Where have all the scorers gone?

Vincenzo Esposito in Italy, Delaney Rudd in France, Tony Dawson in Germany, Oded Katash in Israel: All were top scorers in their respective leagues, leading the rankings with 25 or more points per game. Brad Oleson, Steven Smith, Rashad Anderson: These are our top scorers, nowadays. How many are they scoring? Not more than 21 points per game. (And that’s going to fall…) So what has happened across Europe over the last 10-15 years? Why, in a game that has itself evolved itself into one of increasing total scores, show, and thus its level of fan interest all over the world, do the top offensive players score much less? Let’s take a look at how our basketball has changed, following this decadent scoring line. The following is a list of a few changes.

Defense has improved. Every team has a huge number of defensive solutions. Coaches have developed their knowledge on man-to-man, matchups, box and one, press defenses. Even more, scouting reports have so much helped those who once knew only their enemy’s names. We still underestimate the power of Internet: Here can be found a detailed view (profile, stats, biography) of whoever you want, at any moment, in each place. Nevertheless, basketball societies have grown by size and ambition (from the lowest to the highest levels), with budget and people involved in scouting rising in the same way. Fifteen years ago, when you played against KK Split, it was always the same story: “Hey, they’re Croatian: They play hard and have a noisy crowd supporting them. Don’t be intimidated!” Today, by the time you land at the airport, you already know whether Mario Delas prefers to finish with right or left hand. Thanks to technology, go back to the start: Defense has improved.

US players aren’t as talented as in previous generations. True or false? I answer with a comparison: In 1995, the best newcomer from the United States was Dominique Wilkins (9th all-time NBA scorer); in 2008, the best is Josh Childress (one NBA playoff appearance in his career). Is this enough? Here’s another example. Since 1995, we here in Italy have had the pleasure of seeing Jermaine Jackson, Eddie Gill, Gerard King, Gary Trent, Erick Murdock, AJ Guyton, Shawn Respert, and Derrick Dial. I looked at them as “champions coming from the NBA,” but I still didn’t know that, when he was my age, my father could see Bob McAdoo, Bob Morse, Bill Bradley and Michael “Sugar” Ray Richardson. And I was only a child when Darren Daye, Mike Mitchell and Rolando Blackman charmed the stands. There’s really no contest.

Average quality has improved. Today, any team you face has at least eight men able to play at the appropriate level. When one of the starting five is called to the bench, his substitute is sometimes even better. (Don’t you know Kaukenas’ role?) That’s the reason why a top scorer can’t relax when the second team is in. This depends on the Bosman Rules that have broken down previous walls about player circulation in Europe, but it also depends also on a higher level of European schooling, because it’s not merely all about whether Greece or Spain forces Team USA to do the best they can to win an Olympic medal. More competition = better schools to create good players and protect your the lads of your country from foreign invasions = better players.

The 24 second clock. Less time to score, more action. More shots to distribute. No more of the man who freezes for his teammates to admire.

Length of the season. A Euroleague (or Eurocup) team plays 60 games a year, including the regular season and playoffs. So you must preserve your best players from fatigue. Are you happier if he scores 35 points against Bruesa in November or 25 against Unicaja in May?

These are some reasons that I consider to be a starting point for discussion about the lack of great scorers in Europe today. While we’re certainly seeing better basketball, at this moment, technical staffs and tactical solutions are deciding the games. I sigh a little, and then I get out my DVD of Steve Burtt Sr. and his 40-point performances. Unbelievable!

written by Francesco Cappelletti

Yarone’s weekend Joints

Lots of three-ball action took place this week. Some went in with great accuracy. Others will have to pay for the rim damage. Lazos, Erceg and Childress are the most overpaid players of this week, the double OT in Istanbul had two sides, Spencer caught up, Nancy made history, Jennings made us proud, and one Emir Preldzic…

These are the stories of week 4 of Euroleague 2009.

