Adriatic League news round-up

Boisa joines Zadar

Since Zadar is still struggling to qualify for the NLB League Final Four the club's management added another name to the team's roster by signing ex-Union Olimpija's captain Vladimir Boisa(2.07-PF/C) who was playing for the Spanish Menorca since the beginning of the season. Boisa will play already on Friday against FMP as will Marko Car who joined the team on this week and Pavle Marčinković who was returned to the team after being there already during the pre-season.

Helios signed Ivanović

Helios signed a one-month contract with the Serbian center Vuk Ivanović (208, 26) with whom they would like to make the inside line stronger for the decisive games in the NLB League.

Bosna without few players in Split

The last few days were pretty chaotic for Bosna ASA BHT which will obviously travel to the 23rd round game against Split on Saturday with a shortened line-up. Its latest reinforcement Elvir Ovčina, who was signed as one of the key players for the last few months of the season, injured his calf and will be sidelined for at least two months according to the latest diagnosis. Besides that Nikola Vučurović got a flu again and was advices to rest until the middle of the next week while Kemal Avdić broke his nose during the friendly game and Ivan Ivanović injured his back.

source : adriaticbasket.com

Stanojevic returns to Vojvodina

Jovo Stanojevic(2.07-C) returns to Vojvodina that he left back in 1996 and this will be the 3rd team he will be playing for this season after Besiktas and BC Kyiv. He started the season in Besiktas that released him as they were cutting back on costs. Later on he signed with BC Kyiv.

Stanojevic helped Prokom Trefl win the Polish League title last season. Before that he spent five seasons with Alba Berlin, during which he won one German League championships, two German Cups and was named to the all-star team three times. He has also played for Vojvodina Novi Sad, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade in his native Serbia, as well as for Maccabi Ironi Ra'anana in Israel. As a member of the Yugoslavian national team, Stanojevic won the bronze medal at the 1999 European Championship.

He averaged 12.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in15 games of the ukrainian Superleague as a player of BC Kyiv.

San Antonio sign Pops Mensah-Bonsu

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed free-agent forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu to a 10-day contract.

The 25-year-old Mensah-Bonsu had most recently been playing with the Austin Toros, the Spurs NBA D-League affiliate. In eight games with the Toros, he averaged 26.6 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.50 blocks in 39.8 minutes. His best game with the Toros came on 2/22 vs. Colorado where he had 39 points and 18 rebounds in 47 minutes.

Mensah-Bonsu was signed by the Dallas Mavericks after going unpicked in the 2006 NBA Draft. During the 2006-07 season he appeared in 12 games with the Mavericks, averaging 2.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in 5.9 minutes. That season he also appeared in 26 games for the Fort Worth Flyers of the D-League, averaging 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds in 30.7 minutes. Mensah-Bonsu was selected to the 2007 D-League All-Star Game where he captured MVP honors after scoring 30 points and grabbing 7 boards.

The 6-10, 240-pound forward was born in London and played collegiately at George Washington University. He spent four years with the Colonials finishing his career second on the school’s all-time blocks list (141) while earning Atlantic-10 All Conference First Teams honors during his senior year. Mensah-Bonsu will wear uniform #54.

source : nba.com

BC Tirumph signed Marque Perry

BC Triumph signed american point guard Marque Perry(1.80-PG) that was released from CSK Samara. Rumors have it that more players will follow Perry's move away from Samara. Perry started the season in CSK Samara but now he will be a player of BC Triumph until the end of the season.

As a player of CSK Samara he has averaged 17.3 points 3.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 16 games in the russian Superleague.

Cajasol announced Clay Tucker

Another ex-BC-Kyiv player has found a new team. American scorer Clay Tucker(1.93-SG) is now a player of Cajasol Sevilla as it was announced by their official website. Tucker will be a player of Cajasol until the end of the season. After his impressive last season in Teramo, Tucker found a job as a player of Khimki and this season he signed a contract with BC Kyiv but he had to be released as the team couldn't cover his contract anymore.

Tucker was injured for 3 months so he didn't get to play much for BC Kyiv. He averaged 15.8 points and 4 rebounds in 8 games in the ukrainian Superleague for BC Kyiv.

