Category: International Basketball Blog

International basketball blog

Zach Marbury to Venezuela

The New York Times (David Waldstein) reports: Zach Marbury, who will turn 29 on Feb. 4, will dig out his passport later this week and fly to Venezuela after coming to terms on a one-season deal with Los Guaros De Lara in the gritty, physical Liga Profesional de Baloncesto, known as the L.P.B. It’s not the N.B.A. and it’s not even one of the more highly regarded leagues in the world. But it is professional basketball, and Zach Marbury, who like his brother is a point guard, says he is ready to do whatever it takes to participate again. “I just want to play,” Zach said Saturday in a telephone interview from Southern California, where he has been working out with his brother in preparation for his international career. “I feel I’m doing what I have to do to get to the N.B.A. “Do you think I want to go to Venezuela? No I don’t. But I have to because I believe it’s the path God has chosen for me, so I’m ready to accept and make the most of it.”

Dee Brown signs in Israel

Euroleague.net reports: Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv made an addition to its backcourt a few days before the Top 16 starts with the signing of Dee Brown on Saturday. Brown (185, 24) is a quick, scoring point guard who played earlier this season with Phoenix and Washington of the NBA. Signed until the end of the season, he will join Carlos Arroyo and Marcus Brown in Maccabi’s backcourt as soon as Sunday, as the team prepares for its Top 16 opener at home against Alba Berlin on Thursday.

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.