Rudy Fernandez and Nick Batum Make NBA Debuts

Portland is officially one of my favorite teams. They're young, exciting and have two of the most exciting European players in the league - guard Rudy Fernandez and Nicholas Batum.
Here's a description of their first two NBA games:

Oct. 28 Portland vs. Los Angeles

1st Quarter
2-4, 4 points

• 3:50 Rudy's first shot, a three, was a clanger off the right of the rim.
• Later, he's thrown to floor by Derek Fisher, four inches shorter but much stronger, while going after the ball.
• 1:50: Flashes by Jordan Farmer just north of the free throw line and throws in a beautiful 10-foot running teardrop.
• 1:18:Fernandez curls around a Pryzabilla screen and drains a 16-foot swisher.
• 1:01: Bricks a 16-foot fadeaway over Gasol

2nd Quarter
1-1, 5 points

• 10:22 Portland guard Sergio Rodriguez attempts to lob an alley-oop to Fernandez over his Spanish teammate Gasol. But it falls short, and Odom picks it off.
• 9:50 He drains a three over the Slovenian Vujacic, accounting for 7 of Portland's 17 points.
• 6:16 He slices through the Lakers' defense like a Ginsu knife, gets fouled, and nets two.

Third Quarter
0-2, 0 points

• 2:02 With the Trailblazer down 46-69, and in dire need of a jolt, he misses a three.
• 1:20 Nice, quick jumping swing pass from Bayless to Roy, which turns into an assist for a three
• :27 Rudy shows some of his seven years of European experience by passing on an open 11-footer and passing back to Bayless for a three, which leads to a foul.
• :19 He clangs a 19-footer from the corner
• :02 Corrals a rebound, ending his worst quarter

Fourth Quarter
2-2, 7 points

• 11:03 He makes a technical foul shot after a technical foul on Lakers forward Ariza. Portland Coach McMillan obviously has confidence in him early in the season.
• 8:42 The most exciting sequence of the game: Ariza the Acrobat erases a Bayless lay-up, the Lakers advance the ball to mid-court, where Roy steals it, then dashes back, hits Rudy at the elbow and swish ... 3-ball!
• Roy's unselfishness is a good sign. He trusts Rudy already, and this will pay big dividends later in the season.
• 6:50 He claps for the ball to trigger a fast-break, receives it at mid-court, takes two dribbles and delivers a fine bounce-pass to Outlaw for a deuce
• 6:12 Fernandez steals an in-bounds and drills a triple from the same spot he'd hit from 2 1/2 minutes before. Somebody's suddenly lookin' seriously sharp...

Rudy finishes as Portland's best player in a 76-96 loss. He scores 16 points on 5-10 shooting, makes all 3 free throws, and gathers 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Despite talk that Batum would start, he doesn't enter the game until late, but makes his presence known in 4 minutes: 2 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal.

Courtesy of BRUNAMONTI




Three days later, Rudy and the Trailblazers (second-youngest team with an average of 23.9 years) took on the San Antonio Spurs (the the oldest team in the league with an average age of 29.9 years)

1st Quarter

• 2:28 When he enters the game, the crowd swells: "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!"
• "Did you hear those chants," ESPN's color commentator Jon Barry asked. "I thought I was at Notre Dame!"
• 1:44 Portland swingman Nicholas Batum grabs an offensive rebound, tears down the sideline, goes airborne and unspools the ball to Aldridge for a dunk
• :01 Fernandez misses a three after a sick B-Roy crossover

2nd Quarter

• 11:47 WOW! 6-8 Batum meets 6-11 Duncan at the rim and swats his stuff seven ways to Sunday!
• Now that's the way to greet a hall-of-famer... afterward, it takes the crowd about 15 seconds to calm down.
• 11:05 Rudy snaps a three from the corner.
• 10:01 SWEET LORD Almighty! Batum takes the ball outside of the elbow, holds it like a hot pizza box, swoops through the lane, knocks it off the backboard, and delivers two with a silky-smooth lay-up.
• Replays show that as he released the ball, he barely looked up.
• 7:24 Batum strikes again, stealing the ball at mid-court, and streaking to the bucket for another sweet lay-up.
• Color commentator Jon Barry notes that there's "no timidness to this guy ... he playing so aggressive, he's in guys' faces, he tried to dunk on Tim Duncan earlier, he's taking the ball to the basket." A far cry from the Batum I saw last year.
• 7:01 Rudy skys over the Spur's Udoka to snag a defensive rebound, gets fouled, then hits 2 free throws.
• 5:32 Is this the greatest quarter of Batum's career so far? He drains a three and stands there, hand upraised in a follow-through, a la MJ in the 1992 NBA Finals versus, you guessed it, Portland. The 19-year old's got 8 points now..
• :06 Batum, 6-8 and 200 pounds, guards the Tony Parker, 6-1 and 180 pounds, and does a nice job - using his length to prevent his ultra-quick fellow Frenchman from scoring a lay-up.

