Olimpia Milano announced Juan Fernandez

An early snatch for Olimpia.


While most players coming out of the NCAA don't even have an agent yet, Olimpia Milano announced via their official website the signing of Argentinian/Italian point guard Juan Fernandez(1.93-PG). This is the extract from their site:

Olimpia Milano basketball EA7 Emporio Armani announces that it has reached a multiyear agreement with the Italian national player of Juan Fernandez, playmaker, 1.93 in height, which has just finished his university degree at the Temple University in Philadelphia.He was born in Rio Tercero in Argentina July 22, 1990 to parents of Italian origin, for four years at Temple, Fernandez these days is playing in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, reserved for the best college players, after leading his team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In the season just ended has scored 11.1 points with 3.8 assists and average of 43.1% in the three-point shooting.

Fernandez is currently playing at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament although he is not doing as well as expected. It's very likely that he will be sent on loan to another team in the upcoming season to get experiences at pro level and sharpen his skills. He averaged 11.4 points 2.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 32 games in the NCAA playing for Temple.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Efes Anadolu announced Elias Zouros

Days after being eliminated from the playoffs race in a season for which it had Final Four hopes, Anadolu Efes decided to change course by bringing in a new head coach, Ilias Zouros, on Monday.


Zouros will replace Ufuk Sarica, who had joined Efes at a similar juncture last season, but was unable to put the team into position to try to make the 2011 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Istanbul this May. Efes remains the only Turkish team ever to make a Final Four, but last did so more than a decade ago. Zouros, 45, began this season with Zalgiris after having taken over that club in a similar situation in January of 2011. He and Zalgiris won the the Baltic League and Lithuanian League titles together last spring. Zouros was released by Zalgiris after the team lost the opening game of this Turkish Airlines Euroleague season at home against CSKA Moscow.

Zouros, a former Eurocup Coach of the Year with Panellinios of Greece, has also coached Olympiacos, Peristeri and Aris in his home country. He also coached Sagesse Beirut to the Lebanese League title and the Asian Club Championship and spent a season-plus with Paris Racing Basket of France. Efes said in a statement that Sarica, who had been assistant coach previously, would stay with the club. Efes hosts CSKA in its last Euroleague game of the season on Thursday.

source : euroleague.net

Click here to return to the homepage.

Patrick O'Bryant to play in Puerto Rico

This is his last game.


According to basketnet.gr, Patrick O'Bryant(2.13-C) has received an offer he can't refure from Indios BCN and after tonight's game he will be leaving the team of Kavala BC. The offer is quite good and it's for 14,000 dollars a month for O'Bryant who came from the NBDL and had his break-out season in Europe.

The only other time that O'Bryant played outside Europe was in China for Fujian Xunxing. He has also played for Golden State, Boston and Toronto in the NBA and Bakersfield and Reno in NBDL. O'Bryant was the 9th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft but his stock didn't go up as expected. Nevertheless he had a productive season in Greece averaging 9.5 points 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in a total of 18 games.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Michalis Giannakidis offered to Spanish teams

The next one to leave Paok..?


Giannis Kalambokis(1.95-SG/PG) will be playing for Alba Berlin after Paok's next game in the A1 league against Peristeri. The next player to leave though could be rising star Michalis Giannakidis (1.92-SG). Giannakidis has seen more playing time the last 2 seasons in Paok and his ability to shoot behind the arc is amongst his strong points.

According to basketplus.gr, his agents have offered him to Spanish teams that have shown some interest in the player who has a tiny contract with Paok. Valladolid and Obradoiro seem to be 2 of the teams that the player has been offered to and the success story of Kostas Vasileiadis of Bilbao seems to work in his favor. Vasileiadis started his career in Paok as well. Giannakidis has averaged 6.1 points 2.2 rebounds and 1 assists in the last 18 games in the A1 league.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Azovmash signed Othello Hunter

Azovmash deepened their frontcourt.


The Mariupol team agreed on terms of contract with Hunter Othello (203-F-86, agency: David Lee services, college: Ohio St.). The forward started the season in China. He played for Shandong Flaming Bulls.

