Happy New Year - 2009

The Hoop wishes everyone a happy new year and will see you again in 2009 for more basketball news! Take care!

Cibona signed Alan Anderson

Having already qualified for the Top 16, Cibona Zagreb kept strengthening its roster right up to the end of 2008 with the announcement on Wednesday that it had signed swingman Alan Anderson, who showed flashes of brilliance last season in the Euroleague. Anderson (1.96-SG/SF) started the current season with Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia, which lost in the preliminary rounds of the Eurocup. 

Last season he played nine Euroleague games with Virtus Bologna, averagine 14.3 points and 3.7 rebounds when he played 25 minutes or more. Anderson previously split the 2005-06 season at Charlotte of the NBA and Tulsa of the NBDL after having played from 2001 to 2005 for Michigan State University. Cibona and Anderson signed a contract until the end of the current season. Anderson is due to arrive in Zagreb on the first day of 2009.

source : euroleague.net

TAU Baskonia borrowed Illievski

Tau Baskonia borrowed Vlado Ilievski(1.88-PG) from Union Olimpija. Both teams announced the lease of Ilievski which is an arrangement that suits them for different reasons. 

Tau wanted to a quality PG to replace Mustapha Shakur with and help Pablo Prigioni and Olimpija won't be making it to the next stage in the Euroleague and hence want to get rid of Ilievski's contract saving some money in the long-run.

He started his career in Partizan and then he moved on to Antalya, Union Olimpija, Barcelona, Virtus Roma, Virtus Bologna and last season he played for Siena. So far he has averaged 13.5 points 1.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 6 Euroleague games for Olimpija. 

CSK Samara announced Clancy

CSK Samara signed Sam Clancy(2.02-PF/C) until the end of the season and it was announced via their official site. Sam Clancy will be added to the roster of Samara to give them extra strength under the basket with his impressive physique. 

Clancy has played in Russia before for Unics Kazan and he has also played for Valladolid and Menorca in Spain, the Idaho Stampede in the NBDL and last season he played in the Euroleague for Le Mans. He averaged 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 13 games for Le Mans in the Euroleague last season.

Messina said no to Greece

Ettore Messina said no to Greece regarding their offer to take up the head coach position of the National Team of Greece. Georgios Vassilakopoulos, president of Fiba Europe said recently that the new head coach of Greece will be foreign so natuarally old rumors about Messina lit up again.

Ettore Messina recently spoke to the Goal newspaper in Greece saying that he is flattered by the offer to coach such a good team but he cannot do so for reasons he didn't want to discuss. This probably has to do with him becoming the head coach of Barcelona next summer. The search for the replacement of Giannakis continues for Greece and now the list is even shorter..

Greek strike has ended

It seems that the strike of the Greek players has ended as their demands are being met by the government and this means that the games of this coming Saturday will take place as normal.

The players have announced via the official site of their trade body(www.psak.gr) that their demands have been met and the strike is over. Another interesting fact that came out of all this is that there are no non-Greek players allowed anymore in the A2 league. The strike took place mostly to secure the medical insurace of all the Greek pro players in both A1 and A2 leagues and it seems that they players have won this battle.

Enisey signed Kaspars Kambala

Enisey Krasnoyarsk announced the signing of Kaspars Kambala(2.06-C) via their official website. He has signed a contract until the end of the season and this will be his first pro contract after a 2 year disqualification from basketball due to the use of forbidden substances. These 2 years he trained to be a pro boxer. Kambala took part in the VTB Bank Promo Cup recently,with ASK Riga showcasing his skills and showing that he still has what it takes.

Kambala will be arriving in Enisey on January 2nd and this will be the new team in his illustrious career. He has also played for Efes Pilsen, Real Madrid, Unics Kazan and his last team was Fenerbahce. The latvian giant will have more than enough opportunities here to get some playing time and perhaps save Enisey from relegation as they are currently 3rd from the bottom of the leaderboard.

