Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 44
April 9th, 2010
– Aaron McKie Since his surprising and ultimately irrelevant “comeback” with the Grizzlies in 2007, McKie went back to where he already was; on the Philadelphia 76ers bench as an assistant coach. He did not play for the Grizzlies at any point. Probably best. – Keith McLeod Looking to get back into the NBA, Keith McLeod has spent a second season with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the D-League. His numbers this year were up across the board from last year; McLeod averaged 21.8 points, 5.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, and even shot 39% from three-point range. However, McLeod shot only 40.0% from the field overall, which suggests he hasn’t mended his lay-ups problem, and also turned it over three times a game. The points per game were nice, but I don’t think 30-year-old 6’2 jump shooters are getting it done. – Gerry McNamara Despite being on the Utah Jazz roster as recently as 18 months ago, Gerry McNamara has retired from basketball. He did so about a year ago, actually. After leaving the Jazz, McNamara went to the D-League for a bit with the Reno Bighorns, but professional basketball in front of sparse crowds didn’t hold the same lustre that his Syracuse days did. So he retired last April to return to Syracuse as an graduate assistant coach, where he remains today. And that’s fair enough. If he doesn’t want to do it, then why should he? – Jerel McNeal Marquette star McNeal joined the Kings for summer league after going undrafted, joining up with his former team mate Wesley Matthews. He got to play quite a few minutes with the team, but they were mostly at point guard, and McNeal still isn’t one. He didn’t get a contract offer from the Kings, […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 35
February 19th, 2009
– Rich Melzer is currently unsigned, and played only three games last season for the German side Quackenbrueck, whose name also doubles as a duck’s favourite breakfast. Having just turned 29, this doesn’t seem like a particularly healthy direction for Melzer’s career to be going towards. Then again, he used to play in Australia, so this might be better. – Pops Mensah-Bonsu is a legend. There are two reasons why I think this. The first is because he’s English. The second is because he’s a legend. Pops started the year with DKV Joventut Badalona in Spain, playing five Spanish league games and totalling 14/9 in his one EuroLeague game, before injuring himself (I think it was his shoulder) in late October. DKV released him (I think it was by mutual consent), and Pops spent the next three months on the sidelines. However, in late January he returned, and was acquired by the Austin Toros of the D-League as just one more in their long line of decent big men this season. In the six games that Pops has played for Austin, he has absolutely beasted in the way that only legends can, averaging a fully-stuffed stat line of 25.3 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 4.7 fpg, 2.8 spg and 1.3 bpg, and shooting 61% from the field. This man can, will and should be in the NBA. By the way, with him, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Joel Freeland and potentially Kelenna Azubuike (whose initial application for a British passport was turned down, even though he was born in London, due to the immigration status of his parents at the time), British basketball finally has something that it has never previously had; genuine hope. That’s a starting five that could beat the Kings right now, and it’s all ours (sort […]
