Day: July 24, 2011

Kalin Lucas signs in Greece

Euroleague.net reports:

Olympiacos found a young playmaker to help run the show by signing Kalin Lucas over the weekend. Lucas (1.85 meters, 22 years old) arrives from Michigan State University, where he was a four-year starter and helped the Spartans reach the 2009 NCAA Tournament championship game. He finished his career as the school’s career leader in free throws made (507) and attempted (637) and also among the top 10 in scoring (fourth, 1,996 points), assists (sixth, 558) and three-pointers made (eighth, 149).

Bulls pick Nikola Mirotic leads Spain to U20 European championship

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (blog) reports:

Chicago Bulls draft pick Nikola Mirotic produced 29 points and 11 rebounds, leading Spain to an 82-70 win over Italy in the [Under-20] European championship game.

The 6-foot-10 Mirotic was the tournament’s leading scorer. In nine games, he averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, shot 59.5 percent from the field, 85.1 percent at the foul line and knocked down 10-of-25 attempts from 3-point range.

The Bulls traded two picks and cash to Minnesota in order to select Mirotic with the 23rd pick of this year’s draft. The Montenegro native is under contract with Spain’s Real Madrid and not expected to join the NBA for a few years.

FIBA Europe reports:

Nikola Mirotic, the announced MVP of the tournament, was everywhere once again and made a huge difference in favor of his team, as he did on every night of this championship.

Tonight he wrote yet another double-double, his sixth in the competition, and reached 29 points and 11 rebounds.

Spain missed their second best scorer in Joan Sastre who got injured after one minute and didn’t return to the floor.

His absence makes the double-digit win even more impressive.

Josep Franch stepped up to take over Sastre’s points and finished with a tournament high of 19 points, just in the right time, next to seven assists and five rebounds.

Alejandro Barrera added 10 points.

For Italy, it was Alessandro Gentile who finished with only 14 points after a streak of four games with more than 20.

Riccardo Moraschini tried to fill his spot and scored 17 points, that weren’t enough.

Brandon Roy still working his way back

Many people have given up on Brandon Roy ever returning to his former glory as a star guard in the NBA. No one is happy about it. Brandon is a likeable guy and a player to root for. Hopefully those doubters are proven wrong, and B-Roy is able to ball out like he did before his knees became a real issue.

As for the latest on Roy, here’s Jason Quick of The Oregonian:

Brandon Roy

Brandon Roy said he had mixed results recently after resuming basketball drills. The bad news? He says he doesn’t have the same lift on his jumps as he did during his run of three All-Star appearances. The good news is that he has surprised himself with his mobility, and he has been free of pain and swelling. Plus, his knees feel stronger than they did during the season — in part because of the nearly three months since the season ended and in part because the January surgeries are even further in the past.

So where does all this leave him and his expectations for next season, when he will make $15 million?

Again, no headlines. No expectations.

“Wait and see,” Roy said. “I’m not going to put a limit on anything. People ask, ‘Are you going to come off the bench?’ Got to wait and see. When training camp comes, I’m going to work, and that way I will put myself in a position to give myself a chance. But I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m saying, ‘I’m going to come off the bench.’ Or, ‘I’m going to start.’

“I just want to go out there and play, and that way, Coach can say, ‘Wow, he looks this way.’ Or ,’Wow, maybe not’ … Then we will go from there.”

Until there’s reason to believe otherwise, I’m thinking Roy is best used as a Blazers sixth man, for solid contributions off the bench, with occasional flashes of brilliance here and there.

Read NBA fan opinion or discuss your own reaction in this forum topic.

Ex-UCLA center Carl Kraushaar dies

The AP reports:

Carl Kraushaar, starting center for the late John Wooden’s first two years as coach of UCLA, has died, the school said Saturday.

Kraushaar died of natural causes surrounded by his family in Newport Beach on Thursday, UCLA spokesman Marc Dellins said in a statement. He was 84.

Transferring from Compton College the same year the coach later known as the Wizard of Westwood arrived from Indiana State for the first of his 27 seasons, Kraushaar began what was to become a storied spot — center at UCLA under Wooden. The position would later be filled by Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor, later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.