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John Lucas III Involved In Very Lame Chinese Fight

2009-12-18T23:46:00.000-08:00

The Chinese Basketball Association season begins tonight (Saturday), and former Heat, Rockets and Thunder point guard John Lucas III welcomed it with a fight.

What the fight was about, I have no idea, and who instigated it, I have no clue. Whether John Lucas III did anything wrong is similarly unclear, as is who the rest of the people involved were. All we know about said fight is that it spawned these two hilarious pictures:

Most fights look pretty pathetic when viewed in picture form only. But this looks particularly tepid. And that's why it's hilarious. Lucas has so far avoided Tweeting about the incident, but it can't hurt to ask him.

Additionally, the list of CBA imports for next season, previously speculated at here, now looks to be complete. It follows this semi-colon;

1. Guangdong - Smush Parker, David Harrison
2. Xinjiang - Myron Allen, Charles Gaines
3. Jiangsu - DerMarr Johnson, Jameel Watkins
4. Shaanxi - Corsley Edwards, Tim Pickett
5. DongGuan - Dajuan Tate, Alexander Johnson
6. Fujian - Chris Porter, Jelani McCoy
7. Zhejiang Lions - Rodney White, Peter John Ramos
8. Shandong - Andre Emmett, Stromile Swift
9. Beijing - James Mays, Cedric Bozeman
10. Shanxi - Donta Smith, Michael Sweetney, Maurice Taylor (maximum of two imports, so a cut to come)
11. Bayi - None
12. Liaoning - Olumide Oyedeji, Brandon Robinson
13. Jilin - Leon Rodgers, Soumaila Samake
14. Zhejiang Cyclones - Andre Brown, Marcus E. Williams
15. TianJin - Herve Lamizana, Brandon Crump
16. Qingdao - Frans Steyn, Chris Williams
17. Shanghai - John Lucas III, Garret Siler

Players to have tried out unsuccessfully for places include Mario West, Courtney Sims, Lorenzen Wright, Lee Benson, Ansu Sesay, Frank Robinson, Will Conroy and Donnell Harvey. Kirk Snyder wanted to return, but the CBA didn't want him. The league appears to have gotten pickier this year, which can only be good.

Sticking with the Asia theme, in non-Chinese world news, Ekene Ibekwe (of Maryland and Raptors summer league fame) has signed in Iran with a team called Imam Harbour, and former Bulls and Suns camp invitee Jeff Varem has also signed in Iran with Saba Mehr. There, he will replace Priest Lauderdale, as the world's tallest Bulgarian is currently injured. And former Hornets forward Sean Banks has also gone east, signing with Zain in Jordan. The other non-Jordanians in the Jordanian Premier League are Kendall Dartez, Rasheim Wright, Damian Cantrell, Jamal Schoetz, LaMarr Greer and John Thomas III. (Not to be confused with John Lucas III.)

Michael Sweetney signs in China

2009-12-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

As always, Chinese Basketball Association transactions are extremely hard to verify. There is no English language version of the CBA's website, and crude Google translations aren't really that helpful. Tryouts are often reported as signings, signings often aren't reported at all, and lots of things go unreported. From these tatty shreds, we have to piece together the workings of an entire league. And it's not easy.

However, one thing that's perfectly clear is that former Bulls and Knicks big big big man Michael Sweetney has joined the legion of ex-NBA big men making their way over to the Chinese Basketball Association. The story was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski over six weeks ago, and became official yesterday.

Sweetney turned down the offer of a workout with the Memphis Grizzlies to go to China, fully aware of the fact that he's not able to play in the NBA right now. The reason why he's not able to play in the NBA right now is obvious; put simply, he's fatter than ever. How fat? This fat:

That's Byron Eaton territory.

Sweetney is not a guarantee to have made the Shanxi roster; Chinese teams can only carry two non-Chinese players, and Shanxi currently rock all four of Sweetney, Maurice Taylor, Lee Benson and Donta Smith. (At least, as far as I can tell. There's also a team called Shaanxi, which makes this all very confusing.) Nevertheless, this is the right move for him. China pays well, and the CBA tends to play more games than comparable leagues (although apparently they're down to only 32 regular season games per team this season). The games are 48 minutes in length and not 40, and the import players will play huge minutes (as opposed to in Europe, where teams will employ 11 man rotations in 40 minutes games wherever possible.) The stint in China will get Sweetney money, court time, exposure, and bloody enormous statistics; if he stays healthy and drops some weight, this could be the launchpad for his NBA comeback.

So that's good.

In other Chinese news, ex-Maccabi, Spurs and Bucks big man Charles Gaines has also joined the league, as has former NBA player Alexander Johnson. Lorenzen Wright was cut and has returned to America, and Will Conroy did not make the cut for the Dongguan New Century Leopards, losing out to Johnson and Dajuan Tate. And while American courts had allowed Kirk Snyder to travel to China to play in the CBA, the CBA decided that they didn't want him.

Also, Olumide Oyedeji has signed with Liaoning for next season, which is particularly awesome news considering the defamatory comments he made about the CBA, ones which the CBA may yet sue over. Good times.

As accurate of a list of Chinese signees as I can get can be found here. In non-Chinese news:

- Former Erie BayHawks guard Maureece Rice has signed in Azovmash in the Ukraine, where he pairs up again with his teammate from last year, Erik Daniels. Azovmash have had a bad year and recently made widespread sweeping changes - Daniels was one of the few to survive - and Rice is a part of the new infusion, trying to elevate Azovmash from their currently underwhelming 9th position in the Ukranian Superleague.

Azovmash are also in trouble regarding a contract dispute over ex-Raptors draft pick, Remon Van de Hare. VDH signed with the team last summer to a three year contract, but the team released him only partway through last season. He sued to get the money for the full three years of the contract, and FIBA have ruled that Azovmash have until the 21st of this month to pay it. If they don't, they might be kicked out of the Eurocup.

- Another ex-D-Leaguer, Malick Badiane, has signed for the first time this season, joining Nanterre in France.

- Former NBA player Nikoloz Tskitishvili walked away from his contract with his Greek team Panionios, and ended up giving them money so that he could join Spanish league team Fuenlabrada instead.

- Hapoel Holon Israel released Brandon Wallace for no obvious reason, who then joined up in Poland with Turow, where he replaces Willie Deane, who was not having a good season.

