France - Johan Petro plays more and better

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French basketball is lagging behind french fries and french kisses. Country known for fashion, food and romance has a basketball league with more than a dozen teams and none had exported more players to the NBA than Pau Orthez from Paris. The league's popularity in France trails soccer, tennis and even NBA basketball itself, especially during the All Star weekend or the playoffs. Johan Petro is Pau Orthez's most recent French addition to the NBA, and is already playing more and better with his Seattle Supersonics than he ever did in France.

"I am satisfied with my game in the NBA. I came here two years ago and I am playing more then what I was playing back in France. I am enjoying myself very much every time I step out on the court. The coach gave me a chance and I am doing the best I can to help the team any way I can."

Like many quality European centers before him, the seven foot Parisian is optimal with his shot selection. On a recent visit to Dallas, he shot an impressive 80% from the field in 20 minutes on the floor, similar to his statistic many times this season. His best game was three weeks ago against Chicago, where he scored 16 points in 30 minutes on the floor.

"Every night you have some good new player to play against. I have to be ready every night because I am playing more than I did in France. It is hard because everybody is good. Once there is a substitution everybody on the floor is still good. It is hard, but it is fun. It is very competitive and it is different than the league I came from. Other than a few leading teams, others don't have as much quality players. There is more dominance in French basketball. Better teams are always better."

Rather than trying to exactly enumerate where basketball fits in French popular culture, Petro keeps it simple with an "Its a distant second" answer. In World Cup, soccer's biggest competition, France was twice a host and four times a medal winner. In its basketball counterpart, simply called the world basketball championships, France never shined as bright, one of their biggest accomplishments being getting 5th place at world championships this summer in Japan. French fans historically only supported the bigger, more popular French basketball teams, but with a strong showing this summer, fan situation back home may change.

"Basketball is not that big. People watch it only on TV. We play in front of a lot of people here in the NBA, and only a few thousand in France. Only when Orthez plays is there a lot of people watching us. Japan was my first appearance for the national team. I didn't play a lot but we finished fifth. It was a good result for the team, we will try to do even better this summer."

Last summer affected his NBA game as well. All but two of his career records were made this season and Petro has more total assists and steals than in all of last season. Not only did he improve his game, he expanded it, playing some minutes at the forward spot. NBA scouts noticed Petro mostly for his size, but it was his skill that gave coach Bob Hill the confidence to depend more on the young Frenchman.

"NBA interest stared early. After my first two years in Paris in the development league, scouts started coming and letting me know that I might be able to play in the NBA, before I got to the top of French basketball. They wanted me because I was tall and I could handle the ball well. I am doing exactly that and am glad coach is giving me a chance to show what I can do."

Although it has been only a year and a half since Petro joined the NBA as the 25th pick, European basketball is now far behind him. Most time he spent around French basketball was during practice with the national team in preparation for the World basketball championships in Japan this summer. A more famous NBA export from his Pau Orthez, Antoine Rigaudeau went back to European basketball after just one season with the Mavericks back in 2003. Johan Petro is, as he puts it, having too much fun to consider ever leaving the NBA.

"In the NBA, anybody can win or lose every night. That is what I like the most about this league."

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