Basketball Blog

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that Brett Brown has been named an assistant coach. He will join Mike Budenholzer and Don Newman on the team’s bench.

“Brett Brown will continue to do the great work he has done for us for the past five years,” said Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich. “I look forward to him joining us on the bench.”

Brown has served as the Spurs assistant coach/director of player development for the last five seasons. Prior to joining the Spurs, in July of 2002, he spent 14 years coaching in the National Basketball League in Australia. He served as a head coach in the NBL for nine seasons, first with the North Melbourne Giants and then with the Sydney Kings. During that time he amassed 149 career victories which is the sixth highest total in NBL history. Born and raised in Maine, Brown played four seasons of college basketball for Rick Pitino at Boston University.

At the same time the Spurs announced that Chad Forcier (for-SEER) has been hired as an assistant coach. Forcier will be responsible for player development, filling the role previously held by Brown.

“We are fortunate to have Chad Forcier join our staff,” said Popovich. “He brings a wealth of experience and will inject a great deal of energy into our program.”

Forcier comes to the Spurs from the Indiana Pacers where he spent four seasons as an assistant coach. Prior to joining the Pacers he spent two seasons on Rick Carlisle’s staff with the Detroit Pistons. A 1995 graduate of Seattle Pacific University, Forcier started his career as an intern with the Seattle Sonics in 1992. He spent five seasons with the Sonics, working under head coach George Karl. Forcier coached on the college level for four seasons, at Oregon State and University of Portland, before joining the Pistons in 2001.

The Phoenix Suns announced their 2007-08 broadcast schedule today, which will continue to allow fans to see all 82 regular season games on either the Suns local broadcast networks or one of the NBA’s national broadcasts. In addition, the Suns will become the first team in the NBA and first sports team in Arizona to telecast every game in High Definition (HD).

For the fifth consecutive season, FSN Arizona will televise 30 games (28 home) this season, including the home opener vs. the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 2 at US Airways Center. FSN Arizona will also televise Kevin Garnett and the new-look Boston Celtics lone visit to the Valley of the Sun on Feb. 22.

KUTP (My45) enters its 20th consecutive season covering the Suns and will air 41 games (34 away), highlighted by road contests against the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 17 and April 9.

The reigning Pacific Division Champions will appear on national television 33 times (including nine games on NBA TV) this season.  TNT has exclusivity to six games, including the season opener versus rookie Kevin Durant and the Seattle SuperSonics on Nov. 1 at KeyArena. The 10-game ESPN schedule is highlighted by an array of Eastern and Western Conference playoff teams from last season in all but one broadcast.

ABC will carry five games exclusively, including three Sunday matinee home games against Detroit on Feb. 24, San Antonio on March 9 and Dallas on April 6. ABC will also televise the Suns game at the Lakers on Dec. 25, marking the first time since the 1996-97 season the club have played on Christmas Day.

For the 38th-straight season, all Suns games will be broadcast on the Suns flagship station, KTAR Radio 620 AM, with the “Voice of the Suns” Al McCoy calling play-by-play action. The entire broadcasting team from last season returns, including My45 play-by-play announcer and FSN Arizona pre-game host Tom Leander, FSN Arizona play-by-play announcer Gary Bender, My45 and FSN Arizona color analyst Eddie Johnson, My45 and FSN Arizona color analyst Dan Majerle, KTAR 620 AM Radio color analyst Tim Kempton, KSUN 1400 AM Spanish Radio play-by-play announcer Arturo Ochoa and KSUN 1400 AM Spanish Radio color analyst Gerardo Romo.

The Toronto Raptors confirmed Sunday that Jorge Garbajosa has been given consent to play in the European Championships 2007 as the Spanish Basketball Federation has successfully obtained adequate insurance with regard to his left leg/ankle injury.

“Although our medical staff has advised Jorge that another surgery is the best option toward a full and complete recovery, he has chosen to pursue a non-surgical path back to the basketball floor,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “Jorge is aware of and understands all of the inherent risks of competing at this time and maintains his desire to move forward accordingly.

“The Spanish Federation has displayed great commitment to Jorge by securing an insurance policy supporting his decision and allowing him to play for Spain in the European Championships as well as for the Toronto Raptors at the start of the upcoming NBA season.”

