Due to their all-encompassing marketing machine (What if I told you that's its possible to run the same commercial 50 times in an hour?), anyone who watches ESPN on even a semi-regular basis can't help but be aware of their "30 For 30" documentary series (done in celebration of the monolith's 30th anniversary). As much as ESPN-produced fare can be annoying, we can't stress enough just how good these things are. We've seen pretty much every single one and they've all been excellent. We were skeptical at first but the movies are so non-ESPN (apparently the "E" is apparently way more important than the "S"), its not "Who's Next" or some bullshit like that, just excellent storytelling without catchphrases or product placement, i.e. the Coors Light 30 for 30 Pack of Movies. Watch them, you'll be glad you did.
One of our favorites so far was the one called "Once Brothers" which chronicles the rise of the Yugoslavian National Basketball Team in the mid-80's through its peak (winning the FIBA World Championships in 1990, beating both a United States team with collegiate versions of Kenny Anderson, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner and Billy Owens (before he sucked) and a Soviet Union team featuring a bunch of guys you've never heard of, for the gold) and its ultimate downfall as the country (and the team), which was made up of six socially and ethically diverse republics, was torn apart by a civil war that pitted two of its republics, Serbia and Croatia, and the players against each other.
The story is told through the eyes of former Yugoslavian National and NBA star, Vlade Divac (he of the excellent beard) as he retraces his basketball life from the beginning with particular emphasis placed on the strain the war put on Divac's, a Serb, relationships with his Croatian teammates, Toni Kukoc, Dino Raja and, most importantly, Drazen Petrovic. While tensions were running high in their homelands, the tipping point in the relationship between Divac and Petrovic came when, during the celebration of the Unified Yugoslavia's World Championship, Divac grabbed a Croatian flag from a reveler. Divac claimed it was meant only as a support of Yugoslavian pride, and wasn't meant as a slight to Croatia, but Drazen saw things differently, effectively ending their once brotherly relationship. The movie ends with Divac visiting a Petrovic memorial in Croatia (judging by the reaction to him on the streets of Zagreb, he remains disliked) and lamenting the fact that they never had the opportunity to reconcile before Petro's death in 1993 after his girlfriend fell asleep behind the wheel. Pretty powerful stuff, it even warmed our cold, frozen heart a few degrees.
What's really interesting to us, beyond the obvious question of whether a unified Yugoslavian team could have presented a challenge to the Dream Team in Barcelona (probably not, but its worth debating since the Croatian team lead by Petro, Kukoc and Raja but not Divac managed to play the USA the closest, losing by only 32 in gold metal game) were remembrances of Petrovic from both international and NBA players. Being persnickety, we wondered whether the stories were true or unintentional embellishment. Everybody knows dying young is great for your legacy.
Because Drazen died after the 1992-93 season, right before we really started to get into basketball meaning we never really got to watch him play. So while we can't dispute anything based on our first hand knowledge, we can go back and look the stats and accounts to figure out the answers to our 5 questions.
1. Was Petro really a Yugoslavian legend who averaged 40 ppg and often scored more than 60?
According to wikipedia (our source of truth for everything) this one pretty true. In the movie, Divac talks about how Petro was a basketball phenomenon dubbed "Basketball Motzart" (how Eurpoean!) from an early age and someone the younger players looked up to. Petro, who was about 4 years older than Divac, was certainly a phenom. He made the senior team of his club BC Sibenka (like it really matters what the name is) at 15 and by 17 he was the team's star as they finished second in the Yugoslavian championships. (he'd begin his long national team career two years later at age 19.) It seems logical that players like Divac would have heard about and been in awe of his exploits.
Two years later he'd leave for a bigger club, BC Itdoesntmatter, winning multiple domestic competitions as well as the European Cup in his first year. At that point, he could lay claim being one of, if not the best, non-NBA players in the world along with guys like Arvydas Sabonis (no he wasn't always the fat earthbound giant you saw with the Blazers), Oscar Schmidt (check out his scoring numbers in international competitions, yowza!) and some dude nicknamed Nick the Greek we just found (Nikos Galis, born in Jersey, played for the Greek national team). We'd say that qualifies as legendary, like if Lebron had been drafted to the Cavs after his sophomore year in high school, leaving the Cavs for the Heat at 21 and leading the team to the NBA Championship.
As for his scoring exploits, while basketball stats aren't exactly readily available for mid to late-80's eastern bloc countries, they seem pretty legit too. During his 4 year stint with his second club team, BC Itdoesntmatter, he averaged a husky 37.7 ppg in domestic leagues and 33.8 in European competitions with game highs of 112 (holy shit!) and 62 respectively. Not quite 40 ppg but its close enough. Bottom line, the dude could flat out score, but he could pass too, hitting for 45 while dishing out 25 assists in a particular game.
Petro's appeal went beyond mere stats and accomplishments, though. If you watch the video, you'll see a guy who was tough, competitive and a pretty darn excitable (we'd be excited too if we sported that sweet Cro-Fro). We also flair for the dramatic pass (check out the multiple, in the air, through the legs passes, just jaw dropping) and deep deep dagger 3. It's easy to understand why fans would have loved him.
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2. Was Petro just a victim of the numbers game in Portland?
