At the beginning of the NBA season last night, the league boasted 83 foreign-born players, from 37 different countries on opening day rosters.

The 83 players ties the record for the most international players set in 2006-07.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ fifteen player-roster (both active and inactive) features a league-high seven international players.

The Bucks’ roster has Aussie Andrew Bogut, Carlos Delfino (Argentina), Francisco Elson and Dan Gadzuric, both of the Netherlands, Ersan İlyasova (Turkey), Luc Mbah a Moute (Cameroon), and Roko Ukić (Croatia).

The Bucks also feature rookie Brandon Jennings, who spent last season playing in the Euroleague, as well as Joe Alexander, who was born in Koushing, Taiwan, spent significant time in Asia growing up, and is nearly fluent in Mandarin.

Twenty-seven of the 30 teams have at least one international player. The Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors each have five international players,

The Los Angeles Clippers join the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers as the only NBA teams with no international players. Boston and Indiana continue their lack of international diversity with zero foreign-born players on their 15-player rosters.

The country with the most NBA players this season? It’s France. The French have the strongest representation with a record 10 players on NBA rosters; Alexis Ajinca, Nicolas Batum, Rodrigue Beaubois, Boris Diaw, Yakhouba Diawara, Ian Mahinmi, Tony Parker, Johan Petro, Mickaël Piétrus, and Rony Turiaf.

In comparison, during the 1999-2000 NBA season, the NBA had only 36 international players from 24 countries and territories.

The following is a complete list of international players on 2009-10 NBA opening night rosters:

PORTLAND, Ore.  — On the eve before the NBA season begins, Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum will undergo surgery on his right shoulder to repair torn cartilage.

After the surgery, Batum may need as much as 4 months to recover.

The injury was originally suffered late last season in a 93-89 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the Rose Garden.

Batum would finish out the season, but the injury remained.

The 6-8 forward would go on to play for his national team, but Batum’s ailing shoulder gave cause for concern to the Portland Trailblazers, who summoned the 20-year old back to the United States so the Blazers’ doctors could look at the shoulder first hand.

The Trail Blazers open the 2009-10 season at home tonight against Houston Rockets.

Despite being down 19 points in the first quarter, France used 28 points and 10 assists from Tony Parker and a full day of rest to hand Turkey their second defeat in less than 18 hours (discuss).

Turkey tasted defeat for the first time when they were eliminated by Greece in yesterday’s quarterfinals.

“Because of the schedule, in not 24 hours we played two very tough games,” Turkey guard Kerem Tunçeri said. “The first maybe 15 minutes we played great, but after that because of our condition we went very bad down.”

Besides Parker, France had three other players in double figures. Nicolas Batum, Antoine Diot, and Florent Piétrus each scored 13 points for Les Bleus.

Hedo Türkoğlu once again scored 13 points in a Turkey loss, and Ömer Aşık added 11 points.

In the other classification game, Croatia defeated defending champion Russia 76-69 behind 18 points and 8 assists from Roko Ukic, giving them the final automatic bid for the 2010 Worlds.

On Sunday, Croatia will play France for fifth place, while Russia will face Turkey in the seventh-place game.

France was the last qualifier for the Eurobasket, having to play in an additional qualifying tournament against the likes of Belgium, Italy and Finland.

Since Turkey is hosting next year’s World Championships, they automatically qualify for the tournament and could be the reason they sat key Eurobasket components Ender Arslan and the team’s leading scorer Ersan İlyasova.

Had Turkey won against France, Europe would have qualified six teams, but since they lost, Europe, including hosts Turkey will bring seven teams to the tournament.

Katowice - The first day of the quarterfinals are here and no less than 15 former, current, and future NBA players will be participating in the game.

(discuss the France – Spain quarterfinal)

Spain features nine players with NBA affiliations, while France has six players with ties to the NBA.

Everyone already knows the two stars, Spain’s Pau Gasol and France‘s Tony Parker.

