Game Notes: Kaunus Vs. Raptors
Thanks to a good friend of The Jones — I see you, Setts — I managed to score a couple of free tickets to the Kaunas-Raptors pre-seazzle game last night. So, to steal a page from Grange’s playbook, here are a few random observations:
1. The Raps new pump-up/introduction song is U2’s “Vertigo.” You know, that iTunes-pimped “uno, dos, hello, hello” garbage from 2004. Ugh. Not quite as bad that Beyonce debacle from a few years back maybe, but still, if we play like ass this year I’m blaming it on this.
(Note: What was wrong so with last season’s Rage? Or better yet, why don’t we stop saving the Stripes’ “Seven Army Nation” — or, you know, “Seven Nation Army” — for the start of the fourth and use it off the top instead?)
2. T.J. posted 13 points, 11 assists and only two turnovers in just 24 minutes. He was easily the best player on the court for most of the night. And yes, I’m sticking by my prediction: T.J. Ford will one day come close to matching Scott Skiles’ 30 assists in a game record. I know, I know, sounds ridiculous. But trust me: one day, when the stars align and the gunners are on fire, you’ll look up at the scoreboard near the end of the third and T.J. will already have 20 or 21 dimes to his name. Then the game will go to OT.
3. We need to get Bargnani some Jumpsoles ASAP! While he’s apt at beating his man baseline, he can’t finish at the net with any consistency. It drives me nuts. I swear he draws back iron on about 80% of his dunk attempts. Get up, Magic Man.
4. Caught the Raps’ Mop Girl hand delivering a note — from the Kaunus bench — to some extremely attractive, extremely confused, Lithuanian chick about fifteen rows up. Grish figured they were asking her to join the team for some post-game Lithuanian fun. It appeared as though she checked the “YES” box.
5. The rest: Kapono has a ridiculously smooth release … Moon had a nice two-handed reverse in warm-ups … the Lithuanian national anthem is loooooooooong … Sabonis jerseys were everywhere … and that “new era” in the Raptors Dance Pak they keep promising us appears to have finally arrived.
Comments (5)Heal The World: One Jasikevicius At A Time
It’s time for European / international players coming over to the NBA to be extremely picky when making their team choice. I’m tired of seeing talented people fail. If players are gonna come over for a couple years and then head back to Europe, they just shouldn’t make the move at all. They’re wasting valuable years of their basketball lives.
Now, there is definitely a misunderstanding between NBA organizations and the players themselves. Experienced Euros seem to believe they will immediately be given some sort of burn and a decent shot to show their stuff while many NBA coaches seem to treat most of them as rookies.
Sarunas Jasikevicius is a good example of this in Golden State. Jasikevicius arrived as a highly successful player overseas when he signed with the Pacers. He was given a chance but the Pacers style didn’t really suit his shoot-happy game. He never complained in Indiana, but despised his time in Golden State where he barely saw the floor. Sarunas didn’t make the right choice coming over; there are very few teams that know how to use the talents of a seasoned Euro right off the bat. Jasikevicius definitely could have worked in the Warriors’ “all offense” kind of system. The Warriors sign Troy Hudson (?!?) when they had this winner in their grasps?
Coaches and front offices alike should take in to account the professional experience of these players and treat them as if they are a solid NBA pro. If Richard Jefferson signed with the Clippers, he would expect minutes. NBA teams have to understand that’s the way the internationals think.
It’s different when young Euros arrive in NA or enter through the draft. Dirk and Tony Parker came over here as kids and developed here. They didn’t get the keys handed to them, nor did they expect to be given anything. A 28, 29, or 30-year-old NBA rookie arrives for a new challenge and to play with the most talented players in the world. They aren’t here to take a step back from their roles in Europa.
Carlos Delfino was constantly unhappy in Detroit as he gained more experience and his role didn’t change. The trade to a situation in Toronto that suits his style should make for some international love. We’ve all watched the super-talented Andrei Kirilenko and his fallout with the Jazz. Vassilis Spanoulis entered in to a very structured situation in Houston as a 24-year-old and expected too much. If he arrived a year later under Rick Adelman as opposed to Jeff Van Gundy, who knows what happens? Juan Carlos Navarro will likely work in Memphis not only because he’s playing with good buddy Pau, but because he has a coach in Marc Iavaroni and a system that will use him effectively. Jorge Garbajosa and Fabricio Oberto are examples of international veterans that have made the successful transition over the last few years (with notorious FIBA-loving teams, Toronto and San Antonio).
More research by both the teams and players, and a little more understanding by the squads would make everyone a hell of a lot more happy. Just like we can hopefully make you a little more happy when we get in to the studio to record a podcast this Thursday. Skeets has been busy cleaning his carpet — sorry for the delay.