After moving on to more success with European power Real Madrid, Petro left Europe, fresh off a Player of the Year award, and headed to join the Portland Trailblazers in 1989 (Portland had snagged him with the 60th pick in 1986). Like many foreign players, even those who come over today, Drazen faced a healthy dose of skepticism about whether he could really play on the NBA level despite his accomplishments and had to prove himself. Complicating things was the fact that, even if they have the skill and athleticism, sometimes players used to being the best guy on their team and having the ball in their hands all the time have trouble adjusting when they're asked to play a different role. During his first two years in the league, Petro didn't do much to prove that he belonged. In retrospect its clear he could play, but looking at the circumstances of the time you can see how he might have gotten buried. First, when he got there the Blazers featured one of the better backcourts in the league with Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, meaning his minutes would be limited in the first place. Additionally, the Blazers were really good, reaching the NBA finals (they lost to the Bad Boy Pistons) and were unlikely to play an unproven player all that much in those spare minutes anyway. Still, in his 12 minutes a game, Petro showed the scoring touch that made him famous hitting for a solid 7.7 ppg.
In his second season, any chance that he might have had to breakout was squashed with the Blazers' acquisition of Danny Ainge. Fortunately, Drazen was traded mid-season to the Nets for a 1st rounder and, with an increase in playing time, averaged 12 ppg for the remainder of the season.
3. Where the Nets really a team on the rise before Petro's death?
Hard to believe right? It's true, the New Jersey Nets, the same team that once sold Dr. J and routinely plays in front of crowds numbering in the low 100s, were once one of the most exciting young teams around (think 2007 Blazers - Roy, Aldrige and pre-injury Old Man Oden. Not quite 2010 Thunder hype). In Drazen's first full year with the team, the Nets had the prior year's #1 overall pick and reigning Rookie of the Year, Derrick Coleman averaging 18 and 10 and looking like a potential franchise cornerstone and a player who, before everyone realized he was a dog, supposed to be THE next great power forward (despite being considered a bust he still average 16 and 9 over his career and 19 and 10 with the Nets). To compliment DC, the team used the #2 overall pick in that year's draft to pick Kenny Anderson, the NYC phenom out of Georgia Tech, who was considered one of the next great point guards. It's hard to look back and separate guys from their accomplishments or lack thereof, but when you think about what the perception of these guys was at the time and its easy to see why people were so optimistic. Add in Petro's breakout performance, upping his average to a team-high 20 ppg while chipping in 3 assists and 3 rebounds and shooting 44% from 3 and 51% overall and the other role players on the roster like Mookie Blaylock (if you ignore points he's better than Iverson), Sam Bowie & Chris Dudley in the middle and backboard breaker Chris Morris on the win (we once taped our hands up like him and tried to break a 7-foot rim, needless to say, we were a huge loser) and it was a good time to be a Nets fan. Unfortunately, it only lasted 2 playoff appearances before it all fell apart.
4. Petro v. Jordan?
At one point in the movie, Kenny Anderson recounts how Petro used to go right at MJ, never backing down and at times going shot for shot with the GOAT. At first we wanted to call bullshit. We could figure that Drazen wouldn't be intimidated but nobody really hung with MJ. Not only did he have an unmistakable aura that intimidated opponents but he was All NBA 1st Team Defense 9 times. We looked at the stats for their head-to-head match-ups and while it would be an extreme overstatement to say he matched him, Petro didn't seem phased. If you start in 1992 after Drazen got himself acclimated to the swamp, he routinely got to his average of 21 ppg (to Jordan's 32). He certainly wasn't intimidated and in the world of MJ challengers, you could say that an 11 point spread qualifies as going toe-to-toe. We'll leave the final word to MJ himself (from wikipedia, of course)
It was a thrill to play against Drazen. Every time we competed, he competed with an aggressive attitude. He wasn't nervous; he came at me as hard as I came at him. So, we've had some great battles in the past and unfortunately, they were short battles.Pretty high praise from a guy who insulted everyone imaginable during his Hall-of-Fame speech.
5. What could Petro have done if he lived?
We're not equipped to do any fancy statistical modeling to project his stats so we'll have to go with the old fashioned, who did he play like comparison? As a Net, Drazen averaged 21 ppg, 3 assists and 3 rebounds, shot about 45 % from deep and 51% overall and made 3rd Team All-NBA his last season. Basically, he was a gunner who didn't add that much more to the stat sheet, but did what he did very well and at a very high percentage.
If you look at his similarity scores he profiles the same as current guys like Mona Ellis, Rudy Gay and Brandon Roy. We don't really like any of these comps - Gay rebounded more, Roy was better in both rebound and assist while Ellis' shooting percentages are much too low. We think the better comps are guys like Michael Redd (20 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg, 45% fg, 38% 3s) and Ben Gordon (18, 2 &; 2, 44% & 40%). Still, we think Petro was much more dynamic then either guy and was certainly more efficient based on shooting percentages.
So, who does he compare to?
Well, the guy we keep coming back to is Reggie Miller. The numbers look similar, in Reggie's best year (89-90 season), he averaged 24, 4 & 4, while shooting 51% from the field and 41% from 3/ Guys like Mitch Richmond and Ray Allen are also in the same statistical realm but what makes the Reggie comparison really stuck for us is the personality, they both seemed to embody that same type of confidence and swagger, going after MJ, talking shit and knocking down ridiculous jumpers.
So, our guess is that had Petro not gotten in that car crash, his career arc probably would have been close to Reggie's, he would have at times been considered a Top 3-5 shooting guard, been named to a hand full of All-Star Games and a couple of 3rd team All-NBAs, author some memorable performances and be absolutely beloved by his fans. That's not too bad.
As it stands now, Petro deserves to be remembered as a great, great European/International player and one of the pioneers (along with Divac, etc.) in helping open the NBA to foreign players and should be thanked by fans who enjoy watching Dirk, Gasol, Manu and Parker and cursed by fans of teams who drafted Darko and Nicholas Tskitishvili. That's not too bad either but oh what could have been.
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