Rasho Nesterovič
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| Position | Center |
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| Height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
| Weight | 255 lb (116 kg) |
| League | NBA |
| Team | Toronto Raptors |
| Jersey | #12 |
| Born | May 30, 1976 Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Slovenia & Greece |
| Draft | 17th overall, 1998 Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Pro career | 1993–present |
| Former teams | PAOK (1993-95) Olimpija Ljubljana (1995-97) Kinder Bologna (1997-99) Minnesota Timberwolves (1999-2003) San Antonio Spurs (2003-2006) |
| Official profile | Info Page |
Radoslav Nesterović (Serbian Cyrillic: Радослав Нестеровић), usually referred to in English as Rasho Nesterovic (born May 30, 1976), is a Slovenian professional basketball player of Serbian descent currently with the NBA's Toronto Raptors. He is a 2.13 m (7-foot) center.
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[edit] Early life and career in Europe
Nesterović was born to Serbian parents in Ljubljana, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, Yugoslavia. He played among the juniors in Partizan Belgrade.
[edit] PAOK Thessaloniki
Because of the Yugoslav wars, he moved to PAOK Thessaloniki. While playing there, he obtained a second citizenship (Greek) in order to avoid EU restrictions. In order to obtain Greek citizenship he had to administratively change his name in the eyes of Greek law. While in Greece, he thus had to compete under a name that appears in his Greek passport - Radoslav Makris.[1]
[edit] Olimpija Ljubljana
Ahead of the 1995–96 season, he returned to his hometown to play for KK Union Olimpija. Competing in the domestic league, his averages were 30 minutes, 17 points and 14 rebounds per game. The summer 1996 offseason brought another significant feat for Nesterović - playing for Slovenia youth national team he was the MVP at the 1996 European championship for players under 22 years of age. Next season, 1996–97, he was part of that legendary Olimpija team that reached the Euroleague final four in Rome thanks in no small part to Nesterović's efforts. In that season, he played on average of 24 minutes, scoring 14 points and grabbing 8 rebounds per game in the Euroleague.
[edit] Virtus Bologna
The exposure on the biggest European stage led to a big time move to Italian power Virtus (Kinder) Bologna during summer 1997. In the first season with his new club, he scored on average of 9 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Italian domestic cup, but was much more successful in the Euroleague, where he scored on average 11.2 points and grabbed 8.4 rebounds per game. He helped Virtus win the Euroleague title, playing alongside legendary players such as Predrag Danilović, Zoran Savić, and Antoine Rigaudeau. In the grand final, Nesterović scored 16 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
[edit] Minnesota Timberwolves
Nesterović was a first-round pick (17th overall) of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1998 NBA Draft. He joined the Timberwolves just before the end of the 1998–99 season and played there through the 2002–03 season.
Nesterović stayed in Minnesota for four full seasons because he played only the last two regular-season games, plus all of his team's games in the playoffs, in his first season. His best season with the Timberwolves was 2002–03, when he averaged 11.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, earning himself a 6-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. In his first season, he scored 8.7 ppg and grabbed 7.7 rpg. In his second season with the Spurs, 2004–05, he suffered an ankle injury, and was limited to 70 games. Nevertheless, he remained the starting center for the majority of the season, and, along with his colleague from the national team, Beno Udrih, ultimately won an NBA title with the Spurs that year.
[edit] Toronto Raptors
On June 21, 2006, Nesterović was traded to the Toronto Raptors with cash for Matt Bonner, Eric Williams and a second round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. In his first season with the Raptors, he averaged 6.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.0 block per game.
On April 2, 2008 at 7:34PM EST, Nesterović hit his first three point shot ever in the regular season, with a pump fake, for a buzzer beater against the Atlanta Hawks, in Atlanta.
[edit] International career
Nesterović is the current captain of the Slovenian national basketball team. He helped his team win 6th place on Eurobasket 2005 in Belgrade, and secure a place in the Basketball World Championship of 2006. In Eurobasket 2005, he played an average of 21 minutes, where he scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds per game.
[edit] NBA career statistics
- Correct as of 19 April 2008[2]
| Regular season | Team | GP | MPG | SPG | BPG | RPG | APG | PPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | Minnesota | 2 | 15.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 0.250 | 0.000 | 1.000 |
| 1999–2000 | Minnesota | 82 | 21.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 5.7 | 0.476 | 0.000 | 0.573 |
| 2000–01 | Minnesota | 73 | 16.9 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 0.461 | 0.000 | 0.523 |
| 2001–02 | Minnesota | 82 | 27.0 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 6.5 | 0.9 | 8.4 | 0.493 | 0.000 | 0.549 |
| 2002–03 | Minnesota | 77 | 30.4 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 11.2 | 0.525 | 0.000 | 0.642 |
| 2003–04 | San Antonio | 82 | 28.7 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 1.4 | 8.7 | 0.469 | 0.000 | 0.474 |
| 2004–05 | San Antonio | 70 | 25.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 6.6 | 1.0 | 5.9 | 0.460 | 0.000 | 0.467 |
| 2005–06 | San Antonio | 80 | 18.9 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 0.4 | 4.5 | 0.515 | 0.000 | 0.600 |
| 2006–07 | Toronto | 80 | 21.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 0.9 | 6.2 | 0.546 | 0.000 | 0.680 |
| 2007–08 | Toronto | 71 | 20.9 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 7.8 | 0.550 | 0.333 | 0.755 |
| Career | 699 | 23.4 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 7.0 | 0.499 | 0.083 | 0.578 |
| Playoffs | Team | GP | MPG | SPG | BPG | RPG | APG | PPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | Minnesota | 3 | 9.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 0.500 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 1999–2000 | Minnesota | 4 | 31.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 0.440 | 0.000 | 0.500 |
| 2000–01 | Minnesota | 4 | 12.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 0.385 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 2001–02 | Minnesota | 3 | 30.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 11.3 | 0.484 | 0.000 | 0.444 |
| 2002–03 | Minnesota | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | San Antonio | ||||||||||
| 2004–05 | San Antonio | ||||||||||
| 2005–06 | San Antonio | ||||||||||
| 2006–07 | Toronto | 5 | 14.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 4.6 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 0.467 | 0.000 | 1.000 |
| Career | 59 | 17.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 3.9 | 0.465 | 0.500 | 0.500 |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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