- Ex-Timberwolf Rick Rickert has moved from the New Zealand Breakers to the Harbour Heat. Both teams are based in New Zealand, but the Breakers play in Australia's NBL, and the Heat don't. That's quite the downgrade.

- Nigel Dixon changes South Korean teams, moving from Anyang to Sonic Boom. It's an upgrade in team name, if nothing else.

- Lokomotiv Kuban started the year without any Americans, and then added two last week; Gerald Green and James Gist. There's some NBA calibre right there, which has to be a welcome midseason infusion.

- Michael Ruffin's short term contract with Manresa expired, and was not renewed.

- Olympiakos released Von Wafer, who had disappointed greatly. Wafer had started the year in the rotation, but had worked his way down to being on the inactive list. Greek teams are allowed a maximum of only 3 Americans and 6 non-Greeks for Greek league games, and Olympiakos have 7. And while Yotam Halperin started the year as the inactive player, he played his way into contention, as did Patrick Beverley. Wafer, meanwhile, played his way onto it. And now Olympiakos has decided to save the money and cut him. Wafer is now a candidate to join the Memphis Grizzlies, who are totally awesome yet who could use an extra bench scorer. They're currently having to pretend that Sam Old is a backup two. And it's not really working.

Strasbourg releases Terrel Harris

2009-12-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in the 1997 NBA Draft Where Are They Now Round-up Recap Thing, IG Strasbourg are a French team that's not doing very well. They're currently joint 15th in the 16 team French ProA league with a 2-7 record and a 3 game losing streak. They're currently in the EuroChallenge (the third tier continent-wide club tournament), and they lead this group, but that won't count for a whole lot unless they reverse their French league fortunes. So they've made some changes, signed Wen Mukubu (to replace the injured Alain Digbeu), and waived Terrel Harris.

Harris, pictured here receiving mid-game oral sex from an unnamed Texas Longhorn with different sized ears, was signed in the summer to try and provide some of that scoring help. He averaged 13.9ppg for the Oklahoma State Cowboys last season, doing little else except shoot impromptu threes and rebound a little bit. He's only been doing half to that for Strasbourg this season, though, averaging only 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.6 fouls per game. He shot the three well, scoring over 48% from outside, but he offered nothing else outside of that.

Not a good week for former Oklahoma State players.

EDIT: Strasbourg have also signed former NBA guard and sexual tyrant Anthony Roberson, who replaces Harris. Mukubu replaces Digbeu.

David Monds replaces John Edwards

2009-12-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

John Edwards spent two years in the NBA. He signed as an undrafted free agent out of Kent State with the Pacers in 2004, played spot minutes in 25 games, and the Hawks signed him to an inexplicable two year, $2.08 million contract in the summer of 2005. After one year with Atlanta - in which he totalled 70 points, 48 rebounds and 76 fouls - the Hawks traded him back to the Pacers as filler in the Al Harrington deal. The Pacers then waived him, and after a training camp contract with the Timberwolves in 2007, that was it for John Edwards in the NBA.

Edwards has spent two of the last three years in the D-League, seemingly aware that the knock on him is his "rawness." Last year for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Edwards averaged 9.3 and 6.9 rebounds in 21 minutes per game, fairly sedate numbers for a centre-starved league. Those numbers are particularly sedate when you consider that Edwards is now 28 years old. You can't be raw forever.

He did not return to the D-League this year, instead signing with Kolossos Rhodes in Greek's AI League. In theory, he was going to provide an NBA calibre frontcourt along with recent Heat draft pick, Robert Dozier. In practice, though, he's not been good. Edwards has played only 36 minutes on the entire season, totalling 12 points, 5 rebounds and 8 fouls. Now entering his physical prime, Edwards has never learnt how to stop fouling, has never dragged up his rebounding rate, and even though he's offensively inclined, he still can't score without a size advantage.

So Kolossos have released him in favour of recent Lakers camp invite and another D-League veteran, David Monds. Monds doesn't have Edwards' height, but he has strength, athleticism and poise. Poise counts for a lot.

By the way, I looked it up; David Monds does have two brothers, but they're called DeAndra and Trenton. Not Alfred and Diane, as you might have hoped.

Cartier Martin is the happiest man in the world

2009-12-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Last year, former Kansas State forward Cartier Martin started out in the D-League before earning an early call-up to the Charlotte Bobcats. He didn't play a whole lot, and when he did it's mainly because Larry Brown was using him as a defensive specialist (including occasionally guarding the point guard before Dontell Jefferson arrived), yet he spent the entire season with the team anyway.

This summer, he signed with Benetton Treviso in Italy, a team that started the year in the Euroleague. His team mates there include sure-fire lottery pick Donatas Motiejunas, as well as Gary Neal, Judson Wallace, Sandro Nicevic and Daniel Hackett. It was a decent team. However, from day one, Cartier Martin seemed unhappy. And he chose to document that unhappiness on Twitter.

Despite his account having the tag line of "I'm out here grindin and workin hard," Cartier never settled in Italy, and seemed to hate the place. He documented that hate with Tweets such as:

"Not as good as I thought."

"Chilliin in this terrible hotel somewhere in Italy! How are we one of the top teams in Italy and we stay in hotels like this...TERRIBLE!"

"Man it's time to just say f*** it and shoot that bitch every time I touch it."

"it look like it's trashy out here"

"Man some things just aren't for certain ppl. That's how I'm feelin right now!"

"Man I can't even tell you how I really feel bout it on here. I need to be there tho."

"I'm not passing it all when I touch it...I'm putting it up everytime."

"I ain't doin nothing out here tho...I barely even play sometimes. Its cool tho..long as I get that bread."

"In weak ass Naples, Italy! I'm so ready to....."

.......as well as other, slightly more woe-is-me ones that seem to have been deleted. Probably best.

(His payoff tweet of "headed back home. I hate to say bye" seems kind of out of place after all that went before it.)

Perhaps mercifully, Martin left Benetton this week and returned to America. He is now a likely candidate to return to the D-League and look for another NBA call-up. Despite the massive pay decrease and the inferior standard of basketball on offer, Martin seems to really, really, REALLY want to play more games and less practices in accordance with American style, seemingly unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the European style of basketball that could mean only 25 minutes of playing time in an entire week. He'd rather be happy than rich.

And that's what it's all about, really.

Domen Lorbek returns to Slovenia.....briefly

2009-12-02T06:37:00.000-08:00

Slovenian international swingman Domen Lorbek has signed back in his native country with Helios on a one month contract.

