Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 20

Chris Ellis, featured in the last update, has moved from the Ukraine to Romania. Here's a couple of updates on people already covered;

1) Keon Clark has continued his weekly reviews in front of a drug court....or rather, he hasn't. At his January 27th hearing, Clark turned up but received a "bad report", and while I don't know what that entails, I do know that it meant serving two weeks in PSB (which I believe to mean "prison," as in "public safety building.") Clark then didn't turn up to his February 3rd hearing, and nor did he turn up to prison. I don't know how a man doesn't turn up to prison, but Keon didn't. He is now MIA and an arrest warrant has been issued. (He also managed to get done for both speeding and driving with a suspended license, AGAIN, since the last update was issued. STOP DRIVING, KEON.)

2) The reason Vin Baker is not playing is that he is now an assistant coach at Texas Southern University. So is Nick Van Exel. Texas Southern are playing live on British TV next week. We've come a long way.

(There are about 4 times more NCAA games than NBA games shown over here now, presumably because they're cheaper. It's good, though. And it would be better if the Lakers weren't in 80% of the NBA games shown. That figure is only slightly exaggerated.)


- Chinemelu Elonu

Lakers draft pick Elonu is in Spain, playing for Zaragoza. He is averaging 6.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in only 19 minutes per game, shooting 60% from the field. That's the good news.

But why's he only playing 19 minutes per game? It's not because there's a more talented player in front of him, for Zaragoza are in the Spanish second division. Instead, it's because he's fouling 3.6 times per game, in a league where only 5 fouls are allowed in 40 minute games. Elonu has fouled out 6 times in 21 games, and has played more more than 27 minutes in any game (which, not coincidentally, is also the only game he had less than 3 fouls in). Elonu declared for the draft after his junior season, despite still not being ready; given that he turns 23 in 6 weeks and can't play half of Spanish second division games, he's got a ways to go yet.



- Melvin Ely

Ely joined the Kings for training camp, but did not make the team. Despite a shortage of size, the Kings felt that the rarely active Sean May, Kenny Thomas' expiring contract and the 5'11 Jon Brockman would suffice as backup big man options, and felt they didn't need Ely. Ely then went to China for some tryouts, at least one of which was with the Beijing Ducks. Ely may even have played a game with the team, and if he did, he totalled 14 points and 9 rebounds. It's almost impossible to tell, however, because Chinese information (in English) is almost impossible to come across, and running Chinese websites through Google Translate tends to translate the player names as well, which isn't helping anybody.

What we know for sure is this; Beijing started the year with Cedric Bozeman and James Mays as imports. Bozeman is still there and beasting, but Mays has left after posting roughly 30/11 for a couple of months. Mays was replaced by former Heat big man Ernest Brown, but an anonymous import played in a game a couple of weeks before Mays' departure. Was that man Ernest Brown, or was that man Melvin Ely, since Melvin was on trial there at the time? I do not know. And that's all the Melvin Ely news I have for you.

Here's one thing we do know for sure about the Beijing Ducks, though; 7'9 Sun Ming Ming is playing for them. He has 12 points, 18 rebounds, 2 blocks and 12 fouls in 83 minutes on the season. And he's still living rpoof that you can be too big for basketball.

Melvin Ely fact: Melvin Ely has more rings than Karl Malone.




- Andre Emmett

Emmett is also in China, but there's no ambivalence in his season so far. Playing for Shandong, he is leading the league with a 32.6 points per game average, alongside 8.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals. Emmett scored 151 points in his first three games, and never looked back, not even after a new year slump that saw him average a terrible 23ppg in five early January games.

In the last two years, Emmett has averaged 33ppg in China, 24ppg in France, 26ppg in Venezuela and 24ppg in Belgium. He's carefully avoided Italy and Spain, and didn't work out in his couple of NBA seasons, but he's putting up the numbers. And presumably, he's stacking paper.



