Where Are They Now, 2009: Part 47

March 5th, 2009

– Chester “Tre” Simmons is signed with Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but is not in the rotation, averaging only 9.7 minutes and 4 points per game in the Israeli league with several DNP’s thrown in. Simmons was also this week reportedly involved in a fight in (and outside) a nightclub that saw teammate D’Or Fischer have his face slashed by unknown assailants, resulting in micro-surgery needed to correct nerve damage. Allegedly, this group of unknowns had gone to the club to seek vengeance on Fischer’s father, who was visiting Fischer at the time and with whom they had had a “run-in” earlier on. However, Fischer’s father, who was at the club, had already left, and that’s when it all kicked off. Simmons was unhurt, and it was him who took Fischer to the hospital, but by being out at the club in the first place, the two were violating a team rule, and so will probably be punished. In Simmons’s case, give how little they seem to need him (or like him), he might get released.

– Courtney Sims is back in the D-League after his second ten-day contract with the Suns expired anonymously last month. He has totalled 53 points in the two games since his return to the Iowa Energy, and averages 23.0 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. The blocks per game numbers are coming way down, however, as Sims found it a tad tricky to keep up the average of 8 blocks per game that he held during the first two contests. (He had a 22-point, 17-rebound, 11-block triple-double on his debut for the Energy. That’s Olumide Oyedeji-esque.)

– Ha Seung-Jin’s mate Nedzad Sinanovic is on loan from Real Madrid to Burgos in the LEB Gold (Spanish second division), where he frankly still underwhelms. Sinanovic averages 9.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.1 fouls in 17.3 minutes per game, still seemingly extremely raw despite being about to turn 26. Nevertheless, regardless of his non-existent NBA prospects, his aborted attempt at a duel with Ha during the Blazers’s 2005 offseason will forever cement his legacy as one of the game’s true greats, even if his play is ultimately insignificant. Here is a picture of Ned, as well as a crudely translated and uninsightful interview with him.

– Ramunas Siskauskas, who declared for the NBA draft one year too early, is the best player on a CSKA Moscow team that is arguably the best in Europe. Siskauskas averages 12.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in the Russian Superleague (where CSKA are undefeated), and 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in the EuroLeague (where they nearly are).

– Marcus Slaughter started the season with Bremerhaven in Germany, but left after eight games. He did, though, manage to average 18.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in that time. Slaughter then moved to France, where, playing for Le Havre (I’ve been there!), he averages 14.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals in the French league, alongside 12.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 steals in the six games he played for Le Havre’s EuroCup campaign.

– Tamar Slay is playing for Air Avellino, a struggling Italian team. Slay averages 14.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in the Italian league (admittedly in only three games), along with 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in the EuroLeague. Slay returned from a six-week layoff on Sunday and scored a game-high 17 points for Avellino in their Serie A match against La Fortezza Bologna. They lost anyway.

– Uros Slokar is signed with Fortitudo Bologna (not the same team as La Fortezza Bologna). Slokar averages 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in the Italian league, but he hasn’t played since late December. A quick scan of his Facebook wall shows a post that says “hi uros how is your hand?”, leading me to believe that Uros Slokar has broken his hand. And this is why adding fringe NBA players to your Facebook friends list is worth it.

– Kirk Snyder is in China, so we’ll cut the sizzle and give you the steak; Zhejiang, 32.8, 10.1, 4.4.

– Jefferson Sobral averages 14.1 points and 5.5 rebounds for Joinvile of Brazil. But before the next entry, a short quiz.

Q: Who is Jefferson Sobral?
A: He’s a man who won a training camp spot with the Lakers in 2002, and again with the Nuggets in 2006.

Q: How did he do that?
A: Don’t know.

 

– D-League starlet Pape Sow is with Armani Jeans Milano, where he recently underwent surgery for a broken nose. (Or at least, this is my interpretation of the Italian sentence “Pape Sow e’ stato operato nella mattinata al setto nasale”. For the record, I can’t speak a word of Italian.) Sow averages 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in the Italian league, alongside 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the EuroLeague.

– Finally, Vassilis Spanoulis is with Panathinaikos, where he has been since the whole NBA thing went wrong for him. Spanner averages 9.3 points and 3.7 assists per game in the EuroLeague, alongside 9.0 points and 2.5 assists per game in the Greek league. I’m now off to watch one of his games. See ya.