“France is a hard rival,” Gasol said. “They are undefeated and we need to beat them if we want to progress. They have confidence and good players as well as being more rested than us, but we have to win.”

The Les Bleus - España game will also display the talents of of current NBA players Rudy Fernández and Nicolas Batum (Portland Trailblazers), Boris Diaw (Charlotte Bobcats), Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies), Ronny Turiaf (Golden State Warriors), Ian Mahinmi (San Antonio Spurs).

The game also has prospective NBA players in 2009 NBA draft picks Ricky Rubio (#5), Victor Claver (#22), Sergio Llull (#34), and Nando De Colo (#53) and former NBA players in Juan Carlos Navarro, Raúl López, and Jorge Garbajosa, all of Spain.

The game is the second match of the day and is set for 21h00, to be played after the Serbia/Russia game.

In the Eurobasket game of the day, it’s the NBA vs. Euroleague when France takes on Greece today for the top spot in Group E.

France boasts six current and prospective NBA players with four of their five starters, participating in the 2009-2010 NBA season.

Along with Mickaël Piétrus’ brother Florent, France starts star guard Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum, and Ronny Turiaf.

Les Bleus also has guard Nando de Colo and power forward Ian Mahinmi, who both were drafted by the San Antonio Spurs.

Greece on the other hand has no current NBA players, but several Euroleague stars in center Ioannis Bourousis,  Antonios Fotsis, Nikos Zisis, Sofoklis Schortsianitis, and Vasileios Spanoulis, who spent one season with Houston Rockets.

Schortsianitis was drafted by the Clippers with the 34th overall pick in 2003. Fotsis was drafted by Memphis in 2001 with the 48th pick.

Bourousis was rumored to been offered a contract with the San Antonio Spurs this past summer, but instead re-signed a 3-year extension with domestic club Olympiakos.

The victor goes on to play a struggling, but still dangerous Spanish team. Follow the France-Greece game live in our forum

Fifteen of the sixteen Eurobasket teams have been determined, and they await the winner of France and Belgium, who will compete in a two game series for the final berth to Eurobasket.

The two teams will play a home-and-away two-game series for the right to move on to Poland, where Eurobasket is being held this year.

Belgium reached the finals of the Additional Qualifying Round by virtue of winning the top spot in Group A, which featured Bosnia & Herzegovina and Portugal. France won Group B by accumulating the best record against Italy and Finland.

NBA stars Tony Parker (21.2 points) and Nicolas Batum (17.3) have led the way for France, while the Belgians have counted on their frontcourt players Axel Hervelle (16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds) and Christophe Beghin (12.7) on the offensive end.

The victors of the the Additional Qualifying Round will be placed in Group B along with defending Eurobasket champions Russia (without Andrei Kirilenko), Germany, and Latvia.

The first game between France and Belgium is set for Thursday, August 27 and the second game will be on Sunday, August 30 (local times).

The French National Team is doing their best to qualify for the 2009 Eurobasket, a key tournament in earning a berth to the 2012 Olympics in London.

However, Les Bleus has had to fight battles on and off the court concerning three of the NBA players on their roster, Joakim Noah, Tony Parker, and Nicolas Batum.

Joakim Noah
Three weeks ago, Joakim Noah’s participation for the French National Team was a cause of concern for the Chicago Bulls.

During Noah’s exit interview with the Bulls, the team set up a summer, strength-training regimen for the 6-11 power forward/center, that allowed Noah to practice with the French National Team for two weeks at the end of July.

Noah headed to Strasbourg, and played well for Team France, helping them defeat Austria and the Czech Republic in the preparation games.  Noah averaged 13 points, 7.5 rebounds, and provided much needed toughness for the French interior.

The problem began when France wanted to keep Noah on their squad for the Additional Qualifying Round. France confirmed that they were attempting to persuade the Bulls to let the 24-year-old play in the AQR games against Italy and Finland.

However, Bulls made it clear that Noah should not play past the preparation round. Noah supported the Bulls in this decision.

