Interbasket

Every Wednesday during the NBA season, Interbasket takes a closer look at ten international NBA players that has caught our eye. (This week is for period 01/30/2008- 02/05/2008)

Pau Gasol + Kobe + Bynum Shakes Up the West
After months of mild media speculation and uninspired play by Spanish superstar, world champion, and NBA all-star Pau Gasol, the Grizzlies shipped the unhappy Gasol tot he Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Javaris Crittenton, Kwame Brown and two first round draft picks.

The move left many GMs around the league with their jaws dropped and scratching their heads. Much like how I envision an orangutan. “They got Pau Gasol for how much?!” seemed to be the consensus.

And it’s true, it may have made sense on paper, salary-wise, but it didn’t make sense in any other type of logic. The Lakers got themselves a bargain. It was like the Lakers had a NBA-sanctioned 70% off coupon that could applied to the trade without restrictions. “Oh you want us to also throw in Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf, $3,000,000 and an iPhone? Sure, but I have this discount coupon here so you only get Kwame, Crittenton, and the rights to Pau’s slower, awkward brother, Marc.”

Pau Gasol played his first game in the Laker’s purple and gold Monday night and made quite the impression. Despite being hit with three quick personal fouls in his first twelve minutes of action, Pau ended the game with 37 minutes, 24 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.

And the important thing is that the Lakers won despite Kobe scoring only 6 points in the game. It’s always great to work in a new player and have them perform well in their first game, it’s even better if it ends in a win. Nothing gels a team like winning; little mistakes, personal nuances, a missed passes are muted significantly when the game ends in a win. not to mention the confidence it builds in the new makeup of the team.

Up and Down Week for Hedo Turkoglu
Hedo Turkoglu was snubbed for the all-star reserves last week. That didn’t stop the 6-9, 28-year old Turk from being honored as the NBA player of the week for week ending January 27th.

And on Monday night, Hedo recorded the first triple-double of his career 13 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in a loss against the Mavericks. Previous to that game, Turkoglu was really pushing for an all-star berth with his performances in eight straight games where he scored 20+ points — for averages of 24.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.8 assists.

Beno Udrih Back to the Bench
I feel for Beno Udrih. Never given the chance to play much in San Antonio, then after being released by the Spurs before the season, Beno got the opportunity to take over for the Sacramento Kings with an injury to Mike Bibby.

Beno signed with the Kings and immediately seeing time on the court.  He played well in Bibby’s absence, and was able to show the haters why, year after year, he was on the bench in San Antonio.

The reason why was that Beno Udrih had potential, but was playing behind Tony Parker and Beno’s style not aligning with Popovich’s equated to little or no minutes. With Mike Bibby back, after Beno started 27 consecutive games, Udrih is riding the pine again.   Now at least the left-handed Slovenian is still getting 15 minutes of burn every night, a lot more than he was getting in San Antonio.  The question is whether Udrih is happy playing backup in Sactown or is he going to use his recent accomplishments to see if the grass is greener elsewhere?

So Which International NBA Players Have Next?
We all know about perennial international superstars Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and Yao Ming, but who are the up and coming international players? With the all-star game reserves being named last week, it got me thinking. Who are the international potential all-stars in the NBA?

The only requirements is that they haven’t played in an all-star game (eliminating Tony Parker, Andrei Kirilenko, and Memo Okur), and are 26 years old or under. Oddly enough, that leaves out two promising rookies, the 27 year-old Luis Scola and Juan Carlos Navarro. I listed the players in their likelihood of making an all-star team…

Luol Deng - Lost in the Bull’s disappointing season and recent injuries, when Luol Deng is on the court, he is the face of consistency. Sweet mid-range game, high basketball IQ, long arms, and a demeanor that reminds me of Tim Duncan, Deng has the potential to be a NBA superstar.

Andris Biedrins - If you read this column anough, you know I really have high hopes for Andris Biedrins potential. The fact that he is averaging around a double-double when no plays are called for him, and leading the league in FG% shows the potential this Latvian has. Here’s hoping the addition of Chris Webber doesn’t negatively affect Biedrins…. well, effectiveness.