In case you missed it… - CSKA tied the Euroleague record for most three pointers made with 18, and more amazingly they hit them at a 72% rate. Those who follow CSKA closely saw them only last week connect on 20 three pointers at 71.4% in a Russian cup game. Keep in mind that Holden and Smodis are injured and could probably add a couple more to the party. Do you still remember just a week ago the Euroleague champs scored only 58 points at Real and hit five three-balls at a poor 18.5% rate?

CSKA tied a record set by Lottomatica Roma, who went 18/34 back in December 2003, but it reminded me more of the most amazing three-ball display in Euroleague history: Efes’ unbelievable fourth quarter back in November 2006. In a home game against Olympiacos, the Jenkins-Nicholas-Erden-Haislip-Kuqo combination connected on 11 of 12 long-range shots in the final 10:04 of the game.

The Jennings report – Brandon Jennings, in one of the toughest arenas in Europe, explained why. Last week in a text written on this server, Jennings was asked, for the first time in his Euroleague career, to combine baskets inside and outside the arc, and right away he provided. The boxscore displayed 17 minutes on court, 13 points, 4-of-7 from the field, three assists and not a single turnover on the way to an index rating of 17. He played a key role in the third quarter when Tau pushed hard to take over, and made sure Roma stayed on top. Can’t ask for more from this kid.

Just imagine – Terrell McIntyre was 1-of-8 from long range in OAKA. Shaun Stonerook was 2-of-11 from the same distance, but Montepaschi still left Athens with only a five-point loss. If any of the above had shot at just a tiny bit better percentage…

Over? Under! – Four games into the Euroleague season and not only is Zalgiris Kaunas continuing to seek their first win, they’ve also failed to reach 70 points in a game: Their season high is 67 points at home, in the 26 point loss to Montepaschi. True, Kaunas lost Brown, misses Dean, and the go-to guy right now is the great Maciulis, who hasn’t fully adapted to the idea that he’s the main man this season. Nevertheless, it’s not that much we’re asking: In the next three games, Kaunas hosts Barcelona and Pao, followed by travel to Siena. None will be shocked to see them go 0-6, but if the Lithuanians can’t shoot to reach 70…

Standings – After four weeks, CSKA Moscow is the only undefeated team. Surprised? Group D, where CSKA play, is the only group in which just one team has reached three wins. Behind CSKA are four teams with a 2-2 record and in last is a team with no wins: Exactly the scenario predicted for this group from the first second after the draw. The only difference: Panionios was expected to be the winless team, while in fact it’s struggling AJ Milano.

It’s a close league after all – Four teams, one in each group, are still in search for a debut win, but that’s not a case of teams that are just too weak to win. All of them have already sensed a win in their hands at least once during the four weeks. Le Mans was close four weeks in a row, including an OT loss in Tel Aviv; AJ Milano has been in the neighborhood twice already and this week lost by a point; Olimpija lost once by a point as well and this week fell in double OT; finally, Zalgiris hasn’t been as close to success as the other three, but has lost their last two games by five points or fewer.

Index Morris – Last week, CSKA’s Terence Morris went 0-of-8 from long range in Madrid. This week he had three perfect hits from distance already after three minutes on the way to a 5-of-7 night.

Home sweetest home – 11 of the 12 games this week went in favor of the home team, including a double OT win for FenerUlker, a one-point win for Real, a two-point win for Alba and five-point wins for Nancy, Panathinaikos, Panionios and Avellino. The only team to drop the home game was Tau, considered one of the most difficult teams to beat on their home court, who lost by a small three-point margin.

Emir – If you’re a big prospect and want to make a break, then shower, shave, grab a bottle of water, some orange Tic Tacs, pack a small bag and go stand outside the house of coach Bogdan Tanjevic. Wait patiently, have some Tic Tacs and hope he’ll take you in. From there, you’re set. 18 points, more than 50% from the field, seven rebounds, five assists and just a single turnover: That’s the line Emir Preldzic produced this week. He’s playing inside Tanjevic’s system as much as a Bosnian can play inside a system, but also gets a lot of freedom from his coach to bring his skills and creativity to the floor. Follow this kid. He’s much more than just great numbers: He’s fineness and finesse.

