NBA: Naming All-Time Starting 5's for Each World Region

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International basketball is happening.

What began as a novelty—and an oft-ridiculed one at that—has grown into a cornerstone of player development for both the NBA and burgeoning national leagues around the world.

It’s cause for celebration, and celebrate we shall.

Instead of simply rehashing national rivalries as seen quadrennially in the Summer Olympics, I decided to demonstrate the growth of the international game by christening all-time, all-region teams for each of eight geographic zones.

First, some ground rules:

- These squads are based on place of birth, not nationality. This makes for a few surprises—Tony Parker isn’t French—and helps distribute the talent a little more evenly.

- Suspend disbelief and imagine that the players on this slideshow are simultaneously in their prime.

- The United States doesn't count. Canada's out, too. I couldn't make them their own region, and by way of the U.S. they're separated from the rest of the world.

- Turkey is in Asia, at least until the European Union says otherwise.

- In places where the geographic zone is not obvious just by title, I added a list of qualifying countries to help demarcate the map in your head. I know you have one.

Once I had the teams, I couldn’t let them collect fictional dust in fictional dustbins in my fictional house I bought with my fictional job. So I took them to the fictional hardwood, pitting them against each other in a bracket-style tournament.

And now, your staring lineups…

All-Pyrenees/Channel Team

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Qualifying Countries: France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, The United Kingdom

 

C Marc Gasol - Spain

PF Pau Gasol - Spain

SF Dominique Wilkins - France

SG Ben Gordon - England

PG Jose Calderon - Spain


Key Reserves: James Donaldson (C, England), Boris Diaw (F, France), Wally Szczerbiak (F, Spain), Rudy Fernandez (G, Spain), Ricky Rubio (G, Spain),  Juan Carlos Navarro (G, Spain)

All-Pyrenees/Channel: Team Outlook

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A nice distribution of talent leaves the All-Pyrenees/Channel Team with a formidable starting five. I opted for a bigger lineup with both Gasol brothers on the floor. We’ve seen Pau Gasol play effectively alongside Andrew Bynum in L.A. and share the court with his brother Marc Gasol for their national team.  It would make for a bigger lineup but one with loads of interior scoring potential.

The cornerstone to this team’s success is Dominique Wilkins. The international game has produced very few wing players with elite open court skills. Wilkins is the exception, since he was born in Paris and could burn the competition in transition much the same way we saw LeBron James and Dwayne Wade dominate international foes during the 2008 Olympics.

Guard play is a bit of a question mark, with offense-first Ben Gordon joined in the backcourt by a cast of offense-first Spanish guards. I think this group could struggle to guard quicker perimeter players looking to penetrate the defense.

Boris Diaw and Wally Szczerbiak (born in Spain because his father played there at the time) provide nice balance off the bench, with Diaw able to play the three, the four or the five. Enjoying less depth at center than most of the other international teams, Diaw might be required to help the Gasols and James Donaldson defend down low.

All-Central/Northern Europe Team

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Qualifying Counties: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland

C Rik Smits - Netherlands

PF Dirk Nowitzki - Germany

SF Detlef Schrempf - Germany

SG Thabo Sefolosha - Switzerland

PG Tony Parker - Belgium


Key Reserves: Kiki Vandeweghe (F, Germany), Shawn Bradley (C, Germany), Andrea Bargnani (F, Italy), Carlos Boozer (F, Germany), Danilo Galinari (F, Italy), Swen Nater (F, Netherlands), Jan Vesely (F, Czech Republic)

All-Central/Northern Europe Team Outlook

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Military history plays a heavy hand in this roster. Due to America’s post-war presence in Germany, basketball enjoys a richer legacy there than in most other European countries. In addition, the All-Central team gets a boost from some prominent American army brats turned ballers.

The problem is finding spots on the floor for all that talent. With a glut at the four and the five, German-born Americans like Carlos Boozer and Shawn Bradley will have trouble landing regular minutes.

The coup here (pun intended) is Tony Parker. The quick PG is French-raised but Belgian-born, and his cradle days in the lowlands deliver a much-needed ball-handler to the All-Central squad. Parker may be the best point guard in the tournament, and he’ll help get the All-Central’s elite group of inside/outside scorers involved in the half-court offense.