Toulon signed Zianveni and Ferchaud

Hyeres-Toulon announced 2 new signings via their official website. Maxime Zianveni(1.98-PF) and Cedric Ferchaud(1.94-SG) will reinforce the french team that want to avoid relegation this season and want to secure their place in the league. 

Zianveni is an exceptional athlete who spent most part of his career in Nancy(9 seasons) before moving to Cyprus to play for AEL Limassol and APOEL Nicossia and now moving back to France. Ferchaud has played for numerous teams like Cholet and Pau Orthez. With these 2 signings the club replaced Darrell Tucker(2.07-PF) and Mustapha Sonko(1.92-PG/SG)

Andrius Mazutis to leave Riga?

According to krepsinis.net the lithuanian point-guard Andrius Mazutis(1.79-PG) is rumored to leave ASK Riga because of the financial problems that have been plaguing the latvian team. Corey Brewer made the beginning and moved on to Estudiantes as Riga could not pay his wages. 

Other players are rumored to follow as well, because the main sponsors of the team are considering to cut down their funding. Mazutis has averaged 7.8 points 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 3 games for Riga.

BC Triumph announced Batista

BC Triumph signed a contract with Esteban Batista (2.08-PF/C) and it was announced via their official website. Batista will replace Nenad Krstic who moved on to the NBA. Last season Batista played for Maccabi Tel-Aviv, and he has played for two seasons (2005-07) in the NBA for Atlanta. 

According to the official site of BC Triumph the team wanted to sign Batista in the summer but Maccabi still held his contract. When the head coach was changed and his playing time diminished Batista was free to move to a different team. He is also a member of the Uruguay National Team.

Coach Eremin said this about his new player : "I know his style of game, he’s rather aggressive and good in defense and rebounding. I think that Batista will be our main center player, though he can play 4-5 positions. He got not too much playing time in Maccabi, but he’s in a good shape and ready to help us" .

Spartak announced Padius

Spartak Primorie Vladivostok announced Nikolay Padius(1.96-SG/SF) via their official website. Nikolay Padius started his career in Maroussi BC but he failed to adapt to the role that the head coach wanted for him in the team and so he was released by Maroussi. He did return to Russia as it was rumored a few weeks ago.

Padius started his career in CSKA and then moved on to Greece and Aris where he stayed 2 seasons. He later on played for Dynamo Moscow Region and Unics Kazan and now he has returned to Russia once again. 

Tomasevic stays, Johnsen to be signed

Dejan Tomasevic(2.08-C) will be staying in Paok after all and with a smaller salary by the looks of things. The serbian veteran has decided to stay until the end of the season as he said himself in statements he made via the Paok official website.

Britton Johnsen(2.07-PF) is due to arrive today in Thessaloniki in order to sign his new contract with Paok until the end of the season. Again this was announced by their official site. Britton Johnsen has played in Greece before for Panellinios and has also played in Turkey for Galatasaray and Spain for Alicante. The recovery from a serious injury held him back last season where he only managed to play 10 games with Galatasaray averaging 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Canak,Adeleke out - Mijovic in Lukoil

Lukoil Akademik, the Bulgarian champion and Nenad Canak(2.04-PF) parted ways. The club lost its chance to advance in the Eurocup, and hence they decided to reduce the players' budget. Andrew Adeleke(2.05-C) the nigerian center also left the club together with Canak. Canak has already received some offers according to his agent, and will decide very soon where he will finish the season.

Canak has so far averaged 6.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 3 games, whereas Andrew Adeleke has averaged the impressive 13.3 points and 13 rebounds in 3 games in the Eurocup.

In their place Lukoil signed Vladimir Mijovic(2.07-PF), whostarted his career in Partizan. He started the season in Omonoia in Cyprus and decided to move on to Lukoil. Last season he played for KK Sloga Krajlevo where he averaged 15.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in 20 games.

