Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 12

January 17th, 2010

– Brian Butch

After going undrafted despite working out for basically every NBA team at some point (and going to summer league with the Memphis Grizzlies, where he barely played), Butch split his first professional season between Spain, China and Germany. He spent most of it in Germany, averaging 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for Noerdlingen, and this summer he signed in Greece for Ilysiakos. In three games, Butch put up 42 points and 16 rebounds in only 49 minutes, with 10 three-pointers, and led the team in points and rebounds despite not playing half the game. But Ilysiakos released him anyway for reasons I’m unable to Google, and Butch has returned to America and joined the D-League. For the Bakersfield Jam – a team who announced they were folding after last season yet who seem to have found a stay of execution from somewhere – Butch averages 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 blocks in 31 minutes per game. He’d play more if it wasn’t for the four fouls per game.

Here is Brian Butch scantily clad in scanty cladding.

– Geno Carlisle

Despite being far older than the age of player that the league was really designed for, ex-NBA player Carlisle spent last year in the D-League playing for the Anaheim Arsenal. He played only a month for the team, averaging 8.9 ppg in 18 games, before being waived last January due to injury, and has been unsigned ever since. It’s not entirely unprecedented for Carlisle to be out of the game for a year, as he did the same between early 2007 and early 2008 as well. But since he turns 34 this year and was last heard of being waived due to injury, it doesn’t bode well.

– Alejandro Carmona

Carmona appears to have established a rhythm method, playing in his native Puerto Rico during the summer months and in Mexico during the winter. Since it’s currently the winter – for me, at least; God knows what it’s like over there – Carmona is in Mexico playing for Fuerza Regia Monterrey. He is averaging 17.2 points and 0.7 assists per game in the LNBP, but hasn’t been entirely consistent in doing so; his scoring outputs in his last seven games before Christmas read 11, 8, 2, 43, 40, 12 and 14.

Carmona was a member of the Pistons training camp roster in 2005 after strong showings with the Puerto Rican national team. This is why you are to be interested in him.

– Jaycee Carroll

Carroll is in Spain, moving from Italy, where he spent last year with Bancas Teramo. He is playing for Gran Canaria and averaging 17.9 points per game, good enough for third in the ACB. Considering that the ACB is the second-strongest basketball league in the world, and that those points per game rank even higher than luminaries such as Juan Carlos Navarro, that is no mean feat.

He totalled 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in a EuroCup game from last month that I’m about to watch. This could well bias me for life.

– Pat Carroll

Much like Carlisle did last year, Carroll has decided to spend this year in the D-League, despite kicking 30’s door down. Carroll has played and started in all 22 games for the Iowa Energy this season, and is averaging 9.7 points and 3.0 rebounds on the season, shooting 44% from the field and 36% from three-point range.

Pat Carroll does not appear on the first page of Google results for his own name. People who do appear in a search for Pat Carroll include an actress from The Little Mermaid, an online running coach, a fitness specialist, a respiratory therapist and the original Cinderella sountrack. But no Pat Carroll the basketball player. Tough break, man.

– Josh Carter

Ex-Texas A&M swingman Carter went undrafted this summer, and couldn’t get an NBA contract even after a summer league gig with the Suns. Subsequently, he moved to Germany to play with EWE Baskets Oldenburg, a team that was in the EuroLeague this season. Oldenburg were one of the worst teams in the EuroLeague this season (no offence), and were knocked out in the group stage with a 1-9 record (joint worst with Orleans), but the EuroLeague is still the EuroLeague, and so Carter’s gig has some pedigree. Carter didn’t play especially well in the EuroLeague, averaging 7.8 points and 2.5 rebounds on 35% shooting, but he’s doing a little better in the German league where he averages 9.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 21 minutes per game, shooting 44% from the field and 41% from three-point range.

– Maurice Carter

Reports that Maurice Carter came out of a three-and-a-half year basketball hiatus last year to play for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League last January were greatly exaggerated. They were actually more than exaggerated; they were wrong. That was a different Maurice Carter. The Maurice Carter we’re referring to here – the former LSU graduate, minor league veteran, and fleeting member of both the L.A. Lakers and Nawlins Hornets – has not played since 2005. I have no other information on that.

– Russell Carter

Notre Dame graduate Carter hasn’t been a hugely successful pro career so far. His first year was spent mostly in the Italian second division, and last year he averaged only 8.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in the French league. Interspersed in there have been a few stops in the D-League, and it is there where Carter finds himself right now as a member of the Austin Toros. However, that too isn’t going very well; in 15 games with the team Carter is averaging only 5.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, shooting 38% from the field, 19% from three-point range and 55% from the foul line, with a 1:3 assist/turnover ratio (not 3:1). He started the year as a starter for the team, but now is out of the rotation, and has not played since January 8th.

– Warren Carter

Carter spent most of his summer months with the Knicks, joining up with them for summer league and doing well enough to earn a training camp spot. After being waived, Carter went to Greece, where he signed with Ilysiakos as Brian Butch’s replacement. It all ties in nicely. Carter is averaging 12.3 points and 6.9 rebounds on the season, highlighted by a 17-point 14-rebound performance in which he also shot five threes. Only hit one, though.

Warren Carter is Josh Carter’s older brother. I didn’t know this until just now. It all ties in even more nicely.

– Sam Cassell

Sam Cassell is currently an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards. This is far from the smoothest way a man could start a coaching career.

– Steve Castleberry

Rider product Castleberry is spending his second season with Podebrady in the Czech Republic. Castleberry’s numbers are up across the board from last year, and on the season he is averaging 13.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.1 blocks, shooting 62% from both the field and the foul line.

Steve Castleberry used to be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. I wonder if they let him keep his jersey.

He has a Twitter, but it’s set to private. What don’t you want us to know about you, Steve Castleberry?

Finally…..

– Kelvin Cato

Kelvin Cato is absent, last playing with the New York Knicks in the 2006/07 season and avoiding being heard from since. Although the one piece of post-2007 Kelvin Cato that the internet DOES provide is that apparently he sweats heavily at bad moments.