Behind a USA Olympic qualifying record 31 points from LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), the USA Men’s Senior National Team (10-0) opened and closed this afternoon’s FIBA Americas Championship 2007 gold medal contest to chants of U-S-A from the crowd after putting on a dazzling, 40-minute display that earned the USA a dominating 118-81 win over rival Argentina (8-2) in Las Vegas, Nev. The USA, which qualified for the 2008 Olympics with its win in Saturday night’s semifinals, extended its unbeaten streak in Olympic qualifying play to 36 consecutive wins, a run that dates back to the 1992 Tournament of the Americas.

“We are proud of the effort our guys gave,” said USA and Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “I thought the two best teams in the tournament played today against one another. It is always an honor for us to play against Argentina. They play well as a team against anyone in the world. Our guys also played well as a team today. Even though I do not like to single guys out, LeBron’s performance today was probably one of the best ones in an international game that an American player has had. He had a big time performance today.”

James lit it up early and nailed three of four 3-point shots to score 12 points in the first quarter alone. He went on to finish with a USA record 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 8-of-11 shooting from 3-point. James not only set the U.S. single game scoring record in Olympic qualifying action, but also established new marks for 3-pointers made and attempted and equaled the mark for field goals made.

“For me, I’m not the kind of guy who goes looking for shots,” James said. “I just took the opportunity and it felt pretty good. You keep making shots, and you feel like it’s going to go in every time. I definitely fell into a comfort zone and kept on taking (the shots).”

The first 15 points for the USA were scored in 3-point increments, with Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) and James each hitting two 3-pointers and Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) earning his the old fashioned way, slipping off a screen to get to the rim and finish. Argentina’s first three points also came from a 3-pointer by Federic Kammerichs, while Luis Scola and Javier Gonzalez helped with points from the inside, and the U.S. lead was 15-11 at 5:40.

Then came the breaking point, a Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) finish at 5:00 launched the USA on a monster run to close the quarter up 35-14. The USA allowed Argentina just one more basket in the first period, a Carlos Delfino 3-pointer at 4:00, while the red, white and blue raced to 20 more points. The spectacular run, which included six points from James and five from Bryant, was enough to bring the crowd to its feet and put the game out of Argentina’s reach.

“We thought about it yesterday and we wanted to close it out on a good note,” Anthony said. ” We didn’t want to qualify yesterday and then come out and here and lose. Tonight, we had our focus; our focus that we should have. We came in and took care of things like we wanted.”

Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons) opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer that ignited a second U.S. run., this time a 16-7 highlight reel that featured three spectacular dunks from Howard and two rim-rattling jams from James. The USA recorded eight assists in the second quarter on 10 made baskets, with Bryant credited for three of those. A television timeout at 4:58 apparently gave Argentina time to recover, as the USA’s South American rival responded with a 13-8 run to close the first half and cut the U.S. lead to 59-34 at the intermission.

From there the U.S. machine was in cruise control, outscoring Argentina 34-27 in the third and 25-20 in the fourth to reach the game’s final tally of 118-81. Eleven of the USA’s 12 players scored in the contest, with Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets) once again running the USA offense to perfection, never attempting a shot but recording six rebounds and five assists.

Howard contributed 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line to add to his five rebounds and four blocked shots; Anthony scored 16 points and collected eight rebounds; Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons) recorded 13 points and four rebounds; Bryant dished eight assists; and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) recorded five.

The USA continued two familiar patterns, namely solid shooting and pressure defense. The Americans made 42-of-73 attempts from the field (58.0 percent) and 20-of-41 tries from 3-point (49.0 percent), while blocking seven shot attempts on the other end and holding Argentina to 33.0 percent (9-27 3-pt FGs) shooting from deep.

In today’s earlier contest, Puerto Rico (5-5) withstood a late surge from Brazil (5-5) to secure the bronze medal and a 111-107 victory. Both teams, along with fifth place Canada (4-4), qualified to compete in the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will reward the top three finishers with a berth into the 2008 Olympics.