Olimpija did not renew Jurkovic

Olimpija Lubljana decided not to renew the contract of Ivica Jurkovic (2.05-PF) that was signed about a month ago in order to replace the injured Marko Milic(1.99-SF/PF). Milic's recovery is almost complete and so Olimpija announced that Jurkovic's contract will not be renewed.

Jurkovic has played in numerous european teams and he has played for Olimpija back in the 90s. He also played for Turk Telekom, Paok, Olympiakos, Lokomotiv Rostov and again for Olimpija. Last season he played in Iran and then went back to Turk Telekom where he averaged 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16 games in the turkish league.

Mims loaned to Antalya

Pinar Karsiyaka's scorer guard Ralph Mims (1.91-SG) was loaned to Antalya Buyuksehir Belediyespor who released Bernard King a while ago. Mims averaged 18.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 11 games for Karsiyaka.

Ex-Florida State star who is known for his great energy on both ends of the floor will play for Antalya until the season ends. Karsiyaka is in the market for another American as it's been rumoured that Izmir side will bring a 3/4 in a few days.

source : eurobasket.com

Lakovic back in January

Jaka Lakovic(1.86-PG/SG) will have to stay away from the courts for 2 more weeks at least, said the medical team of Barcelona. The slovenian combo-guard has already lost the last 3 games of Barcelona. They had to re-examine his leg due to recurrent pains that he was having and it was discovered that there was a hidden injury. It is small fissure on his fibula on his left leg and because of that Lakovic will return back to the basketball courts in January 2009.

Scavolini signed Mike Nardi

Scavolini signed american point Mike Nardi(1.86-PG). Nardi has an italian passport and so he doesn't occupy the position of an american player. He started the season in Air Avellino and now he has signed with Scavolini until the end of the season and was announced via their official site.

Nardi graduated from Villanova in 2006 and then moved on to Napoli and then to Montecatini. He didn't get much playing time in Avellino. In Montecatini in LegaA2 he averaged 11.8 points 3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 29 games.

Yango from Rieti to Trikalla?

Solsonica Rieti announced via their official site that they are releasing french forward/center Guillaume Yango (2.06-PF/C). The club and the player decided to mutually part ways and now Yango is a free agent and according to greek media he might be heading to the team of Trikalla 2000 next. Trikalla 2000 want to release Savo Djikanovic(2.12-C) and replace him with Yango.

Yango was part of the junior national teams for France and last season he played for Teramo in Italy averaging 7.2 points and 5 rebounds in 33 games.

Zadar waived Aca Petrovic

KK Zadar and coach Aleksandar Petrovic decided to mutually part ways after the defeat in Novi Sad. Petrovic upon meeting with the administration of the club decided to break his contract and now a new coach is currently being sought after. Rumours from the Adriatic League say that the main target of KK Zadar is Drazen Anzulovic who is currently the head coach of BC Charleroi and has coach Ural Great and Cibona in the past with success. Anzulovic is still under contract with the belgian team so that possibility doesn't seem like the likeliest to happen..

Oklahoma announced Nenad Krstic

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a bid to fill their void at center Monday by signing former New Jersey Nets center Nenad Krstic(2.13-C) to an offer sheet.

The Nets' 2002 first-round pick has been playing in Russia this season after receiving a qualifying offer from New Jersey. The Nets have seven days to match Oklahoma City's offer, or the 7-foot Serbian would be free to join the Thunder. Krstic averaged 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in four seasons with the Nets.

Krstic, the 24th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Nets, averaged 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 21 minutes per game in Russia in 7 games with BC Triumph.
source : nba.com

Bosna signed Miljan Rakic

Bosna signed 22-year old prospect Miljan Rakic(1.95-SG) and he will be Bosna's latest addition with the blessings of coach Vukoicic. Rakic started the season playing for Hemofarm and later on moved to Masinac.

Vukoicic won the gold medal in 2006 in the U-20 European Championship with the U-20 National Team of Serbia and Rakic as one of his players. »It was Vukoicic's suggestion to sign the young Serbian guard,« said the Bosna director Admir Bukva.

