International Basketball Blog – Page 26 – NBA Blog

Shelden Williams signs overseas in France

Elan Chalon fortified its frontcourt with the signing of big man Shelden Williams. Though this will be his first season playing in Europe, Williams (2.06 meters, 28 years old) has the right people to fall back on for knowledge; His brother-in-law is three-time European champion and two-time Euroleague MVP Anthony Parker. Williams has spent his entire professional career to date in the NBA, where he has totaled 361 regular season games over six seasons with seven teams. Last season he averaged 4.6 points and 6 rebounds over 58 games with New Jersey. He was a college basketball star at Duke University, where Williams remains the Blue Devils’ career leader in rebounds (1,262) and blocked shots (422). He was named Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year and to the All-ACC First Team in both 2005 and 2006.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Darius Songaila signs in Ukraine

BC Donetsk made veteran big man Darius Songaila its third addition to its frontline in the past week with the announcement that the sides signed a one-year contract. Songaila (2.06 meters, 34 years old) joins D’or Fischer and Kaloyan Ivanov as the newest Donetsk players. His contract is guaranteed for two months, after which both sides have the option to terminate the deal. With the Ukrainian champs, Songaila will attempt to navigate the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds for the second straight season. Last season he helped Galatasaray Medical Park win three straight games to qualify for the Euroleague regular season and then averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds over 15 minutes in 10 games as the club reached the Top 16 for the first time. He finished the season in Spain, where Songaila averaged 9 points and 4 rebounds in 10 games for Valladolid.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Summer to remember for Canada Basketball

Though the senior men did not qualify for the London Games, this was one of the best summers ever for Canada Basketball.

Canada’s senior women qualified for the Olympics only about a month before they began and going on to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time ever, where they ran into the buzz-saw that is the top-ranked American team.

A year after two players were drafted into the NBA — including Brampton’s Tristan Thompson who went fourth overall to Cleveland — three more players were selected, led by Mississauga’s Andrew Nicholson, who went 19th to Orlando.

Nicholson, Kris Joseph (from Montreal, drafted 51st by Boston) and Robert Sacre (North Vancouver, 60th by the Los Angeles Lakers) all showed up for Canada’s training camp this weekend, significant since Nicholson had never previously been at a Canadian get-together and Joseph had chosen to leave camp the last time he showed up.

Canada’s future stars also fared well this summer.

The junior men’s squad took home bronze at the FIBA Americas U18 tourney in Brazil, finishing 4-1 and beating Argentina to reach the podium.

— Reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun

Yao Ming calls on schools in China to invest in sports

Former NBA all-star Yao Ming has called for China’s school system to invest more in sport at the grassroots level, claiming much was needed to be done in his homeland to prevent further stagnation.

“The growth of sport’s status in school life in our country has halted now,” the giant former Houston Rockets center told the China Daily newspaper.

“We should start over and let it go beyond just a function (for) keeping (students) fit.”

With the inaugural season of Yao’s “Foundation Hope” elementary school basketball program recently concluded, he has been making a considerable push of his own.

— Reported by Reuters

Israeli basketball great Tal Burstein retires

Maccabi Tel Aviv great Tal Burstein announced his retirement from professional basketball at a press conference on Monday evening at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. Burstein, 32, took the decision to walk away from the game after learning that he would have to undergo surgery on his injured hip, which would have cost him the entire 2012-13 season. Injuries have plagued Burstein over the past few years. He missed the first nine Euroleague games of the 2006-07 season and played in just two games the following year. Burstein was a starter on the great Maccabi teams that conquered back-to-back Euroleague titles in 2004 and 2005. His first continental title came in his first year with Maccabi when he helped the Israeli juggernaut win the 2001 SuproLeague in Paris.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Damir Markota signs in Turkey

Besiktas JK Istanbul added to its frontcourt by signing experienced big man Damir Markota to a one-year contract. Markota (2.08 meters, 26 years old) is a veteran of seven Euroleague seasons with three different teams. Last season he averaged 4.7 points and 6 rebounds in seven Euroleague appearances for Union Olimpija. He ranked third in the regular season with his 76.9% two-point shooting percentage and his 15 rebounds pulled against Montepaschi Siena represented the third most of any player in a game all season. He left Olimpija midway through the season and finished the campaign with KK Zagreb in Croatia. Markota made his Euroleague debut – a 20-second appearance with Cibona Zagreb in the 2001-02 season – when he was 16.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Marcus Slaughter signs in Madrid

One of the best rebounders in last season’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague switched teams with the news that Real Madrid signed Marcus Slaughter. The athletic big man signed a two-year deal with Los Blancos. Slaughter (2.03 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Brose Baskets, where he averaged 11.8 points on 56.4% two-point shooting, 7.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks in 10 Euroleague games last season. He ranked sixth in performance index ranking (17.7 per game), third in rebounding, second in blocks and tied for third in steals in the 2011-12 Euroleague regular season.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Mario Kasun signs in Siena, Italy

Italian champs Montepaschi Siena announced over the weekend the addition of big man Mario Kasun to a one-year deal with the option of another. Kasun (2.13 meters, 32 years old) arrives from KK Zagreb, where last season he averaged 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds in 9 Turkish Airlines Euroleague games. He ranked 5th overall in Offensive Rebounds during the 2011-12 Regular Season. Kasun made his debut in 1997 in Gorica of his native Croatia and kept growing as a player until he signed in 2002 for the Frankfurt Skyliners of Germany, where he exploded in his game.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Spanish national basketball team has some aging stars

In 2016, when the Games are held in Rio de Janeiro, both Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro will be 36 years of age.

Both have been, and continue to be, extraordinary players.

But can they keep it going for another four years and if so, would they be as potent then as they are now?

Felipe Reyes, who was in the same junior teams as Gasol and Navarro, played his last game for Spain on Sunday.

Marc Gasol, who has blossomed into one of the best centers in the world and is still in his prime, knows Pau and Navarro well.

— Reported by FIBA.com

Guard Dontaye Draper signs in Spain

The Turkish Airlines Euroleague’s most potent offense last season has put extra speed in the backcourt as Real Madrid on Monday announced the signing of playmaker Dontaye Draper to a two-year contract. Draper (1.80 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Cedevita Zagreb, where he averaged 13.8 points, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 5 Eurocup games last season. Draper helped Cedevita reach both the Croatian League finals and the Adriatic League title game. Draper was chosen as the 2010-11 Eurocup MVP – also earning All-Eurocup first team honors – by leading Cedevita from the Qualifying Round to the Finals.

— Reported by Euroleague.net