- Carl English

English, who is Canadian, is spending his third season in Spain. In the summer he moved from Gran Canaria to Caja Laboral Vitoria, where he had the unenviable task of trying to replace Igor Rakocevic. After a bad start, English has perked up a bit, but he has struggled a bit against the elite competition. English averages 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in ACB competition, alongside 8.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in the Euroleague, playing 23mpg in each. He is also shooting a combined 44% from three point range between the two. However, English has 8 single figure performances in 12 Euroleague games, compared to just 6 in 21 ACB games. The ACB is good, but the Euroleague is better, and while Carl English's three point shot is working well for him in both competitions, he gets more one dimensional the further up the ladder you go.



- Zoran Erceg

Olympiakos retooled a large proportion of their roster this offseason, as they are wont to do, and this meant they no longer had room for Zoran Erceg. It tok a while, and included an abortive move to Maroussi (when the two teams agreed to terms before Erceg refused to go), but they eventually found a place to loan him to. Erceg is with Panionios and is averaging 17.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, leading the league in scoring and ranking 6th in rebounds.

When Olympiakos played Panathinaikos back in December, Zoran totalled 16 points in Panionios' 96-94 overtime victory, one of Olympiakos's only two Greek league defeats this season. (The other was to Maroussi, yesterday.) Given that the Greek league is a complete two horse race between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos - which is why their matchups mean so much - that loss was extremely painful. And so, needless to say, Zoran Erceg had the last laugh.



- Semih Erden

Celtics draft pick Erden is into his fifth season with Fenerbahce, and he's rebounding better this year. He's averaging 6.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 19 minutes per game in the Euroleague, alongside 21/9.4/6.2 in the Turkish league. Since I have no trivia about Semih Erden, interesting or otherwise, let's move on to Ebi Ere.



- Ebi Ere

Ere is a Tulsa native and former Oklahoma graduate who has had a good professional career after a bad senior season. He's a good all around scorer who lacks that little something to be an NBA player, and by "that little something" I mean "above average size, above average athleticism, and/or above average jumpshot." One of the three would help, a combination even moreso, but it's not to be. This doesn't stop Ere from beasting all around the world, though, and after beasting in Australia this last two seasons (as well as in Puerto Rico last summer), Ere now finds himself in Italy. Playing for Pepsi JuveCaserta, who currently rank third in the league, Ere averages 15.9 points (6th in SerieA), 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.



- Evan Eschmeyer

Eschmeyer retired almost five and a half years ago due to chronic knee problems, and last played almost seven years ago. He briefly went back to Northwestern to complete a law/business double degree, founded an online recruiting agency, and now works in the renewable energy business. Don't really understand his job, though.



- Daniel Ewing

Ewing - who played in 127 NBA games, only 26 less than Eschmeyer, despite having a career three years shorter - is signed with Prokom Gdynia in Poland. Gydnia are a Euroleague team, and Ewing is averaging 11.8 points and 2.8 assists per game in that competition, alongside 10.0/4.6 in the Polish league. His team mates include Qyntel Woods, Junior Harrington, Ratko Varda, Jan Jagla and David Logan, so we'll revisit Gydnia a few more times yet.




- Patrick Ewing Jr

Patrick Ewing Jr has not played in a game since last March due to injury. Last year he averaged 16.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals per game for the Reno Bighorns, but was waived with an MCL "sprain" that also kept him out of playing in the Knicks' summer league campaign. One year on, and that injury is keeping him out of action. I'm guessing it was a tear instead of a sprain.



- Christian Eyenga

Cavaliers draft pick Eyenga has moved from DKV Joventut's feeder team in the Spanish third division, all the way to the giddying heights of the first team. His first taste of ACB basketball has been fairly successful; in 11.4 minutes of 16 games, Eyenga is averaging 3.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 0.6 steals per game, shooting 54% from the field and 40$% from three point range. For a very raw 20 year old in a league where kids generally don't play much, that's pretty good.

Still waiting for his name to appear on the draft board, though.



Finally....

- Olu Famutimi

For a few years there, Nigerian-Canadian cut and shut job Famutimi was on the cusp of the NBA. He signed back to back training camp contracts, with the Sixers in 2005 and the Spurs in 2006, and was once touted as being the first player to go straight from a Canadian high school to the first round of the NBA draft. (This didn't happen, though. Obviously.) Now well into a European career, Famutimi is signed in Turkey and averaging 16.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game for Oyak Renault Bursa. That's easily the best offensive season of his career, and shooting 41% from three point range is a large part of that (and a big improvement from a man who went 6-29 from there in 92 D-League games.)