The Lakers need Pargo

The news isn't good for the Los Angeles Lakers, who have been waiting to find out how long they'll be without injured point guard Jordan Farmar. Farmar was averaging 7.9 points per game off the bench before suffering a torn meniscus in a recent game against the Miami HEAT. The word is he'll miss up to eight weeks following surgery on the knee.

So now the Lakers are searching for a back-up point guard. Derek Fisher has logged 41 minutes in each of the team's last two outings, but that's a practice that will only lead to an injury to the veteran. Coach Phil Jackson has talked about the need for Sasha Vujacic to handle the ball more, but the results of that little experiment haven't been outstanding so far. The word is that the team is considering seeing what it would take to bring Tyronn Lue over from the Milwaukee Bucks, or perhaps reaching out to former New Orleans Hornets guard Jannero Pargo, currently playing in Moscow.

Of the two, the latter is by far the more appealing possiblity, though admittedly also the more difficult to pull off. Pargo was an invaluable contributor for the Hornets last season, helping them to by far the best season they've had as a franchise. He was a steady playmaker and good defender behind Chris Paul, and could help the Lakers on both ends of the floor.

It would be a complicated process, wading through the paperwork and expense of buying out Pargo's Russian contract, but it might also be an expense that lands the Lakers back in the NBA Finals.

source : hoopsworld.com

BC Oostende announced Robert Hite

BC Oostende announced via their official website that they have decided to mutually part ways with Devin Green(2.01-SF) and to replace him with Robert Hite(1.88-SG/SF). Hite started the season as a player of Tau replacing the injured Pete Mickael.

Hite had a short pass through the magical world of the NBA playing briefly for New Jersey, Miami and Phoenix that released him during the pre-season. He graduated from the University of Miami in 2006 and didn't make it in the draft. He averaged 16.4 points 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 34 games in his last season. He also played for Galatasaray in Europe where he averaged 16 points 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 15 games in the Uleb Cup. Hite didn't get much playing time having played only 2 games in the Euroleague and 2 games in the ACB and was subsequently released.

Greek players go on strike..

The Greek Pro basketball players central organisation(ΠΣΑΚ) announced today that all the Greek professional players will be going on strike from the 3rd of January indefinitely.

Estudiantes announced Corey Brewer

Corey Brewer(1.88-PG/SG) will be the player to replace Vonteego Cummings(1.91-PG). The rumors about Cummings' replacement go back to the beginning of December. Estudiantes announced via their official site the signing of Corey Brewer until the end of the season. Cummings never got along with the coaching staff of Estudiantes and now he will be possibly
replaced by Brewer that was released from ASK Riga, apparently due to the financial problems that Riga is having.

Brewer returns to Estudiantes after 4 years and Estudiantes find themselves exactly in the same spot they were last year, very close to the relegation zone. "It's very special for me to return to Estudiantes" - Brewer said during the signing of his contract, "and I hope to help as much as possible to improve the situation of the team, which for me is like my home." Today
he will have his first training session with the team. Brewer averaged 12.4 points 2.9 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 7 games in the latvian league.

Goettingen released Jason Miller

BG 74 Goettingen have parted company with Jason Miller (208-F/C). The 28-year-old center who joined the Violets coming from Jena Science School during the summer will return to the USA due to family reasons.

In the past weeks Miller only received very little playing time and didn't see any action in the most recent games against Bremerhaven and Noerdlingen. His final appearance on the Goettingen team was on December 13, when the Violets took on Tuebingen and edged past the Tigers 65:64. Miller scored a single point in 2:29 minutes on the hardwood in this game.

source : eurobasket.com

Lietuvos Rytas recalled Brazdauskis

Lietuvos Rytas announced that they recalled forward Lukas Brazdauskis(2.08-PF) that was loaned to Perlas Vilnius in the National League(NKL) in Lithuania. Brazdauskis is also a member of the U-20 National Team of Lithuania.

