Senin, 20 Desember 2010

Guandong could replace Fred Jones

Tough times in China.


Fred Jones(1.88-SG) could be replaced by reigning China champions Guangdong Southern Tigers. The former winner of the Slam-Dunk contest of the 2004 NBA All-star game hasn't satisfied the administration of Guangdong with his performance so far and according to hoopchina.com it is possible that he will be replaced.

Jones has averaged 10.5 points 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists so far in 10 games in China. In the Chinese league these stats are not really acceptable for American players that are paid quite a lot of money. Jones' rich resume lists him playing in Indiana, Toronto, Portland, New York and Los Angeles (Clippers) in the NBA but that might not save him this time. There was no mention of a candidate name to replace him. Last season he played in Italy for Biella.


Click here to return to the homepage.

Maccabi TA announced Milan Macvan

It’s Official: Milan Mačvan Inked by Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv


Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv is proud to announce that Serbian forward/center Milan Mačvan (21, 2.06 meters – 6’9”) has signed a four and a half year contract with the club, through the 2014 – 2015 season. Mačvan will arrive in Israel tonight at 22:45.

Mačvan is one of the greatest talents in Serbian basketball today. He is a gifted player who combines many elements, such as good shooting ability from the middle distance and outstanding passing for a player of his
height, and is a great post-up player with the ability to drive to the basket. Mačvan, who has the ultimate combination of massive size with a good shooting hand, is a tough fighter on the court and an amiable  personality off the court.

Mačvan got his start in the youth departments of FMP Železnik; during the 2007 – 2008 season he transferred to KK Hemofarm of Vršac, Serbia, where he has played up until now. The 2008 – 2009 season was a breakaway year for the young talent, in every aspect of his game. In the Adriatic League he finished with averages of 10.9 points and 4.4 rebounds, and in the Eurocup with 11.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. That same year, he was named ULEB Eurocup Rising Star.

In the summer of 2009 Mačvan took part in the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon, where he was named MVP in the game against the American National Team in which he scored 23 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and made 6 assists in the international team’s first victory since 1998. Last season (2009 – 2010) he demonstrated impressive ability with averages of 14.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in the Adriatic League and 9.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in the Eurocup. In the Serbian League, when his team dropped out of the finals series against Partizan Belgrade, he was leading Hemofarm with 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds.

This season, Mačvan is considered one of the best and most in-demand players in Europe, when he posted amazing averages of 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in the Eurocup, and 19.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in the Adriatic League. In the Euroleague preliminaries, he finished with averages of 20.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game; in his game at Nokia Arena against Hapoel Gilboa/Galil he scored 31 points, pulled down 6 rebounds and made 3 assists in Hemofarm’s victory. In his final game in Serbia, Mačvan scored 15 points, made 4 assists and took 3 rebounds.

Mačvan has also been a fixture on the various strong Serbian National Teams. In 2007, he was part of the U-19 team that won the world championship. That same summer, he played for the Serbian U-18 team, which won the European championship. The following year, he won another gold medal, this time with the U-20 Serbian National Team in the European championships, which he finished with impressive averages of 16.9 points and 6.6 rebounds. In the EuroBasket of 2009 he joined the senior men’s National Team, which took the silver medal after losing to Spain. He also played with the Serbian National Team last summer at the European championship in Turkey.

source : maccabi.co.il


Click here to return to the homepage.

Sabtu, 18 Desember 2010

Rumors about Alan Anderson and Barcelona

They've been unlucky with injuries this season.


The almighty Barcelona was been exposed this season due to many injuries of key players, namely Pete Mickeal and Juan Carlos Navarro. This resulted to Barcelona losing games both in the ACB and the Euroleague and although some of the gap was covered with the signing of Joe Ingles there is still need for another scorer in the team to take some of the heat.

Solobasket.com reports a rumor that started from a Catalonian radio station, where Alan Anderson(1.98-SG/SF) could be returning to Europe for the Euroleague champions. Anderson wanted in on the American dream and tried to secure a contract in the NBA but where Gary Neal succeeded he didn't. He is currently playing for the New Mexico Thunderbirds in the NBDL and he is doing quite well averaging 21.1 points 8.5 rebounds and 5 assists in 10 games. Anderson played for Maccabi Tel Aviv last season and he has also played for the Charlotte Bobcats, Virtus Bologna, Triumph Lyubertsy and Cibona Zagreb.

The question here is whether he would be able to adapt to the style of team like Barcelona where he wouldn't be the star of the team and his playing time would be diminished.

Click here to return to the homepage.

Jumat, 17 Desember 2010

Jeff Adrien will join the Erie Bayhawks

Last season in Spain did him good even for a while.