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, are being held Aug. 8-24, 2008. Twelve teams will compete for the Olympic men’s basketball gold medal. The United States and Argentina qualified from the FIBA Americas zone, while other qualified countries include host China; 2006 World Champion Spain; Angola from the Africa Zone; Iran from the Asian Zone; Australia from Oceania Zone. Two additional teams will be qualified at the European Zone Olympic qualifying championship that takes place Sept. 3-16 in Spain, and the final three teams will be determined through the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament that will be held July 7-13, 2008, at a site to be determined.

With the outside temperature in Las Vegas, Nev., smoldering in its typical triple digits Saturday afternoon, the USA Men’s Senior National Team (9-0) heated things up inside the Thomas & Mack Center as well with a fiery 135-91 blowout of Puerto Rico (4-5) in one semifinal of the FIBA Americas Championship. The one-sided win not only advanced the USA into Sunday’s gold medal game, but more importantly qualified the USA for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) and Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks) paced the USA scoring explosion. Anthony tallied a game high 27 points, while Redd totaled 23 points in the win. In 98 games played by USA teams comprised of NBA players, tonight’s 135 points is the third most ever scored.

Earlier in the day, Argentina (8-1) topped Brazil (5-4) 91-80 to also advance to the gold medal game and snag the other qualifying spot for the 2008 Olympics. The 4:00 p.m. (PDT) gold medal game will be broadcast live on FSN and NBA TV. The semifinal losers, Puerto Rico and Brazil will battle at 1:00 p.m. to determine the bronze medal finisher.

“We’re ecstatic that we have qualified for the 2008 Olympics,” said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Puerto Rico was so good in the first half, and we knew they would be because they can control tempo with their terrific guards. Our guys really started out the second half. Melo (Carmelo) went on one of those streaks, he reminded me of a game we played against Italy in the (2006) World Championship, and in one quarter he just took off. We did a little thing against the zone, and those things work well when people hit shots. They made passes, and he just gave us such a lift.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Krzyzewski continued. “They represented our country well, they represented international basketball well. Hopefully we can close out and play well again tomorrow, but we’re very, very honored to be one of the qualifying teams for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. You could not have a more proud team than this U.S. team is to represent their country.”

The USA’s first points of the game came from a Anthony 3-pointer that was a sign of things to come for the USA. When the final buzzer had sounded, the U.S. had shot an unbelievable 22-of-36 (64.0 percent) from deep to set U.S. records for 3-pointers made and attempted in Olympic qualifying action.

While Anthony would hit 6-of-7 3-pointers in the contest, Redd was 7-of-8 from behind the arc to equal the existing U.S. individual records for made 3-pointers, and Mike Miller (Memphis Grizzlies) shot 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point line.

“I just play. Regardless of what kind of game it is, I’m able to adjust to it,” Anthony said. “It’s not like I’m out there trying to score 20 or 30 points, it just happens. It sounds funny, but it’s almost like its coming naturally to me. The game is fun. Sometimes I almost like the international game better than I like the NBA game.”

“We were having fun,” Redd stated. “Your teammates are jumping around. It was great, man, just great. The thing about it is that a lot of the shots weren’t forced. Guys were playing unselfish. Mike Miller caught fire a little bit; Tayshaun hit a couple of threes. It was a total team effort tonight.”

Helped by 11 first quarter points from Orlando Magic guard Elias Ayuso, Puerto Rico initially kept pace with the USA. Led by LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets), who tallied eight points each, the USA shot its way to a 33-27 lead after the first quarter had been put in the books.

The second period saw the USA slowly increase its advantage to 15, 57-42, at halftime, but the real fun for the Americans began after the intermission.

By the time the clock read 6:47 in the third, Anthony already had drained four more 3-pointers and helped the U.S. balloon its lead to 73-49. Anthony, who scored 16 in the third period alone, was perfect from the field in the third stanza making all five of his shot attempts, including four 3-pointers.

While Anthony started the quarter hot, Redd closed it on fire to help the USA reach triple digits, 100-70, in just 30 minutes. Redd hit his first 3-pointer at 3:02 and then drained two more before the period ended. He carried the momentum through the break and opened the fourth quarter with two more 3-pointers, the first one at 9:40, then at 7:40. Miller also was dialed in from deep, hitting three of his four 3-pointers in the fourth to finish with 14 points.

