Interbasket

The Spanish National Team posed for a controversial pre-Olympic games advertisement in which the 15-member team each used a gesture popular for making fun of Asian people.  From Pau Gasol to Ricky Rubio, each member of the team used their index fingers to pull up the corners of their eyes, mimicking the eyes of an Asian person, or in this case, a Chinese person.

The advertisement was backed by a Chinese company, in fact it was done for Li-Ning’s T-Shirt company (the Spanish players are wearing the shirts in the ad).  Li Ning is a Chinese National hero that won six medals in Gymnastics during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and had the honor of lighting the huge torch during the Olympic opening ceremonies.

And to add, during the commercial, Spanish forward Berni Rodríguez did speak in Mandarin.  The advert also carries the symbol of the Chinese sport’s governing body.  Even so, the photo is a little shocking to see.

No one involved in the advert appears to have considered it inappropriate nor contemplated the manner in which it could be interpreted in China and elsewhere. No offence was intended by the advert, but whether the Chinese see it that way is a different matter and it is likely to provoke more criticism at a delicate time for Spanish sport.” - The Guardian.co.uk

Though I don’t doubt that there was any malicious or racism intended, I do believe that better judgment could have been used.  With the understanding that these type of things can bring about emotional respnses and before long, they were on their way to Beijing.

Someone, anyone, 1-15, coaches, PR, scouts,… someone must have understood that this was going to bring some bad publicity or raise some eyebrows?  Seriously, no pun intended.

So, what do you think?  Innocuous?  Political Correctness?  Bad decision-making?  Let us know what you think and discuss the advertisement in our thread dedicated to the subject.

Links and Resources: Spain’s Eye-Catching Faus-Pax (Guardian), Spanish NT involved in Racist Advertisement (Interbasket), Li Ning, Olympic Hero and Global Sports Brand, Lights Torch (MarketWatch)

With a few days left before Olympic basketball begins, Interbasket is previewing the twelve national teams participating in the tournament.  We reviewed the six teams in Group A on Tuesday, and we’ll be reviewing Group B today. (Click here for Olympic Basketball Group A Preview).

With the United States, Spain and Greece all in Group B, the group is obviously the tougher group of the two. Unlike Group A where five teams have a chance for four spots with Iran a 100-1 chance to win a game, Group B will likely have one spot for either Angola, China, or Germany assuming that the heavyweights take the top-three spots.

United States Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 1 (832.2)
Qualified: 2007 Fiba Americas Tournament (Gold)
Roster: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams
Facts: If the USA wins the gold, Jason Kidd will join Larry Bird as the two oldest basketball Olympic gold-medalists (Larry was an older 35, beating Kidd by a few months).
Note: This may be the first real group of US players that are coming in with a real sense of urgency and respect (basketball-wise) for their opponents.  “For too long, we’ve been saying it’s our game,” said USA coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It’s really the world’s game. You can’t be arrogant and win.”

I’ve followed their U.S. coverage and their play and teamwork seems as cohesive as I have seen a US team with a couple exceptions. Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade have proven they haven’t completely bought into the team concept when they step on the court as they’ve broke the offense many times to go one on one with only mixed results.  Wade has converted on his individual forays, while Kobe has not.

This type of play will hurt the US especially against more disciplined teams such as Greece, Spain and Argentina, but if they make the shots that will add to the US’s intimidation factor.  And though the intmidation factor is not nearly as it was in the previous years, the USA still can seem imposing.

“(The USA) can intimidate a lot of people,” said Australia’s Chris Anstey.

The key for the USA and their intimidation is their defensive ball pressure and offensive flow.  One feeds into the other, and if the US runs into a defensive team with capable guards (see Greece, Spain, Argentina and Croatia), it can cause major problems for the United States.

Every time Jason Kidd has put on a USA jersey, he has been an important player for the United States, but his needed impact is less necessary this time around with the growth and skills of the spectacular Chris Paul and powerful Deron Williams.

Outside of needing work on his help defense, Carmelo Anthony continues to be the most-adapted international player on team USA, Instead of being the explosive scorer he is in the NBA, Anthony is quietly getting 15 a game by letting the game come to him.

LeBron James is adapting, though he’s been tempted to shooting fadeaway jumpshots as he does in the NBA, his amazing shooting percentages in the FIBA tournament of the America and the recent pre-tourney games shows he is picking and choosing his spots.  (He averaged 18 ppg in the TOA on 76% from the field and 63% from three).

