Basketball writing, scouting reports and salary cap analysis from the archive.
One final Mengke Bateer note - while I called him Mongolian earlier, he's actually from Inner Mongolia, which is considered part of China, in much the same way Vermont is considered part of the USA. I didn't realise that there was a difference between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia,…
In the previous post I talked about Hawks draft pick Sergiy Gladyr , but did so while omitting a potentially interesting/amusing piece of information. Gladyr has not played since Valentine's Day, when he left a game against Meridiano after only nine minutes with an injury and never returned.…
The cheerful-looking person in this picture is former Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors big man, Robert Whaley . You may remember him, or you may not. But if you do, it's probably because either: a) you're a Cincinnati Bearcats fan who remembers Whaley for the one underwhelming year…
- Marcus Haislip An established and productive forward in the EuroLeague these last couple of years - if kind of disliked by certain sections of the European audience who abhor athleticism when it comes at the expenses of pick-and-roll defence - Haislip left Unicaja Malaga this summer after…
- Sergiy Gladyr After being drafted by the Atlanta Hawks this summer, Gladyr left the Ukraine for the first time and moved to the ACB to play with Suzuki Manresa (formerly known as Ricoh Manresa). Manresa have an 11-13 record on the season, yet they're comfortably in the…
Everyone remembers their first Mengke Bateer experience. Mine came in the 2000 Olympics. In a game against the USA in which Yao Ming beasted from three point range (true story), and in which Wang Zhizhi picked up four first half fouls, Mengke came in and hit some mid…
The Chinese Basketball Association and its compelling protagonists have a particular level of focus on this website, for the simple reason that they're awesome. Any league that saw Olumide Oyedeji average nearly 20/20 can peak the interest of any of us. Fringe NBA players like playing in China;…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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…
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…
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…
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…
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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqC44EIqGcw&ab_channel=BartSmith 2) Kevin Willis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3CBM_ZCL5E&ab_channel=judasvince 3) Vince Carter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG55wpX0qB0&ab_channel=judasvince 4) Doug Christie, Alvin Williams and Reggie Slater. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcjMsRWa048&ab_channel=judasvince 5) Chris Andersen…
- 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.…
- Dion Dowell Dowell is signed in Israel, putting up numbers quite impressively similar to those of his senior season in college. He's playing for Altshuler Saham Galil Gilboa - a team that really needs to settle upon one name only - and is averaging 9.6 points, 4.8…
It's days like yesterday that remind me of why I spent a good three weeks of my life making the anagram feature. Greg Oden's anagram is "engorged," and by Jove did that turn out to be fitting . In amongst the two hundred and seventy jillion jokes made…
When I came in from bowling last night, many messages awaited me asking me for my views on the news that Devin Brown had joined the Bulls . You know how sometimes you get an irrational like for a fringe NBA player, a staunch loyalty that reaches far…
Am I the only person who thinks that Danilo Gallinari , when he's spiked his hair up, looks a bit like Butthead? Probably. - T.J. Cummings Cummings was drafted by the Idaho Stampede in the fourth round of this year's D-League Draft, but was released before the…
This one might be shorter than the last one. One final note on Keon Clark : despite what I said earlier about Clark's mandatory weekly court appearances being "almost universally described as good", Clark failed a drug test as recently as late November. So maybe it's not all…
- Lionel Chalmers Chalmers is signed in the Russian Superleague, or what's left of it. Russian basketball, like all Eastern European teams, has had a bit of a financial crisis this year, and the Superleague has only 9 teams left in it. Nevertheless, they're nine pretty good teams,…
- Brian Butch After going undrafted despite working out for basically every NBA team at some point (and going to summer league with the Memphis Grizzlies , where he barely played), Butch split his first professional season between Spain, China and Germany. He spent most of it in…
Calling it early; Miami will trade Dorell Wright along with New Orleans' 2010 second-rounder to the Grizzlies in exchange for changing the protection on the Grizzlies 2012 second-rounder - already owed to the Heat from last year's Shaun Livingston deal - from top 55 to top 50. (That…
- Rick Brunson The last time we checked in on Eric Daniel Brunson, he was the director of men's basketball operations at the University of Virginia. He's moved now, however. After Virginia head coach Dave Leitao resigned last April, Brunson took over the head coaching role until his…
- Michael Bramos After going undrafted out of Miami Ohio, Bramos played for the Pistons in summer league, and played pretty well. He then used his Greek heritage and Greek passport to go to Greece, where he is signed with Peristeri. Unfortunately, his first professional season is not…