The Hoop will be back in the 2nd week of August

UPDATE(31/07/2009) : Unfortunately this situation is out of my hands and due to the incompetence of the local telecommunications industry, it will be another 2 weeks probably until my internet connection is up and running. Apologies for this delay everyone.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the Hoop needs to take a 2 week break. It will be up and running again just after those 2 weeks and hopefully it will not take longer than that. Apologies to everyone and I hope to see you all back then. Take care.

Dikoudis close to signing with Aris

Demos Dikoudis(2.07-PF/C) is very close to signing with Aris Thessaloniki according to athlitikanea.gr. The greek forward/center was targeted by Aris now that they have more people involved in the administration of the team and it seems likely that the players' budget will be slightly higher than last season. Dikoudis and Hatzivrettas were teammates in Panathinaikos and the National Team of Greece so a possible reunion might seem favorable for Dikoudis.

Dikoudis is rumored to have an offer from a spanish team that is higher than the one that Aris has but he will be able to remain in Greece and have a starting five position in the team. Dikoudis played for Valencia, Panathinaikos, CSKA and AEK Athens in the past. This past season he averaged 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17 games for Panionios in the Greek A1 League.

Malaga extends Joseph Gomis

Unicaja reached a new agreement with combo guard Joseph Gomis, who will stay in Malaga next season. Unicaja keeps an option to extend the deal until the end of the 2010-11 season. Gomis (180, 31) averaged 6.7 points and 1.8 assists in 14 Euroleague games last season. He helped Unicaja to make it to the Spanish King's Cup final and the Spanish League semifinals. Gomis has previously played for Valladolid, with whom he ranked second in the Spanish League in scoring in the 2007-08 season with 18 points per game in additon to 2.9 assists per game.

Gomis has split his career between his native France and Spain. He first spent six seasons with Evreux and two with Sluc Nancy, helping the latter win the Korac Cup in 2002. Gomis then moved to Spain and played two years at Breogan Lugo and then three for Valladolid.

source : euroleague.net

Rumors about Robinson visiting Greece

According to the front page of greek sports newspaper "FOS" that is affiliated with the team of Olympiakos, Nate Robinson is considering to visit Greece for a couple of days in order to see how are things there and whether he would like the life in Greece if he were to play for the greek team. The offer that Nate Robinson has from Olympiakos comes up to 9 million dollars for 2 seasons and it's higher than the current 2.8 million dollar offer from the New York Knicks.

The newspaper says that this might also be a way to put pressure on the New York Knicks in order to improve their offer. The current consensus is that Robinson wants to stay in New York so he is using the offer from Olympiakos as leverage.

Hatzivrettas close to signing with Aris

According to the majority of the greek media, Nikos Hatzivrettas(1.95-SG) has agreed to continue his career in Aris Thessaloniki. Hatzivrettas, who is currently 32 years old will be moving back to his hometown, Thessaloniki, by the looks of things and he will be taking up a more important role than he did in Panathinaikos. Reports say that Hatzivrettas will be one of the basic players of Aris with greatly increased playing time than what he had in Panathinaikos, even though Aris cannot offer him as much money as his former team. According to metrosport.gr the deal will be for 2 seasons and it will probably be announced until Tuesday.

It is rumored that the deal went sour when Panathinaikos offered him a 1+1 contract with a 400,000 euros salary but instead Hatzivrettas wanted a closed 2 season contract for a 1 million euros. Hatzivrettas averaged 5.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 29 games in the greek A1 league playing for Panathinaikos. It seems that he had offers from Roma and a possible interest from other european teams but he preferred to stay in Greece.

Prokom renewed Woods and Ewing

Asseco Prokom made its first moves for the upcoming 2009-10 season by extending point guard Daniel Ewing and small forward Qyntel Woods to respective one-year deals with the perennial Polish League champions.

Woods (203, 28) joined Prokom in February and averaged 12.2 points on 57.1% three-pointers and 3 rebounds in 5 Euroleague Top 16 games last season. He helped Prokom to win the Polish League title, earning MVP honors in the title series against PGE Turow. Woods arrived from Fortitudo Bologna, where he averaged 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 23 minutes in four Eurocup games this season. Prior to arriving in Italy last season, Woods played five seasons with Portland, Miami and New York of the NBA. He also played for Olympiacos in Greece, helping the team to reach the Euroleague Quarterfinal playoffs and the Greek League finals.

Meanwhile, Ewing (191, 26) averaged 13 points and 2.7 assists in 15 Euroleague games last season. His best game came against Sluc Nancy, as he scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half to lead Prokom to a 91-62 home win. Ewing has also played for Khimki in Russia, where he was the team's second-best scorer in ULEB Cup play and helped the club to make it to the Russian League finals. Previous to Khimki, Ewing had averaged 3.4 points, 1.4 assists and 13.3 minutes in a total of 127 regular-season NBA games over two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. As a collegian at Duke University, Ewing was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament MVP during his sophomore year and was an All-ACC Tournament First Team selection the following two seasons. He was named team captain in his final two seasons and was a starter as the squad reached the NCAA Final Four in 2004.

source : euroleague.net

Le Mans announced Marc Salyers

Le Mans officially announced the imminent signing of Marc Salyers(2.05-PF) via their website. The american power forward will be a player of Le Mans for the next season in their effort to regain the top of the French League.