Jeff Adrien was recently released by the NBA's Golden State Warriors so that they could add veteran guard Acie Law, but he won't be out of action for long as he recently signed a contract to play in the NBA Development League. 

The undersized power forward should soon be on his way back to an NBA if he's able to capture what he did this summer to earn a spot on the Warriors roster and apply it to his time in the D-League.

Adrien, a second-year pro out of the University of Connecticut, is expected to be claimed by the Cleveland Cavaliers' D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, the top team on the waiver wire.

Adrien averaged 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15 games for the Warriors this season while averaging just over 10 minutes per game. But with Lou Amundson and Ekpe Udoh getting healthy, he became expendable.

The 6-6 power forward was able to acquire quite a few new fans -- both admirers and NBA employers -- while playing in both NBA summer leagues this past July. In the Orlando Pro Summer League, Adrien averaged 8.5 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Orlando Magic. In the Las Vegas Summer League, Adrien averaged a more meager 6.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, but his per-minute numbers were much more impressive as he averaged less than 17 minutes per game for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Oh, and he also made a number of highlight reel plays, possibly best captured in a YouTube clip where he drives around the D-League's Yaroslav Korolev before dunking right through Mark Tyndale.



Adrien should excel in the D-League as his motor and physical presence in the post, despite his size, will overwhelm the majority of the players in the Development League. A polished rebounder, one NBA scout told FanHouse that he wouldn't be surprised if Adrien averages 15 points and 15 rebounds while playing in the D-League.

With the BayHawks, Adrien will more than likely be closely scouted because he'll have a couple of other NBA prospects around him. Adrien's point guard will be Cedric Jackson, a scorer who played with the Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards before playing as a rookie last season with Erie. On the wings, Adrien will be joined by Christian Eyenga -- on assignment from the Cavaliers -- and Tasmin Mitchell, a rookie out of Louisiana State who also played well on the summer league circuit. The BayHawks center will be 6-8 Ivan Johnson, the team's current leading scorer with 15.8 points per game.

The BayHawks will play the Iowa Energy Friday night, though it's currently unclear as to when Adrien might officially join the team's active roster.


source : nba.fanhouse.com

Click here to return to the homepage.

Maccabi TA clarified the situation with Macvan

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv has reached a fundamental understanding with Milan Macvan, but no official agreement has yet been signed.

Clarification regarding Milan Macvan - Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv has reached a fundamental understanding with the player, his agent, and the Serbian team - but no official agreement has yet been signed.


source : maccabi.co.il

Click here to return to the homepage.

Khimki announced Travis Hansen

Travis Hansen found a team after all.


Khimki Moscow announced the signing of veteran swingman Travis Hansen (1.98-SG/SF) via their official site. Hansen is the owner of a Russian passport, a perk that he acquired from his days a player of Dynamo Moscow. Hansen hasn't played for a team this season and Khimki Moscow wanted to add someone with experience and a shooting touch so that Keith Langford doesn't need to everything.

Hansen was part of the ambitious team of sorts that Ettore Messina created in Real last season and he has also played for the Atlanta Hawks and Baskonia. Last season he averaged 4.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in the
Euroleague and also 7.1 points 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in the ACB playing for Real Madrid.



Click here to return to the homepage.

Rick Pitino to coach Puerto Rico NT?

We can say that this fits the PBT format because Rick Pitino once coached professionals (you can insert your Louisville basketball jokes here), or that the Puerto Rican national team features NBA players such as J.J. Barea and Carlos Arroyo. But the honest truth is we just find this fascinating.


Pitino is in talks to take over as coach of the Puerto Rican national team. He will meet Sunday in Miami with officials from the island nation to talk face-to-face, according to ESPN Dallas. Barea confirmed the news to ESPN.

“He’s very excited and it’s almost a done deal,” Barea said Wednesday before the Mavs faced the Portland Trail Blazers. “And I’m excited for it. We need a guy like that. It’s going to help us as a team.”

Puerto Rico has a good basketball tradition — remember they beat the USA in the Athens Olympics — but last summer they did not impress at the World Championships in Turkey. There are questions about whether they can to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics (that qualification tournament takes place next summer in Argentina, the USA already qualified this summer by winning the World Championships).

So, the Puerto Ricans are going big — not Coach K big, but they are desperate enough to go outside their own group of guys.

“He’ll bring defense and discipline and I think guys will listen to him more than they listen to the guys in Puerto Rico just because he’s Rick Pitino,” Barea said. “I think that will help.”

Celtics fans, stop laughing.  This is seriously going to happen.


source : http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com


Click here to return to the homepage.