The 20-year old forward averaged 14 points 6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 19 games with Perlas. Is Lietuvos Rytas preparing for something or is it time for the youngster in the big league?

Ironi Ashkelon released Eddy Fobbs

Two days after achieving a home win over Q. Ata in the Israeli Cup that gave the club a ticket to the quarter finals, Ashkelon released the american center, Eddy Fobbs (2.11-C).

Eddy Fobbs started the season well and had good numbers during the pre-season matches, including 21 points Vs. Hapoel Jerusalem in Winner Cup Tournament. But since the season started Eddy Fobbs disappeared and in the eight games the team had he averaged 4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. The israeli center Amit Tamir (210-PF/C) along with the two americans Louis Trescott and Rahshon Turner (2.01-PF) will have to fill Eddy Fobbs place.

source : eurobasket.com

Ferrara released Riley

Carife Ferrara released Mykal Riley(1.98-SG/SF) and it was announced via their official website. Riley wasn't good enough for Ferrara and so he was replaced by Rick Apodaca.

That was Riley's first pro contract and he as a player of Carife Ferrara he averaged 7.3 points 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 9 games in the LegaA1.

ASK Riga in financial trouble..

ASK Riga will be another team in the long list of teams that were affected by the global economic crisis as the major sponsors of the team are going to cease their funding according to esports.lv. A board meeting will be held today and the club's future will be decided.

ASK Riga has 3 major sponsors, the Riga City Council, the Defense Ministry in Latvia and the Parex Bank. The Ministry and the Council have already announced that they are cutting down costs on sports sponsoring but Parex Bank has yet to make a stand. It is rumored that the bank as well will cut down on the funding perhaps even completely. This situation is bound to affect Barons LMT as well who are also funded by the Riga City Council. More on this subject in the days to follow..

Dynamo Moscow released McDonald

Arriel McDonald seems to be closer to Siena as Dynamo Moscow have officially announced that they are releasing the player. McDonald signed a contract with them for one season this summer but he saw very little playing time so Siena seems to be the next team in his long career.

Dynamo thanked McDonald for his contribution to the team and wishes him all the best as a player of Siena. Both the team and the player mutually agreed to end their contract.

Nenad Krstic signed with Oklahoma

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed Nenad Krstic(2.13-C) to an offer sheet, and the New Jersey Nets now have until Tuesday, Dec. 30 to match or decline the reported three-year, $15.8 million contract. New Jersey Nets center Nenad Krstic (12) of Serbia drives the ball past New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets center PJ Brown (42) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, General Manager Sam Presti declined to comment since Krstic’s rights are still held by the Nets. But Krstic, who was playing this season in Russia, could join the Thunder as early as Dec. 31 against Golden State if the Nets decline.

Krstic, the 24th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Nets, is averaging 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 21 minutes per game in Russia. Before leaving the NBA this summer, Krstic held career averages of 11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.7 blocks in four NBA seasons, all with the Nets. Krstic averaged 16.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in 2006-07 before a knee injury in December limited him to 26 games.

The Nets are believed to be uninterested in matching the Thunder’s offer to the 25-year-old center. New Jersey currently has 15 guaranteed contracts, a stable of talented young big men and is trying to clear salary cap space for the highly anticipated free agent class of 2010 that could potentially include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire. The
transfer was also announced by Triumph Lyubertsy's official site. This confirms previous rumors.
source : newsok.com

All they want for xmas is Macas..?

Once upon a time he was called the Lucky Luke of basketball.. he could shoot faster than his own shadow. Arvydas Macijauskas has always been a charismatic scorer, from his first steps from Neptunas all the way to his 2 seasons with TAU and the unfortunate pass via the magical world of the NBA. Arvydas Macijauskas is rumored to be on the sights of a few (still) wealthy european teams. The lithuanian scorer had a tremendous start with Olympiakos last season but luck wasn't his lady and he's been trying to recover from recurrent back injuries ever since. It seems that the training with his old friend Aleksandar Kosauskas in Sopot has paid-off and Macijauskas seems to be ready to start playing in Europe again. But has he fully recovered?