Double OT, triple lead – The interesting thing about the game in Istanbul, only the third in Euroleague history to go 50 minutes, was that in all three crucial possessions FenerUlker were up. In regulation, it was a huge running three-pointer by Saso Ozbolt (Welcome back!) to tie the score. Then Damjan Rudez scored on a layup to force another overtime, and finally Vlado Illievski took the chance when down by two with a long distance attempt that went out.

Vlado + Saso > Europe – Olimpija’s Ilievski and Ozbolt played a double OT but still combined 79:50 minutes of play so they didn’t hold a much bigger margin on other backcourts. Nevertheless they took no less than 21 shots from long range (11 by Vlado). Those 21 attempts by only two players represented more three-point attempts than those taken by the entire teams of Panathinaikos, Panionios, Alba, Cibona, Maccabi, Barcelona, Prokom, Real, Avellino, Le Mans, Roma and Nancy this week.

Joventut > Europe – Vlado and Saso weren’t the only ones. Demond Mallet and Luka Bogdanovic of Joventut also combined for 21 attempts from long range, and they played much less obviously. Luka was on a big night hitting 7-of-12 from long distance without taking a single shot inside the arc or the charity stripe. Mallet was a tiny bit less glamour at 1-of-9 from the same distance.

Both were merely executing Joventut’s game plan, or so it seemed on the court. Rudy’s former team took 23 shots inside the arc, but no fewer than 37 outside: a huge difference that hints at a lack of guiding hand and another reason to hang a “We miss you Ricky!” sign in the lockerroom. Joventut had the last ball of the game down by two at Alba, and take a wild guess what their play was…Wrong! Pau Ribas tried to find an open man for the three, but Alba did a great job in the passing lanes, forcing the young guard to go to the rim. He added one more miss to his pocket and Alba celebrated their second win.

All Blacks – OK, the national team of New Zealand isn’t playing in the Euroleague yet, but while I was watching Nancy-Zalgiris on Wednesday night, I suddenly noticed something refreshing: With Cyril Julian out due to injury, Nancy this week was a team composed of only black players, probably the first time ever in European basketball history. Quickly, Mr. Ney was sent to check the NBA rosters and figure how many NBA teams have only black players on the roster, and his answer was one: The Philadelphia 76ers, thus making the occasion in Nancy this week very unique indeed. From the Greer duo to the promising young Zaki, it was a refreshing occurrence. The fact they have won isn’t as exciting as the happenings in Illinois not too long ago, but certainly is a happy episode.

Double OT, triple miss – While Olimpija had to come back from behind time after time in the finals seconds, the Turkish side can be happy to win a close game, but proved he can miss time after time in these situations. Devin Smith had a decent shot from the three-point corner to win the game in regulation but missed. At the end of the first OT, Fenerbache had 6.5 seconds to win the game but managed to lose the ball, while at the end of the last overtime Marque Green missed his first free throw in the final seconds, leaving Olimpija a chance to win.

Whole story in one Zoran – Olympiacos paid around <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> €700,000 just to buy out Zoran Erceg from FMP Zeleznik. His contract probably isn’t cheap, either, and the buyout plus contract is worth around $1.5 million easily. This is more than Maccabi’s second-highest paid player. Erceg played less than seven minutes this week, and other than pick up one foul did nothing on the court. No rebounds, no shots taken, no assists, no turnovers. His team still won by 19, the second-greatest margin of the week. His story tells the difference between Olympiacos and a second-tier Euroleague team.

Frustrated Milanese - If you’ve ever had the chance to stop whatever it is you’re doing in your daily life and wonder what’s more frustrating, to lose a five-point lead in the last minute or a 23-point lead in the second half, well, your search for an answer is over! AJ Milano solved this riddle for you! Once again, one player shone above all: This time it was Michael Hall, who won the MVP of the week award, and once again Milano seemed on the sure path for a win. Answers shall be provided after the debut win.

