Category: International Basketball Blog

International basketball blog

Josh Childress having hernia surgery

Euroleague.net reports: Olympiacos Pireaus on Tuesday announced that forward Josh Childress will undergo hernia surgery today and miss most, if not all, of the Top 16. Childress (203, 25) is the third-best scorer (10.7 ppg.) and second-best rebounder (5 rpg.) for the Reds, while leading the team in minutes played (26.3 mpg.). Childress returned to the United States over the weekend for medical attention concerning an inguinal hernia.

Kobe Bryant commits to Team USA

The Orange County Register (Kevin Ding) reports: “The best player on the planet,” as Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called Kobe Bryant late Wednesday night, can’t wait to make the Earth move some more in 2010 and ’12. Bryant said Wednesday night he is willing to commit to play for USA Basketball in 2010 at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey in an attempt to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London, where Bryant expects to go for the gold again. “The chance to represent your country, that’s not even a thought-process for me,” Bryant said Wednesday. “If they want me to be on it, I’m all game.” Bryant’s words should stabilize the U.S. ship at a time when many of Bryant’s teammates from the 2008 Olympic gold-medal team are choosing to be future international men of mystery.

Euroleague Week 9 MVP: Immanuel McElroy

Euroleague.net reports: Not only did his outstanding performance allow Alba Berlin to register its first Euroleague road win this season and put one foot in the Top 16, but Immanuel McElroy played well enough in his team’s most pivotal game that he also earned the Week 9 MVP honor with an index rating of 38. Thanks to his near-perfect scoring show, Alba was able to steal a 75-79 road win against DKV Joventut in a Group C showdown for survival on Thursday. McElroy dominated the game and finished with 26 points, missing only one shot all night.

Yi Jianlian out 4-6 weeks

The New York Post (Fred Kerber) reports:  The Nets finally saw the Yi Jianlian they wanted, the 7-foot bundle of emerging talent they felt was worth dealing Richard Jefferson to obtain. The past few weeks, Yi was good. The past few games, Yi was very good. But now the development will be shelved for up to six weeks after Yi broke his right pinkie in Friday’s 104-102 defeat at Milwaukee. “Lousy timing,” team president Rod Thorn said. “He’d been playing well the last 2½, 3 weeks. Even in games he didn’t score a lot in, he’s been playing well. So it’s a tough time for him to get hurt.” Yi, who said he heard a “little pop” as he swiped at the ball in the third quarter, had 16 points in 25 minutes against Milwaukee, well on his way to a third straight 20-point game. In his last three games, he shot .538 (21-of-39), averaged 19.3 points – plus 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Violent fans harrass an Israel-league team in Turkey

A EuroCup basketball game in Turkey between Israeli team Bnei Hasharon and a Turkish team  was suspended after violent fans started making both verbal and physical threats towards the players on the Israeli team.

Two American players on the team are Shawn James, who attended Duquesne University and Sean Munson, who attended Wagner.
The Bnei team players had to flee under police protection to their locker room, and have had to stay there for a length of time for their own safety as uncivilized, violent fans took political anger and applied it towards innocent basketball players who are simply trying to engage in friendly sports competition.

The team from Turkey also left for their locker room, to avoid getting caught in any violence.

UPDATE: My source who is at the game tells me the players are now safe and back at their hotel.

UPDATE: Sean S. Munson exclusively to InsideHoops.com: “We are all good and safe.  We are in the hotel right now with police out side protecting us… We were in the locker room for 3 hours waiting for the police escort to clear the street back to our hotel.  They were throwing coins, pens, lighters, and one shoe during the warmups.  We finished the introduction of players and shook the other team’s hands and then it got quiet in the gym for about a minute.  Then the crowd rushed the court.  The game was seconds from starting.”

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner

Euroleague December MVP: Lior Eliyahu

Euroleague.net reports: It was an unpredictable situation for one of the dominant teams in Euroleague history. Five years had passed since the last time Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv faced a losing record halfway through a Euroleague regular season. Entering this month, however, the team sat next-to-last in Group A with a 2-3 record and only five more regular season games left. Three weeks later, to the delight of Maccabi’s fans, predictability has returned. Maccabi not only is qualified early for the Top 16, but also ready to challenge for first place. Plenty thanks for that turnaround go to forward Lior Eliyahu, Euroleague Basketball’s choice as December MVP. Just when Maccabi needed a go-to guy, Eliyahu became just that, posting three consecutive double-doubles to lead Maccabi to a trio of huge wins. Eliyahu started the month by pulling off the highest performance index rating all season in a victory over then co-leader Cibona. He followed that with almost identical double-doubles in points and rebounds to spark Maccabi’s first road wins of the season, at Air Avellino and Le Mans. In the process, Eliyahu vaulted to top-ten status among all Euroleague players in index rating, scoring and rebounding. Most importantly, however, Eliyahu helped put Maccabi back in its accustomed place as a Euroleague contender, and in so doing made himself a more-than-deserving choice as MVP of December.

Euroleague Week 8 MVP: Sani Becirovic

Euroleague.net reports: Lottomatica Roma not only advanced to the Top 16 with a tense overtime victory on Thursday, but its star guard also became the Week 8 MVP. No sooner did Sani Becirovic receive his trophy as November MVP in an on-court ceremony before the game than he went out and started earning the weekly honor, too… Pat Burke of Asseco Prokom also posted monster numbers in Week 8. Burke had 18 points and 20 rebounds in his team’s road loss against Zalgiris. Burke finished the game with a 33 index rating and became just the eighth player to pull down at least 20 boards in a Euroleague game. Felipe Reyes of Real Madrid and Paulius Jankunas each had index ratings of 28.

Marco Belinelli getting minutes

The Bay Area News Group (Marcus Thompson II) reports: Finally, guard Marco Belinelli said he has made it to the NBA. Sure, he has been in the league since the Warriors’ drafted him with the No. 18 overall pick in 2007. And he’s certainly collected more than a third of the nearly $5 million he will earn over his first three seasons. But Belinelli said it wasn’t until now that he felt as if he’d arrived. For the first time in his career, he said he feels as if he is part of the team. He’s getting minutes, providing offense and growing with teammates. There’s no telling how long this will last, as the Warriors’ injured players figure to return and Coach Don Nelson’s whims are likely to change. In the meantime, Belinelli is enjoying the experience.

Toronto Raptors sign Jake Voskuhl

The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday they have signed free-agent centre Jake Voskuhl. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

Voskuhl, 31, is an eight-year NBA veteran. He has played for Chicago, Phoenix, Charlotte and Milwaukee, averaging 4.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 15.1 minutes in 412 regular season games. He has also made 92 career starts. He has recorded career bests of 20 points (April 6, 2002 at Minnesota) and 16 rebounds (January 20, 2004 versus San Antonio).

The 6-foot-11, 255 pounder was selected 33rd overall in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He was acquired by Phoenix in October 2001 and spent four seasons with the Suns. He posted career highs of 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 24.3 minutes and 43 starts in the 2003-04 campaign.

Voskuhl participated in his lone postseason action in 2002-03 as a member of the Suns, where he averaged 6.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 16.3 minutes in six games. He shot .706 (12-17) from the field and .923 (12-13) from the free throw line.

The native of Katy, Texas averaged 6.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 138 career games at the University of Connecticut. He helped the Huskies capture the 1999 NCAA Championship.

The Raptors play host to the New Jersey Nets on Monday at Air Canada Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.