– Milenko Tepic Tepic went undrafted this past summer, yet made the step up to the big time anyway when he moved from Partizan Belgrade to Panathinaikos. As luck would have it, Partizan have made it further than Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague this year, but they couldn’t pay him what Panathinaikos have. They might have overpaid, though, because Tepic has not had a good year. He averaged only 3.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in the EuroLeague, alongside 6.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in the Greek A1 League. It probably didn’t help that Panathinaikos already has Vassilis Spanoulis, Dimitris Diamtantidis, Nick Calathes and Sarunas Jasikevicius as ball-handling options ahead of him. But Tepic is one for the future, so it doesn’t matter yet. Incidentally, for the first time in the award’s history, Diamantidis didn’t win the EuroLeague Defensive Player of the Year award. The award instead went to ex-Bulls and Blazers forward Viktor Khryapa, and that more than anything highlights the difference between European and NBA ball; the athleticism. Khryapa couldn’t defend particularly well in the NBA because everyone was quicker than him. (This was particularly evident the one time Scott Skiles put Khryapa on LeBron James one on one after DNP-CDing Viktor for the previous month.) But in Europe, where the athleticism is not as prevalent (or as important), Khryapa does just fine. An elite all-around player, in fact. – Reyshawn Terry Former Mavericks draft pick Terry has spent the year in Spain, playing for Xacobeo Blusens. He has averaged 12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 fouls in 25.5 minutes per game, shooting 34% from three-point range. The points are god, but Terry shot only 32% from three last season and 31% in 2007-08; for a guy who made his name […]