Linas Kleiza - The question with this 23-year old Lithuanian bull is how much he is benefiting from the system and the looks he gets brought by the power-scoring duo of Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. I don’t think that that should be a question at all, I tend to take the other side of it. To be the third-leading scorer (12.7) on this Denver team and doing it in only 25 minutes only highlights how much of a tough cover Kleiza is.The 6-8, 245lb Kleiza is strong, hits the boards, runs the break, attacks the basket off the dribble and gets to the line three times a game in limited minutes… the way he is built and his aggresiveness reminds me of a Karl Malone and without the elbows and kicks to the groin, but with a three-point shot you have to respect (Kleiza is shooting 35% from beyond the arc).

Yi Jianlian - If his recent performances are any indication, Jianlian is slowing down. Even then, he has shown enough skill and athletic ability to become an NBA all-star. He surprised many with his midrange game. All of those traits allow Yi Jianlian to be so high up on this list. “He’s expanding his game. I like the fact that he’s aggressive taking it to the basket. I like the fact that he’s offensive rebounding and trying to go up there. The strength factor and conditioning and getting used to 17 games in a month, that just comes with experience.” said Larry Harris, the Buck’s GM.

(Speaking of Yi Jianlian, remember when yao ming was being voted into the all-star game and everyone was complaining about how he only got into the game because of all the Chinese voters? Well, where are all those people now? If that theory was true back then, which it wasn’t, why isn’t it true now? According to that logic, wouldn’t Yi Jianlian be the starting forward for the east for the rest of his life?)

Jose Calderon - The emotional Jose Calderon is the face of consistency and efficient point guard play. He’s more John Stockton than he is Jason Kidd — no, not because of that, but because you’re not very likely to see behind the back pass from Calderon, yet he’ll end the game 12 assists. The Spanish PG leads the NBA in assist-to-turnovers at 5.62, way ahead of second-place Brevin Knight (4.41), fourth-place Chris Paul (4.06), Chauncey Billups (3.44), Brandon Roy (3.05), and Steve Nash (3.04).

On top of that, Calderon is one of those rare players that is shooting better than 50% from the field (52.9%), 40% from three (44.6%), and 90% from the line (91.6%) this season. If he can finish the season above those marks, while maintaining the minimum requirements, Calderon will join a very-select group of players to have ever accomplished that — Larry Bird, Mark Price, Reggie Miller and Steve Nash. Not bad at all.

Andrew Bogut - Bogut is having a quiet season only because he plays in Milwaukee. If he played in New York, we’d be talking about the young Aussie’s promise. Seriously, is there any other team in the NBA that no one cares about more than the Milwukee Bucks?
Bogut is putting up similar yet decent numbers up for the second straight season, on a team where perimeter guys like Michael Redd, Mo williams, Bobby Simmons and Charlie Bell get up a lot of shots. Currently putting up about 13-14 points, 8-9 rebounds, 2-3 assists on 52% from the field, Andy needs to assert himself offensively because he certainly has the potential to be a 20-10-4-2-blocks guy given more of an opportunity.

Leandro Barbosa - The quiet sixth man is this era’s Vinne Johnson in the sense that both come off the bench and can heat things up immediately. The Brazilian Microwave utilizes his speed and awkward three-point shot to the tune of roughly 17 points a game for the high-scoring Suns.

If Barbosa were in a different situation, one that saw him starting on a non-contender, it’s not out of the question that he could easily put up 25 a night. What? 25 a game, Stuart he is playing 30 minutes a game as it is! Yes, the Blur from Brazil is averaging 16.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in just over 30 minutes a game, but he is doing that sharing the basketball with Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Grant Hill, and Shawn Marion (now, Shaquille O’Neal).

Kelenna Azubuike - Azubuike dominated the NBDL and it was plainly obvious that he belonged in the NBA. And you can tell with some guys that come up from the developmental league if they’re ready. I believe that not only is Kelenna ready, but he can easily be a 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assist guy given the minutes. And with his ability to not only get to rim, but finish at the rim and shoot the three, Kelenna has the potential to be a dangerous offensive threat. Unfortunately, at 6-5 Azubuike is a tweener (or in laymans terms shooting guard/small forward) and finds himself playing behind the faster Monta Ellis, the bigger Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, and fighting for time with another international Warrior that is similar in size and skillset, Frenchman Mickael Pietrus. It’s crowded in Golden State, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Azubuike, much as what I think Beno Udrih will do, leverage his performance this year into a better (individual) situation where he’ll see more court time.