Looking for Lazos – Not too long ago, in the summer of 2007, Lazaros Papadopoulos was a hot item in the market. At 210cm with post moves, decent rebounding and one of the smartest brains in the Euroleague chasing up a 14.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg and a season index rating of 20.3 with Dynamo Moscow. Then came a multi-season deal with powerhouse Real Madrid, who wanted to return to greatness. On that paper, it says Lazos will make more than <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> €2 million per season, but he never really proved worthy of it.

His decline already began last season, when his season numbers dropped to 6.9 ppg with 3.2 rpg and season index of no more than 7.8. If someone was waiting for Lazos to come back to life this season, well…maybe later. Right now, he’s finished two games in a row with no points, something that hasn’t happened to him in a European competition since January 9th, 2003. His index ratings in the past three games were 2, -2, and 2. His minutes dropped from 20 to 12 to five. Lazos is no longer a factor. Can’t wait to have him back in shape.

Weekly battle – After Bluthenthal wrote a landslide last week, it was time for Dewarick Spencer to retort. This week, the US guard won the “let’s see who shots more” battle 15-4. Le Mans, no news, lost a close game in Italy. Overall score: Bluthenthal 2, Spencer 2.

Shooting Josh – If you think Lazos is the most overpaid player this week, well, Josh Childress is giving him good competition. The $7 million man finished the game against Maccabi with four points on 1-of-6 from the field and five turnovers. Maccabi gave him a lot of space to shoot from long range, and Josh didn’t punish. The tale from Piraeus is that after the game, while media walked around the lockerroom, looking for Childress, the US swingman went back to the court to work on his jumpshot, to make sure no team will bet on his shots again. Time will tell…

Three-ball Rawel – Cibona’s Rawel Marshall arrived to Malaga with a 7/17 ratio from long range. He finished the game 7 of 10 from that distance. Cibona scored only one additional three pointer. Unicaja combined for a team total of six three-pointers.

Marshall hit just a single bucket inside the arc. Each and every one of his long balls is worth a look. He showed great diversity making off dribble and catch and shoot attempts, eith with a hand in his face or wide open, right on the arc or a step behind…

Last-second choices for the NIKEiD Fantasy Challenge

This week looked like a very tough challenge to me as I did not expect to trade away my top performer at the moment: Pops Mensah-Bonsu. But a shoulder injury stopped the British national team player, and so I had to give him away. But for his value, I could buy two “certain” gainers instead, so the deal looks not too bad. But first things first.

My first move was to check my team with the updated Euroleague fantasy tool at HoopsStats.com. Not too much to change, though, except a few minor errors on my team. But it helped my to set up my strategy for this week. Next to the obvious trade of Mensah-Bonsu, it gave me the idea to go for a two maximum winners trade by acquiring Bouroussis and Begic for Mensah-Bonsu’s value approximately.

The other player that I wanted to give away was Carlos Jimenez. As much as I like him on the court, he could not stand his recent nice statistical efforts and so he goes out after only week of action. Together with the now reduced minutes of Will McDonald at TAU, I had enough cash to go big at the forward position. So I brought in Josh Childress. who I think should be a very regular contributor at a 20+ ranking points level. So here are the moves I made on my team this week.

OUT: Carlos Jimenez (Unicaja Malaga), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (DKV Joventut) and Will McDonald (TAU Ceramica) - 185.3 credits

IN: Josh Childress (Olympiacos), Mirza Begic (Union Olimpija) and Ioannis Bouroussis (Olympiacos) - 176.35 credits

Who are the other players to sign?

Point Guards: If your goal is to gain credits and you don’t own Sergio Llull on your team, take a look at Damir Kaan (Fenerbahce - 30.3 credits). The veteran only needs a 5.7 ranking to gain the maximum value and the upcoming game against DKV Joventut looks like a good opportunity for some backcourt scoring.

