NBA's Int'l Players Ups and Downs 2010/2011.

This article came from IBN Forums, courtesy of MVBlair. Kudos to him and to other contributors.



There are still tons of international players in the NBA. The percentage of internationals versus native-born players seems to keep getting better, but I imagine it has leveled off the past few years.

There are a lot of dynamite internationals and a lot of bomb internationals. Here's my opinions on who is "up" and who is "down" for the 2010/2011 season:

Up

• Pau Gasol - Best center in the league right now? Yeah, he's definitely up.
• Manu Ginobili - Manu is so exciting. He's a great player and this has been his best year, considering his age and the way San Antonio has been playing.
• Carlos Delfino - Up, up, up. This guy has been Milwaukee's best player since he suffered a rough concussion early in the season. Deflino is incredibly athletic and fun to watch.
  Marcin Gortat - Fantastic year after he got traded from Orlando to Phoenix. His minutes, rebounds, and blocks got doubled, his points got tripled. He's definitely a good power center. What a body.
• Ersan Ilyasova - He's holding his own in the NBA. He's got talent and continued to do well this year.
• Yi Jianlin - He hasn't fallen out of the NBA yet and he's still starting games in Washington from time to time, so that's a success in my book.
• Hedo Turkoglu - He was mediocre in Toronto and Phoenix, then got sent back to Orlando, where he is starting and providing points and ball-handling. He's in the play-offs and his team will win their first round series thanks to major contributions from Hedo. This is a success, definitely, because this is the twilight of his career.
• Tony Parker - You'd think the divorce would have rattled him, but he continued to play well. This wasn't his best season, but Parker still has +50% every night, which is fantastic.
• Eduardo Najera - He's still in the league and coaches still like him. His career is ending and he's not just living on his success in college, so being on a team is a success.
• Sasha Vujacic - He went from intermittent stints in Phil Jackson's cellar to starting in New Jersey. I'm not sure which is better, but he's got the stats in New Jersey.
• Zydrunas Ilgauskas - Big Z moved from Cleveland to Miami after Cleveland's management spat on him last year. He's playing fewer minutes because of his age, but if Miami moves on in the play-offs, he'll be a factor. Last year?
• Jamaal Magloire - He's still in the league, so that's good.
• Semi Erden - He had a few terrific games for Boston until he was traded to Cleveland. I'm guessing he's our new starting center. Good start to his NBA career. The bad thing? He's playing for Cleveland.
• Christian Eyenga - A 7 point, 3 rebound rookie season? That's up in my book. Nice to see a non-7 foot African player in the NBA. The bad thing? He's playing for Cleveland.
• Samardo Samuels - An 8 point, 4 rebound rookie season? That's up in my book. The bad thing? He's playing for Cleveland.
• Andrea Bargnani - He's a stud. He's got lots and lots of moves, plus a great jump-shot. His defense really isn't bad. He's an All-Star.
• Leandinho Barbosa - Wow! He had a great run this year! He's still super fast and super skilled.
• Jose Calderon - For a guy who is, IMO, one of the best PGs in the game, he gets very little credit. He's got to bring his points up a little.
• Marco Belinelli - Marco is a player. He's very good. He's a great shooter and a legitimate starter on most teams. His production is up this year thanks to some pretty good play-calling from Monty Williams and Chris Paul.
• Dirk Nowitzki - Tough to get better than Dirk. Another MVP-type year.
• Luol Deng - 17 points per game at 46% shooting for an SF? That's pretty good. He's an important player on a team that is doing much better than I would have guess. That makes for a good year.
• Ruddy Beaubois - Looks like last year was not a fluke. Still playing well.
• JJ Barrea - See Ruddy Beaubois.
• Peja Stojakovic - He's lucky that as his career winds down, a play-off team like Dallas picked him up. Their team covers up for his terrible lack of mobility, caused by his bad back. This will probably be the last year of his wonderful career.
• Goran Dragic - After being moved from Phoenix to Houston, his statistics didn't change. Still, this seems like a very successful year for him because Houston needed him. Still not sure why Phoenix traded him.
• Darko Milicic - He went from being close to signing with Hemofarm to being a serviceable center in the NBA. His best year was still when he played behind Dwight Howard, but he's doing just fine.
• Luis Scola - Another All-Star year from the Argentine stud. He's the craftiest player of my generation. So many moves, so many ways to score. And he's only 6'7".
• Serge Ibaka - Wow! This was a breakthrough year for Ibaka. He's full of energy. Reminds me of Varejao.
• Nene Hilario - Still Mr. Muscles.
• Danilo Gallinari - The Rooster is playing great. There wasn't a drop off between his rookie and sophomore seasons and there wasn't a drop off between New York and Denver. If he starts coming off the bench next year, he'll be Sixth Man.
• Timofey Mozgov - He is a very active player. His role should increase next year. It's hard to say that a guy who got a $15 million rookie contract is having anything but a great year.
• Omer Asik - I didn't know what to expect from him, but he's given Chicago a lot of beef. He's going to be pretty good. He'll play a few minutes in the play-offs, maybe more when Noah is in foul trouble.
• Marc Gasol - He was a borderline All-Star last year, but this year, his production has dropped. He's better defensively and his team is a surprise, so he's on the "UP" list.
• Hamed Haddadi - He's still in Memphis, so that's a success.
• Nic Batum - He is up statistically from last year and has a big role on a dangerous play-off team
• Patty Mills - It looks like he might be able to stay in the NBA for a while. His minutes are up and he's made some good contributions, although he's still predominantly a "garbage time" player.