Sources: Hedo Turkoglu, Al Jefferson Named Players of the Week (NBA.com), Yi Taking Road to Stardom (JSOnline.com), NBA Assist-to-Turnover Leaders (ESPN), Only Players to accomplish 50-40-90: Steve Nash Wins MVP (Nba.com)

Every Wednesday during the NBA season, Interbasket takes a closer look at ten international NBA players that has caught our eye. (This week is for period 01/16/2008- 01/22/2008)

So the three of the top-four scorers off the bench are international players– Manu Ginobili (19.1), Leandro Barbosa (15.4), and Andres Nocioni (13.5). Jason Terry is the other player at 14.4 points off the pine. Here’s hoping that Nene gets better, the 25-year old Brazilian had a tumor removed. It’s crazy that someone so young has a tumor at such a young age. Another Nugget power forward, Linas Kleiza scored a career-high 41 points against the Utah Jazz, nothing to sneeze at considering he plays with jackers Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. Denver rode the Lithuanian to 120-109 win. Kleiza shot 13-21, was 4-8 from three, 11-14 from the free throw line and also had 9 rebounds. Jose Calderon was huge in leading Toronto to a win over the Boston celtics putting up 24 points and 13 assists, including a three-point play with 10.5 seconds left that gave the Raptors the final margin (114-112). Andris Biedrins had a four game stretch in which he shot a combined 6-25, which essetially handed over the FG% lead to Andrew Bynum. With bynum out for 2 months, he may no longer qualify for NBA leaders anymore… Another player in the top-ten for FG% is Samuel Dalembert. The Haitian center (with Canadian nationality) is quietly having his best season in the NBA averaging a double-double and putting up career numbers in minutes (33), point (11.5), rebounds (10.1), and blocked shots (2.5). With Mike Bibby back, Beno Udrih’s breakout season is going to most-certainly take a hit. Early on, Udrih’s minutes certainly have dropped. Before Bibby, Udrih was getting about 35 minutes of burn, with Bibby back he is getting just 21 minutes. Beno’s stats have remained around the same levels since Bibby’s return; for the four games the Slovenian guard has averaged about 12.3pts, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds — compared to his season numbers 13.8 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.6 rebounds, that doesn’t look so bad, but it’s doubtful he’ll be able to keep his efficiency up and something has got to give. I don’t think Bibby is going to be happy playing 28 minutes a game because well, Mike Bibby has never played less than 33 minutes a game. That’s something we’re going to keep an eye on. Zaza Pachulia was suspended for the Hawks’ game against the Denver Nuggets for conduct detrimental to the team. It seems that Zaur wasn’t too happy with being pulled out of a game against Portland Trailblazers. He apparently had some words for his coach, Mike Woodson. After two productive seasons, Pachulia isn’t getting nearly the same amount of playing time this season. Not only has his minutes dropped this season, it’s been hugely inconsistent due to head and toe injuries.

Sources: Nene Hilario: Tumor Benign (Yahoo), Zaza Suspended by Woodson (USA Today),

Every Wednesday during the NBA season, interbasket takes a closer look at ten international NBA players that has caught our eye. (This week is for period 11/22 - 11/28/2007)

We start with some big news out of Toronto. Spanish small forward and Toronto Raptor Jorge Garbajosa is going to have another surgery on his leg.

Ok, that’s not news. That happens all the time in sports, Stuart.

True, but there’s an added layer to the situation; Garbajosa played in the European Championships this past summer despite the Raptor’s strong advice to skip the qualifier and have surgery done on the same injured leg that wasn’t healing correctly according to the Toronto’s medical team.

Instead, Garbajosa chose to represent Spain, backed by Spanish doctors that claimed further surgery was superflous. The Spanish team wanted him so much that they took out a $1 million dollar insurance policy that would cover his $4 mil salary had Garbajosa injured himself during National team duty. Looks like the Raptors might be filing a claim against that policy soon.

That’s only the tip of the iceberg right now. With the Memphis Grizzlies coming into Toronto tonight, it would have brought four Spanish players in one NBA game — Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Jose Calderon with Garbajosa on the sidelines. What should be a celebratory photo-op at mid-court, has become a huge controversy in Spain and with one Pau Gasol.