Noah, the son of French-born tennis star Yannick Noah, agreed with the Bulls and returned stateside to begin his weight-training.

Tony Parker
After the preparation game against Austria, Tony Parker injured his foot which caused moderate drama between France and the San Antonio Spurs.  The injury forced the star guard to fly back to San Antonio to have the Spur’s medical staff examine the injury themselves.

The move clearly incensed Parker, who was forced to spend several days in Texas rehabbing his injury, when he obviously would have preferred helping his country qualify for the all-important Eurobasket.

“Honestly, I don’t understand this decision, because of all the tests done with the French doctors and the Spurs,” Parker said. “I regret what is going on.”

Fortunately, Team France was fine without Parker in the one game he missed, defeating Italy 80-77 in the initial AQR game.  Parker rejoined the team for their next game.

Nicolas Batum
Recently, Batum’s ailing shoulder gave cause for concern to the Portland Trailblazers, who summoned the 20-year old back to the United States so the Blazers’ doctors could look at the shoulder first hand.

Batum, who had just helped France to victory in their second game against Italy, was distressed by the news, “It was perhaps my last match, so I wanted to win at any cost before leaving the team.” Batum said, “Tony Parker got back quickly, so I’m hoping that the the same thing happens for me. I’m just taking off to be examined over there, and after that, we’ll see what happens.”

Without Batum, who is averaging 17.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in the AQR, France lost to Finland 77-73.

Tony Parker managed only 4 points and 3 assists in the game, but the loss was meaningless to France, as they had already clinched the top spot in their group. France will play either Belgium or Bosnia and Herzegovina to determine the final Eurobasket berth.

“I love playing for France. If we are able to quality for the EuroBasket, we will be in a good position to do well at the tournament.” Parker told FIBA.com

In the last month, France has had no less than eight NBA players on their national team roster – Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, Joakim Noah, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf, Nando De Colo, Ian Mahinmi, and Johan Petro.

Nicolas Batum” src=”http://www.interbasket.net/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/france-coach-nicolas-batum1.jpg” alt=”France’s coach Vincent Collet speaks with Nicolas Batum” width=”267″ height=”196″ />

Cagliari, Italy - Without Tony Parker, who is nursing a mild ankle spain in San Antonio, Team France squeezed out a 80-77 win over Italy in the EuroBasket 2009 Additional Qualifying Round.

With the win, France takes a key step in qualifying for the Eurobasket tournament in September.

After two free throws by Marco Belinelli with 33 seconds remaining, the game was tied at 66.  Ronny Turiaf and Nicolas Batum both missed as regulation ended, taking the game to overtime.  Les Bleus went on a 10-2 run in the extra period to seal the win.

Is France a stronger team with Tony Parker?  Without a doubt.  However, let us not forget that France still boasts a talented roster that features Turiaf, Batum, Boris Diaw, Florent Piétrus, Johan Petro, and 2009 NBA draft pick Nando De Colo.

Florent Piétrus, Mickaël’s older brother, and Batum led Team France with 20 points a piece.  Boris Diaw added 15 points for Les Bleus.  The 21-year old Batum added 8 rebounds for the winners.

Italy was led by Marco Belinelli’s 26 points while Angelo Gigli added 13 and Andrea Bargnani 10 for the Italians.

In Group A action, Bosnia & Herzegovina defeated Portugal 62-56 led by rising star Nihad Dedovic’s 15 points.

France along with five other teams, Italy, Finland Portugal, Belgium, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, are battling for the last berth to Eurobasket.  The tournament’s winner will head to Poland for the all-important Eurobasket 2009.

France’s next game will be against Finland on Saturday.  Parker leads the team with a 26.8 point average in AQR games and is expected to be back in uniform in time for the match against Finland.

It sounds like Hedo Türkoğlu, the 30-year old point-forward that led the Orlando Magic into the NBA Finals, has come to an agreement to join the Portland Trailblazers in principle.

