Interbasket

Rotowire is reporting that Rudy Fernandez, the exciting “rookie” guard from Spain and Interbasket’s latest, greatest favorite player could be joining Brandon Roy, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Joel Pryzbilla in the Blazers’ starting lineup.

The move would force either Steve Blake or fellow international rookie Nicolas Batum to the bench.  With Portland off to a so-so start, coach McMillan is looking for a little energy from the get-go.

Though French forward Nicolas Batum has showed great potential, an understanding of help side team defense, awesome hustle and is displayed the ability to consistently finsih at the basket, he may be the odd man out with Portland’s slow start and Rudy’s great play off the bench.

In Portland’s five games, Fernandez has come off the bench to score double figures in four of those games to average 14.2 points in only 27 minutes of play.

Rudy has shot 47% from the field, 44% from three, and 94.% from the Free throw line, more importantly, he is being aggressive and getting to the line an average of three times a game.  In his five games, Rudy’s stats have looked like this:

10/28 Lakers (L): 16 pts, 4 asts, 2 steals (box)
10/31 Spurs (W): 6 pts, 8 rebs, 1-6 FG  (box)
11/01 Phoenix (L): 20 pts on 8-13 FG (box)
11/05 Utah (L): 14 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts (box)
11/06 Houston (W): 15 pts, 2 asts (box)

In his last three games, the Street-fighter-Ken doppleganger has shot magnificently from the floor and the line; 53.3% from the floor (16-30), 46.7% from three (7-15), and 100% from the line (10-10).  I think it’s a only a matter of time before Portland inserts the 6-5 shooting guard into the starting lineup.  Talent and understanding for the game has a way of rising to the top, no matter how many minutes one plays.  And McMillan knows how to get the most out of his player.

Links and Resources: Rudy Fernandez could join starting lineup (Rotowire), Nicolas Batum Profile (Interbasket), Despite loss to Lakers, Rudy Fernandez Portland debut is successful (Interbasket), Rudy Fernandez: Off to Strong Start (Rotowire),

The San Antonio Spurs needed every one of Tony Parker’s career high 55 points in getting their first win of the season and defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in two overtimes.

Parker’s 55 points was 17 more than his previous career high of 38, achieved against Miami in 2006. It was also the most field goals he has ever made (22) and attempted (36), beating his old records of field goals made (15) and attempted (31).

The 6-2 French point guard has already been tearing up the league by averaging a (so far) career high of 26 points in his first three games, on 53.5% from the field and 88.2% from the line.  With the 55 points and 10 assists, Parkers averages after four games jump to 33.2 points and 7.3 assists on 56.8% from the field.

Parker’s biggest shot of the night came after Al Jefferson hit a hook shot over Tim Duncan. The shot gave Minnesota a two point lead, 116-114 with 2.5 seconds left in the first overtime.  Parker took the inbounds pass, dribbled right, pump-faked once and hit the 20-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Parker played 50 minutes, and dished out 10 assists, shot 22-36 form the field, and 9-10 from the free throw line. Tim Duncan “contributed” 30 points and 16 rebounds, and Roger Mason scored 26 for the Spurs.  Al Jefferson put up 30 points and 14 rebounds, Mike Miller 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, and rookie Kevin Love notched 14 points and 9 rebounds for Minnesota.

With his 55 points and 10 assists, Tony Parker joins some nice company. He is now one of only three players in NBA history to notch at least 55 points and dish out double figure assists.  The other two?  Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan.

Nicolas Batum is a stringy 6-8 small forward from Lisieux, France. The 215lb, 19-year old has impressed many with his long wingspan, his abilities to drive to the hole and consistently hit jumpshots. With his height, Batum is able to play power forward; with his speed and athleticism, he can also slide down into a shooting guard role.

Back in 2006, Batum led the French U18 National Team to the by averaging 19.0 Points, 5.7 Rebounds, 2.6 Assists, 2.3 Steals and shooting 60.0 % from the field, in being named the most valuable player of the 2006 U18 Albert Schweitzer Tournament. He continued to make a splash in the 2007 Nike Hoops Summit by scoring 23 points against the likes of OJ Mayo, Michael Beasley Kevin Love, and Derrick Rose.

Because of these performances, the 6-8 Batum, along with Danilo Gallinari, were considered by many the two top European prospects coming into the 2008 NBA Draft. The Frenchmen was eventually selected in the first round, 25th overall by the Houston Rockets as the fourth international player chosen (after Gallinari, Alexis Ajinça, and Serge Ibaka).

