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Part One of Two

A Greek Bearing Gifts for the Philadelphia 76ers?

By Alexander Kitroeff
Rentzias will have to adjust to the US style of basketball, both on and off the court.
  • Part Two

    Any lingering doubts that Efthimios Rentzias might have had about entering a new basketball world by moving from Barcelona to the Philadelphia 76ers were extinguished in his first formal contact with the press. Toward the end of a team practice in July at the 76ers' state-of-the-art indoor facility, located at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a screen covering a row of windows high up on one side of the court was raised. Peering down on the court through the windows were seven TV cameras and about 50 members of the media.

    As the practice ended, the media were ushered downstairs and assembled on the side of the court. The coach and general manager exchanged a few words at center court and then strode purposefully toward the sideline. Stung into action, the media swarmed around them, flashlights popping and video cameras whirring.

    Rentzias, meanwhile, eyed the media swirl warily, seated on the other side of the court. For the moment, he had it easy. He was providing answers to questions put to him by fans via the team's Website to a 76ers staff member. One fan wanted to know why he had turned to basketball in a country where soccer was predominant. "I am a member of the generation of 1987, "he answered, a reference to the year the Greek national team won the European Championship by defeating the Soviet Union in the final. Back in 1987, Efthimios Rentzias was 11 years old and growing up in Trikala, a town of just under 140,000 inhabitants in central Greece. One of Trikala's most famous sons is Christos Papanikolaou, who held the world record in pole-vaulting from October 1970 to April 1972. It was basketball that captured young Efthimios's imagination, however, and, in the wake of Greece's miracle on the court, he switched to the sport from soccer. In 1993, he made it to the big leagues when he moved from his local team Danaos to PAOK Thessaloniki. Two years later, he was named most valuable player in the Junior World Championship of 1995, playing for the Greek junior national team that beat the United States on the way to winning the tournament. In 1997, he moved from PAOK across the Mediterranean to Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona.

    Soon, the media throng quickly crossed the court and surrounded the team's Greek player. “How did an accomplished 26-year-old player who had tasted success in Europe feel playing in a practice for young rookie players?” a reporter asked. Rentzias's answer was true to the culture of most - if not all - top Greek and European athletes; it conveyed a sense of self-effacing modesty less common among top American athletes. "I am rookie," Rentzias responded, "I have come here to learn." Coach Larry Brown, he added, could teach him a great deal. Pressed about what he thought about the other players at the practice, the Greek player described them as "good," a term that implies more praise in Greece than it does in the United States, where superlatives dominate the sports vocabulary.

    Learning the game is one of the big man's top priorities.
    Another NBA characteristic that Rentzias will have to get used to is a near obsession with individual statistics. In contrast, biographical information about a player in Europe will mention the achievements of the team first, with a player's individual statistics following. These disparate yardsticks reflect differences in the way the game is played on the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean. As taught by its pioneers in the Old World, the Soviets and Yugoslavs, basketball European-style relies more on athleticism and team play, rather than on individualistic displays that can take on an in-your-face quality. Antonis Fotsis, the Greek player who spent the 2001-02 season with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, said that the style of play is more individualized in the U.S. compared to Europe. There was, he said, greater stress in the United States on opponents confronting each other "one on one" based on their own skills, with less reliance on teammates.

    One of the questions fired at Rentzias focused on his individual statistics. A Philadelphia Daily News reporter asked him whether the coach at Barcelona kept him on the bench a little longer than a normal rest-time would warrant in order to keep "his numbers down" and therefore diminish his marketability at a time when his contract at Barcelona was up for renewal. Playing in the Spanish league and the European league for Barcelona last season, Rentzias averaged 9.2 points (61.6 percent from the field, 71.4 percent from the foul line) and 3.5 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per contest in 51 games. Taken aback by the logic as much as the phrasing of the question, Rentzias turned to a Greek bystander with an inquisitive expression on his face. Upon hearing the translation, he looked surprised and answered with a monosyllabic "No!"

    Alex Kitroeff is a professor at Haverford College, where he teaches courses on European history, and sport and society. He was born in Greece and educated in England, where received his PhD from Oxford University. He is a contributor to greekworks.com and is currently completing a book on Greece and the modern Olympic Games.