2010 Summer Signings, Part 5
June 19th, 2010
– Not everyone changes teams in the summer. It seems like they do, but some stay on where they are. Those who have signed extensions with their current clubs include Slovakian scoring machine Radoslav Rancik, who has signed a two-year deal with Galatasaray, and ex-San Diego State forward Mohamed Abukar, who signed a two-year deal of his own with the Swiss champion Lugano Tigers. Dimitris Diamantidis snuffed out the <1% possibility of him ever joining the NBA as he signed a three-year extension with Panathinaikos, and Mengke Bateer has re-signed with Xinjiang, staving off his retirement (and inevitable subsequent move into full-time acting) for at least one more year. Ex-Raptors draft pick Roko Ukic took a buyout from Milwaukee part way through last season to join Turkish team Fenerbahce, and he’s just signed for two extra years there. And another Raptors draft pick, Giorgis Printezis, has taken a pay cut in signing a two-year extension with Unicaja Malaga. – Speaking of Malaga; in contrast to previously reported news, it transpires that they did not actually retain the services of Omar Cook after all. Cook is a quality point guard in Europe, and he shouldn’t have problems finding new work. Additionally, as initially reported, David Logan has joined Caja Laboral on a three year deal. He replaces Carl English, who has left the team. And Le Mans quickly found a replacement for Marc Salyers, bringing in former Detroit Mercy forward Ryvon Covile. Ryvon averaged 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds for Entente Orleans last season. – But the big news here is that of ex-Rider big man, Steve Castleberry, who has moved from Czech Republican team Podebrady to Czech Republican team Basketball Brno. Last year for Podebrady, Castleberry was seventh in the league in scoring, second in rebounds and sixth […]
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 […]
2009 NBA Summer League round-up: Toronto Raptors
July 25th, 2009
– Paul Davis: Davis was waived by the Clippers to save some money, after being brought back for no obvious reason. Strangely, he didn’t sign anywhere after that, but he did appear on Millionaire Matchmaker, where it was determined that he showed an “immature” attitude towards sex. But he did win the heart of one spectacularly energetic pseudo-blonde: (video removed by uploader; try this instead) These. These are the things we must know. – DeMar Derozan: The Raptors wings last season had all the athleticism of a grilled perch, so at least they addressed that. But I can’t say I’m overwhelmed with the pick. No word on what DeRozan’s attitudes towards sex are, or what he deems to be an “upscale” bowling alley. – David Doblas: Doblas is a soon-to-be 28-year -old Spaniard with the usual Spanish problems with hair. (This is one thing I noticed when I holidayed there earlier this year; everyone has black hair, and they all bald at 30. Without exceptions. Good luck, David.) Last year for Bruesa-Gipuzcoa BC – the ACB team that you’ve totally heard of – Doblas averaged 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds. – Quincy Douby: I don’t know Quincy Douby’s amount of guaranteed salary, so stop asking. (Although I’m fairly sure it’s $0, that’s only an educated guess.) There’s not much reason for him to make the team, or even for him to be in the NBA; Douby may well be a versatile scorer with the ball in his hands, but he’s undersized, does not rebound or create for others, is not efficient, and is not a good-enough shooter to be ideal as a catch-and-shoot specialist. Go to Europe and start starring, Quincy. It’ll be easy for you. – Carl English: Despite the name, English is Canadian, which […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 15
January 18th, 2009
– Bryant Dunston is in South Korea, averaging 17.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.9 blocks for a team called Mobis Phoebus. Dunston doesn’t have any great chance of making the NBA, but after watching the entire Lakers summer league – in which an extremely backcourt-heavy roster started Dunston at centre, with Sharrod Ford at power forward – I grew to like him. I seemed to like his unathletic yet reasonably smooth game featuring plenty of lefty baby hooks and defensive positioning. It reminded me of Michael Sweetney. And I like Michael Sweetney. (In fairness to Dunston, at age 22 with reasonable skill, he still has a faint chance of sniffing the NBA at some point, even if it’s only a camp invite. But I don’t think signing in Korea is getting it done. And he should probably put those three-pointers to bed.) – Ronald “Doop” Dupree didn’t make the Cavaliers out of training camp, and went back to the D-League with the Tulsa 66ers. As is often the case when he’s in the D-League, Doop has beasted, averaging 19.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists, but he still can’t shoot consistently, shooting only 31% from three-point range and 69% from the free throw line. He’ll also be 28 on January 26th, so a happy birthday to him. – Ndudi Ebi is signed in Italy, and still hasn’t panned out. Ndudi is the third-leading scorer on an Italian team called Carife Ferrara, behind Harold Jamison (THE Harold Jamison! Throw-in to the Miles for McInnis swap Harold Jamison!) and Andre Collins (yes, THE Andre Collins! From Loyola! The very same!). Ebi is really the fourth leading scorer, if you also include Rick Apodaca (THE Rick Apodaca! Former Magic training camp invitee Rick Apodaca! Et cetera!), but Apodaca only played in […]
