The Sixer Sense
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Bryan Colangelo Continues Tapping European Basketball

By Bret Stuter

Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 5, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) advances the ball on the backdrop of the Raptors logo against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Cavaliers beat the Raptors 105-91. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) advances the ball on the backdrop of the Raptors logo against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Cavaliers beat the Raptors 105-91. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Euro-Raptors

In those days, the rough physicality of USA basketball was falling behind the more finesse style of international play. So it made sense for Colangelo to tap the “new style” to give his team an advantage.

Over time, he signed Jorge Garbajosa from Spain and added two Slovenian players, Rasho Nesterovič and Uroš Slokar. He brought in Anthony Parker, an American, from the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv. He even managed to coax Italian coach Maurizio Gherardini from Benetton Treviso to come in as vice-president and assistant general manager of the Raptors.

Eventually, reporters from Europe were covering Raptors’ games and attending press conferences, and it wasn’t long before sports reporters dubbed the new team the “Euro-Raptors.”

But the NBA does not sit idly by.  The Raptors tried to build their franchise around European stars and failed.  Other NBA teams, like the Boston Celtics, countered by stockpiling NBA stars.  The result? The Raptors did not appear to play in synch.  The pieces assembled by Colangelo appeared to be just that, pieces.  Europeans were pushed around.  On top of that, cultural differences were largely ignored.  Casual work ethics imported to the team were quickly assigned the blame of the team’s struggles.

And in the NBA, you can’t “order” a player to work hard.

Next: Wiser, not smarter