Can't Decide

• Alexis Ajinca - His statistics aren't terrible for a 10-minute guy, but he's not playing much and is on his third team in three years.
• Nenad Krstic - After being traded to the Celtics, he posted outstanding numbers for two weeks...and then dropped back. For my money, he's a starter, but let's see how he does in the play-offs.
• Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - He's a great athlete, but I thought he would score a little more this year.
• Nikola Pekovic - I'm reluctant to give a Timberwolf an "UP," but he had a nice rookie year. He had some 10+ games.
• Steve Nash - He had a personally very good year, but his team is out of the play-offs. His production level has yet to drop.

Down

• Andrew Bogut - I understand that he's been injured. I also understand that he's the most important player in Milwaukee. His points per game dropped 3 this year and his team is down...therefore, he is down.
• Sasha Pavlovic - Three teams in one season for a guy who was once playing like "LeBron Lite." He'll get a few play-off minutes when Boston's SG/SFs have foul trouble, but he should be getting more minutes on a different team.
• Andres Nocioni - He's better than a lot of other forwards in the league. He should be starting in front of Evan Turner, but Philly wants Turner to be their future. Nocioni is down, down, down because he gets no time on the court.
• Darius Songaila - Traded to Philadelphia, I don't think he's played a single game there.
• DeSagana Diop - Serviceable center, bad injury.
• Ronny Turiaf - He doesn't seem as active as he once was. He's down statistically.
• Zaza Pachulia - He just doesn't get enough time. He's on an OK team, but he's playing behind some mediocre players. He should be more successful.
• Anderson Varejao - This was his year until he snapped his ankle. You can't hold it against a guy for getting injured, but it's a set-back.
• Jonas Jerebko - After an exciting rookie season, he decided to snap his achilles. Bad decision, Jonas. Bad decision.
• Linas Kleiza - Even before his injury, he was not playing up to my expectations. I thought he'd be averaging 15 points, 10 rebounds this year, with lots of 25 point games. He just seemed pretty slow.
• Andrei Kirilenko - For three years, this guy was the overall best player in the NBA. He was brilliant. He cannot return to that level of play, so he is down, even though he's having a good year compared to most players.
• Mehmet Okur - Is he still in the league? I haven't really heard from him this year.
• Andris Biedrins - See Mehmet Okur. Huge drop since '09.
• Vladimir Radmanovic - I realize he's getting older, but is there anybody in the league with more talent who does so little and seems to care so less?
• Omri Casspi - He is stuck in a bad situation. I hate it when players go public with trade demands, it's bad for everybody. Still, he should be playing more.
• Mickael Pietrus - Is anybody more hot and cold than this guy? He had way too many injuries to have a good season.
• Rudy Fernandez - He has so much potential. Maybe it's the team, maybe it's the coach, maybe it's Rudy. He needs to shoot better than 37%, too.
• Tiago Splitter - This guy was ready for the NBA. I understand that he was injured all through training camp. I get it. But if anybody was ready, it was Splitter. He should have been starting. Not sure what happened, but this cannot be a successful year for him. 

Additions:
Solomon Alabi to "Down" (Should be in Europe next season)
David Andersen to "Down" (Same as Alabi)
Joel Anthony to "Can't decide" (Earned more minutes but his output is still pretty much non existent)
Carlos Arroyo to "Can't decide" (He move from one title-contender to another but lacks minutes on the floor)
Renaldo Balkman to "Down" (Should be out of the league pretty soon)
Raja Bell to "Can't decide" (The Kobe-stopper is back on the court after injuries kept him away from playing. Slowed down a lot though)
Samuel Dalambert to "Down" (Too much money wasted on him, still overrated)
Boris Diaw to "Up" (Offensively never a big factor, but still gets his teammates involved)
Ike Diogu to "Can't decide" (Back in the league after knee injuries)
Francisco Elson to "Down" (Hasn't produced any valuable numbers in the league)
Gary Forbes to "Up" (Solid rookie year in Denver)
Kyrylo Fesenko to "Down" (Still not a factor in Utah)
Francisco Garcia to "Can't decide" (Still limited to threes)
Dan Gadzuric to "Down" (Bench player with limited talent)
Al Horford to "Up" (All Star)
Kosta Koufos to "Down" (Earns now more minutes and shows some talent, but may end up in Europe next year)
Ian Mahinmi to "Down" (Still a project...or should we call him a bust?)
Hamady N'Diaye to "Down" (Should be in Europe next season)
Johan Petro to "Down" (6th year - No jump)
Magnum Rollle to "Can't decide" (D-League call-up after being cut by Indiana - Still has to play a game in the league)
Joakim Noah to "Up" (Looks better on the floor compared to last year)
Thabo Sefolosha to "Can't decide" (Defensive stopper with no offensive game at all)
Pape Sy to "Can't decide" (Mystery player that played in two games so far)
Hasheem Thabeet to "Down" (Number 2 pick with limited skills and no virtual upside)
Beno Udrih to "Up" (Starts for the Kings and is putting up good stats)
Ben Uzoh to "Up" (Undrafted rookie, that should stay in the league thanks to his good overall game)
Ekpe Udoh to "Can't decide" (Rookie that needs to work on his offense as he is still a bit raw)
Greivis Vasquez to "Can't decide" (It's an up and down rookie season for him)
Charlie Villanueva to "Down" (Not a key-player for the weak Pistons as he comes from the bench)
Kevin Seraphin to "Can't decide" (Way too unpolished)
DJ Mbenga to "Down" (Big body - No skills - Belgium passport=Europe)

The bottom line is, if you're an aspiring basketball player who wants to play in the NBA, you should got what it takes to stay in the league.