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.

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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..

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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.

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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..


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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.

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Acie Law to play for Partizan

Perhaps he is looking for a career in Europe now.


Free agent guard Acie Law is close to signing a deal with Partizan Belgrade of Serbia, one source told HoopsHype. The contract would be for one year and would not include an opt-out clause to return to the NBA if the lockout comes to an end in the middle of the season.

Law averaged 4.2 ppg and 1.6 ppg last year playing for the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors.

Partizan Belgrade is currently the strongest team in the former Yugoslavia and has produced plenty of NBA talent in the past - including players such Vlade Divac, Nenad Krstic or Predrag Drobnjak.

source : blogs.hoopshype.com

Editor's note : Partizan officially announced the player in the mean time.

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Rumors about Obradovic leaving Panathinaikos

Unconfirmed rumor..


According to allstarkourouna.blogspot.com Zeljko Obradovic could be leaving Panathinaikos as well. This could be the nail in the coffin for Panathinaikos if it's true but it's a rumor that hasn't surfaced before. Also this blog did warn the people that copy him without referencing him as the source that at some point he'd posting something and then retracting it shortly after just to embarass some people. On other occasions though he has been very reliable so I guess we'll take his word this time too.

The author quotes sources close to Obradovic and the reason being is that Obradovic wanted Fotsis, Perperoglou and Tsartsaris to stay in the team. Fotsis has already left and there might be more people leaving soon. I guess we'll see soon enough.

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Milovan Rakovic to sign with Zalgiris

Back in the Euroleague but with a different team..


According to Serbian portal novosti.rs, Milovan Rakovic (2.08-C) will not be renewing his contract with the Italian champion Siena but he will continue his career in Zalgiris Kaunas instead. Rakovic was also implicated in rumors with Olympiacos like many other players but it seems that Zalgiris won him instead.

Rakovic played for 3 seasons for Spartak St Petersburg before moving to Siena. He averaged 8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 22 games for Siena in the Euroleague helping them reach the Euroleague Final Four.

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Minic and Takianos to take the helm in Aris

One to get players and one to coach them..


According to basketnet.gr, the new head coach of Aris is going to be rising star Fotis Takianos. The young Greek head coach managed to get 2 teams promoted in the A1 league the last few years and he is considered one of the Greek head coaches to look out for. He is also a former player of Aris although he didn't spend long in the team.

Milan Minic also returns to Aris after leaving as head coach back in 2003. This time he returns as a technical director and his task will be to find good and cheap players. The times are tough for Aris who are now in debt and it seems that for the next 2 seasons the team's budget will be tight as some of the money will be going to cover the debts of the previous years.

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CSKA announced Milos Teodosic

Vatutin got his wish!


Our club reached an agreement to acquire European Player of the Year 2010 guard Milos Teodosic (24 years, 195 cm) from Olympiakos Pireus. The player currently practices with the Serbian National Team, his 3-year contract will become valid after the medical tests in Moscow.

One of the most promising players of modern European basketball grew in modest BC Reflex in Serbia. His pro career also includes stints in Borac Cacak, Zeleznik and Olympiakos. He made himself notable plating for junior team in his native country, winning U16 (2003), U18 (2005) and U20 (2007, MVP) European Championships. Two years after he became the European vice-champion with Serbian National Team. 2009-10 season was a pinnacle of his club career until now – Milos was named Euroleague MVP and led Olympiakos to the tournament title game.

His averages in previous Euroleague season were 10.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.7 steals in 25.5 minutes in 18 games. His averages in Greek League were 9.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.9 steals, 21.5 minutes in 21 regular championship games, 11.1 points, 1.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 22.4 minutes in 8 playoff games.

source : cskabasket.com



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Olympiacos to let Teodosic go

Ivkovic's favourite is on his way to Russia.


According to redplanet.gr, Olympiacos will not be matching CSKA's offer of 1.9 million euros(with the buy-out clause of 100,000 euros after one season) per season for 3 seasons and so they replied in writing to CSKA that they will release Milos Teodosic(1.95-PG). Olympiacos will be receiving the buy-out money of 1.3 million euros from CSKA.

Teodosic would have earned 800,000 euros this season based on his contract if no other team had made an offer. It might seem that Olympiacos have lost a big asset but on the other hand Teodosic didn't live up to the expectations of fans and administration alike. However he did average 10.9 points 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 18 games in the Euroleague and also 9.6 points 1.8 rebounds and 4.7 assisst in 29 games in the Greek A1 league.

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Picks of the day

Some interesting transfers.


Braunsweig added Serbian power forward Branko Jorovic who played for Kavala BC in Greece last season and averaged 13.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 27 games in the Greek A1 league.

Villeurbanne also added another player, center Hilton Armstrong(2.08-C) who had little playing time in the NBA last season playing for the Hawks and Wizards but getting very limited playing time. Another personal choice of Tony Parker for his hobby team.

Alba pinched the MVP of the BBL from Frankfurt and announced the signing of DaShaun Wood(1.85-PG) for the next 2 seasons. Wood followed head coach Gordon Herbert from Frankfurt. Wood averaged 19 points 4.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 42 games in the BBL.

