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  1. #1

    Dukies in Europe and other places outside the USA

    With the NBA in lockout mode, I thought it would be interesting to start keeping a closer eye on ex-Duke players plying their trade in Europe and elsewhere. Jon Scheyer's signing with Maccabi Tel-Aviv got some publicity here earlier this summer, but he is one of many players to make a move this summer.

    DeMarcus Nelson played for the French runners up last season, but he is moving to the Ukraine to play for defending champions BC Donetsk. He will get another chance to qualify for the Euroleague, which he played in last season.

    Here is the translated version of the news from the team:
    http://translate.google.com/translat...%26prmd%3Divns

    Daniel Ewing was the best player in Poland last season and now he too will be playing in Ukraine with runners up BC Azovmash Mariupol. Unfortunately he is moving from a perennial Euroleague team to one that will only be in qualifying for the second-tier competition, the Eurocup.

    Here is the news from the EuroCup website:
    http://www.eurocupbasketball.com/ule...sh-lands-ewing

    Marty Pocius should have his official move announced at any time now as he is set to move from the Lithuanian champions to Spanish superpower and Euroleague semifinalists Real Madrid. Since Marty has one year left on his deal with Zalgiris Kaunas, it looks like he and Madrid will have to come up with 700,000 euros for a buy-out. This is definitely exciting news for him and switching Euroleague teams will put him in a group against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, so Marty and Jon should have some battles this year as Daniel and DeMarcus will as well.

    Those will probably be the main players among the men's alums to play in Europe. We will see if William Avery will play again this season after he spent the second half of last season in Poland. Former's women's teams players will probably reveal their destinations for the European season as the WNBA season draws to a close. These players may be the main alums that we track in professional basketball this fall!

  2. #2
    Great idea for a thread, and thanks for the info.

    I'm undoubtedly very much in a minority on this point, but I find Euro ball just more interesting than the NBA. Of course our guys hope to make it to the NBA, but there's big-time competition in several countries in Europe, real money to be made, and cultural experiences that are eye-opening and mind-expanding [no joke intended].

    Though I wouldn't go so far as to hope our guys fail in their respective NBA-quests, I will be happy to follow their careers elsewhere. So thanks again for the links.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by awhom111 View Post
    Daniel Ewing was the best player in Poland last season and now he too will be playing in Ukraine with runners up BC Azovmash Mariupol. Unfortunately he is moving from a perennial Euroleague team to one that will only be in qualifying for the second-tier competition, the Eurocup.

    Here is the news from the EuroCup website:
    http://www.eurocupbasketball.com/ule...sh-lands-ewing
    Ewing as the MVP of the Polish League is fantastic news. I didn't know that was the case. The move to a worse team is strange though no?

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by gumbomoop View Post
    Great idea for a thread, and thanks for the info.

    I'm undoubtedly very much in a minority on this point, but I find Euro ball just more interesting than the NBA. Of course our guys hope to make it to the NBA, but there's big-time competition in several countries in Europe, real money to be made, and cultural experiences that are eye-opening and mind-expanding [no joke intended].

    Though I wouldn't go so far as to hope our guys fail in their respective NBA-quests, I will be happy to follow their careers elsewhere. So thanks again for the links.
    It is certainly interesting to see ex-Duke players travel the world (like Horvath in New Zealand). The fact that every country out there has some kind of league and the amount of player turnover each year means that there are always new things to learn about. Many teams play in multiple competition each year as well.

    Quote Originally Posted by Skitzle View Post
    Ewing as the MVP of the Polish League is fantastic news. I didn't know that was the case. The move to a worse team is strange though no?
    It's not definitely a worse team. He has no chance at the Euroleague this year, but it probably pays better and will be competing for their league as well as other competitions. Last year they made it to the semifinals of the VTB United League, which covers most of the ex-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe.

  5. #5
    Here is the official link to Real Madrid site announcing Marty's signing:
    http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satelli...eal_Madrid.htm

    Sorry Marty, I'll root for you individually, but that is just not a club I can root for in any sport.