Until last week, Lorbek was with Cajasol Sevilla in Spain's ACB, averaging only 2.9 points in 8 games. He signed there only on a two month contract and it was not renewed when it expired, which doesn't seem surprising with that scoring average. Last year for Benetton Treviso, Lorbek averaged 8.8 points per game in the Eurocup and 6.0 ppg in SerieA, but he was replaced for this season by Cartier Martin. More on that in a moment, though.

Lorbek now signs with Helios just to stay in shape and earn some money while he looks for a more lucrative gig. It's a win win situation, because he becomes Helios' best player by quite a long way. Helios are currently second last in the Adriatic League with a 3-7 record, and are only 5th in the Slovenian league with a 4-3 record. So any reinforcement would be welcome right now.

Domen Lorbek is the young brother of former Pacers draft pick, Erazem Lorbek. The two are nothing alike. Erazem is a scoring big man, with a post game, a mid range jumpshot and the ability to drive the ball, and one of the better big men scorers on the continent. Domen is a decently sized wing player who is best as a catch and shoot specialist.

Erazem is better.

Spencer Nelson and Gary Wilkinson sign with Peristeri, who release two others

2009-12-02T06:13:00.000-08:00

Despite a solid 3-2 start to the season, Greek A1 team Peristeri Athens announced that they were releasing former Illinois big man and Golden State Warriors camp invite Shaun Pruitt, as well as Rhode Island forward Will Daniels, to be replaced by Utah natives Spencer Nelson and Gary Wilkinson.

Nelson has not signed anywhere this season after being released by the Utah Jazz in training camp. It was rumoured that he was to sign with an unnamed Belgian team as of only last week, yet that's not going to happen now. Nelson played in Greece last year with Aris Thessaloniki, and averaged 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds on the season. He's a tweener forward without any distinct position, but wherever he goes he rebounds, passes, and scores a bit with an inside/outside game.

This is Wilkinson's first professional season at the ripe old age of 27. (The reason for that is described here.) Wilkinson had spent the season today in the South Korean KBL, after being made the 11th overall pick in their draft this summer. He was averaging 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16 minutes per game for Dongbu Promy, splitting court time with their other American import, Marquin Chandler. (A silly KBL rule says that each team can have only two Americans, but the two can't play on the court at the same time.)

Peristeri haven't had much luck with their imports this year. They first signed Cedric Simmons, but had to release him in preseason after realising he was no good. Three of their other four American players - Jamie Arnold, Marcus Faison and Michael Bramos - all hold European passports (Israei, Belgian and Greek respectively), which absolves them of being counted as Americans. And the fourth (Cliff Hammonds) is doing OK, averaging 12.6 points and 3.4 assists on the season. (Greek teams are allowed a maximum of three American players, yet any American with an additional European passport does not count as one of them.)

By releasing Pruitt, Peristeri ridded themselves of their only real size inside, so clearly they think the two incoming forwards are skilled enough to be worth it. Pruitt and Daniels were both said to have been released for poor performance; Daniels had averaged 6.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 fouls per game, and Pruitt had totalled 5 points and 8 rebounds in only 24 minutes on the season.

Both Nelson and Wilkinson are Utah State graduates and practising Mormons. They share an agent, Ben Pensack. That's probably not going to be a coincidence, really.

As far as I can tell, this is China

2009-12-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Last year, we focused at length on the joy that is the Chinese Basketball Association. It's a quirky beast; the standard of China's own domestic players is pretty damn bad in the grand scheme of things, with the exception of the occasional halfway decent (or truly fantastic) big man. Knowing this, the CBA have decided to try and replicate a more American style of play in order to improve their national team product. They've changed some rules to match the NBA - for example, playing 48 minutes a game, and playing far more games than most leagues - and they've tried to increase the physical nature of the play. And a large part of doing that is attracting top tier American imports.

They're able to do this for the simple reason that they can compete financially. With salaries ranging from about $25-to-40 thousand a month - and sometimes more - CBA teams are able to sign fringe, former and future NBA talent where other leagues are unable to do so. If you were a fringe NBA player, would you rather earn $32,200 for an entire D-League season, or earn that for one month in China? It's clearly the latter, and that's how China is able to land such (relatively) premium talent consistently.

The exposure isn't bad, either, as Leon Rodgers demonstrated by getting a training camp contract with the Grizzlies based on his work in China last year. American players playing in the CBA are essentially guaranteed mahoosive statistics - as Rodgers demonstrated with his 35ppg scoring average last season - and mahoosive statistics tend to talk, no matter what the competition. So it befits them to go there. Having all these imports is not met with universal applause from the Chinese fans, many of who object to the largely selfish stat-stuffing play of many of the imports, and of their team's pamnpering to their imports statistics every need. But for us NBA fans mildly obsessed with the players on the fringes of our league, it's bloody awesome.

Last year's Chinese holiday makers include players such Olumide Oyedeji, Bonzi Wells, David Harrison and Smush Parker. Hundreds of games of NBA experience were on show, and to a man, they all put up staggeringly huge numbers. (That is, except for Corey Underwood. But, as I've since learnt, he had a torn up knee, which would explain it all.) However, Chinese Basketball Association transactions are amazingly hard to verify. There's no English version of the CBA's website, nor is there an English language fan site worth a damn. What news we can get of the transactions comes from either asia-basket.com, player agents, crude translations, forum posters, Tweets, and the like. It's not an exact science, and therefore, it's really hard to know who's going where for next season.

However, after a few hours with Google translate, there follows the most accurate depiction of next year's CBA imports that I can compile. Nothing is guaranteed to be accurate, but this is the best I can do. Hope it works.

(Note: each franchise is allowed a maximum of two imports, so if more than two are listed, there's clearly a battle going on. Teams listed based on their finishing position last year.)

