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Ever since the Ricky Rubio hype started about 3 years back, I've been eager to see what these Euro-Inter guys are actually made of. I've heard people refer to them as ''soft'', NBA bench warmers etc. But after witnessing Ricky Rubio highlights (Yes, I know highlights), I think those guys could hang with the NBA players. So, can you guys just give me a list of your top 5 Euro-International players, they don't necessarily have to be NBA caliber but instead who dominated their respective league. Also, I'm curious to know who is the Michael Jordan of Europe (Dirk?).

KnickYorker wrote:Ever since the Ricky Rubio hype started about 3 years back, I've been eager to see what these Euro-Inter guys are actually made of. I've heard people refer to them as ''soft'', NBA bench warmers etc. But after witnessing Ricky Rubio highlights (Yes, I know highlights), I think those guys could hang with the NBA players. So, can you guys just give me a list of your top 5 Euro-International players, they don't necessarily have to be NBA caliber but instead who dominated their respective league. Also, I'm curious to know who is the Michael Jordan of Europe (Dirk?).

you are probabley very young

It was Drazen Petrovic who was considerd Jordan of europe...best evert is of corse Dirk...He was scoring 30-50 in europe, and in his last two seasons before geting killed in car crash he was 20ppg in nets

Nowitzki, Sabonis, Gasol, Petrovic, Kukoc, Parker and so on....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Galis

Galis was UNREAL. Amazing what a 6'1" guy could do.

Well sabonis before injuries was absolutely beast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06usV645 ... re=related
against robinson in olympics.

petrovic, sabonis, dirk in that order

You can`t really compare players like Dirk or Sabonis (big men) with guys like Galis or Petrovic but if i HAD to make a list, i would go with...

1. Dirk
2. Sabonis
3. Galis
4. Bodiroga
5. Galis

As i name those players i should say that i am from germany and a very big fan of Dirk, so that you guys know that this wasn`t 100% objectiv.

1- Dirk
2- Sabonis
3- Pau Gasol
4- Petrovic
5- Tony Parker, Gallis or Bodiroga.

sergiio_88 wrote:1- Dirk
2- Sabonis
3- Pau Gasol
4- Petrovic
5- Tony Parker, Gallis or Bodiroga.

Comparing Parker with Gallis is a huge insult to him.

This kind of classification is always difficult, since it's very tough to compare players from different eras. I feel I don't have enough knowledge of players from the early 80's and earlier (although I certainly know of the most famous and accomplished ones) so I can only talk about players from then on. Having made this distinction, Nowitzki, Petrovic and Sabonis are all definitely in my top 5.

As for the other 2, in my opinion those are very subjective. Arguments could be made for many players, including (but not limited to):
- Toni Kukoc
- Nikos Galis
- Manu Ginobili
- Dejan Bodiroga
- Vlade Divac
- Juan Antonio San Epifanio
- Oscar Schmidt
- Pau Gasol
- Sarunas Marciulionis
- Predrag Danilovic

But I would really have no idea where to put these players in comparison to older ones that I have only heard about but never really saw playing, such as Sergei Belov, Kresimir Cosic, Dragan Kicanovic, Drazen Dalipagic, Mirza Delibasic, Amaury Passos and so on.

Petrovic, Sabonis, Gallis, Nowitzki, Gasol top 5 no special order

Then add Bodiroga, Kukoc...

How about Oscar Schmidt?

He played in five Olympics (the second person to do so after Teófilo Cruz) and was the top scorer in three of them. However, he never went past the quarterfinals. In 1980 he played 7 games and scored 169 points for a 24.1 average. He again scored 169 points in 7 games in 1984. His best Olympic performance was the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He scored 338 points for an average of 42.3 points per game. In 1992 he scored 198 points in 8 games, and in 1996 he scored 219 points in 8 games. In 38 career Olympic basketball games, Schmidt scored 1093 points for a record 28.8 points per game average.

He scored 49,703 points in his top-level career, the most ever.[1]

Sabonis, Petrovic and Nowitzky are a no brainer. These three are in the league of their own. Others are debatable, since a number of players are worth to be mentioned.

sergiio_88 wrote:5- Tony Parker, Gallis or Bodiroga.

Parker, seriously? He might have had a very decent NBA career, but he proved to have no balls or charisma to lead French national team anywhere. Marciulionis was times better than Parker was, is or ever will be.

Parker LOL.

Dirk, Sabas, Petrovic - in no order.

Kind of admired Peja too. At the top of his game he was considered 3rd/4th top MVP candidate.

Sabas and Petrovic both had their problems. Petrovic had a tough transition at first then came to shine, and of course his tragic death which he never finished building his legacy. Sabas was held back by cultural influences and medical issues yet still flourished when he came into the NBA way past his prime. Dominating Robinson was a hint of what he could have become in the NBA.

Dirk's career was fluid and what we could have expected Sabas and Petrovic to have if not for crappy circumstances. Dirk was the alpha and he carried that team to win it all. He's definitely the top 3 if not the best to come out of Europe.

People bringing Parker in this list are really funny.

If u dont count players that played in NBA its Dejan Bodiroga. One of the smartest players and best closers in history of basketball. 5 Gold medals in World or europien championships(it would be more if there was no suspension for yugoslavia bcs of war).

If u count nba players there are also: Nowitkzi, Divac, Petrovic, Sabonis,...

Dirk
Pau
Sabonis


Cosic
Petrovic

If we talk just about europeans, otherwise of course Olajuwon or Nash would be up there.

I don`t think that Pau Gasol should be in that Top-5 List.

Nowitzki is better, Sabonis was the best european center of all-time, Galis one of the best wing players and Bodiroga one of the best finishers. After that they are still a few more players to be mentioned: Petrovic, Jasikevicius, Divac, Marciulionis,...

Ok, maybe you could name Gasol on spot 5 but nothing higher!

http://www.in-the-game.org/?p=14846

Most productive Euroleague seasons by position, since 2001/02



highly notable, a 40 years old Sabonis

Dirk
Sabonis
Pau Gasol





The rest.