Valencia lost the Eurocup final to BC Khimki (Russia) with 68-77.

After a strong season, Blazers unsigned draft pick Victor Claver had a pretty terrible final going 0/2, 1/2 from 3 and 2/3 from the line, with 4 boards, 2 assists and a steal while seeing 31 minutes of playing time. His best contribution was that he did manage to get former NBA player Zoran Planinic in foul trouble keeping him to 23 minutes of playing time, but Planinic still scored 19 and won MVP of the game.

Claver about equaled the production of former Blazers standout Sergey Monya on the Khimki side. Khimki's backup PG Chris Quinn played better than both.

Going by this game, our target backup forward of the future in Valencia should be Nik Caner-Medley (former player for Maryland), who had 23 points and went to the line for 11 shots and made all (that's quite a lot of fouls drawn for European bball), and added 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks.

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Toronto's new star center prospect Jonas Valanciunas likely to come over for the 2012-13 season also had a terrible game in the semi finals loss against Valencia, only seeing 8 minutes of playing time. 4 points, 5 fouls, no boards. In the consolation 3rd place game against St. Petersburg he was better, going for 10 points and 12 boards.

The new arena deal will run through 2024, and will contain no "escape clauses" such as attendance benchmarks as the current lease contains.

Furthermore the NBA has guaranteed that New Orleans will receive an All-Star game in that timeframe.

A buyer of the Hornets from the NBA must accept these new lease terms. Latest reports around All-Star Weekend stated that two ownership groups were interested in purchasing the team and waiting for the final details of the negotiations with the state and city to be finalized.

Nick Gibson of Euroleague Adventures (born in the US but now lives in Barcelona as a writer and commentator for BBC Radio) wrote a post for Sheridan Hoops about the best unsigned draft picks held by teams in the Western Conference. His verdict:

1. Joel Freeland, PF, Portland.
European Club: Unicaja (Spain).
Odds He’ll Defect: 70 percent.

"Those murmurs of discontent have matured into agitated roars in Freeland’s third year with Unicaja, as the team has made a habit of blowing its beefy budget on shoot-first, pass-third mostly American guards who rarely make it through a full season." [...]

"Add a swift dismissal in the Copa del Rey, and Unicaja’s winless Euroleague Top 16 to his teammates’ lack of deference and yes, Joel Freeland is frustrated. This summer, however, Freeland’s a free man. " [...]

That leaves Option B [signing with Portland] as the logical leader in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, Portland cycles through general managers like Unicaja does inoperative point guards, and it’s uncertain whether acting GM Chad Buchanan wants to bring the uber athletic Freeland into the fold just yet.

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8. Victor Claver, SF, Portland.
European Club: Valencia (Spain).
Odds He’ll Defect: 55 percent.

"Injuries have grounded Spain’s highest flyer intermittently, since just before the Blazers drafted him in 2009. Claver was supposed to have locked up the starting small forward role for the Spanish national team by now, but his on again, off again relationship with health has made it difficult to gauge his progress. With two strong legs beneath him, he’s a monster."

"The 2009-10 Sixth Man of the Year -- who, for what it's worth, would prefer to finish the season in Portland -- is averaging 14.5 points in just 26.8 minutes per game. But his 40.2 percent shooting is his lowest mark since the 2006-07 campaign. While it's not known whether the Clippers and Blazers have discussed a deal involving Crawford, a source close to him said they showed significant interest when he was a free agent but lacked the flexibility to get a deal done."

Amick also reports speculates that Crawford tends towards opting out this summer to test the free agency market, not citing specific sources either.

Great article by Sports Illustrated that I initially missed when it was published this summer and I don't think it was discussed on BE. Statistically, taking a really big guy (say, well, Greg) in the draft makes a lot of sense since there just aren't enough around. Much less ones who can actually move with any agility or shoot a ball well. So on the negative side, if you are that tall you also almost inevitably will get pushed to play basketball.

Pablo S. Torre for Sports Illustrated:

"An actual accounting of 7-footers, domestic or global, does not exist in any reliable form. National surveys by the Center for Disease Control list no head count or percentile at that height. (Only 5% of adult American males are 6'3" or taller.) "In terms of the growth spectrum, 7 feet is simply extreme," explains endocrinologist Shlomo Melmed, dean of the medical faculty at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The term 7-footer is itself a kind of outer limit, a far-off threshold beyond which precise measurement seems superfluous. A 6'4" guard isn't a 6-footer, after all. The curve shaped by the CDC's available statistics, however, does allow one to estimate the number of American men between the ages of 20 and 40 who are 7 feet or taller: fewer than 70 in all. Which indicates, by further extrapolation, that while the probability of, say, an American between 6'6" and 6'8" being an NBA player today stands at a mere 0.07%, it's a staggering 17% for someone 7 feet or taller."

There is a lot more information than those dry facts in the article, including extensive quotes from Mark Eaton and Shawn Bradley as well as other players, and a discussion of everyday problems and injury issues. Well worth the time to read during this lull.