1. Guangdong - Smush Parker (confirmed), David Harrison

2. Xinjiang - Myron Allen, Juan Mendez, Sam Hoskin

3. Jiangsu - DerMarr Johnson (tryout), Jameel Watkins, Ansu Sesay (rumoured), Donell Harvey (originally signed, but reportedly had a pay dispute, and will not returb), Gerald Green (rumoured, then club refused), Loren Woods (same)

4. Shaanxi - Corsley Edwards, Tim Pickett

5. DongGuan - Will Conroy (confirmed), Dajuan Tate (confirmed), Alexander Johnson (rumoured, but the other two seem confirmed)

6. Fujian - Peter John Ramos (tried out but failed to make the team), Chris Porter, Jelani McCoy, DerMarr Johnson (worked out but did not sign), Jamal Sampson (worked out but did not sign)

7. Zhejiang Lions - Rodney White, Peter John Ramos (another tryout)

8. Shandong - Andre Emmett, Stromile Swift

9. Beijing - James Mays, Cedric Bozeman, DerMarr Johnson (rumoured), Jamal Sampson (tried out but did not sign)

10. Shanxi - Lee Benson (negotiations reportedly broken off), Donta Smith, Ansu Sesay, Maurice Taylor (currently injured, which won't help), Lorenzen Wright (worked out, has been reported to have signed for both Shanxi and Liaoning), Olumide Oyedeji. Also offered contracts to both Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury in the summer. The other four appear to be battling for two spots.

11. Bayi - This team does not want to have imports. Not sure why.

12. Liaoning - Virginijus Praškevičius, Lorenzen Wright, Courtney Sims (tried out but did not impress), DerMarr Johnson (same)

13. Jilin - Leon Rodgers (confirmed), Soumaila Samake (confirmed), Tim Pickett (negotiated before signing with Shaanxi)

14. Zhejiang Cyclones - Soumaila Samake (eventually signed with Jilin), Andre Brown, Marcus E. Williams, Kamran Jamshidvand

15. TianJin - Herve Lamizana, Brandon Crump, Rony Fahed

16. Qingdao - Sabah Khoury, Frans Steyn, Chris Williams

18. Shanghai - John Lucas III (confirmed), Garret Siler (confirmed), Tim Pickett (worked out but did not sign), Zaid Abbaas, Paul Davis (rumoured, but seemingly only a rumour)

(The 17th placed team from last year, Yunnan, have folded. Also, Frank Robinson and Mario West tried out for multiple Chinese teams, but I can't tell for whom.)

As mention earlier, the above is not guaranteed to be accurate. Far from it, in fact. Try-outs are often reported as signings, some reports are false, and many moves just aren't reported at all. Piecing it together is a tough ask, and only once the players take the court will we really know who's there and who isn't.

But at the very least, those are your names in contention.

Jay Williams attempting a comeback, sort of

2009-08-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

Former Bull Jay Williams plays again, for the first time in 2 and a half years.

Former NBA point guard Jay Williams is aiming to relaunch his career through the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Williams, the second overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2002 NBA draft - behind Yao Ming, almost lost his life in a motorcycle accident a year later and his promising career appeared to be over.

(more at the link)

Since his accident in June 2003, Jay's basketball journey has taken many forms. Williams spent three and a half months in hospital, recovering from the multiple torn ligaments, broken pelvis and nerve damage that almost saw him lose his leg (but not his life, contrary to the article's excessive verbiage). His rehab had only begun in earnest; it would be three more years before he returned to the court.

During the early stages of his rehab, Williams kept a blog on NBA.com, which still survives to this day (as long as you can tolerate five and a half years of dust). The optimistic tone of the blog made it sound like a comeback would be possible, if a long way off. And this proved to be kind of true, as Williams did eventually sign another NBA contract. But he never played another regular season NBA game.

In October 2006, more than three years after the accident, Williams signed a training camp contract with the New Jersey Nets. The contract was not guaranteed, and both Williams and the Nets signed it knowing that his chances of making the team were about as small as a tadpole's corset. Nevertheless, however hollow of a gesture it may have been, the signing was symbolic; Jay had made it back from the brink.

Unfortunately, he sucked. And that ruined the fairytale. Although understandably extremely rusty, Williams played in 5 preseason games, totalling only 19 points, 3 assists and 13 turnovers, shooting 37% from the field and fouling every 6 minutes. He was waived by the Nets a week before the season started, and never threatened the NBA again. Williams' only other basketball stint came with the Austin Toros of the D-League the next month, when he averaged 6.0ppg, 2.7rpg and 5.3apg in 3 games, before being waived due to a nagging groin injury. And that was that.

Until now, of course.

Between being waived by the Toros in December 2006 and the present day, Williams has been involved in all sorts of basketball related activities. In addition to his rehab, his abortive comeback attempts and his NBA.com blog, Jay has worked as a commentator for CBS, an analyst for ESPN, as well as an abortive attempt to become an agent. (Seriously, that's a great read.)

Jay has always been adamant, though, that another playing comeback has not been on the cards. When this erronous story came out in November 2007, reporting Jay's impending move to Italy to continue his comeback, Jay shot it down, claiming that he was happy with his new pursuits. (The story was nearly right, but they got the wrong ex-Bull point guard with that surname; it was actually Frank Williams who signed there.)

A comeback never looked on. Perhaps a small hint lay in this piece from last September, where Jay alludes to a small desire to return, if not a great deal of intent to make it happen. But nothing happened to suggest that it would happen; Jay never signed anywhere, never seemed to try to, and looked natural with his full time job as an ESPN analyst, exuding delicious chemistry with Hubert Davis and his sultry vowel sounds.

Until now, of course.

What the future holds for Williams is impossible to predict. The Chinese Basketball Association features a lot of ex-NBA players - notables from last year include Bonzi Wells, Kirk Snyder and Rodney White - but also a terribly low standard of play. For example, Wells and Snyder both averaged over 30 points per game, and former Magic centre Olumide Oyedeji averaged 20/20. No, really. He did.

If Jay sticks around and plays the next CBA season, he'll get a good deal of exposure (that I can guarantee him), and plenty of court time. If he's healthy enough to play, he'll no doubt get some good statistics for his resumé, and at age 27, he might be able to rebuild a playing career before it's too late. The CBA doesn't pay particularly well, but it's a good stepping stone for anyone looking to put themselves back into the public eye, particularly to any open minded executives.

But, ultimately, where is this going to lead to?

Can basketball in South Korea be interesting? Just about.

2009-08-12T01:52:00.001-07:00

The South Korean basketball league [KBL] has some quirky ass rules. It's a relatively new league, only ten years in existence, that unashamedly focuses on Korean national players. Part of that means heavily restricting the amount of Big Foreign Americans™ that so heavily permeate all the other leagues around the world.

A few years ago, the KBL had a rule that barred any players standing 6'8 and above. What the intended purpose of that was, I don't know, but presumably they quickly figured out how damaging that rule was to their basketball product, because they have now done away with it. Now, tall foreign dudes are allowed. And they're kind of prevalent.