Third Quarter

• 3:29 Once again, Batum scores off a fast-break lay-up employing what Jon Barry called the "euro two-step. You slow down, you let two players go by." Whatever it is, it's two points.
• 00:30 Thank you, fast-break dunk. You just gave Monsieur Batum a baker's dozen.

Fourth Quarter

• 10:40 Batum misses a wide-open straightaway three. Once he can nail those consistenly, he will be scary.
• 7:55 Parker scorches Batum on the perimeter and leaves a tasty 2-point treat for Duncan: Spurs now down by four, 80-84.
• 6:17 With Portland up 87-84, Rudy bricks a deep three off the front rim. You get the sneaky suspicion the veteran-laden Spurs, even without Ginobili, are going to tie it up soon.
• 4:23 With a Portland four-point lead and 19 seconds into the clock, Rudy fires up another brick from long. Not a good shot at all.

Blazers win 100-99.
Rudy only scores 6 points on 1-6 shooting, but corrals 8 rebounds and plays 30 minutes.
Batum, as you can see above, had a mighty impressive debut: 12 points on 5-9 shooting, 2 blocks, and a steal, assist, and rebound in 22 minutes. I think he should be able to contribute fast-break points all season long, but the question is: what else can he give you?

Courtesy of Wuithier:

ESPN 360's Euroleague Schedule

For Americans who have an interest in Euroleague basketball, ESPN's online station - ESPN 360 - will air 40 Euroleague games this season. It sounds all good and dandy, until you read the fine print - and find out that ESPN is in cahoots with certain cable internet providers but not others. Meaning if you use Comcast, only the largest provider in the nation, you cannot access this potentially wonderful feature. Instead, you must have:

AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and many more. It is also now available at no cost to approximately 18 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via on-campus educational networks (with a ".edu" domain) and military networks (with a ".mil" domain).

Even if you have an AT&T account, as I do for my cell phone, still no cigar. You gotz to have that cable provider!

For those of you blessed with the above, go here for a schedule of upcoming games.

Oct. 29
Panathinaikos Athens at FC Barcelona

Nov. 5
Alba Berlin at Tau Ceramica

Nov. 12
Virtus Roma (Brandon Jennings' team!) at Tau Ceramica

Nov. 19
Real Madrid at Efes Pilsen (read my preview for this Turkish team here)

The low-down on Earl Boykins

He's 5-foot-5 of pure electricity, energy and enthusiasm and he now plays in Italy.
The 32-year old, Earl Boykins - the second shortest player in NBA history, signed a one-year contract with La Fortezza Bologna for $3.5 million to become the highest-paid player in Italy this year.
Not bad for the 9-year NBA vet, who only averaged 5.1 points a game last year with Charlotte after averaging over 12 ppg the previous four years.
He's doing much better this year after three games with Bologna - a non-Euroleague team - which is 3rd-place in the high-caliber Serie A Italian league.
His averages: 15.3 ppg, 5 apg, 3.3 rpg, and shooting more than 51% from the field.

Here are his game-by-game stats courtesy of keyhoops:

Age : 32 Height : 5'5'' Weight: 166 Position : Point Guard Birth : 02/06/1976 | Cleveland (OH) Nationality : American In Career : 236victories | 254defeats

Team For 2008-2009 La Fortezza Bologna

2008-20092007-20082006-20072005-20062004-20052003-20042002-20032001-20022000-2001

REGULAR SEASON | ITALY LEGA A1				Shots				Rebounds
Day	Opponent	Score	Min	2%	3%	S%	1%	Or	Dr	Tr	Ass	Ste	To	Bl	Fo	Pts	Eff
01	vs Angelico B.	83-72	32	75.0	100	80.0	83.3	0	1	1	5	0	3	0	2	14	15
02	@ Armani Mil.	68-70	35	40.0	50.0	41.7	75.0	1	2	3	3	2	4	0	1	17	12
03	vs Snaidero U.	91-74	34	60.0	0.0	50.0	75.0	0	6	6	7	0	0	0	3	15	21

G = Games W-L = Win-Lost Min = Minutes 5 = Starters	1M = Free Throws Made 1A = Free Throws Attempted 2M = 2Pts Made 2A = 2Pts Attempted 3M = 3Pts Made 3A = 3Pts Attempted SM = Shoots Made SA = Shoots Attempted	S1 = Free Throws S2 = 2Pts S3 = 3Pts ST = Shoots 1% = Free Throws Efficiency 2% = 2Pts Efficiency 3% = 3Pts Efficiency S% = Shoots Efficiency	Or = Offensive Rebounds Dr = Defensive Rebounds Tr = Total Rebounds Ass = Assists Ste = Steals To = Turn-Over Bl = Blocks Pts = Points
Eff (Efficiency) = Pts + Tr + Ste + Bl + Ass - To - missed shoots and free throws

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Jennings Makes Euroleague Debut

It is done.
Young Brandon Jennings is now officially a Euroleaguer.
Thursday, Lottomatica Roma's Jennings played 22 minutes, scored 9 points on 3-7 from the 3-point line, garnered 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 0 assists in a 68-63 loss to Alba Roma.
Not the most auspicious of Euroleague starts for the 19-year old.
But still better than his previous two club matches in the top domestic league in Italy, in which Jennings averaged 17.5 minutes, 5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists while shooting 33.3% from the floor.

