Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 57
April 17th, 2010
My bracket: My NCAA tournament bracket had more than a dollop of fail about it, so hopefully this one will be better that. I have incredibly few upsets scheduled, as you can see. And sorry to Portland fans for being the only sweep victims pencilled in; it’s purely because of the Brandon Roy thing. With him, you might even take them. But without him, it’s problems. – Richard Roby Colorado graduate Roby has spent the first two years of his career in Israel. He spent his first year with Bnei Hasharon, averaging 9.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, and this year he moved to Maccabi Haifa. Roby is averaging a similar 8.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game there, but is shooting only 27% from three-point range and is turning it over 1.7 times per game (compared to only 1.3 assists). Here’s a little video about Richard Roby made by Bnei Hasharon, notable for its brief Cookie Belcher cameo. (He’s the other American in the clip.) Belcher is now into his fifth season with the team, and is averaging 12.1 points and 3.0 assists. – Leon Rodgers Rodgers has toured the world in recent years, scoring big wherever he’s gone. He averaged 21.3 ppg in his final college season for Northern Illinois in 2002. He averaged 19.4 ppg for Brandt Hagen in Germany in 2003. He averaged 20.8 ppg for Orleans in France in 2004. He averaged 19.9 ppg for Eiffel Towers Nijmegen in Holland in 2005, and 21.8 ppg for Eiffel Towers Den Bosch in 2006. (Not the same team. It’s a long story.) He averaged 22.6 ppg in 2007, again with Den Bosch. He averaged 13.1 ppg for Quakenbrueck in Germany in 2008, and then 2009 was his crowning glory, averaging 35.0 […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 55
April 16th, 2010
– Jason Richards Davidson guard Richards’ first professional season was a washout. He joined the Miami Heat for training camp, but blew his knee out in practice and missed the entire year. In doing so, his contract became guaranteed. While there are no rules against a team releasing an injured player, players with unguaranteed contracts are paid by the team until they are healthy. Therefore, because Richards missed the whole year, the Heat had to pay his whole year’s salary. This is the risk teams take when they sign players for training camp, and Richards’ unwanted presence of $442,114 on their cap figure actually put the Heat into tax territory, which is why they had to salary-dump Shaun Livingston. Tough break. This year, Richards started in Poland on a tryout with Turow, but failed to make the team. He was then acquired by the Utah Flash in November, but did not play a great deal. Richards averaged only 2.9 points and 2.3 assists in 17 minutes of 18 games in two months with the team, scoring in double figures only once. He was then released by the team due to injury in late January and has not played since. It’s not uncommon for torn ACLs to take the best part of two years to heal, and Richards looks to still be suffering from his 18 months on. – Anthony Richardson Former Florida State forward and one time Hornet Anthony Richardson is playing in Holland. In his second season with the Eiffel Towers Den Bosch, Richardson is averaging 12.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists in Dutch league play, with basically identical 12.9/4.8/1.8 numbers in the EuroChallenge. For an explanation of why a Dutch team is named after the most famous of all French landmarks, read this comment on a very […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part Robinson
April 16th, 2010
– Antywane Robinson Former Temple forward Antywane Robinson was in the NBA as recently as eighteen-ish months ago when he signed with the Sixers for training camp. He did not make the team – obviously, or else you would have heard about it – and moved to France to play for Cholet. He’s been there ever since, and this year A-Rob is averaging 13.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in the French league. – Bernard Robinson A few short years ago, Bernard Robinson was receiving clutch minutes in Bobcats games over Adam Morrison. At the very least, it happened once. Yet in 2010, Morrison is almost out of the league, and Robinson very much is. B-Rob has not played since the 2006-07 season, when he appeared in only 21 games for the Bobcats. Charlotte traded him to New Jersey in exchange for Jeff McInnis, where he played ten more regular season games (and one playoff game) down the stretch of the season. That marks the current end of his career; Robinson tore his ACL that summer, and was salary dumped onto the Hornets along with Mile Ilic in exchange for the unguaranteed contract of David Wesley. The Hornets immediately waived him and he has not signed anywhere since. – Brandon Robinson Brandon Robinson spent much of the year in China, trying to keep the wolf from the door. If you want to know what I’m referring to, then click here. – Cliff Robinson Uncle Cliffy last played in the NBA in the 2006-07 season with the Nets, on the same team as Bernard. He put up a PER of 5.9 in 57 games, worse than any other season in his career, and realised it was time to stop. What he does professionally now is not clear, but he […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 54
April 15th, 2010
