For those of you who missed it, the top two teams from the European Basketball Association played last night. Filled with high flying mayhem, diming wizardry, and touch-American-football defense, it promised to be a treat. And it was, although unfortunately the game ended after 36 minutes. Final score: Phoenecian Suns 122, Turin Raptors 103. And, perhaps the surprise of the game, an American import Chris Bosh (pronounced B-O-SCH) proved he was the best player in the game, finishing with 42 pts and 13 boards.
The European Basketball Association made its first splash in the summer of 2004 when then General Manager, Bryan Colangelo, poached Canadian soccer star Steve Nash from the NBA. But it was a year later, with the trade of American star Joe Johnson to the Atlanta Hawks for French after-thought Boris Diaw, that the Phoenicians began converting nay-sayers to their unorthodox brand of basketball.
Since its inception, American experts have been calling for the Euros to dismantle their league and join the NBA. But, despite the uproar, the EBA has held firm to its roots, continuing to adopt a World War I era ethos: forget defense, if they can just keeping running as many young men against them as possible, they're going to be overwhelmed and have to surrender. And, in fact, bucking the odds, the EBA has now grown with its first expansion franchise in Turin. The Raptors--whose name quaintly alludes to an American film about dinosaurs run amok--poached the Phoenicians GM and the run-and-gun philosophy with it.
American pundits continue to doubt the viability of the EBA. While the Euro upstarts may be successful against lesser competition, these pundits conclude that against the top tier American teams, the Phoenicians just can't sustain their offense-first game and win a championship. These experts believe that if the Suns are determined to win it all, they have to trade some of their pieces for defensive stoppers who can clog the lane against the likes of Tim Duncan and, well, Tim Duncan.
But these naysayers are missing the key to the EBA. Head coach Mike D'Antoni doesn't just want to win a championship, he wants to challenge the fundamental beliefs about the game. As he told renowned American reporter Jack McCallum,
"'I've heard you don't lose the game in the first five minutes...but if you get down six in the first five minutes, then you lose by five, didn't you lose the game in the first five minutes? I'm from West Virginia but I took a little math...Most coaches believe defenses are more vulnerable late in the shot clock, that you can get them out of position with a lot of passing. I don't know why defenses wouldn't be more vulnerable before they get set. That's why we play fast...People say that when you play fast you'll be a high-turnover team. I think you'll be a low-turnover team because you don't throw as many passes."
McCallum calls these challenges to NBA truisms, "cutting up every chestnut." [Chestnuts grow in chestnut trees and "thrive on neutral and acidic soils." They are "important food for jays, pigeons, and squirrels." They are traditionally "roasted" in the American celebration of Christmas. But in this context "chestnuts" seem to refer to deeply-rooted beliefs.] To ask D'Antoni et al to compromise their style is equivalent to convincing Billy Beane that walks aren't as important as hits. For D'Antoni is on a mission. He doesn't believe in "playing the right way." Or more accurately, he doesn't agree with the consensus defintion of what "playing the right way" is. He doesn't need Larry Brown, he has his own LB, Leandro Barbosa.
The latest development in the EBA is the importation of a former role-player turned analyst, Steve Kerr [pronounced ST-EE-V-E K-U-R] to lead its player acquisition staff in the role of General Manager. Only time will tell whether this former American champion will stay true to the founding philosophy of the EBA or adopt a more American style for his team. True believers like D'Antoni are relying on Kerr's Lebanese
roots [his father was the head of the American University of Beirut until he was assassinated in 1984] to inure him from American pressures. As the trade deadline approaches, the EBA may face its first true test, whether Kerr will retain the European elan or compromise. The clock is ticking as the first legendary star of the EBA, Steve Nash, seems to have only two years left in the tank. Can Euro-ball win in America? If Kerr slows down the team and trades for the requisite American big man, we may never know.
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