NBA News Blog – Page 1516 – NBA Blog

Hornets monitoring Peja Stojakovic`s health

John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune reports: When New Orleans Hornets small forward Peja Stojakovic reports for training camp later this month, General Manager Jeff Bower and Coach Byron Scott will already know if his previous back problems will be a factor. Two weeks ago, the franchise sent Mark Cranston, Director of Athlete Performance and Rehabilitation, to evaluate Stojakovic at his offseason home in Greece. Last season, the Hornets was unable to get a precise update on Stojakovic’s back condition until he reported for camp.

InsideHoops.com editor says: There’s not a lot of reason to have faith in Stojakovic anymore. At 32 years of age he doesn’t qualify as old just yet, but limited athletic ability combined with health issues could mean he’s best suited as a prime scoring option off the bench rather than as a core starter. Stojakovic averaged just 13.3 points on 39.9% shooting last season and did next to nothing in the playoffs. Hopefully he regains health, stays young and bounces back.

Nets are first NBA team to sell practice jersey sponsorship

New Jersey Nets Basketball player practice jerseys during the 2009-10 season will be adorned with a logo of PNY Technologies, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of high-quality computing and digital imaging products.

The Nets are the first NBA team to grant sponsor logo placement rights on its practice jerseys

As part of the two-year agreement, PNY will own the naming rights for the Nets practice facility in East Rutherford, to be called the PNY Center.

Launched in Brooklyn in 1985, PNY is now headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, and operates in 13 locations, with products sold in over 50 countries. It is considered a leading manufacturer and supplier of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, solid state drives, computer memory upgrade modules, as well as consumer and professional graphics cards. Whether it’s an SD™ card for a digital camera, a MicroSD™ card for a cell phone or a Graphics Card for a home computer, PNY offers complete solutions for digital lifestyle needs.

“This is an ideal fit between our two companies,” said Nets CEO Brett Yormark. “Our brand attributes line-up perfectly with PNY’s; we’re both about speed, precision, and durability. PNY will be synonymous with the pulse of the Nets, including through brand exposure during post-practice interviews. This unprecedented spotlight provides PNY the compelling opportunity to activate its brand, not just in the nation’s No. 1 media market, but also internationally. Due to the popularity of our players Yi Jianlian and Eduardo Najera, Nets Basketball regularly receives extensive exposure in China and Mexico, respectively.”

“With an array of lifestyle oriented products to engage fans and enhance the overall game experience, PNY is pleased to expand our support of Nets Basketball,” said Tony Gomez, vice president of sales and marketing at PNY. “Our comprehensive alliance allows PNY to further extend our reach to the broad and ever-growing global NBA fan base. On the dawn of our 25th Anniversary, the PNY brand is stronger than ever and our alignment with the Nets and its global media reach will prove to be a key asset in targeting this important international audience.”

In addition to practice jersey branding, the PNY logo will be seen on the media backdrop used for interviews at all practices. PNY logo placement will also be on Nets coaching staff apparel worn at team practices.

As a special feature on the Nets home page of njnets.com, including on the Nets’ two Chinese language Web sites, PNY will sponsor the ‘Live from Practice’ feature. Each day an image of a home practice will be posted on the site, which will also include updated team news.

PNY will also garner brand presence at Nets home games, as well as sponsor many fan-focused activities in the IZOD CENTER, such as the sponsorship of the ‘High 5 Line,’ along with PNY branded prizes and cheer sticks.

Brazil beats Puerto Rico to win 2009 FIBA Americas Championship

Euroleague.net reports: Brazil held on to beat Puerto Rico 60-61 in a tense and exciting final to claim the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico. All-Euroleague center Tiago Splitter of Caja Laboral shined with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists and Leandro Barbosa netted 24 to lead Brazil to the win. Brazil never trailed and led by as many as 16 in the third quarter, but Puerto Rico rallied and had a chance to win it at the buzzer. Barbosa scored 8 points during a 2-12 second-quarter run that helped Brazil to a 28-36 halftime advantage.

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports (via blog): After sitting out Brazil’s final two quarterfinal round games, Barbosa returned to lead Brazil in scoring twice again. Barbosa posted 22 points in Saturday’s semifinal win against Canada and added 24 points in Sunday night’s gold medal game victory against host Puerto Rico. Playing at San Juan’s Coliseo Roberto Clemente, Brazil needed every one of Barbosa’s points in a 61-60 win. Barbosa scored 21 points in the first three quarters and had Brazil ahead 50-37 entering the fourth quarter, when he went cold with a 1-for-9 quarter that included misses on his last five attempts. For the game, Barbosa was 1 of 8 from 3-point range (9 of 23 overall) but he still outdueled Puerto Rico’s Carlos Arroyo, who scored 14 on 6-of-15 shooting and missed a 3-point shot to win the game.

Euroleague.net reports: Argentina dominated Canada from start to finish to claim the bronze medal with an 88-73 victory. Real Madrid playmaker Pablo Prigioni wrapped up a brilliant tournament with 17 points and 8 assists and former All-Euroleague power forward Luis Scola netted 27 points to lead the Argentinean charge. Scola finished the tournament in first place in scoring with 23.3 points per game, while Prigioni’s 7.4 assists per game was also best in the event.

