By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Welcome to one of the many new columns of Eurohoops. Our goal is to expand our views on basketball from every possible angle and enjoy to sport, using in some cases creative thinking. That’s why in our “battles” we will simulate – and note compare – players from different European basketball eras.
Each player is unique and you can really compare him with someone from the past since basketball is constantly changing in Europe this is happening really fast, even if we talk about a gap of one decade.
That’s why we will put side by side mainly players from the first decade of the 21st century – the birth of the “modern” Euroleague – with those of the current era. We will not focus only on superstars, but on players of every role, since everyone is important in his own right. And if you think about it, you can find amazing similarities which may not be obvious at first sight. You have every right to agree or disagree, and we would love to hear your ideas and simulations of current and past ballers.
Andrew Goudelock
The American guard of Fenerbahce/ Ulker is a natural scorer and a gifted offensive player. In his rookie Euroleague season he is the team scorer of his team and second overall with 17.3 ppg – during the team, this post was written – and he also dished 2.1 asps. He scores in every possible way, he is amazing one-on-one and he is also a deadly shooter. How else could he have made 10 threes in a game? And his height is also 1,91 m. exactly the same as the player we simulate him to.
Like Marcus Brown
The second scorer in Euroleague’s history gave us 11 seasons in the competition, dividing his career into six clubs. He has won a lot and did what Goudelock does now. He scored in buckets in every possible way. He was a reliable shooter who could “kill” you on his day, he was terrific in one-on-one situations and had a great drive. His career averages are not that different than Goudelock’s numbers. He had 15.3 ppg and 2.6 asp!
It’s worth noting, however, that in his peak he averaged more than 17 points per game, getting 20.3 ppg during his Benetton Treviso days. What was his scoring average in the same age at 26 years old Goudelock, when Brown was playing for Efes? 17,5 ppg.