September 2013 – Page 3 – NBA Blog

Al Jefferson looking to turn Bobcats around

Thursday morning 15 or so players were in the practice gym doing 3-on-3 drills with the new coaching staff.

Center Al Jefferson, the most significant off-season acquisition, says he’s never seen anything like this in nine previous NBA seasons.

“A lot of veterans might choose not to, but they’re here. We’re getting together and getting to know one another,” Jefferson said.

“I told Kemba (Walker) when I first signed that I’m not coming here to lose. I’m coming here to turn things around,” Jefferson added. “I think (the seriousness of purpose) started with me. If I’m here in September, everyone should be. If Ben Gordon is here, same thing. If Brendan Haywood, a guy who already won a championship (with the Dallas Mavericks) is here, everybody should be here. That’s the way we look at it.”

Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer

Pau Gasol at full health, but will be limited in training camp

Pau Gasol has seemingly showed he has nine lives with the Lakers, staying on the franchise he loves despite demoted roles and endless trade rumors.

But even if Gasol arrived to Lakers’ media day on Saturday full of good spirits in having a chance to complete his fifth season donning purple and gold, there remains yet another hurdle he will have to climb.

He reported at full health after having a procedures this offseason to treat the painful tendons in both of his knees, but Gasol has yet to complete basketball-related drills.

“I’m getting there,” Gasol said. “Now training camp is going to be important with how we manage practices and how the knee reacts to the load of work.”

Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Blog)

Danny Granger draws compliments after Indiana Pacers practice

Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger played to positive reviews in his first practice since undergoing season-ending knee surgery six months ago.

From his teammates. From coach Frank Vogel. From Granger himself.

“For me, it honestly went better than expected,” Granger said after the Pacers’ first training camp practice on Saturday. “It felt good out there.”

Granger said pushing off his knee, which bothered him before the surgery and limited him to five games last season, no longer is an issue. Now, he wants to build endurance in it. Doctors have told him it takes a year to fully recover from the surgery he had, but players can return to action in six months.

Reported by Michael Pointer of the Indianapolis Star

Derrick Rose looks strong in first Chicago Bulls practice

Derrick Rose comes out attacking in first Bulls practice

After a season of breathlessness over the status of Derrick Rose’s left knee, it might be time to shift the focus to Gar Forman’s heart rate or Tom Thibodeau’s salivary glands.

The Bulls’ general manager and coach could be forgiven for being overly enthusiastic on Saturday following not only Derrick Rose’s aggressive first practice of training camp but Rose’s boldness afterward.

“I got confidence in my (surgically repaired left) knee,” Rose said. “There’s no testing anymore. It’s going out there and playing hard and attacking.”

By all accounts, that’s what the former league most valuable player did in the first session Saturday morning. Thibodeau is devoting the evening sessions on both Saturday and Sunday to film work, shooting and walk-through points of emphasis. Rose said he plans to not miss a practice.

Reported by K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Miami Heat announce front office promotions

The Miami Heat really enjoy having Juwan Howard around. And will continue to do so, though nobody has to pretend that Howard might actually play in a game anymore.

The Heat announced today several front office promotions, including Andy Elisburg to Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations/General Manager, Adam Simon to Assistant General Manager/General Manager Sioux Falls Skyforce, Dan Craig to Assistant Coach/Player Development, Chad Kammerer to Director of NBA Scouting/Advance Scout, Keith Askins to Director of College and Pro Scouting and the hiring of Juwan Howard to Assistant Coach/Player Development.

Elisburg, a Heat original employee of 25 years, will serve as Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations/General Manager. His duties will include assisting CEO Nick Arison and President Pat Riley in the management of all aspects of the Heat’s basketball organization including salary cap administration, talent acquisition, league compliance and the day-to-day business of basketball operations.

Simon has been named Assistant General Manager/General Manger Sioux Falls Skyforce. He will assist Andy Elisburg in all areas of the Heat’s basketball operations department as well as heading the basketball operations department of the Heat’s NBA Development League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Craig, entering his 11th season with the Heat, has been named Assistant Coach/Player Development and will continue to spend numerous hours on the court with individual players developing their game.

Kammerer has been named Director of NBA Scouting/Advance Scout after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach. His responsibilities will include providing scouting reports and player evaluations to assist the Heat coaching staff in their game preparations and the team’s personal department on player acquisitions.

Askins, who has spent his entire professional career with the Heat, enters the 2013-14 season as Director of College and Pro Scouting as he will work with Chet Kammerer and Adam Simon overseeing all aspects of the Heat’s scouting department after serving 14 years as a full-time assistant coach.

Howard, a 19-year NBA veteran, will make the transition to the coaching staff after being named Assistant Coach/Player Development. He will be assisting in the areas of player development and other duties assigned by Head Coach Erik Spoelstra.

Additionally, the Heat also named Rich Fernando to Executive Assistant to the Coaches, Eric Glass to Video Coordinator and Tim Hardaway to Scout/Community & Corporate Liaison.