Comments (4)Lazy Live-Blog: USA vs. Venezuela
A few notes from Wednesday night’s USA vs. Venezuela FIBA preliminary …
– Starting line-up for the USA: Kidd, Kobe, LeBron, Melo and Dwight. Not bad I guess.
– Score: 3-0 USA, one minute into the game: Kobe dives full-on at half for a loose ball. Just give him the gold now.
– What in hell could the Venezuelan guys possibly be saying to each other in the huddle? “Try harder?”
– Young Thunder should try to slap stickers on every shot he blocks. At least during this tournament.
– Good: Amare’s lazy-hawk and taped-up earring look. Bad: Michael Redd’s ever-expanding bald spot.
– 06’s Operation Get Gunners seems to be working: Redd and Miller already have a three each.
– Odd: Amare has Dwight’s #12. I wonder if there’s a story behind that?
– At the end of 1: USA 21, VEN 8. Ugh. Walton: “Eight points is not going to get it done. It’s as if they are waiting to fall so far behind so the USA will get over-confident.” Yes, that’s exactly Venezuela’s game plan, Bill.
– Kobe with one of the prettiest reverse lay-ups in the history of Western civilization. My words, not Bill’s.
– OK, this is getting ridiculous: Dwight and LeBron just dunked an alley-oop pass at the same time! I hope the scorekeeper gives ‘em four points for that. It’s not like anyone would notice.
– I can’t keep up with these highlight reel plays. Hell, I don’t even know how to describe them.
– Here, I’ll try with this one: No-look pass, behind-the-back-pass, dunk. In that order.
– Mark Jones just told me that the next dimension to Amare’s game is going to be a consistent three-point shot. I highly doubt that.
– Random question: If you could only pick one, which player would you rather build your franchise around — Luol Deng, Tayshaun Prince or Barbosa? I’m torn, but leaning towards Prince.
– I think Chandler’s the last one left to see the floor. Doesn’t Coach K know this his third consecutive breakout year?
– At the half: USA 54, VEN 34. This is over. I’m done.
Sixers’ Samuel Dalembert Joins Team Canada
Good news from Team Canada basketball this morning: Samuel Dalembert of the Philadelphia 76′ers is finally going to play for our senior men’s national team. (Jamie Foxx? Still undecided.)
The 26-year-old Haitian-born, Montreal-bred centre officially joined the team last night after becoming a Canadian citizen earlier in the day at a swearing-in ceremony in Hamilton, Ontario. (Ugh. Hamilton? This is the hellhole new Canadian citizens first see? Samuel, I’m sorry.)
Dalembert is a six-year NBA veteran, all with Philadelphia, who averaged a career best 10.7 points and 8.9 rebounds in the 2006-07 season. A 6’11” centre, with great athletism, Dalembert was Philadelphia’s first round (26th overall) pick in the 2001 NBA draft.
“I wanted to join the Canadian Team in 2003 but had a surgery and out for their season and so it didn’t work out,” said Dalembert. “But in the back of my mind I knew I always wanted to play for Canada and this time it worked out and just seemed to fit. To have the chance to play in the Olympics is really something special.”
This is obviously a huge addition for Team Canada, who need to try and finish in the top five of this month’s FIBA America’s Championship to even keep the Beijing Olympic dream alive. (The top two teams garner automatic berths; three-through-five will be invited to another qualifier tournament next summer.)
As Doug Smith notes in the Toronto Star this morning: Dalembert gives Canadian coach Leo Rautins an anchor for his defence and a big man who can finish around the rim. He also represents the lone NBAer on the squad because Toronto’s Jamaal Magloire blows, and Steve Nash is busy playing pick-up soccer in Central Park.
Oh Todd MacCulloch, if only you could walk away from the pinball machine. (Hell, if only you could walk!)
Samuel Dalembert Headlines Additions To Canada’s Training Team … [Canada Basketball]
Dalembert Welcomed To Team Canada [Toronto Star]
“It Was A Pretty Clean Snap, Mate”
Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know what you’re thinking:
“Oh, wow, the poor kid broke his arm. Whatever. It was hard foul and he fell pretty awkward on it. Didn’t really look that bad though. Big deal, Skeets. Go write a stupid post that involves Eddy Curry grocery shopping or something, then give me a call.”
Umm… fair. It didn’t really look that bad. You’re right.
Now read this report and watch it again:
Brad Hill knew he was in trouble as he hit the hardwood after being taken down in mid-flight by Townsville’s Larry Abney on Friday.