All-Balkan Team

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Qualifying Countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, Slovenia

C Vlade Divac - Serbia

PF Darko Milicic - Serbia

SF Peja Stojakovic - Croatia

SG Drazen Petrovic - Croatia

PG Beno Udrih - Solvenia



Key reserves: Nenad Kristic (C, Serbia), Toni Kukoc (F, Croatia), Vladimir Ramanovic (PF, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Sasha Vujacic (SG, Slovenia), Goran Dragic (PG, Slovenia).*

 

*Astute reader Kobe Labath pointed out that Dino Radja deserves a spot on this team. Right you are Kobe. Accept my apology for the oversight. If could do it again I'd start Radja at power forward.

All-Balkan Team Outlook

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If you like three-pointers and names that end with the letter “c,” the All-Balkan team is for you. Should starters Peja Stojakovic and Drazen Petrovic—the team’s two best players—grow tired of chucking it from long range, Toni Kukoc and Sasha Vujacic stand ready to take their place.

Like the All-Central team, the Balkan squad suffers from a repetition of talent. Kukoc is clearly one of the top five players from the region, but putting him at the four next to Stojakovic makes the team especially vulnerable inside.

That backlog opens the door for Darko Milicic in the starting lineup. Though he’s a clod offensively, Darko adds some desperately needed size alongside Vlade Divac. Needless to say, point prevention will be a struggle for a team with so many shooters.

At point guard Beno Udrih gets the nod for now over Goran Dragic. Udrih has been one of the NBA’s better backup point guards in recent years. Although the younger Dragic may one day surpass him, Udrih has the better resume.

All-Eastern European Team

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Qualifying Countries: Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Romania, Ukraine

C Arvydas Sabonis - Lithuania

PF Andrei Kirilenko - Russia

SF Linas Kleiza - Lithuania

SG Sarunas Marciulionis – Lithuania

PG Sarunas Jasikevicius - Lithuania

Key Reserves: Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C, Lithuania), Ernie Grunfeld (SG, Romania), Darius Songaila (F, Lithuania), Marcin Gortat, (C/F, Poland), Gheorghe Muresan (C, Romania)

All-Eastern Team Outlook

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So many centers, so little paint.

If you were to create a team with the best NBA talent from Eastern Europe, regardless of position, you’d likely end up with four centers and Andrei Kirilenko. Unfortunately for the “Bloc” squad (a nickname just now penned), basketball requires people who can dribble.

On this team those dribbling duties fall to a couple of "Sarunases" ("Saruni"?). Sarunas Marciulionis is the more accomplished professional and has the chops to hang with some of the better shooting guards in this tournament. Sarunas Jasikevicius, on the other hand, will have trouble penetrating and distributing against teams with good perimeter defenders.

Sabnois is the clear choice at center even though Ilgauskas had a better NBA career. Sabonis didn’t begin playing in the NBA until he was 31, with his best days clearly behind him. According to those who saw him in his prime, he was one of the best international bigs in basketball history. He should be the focal point of the offense.

All-African Team

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C Dikembe Mutombo - Democratic Republic of the Congo

PF Hakeem Olajuwon – Nigeria

SF Luol Deng - Sudan

SG Mike Flynn - Morocco

PG Steve Nash - South Africa

Key Reserves: Manute Bol (C, Sudan), Serge Ibaka (PF, Republic of the Congo), Michael Olowokandi (C, Nigeria), DeSagana Diop (C, Senegal), Luc Mbah a Moute (F, Cameroon)

All-African Team Outlook

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Good luck scoring on the African All-Stars inside. This roster has better interior defending on its bench, with Manute Bol, Serge Ibaka and DeSagana Diop, than most of the other teams have in their starting lineups.

Although it looks odd to see Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon playing side by side, recall that Hakeem played very successfully alongside Ralph Sampson at the beginning of his career in Houston.

Steve Nash, born in Johannesburg where he lived for the first 18 months of his life, is the surprise element that makes this team dangerous. Nash stretches the defense with his shooting and should make Deng and Olajuwon far more deadly offensively.

He doesn’t have a true pick and pop partner like Amare Stoudemire or Dirk Nowitzki in the mix, but Nash has always been a master at adapting his game to those around him.