Bajramovic heading to Turk Telekomm

After releasing Kennedy Winston, Turk Telekom found their new forward: Kenan Bajramovic (2.06-PF). The Ankara team added their roster one of the most important forward of Europe. Bosnian National Team player played in BC Kyiv in that season and he averaged 14.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in Ukraine Superleague.

Bajramovic left the Ukraine team because of the financial problems in early February. He also played in EuroChallenge with Kiev team and he averaged 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds. If Turk Telekom can go to the final eight in EuroCup, Bajramovic ll help his team in that tournament too.

source : eurobasket.com

Gecevicius to play in Greece?

Martynas Gecevicius(1.93-SG) is rumored to play in Greece for Kavala according to krepsinis.net. This is the 2nd rumor about a player from Lietuvos Rytas with the rumor about Marius Prekevicius(1.94-PG/SG) arriving first.

Gecevicius who did very well in the U-20 Eurobasket championship did not see as much playing time as he would have liked in Lietuvos Rytas. He is averaging 5.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in 15 games in the Baltic League for Lietuvos Rytas.

Torin Francis has an offer from Italy

Torin Francis(2.10-C) has an offer from an italian team according to superbasket.gr. Francis is probably the most important player of AEL 1964 averaging the impressive figures of 16.6 points, 9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 19 games of the greek A1 league for AEL 1964. He is the 2nd best scorer, top rebounder and top blocker and he is one of the best centers in the league.

According to the article if AEL 1964 loses the next game it is almost certain that Francis will migrate to Italy and the greek team will make some money out of the whole process. Latest rumors in Greece say that AEL 1964 and Olympia Larissa that are both based in the city of Larissa are looking to strike a merger deal given the current difficult situation of both teams.

N'Diyae kept against his will

Mamadou N'Diyae(2.13-C) gave an interview to greek website basketblog.gr saying that Panellinios is holding him against his will to his contract. The senegalese center says that he is being held against his will to a 2-year contract and that he hasn't been paid since December 2007 by Panellinios.

It all started last season when the head coach changed in Panellinios and it was evident that coach Zouros didn't want N'Diyae in the team and his playing time was reduced down to 10 minutes. Eventually he was loaned to Zalgiris and N'Diyae accepted it straight away because he wanted to play more. He was unlucky though and had a serious knee injury playing for Zalgiris while he was doing quite well. After he underwent surgery in May 2008 he wanted to find out whether Panellinios would still need him in the next season as his contract stated. He says it was quite strange that his agent at the time, Kostas Pappadakis, was getting his other players signed to Panellinios and he was "kept in the dark".

He never got an answer and he decided to take matters onto his own hands. He even got a diagnosis from the medical team of the Orlando Magic saying that he is fit to play but the administration of Panellinios wasn't convinced and kept sending him to their own doctors that were telling him he couldn't play. He then proceeded to get a diagnosis from 2 greek specialists that said he could play but the administration of Panellinios wasn't having any of it. He even got an offer from Khimik to play in the Ukraine and when the ukrainian federation asked for his letter of clearance Panellinios demanded 20.000 euros as a buy-out clause. N'Diyae is saying that he doesn't even know who asked for that amount from the staff in Panellinios and he is also wondering whether the owner of the team knows where this money is going to end up if they receive it from Khimik.

Finally he said that he is going back to the States to train and although he is 33 now and it will be difficult for him to find a good contract, he says he just wants to play basketball...

Hosley out - Winston in

Kennedy Winston (1.96-SG/SF) is going to play for Real Madrid as it was announced by the Real Madrid website. He will be replacing Quinton Hosley(1.98-SF/PF). Real Madrid decided to release Quinton Hosley because of a recent disciplinary offense.

The talented guard/forward that was playing for Panathinaikos last season will be playing for Real Madrid for the remainder of the season to help them in the play-offs. Winston averaged 6.47 points 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17 games of the turkish league playing for Turk Telekomm.

Rumors about Rakocevic and the NBA

TAU Ceramica star Igor Rakocevic has recieved a serious offer from an NBA club to sign a three-year contract at the end of the season. Former Red Star captain has been playing the best season in his career, leading the Euroleague and ACB league in scoring. Rakocevic was a member of Minnesota Timberwolves in 2002/2003 season.