Shavlik Randolph was initially going to be in this post, but he got signed by the Heat, and players currently in the NBA don’t go on the list. So we’ll replace him with a Spaniard. – Rafa Martinez 6’3 Spanish scoring guard Martinez is averaging 11.7 points per game for Valencia in the EuroCup, alongside 13.8 points per game in the ACB. He has already agreed to sign for Barcelona next season, presumably to back up Juan Carlos Navarro. It is not immediately obvious who he will replace, but it looks like that it will be Gianluca Basile, the Italian three-point specialist who’s on the wrong side of 34. Let me tell you that Navarro, Martinez, Ricky Rubio and Jaka Lakovic is one hell of a backcourt, even if Rubio is the tallest person in it. And now back to the alphabet. – Allan Ray Villanova guard Allan Ray has not played this season. That’ll do, won’t it? – Zeljko Rebraca You had probably assumed that, when the Clippers quietly waived Zeljko Rebraca in April 2007, that that was it for him. Struggling with chronic back injuries, Rebraca hadn’t played the entire 2006/07 season, and had managed only 29 unspectacular games the season before. But if you did think that, like I did, then you’d’ve been wrong. Rebraca gave it one more go. He signed with Pamesa Valencia in Spain in the 2007 offseason, to give himself a chance to go out on his terms. And not long afterwards, in December 2007, he did. Six not-especially-effective-but-reasonable games later, Rebraca announced his retirement, this time at his discretion rather than it being forced upon him. It’s a better story this way. Zeljko Rebraca fact: after leaving the US for Spain, Rebraca stopped making payments on his $2.7 million […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 53
April 14th, 2010
– Pablo Prigioni Prigoni left Tau Vitoria this summer after six years there, and moved to Real Madrid as a part of Ettore Messina’s complete makeover of the place. He averages 6.9 points and 3.4 assists per game in the ACB, alongside 7.0 points and 4.5 assists in their now-ended EuroLeague campaign. However, his defence, which was always a calling card of his, has started to slip. This is to be expected from a man who turns 33 next month. – Georgios Printezis The next great Raptors European hope, Gorgeous Georgios left Olympiacos in the summer for a big money deal with Unicaja Malaga. He averaged 11.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in their EuroLeague campaign, alongside 9.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in the ACB. Despite this being a website with a focus on player salaries, I tend not to comment upon the salaries of European players, for they are highly speculative and basically impossible to verify. However, Printezis signed with Malaga to a deal that pays seven-figures and then some; therefore, even with Toronto’s favourable tax rates (that I don’t particularly understand but am aware they exist) for the Raptors to compete with that means using at least a BAE. So a move to the NBA is perhaps not imminent. – Laron Profit Cult hero Profit was a member of the Grizzlies training camp roster in 2007, but did not make the team. Since that time, he has spent three consecutive seasons with an Argentinian team called Libertad Sunchales. There, playing alongside the mighty Ruben Wolkowyski, Profit averages 16.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Libertad finished fourth in the Argentinian Liga A regular season standings, received a bye for the first round of the playoffs, and begin their quarter final matchup versus Boca […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 51
April 13th, 2010
– Wesley Person Person’s last NBA gig came with the Nuggets in 2005. He later became an assistant women’s coach at Enterprise-Ozark Community College, before being moved to the role of men’s head coach back in July. – Marijonas Petravicius Lithuanian big man Marijonas Petravicius left his homeland this summer after winning the EuroCup last year with Lietuvos Rytas. He moved to Italy to play for A.J. Milano, and is averaging 11.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 fouls in 19 minutes per game in Serie A play, alongside 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 fouls in 18 minutes per game in Milano’s short EuroLeague campaign. Elbows and post play forever. – Brent Petway D-League veteran Brent Petway went to Greece this year, and hated it. In six games with Ilysiakos, he averaged 29 mpg, 10.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 1.7 bpg and about half a pay check per month, and left the team in December after getting injured. He reappeared in late February when he signed in France with Vichy (or, to give them their full name, JA Vichy Val d’Allier Auvergne Basket), whereupon he has averaged 24 mpg, 9.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 1.7 bpg in 6 French league games. The blocks per game would be tied for third in the league had he played enough games to qualify. – Eric Piatkowski Pike spent his last two years playing for the Suns on a minimum salary contract, but that ran out in summer 2008, and another one was not forthcoming. He is now retired and a stay-at-home dad. Pike was recently interviewed during the second quarter of a dull Knicks vs Clippers game, as he was in town taking his children to Disneyland and decided to watch the Clippers lose for old time’s sake. (They […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 50
April 13th, 2010