The play of the big guys, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh, will be particularly important against the more competitive teams.  Howard is at that stage of his career where consistency is still an issue.  Some days he looks like a thinner, more athletic Shaquille O’Neal and other days he seems content, almost biding his time, watching LeBron, Carmelo, and Wade get their shots.  I think the US is definitely one of the favorites, it’s how this team will respond to being challenged will be the true test; will they come together or will they be tempted to play one-on-one?  USA’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. China (22:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), US survives toughest test, beat Asutralia by 11 (Associate Press)

Spain Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 3 (580)
Qualified: 2006 World Championships (Gold)
Roster: José Calderón, Rudy Fernández, Jorge Garbajosa, Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, Carlos Jiménez, Raúl López, Álex Mumbrú, Juan Carlos Navarro, Felipe Reyes, Berni Rodríguez, Ricky Rubio
Facts: A tribute to how strong this Spanish team is, they won the 2006 World Championships without leading scorer Pau Gasol, whom was injured the game before.  Espana’s medalcount stands at 97 total medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, placing them 34th overall in the world, behind Greece.

Note: The Spaniards are a disciplined, emotional, talented, and they don’t just want to beat you, they want to embarrass you.

The Spanish National Team hasn’t changed much in the last two years and they’re bringing almost the same squad as they had in the 2006 World Championships (where they won first), and the 2007 Eurobasket (where they took 2nd).

Speaking to the talent of the Spanish team, they boast seven players that have played, currently play, or will play in the NBA, the most in the Olympics outside of the USA.

Spain brings back 10 of the 12 players from those two tournaments, only swapping out point guards Carlos Cabezas and Sergio Rodríguez with point guards Raul Lopez and Ricky Rubio, arguably the best 17-year old basketball player.  With only minor changes to the team, and without significant losses to their core, Spain’s chemistry and gameplan will be amongst the strongest, if not the strongest, in the field.

With that said, Group B has the best guard play in the tournament, and Spain boasts a really strong backcourt in fiery Jose Calderon, La Bomba Juan Carlos Navarro, solid Raul Lopez and teen phenom Ricky Rubio.  Look for Calderon to be all over the floor this tournament, whether because of opponents or self-inflicted.  Also look for opposing fans to hate him.

Their frontcourt is nothing to sleep on either with their cog Pau Gasol and brother Marc are intense on the inside.  Swingman Rudy Fernandez is a better-Carlos Delfino - much better.   Carlos Jiménez is one of those players that is more than willing to sacrifice any individual accolades so that his team succeeds, that’s a nice way of saying he’ll do the real dirty work.

Spain has been looking great in preliminaries blowing out contenders in Argentina and Lithuania.  I know that using friendlies as a gauge is flawed, but I think it does help to determine a team’s preparedness, especially when playing against other senior national A teams.

Pau Gasol is weary about the competition, but it doesn’t phase his confidence “There are several big teams in the competition, such as Argentina or Greece — and especially the United States is very strong this year,” the Spanish superstar said “Once we are in the quarter-finals we will begin to make plans. We must demonstrate to everyone why we came here as the favorites.“ 

Their first step towards those quarterfinals is a huge one, they’ll play Greece in their first 2008 Olympic match.  That’s going to be one intense game, people.  Spain’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Greece (14:30 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), Kobe can Wait, says Spain’s Gasol (AFP), What about Carlos Jimenez? (Interbasket)

Greece Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 6 (429)
Qualified: 2008 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Roster: Yiannis Bourousis, Dimitris Diamantidis, Antonis Fotsis, Andreas Glyniadakis, Theodoros Papaloukas, Michalis Pelekanos, Giorgos Printezis, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Vasileios Spanoulis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Nikos Zisis
Facts: Throughout its history, Greece has totaled 104 total medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, placing them 33rd overall in the world (behind New Zealand and ahead of Spain).

Note: Not far behind USA and Spain, is Team Hellas.  Aggressive on offense and defense, the Greeks have an all-world defense led by their starting backcourt of Theodoros Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis.

The Greeks came off a unbeaten record in the World Qualifying Tourney (4-0) defeating their opponents by a decisive 32 points a game, including a complete 57-point drubbing of Lebanon.  Yowza.

