Former NBA guard just joined the Montenegrin national team
June 19th, 2010
They’re coming thick and fast; yet another American in Europe has picked up a passport of a minor European team in order to further their career ambitions. But unlike some of those that have gone before him, this one has multiple years of NBA experience. And that’s because he was a first-rounder.
The country is Montengro, and here’s a clue as to who the player is. Answer after the jump.
Per Eurobasket.com, Montenegro have announced their latest national team squad. In it is the new guy. It would appear that unlike some of his predecessors, the new guy is going to actually play for the nation that sold him the passport. It’s the noble thing to do.
The list is not a bad list. Montenegro aren’t factors in the world of sport generally, but they can play basketball. They can particularly produce big men. NBA draft picks Nikola Pekovic and Slavko Vranes are listed there, as are Peja Drobnjak (who churned in a few memorable seasons of NBA time) and Vladimir Dasic (who might be drafted this year). Former NBA draft picks no longer involved in the national team setup, but who once were, include Zarko Cabarkapa and Mladen Sekularac. There’s also Dante and Galante favourite Vladimir Golubovic, as well as Milko Bjelica, a quality player with a name like a pudding. And there’s always Sasha Pavlovic, which is cool.
However, they’ve struggled to find as much guard quality. Montenegro have a couple of decent guards placed in strong European leagues – Vlado Scepanovic with Murcia in Spain, Goran Jeretin with Aliaga in Turkey – but their guard production does not have the pedigree of their big man production. To counter that, two years ago, the team recruited ex-St John’s point guard Omar Cook, who has played the position for the national team ever since.
And now they’ve added Quincy Douby.
Douby started last year with the Toronto Raptors on a 25% guaranteed contract. He was waived early in the season and went to Turkey to play for Darussafaka, where he led the Turkish league in scoring by almost five points per game and was named a TBL All-Star, despite not playing a full season and being on the last-placed team. He already had American and Dominican Republic nationality, but had played for neither national side. Now, he’s going to be joining the Montenegrins.
More importantly, the passport will greatly facilitate his European career. He’s probably not coming back to the NBA again, and so he might as well do this. It’s mutually beneficial. Douby is trying to step up from a lower-calibre Turkish team to a higher-level EuroLeague side, and while A.J. Milano have already passed on signing him, his new Montenegrin citizenship will add to his attractiveness.