Pau Gasol and the Spanish press feel as if the Raptors don’t have Garbajosa’s best interest in mind by sending him off to surgery, but rather they’re punishing him for going against their will this past summer. Stay tuned…

On a sidenote: Would this have been the first time that four international players from the same country played in the same NBA game? I know the Houston-San Antonio game last week brought three Argentines together, but can anyone remember four players? Maybe those Sacramento Kings with Vlade and Peja?

For all our Spanish readers, there is a lighter side - Juan Carlos Navarro is finally finding his groove. In the last three gamee, the Spanish superstar has played his 34, 37, and 38 minutes — by far his highest total minutes logged this season. During that span, Navarro has averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, has shot 55% from the field and 45% from three. Navarro had his first NBA double-double last night, 16 points and 11 rebounds (his previous high was 4 rebounds!). It seems as both La Bomba and his coach are finally gaining confidence in… well, Juan Carlos Navarro.

Is this really Desagana Diop’s seventh NBA season? Yeah, I guess it is. The 25-year old came straight out of high-school and was drafted eighth overall in the the 2001 high-school-crazy draft (that saw Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, and Eddy Curry go 1, 2, and 4)

The 7-foot center from Senegal has finally found his niche averaging great numbers (also career-highs) in rebounds (7.8) and blocks (2.4) for the Dallas Mavericks - holding down the middle for the Dallas Mavericks… what’s even more amazing, he’s usurped Erick Dampier as the starting center, the self-proclaimed second-best center in the league (after Shaq)! Make that the third, Damp.

Vladamir Radmanovic was never the face of consistency. Despite his shooting touch and agility, Vladimir’s career thus far had been marred by a reputation of a bad work-ethic, whining on his national team, and inconsistency. Add all that to his lying about how he got a leg-injury last season (he hurt himself snowboarding). Not a great legacy thus far.

Despite all that, Radman has started out the season with perhaps the most promise. His points per game were holding steady at double-digits, is hitting the long ball when he open, and the Lakers are wnning games in the West. Radmanovic is shooting at a career-high clip almost across the board.

And then it all came the 102-100 loss to the New Jersey Nets in which he shot 0-7 from three and a combined 0-10 from the field. He was 1-2 from the free-throw line and had 3 turnovers, all this in just 24 minutes. Even with his performance, Radmanovic is still shooting 44% from three.

On the other side of the shooting spectrum, Steve Nash hasn’t missed this season from the free-throw line. Nash is 40-40 on free throws this year. The only other player that hasn’t missed a free-throw this season is another international player - Darius Songaila of Lithuania. Songaila is 21-21. Previous to Nash’s season-record, Yao Ming had a streak of 30 straight free throws made.

When Luis Scola scored a then career-high 20 points against the Spurs last week, I dismissed it as a mere coincidence. Though he was a Spur, Scola was traded away before any real hard-feelings could be accumulated. Now, when Beno Udrih went for 27 points (8-12FG, 9-9 FT), 5 assists and 4 rebounds in a win vs. the Spurs. I have no doubt that Beno had a little more jump to his step before and after the game against his former team.

Nenad Krstic returned from his leg-injury this season and has been slow-going. The Serbian center is averaging career lows in all categories and has played only 3 minutes in the last four games. It doesn’t look good for Krstic since the struggling Nets have won three of the four games.

Speaking of struggling Nets players - Bostjan Nachbar is averaging more minutes, points, assists, steals, blocks, FG-attempts, 3pt FG attempts and FT attempts this season but hasn’t been able to carry-over his efficient shooting percentages from the previous year.

I respect Scott Skiles coaching, I do, but with the Chicago Bulls struggling, why isn’t Viktor Khryapa playing more? Or why was he not even activated? I am not one of those guys that blindly love-on all international players, but did anyone in Russia send Skiles a tape of what Khryapa did this past summer?