  6. #6
    Before the European club season starts, Eurobasket 2011, which features the national teams, will get going at the end of the month. (There is also one of these for the Americas, which Coach K and Team USA would have played in if they had not already qualified for the 2012 Olympics)

    Two Dukies are slated to be involved with slightly different goals. Luol Deng and Team Great Britain are already qualified since the Olympics are in London, so they will be trying to build team chemistry to put forward a good effort for the home fans next summer. He just got insurance last week so he has not played in the exhibition games thus far (official British English term is "test event"). Obviously he will be a lock for the final roster, while Eric Boateng also looks like a likely participant. Once Luol gets involves, I will post what I can find on his stats. Boateng had 13 points and 6 boards in their first game against the Netherlands and grabbed another 14 rebounds against Nigeria to win the MVP of the weekend tournament. Reports are here:
    http://www.gameongb.com/results/2499.php
    http://www.gameongb.com/results/2505.php

    Marty Pocius has one more cut to survive for Lithuania, but he looks likely to make it. They will be looking to qualify for the Olympics and put on a good show for the home fans since they are hosting the tournament. Marty has played in both exhibition games so far with 7 points in 15 minutes in a loss to Slovenia and 7 points in 26 minutes as a starter in a win over the Czech Republic. Boxscores can be found here:
    http://www.musukrepsinis.lt/public/f...04_LTU-SLO.pdf
    http://www.musukrepsinis.lt/public/f...8_06_LT-CZ.pdf

  7. #7
    The current Duke team is not the only one to defeat a Chinese national team. Luol Deng made his debut Saturday in Great Britain's 64-56 win over the full Chinese team. He had 15 points and 5 in 26 minutes and followed that up today with 26 points and 9 rebounds in a 91-90 overtime loss to Australia. They have one exhibition left against Latvia before opening Eurobasket against Marty and Lithuania. More information at these links:

    http://london2012.fiba.com/pages/eng...6232/game.html
    http://www.gameongb.com/news/2533.php

    Marty has kept busy since the last update with 5 more exhibition games. He 7 points in 23 minutes in a 91-76 loss to Russia, 6 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes in a 90-78 loss to Spain, 6 points in 21 minutes in an 88-76 win over Spain, 2 points in 15 minutes in an 88-80 loss to Russia, and 13 points in 26 minutes in a 95-75 win over Latvia. Soon there will be some competitive games to look forward to and then the club season will start! Here are boxscores for all those games:
    http://www.basket.ru/basketball/game...d-793e43b53334
    http://www.feb.es/NoticiaDesarrollo...dNoticia=38967
    http://www.musukrepsinis.lt/public/f...18_LTU-ESP.pdf
    http://www.musukrepsinis.lt/public/f...19_LTU-RUS.jpg
    http://www.musukrepsinis.lt/public/f...20_LTU-LAT.pdf

  8. #8
    Many thanks to awhom111 for these thorough updates, especially appropriate as our guys are just now spreading the Devils' gospel internationally.

    Five minutes to liftoff.

  9. #9
    Thanks for the kind words, gumbomoop.

    Now that we have another Duke player in Europe I think it would be a good time to highlight some of the games that will feature 2 Blue Devils:

    August 31st will see Marty Pocius and Lithuania face off against Luol Deng and Great Britain in the opening game of Eurobasket 2011. Eric Boateng may also be involved, but it is not certain whether he will make the final cut (the other two are virtual locks).

    November 2nd will feature a clash between Euroleague giants when Jon Scheyer and Maccabi Tel-Aviv face off against Marty Pocius and Real Madrid. The return match will occur on December 7th.

    Should the NBA lockout extend well into the new year, Kyle Singler and Alicante will face Marty and Real Madrid on January 15th and April 15th.

    Daniel Ewing and DeMarcus Nelson will face off several times as well this season, but the schedule has not been released in Ukraine yet.

    One more update for the final warmup internation matches will come before the start of Eurobasket.

  10. #10
    Broadcasting Alerts:

    All Eurobasket games as well as the more local FIBA Americas games will be on ESPN3, so you can check out the Dukies involved, a few NBA players and possibly a few stars of tomorrow if you need a bit of a basketball fix.

    After all the cuts were made, all 3 former Duke players will be involved in Eurobasket. Here is the Great Britain announcement confirming that Luol Deng and Eric Boateng are on the final roster:
    http://www.gameongb.com/news/2548.php

    There are a few final exhibition games to wrap up. Marty Pocius had 1 point in 25 minutes in an 80-66 loss to Slovenia and 2 points and 4 assists in 19 minutes during an 88-80 win over Georgia. Luol had 7 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes and Eric had 8 points and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes as Great Britain lost to Latvia 74-51. Here are the boxscores:
    http://www.kzs.si/index.php?id=114&g...t:33-400$t&0=1
    http://www.musukrepsinis.lt/public/f...27_LTU-GEO.jpg
    http://basket.lv/viriesu_izlase/?xfr...=basketlvframe

    Here are the schedules for Great Britain and Lithuania in the preliminary rounds if you want to know when to check ESPN3. All times Eastern.

