Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 32
March 18th, 2010
– Lindsey Hunter Lindsey Hunter was finally crowbarred off the Bulls roster a couple of weeks ago. This was a good thing; Hunter hasn’t been an NBA calibre player for some years, yet in all that time teams have believed so much in his off-court attributes that they have caved to his demands and signed him as a player, rather than as a coach. Never mind, it’s over now; Hunter was waived a fortnight ago to make room for Chris Richard, and immediately was hired (reclassified) as a player development assistant. – Othello Hunter Hunter was one of eight signings made by the Atlanta Hawks for training camp, but he was the only one to win a spot. The Hawks decided to keep two open spots and Hunter in favour of any of Mike Wilks, Juan Dixon, Garret Siler, Mario West (who they later brought back anyway), Aaron Miles, Frank Robinson and Courtney Sims. Such is the current economic climate. (By the way, for the last week or so, Courtney Sims’s name has been awesomely misspelt on Latinbasket.com. They’ve corrected the mistake now, but for a while there, you can probably work out what it said. [Note; very NSFW.] At least they still list Antoine Walker as “Anthony Walker.”) Hunter stuck with the team until the contract guarantee date, playing all of 29 minutes in that time, recording 11 points and 12 rebounds. When waived, he went unsigned for a few weeks before joining the struggling Ilysiakos in Greece, currently last in the A1 with a 4-16 record. In two games for the team, Hunter has record 47 minutes, 17 points and 12 rebounds. One of those two losses was a 41-point defeat at the hands of Olympiacos. – Ekene Ibekwe Maryland graduate Ibekwe was having a good […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 26
February 2nd, 2009
I’m kind of overexcitable today, with a level of maturity that belies my 24 years of age. I feel pretty much like a small child today. And I feel like a small child today because I’ve just acted like one. Today, 2nd February 2009, marks the day that I built the first snowman of my life. And here it is: Experienced snowmen builders out there will have noticed a few faults in my technique. For example, it’s plain to see that I’ve fallen into the usual rookie trap of making a base that is way too big, overestimating what I will have the patience to achieve, and then having to hurriedly heap snow on top, crudely falling into kind of a cone shape, making my snowman’s body resemble a sumo wrestler melting. Additionally, I don’t have any coal, so the classic coal eyes have had to be replaced by a pair of police aviators. I also didn’t have a carrot, so a parsnip suffices as the nose, and insulating tape forms a rudimentary mouth shape for no particular reason. I also have no explanation as to why he is holding a retro early 90’s tennis racket, or a duck on a stick, but these additions seemed vital at the time. As did the Stetson. But I’m proud of it anyway, because it’s my first one. And everyone remembers their first time. Why haven’t I built one before? Well, because it’s never snowed like this before. And why am I telling you all this? Because I felt like it. Anyhoo. To some basketball stuff. – Serge Ibaka played in the LEB Gold last year, and has upgraded to the ACB this year. He’s not tearing things up at the moment, with sedate averages of 6.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 1.0 […]
30 teams in 88 or so days: New Orleans Hornets
October 16th, 2007
Players acquired via free agency or trade: Morris Peterson (four years, $22.4 million) Melvin Ely (two year minimum) David Wesley (acquired from Cleveland, to be waived) Ryan Bowen (one year minimum) Trey Johnson (two year minimum) Players acquired via draft: First round: Julian Wright (13th overall) Second round: Adam Haluska (43rd overall) Players retained: Jannero Pargo (re-signed, two years, $3,806,400) Players departed: Brandon Bass (signed with Dallas) Devin Brown (signed with Cleveland) Marc Jackson (signed in Greece) Linton Johnson (signed in Spain) Desmond Mason (signed with Milwaukee) Cedric Simmons (traded to Cleveland) Bobbins: It’s hard to see quite what New Orleans planned to do going into this offseason. If their intention was to surround Chris Paul with shooters, as it probably was and definitely should have been, then it’s a job well done. In retaining Jannero Pargo while bringing in Morris Peterson and Adam Haluska to replace Devin Brown and Desmond Mason, the Hornets’ outside shooting takes another step forward. And when combined with the returning Rasual Butler and Bobby Jackson, as well as the return from injury of Peja Stojakovic, the Hornets’ outside shooting will be a strength this upcoming season. The backcourt depth in general is pretty strong. The frontcourt depth, however, is another matter. New Orleans seems content to roll with only four recognised big men, two of whom are Hilton Armstrong and Melvin Ely. Ely’s pretty bad despite one season of decency (and a contract season at that, how coincidental), whereas Armstrong is coming off of an incredibly raw rookie year. This seems to me as though it should be more of a pressing concern to Hornets management, given that the two players they’re backing up (Tyson Chandler and David West) haven’t exactly been the poster boys for health at any point […]