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

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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

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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

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Bootsy Thornton returns to Siena

Mens Sana Basket informs you that the club has signed Bootsy Thornton through the end of the season.


Born in Baltimore on July 30, 1977, the player spent the last three seasons in Turkey with Efes Pilsen, to whom he was linked by a very generous contract. The player satisfactorily dissolved the agreement with the Turkish club, thus creating the circumstances where he could reach an agreement with Mens Sana Basket.

Bootsy’s first words were, “I’m very linked to the club and the city. My hope has always been to return to Siena.” 

Bootsy Thornton began playing basketball at Dunbar High School in Florida before proceeding to Tallahassee Junior College at age 19. He’s chosen by the prestigious St. John’s University in 1998, winning the 1999/2000 Big East Conference title and earning the title of tournament MVP. After being chosen by some minor U.S. leagues (Cba, Usbl, Ibl) in the 2000 Draft, Bootsy Thornton chooses Europe and goes to Pallacanestro Cantù in January 2001.  He spends two and half very impressive seasons in Brianza, which earn him his first call from Montepaschi Siena in 2003. The Bootsy-Mens Sana Basket match-up is immediately a success. Thanks also to his performance, they win an Italian title (2003/2004) a SuperCup (2004/2005), and qualify for a Euroleague F4 (2004) all in a two-year period. Thornton becomes a hot commodity on the international market, and switches from Siena to Fc Barcelona. After getting off to a great start, the second half of the season is conditioned by some physical problems that prohibit him from performing to the best of his ability, but don’t stop him from playing a starring role in the 2006 Euroleague F4. This gained credibility allows Bootsy to immediately find a new home in Spain for 2006/2007 at the ambitious Akasvayu Girona lead by coach Svetislav Pesic. As “specialist” (approx. 15’ court time per game), Thornton competes in the Liga ACB arriving at the quarterfinals (year average of 5.2ppg and 1.6rpg) and wins the 2007 Fiba Eurocup, closing with an average of 7.2ppg and 3.2rpg. The following season he returns to wear Montepaschi’s jersey, with whom he wins the Supercoppa and Italian National Title, and makes the Final Four in Barcelona. His performances in Europe earn him a spot on the All Euroleague Second team. The 2008/2009 season, he heads to Turkey to play for Efes Pilsen Istanbul, where he spends three seasons and wins the championship, the Turkish National Cup and the Turkish President Cup.








source : menssanabasket.it


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Efes Anadolu announced Ersan Ilyasova

Anadolu Efes improved its frontcourt for the upcoming season by inking power forward Ersan Ilyasova to a one-year deal on Wednesday.


Ilyasova (2.07 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Milwaukee of the NBA, where he averaged 9.7 points and 6.2 rebounds in 59 NBA games last season. In his last Euroleague appearance in the 2008-09 season, Ilyasova averaged 10.5 points and 7 rebounds in 22 games with Regal FC Barcelona, helping the team to reach the Final Four and win the Spanish League title. He has also played for Tulsa in the NBA Development league, as well as for Ulker and Yesilyurt Istanbul in Turkey. Ilyasova is also a regular member of the Turkish national team. He helped Turkey to make it to the 2010 FIBA World Championships title game last summer. Ilyasobva also won silver medals at the 2003 European U-16 Championship and the 2006 European U-20 Championship. He also led Turkey to win the 2004 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, earning MVP honors.

source : euroleague.net


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Kenyon Dooling to play for Efes?

Bucks guard Keyon Dooling is nearing agreement on a contract with Efes Istanbul, the Turkish team which recently signed New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic.


Kenge Stevenson, the Dallas-based agent for Dooling, said progress is being made and a deal with Efes could be completed in the next few days.

Dooling is the first vice president of the National Basketball Players Association and has been active in the process to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. League owners imposed a lockout on July 1 when the previous CBA expired, and no real progress has been made since then.

Stevenson said Dooling would expect to play in Turkey next season even if the lockout ends and any opt-out clause would be for legal purposes. The veteran has one year and $2 million remaining on his contract with the Bucks, but Stevenson indicated he thought an agreement could be reached to allow Dooling to play in Europe in the event the lockout was settled.