Shooting guard, however, remains a gaping hole. Mike Flynn, a Casablanca native, is a point guard by trade. Moving him to the two doesn’t make much sense save for the fact that this team needs more than one ball handler on the floor. Whoever coaches this bunch could go big and put Luc Mbah a Moute on the floor, but Nash would need to handle all of the dribbling.

All-Asian/Oceanic Team

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C Yao Ming - China

PF Mehmet Okur - Turkey

SF Hedo Turkoglu - Turkey

SG Steve Kerr - Lebanon

PG Patrick Mills - Australia

Key Reserves: Andrew Bogut (C, Australia), Luc Longley (C, Australia), Rony Seikaly (C, Lebanon), Tom Meschery (F, China), Omri Casspi (F, Israel), Shane Heal (G, Australia)

All-Asian/Oceanic Team Outlook

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Offensively the Asian team should spread the floor well. Turkoglu and Okur can step out beyond the three-point line, and Steve Kerr’s shooting prowess is well-documented. That ought to free space in the middle for Ming, a great scorer who can also help round out a team short on solid rebounders.

Bogut and Seikaly are both versatile centers, but it will be hard to find floor space for either. With Yao taking a lot of the minutes, Bogut’s expert passing and Seikaly’s scoring touch won’t be of much use.

Team Asia’s clear shortcoming is guard play. The unseasoned Mills will have to handle point guard without much contingency, and Kerr isn’t a versatile enough player on offense to log heavy minutes. On this squad, he’ll have to try.

All-Central American/Caribbean Team

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C Patrick Ewing - Jamaica

F Tim Duncan - U.S. Virgin Islands

SF Mickael Pietrus - Guadeloupe

SG Rolando Blackman - Panama

PG Carlos Arroyo - Puerto Rico

Key Reserves: Al Horford (C, Domincan Republic), Mychal Thompson (C, Bahamas), Samuel Dalembert (C, Haiti), Eduardo Najera (F, Mexico), Raja Bell (G, U.S. Virgin Islands), Rodrigue Beaubois (G, Guadeloupe), J.J. Barea (G, Puerto Rico)

All-Central American/Caribbean Team Outlook

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A golden front line makes the All-Central American/Caribbean Team a tournament favorite. Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing and presumptive inductee Tim Duncan give this outfit an elite, two-way interior presence. Knowing that Duncan played successfully with David Robinson early in his career allays any fears that the two might stumble over one another in the offense. 

And if either of them fatigues? 

Just tap bench players Al Horford and Mychal Thompson for relief. 

If this team has a weakness, it’s at small forward. Mickael Pietrus shoots well from the outside but isn’t a strong defender. Don’t be surprised to see 6’6” Rolando Blackman accept the hardest perimeter defensive assignments. 

Though the team doesn’t feature an exceptional point guard, a good rotation ought to help ease the pressure. Carlos Arroyo can split time with Rodrigue Beaubois and J.J. Barea when necessary. Having already seen Barea as bench-scoring sparkplug in the NBA playoffs, he seems particularly well-suited to a relief role.

All-South American Team

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C Nene Hilario - Brazil

PF Luis Scola - Argentina

SF Andres Nocioni - Argentina

SG Manu Ginobili - Argentina

PG Leandro Barbosa - Brazil

Key Reserves: Tiago Splitter (F, Brazil), Anderson Varejao, (C/F, Brazil), Carlos Delfino (SG, Argentina), Greivis Vazquez (PG, Venezuela), Oscar Torres (SF, Venezuela), Alex Garcia (G, Brazil), Pepe Sanchez (PG, Argentina)

All-South American Team Outlook

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There’s good talent here, but it’s difficult to fit the pieces together.

Anderson Varejao rides pine even though he feels like a starter-level player. Leandro Barbosa’s foot speed gets him a spot on the floor even though he’s playing out of position. Andres Nocioni slides in at forward even though he’s Andres Nocioni.

It’s all off-kilter.

Manu Ginobili can save the continent, though. His scoring should keep the team afloat in lean times, and his passing makes Luis Scola and Nene that much better. Ginobili must be all things—scorer and facilitator—for this team to gel.

Seeding the Tournament

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There is no formula or precedent driving the seeds, just my own subjective estimation of how good each squad should be.

The skeptic replies: “So since you’re seeding the teams and also pitting them against each other in a fictional simulator of your own design, shouldn’t the highest seed always win?”

