Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 40
February 28th, 2009
– Let’s start this off with a bang; I have absolutely nothing to report on Wesley Person. Nothing whatsoever.
– Continuing that sizzling opener, Brent Petway is in the D-League, averaging 10.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots a game for the Idaho Stampede. Those numbers were somehow enough to make him a D-League All Star, and you can see the box score for the D-League All Star game here. (That minutes distribution is first …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 39
February 26th, 2009
– Smush Parker started the season in the D-League, averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and an almighty 5.1 turnovers per game for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He then went off to China, where he may have become literally the only American import whose numbers went down in the CBA. Parker averages 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals for Guangdong, numbers that are pretty unimpressive in relative terms. Luckily for Smush, I don’t know …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 38
February 25th, 2009
– Lukasz Obrzut was an insignificant player in the D-League last year, averaging 3.1 ppg and 2.4 rpg over 38 games with both the Bakersfield Jam and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Before that, he spent four insignificant years with Kentucky, never averaging more than 2.0 ppg and 1.8 rpg. Now, he’s in Poland, averaging 5.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 fouls per game for the powerhouse that is ISS Sportino Inowroclaw (and by “powerhouse”, I mean “team in …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 37
February 24th, 2009
– Juan Carlos Navarro is back with Barcelona, and he’ll probably never leave again. He is technically still a restricted NBA free agent of the Memphis Grizzlies, but that’s kind of meaningless, because he has no rhyme, reason, or (I assume) desire to leave Spain again. Navarro averages 15.4 points and 2.8 assists in the Spanish league, alongside 14.0 points and 3.6 assists in the EuroLeague.
– Boniface N’Dong still boasts one of the greatest names in human …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 36
February 22nd, 2009
– Sergei Monia is into his third season with Dynamo Moscow, and has extended his contract so that he can stay there a bit longer. Then again, unless they start filling out that stadium a bit more, they might just run out of money. Monia (who seems to go by Sergey Monya these days, although I fear change and will keep it the same on here) averages 7.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in the EuroCup, alongside 6.7 points and 5.3 …
A Review Of The 2009 NBA Trade Deadline
February 19th, 2009
If it wasn’t for the NBA Draft – that hotbed of prejudice that can see the entire prognosis of the NBA change in six short hours – then the trade deadline would be my favourite time of year. There’s nothing like it; you cancel every event in your social calendar, turn off your phone, ignore real life world events, and mash the refresh key for three straight days, waiting for any trades to come in, even those with the dreaded …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 35
February 19th, 2009
– Rich Melzer is currently unsigned, and played only three games last season for the German side Quackenbrueck, whose name also doubles as a duck’s favourite breakfast. Having just turned 29, this doesn’t seem like a particularly healthy direction for Melzer’s career to be going towards. Then again, he used to play in Australia, so this might be better.
– Pops Mensah-Bonsu is a legend. There are two reasons why I think this. The first is because he’s English. …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 34
February 18th, 2009
– Chris McCray is playing in Italy for a second-tier team called Rimini Crabs, which sounds like the most painful affliction that a man can have. McCray averages 13.8 points and 4.1 rebounds for them.
– Taj McCullough is in the D-League, and started the year with the Erie BayHawks. He barely played there, averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in eight games before being waived in late December, T-Mac was later picked up by the Fort Wayne Mad …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 33
February 12th, 2009
– Darrick Martin was waived by the Raptors midway through last season, and chose that moment to retire. Martin then stuck with the team anyway, in a sort of informal consultancy capacity. Maybe he consults with Will Solomon on how to take more shats. Martin recently has a court dedicated to him, news which would have been funnier if they’d named it the Derrick Murray Court instead. (Inside jokes all!)
– Torrell Martin started the season with Kepez …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 32
February 11th, 2009
– Erazem Lorbek’s weird route to the NBA continues with CSKA Moscow. Lorbek is averaging 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds in only 17 minutes per game in the Russian league, alongside 11.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in 21 mpg in the EuroLeague. Lorbek is shooting 46/65 combined from the free throw line, for an average of 71%, which shows that he’s working on his flaws. He’s also a combined 7-14 from three point range, which is a welcome bonus.