Hunter Othello averaged 18.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in CBA. Last season the forward spent in Italy. He had a spell for Dinamo Sassari. Hunter Othello produced 14.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game in Seria A. He participated at Seria A All-Star Game. Eurobasket.com named the forward into All-Italian Seria A 2nd Team. Previously the forward had stints in Greece, NBA and D-League.


source : eurobasket.com

Click here to return to the homepage.

Alba Berlin interested in Giannis Kalambokis?

A better offer from Germany.

According to olapaok.gr, a website affiliated with Paok BC, Giannis Kalambokis(1.95-SG) is a target of Alba Berlin. The Greek shooting guard had a good season with Paok so far and according to article, his agent Kostas Papadakis is in talks with the German team.

Obviously there has to be a deal with Paok before he is released as the player is bound by contract until the end of the season but on other other hand it is possible that he is owed part of his contract which will make negotations easier for Alba. He has averaged so far 12.4 points 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 17 games in the A1 league.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Pacesas denies rumors of Motiejunas move

Although Donatas Motiejunas has been linked with a move to Anadolu Efes by Turkish media, it might turn out that these talks are just unweighed rumors.

Tomas Pacesas, the player’s coach at the Polish side Asseco Prokom, was surprised to hear such a scenario.

"He's moving where? Turkey? First time I've heard about it. We're on a bus together with him in Moscow. We have just flown to a VTB League game. There are no talks of someone leaving the club," the Lithuanian specialist told lrytas.lt.

The 21-year-old Motiejunas, whose draft rights belong to the Houston Rockets, was averaging 12.5 points and 7.9 rebounds for Asseco Prokom in the Euroleague this season.


source : lithuaniabasketball.com

Click here to return to the homepage.

Dominic James paid for his letter of clearance

It's almost over..


BDA Sports will be paying Aris a compensation of the order of 40% of James' current contract with Aris according to allaboutaris.com. Rade Filipovic spoke to the president of Aris and this deal was agreed. BDA Sports did not even file any notes against Aris as the case was sent to FIBA BAT, knowing full well that Aris were well within contract limits.


Unfortunately for BDA Sports, they didn't handle the case very well and a compensation will be paid to Aris to secure James' letter of cleareance sooner rather than later. It's rumored that James will soon be free to join Partizan for a more lucrative contract than that of 8,000 euros per month.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Uzoh was offered to release James

Negotiations are afoot..


Dominic James(1.80-PG) left Greece and went to Serbia to join Partizan but that doesn't seem to be ending well for him. The player did try to make amends and return to Aris BC by calling his former players but the team's administration are sticking to their decision to let FIBA make a ruling through B.A.T.

According to basketplus.gr, Ben Uzoh(1.91-PG/SG) was offered to Aris BC as a "boon" in order to release the letter of clearance for Dominic James. Uzoh signed initially for Montegranaro but he left them out to dry and fled hastily towards the dollars of Lokomotiv Kuban. That didn't really end too well for him and after 2 games he went back home. Now he's playing in the NBDL for the Rio Grande Vipers averaging a decent 17.9 points per game. Uzoh might be a bit on the pricey side for the shoestring budget of Aris this season and there is always the compensation to the NBDL league to release him. The Aris administration want a compensation instead.

There will probably be more to follow in the James melodrama..

Click here to return to the homepage.

Nikos Pappas moves to Paok

Could be a good opportunity for both parties.


A few years ago (back in the summer of 2008) Nikos Pappas(1.95-SG/PG) signed a 4-season contract with Bilbao. This season would have been his last but it seems that Pappas and Bilbao went on their separate ways and Paok seized the opportunity to add a guard to their frontcourt.

Pappas was the star of the young National Teams of Greece especially in the New Zealand U19 2009 World Championship but since then he has shown very little improvement in his skill, technique and physique. He played for Kolossos Rhodes for the last 2 seasons on loan from Bilbao but still not much improvement. He's got the 2nd half of the regular season to show something but chances are he will get very little money out of Paok this season(if any) but he could convert that into a better contract next season.

Last season he averaged 7.5 points 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 25 games in the A1 league playing for Kolossos.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Villeurbanne announced Dimitris Haritopoulos

A bargain!


