* British national Pops Mensah-Bonsu had a solid game in his fourth outing with the Toronto Raptors. Mensah-Bonsu scored 21 points (5-10 shooting) in 21 minutes and grabbed 8 rebounds in a 110-87 drubbing of Indiana this Sunday.

The Raptors wore green in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Mensah-Bonsu was recently released by the San Antonio Spurs and gobbled up by Toronto.

Mensah-Bonsu played well for Great Britain this summer, helping the Brits qualify for EuroBasket. The high-flying athlete previously played for the University of George Washington, the Dallas Mavericks, Benetton Treviso, CB Granada, DKV Joventut, and the Austin Toros.

* In the same game, Italian Andrea Bargnani continued his dramatic upswing by scoring  27 points (9-11 FGs, 3-3 threes), 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Since the New Year rang in, “Il Mago” (The Magician) is averaging 18.8 points, shooting 47% from the field and 44% from beyond the three-point arc.

* Remember Darko Milicic? The forgotten 23-year old scored 12 points and 11 rebounds in a Memphis Grizzlies victory against his former team, the Detroit Pistons.  He had a sick block against one of his replacements, Amir Johnson. After the block, he reportedly bent down and ripped his socks down the middle. Not really, but knowing Darko, it could’ve happened.

* Four Spaniards were in NBA action on Sunday (all wins):

• Jose Calderon had 15 points and 12 assists in the aforementioned Toronto win over the Indiana Pacers.  Todays game marked Calderon’s third missed free throw of the season.  The 6-3 point guard is now 123-126 for the season for 97.6% from the line, and still on pace for the best single-season percentage.
• Pau Gasol scored 25 points (12-13 shooting), and added 8 rebounds and 3 blocks in the Laker’s 107-100 victory over the Mavericks.
• Younger brother Marc had 11 points and 7 rebounds while Darko took center stage in the Griz victory over Detroit.
• Rudy Fernandez returned after his ugly fall that sent him to the hospital for observation and caused him to miss two games.  Fernandez had zero points, missing all 4 of his three-point attempts. He did register a block though.

Links and Resources: Andrea Bargnani improving, yet inconsistent (Interbasket),  Video: Rudy Fernandez injured by Trevor Ariza in Blazers’ Rout of Lakers (Interbasket)