- I have not made the final decicion yet, but there is a possibility for me to return to NBA. Being 30 years old I thought that part of my career is over, but I recieved a good offer. I will make the final decision in the summer after I think it through, since that will probably be my last big
contract - Rakocevic said.

Unofficial sources say that Rakocevic has an offer from Houston Rockets for a three year contract worth around 12 milion dollars.

source : talkbasket.net

Coach Giannakis in scrutiny

Coach Giannakis is still feeling the after-shock after Olympiakos' defeat to Panathinaikos and the loss of the first title of the season to the opposition. The fans of Olympiakos are lashing out against the former coach of the National Team of Greece saying that he is not fit to coach one of the most expensive teams in Europe.

Greek website sportdog.gr published a number of opinions of fans of Olympiakos and Panathinaikos alike where, even the fans of Olympiakos sing praises to the talent of Dimitris Diamantidis who signle-handedly won the game for Panathinaikos and also say that coach Giannakis is making the same mistakes he made in the National Team. He can certainly feel the pressure now. There is another game coming up for the greek A1 league between the 2 teams that will determine who will win the regular season and hence the homecourt advantage for the playoffs.

Koufos and Fesenko likely to play in NBDL

With Carlos Boozer likely back from arthroscopic knee surgery, the Jazz will have 15 healthy players — including three who'll be wearing street clothes behind the bench for tonight's game against Atlanta. That in mind, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said Sunday he'd consider soon sending center Kyrylo Fesenko and/or rookie big man Kosta Koufos to the Utah Flash, their Orem-based NBA Development League affiliate.

"We've got to see where (Boozer) is," Sloan said. "But, you know, these young guys have got to improve. They can't improve sitting there on the bench all the time — and our practices, they're not very tough practices right now."

Guard Morris Almond, whose contract option for next season has not been picked up by the Jazz, also is a candidate for the Flash. That parent club can't assign more than two of its players to the D-League at the same time, though.

Sloan dodged when asked if Fesenko or Koufos is currently ahead of the other on his depth chart. "I think both of them has got a lot to learn," he said. "I think they both can play, if they work at it.

"Kosta, he's had a chance to get some minutes he probably wouldn't have gotten if it weren't for (the Jazz injury woes," Sloan added. "But, still, the recognition and different things that come up in a game — where am I supposed to be on this, what am I supposed to do, how do we play on a pick-and-roll — (are lacking)."

source : www.deseretnews.com

Tau to extend Teletovic until 2014

After they won the Spanish King's Cup for the first time together over the weekend, Tau Ceramica and forward Mirza Teletovic(2.06-PF), who was named MVP of the tournament, announced that they have extended their contract by five years through the 2013-14 season. Teletovic has reached three Final Fours in as many years with Tau and this season has made more three-point shots so far, 37, than any player in the Euroleague. He currently ranks fifth in scoring with 18.8 points per game in the Top 16.

Teletovic came to Tau after two seasons with Oostende, with whom he won the Belgium League title, his only other stop after leaving his original club, Sloboda Dita Tuzla, in his native Bosnia-Herzegovina. During three seasons together, Teletovic and Tau have now won a trophy per year, too: the 2006-07 Spanish Supercup, the 2007-08 Spanish League title and now the 2009 King's Cup. Teletovic is just the second player this decade, along with Sergey Monya of CSKA between 2003 to 2005, to play in three straight Final Fours upon entering the Euroleague for the first time.

source : euroleague.net

Alba announced Sekulic

Making a bid to end its winless Top 16 and to keep its Euroleague season alive, Alba Berlin on Monday signed big man Blagota Sekulic(2.09-PF/C) to fill a hole in its frontcourt. Sekulic arrives during a 48-hour window for the last possible Euroleague roster changes this season from Aris Thessaloniki of Greece, for whom he put up 9.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in the Eurocup regular season.

Sekulic is meant to help the German champs make up for the loss of team captain Patrick Femerling to a recent knee injury. Alba has struggled without Femerling to a 0-3 start in Group F of the Top 16 in part because its only center has been Adam Chubb.

