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The leagues in Europe have been finished for a while now, so it's time to see how the Mavs players fared in their 08-09 seasons.
Renaldas Seibutis (24yo, 2007 50th pick) played 48 games (34 league games and 14 EuroCup games) for Spanish side CB Bilbao Berri. His overall line:
G | MPG | PPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG |
54 | 18.16 | 7.4 | 55.4% | 33.3% | 83.2% | 1.66 | 1.16 |
Not bad, but he'll most likely be cut this summer.
Shan Foster (22yo, 2008 51st pick) played 30 games for Italian Serie A team Juvecaserta Basket.
G | MPG | PPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | STL |
30 | 29.4 | 10.4 | 48.1% | 35.8% | 80.5% | 2.9 | 0.9 | 1.6 |
Foster is back in the states preparing to make a strong impression in summer league play.
"It's extremely hard to make a roster," said Shan Foster, Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer and the 2008 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-6, 205 pound sharp-shooting forward was picked by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of last year's draft, only to have his rights optioned to a team in the Italian league after a brief stint in the NBA's summer league.
After returning from Italy a few weeks ago, Foster has been working on his game hoping this will be the year he cracks an NBA roster.
"Growing up, a lot of kids have the dream of making it to the NBA," he said. "You put yourself in a pool of millions of kids, all going after the same goal. Once you place yourself in that pool, you really get a glimpse of how hard it ...is."
Foster came into the league as one of the top 3 point shooters in the draft. His 35.8% from three in Italy this year is certainly disappointing, and the presence of Matt Carroll and his contract fill the Mavs roster spot for a niche long range guy.
Here's a really short video Foster dribbling and shooting after the whistle.