Every summer, the KBL holds a draft of foreign players who want to play in their league that year. The players that are drafted are mostly tall guys, as apparently Korea doesn't produce much talented size of their own. (Ha Seung-Jin excepted, of course.) The criteria for entry in the draft, though, is pretty weird. The following is looted without permission from the Korean Basketball League website:

[The] Korean Basketball League (KBL) Pre-Draft Tryout Camp for Foreign Players will be held from July 22nd (Wed) to 24th (Fri), 2009 at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.

The players who are interested in playing in Korea for the 2009~2010 season, which will start from the middle of October 2009 to the end of April 2010, and meet the qualifications below are asked to fill out the application form and send via a fax or by e-mail the required documents to KBL office by May 22nd, 2009.

A: Qualifications:

1. Must have at least a high school diploma
2. Must be at least 18 years of age
3. Have not had a contract with teams in Europe Division I (Spain, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Israel, France, Russia, Greece) Club for the most recent consecutive two (2) years
4. Have not had a contract with teams in NBA for the most recent consecutive three (3) years

B: Required Documents

1. KBL Tryout Application Form (must be signed by a player)
2. Resume (with a recent photo)
3. Personal data (stats must be official game stats)
4. A copy of university / college / high school diploma
5. Letter of Clearance from previous team (optional)
6. Letter of Recommendation (optional)
7. Character Reference from 3 non-family members (optional)

By ruling out anyone to have played in any of the world's significant leagues in the past two or three years, the KBL essentially guarantees itself a lineup of nothing but castoffs, of has-beens and never-weres who can't hack it on the big stage, but who still want the dosh that comes with being halfway decent. This leaves the KBL running with the very real prospect of overpaying mediocre players, and missing out on any true talent.

(It's also nice to know that character references are optional.)

It kind of works, though. 730 players applied for the pre-draft camp, of which 212 were invited. That 212 was later reduced down to a list of 143, and I'll reproduce that list in an awkwardly small font for you now.

Chris Alexander
Demetrius Alexander
Marcus Allen
Menelik Barbary
Robert Battle
Rashad Bell
Brandon Bender
Mario Bennett
Tyrell Biggs
Jason Blair
Tyrelle Blair
Odartey Blankson
Luke Bonner
Dreike Bouldin
Craig Bradshaw
Bruce Brown
Damone Brown
Jamaal Brown
Antoine Broxsie
John Bryant
Melvin Buckley
Babacar Camara
Marquin Chandler
Gyasi Cline-Heard
Brandon Cole
Daniel Coleman
Robert (T.J) Cummings
Dwayne Curtis
Brian Cusworth
Joe Dabbert
Adeola Dagunduro
Chris Daniels
Robert (Chris) Daniels
Quincy Davis
Eric Dawson
Christopher Devine
Anthony Dill
Nigel Dixon
Seth Doliboa
Jakim Donaldson
Robert Dozier
Johnny Dukes
Duane Erwin
Marquis Estill
Peter Ezugwu
Thomas Fairley
Desmond Ferguson
Michael Fey
Alton Ford
Jean Francois
Gabriel Freeman
Elbert Fuqua
Christopher Garnett
Travis Garrison
Brandon Gary
Reginald George
Johnnie Gilbert
Simeon Haley
Hernol Hall
Lamont Hamilton
Brian Harper
Darrell Harris
Aaron Haynes
Adrian Hill
Herbert Hill
Jamal Holden
Daniel Horace
Justin Howard
Gabriel Hughes
Ryan Humphrey
Chris Hunter
Gerald Inman
Cedric Jackson
Anthony Johnson
Ivan Johnson
Jasper Johnson
Kevin Johnson
Jonathan Jones
Bradley Kanis
Joe Kennerly
Darnell Kirkwood
Gordon Klaiber
Joe Krabbenhoft
Abdullahi Kuso
Sean Lampley
Dan Langhi
Donald Little
Art Long
Longar Longar
Corey Louis
Kevin Martin
Bryant Mathews
Amal McCaskill
Glen Mcgowan
Bryson McKenzie
Alex McLean
Jarred Merrill
Corey Minnifield
Marcel Momplaisir
Sylvester Morgan
Scott Morrison
Faheem Nelson
Ahmad Nivins
Yemi Ogunoye
Bambale Osby
Omari Peterkin
James Peters
Brent Petway
Marvin Phillips
Kevin Pittsnogle
Ricardo Powell
Shaun Pruitt
Shawn Redhage
Darius Rice
Dewayne Richardson
Jason Robinson
Kevin Rogers
Jeremiah Russell
Soumaila Samake
Kahiem Seawright
Andre Smith
Frans Steyn
Greg Stiemsma
Joseph Taylor
Charles Thomas
Harvey Thomas
Victor Thomas
Garnett Thompson
Darian Townes
Mack Tuck
Larry Turner
Cory Underwood
Tiras Wade
Jermaine Walker
Samaki Walker
Gary Ware
Reginald Warren
Tyrone Washington
DeSean White
Gary Wilkinson
James Williams
Tarvis Williams
Waki Williams

It's a great list for scrubs. On it are recent NBA second round draft picks Robert Dozier and Ahmad Nivins, who applied before they knew they were going to be drafted this summer, as well some undrafted favourites of my own such as Cedric Jackson, Tyrell Biggs, Gary Wilkinson and Joe Krabbenhoft. (Inspired stuff to hold the camp in Vegas, by the way. Really drives up the attendance.)

Players from the list to have spent even a minute on an NBA roster in the past include Chris Alexander, Demetrius Alexander, Mario Bennett, Damone Brown (in his first stint post-drug bust), T.J. Cummings (giggidy), Nigel Dixon, Desmond Ferguson, Alton Ford, Herbert Hill, Ryan Humphrey, Sean Lampley, Dan Langhi, Art Long, Bryant sexpest Matthews, Amal McCaskill, Brent Petway, Darius Rice, Soumalia Samake, Frans Steyn, Larry Turner, Corey Underwood and Samaki Walker. The D-League turnout isn't bad either, with players like Greg Stiemsma, Jasper Johnson and Longar Longar trying to find Eastern pastures new.