– Cherokee Parks It was six years and five months ago that Cherokee Parks was last on the roster of a professional basketball team. The Warriors waived him in December 2003, and yet Parks, aged only 31, never played again. He now owns a music club in his hometown of Huntingdon Beach called “The Brigg.” Unbelievably, the NBA’s Cherokee Parks is not the only man in the world with that name. – Marlon Parmer Since 2005, Marlon Parmer has played in the NBA, the CBA, Saudi Arabia, Poland, the ABA, Qatar, Venezuela, Estonia, Qatar again, the D-League, and Saudi Arabia again. It’s been a well travelled few years, and were it not for the American and European stints in there, we’d have to change the name of the Dan Langhi tour. This year he has been in Lebanon, playing for Sagesse, but unfortunately no statistics are available. Parmer quit New Mexico in January 2002 after an argument with then-head coach, Fran Frascilla. He then transferred to Division II Kentucky Wesleyan for his senior season, and averaged 20/6/8, but it wasn’t enough to get drafted. Parmer was a training camp signing of the Timberwolves in 2005 after averaging 22/9 in China the previous season, showing once again that China can do wonders for a guy’s NBA prospects. – Drago Pasalic Two-time Bulls summer leaguer and Croatian national team member Drago Pasalic is in Spain playing for Obradoiro, an ACB team looking pretty doomed. He is averaging only 14.8 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.8 fouls per game. The jump shot is still there; the rest of the game is not. Obradoiro are second-last in the ACB with an 8-21 record, and lost by a hefty 26 points to fellow relegation strugglers Meridiano only today. Ex-NBA forward Paul Davis, […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 52
April 13th, 2010
– Pavel Podkolzin After his NBA career set new records in failure, Podkolzin returned to his native Russia to play for Lokomotiv Novosybirsk, the team he began his career with. Podkolzin is into his fourth season with the team, and has stuck with them even after they were relegated out of the Russian Superleague down to the second division. Statistics are hard to come across, because they’re all in Russian, and Russians use the wrong alphabet. However, as far as I can tell, Pavel averages 12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.9 fouls per game. On the Novosybirsk website, three players are listed as playing the position of “центровой.” Pavel is one of them, and a quick internet search reveals the obvious; that word translates as “center”. But curiously, if you run that word through Google Translate, it comes out with the result “Washington Bullets.” I’m not making that up, either. – Scot Pollard Pollard last played in the NBA with the championship-winning 2007-08 Celtics. He didn’t play in the postseason and barely played during the regular season, but he got a ring and a million for sitting around and putting up with a year of ankle pain, so it’s not all bad. He now works for NBA TV, where he’s already created one of the more awkward moments in television history. – Olden Polynice Polynice was last in the NBA in February 2004, when the Clippers waived the then-39-year-old before the playoff deadline so that he could catch on with another NBA team. He didn’t. But Polynice did squeeze out bit parts of two more years in the world of professional basketball, playing 18 games in 2004/05 with the Michigan Mayhem of the CBA, and briefly being the player/coach for the Los Angeles Aftershock of the ABA in […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 49
April 12th, 2010
– Bo Outlaw Outlaw last played in the 2007-08 season, when he played two games at the start of the year with the Magic before being waived in November. He now works for the team as a community ambassador. – Andre Owens NBA veteran and Bulgarian national team member Andre Owens (true story about the Bulgaria thing by the way) started the year in Turkey, playing for Turk Telekom. In four EuroCup games, Owens averaged 20 minutes, but only 5 ppg, and his averages in the Turkish league were a similar 21 mpg/7.1 ppg. Owens’s minutes were hardly consistent, and in one game, Turk Telekom coach Meric Cakiroglu turned to him down the stretch of a game in which Telekom were losing a big lead and Owens had not yet played, leading to the awkward spectacle of seeing Owens stretching on the court as an offensive possession unfolded. Not good. Turk Telekom released Owens after being knocked out of the EuroCup, and he moved to Russia. In six Russian league contests for Lokomotiv Kuban, Owens is averaging 9.3 points per game. – Larry Owens Oral Roberts graduate Larry Owens was a member of the Hornets summer league roster in 2008. He must have done something right, because he earned a repeat viewing in 2009. And he must have done something right there, because he earned a training camp contract with the team this year. After not making the regular season roster, Owens went to the D-League, where he averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in all 50 regular season games for the Tulsa 66ers. The 66ers just swept the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the first round of the D-League playoffs, and Owens averaged a further 16/7 in the process. Not bad for a former Belgian leaguer. […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 48
April 11th, 2010
