Daily Basketball
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Archive for International
August 16, 2008 at 2:09 pm · Filed under International, NBA
By la287 (or Aaron)
Team USA’s dissection of the Spanish team kind of puts this out of proportion, but consider it official: Thirty is going to be the new 50 for USA Basketball.
Long gone are the days where the original Dream Team demolished teams by 50 point. The game was over after the first quarter. The opposing teams barely scored what the Dream Team scored in the first half, humiliated from start to end.
But over the past four years, Team USA has lost multiple games, settled for a Bronze medal in Athens, and is winning games by only a dozen points. Even the Los Angeles Clippers beat another pro team by 26 points once last season. Why can’t the best-of-the-best NBA All-Stars beat Angola by more than 21 points? Has something gone wrong?
The Dream Team days are over, until the next revolution in American basketball. Team USA may always be the favorites, but they aren’t gargantuan favorites any more. International play has drastically improved over the past few years. The national teams spend far more time practicing and competing together, instead of taking a two-week vacation and photo shoot in Las Vegas.
Though Kobe Bryant was joking around with teammate Pau Gasol, I believe that the American team is going through the tournament treating themselves like the underdogs in every game. It’s a cliche, but they have to take it one game at a time, especially as preliminaries are coming to a close.
Of course, this whole argument is awfully nitpicky, but the Redeem Team needs to keep an eye out behind them. They’ve played overall solid basketball, although Dwyane Wade has mostly been the only exceptional one so far. Their two best x-factors are speed and depth. Spain held the lead for a decent part of the first quarter, but ended the game as the Redeem Team’s biggest victim so far.
Don’t be surprised to see USA Basketball to pull out some nailbiter wins, this year and throughout the future of international play. Foreign countries are finally seeing their dedication pay off. Thirty points is still an impressive blowout, considering the extent of practice time and roster turnover.
Team USA is playing hard, no doubt about it. Their lack of experience playing with each other makes the American’s domination even more impressive, but the easy medals are a thing of the past, and forever will be.
July 28, 2008 at 5:57 am · Filed under International, NBA
By Michael Spadaccino
They have said that this is the best team USA mens basketball squad since the original dream team. Lebron has already guarneteed the gold. With Kobe, Lebron, D-Wade, & Melo this appears to be the most explosive team to hit the Olympics in years. So, just give them the gold and get it over with…right?. Well, they may in fact leave China with the gold medals around their necks but it wont be as easy as some people may think. Here are four reasons why Team USA may be in for a more difficult time than people think:
4. Pressure to win: As hard as it may be to believe but Team USA hasn’t won the gold since 2000. Every player, coach & executive associated with the team has been or will be reminded of that fact every day they are in China. Team USA will get the best punch of every team they play every game. Not only that but as we see every year with March Madness the crowd will always root for the underdog..expect that to be no different with Team USA this year.
3. Lack of bigman depth: The international game has evolved into a perimiter game with the focus on outside shooting, ball spacing and dribble drive penetration. That being said someone still has to get rebounds. With Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh & Carlos Boozer as the only true bigs on the roster foul trouble and fatigue coud play a factor against the better teams. I know that any one of those guys could log heavy minutes if need be but, again, the international game is much different that the NBA dump down to big, than throw out and reverse if doubled game. With constant subbing it may be difficult to get any one big into a flow and match the productivity that they produce in an NBA game.
2. Lack of cohesion: As we have seen in previous years simply putting on the USA jersey no longer carries the intimidation factor that it did years ago. I don’t think anyone can question the heart & will to win of Kobe, D-Wade, LeBron & J Kidd. But can you just assemble an all star team and expect to be as cohesive as teams that have rosters that have played together since they were 16? I dont think anyone will argue which roster has the best players. I am sure we will see the alley oops dunks and behind the back passes against the Irans & Angolas but against real seasoned teams can we play together to pull out a close game in the final 5 minutes?
1. The competition is better than we may think: Whether we are ready to admit it or not, the rest of the world has caught up to USA in basketball. There are two teams (other than the US) that can make a legitimate case to win the gold this year-Spain & Argentina.
Spain will bring a legitmate NBA all star with Pau Gasol as the team anchor. They also have an experienced backcourt with Rudy Fernandez, who is ready to play with Portland this year, and Raul Lopez. Throw in Raptor sharpshooter Jose Calderon and they have enough shooting and athletism to give USA a run.
