ESPNInsider: 5/6 Rudy scouting in Europe

Scouting the
Euroleague Final 4
by Chad Ford

BOLOGNA, Italy -- The NCAA Final Four may be one of the great sporting events in the America. But it has nothing on the European Final Four.

Nothing.

Between the raging fires started in the stands by the 2,000 screaming fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv to the anthem chanting fans of Bologna who literally sang throughout the championship game, to a haunting half-time performance by some extremely freaky clowns -- I won't sleep for a week.

Seriously. It was entertaining, exhilarating and, at times, downright scary.

After one game, I caught up with Charlie Bell, who played in the Final Four for Michigan State, for the Phoenix Suns, and now for Benetton Treviso. Bell confirmed my suspicions.

"When I got here, I couldn't believe it," Bell said after his team lost to Kinder Bologna in the semifinals Friday. "The atmosphere is unlike anything I've ever experienced. The constant blowing of the horns, the whistles, the fires, the stomping, the singing . . . you can't hear the ball bounce from the opening tip-off. We had some rowdy fans at Michigan State but they were nothing compared to this."

Welcome to Europe's version of the NBA Finals. A single elimination tournament that is played with such a ferocity that all of those old stereotypes about European players being soft evaporated right along with my hearing five minutes into Game 1.

Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Peja Stojakovic, Rasho Nesterovic, Zeljko Rebraca and Pau Gasol were all baptized here. The group that follows them this year may be the best single crop of Europeans ever to come out of the Euroleague Final 4.

Representatives from almost every team in the NBA, including the likes of Bulls GM Jerry Krause, Bucks GM Ernie Grunfeld, Grizzlies GM Dick Versace and Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich, were here to take a look at as many as five potential first-round draft picks as well as two players, Marko Jaric and Emmanuel Ginobili, who are ready to join the Clippers and Spurs, respectively, next season.

How good has the competition in Europe become?

A team with four potential NBA starters, Kinder Bologna, was upset Sunday in the championship game by Panathinaikos of Athens, 89-83, and the most talked about European in the draft, 19-year-old Nickoloz Tskitishvili, didn't even play.

How can a guy projected as a lottery pick not even get in the game in Europe?

"Half the guys in the NBA couldn't play here anymore," former Nuggets head coach Mike D'Antoni said. "The level of competition is that good."

Whew! The Euroleague is for real folks and the exodus of tall, athletic Europeans with crossovers has just begun.

Here's our scouting report from the Euroleague Final 4.

The MVP

Emmanuel Ginobili, the 6-foot-7 sharp-shooting guard from Argentina, was the MVP of the Euroleague Finals last season and made a serious bid to be named MVP this year.

Ginobili was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NBA draft by the Spurs. Though he still has some contract issues to work out, league sources said it's very likely that he'll come to the NBA next season. With Tim Duncan in the last year of his contract and Tony Parker emerging, the Spurs want to give Duncan a taste of what their young, international backcourt may look like in 2003.

Ginobili struggled with foul trouble throughout the first game with Benetton, however, he showed a real knack for getting to the basket and drawing the foul. His creativity on the drive along with several acrobatic finishes would make Vince Carter blush.

In the championship game, he was absolutely dominant. He began with a three-pointer in the corner and went on to score the team's first eight points. Ginobili once again was relentless in going to the basket and was able to show off his hops during one sequence when he faked a three-pointer in the corner and then drove the baseline for a thunderous jam.

He ended the game with 27 points and five boards on 60 percent shooting from the field.

His mid-range jumper looked great in both games, but his outside stroke started to fade as he strayed out past the NBA three-point line in Game 1. At one point he airballed a wide open three. In the championship game, he seemed much more comfortable shooting long distance, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc.

Scouts who have watched Ginobili play the last few years say that he is a much better shooter than he showed here and isn't as prone to fouls.

"Ginobili struggled a bit in Game 1," another league executive told Insider. "But in Game 2 you saw how dominant he can be. He's got a great combination of long-range shooting and his fearlessness taking it to the hole. The loss of Derek Anderson last season will really be softened by Ginobili. He should be able to come in play big minutes right away."

The next Jason Kidd

Marko Jaric, a 6-foot-8 point guard from Greece, is also set to have a major impact in the NBA next season.

Jaric, who was drafted by the Clippers in 2000, is, perhaps, the most coveted player in Europe this year. Several league sources told Insider that the Clippers have been flooded with calls about his availability. During the Final Four he showed why.

This season, he averaged 16.7 ppg, 2.5 apg and 3.1 spg on 52 percent shooting. One GM told Insider that if Jaric were in this year's draft, he'd be a high lottery pick.

Jaric was, at times, spectacular for Kinder in the tournament -- especially in Game 1 versus Benetton, in which he had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists .

Jaric's an extremely aggressive basketball player who was simply relentless putting the ball on the floor and taking it to the basket. Jaric was equally effective with the drive and dish as well as the finish. He showed great range on his jumper, strength in the post and a surprising quickness for someone his size and build.

A key matchup took place Friday when Jaric was guarded by former Kings, Celtics and Pacers point guard Tyus Edney. Several NBA scouts remarked after the game that they were genuinely surprised by how easily Jaric was able to drive past the smaller, ultra-quick Edney and still protect the ball.