    Great Britain:
    Wed, 8/31, 2pm vs Lithuania
    Thu, 9/1, 10:45am vs Turkey
    Fri, 9/2, 8:15am vs Spain
    Sun, 9/4, 8:15am vs Portugal
    Mon, 9/5, 8:15am vs Poland

    Lithuania:
    Wed, 8/31, 2pm vs Great Britain
    Thu, 9/1, 2pm vs Poland
    Fri, 9/2, 2pm vs Turkey
    Sun, 9/4, 2pm vs Spain
    Mon, 9/5, 2pm vs Portugal

  11. #11
    The battle between ex-Duke players took place earlier today and it was the hosts Lithuania who prevailed over Great Britain 80-69 after falling behind in the 3rd quarter. Luol Deng scored 25 points and grabbed 10 boards and played all 40 minutes, but he did get called for a charge drawn by Marty Pocius, who scored 6 points in 22 minutes. Eric Boateng's only contribution to the boxscore was a foul in his 4 minutes of play. It is a quick turnaround for both teams as they are back in action tomorrow. Here is the boxscore:
    http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid...3.teamID_.html

    Club teams are preparing even without their international players and Demarcus Nelson has been busy with BC Donetsk. He scored 10 points on 5 for 5 shooting in 14 minutes, but also picked up 5 fouls as his team defeated Hemofarm from Serbia, 96-73. He also scored 11 points in an 89-61 win over Enisey from Russia. Here is one boxscore:
    http://www.kkhemofarm.rs/images/stor...2011-12/hf.pdf

    As noted on the front page, Jon Scheyer arrived in Israel. Here is the story from the Maccabi Tel-Aviv official website:
    http://www.maccabi.co.il/News.asp?id...nguage=english

    Kyle Singler was also introduced in Spain. Here are a couple of stories from his team's official website in Spanish:
    His arrival and medical with a picture: http://www.cblucentum.com/principal/...-11&Itemid=118
    His introduction: http://www.cblucentum.com/principal/...-11&Itemid=118

  12. #12
    Many thanks to awhom111 for these updates and links.

    I encourage awhom111 - and others - to comment generally on Euroball, what makes it more, or less, interesting than NBA, its style(s) of play, its strengths and weaknesses, coaches, fans, whatever.

    Seems this would be of some interest to many posters on EK, given K's involvement with international ball, his obvious joy in coaching U.S. pros against the world's best, and the overall internationalization of the game.

  13. #13
    To me, the world of basketball outside the USA is interesting because there are so many competitions and different events to keep track of. For example, Jon and Maccabi Tel-Aviv will be trying to win the Israeli domestic league, the Euroleague, and the Adriatic League which mostly involves teams from the Balkans. Marty will be competing for the Spanish League and the Euroleague as well as a number of smaller tournaments in Spain. Last season he was playing for the Lithuanian league, the Euroleague, the VTB United League, which features many teams from the old Soviet Union, and the Baltic League. It is like following college sports and looking at a number of different conferences. From a quality perspective, it is still a little below the NBA level, but there are plenty of skilled players, some of whom were just not quite good enough to play in the NBA, and plenty of future pro prospects. The Americans who go over there and take it very seriously can put together a good career and make their way back to the USA like Anthony Parker did or become famous players there like Trajan Langdon. The fan atmosphere is often a little more intense than the NBA and is more similar to college-type environments. At the end of the day, it is just another large world of basketball for immersion. As the internet has grown in sophistication, it has become easier to find out information and get foreign news articles translated, which is good for us on this side of the Atlantic.

    Back to the Eurobasket and other updates:

    Marty had a very solid game today as Lithuania showed more strength in defeating Poland 97-77. He had 10 points and 4 assists in 27 minutes. Luol was the main threat again for Great Britain, but they fell short against Turkey, 90-61. He finally managed some rest after the game got out of hand, but he had 22 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes. Eric Boateng got more involved with 4 points and 7 rebounds in 25 minutes of action. 3 out of 6 teams in this group will qualify, but Great Britain faces a bit of a challenge with Spain next. Here are the boxscores:
    http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid...3.teamID_.html
    http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid...3.teamID_.html