The team the best shot to beat USA has to be Argentina. They have 5 legit NBA players and some depth. Manu Ginobili is the leader and top scorer. If his ankle is fully recovered he can take over. A frontcourt of rookie of the year runner up Luis Scola and Fabrico Oberto has the size and skills to give the US trouble. Add in fellow NBA-ers Andres Nocioni and Carlos Delfino and you have 3 perimeter players who can shoot and rebound. And you know they are tough and not afraid of Team USA. A USA-Argentina gold medal game would most likely be a close game all the way…Team USA may win, but just don’t guarantee it, unless you’re Lebron.
July 24, 2008 at 7:20 pm · Filed under International, NBA
Can anybody claim to not be surprised? At the beginning of the free agency period, no blogger, American fan, or NBA executive would have listed Olympiakos as Josh Childress‘ number one option — it wouldn’t have even been on the list.
Now, Houston Rockets big man Carl Landry has a nice bargaining chip considering nobody would have taken Landry’s remarks about playing overseas serious.
With Childress, Landry, and the straight-to-Europe Brandon Jennings — not to mention USA Basketball preparing for the Olympics — all of the attention is about how the NBA will attempt to remain at the top of professional basketball world.
Kind of crazy, isn’t it? In fact, quite ridiculous. The NBA (temporarily) loses out on a skilled rotation player, a future draft pick, and a mediocre big man.
Not to discredit their value to their (future) NBA teams, but these players aren’t going to start a revolution. We’re not talking about LeBron James here, or even an aged Shaquille O’Neal (pity we see a competitive “former Legends” team touring through Europe). It’s expected that both Childress and Jennings will be back to the NBA within the next couple seasons — possibly next year.
Don’t worry. The NBA will continue to be in the international limelight as they coast to a Lebron-guaranteed Olympic gold medal. And don’t be surprised to see foreign-born players turn down larger NBA contracts to head back home. Just don’t think that the NBA will collapse, downsize, or even begin to suffer by loaning Childress to Olympiakos.
What impact does Josh Childress leave on the NBA? One positive aspect is that it lets the NBA know that players would be open to an international expansion league, with NBA players possibly signing and playing for 
international NBA teams.
However, aside from the potential of a legitimate NBA expansion, expect American-born players heading overseas to be about as successful as the NBA’s synthetic basketball. (You forgot about that hype too, didn’t you?)
June 30, 2008 at 9:09 am · Filed under International, NBA
By Anton Miller
With the 2008 NBA Draft just a few days behind us, here are grades for every team, along with the players they acquired.
Atlanta Hawks: No picks
No picks mean no grade.
Grade: Incomplete
Boston Celtics: J.R. Giddens (no. 30), trade cash to Washington Wizards for rights to Bill Walker (No.47)
Ray Allen will only continue to age, so Giddens made a lot of sense at this pick. He is a great athlete who will most likely mature around Kevin Garnett and the older Celtics. However, passing on Chris Douglas-Roberts seems foolish. Bill Walker had been quietly rising up draft boards until he re-injured his knee. How he recovers will determine how well this draft went for the Celtics.
Grade: B-
Charlotte Bobcats: D.J. Augustin (no. 9), Alexis Ajinca (no. 20), Kyle Weaver (no.38)
The Bobcats have concluded that Raymond Felton is not the answer at the point guard position. However, Augustin is very small and Brook Lopez and Jerryd Bayless would have been much better picks. They took Ajinca to fill their center spot, but he is not likely to pan out and considering this team is not in contention or will be soon they should have gone for the home run with DeAndre Jordan. Kyle Weaver is a solid pick who does a little bit of everything.
Grade: C-
Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose (no. 1), traded 3 second round picks for Omar Asik (no. 36)
The Bulls made a good albeit very easy pick at number one, but came up empty elsewhere. The excitement of getting Asik, a sleeper was tempered by his new contract that makes him unlikely to ever pull on a Bulls uniform.
Grade: B
Cleveland Cavaliers: J.J. Hickson (no. 19), traded future second round pick to Miami for Darnell Jackson (no. 52), traded cash considerations to Seattle Supersonics for Sasha Kaun (no. 56)
Despite all the wheeling and dealing, the Cavaliers had a very unimpressive draft. Darnell Jackson and Kaun are not guaranteed to even make the roster, let alone an impact. Hickson will take a few years seasoning before he can help. Lebron has seen nothing that will convince him to stay when his contract is up in 2010.