ASVEL Villeurbanne announced the signing of Greek power forward Dimitris Haritopoulos(2.05-PF) via their official website. This will be the first time that Haritopoulos will play in a different league in Europe. He started his career in Aris Thessaloniki and after a tumultuous divorce with the team he went over to rivals Paok and also played for Panionios and Maroussi. In theory this will be the first time in his career that Haritopoulos will be paid on time and in full. He was even unlucky to play for Panionios the season that Elias Lianos had the unfortunate inspiration to step down as president and let others put the team in debt.

This season in Maroussi it was known in Greece that the team had no money whatsoever and the main reason that Haritopoulos and the others persevered was to get a better contract abroad. This has come to pass for Haritopoulos now who will soon be joining the rest of the players of Villeurbanne. He has averaged 12.1 points 7.6 rebounds in 14 games in the Greek A1 league this season.

Maroussi have almost certainly kicked the bucket and way or another their heading to relegation or disqualification from their league if the guarantor check bounces. Other players could soon follow Haritopoulos' example.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Songaila and Galatasaray part ways

Early holidays for Songaila?


Darius Songaila and Galatasaray have reached a mutual agreement to terminate the contract and part ways, as the player did not meet the expectations of the club.

The Lithuanian forward, who spent seven seasons in the NBA before coming to Istanbul, will reportedly not play for the Turkish side in a Euroleague game against Olympiacos.

Songaila averaged 7.9 points and 2.7 rebounds for Galatasaray in the Turkish Basketball League (TBL), having almost identical statistics in Euroleague as well – 7.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.


source : lithuaniabasketball.com

Click here to return to the homepage.

Dawson did not arrive to Ljubljana

A case of cold feet?


BC Union Olimpija Ljubljana agreed and signed a contract with US player Eric Dawson prior this week. Despite the valid contract signed by both sides and the fact that the management obtained all the necessary papers and Letter of Clearance, the player didn't arrive to Ljubljana, Slovenia on agreed date. Union Olimpija will take appropriate actions in this matter.

source : union.olimpija.com

Click here to return to the homepage.

Hemofarm released all the pro players

Free for all now on experienced players.


According to novosti.rs, Hemofarm has released all the pro players of the club and they are now free agents. They are free to help the team in the Adriatic League if they please but if an offer comes for them and they leave to go to another club then they will be replaced by players from the junior teams of Hemofarm.

This creates quite a predicament where a number of experienced players are now free to pursue their fortunes elsewhere using their good run in Hemofarm. Boris Savovic has already left the club and others will possibly follow with Mladen Jeremic(1.98-SG/SF) being possibly the next one.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Dominic James wants to leave Aris, Aris want to sell him

Time to bail out?


Dominic James(1.80-PG) didn't travel to Donetsk with the rest of the team of Aris. Instead he stayed on in Thessaloniki so that he can discuss with the administration the offers that Aris have from other teams.

According to the president's unofficial press representative James is actually owed one instalment of his contract. Rumors from the Exedra newspaper say that James has already been sold to a Russian team but he actually wants to go to Partizan for free. In Serbia the media say that James has already agreed with Partizan which is probably not far from the truth but what he wants and what the president wants are completely different things. The president's unofficial press representative says that the team's legal team will follow all the protocols to make sure that the team is covered. This one won't escape so easily it seems.

It was inevitable that something like that would happen to Aris as the president of the team has managed to alienate the shareholders and future investors of the team and now he is struggling on his own to manage the
unmanageable debts he has amassed. Selling players is his expertise anyway.

More on this to follow probably even through the course of the day. Aris might not be losing just James very soon but he might be losing his head coach as well as he made the president angry..


Click here to return to the homepage.

Bilbao announced Mamadou Samb

Samb in, Hampl out


Tomas Hampl(2.15-C) will be moving to LEB Gold in order to get some playing time in a different team and Mamadou Samb(2.08-C) will be moving from LEB Gold and Granada to Bilbao according to Bilbao's official site. The Senegalese center gained the Spanish citizenship 3 years ago and has been a member of the Spanish Youth National Teams since then.

In Granada he averaged 10.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in 14 games playing in the LEB Gold but now he'll be playing on a whole different level. If he gets any playing minutes that is. The contract signed will last until the end of the season with the option of renewal for one or more seasons. Hampl will be returning to Bilbao in the summer as he will be given away on-loan.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Partizan consider Dominic James? possibly in vain..