The Bucks made some moves to reshape their backcourt prior to the lockout, when they acquired point guard Beno Udrih from Sacramento and Shaun Livingston from Charlotte as part of a three-team draft day trade. Udrih is expected to be the primary backup for starter Brandon Jennings and also should spend some time at shooting guard. Livingston can play both guard positions but is primarily a point guard.

Dooling served as as backup at both the point guard and shooting guard positions for the Bucks last season. He played in 80 games, including 22 starts, and averaged 7.1 points and 3.0 assists.

Bucks coach Scott Skiles praised Dooling for his willingness to work on defense but the Bucks could not recapture the magic they had the previous season with Jennings and Luke Ridnour as the point guard tandem.

Dooling told me earlier this month that it was clear the Bucks didn't have him in their backcourt plans and he said he expected something would happen to change his situation.

The 31-year-old Dooling has played 11 NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, New Jersey and Milwaukee.

"He likes the team situation," Stevenson said of Efes. "He's a basketball aficionado and he pays attention to basketball all over the globe."


source : jsonline.com

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Besiktas to negotiate with Kobe Bryant

LOS ANGELES -- The NBA is set to resume negotiations between owners and the players union on Monday for the first time since the lockout went into place on July 1, but one of the NBA's biggest stars has negotiations of his own planned for this weekend.


Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant will be in the nation's capital attending the World Football Challenge featuring Manchester United and F.C. Barcelona at FedEx Field on Saturday and the Mia Hamm-Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge on Sunday at Kastles Stadium.

Soccer won't be the only sport on Bryant's agenda, however, as the 15-year NBA veteran and his representatives will meet with officials from the Turkish basketball club Besiktas on Saturday, according to a Reuters report.

For more news, notes and analysis of the Lakers, check out the Land O' Lakers blog from the Kamenetzky Brothers. Blog

"At the moment there's a 50 percent chance that Kobe may come to Turkey," said Seref Yalcin, head of basketball operations for Besiktas, on Tuesday. Yalcin made the comments to reporters in Turkey, according to Reuters. "Everything will be clearer after the meeting on the 30th [of July]."

Turkish Airlines, a company Bryant serves as a pitchman for, is sponsoring both of the soccer events over the weekend and could be the key for Besiktas to potentially make an offer lucrative enough to lure the 13-time All-Star overseas during the lockout.

Turkey's NTV Spor reported last week that Besiktas' basketball funds have been tied up by the match-fixing scandal that has ripped through the Turkish soccer world, forcing Besiktas to search for outside funding to help with their pursuit of NBA players to join New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams on their team.

"Money will not be a problem," Yalcin said, according to Reuters. Yalcin later mentioned Turkish Airlines and two oil companies as potential sponsors for Bryant's contract, which is expected to exceed $500,000 a month. Sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard earlier this month that Williams' overall deal with Besiktas is worth $5 million. NTV Spor reported that Bryant's camp is seeking a monthly salary of $1 million to join Williams.

"We know that Besiktas is very much interested [in Bryant] and they've been in touch with our company as well, but we haven't started any kind of negotiations or anything like that yet," Fatma Yuceler, a spokeswoman for Turkish Airlines, told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Wednesday.

Regardless if playing basketball overseas is in Bryant's future or not, playing soccer this weekend isn't. Despite his background playing pickup soccer games as a youth in Italy, Bryant will not lace up the cleats and play in the Hamm-Garciaparra charity scrimmage on Sunday. Bryant will merely be a spectator for the game and will give his right knee, which recently endured a platelet-rich plasma therapy procedure, a rest, according to multiple sources. On Saturday he will take to the field -- after the game -- to present the "man of the match" award to the winner after the Manchester United versus FC Barcelona friendly.


source : espn.go.com

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Bayern signed Jan Jagla for 2 seasons

A quality transfer for Bayern.


On Monday afternoon Eurocup newcomer FC Bayern Munich announced a familiar face going back home to Germany and a former champ in the competition with the arrival of big man Jan Jagla for the next two years. Jagla (2.13 meters, 30 years old) arrives from Turk Telekom of Turkey.

