Video of new Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio arriving at the airport in Minnesota.
Good news that Minnesota did not have any snowstorms on this fine June day to delay his arrival.
Category: NBA Teams
NBA teams blog
Tina Charles and Candice Dupree rock WNBA this week
Tina Charles of the Connecticut Sun and Candice Dupree of the Phoenix Mercury, were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for regular season games played Monday, June 13 through Sunday, June 19.
While leading the Sun to a 2-0 record, Charles ranked first in the league in scoring with 28.5 ppg, and among Eastern Conference players, ranked first in field goal percentage (.632), and third in rebounds (11.0 rpg). This marks Charles’s second Player of the Week award in her career.
On June 16, Charles scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 79-71 win over the Washington Mystics. Three days later, she also recorded a career-high 31 points, while tying a franchise-record with 13 field goals, to go along with 12 rebounds in notching her second consecutive double-double in an 83-68 victory over the Chicago Sky. In her second season, the 2010 WNBA Rookie of the Year is averaging 20.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
On the week, Dupree led the league with 15.0 rebounds per game. She also recorded her third consecutive double-double, the longest such streak of her career, which ties for third in the WNBA this season. Among Western Conference players, she ranked second in blocks (2.0 bpg) and sixth in scoring (19.5 ppg).
Her week was highlighted by setting a franchise record with 18 rebounds and scoring 21 points in a 93-89 victory over the Indiana Fever on June 19. It was the second 20-15 performance of her career, both coming with the Mercury. Dupree also scored 18 points and registered 12 rebounds, along with a block on June 17 against San Antonio.
The honor is Dupree’s fourth Player of the Week award in her career.
Other candidates for WNBA Players of the Week were Los Angeles’s Ebony Hoffman, Minnesota’s Seimone Augustus, San Antonio’s Sophia Young, Seattle’s Sue Bird, Tulsa’s Ivory Latta, and Washington’s Nicky Anosike.
Surprise Dirk Nowitzki birthday party
Marc Stein of ESPN reports:
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Dirk Nowitzki’s weeklong run of championship celebrations was capped by a surprise birthday party thrown for him Sunday night by girlfriend Jessica Olsson and lifelong coach/adviser Holger Geschwindner at the Dallas wine club Graileys.
The private event to commemorate Nowitzki’s 33rd birthday — dubbed “Dinner For 41” — featured exactly 41 guests, including Mavericks teammate Brian Cardinal, Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and various team staffers and close friends. Also in attendance were former Stanley Cup-winning Dallas Star Mike Modano and three award-winning scientists who are also Mavs fans.
As part of the evening’s program, Nowitzki was presented with a Larry O’Brien championship trophy cake and treated to performances from a Dallas Symphony Orchestra string quartet (Christopher Adkins, Diane Kitzman, Gary Levinson and Ellen Rose) as well as Dallas-based comedian Paul Varghese.
Pistons interview Mike Woodson today, Bill Laimbeer Wednesday
Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News reports:
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The Pistons’ coaching search goes on, and Mike Woodson is in town Monday to meet with team president Joe Dumars.
Woodson, the former Atlanta Hawks coach and one-time Pistons assistant, is considered the front-runner for the job due to his success with the Hawks…
The Pistons have already interviewed Lawrence Frank and Kelvin Sampson. Minnesota Timberwolves assistant and former Piston Bill Laimbeer will interview for the position Wednesday.
Mavs assistant Dwane Casey likely the new Raptors head coach
Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News reports:
It’s been a whirlwind the last several days for Dallas Mavericks’ lead assistant Dwane Casey.
Last week, the Mavericks claimed their first title. Casey helped celebrate with all of his team once they got back to Dallas later in the week.
And Casey also had what appears to be a successful job interview with Toronto general manager Bryan Colangelo.
Enough that the Dallas Morning News is reporting that Casey will be named the Raptors’ new head coach, perhaps as soon as later this afternoon.
Casey interviewed with the Raptors twice over the last several days. He apparently has beaten out Boston lead assistant and former New Jersey head coach Lawrence Frank.
