International Basketball Blog – Page 86 – NBA Blog

Australia: Tigers fined for Ebi Ere use

The National Basketball League (NBL) has fined the Melbourne Tigers team $4,000 for playing import Ebi Ere in a pre-season game without an international clearance.

Ere suited up for the Tigers in their 125-106 pre-season win over the Townsville Crocodiles at the Mackay Basketball Stadium in Queensland on Saturday 6 September.

NBL interim Chief Executive Officer Chuck Harmison said that Ere played without obtaining the necessary Foreign Player Licence and International Clearance, and as a result the Tigers had been fined by the League.

“It’s a fairly basic rule that all import players need to get the necessary clearances from FIBA before playing for their new team, and unfortunately the Tigers failed to obtain these on Ere’s behalf before playing him on Saturday night,” said Harmison. “As a result, we were left with no alternative other than to impose sanctions against the Tigers.”

“As the infraction occurred in a pre-season game, we felt a fine was appropriate in this instance,” Harmison added. “If this had been a regular season game, they would potentially have faced the loss of competition points as well as a significantly larger fine, so this is a serious breach on their behalf.”

Manu Ginobili has left ankle surgery

The San Antonio Spurs announced that earlier today Manu Ginobili underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to correct a posterior impingement of his left ankle.

The surgery was performed in Los Angeles by Dr. Richard Ferkel.

Ginobili will return to San Antonio on Thursday. He will be in a posterior splint – and on crutches – for three weeks. At the end of the three-week period he will be re-evaluated and begin his rehabilitation process.

Ginobili originally suffered the injury in the Spurs-Suns series in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. The injury hampered Ginobili for the remainder of the postseason. After a rehabilitation program Ginobili was cleared to play in the 2008 Olympics. He re-aggravated the injury in the tournament’s semifinal round in a game versus the U.S.A. on August 22.

Following the conclusion of the Olympic Games Ginobili returned to San Antonio. An MRI conducted last week confirmed that he had re-aggravated the injury and that there was no additional damage to the ankle or the ligament.

Daniel Ewing signs in Poland

Euroleague.net reports: Polish champ Prokom Trefl Sopot has hired a pair of new point guards in a matter of days. Daniel Ewing (191, 25) arrives from Khimki of Moscow, where he was the team’s second-best scorer in ULEB Cup play last season. Khimki was the runner-up to Euroleague champion CSKA for the Russian League title, too. In his European debut last season, Ewing averaged 12.1 points in ULEB Cup play for Khimki, which lost in the second elimination round to eventual champions DKV Joventut.

Lithuania star Ramunas Siskauskas retires from national team

Fiba.com reports: Lithuania star Ramunas Siskauskas has decided to retire from the national team. Siskauskas, the Euroleague MVP last season after leading CSKA Moscow to the title, played in his third Olympics this summer in Beijing where the Baltic country suffered a narrow defeat to Spain in the semi-finals before losing in the bronze medal game to Argentina. “I’d made up my mind last year and results in Beijing did not affect my decision,” said Siskauskas, who turns 30 on September 10.

Mario Kasun signs in Turkey

Euroleague.net reports: Just two days after the player left his previous team, FC Barcelona, Efes Pilsen announced on Friday the addition of big man Mario Kasun (214, 28). Last season, Kasun played 21 Euroleague games with Barca, averaging 9.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in over 17 minutes per game. Kasun made his debut with KK Gorica of the Croatian second division during the 1997-98 season and then signed for KK Zrinjeva until in 2001, he moved to Germany to play with the Cologne 99ers.

Ginobili could miss several months

The San Antonio Express-News (Mike Monroe) reports: Spurs star Manu Ginobili will have surgery next week on his left ankle and heel to repair ligament damage that has hampered his game for many months. Though Ginobili on Thursday told an Argentine newspaper he expected to return to action six to eight weeks after the operation, sources familiar with the procedure say it is much more likely he will be out for two to three months. That makes it unlikely he can be ready for action when the Spurs open the regular season Oct. 29 in a game at the AT&T Center against the Phoenix Suns.

Grizzlies sign Hamed Haddadi

The Memphis Grizzlies signed free-agent center Hamed Haddadi pronounced (ha-MED ha-DAHD-dee), who led all 2008 Olympians in rebounding and blocks, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Ahvaz, Iran native recently participated in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, where he was the only player to average a double-double (16.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 blocks) in Olympic competition while playing five games for the Iranian National Team.

The 7-2, 254-pound center had his best performance came against eventual bronze medal winner Argentina when he had a team-high 21 points and game-high 16 rebounds on Aug. 16.

“We are pleased to sign Hamed,” said Wallace. “He is a young center who was very productive as a rebounder, shotblocker and scorer at the Rocky Mountain Revue Summer League in Salt Lake City, Utah, the 2008 Olympics and the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament in Nanjing, China prior to the Olympics. Our coaching staff is eager to begin working with Hamed.”

Haddadi, who is slated to become the first Iranian to play in the NBA, poured in 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Lebanon in the 2007 FIBA Asian Championship in Japan, helping Iran clinch its first Olympic basketball berth since 1948.

The 23-year-old, who was not selected in the 2004 NBA Draft, recently averaged 14.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 25.5 minutes in two games for the Iranian team against NBA competition at the 2008 Rocky Mountain Revue.

Haddadi, who spent the 2007-08 season playing for Saba Battery BC in the Iranian Super League, will join former Grizzlies Jake Tsakalidis and Cezary Trybanski as the tallest players in franchise history. He is also the second Grizzlies player to appear in the 2008 Olympics, joining center Marc Gasol, who captured a silver medal with the Spanish National Team.

Taurean Green to sign in Spain

The Indepedent Florida Alligator (Mike DiFerdinando) reports: Taurean Green doesn’t speak much Spanish, and that may be a problem. The former UF point guard confirmed Wednesday that he has agreed to play for the Spanish club CAI Zaragoza. Green is in the process of negotiating what is believed to be a one-year deal with the team. He would not confirm the specifics of the contract.

Casey Jacobsen signs in Germany

Euroleague.net reports: Alba Berlin completed its roster for its Euroleague comeback this season on Thursday with the addition of American forward Casey Jacobsen (198, 27) for the next campaign. Jacobsen arrives from the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA where last season he averaged 2.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 53 appearances. Jacobsen played college ball in Stanford with which he played the NCAA Final Eight in 2001.

Luol Deng insurance doubt for London 2012

The Times of London (Ian Whittell) reports: Great Britain Basketball [GBB] officials fear that the insurance problems that are preventing Luol Deng, the Chicago Bulls forward, from playing for his country will rule him out of the 2012 Olympic Games in London and even put Britain’s involvement in the tournament in doubt. The sport’s governing body has seven days to find $500,000 (about £272,000) for an additional insurance premium if Deng, who is an ambassador for London 2012, is to take his place in the qualifying campaign for next year’s European Championship A division finals, starting against Israel in Tel Aviv a week today.