By Υiannis Bouranis/ info@eurohoops.net
In what seems to be a transitional season for the Europeans in the NBA, the old legends are still among the league’s elite, however the young blood is ready to take the mantle and make the next step.
While only one European player will be part of the All Star Game – Pau Gasol after the injury of his team-mate Jimmy Butler – the old stereotypes are gone and Europeans are no longer considered soft-long-range shooters, at least not all of them.
Times are changing and Kristaps Porzingis is the proof for that, but the old guard of Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker still is the measure, by which every European player has to be counted. Mark Gasol can look them in the eyes and only – unfortunately – an injury could and did stop him, but this is also the break-out year for many other European stars, as the top Euro-scorer in the NBA comes from Italy…
The best of the bests
Despite Denver’s mediocre season, the Italian sharpshooter, Danilo Gallinari, is finally healthy and is scoring like he should, averaging 19.83 ppg, the best number for a European in the NBA so far. Gallinari is scoring more than the German legend Dirk Nowitzki (17.55 ppg) who is still the focal point of Dallas’ offense.
The Gasol brothers are still the pride of Spain. Pau is averaging a double double (16,86 ppg, 10,90 rpg, 2 bpg) for the Bulls and Marc Gasol, before his injury, was Memphis’ leader, averaging 16,56 ppg, 6,96 rpg and 3,77 asp. The Spanish trio of quality big men is completed by Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who averages 12.47 ppg, 6.74 rpg, 2.17 bpg, while shooting 36,7% in threes!
In San Antonio, Tony Parker is still part of the big three and after a mediocre, for his standards, Eurobasket with France, he is doing his job with 12,02 ppg, on a great 43,2% three-point shooting percentage, and 5,08 assists per game, without playing at full speed at the moment. By the numbers this is a bad season for him, but the Spurs have the second best overall record in the NBA and he is a key player of this effort. His countryman, Nicola Batum, also bounced back in Charlotte with averaging 15,00 ppg, 6,53 rpg and 5,58 asp.
And after those established players, we have a lot of boiling new blood to go along with some trusty veterans. Montenegrin Nikola Vucevic (16,98 ppg, 8,85 rpg, 2,94 apg) in Orlando is steadily emerging as one of the best young centers in the world, the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokoumpo (15,84 ppg, 7 rpg, 2,76 asp) in Milwaukee is the face of the franchise and Latvian rookie Kristaps Porzingis (13.93 ppg, 7,69 rpg) has taken New York by storm. In Toronto, Lithuanian Jonas Valanciunas, despite his injury, is back and averages nearly a double double (12,35 ppg, 9.44 rpg), like Polish center Marcin Gortat does (13.48 ppg, 9.93 rpg) in Washington. Turkish forward Enes Kanter also belongs to the elite big men of the NBA, averaging 11.92 ppg, 7.64 rpg and shooting with 44,4% beyond the arc.
There’s are only two European players not named Gasol, who average a double double! Georgian Zaza Pachulia is having one of the best seasons in his career after going to Dallas, scoring 10 ppg and grabbing 10.70 rpg and French center Rudy Gobert is also doing damage in Utah with 10.34 ppg, 10,47 rpg and 3 bpg! Gobert is, of course, the best Euro-blocker in the NBA. The best passer is coming from Spain. In Minnesota, Ricky Rubio averages 9.53 ppg and 8.64 apg, along with 2,23 steals. And also another player from Orlando, Frenchman Evan Fournier (13.76 ppg, 2.88 rpg, 39,5% in threes), is making the cut for the Euro-elite, due to his great progress.