Interbasket’s quick roundup of the international NBA player performances during the last few days in the NBA.. This week we’ll discuss Luol Deng doing work, injured international players in Golden State, Pau Gasol’s golden return, and Hasheem Thabeet’s very rough NBA start. Discuss the NBA in our forum.
- The unspectacular Luol Deng just gets the work done for the
Chicago Bulls.You won’t see the 6-9 forward from Sudan pulling killer crossovers, high-flying dunks or even three-pointers. Deng’s game is filled with mid-range jumpers, drives to the basket, cutting, and offensive putbacks to the tune of 17.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and solid shooting percentages across the board. More importantly Deng is injury-free.
- Basketball Without Borders will organize the shipment and delivery of nearly 3,000 Allen Iverson Memphis Grizzly jerseys to be sent to Tanzania. Hasheem Thabeet is the first NBA player from Tanzania and was Allen Iverson’s teammate for those three games he played for Memphis (via Dime).
- Speaking of Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-3 center from Tanzania played a season-high 12:27 seconds in Memphis’ win over the Sacramento Kings the other night. The rookie recorded 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 personal fouls. In 70+ minutes of play this season, Thabeet hasn’t recorded one assist – don’t worry Grizz fans, he’s far away from matching Yinka Dare‘s infamous 77 game-770 minutes without an assist record.
- Israeli rookie Omri Casspi recorded 17 points and 8 rebounds against the Houston Rockets, and 15 points against Memphis in consecutive games, both Sacramento losses.
- The Los Angeles Lakers are 3-0 with Pau Gasol in the lineup, defeating the Chicago Bulls, Olkahoma City, and New York Knicks by an average of 13.7 points per game since the Spanish forward’s return. Gasol has averaged 16.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 blocks in three games.
- The Golden State Warriors may have had the most-internationally diverse roster in the NBA over the last five years, but with Andris Biedriņš, Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike out with injuries (and C.J. Watson with the Swine Flu), they were forced to play with just six players in their 111-103 win over the Dallas Mavericks last night.