George O'Brien
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Originally posted by brasilsunsfreak
I hate it a bunch of 7 foot Europeans want to play SF. Your 7 feet tall!! Play center! Soon, centers will be an extinct kind. [/B]
I think the problem is the international court. It has a lane that is about as wide as the US court at the foul line but gets much wider down by the basket. It makes low post offense much more more difficult since the player has to get the ball so far from the basket. Rather than learning to back the guy down, they just step outside and shoot jump shots.
On defense, big players can simply stand in the lane without having to push oppoents away from the basket.
Another problem appears to be that the refs call fouls on minimal contact in Europe compared to the NBA, so there isn't the incentive to become strong as compared to being quick. The exceptions are all just immoble really big guys like Varnes (drafted and cut by the Knicks).