Thank God for subtitles.

Ever since EuroBasket 2011 concluded in September, a host of foreign national filmmakers have brought about some of the most compelling and behind-the-scenes documentaries of the European Championship in Lithuania.

"Euro Star" brings to life the basketball journey of the French National Team thanks to director Benoit Dujardin. The 52-minute film recreates France's path from the first game of the tournament to the EuroBasket Final against eventual winner Spain. Complete with footage and feature interviews with Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, Joakim Noah, Boris Diaw and the rest of Les Bleus, the flick is another chance to step inside EuroBasket for a team heading to the 2012 London Olympics. 

While you are at it, also make sure to check out "The Belgian Lions - A Locker Room Story", by producer-director Johan Dirkx and Robin Vandenbergh, in what Dirkx calls "a fly-on-the-wall chronicle of the Belgian Lions' struggles" at EuroBasket 2011 (trailier available here).

Hat tip to EuroStep who has the complete run down of hoops documentaries going down right now.

A lot has been going on since my last column.

The NBA is back which is a good thing.  I couldn't imagine a whole season without it, and while I like watching European basketball I still need to see some NBA games here and there. Over here in Czech we get two games a week. I know all the guys that were playing overseas had opt out clauses in their contracts and are happy to be back.  So congratulations to the NBA and Player's Union for reaching a deal.

As for me, my season is in full swing.

Okay, so maybe Rudy Fernandez throwing no look over the head lobs to Kenneth Faried in Denver is still dunk of the year thus far in the NBA. But when it comes to the Euroleague, Fernadez comes in at #7 for Real Madrid with Serge Ibaka on the receiving end.

In my second year as a pro in the season 1996-97, playing for Okapi Aalst, we started out the season with two American imports players.

One was our star player Daren Queenan (Lehigh 1984-88 and one of NCAA all time leading scorers), the other was Brian Reese (UNC 1990-94 and now an assistant coach at Monmouth). 

Scouting and recruiting 15 years ago wasn't at the level it is today and quite early in the season Reese didn't turn out to be the guy our team was looking for.  Management instead decided to add another legendary scoring ace to the roster: Borislav 'Boro' Vucevic had been leading the Belgian league in scoring for quite some years averaging 30-plus points per game.  

He was a legend also in his native Montenegro, part of former Yugoslavia, for having won several European and Yugoslavian trophies. Although Boro (#15 in above photo) was already in his late thirties at the time he still had the love for the game.  He was still athletic, dunking the ball in many ways and running the floor like a youngster. He always took great care of his body, claiming he had never missed a game, and if it was not for his hair that was starting to turn grey no one would have guessed his age right after seeing him play.

As I stood out on the balcony overlooking my small village here in Germany, I began to think back over the past year of my life.

All of the things that happened to me that were both good and bad, successes and failures, people I met, even my growth as a young man, all ran across my mind.

The world was about to celebrate the beginning of a new year and my time zone was next in line for the clock striking midnight. As I watched all the fireworks fill the sky, my heart became somewhat heavy. Usually New Years Eve is a time you spend with family and friends. But this New Years Eve, I was all alone. Everyone always asks me what’s the toughest part about playing overseas. Well, this is it:  being so far away from those I love the most, especially for holidays. My family can’t always be here with me, but there was one person who stuck closer to me than anyone else in this year.