Along with the United States and Spain, Greece’s backcourt is amongst the strongest in the tournament with all-European player Theodoros Papaloukas, defensive genius Dmitrios Diamanditis, the fearless Vasillis Spanoulis, and solid Nikos Zisis.

Theodoros Papaloukas is a pure point guard that stands 6-7, and is arguably been Europe’s most successful player in recent history, as well as being the Euroleague’s all-time leading assist man and thief.  Diamantidis is the Joe Dumars of the Euroleague, quiet, smart and known for his defensive prowess, the Octopus Man has being named as 2007 Euroleague Final MVP,  2005, 2006 and 2007 Euroleague Best Defender, 2006-07 All-Euroleague First Team.  Spanoulis provides an aggressive player that can get to the basket and Zisis a consistent perimeter threat in both running the offense and shooting the three.

Zisis is coming off a shoulder injury from the World Qualifiers, but should be ready in time for Greece’s first game matchup against Spain.

On the frontline is the 6-10 Antonis Fotsis, a skilled athelete with a knack for rebounding the ball can also step back and shoot the three.  6-9 Sofoklis Schortsanitis who was a force in the 2006 World Championships, but since has had trouble controlling his weight and 6-11 center Yiannis Bourousis.  Bourousis will fill the space of the national team center mainstay Lazaros Papadopoulos, whom wasn’t included on the Olympic roster.

Greece has been running on all cylinders as of late, that’s not good news for Group B, or the rest of the world for that matter.  Their first test is going to be a good one, they’ll be playing recent nemesis Spain.  Expect some sparks to fly.  Greece’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Spain (14:30 local time)

Links and Resources: Zisis to undergo intensive treatment (FIBA), Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia),

Germany Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 9 (284, tie)
Qualified: 2008 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Roster:  Patrick Femerling, Robert Garrett, Demond Greene, Steffen Hammann, Jan Jagla, Chris Kaman, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Ohlbrecht, Pascal Roller, Sven Schultze, Konrad Wysocki, Philip Zwiener
Facts: Dirk Nowitzki will join Sarunas Jasikevicius, Manu Ginobili, and Andrei Kirilenko as the flag-bearer for Germany, which apparently is odd because only German Gold Medal winners who took part in several olympic games were considered. Germany’s total medalcount is at 648 for both Winter and Summer Olympics, putting them 5th in the world.

Note: This is Dirk Nowitzki’s first Olympics and the pressure is on. Because Deustchland is still all about Dirk Nowitzki, the burden for him to perform is at its highest since he led Dallas to the NBA Finals two years ago.

Recognizing the reliance on Germany’s best hooper, Team Germany has continue to fine-tune and tightened up Dirk’s supporting cast.

They’ve added naturalized American 7-0 center Chris Kaman whom will take a huge load off of Nowitzki by holding down the interior and pulling in his share of rebounds - Kaman averaged 8.6 rebounds and added 12.6 points to boot in the FiBA World Qualifying Tournament.

Germany has also tweaked the players outside the paint with solid preimeter players and outside shooters in Pascal Roller, Steffen Hamman, Demond Greene, and Robert Garrett.

Robert Garrett is 6-4, but Roller stands only 5-11, and Hamman and Greene at 6-1.  With significant players lacking in height, Germany will really miss their warrior in the paint, 6-9 Ademola Olulaja, whom pulled out of the Olympics after reportedly being diagnosed with a tumor in his spine.  With Okulaja out, the 33-year old, 7-1 center Patrick Femerling and 6-8 Konrad Wysocki will be called upon to contribute in the German frontcourt.  With all that said, this team’s fortunes begin and end with Dirk Nowitzki, and the 7-0 German has always delivered in international tournaments. Germany’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Angola (11:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), Nowitzki will be flag-bearer for Germany (Spiegel.de), Concerns raised over Okulaja’s health (FIBA)

China Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 11 (252.7)
Qualified: Host
Roster: Yao Ming, Liu Wei, Yi Jianlian, Chen Jianghua, Weipeng Zheng, Chen Jianghu, Sun Yue, Wang Zhizhi
Facts: China has 319 total medals in both Winter and Summer Olympics, ranking them 15th in the world. Among the 433 torch bearers in the final Olympic torch relay from the Forbidden City to Beijing, Yao Ming was the ninth bearer.  Yao will also be the China’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremonies, this is the second consecutive Olympics that Yao has the honor of bearing the flag, he also did so in Athens 2004.  Including 2008, Chinese Basketball players have beared the flag for China in the opening ceremonies in seven straight Olympics Wang Libin (1984), Song Tao (1988), Song Li (1992),  Liu Yudong (1996 and 2000), and Yao Ming (2004 and 2008).