There will be many teams that will try to sign Macijauskas but his contract comes up to 2.2 million euros per season and there is the matter of Olympiakos that they want to break the contract but Macijauskas wants to be paid for the full amount of the contract, that expires at the end of the 2009-2010 season. Hence it is difficult(albeit not impossible) for Macijauskas to move to another team given the size of the amounts that are implicated.. Rumours from Italy came from Gazzetta Dello Sport that said that Roma wants to waive Allan Ray and replace him with Macijauskas.

Nothing is official and given the global economic crisis and the sheer size of Macijauskas' contract it's hard to say whether any team at all will sign him and perhaps there are rumours out there just for the sake of being out there..

Time will tell..

Siena in talks with McDonald

Siena seems to be in talks with veteran guard Arriel McDonald(1.91-PG/SG) and they've announced via their official site. The american guard is the owner of a slovenian passport and until now he has been playing for Dynamo Moscow. He has played in numerous teams in the past and Siena can see in him a very experienced and skilled guard to complement their backcourt.

McDonald has won titles with Panathinaikos and Olimpija and has also played for the Slovenia National Team. He has played for Maccabi, Panathinaikos and Girona in the past and this is the 2nd time he plays for Dynamo Moscow although he didn't see enough playing time. In Italy the deal is considered to be closed so we might see soon the official announcement as well.

Uncertainty in Paok

Recent developments in Paok have left the team currently without a president to govern over them. The vice-president of the team does not want the responsibility of becoming president and it is unclear whether Dimitris Drossos will cover any of the debts to former players that he promised he would when he took over.

At the moment he is owner of 90% of the shares of the team but he is not the president of the team as he announced that he is stepping down due to health reasons, although there haven't been details as of yet as to what exactly is his condition.

This is the 3rd team in 3 years that Drossos is leaving and this time he decided to leave before reaching halfway through the season. He also left some debts hanging when he left AEK that subsequently led to problems with AEK's transfers and generally their participation in the league. There is rumored to be an amount of 700.000-800.000 euros that needs to be paid before the end of year by Drossos and now players and agents are not sure whether they will get their money. It certainly will be an exciting week for Paok.. not..

Real Madrid announced Van Der Spiegel

This announcement comes in to confirm previous rumours about the belgian center that was released by Azovmash due to financial trouble. Tomas Van Der Spiegel(2.15-C) will be a player of Real Madrid until the end of the season as it was announced via their official site.

Van Der Spiegel started the season for Prokom Trefl last season but due to financial problems he was released and he returned back to CSKA to help them out after the injuries of Smodis and Savrasenko. He averaged 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds in 10 games with Prokom and 3.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 8 games with CSKA in the Euroleague. As a player of Azovmash this season he averaged 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 11 games in the Ukrainian Superleague.

Batista to replace Goree?

Esteban Batista (2.07-PF/C) will probably be Marcus Goree's(2.02-PF) replacement in Triumph Lyubertsy according to russian site Sports Express.

Batista looks like a possible candidate when Nenad Krstic is rumored to be looking for a way out to the NBA and Marcus Goree is rumored to sign with Estudiantes. Perhpas he couldn't cope with the cold in Russia for another year..

At this moment in time these are just rumors as there is no official verification of the news and Estudiantes recently renewed Petar Popovic(2.10-C) but they might still need some support in the low-post. Batista has averaged so far 3.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 5 Euroleague games for Maccabi whereas Goree has averaged 8.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 8 games for Triumph.

CSKA to lease Savrasenko

CSKA decided to lease Savrasenko(2.13-C) until the end of the season.