– Brad Newley The Rockets seem to have an untoward number of draft picks who never play in the NBA, as well as an uncanny knack for accumulating unwanted draft rights from other teams. They currently have nine unsigned draft picks, most in the NBA, and while quite a few of them weren’t their own picks, Newley was. The Australian guard spent his first two years after being drafted in Greece, but moved to Turkey this summer to play for Besiktas. He has averaged 16.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in Turkish league play, while upping his three-point percentage from 32% last year to 43% this year. Newley missed two months of the year due to injury, but it didn’t take him long to pick up from where he left off. In fact, his only single digit outing of the year was in the season opener. – Jared Newson Jared Newson is a kind of small but very athletic swingman out of Tennessee Martin (perhaps more famous for Lester Hudson), who made the Mavericks’ training camp roster in 2007 after a strong summer league performance for them. This is his fourth professional season; he spent two of his first three in Germany, and one in Australia. Martin spent this year in the D-League, split between the Sioux Falls Skyforce and the Bakersfield Jam. Between the two of them, Newson has averaged 23 minutes, 9.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, shooting 47% from the field and 30% from three. – Drew Nicholas Maryland alum Drew Nicholas is playing his second season with Panathinaikos, last year’s EuroLeague champions. Functioning as a shooting specialist, Nicholas is averaging 10.0 points in 19 minutes per game in the Greek league, alongside 10.9 ppg in 27.0 mpg in the EuroLeague. He is shooting 42% […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 47
April 11th, 2010
– Mamadou N’Diaye Mamadou N’Diaye missed last season with a serious knee injury. This year, he started the season by going for a tryout in Lebanon with Al-Riyadi Beirut, but failed the physical as his knee had not yet recovered. Then in February, the comeback began when Mamadou signed with Maccabi Haifa in Israel. In 72 minutes of six games, he has totalled 23 points, 20 rebounds and 4 blocks. – Boniface N’Dong Former Clipper big man N’Dong is with Barcelona. Splitting time at the centre position with Fran Vazquez, N’Dong is averaging 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15 minutes per game in the ACB, alongside 8.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per game in the EuroLeague. You may never have heard of Boniface N’Dong, and the fact that he spent a whole season on an NBA roster as recently as four years ago may have completely passed you by. This is fair enough, because nothing much really happened. But it happened. N’Dong signed a minimum salary deal with the Clippers in time for training camp 2005, made his NBA debut aged 28, and appeared in 22 games with the team. He even started one. Boniface totalled 50 points, 37 rebounds and 23 fouls for the Clippers, and put up a PER of 11.0, before returning to Europe to continue his strong career there. Boneyface has NBA talent, particularly on the offensive end and on the roll, which isn’t usually the case with fringe NBA-calibre Senegalese big men. And he has a great name. There’s nothing here not to like. – Bostjan Nachbar Bostjan Nachbar has not had a very good season. He moved from Dynamo Moscow to Efes Pilsen in the summer, signing a big fat contract and becoming one of Efes’s key targets […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 46
April 10th, 2010
The following lists mostly features people who aren’t playing right now. – Mikki Moore Mikki Moore isn’t playing right now. He was signed by the Golden State Warriors this offseason to a one-year minimum salary contract, in the same summer that saw them acquire Speedy Claxton and Devean George, which is some inactive list right there. Claxton and Moore have since been waived, and while Denver and Utah both expressed an interest in signing Moore, neither one did. Denver instead decided to sign Brian Butch (in a move that still hasn’t happened yet), and Utah figured they would rather have two open roster spots. – Paccelis Morlende Former Sonics draft pick Patch Morlende isn’t playing right now either, having been out of basketball for the best part of two years. He signed in Russia with Ural Great Perm for the 2008/09 season, but left in preseason without playing a game, and has not been signed since. Morlende has been injured, and his comeback only started to get somewhere in January when he began training with French club Dijon, the club with whom he began his career. Morlende wasn’t under contract with the team, and he never did sign there, but he asked to be allowed to train there to help with his rehab, and the team agreed. Patch is still unsigned, but Lyon were said to be considering signing him as an injury replacement for Ralph Mims, who has broken his finger. However, they signed Mamoutou Diarra this week instead, which probably ends that. – Terence Morris Former Rockets and Magic forward Terence Morris IS playing, and playing a sweet gig at that. Morris is signed with Barcelona, the best team in Europe, after moving there from CSKA Moscow in the summer. He is averaging 6.3 points […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 44
April 9th, 2010
– Aaron McKie Since his surprising and ultimately irrelevant “comeback” with the Grizzlies in 2007, McKie went back to where he already was; on the Philadelphia 76ers bench as an assistant coach. He did not play for the Grizzlies at any point. Probably best. – Keith McLeod Looking to get back into the NBA, Keith McLeod has spent a second season with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the D-League. His numbers this year were up across the board from last year; McLeod averaged 21.8 points, 5.