Duke guard Jon Scheyer to play in Israel
Euroleague.net reports:
The Turkish Airlines Euroleague runner-up Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv keeps adding to its roster for he 2011-12 season with the signing of promising guard Jon Scheyer on a two-year-contract. Sheyer (1.96 meters, 23 years old) made a name for himself as a college star at Duke University, which he led to the 2010 NCAA title. He was named a consensus second-team All-American after his senior season, when he averaged 18.2 points, 4.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds. He finished his career as Duke’s top-ranked player ever in games played, with 144. He also made Duke’s career top-ten list in scoring, three-pointers made, free throws made, steals and minutes played.
Washington Wizards exercise options and qualifying offers on 8 players
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Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has picked up contract options on four players and extended qualifying offers to four restricted free agents.
The Wizards have picked up the third-year options on the rookie contracts of Trevor Booker, Jordan Crawford, Kevin Seraphin and John Wall.
In addition, the team has extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Othyus Jeffers, Hamady Ndiaye, Larry Owens and Nick Young.
David Kahn asks Kurt Rambis to prepare a report on changes for next season
The AP reports:
Kurt Rambis has been waiting two months for an answer about his coaching future with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It turns out he had some homework to do before team President David Kahn could make a decision.
Kahn said on Friday that he asked Rambis to write an extensive, detailed report about his team and the changes he would make if he comes back for a third season as head coach. Kahn said he asked Rambis to complete the report in mid-May, and the coach turned it in last weekend, setting up a series of meetings this week.
Kahn and Rambis met for four hours Thursday night and were scheduled to meet for another few hours Friday.
Kahn hired Rambis away from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009, signing him to a four-year contract to start a massive rebuilding project in Minnesota. Rambis has won just 32 games in his first two seasons as coach — with 132 losses — and the Wolves finished last season with a 15-game losing streak that dropped them to the worst record in the NBA.
Timberwolves sign Ricky Rubio
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The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed Ricky Rubio, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, to a multi-year contract. Rubio joins the Wolves following a decorated professional career in Spain that began when he was just 14 years old, the youngest ever to compete in the Spanish ACB League, and culminated with his FC Barcelona Team winning the 2011 ACB Championship earlier this week. Per team policy, terms of the contract offer were not disclosed.
“This is a day our organization and our fans have been eagerly awaiting from the moment we drafted him, and I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Ricky to Minnesota,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “Ricky’s skill set and feel for the game have made him one of the best young players in Europe for six years now, and at age 20 he’s still a young player with a lot of upside. I expect Ricky to enjoy a long and successful career here in Minnesota.”
Rubio and his FC Barcelona team clinched the 2011 ACB Championship on Tuesday, capping a two-year run in which the team also won two Catalan Cup Tournaments, two Spanish Supercups, two Spanish King’s Cups and the 2010 Euroleague title. Along the way Rubio earned All-ACB honors and was named the league’s Best Point Guard following the 2009-10 season. Rubio was also honored as the MVP of the 2009 Catalan Cup Tournament and won the 2010 Euroleague Rising Star Award as the best player under the age of 22 in Europe. In his two seasons with FC Barcelona, Rubio appeared in 68 regular season games, averaging 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.85 steals in 21.6 minutes per game.
Prior to joining FC Barcelona, Rubio played four seasons with DKV Joventut Badalona, where he averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 20.3 minutes per game. Rubio won FIBA Europe’s Young Player of the Year award in each of his final three seasons with Joventut, honoring him as the top player in Europe under the age of 22. He was also selected as the ACB Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.
A longtime member of the Spanish National Team, Rubio competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, helping Spain win a silver medal. At age 17, Rubio was the youngest player ever to compete in the gold medal game at the Olympics. Rubio also led his Spanish team to the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, where he averaged 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 6.5 steals per game. Rubio posted two triple-doubles and a quadruple-double during the tournament, including a 51-point, 24-rebound, 12-assist, 7-steal performance in the championship game against Russia.
Kings forward Jason Thompson has broken right toe
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X-rays taken yesterday at the UC Davis Sports Medicine Clinic revealed that Sacramento Kings forward Jason Thompson has a non-displaced sesamoid bone fracture in his right great toe. He will wear a walking boot for approximately four to six weeks, at which time Thompson will be re-evaluated.
Thompson, a three-year NBA veteran, averaged 8.8 points (.507 FGs, .605 FTs), 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game through 75 contests, of which he started 39 this past season for the Kings.