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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Paok to sign Sherron Collins

He will replace Justin Gray.


According to gazzetta.gr, Paok are very close to signing Sherron Collins(1.80-PG). This will be Collins' debut in Europe and the Greek team are reportedly offering Collins 20,000 euros for the remainder of the season. Collins will be replacing Gray, who left for undisclosed reasons and went back to the States. The irony of the situation is that Gray was one of the very few players of Paok that were actually paid..

Collins was until recently a player of the Charlotte Bobcats. He managed to win a contract with them this summer after going undrafted in the summer of 2010 and won a 2 season deal with the Bobcats. He spent some time with the Maine Red Claws in the NBDL and went back to Charlotte only to be waived again. He played 19 games in the NBA without any noticeable averages. He was the leader of the Kansas Jayhawks in his days in the NCAA.

Paok should also be signing another center from the European market to replace Lazaros Papadopoulos.

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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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