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, and even shot 39% from three-point range. However, McLeod shot only 40.0% from the field overall, which suggests he hasn’t mended his lay-ups problem, and also turned it over three times a game. The points per game were nice, but I don’t think 30-year-old 6’2 jump shooters are getting it done. – Gerry McNamara Despite being on the Utah Jazz roster as recently as 18 months ago, Gerry McNamara has retired from basketball. He did so about a year ago, actually. After leaving the Jazz, McNamara went to the D-League for a bit with the Reno Bighorns, but professional basketball in front of sparse crowds didn’t hold the same lustre that his Syracuse days did. So he retired last April to return to Syracuse as an graduate assistant coach, where he remains today. And that’s fair enough. If he doesn’t want to do it, then why should he? – Jerel McNeal Marquette star McNeal joined the Kings for summer league after going undrafted, joining up with his former team mate Wesley Matthews. He got to play quite a few minutes with the team, but they were mostly at point guard, and McNeal still isn’t one. He didn’t get a contract offer from the Kings, […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 45
April 9th, 2010
The Bulls just waived Jerome James and signed Rob Kurz (or, as Vinny Del Negro will no doubt call him, Rob Kirk.) Goodbye, Jerome. Chicago traded Larry Hughes to the Knicks last trade deadline in exchange for James, Tim Thomas and Anthony Roberson. Roberson is long gone, and Thomas and James played a combined 0 minutes for the Bulls this season while being paid $11.2 million. So, would they rather have had Larry Hughes instead? (Probably not.) – Chris Mihm Mihm was a member of both the Lakers and Grizzlies last year, but played only 105 minutes. He played only 279 minutes the year before that, and missed the whole 2006-07 season, all because of his chronic ankle problems. What started out as a sprain turned into four years of torture, a breakdown of which can be found here. And check the date that that was written; despite the feel-good nature of the final stanza, it was nearer to the beginning of the ordeal than the end. Mihm has not played anywhere this year. – Aaron Miles Miles is signed with Aris in Greece, winding up there after failing to make the Hawks’ regular season roster out of training camp. He is averaging 8.4 points and 3.5 assists per game in the EuroCup, alongside 6.8/3.0 in the Greek league. He still can’t shoot from outside, but Aris have enough of that from elsewhere. Just being in the Aris backcourt for the whole year has been quite an achievement in itself, for Aris have turned over quite a bit of their backcourt this year (Matt Walsh in, Juan Dixon out, Ivan Paunic in, Quinton Day out), and have been linked to about 400 other players (Rob Kurz and Vuk Radivojevic being the only two I can remember at the moment, […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 42
April 8th, 2010
– Chet Mason Former Miami Ohio guard and Cavs signee Chester “Chet” Mason is spending his second season with Siroki Eronet in Bosnia. Most teams from the former Yugoslavia that we cover – Crveza Zvezda, Hemofarm, Cibona Zagreb, etc – are usually in either the EuroCup or the EuroLeague, and also play in the Adriatic League. The Adriatic League is one of the strongest in the world for this reason. Yet Siroki are in none of them, nor are they in the EuroChallenge. It’s pure Bosnian league for them. Mason is averaging 13.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and three weeks ago he posted the David Lee-like stat line of 27 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. Not bad for 6’5. – Desmond Mason Mason started the year with the Kings. Despite already having Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia (neither of whom were injured at the time), Tyreke Evans, Donte Greene, Andres Nocioni and Omri Casspi all available to play at the two and/or three spots, the Kings felt they needed another wing option and brought in Mason for training camp. Even though he didn’t really show much in preseason, Mason made the team, and he then bizarrely started five games to begin the year. The experiment quickly ended after Mason put up a 6.2 PER, and Mason was waived. He has remained unsigned since; proposed links to a couple of different ACB teams never came off. – Tony Massenburg Tony Massenburg is 42 years old and has not played since summer 2008, but this does not necessarily mean he is retired. He is Tony Massenburg, after all, the man who signed with the Washington Wizards aged 40 in an unashamed pursuit of the “most NBA teams ever played for” record that […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 43
April 8th, 2010
– Amal McCaskill A-Mac has been doing the D-Lang tour for a while now, and this year’s installment of it saw him wind up in South Korea to play for Inchon Black Slamer. (If that’s not a sex toy, I’ll be shocked.) In 27 minutes of 48 games, the 36-year-old McCaskill has averaged 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, shooting 57% from the field and 73% from the line. – Ben McCauley NC State graduate B-Mac went to summer league with the L.A. Lakers, where he duly impressed all watchers who didn’t know he could make shots. He averaged 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds, yet did not sufficiently impress with his defence (there’s something about being an under-athletic 6’9 that doesn’t wash in the NBA). So he went to France, where no one plays any defence anyway. For Strasbourg, McCauley has averaged 10.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 22 minutes per game in the French league. – Jack McClinton Spurs draft pick J-Mac signed with the team for all of nine days, and managed the rare achievement of being waived before training camp even started. This happened because McClinton asked for it to; knowing he wasn’t going to make the Spurs roster, and sensing that a Malik Hairston or Marcus Williams-like ferrying between the Spurs roster and the Austin Toros roster was probably not going to benefit him much, McClinton asked out of his deal to pursue other opportunities. The Spurs granted him that wish and McClinton instead went to camp with the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, he didn’t make that roster either, losing out on a roster spot to Jason Hart. McClinton then went to Turkey to play for Aliaga Petkim. In 25 games there, he has averaged 16.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 41
