Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 24
February 25th, 2010
– Alex Garcia Brazilian guard Garcia has toured the world over the years, including a couple of stints in the NBA. He is now back in his native Brazil, playing for Universo/BRB Brasilia, a team seemingly sponsored by a l33t speak manufacturer. Brazilian league statistics are hard to come by, but Garcia must be doing well, as he was an All-Star this season. As far as I can tell from the NBB website, Garcia averages 18 layettes (presumed to be points) and 3.6 assistances (presumed to not be rebounds) per game. A layette would be a great name for a hooker. – Thomas Gardner Gardner spent his third consecutive October in his NBA training camp when he signed with the Memphis Grizzlies, but he was an early and quiet cut. He then moved to Belgium in January where he is playing for the Antwerp Giants. Gardner hasn’t shot well in his first three Belgian league games, averaging 9.7 points on 35% shooting, but in five EuroChallenge games he is averaging a much healthier 14.2 points on 46% shooting. I did not mention any other statistics of his because, true to form, there are very few of them. The guy is a shooting specialist. – Pat Garrity Garrity retired from basketball after the 2007-08 season. Now in retirement, he is pursuing a business MBA at Duke’s Fuqua Business School. He also worked for Credit Suisse during the summer, a financial services company. – Alonzo Gee Gee went undrafted out of Alabama, and made his way to the Spurs summer league roster. From there he made his way to the Timberwolves training camp roster, and after being waived he was the sixth overall pick in the D-League Draft by the Austin Toros. This cheers me up because in July, […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 22
February 24th, 2010
– Luis Flores Domincan Republic native Flores has moved to the coldest climate of his career. Playing for Samara in Russia, Flores is averaging 13.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in the Russian Superleague, alongside 19.5/4.5/1.9 in the EuroChallenge. His backcourt teammate is Bosnian national team member, J.R. Bremer. It’s not the tallest backcourt in the world. – Gary Forbes Forbes started the season in Serie A, and averaged 13.3 points per game for Vanoli Cremona. He left the team last month, and hooked on with Ironi Kfar Hamaccabia Ramat Gan (better known as Ramat Gan) in the Israeli league last week. Ramat Gan were last in the Israeli league when Forbes joined, but Forbes scored 28 points in his first and only game for them so far to lead them to a victory over Ironi Nahariya. And now Ironi Nahariya are in last place. – Alton Ford 28-year-old ex-NBA player Alton Ford was in the D-League last year after being out of the game between November 2005 and December 2007. He wasn’t perfect there, averaging 10/7/4 for two different teams, where the “4” represents his fouls per game. Ford didn’t start this year with anyone, but last month he caught on with Bourg in the French second division. In four games, he has totalled 13 points, 13 rebounds, 11 fouls and 1 block. – Sharrod Ford Ford started the season in Russia, averaging 7.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in 24 minutes per game for Spartak St Petersburg. He left in November (i.e. before the team fell to 1-11 and last place), and signed in January with Carife Ferrara in Serie A. There, Ford averages 11.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 25 minutes per game. He had 0 blocks in 92 minutes in Russia; […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 23
February 24th, 2010
– Joel Freeland Despite coming from the unpleasant town of Aldershot, Joel Freeland has turned into a fine player. Still in Spain, Freeland has moved from Gran Canaria to Unicaja Malaga, lured by the promise of EuroLeague ball. Freeland is averaging 9.