Yesterday
was a good day for NBA internationals. Goran Dragic had 19 points, 7 assists,
and 5 rebounds in leading Phoenix to its seventh win, 91-78, at the expense of
the Cavs. Brazilian Anderson Varejao continued his strong play, netting another
impressive double-double line – 20 points and 18 rebounds – in the loss.
Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani, meanwhile, led the Raptors with 21 points in a sorry
loss to the grieving Houston Rockets, whose coach, Kevin McHale, recently losthis daughter to lupus. :(
Dragic,
Varejao, and Bargnani are three promising international talents in the NBA, but
there are other foreign-bred, or born, guys who have been making waves in the
first few weeks of the season. We’ll take a look at those guys today. The main
basis for this compilation is the calculated NBA Efficiency rating of each
international (based on HoopStats.com). I like this particular stat because of
two things: 1) it’s quite simple to calculate and understand (no need for
complicated formulas that leverage one or two stats over others – just straight
up positives minus negatives), and 2) it measures WHAT REALLY HAPPENED on the
court (i.e. aggregate contributions) as opposed to other metrics that calculate
a player’s “potential” production – it’s just more “real” this way. Besides,
this isn’t meant to predict who will be good in the future. Rather, it’s simply
a list of those who’ve done really well in the past few weeks up to this point.
Also, only international
players who have played for their “home countries” or “adopted countries” will
be counted here, which means someone like Kyrie Irving, who is technically
Australian-American, will not be included, since he played for the USA Junior
Select and Youth teams before. All the following players have seen action for
their respective national teams in FIBA-sanctioned events.
10. Pau Gasol (LA Lakers/Spain) – 17.6 EFF
At just
13.1ppg and 9.1rpg, the elder Gasol isn’t exactly having a banner season, but
considering the quality of his frontline partner and the overall depth of the
Lakers, these numbers aren’t too shabby. In my opinion, he’s still one of the
top two overall natural centers in the league, though his numbers don’t show
it. Given the Lakers’ inconsistent play, however, I won’t be surprised if we
see Pau on another team before the holidays finish.
9. Tony Parker (San Antonio/France) – 17.6
EFF
The fiery
Frenchman is norming better than 17 points and 7 assists so far this season.
Those are a little lower than his averages last season, but he should continue
his strong play as the Spurs remain top-level contenders in the West. What’s
really impressive, though, is him shooting 48% from the field and 35% from
beyond the arc.
8. Nicolas Batum (Portland/France) – 18.9
EFF
Parker’s
teammate on the French NT is having his best season so far. He has the
second-highest EFF on the Portland roster, and he’s improved on all major stat
categories. If Batum plays his cards right, he might even be considered an
All-Star early in 2013. It would help, of course, if the Blazers were winning
more games.
 |
Nicolas Batum shoots over Brandon Knight
in a game between the Blazers and the Pistons.
(image by Carlos Osorio/AP) |
