Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 15
January 18th, 2009
– Bryant Dunston is in South Korea, averaging 17.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.9 blocks for a team called Mobis Phoebus. Dunston doesn’t have any great chance of making the NBA, but after watching the entire Lakers summer league – in which an extremely backcourt-heavy roster started Dunston at centre, with Sharrod Ford at power forward – I grew to like him. I seemed to like his unathletic yet reasonably smooth game featuring plenty of lefty baby hooks and defensive positioning. It reminded me of Michael Sweetney. And I like Michael Sweetney. (In fairness to Dunston, at age 22 with reasonable skill, he still has a faint chance of sniffing the NBA at some point, even if it’s only a camp invite. But I don’t think signing in Korea is getting it done. And he should probably put those three-pointers to bed.)
– Ronald “Doop” Dupree didn’t make the Cavaliers out of training camp, and went back to the D-League with the Tulsa 66ers. As is often the case when he’s in the D-League, Doop has beasted, averaging 19.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists, but he still can’t shoot consistently, shooting only 31% from three-point range and 69% from the free throw line. He’ll also be 28 on January 26th, so a happy birthday to him.
– Ndudi Ebi is signed in Italy, and still hasn’t panned out. Ndudi is the third-leading scorer on an Italian team called Carife Ferrara, behind Harold Jamison (THE Harold Jamison! Throw-in to the Miles for McInnis swap Harold Jamison!) and Andre Collins (yes, THE Andre Collins! From Loyola! The very same!). Ebi is really the fourth leading scorer, if you also include Rick Apodaca (THE Rick Apodaca! Former Magic training camp invitee Rick Apodaca! Et cetera!), but Apodaca only played in five games before being kicked off the team after testing positive for pot. Ebi averages 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game, and rather impressively has only two assists in 15 games. Especially impressive given the sheer unrelenting calibre of scoring options that I just outlined.
– Former Hawks and Pacers centre John Edwards was recently acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the D-League, averaging 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and is still pushing his campaign towards ending poverty in America. (That was a John Edwards switcharoony. You can’t write comedy gold like that. Well, unless you’re me.)
– I’ve got nothing on Howard Eisley, but I’m also not up for a Chris Crawford-style campaign, either. By the way, an update on that – it appears that Crawford tried a comeback in mid-2006, which ended without any contract being offered. He has moved back to Galesburg, Michigan, owns a company called Slam Dunk Stables, and somebody sent me a Google Earth overhead shot of his house. The internet – it’s faaaaaantastic.
– Obinna Ekezie has not played since a stint in Russia ended in April 2007. After almost two years out of the game, and about to turn 34, I’m going to assume that Ekezie is probably out of the game for good. Feel free to correct me, Obinna Ekezie’s agent.
– Frank Elegar is signed with Bremerhaven in Germany, where he averages 9.2 points and 5.6 rebounds. Despite boasting both Jared Reiner and Mike Gansey, along with a brief stay by Marcus Slaughter, Bremerhaven are stone dead last in the German first division, with a 1-16 record. As for Fun Time Franky, like with Bryant Dunston above, Elegar’s shot at this NBA thing is pretty slim, but, like Bryant Dunston above, Frank Elegar impressed in summer league, as he showed a decent mid-range game with the Wizards, even if his free throw release was kind of amusing. Note to very fringe NBA players out there – this is how you get famous. Sign in summer league and show something, and I’ll write nice things about you to a worldwide audience. And you can’t get much more famous than by appearing on this website, let me tell you – Alexa.com says that this is the 79,062nd most popular website in Hungary. You can’t buy publicity gold like that.
– Lior Eliyahu is in his third season with Maccabi Tel Aviv, and improving his numbers of last year. Eliyahu leads his team in EuroLeague play, averaging 14.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists, and he doesn’t do badly in Israeli league play either, where he averages a further 13.0 points, 5.6 points and 3.3 assists. Is that NBA calibre talent? Yep, probably, though he will have to get far more physical.
– Georgian superstar Tyrone Ellis averages 11.4 points in Spanish League play, and 9.8 points in EuroChallenge play. His backcourt team mates include former Pacer, Tyus Edney, who barely plays, and who is about to turn 36. Oh wait, sorry, I forgot to tell you who Ellis plays for, didn’t I? It’s Cajasol Sevilla. In Spain. Specifically, in Sevilla.
– Chris Ellis is on the same Tulsa 66ers team as Doop is. Ellis averages 6.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20 games, shooting 38% from the floor.
– Andre Emmett went to Pau Orthez after being waived by the Sixers in training camp, and in the early going Emmett was a big boost to the struggling French side, averaging 23 points and 5.4 rebounds in five games despite missing nearly a month due to injury. However, in December, Emmett left the team. My French is a bit ropey, but as far as I call tell, he went home for Christmas, and didn’t come back. That’s European basketball for you, everybody. Wouldn’t it be funny if that happened in the NBA?
– Carl English is styling in Spain, where he averages 15.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists in Spanish league play for Kalise Gran Canaria. He also just won player of the week honours, in a week that saw him play so well that he won player of the week honours. What an honour. By the way, why do Americans call the spin you put on a pool/snooker ball “English”? Is it funny or clever? The word is “side”, “spin”, or “sidespin”. Don’t mess with perfection.
– Finally, Zoran Erceg is playing for Olympiacos in Greece, where he averages 7.2 points in Greek league play, and 5.8 points in the EuroLeague. You can’t buy informative gold like that. Or rather, you can, but you don’t have to, because I did it for you. ShamSports.com – the website that cares. About Zoran Erceg.