After the mutual termination of his contract with Aris, Sekulic agreed to terms with Alba until the end of the end of the current season and might be ready to play on Thursday when Alba hosts Regal FC Barcelona. Sekulic grew up with Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro and made his Euroleague debut for that team in December 2000, at age 18. The next stops in his Euroleague career were Partizan Belgrade, from 2002 to 2003, and AEK Athens the next season. After two-an-and-a-half more seasons in the Greek League for Maroussi Athens and
Paok, Sekulic joined Real Madrid in January of 2007, just in time to help eliminate Alba Berlin in the eighthfinals of the ULEB Cup. Madrid and Sekulic went on to become 2007 ULEB Cup champions. He stayed with Madrid for the 2007-08 Euroleague season, averagin 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds.

source : euroleague.net

Pau Orthez signed Alain Digbeu

Another desperate transfer comes from France this time. Alain Digbeu(1.96-SG/SF) signed a contract with Pau Orthez until the end of the season so now the french veteran will help Orthez in their fight to stay in the league. Digbeu comes to replace Sammad Nikkah.

Digbeu averaged 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 13 games for Kavala in the Greek A1 league but it remains to be seen whether he will be enough to save the failing Pau Orthez from the last position of the leaderboard with only 3 wins and 15 losses. The team that won the french cup in 2007 might be playing in the lower divisions next season.

Zaragoza announced Loren Woods

Zaragoza signed american center Loren Woods(2.18-C) and they announced it via their official website. The announcement says that currently only the medical examinations are pending and then Woods will become part of the Zaragoza roster.

The spanish team has high expectations from Woods who has NBA and Euroleague experience having played for the Houston Rockets, Efes Pilsen and this season he was signed by Zalgiris but the lithuanian team had to let him go because of financial problems. He averaged 12.3 points 9
rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 8 games in the Euroleague.

Blagota Sekulic to sign with Alba

Aris BC announced via their official website that, montenegran forward/center Blagota Sekulic(2.09-PF/C), will continue his career in Alba Berlin. Sekulic himself said that it was purely a professional decision for him and his family as he had an offer from an economically stable team during the global crisis.

Aris BC said that this restores the initial design of the roster of the team that would feature 10 pro players and 2 youngsters that would earn their position in the team. Alba had problems with their recent signing of Kenny Adeleke that failed his medical tests and so they were left without enough strong players in their frontcourt. They also thanked Blagota Sekulic and Sean Marshall for offering their services to the team and wish them the very best of the rest of their career. Both players depart tomorrow from Thessaloniki. Sekulic averaged 7.5 points and 6.4 rebounds in 19 games in the Greek A1 league playing for Aris BC.

Maccabi suspended Carlos Arroyo

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv announced Thursday that point guard Carlos Arroyo(1.86-PG/SG) has been suspended from the club until further notice. In an official press release, the club stated that the suspension was due to "inappropriate behavior." Arroyo did not practice with the team on Thursday. 

Maccabi is just one week ahead of its most crucial game of the season, at home against Real Madrid in Week 4 of the Top 16. After a 19-point loss in Madrid, Maccabi is looking for revenge and a win with a margin sufficient enough to hold the potential tiebreaker advantage at the end of this stage. In 12 Euroleague games thus far, the guard from Puerto Rico averaged 13.6 points and 4.4 assists per game.

source : euroleague.net

Fortitudo announced Alex Scales

Fortitudo Bologna announced the signing of sharp-shooter Alex Scales (1.92-SG) via their official website. The american scorer played briefly for BC Kyiv replacing the injured Clay Tucker(1.92-SG). After his 3 month contract ended Scales remained a free agent.

Alex Scales played in Russia for CSK Samara last season and he also played for Aris during the season 2006-2007 in the greek league and also in the Euroleague. Scales also played in Korea, played briefly for Real Madrid but he never got his shot to play in the NBA although he was signed with 10-day contracts in the past. He averaged 15.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 24 games in the russian Superleague for CSK Samara last season. He was also one of the top scorers in the Euroleague in season 2006-2007 in the regular season and the TOP-16. He averaged 10.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 8 games in the ukrainian Superleague.

Paok in more trouble, Gregory to Valencia

According to the latest information from Greece, it is rumored that the current administration of Paok will resign in the next few days, perhaps tomorrow, especially after tonight's defeat at home to Aris.

It is uncertain what will happen with the remaining players of Paok that have high contracts as these players will have to find a new home. The fans want the current administration of Dimitris Drossos to go. Since he has taken up the team in the summer they have already lost 2 vital players(Mulaomerovic and Vasileiadis) and he said that he cannot pay the players' contracts.