The contract is reportedly for five years and $50 million dollars.  Portland has accomplished their primary mission; they’ve been chasing free agent Türkoğlu since the end of the NBA season.  However, obtaining Turkuglu has brought some internal drama.

Apparently, Portland’s run after Turkoglu angered their super sub Rudy Fernández.  Fernández came off the bench last season backing up Brandon Roy and Nicolas Batum and obviously had his eye on a starting position, more minutes, or both in his NBA season.

And it’s not like Fernández doesn’t have options.  ESPN reports that several European clubs, including powerhouses CSKA Moscow, FC Barcelona, Olympiacos, and Real Madrid, have been courting the Spanish guard-forward.

Fernandez, who paid more than $500,000 of his own money to buy his way out of his contract with DKV Joventut, believes he can earn 5 million € per season if he signs a 3-year contract in Europe. He is due to make $1.1 million from the Blazers next season.

Fernandez averaged 26 minutes off the bench and scored 10.2 points per game last season.  With Turkoglu in the mix, it’s unlikely that his role will expand much.  In addition, the Blazers traded Rudy’s best friend on the Blazers – backup point guard and fellow Spaniard Sergio Rodriguez to the Sacramento Kings on draft day. That means a lot less alley-oops this season for Fernández.

It hasn’t been a good week for Rudy’s Portland prospects.

The agreement between Türkoğlu and the Blazers is considered “in principle” because the it cannot be announced (become official) until July 08, 2009.  If the contract becomes official,  Türkoğlu will become the highest-paid Turkish athlete.

Aside from the fact that the Lakers got beat down by the Trailblazers for the seventh straight time at the Rose Garden, and Rudy Fernandez being injured and sent to the hospital from a hard foul by Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol got dunked on once again by Nicolas Batum.

Batum dunked three times in the first quarter as the Blazers took an early 19-12 lead in the Blazers’ 111-94 win.

After his dunk, Batum flashed two fingers, signifying that he is aware of how many times he’s given it to the 2008 European of the Year Award Winner.

I’m trying to find a good, quality video and when I do, i’ll post it.

Links and Resrouces: Roy scores 27 points in Blazers’ 111-94 win over Lakers (AP), Video of Trevor Ariza’s foul on Rudy Fernandez (Interbasket), Video: Nicolas Batum dunks on Pau Gasol – Part One (Interbasket),  Video: Nicolas Batum Bio & Profile | SLAM Report (Interbasket)

French rookie and Portland Trailblazer Nicolas Batum had a nasty dunk on Pau Gasol last night in Portland’s 100-86 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The dunk occurs in the first quarter as the LaMarcus Aldridge steals a lazy Derek Fisher passs, dribbles down court and leaves a pass to the trailing Nicolas Batum.  Gasol, whom was recently honored with the Euroscar award for the 2008 European player of the Year (and had a nice highlight himself earlier in the week), turned around to see the 6-8, 200lb lanky forward beginning to elevate.  Gasol put his hands up in a futile attempt, hoping his length might block the shot, or throw Batum off.

It was too late. Batum came down hard on Gasol, whom was sent reeling back from the impact.  Check out the video below (click “watch in high quality” on the bottom right hand side of the video for much better resolution)

If you want a souvenier of the Batum dunk, you can check out the great photo of the facial (Gettys Image). The quiet rookie from Lisieux, France finshed the game with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists on a perfect shooting night.  Batum hit all six of his field goal attempts; 2 two-point shots and 3 three-point shots.

Links and Resources:  Haier NBA Play of the Day (01/04/2009) (YouTube.com), Picture of Batum dunk on Pau Gasol (Getty Images),  Lakers 100 – Portland 86 Boxscore (Yahoo!),  Nicolas BatumProfile & Bio (Interbasket),  Pau Gasol wins 2008 Euroscar Award (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 Toronto Raptors are out to a 2-0 start with Jose Calderon as the starting point guard.  After the Raptors traded away TJ Ford this past summer, they all but handed the starting role to Calderon, and so far results are good.  Yeah, it’s two games into the season, but I like building it up, ok?