Note: Host team China has the pressure to do well on their homecourt.  Despite the obvious lofty expectations, Team China’s goal is progress, and that is to make it into the quarterfinals.  With USA, Spain and Greece all in China’s group, that would be a great accomplishment for the host team.

Chinese superstar Yao Ming is coming off another leg injury and whether his timing and stamina will be up is a concern for China.  “I went several months without playing and it’s hard.” Yao said.

Even if Yao doesn’t score 30 points and grab 15 rebounds in a game, the 7-6 center’s presence is invaluable to Team China on both ends of the court.  Teams have to be concerned that the Chinese giant is more than capable of getting 30 points and 15 rebounds.

Like the Aussies, the strength of the Chinese team is their frontcourt.  With the new walking great wall, veterans Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and newcomer Yi Jianlian (taking place of Mengke Bateer) standing at the frontline, they will certainly be imposing.  A couple issues with the big men is that they are all turnover prone, how well they will move their feet and how quickly they can get to rebounds, as none of the three are lightning quick or are naturally strong rebounders.

China has never had a problem filling their frontline with talented big men, but the question has always been whether China will have the capacity in the backcourt to finish off competitive games.

Liu Wei is an experienced international player and should do a decent job running the point as he played 10 years with Yao Ming and this will be his third Olympics.  Liu’s backup is Chen Jianghu, whom participated in the 2007 Nike Hoops Summit as part of the World All-Star team, is new to the National team and tends to play sporadically.

Even with all the questions about China’s National Team, Li Yuanwei, deputy director of the Chinese Basketball Association thinks this National team is the best team China has ever fielded: “I think the Chinese teams at the Beijing Games are the best.” We’ll have to wait and see.  China’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. USA (22:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), China has best basketball teams in history, top official (Xinhua), Olympic Torch Relay begins final leg to Beijing (China Daily)

Angola Olympic Preview (discuss)
FIBA World Ranking: 14 (206)
Qualified: 2007 African Championships (1st)
Roster: Carlos Almeida, Felizardo Ambrosio, Milton Barros, Abdel Aziz Boukar, Olimpio Cipriano, Armando Costa, Luis Costa, Vladimir Geronimo, Joaquim Gomes, Paulo Leonel, Eduardo Mingas, Carlos Morais.
Facts: This will be Angola’s fifth-straight Olympic Games as the sole representative from Africa.

Notes: Angola is the perennial African champions, and have won the last nine of ten African Championships, dating back to 1989.  Despite the continental success, Angola has never placed higher than 10th in either the Olympics or the World Championships.  The southwestern African nation is looking for a lot more progress this time around.

Angola is assuming that powerhouse USA, Spain and Greece will advance to the quarterfinals so, they’ve marked the calendars for their games against Germany and China.  “Spain are world champions, and Greece and the U.S. are just very, very tough.” said Carlos Almeida, Angola’s veteran shooting guard. “China and Germany are tough teams but we will try to steal those games.  We know we have the ability to beat them.”

Defeating Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming’s teams would basically guarantee Angola a spot in the next round.

Angola comes back with a similar gameplan as in past tournaments - small ball.  Always seemingly bringing a roster that is lacking a legitimate big man, Angola plays small ball with their tallest players only standing at 6-8; leading scorer and rebounder Joaquim Gomes.  Abdel Aziz Boukar is also 6-8 and Felizardo Ambrosio is 6-7.

What the Angolans lack in height, they make up for in speed, energy, and athleticism, quite possibly matching the USA in overall athelticism.  Team Angola has will be led by the three-headed forward combination of Joaquim Gomes, Eduardo Mingas, and Olimpio Cipriano.

