September 16, 2011 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Spain and France advance to EuroBasket championship game

The AP reports:

Defending champion Spain and first-time finalist France will compete for the European basketball title on Sunday and have qualified for next year’s Olympics in London.

Juan Carlos Navarro scored 35 points in a performance his coach called a “masterpiece” as Spain beat Macedonia 92-80 in the first semifinal on Friday.

France got 22 points from Tony Parker to beat Russia 79-71 in the late game. Nicolas Batum added 19 points for France, which reached the championship game for the first time.

“I’ve been chasing this for 11 years and I’m very happy that I can finally say I’m going to the Olympics,” Parker said.

France won a silver medal in 1949 but the tournament was played in a different format and did not have a final.

France went on a 10-2 to finish the third quarter and pull away. Going into the fourth, the run was 16-4, with eight points coming from Ali Traore.

Pau Gasol had 22 points and 17 rebounds for Spain.

Navarro scored 19 points in the third quarter to break open a close game. Spain coach Sergio Scariolo did not hold back in praising his point guard.

Joe Barry Carroll loses Atlanta bar discrimination claim

The AP reports:

A federal jury on Friday found that an upscale Atlanta restaurant did not violate the civil rights of an ex-NBA All Star and a friend who claimed they were expelled from the bar because they were black.

A panel of nine white members and three black deliberated just 15 minutes before deciding that Joe Barry Carroll and Joseph Shaw were not subject to racial discrimination. Their attorney Jeffrey Bramlett had been seeking at least $3 million in damages for the humiliation and embarrassment he claims his clients suffered when a security guard escorted them from the Tavern at Phipps in August 2006 after they refused to give up their seats to two white women.

Defense lawyer Ernest Greer said the establishment was following a longstanding policy rooted in Southern hospitality, in which men routinely give up their bar seats for women when the bar becomes crowded. Over the past 20 years, thousands of men, from stars like Michael Jordan to several sitting at the bar that night, have complied with the “good manners” policy, Greer said.

It was Carroll and Shaw who injected race into the exchange, he said.

“This incident didn’t happen because they were black,” Greer said. “This incident happened because Mr. Carroll and Mr. Shaw wanted to be treated better than anyone else that evening.”

J.R. Giddens signs in Greece

Euroleague.net reports:

PAOK Thessaloniki added some scoring punch by signing swingman J.R. Giddens for the season. Giddens (1.96 meters, 26 years old) made his Turkish Airlines Euroleague debut last season with Asseco Prokom, for whom he averaged 9 points on 47.4% three-point shooting and 5.2 rebounds in 10 games. His best game was his very first: 20 points on 9-for-9 two-point shooting and 10 rebounds in a losing effort against Khimki Moscow Region. Later in the season Giddens briefly joined Valencia Basket in Spain, but left before ever appearing in a game for the Spanish club.

Xavier Silas signs in France

Euroleague.net reports:

BCM Gravelines made a change at the shooting guard spot with the addition of rookie Xavier Silas and the release of Osiris Eldridge, who had signed for the club last month. Silas (1.95 meters, 23 years old) comes from Northern Illinois University, where he spent the past two seasons. He earned All-Mid-American Conference First Team honors last season. Silas was the conference’s leading scorer and ranked seventh in all of college basketball with 22.3 points per game. Before joining the Huskies, he played two seasons of college basketball at Colorado University.

Steve Javie retiring as NBA referee

Ric Bucher of ESPN the Magazine reports:

Although NBA referees, after agreeing to a new five-year contract earlier this week, are assured of returning whenever the league resumes play, veteran Steve Javie will not be among them.

Javie, rated as one of the league’s top officials during the past 15 years, is retiring because of an arthritic right knee.

The injury forced him to miss the end of the 2009-2010 season, but he returned last fall with the hope of making it to the 25-year mark as an NBA referee.

He accomplished that, but filed his retirement papers when the pain in his right knee and his doctors convinced him a 26th year was not realistic.

An NBA referee must submit his papers within 30 days of the last Finals game if he does not plan to return.

Javaris Crittenton back in Atlanta to face murder charge

The AP reports:

Former Washington Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton is back in Atlanta to face a murder charge in the shooting death of a woman.

Crittenton is charged in the death of 22-year-old Julian Jones, a mother of four who was hit by gunfire during a drive-by shooting. Police say the shots apparently were aimed at someone walking with her.

Fulton County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan says Crittenton arrived Thursday night from Los Angeles. He’s being held at the county jail.

Christian Laettner and Brian Davis could face jail time

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports:

Former Timberwolves Christian Laettner and Brian Davis have been ordered to a Washington courtroom today to explain to a judge why they shouldn’t be held in contempt.

If their answers don’t satisfy the judge, the former Duke University stars could be sent to jail – an outcome few could have predicted four years ago when they were basking in the success of their West Village development in downtown Durham, N.C.

Even now, as Laettner and Davis try to fend off angry creditors, West Village remains the jewel in their crumbling real estate empire. Its mixture of apartments, restaurants and offices continues to thrive, making it attractive to investors and to those angry creditors determined to pursue Laettner and Davis’ assets.

Today’s court hearing relates to a $671,309 judgment awarded to California investors J.D. Holdings in June.