Ben Gordon finally commits to Great Britain national basketball team
May 8th, 2010
Excellent news. The only way you would not know that I am British is if you: a) have never been to this website before today, b) have been here before but understandably don’t read any of the words I write, or c) know so little about vexillology that you didn’t even realise that the site’s logo had a flag in it. Because of my nationality – English rather than British, but we’ll worry about that later – it is inevitable and sensible that the state of British basketball will get some coverage here. And with the news of Ben Gordon’s commitment to the national team still moist astride our lips, today is no different. There follows a lengthy breakdown. Basketball in Britain is still so fledgling that even the term ‘fledgling’ sells it short. The standard of the British Basketball League is so far below its European peers that almost any Division I NCAA starter could get a starting spot there. Worse still, the league damn nearly went bankrupt at the turn of the century, which isn’t something top tier leagues should be doing (although it has happened elsewhere on the lower rungs). Beyond the professional game, basketball itself is not fairing much better. While the sport is played in many schools these days, it’s not played in all of them; we didn’t play it in mine, for example, and as a result I’ve never played a game of basketball. To say that basketball trails behind many other sports in this country is an understatement on a par with calling the Vietnam conflict ‘feisty;’ it just doesn’t do it justice. (The local council did eventually install a hoop in my childhood village after much petitioning, but when I say they “installed a hoop,” I actually mean that they put a […]
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 […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 18
January 21st, 2009
– Richie Frahm has not been signed since his performance with the Dallas Mavericks summer league team. I watched all of those Mavericks VSL games, and Frahm – a shooter – often chose not to shoot, which seemed wrong on a team clearly auditioning shooters. Other things that I learnt from these games: Reyshawn Terry’s a decent shooter, Shan Foster’s a very good one (the last update excluded), Keith McLeod remains deficient at all manner of shot-making, and Renaldas Seibutis is still having an identity crisis. And Rick Kamla’s side parting is one of the seven wonders of the modern world. – British legend Joel Freeland (a legend if only for the fact that he’s English) is in his third year with Gran Canaria, Spain. And he’s finally getting somewhere. Freeland averages 10.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in the Spanish league, numbers that rise to 15.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in EuroCup play. If Greg Oden continues to disappoint, then…well, Joel Freeland is already better than him. FACT. (Note: not a fact.) – Matt Freije started the season in Lebanon of all places (is it Lebanon, or The Lebanon?), before moving to China. For Fujian SBS XunXin, Freije averages 19.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, shooting 37% from three-point range. His high-scoring teammate is the seminal Chris Porter, who is into his fourth season with the team, with a short Philippines break in between. Porter averages 23.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest, shooting 41% from three-point range. But I think he’s had it cut. – Hiram Fuller was recently part of the Pau Orthez turnover, and left the team earlier this month. In his six games with the team, Fuller averaged 6.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.2 fouls. […]