At least compared to "real" CBA labor negotiations. Via Henry Abbott @truehoop

"NBA bargainers did 6 hours. Ford UAW (labor trash talk!) meeting about 80 hours/week already and ramping it up."

From the linked article of the Detroit Free Press:

"Contract talks between the UAW and the Detroit Three are entering a more intense phase with less than two weeks left before the current national labor contract expires.

Chrysler’s negotiators are planning to meet for the second straight weekend and some negotiators for GM are planning to meet during the weekend, according to people familiar with the discussions.

While Ford’s team is planning to take the weekend off, its negotiators have been meeting six days a week for 12 or more hours a day."

Can't hammer out a deal if you don't put in the meetings and preparations. GET TALKING!

(Linked article in German from the official site of the national basketball team for the Eurobasket 2011)

On Friday evening Germany beat Belgium 71-65 behind 18 points from Dirk Nowitzki with the Clippers' Chris Kaman playing equally well and contributing 17 points and 9 boards. The game was played in Bamberg about 30 miles from Dirk's home, with his sister among the fans in attendance. Dirk and the gang still were a bit rusty against a 2nd tier Belgian team that had former Laker DJ Mbenga and unsigned 2005 Rockets/Nuggets 2nd round pick Axel Hervelle as their most prominent players. SF/PF Hervelle covered Dirk for much of the game before fouling out in the last minutes.

Dirk kept correcting some of Kaman's movements on the court throughout various timeouts, and after the game criticized that Germany allowed too many open 3 pointers on defense and didn't move the ball around enough yet (not a lot of assisted shots in this game), but was happy with the overall effort and already showed some good moves in his first game since the NBA finals. Among them a steal followed by dribbling coast to coast for a layup, a nice trademarked fadeaway jumper in the closing minutes, and his usual solid shooting from the line also grabbing an important defensive rebound off a missed FT when Belgium could have tied the game in the last minute and instead had to foul him again. He was still working to find his 3 point shot.

Germany faces tougher competition with Greece and Turkey in the other two Supercup games on Saturday and Sunday. A rebuilt young Greek team absolutely killed Turkey on Friday 62-38 despite Turkey playing with 5 NBA players (Hedo Turkoglu, Ersan Ilyasova, Ömer Asik, Semih Erden, Enes Kanter). Ouch.

Update 1: Germany lost to Greece 56-69 in the 2nd Supercup game. Dirk didn't play a whole lot, struggled like the rest of his team, had his first points only after 14 minutes of playing time and finished the game with 11. Top scorer for Germany was Kaman with 15 points. Greece lead throughout most of the game and Germany never was able to really threaten them (already 28-42 at the half). It got a little hectic in the 4th quarter, after a scuffle between backup PF Jagla and Greek veteran Fotsis both players were ejected.

Update 2: In a fun game Germany beat Turkey on the last day of the Supercup, securing the 2nd place behind Greece in the mini tournament. See comment by DOH below for a recap of this game.

After the Supercup Germany continues their Eurobasket preparation with a game against Bosnia-Herzegovina and 2 games against China Macedonia next week before flying to Lithuania to play the European Championships and hopefully qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Programming note: I'll attend the one next Friday against China Macedonia and can probably provide some pictures or at least a recap. (China was scheduled to play Germany twice, but sucked so bad plus suffered injuries in a mini tournament in London that they instead decided to fly home.)

"Former Cincinnati Bengal Tim McGee is being sued by ex-University of Cincinnati basketball player Ruben Patterson, who claims McGee misled him in business deals and hasn't repaid a loan. Patterson seeks from McGee repayment of $687,000 plus $1 million in punitive damages."

"I have built a reputation of integrity for the last 20-some-odd years... in Cincinnati," McGee countered, saying he was looking forward to defending that reputation at trial.

"I don't think he (Patterson) paid close enough attention. He wakes up one day and he's lost a lot of money," [his attorney] McTigue said.

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Don't you hate it when that happens?

The article also cites an expert from a local university about the problems pro athletes face trying to maximize the money they make at a young age to last over their lifetime, and details the nature of the failed business deals.

For once, the law could be on Patterson's side. During his time with the Blazers Ruben Patterson had multiple run-ins with the authorities and his teammates - notably Zach Randolph who punched him in the face - and coach Nate McMillan. Back in 2007 McGee had to defend him in the media when Patterson had failed to register as a sex offender after moving back to Cincinnati. He last played in the NBA for the Clippers, and last played professional basketball in Lebanon in 2009.

Article in French. Parker is a co-owner of that team. The roster currently features fellow French national team players Edwin Jackson (SG) and Mikael Gelabale (SF, formerly with the Sonics) alongside former NBA player Pops Mensah-Bonsu, as well as the coach of the French national team who allegedly has a very good connection to Batum. The article mentions that one obstacle could be that ASVEL is not yet directly qualified for the Euroleague, the highest level of international basketball competition in Europe (they'd have to play in the 2nd-tier Eurocup failing to qualify for that, along with league play in the French Pro A league).

As previously reported, SLUC Nancy is another French Pro A team that has publicly expressed their interest in Batum in case of a longer lockout.