Last season, Jagla started the campaign in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague with Asseco Prokom of Poland with which he played 10 games averaging 5.6 points and 5.4 rebounds, but midway through the season he moved to Turkey. Jagla played college ball at Penn St. until 2004, and that year he was back to Europe as he played in Greece with Panellinios and then back to his native Germany with the Artland Dragons. In 2005 he moved to Spain to play with Mallorca and in 2006-07 he had his first stint with Turk Telekom. It was in 2007 that he moved to Spain again to play with DKV Joventut with which he won the Spanish King's Cup and the ULEB Cup titles that season.

He played one more year in Penya before moving to Poland to join Asseco Prokom to be in the Euroleague. He also won the Polish League in 2010. He is also a member of the German national team. "I am looking forward to join my new team in Munich. At the moment it's probably the most exciting basketball project in Europe. I hope I can help the team celebrate many successes in the future" Jagla said.

source : eurocupbasketball.com


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Lietuvos Rytas signed Lawrence Roberts

Lietuvos Rytas added strength and experience.


Lietuvos Rytas signed a contract with big man Lawrence Roberts, who will arrive to Vilnius after a season playing for Efes Pilsen Istanbul. The 28-year-old American is reported to have signed a two-year deal with the club from the Lithuanian capital.

“It’s a player from USA, but with European basketball experience. Lawrence is a versatile player, who can rebound well and play good defense,” Martynas Purlys, the General Director of Lietuvos Rytas described the club’s new acquisition.

Roberts arrived to Europe after a couple of seasons in the NBA, where he played for the Memphis Grizzlies and averaged 5.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in the 2006-07 season.

The player had a short stint with Olympiacos Piraeus before representing the two most famous Serbian clubs – Red Star and Partizan Belgrade.

Last season, Roberts averaged 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for Efes Pilsen in Euroleague, while his statistics in the Turkish Basketball League (TBL) were a tiny bit better – 8.1 points and 5.2 boards per game.


source : lithuaniabasketball.com

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Darius Songaila to play for Galatasaray

A great signing for any European team really..


Former Philadelphia 76ers power forward Darius Songaila has signed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million plus bonuses with the Turkish team, Galatasaray, his agent said on Friday.

The contract does not have an escape clause should the NBA lockout end in time for all or part of the 2011-12 NBA season, which means Songaila is committed to spending the entire season in Turkey.

Nets point guard Deron Williams agreed to terms with another Turkish League team, Besiktas, earlier this week, but he does have the option to return to the U.S. if the NBA lockout ends and games are played next season.

"Darius didn't play a lot of minutes last season in Philadelphia and with the uncertainty surrounding the lockout, he wanted to make sure he'd play next season," said his agent, Mark Bartlestein.

Songaila, 33, has played for five NBA teams over 10 seasons, but he could not crack the 76ers' young, strong front-line rotation and made only 10 appearances last season. He plans to play for the Lithuanian national team this summer.

Galatasaray Cafe Crown lost 4-2 in a best-of-seven series to Fenerbahce Ulker in the Turkish League finals last month.


source : espn.com

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Galatasaray announced Jamon Gordon for 2 seasons

Jack of all trades and defensive expert!


Galatasaray Men’s Basketball team signs Jamos Lucas Gordon transferred from the Greek club Olympiacos B.C with a two-year contract.

Born in 1984 in Jacksonville, Fl., USA, Gordon began his basketball career at Andrew Jackson High during which he was among the major play guards throughout the high schools in the States. In 2003 Gordon received scholarship from Virginia Tech where he studied sociology and became an indispensible figure in college basketball.

Gordon’s professional career began in 2007 but he failed to be drafted to the NBA. Later the same year he made his international debut with Antalya BB. The next season he joined Köln 99ers, and then in 2009 he was signed by Croatian Split. Signing with the Greek Maroussi in 2009 he was introduced to the Euroleague where he continued to play this time in Olympiacos colors during the previous season.

source : galatasaray.org

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CSKA announced Darjus Lavrinovic

Forward Darjus Lavrinovic (31 years, 212 cm) has become our team’s new player. Lithuanian signed 1+1 contract.