The Rockets traded Batum’s rights to the Portland Trailblazers for fellow 2008 draftees Darrell Arthur and Joey Dorsey.

Batum will join a Blazer’s roster of up-and-coming talents with high expectations in Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw, and Martell Webster; fellow rookies Jerryd Bayless, Rudy Fernandez of Spain, and last year’s #1 overall pick Greg Oden.

Check out the following write-up in SLAM Magazine:

Say What? | SLAM Magazine | issue 118 (June 2008)
The French have a saying — je ne sais quoi — that translates, literally, into, “I don’t know what.” It’s used to refer to something when all other words fail, a phrase that encompass both insouciance and intangibles.

That phrase has been personified of late by Nicolas Batum.  I was on hand for his debut in the French Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB) All Star Game in Paris in December 2007, and while Batum played well, finishing with 12 points and 5 boards, and made a few creative plays, mostly he seemed tentative, like Boris Diaw was somehow trapped inside Rudy Gay’s  body.  Batum was nice, oui, but there was something, well… Je ne sais qoui.

Talented 6-8 ballers who are 19 years old, can play multiple positions, possess an avian wingspan and can sour out of the gym usually send NBA scouts scrambling for their Blackberries so they can alert GMs to the next big thing.  And coming up, Batum was no exception.  In ‘06, Batum led the French U-18 team to a Euro title while pulling the MVP award.

Batum validated the hype during the ‘07 Nike Hoops Summit, playing against guys with names like Mayo and Beasley, finishing with 23 points and a dunk on Patrick Patterson.

He played his way into the upper reaches of the ‘07 Draft Lottery… until he decided not to enter the Draft.

Batum returned to France for another year of seasoning, and he’s had a nice year for LeMans, avergaing 11.6 points and 5 boards per game.  But now that all eyes are on him, Batumm has lost a little bit of the buzz of the unknown that he once had.  He’ll still be a first round pick this summer but likely not as high as he would have been last year.

Perhaps he cost himself Draft postion, but will sticking around France for this past season make Nicolas Batum a better play in the long run?  Je ne sais quoi

Source and links: Slam Magazine, issue 118 (June 2008),

Ray Allen hopes NBA expands into Europe - I didn’t know Ray Allen spent a lot of time growing up in England and Germany  “People all over the world are now watching basketball. People in the United States don’t realize that there are cities over here with 4-5 million people. Those market shares would be great,”  Allen said “The league is making so much money, you’ve got to think how it’s going to grow to the next level.”  The Celtics are currently in Italy for the NBA Europe Live tour, which also features the Toronto Raptors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies.  Source: Celtics’ Ray Allen likes idea of NBA expanding overseas. (Yahoo News)

Tony Parker taking two-year hiatus from international competition - Tony Parker, the 2007 NBA finals MVP, is taking time off from the French National Team and will be back in Poland for the 2009 Eurobasket tournament “It has been many years that I am playing more than 120 games a year,” Parker said. “In the end, my body is at risk.” — not really big news to anyone familiar with the international basketball schedule.  France won’t be competing in any major competition until 2009 anyways.  They finished 6th in this year’s Eurobasket, failing to qualify for the pre-Olympic tournament, thus making them ineligible for the 2008 Olympics.  Parker won’t be missing any major international tournaments.  Source: Parker will take 2-year hiatus from French national team. (Yahoo News)

Dikemebe Mutombo Signs with Rockets for his final season - Listening to the advice of his family and Rocket’s legend Hakeem Olajuwan, Dikembe Mutombo, the oldest NBA player last season has decided to return for one final NBA season with the Houston Rockets.  “I don’t know what I’ve got left in my tank. But I want to enjoy this year.”  Mutombo said.  The 7-2 Congalese center’s career has spanned six NBA teams and over his 17-year career has averaged 10.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks.  Last season, the 7-2 Mutombo posted 3.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.0 block per game in 75 matches and played at a level counter to what anyone believed when Yao Ming went down with an injury midway through the season.  My question is, would Hakeem have advised  Mutombo to return for one more season if Mutombo seriously-threatened Olajuwan’s all-time NBA record in blocks?  (Mutombo is second all-time and is 600 blocks away from tying Hakeem’s 3830)  Source: Mutombo Heeds Advice from Hakeem (Houston Chronicle)

Led by an all-around play from Victor Khryapa (16 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists) and JR Holden’s 15 points, Russia defeated France 75-71 yesterday in what turned out to be a free-throw accuracy contest towards the end the game.