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in 19 minutes per game in the EuroLeague, alongside 11.5/4.5 in 20mpg in the ACB. It’s not just my national bias talking – although that inevitably factors – but Joel Freeland is awesome. He has size, athleticism and skill; decent offence, decent rebounding and decent defence. He’s not a star player, but he’s a rotation-calibre NBA player and all around superhero. Taking him 30th in 2006 was an Eyenga-level gamble by the Blazers, but it’s worked, and while his selection is not enough to justify trading down from third to sixth in 2005 (thus going from Chris Paul to Martell Webster), it certainly helps. – Matt Freije Freije is playing in his family’s homeland, Lebanon. Despite being born in Bismarck, North Dakota, Freije has ties to Lebanon in his heritage and now represents them at international level. I have absolutely no numbers for Freije’s play with the Lebanese club Sporting Al Riyadi, but at the Asian Championships this summer, Freije averaged 15.7 points and 4.6 rebounds. He also likes to spend his summers in Puerto Rico, where he averaged 20.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 30 games last year. Freije has a Canadian/Lebanese teammate called Omar El Turk, who sounds more like an Anchorman character. – Vitaly Fridzon Russian international swingman Vitaly Fridzon is into his fifth season with Khimky, averaging 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in the Russian league, 9.4/3.0/2.8 in the VTB United League, and 6.5/2.4/2.0 in the EuroLeague. So, that’s where he is now. If […]
The Finances Of The Trade Deadline Deals
February 21st, 2010
In the last week, more than 10% of the NBA was rehomed. 17 teams conspired to make 13 trades, and 43 players in the league were traded (along with one that isn’t in it). A possible 14 draft picks changed hands, too, along with enough cash to support Iceland for a week. Three players were waived to accommodate incoming players (Chris Richard, Ricky Davis, Kenny Thomas), and one just wasn’t asked back (Garrett Temple; re-signed since this intro was written). Trades ranged from the hugely significant (Kevin Martin) to the underwhelming (Theo Ratliff). To use a phrase I use way too much, there truly was something for everyone. Unless you’re a Heat fan. (Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes also managed to achieve the dubious honour of being traded at three consecutive trade deadlines, with Gooden compounding his misery by compiling four trades in that time. It also seems reasonably inevitable that Gooden will be bought out by his new team (the L.A. Clippers), making him possibly the first player ever to be salary dumped at the deadline, only to be bought out and sign with a contender, in consecutive seasons. Congratulations, I think.) While I was personally a bit gutted that my Adam Morrison and Memphis’ second rounder for Steven Hunter trade idea did not go down, I was nonetheless stoked about this fine series of events, as I’m sure you were too. Deadline day is second only to draft night in its badassity; there’s something soothingly pathetic/pathetically soothing about cancelling all engagements, sitting indoors and mashing refresh until your eyes catch fire. I know you understand this, or else you wouldn’t be reading this website. As is usual around this time of year, many (if not most) of the completed trades were made primarily with financial motivations. This isn’t […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 21
February 12th, 2010
In order to spice things up a bit, the next few players will be addressed by anagram only. – Mend Arse Form Desmon Farmer is in the D-League, trying to find one more NBA call-up from somewhere. In 29 games for the Reno Bighorns, Farmer is averaging 41 minutes, 24.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, so those numbers certainly support his candidacy. However, his manner of doing so is less so; Farmer tends to dominate the ball, is not especially efficient at it (3.7 turnovers per game), shoots too much (42%) and has been seen to pout when he doesn’t. In trying to prove that he’s more than just a catch-and-shoot player, he has inadvertently proved that he’s mainly a catch-and-shoot player. Still, it’s a hell of a lot of points. And on the plus side, after initially not winning a spot despite his numbers, Farmer has been named as an injury replacement to the D-League All-Star game. He, Romel Beck, Brian Butch, Joe Crawford, Curtis Jerrells and Diamon Simpson replace Alexis Ajinca, Anthony Tolliver, Dontell Jefferson, Antonio Anderson, Sundiata Gaines and Joey Dorsey. – I Faze Knacks Nick Fazekas is signed with Dijon in France, where he has averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 25 minutes per game for Dijon. However, he has not played since the end of November due to injury. Sports24.com has more: Coup dur pour Dijon. Touché à une cheville, Nick Fazekas est out pour trois mois. L’intérieur américain va devoir passer sur la table d’opération. Ancien de Dallas et des Clippers en NBA (26 matches, 4,1 pts), Nick Fazekas est arrivé cet été en Bourgogne. La JDA s’est mise en quête d’un pigiste médical pour pallier son absence. Indeed. – Herpes Feet A lot of people didn’t […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 20
