From Doug Smith's Toronto Raptors blog: A query
How can a guy who stretches as much as Primoz Brezec suffer a strained groin muscle?
From TorontoSun.com: Drive it, you Raptors
When asked about the state of his groin injury, Primoz Brezec had the following observation: "The groin is a gangster."
Makes you wonder how Brezec and Charles Oakley would get along had the two played together.
From SLAM ONLINE - Game Notes: Sonics at Raptors: Pregame
In the hallway outside the Toronto locker room, Raptors GM Bryan "Dapper Dan" Colangelo is holding court with me and three of the local writers. As we discuss some of the big trades that went down this season, Primoz Brezec walks by and he is completely drenched in sweat from the pregame warmup.
As Brezec passes our group, he raps (loudly), "She said she wants a hood ni**a!" We all stare at each other for a few seconds trying to decipher what just happened, leading to Colangelo apologizing for the Slovenian's gangsta ways, and everyone doubling over in laughter.
It should not surprise you to discover that Primoz instantly became my favorite human being on the planet following that little outburst.
During pregame warmups, Primoz Brezec is shown on the Jumbotron, and seconds later, a pass hits him square in the face. Uh, might want to wake up, Primoz.
From SLAM ONLINE - Game Notes: Wizards at Raptors: Postgame
Primoz Brezec, though, seems to have moved on from the tough loss rather quickly. His locker is next to Calderon's, who is taking questions from a throng of media, and Primoz is busy apparently prepping himself for the remainder of the evening.
I observe the tall Slovenian spray himself with cologne no less than 15 times - up and down both of his arms, on his chest, and even on the back of his neck - and I begin to feel sorry for the poor young woman who will have to endure that insanely strong scent tonight.
The white board says the team has a noon time practice tomorrow, but it's Friday night, and Primoz is ready to party!
From Doug Smith's Toronto Raptors blog: What you didn't see
And neither did I but a spy sitting courtside tells me during one timeout the Magaic mascot, a not particularly fearsome looking dragon, was goofing around near the Raptor bench.
Seems Primoz Brezec, for some reason known only to Primoz Brezec, took great umbrage at a stuffed animal having fun and slugged the thing. Then he tells him, 'bleep you, I'll bleep you up.'
Yeah, that's 'manning up' like the best of 'em, smacking a mascot.
From Primoz Brezec: Slovenian Gangster - HOOPSWORLD:
"Sam's gangster," Brezec recently told a throng of media gathered around his locker. "As I told you, I just respect the coach and (the fact) they're not scared. They trust in their players and they don't take no (stuff) from nobody. If I do something wrong I don't have any problem with them cussing me out. If I do something wrong tell me straight to my face. That's what he'll do."
From Primoz Brezec believes he's worthy of being a regular starter in the NBA:
"If I can't play, I'll take it as a man. Just tell me straight in the face, 'You (stink), you can't play.' I'll take that. But I know that's not the truth. I've been a starter in this league, I know I can play. I know I can help this team."
From National Post: Raptors the linguistic champs of the NBA
Primoz Brezec, the newest big man in town, studied English in his native Slovenia before landing in the NBA with Indiana. His classroom was the locker room, and his current speech can best be described as: Euro-boy-in-the-hood.
"I didn't know the slang and all the bad words when I came, you know what I am saying," says Brezec. "But I was pretty good, man, you know what I'm saying?"
From The On Deck Circle: Who is Primoz Brezec?
Listen to Primoz Brezec speak English and you will notice something quite unique. Brezec certainly has a grasp of the language; however, he speaks a fluent "gangster-like" slang, complimented by his Slovenian accent.
So why does the Raptor's newest player sound like Snoop Dogg's European brother? According to fellow Slovenian Rasho Nesterovic, this can be attributed to where he started his NBA career.
From Michael Grange's From Deep: Raptors' new big man has gift of the gab
Can Brezec play? We don't know. Can he talk? Absolutely, and the Slovenian big man does it in almost perfect gangsta slang. Why does a Slovenian talk like a rapper? Fellow Slovenian Rasho Nesterovic speculates it might be because he broke into the NBA in Indiana.
From DETNEWS - Pistons Blog: So long, Primoz
To put the Primoz era in perspective, I share an e-mail I got from colleague Dave Hogg of the Associated Press. Warning, sarcasm alert:
"As Detroit mourns the end of the Primoz Brezec era, I thought it would only be fitting to see how the great one measured against past Piston stars.
Showing great passing skills for a big man, his four assists tied him on the Pistons career list with an outstanding point guard, Alex Acker.
With the last basket of his career, a meaningless shot late in a rout of Indiana, he finally moved past Will Blalock on the career scoring list. Sadly, his 27 points fell just four short of matching the Detroit total of Darryl Dawkins.
But, as a 7-footer, Primoz was always looked to for his rebounding. In his final game, he did not actually get a rebound (although he did manage his second block as a Piston), but against Charlotte on Feb. 10, he pulled in his 19th, putting him equal with a man, a legend really, who had a Detroit career every bit as thrilling and meaningful as Primoz himself. I speak, of course, of the great Kornel David."
From PistonsNationBlog.com: Primo Brezec is an accessory whore
Watching the game yesterday for the second time (yeah, I watched it twice) I noticed Primoz about as geared up as he could be. He had on a black arm sleeve on each arm, sweatbands on top of those, a head band, and a breathe right strip across his nose. All that was missing were some Kurt Rambis sexy specs. This guy cracks me up.
Then, today I'm reading a story about Walter Herrmann on DetNews.com and what do I notice in the background of the photo for the story? It's Primo wearing Rip's mask. WTF? This guy is hilarious.
From Detroit Free Press via PistonsNationBlog.com: A border-line out of control hot chocolate craving gangsta
"He's high-energy, he's very enthusiastic, he plays hard - he's borderline out-of-control at times," coach Flip Saunders said. "…But you've got to like his enthusiasm. He's really well-liked by the players."
Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace said the only nickname he's come up with for Brezec so far is "gangsta."
Told that Brezec was seen jogging through the streets of Indianapolis during the time when most players are just waking up from their afternoon naps, Wallace said, "See, that's gangsta."
Turns out Brezec just wanted to get to a nearby Starbucks for a hot chocolate before the first bus left for Conseco Fieldhouse.
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