The 36ers’ tyro had the ball on the break and was only thinking one thing - hammer down a dunk. But in the air, Abney, 11cm taller and 19kg heavier, intentionally crashed into the airborne Hill, whose awkward landing produced the most horrific injury in an NBL game in Adelaide.
Both bones in Hill’s right arm snapped, with one protruding, the young guard rushed to hospital by ambulance. Two-hour surgery on Saturday meant the insertion of two plates and screws, his arm in plaster for the next three weeks, his season over.
[…]
Hill said he knew something was horribly wrong and Sixers’ team doctor Graham Lewis was off the bench and out to him on court in a flash. “Doc noticed straight away,” Hill said. “He noticed before I did.”
Holding his arm in place, Hill immediately was taken into the change-room area. “I never actually saw the bone coming out but I knew it was all out of whack,” he said. “I knew it was wrong.”
[…]
Hill said because the break had been “a pretty clean snap”, he was “pretty happy”. “I was in a bit of shock with it all,” he said of the incident’s immediate aftermath. “I had painkillers and because there wasn’t any appropriate bandage, they wrapped my arm in a roll of posters to stabilise [sic] it.”
Mmmmm… enjoy those Saturday morning eggs!
Hardwood Hit Spelt Trouble [AdelaideNow]
Brad Hill Broken Arm [YouTube]
(Thx to Jesse in Melbourne for the heads up.)
Comments (5)More Topless T-Nes Tales
Remember when I unveiled the Lithuanian rap star that is Tyrone “T-Nes” Nesby? And remember when I wondered if the all-mighty, WizzNutzz KidZ had already unearthed such gem?
Well, they hadn’t. Until now:
2 years ago Lithuania traded 300 metric tons of milled grain to US Government in exchange for Tyrone Nesby. The US burned the grain so it wont affect farm subsidies but Lithuania didnt burn TNež, instead he became cultural ambassador aka he blew up so big, hes now Lithuianian Puff Daddy!!! Hes also Lithuanian MLK and Lithuanian Wesley Snipes and Lithuanian you name any black man because T-Než has somewthing all those young white lithuanian hip-hop wannabes, (they callz em “Litters”) dont got - hes got melanin and hes got Michael Jordan’s bootprints still on his back!!!!
I really should’ve just handed this shiznit over…
Welcome To Nesby World! [The Basketball Jones]
Something Smells At Basketball Jones And It Smells Like Pultitzer! [WizzNutzz]
Yao, Chen, Yi, Mark?
When I think Chinese basketball, I think Yao Ming, Damon Jones’ shoes, and Tas Melas blocking 5′6″ dudes. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Thank Ch’eng-Huang then — Chinese God of moats and walls. Duh… — for Mark Nilrad and his new Chinese basketball blog, China Hoops.
Yeah, for anyone who wants to learn more about Chinese ballers not named Yao — and why wouldn’t you; they’re bound to take over the NBA one day — China Hoops is a can’t miss resource.
Case in point: I knew nothing about 17-year-old point guard prospect Chen Jianghua. Now I do:
For the past year or two, [Chen Jianghua] was no more than an underground rumor, as insiders in China raved about this “Allen-Iverson like” player who completely broke the mold of a typical Chinese guard. The World Championships was his unveiling act. Crossing over Gilbert Arenas on his very first play was only the start of it.
Now, after guarding and being guarded by the likes of Arenas, Chris Paul, and Kirk Hinrich, he has gone to much less talent environment, to play in the Under-18 Asian Championships. It’s obvious that no one there can match up to his quickness and athleticism, and no team can even come close to China. They’re undefeated in 7 games, and their average victory margin is almost 50 points.
The problem with all this is that it does absolutely nothing for the Chinese players, especially for Chen. It doesn’t make them better, because no one can compete with them, and they really don’t have to work hard to get the wins. For a player like Chen, who has real NBA potential, being challenged is the most important thing of all. Chen is so naturally gifted, that, especially since he’s playing against a lot of non-athletic players in China, he’ll be able to score easily without making an effort to use fundamentals. If you watch Chen, you can see that’s he’s naturally flashy, and he even makes and effort to be flashy. Being showy is fine in my book but when you put that over your fundamentals, then you have a problem. Right now, he’s playing against a lot of less-talented players, and I think that (understandably) he feels that he can kick back and relax a little, be a bit more free with his shots and so on. The same thing is going to happen when he gets to the CBA, because, if he keeps on growing and developing, he’s going to be the best point guard in China, and he won’t have a lot of challengers.
Great stuff. Mark’s also doing a bang-up job of getting guys like Chen updated on Wikipedia. I suggest you check it out: China Hoops.