Furthermore spanish media says that Kenny Gregory(1.97-SG/SF) is heading to Valencia to replace Ruben Douglas. Gregory scored 15 tonight and before that he had averaged 13.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18 games in the greek A1 league playing for Paok.

Kyiv released their import players

BC Kyiv released all their import players as they announced it via their official site. The team failed to win the ukrainian cup (lost to Azovmash) and so they decided to release all their high earning players because they couldn't pay their contracts all the way to the end. Kyiv will finish the season with their remaining players and Artur Drozdov will have to lead the team in scoring.

Clay Tucker (1.95-SG), Scoonie Penn(1.83-PG), Brent Wright (2.03-PF/C), Keenan Bajramovic(2.05-PF), Goran Jeretin(1.92-PG/SG) and Jovo Stanojevic(2.07-C) are all now free agents.

Buducnost turned down offer for Micov

According to basketblog.gr Panionios made an offer to Buducnost to buy talented young serbian Vladimir Micov(2.01-SF). Micov seems to be a player that coach Trifunovic was eyeing for a long time but Buducnost turned down the offer from the greek team as Micov is one of the vital players.

He has averaged 13.3 points 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 22 games in the Adriatic League as a player of Buducnost.

Mike King to leave Olympia Larissa

Mike King (1.93-SG) is very close to leaving Olympia Larissa due to financial problems that the greek team is having. The owner of the team is facing serious financial problems with his own company and so he won't be able to cover all the contracts in Olympia. King didn't participate in yesterday's practice making it clear that he is on his way out.

He has averaged 15.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17 games for Olympia Larissa in the greek A1 league and he will soon be out in the market.

Tau to sign Eliyahu in the summer?

According to israeli site one.co.il, Tau Baskonia wants to sign israeli forward Lior Eliyahu(2.07-SF/PF) at the end of this season when his contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv expires. Eliyahu will then become a free agent and according to the article Tau would like to offer him up to a million euros to add him to their roster.

Lior Eliyahu has so far averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 13 games so far in this season's Euroleague. He is also a member of the Israel National Team.

Joel Przybilla to get German nationality?

After having successfully integrated Chris Kaman(2.13-C) to the German national team after his German background was discovered by Five magazine, German media market competitor Basket.de came up with a story about current Portland Trailblazer Joel Przybilla(2.16-C) in which the Minnesota native tells readers that he has, besides his already-known Polish roots, a link to Germany through his mother.

This gives Przybilla the opportunity to play for either nation in the upcoming Eurobasket should its federation goes for a possible nationalization process. The question remains if Germany is interested in doing so, however, as the current national team coach announced in a recent press conference that the core of the new national team would be built around young guys like Steffen Hamann, Joe Herber, Philip Zwiener, Konrad Wysocki, Jan Jagla, Sven Schultze, Tim Ohlbrecht, Gordon Geib, Heiko Schaffartzik, Dominik Bahiense de Mello and Philipp Schwethelm.

source : ballineurope.com

Kalampokis to stay in Panionios

Giannis Kalampokis(1.95-SG) decided to decline and turn the offer from Valencia, down. The greek shooting guard said that he remains loyal to Panionios and that he will stay with his team until the end of the season. Valencia is still on the lookout for a player.

Kalambokis has averaged so far 9 points and 2 rebounds in 17 games of the Greek A1 league and 7.8 points and 2.2 in 9 games in the Euroleague.

Krka signed Ivan Tomas

Problems with injuries among the key players forced Krka from Novo mesto to add a new name to the roster on Monday when the Croatian guard Ivan Tomas (1.93-SG) signed the contract until the end of the season according to the Adriatic League official website.

Ivan Tomas started the season in Lokomotiv Rostov but he was released from the team and he decided to transfer to the Adriatic League and Slovenia to play for Krka. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 11 games with Lokomotiv Rostov in the russian Superleague.

Roma announced Ruben Douglas

Virtus Roma announced Ruben Douglas(1.93-SG) today via their official website. Douglas passed the medical tests and signed his new contract until the end of the season. He was released a few days ago from Valencia and it didn't take him very long to find a new home.

He has also played for Dynamo Moscow, Fortitudo and Panionios in the past. This season he averaged 10.2 points and 3 rebounds in 20 games in the ACB with his performance dwindling down during the last few games.