Playing 37 minutes a game, the Spanish point guard is averaging a double-double, 14.5 points and 10 assists, in wins over Philadephia and Golden State.  Calderon has only accumulated two turnovers, for a gaudy 10-1 assist to turnover ratio.

His backup, rookie Roki Leni-Ukic, is still probably still trying to adapt to the gameplay.  Ukic is getting 12 minutes a game, shooting just 20% from the field, and averaging 2.0 points and 2.0 assists.  Former number one draft pick Andrea Bargnani went from going scoreless in Toronto’s first game, to shooting 8-10 for 19 points in the second game.   The 23-year old, 6-10 Italian is averaging 9.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks.

With Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest in tow, Yao Ming has led the Rockets to 2-0 start.  The 7-5 center is averaging 25.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks on 58% shooting from the field.  Big Yao has also hit all 17 of his free throws, downing Memphis in their first game and withstanding Dirk Nowitzki‘s 36 point outburst in Dallas’s home debut.

Filipino Spoelstra gets First Win
Erik Spoelstra is the coach of the Miami Heat and has never played in the NBA, which is a rarity for a coach in the league.  But even more rare is that he is the first Filipino-American coach ever in the four major professional sports in the United States (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL).

HIs mother is from the Laguna, Philippines and his father Joel Spoelstra, is Dutch-Irish and was an NBA executive for three NBA teams.

Spoelstra got his first win last night when the Heat destroyed the Sacramento Kings 103-77 on Halloween.  The win was a balanced attack that saw four of the five starters score at least 13 points; Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Shawn Marion and rookie Michael Beasley all hit double-figures.  As did bench players Daquan Cook and Mark Blount.

The Heat players recognized Spoelstra’s win by honoring him with the game ball and placing him in the middle of a 16-man locker room hug.  “They tried to mess up my hair,” Spoelstra said.

Spoelstra is 37 years old and is the NBA’s youngest coach this season.  He turns 38 today, November 1st.  Happy Birthday Eric!

Denver rejoices, Nene has started out the season on the active list (not injured) and showing promise.  The physical Brazilian center is putting up 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and hitting 63.6% from the field including 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a overtime win over the Clippers.  Nene has also fouled out of both games, showing his aggressiveness hasn’t suffered while on the injured list.

On the other side of Denver, Linas Kleiza hasn’t had such a great start.  The 6-8 Lithuanian has been inserted into the starting lineup because of Carmelo Anthony’s two-game suspension, but his performance isn’t anything to write home about (home being Kaunas, Lithuania).  Kleiza is shooting 3-16 from the field (18.8%) to the tune of 5.0 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Maybe it has something to do with Kleiza not being offered an extension by the Nuggets yesterday. That means Denver can match any NBA offer after the season, but there’s a chance Kleiza may head home to Europe.  “Denver definitely is (my first choice), but there are a lot of opportunities out there,” said Kleiza. “Europe being so big and things. Such big money now. Being from Europe, it’s definitely something I’m going to have to consider.”

Stay tuned, Kleiza could be the next Bostjan Nachbar, Juan Carlos Navarro, or Nenad Krstic, NBA players that went back to Europe.

Another international player moved into the starting lineup and not performing in his first two games is Thabo Sefolosha of Switzerland.  The defensive player is shooting just 37.5%, and has just nine points, three rebounds and one assist in 30 minutes of play.  The 6-7 guard/forward does have three steals and has hit all his free-throws (3-3), but definitely needs to crank up his play to justify the starting role.  Me thinks that Thabo is a rhythm player, and since the Bulls aren’t playing so well, that reflects on Sefolosha’s play.  We’ll see if I am right.

Karma for putting up with the ‘Jailblazer’ Era
This must be karma for Portland fans that had to sit through the Jailblazer era.  A ten-year span that saw players like Isaiah Rider, Reuben Patterson, Zach Randolph, Bonzi Wells, Rasheed Wallace, Shawn Kemp, Qyntel Woods et. al. run roughshod over Portland’s reputation.  I should know, I was a Portland fan back then.

