72 hours ago basketball fans were getting a scrumptious hoops smorgasboard in the 2011 Eurobasket final Spain-France as 11 current NBA players were gracing the floor and doing their magic which is as normal to them as New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady running his hurry up off, regular good loving parents taking in a broke former Superbowl champion with Chris Mcalister who blew his 55 million contract since 2004, or hackers hacking the cell phones of actress goddesses Mila Kunis or Scarlett Johansson, but the few 100 fans that made the way to the Skyliner practice facility BCM to witness the test game between the Fraport Skyliners and French first division team SIG Strassburg were in for a 2011 NBA draft pick treat. The game may not have been filled with as much glitz and gems as the 2011 Eurobasket final, but the court featured three 2011 NBA draft picks with Jon Leuer(Milwauke Bucks), Justin Harper(Cleveland Cavaliars) and Lavoy Allen(Philadelphia 76ers) which seemed like a mini smorgasboard appetizer. Despite SIG Strassburg winning the NBA draft pick battle 2-1, it was the Fraport Skyliners that were able to win for the second time against the French team within the last 4 days. He might be from the same college class with the 3 NBA draft pics, but Michael Thompson was in awe. “It was a great experience sharing the floor with the three draft picks. Harper is a great all around player and Allen has that nice mid range shot. I expect them to do big things in France”, stressed Michael Thompson. “All three NBA draft picks have big futures. I keep telling Jon Leuer that the key for him is not to play at the top level in Europe, but to get back to the NBA. If they keep working hard then they have a good chance of getting there”, added Skyliner Justin Gray. For ex BEKO BBL player Chris Oliver who is playing his first season in France, he wasn´t too much in awe about the possible future NBA flair on the court. “There is no difference if they are on the court or not. Everyone out on the court plays well. Leuer is very skilled kind of like Justin Harper, but he handles the ball better while Harper shoots the ball better. I wish all three the best of luck”, added ex Walter Tigers Tuebingen forward Chris Oliver.

(more…)