Roma released Allan Ray

Lottomatica Roma officially announced that it has come to terms with guard Allan Ray(1.88-PG) to dissolve the player’s contract. Ray joined Lottomatica in the summer of 2007 and played in 21 Euroleague games over a season-and-a-half – 16 as a starter – averaging 8.6 points and 2.3 assists per game.

His last game for the club was in Week 6 against Alba Berlin. He is now free to join another club before the start of the Top 16.

source : euroleague.net

Krka split with Alijevas

Exactly one month after the official signing of the contract Krka announced that Lithuanian guard Rolandas Alijevas(1.92-PG) is no longer member of the team.

As it was written in the club's official statement his efficiency on the court was not at the level they were expecting to be although his working attitude was not questionable. Since his contract expired they decided not to prolong it for the next few months.

source : adriaticbasket.com

Zaragoza announced Andrija Zizic

Andrija Zizic(2.05-PF/C) was announced by Zaragoza via their official website. The croatian forward/center started the season with Galatasaray but he didn't stay there for very long and he didn't fit with the team's playing profile and so was released.

Zizic averaged 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds in 11 games for the turkish league playing for Galatasaray. Zizic has played for Split, Cibona, Barcelona, Olympiakos and Panathinaikos in the past.

Kavala announced Mikalauskas

Kavala BC announced the signing of Laurynas Mikalauskas(2.03-PF). Mikalauskas has come to fill in one of the bosman positions that Digbeu left behind by leaving the team of Kavala. Funny enough they don't play in the same positions as Mikalauskas is a low-post player.

The lithuanian power forward played last season for the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA. He averaged 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 20 games last season with Virginia.

Bilbao signed Damir Markota

Iurbentia Bilbao Basket made a big move to strengthen one of the most impressive teams from the Eurocup regular season by signing forward Damir Markota(2.08-PF) through the end of the season with an option for an additional year. Markota arrives from fellow Spanish League side Vive Menorca, where he saw limited action in five games this season. Markota was one of the top big man prospects in the European game before a knee injury last summer slowed him down.

He began his career with Cibona Zagreb, debuting in the Euroleague one month after his 16th birthday. After Cibona, Markota played the 2006-07 season with Milwaukee of the NBA, appearing for an average of 5.7 minutes in 30 games. Markota returned to Europe with Spartak St. Petersburg of Russia and then Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania last season, averaging 3.5 points and 2 rebounds in the Euroleague Top 16 and 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the Lithuanian League. Markota is scheduled to be presented by the club at a news conference on Friday.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

Nesovic left Prokom

Aleksej Nesovic(1.89-PG/SG) left Prokom in order to play for Olimpia Lubljana. The departure of Nesovic was announced by the Prokom official site. In the announcement coach Dekek says that he is not very happy with Nesovic's performance so far.

Nesovic averaged 5.1 points and 1.3 assist in 10 games for the Euroleague and also 6.4 points and 1.6 assists in 14 games in the Polish League.

Pekovic is not thinking about the NBA yet

These are parts of the interview that Nikola Pekovic gave to Ballineurope.com

Coach Zeljko Obradovic is one of the legends of European coaching history and has been at Panathinaikos for nearly a decade, winning three Euroleague titles. What is it like playing for a coach like him? And how has he helped you improve your game? “He is one of the reasons I came here. He is a legend in European basketball but he is also a legend of our basketball. He was the coach of our national teams, he won everything and when we were kids we were looking up to him like if he is the god. He is still one of the best coaches in Europe and it was, it is, my pleasure to play for him. Every single day I learn something new and he is trying to help me, he talks to me. He tries to improve everybody’s game! I am very happy to play for him. ”

This year you were drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the first pick of the second round. What do you think about getting drafted and what did the management at Minnesota tell you about your future with the team? “I don’t think now about NBA. It’s something I tell to everybody. I really don’t like to speak about it. There is no pressure from their side. They tell me “come in two years”. I don’t know what will happen in two years. I am such a kind of player. Even when I signed for Panathinaikos they were asking me about it and I was giving the same answer. “I don’t know. Let’s get there first”. I am very happy in Panathinaikos right now and I don’t think about the NBA”.

The rest of the interview can be found here.

Aris is on the lookout for a center

Aris Thessaloniki got prematurely disqualified from the next stage in the Eurocup and according to contra.gr the team is on the lookout for a player to cover the team's problem in the low-post.

Coach Mazzon is looking for a player with a bosman passport to help the team's aching front-line and the article also says that they might even get an american player if a good case appears. There are only 3 players with a bosman passport in the roster of Aris at the moment.

Gustas to replace Digbeu in Kavala

Bosman A offensive – minded point guard, Giedrius Gustas, has signed with Kavala/Panorama in the Greek A-1 division. The 6’3” Lithuanian played last season and started this year with the Barons/LMT Riga, where he was averaging 14,8 points per game, shooting 54% from the “3” and giving out 3,3 assists per game in the Latvia LBL. Kavla/Panorama, that is currently in tenth place in the league, needed some help to move up in the standings. courtesy : interperformances.com

Gustas is to replace Alain Digbeu(1.96-SG/SF) who has asked Kavala to terminate his contract and will be returning to France. Billy Thomas(1.94-SG) is also not part of the Kavala's roster anymore and his replacement will be announced in the days to come.

Sigalas in the Raptors coaching staff?

According to behind the scenes information from eurobasket.com, retired veteran and currently coach Georgios Sigalas is to become part of the coaching staff of the Toronto Raptors. Sigalas had a long illustrious career decorated with many titles as a player and he is currently head coach of the U-20 National Team of Greece.

His first attempt as a head coach though was not as successful as he or the federation would have wanted as the team was close to relegation to a lower group. If this rumour is true then this will be a major step for Georgios Sigalas.

Lokomotiv Rostov signed Rawle Marshall

Lokomotiv Rostov signed and announced Rawle Marshall(2.01-SF). The 26-year old small forward started the season in Cibona where he impressed the crowds with his skills and also managed to become the MVP of the 7th round of the Euroleague's regular season. His good image was tainted though by the brutal beating of a croatian player in a game against KK Split.

Marshall has also played in Hemofarm and in Dallas and Indiana in the NBA. He averaged 13.5 points 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals in 8 Adriatic League games and 15 points 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 6 Euroleague games for Cibona.

Rolandas Jarutis candidate for AEL

According to superbasket.gr, lithuanian point-guard Rolandas Jarutis(1.84-PG) is a candidate for AEL 1964. The greek team is not doing so well in the Greek A1 league and they are desperately trying to avoid relegation this season which might not be feasible in the end for the team of youngsters.

Coach Alexandris wants a quality player in the point-guard position and Jarutis who has played in numerous european teams seems to be a likely candidate. He has also played for Lietuvos Rytas in the past and this season he has started playing in Poltava and the moved on to Azovmash Mariupol, where he has been averaging 7.8 points and 3.5 assists in 4 games in the Ukrainian Superleague.