No, you surly, fun-hating skeptic you, individual matchups can cause upsets. Silly skeptic.

1. All Central American/Caribbean Team
2. All Central/Northern European Team
3. All Pyrenees/Channel Team
4. All African Team
5. All South American Team
6. All Balkan Team
7. All Asian/Oceanic Team
8. All Eastern European Team

Quarterfinals

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Like in the NBA playoffs, this is a bracket-style tournament with winners advancing based on best-of-seven series results.

To the scoreboard: 

(1)   All Central American/Carribean Team - 4

def.

(8) All Eastern European Team - 0

 

Despite Arvydas Sabonis’ best efforts the All C/C juggernaut rolls over the Eastern Europeans in a 4-0 rout. Ewing and Duncan dominate the interior while Rolando Blackman shreds the over-matched Saruni.

 

(2)   All-Central/Northern Europe - 4

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(7) All-Asian/Oceanic – 1

 

Yao Ming is a matchup disaster for the Central Europeans, but even his 25 and 10 efforts can’t keep the Asians afloat. Tony Parker routinely beats Patty Mills off the dribble and Mehmet Okur looks helpless against Dirk Nowitzki’s fade-away jumper.

 

(3)   All Pyrenees/Channel – 4

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(6) All Balkan – 0

 

Do I think the Balkan squad’s shooting prowess makes life difficult for the Western Europeans? Meh. Maybe for a quarter or two. But when the Gasols get going inside, those quaint scoring sprees start to fade from memory. That and the athleticism of Dominique Wilkins make this a no-contest.

 

(4)   All African – 4

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(5)   All South American – 3

 

Between Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, and Steve Nash, the African team’s superior starting five stakes them to an early series lead. The South American team battles back on the strength of their bench—namely Anderson Varejao, Tiago Splitter, Carols Delfino and Greives Vazquez—to force a decisive Game 7. In the final game, it’s Luol Deng’s defense on Manu Ginobili that gives the African team just enough juice to hang on.

Semifinals

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(4) All African – 4

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(1)   All Caribbean/Central American – 2

 

This is the one matchup the Caribbean team, with their fearsome front line, didn’t want to see. A rotating cast of stout defensive centers keeps Patrick Ewing and Tim Duncan in check. Rolando Blackman struggles to pick up the scoring load because he lacks a consistent outside shot and can’t finish among the trees inside.

Meanwhile no one on the Caribbean team can stop Steve Nash, and his playmaking helps carry the offensive load. Before fatigue can take hold, the Africans have sent the favorites packing. And like a ghost from NBA Finals’ past, Hakeem Olajuwon extinguishes Ewing’s flame once more.

 

(2)   All Central/Northern – 4

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(3)   All Pyrenees/Channel -3

An overdose of Dirk proves the difference, as the Central Europeans prevail in a thriller. Dominique Wilkins may wreak havoc on occasion, and the Gasol brothers will definitely get theirs against a weak interior defense, but the Pyreneans simply cannot stop Dirk in the big moments.

Neither Pau Gasol nor Marc Gasol are equipped to stop the seven-footer, and Boris Diaw doesn’t fare much better. Paired with Tony Parker, who punishes Ben Gordon and Jose Calderon on the perimeter, Dirk and the gang triumph in the tournament’s best series.

Finals

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(2) All Central/Northern - 4

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(4)   All African – 1

The very assets that made the African team so well-suited to defend the Pyreneans works to their detriment in the Finals. None of their centers are limber enough to guard the European team’s many versatile forwards, most prominent among them Dirk Nowitzki. Tony Parker counterbalances Steve Nash at point guard, finally impeding the former’s roughshod run through the rest of the tournament field.

Despite Hakeem Olajuwon’s monster series, the Africans’ lack of depth also catches up with them. After a spirited Game 3 win to get back into the series, tired legs give way to a tight loss in Game 4 and a blowout in Game 5.

The real key to the Centralites’ victory is depth. No other team can run players like Carlos Boozer, Kiki Vandeweghe, Danilo Galinari and Andrea Bargnani off the bench to supplement their starting five. By the final series, the energy saved in earlier rounds gives the Europeans a decisive edge.

After an arduous month of completely imaginary basketball, the All Central/Northern European squad lifts the Leon Buffard Memorial Trophy skyward in triumph.

Congratulations, fellas, you kind of earned it.