There's also a welcome signing of former West Virginia star and middle school teacher Kevin Pittsnogle, whose agent clearly thought his client was worth the $100 bucks just to get his name in such esteemed company. And also on the list is a man named Chris Hunter. Whether it's THE Chris Hunter, the one who is currently under contract to the New York Knicks, is not explicitly clear. But since I know of no other Chris Hunter in the world of professional basketball, I'm going to have to assume that it is.

(Note: It's not THE Anthony Johnson, obviously, nor is it THE Kevin Martin.)

That was the pre-draft camp list. It's quite the who's-who of nobodies. All the veterans of the Asian tour, such as Dixon and Langhi, are still going strong, and it's a thrill to see it if you're easily pleased. We all like our Amal McCaskill news, after all.

They've since held the draft. Like the camp, it was held in Las Vegas, despite Las Vegas being several thousand miles away from South Korea. (I still support this decision.) Like the NBA draft, it's full of all the pomp and ceremony that should accompany such an event. Unlike the NBA draft, though, it has an interesting caveat - after a player is selected, they have 5 minutes to sign a contract with the team, and 5 minutes only. If they don't get it done, then that's it; they're out. This frankly brilliant rule should be enforced in the NBA, and would be if I had any say in it. Just saying.

(By the way, due to the sketchy nature of the South Korean Won - the name of their currency - teams have a salary cap of 1.8 billion. That's just a pretty number to say. Everyone's a millionaire.)

The draft went as follows -

Round 1

1st - Daegu Orions - Herbert Hill
2nd - Busan KT Magic Wings - Greg Stiemsma
3rd - Seoul SK Knights - Samaki Walker
4th - Anyang KT&G Kites - Nigel Dixon
5th - Incheon ET Land Black Slamer - Chris Daniels
6th - Changwon LG Sakers - Chris Alexander
7th - Wongju Dongbu Promy - Marquin Chandler

Note: Mobis Phoebus, KCC Egis and Samsung Tigers forfeited their first round picks, instead re-signing their foreign players from last year; namely, Bryant Dunston, Micah Brand and Terrence Leather (giggidy).

Round 2

11th - Wongju Dongbu Promy - Gary Wilkinson
12th - Changwon LG Sakers - Craig Bradshaw
13th - Incheon ET Land Black Slamer - Amal McCaskill
14th - Anyang NT&G Kites - Rashad Bell
15th - Seoul SK Knights - Joe Dabbert
16th - Busan KT Magic Wings - Jasper Johnson
17th - Daegu Orions - Kevin Martin
18th - Ulsan Mobis Phoebus - Abdullahi Kuso
19th - Jeonju KCC Egis - Mack Tuck
20th - Seoul Samsung Thunders - Bryant Matthews

It may still seem pretty weird that so many people battle for so few spots. KBL teams are only allowed to field 2 foreign players on their roster, and, as of next year, they're only going to be allowed to have one on the court at any given moment. Furthermore, there's only ten teams, which leads the whole non-Korean world battling for all of 20 roster spots. And when 730 people are wanting those 20 spots, the odds aren't good.

But there are reasons why it's the case. Firstly, the KBL play a 54 game schedule. Not many leagues play more than that (for those unfamiliar with basketball outside of the USA, the NBA's 82 game schedule is a glaring anomaly, and farrrrrrrr from the norm), and players like to play in games. Thus, it's attractive to them to play in a league that features a large amount of games, even if they have to tolerate two-a-days on all off-days and inflammatory head coaches willing to chew the ass of anyone too stupid to hide. (Giggidy.)

But mainly, the motivations are financial. The following is also looted, without permission, from the KBL website;

The terms of the players contract is from September 1st, 2009 to March 31st, 2010(7 months contract). Each player will receive the net amount of US $25,000 per month during the regular season. Players will additionally receive a net winning bonus of US $300 for every win.

2. In the playoffs, players will be compensated for his extended services on a pro rata basis with the monthly payment of the net amount of US$25,000. The players will additionally get paid a playoffs incentive bonus.

3. The clubs shall provide a dormitory room, meals during the season, and a round trip of airfare (business class)

4. A player once can invite one of his relatives during the season. The clubs shall provide a round trip of air fare and lodging for up to 7-Days.

For $25,000 a month, I'd play wherever the hell you wanted me to.

Vin Baker signs in Venezuela

2009-06-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

ElUniversal.com: Marinos De Anzoategui signo ex estrella de la NBA Vincenzo Panadero.

Marinos reiniciará sus entrenamientos mañana en la noche. La franquicia aguarda por el ala-pivot Héctor Romero, quien está en fase de rehabilitación por un desgarro en el muslo derecho. Será sometido a una ecografía y dependiendo del resultado se sabrá si podrá unirse o no al cinco naval, que conserva en la reserva al ex NBA Vin Baker.

"Llegó fuera de forma y por ello no lo probamos".

Always amusing crude online translation:

Marine restarted their training tomorrow night. The franchise is looking for the wing-pivot Hector Romero, who is undergoing rehabilitation for a tear in his right thigh. Shall undergo an ultrasound and to the outcome will be known whether or not you can join the five ships, which kept in reserve to former NBA Vin Baker.

"He arrived out of shape and why they did not try."

Does this mean that Hector Romero is out of shape, or that Vin Baker is? I don't know, because I don't speak Spanish. (Except for the words "horse", "donkey", "milk", "motherf****r", "hello beautiful lady", "butter", "oil" and "exit". So far, I've found that this gets me everything I've ever needed in Spain.)

But there's evidence that it's the latter. Vin Baker had a trial in China earlier this season, but was released after a few days because he was out of shape. This counts against him.

Puerto Rico - the new China?

2009-05-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Those of you who like fringe NBA players may have enjoyed the series of updates recently about the Chinese Basketball Association. Any league that saw Olumide Oyedeji average nearly 20/20 can peak the interest of any of us. Players like playing in China; the exposure isn't huge and the money isn't great, but the CBA has the lure of the teams playing lots of games, with less emphasis on practice, copying the NBA model of basketball not imitated much around the globe. Furthermore, the standard of play was really bad, which led to amusingly lopsided statistics that they could put on their CV; for example, Tim Pickett will now always be able to boast that he was a 39.4ppg scorer at one point in his career. (It appears to be already paying dividends, since he just got a workout with the Memphis Grizzlies. It's nice to know they're checking out China. So would I.)