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Robertas Javtokas has still got it
February 11th, 2009
For some reason, whenever we get a EuroCup game screened over here (something that happens way more than the screening of NBA games), it almost always involves Dynamo Moscow. It’s a bit annoying having to see the same old players out there time after time when there’s so many others that I’d rather watch. But it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either, because Dynamo Moscow (as is the case with all EuroCup teams) has plenty of good quality talent on …
Where Are They Now, 2009: Part 31
February 10th, 2009
– Anthony Lever-Pedroza is playing for a team called Soles de Mexicali, in a country that you can probably guess. About two hours ago, I watched a FIBA basketball magazine show that bizarrely and unexpectedly featured clips from a Soles de Mexicali game. I didn’t spot Anthony James Norwood Lever Pedroza Durazo, though. Anthony James Norwood Lever Pedroza Durazo averages 20.3 points in three Liga Americas games; also on his team are former Timberwolves guard Dejaun Wheat (who barely plays) …
Florida vs South Carolina, Feb 3rd 2009
February 9th, 2009
Random thoughts from random game.
– I like it when guards constantly push the ball, but Devan Downey took this to extremes. He played like a mentalist, with one of the weirder 33-point outings that I’ve ever seen. Downey went 6-15 from two-point range, 7-9 from three, and 0-2 from the free throw line, making a series of tough threes when the game was out of reach that served only to make it overlap into the Syracuse game that was …
Loosely-Informed Thoughts on Ohio State and Purdue Right Now
February 5th, 2009
I have watched a game and a half of Ohio State’s season in this past week, and I feel as though that makes me an expert on everything about them.
– The half a game comes from the second half of the Buckeye’s game versus Indiana on Saturday. When we (and by “we”, I mean “the entire nation of England”) joined the game, Indiana was losing by one, 59-58. God knows how, because they proceeded to show nothing at all. …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 30
February 5th, 2009
Snowman update: my dog ate the nose, someone stole the hat, and the pipe fell out. However, the weather hasn’t been above freezing yet, and so he still survives as before, slightly icier but just as large. Good times.
Before the list starts, here’s a quick TRIVIA QUESTION: which one of the following players has scored the second most regular season points in the NBA? Answer at the bottom.
– Herve Lamizana recently left his team in the …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 29
February 5th, 2009
– Coby Karl began the season with the Idaho Stampede before going to Spain and DKV Joventut Badalona to replace Bracey Wright. He averaged 18.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists for Idaho, and has appeared in all of one game for Badalona, scoring two points in two minutes on 0-2 shooting.
– Former Magic centre Mario Kasun – who I like to consider the forerunner to Marcin Gortat, albeit not as good, because nobody is as …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 28
February 4th, 2009
– You did it! You did it! You waited for your Alexander Johnson news! Be proud of yourself, and then proceed to hate me, as I tell you that there isn’t any. Johnson started the year in Germany with Brose Baskets Bonn, averaged 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.4 fouls in 11 German league games, before leaving last month and being replaced (sort of) by Dan Dickau. Johnson is now unsigned, but, in better news, Dickau has scored 37 …
Let Me Drago Pasalic You Up And Down
February 4th, 2009
In keeping with my new policy of talking about every game that I watch that isn’t an NBA game, here’s what I observed from last night’s EuroCup game between Iurbentia Bilbao and the home Lithuanian team with a Yorkshire inflection, Lietuvos Rytas. Go.
– Bilbao’s line-up features only three Spanish nationals; point guard Javier Salgado, backup guard Paco Vazquez, and a really slow inside player with a massive head and greasy mullet called Salvador Guardia. The rest …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 27
February 3rd, 2009
– Chris Jefferies is a weird story. A first-round draft pick back in 2002, Jefferies got an opportunity to showcase himself back in his rookie season with an injury-depleted tanking Raptors team. He didn’t do much with it, though, and he was a throw-in in the trade the following season that saw Antonio Davis and Jerome Williams go to Chicago. It was there that Jefferies won my heart, demonstrating a decent set shot, interested defence, and a staggeringly bad …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 26
February 2nd, 2009
I’m kind of overexcitable today, with a level of maturity that belies my 24 years of age. I feel pretty much like a small child today. And I feel like a small child today because I’ve just acted like one. Today, 2nd February 2009, marks the day that I built the first snowman of my life. And here it is:
Experienced snowmen builders out there will have noticed a few faults in my technique. For example, it’s plain to see …
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 25
February 1st, 2009
– Little Jeff Horner – who is kind of like John Stockton, only with better rebounding – averages 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals for Antibes. Antibes play in the French second division (Pro B), which undermines that Stockton comparison a bit. But still. Stockton didn’t play much in his rookie year, either. Give Horner time. He’s only 25. By the way, that bulge in my cheek is my tongue.
– Robert Horry is unofficially, but …
