NBA All-Euro Team 2012

Ever since the late 1980s, European players have been infiltrating the NBA and bringing their unique style of play to the States.

We often jeer the European big man for being too soft and the Euro guard for being bad shooters or bad passers. However, there are quite a few exceptional European talents in the NBA today.

After last season's championship run in which Dirk Nowitzki showed his full range of offense and toughened up on defense, he pretty much cemented himself as the greatest Euro-baller we've seen this side of the Atlantic. He's still a bit far off from Hakeem Olajuwon to be the best international player of all time, but he's not miles off anymore.

This year is no different in terms of European influence in the NBA, and most teams have at least one guy with a funny accent running around playing some ball, so I've decided to throw together a team of the best European players.

A small problem I ran into when deciding who was a European player and who was not was with players who have citizenship in European countries to play international ball there. In this case, I decided that a guy born and/or raised in Europe is considered European, while a guy who just has citizenship there is not.

In this case, Chris Kaman is not European (with his German citizenship), while Ben Gordon is (as he was born in England). I've also decided that Joakim Noah is officially a citizen of every country, as he was born in the US but lived in France for a decade and has citizenship in 49 different countries (give or take a few). 

Starting Point Guard: Tony Parker

The little Frenchman is perhaps the best European point guard to come over and make a career out of basketball in the NBA. There's a guy running around the league now that could overshadow him, but for now, Parker is the top dog.

He's a great player to have as a floor general: shoots a high percentage for a guard and plays great defense as a part of a unit. I'm not sure what else you would need from a point guard.

Starting Shooting Guard: Marco Belinelli

The shooting guard spot is going to be the weakest on our team, but it's not that big a worry.

Marco Belinelli is going to fill a very important role in this starting lineup. We have plenty of players with the ability to create for themselves; with Belinelli, this team will have a guy who can stand at the elbow and shoot jumpers until his feet start to bleed.

Belinelli might not measure up to whomever the United States' team would put at the two-guard spot, but he would fit in well as a part of this team.

Starting Small Forward: Luol Deng

Luol Deng was an interesting case, as he was born in the Sudan but lived and played for most of his youth in London before moving to the United States to play high school ball and eventually go to college.

The amount of time and basketball he played while in Britain, however, made me decide to throw him in as a European, although he could probably be considered for a starting role on the best African team in the league as well.

Anyway, with Deng this team gets an underrated scorer and rebounder, a great defender and a man with a motor, something everyone wants to play with.

Starting Power Forward: Dirk Nowitzki

I don't think there's any question here who I would be going with as my starting power forward were I putting together a team of the top European players.

Dirk Nowitzki showed in the Mavericks' run to the Championship last season that he's capable of great things. He's an impossibly good shooter, a fierce defender when it matters, and a leader of men.

With Dirk, I have my go-to guy—the guy who is the unquestioned leader of the team and a guy who can knock down the big shot when it matters.

Starting Center: Marc Gasol

In lieu of one of the many offensive big men that Europe has pumped out (sorry Bargs), I've decided the main thing I want from my starting unit is a defensive presence, and the best big man to get from Europe has to be Marc Gasol.

Gasol is great at clogging up the middle and just intimidating anyone away from wanting to come straight at him. He's a shot blocker and takes high-percentage shots for the most part, which is perfect for a team that doesn't necessarily need huge offensive nights from him. 

Sixth Man: Pau Gasol

It shouldn't be a surprise that I stayed in Spain when looking for the first man off the bench for this All-Euro team.

Pau Gasol is good enough to crack nearly any starting lineup in the world, but with him coming off the bench, I think you have an unusual player.

Gasol is one of the three best offensive low-post players in the game with the ability to score at will when his shot is falling and his feet are moving right, so bringing him in is like an easy 15-20 points every night off the bench.

Backup Point Guard: Ricky Rubio

I'm ready to put my trust in the young phenom come hell or high water.

With the amazing lack of good European point guards in the NBA at the time (my other options were Jose Calderon, Roddy Beaubois and Beno Udrih), why not pick a guy who can go off for 15 assists if he's given the minutes on a hot night?

Rubio's lack of a jumper has yet to even show itself in the NBA, and his passing skills are everything we had imagined before he came over to the States. He should make a great addition to this team. 

Energy Man: Joakim Noah

For his role on the All-Eurostars, I'm going to have Joakim Noah revert to a role he played more prevalently in the past but still boasts as a part of his game today.

Noah is going to be my energy guy off the bench. I'm going to have him come in for 20 minutes a game and just run his butt off, getting the crowd into the game and getting his teammates to motor just to keep up with him.

9th Man: Nicolas Batum

I know for sure that I want to bring Nicolas Batum's ridiculous length to my EuroSquad, giving me a much more versatile bench.

As the first "mid-sized" player off my bench, Batum is going to work out as a good defender and a guy who can knock down a spot-up three when given the shot.

In giving him a very specific job to do on the floor, he'll avoid falling into the problems that he's shown in the past with trying to hard to get himself a shot and continually settling for long-range jumpers.

Emergency Big Guy: Marcin Gortat

Bring me the Polish Hammer in case one of my big men ends up hobbled or wobbled. I want his energy and his ferocity—I want his smart shot selection and his high efficiency.

Marcin Gortat as an emergency big man means I never have to worry about a problem with height on this team, as each center I have is capable of putting forth a great defensive game while still being able to hold their own around the rim on defense. Put that together with a power forward who will either stretch the floor or pound the ball into the middle and we've got ourselves a pretty good frontcourt no matter what.

Emergency Small Guy: Rudy Fernandez

Rudy Fernandez has always seemed like a solid, if underwhelming, player coming off the bench in the few years that he's spent in the NBA.

For the most part, he's lived up to where he was drafted, although he got a lot more hype than you would think looking back.

Still, with Fernandez we have a guy who, if we need him to step in and play some minutes, can shoot with some distance, handle himself with the ball and have some knowledge of the game he's playing. You could do a lot worse in terms of the 11th best player on your team.

12th Man: Darko Milicic

That's right ladies and gentlemen, as my 12th man, my White Mamba, my Human Victory Cigar, I'm bringing back the original Human Victory Cigar.

Sure, Darko Milicic is heaps better now than he ever was on Detroit where he earned the nickname, but his years as Larry Brown's Victory Cigar can't be overshadowed by the mediocre career that he's strung together.

Bringing back the throwback is sure to send the crowd into a frenzy when he eventually does get into the game.

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