This threesome has consistently been Angola’s leading scorers over the last several tournaments, and we would assume that this will remain the case.  The 29 year-old Mingas and 27-year old Gomes have played together since the 2002 World Championships, with Cirpriano joining the tandem in the 2004 Athens Olympics.  Angola’s First Game: August 10th, 2008 vs. Germany (11:15 local time)

Links and Resources: Basketball at the Summer Olympics (Wikipedia), Angola aims to give China the elbow (Guardian.co.uk)

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

News Around the World 11/14/2007: NBA International Report
(interbasket.net) — Yao Ming leads us off this week as he was named NBA player of the week for November 12th (Tracy McGrady won the honor the week previous) as Yao averaged 27.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. The Houston Rockets are now 6-2 dropping their second game last night - Darko Milicic went at Yao all night to the tune of a season-high 20 points (and Rudy Gay served up a highlight facial on Luis Scola). Last week I spoke a little too soon about Yao’s early rebounding as a sign of things to come; in the three games since, he’s averaged only 8.3 a game which is more Yao-like. At least he’s still blocking shots at a much better rate (2.5/game).

Manu Ginobili continued his fantastic play. He’s averaging 19.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 and 2.4 assists assists in just under 29 minutes off the bench. The Spurs are 7-1 blah blah blah. Ho Hum.

Not to be outdone, the other South American super-six man Leandro Barbosa poured in a career-high 39 points against Orlando Saturday. Barbosa just wasn’t just busy attacking the basket and hitting threes (he hit eight), he also had 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in that game. Barbosa is avergaing 19.1 pts on a career-high (barely) 48.4% from the field.

What ’s up with Steve Nash and his scoring binges this season? Is he taking cues from Leandro Barbosa? Maybe teams are taking the Mavs approach with the “let-him-shoot-so-he-can’t-involve-his-teammates” or Nash is just being more aggressive this season? Nash has already scored 30 or more points this season three times. His efficiency hasn’t suffered any as he’s shooting a blazing 57.8% from the field overall, 54.3% from three (!) and has yet to miss a free-throw (20-20) in averaging a career-high pace of 20.6 ppg. Only bad thing I can say is Nash’s assists-to-turnover ratio isn’t very Nash-like at 2.1 assists for every turnover.

Stay in Europe, Rudy!
Lots of Spanish NBA players in our news this week, and none of the news is overwhelmingly great news in fact, most of it is bad.
In the last two seasons, Pau Gasol has averaged 20.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2 blocks a game. So far this season, Gasol’s stats are down significantly across those categories. Generally, I don’t make much of early season stats, particularly points, but sometimes there is something so glaring that I believe it indicates something larger. Gasol has only blocked a total of three shots in six games this season - this from a guy that’s rejected an average of 1.8 per game throughout his career? In the two losses to Utah and Portland, Gasol had just eight total rebounds in both games, went scoreless in the second half of both games, and taking a total of one shot. So why? Is he unhappy with Rudy Gay’s more involved role? Unmotivated by the prospect of another long NBA season without a chance at a championship? Easier to complain in Spanish when you have Spanish National team member Juan Carlos Navarro (who is shooting 28.6% and finally hit his first two-point field goal last night)? Maybe Gasol is miffed by the conspiracy he insists is going on with Jorge Garbajosa minutes in Toronto? Not sure.

Speaking of a Spaniard’s declining minutes this season — Nate McMillan’s early season assertion that Sergio Rodriguez had fallen behind rookie Taurean Green for the backup PG duties haven’t come to fruition yet. I don’t know if it was just lip service to fire up Rodriguez, but he referenced Sergio’s lack of three-point shooting for his reasoning. Though Rodriguez’s minutes have fallen (12mpg last season compared to about 9 this season), he has obviously outplayed Taurean Green and impressed the coach enough to handle at least some of the backup PG duties. This is a good time to bring up that Rodriquez hit an important three pointer followed by a layup to put the Blazers up 87-82 in their win over the Pistons last night. So far, Taurean has only played 2 minutes in the Blazer’s seven games this season.

I’m sure at least a few of these players are in the ear of Rudy Fernandez, and it can’t be helping his case to come over to the NBA any sooner.

Maybe he just needed to let it off his chest.
Andrei Kirilenko is playing like the old AK-47, his last three games Kirilenko has averaged 13.3pts, 9.3rebs, 9.3asts, 2.6stls, and 2.6blks. AK’s statlines for the last three (points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks) look like this- 15-8-8-0-3 against Sacramento, 15-12-9-4-1 against Memphis, 10-8-11-4-3 against Seattle.