Summer league round-up: Los Angeles Lakers

View the Lakers summer league roster.

I've not heard of several of these people. Should enjoy this.

- Alan Anderson: Anderson has been on the fringes of the NBA for quite a while. He spent parts of two seasons with the Bobcats, playing in 53 games, and spent last summer on the Grizzlies VSL team. After failing to make the team, he signed in Russia with Triumph (the team perhaps better known last summer for the big contract they gave Nenad Krstic.....briefly), but left during midseason and joined Cibona Zagreb. There, he averaged 16.2ppg, 6.8rpg and 2.8apg in the Croatian league, alongside 18.4ppg, 5.6rpg and 2.1apg in the Adriatic league. However, he left Cibona last month, because they weren't able to afford is contract demands for next season, and Anderson has already signed for next season with Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

I'm not sure why he's even bothering with summer league, to be honest; his Maccabi contract does have an NBA-escape clause, meaning that he can get out of it if an NBA team comes a-calling later this summer, but that might not be preferable. His Maccabi contract also calls for him to be paid $800,000 next year - which, remember, is a net sum - and sees him in a guest guitarist role for one of the biggest bands in showbiz today. I'm not sure why he'd jeopardise that for the chance to sit on the bench behind Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic and Shannon Brown. But, good luck to him I guess.

- Aron Baynes: Baynes is a centre with dual Australian and New Zealian citizenship [Zealandish? Zealish? Zealandolian? On a postcard, if you would] who recently graduated from Washingon State university. In his senior season, Baynes averaged 12.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, on handsome percentage of 58% and 77%. He also has legit NBA size (being listed as 6'11 and 270lbs), plays physically, and is a post player through and through. However, he too has already signed elsewhere, catching on with the slightly bankrupt defending Eurocup champions, Lietuvos Rytas. The Lakers appear to have adopted a weird approach to summer league this year.

- Dominique Coleman: Coleman is a former Colorado Buffaloes guard who was last with the Colorado 14ers of the D-League. The Nuggets clearly weren't too interested, though. Coleman's D-League numbers from last year are pretty freaking impressive; in 50 games, the 6'3 guard averaged 15.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.9 steals, shooting 50% from the field and 41% from three point range. This is particularly impressive when you consider that he'd played for three teams in Finland the previous season. Another year like the last one, Dominique, and you'll be famous.

- Chinemelu Elonu: When I watched Texas A&M last year, I saw Junior Elonu and thought "if anyone on this team is going to play in the NBA, it'll be him". He had decent defensive instincts, a mechanical and unattractive but fledgling offensive game, and the strength to make up for his comparative lack of size. Given an ever-present need to quench the NBA's thirst for defensive minded centres, I figured he might be on the radar down the road as someone who might be able to do a decent impression of the 2008 Adonal Foyle at some point. But that doesn't mean that I thought he had NBA talent.

- Tony Gaffney: Gaffney's numbers last year are pretty brilliant: 11.5ppg, 10.2rpg, 1.7apg, 2.0spg and 3.8bpg, on 54% shooting. However, they came at the basketball powerhouse that is Massachusetts, which helps provide some context as to how he did that. He also only measures at 6'8 and 205, which is NBA small forward size on an interior specialist. Considering his lack of offensive ability outside of opportunity scoring and hustle, he'll be best served with a tidy European career. By the way, everything I've just written also applies to Kenneth Faried.

- Terrel Harris: Harris averaged 13.9 points and 4.8 rebounds for Oklahoma State last year, taking lots of three pointers and looking for his shot at all times. But that also describes the entire Cowboys roster last year. (PS; Marshall Moses, use your right hand some time.) Harris was a solid offensive player, not really creating a whole lot but finishing the looks he got quite well. Unfortunately, that's not really good enough at the NBA level.

