European players big influence on teams, NBA

Bryan Arseneau | March 3, 2010 | View Comments |

For most of the last decade, comparing an NBA regular season game to a college match up or even a local high school contest would show the lack of energy and intensity displayed during the league’s 82-game season. The passion to win from the so-called professionals simply did not show up on the floor every night.

From a rules standpoint, even the most obvious violations — traveling, especially — were completely ignored in order to give the game more value as entertainment rather than as actual basketball. It always disappointing as a fan to pay for a regular-season ticket and end up watching a glorified pick-up game.

However, watching the NBA for the past few years has given hope for the end of half-hearted basketball during the regular season. Leading the new trend of competition is a fresh wave of European players, like Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova and Detroit Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko.

Ilyasova, a personal favorite, is the definition of European basketball making its way to the United States.

Although he stands 6-feet-10-inches tall, the 22-year-old is at his best when he is 10 feet or more away from the basket. He plays the “stretch four” position for the Bucks, meaning he usually stays around the three-point line to stretch the defense by keeping his defender out of the painted area.

He is a great shooter and excels playing the stretch four, but the area of his game that has won fans over is his work on the glass and the defensive end. Ilyasova plays hungry for every rebound and is a consistent defender. He is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game this season while only playing about 23 minutes each night.

Ilyasova is one of the main reasons Milwaukee is making a late-season push toward the playoffs. He puts up over 10 points a game, providing a stable scoring threat to go alongside rookie phenom Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut.

Jerebko brings the same hustle and effort to the table at the small forward position for the Pistons — the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for Detroit.

The rookie is a fiery defender, and he did an uncanny Tayshaun Prince impersonation in Prince’s absence during the first half of this season.

Jerebko has started 50 of the 57 games he’s appeared in, racking up almost nine points and 5.5 rebounds per game. His early success will keep Pistons fans excited for the future.

Both players provide their respective teams with intangibles: the hustle to get a loose ball, boxing out on the defensive glass, or running the lanes on the fast break. Their efforts have helped to change the atmosphere at NBA regular season games, and for that we should all be thankful.

Photo courtesy José Porras on Wikipedia. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.