#nba #euroleague #lukadoncic
The European academy system.
Kids in Europe don’t play for their high school teams like they do in the states. Instead they go to a private youth basketball academy.
Similar to soccer clubs in Europe. Like Barcelona, Arsenal, Roma they recruit players as young as 10 years old to be a part of their training program. In hopes that these kids will one day play for their professional club.
If you look at any European soccer players wikipedia you’ll see which youth academy he went to.
The team plays all year round with the same coaches.
Players only move up the ranks when they are ready.
They aren’t switching back and forth from highschool ball to a different AAU team every 6 months.
The primary focus for these players is basketball, school work comes second.
Their primary focus for the time being is to be a professional basketball player and when the time comes when it looks like that’s not going to happen, they get kicked out and they pursue other interests.
Some of these players will even play for their countries national team in the summer. In theory a 13 year old boy could be playing against a 30 year old grown man.
Having that experience is going to change the way you approach the game.
Change it to play with other fully matured adults.
Every player learns every position
Kobe talked about this with the Gasol brothers.
He talked about if you were a big man you were still taught how to develop a shot and handle the ball.
Smaller guards were taught how to post up in the paint and contest shots from players taller than them.
Think about Victor Wembamyama. He’s fast, he can handle the ball, he can shoot, he can also play back the basket like a traditional guy that’s over 7 ft tall. No one ever told him he was a center, he’s just a basketball player.
Creating more dynamic players.
Vlade Divac was one the first big men in the NBA who was incredibly skilled at passing.
Toni Kukoc was an example of another player who was 6 10, but able to play any position.
This is what Jerry Krause saw when he drafted him
He thought so highly of him that he thought he could replace Michael Jordan.
Consistency
This one is up for debate, but a lot of people believe that the fact that European basketball has consistent rules throughout the different countries creates more focused player development.
The three point line doesn’t change
The shot clock rules don’t change.
Goaltending rules don’t change
the ball size never changes
It’s just another thing you don’t have to consider.
This all goes for the development programs too.
Parents aren’t worried about what AAU team their kid should be on or if they should transfer them to another school because the coach “sucks” and isn’t giving them enough playing time.
Europeans learn the game of basketball as a team sport
European basketball traditionally focuses more on the fundamentals of basketball
while in the states the focus is more on a player's individual skill.
One single player's ability to shoot, pass, drive to the basket, block, dunk, break a guy’s ankles.
They play a more team focused style of both defense and offense.
A lot of communication and switching on defense and a lot of passing the ball around on offense to get the best possible look.
Most Euroleague games have scores below triple digits and rarely will one single player have more than 30 points.
You don’t have a lot of iso scorers coming out of europe.
Luka is probably the closest you can think of but of all the things he’s good at, that’s not his specialty.
Eastern Europeans are taller
In Slovenia, Bosnia, and Serbia the average height of an adult man is 6ft while in the United states it’s 5-10.
This may not seem like much of a difference, but it is something.
It is a bit of an advantage, just genetically to be taller with a larger wingspan.
Most of the players out europe even the guards are taller than their american counterparts.
Luka Doncic
When he was 13 years old signed a contract with Real Madrid's youth academy, playing with guys three years older than him.
When luka was 16 he was playing on Real Madrid’s professional team in the Euroleague. Historically the best basketball team in Europe.
When he was 19 (the year he got drafted into the NBA) he became the Euroleague MVP and was the youngest player to ever win that award.
I say this because I think the biggest argument for why European players excel is how quickly they can move up the ranks.
Luka was constantly playing against players 3-4 years older than him and every time he excelled past his peers he was able to progress to the next level and play against stronger opponents.
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Ultimately I think European players are taking over the league because they don’t have to wait for anyone to tell them to progress and when a player shows potential there’s more of a focus on giving them the best training to make them a professional athlete.