NBA Players Stay Sharp While NBA Lockout Drags On

By J.Brig - Bucks | Posted Monday, November 7

Professional basketball in the United States is on hold indefinitely. Elsewhere in the world, the game is commencing as usual, but with a few more NBA players in the mix. Two former Bucks are enjoying their time overseas as they began their first week of Euro-Basketball match-ups.

Ersan Illyasova, who returned to his native Turkey, has helped Anadolu Efes get off to a division leading 3-0 start this season. He gets an average of nineteen minutes playing time per game so far. In those minutes, he has made it count. Scoring nearly thirteen points a game, and pulling down an average five rebounds, his efforts have allowed Efes to win all three of their league games by at least fifteen points. His breakout performance came during the teams’ only loss so far. He led the team with twenty-one points in nine shots during their 80-79 loss to the Belgian Charleroi.

Former Wisconsin Badgers basketball stand-out Jon Leuer hasn't been having the same luck with his new team. He plays for the Fraport Skyliners, and they are currently ranked thirteenth in the Bundesliga. It doesn’t help that the Skyliners have dropped three consecutive games. They now stand at 2-4 on the season. Leuer's most impressive outing came last Saturday when he had thirteen points on eight field goal attempts, and went three-for-three on free throws.