Sasha Vujacic to Europe? The real reasons
July 25, 2008
It is no surprise that almost-NBA champion Sasha “The Machine” Vujacic has been contacted by several European teams. Kobe Bryant tells us that he would not be surprised if Sasha takes the money and runs, just because he won’t get that much money from the Lakers or any other NBA club.
So once again, money is supposed to be the reason? NO! If Sasha is treated like this by his favorite MVP, his American idol (let’s just call him Sasha’s GOD), he has to leave. Watch this:
Oh well, Sasha, Kobe doesn’t love you like you love him … but it looks like a few more people don’t like you that much, either. Like Manu Ginobili, Andrew Bynum, Carmelo Anthony, Baron Davis and even the entire Cleveland Cavaliers team. He can’t even join the New York Knicks anymore! Would you want to stay in this league when nobody likes you and you get hurt all the time? I don’t know.
Does Europe want a guy like that? I guess not - well, hold on - the Euroleague might need a substitute for that guy who made us all laugh last season, even though he knew what he was saying to make us laugh: Sasha probably doesn’t know.
If everything fails, Sasha, why don’t you look into coaching and teach some people “how to look like a hero on the court” as well as “how to fly like a mosquito bite next to you”? Nope - no typo - watch this:
Carlos Delfino has a new/old teammate!
July 25, 2008
After Carlos Delfino signed a nice contract with Eurocup team BC Khimki, it looks like the Khimki managers wanted more from the Raptors than “just” Delfino.
A few hours ago, the club and the Eurocup website announced that Jorge Garbajosa has signed a two-year contract with Russian club BC Khimki.
It also looks like another American player is leaving his home country: Carl Landry from the Houston Rockets is rumored to be signing with Spanish club Tau Ceramica - We will keep you updated.
Josh Childress update: Signs with Olympiacos!
July 23, 2008
According to Lithuanian basketball web site krepsinis.net (thanks to Zaidaw), Josh Childress has signed with Olympiacos. To make it less a rumor, but a more reliable note: See here (for a picture of Josh actually signing), here and here are also reports and “photo evidence” of his signature in Greece with Olympiakos.
If you are an expert in the European lifestyle - I repeat, lifestyle - and not a basketball expert, you can be almost certain that Panathinaikos needs a signing like that, too (BIG rivalry between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos). Too bad Panathiniakos needs a shooting forward. What was that guy’s name from Chicago again? The guy who was looking for a deal? Wasn’t that Luol Deng…?
Don’t be surprised, if that’s the next thing reported on US web sites…
Side note: To make your day even worse (as a US basketball fan) or even better (as a European basketball fan), Pat Riley would rather spend his time in EUROPE in France watching the Tour de France..
New York Post no Gallinari fan
July 22, 2008
Marc Berman recently published an article at NYPost.com saying that “Knicks have Gallinari doubts.” Give the [New York] people what the people want! We [bloggers and journalists] all know that a good headline is everything! - at least Berman’s right about this.
If you keep reading his article, you will find out that the Knicks in fact don’t have any doubt about Gallinari’s impact on the team.
“The thing I really liked what I saw from Danilo, he looked to make other players better,” the Knicks president said during a guest stint on the MSG Network telecast yesterday. “When he’s out on the floor, he has a sense of the game already to make his team better. I would’ve liked to seen him play for the entire length but I saw enough to feel good about.”
Oh right, I get it - the Knicks have doubts that Gallinari will play one-on-five like their “old” superstars of the past. They fear that he’ll actually play team basketball.
Since Marc himself did not find a real basketball reason for the Knicks to have Gallinari doubts, he talks about Gallinari’s physical condition.
Gallinari’s summer league raises questions on whether he’ll be durable enough to withstand the NBA’s physical pounding, at 6′10″, 227, as a rookie.
I really wonder if Marc thinks basketball just comes as a god-given gift in Europe, and that you don’t need to practice at all overseas. Yes, the NBA season is something like 80+ games. Now in Europe, Gallinari and every other player plays once a week for their domestic league, once a week for Euroleague games and once a week for domestic cup games. On top of that, each team practices twice a day for eight months. Add up the games and you end up with at least 8 or 9 games a month, times eight months equals … just abut 70 games a season.
Do you think Mr. Gallinari knows what physical pounding means…?