Many unfamiliar with the Warriors roster probably wondered why they traded Jason Richardson away this off-season. J-Rich played such a huge part in their playoff run last season. Not to diminish Richardson’s importance, but a big reason why the Golden State management didn’t flinch was because they had a promising second-year, English player Kelenna Azubuike on their roster. Kelenna has a smooth jumpshot along with a 40-inch vertical leap, and the ability to get to the free-throw line (sound familiar?). Let’s not forget that the decision was a little easier when they looked at their books; Golden State is paying Kelenna the minimum, while J-Rich is set to make $11 million this year and 40 million over the next three years. “We liked him last year. He was just awful young,” Warriors coach Don Nelson said. “He’s worked hard this summer and it looks like he’s a player. … A real player.”

By many accounts, it’s not difficult to cheer for a guy like Azubuike. He’s a nice guy with no-attitude on or off the court and is a strong aggressive player that plays hard, slashes, and can get to the rim with regularity. After leaving Kentucky early to help his family pay for his father’s misdeeds, Kelenna wasn’t drafted in 2005. He tried to catch on with the the Cavs and Rockets, but was eventually waived by both teams. On both occasions, Kelenna landed in the NBDL. He led his team to the championship and was named all-NBDL in 2005, then led the NBDL in scoring his second year. The promising guard is averaging 18.8pts, 5.2 rebounds and shooting 53% from the field this year.

Jose Juan Barea is getting a lot more run this year and he’s doing an efficient job — shooting 57.1% from the field, leading the league in 3pt% at 70%, 100% from the FT line (7-7) while averaging 9.7 points a game. However his biggest strength has thus far been negated; penetration and dishing the ball. Barea is averaging only 1.4 assists with 1.2 turnovers in his limited playing time.

Yi Jianlian continues to impress; playing his best game (statwise) against fellow countryman Yao Ming. “I hate to say this,” Yao said “but he may be better than me.” Take it easy Yao, let’s not get crazy yet. Though the Houston Rockets walked away with the win, Yi gave the Buck’s management a reason to smile with early career-highs of 19 points, 9 rebounds and tying his high of 3 blocks. Overall Jianlian is averaging 11.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks and has scored in double-figures his last four games.

Walter Herrmann can’t seem to find his range. After skipping out on the Argentine National Team this summer to focus on his game. With his extra training. it’s mind-boggling how he hasn’t improved upon his strong finish to the 06-07 season. Instead Herrmann is shooting a horrendous 23% from the field, and is 0-4 from three this season. Herrmann’s bad start has him riding the bench, and has recorded DNPs in a couple games before coming in for garbage time last night against the Miami Heat.

Remember, this was the same way Walter started out last season — Herrmann displayed little to nothing in the preseason, was on the verge of being cut, and along with the injuries he sustained added up to a terrible start. The start continued into his season until after the halfway mark of last season when he finished so strong that his name was brought up for Rookie of the Year and not one giggle was heard - that’s a serious turnaround.

It looks like it might be deja vu this year, hopefully for Herrmann, the work he put in this summer starts to show sooner than later. Even though things may have opened up for Herrmann when Adam Morrisson got hurt, nothing is ever guaranteed as tough-as-nails rookie Jared Dudley has been taking Herrmann’s minutes and been producing.

Random NBA notes: Ugh, Stephon Marbury. What a complete fool. I know I am not privy to all the details and this involves Isiah Thomas, which further muddies the situation, but I can’t help but jump to conclusions with this guy. When does one become smart enough to recognize a pattern in their career? It seems every team Marbury leaves- gets better, and I read that he’s been with 12 coachs in 12 years — probably none of which have ever been completely satisfied with his performance. How about them Celtics? An interior presence, a great outside shooter, and a versatile swingman. Only unbeaten team at 6-0, not bad, but lets stop all the comparisons to the mid-80s Celtics. Thanks. With all this talk of rookies Kevin Durant and Yi Jianlian, don’t forget about Jeff Green. The rookie from Georgetown is making the most of his time off the Seattle bench and he doesn’t have the green light a la Durant. Green scored 12 points, all in the second quarter against Orlando, on an impressive array of jumpers, drives and even a 10-foot hook.

Sources: Yao, Garnett Named NBA Players of the Week (NBA.com), Father’s bad choices reflecting on son’s future (CBS Sportsline), Rookie Yi impresses elder statesman Yao (Yahoo Sports), Gasol Struggling and Unhappy (Yahoo!), Gasol claims Raptors have grudge against Garbajosa (Sportsticker), Sergio Rodriguez Falling in Portland (Interbasket Forums), Seattle vs. Orlando Recap 11/13 (Yahoo!)