Grade: D+
Dallas Mavericks: Shan Foster (no. 51)
Foster can certainly put the ball in the basket, so the Mavs did the best with what they had. This is a franchise on the decline.
Grade: B
Denver Nuggets: Traded no. 20 to the bobcats for a future 1st rounder, acquired Sonny Weems for a 2009 2nd round pick
Weems is an exciting athlete who could be a replacement for J.R. Smith if he leaves.
Grade: B
Detroit Pistons: Traded draft rights to D.J. White (no. 29) to Seattle for draft rights to Walter Sharpe (no. 32) and Trent Plaisted (no. 46), Deron Washington (no. 59).
The Pistons were busy on draft night. Deron Washington could be into a replacement for Tayshaun Prince if they deal him and was as solid a pick as it gets deep into the draft. Plaistead could turn into a solid role player, but Sharpe does not fill a need at all.
Grade: B-
Golden State Warriors: Anthony Randolph (no. 14), Richard Hendrix (no. 49)
If the draft were on talent alone, Randolph would be a top 5 pick. However, he really needs to bulk up and does not seem ready to contribute. LSU has a history of athletic tweeners (Stromile Swift, Tyrus Thomas) who are average NBA players. Hard to blame Golden State for the selection, as there really were not too many other options. Hendrix could turn into a pleasant surprise.
Grade: B
Houston Rockets: Traded rights to Nicolas Batum (no. 25) to Portland for rights to Darrell Arthur (no. 27) and Joey Dorsey (no. 33); traded rights to Arthur to Memphis for rights to Donte Greene (No. 28) and 2009 second-round pick; Maarty Leunen (No. 54).
I thought the Rockets did exceedingly well for their position. Dorsey is a bit of a repetitive pick with Chuck Hayes already on the roster, but he can carve out his niche in the league. Greene could turn into a dynamite shooter and Leunen will be one of the sleepers of the draft.
Grade: A
Indiana Pacers: Traded Jermaine O’Neal for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and Roy Hibbert (no. 17), traded Ike Diogu and Jerryd Bayless (no. 11) for Brandon Rush (no. 13), Jarret Jack and Josh McRoberts
The Pacers got more value than I could have ever imagined for JO. The only thing the Pacers could regret is if Bayless turns into a star, but Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert are nice players.
Grade: A-
Los Angelos Clippers: Eric Gordon (no. 7), DeAndre Jordan (no. 35), Mike Taylor (no. 55)
Not a lot of people have been talking about the Clippers draft, but I think it was a huge success. Gordon is an outstanding scorer who will be better than some players drafted ahead of him. Grabbing Jordan at 35 is highway robbery if he even develops a little bit and Taylor could turn into the surprise of the late 2nd round.
Grade: A-
Los Angelos Lakers: Joe Crawford (no. 58)
A lack of depth on the bench is all that is holding the Lakers back at this point; they didn’t do much with the draft but that is not their fault.
Grade: C
Memphis Grizzlies: Traded Mike Miller, Jason Collins and Brian Cardinal and rights to Kevin Love (no. 5) to Minnesota for Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner and Antoine Walker and rights to O.J. Mayo (no. 3); traded rights to Donte Greene (No. 28) and a 2009 second-round pick to Houston for Darrell Arthur (no. 27)
Chris Wallace further solidified his reputation as the GM no one understands. Mike Miller is still in his prime and trading Kevin Love for OJ Mayo and a platter of bad contracts is questionable. Picking up Darrell Arthur was a decent move.
Grade: C-
Miami Heat: Michael Beasley (no. 2) traded two future second-round picks and cash for rights to Mario Chalmers (No. 34), traded rights to Darnell Jackson (No. 52) for a Cleveland 2nd round pick in 2009.
Not dealing away the number two pick is the best result that could happen to the Heat, who with a core of Beasley, Wade and Marion, will be in the playoffs next year. They made a hard push for Mario Chalmers, who is a good fit on a team in need of guards.
Grade: A-
Milwaukee Bucks: Joe Alexander (no. 8); Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (no. 37), traded Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons for Richard Jefferson
Alexander was a solid pick at 8. Mbah a Moute was a reach, but brings defense and rebounding on a team that doesn’t have any. Getting Jefferson for Yi and Simmons was a great deal.