Valencia made offer for Kalampokis

According to superbasket.gr, Valencia wants to buy Giannis Kalampokis(1.95-SG) from Panionios and they made an offer to the greek club. The article says the Valencia is offering 50-60,000 euros for the greek shooting guard and it seems unlikely that Panionios will want to sell one of their vital players for such a small amount.
Kalambokis has averaged so far 9 points and 2 rebounds in 17 games of the Greek A1 league and 7.8 points and 2.2 in 9 games in the Euroleague.

Rytas to loan Prekevicius to Kavala?

Lietuvos Rytas may loan Marius Prekevicius(1.94-PG/SG) to Kavala BC in Greece according to lithuanian website krepsinis.net. The article says that there have been negotiations between Kavala and Lietuvos Rytas via the player's agent in order to loan him until the end of the season. Kavala has 2 more lithuanian players, Antanas Kavaliauskas(2.11-C) and Giedrius Gustas(1.90-PG).

Prekevicius who was transferred from Siaulai doesn't get a lot of playing time in Lietuvos Rytas and Kavala might be an ideal team as they are trying to avoid the relegation at all costs and Prekevicius can be a useful addition for them. When asked about it, Prekevicius said that nothing is final yet. He has averaged 4 points 1.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 11 games of the Baltic League as a player of Lietuvos Rytas.

Le Mans announced Bobby Dixon

Le Mans signed american point guard Bobby Dixon (1.78-PG) and they announced it via their official website. Dixon was initially signed by Cherkassy Monkeys in the Ukraine but he left them to go and sign with Benetton in order to replace the injured Dashaun Wood. He was a player of Benetton until recently.

He spent the 2006-07 season in France split between Saint-Etienne and Gravelines Dunkerque. Dixon enjoyed an outstanding college basketball career, first with two seasons at Kankakee Junior College, which he finished as the school’s all-time leading three-point shooter. He then transferred to Troy St. and was named to the All Sun Belt Conference first team after averaging 17.9 points and 6.6 assists per game as a senior. As a player of Benetton he averaged 12.4 points 2.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 17 games of the LegaA1.

KK Split to sign Grgurevic?

According to the Adriatic League website Ante Grgurevic(1.99-PF) appears to have agreed to sign until the end of the season with KK Split. The deal, if it actually exists, has not been announced by KK Split. Grgurevic is a seasoned veteran of the european courts and he is known for his strength and his ability in rebounding. He has been out of action for a while as he hasn't played since the end of season 2006-2007.

Macijauskas and Olympiakos locked horns..

The lithuanian superstar, Arvydas Macijauskas, who came as the messiah that will give the championship to Olympiakos is now considered an outcast to the team and he is not backing down claiming his entire contract for the next 2 years.

The recent court battle's outcome was that Olympiakos cannot dismiss Macijauskas' contract from the team as he wasn't officially summoned for explainations before the administration of Olympiakos decided to kick him out of the team and start proceedings to get rid of his contract. But the former Hornets player is not budging. He wants to "sit" on his lucrative contract that gives him 2.2 million euros per season.

He has stayed out of action this entire season and recently he told the lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos Rytas that this has been one of the worst years of his life. The truth is quite simple though. He won't budge, they won't budge and that's it. Besides, not many people would complain making 2.2 million euros per year just to train by themselves.

Tsiakos moves from Ventspils to Kavala

Georgios Tsiakos(2.05-PF/C) will be returning to his homeland as BK Ventspils and the player decided to mutually end their agreement. Their announcement says that since the injury in October that left him out for 2 months, Tsiakos did not manage to perform according to what they were expecting.

Kavala BC on the other hand were more than accomodating with the young forward that they decided to sign him until the end of the season to help them in their battle against relegation. Tsiakos has not been officially announced yet by the website of Kavala but this will be done very soon. As a player of Ventspils he averaged 8.3 points and 3.9 rebounds in 9 games of the Baltic League.

The players of Paok went on strike

The players of Paok decided that they wouldn't take anymore of it and so they went on strike for not being paid. They published an announcement that was signed by all 15 players of the roster of Paok and they e-mailed it to the greek media.