His performance this season hasn't gone unnoticed.


Dominic James(1.80-PG) seems to be on the sights of Partizan Belgrade according to sportske.net. The Serbian portal says that James was considered during the summer as well but A.C. Law was signed instead. James was the driving force behind the team's rebirth this season and managed to turn the tide around and the team won some very important games and also qualified to the next stage of the Eurocup.

James is averaging 14.2 points 2 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 13 games in Greece and also 14.7 points 2.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 7 games in the Eurocup at the moment attracting looks from all around Europe. He is an NBA caliber athlete although his point guard skills need some polishing up and his long range shot leaves something to be desired. It needs to be said that he has improved his long range shot and his free throw percentage this season. The Serbian portal says that James reminds them of Bo McCalebb with his ability to attack the basket and they are hoping that the financial problems of Aris will make him an easy target.

Aris BC are indeed in a dire financial situation(massive debts) with no money coming in from the lack of sponsors and season tickets which is a testament to the incompetence of their administration. However the president's unofficial press representative has declared that James is not one of the players that is still awaiting late payments. James is Aris' hottest asset and as the Greek A1 league offers no incentive of a Euroleague participation (only through the qualifying rounds and even that is not certain) he might be an asset that will be sold to the highest bidder and thus covering some of the older debts of the team. Some of them date back to season 2005-2006.

So if Partizan can cough up the dough they might bag themselves James. If not then James becomes a free agent next season where he will be able to claim a much more lucrative contract than what he earns currently.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Khimki announced Marijonas Petravicius

Another big man for Euroleague hopefuls


Lithuanian center Marijonas Petravicius, can also play power forward, signed a contract with our club. The agreement is considered till the end of the current season with the possibility of prolongation. Marijonas has already come to Khimki and successfully passed medical examination.

MARIJONAS PETRAVICIUS

Position – power forward/center.

Birthday – October 24, 1979.
Height – 209 cm. Weight – 120 kg.
Nationality – Lithuania

Teams played:

1996-1997 – VJSM (Lithuania),
1997-1998 – Silute (Lithuania),
1998-1999 – New Hampton, NH Prep, (Iowa, USA),
1999-2003 – South Carolina (NCAA, USA),
2003-2004 – Mittledeutscher (Germany),
2004-2005 – Telindus BC Oostende (Belgium),
2005-2006 – BK Ventspils (Latvia),
2006-2009 – Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania),
2009-2011 – Armani Jeans Milano (Italy),
2011-2012 — BC Azovmash (Ukraine),
Since January, 2012 – BC Khimki

Achievements:

FIBA Europe Cup Winner, FIBA Europe Cup Final Four MVP – 2004,
Belgian League Semifinalist — 2004,
Latvian League Regular Season Champion, Latvian League Champion, Latvian League Finals MVP — 2006,
ULEB Cup Finalist — 2007,
Baltic League Champion – 2007,
Lithuanian League Regular Season Runner-Up — 2007, 2009,
Lithuanian League Finalist — 2007, 2008,
Baltic League All-Star Game, Lithuanian Cup Finalist, Baltic League Finalist, Baltic League Regular Season Champion — 2008,
Lithuanian Cup Winner, Eurocup Winner, Eurocup Final Eight MVP, Baltic League (Elite Group) Champion — 2009,
Italian SerieA Semifinals — 2011

Player of the Lithuanian National Team since 2004:

Olympic Games in Beijing (China) — 2008,
European Championship in Poland — 2009,
European Championship in Lithuania — 2011

source : bckhimki.ru


Click here to return to the homepage.

Olimpija signed Eric Dawson

Union Olimpija agrees with Eric Dawson


Union Olimpija signed center Eric Dawson (208cm, 1984) until end of season with option to extend him for another one. He started the season in D-League with Austin Toros where he had an average of 16,2 points and 10,6 rebounds per game. He played collegiate basketball at the Midwestern State University. He already played twice international basketball as he spent time in Japan and South Korea. This will be his first time in Europe.

source : union.olimpija.com

Click here to return to the homepage.