Daniel Ewing (Prokom Sopot - 68.4 credits) looks like a nice pick this week, too, and Prokom will play against Zalgiris and its heavily reduced backcourt.

Shooting Guards and Small Forwards: With the return of Julius Jenkins (ALBA Berlin - 50.2 credits), it may be interesting to take a look at the ALBA Berlin guard. His poor opening game reduced his price nicely so he may be a bargain at the moment, as he can be regular 20+ guy like he showed last week; at least he should be a nice investment for the future.

If you have a bigger wallet, Romain Sato (Montepaschi Siena - 77 credits) looks right now like a very regular contributor at a fair value. If you need to increase your buying volume, Saso Ozbolt (Union Olimpija - 33.2 credits) may be the right choice for you, as he only needs 2.9 ranking points to remain idle; compared to his current average of 11 ranking points, he should be able to give you a nice return.

Power Forwards and Centers: Besides the usual suspects Mirza Begic and Ioannis Bouroussis (see above), Pat Burke (Asseco Prokom - 33.2 credits) may be an interesting choice for the discount seekers. Zalgiris’ frontcourt is not known for being the toughest in terms of defense, so Pat can come up with some of his trademark moves or three point shots.

Another pick if you want to fill your roster but have no money left is of course Enes Kanter (Fenerbahce - 9.2 credits), as the 16-year-old kid will increase his value even without playing.

Let’s make some crazy bets!

As you can see above, I made some very safe choices this week. But isn’t this game about winning and going for some crazy bets? Currently, as I am writing, I’m not so sure about bringing Josh Childress in at 83.6 credits. As I really believe in one of my other choices described above — I’m talking about Julius Jenkins — I may change my trades and bring in the ALBA guard instead of the former Hawk and save about 30 credits for next week’s trades. Maybe that’s not too bad an idea, as both Begic and Bouroussis probably won’t stay on my team forever and having additional buying power makes the future look brighter. Yes, I changed my mind to bring in Jenkins (by the way, who should stop him at TAU Ceramica, Rakocevic?). So here we go:

OUT: Carlos Jimenez (Unicaja Malaga), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (DKV Joventut) and Will McDonald (TAU Ceramica) - 185.3 credits

IN: Julius Jenkins (ALBA Berlin), Mirza Begic (Union Olimpija) and Ioannis Bouroussis (Olympiacos) - 142.95 credits (42.67 credits in reserve)

Eduardo Hernandez-Sonseca (DKV Joventut - 39.4 credits) could be the big winner of the Pops Mensah-Bonsu mess. Not only because both have hyphenated names, but Hernandez-Sonseca came up with 22 ranking points this weekend in the ACB and should be able to go for a similar score against Fenerbahce at home.

Monday’s cigarettes

Let’s start the new week with some exciting stories from around the continent.

• Two of the best highflyers of the Spanish ACB met this weekend: Marcus Haislip of Unicaja and Pops Mensah-Bonsu of Joventut Badalona. And both guys had good games, especially Haislip, who finished with a 3-of-5 effort from behind the arc.

• Elie Seckbach, also known as the Embedded NBA Correspondent, came up with a very interesting interview with former TAU and AJ Milano player James Singleton. Even though it was published a month ago, we wanted to mention it, since James tells Elie that people in Europe throw Euro coins at basketball players. James should have told Tyson Chandler so that the Hornet could have avoided this.

• The weekly Brandon Jennings watch: 17 minutes, 1 point (0/4 FGs, 1/2FTs), 1 rebound and 3 assists.

• Fabien Friconnet talks in his blog on basketnews.net about the good old days. When he started to watch Euroleague TV this week, he got a flashback: One of his old VHS tapes featuring a first half of a Champions Cup game between Maes Pils Mechelen and Olympiakos Piraeus. Living in France where basketball on TV is not that common, he is used to always seeing at least one French team play. I’m not quite sure, but I would guess it was this game. And while reading his post, I am also pretty sure that I watched that game on Eurosport at the time as well. Just one question, why is the Belgian team called WATCO on the FIBA Europe stat sheet?

