Dejan Borovnjak heading to Spain?

He is a free agent.


Aris and Dejan Borovnjak(2.09-PF/C) parted ways today and the deal was announced by the official website of Aris BC. It's rumored that Borovnjak has an offer from Spain and he will continue his career there. In Aris the situation is not too good but that will save the team some money and he will probably be replaced by another bosman player.

Borovnjak signed a contract for one season in the summer with Aris BC and so far he has averaged 9.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 14 games in the Eurocup and also 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19 games in the A1 league in Greece.

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Ettore Messina resigned from Real's bench

It wasn't a shock really..


The shock heard 'round the Euroleague early on Friday has proven to be true this afternoon: Ettore Messina, one of the head coaching giants in the sport, has resigned from the Real Madrid bench. His decision came swiftly on Friday, the morning after what had been an unbeaten Top 16 until then ended Thursday night with a 77-95 home loss to Montepaschi Siena. Both teams were qualified for the playoffs and Madrid had already clinched first place in their group, so the game was essentially meaningless.

But obviously not for Messina, who arrived to Madrid two summers ago, but was unable to win a trophy yet for the club with the most European club titles, but none since 1995. Both were disappointed with having lost the Spanish King's Cup at home last month to archrival Regal F.C. Barcelona. But in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, Madrid had its best Top 16 finish ever, 5-1, tying its record of two seasons ago, although then it lost first place in a tie-breaker - to Barcelona. Messina arrived to Madrid from CSKA Moscow, where he won Euroleague titles in 2006 and 2008, as well as four Russian Leagues from 2005 to 2009. He had previously won two Euroleague titles with Kinder Bologna in his native Italy, in 1998 and 2001. Messina was replaced by his long-time assistant coach, Emanuele Molin, who will take over the job of leading Madrid into the best-of-five playoffs against Power Electronics Valencia starting on March 22.

source : euroleague.net

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PJ Tucker wants to leave Aris

P.J. (Anthony) Tucker is not happy anymore.


The questionable performances and general unprofessional attitude in the last few games has sparked rumors about P.J. Tucker(1.98-SF/PF) and his future in Aris. It's rumored that the player has an offer from another team and some days ago the GM and coach of Bamberg went to watch him play aganist Goettingen.

According to basketnet.gr last night's game against Le Mans probably was the last as a player of Aris. He left straight after the game without talking to anyone clearing displaying his dismay and finished the game without putting up any effort; something to be expected from the star of the team.

Tucker's contract makes him 30,000 USD per month which is the highest in the team of Aris. However the player was brought to Aris by Sharon Drucker who is no longer with the team and Tucker hasn't taken that all too well. He had a really good start but in the last few weeks his performance has dwindled to a halt. It's possible that he will be replaced by 2 players (a small forward that can shoot and a power forward) to cover gaps in the roster of Aris. So far he has averaged 15.9 points and 8 rebounds in 14 games in the Eurocup and also 12.2 points and 7.4 rebounds in the A1 Greek League.

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Bilbao interested in Vangelis Mantzaris

It seems Katsikaris wants to establish a Greek colony..


The latest Greek acquisition for Bilbao can be Vangelis Mantzaris(1.95-PG) according to gazzetta.gr. The Greek portal says that Fotis Katsikaris wants to sign Mantzaris as he is a free agent next season when his contract with Peristeri expires. Let's not forget that Bilbao also hold the rights to Nikos Pappas(1.98-PG/SG) who is currently playing on loan for Kolossos Rhodes and who also has one more season in his contract with Bilbao.

So Mantzaris could be the next addition for Bilbao and could join Kostas Vasileiadis and Dimitris Mavroeidis in the roster of the Basque team. Mantzaris has had his breakout season when placed at the helm of Peristeri averaging 8.4 points 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 19 games in the Greek A1 league so far.

The key detail here is the ties to a specific Greek agent that represents Vasileiadis, Mavroeidis, Katsikaris and Pappas and he also has ties to the owner of Bilbao and his players agency. He doesn't represent Mantzaris at the moment but you never know if this changes.

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CSKA announced Jonas Kazlauskas

PBC CSKA Board named Jonas Kazlauskas as the new head coach of the team.


Well-know Lithuanian signed the contract until the end of 2012-13 season.

