Tramel's ScissorTales: Thunder's Vasilije Micic tries to buck NBA's trend of Euro veterans

Anyone remember Arvydas Macijauskas? He was an original Hometown Hornet. With the New Orleans Hornets when they temporarily moved to Oklahoma City in September 2005.

Macijauskas was a 25-year-old, 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Lithuania. And he was a European star.

Macijauskas led Lithuania to victory in the 2003 European Championships

In his final two seasons of Euro Basketball, Macijauskas averaged 19.5 and 17.8, while shooting 39.9 percent from 3-point range. Sounds like a heck of a player. Much more player than prospect. Just exactly what the Thunder has needed for much of its 15 years in OKC.

The Hornets signed Macijauskas as a free agent in August 2005. Eleven months later, he was waived, having played 19 games and 135 minutes for a 38-44 Hornets team.

That’s a good lesson to remember when salivating over the Thunder signing Vasilije Micic last week to a three-year, $23.5-million contract.

Micic, 29, is an established EuroLeague star. Last season, he averaged 16.0 points, 5.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds; he’s a two-time EuroLeague Final Four most valuable player and was the 2021 EuroLeague MVP.

But the ratio of Euro stars making it big in the NBA is not great.

More: NBA Summer League: Chet Holmgren shines in return as Thunder rolls past Jazz

Micic is the opposite of Dirk Nowitzki, a 7-footer who came to the Dallas Mavericks at the age of 20. Micic is a guard, a veteran of many Euro seasons and almost a decade older than were Nowitzki or Nikola Jokic or Tony Parker, when they came to the NBA.

Of the approximately 280 Europeans who have come to the NBA over the last 60 years, only 58 were 25 years or older.

Of those 58, only seven could be considered difference-makers:

Bojan Bogdanovic, now a Detroit Piston wing who has averaged 15.6 points over 662 NBA games.

Sarunas Marciulionis, a shooting guard whose NBA debut came in 1989-90, and he averaged 12.8 points over 363 games.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, now an Atlanta Hawk wing who has averaged 14.2 points over 370 NBA games.

Toni Kukoc, who became a Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen sidekick on some of those great Chicago Bulls teams of the late 1990s. Kukoc averaged 11.6 points over 846 NBA games.

Drazen Petrovic, the great sharpshooter who averaged 15.4 points over 290 NBA games from 1989-93 but who died in mid-career of a car crash on the German Autobahn.

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Dino Radja, the Celtics’ big man of the 1990s who in 224 NBA games averaged 16.7 points and 8.4 rebounds.

And the legendary Arvydas Sabonis, a 7-foot-3 center who entered the NBA in 1995-96 as damaged goods due to repeated injuries but still averaged 12.0 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.

Sabonis was 30 when he entered the NBA. Radja was 26. All the rest of those players were 25.

The data is clear. It’s difficult to make it in the NBA at such an advanced age as Micic’s 29.

In fact, only 10 Europeans have debuted in the NBA at age 29 or older.

Sabonis is the most accomplished by far. But there have been some limited success stories.

Lithuanian Sarunas Jasikevicius was 29 when he reached the NBA in 2005-06. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 6.8 points over 138 games.

Serb Milos Teodosic was 30. The 6-foot-5 point guard played in 60 NBA games but averaged 8.6 points a game, from 2017-19.

Spain’s Jorge Garbajosa was 29. He was good as a Toronto Raptors rookie in 2006-07, averaging 8.5 points in 67 games, but injuries cut short his career.

North Macedonia’s Pero Antic was the oldest, at 31. The 6-foot-11 center debuted in 2013-14 and averaged 6.3 points over 113 NBA games.

If Micic was 25, his upside would be much greater. At age 29, improvement is not going to be his game. He is what he is.

Adjustment will have to be his game. Can Micic adjust to the NBA game?

More: NBA Summer League 2023: OKC Thunder roster, schedule and everything else to know

The List: OSU among elite club

247 Sports has compiled a list of the nation’s best college football teams when playing against teams ranked in the top 25. Most of the list won’t surprise you, but some will. Here is how they rank, counting records since 2010:

1. Alabama 66-18 (.785): No surprise here, but the number is awfully impressive.

2. Ohio State 45-15 (.750): Same with the Buckeyes. It’s not like Ohio State tries to avoid top-10 teams.

3. Oklahoma 42-21 (.667): A balm of remembrance when licking the wounds from 2022.

4. Clemson 36-20 (.642): Starting with 2015, Clemson’s record is 28-8, a cool .778.

5. Louisiana State 46-27 (.630): Considering Alabama awaits every year, this is an excellent record.

6. Georgia 39-29 (.573): Recency bias makes us think the Bulldogs have been dominant for a long time, but they had some struggles.

7. Oregon 31-24 (.563): Solid, solid showing.

8. Oklahoma State 33-27 (.550): Hey, look who’s here. The Cowboys have been standing stall.

9. Stanford 31-28 (.525): Whoa, I didn’t expect to see the Cardinal on this list.

10. Notre Dame 27-27 (.500): The record is more interesting than the name. Only 10 schools have at least a .500 record against top-25 opponents.

More: How has Oklahoma State football fared with four-star recruits the past decade?

