Smith loaded -- in the metaphorical sense
Anyone worried about former Tennessee Volunteer forward Tyler Smith’s viability in the upcoming NBA draft and/or his ability to play basketball after dealing with an arrest, court case, and dismissal from his college team within five weeks of early 2010 can put their worries at ease: Smith is back and just as good as ever.
After getting bounced from Tennessee’s hallowed halls, Smith signed a quickie two-month contract with Bornova Belediye, filling in for the injured Kendrick Brown. All he did in his first game for Bornova was go 5-of-5 on two-pointers plus a couple of threes for a team second-high 17 points. Talk about your immediate gratification.
Unfortunately, the outcome was none too gratifying for Smith and Bornova, who were crushed in the Saturday match by Eurocup contender Türk Telecom, 104-79. TT boasted a headline-grabbing American newcomer of its own in freed Los Angeles Clipper Ricky Davis, who managed a line of eight points, six assists and five boards.
Another 
While not interested in passing definitive judgment, we think it would be useful and fair to take a look at the European basketball panorama. There will be no ratings or rankings here, just a snapshot of what the most important ballin’ countries offer us.
The pickings for basketball-related news online this week were a tad slim, with that inevitable last-weeks-of-August malaise that conquers Europe annually and sends the entire continent on holiday really settling in. Ah well, Eurobasket 2009 tips off in a couple weeks, followed by national leagues awakening, and Euroleague/NBA isn’t that far off, really. In the grand scheme of things.
Enes Kanter, the wunderkind from Turkey who