Category: International Basketball Blog

International basketball blog

Lakers assign Sun Yue to D-League

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Sun Yue to the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

“This is a great opportunity for Sun to gain additional playing time while still being able to continue on the NBA level,” said head coach Phil Jackson.  “Your rookie year is a learning process and the more time you get on the court, the better you will be for it in the long run.  I am impressed with Sun’s basketball talents and am hopeful that he will play for the Lakers for many years to come.”

Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Sun signed with the Lakers the following summer (August 25, 2008) shortly after representing China as a member of the Men’s Olympic Basketball Team in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Making his NBA debut on December 7 versus Milwaukee with four points on 2-of-3 shooting in five minutes, Sun has appeared in 10 games with the Lakers this season, totaling six points, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot in 28 minutes.

Euroleague Top 16 Week 4 MVP: Tiago Splitter

Euroleague.net reports: A triumphant return from personal misfortune and family tragedy saw a signature Euroleague superstar earn MVP honors for Top 16, Week 4. All-Euroleague center Tiago Splitter put on a near-perfect performance as Tau Ceramica moved nearer to Quarterfinal Playoffs qualification by dominating Armani Jeans Milano 74-107 on the road Wednesday in Group D. It was Splitter’s first Top 16 game after an injury and the tragic passing of his teenage sister earlier in February as she lost a long battle with leukemia… Carlos Arroyo of Maccabi Electra was the best scorer of Top 16 Week 4 with 26 points in a losing effort against Real Madrid. Three players – Louis Bullock of Real Madrid, Igor Rakocevic of Tau Ceramica and Mirsad Turkcan of Fenerbahce Ulker – tie as the Top 16’s overall scoring leaders with 19 points per game each.

Australia: 2009 NBL Finals

The 2009 National Basketball League (NBL) Grand Final series will be an all-Victorian affair after the South Dragons defeated the Townsville Crocodiles to advance to the title round, where they will face cross-town rivals the Melbourne Tigers in a classic one versus two showdown.

The Dragons, who took out the minor premiership with a league-best regular season record of 22-8, defeated Townsville in the deciding Game Three of their Semi-Final series, 101-78, at Melbourne’s Hisense Arena tonight.

The league’s reigning Champions and this season’s number two seed, the Tigers, had previously advanced to the Grand Final series after defeating the New Zealand Breakers 2-0 in their own best-of-three Semi-Final series.

The Dragons’ victory tonight sets-up a clash of the top two ranked teams in the league, and the first all-Victorian NBL Grand Final since 1997, when the South-East Melbourne Magic (led by South Dragons current coach Brian Goorjian) defeated the Melbourne Tigers 2-1 in a classic three-game series.

Raptors assign Nathan Jawai to D-League

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have assigned rookie forward-centre Nathan Jawai to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. Jawai will continue to be included on the Raptors’ roster and will be placed on the team’s inactive list.

Jawai, 22, has appeared in five games totaling two points and two rebounds in 18 minutes. He was cleared December 17 to begin physical activity after being sidelined since training camp for precautionary reasons as a result of an abnormality detected during normal procedural pre-season cardiac screening.

The club acquired the draft rights to Jawai from the Indiana Pacers on July 9. He was the 41st overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft. He is the first indigenous player from Australia to be drafted by an NBA team.

Jawai is the third Raptor to be assigned to the D-League. P.J. Tucker was assigned twice to Colorado during the 2006-07 season and Pape Sow was assigned to the Arkansas Rimrockers in the 2005-06 campaign.

Idaho, who is led by head coach Bryan Gates, has been designated as Toronto’s D-League affiliate for the 2008-09 season. In addition to the Stampede, the 16-team NBA D-League includes the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Anaheim Arsenal (Calif.), Austin Toros (Texas), Bakersfield Jam (Calif.), Colorado 14ers (Broomfield), Dakota Wizards (Bismarck, N.D.), Erie BayHawks (Penn.), Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Ind.), Iowa Energy (Des Moines), Los Angeles D-Fenders, Reno Bighorns (Nev.),

Rio Grande Valley Vipers (McAllen, Tex.), Sioux Falls Skyforce (S.D.), Tulsa 66ers (Okla.) and Utah Flash (Provo).

Vlade Divac new president of Serbia basketball Olympic committee

Fiba.com reports: Serbia basketball great Vlade Divac on Tuesday became the new president of the country’s Olympic Committee (OKS). Divac, who won numerous medals with the former Yugoslavia in international competition and also enjoyed a long career in the NBA, was confirmed as the new president at the General Assembly of OKS just minutes after his rival, former president Ivan Curkovic, decided to step out of the race. Curkovic explained that his sudden move was made “due to political pressure” that he was under, and “to secure legality of the election” since delegates previously had decided not to vote secretly for the president, which is a requirement under current OKS statutes if there is more than one candidate.

Spurs sign Pops Mensah-Bonsu to 10-day contract

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed free-agent forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu to a 10-day contract.

The 25-year-old Mensah-Bonsu had most recently been playing with the Austin Toros, the Spurs NBA D-League affiliate.  In eight games with the Toros, he averaged 26.6 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.50 blocks in 39.8 minutes.  His best game with the Toros came on 2/22 vs. Colorado where he had 39 points and 18 rebounds in 47 minutes.

Mensah-Bonsu was signed by the Dallas Mavericks after going unpicked in the 2006 NBA Draft.  During the 2006-07 season he appeared in 12 games with the Mavericks, averaging 2.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in 5.9 minutes.  That season he also appeared in 26 games for the Fort Worth Flyers of the D-League, averaging 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds in 30.7 minutes.  Mensah-Bonsu was selected to the 2007 D-League All-Star Game where he captured MVP honors after scoring 30 points and grabbing 7 boards.

The 6-10, 240-pound forward was born in London and played collegiately at George Washington University.  He spent four years with the Colonials finishing his career second on the school’s all-time blocks list (141) while earning Atlantic-10 All Conference First Teams honors during his senior year.

Mensah-Bonsu will wear uniform #54.

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Manu Ginobili out 2-3 weeks

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Manu Ginobili has a stress reaction of his distal right fibula. The injury was diagnosed after a series of examinations including X-rays, an MRI and a CAT scan.

Ginobili is expected to be out for two-to-three weeks.

For the season, Ginobili in 27.2 minutes per game is averaging 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.53 steals.

Top 16 Week 3 Euroleague MVP: Ersan Ilyasova

Euroleague.net reports: In a week full of great individual performances, one of the Euroleague’s fastest-rising stars sparked his team to an important victory to become MVP of Top 16 Week 3. Barcelona power forward Ersan Ilyasova put on a career-best show for the home fans while leading his team back from a halftime deficit to defeat Alba Berlin 85-69 on Thursday and take exclusive hold on second place in Group F… Another power forward, Mirsad Turkcan of Fenerbahce Ulker, had the week’s second-best individual effort with an index rating of 37. Turkcan hit 8 of his 13 field-goal attempts and recorded a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds to go with 2 blocks, leading Fenerbahce to an impressive 55-65 road victory over Cibona in Zagreb. Tau Ceramica captain Sergi Vidal came off the bench to record the third best performance of the week with an index rating of 33.

Frederic Weis signs in Spain

The Hoop (a trusted fan blog which quotes official sources) reports: Menorca announced the signing of french center, Frederic Weis (2.18-C) who was recently released by Bilbao, until the end of the season. Weiss will add power and height to the frontcourt of Menorca and he also has 8 seasons of experience in the ACB as a player of Malaga and Bilbao.