I was wondering, if you had to put a team of 12 international guys together for the all-time international team...who would they be...and can you provide some links on their careers and list them by position (not counting guys like Hakeem or Duncan who ended up playing for the US)? So far, the ones that come to my mind are... Oscar Schmidt (what position did he play?) Arvydas Sabonis Drazen Petrovic Detlef Schrempf Dirk Nowitzki Toni Kukoc Pau Gasol Andrei Kirilenko There must be so many more which had great careers but were relatively unknown in the US. Some which might have had great NBA careers given the chance. Can you get a team of 12 together? Please provide some more info on the players as well...thanks .
A bit more on Oscar Schmidt: http://www.usabasketball.com/history/mpag_1987.html With a sold-out Market Square Arena crowd of 16,408 in attendance, the 6-0 USA team took the court against a 5-1 Brazilian team. The U.S. team, which had won 65 of 67 previous Pan American Games, seemed in total control early, cruising to a 68-54 halftime lead. But Brazil, behind international veterans Marcel Souza and Oscar Schmidt, who accounted for 55 of Brazil's 66 second half points, stormed back to capture the win, 120-115. The 29-year old Schmidt put on an offensive display not many will ever forget, scoring 35 second-half points to help lead Brazil to its shocking 120-115 victory over the United States. http://www.interbasket.net/players/oscar.htm Oscar Schmidt, the long-range shooter who led Brazil to a historic win over the United States in the 1987 Pan American Games, announced his retirement on Monday in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. "The time has come to say goodbye to the thing I love most in my life: basketball," the 45-year-old forward said at a tearful news conference. "I'd like to play forever." It almost seems he has. Known to generations of sports fans simply as Oscar, he leaves the court after a 26-year career with a handful of achievements that might never be surpassed. By an unofficial count, Schmidt has scored 49,703 points in a career with various clubs and with Brazil's national team. By contrast, NBA scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 points in his pro career. Schmidt also played in a record five Olympics and was top scorer in three of them, finishing with 1,093 points. But his greatest moment was in Brazil's stunning 120-115 victory at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis that snapped a 34-game winning streak of the U.S. men's basketball team in the Pan Am Games. Led by Schmidt's 46 points, many from 3-point range, Brazil overcame 68-54 halftime deficit to stun a team that featured David Robinson and Danny Manning. Schmidt played for several clubs in Italy and Brazil but turned down offers to try out for the NBA. His long-range accuracy earned him the nickname "Mao Santa" — Portuguese for "Holy Hand" — although basketball purists sniffed at his run-and-gun game and his inability, or unwillingness, to play defense. During the '92 Olympics, somebody asked him why he shot all the time, while his teammates were forced to set screens for him and never got the rock. Nonplussed, Oscar said, "Some people, they play the piano. And some people, they move the piano." What an answer!!
If you're going to put together an international all-star team you have to put in Bodiroga,Yougoslavian super star, in it. He is,and has been for the past few years,the best player in Europe. I think he plays Small Foward but I'm not sure... ALA
I can't believe I left out Yao Ming and Steve Nash . Okay...here is my suggestion for the 12: PG: Steve Nash, Tony Parker SG: Oscar Schmidt, Drazen Petrovic, Dejan Bodiroga SF: Detlef Schrempf, Peja Stojakovic, Toni Kukoc PF: Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Andrei Kirilenko C: Yao Ming, Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac Honorable mention: Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing (Jamaica?) - I left them out because they played for the US in international games. If these guys were also on the international team and the international team had a superstar point guard...I don't see why this team would not be able to at least hang with an all-time US team...
Everything I've read about Sabonis, and what I saw from his NBA career, leads me to think that he is the #1 centre, internationally. Yao has got some work to do to catch him.
Would it be interesting if the NBA went the way of the NHL and used an America vs International all star game, rather than the east vs west format? F Peja, Nowitzki C Yao G Nash, Ginobili, Turkoglu
If you did it by their legendary status, the team would HAVE to include these players... I am assuming players that did not attend a US university and had a extensive international resume? (making Hakeem, Rik Smits, and Dikembe ineligible) Arvydas Sabonis Oscar Schmidt Andrew Gaze Drazen Petrovic Sarunas Marciulionis Toni Kukoc The above six players were legendary and great players for their countries... There is also Fernando Martin of Spain, Yao Ming (of course), Dejan Bodiroga, Pau Gasol is quickly making a name for himself... Dino Radja, Dirk Nowitzki, Ginobili and Kirilenko (who was tearing up the Euro championships this year) Stuart
I like all of your lists, brought to mind many players I'd forgotten about (can't believe no one mentioned Mirsad Turkcan...I guess I shouldn't open that can of worms...) It's interesting to see so many listing Pau as one of the greats. I was looking at some of his stats before he got drafted, and he was not that good. Maybe my stats were wrong, I could check them again later, but he was more of a project than a really great player. He was raw on the Spanish team and turned into a pretty good one for the Grizz. As for Kirilenko, that boy was born to play. He's not flashy, but MAN is he a mini-white-Ben Wallace! Obviously, I'm exaggerating, but he gets a fair amount of blocks and steals, as well as maintaining a very efficient FG%. He also won the Russian dunk competition when he was 15, I believe. That guy should be a star, even if it is only "second-tier" like Ben is considered to be.
Hahahaha. The US team would have Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell (or that's my best guess at least). That would be a pretty decent opponent... Subbing off the bench would be scrubs like Shaq and Larry Bird.
Note that I did not say they would BEAT them...just meant they could at least make it an entertaining and not tooooo lopsided game .