Now, what an exciting time it must be to be a Portland fan, their roster is packed with young and exciting players with much potential, and unquestioned character – such as Greg Oden, Lamarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Channing Frye, and Steve Blake.

Twelve of the Fifteen players on their roster (including inactive players) are 25 years or younger.  Three of which are international players- Sergio Rodriguez, and rookies Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum.

Interbasket hearts Rudy Fernandez.  He is smart, aggressive, has serious ups, and is a feisty, savvy shot maker -  he’s basically a right-handed Manu Ginobili.  Rudy’s debut was nice, but his second game wasn’t nearly as successful (6 points, 8 rebounds, 1-6 shooting).

Who cares…. Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! (blind fanboy love here)

Rudy’s Portland teammate and fellow NBA rookie Nicolas Batum had a much better game in his second NBA game.  The 19-year old Frenchman with a huge wingspan and calm demeanor contributed 12 points and 2 blocks in the Blazer’s 100-99 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Oh, and one of his two blocks came when he stuffed Tim Duncan’s dunk attempt (see image).  Rumors are that Portland coach Nate McMillan has seen so much potential in the young Batum, that he has been toying around with putting Batum in the starting lineup.  And it’s not just McMillan that sees him, Portland’s leader on the floor, Brandon Roy thinks highly of Batum also, “Honestly, I think (Batum) might be able to start at the three.’

And San Antonio has lost their first two games, by a total of six points.  Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are coming strong out of the gate, avergaing 29.5 and 28 points respectively, but they are obviously missing Manu Ginobili, who is out with ankle injury, and Fabricio Oberto, who is sidelined with a irregular heartbeat.  Oberto will be back for San Antonio’s third game, and Ginobili is out until mid-December.  Parker is also dishing out 8.0 assists and shooting 53.5% from the field.

Mickael Pietrus had a decently successful debut for the Orlando Magic, putting up 20 points and 3 rebounds, the only thing he didn’t get was a win.  In Orlando’s second game, Pietrus only hit 1-6 shots for 3 points, 5 fouls in only 17 minutes of run.  Hedo Turkoglu has averaged 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4 assists for the Magic.  The Magic have lost both their games thus far, their second game on a buzzer beating jumper from Rudy Gay.

Pietrus’ old teammate Andris Biedrins, an Interbasket favorite, has also started out 0-2.  However, the 7-0 Latvian is continuing his strong play for Golden State, 14 points and 12 rebounds against New Orleans, and 17 points and 13 rebounds against Toronto.  The 22-year old Biedrins is shooting nearly 62% in his first two games, which is expected, but Biedrins is shooting terribly from the line, just 5-13, for 38.5% from the line.

And we are mad with joy that Kelenna Azubuike is getting some run and shots at the basket, going for 15 and 17 points in the Warrior’s first two games.  Once the 24-year old English player finds his groove, and Monta Ellis returns, the combination of the two and Biedrins will keep the Warriors exciting at the very least.  Now if only Marco Belinelli could get some playing time…

Postscript: Mike D’Antoni puts Stephon Marbury on the inactive list, after riding the bench the entire first game. Marbury had met with coach D’Antoni if he was going to play on Friday. When told he would not be seeing action, Marbury reportedly requested he be put on the inactive list. D’Antoni and the guard mutually agreed to take that action for Friday’s game.

Links and Resources: Jose Calderon turns up the Heat on Raptor’s PG Situation (Interbasket), Nuggets opt not to offer extension to Kleiza (Rocky Mountain News), Miami Heat: Fun Facts (ESPN), Spurs’ Oberto sidelined by irregular heartbeat (Yahoo!), Brandon Roy thinks Batum could start for the Blazers (SLAM),  Nicolas Batum: Gets Start Tuesday (Yahoo), NBA Highlights October 31, 2008 (YouTube), Knicks put Marbury on Inactive List (Yahoo!),

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.

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),