Warriors team dentist dies

Angela Hill of the Oakland Tribune reports: Dr. Derric DesMarteau, longtime team dentist for the Golden State Warriors, the Oakland Raiders and other sports organizations as well as a highly regarded private dentist with a thriving practice in Piedmont, died Aug. 20 from complications from cancer. He was 58. “He had such a love of dentistry, such an unbelievable passion for it,” said Rhonda Nelson, who worked with DesMarteau for 17 years as his office manager. “He could work magic with people. Patients came to him when other dentists said they’d given up on them, so he would often get unusual cases and restore their whole mouths.”

Lamar Odom dating Khloe Kardashian

Janis Carr of the Orange County Register reports (via blog): Reality TV star (and we use that term loosely) Khloe Kardashian will be the newest celeb Lakers fan sitting courtside, thanks to her boyfriend Lamar Odom. “They’re very, very happy,” the Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami star’s sister, Kim Kardashian, tells PEOPLE magazine. “They’ve been together a few weeks, and are literally inseparable. Khloe thinks he’s amazing and makes her laugh and smile constantly.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: As fun as Kim looks, my favorite Kardashian girl is Kourtney.

Francisco Garcia breaks finger

Sacramento Kings swingman Francisco Garcia fractured his right ring finger while playing for the Dominican Republic in the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship. He will not play in the remainder of the tournament and will return to Sacramento late next week, at which time the injury will be further evaluated. Garcia is entering his fifth NBA season (all with the Kings).

Beno Udrih has left knee strain

Sacramento Kings’ guard Beno Udrih strained his left knee while playing for the Slovenian national team. Per Udrih’s representatives, an MRI was taken and was negative. He will remain with the Slovenian team and be evaluated by the Kings’ medical staff when he returns to Sacramento in late September. Udrih is entering his sixth NBA season, and third with the Kings.

Timberwolves sign Ramon Sessions to offer sheet

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed restricted free-agent guard Ramon Sessions to an offer sheet. Under the terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Milwaukee Bucks will have seven days upon receiving the offer sheet to match Minnesota’s offer.

SEPT. 11 UPDATE: The Bucks did not match the offer.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the deal was for four years and $16 million.

“We are excited about the opportunity to have Ramon Sessions on our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “Ramon has the ability to play both guard positions, and thus will be able to complement the members of our current backcourt. At only 23, Ramon also has the potential to improve and fits our plan of building a young, up-tempo team with championship contending potential.”

Sessions, a 6-3 guard from Nevada-Reno, had a break-out season in 2008-09, averaging 12.4 points (.445 FG%) and 5.7 assists in 27.5 minutes per game in 79 contests (39 starts). His 5.7 assists per game led the Bucks and ranked 18th in the NBA. Sessions scored in double figures 53 times (12 times 20+ points), dished out 10+ assists on 10 occasions and posted nine double-doubles during the season. Additionally, he finished the year with a 2.97:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, the ninth-best ratio in the NBA. He scored a career-high 44 points, along with 12 assists, against Detroit on Feb. 7.

In 2007-08 as a rookie, Sessions averaged 8.1 points, 7.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 17 games. He set a Bucks franchise record with 24 assists against Chicago on April 14, while also tallying 20 points. He became the first Bucks player to notch 20 points and 20 assists in the same game. Selected by Milwaukee in the second round (56th pick) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Sessions has averaged 11.6 points, 6.0 assists, 3.4 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game in 96 contests (46 starts).

Alex Acker signs in Italy

The Detroit Free Press reports: Free-agent shooting guard Alex Acker has signed to play this season with the Italian club Armani Jeans Milano — taking the former Piston back to the Euroleague after a second stint in the NBA. The 6-foot-5 26-year-old played sparingly for the Pistons last season, appearing in seven games before being dealt to the Clippers in February. The Pistons, who were basically dumping salary, received future draft picks in return.

NBA to set Twitter restrictions for players, coaches

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo reports: NBA commissioner David Stern told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday the league will soon follow the NFL in announcing Twitter guidelines and other social media restrictions for its players and coaches. “Obviously, there is a happy medium between tweeting before the game and tweeting from our bench during the game,” Stern said by phone. “You want to make sure that pop culture doesn’t intrude on what brought us here, which is the game, and that we show the right respect for the game.” The NFL announced its own guidelines on Monday by restricting players, coaches and football operations personnel – or anyone representing them – from using social media networks like Twitter and Facebook from 90 minutes before kickoff to the end of traditional media interviews after games. NFL game officials are banned from using social media at all times. Stern described the NBA’s guidelines as “nothing too serious.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: I understand it if the league decides that players aren’t to post on the Internet for a period of time before a game starts through after a game has ended. These guys are getting paid crazy money to focus 100 percent on winning, and entertaining the fans who are paying to be in the arena. Just like companies can set Internet guidelines on what employees are allowed to do in an office, I understand the league doing that around game-time.