What's the latest on Lorbek?

[Chuck Diesel]

Hey Pacer fans,

I watch a lot of FIBA and Euroleague ball and have been very impressed with Lorbek, but I'm not really sure about his prospects of playing in the NBA and am wondering if any of you have any info on that. Does he ever get talked about or asked about to the Pacers management? Any indication that he is in your future plans? I know he has it made in terms of money and playing time over in Spain right now, but just curious what his name means to the educated Pacer fan in terms of ever suiting up for Indiana.

[Miller4ever]

Right now with our bunch of PF's, Lorbek isn't in any immediate plans, but I would like to see him sometime. I want to give him a chance to contribute here.

[jolbin]

So, last week, this has been put out:

think this is interesting, to see how much of a difference and gap there is between FIBA's international panel of experts and the fans on this. Let's look at how the two groups voted for the 15 best European basketball players in the world, and talk about why there is such a difference in some cases.

Here is how FIBA's international panel of experts voted the world's 15 best European basketball players:

1. Pau Gasol - 433 votes
2. Dirk Nowitzki - 94 votes
3. Vassilis Spanoulis - 63 votes
4. Milos Teodosic - 60 votes
5. (tie) Erazem Lorbek - 48 votes
5. (tie) Rudy Fernandez - 48 votes
7. Juan Carlos Navarro - 46 votes
8. Tony Parker - 44 votes
9. Hedo Turkoglu - 31 votes
10. Nikola Pekovic - 24 votes
11. Ersan Ilyasova - 21 votes
12. Ioannis Bourousis - 12 votes
13. Novica Velickovic - 10 votes
14. Marcin Gortat 9 votes
15. Igor Rakocevic - 3 votes

Here is how the fans voted the world's 15 best European basketball players:

1. Pau Gasol - 9,815 votes
2. Marcin Gortat - 8,837 votes
3. Erazem Lorbek - 7,046 votes
4. Dirk Nowitzki - 5,370 votes
5. Novica Velickovic - 4,783 votes
6. Hidyet Turkoglu - 4,479 votes
7. Ersan Ilyasova - 4,325 votes
8. Milos Teodosic - 4,058 votes
9. Rudy Fernandez - 4,022 votes
10. Juan Carlos Navarro - 3,892 votes
11. Igor Rakocevic - 2,024 votes
12. Tony Parker - 2,011 votes
13. Nikola Pekovic - 1,936 votes
14. Vassilis Spanoulis - 1,903 votes
15. Ioannis Bouroussis - 1,417 votes

I hope you know, what kinda talent you drafted..
I think he said something about NBA in 2011, but i am not totally sure

[Kuq_e_Zi91]

You know what's funny? Lorbek's probably the best PF this team has right now, and he isn't even on the roster. I'd love to see him over here as soon as possible but I understand it would be difficult to negotiate a buyout from his team in Spain. Plus, why would you leave a great situation in Spain to come play for one of the worst teams in the NBA in Indiana, and probably be given sporadic playing time because of JOB's ridiculous rotations?

Selfishly, I want him to come but it's probably in Lorbek's best interest to stay in Spain. Indiana is basically a mess right now. However, if a team like the Spurs or Rockets drafted him, then it's a different story. He'd flourish on those teams under great coaches and leadership. But right now, coming to the NBA to play for the Pacers isn't a very attractive option.

[Gremz]

He won't come over. Trade his rights for a 1st!!!

[Miller4ever]

If those rankings are valid, which I believe that they are, we should capitalize on his value and trade his rights or bring him over already.

[mizzoupacers]

Valid?

Lorbek is better than Dirk? Than Turkoglu or Tony Parker?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see him come over and discover if he can help the Pacers. But I'm skeptical about how good he is. Where did Sarunas Jasikevicius rank on those lists a few years back?

OTOH, Stanko Barac is clearly destined for NBA greatness. You can't stop Big Stink, you can only hope to contain him.

[23artest23]

I have not heard much or seen any of Lorbek in a long time but it hard to believe that he is in the same breath or even better than Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Tony Parker, Hedo Turkoglu, Ersan Ilyasova, Marcin Gortat, and Igor Rakocevic. I know that is according to FIBA but those guys are all former or current NBA players, many of which are doing quite well in the league. Lorbek must have progressed a ton if this FIBA list is even halfway correct...

[Grang33r]

Lorbek has been playing great in Europe. He's an established star there. He can't leave for the NBA until after NEXT season i believe so we are still a while away from even seeing him. I don't know if he will ever come to Indiana because we hold his rights right now, but, it's still a risk. When he does come over, he will seek a $3-4 million deal for 3-4 years, similar to when Sarunas Jasikevicius came over here. He left his life in Euro ball but only for lots of guaranteed money. Lorbek is making decent money now, that it would be a bad business move for him to come here for training camp.