One of famous twin brothers played outside the former USSR for two seasons only, taking stints in Real Madrid (2009-10) and Fenerbahce Ulker (2010-11). Before that he played in Lithuania (Alita – 1996-2003, Zalgiris – 2003-06) and Russia (UNICS – 2006-08, Dynamo – 2008-09). His collection includes Lithuanian League titles (2003-05) and Turkish League gold (2011), All-Euroleague Second Team election (2006) and 2007 Eurobasket bronze. His averages in 2010-11 Euroleague season are 8.0 points, 4.4. rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.9 blocked shots in 21.7 minutes. His averages in Turkish League are 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocked shots in 19.6 minutes.

Jonas Kazlauskas, CSKA head coach:
We were looking for the player who can play on two positions – 5 and 4. It’s good to have Khryapa and Vorontsevich at 4, but we experienced some problems defending against power forwards who are good in post-up play, for example, Loncar. We also had problems when we had one center left. Surely, we hope that newly signed Krstic will be ok. But you have to had reserve in the case of illness or injury. That’s why we needed the player who can help on two positions and we are glad to have Darjus Lavrinovic with us.

Darjus Lavrinovic:
I am glad to be in the club with rich history and highest goals. I will try to give all of myself, I will try to prove that I deserve to be a part of CSKA. Surely, I am happy to play under my compatriot Jonas Kazlauskas and alongside Ramunas Siskauskas. I know well the level of organization, and I had no doubts in taking the decision.

source : cskabasket.com

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Azovmash added Radoslav Rancik

Time for a change of climate.. quite literally.

Azovmash pinched from Turkish finalists Slovakian veteran Radoslav Rancik(2.06-PF/C) and they announced it today via their official website. Rancik averaged 6.5 points 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 34 games in the Turkish league and this will be his first time in the Ukraine.

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Galatasaray announced Özer and Arslan

Two are better than one.



Cevher Özer signed a two-year contract with Galatasaray. Özden played for Beşiktaş Cola Turka during the 2010-2011 basketball season.

Ender Arslan transferred from Efes Pilsen signed with Galatasaray for three years. Arslan’s basketball career includes the Slovenian club Union Olimpija, the Spanish TAU Ceramica (aka Saski Baskonia) and the Greek Panionios as well.


source : galatasaray.org

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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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Barcelona to make offer to Fotsis

It just came in this morning.


It seems that these news were good enough to be kept under the radar and the people in Greece who had the news in Greece only released it about an hour ago to the media. One of them, basketblog.gr, put up an article that Barcelona is going to make an offer to Antonis Fotsis(2.11-PF), perhaps one that he can't refuse.

Fotsis has already had an offer from Turkey and it seems that he hasn't renewed his contract with Panathinaikos yet. This might seem odd to the fans of Panathinaikos that Fotsis hasn't renewed his contract yet but amongst the rumors of the Giannakopoulos brothers leaving the team it makes some sense. Fotsis played a pivotal role in helping Panathinaikos conquer the Euroleague by getting back in shape and becoming the athlete he once was. He averaged 8.4 points and 5.1 rebound in 22 games in the Euroleague.

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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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Papaloukas has offers from Barcelona and Fenerbahce

Like he wouldn't..


According to sport-fm.gr, Theo Papaloukas(2.00-PG) has offers from Barcelona and Fenerbahce now that he is a free agent. His contract with Olympiacos expires at the end of this month and he will be able to sign for a new team. The article says that according the their information Papaloukas has a 2-season offer contract from Barcelona but makes no mention of the duration of the offer from Fenerbahce.

It does say though that the offer from Fenerbahce is substantially bigger but Papaloukas seems to be more inclinded to play for Barcelona in the ACB at the twilight of his career. It seems even more likely now that he will not be playing for Olympiacos next season.

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Seibutis denies rumors about Galatasaray

He is saving himself for someone else?


According to lrytas.lt, Reinaldas Seibutis(1.96-SG/SF) has not signed a contract with Galatasaray and denies any rumors implicating him with that. He did say though that Galatasaray are interested in him but he hasn't signed a contract with them.

He even said that his agent went to China, perhaps a contract to be found there, but Seibutis just wants to relax now with relatives in Lithuania. He did have a very good season with Olin in Turkey leading the team in scoring with averages of 18.7 points 2.7 rebounds and 4 assists in 33 games.

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