Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 23
January 29th, 2009
– Othella Harrington‘s option was not picked up by the Bobcats this year, which was about as surprising as finding vegetables in a bowl of vegetable soup. He remains unsigned, and maybe always will.
– Junior Harrington, meanwhile is not unsigned, and is playing for Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia. Junior has only played four games with the team, three of which were in the Adriatic League, but in that time he has totalled 53 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. More important, he has shot a combined 9-13 on three-pointers, which is fantastic news if you’re the kind of person that likes to use 13-game sample sizes as the sole indicator of whether a man has fixed his once-broken jump shot or not.
– Adam Harrington is signed with Limoges in France, averaging 16.3 points and 2.6 rebounds. There’s nothing quite like the French second division for really bringing a man’s true talent out.
– Padraig Harrington recently became the first man to par the par-three Extreme 19th Legend Golf & Safari Resort in Limpopo, South Africa.
– Don’t know what Lucious Harris does now.
– Mike Harris is in China, and, as is customary with the Chinese league, his statistics are amusingly warped. For the DongGuan New Century, Harris averages 41.5 minutes a game, 32.2 points, 15.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.6 blocks a game, Wilt Chamberlain-like numbers. The talent pool in the Chinese league is lacking, as they continue to adapt their league and their game to the new, correct rules, and to a more athletic style of play. All teams are allowed two import players, and almost all of these teams use them on former NBA players (for example, Harris’s teammate is centre Jamal Sampson), and all these former NBA players get to put up absolutely dominant statistics while playing pretty much every minute of every game. It’s kind of weird. Fun, though.
– David Harrison is another American in China. Playing for the Shougang Beijing Ducks, Harrison averages 20.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.4 fouls and 2.3 blocks a game. See? The Chinese league makes everyone’s numbers look good. (Harrison’s numbers, however, pale in comparison those of his teammate, Dontae – not Dahntay – Jones. Dontae averages 33.2 points and 14.2 rebounds in 44 minutes a game, proof enough that any 33-year-old former NBA player can go to China, shoot 43% from the field, and still look brilliant. Bear this in mind.)
– Donnell Harvey is signed – you guessed it! – in China. He, too, has truly awesome statistics that need to be taken with a pinch of Anthrax. For the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons of Nanjing, Harvey averages 29.2 points, 15.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks a game, which is in keeping with the rules outlined above. David Harrison is starting to look pretty poor by comparison now, isn’t he?
– Matt Haryasz is NOT signed in China, which is a shame, because he could probably use the stat warpage on offer. For BC Oostende in Belgium, Haryasz averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in the EuroCup, good numbers that look damn near insignificant after all those Chinese ones above. Haryasz also shot 3-14 from the free throw line (21.4%), which is pretty special. In the Belgian league, Haryasz averages 11,6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game, with a much healthier 70.6% success rate from the foul line.
– Juaquin Hawkins might still be with his Australian team, the Gold Coast Blaze. I can’t seem to find out for certain whether he was officially released or not. Either way, he got injured in October and hasn’t played since. The Blaze brought in Justin Bowen as Hawkins’s replacement, and Bowen has done all right, but apparently not well enough, for the Blaze are currently last in the NBL with a 5-22 record.
– Brandon Heath is in the D-League, being allocated to the Los Angeles D-Fenders as a result of his short stint with the Lakers in training camp. Note to all teams – buy your own affiliate. Heath averages 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists for a struggling D-Fenders team.
– Alan Henderson is unsigned, presumably still waiting for the promised phone call from the Sixers that never came.
—–
Finally, some updates about people that we’ve previously covered, but whose circumstances have since changed.
– T.J. Cummings, who left the Anaheim Arsenal earlier this year, has signed with Liege in Belgium.
– Kyle Davis has rejoined the D-League, being acquired by Reno.
– Andre Brown has left the Austin Toros and signed in Turkey for Kepez Bld Antalya. His Toros team mate, Charles Gaines, has also left the team, and has landed a pretty plush gig with Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Maccabi waived Marcus Fizer, unhappy with his performances in return from long term injury. Seems harsh.
– Jamon Gordon signed with KK Split in Croatia after being released by the Koeln 99ers.
– And some bonus info – Desmond Penigar (THE Desmond Penigar! Orlando Magic Ten Day Contract Recipient About Five Years Ago, Desmond Penigar!) has rejoined basketball after two years out, and signed in Austria with Furstenfeld, the team that won’t play Tony Gipson.
