8/21 Espn Insider = Brazilian Invasion

[OutletPass]

The Brazilian invasion
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Wednesday, August 20
Updated: August 21
8:09 AM ET


The international basketball tide may be turning, but you'd never know from the box score of Team USA's big showdown against Brazil Wednesday night.


Team USA may have overcome its biggest test Thursday in its very first game at the Tournament of Americas in Puerto Rico.

Rebounding from a disappointing performance in the World Championships last year, Team USA overcame a 10-point second-quarter deficit to steam roll Brazil 110-76.



Duncan

Tim Duncan destroyed Brazil in the paint, scoring 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including eight points in the U.S.-dominated third quarter.

It's tough to argue that there's any player in the world more dominant than Duncan is at the moment. Whenever he was in the game, Brazil was out of it. And even when Duncan wasn't in the game, Elton Brand was doing the damage in the paint, matching Duncan's 17-point output.

The win should give coach Larry Brown a huge sigh of relief. Brown has been stressing low-post play and his normally shot-happy guards did their best to give Duncan, Brand and Jermaine O'Neal a feeding frenzy in the paint.

After Wednesday's dominating performance, things should be smoother sailing for a while. Only one other team in the tournament, Argentina, has the talent that Brazil does -- and it lost to Mexico 91-89 in its first game down here.

The thing that made Brazil such a worry was a lethal combination of athleticism, experience and perimeter shooting. The team had just taken the gold at the Pan Am games and then added two NBA players, Nene Hilario and Leandrinho Barbosa, last week.

Not since Oscar Schmidt was in his prime has Brazil had such a dominating basketball team. However, Nene picked up his fourth foul with 2:17 to go in the second quarter and was never a factor again.

While Brazil may be disappointed by the final outcome, it knows that in the coming years, the battles are going to be much more fierce. Soon, Brazil will have a lot more than one NBA star on its roster.

Like a growing number of other national teams, the influx of international players into the NBA is having one positive effect at home. Players are returning to their home countries better prepared to take on U.S.

That's no more apparent than in Brazil. This year, Barbosa made the leap. Soon, others such as Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter will join him in the NBA.



Hilario

It was a Nene-led Brazilian team during the 2001 Goodwill Games that almost made history. That team came within a point of defeating Team USA for the first time since NBA players were allowed to play.

It was also the game that put Nene on the NBA radar screen. In 18 minutes, he totaled eight points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots, including back-to- back swats in one sequence against Jermaine O'Neal.

Before Wednesday's game, Nene had a swagger usually reserved only for folks who have actually beat up on Team USA. "I'm not intimidated," Nene said. "Outside the court they are idols, but inside we are all professionals."

"It's going to be a difficult game," Nene said. "They have strong, physical, experienced guys. But playing the United States (in the tournament's first game) is a good time. They haven't had too much practice and don't have the rhythm yet. Brazil can be a surprise."

In the first half they were.

Brazil got off to a hot start, building a 29-23 in the first quarter behind the 3-point shooting and general hustle of Varejao. Varejao showed the versatility that has several international scouts lauding him as a potential lottery pick. He hit three 3-pointers in the first half and took O'Neal off the dribble for a major slam. Varejao finished the game with a team-high 16 points.

Much like last year at the World Championship, Team USA looked lost at times, especially on the defensive end. Brazil was often left wide open for 3-pointers, a move that put Team USA in a deep hole. Brazil was 8-for-16 from 3 in the first half.

With Team USA down by 10 with 7:34 to go in the second quarter, Duncan took over.

Inside, Duncan was dominant both offensively in defensively. Brazil didn't have any real answer for the NBA MVP on defense.

Then again, 28 NBA teams didn't either this season.

Draft outlook

By the time the dust settles on the 2004 NBA draft there could be three more Brazilians in the NBA. Two of them, Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao, were on the Brazilian national team.

Varejao started and scored 16 points. Splitter got a surprising number of minutes due to Nene Hilario's foul trouble. He scored six points and grabbed three boards in 22 minutes.

Varejao pulled out of the draft this year, but most expect him to be in for sure next year. Scouts either love him or hate. There seem to be few in the middle. Teams get excited about his rebounding, shot blocking and aggressive play. Others claim he's a tweener. At 6-10, 230, he's not physical enough to thrive in the post in the NBA, and his game isn't developed enough on the offensive end to play small forward.

On Wednesday night Varegao had an above average offensive performance. He did most of his damage from the 3-point line, going 3-for-3 from downtown. He also showed his quickness and ball handling ability, blowing by O'Neal once for a thunderous jam. Varejao was tenacious on defense (at one point he stripped Allen Iverson and took the ball in for a rim rattling dunk), blocking shots, crashing the glass and harrasing Duncan on defense.

If he continues his strong play in this tournament and gets more minutes on F.C. Barcelona, the reigning Euroleague champ, this year, he could move himself back into the lottery. If he languishes on the bench again or if he fails to develop his offensive game, he could be looking at the late first round.

Splitter, an 18-year old, 6-11 forward, is widely considered to be a lock for the lottery if he declares next year. The comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki aren't that far off because of his versatility. Splitter is an athletic big man who likes to face the basket, but can also play in the paint. He's a big-time scorer, a solid rebounder and an above average defender for someone his age. Like many of the other top Brazilian players, he's also very tough. He's been playing professionally for three years and has spent the last two years playing in Spain for Bilbao.

Splitter had a solid performance in his first encounter with top NBA players. He spent most of his time guarding Kenyon Martin and Elton Brand, much stronger opponents. Splitter, who had several nice moves around the basket, changed several shots on defense.

Splitter still needs to get stronger, improve his free-throw shooting and learn how to stay out of foul trouble. However, most international scouts feel that he'll be one of the first two or three international players taken in next year's draft if he declares.

The other top Brazilian player to watch is 6-11, 260-pound center Rafael Araujo. Araujo played for BYU last season and averaged 12.2 ppg and 9 rpg. This Brazilian big man has the size and toughness inside to play center in the NBA. He's physically strong, is tough on the glass and has an emerging offensive game. Like many international players, he's fundamentally sound. Has really came on late in the season. Arajou's still very raw. He isn't particularly athletic, doesn't block shots and has struggled with turnovers all season.

[asola]

Will Chad Ford never tire of overhyping foreign players? It's ironic because its effect is that people then are more critical of international players because of the undue hype. I'd like to see Ford downplaying some international player just once, for Christ sake.

Oh, and I wonder if he said something about Rigadeau some years ago, that would be fine reading, hehe