    Club preparations continue for the Euroleague qualifiers. DeMarcus Nelson and BC Donetsk won again in Serbia, beating Radnicki Kragujevac 73-60. DeMarcus had 10 points in the game. Rumors about Corey Maggette moving to Greece continue as PAOK (not to be confused with PAO, the abbreviation for the more famous Panathinaikos) appears to be interested in having him while the Lockout is still going on. We will see when a deal is officially announced.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by awhom111 View Post
    To me, the world of basketball outside the USA is interesting because there are so many competitions and different events to keep track of. For example, Jon and Maccabi Tel-Aviv will be trying to win the Israeli domestic league, the Euroleague, and the Adriatic League which mostly involves teams from the Balkans. Marty will be competing for the Spanish League and the Euroleague as well as a number of smaller tournaments in Spain. Last season he was playing for the Lithuanian league, the Euroleague, the VTB United League, which features many teams from the old Soviet Union, and the Baltic League. It is like following college sports and looking at a number of different conferences.
    A decade or so ago, as I became a fanatic about football, i.e., futbol, it took me a couple of years just to understand the "strange" schedule that the big club sides played. That is, unlike the typical sports "season" in the U.S., the strongest clubs played in multiple leagues/competitions simultaneously. So the football/soccer season had its own logic, but it's not a logic than U.S. fans are accustomed to. It strikes me that following European ball isn't really the same as following multiple conferences in college sports, for any particular team ["big" clubs in soccer... and bball??] would actually be playing in several different "conferences" [= competitions]. Right? [I'm asking.]

    I gather that basketball in Europe has a rhythm similar to football/soccer, and therefore quite different from our basketball season, whether college or NBA. As one who has gradually abandoned much interest in the NBA - a minority but no longer rare viewpoint - I'll hope that one result of the lockout is that perhaps American tv will pick up a few European games.

  15. #15
    Basketball is structured quite a bit like soccer. Many of the historical clubs in Europe have both soccer and basketball teams. There are a lot of smaller clubs that just play in their national leagues like Kyle while this year. All the other Dukies that have a contract for this season will be playing in continent-wide competition.

    Back to our usual Euroleague and exhibition game updates:

    DeMarcus Nelson and BC Donetsk continued their preseason with another win in Serbia. DeMarcus had 12 points and 5 assists in a 75-67 win.

    Luol Deng and Great Britain continued to fight against stronger opposition, but they fell to Spain 86-69. Luol had 17 points in 33 minutes while Eric Boateng rather impressively managed 5 fouls in 5 minutes.

    Marty Pocius and Lithuania continue to ride the home crowd to victory beating Turkey 75-68. Marty had 9 points in 22 minutes as his team looks like they are in good shape for the next round.

    Boxscores:
    http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid...l#TABBED_DIV_2
    http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid...3.teamID_.html

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    California

    Deng

    Here is a nice feature on Luol Deng and his involvement with South Sudan, Great Britain, and the Bulls:

    http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/...-great-britain

  17. #17
    That's a very nice article. ESPN seems to be getting in a bit of International Basketball coverage while we wait for the lockout to sort itself out. Speaking of Luol, here is the latest from Eurobasket:

    Great Britain finally got to play a game in which they were the favorites and they managed a solid 85-73 victory. Luol was a big part of the win as he scored 31 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out 4 assists in 38 minutes. Eric Boateng had minimal involvement in a minute of play. Marty and Lithuania faced a tough task in facing a Spain team that they had beat in the warmups to the tournament. Spain already started blowing them out before Marty got into the game and he helped keep it respectable as it finished 91-79 after a 26 point halftime deficit. Marty finished with 11 points in 25 minutes. Here are the boxscores:

    http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid...3.teamID_.html
    http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid...3.teamID_.html

    Club preparations continue as key qualifiers take place at the end of this month. Daniel Ewing and Azovmash challenged themselves with a tough game against Efes Pilsen. Daniel scored 15 points, but the Turkish team won 88-87 behind 30 points from Sasha Vujacic.

  18. #18
    Kyle went off scoring 23 points and also dishing out four assists as his team upset Balboa. Nice! Sorry on phone so linking isn't going so well. http://acbtv.acb.com/video/4151-lacb-20112012-liga_regular-1-6-remontada_in_extremis_del_lucentum_alicante
    Last edited by Bluedog; 10-09-2011 at 11:03 PM.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    South Carolina
    AWHOM111, I really enjoy your posts on Duke players abroad. You obviously put a lot of effort into this, and I'm sure many of us fans on DBR appreciate what you do. One point I find extremely interesting is the diversity of locations where basketball is being played -- all over the globe! Can you comment on the environments where these games are played? Big arenas, or small gyms. Large crowds, or a few unruly mobs. Are the games well-officiated? Somehow, I get the impression it's a lot like the old baseball minor leagues --that is, the basketball equivalent of low pay, long bus rides, poorly maintained stadiums, marginal equipment, etc. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Dat View Post
    Love these updates, awhom111.