In the one game that Khryapa has played in this season, he scored 7 points (3-5), grabbed 5 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots in 21 minutes (he also was 1-4 from FT and had two turnovers). This guy can play, plays hard, and hits open shots, I really believe he needs another look. Thank god he isn’t Spanish, or Skiles would have Pau Gasol on his back…

NBA Notes: Man, that Golden State vs. Phoenix Suns game was fun to watch. Monta Ellis was the man in that game, blowing by Steve Nash like a statue and hitting multiple jumpers over Shawn Marion. Baron Davis has nothing to worry about just yet (he’s playing like a beast), but we’re seeing a star in the making with Monta Ellis

Every Wednesday during the NBA season, interbasket takes a closer look at ten international NBA players that has caught our eye. This week is for period 11/15-11/21/2007.

After three years of gathering splinters on the bench (and two championship rings), and with Jacque Vaughn getting the backup PG calls, little-used Beno Udrih was finally traded by the Spurs. The Minnesota Timberwolves then promptly waived the guard from Slovenia.

With the injury to Mike Bibby that will keep him out of action for nearly two months, Udrih was then signed by Sacramento and is now the team’s starting point guard. Beno had 23 points and 6 assists in Sacramento’s impressive win over Detroit and is putting up 13 points, 4 assists 2.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in six games with the Kings before he was injured in Tuesday’s game with a thigh contusion.

Unlike Udrih, Luis Scola never got the chance to don a Spurs jersey, garner splinters and be on the receiving end of a Gregg Popovich spit-filled tirade. Scola was shipped off to Houston in hopes of more playing time and not taking any minutes from fellow Argentine Fabricio Oberto. Scola came in with high-expectations and many labeling him and Kevin Durant as the serious rookie of the year candidates, but the transition hasn’t been nearly as smooth as all had hoped. Scola was struggling to find his way, and from a few games that I watched, it seemed his teammates had lost confidence in his abilities.

With Tracy McGrady injured and unable to look Scola off, Luis grabbed the opportunity to show off his wares - mid-range jumpshots, rolls to the hoops to the tune of 10-11 shooting and 20 points against… well, the Spurs. Coincidence? Probably. “It kills me to have him on that team,” Popovich said after the game, “Enough to make you spit.” Whoa, relax Pop, don’t go spitting. The man needs anger management!

Scola followed his breakout game with 20 points (on a career high 19 FG attempts), 11 rebounds and 4 assists against the Suns - unfortunately the Rockets lost both those games and have lost 4 straight after starting the season off 6-1, but it’s good to see Scola finally getting his confidence back. Hopefully when McGrady returns, the Rockets can incorporate the 2006 Spanish league MVP.

I love Manu Ginobili, but really, I am tired of talking about how he’s having a fantastic year and looks revived and is the most-exciting NBA player to watch yada yada yada… luckily I can talk about his international backcourt mate Tony Parker. After a couple slow games, Parker torched the Hawks for 17 points in the second quarter, and 31 points for the game last night. TP started the season strong but has since settled; his stats so far this season almost mirror the previous 3 seasons - 18 points, no more than 6 assists a game, 3.5 rebounds, 1 steal a game, 50% from the field on 14 shots a game. I thought Tim Duncan was supposed to the boring and consistent one?

After having another 0 point outing, Juan Carlos Navarro found his stroke in his eighth NBA game; going 8-9 from three-point and totaling 28 points in their loss to New Orleans. With those eight threes, Navarro tied a rookie-record for threes made (shared by Jason Kidd and Chris Duhon). Since then Navarro’s shooting has been much improved (it helps to go 8-9), following his record-setting night, he has gone 4-8 and 4-5 to help offset his dismal start to the season.

Andrea Bargnani has been an enigma this season. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern as to if he’ll play well one game and awful in the next. The season’s only eleven games deep and already Bargnani has had enough highs and lows to fill a NBA schedule. The 2006 number-one draft pick started out the season with 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds on excellent shooting in two wins for the Raptors - then couldn’t find his shot in the three consecutive losses (32% FG). Bargnani was benched for five games which didn’t improve his shooting confidence much (35%) before he was re-inserted into the starting lineup last night in a heart-breaking loss to the Mavs (he had 20 points and was 5-9 from three).

Golden State put a stop to their winless ways with more than a little help from their Latvian center Andris Biedrins. In their two wins, Biedrins has averaged a monster double-double 19 points and 16 rebounds at 71% from the field. Before Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, Biedrins was averaging a career high in minutes (36), points (13.4), rebounds (11.1), assists (1.9), blocks (1.9), and FT% (70%) (also personal fouls and turnovers, but that comes with the territory of being more involved). Let’s all keep in mind that this is only Biedrins fourth NBA season and he just turned 21 years old in April. I think we’re looking at another international superstar in the making….