“It was not an easy decision, - CSKA CEO Andrey Vatutin said. – It was very
difficult. Yesterday during the game against ASK Riga Alexey publicly and incorrectly expressed his unhappiness with the playing time and the role on the team. The conversation continued after the game. We had to deal with
the factor of unhappiness from the beginning of season and we tried to resolve the situation ‘diplomatically’. But after yesterday’s incident the diplomacy doesn’t work no more. Today after the meeting with Alexey we came
to mutual assent to try to find the new team for him. Alexey did a lot of good things for CSKA, and we cannot underestimate his role in team’s successes. He is a player of Russian National Team also. So we cannot treat
Savrasenko as a regular player. We should assured he will get the chance to play somewhere and we are going to him in finding the new team. At the same time we had to respect the ethics in the relations between player and
club”.

“I am very sorry that the incident happened, - CSKA head coach Ettore Messina said. – And ithappened in a difficult time for our team. We tried to help Alexey after his injury, we returned him into the starting five even though he was not completely ready physically. But Alexey continued to express his unhappiness. We need only the players who are happy to play for
CSKA”.

source : cskabasket.com

Rumors from russian media say that Savrasenko might be leased to Triumph Lyubertsy. Savrasenko is also an owner of a greek passport.

Drossos and Wesson left Paok.. who's next?

K'Zell Wesson(2.01-PF/C) left the team of Paok and went back to the States. This follows directly after the statement that Dimitris Drossos made to the media saying that he can no longer be the president of Paok due to undisclosed health reasons.

Drossos is already the main shareholder(90%) of Paok and by doing this it will be the 3rd team he leaves stranded following Pagkrati, AEK and now Paok. These developments put Paok in jeopardy as there are debts and salaries to be paid before the winter holidays but now, noone is sure that they will get their money. More details to follow later.

Paok might release Wesson

According to the latest developments in Greece it is rumored in greek media that Paok might possibly release K'Zell Wesson(2.01-PF/C). Wesson and Marmarinos had a verbal argument a few days ago in practice and both of them were excluded from the team's roster for the next game against Panathinaikos in Athens, that might be last game of Dejan Tomasevic.

Wesson might be replaced given this opportunity as Paok could break the contract of the player with the excuse of a disciplanary offense without being liable to pay compensation. Rumors say that coach Kalafatakis is concerned about the PG position although Paok already has 3 players there.. Wesson has averaged 10.7 points and 8.5 rebounds in 9 games so far and is by far the most reliable player they have in the low-post so it seems a bit odd to replace him..

Nenad Krstic to return to the NBA?

Nenad Krstic(2.13-C) is close to signing a 3-year, 16 million dollar contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, multiple sources in the US and Europe told DraftExpress.com.

The 7-foot Serbian center is currently under contract with Russian team Triumph Moscow (after signing a two year, six million Euro deal this summer), but will be able to buy himself out of his deal due to his displeasure with his current situation. Krstic will reportedly give back all the money he received from Triumph so far this season in order to break the contract, although Oklahoma City will be able to contribute $500,000 under NBA rules if needed.

source : draftexpress.com

Vujcic reaches the 2,000 point mark

Olympiacos Piraeus center Nikola Vujcic(2.10-C) joined an exclusive club Wednesday with his 2,000th career point in the Euroleague. Vujcic became just the fifth player to achieve that distinction this decade when he hit a jumper from the foul line late in the second quarter of Olympiacos’s Week 8 home game against Cibona at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, Athens, Greece. The select list of 2,000-point scorers includes Marcus Brown, Luis Scola, J.R. Holden and Jaka Lakovic, the last of whom reached that milestone last month.

source : euroleague.net

The end of the road for Tomasevic

Dejan Tomasevic(2.08-C) is rumored to end his basketball career, albeit in an unfitting fashion, this weekend playing his last game as a player of Paok. One of the most experienced and decorated european centers will be playing his last basketball game as a player of Paok and perhaps as a player altogether. The rumors about Tomasevic have been going back and forth ever since the Greek A1 league started and this might actually be the swansong of Tomasevic.