Original Est Republicain article (French). Automatic translation.

The report notes that "there has been contact" between Batum and SLUC Nancy, a club in France's Pro A league.
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Update (Tuesday, 9:41 AM): Batum has confirmed his interested in playing for Nancy in an interview with Ouest-France.Fr.

Translation by HoopsHype.
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"I've always said I don't want to be without playing three or four months and that if I returned to France, it would be with a team that plays European competitions, notably the Euroleague. There's nothing official, but Nancy is an interesting club that has had great results and who's been often in the finals of the French League the last few years with Jean-Luc Monschau. It's a very good head coach, he has a good staff: there's talent in the club and it's true that we've had some contacts.
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Comments from Norsktroll:

It's only in the early stages, but there seems to be a trend of NBA players having their agents talk to teams in Europe to have a viable alternative if the lockout should go on for a longer time. The article mentions fellow French players Parker, Seraphin and Diaw having similar talks with different teams. And it's not just an option for international players, some US players are having first discussions too (e.g. a Finnish team announced they have signed Ron "Metta World Peace" Artest for some games in September, the agency of Roy and LaMarcus is planning to host a tournament in China to raise money for their clients, ...). If enough players go this route it might weaken the negotiation position of the owners, even if it's only used as a threat by some players who aren't really serious about it.
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ed: bumped to front page and updated.

Editor's Note: Would have been front-paged sooner if I hadn't been out of town. You may proceed.

Dallas Observer via Deadspin has dug up the original document of a motion to dismiss a case filed against Cuban's ownership company/group a while ago by minority owners of the Mavs. He counters claims of mismanagement by just stressing how great the World Champion Dallas Mavericks team has become under his ownership, big victory celebration picture included just for good measure. A picture says more than a thousand legal documents written by a thousand lawyers, or something like that. Did we mention there can be no mismanagement since we are "World Champion"? Yes? Okay. Brilliant move!

Traylor was the player who the Mavs traded for the rights to Dirk (and Pat Garrity) to the Bucks on draft night. He was only 34.

A pretty good look into his mindset going into the series with the Blazers with his thoughts on several key matchups (my translation for Mavs Moneyball).

While he sees a role for newspaper and TV journalists to reach an audience a team can't reach itself, he does not see this for online media anymore, especially those employing paid reporters to "get hits" by spreading rumors. He mentions ESPN.com and Yahoo by name as two outlets not serving the interests of a team, and muses about ways a team and its players can take over their role. He's more forgiving with the unpaid "fan bloggers" as long as they use arguments and data to back up their points. Sure to spark some debate among other teams and in the ranks of bloggers and other (online) media folks.

On coming to the NBA, differences in playing style and the potential of a European expansion. Abbreviated English translation from a longer interview in Lithuanian.

Tyreke Evans doesn't remember his former teammate Sergio Rodriguez when questioned by a Spanish journalist on Spanish players after saying some things about Pau Gasol. Ouch. Guess Sergio made not much of an impression in Sactown. Oh well Sergio, you'll be remembered in Portland. Maybe in New York. Or Madrid. Or...

"Sergio Rodriguez played in 39 games for the Sacramento Kings, averaging 13.3 minutes and 6.0 points per game. Basketballvalue.com confirms that Tyreke Evans and Rodriguez were, at times, on the court together."

Covering topics like better revenue sharing, shorter contracts, less guaranteed money, the problems of being profitable and winning titles in small markets, and so on.

By its own accounts ASM Sports "represents 33 NBA players including Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Brendan Haywood, Andre Miller and Sebastian Telfair".

The best-known basketball clients of U1st sports are Rudy Fernandez, Carlos Delfino and Serge Ibaka. However it has a strong presence in European basketball and soccer.

In a comprehensive analysis ESPN's Henry Abbott blows the common perception of many fans, opposing players, coaches and general managers of Kobe Bryant as a very clutch player to pieces. This is sure to spark at least as much of a discussion as the recent big debate how much Carmelo Anthony helps a team to win.

In a sentence: By any measure "Bryant is about as likely to hit the big shot as any player." And he's about as likely to hit an airball as make a big shot in the playoffs, no matter how many NBA commercials tell you otherwise:

"ESPN Stats and Information's Alok Pattani dug through 15 years of NBA data (see table) -- Bryant's entire career, regular season and playoffs -- and found that Bryant has attempted 115 shots in the final 24 seconds of a game in which the Lakers were tied or trailed by two or fewer points. He connected on 36, and missed 79 times."

"The Lakers are not among the league leaders in crunch time offense -- instead they're just about average, scoring 82.35 points per 100 possessions in a league that averages 80.03. They are, however, among the league leaders in how much worse their offense declines in crunch time.

When Bryant is on the floor in crunch time, Bryant's Lakers are actually outscored by their opponents. "

No confirmation yet. Blazers and other teams were also rumored to be in the running for the athletic and still very young player.

Update: Indy beats writer denies on Twitter, citing Knicks GM and full roster with enough youngsters (see comments).