"Local ballers dream of playing abroad" -- Feb. 7, 2006

By C. Jennings Breakey
The Western Front

Bellingham Slam forward and former Western basketball player Craig Roosendaal sank 80 three-pointers in his final season with the Vikings last year, some of them far beyond the arc.

But none of his treys compare with his next move — Roosendaal might shoot beyond American borders next year.

The 6-foot-7-inch sharp-shooter might play overseas in 2007. International hoops isn’t like U.S. basketball, he said.

From salaries to players’ styles on the court, basketball outside of the United States is a different ball game, Roosendaal said.

“You could go over there and have one great year, and that will set you up for the rest of your career,” Roosendaal said. “Or you could go there and they could send you home after a week, and then you have to start all over.”

Most basketball divisions in foreign countries permit only two American players per team, said Western men’s assistant basketball coach Tony Dominguez.

“If you’re an American, you better score, or you’re gone,” he said. “A European team needs to get a better player than their local guy, or it doesn’t make any sense.”

American players’ athleticism used to impress basketball fans overseas because teams in foreign countries primarily focus on teaching players fundamentals such as shooting and basic ball handling, Dominguez said.

International basketball leagues are about finesse more than scoring, he said. Players shoot more threes, not much action occurs in the paint and referees don’t call many fouls.

“They just don’t want to go down there and get beat up,” Dominguez said. “Its like a blood-fest (overseas).”

However, international basketball changed when Argentina beat the United States 89-81 in a semi-final game of the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Dominguez said now that international teams can beat NBA teams, the glamour and glitz of American hoops is wearing off. U.S. players now have to score more to play overseas because international teams could perform equally well with players from their respective countries, Dominguez said.

Chris Morrison, who played point guard for Western from 1995 to 1996, averaged 15 points and eight assists per game overseas en route to a Division II championship, Dominguez said.

He was cut after the season because his team wasn’t satisfied with his statistics, he said.

“They won the whole thing and they cut him because he didn’t score 25,” Dominguez said. “They were loving him, but then said, ‘We want more.’ ”

Foreign countries typically have three to four divisions of basketball, Dominguez said. Division I is similar to the NBA, except games aren’t televised regularly, he said.

Fans and officials oversees treat Division I players the same as Americans treat NBA players, Dominguez said.

“If you’re Lebron (James), people bow down to you,” he said. “If you’re not, people don’t care.”

Roosendaal’s teammate and Bellingham Slam point guard Caleb Gervin, 25, played in a Germany Division II league in 2005. This year, he had the opportunity to play overseas in Division I, but turned it down to play with the Slam.

He said he had more free time playing international ball but couldn’t pursue a college degree overseas. The stress of leading his team in scoring every night is draining, he said.

“We knew that we had to perform every night and if we didn’t, that we would hear about it,” Gervin said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself and had a pretty good year.”

Gervin pulled in 22 points per game, averaging five rebounds and four assists while playing in Germany. Despite working hard for his numbers, Gervin said the difficult part of playing international basketball was adapting culturally, adjusting to language, food and climate — things most Americans overlook.

Western’s men’s basketball head coach Brad Jackson said a player’s ability to adapt to different cultures is often harder than playing basketball.

“Guys that have gone, and maybe struggled a little bit, often times it has to do with other stuff, not the basketball,” he said. “Language, living, customs, food — just depending on how persnickety you are.”

Only the top two divisions in international basketball pay their players considerable wages but players can make a living suiting up for any of the international leagues, Jackson said.

Some players make the transition to international basketball just because they’ve never been abroad.

“For a young guy just getting out of college and wanting to play ball for a while, it’s a great outlet,” he said.

Jackson said it helps to have overseas connections when a player wants to play international basketball. Sometimes it comes down to networking just like any other sport, he said.

“There’s a lot of politics and who you know games at any level in every sport,” Jackson said. “But most often, if guys are diligent and keep working at it and are a good enough player, there are opportunities that pop up.”

Vikings senior forward Tyler Amaya, Roosendaal’s roommate and teammate last year, is also considering international basketball next year.
Amaya said most of the players he knows overseas make a decent living with free room, board, vehicle and some money allowance from their respective teams.

“I kind of want to try the overseas thing and see a different part of the world, and if I’m lucky enough to break my way into a career with it. That would be great,” he said. “Basketball doesn’t last forever, so I just want to milk it for what it’s worth.”

C. Jennings Breakey / The Western Front

Bellingham Slam forward Craig Roosendaal checks the scoreboard after a timeout in their game against the Bellevue Blackhawks on Jan. 10.