Tomasevic has agreed with the administration of Paok to take his earnings until now and not claim the rest of his contract. Possible candidates seem to be Ryan Stack(2.11-PF/C) or Martin Rancik(2.05-PF) who might be leaving Estudiantes after all.

On a sidenote K'Zell Wesson and Dimitris Marmarinos had a fight during practice and so they were disqualified from the team's roster in the this weekend's game against Panathinaikos in Athens. Both players are expected to pay a fine.

The return of Kambala

Kaspars Kambala is going to take part in the VTB Bank Promo Cup in Moscow this weekend. On Saturday the 20th ASK Riga will play against CSKA Moscow and in their roster will be the latvian giant, Kaspars Kambala who will be taking this opportunity to show everyone exactly in what kind of shape he really is. Veteran Roberts Stelmahers will also be taking part in the tournament with the prospect of staying with Riga until the end of the season.

Kambala's 2-year suspension from basketball ended on December 12th and quite a few teams would like to see if he's fit to play pro again.

Helios is waiving Todorovic

Helios Domzale is going to waive serbian center Ivan Todorovic(2.14-C). The serbian center's contract expired this week and so Helios decided not to renew it. There was also an announcement via the team's official website.

Todorovic averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 9 games with Helios in the Adriatic League.

Drobnjak returns to Turow

PGE Turow announced forward/center Dragisa Drobjnak(2.01-PF/C) via their official website and hence announced his return to the polish team that he played for last season. Drobjnak started the season in Krka but shortly after he was recruited by Alba with a temporary contract.

The slovenian player has made a long career for himself in Slovenia having played for Krka, Geoplin, Triglav, and Olimpija in Slovenia and his services are highly sought after in his native homeland. Drobjnak reached the polish league final with Turow last season and in the Eurocup he averaged 8.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 14 games.

Marcin Gortat thinking about Europe

Marcin Gortat(2.13-C) seized the opportunity and played his heart out during the last 2 games in the starting line-up of the Orlando Magic. Gortat took advantage of Dwight Howard's knee inury and made his defensive presence known in the low-post replacing Howard even better than he might have expected. Even the fans of the Magic were impressed by the polish center.

Gortat spoke to the polish newspaper Republic where he said that he is considering returning to Europe next season even if Orlando ask him to renew his contract. If this happens Gortat is surely going to be highly sought after player in the european market.

Artland Dragons signed Tyray Pearson

The Artland Dragons signed Tyray Pearson(2.01-PF/C) until the end of February. Tyray Pearson played in the third division of Spain, playing for Blanes Almeira. He has played in Germany before, albeit shortly, for Telekom Bonn and he played for Braunschweig before that and also Benfica. Last season he averaged 14.3 points and 8.8 rebounds in 29 games in Spain.

Lukoil Academic inks Goldwire, releases Kruger

Lukoil Academic has undergone some roster changed before its regular season road game against Barons/LMT. Lukoil confirmed the addition of guard Leemire Goldwire(1.80-PG/SG), who replaces Kevin Kruger. Goldwire arrives from ESTIA Egaleo, where he averaged 12.2 points and 2.2 assists in 5 games in the Greek League this season.

This is his first pro season, as Goldwire finished his four-year college career at the University of North Carolina - Charlotte last spring. Goldwire averaged 18.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 34 NCAA games last season, helping the 49ers to reach the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals. Kruger had averaged 13.5 points and 2.5 steals in 2 Eurocup games with Lukoil this season.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

Orthez released Daniel Horton

Pau Orthez released Daniel Horton(1.90-PG/SG) and it was announced via their official website. Horton did not want to renew his contract with Pau Orthez after 4 games. Pau Orthez is currently at the bottom of the leaderboard with a 0-11 record and has not managed to score a single win. Tough times for sure for the legendary french team.

Horton graduated from Michigan in 2006 and tried his luck briefly in Turkey with Karsiyaka. He returned back to the States playing in the NBDL next season and halfway through he was recruited by Toulon. This season he averaged 11.3 points 4 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 4 games with Orthez.