While at the Drew League in Los Angeles recently, I asked 26-year-old
point guard
Bobby Brown about his overseas experience. When he wasn't
playing a reserve role for Sacramento, Minnesota, New Orleans and the
Clippers from 2008 to 2010, Brown has played for Alba Berlin (Germany),
Asseco Prokom Gdynia (Poland), and Aris Thessaloniki (Greece).
"These
[NBA players] are about to try to go over there, [will] think they're
about to get a certain amount of money and that it's going to be easy,
but Europe is not easy at all," Brown said. "Playing [style] wise, ain't
nobody about to go over there and get 30 [points per game] or 20 and 10
[rebounds]. The lane, everybody is clogging it up, zoning it up. It's
tough...I advise people to go over there not having high expectations,
thinking they're about to do whatever or think it's easy because it's
not."
Brown's first overseas experience was a dream. His
Alba Berlin team own the championship for the 2007-08 season, with Brown
averaging 16 points and 4.2 assists per game en route to a two-year
guaranteed deal with Sacramento. But his return last year was more of a
nightmare.
"It was real different [in Greece]," he said.
"The fans are getting the best of players, throwing stuff [on the court]
while you're playing, messing the game up, delaying games, [league
officials aren't] doing nothing about, the games aren't scheduled on
time.
"Before the playoffs, we had a two-week delay in the
playoffs. And then the second round didn't start for another two weeks,
so we're practicing every day trying to start the next round. ... You
might go to a team that isn't paying at all or isn't paying on time and
you're going to be thinking about your money while you're playing and
practicing, thinking about your family at home. It's rough.
"People
are going to have to get over it when they get over there. You just
have to block everything out. People can't call you every day asking you
for money, so that's a good thing."
[uredio madmax17 - 26. srpnja 2011. u 11:12]
