#PHILAfirst: Luwawu-Cabarrot Captures Int’l Influence

PHILADELPHIA – The challenge confronting Bryan Colangelo was a matter of the tongue.”TEE-mo-tay Loo-WAH-woo,” the 76ers President of Basketball Operations said delicately on Friday at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where the Sixers held a press conference to introduce their selections from last Thursday’s draft. Colangelo then looked to his right, seeking affirmation from the 21-year old Frenchman, who approved.  “I got it right,” said Colangelo, with a hint of humored relief in his voice.  More than just the pronunciation of Timothe Luwawu’s name (which is formally hyphenated with “Cabarrot”), Colangelo and the Sixers’ front office feel good about the potential that the athletic “European import” boasts.”I think his talents are unique for our organization, and for our roster,” Colangelo said of Luwawu-Cabarrot, the 24th pick in the draft. “A wing player that’s dynamic, that can shoot the ball, that can run the floor. It’s going to be great to see another young talent on the roster.”Having debuted professionally at the age of 17, Luwawu-Cabarrot has since made steady strides. His goal has always been to one day put himself in position to latch on with an NBA organization.”I’m so happy,” said Luwawu-Cabarrot at Friday’s media event. “I just feel [Thursday] night was maybe the best day of my life. I just can’t wait to be on the court, and just play, and show that I can play.” After appearing in only six total games between his first and second seasons with Antibes, an affiliate of the National Basketball League of France, Luwawu-Cabarrot’s role expanded substantially during the team’s 2014-2015 slate. He received nearly 20.0 minutes per game, and averaged 7.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.Last year in Serbia, Luwawu-Cabarrot did even more to help his stock. The Cannes native assumed a starting role for KK Mega Leks, and emerged as one of the club’s leading scorers, posting 14.5 points per game in 30.1 minutes over 33 total outings between Adriatic and Serbian league play.  Luwawu-Cabarrot improved his perimeter shooting as well, with his 63 triples and 35.8 percent three point field goal percentage reflecting his progress.  He was 27 for 94 (28.7 3fg%) from beyond the arc the year before.”I think I know what I can do, where I need to work, to just play my game and how to do that,” Luwawu-Cabarrot told Sixers.com Friday.  “That is a strength.  That is what I learned this year — don’t get too impatient.  Wait for your time. You’re going to prove to everybody that you can stay on the court.”Playing professionally overseas, Luwawu-Cabarrot was able to sharpen his skills with and against players who, in many cases, were much older than the competition that Americans from his age group were facing at college level. Scan the rosters of the squads to which Luwawu-Cabarrot belonged, and you’ll see that a decent number of his teammates belonged to the mid 20s to early 30s age bracket.  Subsequently, Luwawu-Cabarrot was forced to adjust to the physical and mental maturity of these players.”They’re smart,” Luwawu-Cabarrot said, before joking “they’re a bit rude and tough.”His first pro game in November 2012, Luwawu-Cabarrot tried to go around a screen, but the shoulder of an opposing player popped him in the mouth. The result was a broken a tooth. “It was nice to learn beside those guys. I think that’s also a strength, that I’ve played against older guys.  I already played in that kind of league, so that helped me a lot.”As it turned out, the three prospects that Colangelo chose in his first draft with the Sixers were all born outside the United States.  Number one overall selection Ben Simmons is an Australian citizen, while Furkan Korkmaz, the 26th pick, is Turkish. “It’s a global game,” Colangelo said last Friday, estimating that about 20.0 percent of the NBA now consists of foreign-born players. “NBA teams have kind of scoured the globe, pulled a lot of players out of Europe, Eastern Europe, different parts of the world.  It just shows you how the game has grown, how the game itself is being taught better in other parts of the world.”Several other members of the Sixers’ roster come from international backgrounds.  Joel Embiid grew up in Cameroon, where, at 16 years old, he first started playing basketball at one of Luc Mbah a Moute’s clinics. Mississauga, Ontario product Nik Stauskas was a Canadian standout before logging two years at Michigan, and being drafted eighth overall in 2014.  Then there’s Nerlens Noel, whose parents were originally from Haiti.”We have a very extensive scouting staff,” said Colangelo, referring to the Sixers’ efforts to investigate talent outside the U.S. He added there were 25 to 30 international prospects the basketball operations department was keeping tabs on heading into this year’s draft.  “We had a good pulse and a good feel for all of them.  That’s why we had so much intel on Timothe as well as Furkan.  It helps when you’ve got the right people doing the right things in terms of that scouting process.”The Sixers also own the rights to Dario Saric, the two-time FIBA European Young Player of the Year award winner.  He and Korkmaz were teammates on Anadolu Efes, and – along with Luwawu-Cabarrot – are clients of agent Misko Raznatovic. Colangelo described his recent conversations with Saric, who is Croatian, and Raznatovic as being in a “good place.””Have a solid relationship with their representation on both, both in the U.S. and overseas,” Colangelo said. “It’s sometimes about the relationship that helps to get things done, so we hope to move in the right direction.”Saric is currently training with Croatia for next week’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin, Italy.  The 2014 draft night pick-up has until July 17th to tell Efes whether he intends to return to the franchise, or join the Sixers.