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POR - Gomes eyes the big time
LISBON (NBA) - Joao Gomes will be on the verge of achieving a life-long dream when the 2007 NBA Draft gets under way on Thursday.
Just two years ago, Gomes, a big man with big ambitions, was plying his trade in the Portuguese league - and the NBA seemed a distant proposition.
His reviews were glitzy and colourful, but his surroundings were anything but. It was not the big time.
"My aim is to get a better team in an even better professional league," he told fibaeurope.com at the time.
"To compete in the NBA is a dream of all players, but first I need to explore basketball in Europe."
Now aged 22, the 6ft 7in forward has been in the United States for the last two weeks attending the NBA franchises' work-out in a bid to impress the assembled scouts.
Representatives from the Detroit Pistons, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Minnesota Timberwolves have had a close look at the Portuguese ace, who shot to prominence last month when he sank 26 points on the final day of the 2007 Reebok Eurocamp in Italy.
Should Gomes be selected in the NBA Draft, it would be a huge boost to the Barreirense star's hopes of competing for Portugal at EuroBasket 2007, which tips-off on September 3.
LISBON (NBA) - Joao Gomes will be on the verge of achieving a life-long dream when the 2007 NBA Draft gets under way on Thursday.
Just two years ago, Gomes, a big man with big ambitions, was plying his trade in the Portuguese league - and the NBA seemed a distant proposition.
His reviews were glitzy and colourful, but his surroundings were anything but. It was not the big time.
"My aim is to get a better team in an even better professional league," he told fibaeurope.com at the time.
"To compete in the NBA is a dream of all players, but first I need to explore basketball in Europe."
Now aged 22, the 6ft 7in forward has been in the United States for the last two weeks attending the NBA franchises' work-out in a bid to impress the assembled scouts.
Representatives from the Detroit Pistons, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Minnesota Timberwolves have had a close look at the Portuguese ace, who shot to prominence last month when he sank 26 points on the final day of the 2007 Reebok Eurocamp in Italy.
Should Gomes be selected in the NBA Draft, it would be a huge boost to the Barreirense star's hopes of competing for Portugal at EuroBasket 2007, which tips-off on September 3.
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