Interbasket

Injuries to NBA Stars and the Olympics
With training camps in full swing, a list of NBA players that participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics are recovering from minor injuries, including Manu Ginobili, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bogut, Carlos Delfino, and Yi Jianlian.

So far, only Ginobili will miss significant time this season.

However, no doubt injuries to these players, and any prospective injuries to players such as Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Luis Scola, Linas Kleiza, Fabricio Oberto, and any players from USA squad (except Carlos Boozer) during the 2008-09 season, will bring the perennial arguments about whether players should be allowed to represent their countries when under NBA contract. (Of course they should)

Nets hope Yi Jianlian’s play and roots invigorates ticket sales
The New York Times article talks about how Yi Jianlian’s presence on the New Jersey Nets is drawing Chinese fans online and off.  The Nets’ website can now be translated into simplified Chinese, and nearly 30% of the site’s traffic originates in Asia.  In the wake of the obtaining Jianlian, the Nets have hired a multicultural advertising agency, and have plans for game night promotions centered on Yi and the Chinese community.   But even with Yi’s popularity back home and being the only Asian player east of the Mississippi, he still plays in the shadow of Yao MIng. “Right now, everybody is more into Yao because Yi is still nearly a rookie. said Sunny Moy, president of the Asian American Youth Center.

CSKA winless during Euroleague American Tour 2008
CSKA Moscow lost handily to the Orlando Magic 94-66 and then lost to the Toronto Raptors a few days later 86-78.  Moscow had issues dealing with NBA bigmen Dwight Howard Chris Bosh.  HOward dominated inside with 28 points and 10 rebounds on 10-for-12 shooting while Bosh put up 24 points and 10 rebounds on 7-16 shooting. “

To be honest with you, we can’t lose another game against a Euroleague team.” Bosh said after the game.  The Raptors are now 6-2 against Euroleague teams, losing to Real Madrid last year in Spain and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in 2006 in Toronto.

Next up on the Euroleague American Tour is FC Barcelona taking on Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, October 18th.

Top-10 NBA Jerseys Sold in Europe
The NBA released the top-ten most popular NBA jerseys sold in Europe include five American players, three of which are in the top five and five European players… no Dirk Nowitzki or Manu Ginobili?  Anyways, here’s the list:

1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
2. Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
3. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
4. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs
6. Allen Iverson, Denver Nuggets
7. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
8. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
9. Marco Belinelli, Golden State Warriors
10. Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors

Nathan Jawai’s rookie debut hits Snag
The 21-year old Aborigine rookie from Australia Nathan Jawai is being held up from continuing practice with the Toronto Raptors because of medical concern. Apparently there are concerns about the 6-10, 280lb rookie’s heart, or “cardiac issues” that showed up in a routine pre-camp cardiac tests held on a treadmill.  “I’m fine, I’m normal,” Jawai said yesterday. “I haven’t had any symptoms or anything. I’m breathing okay and everything’s fine. I’ve played for four or five years now and I haven’t dealt with it before. I’ve had no problems with it and it just basically showed up then. It’s frustrating but I’m kind of handling it okay.”

Brandon Jennings Update & Debut (+ Josh Childress)
The New York Times features an update on Brandon Jennings and how his decision earlier this year to forgo the normal path to the NBA, in the face of college ineligibility and the NBA age-minimum rules, has paid off so far. The money is there with a 1.2 million contract with Italian club Lottomatica Virtus Roma and a 2 million dollar endorsement deal with Under Armour, now if the 19-year old can do it on the court and survive the cultural shift off it, he could be blazing the trail for future academically-challenges American high school hoopers that can’t make the grade.

Sonny Vacaro, who was behind Jennings’ move overseas has heard from 12 other elite basketball players (and their families) interested in possibly making similar moves.

Now Jennings has to follow-through on the court, and early results have been good, as the 6-2 point guard averaged 20 points through five exhibition games, “He’s one of the top talents that I’ve ever seen.” said Dejan Bodiroga, European legend and Roma’s general manager.

Jennings/Childress Update: Though Brandon’s been doing well in preseason scrimmages, his professional debut wasn’t quite as successful.  On Monday, Jennings came off the bench, as almost all younger players do in Europe, and scored seven points (3-10 fg), grabbed two rebounds and passed for two assists in 21 minutes. Lottomatica Roma barely won 83-81 over little-known club Eldo Caserta

Josh Childress fared much better in his debut for Olympiaco, who cruised to a 90-65 win over Egaleo.  In only 23 minutes of action, Childress scored a team-high 16 points on 4-9 from the field and a perfect 8-8 from the floor.

White Collar Crime: Devin Harris Hustled in London
Widely circulated and reported yesterday by Ball Don’t Lie is a video of Devin Harris being schooled (more like hustled) by a British streetballer in v-neck and jeans… I don’t see it as that bad.  Yes, a little embarrassing for an NBA player to have the ball put in-between your legs and scored on by a what he thought was a regular Joe Sixpack, but it’s a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t-situation for Devin and I don’t think it reflects on him badly at all.  Full story behind the video can be found here.

