| Spurs Seek Foreign Aid |
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By Johnny Ludden
Three years after Tony Parker slid to them at the bottom of the first round of the NBA draft, the Spurs think they might have found his backup in the same place.
The Spurs used the 28th pick ? the same one they used to take Parker -- Thursday night to select Beno Udrih, a 6-foot-3, 22-year-old point guard from Slovenia.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich thinks the team won?t have to wait long for Udrih (pronounced BAY-no OO-drick) to contribute. In addition to backing up Parker, the Spurs think he has the size to occasionally play next to him.
"He's really a clever ball handler, passer, decision maker," Popovich said. "He's good on the break. He's very good on the pick-and-roll. He can shoot the basketball. He's really an all-around kid.
"He has the speed he needs to play in the NBA. He guards the ball well, he has toughness, he'll stick his nose in. Team defense he'll probably have to work on like most Europeans, but overall he has all the skills to be a good point guard in this league."
"We got another foreigner," Popovich said in announcing Udrih's selection to the media. Actually, they got four of them.
The Spurs used their two second-round picks on Xavier guard Romain Sato and Sergei Karavlov, a 7-foot-1, 22-year-old center from Uzbekistan. Sato, 23, averaged 16.3 points and helped lead the Musketeers to their first Elite Eight appearance last season. He was born in Africa. Karavlov will remain overseas.
The Spurs also acquired the rights to 18-year-old Georgian forward Viktor Sanikidze in a deal with Atlanta. The Hawks took Sanikidze with the 42nd selection in the second round and traded him to the Spurs for their 2005 second-round pick and cash.
Sanikidze (6-foot-8) played in France last season and will remain overseas, though the Spurs think he very well could develop into the best player of the group. He is an energetic forward with do-it-all skills in the mold of Utah's Andrei Kirilenko.
"At the end of night," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said, "we walked away with some guys we're pretty darn excited about."
The Spurs tried to trade up to get St. Joseph's point guard Jameer Nelson, college basketball's consensus national player of the year, and high-school forward Dorell Wright, but were unsuccessful. Wright went to Miami at No. 19. The Spurs had a deal with Utah for the 21st pick, but Denver took Nelson at No. 20 and traded him to Orlando. The future first-round pick the Magic gave Denver likely will be better than any offered by the Spurs, who have typically drafted at the bottom of the first round.
The Spurs were more than happy to get Udrih, whom they have watched for three years. Along with Nelson and Wright, he was in a group of three players they had targeted heading into the draft. If Udrih had not been available, the Spurs would have traded their pick.
"We were waiting with the same anticipation we had for Tony Parker," Popovich said. "We thought he would go anywhere from five to 10 spots before us. Just like the year we got Tony, people picked other players and he dropped to us.
"We couldn't be happier with our pick. When you?re picking that low and you get a quality player, you feel real good about it."
Udrih's stock may have fallen as he bounced from team to team this past season. He played in Russian's Superleague, but hurt his ankle then left when he didn't get paid. He went to Greece, hoping to get certified to play there, but that didn't work. At the end of the season, he was playing for Breil Milano in Italy, where he averaged 10.8 points and 2.3 assists in 25.8 minutes.
Maccabi Tel Aviv, who own Udrih's rights, have until July 1 to exercise an option on him for next season. Buford said he doesn't expect to have any trouble negotiating a buyout with the team in the next few days.
Udrih played well at Chicago's pre-draft camp and again impressed the Spurs when he worked out for them at their practice facility last week.
"My agent told me I was going to be a late second-round pick or not get drafted at all, so I really needed to do my best,? Udrih said by phone from New York, where he attended the draft. "Chicago was a good opportunity for me."
Udrih will be the Spurs' ninth international player on their roster in the past year and their second Slovenian. He played briefly with Rasho Nesterovic on Slovenia's national team, but got to know him a little better when he visited San Antonio last week.
"I'm very optimistic," Udrih said. "I was always a team player. I know Tony has a lot of energy and I have a lot of energy, so hopefully I can help him when he needs it.
"I've always liked the Spurs. Back when Tim Duncan and David Robinson played together, I loved them."
Used courtesy of: San Antonio Express-News |
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