Bostijan Nachbar joins Dinamo Moscow
July 21, 2008
Well, things are changing very quickly these days. Just a few hours after reporting that Olympiakos might be interested in Bostijan Nachbar if the Josh Childress deal didn’t come through, Nachbar signed with Dinamo Moscow.
Just to get it right: Dinamo is not part of the Euroleague, participating instead in the Eurocup.
Josh Childress considering Europe
July 21, 2008
Atlanta Hawks free agent Josh Childress is considering his debut in Europe with Euroleague team Olympiakos of Greece: So reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports today.
Josh is taking advantage of his free agency either to either get a better offer from another NBA club, while many think that he is actually considering joining Olympiakos who made him a nice offer to re-enter a more promising free agent market of the NBA in a few years.
Olympiakos is known for bringing in NBA players, as they did with Lynn Greer last season. Now, Josh is not exactly what we would call a NBA superstar, but he can make any team in the NBA better. Why? He actually shares the ball and works for his team.
Should the NBA and NBA fans be scared now that Europe is taking advantage of the weak dollar to lure away their NBA players? With European stars such as Juan Carlos Navarro, internationals like Carlos Delfino, high school standouts such as Brandon Jennings and solid NBA players like Josh Childress, many different players have considered and even joined teams in Europe and the Euroleague.
To me, this is a logic consequence of European basketball getting better. Just take a look at the teams that will participate in the Olympics: Host country China, Americas Champions and runner up USA and Argentina, Asia Champion Iran, African Champion Angola and Oceania Champion Australia. This makes the remainder — six teams out of 12 — European: Spain, as the 2006 FIBA World Champion; European Champion Russia; and European runnerup Lithuania; as well as the just-qualified Germany, Croatia and Greece. A total of six European teams made it to the Olympics.
Of course, for Team USA, anything but THE GOLD is unacceptable as every TEAM USA athlete, man or woman, keeps repeating on TV; this will be a very hard battle, though, especially with Americans joining European teams to make everybody around them better.
Side note: It is said that Olympiakos will go after New Jersey Nets free agent Bostijan Nachbar if the Childress deal doesn’t come through.
Carlos Delfino makes his way to Europe
July 18, 2008
It looks like the Toronto Raptors are this year’s NBA club to deal with European players and clubs. Roko Ukic joins the team, Jorge Garbajosa leaves the team: While Jose Calderon re-signs in Toronto for the Raptors, Carlos Delfino will leave the Raptors for a new adventure in Russia.
Delfino signed a three-year deal with BC Khimki, a team slated to participate in the new Eurocup. Yes, the Eurocup, not the Euroleague.
I’m not sure what has been promised to Carlos, but to make him join a team that does not even play in the highest league in Europe, BC Khimki must have come up with something special - like $$$ or even better some major €€€. (Rumored, in fact, to be €8.5 million over three years.)
Carlos signed for three years with the club, although this will not be his first time in Europe; Carlos has already spent a few seasons in Italy.
Here is Carlos’ reason to come to Europe again:
“I really wanted to return to Europe. Khimki is an ambitious club that will soon become one of the strongest in Europe. I will do my best to make it possible.” (via eurocupbasketball.com)
Additional note: The NBA should no longer have an NBA Europe. The Raptors spent too much time in Europe - Everybody wants to play here now!
Quarterfinals thoughts live from Athens
July 18, 2008
Kris Santiago is the lucky guy to follow the whole week of games at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Athens. His thoughts for today follow. (For those how want to follow the live score and a live chat of today’s games - click here.)
Croatia v. Canada:
- Croatia had little trouble clinching their semifinal spot, as Canada never really found their rhythm.
- 27% field goal shooting speaks for itself; Rowan Barrett was again solid with 13, while Famutimi led Canada with 14 points.
- Marko Popovic was the man of the game, as he really displayed leadership on the court and was able to convert from three to score 17 points for the Adriatic nation.
- I have to mention Sandro Nicevic, who stood out for his ability to convert all of his mid-range shots in scoring 11 points.
Puerto Rico v. Slovenia:
- Carlos Arroyo’s Puerto Ricans ended Slovenia’s hopes of qualifying for Beijing.
- The NBA player was really impressive in netting 17 points, while Larry Ayuso had another strong game by scoring 12. Sani Becirovic could not control Arroyo in a very physical matchup between the two.