Grade: A-
Minnesota: Traded Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner and the draft rights to O.J. Mayo (no. 3) to Memphis for Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins and the draft rights to Kevin Love (no. 5), Nikola Pekovic (no. 31), traded Mario Chalmers (no. 34) to Miami for two future second-round picks and cash.
Minnesota felt they still have something in Randy Foye, and thus dealing away OJ Mayo makes sense. They also got Mike Miller a great scorer, Love whom they wanted all along and cleared cap space for the big free agent summer of 2010. Well done.
Grade: A-
New Jersey Nets: Brook Lopez (no. 10); Ryan Anderson (no. 21); Chris Douglas-Roberts (no. 40), traded Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons.
The Nets were happy to have Lopez fall into their laps at 10. He is the best inside scorer on their roster immediately, and getting Douglas Roberts at no. 40 was a gift. Anderson and Yi are similar players, but the hope is that one of them will turn into something. That said, getting so little for Jefferson reminds some of the Gasol deal.
Grade: C+
New Orleans Hornets: None
Grade: Incomplete
New York Knicks: Danilo Galinari (no. 6)
While the fans hated this pick, Galinari is very talented and thus, this pick could go either way, making it tough to grade for now.
Grade: B
Orlando Magic: Courtney Lee (no. 22)
Smart pick. Fills need. Enough said.
Grade: B+
Philadelphia 76ers: Mareese Speights (no. 16)
Speights is far from a sure thing, but the middle of the first round was full of this type of player.
Grade: C+
Phoenix Suns: Robin Lopez (no. 15), traded rights to Malik Hairston (no. 48), a future second-round pick and cash considerations to San Antonio in exchange for draft rights to Goran Dragic (no. 45).
Lopez was an easy pick, as his size, defense and hustle are much needed. The Dragic deal seems pretty silly.
Grade: C+
Portland TrailBlazers: Traded Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts and rights to Brandon Rush (no. 13) to Indiana for Ike Diogu and rights to Jerryd Bayless (no. 11); traded rights to Darrell Arthur (no. 27) and Joey Dorsey (no. 33) to Houston for rights to Nicolas Batum (no. 25); traded rights to Omer Asik (no. 36) to Chicago for three future second-round picks; traded rights to Mike Taylor (no. 55) to L.A. Clippers for 2009 second-round pick.
Portland continues to set themselves up to be a contender for years to come, while making other team’s look dumb. Grabbing Bayless to pair with Brandon Roy was simply a brilliant move, as they complement each other very well. They stocked up on picks while grabbing another first rounder Batum.
Grade: A+
Sacramento Kings: Jason Thompson (no. 12); Sean Singletary (no. 42); Patrick Ewing Jr. (no. 43).
Thompson was a reach at 12, and Singletary and Ewing Jr. are not NBA players.
Grade: D
San Antonio Spurs: George Hill (no. 26); traded rights to Goran Dragic (no. 45) to Phoenix for rights to Malik Hairston (no. 48), a future second-round pick and cash considerations; James Gist (no. 57).
The Spurs really wanted Nicolas Batum, and him going one pick ahead was frustrating. Hill was a reach, while Gist has athleticism but not much else. They did swindle Phoenix however.
Grade: C+
Seattle Supersonics: Russell Westbrook (no. 4), Serge Ibaka (no. 24), Devon Hardin (no 50), traded Sasha Kaun to Cleveland for cash, traded Walter Sharpe (no. 32) and Trent Plaisted (no. 46) to Detroit for D.J. White (no. 29)
Westbrook has as much talent as anyone, but it remains to be seen whether he can put it all together. Ibaka was a terrible pick, as he might not even come over and has not proven he really knows how to play yet. Hardin was a steal and they got good value for DJ White. If any team with picks deserved an incomplete simply because we do not know yet, it is Seattle.
Grade: C+
Toronto Raptors: Traded T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the rights to Roy Hibbert (no. 17) to Indiana in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal and the rights to Nathan Jawai (No. 41).
Toronto gave up quite a lot for JO, and Jawai is quite a project. Not well done.
Grade: C-
Utah Jazz: Kosta Koufos (no. 23), Ante Tomic (no. 44), Tadjia Dragicevic
The Jazz drafted the replacement for Okur in Koufos, and Tomic is a talented player. As for Dragicevic who knows. The Jazz did as well as they could.