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CSKA made an offer to Milos Teodosic

CSKA back on the money spending spree!


According to basketnet.gr, CSKA made an offer to Milos Teodosic of 2.5 million euros per season for 2 seasons for a total of 5 million euros. They're also offering to pay the buy-out of 1.3 million euros to Olympiacos to snatch the player. This comes as no surprise after the decision of the owners of Olympiacos to step down and leave the team to it's own devices.

1.3 million euros could easily fund 2 other teams in the A1 Greek league but what it might have seemed as peanuts for Olympiacos 2 years ago now it might be one of the building blocks of the roster they will present next season. There is nothing new as to what Olympiacos are going to decide but if the amount of 2.5 million euros per season is true they will have to match the offer if they want to keep the player. The irony is that this is a type of contract that they fashioned in the style of NBA contracts. This is hot news for Russian and Greek fans alike and there is definitely more to follow..Spanoulis is also back on the market and he will sell his hide dearly.

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CSKA announced Krstic and Mejia

2 new signings from CSKA.


Center Nenad Krstic (27 years, 212 cm) signed the contract with our club until the end of 2012-13 season. Serbian National Team captain joined CSKA after almost 7 years in NBA.

Krstic started his pro career in Partizan Belgrade earning the first round draft choice in 2002. He went overseas in 2004 and played for New Jersey for 4 seasons. Nenad started 2008-09 season in Triumph Lyubertsy, but his tint in Russia came to end in December, when he got back to America. Krstic played for Oklahoma-City until the February 2011 and was traded to Boston.

Krstic averages in NBA: 10.0 points, 5.4 rebounds in 25.2 minutes in 419 regular championship games, 10.4 points, 5.4 rebounds in 25.2 minutes in playoff games.

Jonas Kazlauskas, CSKA head coach:
Nenad is a veteran player with the experience of European and American basketball. I used to meet him in the National Team games last years, I know him well for his play in Eurobaskets and World Championship. We need his experience, his strength under the basket, we need a center who can score from the distance not only from the paint. Krstic is exactly that kind of player.

Guard/forward Sammy Mejia (28 years, 197 cm) joined our team today. Dominican-American player signed 2-year contract with CSKA.

Mejia’s career has started from modest DePaul University, second round draft choice, NBDL and small European clubs. New York native was improving year-by-year statistically. Two seasons in Cholet made everyone serious about Sammy. He won the French League in his first year qualifying for the Euroleague. On second year he earned the Euroleague Game 5 MVP award and was named Foreign MVP in France.

Mejia’s averages for the last season: Euroleague – 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals in 32.4 minutes in 10 games, French regular championship – 18.0 points, 5.1 points, 4.0 assists, 1.0 

33.2 minutes in 30 games, French playoffs – 18.0 points, 5.4 points, 1.8 assists, 0.8 перехвата за 32.6 minutes в 5 games.

Jonas Kazlauskas, CSKA head coach:

Mejia plays 2 and 3 positions, he is good on pick-n-roll’s, able to find the teammates, knows how to score. We needed one more player who can attack the basket himself, who can link the partners. Mejia was a best foreign player in France, and that means a lot. You know that Lietuvos Rytas signed Eidson from France one day, and many people questioned that decision. But life proved them wrong. We hope that Sammy will show himself in a big club, that he will remain as valuable and good as he was in Cholet.

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Picks of the day

Busy day today transfer-wise..


The first 3 announcements of sort, come from the Beobasket agency where the motto is, announce them before the press does! First announcement is for Croatian head coach Drazen Anzulovic who didn't make it with Cibona but takes up the helm at Cedevita Zagreb instead.

The other announcement has to do with one of the most underrated big men in Europe, Serbian forward/center Marko Scekic(2.07-PF/C) who will continue his career with the Italian league finalist, Cantu. Scekic was transferred from KK Buducnost for the Italian play-offs and very soon he made a difference for Cantu averaging 12.1 points 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 9 games. Scekic will be an Italy resident for the next 2 seasons.

Croatian center Luksa Andric(2.10-C) will be continuing his career with the Turkish finalist Galatasaray for the next 2 seasons as well. He averaged 9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 42 games in the Turkish league.

In France now, local shooting guard Fabien Causeur(1.93-SG) renewed his contract with Cholet until 2013, that is for another 2 seasons as it was announced today via their official website. The youngster will probably be getting some more playing in the future. This season he averaged 6.9 points 2.9 rebounds 2.4 assists in 14 in the ProA.

Efes Pilsen were quite eager to announce Dusko Savanovic(2.04-PF) but it seems that they haven't paid Valencia the buy-out clause yet. It's not a measley amount too.. it's 1.5 million euros that need to paid to the Spaniards or else they could just as easily block the transfer.

Last but certainly not least Pete Mickeal(1.98-SF) is back with a vengeance, also with a 2-season extension on his contract but we knew that was coming anyway.

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Gist and Bogdanovic to sign with Fenerbahce

Another double whammy!