“We’ve always been doubted as a good shooting team,” James said. “Teams have been able to pack in the zone and make us shoot it. But we’ve got Michael Redd, Mike Miller, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant. You don’t have to worry about anyone packing in the zone on us any more.”
In a fitting end to the game, Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons) recorded the USA’s final points from deep as well to reach the game’s final of 135-91.

James finished with 19 points and nine assists, including 9-of-9 shooting from two-point; Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) tallied 15 points; Prince scored 10 points to go with four rebounds and three assists; and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) dished seven assists.

Since writing my four part piece on the inanity, insanity, and absurdity of NBA players participating in FIBA tournaments, some news has transpired supporting my position. I figured I’d share:

Lets start with my personal hero, Canada’s coach Leo Rautins, who was forced to watch his son’s future disappear after he tore up his knee during FIBA competition. The junior Rautins was on his way to Syracuse to play college ball — but that’s not happening now.

What did Coach Rautins have to say:

“We had an eight-minute warm-up (the normal minimum is 12)…If you’re going to do eight-minute warm-ups then let’s do eight minutes. Don’t have player intros, don’t have exchanges of the pins. Nobody cares about that and certainly we don’t need to have the anthems at this point.”

He went on to discuss the atrocious schedule…

” There’s no where you play four games, take a day off and then play four more. Some of these teams will play eight straight. To me it’s illogical. I think people have to sit down and realize there’s a reason people don’t play. There’s a reason NBA teams don’t want their guys to play. And if you want to continue to have the best guys play in this tournament, you might want to do some things like not cut the warmups, have extra bodies available and you may want to space (the schedule out) or change the format so you don’t kill people in order to play.”

http://torontosun.com/Sports/Basketball/2007/08/24/4442963-sun.html

Preach Coach Rautins. Its terrible. Why are they playing every night? Can they stretch this thing out over 4 weeks, so maybe some guys can rest their bodies? 8 minute warm-ups? Is less warm-up time and condensed schedule part of the “real basketball” of FIBA — or is it just an easier way to sell their tourney to TV?

How about the best GM in basketball, Bryan Colangelo. He’s had enough of this garbage:

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/247838

Injuries to both Bosh and Delfino? He has an Atlantic Division crown to protect and now he’s got Garnett in his division. What’s a reasonable GM to do? So he put his foot down:

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/249272

That’s right….Garbojosa may look healthy, may seem healthy, but the Raptors want to keep him that way. Not cleared to play. Toronto Raptors are very very lucky to have a GM that smart (me thinks he put his foot down on Bosh too – everyone has got some plantar).

Here’s to you Anderson Varejao. Here’s a guy smart enough not to compete without someone paying his way:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/sports/NA-SPT-BKB-Americas-Unbeaten-US.php

Too bad for Brazil that the Cavaliers won’t fund their team. See Cavs already have one player playing 8 games in 9 nights, they’re not going to pay another one. And Andy, well he’s too smart to risk injury unless he has guaranteed money.

Why doesn’t Brazil offer him some cash or some insurance? I know, its because the tournament isn’t worth it if it actually costs the home country something…its only important if only the NBA team has risk.

…and here’s one for all those still disagree with me – especially Denver fans.

http://www.9news.com/sports/article.aspx?storyid=76375

…add the fact that since they are only half-way done and the team isn’t allowed to bring spare players, so ‘Melo is forced to play on that injury. I’m sure its good for a bruised right heel to keep running and jumping on it.

–and for my friends in Detroit:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082601554.html

Don’t worry, Tayshaun did rest that sprained ankle one day. NBA players don’t really need their ankles anyway.

Anyone else think it will cause further injury for the ACTUAL NBA SEASON. FIBA will be fine – only the players’ teams and fans will suffer.

A shame that FIBA won’t let teams bring a few extra guys — sort of an inactive list — so players aren’t compelled to play hurt. Bruce Bowen could’ve given Prince the rest he needed.

Oh well, who cares if Rautins loses a year of play, or Prince and Carmelo have to rest on Detroit/Denver time. Its not like Denver or Detroit are teams that’ll be battling for an NBA title — oh wait, they probably will be there. So really, its only the NBA, the teams, the players and the players’ fans that suffer.

But, we gotta send NBA players to the FIBA tournaments…right?

