 am
    @dark….:well….not sure about it. (Arenas had also lots of comments under his posts the last few months but ,who knows if he was really happy…)

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 6:19 am
    but,as i said, you never know, so…

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 6:20 am
    let’s give him 100!!!!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 6:27 am
    …AND if this was his first 100, and if it actually matters, then, it was….YOU WOULD NEVER GUESS WHO!!!!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 6:42 am
    and now…

  • tg Posted: Aug.29 at 8:11 am
    Giannis Bourousis eh.

  • pistol Posted: Aug.29 at 8:25 am
    Kirk Penney – should be in the L, will carry NZ in this tourney

  • Nick Gibson Posted: Aug.29 at 2:15 pm
    @Darksaber: Loving the comments. First time busting the century mark. Oh, and Jan Jagla with 22 points (3/4 3-pt), 9 boards and the shot of the tournament in a double-OT win against Serbia. Holler back.

  • max Posted: Aug.29 at 2:20 pm
    Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaglaaaaaaa, amazing, simply amazing. That shot alone justifies his placement in the top 50.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 2:24 pm
    So,you mean that i can say now that we won against a team featuring 3 of the top-50 in the world..???!!!! And at least we officially know that Barea>Spanoulis is wrong. Although Barea was really goood, “kill bill” was on another level (it is embarassing to compare Spanoulis to barea but “kill bill” will never read this so…)

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 2:26 pm
    man,some guys are REALLY new to the FIBA tournaments…

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.29 at 2:29 pm
    and since i have to break down everything to you “NBA style”, Germany won the Lakers playing without KOBE & GASOL. Simple as that….

  • max Posted: Aug.29 at 3:24 pm
    get of your period man. Hating on everything like a little fat girl that didn’t get her gyros on time.

  • Coco Posted: Aug.29 at 5:16 pm
    Jukai: well, guess watching Brazil and FIBA basketball for the last 25+ years means nothing. Guess Tiago fooled all Brazilian coaches since Splitter was always a reserve until now that…. Varejao is injured (yes, until now Splitter was a reserve for Varejao). But what do I know? You probably have some inside info and know more than people ACTUALLY KNOWING Brazilian basketball. Heck, you know more than Brazilian coaches, good for you! Just pass your insider info to Brazil’s coaching team, they’ll be happy to know the truth for once :) As we’re at it, you cam let Magnano know (FYI, Magnano is Brazil’s coach) that Tiago is better than Leandrinho as well Anyway, I’m even willing to give Navarro is better than Scola. There’s no objective data that supports that in any sense, but I can understand that vision, even when totally skewed and forced. Now, there are players like the ones I mentioned that should be in the list (make no mistake), but nowhere close to the position they are.

  • Phildo Posted: Aug.29 at 6:36 pm
    @Darksaber: ich ziehe nächste Woche nach Singapur. Würde mich freuen von einem “Local” (mittlerweile?) Tips zu bekommen bezüglich BBall. Holla back: phildo@web.de

  • Kirby7 Posted: Aug.29 at 9:00 pm
    And patrick mills droped 34 on Argntina!

  • backboard Posted: Aug.29 at 9:10 pm
    lol, was macht ihr den alle in Singapur?

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.29 at 9:23 pm
    Wir geniessen das Wetter, die honeys und das fantastische Essen, Backboard. Hehe.
    Hey Phildo, mach ich gerne. Schreibe dir ne Mail.

  • Darksaber Posted: Aug.29 at 9:28 pm
    Gawddamn, Dirk Bauermann got his Mojo back. A 4 pt loss against Argentina was badass enough but an OT win vs. Serbia (who cares if Milos and Krstic were missing, thems the breaks when you behave like a punk): faaaantastic. Goid for Jagla and Co. After that disaster in Beijing, wasn’t expecting this from them.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.30 at 2:19 pm
    @Dark,Nick,max & the rest of my young ones….:so Germany faces an average/good team that simply has most its players available and loses 83-42…???!!! And your boyfriend (is the only rational explanation i can give for placing an international nobody in the top-40 players in the world) comes back to his usual self when facing real competition(2 points, nothing new, he did the same facing decent competition against Olympiakos, but ,u see, not only you don’t watch FIBA games , you also make affirmations also like the jukaitavoris guy…)???!!! Well, my little ones, the fact that “I TOLD YOU, I TOLD YOU” is not called ARROGANCE, it is called REALISM. We are talking about 30 years bball experience here.No videogame/statistic coefficient can help you here.Why? Cause there is no short-cut to knowledge. SORRY. SCHOOLS OUT.-