Comments (4)Get Ready for 2008
The ignorance of USA Basketball continues to baffle me. The Charlotte Observer sat down with bronze medal winning coach Mike Krzyzewski last week after he returned to the motherland.
The 1st question coach K was asked really shows how much research he put in to this tournament:
Q. You mentioned how narrow the margin is and how great the international teams are. Did you really appreciate that before this?
A: It’s even better… Take the game against Greece. (Theodoros) Papaloukas, No. 4 for them, is the MVP of Europe. I’d never heard of him before. He plays with (former Duke star) Trajan (Langdon). Trajan said they have a really great guard on their team. He didn’t say he was 6-7, 28 years old and makes probably five or six million dollars a year and is an amazing leader.
Hold on a second here. You are the head coach of the most talked about basketball country in the world. You are playing in a tournament to avenge your losses at the Olympics and World Basketball Championships and you don’t know who the best players are on the other team? You didn’t know how tall he was? Or that he was the best player in one of the better leagues outside the NBA? Did Trajan’s phone card run out? Forget that, why should Trajan have to tell you anyways? Did you fly to Asia to meet the American troops or did you go to win a basketball tournament?
The Americans were far more concerned with solidifying their own core than scouting the opposition. A telling sign that they still don’t get it. The rest of the world has caught up. Have we established that yet? ‘Cause USA Basketball obviously isn’t of aware of it. Like anyone, they will learn from their mistakes.
Mind you, I am a fan of their selection process this year and realize they had a three year plan going in to the FIBA Championships. They are building a “team” as opposed to the squads of the past that were built on stars who can get by on talent alone. If the right players are selected — there needs to be some subtractions from this year’s group in my eyes — that talent will be what puts them over the top in Beijing in 2008.
There are people out there that think this gathering of selected players for weeks at a time isn’t enough. Chuck Klosterman wrote an interesting piece for ESPN where he describes the only remedy is players who are solely devoted to the national team all year round. I disagree. The rest of the world doesn’t need to see each other every day to win these tournaments. They all have players who play in leagues all over the world and then gather to form their national teams in the summer. The first difference between the US and international teams is the other squads are mostly made up of the same players from tournament to tournament. In turn, camaraderie and chemistry are developed that the Americans couldn’t dream of. As we see, Jerry Colangelo and friends have caught on to this as exhibited by the selection process. The second difference is that these teams take the Worlds and Olympics extremely seriously. Let’s face it, the US and their fans don’t give a flying crap about these international tournaments, but that attitude is starting to change. Don’t forget that Americans are extremely proud and hate to lose.
I seriously can’t wait for basketball in Beijing. Well, ball and the sight of gynormous Greek Sofoklis Schortsanitis trying to balance on the Great Wall. Please take a field trip there my Greek friends.
Q&A: Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski [The Charlotte Observer]
A New Game Plan For Team USA [ESPN Page 2]
I Do Know What You’re Saying
Dwight Howard — just prior to “walkin’ it out” — has a pretty good idea why the States lost to Greece:
“Me and CB didn’t get in the games that much, know what I’m saying? And in order to win you got to have two bigs in the game, you know what I’m saying? You can’t do it with the little folks all the time.”
Makes sense. Now someone make DJ Jelly Team USA’s coach …
DJ Jelly with Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard in Tokyo Japan [YouTube]
Comments (1)Dunks And Free Throws
Lots has been said about Greece’s upset win over the USA, but this is by far one of the most fitting comments I’ve read. “Shepard” on NBA Macedonia:
“As they [Team USA] warmed up before Friday’s semifinal against Greece, the U.S. players put on a jam session for the fans.
Dwight Howard dunked emphatically. Dwyane Wade bounced the ball off the backboard, caught it and stuffed. Elton Brand jammed an alley-oop pass. Finally, LeBron James flew down the lane for a tomahawk.
As the crowd roared, the Greeks lined up at the other end and shot free throws. The moment foretold Greece’s 101-95 victory in the semifinals of the world championships.”
Deep.
(Edit: I just realized this “comment” was from the AP article. Oops.)
Anyway, I’m off to the cottage tomorrow morning so things will be pretty quiet around here for the next few days. Be safe, enjoy the long weekend, and go Greece go. (Right Tas?)
And oh, thanks to everyone for making August another (!) banner month for The Basketball Jones. See you Monday.
The Parade of Pundits Dissects the U.S. Demise [True Hoop]
USA Vs. Greece: The Live Blog [The Basketball Jones]
Е-Лада и Е-спања(ќ) [NBA Macedonia]
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The Basketball Jones is a NBA blog and podcast, written and recorded five times a week by J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas and Jason Doyle. Comments, questions and cold hard cash are always welcome and much appreciated. Contact us.
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