• Nice effort by Ken Johnson of Telekom Baskets Bonn: The center finished the game against the Cologne 99ers with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 8 blocked shots, including five in the first 10 minutes.

• Josh Childress already made it to the first top 10 plays of the Euroleague with a massive rejection. However, the play of the day for me was Mike Hall’s Kobe-esque basket with the foul. By the way, Draftexpress had a longer piece on the American forward.

• Ricky Rubio got a nice cake for his 18th birthday this week.

Aftermath cigarettes

• The first Euroleague game day of the 2008/09 season is in the books - all the home teams won their games besides Avellino (Italy) who lost to Olympiacos, and SLUC Nancy (France) who got killed at home against FC Barcelona.

• Player that impressed me the most: Loren Woods. I know Will McDonald is the Euroleague MVP of week 1, but with all the big problems in Kaunas, money problems, Loren hitting people on the court and then facing Panthinaikos, Loren pulls off a game with 17 points and 16 rebounds in 33 minutes, which means 28 ranking points for Loren. Good job!

• Player that disappointed (me) the most: Ibrahim Jaaber - come on man: you’re on my Euroleague fantasy team! I chose you for your steals and defense last season…and this time not one steal, not one assist and not even one point in 18 minutes. Thanks for your -3 ranking.

• Euroleague TV comments: I watched at least 10 minutes of every game during the first gameday to find out if the pay-more-money-for-fewer-games thing works out. I have to say that the stream works really fine and I had no problems following the games even switching between them all the time. What I did not like is the resolution offered. The windows are clearly too small to really enjoy a game and by switching to full screen you can’t even read the score because of the bad resolution. Also new this year - as far as I remember - EL.tv stays online during halftime and offers a closeup of the bench during timeouts.

• Brandon Jennings watch: Evin Demirel talks about it: It’s obvious Jennings is learning to adjust to the European game. 9 points on 3-of-7 for threes and 0 assists - not sure if this is what European basketball is about. I am sure, though, that it won’t take too long for Brandon to show his real potential and we really are looking forward to this.

• The 31st overall draft pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Nikola Pekovic, in his first Euroleague game out of Serbia and for Panathinaikos: 14 points in 14 minutes in a 78-51 win against Zalgiris Kaunas in front of 12,000 visitors, according to Euroleague statistics.

• Speaking of Euroleague statistics: Marques Greens (Fenerbahce) played 30 minutes and had 5 points by making one two-pointer, one three-pointer and two free throws. Please tell me that this still would equal 7 points.

• Same game, same problem - Gasper Vidmar: 1-of-2 on free throws equals 3 points right?

• Josh Childress watch: 14 points, 8 rebounds in 25 minutes with a ranking of 22. Josh, learn to look at these ranking points - This is what Europe, especially Euroleague fantasy players, will judge you for. Here are the highlights.

• Finally our thoughts on the Euroleague TV commentators. Overall judge - funny and entertaining - with insightful comments in a true European/Italian way (in terms of pronunciation and passion). Really disappointing is the only guy who seems to be an American. His English might be perfect but the way he commentates a game made me fall asleep while Unicaja and Le Mans were actually playing a very interesting game. We know that he had problems with European names: problems with European names in the past, but I am sure, if you prepare a little bit for a game you can see that David Bluthenthal is not spelled David BLUMENthal, which in German means David Flowerthal, by the way.

Kobe to join Josh Childress in Olympiacos?

I don’t know how serious this rumor is, but Italian website basketcentral.it announced today that the Greek powerhouse is collecting the money to make an offer to Kobe Bryant next summer.

According to the article, the super-rich Angelopoulos brothers are ready to put $60 million on the table to sign the LA Laker guard to a three-year deal. Additionally, Kobe would get a villa and a private jet for his personal use.