- Justin Hawkins: Hawkins played for the Kings summer league team last year, but I came away from that with absolutely no idea what he was good at. He played in all 5 games, started 2 and played 100 minutes, but averaged only 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds a game, shooting 32% from the field. He didn't leave an impression, really. He went to France for last season, where again his numbers don't really suggest anything NBA worthy: 13.3 points and 4.6 rebounds a game, on 42% shooting and 61% FT. I also hate The Darkness because their music is annoying and there's nothing cool about glam rock. So if there's a reason to view Justin Hawkins as an NBA prospect, and I've missed it, then do please let me know.

- Ben McCauley: From what I saw of McCauley last season, he either couldn't or wouldn't rotate on defense, and was slower than a paraplegic donkey in a minefield. He also wasn't strong, physical, or blessed with overwhelming NBA size. But he could shoot, and I saw him once gave a hard foul in the final two seconds of a blowout loss that sparked an enjoyable multi-player punch-up. So my impressions of him are mixed, with some great high points.

- David Monds: In keeping with the Lakers policy of bringing in players for summer league who have already signed elsewhere for next season, we now have David Monds, who has already signed somewhere for next year. Or at least, I thought he had; I forgot to write down where, and now I can't find it. Lest we forget, this website is amateurish.

Monds is another former Oklahoma State player, who was kind of an afterthought role player in college, but who has done a bit better since. He last played in Puerto Rico, where he averaged 11.0 points and 7.6 rebounds for Humacao, and before that he spent the season with the Dakota Wizards and Albuquerque Thunderbirds in the D-League, averaging roughly 12/9 between the two. He'll be 26 by the start of the next season, and a solid but unspectacular 6'9, but as I write this he just scored 17 points in 14 minutes in his summer league debut. So you might like him anyway.

- Adam Morrison: Christ. It shouldn't have been THIS bad.

- Taylor Rochestie: Roschestie (with an I, not an L, to rhyme with the singular of "testes") was Baynes's team mate at Washington State for the last three years, after transferring from Tulane. He averaged 13.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists last year, rocking a decent 2:1 assist to turnover ratio in the process. However, he also shot under 40%, and is only 6'1. If you can't shoot 40% in college at that height, you're not doing it in the NBA either. Rochestie is a fine shooter, but not an NBA calibre player.

- Luke Schenscher: Woop, it's the long overdue return of The Schensch. How could you ever leave me, you beautiful beautiful man. Luke was back in his native Australia last year, where he averaged 16.9 points per game, a league leading 10.8 rebounds per game, as well as 1.4 blocks, good for 3rd in the league. He shot 55% from the field and 75% from the foul line, which is great news if you've ever seen Luke Schenscher bank in free throws in your team's crucial first round playoff game. And I have. As for how the old school hook shot is looking these days, I couldn't say, but I imagine it to still be sheer unadulterated hardcore sex. Lakers fans, if he unfurls that bad boy in summer league play, get ready to nurse some semis.

- Mustafa Shakur: Shakur didn't have a great year last year, starting out with Tau Ceramica as the backup to Pablo Prigioni but not playing a lot, before moving to Panellinios in Greece, where he only played in the Eurocup games. In those Panellinios Eurocup games, he averaged 6.3 points and 1.2 assists on 54% shooting, which is about as much as any man can do in 11 minutes a game. But the European game isn't really suited to him, which might explain his continued desire to come home.

- Reggie Williams: Williams was with the Mavericks summer league roster last year, where he demonstrated good size and athleticism along with a penchant to get pretty damn wild at times. Williams is the best player in VMI history, leading the whole NCAA in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons. He did that without ever having a good jumpshot, which is more of a testament to the standard of competition that he faced than it is to his slashing game. Williams played in France last season, where he averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. However, he also shot 21% from three point range on over 100 attempts. So he still hasn't corrected that flaw.