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Watch the second rematch of the two teams that fought for the gold medal in the 2006 World Championships of basketball. They meet again today at the 2007 Eurobasket.

Back in 2006, during the finals of the World Championships, Spain quickly became the underdogs as they lost Pau Gasol to a leg injury prior to the game. They were, after all, playing against a Greek team that shocked the Americans the day before. However, the Spanairds used a terrific effort by Jorge Garbajosa and showed a lot of heart in handily defeating Greece 70-47.

In their first meeting during the second round of Eurobasket, Spain easily handled Hellas 76-58 behind 20 points from Rudy Fernandez.

Today is the second rematch of the two powerhouses. Look for Greece to put up more of a fight this time around after being topppled twice in a row by the Spanairds. Follow the progression of the game and discuss it with Spanairds and Greeks and more in our intenational basketballl forum.

Spain returns the majority of their team and have had little trouble in the tournament, other than a setback by Croatia. While Greece, who has won three games by 3 points or less including a spectacular comeback against Slovenia in the semis, isn’t playing nearly as cohesive as they did two years ago.

Eurobasket 2007 is upon us. Sixteen European National teams are vying to be the king of Europe and more importantly, for two spots to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

With Israel winning the final wild card spot on Friday against FYROM, all 16 teams are now set and all will be competing on the first day. Some of the more anticipated matches are Turkey taking on Lithuania, Serbia vs. Russia, and Italy against Slovenia. The first days schedule can be found below:

A/2: Serbia-Russia @ Granada, 18:00
C/1: Czech Republic-Germany @ Palma de Mallorca, 18:00
B/2: Latvia-Croatia @ Sevilla, 19:00
D/1: Poland-France @ Alicante, 19:00
A/1: Greece-Israel @ Granada, 20:30
C/2: Lithuania-Turkey @ Palma de Mallorca, 20:30
B/1: Portugal-Spain @ Sevilla, 21:30
D/2: Italy-Slovenia @ Alicante, 21:30

Eurobasket is the last regional championship and will determine which two European teams will go to the 2008 Olympics. It is also expected to be the most competitive of all the regional championships with up to ten contenders.

Spain, the 2006 World Champions and hosts of EuroBasket are the early favorites for just those reasons; they have home court and are expected to have all their main players that helped them to the gold medal in 2006 - Pau Gasol, Jose Calderon, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, Jorge Garbajosa, Carlos Jimenez, Alex Mumbru, Marc Gasol and Sergio Rodriguez

However, one cannot discount the 2006 World Championships silver medalists Greece, who will also bring back the majority of their core team: Theodoros Papaloukas, Dimitris Diamantidis, Nikos Zissis, Lazaros Papadopoulos, and Vassilis Spanoulis (Antonis Fotsis is injured and Sofoklis Schortsianitis was kept off the team as he was reportedly way above his playing weight).

Nor should anyone count out Lithuania who will have Sarunas Jasikevičius back running the show along with one of Europe’s best forwards in Ramūnas Siskauskas, and the inside muscle of Darius Songaila (Washington Wizards), Robertas Javtokas, and Linas Kleiza (Denver Nuggets).

France is looking to improve upon their previous performances, “It’s two straight third-place finishes at the Euros and now it’s time to make that final step,” said Tony Parker. In addition to Parker, France boasts three other NBA Players - Boris Diaw, Yakhouba Diawara, and Ronny Turiaf.

Turkey welcomes NBA All-star Mehmet Okur and Hidayet Turkoglu back on the Turkish National team. They will join a very talented squad that includes promising young prospects Cenk Akyol and Ersan Ilyasova, veteran shooter Ibrahim Kutluay, center Kaya Peker, and guard Engin Atsür of North Carolina State University.

Other countries expected to make some serious noise are Italy, Russia, Slovenia and when it comes to international tournaments, any team that has Dirk Nowitzki on their roster is always considered a threat.

Eurobasket starts out with four groups (A-D) each with four teams who will play each other once. Then the top three teams from each group advance to two six-team qualifying-round. The top eight teams (four from each group) will advance to the quarterfinals. Madrid will host the final on Sept. 16.

[Eurobasket 2007 forum] [official site]