Zalgiris announced Dejuan Collins

DeJuan Collins returns to Zalgiris

Zalgiris Kaunas and former Euroleague assists king DeJuan Collins are together again after the club announced a one-year deal on Thursday night. Collins (188, 33) led the Euroleague in assists with 5.3 per game during the 2007-08 season.

He spent a season-and-a-half with Zalgiris, arriving in January 2007 and helping the team win back-to-back Lithuanian League and Cup doubles.

Collins was also the Baltic League Final Four MVP in 2008 after leading Zalgiris to that title.

All told Collins has played parts of four Euroleague seasons with two teams – Zalgiris and Alba Berlin. In the past two seasons, Collins has played for Lokomotiv Rostov in Russia, Cajasol in Spain and Kavala in Greece. Last season he averaged 12.1 points, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals in the Greek League.

He previously played for Brose Baskets, Tubingen and Berlin in Germany, Varese in Italy and Aris Thessaloniki in Greece. Collins won the German League and German Cup titles with Alba in 2003 and also helped Aris to make it to the Greek Cup final in 2005.

source : zaligiris.lt


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Budivelnyk signed Andrew Betts

Budivelnyk strengthened their frontcourt.


They added Andrew Betts  (216-C-77, college: Long Beach St.) to the roster. The 33-year-old centre spent the previous season in Greece. The British player tallied 8.4 points, 4.4 boards and 1.3 assists per EuroCup game for Aris. In A1 league Andrew Betts delivered 9.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per appearance. Earlier Andrew Betts used to play in Italy and Spain. Andrew Betts played for Great Britain at the 2009 EuroBasket. The centre notched 6.5 points and 3.5 boards per game in Poland.
  

source : eurobasket.com


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Sasu Salin in Olimpija for 3 seasons

Nineteen years old Finnish National Team player Sasu Salin (192cm, 1991) signed three years contract with Union Olimpija Ljubljana today.


He comes from Finnish team Honka Espoo Playboys. Salin, who is said to be one of the most talented players of his generation in Europe, is at the moment with his national team playing FIBA Qualifications for Eurobasket 2011, and averaging 13 points per game, while shooting 63.6% from the arch.

Before playing for senior national team, he played for U20 Finnish National Team this summer, where he averaged 16.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. Salin will be the second Finn in Union Olimpija's history. Before him, his team mate from national team, Teemu Rannikko left great impression on Ljubljana's crowd during 2005-2007 period.

Jure Zdovc, head coach of Union Olimpija: "Salin is extremely young player, but considering what he has shown in senior national team, we believe he is ready to play basketball at the highest level. We signed a three years contract with Sasu, so we want him to stay here, and help us, for longer period of time. He is playing on both guard positions, and is extremely good distance shooter, also he has a good feel for offensive rebounds. We are expecting him in Ljubljana, as soon as he finishes with national team duties."

source : union.olimpija.com



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Aris announced P.J. Tucker for 2 seasons and Fanis Koumbouras

Aris hit the jackpot with Tucker.


Aris BC announced that the team agreed terms with scorer P.J. Tucker(1.96-SG/SF) for the next 2 seasons. The deal was announced via the official website of Aris and the player will be sending his signed contract within the next few hours.

Tucker's real name is actually Anthony and the P.J stands for Pop Junior. It's a nickname that his father gave to him soon after his birth and he has been carrying it ever since. He graduated from the University of Texas back in 2006, where he won numerous awards. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the 35th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft and signed a two-year deal with them on July 26, 2006. He spent some time in the NBDL with the Colorado 14ers and was waived by the Raptors finally in 2007.

During 2007-2008 he spent his pro season overseas where he conquered the Israeli league as a player of Hapoel Holon and he was also named the MVP of the league. After that he signed with BC Donetsk but had a serious injury that sidelined him for 2 months. Nevertheless he was one the top scorers of the Ukrainian league averaging 19.4 points per game. Last season BC Donetsk had serious financial issues so he returned to Israel and Bnei Hasharon averaging 17.3 points 9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 12 games.

Aris will also be trying Fanis Koumbouras(1.88-PG) at the request of head coach Sharon Drucker and chances are he will sign a contract with them. There is an obvious gap in the backcourt and Koumbouras might be the only true point-guard in the team. Aris might also keep Michalis Tsairelis(2.07-PF/C) after all as the youngster has been impressing the coaching staff during the practice sessions. That means there is a possibility that a bosman center will not be signed.

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Paok announced Rawle Marshall

The bad boy lands in Greece next season.


Paok announced Rawle Marshall(2.01-SF) via their official website. The American small forward will be their player for next season and chances are he will be their starting small forward. Marshall made his name in the Euroleague playing for Cibona after a great season in the Eurocup with Hemofarm. He is probably though mostly known about the punches he landed on an opponent in a game against KK Split for the Adriatic League. He also played briefly for Dallas and Indiana in the NBA.

Marshall will play in Greece for the first time and last season he started in Valencia but coach Spahija showed him the door and Marshall found a home in Villeurbanne. There he averaged 9.5 points 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 21 games in the ProA.

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Panellinios going bust!

The flow of money is over for Panellinios.


Last season's Eurocup Final Four appearance might just be the swan song for Panellinios in the big leagues. According to superbasket.gr, the major shareholder of Panellinios, tycoon Minos Kyriakou, has decided that it's time for a quick exit. The economic recession has affected the team of Panellinios as well and if he chooses to leave the team then they're luxurious budget(for Greek League standards) will be over.

This means that they could potentially lose all the players that currently have contracts for next season. Another website from Greece, basketblog.gr, suggests that if Kyriakou withdraws from the team and it no longer operates as a Ltd company then the team could be relegated 2 leagues down. This is not really news in Greece but it has been coming for some time now. It's just that things might be made clear this week.

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BC Donetsk to sign J K Edwards

BC Donetsk have landed another import player for the next season.


They have agreed on terms of contract with J.K. Edwards  (202-C/F-82, college: UNLV). The 27-year-old centre spent the previous season in France. J.K. Edwards tallied 11.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per EuroChallenge game for Gravelines Dunkerque. In ProA the centre notched 14.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per appearance. J.K. Edwards has played in France since 2004 when he signed his first pro contract with Quimper.

source : eurobasket.com

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