I Just Brad Wanamaker Love To You

Three days ago, I watched some NCAA basketball. This is rare for me. Very rare, in fact. To be exact, the only games I can recall seeing before these were the Tyrus Thomas versus LaMarcus Aldridge showdown in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, and whichever game it was that Adam Morrison cried in. I don't watch the NCAA because, simply put, I can't. But we'll come to that later. For now, let's stick with the important thing here; I had the opportunity to watch three NCAA games on Saturday, and so, in an exercise designed for both personal development and CV boosting, I did. I tried as hard as I can to judge every player that I saw on the basis of this one game. Here's what I got:

- The first game was between Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. I missed the first half of the first half, and when joining the action, the first thing I saw was Luke Harangody shooting a three. It missed. Instantly, I am drawn to this guy, a slightly chubby white guy with a haircut that I thankfully saw the back of in about 1995. Now, pardon me for being judgemental, but you can't normally be a good basketball player if you have a crew cut. Just can't do it. When I see Luke Harangody, I don't think "that guy is clearly the focal point of this team's offense, and one of the highest scorers in the conference". Instead, I'm thinking this is someone from the crowd, hiding on the court, in a Karl Power-esque moment. Imagine my surprise, then, when the ticker across the bottom reports Harangody's immense scoring and rebounding averages (25.1 ppg, 13.2 rpg, ). I have since learnt my lesson and am now fully on board any Luke Harangody bandwagons that may be in progress. Although he'll need to acquire some vertical leap from somewhere.

- I admit to not watching the rest of that game as intently as I could have been, for my head felt like there was a Frenchman living in it. But here's what I noticed from every non-crew cutted player out there - Sam Young didn't do a damn thing and I was left wondering what it was he's supposed to be good at; Kyle McAlarney can shoot off screens well and has NBA threee point range already, which is fortunate for a player who shoots two and a half times as many three pointers as twos; Dejuan Blair looks like a fat Elton Brand, should shoot his free throws with a bit less arc, was impressively willing to dive on the floor, and was better than everybody else combined on the boards; Jermaine Dixon was constantly in the right place at the right time, with a jumpshot that looked as smooth as Juan Dixon's, yet which belied his 26% three point percentage; and Levance Fields was pretty good at everything.

- The second game featured Oklahoma State versus Texas A&M. I was excited for this one, because it meant that I'd finally get to see Blake Griffin, but it quickly became apparent (after I asked someone) that Griffin actually plays for Oklahoma, not Oklahoma State. There's some proof, if ever it were needed, that I still don't know anything about the NCAA. But I'm trying, dammit.

- The Aggies court was one of the ugliest things I've ever seen. It had a checkerboard effect, which never looks good on a basketball court, and a weird motif in the middle that looked like a crude drawing of Africa. The crowd, however, seemed keen, and had this weird unison thing going on - on every foul shot, they would mime an inverted vagina with their hands, hold it aloft, and fall silent. Indeed, so silent did they fall, commentator Ron Franklin had to whisper so quietly his voice changed. That was mildly entertaining, and seems to be the norm/a rarity amongst college hoops fans. (Delete as applicable.) Also, the fans in all three games didn't boo too much, which was a welcome change. They were louder, happier, and generally less presumptuous than most NBA fans, all of which were welcome changes. most welcome of all, though, were quite how many good looking ladies in ill-fitting cotton t-shirts lined the crowd of these games. That is something that I could TOTALLY get used to, and let it never be forgotten that the ill-fitting cotton t-shirt is actually a great look on a girl. Particularly the ample chested ones.

- This was the first time I have seen or heard Fran Franschilla outside of his time honoured "random interjections into ESPN's draft night coverage" role. I wish I hadn't.

- To the game itself; the commentary team made a big deal out of Derrick Rowland's 1 point, 7 rebound and 3 assist performance, consistently praising his work ethic and tenacious defense, which they considered more important than his inability to hit a cow's arse with a banjo. In fairness, Rowland was indeed running around giving it all, and had a nice weakside block and one nice assist. But the seven rebounds were more luck than judgement, and the jumpshot was one of the most broken that I've seen from a guard in a while. These things count a lot for me - it's rarely if ever advisable to be playing a man short on offense, particularly when the player in question is a guard.

- If Bryan Davis could jump off the ground, he'd be good.