With 24 seconds remaining in the game and the game tied at 69 a piece, twelve free throws would determine the final score. Russia was able to hit 6-8, while France was only able to convert 1-4 by French co-captains Tony Parker and Boris Diaw (Diaw missed both).

The win ends a ten-year drought for the former European powerhouse, who haven’t seen the final four since 197, they will now advance to the semi-finals and play against the winner of the Lithuania-Croatia game (game thread)

This was the first game during EuroBasket 2007 that Andrei Kirilenko did not lead Russia in either points, assists or Rebounds, however AK was able to contribute 6 rebounds, 7 steals, and 4 blocks. Boris Diaw led France with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 turnovers. Tony Parker added 15 points and 3 assists for Les Bleus.

The final eight teams have advanced into the next round with a chance to capture two available berths to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. With Turkey, Italy, Portugal and Israel eliminated, the tournament is down to the elite eight teams. Check out the following previews below and discuss the game in the related game thread links.

Germany: Spain @ 19:00, Sept 13, 2007 (game thread)
Spain will take on Germany in the first action of the quarterfinals. Germany defeated Italy after being demolished by the Slovenians by 30 the day before. Now, Dirk Nowitzki and his German compatriots face their toughest opponent in the Spaniards. Spain recovered from their loss to Croatia, by winning their next three games by a average margin of 19 points a game. It’s no secret that the key player for the Germans is Dirk Nowitzki, but as long as Spain isn’t overconfident, look for Spain to come out victorious.

France: Russia @ 21:30, Sept 13, 2007 (game thread)
In the second game, Russia (5-1) will take on France (4-2). France has a balanced offensive attack with seven players averaging at least 5 points, led by Tony Parker’s 19.5 points a game. Tariq Kirksay has been a pleasant surprise as the second leading scorer on the team with 10.5 points on 50% shooting from the field. Tariq is also averaging 1.7 steals a game.

On the other side, Russia is led by Andrei Kirilenko, who leads the Russians in scoring (18.3), rebounding (9.7) and blocked shots (1.3) while his fellow swingman Victor Khryapa has done his best AK-impression by putting up impessive numbers across the board - 10.5 point, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals. Russia can also thank their resurgent point guard JR Holden, an American with Russian citizenship for providing superb on-court leadership thus far.

The second round for EuroBasket 2007 is about to begin as 12 teams look to advance into the quarterfinals. Check the schedule below and follow the game in our forum by clicking the game thread link next to each game or you may just directly to our EuroBasket 2007 Discussion Forum.

September 12, 2007
Germany: Italy @ 16:30 [game thread]
France: Turkey @ 19:00 [game thread]
Slovenia: Lithuania @ 21:30 [game thread]

September 11, 2007
Croatia: Russia @ 16:30 [game thread]
Greece: Portugal @ 19:00 [game thread]
Spain: Israel @ 21:30 [game thread]

September 10, 2007
Italy: Turkey @ 16:30 [game thread]
Lithuania: France @ 19:00 [game thread]
Germany: Slovenia @ 21:30 [game thread]

September 09, 2007
Portugal: Israel @ 16:30 [game thread]
Greece: Croatia @ 19:00 [game thread]
Russia: Spain @ 21:30 [game thread]

September 08, 2007
France: Germany @ 16:30 [game thread]
Italy: Lithuania @ 19:00 [game thread]
Turkey @ Slovenia @ 21:30 [game thread]

September 07, 2007
Portugal: Russia @ 16:30 [game thread]
Israel: Croatia @ 19:00 [game thread]
Spain: Greece @ 21:30 [game thread]

From here on out, all Eurobasket games will to be played in Madrid. How the teams fared in the first phase will be carried over and after finishing the three games in round two, eight teams will move onto the quarterfinals that begins immediately after the second phase.

EuroBasket 2007 commenced yesterday, here’s a quick recap of all the games…

Slovenia 69: Italy 68
The game of the night had to be Slovenia-Italy, as the two teams changed leads four times in the last 30 seconds.

The Italians had made a furious comeback, after being down 13 with just five minutes remaining. Massimo Bulleri hit back-to-back baskets and Italy finally grabbed the lead from Slovenia 65-64 with 30 seconds to go in the game.