April 7th, 2010
– Demond Mallet Former McNeese State guard Demond Mallet is playing with Turk Telekom Ankara. He averaged 12.3 points and 3.2 assists per game in their EuroCup campaign, and averages 10.2 points and 3.2 assists per game in the Turkish league. He does this while taking two three-pointers for every one two-pointer, and yet shoots them at a relatively sedate 35.6%. When he’s hot, he’s hot. When he’s not, he’s not. This is the level of analysis you come here for, no doubt. Demond Mallet is Shaq’s cousin. They play differently. – Jackie Manuel Jackie Manuel is much the same player that he ever was; a good-sized strong defensive-specialist perimeter player with sedate offence. He’s scoring more than usual this year, averaging 13.9 points per game in 44 contests for the Erie BayHawks of the D-League, but he’s played a whopping 42 mpg to do so. He is also shooting only 29% from three-point range, 44% from the field, and 62% from the line. If Manuel was two inches taller, better at rebounding in traffic, and had the lure of being a foreigner, someone might think he was the next Thabo Sefolosha. But, now aged 27, a growth spurt doesn’t seem too likely. – Stephon Marbury Marbury was the best player in China this year. I know, I didn’t believe it either. Shanxi’s season has already ended, and Marbury is now a free agent again. The ACB team Xacobeo Blusens have been rumoured as pursuing him all week; it certainly has helped fuel the story that Xacobeo suspended American forward Jeremiah Massey earlier this for “threatening behaviour” (whatever that involves). However, the latest word is that the Marbury talks have broken down. And it also probably doesn’t help that Xacobeo yesterday completed the acquisition of former NBA forward […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 39
April 7th, 2010
– Nick Lewis D-League stalwart Lewis finally left there this summer after nearly three years, and moved to France to play for Roanne. He has averaged 8.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17 minutes per game in the EuroChallenge, and 8.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15 minutes per game in the French league. Considering that scoring rate, maybe he should play more. – Quincy Lewis Former Minnesota Gopher and Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Quincy Lewis is retired. He was playing as recently as last year, playing in the EuroCup with Bilbao, and while he averaged only 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, it was at a good standard of basketball and on a deep team. Nevertheless, Lewis retired aged only 32, and became a volunteer assistant coach at DeLaSalle High School. He also majored in Sports Management back in 2007, and is now the CEO of 20/20 Sports Management. – Ron Lewis Lewis is playing his second season with Nymburk, a Czech Republic team. No one signs in the Czech Republic unless they have good reason, and Lewis does; Nymburk were in the EuroCup, and made it as far as the quarter finals before losing to Bilbao. Lewis averaged 11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in that campaign, alongside 12.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in the Czech Republic league. It was my very great pleasure to watch Lewis in several of Nymburk’s EuroCup games, yet it was a greater pleasure to watch Phillip Ricci, Michael Lenzley and Petr Benda. One has no neck, one is British, and one has a surname that is also a perjorative term. Something for everyone there. – Sergei Lishouk Former Grizzlies draft pick Lishouk, whose rights are now owned by the Rockets, is playing in Spain with Valencia. After spending […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 40
April 7th, 2010
– Erazem Lorbek Domen’s brother is with Barcelona, whose basketball team are almost as much of a juggernaut as their football team. But let’s not talk about their football team. Lorbek is averaging 10.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in the ACB, alongside 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds for the inevitable EuroLeague champions. He could play in the NBA, but he won’t. – Derrick Low Former Washington State guard Derrick Low moved to Lithuania this year to play for a salary less than that of your average telephone engineer. He did this because the team he is playing for – Siauliai – were a EuroCup team, so it was a good opportunity to get some exposure. Low has had to play full-time point guard for much of the year, as opposed to all the off-ball time he has had in his career thus far, and he’s doing a decent job of masquerading as such. Low averaged 18.5 points and 3.8 assists in Siauliai’s EuroCup campaign, averages a further 14.7 points and 4.4 assists in the Baltic league, and averages 12.8 points and 5.3 assists in the Lithuanian league. The Lithuanian assists tie for third in the league. He’s also had all that hair cut off. Probably best. – John Lucas III John Lucas’s son John Lucas went to China this year. He started out with a fight, but then quickly started owning. His team, Shanghai, are currently 1-1 against Smush Parker’s Guangdong in the CBA Semi Finals. Lucas had 56 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists in the series so far. – Tyronn Lue Tyronn Lue did not play this season, after splitting last year between the Bucks and the Magic. He then retired somewhat unexpectedly aged only 32 to become an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 38