It says that it's not their job to secure the future of the club they're playing in but they are professional players and so this strike is a form of warning for the administration of Paok saying in other words that their hands are clean. This absence from today's training and the statement they made is more of a warning that more will follow if they are not paid the next few weeks.

Murcia announced Nenad Mijatovic

Murcia decided to invest into young montenegran Nenad Mijatovic(1.93-SG). Mijatovic who comes from Buducnost is considered a promising prospect, especially running the offense, and so Murcia decided to give him an opportunity to sign.

He passed his medical tests and then he was announced by their official site and he was presented to the press. He's also a member of the Montenegro National Team. He averaged 2.4 points and 2 rebounds in 7 games with the Montenegro National Team.

Menorca announced Frederic Weis

Menorca announced the signing of french center, Frederic Weis(2.18-C) who was recently released by Bilbao, until the end of the season. Weiss will add power and height to the frontcourt of Menorca and he also has 8 seasons of experience in the ACB as a player of Malaga and Bilbao.

He has also played for Paok and Limoges in the past. So far he has averaged 2.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 15 games for Bilbao. He has also been a member of the France National Team.

Zmago Sagadin joins KK Zadar

After starting the Last 16 of the Eurocup with consecutive defeats, KK Zadar has replaced interim coach Denis Pleslic with veteran Zmago Sagadin. The move came on Sunday night after Zadar lost an Adriatic League road game 79-70 at 12th-place Zagreb. Pleslic, 41, had been running the team since Zadar let go Aco Petrovic in late December. It was announced at the time that Pleslic would be an interim coach, but he subsequently stayed for four Eurocup games, of which the team won one, whichi qualified it for the Last 16.

Sagadin, 56, gained a reputation as one of the top talent developers in European basketball during a decade as head coach of Union Olimpija in Slovenia between 1991 and 2002. While
there, Olimpija won the 1994 Saporta cup and reached the Euroleague Final Four in 1997. He also won the 2002 Adriatic League, as well as 20 Slovenian Leagues and Slovenian Cups with Olimpija. He also coached KK Split of Croatia, Crvena Zvezda Belgrade and Lietuvos Rytas in brief stints, winning the Serbian Cup trophy with Crvena Zvezda in 2004.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

CSKA Sofia - the end?

The article below was taken from eurobasket.com and it follows an article previously published here that shows the deteriorating situation of one of Bulgaria's most historic basketball clubs that is ironically already history.

Sterianopoulos and Prelevic, president and GM of the team respectively, declared to the bulgarian federation of basketball that the team will no longer compete in the league. The alleged reason for that is "criminal interference", which means that somehow the wages of the players were stolen although no such reports were filed to their respective embassies nor to the Police force of Sofia. Furthermore it explains how the players and coaches left to play for other teams and how they managed to dissolve the team, member by member.

The full article can be found here.

If CSKA Sofia has an official statement to make regarding this article we'd like to hear it as The Hoop would like to get both sides to this story. Thank you.

Aris announced Bracey Wright

Aris BSA announced the signing of Bracey Wright (191-PG/SG/SF) who returns to the team that he played as a pro in Europe for the first time. As it was published previously Aris stroke a deal with Wright who returns to provide much needed scoring. This also means that Sean Marshall will no longer play for Aris.

In his first year in the Euroleague he averaged almost 15 points per game. He graduated from Indiana where he played for the Indiana Hoosiers. Then he moved to the NBDL where he played for the Florida Flame and later that year moved to the Minnesota Timberwolves where he spent 2 seasons. He had his first european experience when he moved to Aris Thessaloniki. He averaged 14 points 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 14 games in the ACB as a player of Badalona and also 12.8 points 2.8 rebounds and 1 assists in 8 games in the Euroleague. In his first time in the Euroleague last season he averaged 14.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 18 games.

Rumors about Jonas Maciulis

According to the lithuanian website krepsinis.net Jonas Maciulis(1.98-SF) seems to be a candidate to replace Ruben Douglas in Valencia. Douglas was recently released by Valencia and so the spanish team is looking for a player to fill in the gap he left behind.

The article also mentions other names like James White and Dijon Thompson. The name of Maciulis has appeared in numerous rumors since the beginning of the season. He averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 10 games for Zalgiris in the Euroleague.

