Europe - An insider's perspective on Euro ball

From www.theglobeandmail.com
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Yeah, that was me reading the Rome travel guide on the plane, what of it? Some of us need the help.

I had to leave before the Raptors practised in Treviso this morning, so if Jorge Garbajosa breaks his leg --- check that – if Chris Bosh breaks his leg, I won’t know until later. When I know you’ll know.

I’d start a countdown until the big Celtics-Raptors game, but I’ve had about six hours sleep in two days and with the time change there’s no way I’ll get it right. All I know is the pre-season opener for both teams is Saturday night and I have to admit, I’m kind of pumped, or maybe that’s the Euro chocolate bar I just inhaled. Regardless according to John Hollinger, the Celtics should roll.

NBA TV will tip off its coverage with doubleheader action on Saturday, beginning with a contest between the Celtics and Raptors in Rome live at 2:30 p.m. ET followed by the Timberwolves against Efes Pilsen from Istanbul on tape delay at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Anyway, since this is my first foray into Europe I thought I’d try to get the lay of the land, basketball wise, from my new best friend Tobias at Ball in Europe which tracks … well you can guess. And do this, please: Take at least one visit just to see the logo, which he swears isn’t Garbo. Just go. All seven of you can email me a thank-you later.

The best story I’ve seen so far - granted I can’t be sure because the link is in Spanish - seems to suggest that the trend in the ultracompetitive Spanish league is for foreign-born players to take Spanish wives.

There are obvious reasons for taking a Spanish wife, but in addition there’s a concern it’s a tactic to get around the limits on foreign-born players. Love Europe.

Anyway, Tobias generously agreed to answer some of my questions. And as much as I would love to take up his offer of a game of 1-on-1 to further international relations, I have a torn hamstring that is giving me a cross look for even writing that.

Without further ado, From Deep’s first-ever interview:

Why did you start Ball in Europe?

We were those three hoops addicts doing our things in our respective countries. We happened to be blogging on FIBA.com all three of us and found out we had the same idea of how basketball stories should be told. There was nothing comparable to True Hoop or the AOL Fan House in Europe, at least not in English. There was a gap that we thought of bridging with entertaining stories, bad jokes and scouting reports all together.

Is basketball a mainstream sport here yet? How would you rank sports by fan interest here? I assume soccer is No. 1

There are countries here in Europe where basketball is No. 1. Take Lithuania for instance. But anywhere else, there is nothing close to what you call soccer and we call football. Basketball goes all the way from a distant second (Greece, Spain, Croatia, Serbia,etc.) to something between polo and netball (UK).

Among NBA teams, do the Raptors have a greater following in Europe because of their European players? Or do Europeans simply follow big name teams like the Bulls or Lakers?

The Raptors are probably big in Spain or Italy. But that's it. Most of the people here are not Europeans. They're French. They're German. San Antonio is big in France. Dallas probably is in Germany. Still I'd say some basketball junkies are interested in all this Raptors experiment, which sounds a little bit like a synthesis of both FIBA and NBA game. But you're right; most of the fans will support the Bulls or the Lakers because that's what they've done since the days of Jordan and Magic. Or the Suns because they're fun to watch.

Is there such a thing as pick-up basketball in Europe, or is it all organized games? Like if I arrived in Rome and was looking for a game, could I find one?

Of course you could. Actually streetball is quite a big thing here in Europe. You can find people playing every day on the playgrounds of Paris or Madrid. There are massive events set every year for streetball players. Just to drop a couple of names, make sure you attend le Quai 54 (Paris) or Midnight Madness (London) next summer.

Do you think the exposure the NBA is getting in Europe could change the way Europeans play? Might Europeans try to adopt a more isolation-based or one-on-one style?

I think it did many years ago. You probably noticed that the new Euro guys playing in the NBA no longer were those long distance specialists allergic to defence. Look at Tony Parker who couldn't score outside the arc until last year but who excels in one-on-one situations. Or how Andrei Kirilenko became one of the best defensive players in the League. Still the NBA's influence is limited by the simple fact that we play two games whose rules are different. Playing one-and-one when the opposing big man is waiting for you all 24 seconds under the basket is definitely something different.

And how did you come up with that logo?

We really wanted to show already with the logo that we want to present European basketball on a funny note. Since most Americans think, Europeans don't shave and shower we thought this might be a good try to represent a European player.

Can the Internet catch fire? We’re going to find out. As mentioned yesterday John Hollinger, who has done some amazing work to bring some statistical sophistication to basketball, pegged the Raptors to finish 39-43 this season and ninth in Eastern Conference on ESPN.com.

If you want to get a taste of the outrage, check out the Raptors message boards on Realgm.com.

It’s an insider article, so I won’t bother with the link (though being an insider seems pretty good value for $35 bucks a year. You can get lost for days in there).

When time permits I’ll give my take on his analysis, but that’s boring. I sent a note to John last night just to see if Raptors fans have covered his house in boiling oil yet – metaphorically. He’s agreed to do some kind of Q-and-A, but in the meantime, yes the emails have been steady:

“Getting KILLED by the Raps fans,” he wrote. “But yes any Q&A type thing you'd want to do on the blog is fine by me. Actually I'm also going on Whisky’s radio show tomorrow ... thankfully it's not a call-in show.”

Actually I’m supposed to be on from Chuck on the Fan 590 tomorrow too. Can’t imagine what we’ll talk about.

What should I go see in Rome? Anyone?