Sixers add Solomon Alabi and Nayal Koshwal to training camp roster

The Philadelphia 76ers today announced they have signed free agents Solomon Alabi (Ala-bee) and Nayal “Mac” Koshwal. The Sixers training camp roster now stands at 20 players.

Alabi (7-1, 250) was originally the 50th overall pick by Dallas in the 2010 NBA Draft before his rights were traded to Toronto. The 25-year-old played two seasons for the Raptors in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Last season, Alabi played for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League and Ikaros Chalkidas of the Greek League. Alabi was an early entry candidate following his sophomore season at Florida State, during which he averaged 12 points, six rebounds and over two blocks. The Nigerian-born Alabi was twice named to the ACC All-Defensive Team as a sophomore and a redshirt freshman.

Koshwal (6-10, 255) was an early entry candidate for the 2010 NBA Draft following his junior season at DePaul, during which he averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. The Sudanese-born Koshwal was one of three BIG EAST players to average a double-double that season. Last season, the 25-year-old competed in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas before spending time on several minor league teams.

Wizards sign Josh Childress, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Xavier Silas, D’Or Fischer to training camp

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed forwards Josh Childress and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, guard Xavier Silas and center D’Or Fischer. We assume these are all non-guaranteed deals that merely bring those players to training camp.

Childress (6-8, 210) is a seven-year NBA veteran who holds career averages of 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 387 games with Atlanta, Phoenix and Brooklyn. He was originally selected by Atlanta with the sixth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. In 2008, after four seasons in Atlanta, Childress signed a contract with Olympiacos in Greece where he averaged 12.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game over two seasons. After being traded to Phoenix and playing two seasons with the Suns (2010-2012), Childress signed as a free agent with Brooklyn last season.

Mensah-Bonsu (6-9, 240) appeared in six games with Cajasol in Spain and nine games with EA7 Armani in Italy during the 2012-13 season. The four-year George Washington product has played 61 career NBA contests with Dallas, San Antonio, Toronto, Houston and New Orleans, averaging 3.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per game. Mensah-Bonsu, a London native, competed in the 2012 Olympic Games for the United Kingdom where he averaged 8.5 points and 7.3 rebounds in four games. He has also played professionaly in France and Turkey.

Silas (6-5, 205) appeared in two games with the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2011-12 season where he averaged 5.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. In the last two seasons with the Maine Red Claws of the D-League, Silas has averaged 10.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 73 games. He was undrafted out of Northern Illinois University.

Fischer (6-11, 240) finished his collegiate career playing two seasons at West Virginia after transferring from Northwestern State. After going undrafted in 2005, the Philadelphia native has played professionally in Poland, Germany, Belgium, Israel and Spain as well as with Roanoke Dazzle of the D-League in 2005-06 where he averaged 5.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in 26 games.

The Wizards’ training camp roster currently stands at 19 players.

New York Knicks sign Ike Diogu

The New York Knickerbockers announced today that the team has signed forward Ike Diogu. We assume this is a non-guaranteed deal that merely brings Diogu to training camp.

Diogu, 6-9, 250-pounds, holds career averages of 6.0 points, on 50.9-percent shooting, 3.1 rebounds and 12.4 minutes in 225 games (18 starts) over six seasons with Golden State, Indiana, Portland, Sacramento, L.A. Clippers and San Antonio. He spent the last two seasons playing in Puerto Rico (Arecibo) and China (Xinjiang), after playing in two games for San Antonio in 2011-12. The Buffalo, NY-native was originally selected by Golden State following three seasons at Arizona State University in the first round (ninth pick overall) of 2005 NBA Draft.

Miami Heat sign Roger Mason Jr

The Miami Heat announced today that they have signed guard Roger Mason Jr.

Mason, a nine-year NBA veteran, has appeared in 493 career NBA games (101 starts) and averaged 6.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 18.0 minutes while shooting 40.9 percent from the field, 38.4 percent from three-point range and 86.3 percent from the foul line. Additionally, Mason has appeared in 24 career postseason NBA games (three starts) and averaged 5.3 points, 1.0 rebounds and 17.1 minutes while shooting 36.8 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 76.5 percent from the foul line.

Last season, he appeared in 69 games (13 starts) with New Orleans and averaged 5.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 17.7 minutes while shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from three-point range and 90.7 percent from the foul line. He led the team in three-point field goal percentage while finishing second in free throw percentage and third in three-point field goals made (66).

Mason will wear number 21.

The Heat’s roster now stands at 19.

Lakers add Dan Gadzuric to training camp

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Dan Gadzuric, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. We assume this is a non-guaranteed deal that merely brings Gadzuric to training camp.

A ten-year NBA veteran, Gadzuric spent the 2012-13 season playing with Marinos de Anzoátegui in Venezuela. In 30 games with the team he averaged 10.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 19.4 minutes. Selected in the second round (34th overall) by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2002 NBA Draft, the 6-11 center out of UCLA has played in 527 career NBA games with Milwaukee, Golden State, New Jersey (now Brooklyn), Toronto and New York, averaging 4.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 14.8 minutes.

The Lakers training camp roster now stands at 19 players.