In Search of Hidden Gems

On Thursday, November 26th, Mark Montieth wrote an article for Sports Illustrated in which he outlined some past hidden gems (Jermaine O’Neal, Chauncey Billups, Ron Artest) and players who might become their future equivalents (Ike Diogu, Sebastian Telfair, Yi Jianlian).

Good Things Happening in the NBA

The best thing happening in the NBA right now is… the STANDINGS. Look at both conferences and you’ll see teams nobody expected in the top eight. Read more ->

Partizan, Cibona in 2009

Although I haven’t published any articles about Cibona or Partizan this season, I’ve followed both clubs very closely.

Partizan had a lot of success last season, but most of its key players were traded in the off-season (Tepić, Veličković, Tripković, Lasme). As always, Partizan does good scouting and they acquired new players (Alex Marić, McCalleb). It is still early to say, player-by-player it reads like a net loss to me. Marić seems to be somewhat of the force inside and McCalleb has speed, quickness, and mindset to score a lot of baskets, but their long-range shooting is not as much of the threat this year and they don’t have a clear leader on the court when the game is on the line. Partizan started slow both in the Adriatic League and Euroleague.

Cibona has struggled financially, players played without the pay for some time. They were blown out by Sienna in their first Euroleague game at home. Then, they lost two more, but finally won a game at home against Zalgiris. Cibona is trying to incorporate some younger players into the roster while relying on Marko Tomas to break the defenses and score a lot of points. So far, the results have been mixed. They do have the best start in the Adriatic League in years as they haven’t lost the game their yet; coming back from Belgrade with a win against Partizan. Read more ->

What Brings Paul Pierce and Marko Tomas together?

I’d like to remind my US audience that basketball is played throughout the world. This game is second to only soccer as the most widespread ball game in the world, and one of few truly international games invented on the American soil. But when I say the whole world, I really mean US and Europe. Yes, Argentina and Brasil have good leagues; the game is gaining popularity in China by hour; Australia has put some decent teams together in the past decades. But the best players find their way either to an NBA team or to a team which plays in Euroleague. Most of the best players early in their career (Ricky Rubio) or a bit later (Luis Scola) get drafted into the NBA.

Euroleague is a serious business, fans have real passion, and the quality of basketball is very good. A lot of talented players play Euroleague hoping that it will be a conduit to the NBA, but some choose it as their final destination. For years I’ve been following some teams which play Euroleague, one of them is Cibona from Zagreb, Croatia. This year they have a solid team, but one which is not likely to go very far after the group round. Read more ->

The State of the Celtics After First Eight Games

After first eight games that the Celtics played in the 09/10 season, the fans have all the reasons to be happy: the score is 7-1, and with Phoenix it tops the league. Only the Lakers and the Heat come close with 6-1 records. Yet, I have many reasons to be pessimistic. And I will make a bold prediction: the Celts will not win the championship this season, even if they manage to top the league in wins, even if they top the Bulls record of 72 wins.

Why am I so pessimistic? Read more ->