The continental drift of European basketball

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain — A couple of weeks ago, the major independent European basketball publication ran a headline heralding the first triple-double this season in the Euroleague, the elite professional competition that has been the source of starters for several playoff-bound NBA teams.

The triple-double came as a surprise to me, the editor of the official Euroleague Web site, until I read more closely. The player in question indeed had scored 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, but his numbers after that were clearly single-digit. No matter: The reporter simply added the player's assists (7) to his steals (3) and his blocked shots (1) to get a third double-digit total, 11. Presto! A triple-double!

That sounds desperate, yes, but do not feel sorry for European basketball, even if some of its best players will represent cities like Sacramento, Dallas and Memphis this week in the NBA all-star festivities. Like the gleam off the freshly minted continental currency, the five Euros in the rookie game on Saturday and two more in Sunday's headliner - Dirk Nowitzki and Predrag Stojakovic - are a source of pride on this side of the pond. As "pure" Europeans - direct transplants with no NCAA pit stops for reprogramming - they prove what is already evident here: A decade after the Dream Team took the sport global, Europe gets more game every day.

What changed? Plenty, on both continents. Last season, almost 50 years after the NBA, the rest of the world finally adopted the 24-second clock, forcing at least 20 extra possessions into every 40-minute game. That finger-snapping beat will soon make for speedier players and higher scores, but Europeans could always fill it up. When Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale came to the continental Final Four in 1998 to sign his current starting center, Radoslav Nesterovic, the NBA was enduring another season of defensive struggles.

"I love what I'm seeing here, the team play, the ball movement, everything," McHale said that night. "I wish the NBA had this kind of passing and shooting again."

McHale may get his wish. This season, the NBA has recognized quasi-zone defenses to encourage ball movement. Outside shooting will be needed to break the zones. Europeans of all sizes excel in shooting and moving the ball, perhaps because the dreaded "isolation" play is almost unheard of here.