March 24, 2011

The Reds shed a lot of payroll last summer, proof that even the richest and most magnanimous of rich guys felt a pinch in the last two calendar years. Linas Kleiza and Josh Childress were allowed (if not encouraged) to return to the NBA, as did Patrick Beverley, and the Big Sofo era finally ended when he moved to Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Nikola Vujcic moved to Turkey (via Croatia), the remnants of Scoonie Penn moved to the Lega Due, and essentially, half of the rotation had been turned over.

Of course, they still retooled. As Kleiza went to the Raptors, Rasho Nesterovic came back from there, providing Olympiakos with that rarest of beasts - the big slow unathletic European centre who recognises he still has more to give in the paint than behind the three point line. Rasho averages 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in only 21 minutes per game of Euroleague action, having a decent bounce-back season after looking worryingly done last year. (He's also gotten to the free throw 68 times in 34 games, his highest total since getting there 114 times in 2,353 minutes in 82 games in 2003-04. Less jumpers, more clattering to the basket. Let's Euroleague.) The other major frontcourt addition was Matt Nielsen, who came fresh from leading Valencia to the Eurocup title. In direct contravention of Rasho's aforementioned discipline, Nielsen takes every wide open three pointer he is given, and always has done; he is either not cognisant of the fact that he's not a very good three point shooter, or he's not bothered by it. The latter seems more likely, as in all ways other than that one, Nielsen is a smart player, able to hit the mid-range shot, finish around the basket, pass well, and defend those as slow as he, while also making an art form out of talking to the refs. Nielsen has struggled at the Euroleague level thus far, due in no small part to his lack of physical tools, yet he has improved as the season has gone along and has significantly cut down his foul rates.

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April 11, 2010

- Matt Nielsen

Matt Nielsen is an Australian forward who is fouled every trip down the court and who has never made contact with a player in his life. Or so he feels. He has had a strong career, mainly in his native Australia and in Lithuania, but this year he finds himself in Spain, playing for Valencia. On the season Nielsen is averaging 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the Eurocup, alongside 8.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 2.8 apg in the ACB. He has never been much of a three point shooter, but he's taken pretty much every open look he's had this year; unfortunately, that has resulted in only 29.8% three point shooting in the ACB (14-47), and 7.7% in the Eurocup (2-26).

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