Salyers was the top scorer of the Euroleague regular season playing for Roanne during season 2007-2008 and this past season he started playing for Azovmash. The financial troubles of Azovmash have forced him out of the club like other players before him. As a player of Azovmash he averaged 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12 games for the Ukrainian Superleague.

Badalona adds Alain Koffi

DKV Joventut improved its frontcourt for the upcoming 2009-10 season by inking Alain Koffi to a one-year deal, the club confirmed Saturday. Koffi (207, 25) arrives from Le Mans Sarthe Basket, where he averaged 9.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 10 Euroleague games last season. He helped Le Mans to win the French Cup and the Semaine des As titles. Koffi has played his entire career in Le Mans, making his debut with its first team in the 2002-03 season.

He lifted the 2004 French Cup title, as well as helping the team to win a historical double - French League and Semaine des As - in 2006. Koffi, an accomplished defensive player with outstanding physical skills, is also a member of the French national team and arrives to Badalona with three seasons of Eurocup experience. His best Euroleague game came last season, when Koffi had 15 points and 13 rebounds in his team's regular season road win against Olympiacos.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

Hatzivrettas will not renew with Panathinaikos

Nikos Hatzivrettas(1.95-SG) will not be renewing his contract with Panathinaikos. The greek veteran has been playing for Panathinaikos for the last 6 seasons but as of late the backcourt of Panathinaikos has become crowded and Hatzivrettas will not be getting anywhere near the playing that he used to get. He has been a long standing member of the National Team of Greece and has also played for CSKA Moscow under coach Dusan Ivkovic.

He released a statement in the press thanking everyone in Panathinaikos for 6 seasons full of great memories and titles. It is rumored that the deal went sour when Panathinaikos offered him a 1+1 contract with a 400,000 euros salary but instead Hatzivrettas wanted a closed 2 season contract for a 1 million euros. Hatzivrettas averaged 5.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 29 games in the greek A1 league playing for Panathinaikos. The next stop in the career of Hatzivrettas is rumored to be either Aris Thessaloniki or Virtus Roma who appeared to have made him offers.

Marc Salyers confirms signing with Le Mans

Marc Salyers(2.05-PF) confirmed on his facebook page that he will be playing for Le Mans in the next season. Salyers was bit taken aback by Roanne's decision to sign Dylan Page over himself and he warned previously that he would sign with Le Mans. And he did!

Salyers' own words: "In the 3yrs I've played in France, I've made it to the Finals with my team all 3yrs and won the Championship of France twice. Now, I'm pround to anounce that I'm going to play for Le Mans next year to win the Championship of France for the 3rd time!"

Salyers was the top scorer of the Euroleague regular season playing for Roanne during season 2007-2008 and this past season he started playing for Azovmash. The financial troubles of Azovmash have forced him out of the club like other players before him. As a player of Azovmash he averaged 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12 games for the Ukrainian Superleague.

Olympiakos announced Thomas Kelati

Olympiakos announced the signing of american guard/forward Thomas Kelati(1.95-SG/SF) via their official website. This might come as a surprising move from the greek team as Kelati(of Eritrean origin) is not the player people had in mind when the names of McIntyre or Robinson were parading throughout the media. On the other hand Kelati can cover both 2 and 3 positions, can play defense and can also shoot very effectively behind the arc, averaging 39.4% in his last Euroleague season playing for Malaga. The contract with Kelati is for 2 seasons.

Kelati, who was replaced by Taquan Dean in Malaga, graduated in 2005 from Washington State and then moved on to Belgium to play for Dexia Mons as his first pro contract. He then had 2 great seasons with Turow in Poland that got him noticed and signed with Malaga that he played for in this past season. He averaged 11.8 points 1.9 rebounds 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 16 games with Malaga. Kelati's fiance is polish and when they are married he can apply for the polish nationality. That will give him Bosman status in Europe and will also allow him to play for the National Team of Poland.

Tau signed Walter Hermann

Tau Ceramica agreed to terms of a contract with small forward Walter Herrmann, who inked a two-year deal with the Euroleague powerhouse on Friday. Herrmann (206, 30) arrives from the Detroit Pistons, where he averaged 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 60 NBA games last season.

He has previously played three Euroleague seasons with Unicaja, averaging 7.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in 15 games in the 2005-06 season. Herrmann has also played for the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA, Fuenlabrada in Madrid, as well as for Atenas Cordoba and Olimpia Venado Tuerto in his native Argentina. He helped Unicaja to win a Spanish League title in 2006 and also lifted the Spanish King's Cup trophy in 2005. Herrmann is a regular member of the Argentinian national team. He helped Argentina to win the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Greece, playing a crucial role in the semifinals against the United States. Herrmann also led Atenas to win the 2002 Argentinian League title, earning finals MVP honors.

source : euroleague.net