Players
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| Pepi Bela Bela in Uniform |
Bella hardly speaks any English but when he does it is usually hilarious. However, not knowing English presents a problem for learning a system from a coach who only speaks in English. Therefore Bella has his own freelance philosophy to running the offensive sets, which he would describe as "Bella go now." Bella is a very creative player but he also plays with reckless abandon which usually results in something very good or very bad. It wasn't that he lacked body control. Every time he drove to the basket it is like that moment in the movie Momento when the guy wake up from a dream and can't remember if he is running away from somebody or running after somebody. Bella is in incredible shape for a guy who constantly smokes cigarettes off the court.
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| Wale with one of his baby friends |
Even though I started and played significantly more than him, Wale was named to the All-star team over me which was a true testament to his personality. I will never understand how a Nigerian ended up in the coldest country in which I have ever lived, and continues to live there to this day. Wale once described his religious view to me as Christlum, a hybrid of the Christian and Muslim faiths of his parents. On the court Wales game was pure African rawness: the tenacity of an antelope mixed with the finesse of a rhinoceros. Wale liked to spend his time off the court by pursuing "Mooshoo" a term from the movie Rush Hour which apparently means "vagina."
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| Bobby |
Bobby was the team captain and only true veteran on the ABA Strumica team. He was the starting power forward for the team from Strumica that won the championship in 2007. After this he retired and seemingly disappeared from the public eye. .Nobody knows how old Bobby really is or what he was doing from 2008 to 2010 when he was not playing basketball. Some people say he was a pizza man, others say he was a professional assassin. All we know that the Bobby who came back in 2010 was a slower, older, and more jaded version of the young Bobby. The latter version relied on experience, veteran savvy and Jedi mind tricks to score points.
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| Mr. WATSON!! |
4. Mauricio Watson aka Mo (Aguada Montevideo (06))
Mauricio gets mentioned because I can't remember anyone else's name on this team. I was only in Uruguay for 2 weeks, partly because Mauricio told me "Did you hear our own fans just say that we need to leave or they will kill us." Potentially saving my life automatically vaults you into the top five. Thanks Mauricio.
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| Julius for the Jam |
I only hung out with Julius twice off the court. The first time we ended up in a Kaunas Casino until 11 a.m. as I watched him gamble away his entire monthly salary and part of mine. The second time was after a game in which he broke both arms and we ended up getting in a police chase that ended up with me taken in to custody and questioned in a language in which I didn't understand while a drunken Julius deflated the tires on the cop car parked outside the building where I was held captive.
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| D. in New York |
6. Darjan Hristov aka Danny aka D. aka Pero's boy (Stumica 2005 (05))
Darjan and I have a special bond because of our mutual understanding of living in the shadow our legendary fathers. My father was an NBA all star while his father was Macedonian folk music superstar. Darjan has the highest confidence I have ever seen for someone who only had marginal basketball talent. He would occasionally go off or completely shoot us out of the games. We once lost to a reality television show team (Toa sum Jas) which was undoubtably the lowest point of my basketball career. To this day he still tells everybody that he dunked on me, which either never happened or was so traumatic that I completely erased it from my memory.
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| Dixon in the hood |
Dixon is a multilingual, japanese-cartoon-watching, greek mythology reading, quasi vegetarian, swimming-pool-swimming black man. Dixon didn't make this list because he defies all stereotypes, but because he humbled himself enough to also serve as team equipment manager. Dixon would take some of the worst shots I have ever seen and occasionally make some while others you knew had no chance of hitting the rim as soon as they left his hand. However you always knew Mr. Dixon was there to work hard.
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| Jove at the beach |
Mr. Kurciev never talked much about his family, but several sources told me that his father was in the mafia. Once I learned that, I made sure that me and Jove were on good terms. Jove probably said he loved me more in the 4 months I knew him than all other men combined have during my lifetime.
9. Sebastian Lacayo Mora aka Coko (Sanatura Desamparados (12))The son of Costa Rican basketball legend Banana, Lacayo cares a lot more about living life than playing basketball. On the court Lacayo likes to foul and foul and foul again. When you look like a pro wrestler, it is hard to get love from the referees.
Honorable Mention: Jordan Joco Nokolov, Michael Jackson, Carnegie Richards, Huesos, Mario Hasonov, Ivan Cikarski
Coaching Staff / Management
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| Nic, Fernando, and Neil |
2 Stratos Koukoulekidis, Nesho Abazovic, Ace Angelov - ABA Strumica '11
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| A young Stratos |
Honorable Mention: The Jakus/Neso/Stimson regime, Simas Kruckauskas and his father
Cheerleaders
1. ABA Dance team: 5 year old Ruta propels them to the top: I will let the video explain:
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| Me and Lucy on Terrific Lady Day |
2. Lucitania Calderon
An excellent resource for talking trash. "You see that hot girl, that's my girl. Wheres your girlfriend? Oh, Scary J. Blige in the second row. HAHAHA!" However she can't get the top spot because the 2 biggest games of the playoffs, she was M.I.A. and there was drama between her and the water girl.
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| Hristina in Ochrid |
3. Hristina Runceva
She was very supportive, and possibly the smartest and most ambitious woman I know, but she loses major points for being a MZT fan. Sorry KiKi!!!