Not trying to be funny.

[BlackHawkDown]

With the flood of European players entering the league why are next to none of them from Russia. The Soviets had the second best basketball program in the world during the 70's and 80's. A Russian team even beat the Hawks on a trip they made in 87 to the USSR. Why hasn't it yielded NBA players. Players are coming out of the former Yugoslavia, whose program was good but not as good, and a few former soviet states. But nonetheless far too many are coming from Western Europe. Why? Are we not scouting former Russian players? If anyone has info please let me know.

[cyman3]

has a good basketball program there... and has relationships with us. Its very easy to go there and scout a player, receive stats (via internet), etc....

Russia is not exactly best friends with the US.... i can see some problems occuring if we tried to steal some of their best players...

[Nique21]

The Russians have produced some good NBA players and a lot of hockey players. Now with good ol' democracy in the country, they have gotten very lazy. The average weight for citizens of that country has been soaring, a lot like ours. Even the hockey program in Russia is lacking, and basketball even more. They don't put money into any of the sports activities and the politicians has made it hard for sports programs to thrive. They are trying to change it with Putin in charge, but so far it's just words. If they ever get serious about it, you would see at least two Russians in the first round of the NBA draft every year, and the NHL would be flooded with Russians.

[beav]

A lot of it has to do with the differences between the soviet union and russia... most of the great players were from former soviet republics of which there were quite a few (over a dozen I know)...

sarunas marculionis, sabonis were from lithuania for example...

I also believe that the draft pick from denver (tskivili? sp?) is Georgian which is another former soviet republic...

A great portion of the soviet unions population was also in these republics... for example eastern russia is relatively desolate population wise...

also you can factor in visa issues that would not happen with western european countries...

[BlackHawkDown]

Good point but I had always heard the real talent of the Soviet empire was in the Russian Republic. But that might have just been propoganda.

[chillzatl]

I think what you meant is that the USSR had a good basketball program. Well, the USSR is gone and a lot of the countries that they used to be able to pick from for their players are their own countries now. So you hear about players coming from these smaller countries that used to be part of the larger soviet union.

[BlackHawkDown]

Chillzat that is what I am saying Russia composed 64% of the Soviet population. And was supposedly dominate in every aspect of Soviet life. But I am starting to think it was more Russian ethnic propoganda than anything else.