Jaric's leadership on the court was also impressive. In a tight game Saturday, versus Benetton, Jaric took over in the fourth quarter, leading his team on a 10-0 run that broke the game open. At the end of the game, Jaric hit several clutch free throws to seal the victory for Bologna.

Take that, Jason Williams.

The other thing that was evident about Jaric was that he plays with a certain attitude that is only found in the best point guards in the NBA. Whenever his team got in trouble, it looked for Jaric to bail it out.

Not everything was perfect about Jaric's game. In the championship game, he frequently let the player he was guarding drive past him and he often gets out of control on his drives to the basket, launching off-balance shots off the backboard. He was 0-for-5 from behind the three-point line and just 3-for-8 from the foul line. Still, he played with the same aggressiveness he did in the first game.

"He's going to be very good," one league executive told Insider. "I had some questions about how he would handle the pressure of the quicker, more athletic point guards, like Gary Payton and Steve Francis, in the NBA. But I think he showed a remarkable quickness and did a great job protecting the ball against Edney. If he continues to play this way, he'll be a star."

The rising star

Bostjan Nachbar, a sweet shooting 6-foot-9 swing man from Slovenia, put his name into the draft last year before pulling out right before the deadline after he wasn't guaranteed to be a first-round pick.

He'll be glad he waited. Though his team eventually lost to Kinder, Nachbar was the best player on the floor for Benetton. He has a silk smoothy mid-range jumper, made a bounce pass through the legs of a defender on the fast break, and during the fourth quarter, took over the game for Benetton.

He ended the game with 17 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of play.

He loves to play on the break, has excellent ball-handing skills and a dangerous mid-range jumper. Scouts say that he reminds them of a bigger version of Hidayet Turkoglu.

Teammate Charlie Bell thinks Nachbar will be able step right in and play a major role in the NBA. "He can play. There aren't many guys in the NBA like him. He has the size and the shooting ability to play the three and the ball-handling skills and quickness to play the two. I think he's going to do really well in the NBA."

So do scouts. Two different sources told Insider that after scouting him all week at practice in Treviso and during Friday's game, several teams are now projecting that he could move all the way up into the late lottery. That's a meteoric rise for a guy who couldn't sneak into the first round last year.

Aussie Power

Six-foot-10 power forward David Andersen has turned a lot of heads this year. Andersen, originally from Australia, has a soft touch around the basket, the ability to put the ball on the floor and plays strong in the post.

His stock took a major rise Friday when he put up 15 points and six rebounds, mostly in the fourth quarter, to put away Benetton. He was extremely aggressive in the post, making quick spin moves on the baseline toward the hole. He had several thunderous dunks and one key block. He showed great leaping ability around the basket.

Andersen has great athleticism, but he'll need to put on weight to be able to play effectively in the post. His upper body strength looked OK, but he'll have difficulty establishing his position in the block.

In the championship game, he was overpowered by another intriguing prospect, Panathinaikos' center Lazaros Papadopoulos. He ended the game with just three points and two rebounds in 16 minutes while Papadopoulos was huge down the stretch, scoring 12 points and grabbing five board in the second half for Panathinaikos.

Still, scouts say Andersen will likely be a late first-rounder after his strong performance here in Bologna.

Papadopoulos, who's also eligible to be drafted this year, is projected as a second-round pick.

Kinder's other point guard

Six-foot-4 guard Sani Becirovic had a strong Game 1, but struggled to get his shot off in the Finals. Becirovic, like Jaric, is very quick and likes to break his defender down off the dribble and take the ball to the basket.

Becirovic got all 14 of his points off free throws in the semi-final game versus Bennetton. He also showed a great knack for rebounding, grabbing seven boards.

Kinder often played Becirovic and Jaric on the floor together -- with Jaric switching to off guard. Clearly, he doesn't quite have the feel Jaric has for running the team, but his quickness and ability to drive and dish, at 6-foot-4, impressed several scouts I talked to.

With Jaric likely in the NBA next season, Becirovic will get a chance to run Kinder himself. If he stays healthy, scouts say he'll be a lock for the first round.

Where in the world is Nickoloz Tskitishvili?

The top prospect in Europe remains a mystery man after his team, Benetton Treviso, lost in Friday's semi-finals to Kinder.

After traveling all the way to Bologna to see the kid some are claiming is the next Dirk Nowitzki, all I can say is that he looks great in warm-ups.

Benetton coach Mike D'Antoni did not play Tskitishvili Friday. Tskitishvili, just 19 years old, only joined Benetton at mid-season. His relative inexperience, along with team politics, meant that Tskitishvili had to wait his turn, D'Antoni told Insider.

"The kid can play," D'Antoni told Insider. "I think he'll be a devastating four in the league in a few years. He just needs a bigger body and a bigger rear end to handle the constant grind in the paint. Right now, he'll be fine out on the perimeter though. He can already nail threes -- NBA threes. He's seven feet tall, how is anyone going to stop him?"

When I expressed my skepticism, D'Antoni invited me to Treviso for a private workout for Tskitishvili. Not to be denied, I'll be on a train early today to track down the Georgian man of mystery. Look for details Wednesday, when I return to the U.S.