Lokomotiv Rostov announced Capin

Lokomotiv Rostov announced slovenian point-guard Aleksandar Capin(1.86-PG) via their official site. He started the season with Azovmash Mariupol but he got injured and so he was out of action for about 3 months. The last 2 weeks he has been practicing with Lokomotiv and he finally convinced the coaching staff that he is fit to play and signed a contract until the end of the season. Capin has also played for the Slovenian National Team.

Olimpija announced Marko Maravic

Olimpija announced via their official site another slovenian player, the experienced forward Marko Maravic(2.01-SF/PF) who played for BC Kyiv last season. Marko Maravic returns to Olimpija after 5 years. The last time he played for them was the 2003-2004 season and his contract will last until the end of the season.

He started his career in Geoplin and since then he has played for Krka, Olimpia Milano, Manresa and Menorca. Last season he averaged 11.8 points 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 16 games as a player of BC Kyiv for the ukrainian superleague.

Nancy signed Stephen Brun

SLUC Nancy signed the french forward Stephen Brun(2.02-SF/PF) for the remainder of the season and they announced it via their official website. Brun comes to replace the injured Lamayne Wilson(2.02-SF/PF) who had a good start got injured along the way.

Stephen Brun arrived yesterday and has already had his first practice session with ihs team. He started the season in KK Split where he averaged 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 13 games in the Adriatic League.

Tony Parker investing in ASVEL

In these hard economic times, it's never too early to begin thinking about your retirement.

Take Tony Parker, for example, age 26.

The NBA All-Star has just bought himself a nice little retirement package: a French basketball team. In an interview aired on France's Infosport cable network, Parker announced his purchase of the second largest share of ASVEL, France's most titled professional basketball team, and he will, he says, begin serving immediately as the club's Director of Operations.

source : www.people.com

Valencia released Ruben Douglas

Valencia released Ruben Douglas(1.92-SG) after 2.5 season playing for the spanish team in the ACB. Douglas doesn't seem to be in Spahija's future plans and so the administration of Valencia decided to terminate his contract and wish him well.

The panamanian shooting guard is a prolific scorer and chances are that he won't stay without a contract for very long. He has also played for Dynamo Moscow, Fortitudo and Panionios in the past. This season he averaged 10.2 points and 3 rebounds in 20 games in the ACB with his performance dwindling down during the last few games.

Jonas Kazlauskas arrived in Greece

Jonas Kazlauskas arrived in Athens this afternoon and was welcomed by the general secretary of the Greek Basketball Federation, Panayotis Tsagronis. Tomorrow afternoon he will have his final meeting with the president of the Federation and also Fiba Europe Georgios Vassilakopoulos in order to discuss the final details of him taking up the head coach position in the Greek National Team.

When asked about it he said that he is quite happy that the people in Greece are welcoming his presence in their National Team but he didn't want to make any further comments before meeting with Georgios Vassilakopoulos.

Dynamo announced Brian Chase

Dynamo Moscow signed Brian Chase(1.78-PG) until the end of the season and it was announced by their official site. Chase comes to fill the gap than Jannero Pargo and Hollis Price left behind.

Chase graduated from Virginia Tech in 2003 and ever since then he's been trying to get a contract in the NBA taking part in training camps and also playing in the NBDL and the CBA. His last team in the NBDL were the LA Defenders. He also played briefly for Besiktas and this season he started playing in Le Mans where he averaged 13.3 points 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 16 games in the LNB league in France and also 12.2 points 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 10 games in the Euroleague.

Bracey Wright has agreed with Aris

Bracey Wright (191-PG/SG/SF) is returning to Aris Thessaloniki in order to replace the injured Sean Marshall (198-SG/SF). Sean Marshall injured his bicep in yesterday morning's practice session and the first estimate of his injury says that he will have to stay out of action for about 6 weeks. Therefore the administration of Aris Thessaloniki decided to replace him so that the team doesn't lose a lot of firepower with Marshall sidelined.

Tonight the deal was closed and Bracey Wright agreed to return to Aris that he played for last year after his release from DKV Juventut. The team and the player didn't part on great terms and the administration seized the opportunity to bag a quality player. He averaged 14 points 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 14 games as a player of DKV Juventut. Bracey Wright is arriving tomorrow to Thessaloniki to go through medical examinations before signing his contracts and he is expected to make his reappearance with yellow and black jersey this Saturday.

source : eurobasket.com