THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180476
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Hampton Roads took on the world Wednesday night. Not surprisingly, the world won.
But the Boo Williams AAU all-stars at least kept it interesting before falling to the Nike Hoop Summit International team 97-72 at Hampton University.
The game was a warmup for the international squad, which will take on a team of U.S. high school stars Saturday in Charlotte in the second annual Nike Hoop Summit. It will be televised by CBS at 1 p.m.
The international players, who are from 10 countries and four continents, have been together only three days, and their lack of familiarity with one another showed at times Wednesday night.
But they were able to overcome it with a level of talent and size that suggests that in tomorrow's NBA, players could just as easily be named Vladimir or Alexandre as Michael or Scottie.
``All these guys could play Division I,'' said Scott Zanon, manager of grass-roots basketball for Nike. ``Not all of them are interested. But if you said, `Do you want to play in the NBA?' They'd all say yes.''
Most of the players, who were selected by FIBA, the international basketball agency, are 19 years old. One player, 7-foot Zizh Wang of China, is just 17.
Nike hatched the game a year ago to showcase international players - and to sell sneakers overseas, of course. The international team lost to the U.S. squad by nine points last year.
This year's team is better, Zanon said. The proof is in the way college coaches have been sniffing around the players. ``I've had a lot of calls from coaches wanting to come to the practices,'' Zanon said.
Language is an insurmountable barrier for many of the players. But Mark Dickel, a slick 6-1 point guard from New Zealand, has signed with Nevada-Las Vegas. Virginia is recruiting Craig McAndrew, a 6-9 forward from Australia.
Most of the others will return to club teams overseas, which for some foreign players, like Toni Kukoc and Vlade Divac, have been springboards to the NBA.
``You'll see more and more,'' Zanon said. ``You have to if you just think about the demographics and the sheer numbers of people involved.''
Foreign players have narrowed the gap to the point where the United States now feels compelled to send NBA players to the Olympics. Williams, who is on USA basketball's cadet committee, said the gap at the high-school-age level has been virtually eliminated.
``That's the best team we'll play all year,'' Williams said.
Williams' team was much younger than the international squad. Its best players, Jason Capel of Indian River and Ronald Curry of Hampton, are just sophomores. Eight of the 14 players on Williams' team were underclassmen.
And the local team showed that the United States still has an advantage over most foreign players when it comes to quickness.
``In Germany, we don't have to deal with that type of pressure,'' said international team captain Vladimir Bogojevic. ``Here, everybody's quicker - and jumps higher than us.''
Not everybody. But the local team gave the international team enough trouble to suggest that the international team will have its hands full against a U.S. team that will be bigger, stronger and more experienced than the one it faced Wednesday night. Curry, a 6-3 point guard, scored 23 points to lead the locals.
That's not to say the international team won't have its moments on Saturday.
``These guys are fundamentally sound,'' said Pat Knight, who is the son of Indiana's Bobby, and an assistant coach for the international team. ``American kids take the game for granted. They don't want to learn the fundamentals.
``Coaching these kids is a joy. . . . These guys here are like basketball was 10 years ago.''
And increasingly, what basketball will be like 10 years from now. by CNB