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sirjabari-rice-era-nymburk-basketball-champions-league

The first jump for an American baller to Europe can be crucial. Sir’Jabari Rice may have made the perfect choice for his future development and earnings. Emmet Ryan on how the former Texas Longhorn may have the perfect opportunity with ERA Nymburk in the Basketball Champions League. It was an opener that was expected to go well. It did. That really is besides the point. The way in which Sir’Jabari Rice impressed for ERA Nymburk against BC Sabah in the Basketball Champions League this week is quite promising for the former Texas Longhorns man. To thrive in Europe or get another look back home, you need to chart the right course. With the near perennial champions of Czechia, Rice appears to have found the best fit. The game I was on the call for ERA Nymburk’s comfortable BCL win over BC Sabah on Tuesday night. Through the first quarter and a half, it was nicely balanced, then the overall quality of Nymburk proved decisive. Rice was on the bench to start but ended up playing 23 minutes, with 22 points on 8 of 16 shooting, along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. It was an impressive debut with largely smart shot selection. The former Texas Longhorns man leaned on the shots that worked for him. He drove for lay-ups to get the bulk of his points. While the 2 of 7 from deep was sub-optimal, he was largely taking good looks. This wasn’t a man forcing bad shots. Crucially, he was the opposite of a hog. Rice took 18 per cent of his team’s shots while accounting for 23 per cent of their points. With the eye test, he also got that his job was about more than scoring but doing the grunt work. On a team like Nymburk, nobody is exempt from grunt work. https://youtu.be/1s63U351tbY?si=0srR-bcgub7Zk0e_ BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more. Putting it in context The BCL is fundamentally where Nymburk have to perform. They have won 21 of the last 22 national titles in Czechia and the gulf in quality is huge. While Opava took the title in 2023, that was an outlier in the extreme. A 33-3 record last season followed by another title last year was a return to the norm. It’s at the continental level where Nymburk seek challenges. In BC Sabah, from Azerbaijan, Sir’Jabari Rice and company were facing debutants in the competition. Having reached the quarter final playoffs last season, Nymburk were expected to roll and they did. In simple terms, this wasn’t a powerhouse. The overall competition standard is still high. Nymburk have reached the quarter final playoffs in 3 of the last 6 seasons and also had a quarter final run in the lower tier FIBA Europe Cup the year they were absent. The BCL, effectively Europe’s secondary championship, has also gotten deeper thanks to key defections from the rival Euroleague (Alba Berlin), and Eurocup (Joventut Badalona and Gran Canaria). BallinEurope has a book, a real life actual book called I Like it Loud, and you can buy it on Amazon now. It’s here as a book and here in Kindle form. The short-term picture While league games in Czechia won’t offer a huge level of competition, Sir’Jabari Rice can expect a solid grounding in the style of play on the continent through that part of the campaign. The BCL offers him a chance to shine…by not trying too hard to shine. Proving that he is a versatile piece and not just a scorer is the goal here. The rest of the group phase will give him better tests, with Elan Chalon (France) and the aforementioned Alba Berlin (Germany), providing excellent opportunities. Nymburk will be favoured to move on to the round of 16, where the likes of Unicaja Malaga, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Badalona will all be waiting. Throw in AEK, Galatasaray, and a few other heavyweights and there’s real room to grow for Rice in what is a veteran heavy league. It’s also a far more competitive form of basketball than what he experienced across his two years in the G League. Rounding out his game is crucial. The step At 26, Rice is a touch older than the usual rookie in European ball but still shy of his peak. A good season with Nymburk isn’t about putting up huge numbers, it’s about showing versatile value. If Rice can show efficiency on both ends then his chance to move up to a bigger opportunity is significant. Whether that’s getting an NBA look, moving up the food chain in Europe, or taking an opportunity in Asia, that combination of efficiency and versatility is vital. Nymburk is around the middle of the pack financially in the BCL but would be an outright pauper in Euroleague or even the standards of Japan or China. Other opportunities at Nymburk’s financial level may have simply relied on him to score heavily. With Nymburk’s roster construction, they’ve signed him with the need for more than that. The early signs are hugely positive and that bodes well for his future. (Picture: Basketball Champions League)

Oct 9, 2025Emmet Ryan

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BallinEurope.com was founded in September 2007 by Christophe Ney (who now runs the excellent scouting-themed website European Prospects) and Tobias Seitz, both then bloggers for FIBA.com with over 10 years’ worth of experience in the professional basketball world each. The mission then was to “provide a very unique perspective of Basketball in and about Europe.”

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