The Chinese league season has ended, as have most leagues, but the Puerto Rican one is just starting. It's not coincidence that the BSN (Puerto Rican) league begins in mid-April, and it allows them to experience an influx of fringe NBA talent much like the Chinese league did. The standard in the BSN is better, so the numbers aren't as wonky, but it still makes a great proving ground for players who need a small career boast, or some extra money from a summer job. And, for us keen observers, it's a great chance to watch bit part players play big. Here are the numbers of people you may have heard of.

- Marcus Williams (Quebradillas): Williams (the Nets one) is possibly the best player in Puerto Rico. His scoring is inefficient, due largely to taking as many threes as he does twos and hitting them at only 33%, but he's passing and rebounding, and even has a triple double to his name. Williams averages 15.1 points, 9.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds for the best team in the country, playing well for the first time in three years.

- Peter John Ramos (Quebradillas): former Wizards center Branches is averaging 16.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 3.2 fouls in 16 games.

- Elias "Larry" Ayuso (Santurce): Ayuso averaged an inefficient 13.2 ppg for the Iowa Energy to start last season, before leaving the team to take up an opportunity in Croatia. However, that never actually happened in the end, and Ayuso ended up unemployed before going back to his native Puerto Rico, back in his homeland and doing what he does best; hoisting up a shitload of threes. Ayuso averages 21.7 point per game, and absolutely nothing else.

- Josh Davis (Santurce): Davis was also in the D-League as arguably the best player for the Colorado 14ers after Captain Slow went down. Davis averaged 19.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in the D-League, and I hope to God he was looking for another NBA go-around from a team that hasn't signed him yet. (I hope to all Gods that he gets it, too.) Davis currently averages 16.4 points and 9.6 in P-Rico. (Giggidy?)

- Rick Apodaca (Santurce): former Magic signee Apodaca has been around the houses this year. He signed in Turkey, but didn't played. Then he signed in China, but he didn't play. Then he signed in Italy with Carife Ferrara, where he did play, averaging 17.2 points per game in 5 games, but then he tested positive for marijuana and was waived. And now he's back in his native Puerto Rico, pretending to be a point guard. Apodaca averages 7.6 points and 3.9 assists per game in 9 games.

- Ricky Sanchez (Santurce): Sanchez, too, is playing in his native country, although it wasn't without a fight. Sanchez played in the BSN last season for Humacao, but at some point his rights were traded to the Ponce Lions. Sanchez didn't want to play in Puerto Rico this season, as apparently his agent didn't want it to get in the way of his NBA aspirations (the man either aims high, or is high), but the BSN wouldn't let him leave. He tried to sign in Venezuela, but that was denied, and a nasty holdout ensued; Sanchez refused to play for the Lions, so they refused to pay him. Eventually, he ended his holdout and returned to practice, but he never played in a game for Ponce, and they traded him at the end of last month to Santurce, where he has averaged 8.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 12 games as a specialist 3 point shooter.

- Jabari Smith (Bayamon): Smith didn't play anywhere this season, for reasons that I'm not aware of. Maybe he was saving himself for this. In any case, Smith is averaging 10.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 17 games.

- Danilo "J.R." Pinnock (Arecibo): Pinnock has been around the houses this year, starting in Italy's Lega2 (which means "league two"), before moving to Argentina a few months ago. He joined his Puerto Rican team only this week, and has totalled 44 points and 13 rebounds in his two games so far. So either he learnt the playbook really fast, or his sheer talent overwhelmed the need for one. You decide.

- Marcus Fizer (Arecibo): still working his way back from knee surgery, Fizer has averaged 15.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.9 fouls in 25.9 minutes of 7 contests. The shorter three point line employed by the BSN has had the expected effect - Fizer has shot 17 of them already. He's hit 5.

- Donta Smith (Carolina): Smith was the sixth man on the Australian championship winning Melbourne South Dragons team, and he had a 21 point, 10 rebound, 7 assist performance in the title winning game. He averages 11.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 8 BSN games so far.

- Ebi Ere (Carolina): Ere (pronounced air-ARGH, at least in Australia) was also in Oz, and he played for the Melbourne Tigrs, the team that lost to Smith's Melbourne South Dragons. (Basketball is good in Melbourne right now, it seems.) He's spent many years in Australia, and is one of the best players there. He's also now one of the best players in Puerto Rico, averaging 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 14 games.

- Alejandro Carmona (Carolina): former Piston for about a week, Carmona is back in his native country, averaging 21.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in 15 games. You'll notice that those rebounding numbers trump those of most others on this list, a particularly impressive feat when you consider that Bimbo is a 6'5 guard.

- Ruben Wolkowyski (San German): the former winner of the "Worst Player I've Ever Seen" award, before I started watching the NCAA, is still plying his trade despite hurtling towards his 36th birthday. R-Wolk averages 16.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 15 contests. By the way, the current holder of that award? Dwight Burke of Marquette. Absolutely no idea what he's good at. None whatsoever. Except sweating. He's good at sweating.

- Dan Langhi (Mayaguez): Langhi played in Puerto Rico last summer, but didn't play anywhere else this year, so seemingly he likes it there. He averages 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 15 games this season, but is shooting only 35%.

- Ryan Humphrey (Caguas): Humphrey spent much of the year with the Tulsa 66ers in the D-League, giving some consistent employment in a career that's been very disjointed. He averaged 15.7 points and 7.4 rebounds in 36 games for Tulsa, alongside the slightly fantastic number of 3.3 turnovers in only 28 minutes a night. His Puerto Rican numbers are basically identical: 15.9 points and 7.3 rebounds in 28.8 minutes a game. Thankfully for Big Comfy, I don't have his Puerto Rican turnover numbers.

- Matt Freije (Caguas): Freije averages 19.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 15 games, numbers almost identical to his Chinese league numbers from earlier this season (19.6/7.9/0.2/1.2 in 26gp).

- A.D. Vassallo (Caguas): Virginia Tech's Vassallo did a Calathes, and couldn't be arsed to wait and see if he was going to be drafted before getting his first paychecks in. (Being a native of Puerto Rico also helps.) His professional career is off to a fine start, as he averages 20.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

- SirValiant Brown (Ponce): if you remember SirValiant Brown (and you may well do, because names like that tend to stick with you), then you might be interested in his 2008/09 season, which has read as follows: 2 games in Iceland with 49 total points, 8 games in Canada with 62 total points, and 2 games in Puerto Rico.....with 3 total points. But still, they come in only three minutes, so that's not bad going.

