Don't get me wrong. I'm not taking the Aryan Brotherhood tack about the destruction of the white race. I dig a lot of black players, in fact, I gained a lot by playing against them on playgrounds and especially in my CO job at the Salvation Army youth club in the hood in Seattle. I remember once in NYC, Washington Square Park, 1973, we were warming up and one big blood with multiple scars and a voice like Barry White pointed at me said, "Hey man, I want that dude on my team." Highest praise for a white boy ball player.

Still, it makes me wonder why us whiteys, specially American whiteys, frequently don't seem to stack up too well against the brothers in roundball. We know it's not impossible cuz Rick Barry was one of the greatest ever (and one of the greatest in arrogance too, but oh well). Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, John Havlicek, and Larry Byrd were pretty good as well.

Then I see Dirk Nowitzki, 7 foot tall and dribbling like a guard, and the guy can shoot. He's got his weak spots, but not bad. And he's a Deutschlander!

Several good players from Eastern Europe and Russia over the years. And the SA Spurs guy from Argentina, Manu Ginobili, is way good. Now the number one draft pick is a white Italian 7 footer. Doesn't mean he's the best player available, of course. Every front office knows that a whitey who can compete is good box office. Adds some racial balance to the game and helps to salve the wounded white ego.

Maybe the Gonzaga star, Adam Morrison, will help to save white American face. He went 3rd. Hope the diabetes doesn't hold him back.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

White Men Can't Jump !!

:d

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

That's right, European lead the world in whitey roundball jocks working for Americans.

This is an interesting topic, and one that I have thought a lot about in light of Dirk in the finals and the USA's BB performance in the Olympics. It occurs to me that the NBA has actually hindered the athletic purity of the game. The NBA is pure entertainment, and not nearly enough success in the league is dependent upon actual BB talent as required by the "real" rules of the game. The NBA creates and protects superstars; in doing so, they discourage effective defense (read: D Wade in the finals -- breathe near the guy and he's shooting free throws). The NBA is its own entity, VERY different from international basketball; that's why the US isn't doing as well in international play. The NCAA is probably a better recruiting ground for olympic BB talent these days.

Maybe the influx of Euro-talent will get the NBA to rethink their unofficial policy of star-making, and encourage them to start enforcing the rules on a more consistent basis. In the meantime, I won't go near an NBA game. Too frustrating to see the favorites get all the calls -- give me college ball where a team can spread the points around and share the glory.

So yeah... what were we talking about?

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

I haven't been to a live NBA game in decades...since the 70s maybe early 80s. I barely watch on TV til the playoffs. The 3 point shot has done serious damage to the game, IMHO.

The game was much more interesting back in the 60s and 70s. The old Celtics, with Russel, Havlicek, and the Joneses were something to behold and the Knicks with Reed, DeBuscher (sp), Bradley, Frazier, and Burnett were one of the most exciting teams ever. I was a big Paul Silas fan. Hardest working guy in B-Ball. He was with Seattle the year they were runners up and the next year when they won the title.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Anything that doesn't play to your strengths is trivial and meaningless, I suppose.

My theory on why blacks do better, part of it anyway, is that, broadly speaking, American blacks in the last 100 years were much more likely to have to subsist on simple, inexpensive but wholesome fare, such as black eyed peas, collard greens, and corn bread. Think that's a stereotype? I've met a lot of black people who would disagree with you. Also, physical scuffling as children seems to be more accepted in the black community than for white kids who are more and more subjected to a sheltered, nanny-state environment. Look at animals: play is mock fighting.

By contrast, whiteys like me grew up on a complicated, overly sugar and shortning laden menu. Add the fascination with computer games and easy living, and you have the degeneration of modern Americans, now afflilcting blacks more and more as well.

One reason the military is such a bastion of male bonding and pride, IMO, is that basic training and simpler, more wholesome diet gives a lot of guys the best experience with fitness they've had in their lives. Even so, the gooks in Nam were more hardy physically than GI Joe and I believe it's part of the reason we were bested there.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Welcome to the wonderful world of eugenics. That's basically how the Nazis explained Jesse Owens.

Think MVP. Think Canada.

The Canadian menace! jayzus!

Curses, I've been tied in with the Nazis. Woe is me.

Booo-$h!t. I'm talking environment, diet, and exercise/recreation habits.

I'm not saying one race is better than another nor should one be.

Another factor could be the fact that the blacks brought in chains to America had been living a hunter/gatherer life style much more recently than the Europeans, for the most part. I gather that hunter/gatherers were in general, more robust than agriculturists. I'll not be dissuaded from trying to discern useful information by flimsy charges of Nazi eugenics.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Oh, that's right. Nash is from Canada, isn't he? I looked him up, says he was born in Johannesburg, S.A. Didn't say where he went to high school.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

In any case, I suppose it's the same situation. In the U.S., white basketball players are largely overshadowed by the athletic prowess of their black counterparts, so many opt for another sport. Does that sound reasonable?

That could be a factor. OTOH, I was reading where some coaches were saying they thought the average athletic quality of American youth was declining. Best guess was video games eclipsing more traditional playground activities.

I remember when I was in my early teens. We had some techno type play that involved no real exercise -- pinball machines and slot car racing (1/24th scale, at an establishment -- as opposed to smaller home systems). I hate to sound like the ol' pooper-roo but my nephews spend unbelievable amounts of time on computer games. The oldest is way overweight, has his living room filled with about 9 state of the art computers (2 like-minded room-mates). He's in IT and can easily afford it but there's something wrong with the picture IMO.

My old man was some kind of physical specimen. I flatter myself to say that I'm 70 to 80% the man he was, even if I may have figured out a few things that he tripped up on til the end of his days. My nephews won't even rise that far at the rate they're going. And here's playboy cmac, frittering away his youth and forgetting to have kids.

It's not too late. I better get busy though. Somebody's got to give rise to white boy round ball players.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Adam Morrison will only be a decent player if and when he decides to play defense.

Also, Do you have any players other than Dirk to bolster your euro-white-guys-are-better theory?

How about Darko? He went in front of Carmelo and Dwayne Wade, and has turned out to be absolute crap. The Nuggets also had a high Euro draft pick from a few years ago that was promising. Can't remember his name but I know he's not here anymore. He's probably not even in the NBA anymore.

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Pxland

2001 Honda Accord

1995 Jeep Cherokee

1973 MB 280SEL 4.5

Stever Kerr.