Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 2
December 29th, 2009
– Akin Akingbala Akingbala came out of nowhere to be a decent rebounder and defender for Clemson in his senior season, and was a training camp invite of the Celtics in 2006 as a result. After that he went to the D-League for a bit, and has spent the last three years touring Europe. He is currently with Nancy in France (pronounced Noncy, which is even funnier), averaging 11.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in the French league. Akingbala exclusively does “big man things”, as evidenced by his 47% FT shooting and 2 assists all year. But as athletic interior players go, you could do worse. The King Baller also put up a 9 points, 7 rebounds, 8 blocks stat line earlier this month, which is not bad going. – Cenk Akyol After at least seven years there, Akyol finally left Efes Pilsen in his native Turkey this summer, and moved to Italy to join Air Avellino. He missed six weeks due to injury, and has appeared in only six of 11 Serie A games for the team, but he’s averaging 7.0 points and 2.2 steals in 21 minutes per game. The 17% three-point shooting is not a great start, and nor is the five total assists, but Akyol is still young. He’s only 22. Feels like he shouldn’t be by now. – Chris Alexander D-League veteran and occasional NBA flirt Alexander has ditched both of those on-off girlfriends in favour of going to South Korea. Playing for the LG Sakers, Alexander averages 14.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 28 minutes per game, shooting 65% from the field and 61% from the foul line. The South Korean league plays a huge, NBA-like amount of games; opening night was on October 17th, and LG […]
2009 NBA Summer League round-up: Orlando Magic
July 23rd, 2009
– Maurice Ager: The highlight of Maurice Ager’s NBA career was when he cried on draft night after being taken at the very end of the first round. That was touching. Since then…not much. In three years with two teams, Ager has shot 33% from the field, put up more fouls than rebounds, and recorded more turnovers than assists. He’s a scoring specialist, yet he’s never shown the ability to score on an NBA court. He’s never demonstrated NBA three-point range on his jump shot, gets wild in his aggression, and chucks in the few opportunities he gets. You can say, rightly, that he’s never had an extended run in the NBA. Yet he’s also been in it for three years now, seemingly healthy, yet still never seeing rotation time. He wasn’t even good on his D-League assignment. At some point, you’re just not suitable. – Lance Allred: Allred is now 28, but he’s only been on the NBA radar for two years after averaging a double-double with the Idaho Stampede in 2007/08. That landed him a brief stint with the Cavaliers down the stretch of the season, who waived him last October. Allred then returned to the Stampede and averaged 15.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game last year; more importantly, he took his new found fame and fortune, and wrote a book about his professional basketball career. Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA is the title of Allred’s book, and it’s available from all good book stores, or by clicking the link there. – Ryan Anderson: Yes, I saw how Anderson did in summer league. Yes, it was very good. Yes, he’s probably a lottery selection had he been drafted in 2009 instead of 2008. Yes, I […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 2
December 31st, 2008
– Chris Alexander re-emerged as an interesting prospect last season, despite being 28 years old, after a campaign that saw him average 11.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks a game in the D-League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He turned that into first a contract in the Philippines, and then a training camp contract with Oklahoma City. As Alexander is a centre, he must have fancied his chances on the length-crazy Thunder, but he didn’t make the cut. After the Philippines thing ended (where he won the title of “Best Import” in the championship series), Alexander went back to the Skyforce this season, and averaged 6.9 points and 8.5 rebounds before leaving the team on Christmas Eve, for reasons which either weren’t announced or which I can’t find. More importantly, here’s an update on the length of his neck. – Shagari Alleyne is now a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. He goes by the name “Skyscraper”. I think this means his NBA dream is over. – Lance Allred was waived by the Cavaliers, and has gone back to the D-League with the Idaho Stampede. He averages 14.7 points and 9.2 rebounds, and would be the most NBA-desired big man on his team were it not for the presence of Jermareo Davidson, who averages slightly better (17/11) and who is nearly four years younger. Tough break for Lance. – Hawks draftee David Andersen has left Russia and forgotten how to rebound. For Barcelona, Andersen is averaging 10.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in nearly 22 minutes a game. The second-tallest guy on the team (behind Daniel Santiago, who plays less than him), Andersen is a mere third in rebounds, comfortably behind Ersan Ilyasova (7.9 rebounds a game) and Fran Vazquez (6.5). That’s not the best effort, really, and yes I know […]
Second Prize Is A Set Of Steak Knives
October 5th, 2008
I should have written this note before I did. But you’re not the boss of me. Unless you are the boss of me. In which case, hey. Sorry I’m late. Traffic was bad. These are the camp battles that we are to watch with captivated interest. If you’re not even slightly interested, then don’t worry, because I’m intrigued enough for the both of us. – Atlanta re-signed Mario West, and signed Marcus Hubbard, Frank Robinson and ShamSports.com favourite Olumide Oyedeji, after having earlier signed Thomas Gardner and Othello Hunter. These moves give them three shooting guards to battle for one backup spot, but Gardner has the advantage of 50% guaranteed money. Hubbard and Hunter will fight for the inactive list power forward spot, but Hubbard’s grand total of three NCAA Division i games can’t work in his favour. (If anyone can tell me why he played so little, please do.) Oyedeji has already been waived, which is a damn shame. Sham’s predictions to make it: Gardner and Hunter. – Boringly, Boston only signed one player for training camp, with the re-signing of Sam Cassell taking their roster to 16 players. Come on now. Even if they haven’t a hope of making the team, play the game and bring in some fringe D-Leaguers. You don’t have to give them any guaranteed money, and you get to look at players that might help you one day. Even if they don’t, you lose nothing but the tiny amount that you have to pay them for the fortnight that they’re there. Signing only Cassell, though, is still enough to give Boston a problem, for they now have 16 players for 15 spots, with no obvious cuts. Maybe the Darius Miles comeback story isn’t going to be quite as fairytale as we had […]