    Jon's struggle for PT in the Euroleague is interesting. It's obviously the first time in his adult life that he has every faced prolonged bench time. It will be interesting to see what he does at the end of the year - does he try to find another, perhaps less prestigious team, where he can earn some more PT? Based on the game reports awhom111 provides, it's obvious that there are a lot of former noteworthy US college players getting more minutes and producing. Jon does seem to have the fire in the belly to make a professional career for himself. Sans PT and production, it will be tough to get a look from the NBA, but I am sure he'd settle for meaningful minutes and a large paycheck in Europe. As I review the game write-ups, I must profess some respect for Omar Cook. He was the poster child for leaving college too quickly, but obviously has passion for the game...he was in the 2001 draft, tried to make the NBA for years with various tryouts, DLeague stints, and other minor US pro league stints. He found a home in Europe, has become a star over there these past 6 years, and even became a citizen of Montenegro to play for their national team which, I assume, helps keep him highly visible and relevant in European bball circles. There are a lot of ways to keep playing ball if you've got the drive.
    Jon may actually have a decision to make soon. Apparently his team had already been shopping him around to loan him to another team in Israel for the rest of the season, but he turned that away to fight for more playing time. I believe he is contracted at a slightly higher salary for next season already, so we will see how the team tries to handle things on their end. The fact that they just agreed to bring in another guard in the form of Demond Mallet is kind of an indication that not only is Jon not quite at the level that they need to have the season they want, but the guys he is struggling to beat out are also not quite at the team's very high standard. If Jon is settled in Israel, he may want to take up any loan offers and see what he can do on a team where he can get more playing time.

    Lots of countries offer a couple of citizenship slots to American and other foreign players so that they can bulk up their own national team. It is good to see a player like Omar Cook make a very good basketball career for himself after perhaps making the wrong choice in the past. I especially admire the players who battle on for a basketball career for even lower pay at some of the smaller clubs as they continue to pursue their dreams.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sandman View Post
    AWHOM111, I really enjoy your posts on Duke players abroad. You obviously put a lot of effort into this, and I'm sure many of us fans on DBR appreciate what you do. One point I find extremely interesting is the diversity of locations where basketball is being played -- all over the globe! Can you comment on the environments where these games are played? Big arenas, or small gyms. Large crowds, or a few unruly mobs. Are the games well-officiated? Somehow, I get the impression it's a lot like the old baseball minor leagues --that is, the basketball equivalent of low pay, long bus rides, poorly maintained stadiums, marginal equipment, etc. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!
    Basketball is played widely across the planet and pretty much every league wants to attract American players. Not every league and team environment is quite the same. Quite a few former Duke players play for big teams in big leagues and they play in great facilities in front of large college/NBA size crowds. On the other hand, you have a player like David McClure playing in a smaller league where his team's home attendance is in the low hundreds. His team still gets a couple games with the big teams like Zalgiris Kaunas that draw thousands to their newly-built arena. In terms of crown atmosphere, it is not as unruly as it might have been in the past although it would be difficult to get used to for American audiences used to NBA settings. At the biggest clubs it would be very comparable to Germany soccer crowds, which are very passionate with their flag and banner displays, but still relatively peaceful compared to some overseas sports environments.


    Here is today's update with the next one planned for Monday:

    Shavlik Randolph and the Dongguan Leopards got into a tough clash at home against the Fujian Sturgeons and the game went into overtime before they lost 122-118. Shavlik had 29 points and 14 rebounds in 46 minutes before fouling out while Josh Akognon added 24 points. In the win, former Florida player Anthony Roberson had 41 points and 8 rebounds and former South Florida player Will McDonald had 25 points and 9 rebounds as two players on the team played all 53 minutes.

    Daniel Ewing and Azovmash were back in VTB United League action against Russian team Enisey. Daniel had 16 points in 26 minutes in a 95-74 win. Ricky Minard had 15 points and 6 rebounds and Radoslav Rancik added 14 points as ex-Maryland player Lonny Baxter had 8 points in the loss. Here is the boxscore:
    http://www.vtb-league.com/en/game/10...t:15-400$t&0=1

    DeMarcus Nelson and Cholet were back in French League action, but continued a tough start to the domestic season with an 88-71 loss to Dijon. DeMarcus had 10 points in 23 minutes, his newest American teammate ex-Cal player Patrick Christopher had 15 points, and French ex-Hawaii player Luc-Arthur Vebobe had 10 points and 10 rebounds. In the win, ex-JC and NAIA player Zach Moss had 24 points, ex-Fairleigh Dickinson player Andre Harris had 13 points, ex-Boston College player Sean Marshall had 12 points and 8 rebounds, and ex-Troy State player Bobby Dixon had 10 points. Here is the boxscore:
    http://www.lnb.fr/fr/Pro-A/200009/Re...2/Cholet-Dijon

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