As far as comparisons, the best one i heard was Jorge Garbajosa. The former Raptor.

[jolbin]

Lol, because he is not in the NBA you think he is worse than Marcin Gortat?
He is top 10 Euroleague player right now (yes, above Childress) and is playing great as PF and also C..
He is a great fundamental guy, very high BBIQ, good shot, only not athletic..
He was in an ALL-Eurobasket team this season, which consisted of:

Spanoullis
Teodosič
Rudy Fernandez
Lorbek
Gasol

If i am not mistaking..
He also was all Euroleague 2nd team last season and is very close to being in first team this season

DON'T circumvent the language filter. It's there for a reason.-M4E

[Scoot McGroot]

Sorry, we're all jaded on European players after the whole Sarunas Jasikevicius fiasco a few years back.


The original plan, and supposedly still in place, is to bring him over in the summer of 2011 when everybody expires, and we have cap space, roster spots, and a fresh start. I have an assumption that we'll move Murphy this off-season, or let him walk after next year, and that Lorbek will be given a 2-3 year deal in the realm of $2-4 million a year to get every shot to replace him.

[jolbin]

Well yes, Saras is a great player, he just didnt show what he is able to do in NBA, sadly..
Lorbeks contract expires in 2011 also, so i think he will consider coming to Indiana heavily then

[Scoot McGroot]

Well yes, Saras is a great player, he just didnt show what he is able to do in NBA, sadly..
Lorbeks contract expires in 2011 also, so i think he will consider coming to Indiana heavily then

He might be a great European player, but there's a vast difference in style of games. Like it or not, it's very different, and some of the best American players wouldn't fit in Europe, as some of the best European players wouldn't fit in America. Sarunas showed what he could do in the NBA. He threw hard passes at the most random spots, and then blamed his teammates for not being able to assume they were going to be there or reach them. He couldn't hit a jumper to save his life, nor could he play defense in any way. In the American game that is.

[Dunthreevy]

I'm thankful that I never had to witness the Sarunas experiment, since I was basically overseas the entire time he was here in Indy.

[Boneman2]

In all fairness Sarunas was an old rookie. Probably too old.

Thats like saying Bender was a bust, when injuries clearly derailed him.

Sarunas lacked youth and JB lacked healthy knees. Neither really had a chance to establish their obvious gifts.

Bring on the Euros already. Historically Indy sought Euros under Walsh. Detlef and Rik were pretty good; so good they were all-stars.

[Scoot McGroot]

In all fairness Sarunas was an old rookie. Probably too old.

Thats like saying Bender was a bust, when injuries clearly derailed him.

Sarunas lacked youth and JB lacked healthy knees. Neither really had a chance to establish their obvious gifts.

Bring on the Euros already. Historically Indy sought Euros under Walsh. Detlef and Rik were pretty good; so good they were all-stars.

Vastly different scenarios. Schrempf and Smits both attended college in America at Washington and Marist, respectively.

Much different to draft a guy that's played American style ball for 3-4 years than to draft a guy that plays terrific ball in a completely different system/style.


I would liken the differences in Euro ball to NBA ball as the difference from And1 to NBA ball. Sure, there's some great athletes, and great talents playing And 1, but only one guy's been able to make the transition. It's just a completely different style.

[Boneman2]

I don't know Scoot. Euros practice the basic fundamentals, obviously And1 is nowhere close to being fundamentally sound. Besides Rik didn't develop an American style of play at Marist, he played the game the way Euro's teach it, which is outside/in.

[jolbin]

Another solid effort from Erazem, getting 14 points with 6:7 shooting in 22 minutes of play..
His team won again

[jowglenn]

I live in Europe, so I've managed to watch a couple of Barcelona games.

The guy is good for the Euroleague, but I wouldn't get your hopes up fellow Pacers fans.

He's got good hands, smooth jumper, great fundamentals and gets into position well. Passes the ball well.

He is probably not athletic enough to really be a difference-maker in the NBA. He will get blasted on defense. He will get pestered into turnovers by guys with long arms.

[sisibilio]

I have not heard much or seen any of Lorbek in a long time but it hard to believe that he is in the same breath or even better than Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Tony Parker, Hedo Turkoglu, Ersan Ilyasova, Marcin Gortat, and Igor Rakocevic. I know that is according to FIBA but those guys are all former or current NBA players, many of which are doing quite well in the league. Lorbek must have progressed a ton if this FIBA list is even halfway correct...

IMO he is better than Gortat and Rakocevic, in the same breath as Ilyasova, and not far from the likes of Navarro, Rudy or Turkoglu.
Not saying that he will be succesful in the NBA for sure (Saras was miles ahead of Udrih or Dragic when he wen't there and he didn't), different style of play and all that. His lack of athleticism could be determinant but he's one of the best big men in Europe.