We’ll see during the next days, weeks or months what’s going on with this, but besides David Stern telling us “his” stars have just been joking around and the Euroleague probably not being that interested in clubs paying that much money when there are other problems, I’m not sure if there is any truth to this rumor and truthfully is really difficult to believe.

Monday’s cigarettes

Here we go again and the smokiest cigarettes from all around Europe have been looked at, selected and are presented to you right here.

• It’s mystery time in Zagreb at the moment. After the departure of American PG Earl Calloway without any obvious reason, now Damir Markota did not join the team on a preseason trip to Russia without explanations.
• But there is also good news coming from Croatia as you can see by this big smile.
• Brandon Jennings played a practice scrimmage with Virtus Roma. And got introduced to European fouls.
• One week before the start of the ACB, TAU Ceramica has already won their first title by winning the Supercopa on a 86-85 win in the final against CAI Zaragoza. The former Seattle SuperSonics/now Oklahoma City Thunder draftee Serge Ibaka won the Slam Dunk Contest.
• The German Women Basketball Bundesliga will broadcast all of their games live on Zap Internet TV.
• The German Bundesliga, in collaboration with the federation, has created a fund for youth players. This means that every Bundesliga team that gives minutes to players younger than 24 years old earns money. How much? It’s €10,000 per gameday, divided according to the minutes played. And who gets what can be seen here.
• And we still stay in Germany for the most incredible story of the weekend. During the National Streetball Championship, eight-year-old Aaron Prenszlau won the Slam Dunk competition. Having not been at the contest, I don’t know what happened there, but he is officially the youngest ever slam dunk champion.
• After his first high-flying impressions, Josh Childress is reported to have suffered a minor injury and has been sidelined for a week.

First evidence as to why to follow Josh Childress in Europe

We finally got some basketball action from Athens, where Olympiakos played an exhibition game. The first time somebody posted the video, I wasn’t expecting too much - well, watch for yourself to see some Dwight Howard blocks and LeBron James dunks … made by Josh Childress.

Might be a great season to start following the Euroleague!

The stats from the game: Olympiakos 88, Kolossos 82. Josh Childress, 14 points.

Shawn Kemp, by the way, went back to the States to take care of the victims of hurricane Ike. His Italian team is now somewhat worried that Kemp might not come back. Now this is only a rumor picked up at the IBN forum, but those people are always pretty well informed. We will see.

Monday’s cigarettes

Here we go again for the Monday roundup of the hottest news from around the Internet world.

Read more

Would Ben Gordon be a bigger deal than Josh Childress?

All over the internet has the rumor spread that Ben Gordon has been offered €5.5 million Euros to join a team that already looks like they can win the Euroleague. As always, CSKA is denying this. It is also said that Ben Gordon would take an European offer of at least €7 million.

First off, what passport does or could Ben hold? This might be crucial to find out if his paycheck can actually reach €7 million per season. Remember, there are restrictions in the Euroleague and in each European domestic league regarding how many Americans can be on the team and even on the floor.

Ben’s parents are Jamaican and he was born in London, but is an American basketball player, according to Wikipedia. After all, Ben is holding a UK passport.

If I’m Ben Gordon, I’m just looking at Josh Childress and his contract. Josh averaged 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds, while Ben scored 18.6 points, grabbed 3.1 rebounds and had 3 assists per game. According to the statistics, I might pick Ben over Josh - having in the back of my mind, of course, the kind of players Josh and Ben are.

Looking at the numbers, it is said that Josh is making about $20 million over three years - $6.6 million a year or about €4.6 million presently. Remember: Ben was offered €5 million and wants €7 million. If you ask me, CSKA, give him the six he really wants and score a great player.

According to the stats, Ben is the bigger deal; in terms of money, he also should be a bigger deal; and within the NBA vs. Euroleague battle, he should be a even bigger deal, right?

We’ll see what happens within the next few days …

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