From there it was all Jaka Lakovic: Lakovic dribbled into traffic, drew a foul and hit two free throws to put Slovenia up 66-65 with 14 seconds remaining. Massimo Bulleri answered again as he took a pass from Gianluca Basile and hit a three from the corner, putting Italy up 68-66.

With five seconds left, Jaka Lakovic took the inbounds pass, dribbled up-court quickly, crossed his dribble over and launched a straight-away three pointer that hit nothing but net giving Slovenia the 69-68 victory with no time left. Matjaz Smodis, who has missed the last several Eurobaskets because of injuries, returned to lead the Slovenians in scoring with 20 points.

Obviously, Smodis believed that the win was crucial not only because it improved Slovenia’s hopes to advance but for their confidence and how to close out an opponent “The win against Italy has given us further confidence that we can beat top teams. We know that this game is crucial for us and we cannot fail. However, we must learn to be able to control the game when we are leading and not do as we did against Italy when we allowed them to get back in the game.”

Check out the video of the last three minutes and the final shot.

Spain 82: Portugal 56
Host country Spain got Jorge Garbajosa back just in time, but lost Juan Carlos Navarro right before the game. La Bomba was sidelined for three games because of a leg injury. The Spanairds beat Portugal handily 82-56, but had to withstand an early challenge from their Iberian counterparts before eventually taking control of the game late in the first quarter. Portugal was only down 16-13 when Spain went on a 16-0 run spanning the Pau Gasol scored 19 points and had 3 assists. Joao Santos and Paulo Cunha each scored 9 points for Portugal.

Russia 73: Serbia 65
Russia defeated Serbia 73-65 behind a great all-around performance from Andrei Kirilenko. The Utah Jazz player had 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. The Russian defense shut down the middle for Darko Milicic, who scored only 9 points on 2-13 shooting and held the Serbian team to a 32.7 field goal percentage. Victor Khryapa scored 11 points and pulled in 9 rebounds, Milan Gurovic scored 24 points for the Serbs.

Germany 83: Czech Republic 78 (OT)
Germany rode 35 points and 11 rebounds from Dirk Nowitzki in putting down a tougher than expected Czech Republic 83-78 in overtime. Former North Carolina player Ademola Okulaja contributed13 points and 11 rebounds, while Mithat Demirel added 18 points for Germany. Jiri Welsch led the Czechs with 24 points, while sharpshooter Lubos Barton scored 14 points, it was on only 2-11 shooting. Barton also contributed 10 rebounds.

Latvia 85: Croatia 77
Latvia shocked Croatia with strong play from all-around. The Latvians hit 11-18 three pointers but their defense was what won the game for them. Every time the Croatians made a run, Latvia had an answer on the defensive whether taking a charge or coming up with a timely steal. Armands Skele led Latvia with 17 points and 5 assist, and centre Andris Biedrins scored 14 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Mario Kasun was 7-8 from the field and scored 18 for team Croatia.

France 74: Poland 66
France was surely the favorite in this match especially since Poland’s roster was depleted with injuries. France led throughout but was never safely ahead to get comfortable. Tony Parker scored 16 points and passed out 4 assists, but only shot 5-16 from the field. Tariq Kirksay added 12 points for France. Adam Wojcik led Poland with 19 points, while Filip Dylewicz contributed with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

Greece 76: Israel 66
Israel was the final qualifier for the Eurobasket and found themselves with no relief in sight as they faced the heavily-favorited Greeks in their first match. The Greeks, led by Vasillis Spanoulis with 19 points, were not able to put their opponents away until a flurry of late three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Without Antonis Fotsis, forwards Kostas Tsartsaris and Demos Dikoudis each scored 15 points for Greece. Yotam Halperin led Israel with 20 points and 6 assists

Lithuania 86: Turkey 69
Lithuania welcomed Sarunas Jasikevicius back to the national team, and the Golden Boy looked as if never missed a beat with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. On the other side, Turkey welcomed back their NBA players Hidayet Turkoglu (18pts) and Mehmet Okur (11 points and 10 rebounds), but the two combined to shoot just 8-26 from the field. And their performance was representative of their offensive woes as Turkey couldn’t find a rhythm for their offense. Rimantas Kaukenas had 14 points for Lithuania while NBA players Linas Kleiza and Darius Songalia each had 12 points. Ramunas Siskauskas added 10, all in the first quarter. Ibrahim Kuatluay scored 17 for Turkey.

[Eurobasket 2007 forum] [official site]