Give coaches a job-jumping window

The NCAA Division I Council has proposed a change to the transfer calendar, which would reduce the total number of days that student athletes can enter the portal from 60 to 30.

Sounds like a great idea.

So how about a change to the coaching carousel calendar, too? How about we limit when coaches can break contracts and jump jobs?

Most of the perceived problems in college sports were launched by coaches and their happy feet. The portal and its immediate eligibility? Name, image and likeness excess? A calendar that causes chaos as rosters are mangled and patched together on the fly?

All either pantomimed or duplicated from the actions of coaches.

Currently, the transfer window in college football starts the day after the College Football Playoff teams are announced and is open for 45 days. Another transfer window is open from April 15-30.

In winter sports, a 60-day window begins with a given sport's championship selection. For spring sports, a 45-day window begins with that sport's championship selection.

Sounds like fine ideas. So why can’t we do the same with football coaches?

How about this. Schools can fire a coach anytime they wish. But schools can’t hire coaches, at least those under contract elsewhere, until after the New Year’s Day bowls.

Let a season conclude. Enforce contracts the way the National Football League enforces contracts. No hiring coaches away from schools in early December, creating a madcap month of recruiting, bowl preparation and transfer madness.

Such a rule needs to be accompanied by a delay in the recruiting calendar – no signing until at least February, but I’d vote for April.

The drastic change is needed because coaches can’t be trusted. Jumping ship before a season reaches its shore is dishonorable, and dishonor must be addressed.

College football is going the way of the NFL. So go the way of the NFL. Mandate when coaches can move.

Write the contracts in such a way as to avoid legal counters. Don’t let the coaching carousel cause mayhem.

The declared chaos of the portal and NIL is chaos pioneered by skittish coaches. Let’s make them stay put a little longer than they’d like.

More: Big 12 goes to 14 members, but when OU & Texas leave, where is OSU left? In good shape.

Big 12 upgrades marketing

Rickie Fowler won the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday, four years and four months after his previous victory.

And Fowler’s old league took notice.

“Winner!” tweeted out the Big 12 Conference. “Congrats @Rickie Fowler.”

It was no big deal. Not really. But it was a nice touch by the Big 12, which has gone into marketing overdrive since commissioner Brett Yormark took office a year ago.

When an athlete does well in the professional ranks, the alma mater jumps on the bandwagon, proclaiming its pride. But the conference? That’s a nice touch.

Maybe other leagues have been doing that for a long time. I don’t know. But it’s nice to see the Big 12 promote not just its current athletes, but those who carried the Big 12 banner in the past.

More: Big 12 football media days are around the corner. Here are the players set to attend.

Mailbag: UCF athletic beginnings

My series on Central Florida drew some interesting responses from Knight fans, who remember the early days of the fledgling program.

Mary: “Thank you Berry for the nice article on UCF. I became a student in '68, the day it opened. There were three buildings on campus and more construction workers than students. It was the wild west. The university was meant to be an extension of the space program dealing more with science, math and space science, but everyone quickly realized it needed to be a ‘general’ university. Along came second president Trevor Colbourn, and he changed the name (from Florida Tech) and said, ‘We need a football program. If you read the paper, there is a whole section called Sports and not one section that said Education … sports is the key to recognition.’ So football was born.

“We went from Division III to Division II and hired Lou Saban. He convinced President Colbourn that he needed more money for scholarships and we would put more ‘butts in the bleachers.’ It didn't happen as fast as anyone would have liked, and boom, in two years the program was about $750K in debt. Saban was fired and Gene McDowell was brought in as head football coach. Because the money was being spent and it couldn't be stopped, the next year the program was $1.2M in debt. In stepped the Board of Regents and told Colbourn to close the program. Colbourn had borrowed the money against the teacher's fund, and they didn't like it at all. They were pretty upset about the whole football program, to begin with.

“Faced with closing the football program or paying the money back, boosters stepped in and assumed the debt. They gave us five years to repay the money. A belt-tightening effort was taken. Bill Peterson, the AD, was fired, programs were cut and McDowell took on the responsibility of head football coach (he donated his entire salary back to the sports program) and AD.

“The boosters had a fundraiser called ‘Gate Crashers.’ The sports community in Orlando rallied around it and got trips donated that you couldn't buy. Sitting in the dugout during a Yankees game, and so on. And the 'gate crasher’ was O.J. Simpson. The boosters raised $125K from that one event. We made our first payment on the debt. At the fourth event, enough money was raised to pay off the debt.

“There were a lot of people involved in saving football at UCF, but Gene McDowell deserves the most credit. Sadly, his reputation was tarnished in later years, and he died never receiving the credit he was due.

“I thought you would like a little more of the UCF story, kinda behind the scenes.   I was part of the first graduating class of about 600. John Young, the astronaut, was the commencement speaker. Thanks for letting me share this with you.”

Tramel: Now that’s some good history. Some of the people I interviewed also mentioned the contributions of McDowell.

McDowell was UCF’s head coach from 1985-97 and compiled a record of 86-61. He in many ways brought the Knights into the modern era.

McDowell played at Florida State and was an 11-year Seminole assistant coach, including nine years under Bobby Bowden.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder: Vasilije Micic tries to buck trend of NBA's Euro veterans