He may well be the reigning vice-world champion with the Albiceleste and one of the most referenced players in Europe for years, his pedigree will only really gain value in the event of the North League. American. This need for confrontation at the top, evolution and search for recognition is probably what pushed Facundo Campazzo to join the NBA and the Denver Nuggets during this offseason. Many Latin or European seasoned and experienced in Euroleague games and more broadly in FIBA basketball attempted the great adventure late before him, with varying fortunes. At 29, the explosive former leader of Real Madrid is trying his luck in the big league but, on the overloaded post 1 of the Nuggets, does he have the profile to succeed?
Facundo Campazzo in a few lines? Triple winner of the Spanish championship in 2015, 2018 and 2019 with the Madrilenians, double winner of the Euroleague in 2016 and 2019 still with Real. 2019 was a prosperous year since with also a Spanish Supercup on the clock, the associated MVP trophy as well as the same personal award for the Finals of the victorious championship, he has, more or less, everything in Spain. We will spare you his years in the country where he will have also made a few full boxes with his Peñarol Mar Del Plata, not to mention his Argentinian national team, always very successful in due time. Yes but here it is… To quote Sanka of Rasta Rockett, “that’s a track record, not a pedigree! “. Not that the two data are diametrically opposed eh, but if the first can go without the second, the second does not go without the first. Facundo Campazzo is a great FIBA player, he now wants to prove that he is a great player… period.
The stated thesis is a bit harsh with international basketball. We all like to defend our colors at the World Championships as a cocorico and there is, for example, no greater pride for the Limougeauds than their European title in 1993, but at a time of over-democratization of the NBA and basketball spectacle in French thatched cottages, the observation is real: a player who wants to be great must confront the Big League. Not a question of level or talent, on the contrary, but of accomplishments. The point is simple, when it comes to making a top 100 best basketball player, you will first look at what happened on the 50 state side, and we won’t blame you. In fact, the situation is far from new, young prospects from all over the world only grow up thinking about the Draft and build their careers accordingly so as not to miss the boat. However, some will seek to become as hard as possible in Europe before taking the step across the Atlantic or not.
A formidable supplier of talent, European club basketball knows how to trust young players and will create intrigue in the NBA franchise which is gradually fighting its difficulty in turning to international talent. This Euroleague basketball trains these young players, strengthens them, makes them grow and sometimes even teaches them to win (Mr. Doncic, good morning). But to too long playing on the floors of the Old Continent, the cogs taken no longer become weapons for the future NBA career but serve players who will have more and more difficulty in fitting into the American mold thereafter.. If the desire for US basketball appears late, the style of play that will have imbued the player will hardly be compatible with the NBA, especially for players on the back lines. The physical, athletic and pragmatic league leaves no room for the Europeanized basketball IQ of certain aesthetes of the orange ball. Best example of its kind: Milos Teodosic. Monster of European basketball, the Serbian, an exceptional leader, has never succeeded in winning among Clippers unable to trust him. Conversely, his fellow citizen of 2m24 Boban Marjanovic less… well more… well different we would say, will have crossed the Atlantic at the age of 27 and rendered proud services in the NBA, while legends here have also become there- low despite a late arrival, we think of the illustrious Arvydas Sabonis and Drazen Petrovic.
The point is, El Mago is closer to Teodosic than Marjanovic, no kidding. Unpredictable ferryman, fine technician with a scorching vista and that hint of South American grinta that pleases so much further north, Facundo Campazzo needs the ball as much as the Nuggets need the confidence. If Mike Malone seems charmed and we get excited about theinternational team taking shape in Denver with Niko Jokic and Jamal Murray, the extension of Monte Morris for three years complicates the task of Facu, especially as the room for maneuver of the Argentinian will be reduced in the face of Americans who will not fail to underline this particular route in case of adaptation difficulties. Advantage for the 29-year-old leader, he has already experienced a big life change in his career leaving his native Argentina for the Spanish grounds of Real. Not the case of other European basketball leaders who will not have managed to emigrate late like Juanca Navarro, as talented as he is hated in France and who, despite honest performances with the Grizzlies, will have finally very quickly had the homesick, like Sarunas Jasikevicius and his two very average seasons with the Pacers or the Warriors, or even as the one considered, in France even more, as the symbol of this European-American divide: Antoine Rigaudeau, his status legend in Europe and his 17 points in 11 games with Dallas …
Mike Malone thinks Facundo Campazzo has to be a top five pick-and-roll player in the world https://t.co/ghcLOtEID5
— Sportando (@Sportando) December 7, 2020
For Campazzo, capable of evolving in an armchair as a recognized leader but also of rubbing shoulders with having seasoned his cunning and his hustle against the rugged defenses of Europe, the question of his integration resides rather in his ability to endure the change of pace characteristic of arriving in the United States… at 29 years old. This famous rhythm, a real talent skimming factor that pushes promising young people to lean earlier and earlier towards the league to acquire this physical dimension essential to success there. Facu who arrives in his thirties, it’s as if Ricky Rubio had never taken the plunge and continued to feast in Spain before landing this season. We ask to see, intrigued, but factually the situation is complicated for the Argentine who will no longer be in his chair as an all-powerful leader. Behind an untouchable Jamal Murray or possibly next to him on the back court, places will be expensive and competition fierce, but he will be able to count on the known and recognized collective strength of the Nuggets as well as on the tactical mastery of Mike Malone to feel at home. Then all that remains is to make the powder speak.
Facundo Campazzo is not approaching his NBA adventure under the best auspices: competed like never before in his career and broken to the European rhythm, and the past shows that this could have had less impact for a force of nature to take place in the racket. We are talking about a magician of the ball of 1m80 and 88 kilos… but the characteristic of magicians remains to surprise us.