February 10th, 2010
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 […]
A History Of Cheesy, Terrible And Sometimes Quite Good Commercials Featuring NBA Players
February 3rd, 2010
There follows a long list of cheesy and/or television commercials featuring NBA players. Some of which are quite good. Less talk, more cheesy commercials. 1) Tyler Hansbrough 2) Kevin Willis 3) Vince Carter 4) Doug Christie, Alvin Williams and Reggie Slater. 5) Chris Andersen 6) Chauncey B-B-B-B-B-B-Billups. (video removed by uploader) 7) Dikembe Mutombo 8) Dikembe Mutombo again 9) Vince Carter again 10) Bob Lanier (video removed by uploader) 11) David Robinson and Gary Payton (video removed by uploader) 12) Patrick Chewing (video removed by uploader) 13) David Lee 14) Keith Van Horn 15) Shaquille O’Neal, Stu Scott and Mike Breen 16) The Spurs and Knicks teams from what looks like 2000 or 2001 17) Magic Johnson (video removed by uploader) 18) A mute Larry Bird selling Chardon jeans 19) Tyler Hansbrough, again, finding puppies 20) The 1980something Celtics 21) Yet more Larry Bird fail (video removed by uploader) 22) Even more tremendous fail by Larry Bird 23) I haven’t finished laughing at Larry Bird yet 24) Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan and Chris Mullin 25) One of many Michael Jordan ones 26) Bill Walton 27) The 1999-2000 Golden State Warriors, advertising……themselves. 28) Larry Johnson, obviously 29) Gheorghe Muresan 30) Kenny Anderson 31) Scottie Pippen (video removed by uploader) 32) Tayshaun Prince (Is it just me, or does he say “I can do that because I’m a pro; Wallside can do that because they’re defective”? Doesn’t sound like a glowing endorsement.) 33) Richard Hamilton 34) Ben Gordon making a better effort of it than Rip did 35) Chris Andersen again 36) Darryl Dawkins 37) Jalen Rose and Kenyon Martin 38) Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jordan’s shirt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oACRt-Qp-s&ab_channel=JustinBriggs 39) More Bob Lanier, mad enough to dunk (video removed by uploader) 40) Greg […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 19
February 1st, 2010
– Byron Eaton Eaton went undrafted out of Oklahoma State because he didn’t have NBA talent. He joined the D-League and was assigned to the Tulsa 66ers, but he played in only 2 games, totalling 1 point, 1 assists and 5 turnovers. Tulsa then released him in December. The fact that he’s 5’10 and 260lbs might be why. – Ndudi Ebi Former Timberwolves draft pick Ebi spent last year in Italy’s Serie A, but this year downgraded to Lega Due, the division below. (Why Lega Due is not called Serie B, I do not know.) The obvious benefit there is to Ebi’s numbers, and he’s responded with averages of 16.1 points, 13.4 rebounds, 3.1 steals, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 assists per game. He leads Rimini in rebounds (with no one else having more than 4.5), steals and blocks, and is second in points only to Carlton Myers. Carlton Myers used to be one of the best scorers in Italy, averaging over 20ppg in Serie A for about 26 years. Myers has played all but 7 games of his 19 year career in Italy and turns 39 in late March, so he’s a long way out of his prime, but even at this ripe old age he is scoring a very efficient 17 ppg at a decent standard of basketball. This is not comparable to his best, though, for Carlton Myers once scored 87 points in a Serie A game. This occurred as recently as 1995, and here’s a, uh, really awkward video of some of it. But it’s not as awkward as this picture of Carlton Myers naked. Carlton Myers is pretty much an Italian, despite the name, being born to an Italian mother and spending basically his whole life there. However, he was born in London, as was […]
