Taurean Green and Quinton Hosley are both now Georgian citizens, apparently
June 3rd, 2010

On this website is a list of player nationalities. It’s a pretty useful tool, partly for reason of trivia, but also because it lists some of the more bizarre citizenships that high-level basketball players have accrued in recent years. Two new additions can now be made to that list. Former Florida guard Taurean Green and former Fresno State forward Quinton Hosley, according to Greek website gazzetta.gr, now have Georgian passports. Inevitable crude translation follows: The American guard the Union acquired a passport from Georgia, so most will be able to negotiate better terms in the next transcription. The third best scorer in the Greek league with 15.2 points average points will no longer be deemed as a Community and the only relationship that will from now on with IMG, is the pursuit of money due. Along with Greene became the Georgian citizenship and Quintas Choslei former player including Real Madrid. The decision on who gets the nomination the only natouralize entitled each country uses will be made this summer. The American who struggled so far in the national agriculture is Samont Williams Malaga. The news comes from a Greek website because Green has been playing there. This season, for AEK Athens, he has averaged 15.1 points and 3.6 assists per game, particularly impressive totals when you consider that he was essentially doing this for free (AEK, like so many Greek teams, have fallen way behind on his payments.) Hosley, meanwhile, has been in Turkey, averaging 18.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game. Both are beginning what should be good and lengthy careers in European basketball; therefore, the addition of these passports, which will allow them to bypass certain laws on non-EU import quotas that most leagues have, will help no end. Other famous nationalised Georgian basketball […]

Posted by at 5:13 AM

Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 58
April 19th, 2010

– Marc Salyers After years of being a huge scorer, Marc Salyers has come back to Earth this year. Playing for Le Mans, Salyers is averaging 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in the French league, He’s still pretty good, but in relative terms he’s having a down year – his PER is down five points from last year to an average of 15.2, and his EuroCup statistics were an almost identical 12.7/4.5/2.3. Le Mans are tied for the lead in the French league with Cholet, but lost to Cholet in overtime yesterday. Salyers had only eight points in 34 minutes.   – Cheikh Samb Samb’s only contract this year was a one-month deal with Real Madrid back in October. He played in only one game and played only two minutes. He went for a tryout in Latvia with VEF Riga in early February, but they couldn’t get him a work visa. Samb remains unsigned.   – Jamal Sampson Sampson played in China last year, and was said to join up with the stacked L.A. Lightning IBL team last summer, but never played a game for the team. This season, he joined up with Philippines team Smart Gilas to act as C.J. Giles’s replacement (and not his predecessor as I mistakenly wrote earlier). Statistics are unavailable, but it’s not gone well. Also, in a summer league round-up for the Golden State Warriors back in July, I called him “a pretty terrible offensive player,” citing it as a reason for his offensive struggles in China. Sampson wants it known that the reason he averaged only 10.7 points per game in China was because he was playing injured all year. Correction noted.   – Ricky Sanchez Former Nuggets draft pick Sanchez, whose rights are now owned by the Sixers, […]

Posted by at 4:53 PM

Where Are They Now, 2009: Part 45
March 4th, 2009

– Jamal Sampson started the year in China (woop!), but unfortunately his averages were rather normal. Sampson averaged 10.7 points and 10.7 rebounds for the DongGuan New Century Leopards, before being replaced in early February by Cory Underwood, the team clearly realising that if Olumide Oyedije can average 20/20, then Sampson should at least average 35/26. But he didn’t.   – Ricky Sanchez, whose rights are owned by Philadelphia, is embroiled in a bit of a soap opera. Sanchez played last season in his native Puerto Rico for Grises de Humacao, but hasn’t played in the few months since that season ended. Currently, there’s an argument going on within Puerto Rico as to who he can and can’t play for. At some point in time, Sanchez was traded to the awesomely named Ponce Lions, but the Puerto Rican season is about to start, and Sanchez refuses to play for Ponce. The reason given by his agent is that Sanchez plans to attend “some” NBA camps this season (something clearly he considers to be possible), and he doesn’t want to be tied into a contract with a BSN (Puerto Rican league) team should an NBA offer come his way. Someone should tell him that it won’t, and ease the crisis. The dispute rages on, as FIBA have banned Sanchez from playing in the Venezuelan league. Apparently you need a formal letter of transfer to leave the Puerto Rican league, even if you’re a free agent. Harsh. A hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.   – Melvin Sanders is playing for Gran Canaria in Spain. He averaged 14.3 points per game in eight EuroCup games, and averages 10.2 points per game in 19 Spanish league games. He also has 24 total assists in those 27 games. Sanders recently picked up a Georgian passport, […]

Posted by at 12:38 AM