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Originally Posted by buddahfan  Name me one player with a European basketball background that has ever succeeded with the Pistons. Whereas the list that have failed with us is pretty long. A resounding shutout to date.
Zelly was our first player with a European background. His first year was 2001-02. Unfortunately he had heart problems and was eventually traded. Since then a few have come and all have left us without making a meaningful impact with the Pistons. Not one has ever cracked the starting lineup and today we have zero on the 15 man roster.
I find this a bit odd that we have been in the ECF 5 years in a row without having any meaningful contribution from a European trained player. Carlos came the closest, but he was moved to Toronto where his performance has come closer to what was expected of him when we drafted him.
Blame it on Cola, Pound for Pound or Flipper or whatever, but the facts are the facts. Players with European hoops backgrounds have never fit in with us enough to succeed.
Thank you. Breaking down the Euros in the NBA  |
Uhh... Memo Okur? He averaged about 10/6 for us in his 2nd year (we won the title that year BTW). He had enough success here to earn a contract worth about 8.5 million per year. The only reason he left is because we couldn't technically afford him under the cba rules if we wanted to keep Rasheed. And he had probably the most "Euro" influence in his game of any foreign player we've ever had.