South Carolina Gamecocks, that is. While South Cackalacky fans are busying themselves wondering why Steve Spurrier still hasn’t delivered a football championship, they could have been logging on to EurocupBasketball.com last season to find a couple of alums putting up huge numbers for the eventual champions, Lietuvos Rytas. In fact, to say they were merely “champions” is a slap in the face. Let me clarify: they won all five titles they played for last year: the Baltic President’s Cup, Baltic League Title, Lithuanian League Title (Eidson dropped 41 in the final game), Lithuanian Cup and last but not least, the Eurocup Championship. The center Petravicius picked up Eurocup Final Four MVP Honors while Chuck E. Threes was named the Eurocup MVP thanks to an all-around line of 15.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
The duo’s success with Lietuvos Rytas helped launch the squad from the ‘Cup to the ‘League this year, but it also landed them with new teams for the 2010 campaign. The point forward Eidson will try to help Maccabi get back to the promised land while Petravicius will man the middle for an Armani Jeans Milano squad that is desperate for some toughness. Gamecock fans: will you be watching?
There’s smooth strength. Then there’s brute force. There’s crafty quickness. Then there’s a powerful pivot. There’s a magnanimous passing touch. Then there’s a miraculous finishing touch. There’s unquestioned greatness. Then there’s surefire stardom.
There’s Nikola Vujcic. Then there’s Nikola Pekovic.
Vujcic is the 31-year-old Croatian center that redefined what it means to be an all-around big man by notching the first two triple doubles in Euroleague history (11 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists in 2005; 27, 10, and 10 in 2006). After earning All-Euroleague honors and winning two titles with Maccabi, he signed a two-year deal with Olympiacos of Piraeus, Greece where he led his team to a memorable Final Four last year.
The team that eliminated Olympiacos from the Final Four and ended up winning the crown was Panathinaikos of Athens. Their star center? You guessed it: Pekovic. Only a couple of months after his 23rd birthday, The Montenegrin Monstrosity scored 20 points in 20 minutes against the Greek rivals to land them in the final game against CSKA Moscow. He only scored six in this contest, but his team won and the damage was done: Nikola Pekovic was named to his first All-Euroleague team. Somehow, I have a feeling it won’t be his last. Just ask that Vujcic guy.
I used to own a pair of Allen Iverson Sneakers-the Reebok Question 2’s. On the insole of these beloved kicks read the inspirational, Darwinian motto: “Only the strong survive.” And now, for the irony: the team he’ll be suiting up for this season, the Memphis Grizzlies, finished with the 6th worst record in the NBA last season at 24-58, and they missed the playoffs by a Tennessee mile. If this slogan emblazoned on his zapatos (and quite possibly somewhere else on the canvas formerly known as his body) held any merit, the Grizzlies should technically be dying, if not dead. However the NBA threw them a 7′3″ life jacket named Hasheem Thabeet, offered them a warm bed and a clean slate, and invited them back to take a few more hacks in 2010. How sweet. If they were in the Euroleague, they’d be taking part in an eight team, two week tournament to decide which team deserves to hang with the big boys for another season. And believe me, these fellas aren’t just there for the free cake; day one of the Q-Rounds featured four games which were decided by a total of ten points. Only the strong survive? Maybe Iverson should’ve signed in Greece after all.
With an Olympic gold on his trophy case and the flowing locks that every woman dreams of, the Argentinian Argonaut Walter Herrmann makes his return to Europe this season to play for Caja Laboral (though when he signed they were still the more familiarly named Tau Ceramica). Did they change the team’s name just to accommodate Walt? Probably. Look at the guy. Could you say no to that devious, squinty, “I’m up to no good but I know you love it” smile? Me neither. So why fight it? I and the rest of the basketball world submit to you, Sir Walter. Don’t let us down big man.
Now, the video you all probably scrolled down to in the first place:
This Panathinaikos point guard is living, dribbling proof that smoothness comes in all textures. Whether he’s hoisting the hardware for 2009 Final Four MVP or snagging All-Euroleague second team honors, one thing’s for sure: he’s doing it in a scruffy style all his own. So try as you might to emulate this naturally masked wonder, you are destined to remain a few, coarse bits of stubble behind.
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