Basketball writing, scouting reports and salary cap analysis from the archive.
- 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…
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…
- 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,…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
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…
- 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…
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…
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.…
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…
- 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…
- 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…
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…
- 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…
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…
- 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…
- Richard Hendrix is in the D-League, after being waived by the Warriors earlier this season, despite signing a guaranteed contract in the summer. I don't really understand why, considering that they waived him while preferring to keep Rob Kurz and DeMarcus Nelson , whom they then waived…
- 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…
Many of the following people are called Hamilton. If you don't want to know the result, look away now. - Brian Hamilton signed with the New Jersey Nets for training camp after playing for their summer league team, which guaranteed him a free trip around Europe. Hamilton…
I hated the Marcus Camby trade. I hated it. I think everyone did, even Clippers fans. But I really hated it. I think about trades a lot. I should really have better things to do, but I don't. So I spend a lot of time thinking about trades…
- I was first alerted to the presence of Blake Griffin about 18 months ago, when an Oklahoman resident told me he was brilliant. Apparently this has become a widely-held opinion, as Griffin is the unanimous #1 pick on both of the draft websites that I look at.…
- Joao Gomes averages 8.3 points and 4.4 rebounds for Leche Rio Breogan Lugo in the Spanish second division. You're probably wondering who Joao Gomes is. So am I, honestly. In other, more important Gomes news, the Cincinnati Reds signed Jonny Gomes to a minor league contract with…
1: The following YouTube video has done the rounds recently, showing an impressive double alley'oop in a highly one-sided high school game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8SKdQYAB2I&ab_channel=JamesCrissman That clip reminded me of this one, featuring the Los Angeles Clippers' "overloaded with potential" era, specifically Darius Miles and Lamar Odom . (Also, is…
- Pat Garrity retired this summer, and according to reports behind a paywalled article, he has since gone back to school. But I'm not paying for it to find out. This is my limit. - Mickael Gelabale is unsigned, and - presumably - still rehabbing his severe…