Speaking of international big men, is Zydrunas Ilgaukskas really only 32 years old? I guess he was the Greg Oden of his day, looking much older than he actually is. It doesn’t help, despite his soft touch and consistent midrange jumper, that he’s always been slow and hulking around the basket which only served to emphasize his Oden-ness.

After playing all 82 games in his first season, Zydrunas missed 155 games the next three seasons. However, since then Big Z has only missed 14 games in the last five seasons. And this season Ilgauskas is looking like a beast on the boards, demolishing his career average by 4 rebounds per game. The Lithuanian giant is averaging 16pts, 12.1 rebounds, 1.5 blocks on 50% shooting and 84% from the free-throw in nearly 34 minutes a game while holding down the middle for the Cavs. Anderson Varejao who?

Anderson Varejao who? Oh, him. Yeah, the guy that’s still holding out and wants $10m/season (the Cavs are offering $6m). I like Varejao, but c’mon man… someone really should send him a tape of himself playing, particularly of that spin-move prayer during game three of last year’s NBA finals.

Really, this guy must have a warped sense of what he really brings to the table. I am beginning to believe the accounts from the 2006 World Championships when Varejao’s elbow broke Greece’s three bones in Nikos Zisis’ face. Varejao reportedly told him that Nikos didn’t respect him enough, enough for him to elbow an opponents face - I am seeing a little of that in his holding out.

The Dallas Mavs haven’t missed a beat — and that historically meant that Dirk Nowitzki was tearing things up — but thats just not the case this season (before last night when Nowitzki hit four straight 3-pointers in the final 1:41 of the third quarter to bring the Mavs back from a 24 point deficit against Toronto).

With Josh Howard leading the team in scoring at 21.9 a game, Jason Terry motivated by his sixth man role (with a starter-like 20.3), and Devin Harris continuing to improve (15.4ppg), the Mavs can afford Dirk’s slow start. Before his 32 point outing against Toronto last night, Nowitzki was shooting at career lows across the board FG (44.5%), 3PT (26.1%) and FT (78.1%). The last time Dirty has shot at a lower percentage in his career was when he was a rookie (40.5% FG, 20.6% 3pT, and 77.3% from the FT); when everyone thought Don Nelson was crazy for picking the wunderkind. No doubt Dirk will pick up the pace, and if the other guys are rolling as they have been, the Mavs are going to be even tougher.

I don’t know about you, but I have yet to be convinced of Sasha Vujacic. He keeps showing up on the Laker’s roster year after year, but I’ve never seen much out of him when I saw him play.

Looking at his stats this year, it might not be obvious that anything has changed this year - but if you look deeper, you can see that Vujacic is having a very promising start to the season. Currently, the backup guard from Slovenia is averaging a career best in points (6.5), in only around nine minutes a game, his lowest mpg of his career thus far.

It’s not his points or assists, it’s Sasha’s efficiency from the floor which has seen his shooting percentages near Steve Nash levels. Given, thats not a fair comparison seeing as Vujacic shoots about 3.5 times a game, but instead of shooting at a low-30% clip, he’s hitting over half his shots this year. “Sasha last year made every shot in practice — and couldn’t make one in a game,” Kobe Bryant said. “Now he’s starting to put `em together, so it’s cool.”

Other notes: Man, I would really hate to be an opposing NBA center when Dwight Howard hits his prime. That guy is seriously a beast; I’m talking Shaquille O’Neal freak-of-nature-size-plus-athleticism-scary (and the terrible FT%). D-Ho (there’s got to be a better nickname than that) is putting up 22pts, 14rebs, and 2.4 blocks on pure overwhelming athleticism without a go-to move or a back to the basket game.

Sources: Sacramento Kings sign guard Beno Udrih to fill in for Mike Bibby (CanadianPress), Popovich and R.C. Buford: How Scola and Udrih got away (MySA.com), Raptors still have confidence in slumping Bargnani (Canada.com), Dallas Comes Back from 24 point deficit to defeat Toronto 105-99 (Yahoo!), Lakers trying to figure out backcourt minutes (Honolulu Advertiser),