Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 4
January 3rd, 2010
For what it’s worth, the Marko Jaric buyout was completed very quietly on Christmas Eve, and he’s now a fully fledged member of Real Madrid. He put up 12/8/5 on debut, playing 41 minutes. In a 40 minute game. Not bad. (There was overtime.) – Brandon Armstrong Remember Brandon Armstrong? So do I, just about. (He was a great pickup in NBA Live 2004.) Armstrong is from Pepperdine, and left school as its 21st all-time leading scorer after playing only two years there. In his final season, he averaged 22.1 points and 1.6 assists per game, which kind of hints at his style of play. He was drafted by the Rockets with the 23rd pick in the 2001 Draft, and then was the “other guy” traded along with Jason Collins and Richard Jefferson to the Nets in exchange for Eddie Griffin. (The more hindsight you use, the more terrible of a trade that looks. RIP Eddie.) Armstrong played three years with the Nets…or rather, he didn’t play three years with the Nets. Armstrong was on the roster for three years, but spent most of that time on the injured list with pseudo injuries (unless of course he really did have four lower back strains in five months). He played in only 108 games and 699 minutes in those three seasons, totalling 239 points on 280 shots with 24 total assists, a true shooting percentage of .404%, and a PER of 4.9. He signed with the Warriors for training camp in 2004, but did not make the team, and has never come back to the NBA. He’s not very well known any more, as evidenced by a quick Google of his name, which reveals the second hit of “Brandon Armstrong – murder victim.” This is another Brandon Armstrong; the Brandon […]
Vin Baker signs in Venezuela
June 19th, 2009
ElUniversal.com: Marinos De Anzoategui signo ex estrella de la NBA Vincenzo Panadero. Marinos reiniciará sus entrenamientos mañana en la noche. La franquicia aguarda por el ala-pivot Héctor Romero, quien está en fase de rehabilitación por un desgarro en el muslo derecho. Será sometido a una ecografía y dependiendo del resultado se sabrá si podrá unirse o no al cinco naval, que conserva en la reserva al ex NBA Vin Baker. “Llegó fuera de forma y por ello no lo probamos”. Always-amusing crude online translation: Marine restarted their training tomorrow night. The franchise is looking for the wing-pivot Hector Romero, who is undergoing rehabilitation for a tear in his right thigh. Shall undergo an ultrasound and to the outcome will be known whether or not you can join the five ships, which kept in reserve to former NBA Vin Baker. “He arrived out of shape and why they did not try.” Does this mean that Hector Romero is out of shape, or that Vin Baker is? I don’t know, because I don’t speak Spanish. (Except for the words “horse”, “donkey”, “milk”, “hello beautiful lady”, “butter”, “oil” and “exit”. So far, I’ve found that this gets me everything I’ve ever needed in Spain.) But there’s evidence that it’s the latter. Vin Baker had a trial in China earlier this season, but was released after a few days because he was out of shape. This counts against him.
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 4
January 4th, 2009
– Malick Badiane was an exciting thing for Houston Rockets fans for a few years. They could pretend that his underwhelming numbers in less-than-stellar European leagues were not as important as the idea of having a seven-foot young, athletic, defensive minded centre, who could grow into some weird yet perfect merger of Kevin Garnett and Dikembe Mutombo. But it slowly emerged that Badiane wasn’t getting anywhere fast, and was not getting to the top echelons of Europe, let alone the NBA. Badiane’s rights were then meekly thrown into the Mike James/Bobby Jackson swap of last season, and from then on it was Memphis fans who had someone to keep the loosest tabs on. Badiane then accepted Memphis’ tender offer to come to training camp this summer – whether they wanted this or not is another matter – but unsurprisingly, he didn’t make the team. He subsequently signed in China, but left before playing a game, and is now unemployed, probably living it up with Rafael Araujo or something. (I have this idea in my head that all currently unsigned basketball players constantly hang out together. It’s not true, but it’s a fun image anyway.) – Dalibor Bagaric had reportedly signed a guaranteed contract with the Atlanta Hawks this summer, as Hawks GM Rick Sund once again pursued a player he nearly signed when Sund was with Seattle. But this didn’t happen, as evidenced by the fact that it didn’t happen. Instead, Bagaric went back to Fortitudo Bologna, where he averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds in two games in October. Now, I can’t speak Italian or Spanish, so I can’t tell if he’s still there and/or injured/out of favour, or if he left ages ago, but at the very least I can tell you that he is being pursued […]
