Ex-'Bow Ostler still hoping for NBA shot

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Troy Ostler signed a two-year contract to continue his pro basketball career in Latvia. Advertiser library photo

Not after last week, when he watched his former UH teammate, Predrag Savovic, play for the Denver Nuggets in the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league.

The games were held at Salt Lake Community College, where Ostler played before transferring to UH in 1999.

"I went to watch Savo play and we talked after," said Ostler, who played with Savovic at UH from 1999-2001. "He got a good deal, something a lot of basketball players dream about."

For now, Ostler will continue to chase his NBA dream from Europe.

The 6-foot-10 forward signed a two-year contract last week with Skonto, a Latvian team in the Northern European Basketball League. His agent, Ben Pensack, did not want to reveal salary figures, but most American players in Latvia make around $80,000 per season.

"It's not where I want to be, but I'm comfortable with it," Ostler said. "I'd still like to give the NBA a try in a year or two. If not, I'll be in a pretty good situation because American players who stay in Europe for three years start to make a lot more money after that."

As a rookie with Skonto last season, Ostler averaged 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and was the team leader in slam dunks.

"They actually told me they wanted me to be a showman," Ostler said. "They know the Americans like to play above the rim, so they told me they needed a lot of dunks and blocked shots."

Even though Ostler is from cold-weather Utah, he described the winter in Latvia as "horrible."

"It snows like crazy and they don't really clear the roads," he said. "It's a dangerous drive to practice, a dangerous drive home, and then basically stay inside the rest of the time."

What's more, Latvia has a high theft rate, and Ostler's car was stolen twice last season.

"You can get homesick real fast in a place like that," he said. "But it's something I have to do to get where I want to."

Savo update: Savovic averaged 5.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in the summer league, which ended on Saturday.

The Nuggets went 6-0 to win the championship of the nine-team league. Each team was composed of rookies, free agents and some first- and second-year NBA players.

"I didn't shoot that well, but overall, I think I did OK," said Savovic, a 6-6 shooting guard. "It was pretty intense; the competition was very tough."

Savovic started one game, and came off the bench in the other five. He averaged 15.5 minutes per game.

"I thought Savo represented himself real well," said another former UH player, Jarinn Akana, who is now the Nuggets director of player development. "He showed that he can get open and get his shots up, and I thought he played good defense, too."

Savovic signed a one-year guaranteed free-agent contract with the Nuggets earlier this month.

Burneika to Europe: Former UH forward Mindaugas Burneika left Honolulu last weekend for Europe, where he has been invited to try out for several professional teams.

Burneika will attend tryouts for teams in Germany, Italy and Poland. He expects to sign with one of those teams by the end of summer.

3-on-3: Former UH forward Nerijus Puida said he still has openings for the 808 Challenge 3-on-3 tournament that he is co-directing. The tournament will take place at the UH-Manoa athletic complex on Aug. 10 and 11, and is open to male and female teams of all ages. For information and application forms, visit www.808challenge.net.