James Gist(2.06-PF/C) and Bojan Bogdanovic(2.00-SG/SF) will be the 2 new additions of Turkish champions Fenerbahce according to milliyet.com. Gist comes from a good season at Partizan Belgrade where he won the Adriatic League and also the Serbian League averaging 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds in 14 games in the Euroleague and also 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 23 games in the Adriatic League.

Bojan Bogdanovic has had his last season with Cibona and now he's got the transfer he wanted to a wealthier and more powerful club. He is also a member of the Croatian National Team. He averaged 18 points and 3.5 rebounds in 10 games in the Euroleague and also 18.9 points 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 24 games in the Adriatic League.

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Dzikic and Seibutis sign with Lietuvos Rytas

Double whammy!



After arriving in Vilnius only a day after lifting the Slovenian title with Krka Novo Mesto, Aleksandar Dzikic signed a deal with Lietuvos Rytas already after a couple of hours. However, this wasn’t the only news in the team’s camp, as the team from the Lithuanian capital shocked the market by signing the Lithuanian national team guard Renaldas Seibutis as well.

The 40-year-old Serbian specialist agreed to a two year deal with the team option on the third year, while the 26-year-old Seibutis linked his future with Lietuvos Rytas for three years.

“We have to gather players, who aren’t afraid of hard work and understand what’s best for the team and can sacrifice themselves for the team’s success. We’ll try to build a strong team with a priority to Lithuanian players,” Dzikic, who has won back-to-back Slovenian championships and the EuroChallenge trophy, spoke after arriving in Vilnius.

Seibutis arrives in Vilnius after a great season in Turkey, where he led Olin Edrine to the Turkish Basketball League (TBL) playoffs. Lietuvos Rytas had signed a contract with the guard’s teammate from Olin, Predrad Samardziski, only a week earlier.

“The negotiations with the Vilnius side had been going for two months. There was serious interest from Galatasaray, but I wanted to play in Lietuvos Rytas and I’m happy that I have signed a deal,” said Seibutis, who averaged 18.7 points, 4.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game in the TBL.


source : lithuaniabasketball.com

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Aris dismissed Thomas, 2 centers to follow

If the flip-flop flies...


Rumor has it that John Thomas(2.06-C) launched a flip-flop against his head coach Slobodan Subotic and in an act of defiance left the video screening and subsequently the team. Regardless of the reason Aris BC are going to file a case against Thomas' contract in the league and the team announced via their official website that the American veteran is no longer a player of the team.

The announcement only mentions a disciplinary offense but it's no secret that Thomas wanted to leave the team so now he got his chance. Perhaps though not on the terms that he would have wanted. Perhaps a team in Israel could be his next stop.

In Aris they're thinking of the next day and are waiting patiently on the end of the Adriatic League Final Four to see if they can sign Marko Skekic(2.07-PF/C). His agent told basketblog.gr that they would be very much interested in signing with Aris but it's up to Buducnost to release the player after the Final Four. The assistant coach of Aris BC Thanassis Papachatzis spoke to arisfm.gr and he said that the team will be signing 2 centers. However none of them will play in the last game of the regular season against Ikaros tomorrow.

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Lietuvos Rytas and Trifunovic parted ways

Beating Panathinaikos wasn't enough to save Trifunovic.


The poor performance in the Baltic Basketball League (BBL) Final Four in Kaunas, where Lietuvos Rytas lost to VEF Riga in the semi-final and had a lot of trouble against Ventspils in the bronze-medal game, cost the team’s coach Aleskandar Trifunovic his job.

After an abysmal showing at the weekend, the 43-year-old Serbian specialist got the sack and will be replaced Darius Maskoliunas, who previously was Trifunovic’s assistant.

Lietuvos Rytas had a very unsuccessful stretch of games lately, losing not only to their biggest rivals Zalgiris, but also to smaller teams such as Rudupis in LKL and VEF in the BBL. If that wasn’t enough, the Lithuanian champions only barely escaped a defeat to Ventspils, winning by only four points.

Trifunovic had worked in Lietuvos Rytas before, but under his supervision the club won only one trophy despite playing fairly well throughout the Serb’s reign in 2006-2008 seasons.

The newly appointed coach Maskoliunas joined Lietuvos Rytas’ coaching staff in October, coming from KK Kaunas, against whom the 40-year-old Lithuanian coach will make his debut as Lietuvos Rytas’ head coach on Tuesday.


source : lithuaniabasketball.com

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Marko Scekic in Greece for Aris

He is the new kid in town!


According to allstarkourouna.blogspot.com, the new player of Aris is Bosnian forward/center Marko Scekic(2.07-PF/C) formerly of Buducnost. The article says that Scekic arrived in Thessaloniki last night and he will be replacing Dejan Borovnjak(2.09-PF/C) who moved to Gran Canaria and the ACB.

Scekic started his career in Drina, then moved to Borac, Vojvodina and then moved to Poland for Turow. The most notable part of his career were the next 2 seasons with Oldenburg in Germany where he won the German Bundesliga title in 2009 and also played in the Euroleague. This season he played for Buducnost in the Adriatic League averaging 10 points 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 24 games.

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