Andrei Vatutin, PBC CSKA President:
During the Board meeting it took a long time for us to carefully discuss all the pluses and minuses of signing the new coach now, with three and a half months until the end of the season. Finally we concluded that certainty on a head coaching position will allow us to solve two tasks – to improve team’s game this season and to start creating the new team for the next season. Taking over in CSKA now will give Kazlauskas enough time to get know the players abilities from inside the process. We are very serious about club’s future so we were very cautious and careful in choosing the coach, we analyzed the market of all the coaches who are available now and who will be available in the summer. Jonas is an experienced and motivated coach who is known for his abilities to build balanced game and who knows how to work with the young players. It is important that he took part in development projects – his work in Chinese National Team can be considered as the one. His knowledge in English and Russian languages is also a big factor. We liked his big desire to work in CSKA. We are grateful to Dmitry Shakulin for his readiness and enthusiasm to work during tough transition times and for several big wins in PBL and VTB League. I am sure that Dmitry got invaluable head coaching experience. As for the coaching staff, it will be confirmed soon.


source : cskabasket.com

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Pinkney and Olimpija parted ways

Union Olimpija reached mutual agreement with US center Kevinn Pinkney about breaking the contract.


Pinkney left good impression in Ljubljana at the start of the season, but in last couple of games he showed less than everyone expected. Due to the fact that both sides were not satisfied, the club and player broke the contract by mutual agreement.

Pinkney was averaging 14.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in Euroleague Regular Season, while in Euroleague TOP16 he had an average of 3.2 points in 10 minutes of playing time. In Adriatic League he averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time.

Janez Rajgelj, General Manager of Union Olimpija: "We broke the contract by mutual agreement with Kevinn Pinkney today. The wish to break the contract was mutual, that's why the negotiations about breaking the contract were fast and without any problems. We believe we accepted the decision which is good for both sides involved, because in last couple of weeks we didn't see each other on the same track. We would like to thank Kevinn for everything he gave to the club and we wish him all the best in his future basketball career."


source : union.olimpija.com

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Khimki announced Lazaros Papadopoulos

Today BC Khimki has signed a contract with a famous Greek center, an ex-PAOK player Lazaros Papadopoulos. The consent was agreed to the end of this season.


On Wednesday Lazaros successfully passed medical examination and joined BC Khimki squad.

Victor Bychkov, BC Khimki General Manager:

— After the departure of Benjamin Eze from BC Khimki it became necessary for us to invite a center, since a lot of important games our club will have ahead. They will determine our position in BEKO PBL Championship and VTB United League. Immediately after the departure of Ben Eze, we began to consider candidacies for this position. One of them was Lazaros. He is a strong center, who played a lot of games for the national team of Greece, and in the leading clubs of Europe. He has Russian roots and spent couple of good seasons in Dynamo Moscow, so I don't think he will have any problems with adaptation. We made an offer that immediately interested as the player as his agent. Then, in a quiet and working mode all the matters relating to the contract were settled. Today, after passing a medical examination we are pleased to announce that Lazaros Papadopoulos has became a full member of BC Khimki.


Oleg Meleschenko, BC Khimki acting head coach:

— We needed a player in the rotation of "big" (4th and 5th "numbers"). With Lazaros coming we will have more opportunities. For example, we can use Loncar in position of power forward. At the moment the candidacy of Papadopoulos seems to be the optimal choice for us. His abilities are well known. He is a leader by nature and is able to pass, plays well by his back to the hoop and on the rebounding, and, importantly, puts the team interests above personal ones. We are confident that Lazaros will help us achieve good results.

PERSONAL FILE

Lazaros Papadopoulos

Position — center

Birthday – June 3, 1980.

Height – 213 cm. Weight – 127 kg.

Entry to club since 2011

Career


Teams played:
1992-1996 – AO Stauroupolis (Greece),
1996-2001 – Iraklis (Athens, Greece),
2001-2003 – Panathinaikos (Athens, Greece),
2003-2004 – Iraklis (Athens, Greece),
2004-2007 – Dynamo (Moscow),
2007-2008 – Real (Madrid, Spain),
2008-2009 – Fortitudo (Bologna, Italy),
2009-2001 – PAOK Thessaloniki BC (Thessaloniki, Greece),
Since 2011 – BC Khimki


Achievements:
1998 – The bronze medal winner of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship;
2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 – The winner of the Acropolis International Basketball Tournament (aka the Acropolis Cup);
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 – Greek All Star Game participant;
2002 – The winner of Euroleague Championship;
2003 – The winner of Greek Championship, the winner of the Greek Cup;
2005 – The winner of FIBA European Championship;
2006 – The winner of ULEB Cup, FIBA World Championship silver medalist;
2007 – All-Euroleague Second Team;


Since 1996 – The player of National team of Greece.

source : en.bckhimki.ru


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