- I like guards who grab lots of rebounds, and so I like Obi Muonelo. Of course, his 9.1 rebounds per game is a total warped slightly by the fact that he's playing mainly power forward, despite only being 6'5, but that's still a mighty impressive number. I particularly like guards who grab lots of rebounds but who can also drain threes, and so Obi Muonelo has made a friend for life here. I also like point guards who constantly put the ball, amusingly fat players, and players whose surnames accurately describe them. As such, Byron Eaton is also one I'm going to follow. It was also amusing to hear Fran Fraschilla consistently describe Eaton's body as being that of a "football player", and in one specific instance "Jerome Bettis", always managing to stop short of saying "a bit fat". (Eaton is listed at 5'11 and 210, even after losing 40lbs. So he must have been great fun to watch last season.)

- As for other Oklahoma State players, Fran Fraschilla mentioned in commentary that James Anderson only goes left, and as far as I could see (using a one game sample size), he was correct. Every time Anderson needed to go right, he rose up for the shot instead. He also never passed, and I wasn't overwhelmed by him as a player. He's a better cricketer. Terrell Harris, meanwhile, looked decent, if a bit ordinary. And Keiton Page used all the dap that Fraschilla gave him to throw up a stinker, full of turnovers and hurried shots. Whoops.

- For Texas A&M, no one really stood out. Josh Carter would have stood out were he a freshman, and not the senior that he is. Rowland, as mentioned, tried hard but has a bovine backside problem. Donald Sloan seemed solid but unspectacular, and his name seems more fitting on a slightly corrupt oil baron. Junior Elonu was probably their most impressive player in terms of NBA prospects, as he showed decent defensive instincts and some fledgling offense. David Loubeau was impressive on offense for a skinny freshman, but I couldn't hear his name without thinking of the dyke bar in South Park. And I have no idea what Dash Harris is supposed to be good at.

We missed most of the first half of the third game, between North Carolina and North Carolina State, but the second half was entertaining. Particularly the fight in the last two seconds. I noted the following:

- People (i.e. everyone) who said that Tyler Hansbrough is going to struggle in the NBA look to be right. It's good to have touch, but it's not worth much when you can't get the shot off in the first place. See also: the demise of Michael Sweetney's career, albeit in his case it wasn't due to a lack of size, but too much of it. Ty Lawson seemed to push the ball a lot, so add him to the list. I liked everything about Danny Green. Little things players with good jumpshots = another yes. That's a fine role player right there. Deon Thompson looked rather polished, and I'm guessing Tyler Zeller is related to Notre Dame's Luke Zeller in some way. Partly because of the name, and partly because they had basically the same face. If it's not the case, that's a spooky coincidence.

- For NC State, Ben McCauley's defensive rotations had Drew Gooden-like qualities, which is never a good thing, but he seemed to have a soft touch and an enjoyable hard foul with two seconds to go. So I liked him. Courtney Fells shot extremely well.....briefly. And Brandon Costner never seemed to know what he was doing, disappearing for long stretches, and then trying to force his way back into the action with some poor shots. Wasn't overwhelmed by the State side, although the crowd's penchant for throwing up \m/ 'The Fingers Of Rock' \m/ was most welcomed.

That's all I got.

Also, I've spent a while recently trying to understand the NCAA recently, its rules, its setup, and its nuances. I've done this by asking people, and it's going rather well. I now understand, if not necessarily agree with, most of what's going on. But I still have three questions:

1: Why are some fouls 1+1, yet some are instant two shot fouls? I'm guessing it's related to team fouls, but I couldn't [be bothered to] figure it out.

2: Why is the shotclock 35 seconds? I seriously can't see a need for this.

3: How do universities afford stadiums that big?



And here, for those interested in the continued plight of an NBA fan in England, is a small rant. These games were broadcast on a channel called NASN, the North American Sports Network. NASN is a channel outside of any standard satellite package, so you have to pay extra for it. I used to do this, but decided it wasn't worth its money, and cancelled it about three years ago. However, these three games were being broadcasted free for the day, as a teaser if you will. This was because NASN was to be renamed the following day to ESPN America, as the famous conglomerate bought out NASN a few months ago. Does this mean, though, that we're now going to get ESPN's NBA games on ESPN America? Does it bollocks. And so we're still stuck with our one game a week.

It's pathetic, really. God bless the internet.