- Becirovic had 12 points though, while Uros Slokar was probably the best Slovenian in this tournament, and added this time with 16 points and seven boards. Nesterovic somehow disappeared this time on the offensive end (10 points, 11rebounds) but had little trouble guarding Daniel Santiago and P.J. Ramos.
Germany v. Brazil:
- Germany and Brazil are not really getting it done right now, as the game is not really exciting to watch. Nowitzki is getting his shots off and Tiago Splitter is also struggling to find a way to score against Germany’s tall backcourt. The second quarter has started and nothing new so far, not a lot of scoring, many foul calls and little action on the floor … the cheerleaders are probably the only reason to watch the game right now for the fans in OAKA.
- Germany make a 31-7 run in the second quarter and is dashing Brazil’s offensive efforts just like that.
- How is this going to end for the South Americans? Splitter and Garcia can’t convert their foul shots while Nowitzki woke up and is now at 13 points. Frankfurt’s Pascal Roller chipped in another 12 for the Germans.
- Marcelinho Machado has nine points so far, but is not able to score from beyond the arc (Brazil scored one of eight shots from the three-point line.) and is currently facing elimination. Score is 45-26 at halftime…
- Germany controlled the game until a few minutes ago, but started to turnover the ball a couple of times and Brazil is desperatly trying to get back into this game, but at the end of the third quarter, it’s 62-39 Germany.
- Top scorers are Nowitzki with 15, Roller with 12, and Wysocki with 10 points. Marcelinho Machado has 11 points and Huertas another nine.
- Germany started to lose their rhythm and turned the ball over a couple of times which was exactly in the game plan for Brazil. Brazil rallied to get back into the game, playing tough on defense and executing well in the post thanks to a superb Tiago Splitter, who dished in 16 points. But it was Nowitzki, in foul trouble, who led the Germans with 20 and Roller scored another important three to send Germany to the semifinals and Brazil home. Demond Greene also had some fine moments in the final minutes of the game and finished with 14 for the troubled Germans that had 17 turnovers compared to the eight of Brazil.
- Brazil could not hit the three today, going just 3-of-19 from the arc, which left them with no inside-outside game and Splitter as the only scoring option.
Kris will be updating this post throughout the day - keep following!
Brandon Jennings signs with European club Virtus Roma
July 16, 2008
Here we go: Brandon Jennings makes history for officially signing with a Euroleague team straight out of high school. His team: Virtus Roma. Since I spent the last year in Rome, I’m not sure this city is a good environment for Brandon; basketball-wise, it could be a good fit, though. From Roma’s official statement, it seems Brandon is bringing over his entire family!
Roma will play against Spanish top club Tau Ceramica, Fenerbahce Ulker from Turkey, Olympia Ljubljana (Slovenia), DKV Joventut (Spain), and Alba Berlin (Germany) during the group stage of the Euroleague season.
Why is Roma interested in Jennings? Well, they just lost Roko Ukic to the NBA, but still has Ibrahim Jaaber at the point guard. It is more than obvious that Brandon wants to prove himself in Europe and then leave the club for the NBA.
Personally, I am excited … well, curious. I know that most Americans don’t think the Euroleague is competition for ANY American player, but this year’s Euroleague will be on a whole other level. What if Brandon doesn’t succeed - don’t forget this guy is still “only” a high school star - as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Garnett have…?
(Thanks to “name” who provided us with the link within our comments.)
Thank god Gallinari didn’t get 37
July 15, 2008
If you’re into basketball, you know where this is going. Last year, Italian player Marco Belinelli scored 36 points in his first NBA summer league game. Great, isn’t it?
I’m pretty sure that every single Knicks fan and every Italian basketball fan is glad that Danilo Gallinari did not score 37 points this afternoon.
Why? Remember Marco Belinelli’s performance after his summer league games? Well, Marco’s first year ended up to be a nightmare.
Danilo scored 14 points and even came back from a horrible start, when the first Knicks fans probably already had signs to hold up at the first New York Knicks home game - with messages like “Told you so!” - written.
What does this summer league play in Las Vegas actually mean? NOTHING - It is so meaningless that it is not broadcast on TV (just some local stations show their home team’s games) and not one important player besides the rookies will be on the floor. We’ll have to wait for the regular season to start to see what Gallinari will be able to do, but we Europeans already know that he will have an impact in New York, right?
