2008 German Olympics Basketball Team

[Livno]

However, your list seems really interesting but it looks like you only know some guys from the NBBL Mitte Division

I

[Livno]

That's a joke. It's one thing for guys Louel Deng and Samuel Dalembert to play for Great Brittan and Canada if they actually spend time growing up in those countries. But all these American guys

But all these American guys (like Holden for Russia, Shamond Williams for the Republic of Georgia, Henry Domercant on Bosnia and now apparently Chris Kamen for Germany and Dan Dickau for Poland) is a complete joke. If you're an American and you're not good enough to make team USA, go play in the summer league. Handing out these fake citizenships to players just so they can play on the countries national team is bizarre.

- I was allwas against the participation of Henry Domercant (before him it was Terrel Castle) in the BIH NT! I would rather lose to Division B Teams, than be European Championship with an naturalized player as the hero!

- Dickau

[Mr. Savage]

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yeah, but can you get the german citizenship without speeking german?
I

[Basti]

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I still liked what I saw from Okulaja at the Eurobasket last year.

Even if he's slowin down I think he still has what it takes 2 start on the German team for the qualifiers this year...

yes he is still the 2nd best player on our NT but this is actually not that hard to accomplish. I like the progress of Jagla but as someone mentioned Jagla is already 26 and plays on the same position as Dirk (naturally). IMO he's our 3rd best player now. if anyone has watched our pre-euro games we had a forward from hawaii whose mother was from germany. I really liked his game but unfortunatley he didn't have any international experience. his name is Julian Sensley. I hope he progresses as well. he's a poor mans version of Elton Brand to me. dunno how old he is but I guess he's 24 at least.

yes our future doesn't look promising at all

[Mr. Savage]

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yes he is still the 2nd best player on our NT but this is actually not that hard to accomplish. I like the progress of Jagla but as someone mentioned Jagla is already 26 and plays on the same position as Dirk (naturally). IMO he's our 3rd best player now. if anyone has watched our pre-euro games we had a forward from hawaii whose mother was from germany. I really liked his game but unfortunatley he didn't have any international experience. his name is Julian Sensley. I hope he progresses as well. he's a poor mans version of Elton Brand to me. dunno how old he is but I guess he's 24 at least.

yes our future doesn't look promising at all

Sensley and Elton Brand don't have anything in common. At all.

Sensley is athletic, has a strong body and is a somewhat decent shooter. He is a blackhole on offense though as he likes to shoot the ball a lot and early.

[Dawkins]

I'm excited to hear all "these" players that are playing in german football NT .
Too bad there is just Klose, Kuranyi and Asamoah, but who came here as a child and in Klose's case add that his father is of german origin and so is Kuranyi's father. The rest are all these long, blond guys people from the Balcans and Russia like so much and consider as the only "real german"
It's like saying Zidane wasn't french, Heskey wasn't english, Seedorf wasn't dutch.

[Livno]

I'm excited to hear all "these" players that are playing in german football NT .
Too bad there is just Klose, Kuranyi and Asamoah, but who came here as a child and in Klose's case add that his father is of german origin and so is Kuranyi's father.

Klose, Podolski, Freier and Trochowski, all born in poland
Kur

[bestdamnmofo]

looks like Stanko is an expert.

Klose,Poldi,Freier and Troche are all of german descent. There were tons of ethnic germans in eastern europe(15-20 mio)

Gomez has a german mum.

Owomoyela,Odonkor and Asamoah all suck and won't play another game 4 our NT.

[jt142]

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- I was allwas against the participation of Henry Domercant (before him it was Terrel Castle) in the BIH NT! I would rather lose to Division B Teams, than be European Championship with an naturalized player as the hero!

- Dickau

[Dawkins]

Gomez was born and raised in Germany, his mum is german and father spanish, but he has no connection to Spain whatsoever. Same goes for Castro, born and raised in Germany. Kuranyi's father is german and emigrated to Brasil, from where Kuranyi moved back to Germany in 97.