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.30 at 3:23 pm
    But daddy is not bad, daddy is old and wise, daddy is here to cultivate his young ones, he is here to teach and tutor, not make his own kids feel bad after a small (ok not so small but doesn’t matter) mistake…your daddy is here to love! And now he is about not only to make you happy again (and allow you to get out of mammy’s skirt) BUT he will also save you lots of money!!!! How..??? Well, tomorrow plays Greece against Turkey and everybody is going to say “Greece is top-4 in the world to turkey’s 18,they have some of the best players in the world, and ,most important, they elliminated last year Turkey without having the legendary Diamantidis and one of the most skilled bigs on earth(Tsartsaris), this is going to be piece of cake for them, lets place our bets on them and fool the poor bookmakers….well here intervene the little details that seperate the pretenders from the masters: for a variety of reasons (politics,history,the recent serbia-greece game and others) Greece will propably lose tomorrow and maybe(i hope not the latest) even with a wide margin. Erdog*n will see the game personally and said that they HAVE to win tomorrow, the refs have killed Greece in the first two games(especially in the Puerto Rico one were Barea got the WADE-2006 treatment) and 11000 maniacs will root against the powerhouse like crazy…So,DONT bet against Turkey and lose money.just come here and yell at daddy and feel good again. And daddy will feel better about his little ones!!! Now , in case we win (you never know) i promise not to say anything about our greatness,blah,blah,…..by the way: next game your boyfriend plays Angola, i expect a strong showing from him.Heads up!!!! GO YAGLLA !!!!!!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.30 at 5:29 pm
    silence in the “YAGLAAA!!!” fun club today….don’t worry my little ones, paraphrasing the one and only Bogie: WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE ANGOLA!!!! (or as the divine Fyodor wrote at the last line of “the Player”: ‘tomorrow, everything will end!!’ )

  • Michael NZ Posted: Aug.30 at 7:25 pm
    Kirk Penney should be around 30-35.

  • xplore Posted: Aug.30 at 9:50 pm
    good not great list. fotis is top 5

  • Coco Posted: Aug.31 at 4:24 pm
    Navarro 1st – Rubio 5th – Spain: total failure – This list: serious bisnizz!!!!

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Aug.31 at 4:29 pm
    @coco….:the list had unexpectedly a lot of obvious flaws that are exposed by every gameday that goes by… but that doesn’t mean that Spain is over or Navaro&Rubio ain’t that good(both top-10 under any case)… this is almost the way Spain started last year and won it all.

  • Jukai Posted: Aug.31 at 5:37 pm
    coco: I mean… you’re lying…. There’s no way you could have watched 25 years of Brazillian basketball and think Tiago is worse than Varejao. Or maybe you don’t watch the NBA where Anderson “I have no offense of my own” plays. But you’re wrong. Very, very wrong.
    I really don’t know ANYONE outside of you who thinks V is better than Tiago.

  • Bdub Posted: Aug.31 at 6:52 pm
    Kirk Penney should be higher. He would be a great bench scorer for an NBA team. His game has really matured.

  • Coco Posted: Aug.31 at 7:10 pm
    If you don’t know anyone, it’s not my fault, it’s just your lack of knowledge. Again, unless you know more than Brazilian coaches and basketball press from BRAZIL, you aren’t making any sense. And btw, not only I follow NBA as well, but because of that, I know Varejao is considered one of the top defensive players in the NBA, I also know Cleveland didn’t want to lose only 2 players: LEBRON JAMES AND VAREJAO. I also know that the fact that you consider defense has no role in basketball tells more about you than you think. I also know Splitter is just going to play his first game in NBA and is still a question mark. I also know that Splitter has very fast foot movement and above average offensive skills, yet he’s soft as a flan (although he improved the last couple years, I’ll give that). I also know in NBA he’ll be a below average C because of that and chances are he’ll be more a luxury reserve than a star. I know that only from this list, I could name several PF and C who will eat Tiago alive (Marc Gasol, Ilyasova, Yi, Batum for starters), let alone Scola or many of the NBA C and PF not in this competition. Should I continue?

