Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 50
April 13th, 2010
– Cherokee Parks It was six years and five months ago that Cherokee Parks was last on the roster of a professional basketball team. The Warriors waived him in December 2003, and yet Parks, aged only 31, never played again. He now owns a music club in his hometown of Huntingdon Beach called “The Brigg.” Unbelievably, the NBA’s Cherokee Parks is not the only man in the world with that name. – Marlon Parmer Since 2005, Marlon Parmer has played in the NBA, the CBA, Saudi Arabia, Poland, the ABA, Qatar, Venezuela, Estonia, Qatar again, the D-League, and Saudi Arabia again. It’s been a well travelled few years, and were it not for the American and European stints in there, we’d have to change the name of the Dan Langhi tour. This year he has been in Lebanon, playing for Sagesse, but unfortunately no statistics are available. Parmer quit New Mexico in January 2002 after an argument with then-head coach, Fran Frascilla. He then transferred to Division II Kentucky Wesleyan for his senior season, and averaged 20/6/8, but it wasn’t enough to get drafted. Parmer was a training camp signing of the Timberwolves in 2005 after averaging 22/9 in China the previous season, showing once again that China can do wonders for a guy’s NBA prospects. – Drago Pasalic Two-time Bulls summer leaguer and Croatian national team member Drago Pasalic is in Spain playing for Obradoiro, an ACB team looking pretty doomed. He is averaging only 14.8 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.8 fouls per game. The jump shot is still there; the rest of the game is not. Obradoiro are second-last in the ACB with an 8-21 record, and lost by a hefty 26 points to fellow relegation strugglers Meridiano only today. Ex-NBA forward Paul Davis, […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 39
February 26th, 2009
– Smush Parker started the season in the D-League, averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and an almighty 5.1 turnovers per game for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He then went off to China, where he may have become literally the only American import whose numbers went down in the CBA. Parker averages 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals for Guangdong, numbers that are pretty unimpressive in relative terms. Luckily for Smush, I don’t know his Chinese turnover numbers. – I don’t know what Cherokee Parks does now, but his sister Corey is no longer the bass player for seminal hard rock band Nashville Pussy, and hasn’t been for about eight years. Another really useful update for you here. Be grateful. – Marlon Parmer spent some time earlier this season playing backup point guard for the Colorado 14ers, averaging 8.0 points and 3.6 assists, but was waived in January and has not signed elsewhere since. – Ruben Patterson hasn’t had a great couple of years. After a career year with the Bucks in the final year of his big contract, all Ruben could manage for the 2007/08 season was an unguaranteed minimum salary contract with the Clippers. He was then waived before the contract guarantee date, and didn’t catch on with a playoff team. Patterson then joined the Nuggets for preseason this year, but never really had a legitimate shot at making the team, as the cost-cutting Nuggets didn’t really want any of their five signings (despite having two open roster spots) because it would mean spending money to keep them. Patterson was subsequently waived, and hasn’t signed elsewhere since, after a rumoured move to Spain didn’t come off. Will he catch on with a playoff team for this deadline? Who knows. The […]
More Liquorice Allsorts
January 24th, 2009
1: The following YouTube video has done the rounds recently, showing an impressive double alley’oop in a highly one-sided high school game. That clip reminded me of this one, featuring the Los Angeles Clippers’ “overloaded with potential” era, specifically Darius Miles and Lamar Odom. (Also, is it Sean Rooks throwing that frontcourt pass? I think so.) “The Lob, The Jam” Since Kevin Calabro left us, Ralph Lawler has assumed the title of Best Announcer Of Any NBA Team. If ever you forget that, watch this clip. Great call, Ralph. Great call. 2: While looking for that clip, I also found this one. Portland Trail Blazers Miracle Minute I loved that so-called “Jail Blazers” team. Loved it. There was just so much talent on it, so much depth, and so much athleticism (which, not matter how much you appreciate skill, is something that makes the game more fun, as evidenced by this clip). That particular Blazers team also had Steve Kerr and Chris Dudley, two all-time favourites of mine. It was great times all around. But it’s a bit odd, when you think about it. All but one Blazer in this clip is now out of the league. Derek Anderson is unsigned. Bonzi Wells is in China. Ruben Patterson is unsigned. Scottie Pippen is kicking 50’s door down. (Not 50 Cent, but the age.) Kerr is the Suns’ General Manager now, and Chris Dudley is Kevin Love’s mentor. (Well, he was, briefly.) Rasheed Wallace is still with us, but not the same Rasheed Wallace as we see today, and the rest of the roster not seen in this clip (Damon Stoudamire, Dale Davis, Shawn Kemp, Erick Barkley, Mitchell Butler, Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, Rick Brunson) are all out of the league. The only ones that aren’t are Sheed and Zach Randolph, […]
30 teams in 36 or so days: Milwaukee Bucks
September 15th, 2007
Players acquired via free agency or trade: Desmond Mason (two years, $10.4 million) Jake Voskuhl (one year, $3 million) Awvee Storey (one year minimum) Players acquired via draft: First round: Yi Jianlian (6th overall) Second round: Ramon Sessions (56th overall) Players retained: Maurice Williams (re-signed, six years, $51.263 million) Players departed: Ersan Ilyasova (signed in Spain, rights retained), Charlie Bell (unsigned, rights retained for now), Damir Markota (waived on general principle, see blog entry), Earl Boykins (opted out, unsigned), Jared Reiner (signed in Spain), Ruben Patterson (signed with Clippers), Brian Skinner (team option declined, unsigned) Bobbins: It’s difficult to convey how I feel about the Bucks offseason and recent past without stealing too much directly from my own recent blog entry. So that’s exactly what I’ll do. After a poor 2004-05 season in which they finished with a disappointing 30-52 record, the Bucks beat long odds to win the lottery, and also had maximum cap room available to them. This offseason, they once again had potentially maximum cap room, and a high pick (#6) in a supposedly powerhouse draft. And once again, they have not taken advantage. 2005’s offseason yielded Andrew Bogut with the first overall pick, one of the better players of a weak draft but far from the best. The cap space was spent on re-signing Michael Redd to a maximum contract (decide amongst yourselves whether it was worth it), signing the Most Improved Player of the previous season (Bobby Simmons) to a $46.4 million contract only to then see him miss one season and disappoint in the next, and re-signing Dan Gadzuric to a considerably overpriced deal, all while letting the younger, cheaper and better Zaza Pachulia sign with Atlanta, unchallenged. This offseason brought much of the same. They signed another starting small […]