Klose, Podolski, Trochowski all came to Germany at a very young age. Besides that, their grandparents are germans and were german citizens before WWII, their parents lived in Poland but then came back to Germany as "Sp

[Livno]

Kuranyi's father is german and emigrated to Brasil, from where Kuranyi moved back to Germany in 97.

Kuranyi

[Chuck Diesel]

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Dickau sucks in the NBA, but he might be decent in the FIBA system. He was a great college player, and the college game is closer to FIBA than the NBA.

As an American, I could care less if these players decide to play for another country. None of them are good enough to play for the USA team. If anything, I feel bad for the countries that they're playing for. It's sort of like saying you can't develop your own players, so you get them from America.

Yeah, but as an American I don't want J.R Holden beating us on a last second shot either.

[gkonstantas]

is kirk hinrich an american???
hakeem olajuwon???
Tim Duncan???

[Dawkins]

Kuranyi

[jt142]

is kirk hinrich an american???
hakeem olajuwon???
Tim Duncan???

You missed my point.

Olajuwon, Hinrich, and Duncan all learned to play basketball in America. They are a product of the United States basketball system. That's a far cry from what we're discussing.

Kaman, Dickau, and Holden all grew up in America and are a product of the US system. The fact that European NTs have to use American players because they can't develop enough of their own talent is a sign of weakness. It's not something to be proud of.

Since Americans are dominating most statistical categories in the Euroleague, it's no wonder these teams would want them to play for their NT.

If there was an American soccer player who grew up and learned to play the sport in Brasil, I wouldn't want him playing for my NT because he's not a product of the US soccer system.

[Chuck Diesel]

Hinrich and Duncan are Americans by nationality anyway (Duncan playing for the US is no different than Lazaros Papadopoulos playing for Greece (who was born and raised in Russia). Hinrich has a german sounding last name so that somehow doesn

[robbe]

Kaman, Dickau, and Holden all grew up in America and are a product of the US system. The fact that European NTs have to use American players because they can't develop enough of their own talent is a sign of weakness. It's not something to be proud of.

It indeed isn't. But the teams that do acquire US-talent are not exactly European powerhouses. Russia surely isn't directly one after a single title on a last-second shot that bounced up and then rattled in. They've got to prove it over the years. Germany has no future, because there is no talent on the horizon.

Spain, Greece, Lithuania etc. consistently produce enough talent to post world class teams. Even if they are smaller than most of the US' states. And there's always huge potential in the Balcans too. It's just a matter of time when e.g. Serbia comes back to the top.

Since Americans are dominating most statistical categories in the Euroleague, it's no wonder these teams would want them to play for their NT.

I don't agree. There is a more realistic approach to statistics here than in the US, where they are - in my opinion - extremely overrated. The large majority of these players play on bad or middle-class teams, but have huge problems on the top teams with highly demanding coaches. In Europe, the best players play on the best teams. So the Top-25 statistics don't really deceive anyone here. The players who play on the contenders are the interesting ones for teams who are willing to "buy" foreign talent. Like Holden for Russia.

But a lot of US players have huge problems playing in Europe, especially in the first 1-2 seasons.

[jt142]

Hinrich and Duncan are Americans by nationality anyway (Duncan playing for the US is no different than Lazaros Papadopoulos playing for Greece (who was born and raised in Russia). Hinrich has a german sounding last name so that somehow doesn

[jt142]

is kirk hinrich an american???

Kirk Hinrich was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa, USA. He's as American as they come.

[gkonstantas]

Sorry for the delay guys...Nice approach to the topic. Here are my thoughts:

Since NT are professional,with pro players and pro approach and also with pro money in it, the likes of Kaman, Jake Tsakalidis, JR Smith, Hakeem, even Duncan (Virgin Islands????),

Half of France soccer NT players, US soccer NT players (cmon freddie adu???, Alexis Lalas???)

, players will 'trade' for teams for glory and money they wouldnt get with their heritage country.