  • Jukai Posted: Sep.1 at 12:26 am
    Unless you know American coaches and basketball press from AMERICAN, there is no way for you to know that. Dummy.
    And Batum is a small foward, for chrissakes.

  • Coco Posted: Sep.1 at 2:28 am
    OK, whatever, you’re great and amazing, enjoy, no point in continue this non-sense, I’m too dumb :)

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Sep.1 at 10:14 am
    @coco…..:Splitter led by himself a really average team (easily lost by Olympiacos both games in Euroleague) to a sweep of European champions Barcelona.He was named MVP for his efforts in winning the second best bball league ine world.I mean, you were corrected by a guy that has absolutely no idea about world basketball and first heard about for Tiago in Monday’s game.Don’t ridicule yourself this way….

  • Vrana Posted: Sep.1 at 8:40 pm
    The most idiotic list I’ve ever seen.
    It’s like you threw players’ names into a pot and drew randomly. Plus the stupid comments.
    You should do something else in life.

  • GIANNIS BOUROUSIS Posted: Sep.3 at 4:25 pm
    @Vrana…..:i hope you don’t drive…

  • Brent Posted: Sep.4 at 9:32 pm
    Kirk Penny needs to be top 20-30. He has been killing France, Lithuania, Spain etc. Hope New Zealand can beat Russia to see how he goes vs USA

  • The FIBA Top 50 Players | Houston Rockets Posted: Sep.5 at 3:01 am
    [...] The FIBA Top 50 Players [...]

  • Reality Posted: Sep.5 at 3:52 pm
    BA-TUM!!! BA-TUM!!! BA-TUM!!! wait… Turkoglu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Batum
    Ilyasova >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Batum
    Asik >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Batum
    Batum >= old lady

  • Coco Posted: Sep.7 at 6:27 pm
    OK, now that things are clear, let’s see some facts: FACT: Splitter is an average to below-average defender
    FACT: Splitter finally signed a NBA contract as last resource because Spurs really didn’t want him all these years
    FACT: Varejao played 2 and a half games because he was injured. in teh second game he played (against Croatia), when Splitter was in, Croatia and Brazil were head to head in the scoreboard. With Varehao in, Brazil took a 20 pts lead
    FACT: Game against Argentina: Splitter got to his usual position as Varejao reserve. He didn’t even start over Guilherme Giovannoni (who played PF)
    FACT: Game against Argentina: When Varejao guarded Scola, he more or less kept Scola within rational numbers and dried him at moments. So Scola got a little far from the rim and Splitter guarded him. Thus Scola had a record game
    FACT: in the competition, Tiago ranks 27th in points and 43rd in rebounds. If we take only centers that played a minimum of 20 minutes a game, the only player worse than him was Greece’s Schortsanitis. If we take rebounds per 40 minutes (all centers no matter how much time they played), there were only 3 or 4 players worse than him. Between Centers only, he raises to 8th position in points. So yes, if we keep centers only, playing enough minutes and only scoring and nothing else, he would be a top 10 Now, exactly: how is Splitter better than Varejao and how is he the 3rd best player in FIBA when he’s not even the main player in Brazil’s team? Let alone the joke of the columnist to put anyone ahead of Scola when the real rank should be something like:
    1- Scola
    2-
    3-
    4-
    5-
    6-
    7-
    8-
    9-
    10-
    11- Somebody else not named Navarro

  • Darksaber Posted: Sep.8 at 1:22 pm
    Bye bye Spain. *snicker*

  • Raci Posted: Sep.9 at 10:55 am
    catastrophic lists, especially the order of players…

  • Avery Posted: Oct.16 at 7:19 am
    teodosic not in the top 5, are you kiddin me?

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