April 2nd, 2010
– Maciej Lampe Lampe started the year in Israeli with Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but the version of Maccabi that he had signed with in the summer did not last very long. It didn’t take long before he was allowed to leave, at which point he moved to Russia to play for UNICS Kazan. In the Russian league he is averaging 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds; in the VTB United league he is averaging 14.5 and 6.0 rebounds; in the EuroCup he averaged 16.9 points and 9.5 rebounds. The idea that Lampe was a combo 3/4 was never right in the first place, but it’s definitely not right now – he’s emerged as a good if inconsistent post player with occasional three-point range. He’s not Dirk, and he was never going to be Dirk. But he does have NBA talent, even if he didn’t exactly shine in the EuroLeague this year. – Sean Lampley Lampley spent last year in Qatar, an extension of the Langhi tour that not even Dan himself has yet managed. He played for two teams there, and then auditioned at the KBL Pre-Draft camp back in July. However, he has not played professionally anywhere this season. Lampley was reported to be about to sign with his former Australian team Melbourne Tigers back in November, but never did. Lampley recently lost his all-time Cal school scoring record to Jerome Randle. No shame in that, because Jerome Randle is pretty awesome. Won’t be drafted, but there aren’t many guys who can win any game single-handedly like he can. – James Lang Lang never lived up to his draft spot. Drafted in the second round seven years ago, Lang has spent his time since then in America, bouncing between the D-League and occasional NBA stints. He played briefly in […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 37
April 1st, 2010
– Petteri Koponen Blazers draft pick Koponen is still only 21 years old, but is already playing his second season with Canadian Solar Bologna in Italy’s Serie A (known as La Fortezza Bologna until about two months ago). Last year he was something of a bit-part player in Serie A play, but this year he’s one of their best, ranking second on the team in minutes per game (26.8) and points (11.7). Koponen is shooting 44% from three-point range and is also third on the team in assists with 1.7 apg, a team where the team leader (Andre Collins) has only 2.6 in over 29 minutes per game. Good old Italy. – Yaroslav Korolev After two years of not playing in the NBA, Korolev went back to his native Russia, where he spent two years not playing in the Superleague. This year, to mix it up, he decided to get some playing time. Korolev entered the D-League draft pool and was picked with the last selection in the fourth round by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. He played 20 games for the Thunderbirds and averaged 11.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, but was traded in January to the Reno Bighorns for Marcus Hubbard. And in 23 games for the Bighorns, Korolev’s numbers have declined down to 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Better than Danny Granger yet? Not quite. No matter how much hindsight you give it, the selections of players such as Korolev, Skita and Darko look no less ridiculous. In fact, they’re more ridiculous than ever – athletic young big guys with amazingly little to show on their CV and no defined skillsets picked in the NBA draft lottery, far above multiple established, more talented and simply better players. It was a very strange period for the game, that […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 36
March 26th, 2010
– Sergei Karaulov Spurs draft pick Karaulov played in the Russian second division last year for Nizhny Novgorod. He averaged 11.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, which aren’t bad numbers I guess. But to put them in some sort of context, Karaulov averaged 17.2 ppg and 9.5 rpg for a different second division team in the 2003-04 season, the year before the Spurs drafted him. So somehow, in the six years post hence, the soon-to-be 28 year old Karaulov has gotten less productive. This year, he has upgraded from the Russian second division to the Russian Superleague. This is good. But what is not good is Sergei Karaulov’s performance this year. In 12 games for Krasnie Krilya Samara, Karaulov is averaging 3.8 points and 2.6 rebounds, totalling 45 and 31. Those aren’t very good numbers, but they’re even worse considering that 25 points and 9 rebounds of that (as well as 4 steals) came in one game, a late December loss to Dynamo Moscow. Therefore, outside of that one game, Karaulov has totalled 20 points, 22 rebounds and 27 fouls in 100 minutes. Some Spurs draft picks pan out. Some don’t. This one didn’t. – Coby Karl Coby Karl went to camp with the Cavaliers, and made the team when it was determined that they needed some guard insurance in the wake of Delonte West’s whoopsy. He stayed on the roster until the guarantee date, yet played only five minutes in that time. After being waived, Karl went to the D-League for three weeks before being signed to a ten-day contract with the Golden State Warriors; in five games there he averaged 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists, shooting only 2-11 from three-point range. The Warriors didn’t bring him back for a second ten-dayer – instead signing […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 35