Monta Ellis suspened 30 games for Lying…
Whoa. Monta Ellis suspended 30 games for lying about how he seriously injured his ankle. The 22-year old guard injured it in a Moped accident, but told team officials that it happened during a pickup game in his native Mississippi, only to come clean later on.  Haven’t we learned anything from about lying after going through the Vladimir Radmanovic ski-gate?   It’s not so much the games he’ll miss, Ellis’s injury would have had him out a while anyways, but Monta will lose out on $3 million dollars during his suspension but I guess it’s better losing your money having fun on a moped than watching your 401K disappear in a financial crisis…

Coming Soon: NBA Regular Season Games in London
Sounds like the NBA will be playing some regular season games in London sometime between now and before the Olympics hit in 2012…  “Although we have no plans on the drawing board, it has been suggested to us that we should schedule in the next three years or so some regular-season games here - more than just one - on a regular basis,” said NBA Commish David Stern. “It’s fair to say that we’ll see a minimum of one and possibly more regular-season games by 2012.”

The globalization of the game continues as David Stern does his best to keep the NBA a big part of the world’s progress.  Stay tuned.

Links and Resources: With Yi, Nets are hoping to tap a new fan base (New York Times), Orlando Magic 94-66 CSKA Moscow (Euroleague.net), Bosh has 24 points, 10 rebounds in Raptors’ win over CSKA Moscow (Canada Press), Warriors suspend Ellis for mo-ped accident (Yahoo!), Radmanovic lies about injury (ESPN), Stu Does it Again (Basketball 24/7), Brandon Jennings Paves Path from High School to European Pro Leagues (New York Times), Brandon Jennings & Josh Childress Debut (SLAM), Top-Ten most popular NBA jerseys sold in Europe — related forum thread (NBA.com) Aussie Jawai forced to sit for Raptors after cardiac screenings (Fiba), No heart problems in family history, Jawai says (Toronto Star), NBA: London Calling (SkySports), NBA’s Monopoly and Basketball Globalization (Interbasket)

Brandon Jennings, an McDonald’s All-American, and top-rated, superstar high school point guard that had committed to the University of Arizona ended two months of speculation and rumors yesterday by confirming that he will forgo the NCAA in favor of a pro career in Europe. (discuss Brandon Jennings choosing Europe over NCAA).

The 6-2 Jennings played for perennial prep school powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and signed a letter of intent with Arizona in November of 2007.  Brandon Jennings is considered by most, the top prep player of 2008.

Jennings hasn’t been shy about his intentions; it was well-known that he has been considering a year of professional basketball career instead of academia.  The 18-year old would spend a year in Europe before he would become age-eligible (19), return home, submit his name for the 2009 NBA draft, and become a NBA superstar.

Well, that’s the plan, at least.  Who knows what will happen.  Jennings, known for his throwback style as much as he is known for his skills on the court, may enjoy playing in Europe.  I know a lot of young American players that simply refuse to step off US soil for various reasons.  Mr. Jennings’ open mind, along with the NBA’s minimum age rule, has made him a trailblazer.

It was only a matter of time before an American high school player would choose this route. After David Stern and the NBA imposed their minimum-age rule before last year’s draft, high schoolers were entering the draft and giving up their college eligibility.  The minimum-age rule effectively put an end to all the high school phenoms skipping college and entering their names into the NBA draft.

The rule was also created in hopes that high school players would spend a year (or three) in college developing their skills, talent, and maturity so that they would be better-prepared for the NBA, on and off the court.  This also helped the NBA to maintain and further raise the level of play as high school players would generally take 3-5 years to adapt and develop an NBA game.

I get it, the NBA did what they thought was right.  For every Kevin Garnett, Daryl Dawkins, and LeBron James, who was ready for the NBA in his junior year, there were players like Korleone Young, DeAngelo Collins, and Lenny Cooke - players that flamed out early in the NBA but whom may have had decent careers if they spent time developing their skills in college.  And at worst, may have had a couple years worth of credits into their college degrees.

The move by Jennings will have much more far-reaching consequences than the sad faces dotting the Tucson campus.  With Jennings setting this precedent, this could be another contributing factor to the further globalization of basketball, which could eventually put an end to the NBA’s monopoly on talent.

If Brandon Jennings succeeds, whether in becoming a star player, receiving a large contract, or both, he won’t be the last high school player that jumps from their campus to packed arenas in Greece, Spain, or Italy.

When this phenomenon becomes more than a one-off situation, when 6-8 top-notch prospects are jumping to the Philippines or Russia instead of Duke or North Carolina every year, what will the NBA do with their minimum-age rule then?  What happens when the NBA can no longer count on the top American high school players sticking around, hampered by the NBA’s rule, and when the money is so tempting overseas?

Links and Sources: American Highschool star Brandon Jennings headed for Europe (Interbasket Forums), Jennings has to wait another week for SAT scores (ESPN)