- Lee Nailon (Ponce): Nailon's NBA career died a while ago, and since then, he's been on the Dion Glover tour of middle and South America, with liberal dashings of Asia where he can get it. Since July, Nailon has played in Venezuela, Iran, the Lebanon and now Puerto Rico, where he averages 21.6 points and 7.9 rebounds in 14 games. By the way, he hasn't hit a three yet and he still doesn't pass.

- Darian Townes (Ponce): Kings summer league last year, Townes started the year in Poland, left before Christmas, and then came off the bench for the Erie BayHawks for the rest of the year. In 4 games for the unfortunately named Ponce Lions, Townes averages 13.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.

- Nigel Dixon (Ponce): as with so many others on this list, Dixon played part of the year in China, averaging 26.3 points and 9.8 rebounds in 33 mpg for Zhejiang Lions. (Apparently he only plays for teams with Lions in the name.) Dixon's sheer unrelenting size made scoring easy enough, and he shot 69% from the field, with the only successful strategy against him was to foul him and send him to line. (That worked; Dixon went only 91-204 from the line, which is Ben Wallace-like.) Dixon isn't having as much success in Puerto Rico, averaging only 7.4 points, but he does averages 9.7 rebounds in 17.3 minutes, which is also Ben Wallace-like. When Ben was good, at least.

- DerMarr Johnson (Humacao): Johnson spent part of the year in the D-League with the Austin Toros, not playing much, and only signed in Puerto Rico this week. He has totalled 47 points and 13 rebounds in two games.

- Antonio Meeking (Humacao): Meeking was somehow a D-League All Star this year, scoring big points on terribly inefficient shooting. He is doing much the same with Humourcow, averaging 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 5 games, with 71 points coming on 63 shots.

- Kurt Looby (Humacao): the former Iowa centre exploded onto the scene in the D-League this year. He played little in college, but he was thrust into a starting role with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and responded with fine big man numbers: 8.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in only 24.9 mpg. Shame he can't score. Looby averages 10.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game in PR, and recently worked out for the Grizzlies.

- David Monds (Humacao): the former Oklahoma State big man averaged a double for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds this year, if you round the rebounds up a bit, but averages only 11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds through 7 games in the Reeko.

- Jumaine Jones (Guaynabo): You may recall that Jones was suspended for a year after a weird soap opera that saw him sign two contracts at once. I am not sure of how the specifics of that played out, but clearly someone backed down, because Jones ended up playing 35 games for Ural Great Perm in Russia, averaging 7.1 points per game. Currently averaging 14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists for Guaynabo.

- Lee Benson (Guaynabo): Benson is now 35, and never cracked the NBA outside of a couple of summer league spots in his prime. He was in junior college when he was 28, which probably didn't help. However, this minor league journeyman showed up all other minor league journeyman in China this year, averaging a staggering 34.1 points and 18.8 rebounds in 48 games for Shaanxi. He's continued that in Puerto Rico, averaging 20.1 points and 14.2 rebounds in 9 games. Does anyone out there want to sign Dale Davis, but only pay him the rookie minimum salary? If so, Lee Benson's your man.

- Gabe Muoneke (Guaynabo): despite owning both Muoneke and the previous two players, Guaynabo are last in the BSN with a 3-11 record. It's not Gabe's fault, as the journeyman scorer averages 20.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 31 minutes per game; good numbers, albeit not comparable to his 34.6 ppg CBA scoring average.

Bonzi Wells signs in China

2008-12-14T16:25:00.001-08:00

If things had worked out slightly different, Bonzi Wells would be earning about $8 million this year from the Sacramento Kings.

As it is, he'll be earning about $40,000 in China.

Bonzi, pictured here bent over waiting to be penetrated, famously turned down a 5 year, $38.5 million extension from the Kings on the advice of his agent, the irrepressible Williams Phillips. Phillips seemingly thought that Bonzi could get more money from elsewhere. He was wrong, though. He was very wrong, in fact, as Bonzi ended up getting only a 2 year, $5 millionish contract from the Houston Rockets, which expired this summer. (William Phillips was repressed and fired by Bonzi. Seems fair.)

Unable to get a contract from an NBA team this summer - which makes little sense, given that Bonzi's a talented player, and only a year and a bit removed from being a key bench player on a 50 win team), Wells has now resorted to signing in China, for the scrabbletastic Shanxi Zhongyu. Wells is expected to replace former Hawks swingman Donta Smith, as Chinese Basketball Association rules allow only two non-Asians per team. This seems a bit unfair on Smith, who is averaging 19.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.5 steals on the season, but the other non-Asian spot on the Shanxi roster is taken up by ShamSports.com favourite, Olumide Oyedeji. And Olumide Oyedeji is one of the best players in China, bizarrely, averaging 23.2 points, 17.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.7 blocks.

No, I can't quite believe it either.

Rawle Marshall suspended for three months

2008-12-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

Former Pacers, Mavericks, Warriors and Suns swingman Rawle Marshall has been suspended from the Adriatic League for three months following this elaborate beatdown of the perfectly named victim, Sinisa Stemberger:

Pretty good punch-up. Liked this one.

The Adriatic League, by the way, is a league for teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia to play against each other in, as well as in their own domestic leagues and any European competitions. Marshall is allowed to play for his team, Cibona Zagreb, in all other leagues. This allows him to punch more people around the world, draw more suspensions, and draw more blood.

Bring Tha Noise

2008-11-28T12:02:00.001-08:00

THIS is the new ShamSports.com blog for worldwide (i.e. not American) basketball.

This is this blog's first post. It also might be its last.

OK, so I'm exaggerating. This blog exists for a purpose, and that purpose is to blog about worldwide basketball. It seems so simple when you put it like that.

The purpose of the website as a whole is to make me look brilliant, and to provide a vehicle for demonstrating the wide expanse of world basketball knowledge that I spend my entire unemployed life trying to expand and reproduce. While the site is NBA based, a large part of knowing about the NBA is knowing about the players that aren't in it. (That makes sense, in a way.) This blog is designed to help with that, and in my eyes the seperation of this fromt he main homepage blog is entirely unnecessarily. You might not agree, but you'd be wrong. I think. Maybe. We'll see.

Therefore, the "Where are they now?" posts, originally on the NBA blog, will henceforth and forthwith be found on here, along with anything else that I choose to ramble on about. Adjust your lifestyle accordingly.

This has been a party political broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party.