Grade: B+
Washington Wizards: Javale Mcgee (no. 18)
Mcgee is somewhat of a project, but at this point in the draft so were all the other big men choices.
Grade: C
April 16, 2008 at 7:05 pm · Filed under International, NBA
Today is the conclusion of our three-part interview (Part 1 and Part 2) with international scout Bruno Baltazar. In this portion of the interview, we discuss the importance of scouting for the NBA, and the top international players you’ll be seeing in this summer’s Olympic games.
DB: Explain why you think foreign scouts like yourself are important to the NBA.
Bruno: Foreign scouts are important because most grow up outside America. They understand and have a global perspective of the game, ways more then the Americans have. You always follow the NBA if you love basketball, but outside America, you watch others champs, and you move from country to country so you have a different perspective of the game. Didn’t you notice more and more foreign players are coming to the NBA? Maybe foreign scouts have something to do with it.
Some scouts are signed because they know a lot of people, not always because they great scouts. That’s what I witnessed last summer in the NBA Without Borders when I heard the Knicks’ general manager asking a African if he wanted to work for them just because he knew African basketball.
That’s why many scouts are foreign scouts. They bring a well-known system of basketball outside USA. Plus, when you know how to speak another language it’s a big plus, just like having a lot of basketball connections. For example, I never worked for Besiktas, Galatasaray-Turkish teams or ACB teams but I know many of their coaches and when they give you inside information it’s great.
Pete Philo, my friend and scout of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is the Reebok Summer league director in Treviso. Many of the best youth European players are, wonder why the Wolves signed him?
DB: What’s your biggest strength in regards to coaching and scouting?
Bruno: I’m really communicative. I like to speak, meet new people, and make friends. When you build a relationship like that, both players and coach understand better and are more to each other, building a better relationship that is well needed in order to win.
I like to help, and they sure will help me as well. I listen, but I also speak. I like to learn philosophies and mentalities. I’m not afraid of trying new things, and I don’t feel pressure on anything I do, as far as having food on the table.
But in the scouting profession, each person likes to focus on something. I pay special attention to the foot work of a player, as it shows a lot about his technique, and I also like to see how well a player fits in a system.
DB: Do you find your job relative easy-going, or is it stressful?
Read the rest of this entry »
April 15, 2008 at 8:47 am · Filed under International, NBA
Here’s part 2 of our interview with Bruno Baltazar, an impressive eighteen-year old scout working for many international pro basketball teams. Make sure you read Part 1 if you haven’t already.
DB: What skills does it take to do your job? What work does it require to do well?
Bruno: To do this job, you need to see the game at a entire level. Most people, when see a game, they have their eyes on the ball. I must have my eyes on every player, analyze how they play on the floor, and not just the player with the ball. Plus, to be a scout you need to speak and meet as many new people you can. As much information doesn’t go public, it’s nice when someone calls you giving you inside information about this or that player. In some countries the media don’t take a close look, you need to improve and innovate the way of scouting. Personally, I use newer technologies such as scouting programs on my PDA and laptop.
Personally, during the time prior a game or when I’m at the hotel, I don’t visit the cities. I stay at the hotel watching DVDs and highlights of teams and things like that. The more games and players we analyze, the better job we do. That’s why I watch over then 3000 games a season. I don’t sleep much, but breathe and eat basketball, scout all of the competition I can, and not focus on just one thing as surprises always happen.
I consider myself to be the only person working for European teams as a advance scout. Each NBA team has one, where prior to your team facing X team, we have to scout the opponent and give inside information about them. Personally, I think the NBA has been able to improve more and more with technology, as it’s a high money sport. Wins mean more money, and they should sign people who can read what the coaches say during timeouts, things like that. An advance scout is between the people during the games trying to pass the best information he can to his coach. The best scout is the scout that gives the best and detailed info to the coach.
Also, if you want to be a scout, you better be ready for the logistics, such as visas, passports, and booking hotels. We don’t just scout, but do the best we can to be productive.
DB: When did you start working?
Bruno: I started to watch basketball at a very young age, as early as I remember, studying the game. I used to play, but I decided to move on to scouting as I knew I wouldn’t ever compete in the NBA. I got the chance to meet the right people in Portugal, and I’ve scouted since 2003 — since I was 14 years old!
DB: What’s your philosophy for scouting and coaching players? Read the rest of this entry »
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