The Best International Starting Five

by clarkpojo on Aug 26, 2008 12:21 PM MDT

In a recent interview with USA Today, San Antonio Spurs Point Guard Tony Parker mentioned who he thought was the best starting five international players in the NBA. I was surprised by his pick for the small forward.

Parker's Top Five International Players (we didn't let him choose himself):

PG Steve Nash

SG Manu Ginobili

SF Andrei Kirilenko

PF Dirk Nowitzki

C Pau Gasol

"I think that team could make it to the NBA Finals," he says.

So Parker picked AK over Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, Hedo Turkoglu, etc. So is Tony Parker right? Who are the best starting five international players? Tony Parker couldn't pick himself, but is he better than Nash? Chime in.

All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.

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I wonder if Parker realizes he forgot one of his teammates?

I still think Tim Duncan should be in over Dirk or Gasol. And I would probably rather have Parker than Nash. Funny. I can’t stand the Spurs but they have 3 of the best international players in the league. They are good.

The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.

by clarkpojo on Aug 26, 2008 12:23 PM MDT 0 recs

Yao

He also forgot Yao. I would probably rather have Yao then Gasol. But if it is for the length of the season then I would go with Pau.

I would take Nash over Parker and you have to consider Luis Scola at the PF spot. It’s not Dirty Dirk hands down. Patrick Mills has to get some consideration for the point as well as the young Ricky Rubio. I would still take Nash or Parker over those 2.

by P_Dizzle on Aug 26, 2008 1:17 PM MDT 0 recs

AK47? Really?

Was he interviewed by someone from Utah? AK47, really? He did have a better year last year than the previous one, but I think this year we are really going to see a more dominate front from the international players. International players are wanting to play in the NBA because it’s the worlds best league…The current NBA players are wanting to play internationally because of $$$. Anyways, to get back to the post, I would watch out this year, especially you Jazz fans :) for Rudy. We all had a chance to see him play this summer and played fantastic. His defense lacks, but with Coach Nate there, I’m sure he will come around just fine on the D. I also agree with P_Dizzle, that Yao should be there and not the worlds softest player in Gasol….

by ptownblazer1 on Aug 26, 2008 8:59 PM MDT 0 recs

Welcome to the blog.

Hey ptown,

I was surprised he said AK too, but there aren’t a lot of quality foreign small forwards in the league right now. Deng, Nocioni and Turkoglu are the only ones that come close and Andrei is better than all of them. In fact a few Blazer fans were on this site a couple days ago saying they would love to have AK on the Blazers for Martell and Raef Lafrentz’s expiring contract, so you can’t hate him too bad. I have heard good things about Rudy though.

The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.

by clarkpojo on Aug 26, 2008 9:52 PM MDT 0 recs

Parker's better than Nash...

now. At this point in their respective careers, I’d take Parker over Nash. Nash took a major step back last year in my opinion, and it’s just gonna get worse. Parker keeps getting better, as much as I hate any Spur. His jumper is improving, he’s better at distributing the ball than he used to be, and as always, he can get into the lane whenever he wants AND CAN FINISH.

Whitewater In The Morning

by neff on Aug 27, 2008 1:34 PM MDT 0 recs

What about Arroyo????

I like the starting five, but I’ve got a starting five that’ll knock the shoes off anyone that comes near them… Here’s my starting 5…

PG – Carlos Arroyo/Raul Lopez – (this was a tie for me, couldn’t pick one over the other; they’re both so good!)

SG – Šarūnas Jasikevičius – (Too bad the Jazz didn’t sign him over Indiana when he decided to bring his skills to the NBA, can you say NBA championship if we would have??? I can!!!)

SF – Herlander Coimbra – This guy has a lot of revenge in him, after all he was the one on the receiving end of Barkley’s elbow…)

PF – Antonis Fotsis – (This guy is rough, tough, and round; but his foot work is comparable to that of a ballerina… Silky Smooth!)

C – Wang Zhizhi – (China’s first NBA star, and also a cast off… What an athlete! Why Dallas let this guy get away is mind boggling…)

Now we all know the above starting five could have competed with the current Team USA for Gold in Beijing. It was a pretty tough decision coming up with the most athletic and talented starting 5 internationally but after a long methodical process I was able to narrow it down..

Play on!

by TWSSO on Aug 27, 2008 1:38 PM MDT 0 recs