The Sacramento Kings today signed free-agent point guard Orien Greene to a contract, according to Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. InsideHoops.com hears it’s a short-term deal, and we’re assuming it’s for low money, probably close to the minimum, but we absolutely have not confirmed that. It’s just logical speculation.

Greene, a 6-4, 210-pound guard, averaged 1.5 ppg (.371 FG%, .600 FT%) and 1.1 rpg in 41 games for the Indiana Pacers in 2006-07.

Originally drafted out of Louisiana-Lafayette in the second round (#53) of the 2005 NBA Draft by Boston, Green appeared in 80 games (started five) for the Celtics his rookie season, posting averages of 3.2 ppg (.395 FG%, .662 FT%), 1.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, and 1.0 spg in 15.4 mpg.

The Denver Nuggets have signed free agent G Anthony Carter, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.

Carter, 6-2, 195, averaged 3.0 ppg, 5.5 apg and 1.5 rpg in two games for the Nuggets last season. He appeared in one playoff game, scoring eight points and handing out two assists in 14 minutes.  He was waived by the Nuggets on Aug. 29.

Denver’s roster currently stands at 13 players.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Carter is one of those players that easily could have fallen out of the league years ago, yet he keeps managing to get signed, so he’s clearly doing something right.

Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Martin will join a host of NBA stars and coaching personnel returning to Johannesburg, South Africa September 5-9 at the American International School of Johannesburg for the fifth edition of Basketball without Borders Africa.

A partnership between the National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and Basketball South Africa (BSA), Basketball without Borders Africa is a global basketball development and community outreach program that uses the sport of basketball to influence positive social change and features dozens of current and former NBA players and team personnel as camp coaches.

“I’m truly grateful to have this opportunity,” said Martin. “Not only to work with these children but to travel to South Africa. I’m looking forward to helping make a difference in these campers’ lives.”

Martin is the fourth Sacramento Kings player to take part in this event, which originally began in July 2001, with Vlade Divac of the Kings and six other NBA players from the former Yugoslavia uniting to work with 50 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYRO Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia Montenegro at La Ghirada in Treviso, Italy. The following year in 2002, Basketball Without Borders brought together 50 young Greek and Turkish players in Istanbul, Turkey, led by Kings forwards Hedo Turkoglu and Peja Stojakovic.

A three-year NBA veteran, Martin heads to Johannesburg having just completed his most successful NBA season to date. Martin averaged 20.2 ppg (.473 FG%, .381 3pt%, .844FT%), 4.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, and 1.2 spg, finishing second in the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year race in what turned out to be the closest contest ever for that particular award.

The young players (ages 19 & under) from 21 African countries were selected by FIBA and the NBA based on their basketball skills, leadership abilities, and dedication to the sport. For four days the campers will work hard to improve their skills through drills, scrimmages, and competitions with top instruction from NBA players and coaches.  Teams will form without regard to race or nationality to promote friendship and diversity.  The campers will also participate in life skills sessions, in partnership with Hoops 4 Hope, in which NBA players will speak about the importance of education, leadership, character, healthy living, and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

For the fifth consecutive year, Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo, who in 2007 received special recognition during the United States President’s State of the Union Address for his charitable work, will lead the camp in South Africa.  In addition to Martin, NBA players involved include San Antonio Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, Charlotte Bobcats center Primoz Brezec, Atlanta Hawks guard-forward Josh Childress, Orlando Magic forward Pat Garrity, Phoenix Suns center Sean Marks, New Jersey Nets forward Bostjan Nachbar, and New York Knicks forward Malik Rose.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have requested waivers on forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu, despite the fact that “Pops” is a cool first name.

Mensah-Bonsu (6-9, 240) played for the Mavericks in the Vegas Summer League and Rocky Mountain Revue during the summer of 2006 and was signed by Dallas as a rookie free agent on Aug. 3, 2006.

In his rookie season, Mensah-Bonsu saw action in 12 games for Dallas and averaged 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 5.9 minutes per game. He participated in the inaugural D-League All-Star Game on Feb. 17 during All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas and led the Eastern Division All-Stars to a 114-100 victory en route to being named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

InsideHoops.com editor says: There’s no guarantee any other team picks Bonsu-Mensah up. He’s right on the fence and isn’t a lock to stay in the league. He could get signed, but he may have to just attend someone’s training camp and earn a deal there.