March 25th, 2010
– Bobby Jones Former University of Washington forward Bobby Jones was a second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2006, who was traded immediately to the Sixers. He signed a two-year deal with the team and played spot minutes of 44 games in his rookie year, before being traded again in the offseason to the Denver Nuggets as a part of the Steven Hunter/Reggie Evans swap. Denver played him in 25 more games but waived him before the contract guarantee date, at which point Jones signed two ten-day contracts with the Grizzlies. After the expiration of the second one came a fresh one with the Houston Rockets, quickly followed by two more with the Miami Heat, and one with the San Antonio Spurs, before Denver picked him back up for the last week of the season. Denver signed him to a contract that ran through the 2008-09 season with various guarantee dates along the way, and precisely because of that, Jones’s unguaranteed deal became a trade chip, one capitalised upon when he was traded along with Taurean Green to New York in exchange for Renaldo Balkman. The Knicks waived him a day later, which prompted the Heat to claim him off of waivers, yet he lasted only about a week there before Miami waived him prior to his contract guarantee date kicking in. A month later, Jones joined the Sacramento Kings for training camp, but did not make the team. And that was Bobby Jones’s NBA career. Jones has not signed an NBA contract since. However, given that he played for six teams in two years, and was a member of 11 franchises in that time (including two of them twice), the NBA had probably gotten him pegged by then. Jones currently plies his trade in Italy for Bancas […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 33
March 24th, 2010
– Jan Jagla Former Clipper and German national team member Jagla has spent the season with Prokom Sopot Gdynia in Poland. Gdynia are the best team in Poland and are also a EuroLeague team, which is why they have imports such as Jagla, Lorinza Harrington, Qyntel Woods and Daniel Ewing. They also used to have Pape Sow, but he left the team in February to sign in Spain. It was reported that Jagla had left the team with him, but that report was erroneous, for Jagla has spent the whole year there. He averaged 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the EuroLeague, alongside an almost-identical 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the Polish league. – Dominic James Marquette product James didn’t get drafted last summer, partly because his numbers went backwards throughout his four-year career, and partly because he broke his foot down the stretch of his senior season. He did however land a training camp contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, but it didn’t last long; aware of his unlikelihood of making the Bucks roster, James asked for his release so that he could sign a contract with a Turkish team. That Turkish team is Mersin, and James has averaged 14.7 points and 4.3 assists with them this year. James has shot 31% from three and 62% from the foul line this season, numbers improved on last year’s career-ows of 28%/46%, but numbers still unbecoming of a point guard. – Mike James James was traded to the Wizards last season as an ever-so-slightly cheaper alternative to Antonio Daniels. He played in 53 games for the Wizards after the trade, starting 50 of them, and playing 1,575 minutes. It feels weird to say that Mike James played 1,649 minutes in an NBA season as recently […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 34
March 24th, 2010
– Britton Weaver Johnsen Johnsen has spent the year with Panellinios in Greece. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in the Greek league, alongside 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in the EuroCup. However, he has not played for last six weeks due to a knee injury. One thing I didn’t know until about Britton Johnsen until just now; a decade ago, he got into a fight with Amadou Makhtar N’Diaye (not Mamadou), who accused him of using the N word. I’m guessing Johnsen used the word “bigger” at some point, which N’Diaye misinterpreted. Either way, strange times. Here is the video LeBron never got to: – Alexander Cantarell Johnson Florida State product Johnson went to camp with the Utah Jazz this year, but despite 31 decent preseason minutes, he did not make the team. He then went to China to play for the DongGuan New Century Leopards. However, he got injured after only thirteen minutes in his first game and had to be carried off the court; it was the only CBA game he played. A couple of month passed while Johnson rehabbed his injuries, and then in late January he re-emerged in the D-League with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Johnson quickly became one of the best players in the league; in 19 games he is averaging 22.6 points and 11.2 rebounds, shooting 56% from the field and 75% from the line. However, the problem that marred his earlier NBA forays remain; put simply, Johnson makes mistakes. Not a Mike Greenberg-style racial epithet mistake, nor the Gilbert Arenas sort of gun-wielding mistakes, and nor the Mark McGwire type of mistake whereby you shoot protein-based poly-peptides into your veins to gain a competitive advantage using the ridiculously terrible defence that other people were doing it […]
