Category: International Basketball Blog

International basketball blog

Australia: Kirk Penney wins 2009 NBL MVP

New Zealand Breakers star shooting guard Kirk Penney has been named the winner of the Andrew Gaze Trophy as the National Basketball League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2008/09 season, becoming the first New Zealander ever to win the NBL’s top award.

Penney registered 92 votes to narrowly take out the award from Sydney Spirit big man Matthew Knight on 90.  Melbourne Tigers’ Nigerian import Ebi Ere came third with 89 votes, while Mark Worthington of the South Dragons (87) and Shawn Redhage of the Perth Wildcats (86) rounded out the top five in an extremely tight race.

Penney, who previously played for the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers in the American NBA, averaged 24.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 28  regular season games for the Breakers in 2008/09.  He shot the ball at 45.6% from the field, 37.3% from three-point territory and 80.4% from the free-throw line.

The Tall Blacks star also led his team to their best-ever season, helping the Breakers to the Semi-Finals for the first time in club history.

Whilst Penney was delighted with the award, he was also disappointed that the Breakers’ season ended with a 2-0 sweep at the hands of the Melbourne Tigers.

“We, the players and coaches, definitely had a bit of a sour taste in how we lost to the Tigers. We felt like we should have played better and had a chance of winning the series,” Penney said of the award.

“I guess it is a little [bittersweet] because you want to win a championship, and they’re the memories that never leave you. But as a personal accolade it’s just a huge honour.”

Voting for the MVP award is conducted following each regular season game by the coaching staffs of each team, with the player amassing the most votes at the end of the season being declared the winner.

The NBL’s MVP award is named after Melbourne Tigers great Andrew Gaze, with the trophy being a specially commissioned sculpture of Gaze in action.

In Australia’s Finals, Chris Anstey charged with elbow strike

The National Basketball League (NBL) has announced that Melbourne Tigers’ player Chris Anstey has been cited on a charge of ‘Striking – with elbow’ and will face the NBL Tribunal.

The charge arose from an alleged incident with South Dragons’ player Rhys Carter in the third quarter of the Tigers’ Grand Final game against the Dragons at Hisense Arena on Sunday 8 March.

Anstey was charged after NBL General Manager Chuck Harmison viewed video footage of the incident and decided to refer the matter to the Tribunal.

The Melbourne Tigers have already informed the league office that they wish to have Anstey’s charge heard informally via telephone interviews.

Under League rules regarding Finals games, the charge must now be heard by NBL Tribunal Chairman Ken Madsen prior to the Tigers’ next match, which is Game Four of the Grand Final series on Wednesday 11 March at the State Netball Hockey Centre.   A decision in the case is expected to be handed down no later than Wednesday morning.

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.