Dan Dickau: What was that?!

This story about Dan Dickau joining Avellino (Italy)/leaving Avellino and joining the Golden State Warriors was kind of a weird story. Nobody really talked about the “why” and still nobody really knows. Everything we have is rumors from pretty reliable sources so we thought it might be a good idea to post them, since there is no official word - besides back pain.

Dan Dickau was released from Air Avellino, a Euroleague newcomer, beacuse of back problems that prevented him from doing what he gets paid for: play basketball. At first this sounds like a very sad story, but two days later, Dan Dickau signed with an NBA team again: the Golden State Warriors.

Right there is where you should start thinking, “So, did he meet with a magician, who made his back feel better? Probably not. Something else must have happened that allows Dan now to play in the NBA again.”

Americans might think, “Well he got the offer later, when he had already signed with Avellino and of course chose the NBA then.” This might even be true, but a club does not just release you whenever you want.

Sources say that Dan needed special drugs, that weren’t allowed in Europe but are allowed in the NBA. With the word DRUGS, a lot of confusion ensued. Some web sites reported that Dan refused to get tested for illegal substances, which was the reason for his release. Combine Dan’s back problems with pharmaceuticals he probably had to take and you might think he took substances that are allowed in the US but not in Europe.

It is important to say that you can’t just buy anything in the United States and that we’re talking about pharmaceuticals allowed in within US basketball and just not allowed within FIBA or Euroleague play.

What drug could that be? Maybe cortisone. Use of cortisone requires special permission in Italy and must  be permitted by the Italian league, which for sure would not have been a problem in Dan Dickau’s case.

Another reason why this was probably not the cause: Italian Danilo Gallinari can’t play right now because of back problems while he is in the United States. Dickau is now able to play with two hernias?

So the stories get even crazier all the way to one with Dickau having a gambling problem … well, of course, it has to be something, right?

We will try to uncover the story.

Sources: basketcentral.it, crossover-online.de.

Kosta Perovic joins Pamesa Valencia

Alvaro gave us the heads up that Kosta Perovic, who was waived by his NBA club the Golden State Warriors last week, will be introduced to the Pamesa Valencia roster on Wednesday.

Now it is not more than a side note for us that he left the NBA to play in Europe: Perovic is a solid player, but has not yet developed into a big star.

What really caught our eye is the way Perovic will be presented.

Kosta Perovic will be introduced to - well, to who?! - since this will happen onboard a cruise ship named MSC Simfonia. Sure. Valencia is right on the Spanish east coast, but why would you introduce a new player on a cruise ship? I wonder if the local media has booked the trip to cover this event as well.

Just by looking at the article on Pamesa’s website, you can see that the real news is not Perovic, but the MSC Simfonia - Perovic gets mentioned once in the beginning, with the rest of the article all about that cruise ship.

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