It's obvious Jennings is learning to adjust to the European game.

As his teammate, Ibby Jaabar, pointed out, Jennings just can't expect minutes to be handed to him on a silver platter:

Everything is going to be earned. I’m sure he’s a competitor. I’m sure he believes that he’s talented enough to take that spot. Everything will be earned. Everything in due time. This isn’t the type of program that because you’re a No. 1 pick you’re going to start. You earn everything.

And when he does earn his minutes, he won't find team dynamics to be as consistent as they are stateside:

I think Europe is a lot different than the N.B.A. and college. Guys are in and out. You’re never playing on the same team. You don’t play on one team your whole career. The team is always changing.

Go to 5:10 in the following video to see Jennings knock down some of his first points:



Here's a shout-out to ca18804, who uploaded the video.

NBA Growth into China Unswervingly Meteoric

Despite world-wide economic woes, the NBA's relentless push into China continues. The latest news comes during a press conference at the O2 arena in London, in which NBA head David Stern - and the head of the company who built the O2 - announced plans to build 12 (!) arenas in China at unspecified locales on an unspecified schedule...

"We weren't going to start construction in the next couple of weeks," Stern said at a joint news conference with AEG president and CEO Timothy J. Leiweke. "We anticipate that in a relatively short order we will have laid out a road map of a dozen buildings or so throughout China."

Leiweke said it could take decades to complete the project.

"We think of this over the next 20 years, not the next year or two," he said, adding some would be new arenas and others would be created by renovating existing facilities.

One likely site for an arena is Guangzhou, a city of over 7.5 million, which has recently hosted its first NBA preseason game in a beautiful, though relatively small (sits up to 13,000), gymnasium.


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Besides Guangzhou, the NBA has also played on the mainland in Shanghai, Beijing, Macao, and Hong Kong since it the Washington Wizards played the Chinese National Team in 1979. The NBA returned with two teams in 2004 and two in 2007.

It semi-astounded me to learn that some Chinese paid upwards to $550 to watch last year's Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers preseason game.

But, then again, with 2007 statistics like the below testifying to the NBA's popularity in his nation, what well-moneyed Chinese basketball fanatic wouldn't give a unequivocal thumbs-up to finally see his heroes in vivo?

NBA merchandise is available in 50,000 retail outlets, and Spalding sold more than 1 million NBA basketballs last year. NBA games are carried by 51 networks and television stations (up from 32 last season), reaching an average of 36 million viewers.

After all, as David Stern and the O2 builders well know, sometimes TV exposure just doesn't do it: when it comes to reaping in revenue, nothing beats good ol-fashioned vis-a-vis marketing.

European Athleticism on Display

Those following the recent influx of international basketball talent into the NBA recognize that no longer do Europeans labor under preconceived notions of athletic inferiority to their American counterparts.

These days, the French are just as likely to fry an assuming defender with a posterizing dunk as a Queens-born rim-basher.

6-8 Nicholas Batum is one such Frenchman. His games smacks of Rudy Gay's, with the tendency to float on the perimeter instead of slash to the rim. I saw his European team, Le Mans, play last year in Istanbul and remember being impressed with the 18-year old's cool manner. It kinda reminded me of Barack Obama. Unfortunately, in averaging 12.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists he often underwhelmed with his apparent lack of fire.

Now he's in Portland, having been drafted at 25 in the 1st round. And, after a summer of seasoning, he's impressing.

The Blazers blogger Mike Barrett wrote:

He was always described to me as someone who could, in time, be a lock-down wing defender. He's got the wing span of a player 7'4", and those long arms caused everyone trouble in those early games. His silky-smooth jumper started falling with regularity, and he started showing the ability to finish, both in traffic, and from the perimeter.

In a recent game, he dropped 16 points, on 7 for 11 shooting (including 2-2 from three), and blocked 3 shots.

How soon until he starts treating NBAers like he did his contemporaries in the 2007 Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis?




In similar news, check out this sickly quick Englishman play ring-around-the-rosies with NBAer Devin Harris (in London for a preseason game)



Evidentally, the dribbling dervish, Stuart Tanner, isn't really that anonymous, at least in his neck of the concrete woods.

It's interesting to note that many of 2000+ posts on J.E. Skeets' blog are filled with people who acknowledge Harris' appropriately unharried nature and even laud Devin for being good lad about being royally burned by one helluva British street baller.

No Joshing Around

Prior to his transoceanic relocation, it seems Olympiacos' Josh Childress was already quite the worldly fellow. From a recent NY Times interview, I've learned that he and Jamal Sampson, who played at the University of Califonia at Berkeley, travel internationally every summer, to places like Brazil and Spain. One imagines he learned a thing or two about the quality of European basketball while in Spain.

Even the ardent Spanish fans, though, cannot compare to some of the Greek fans Josh is now experiencing. On Greece club basketball's strongest rivalry, Panathanaikos v. Olympiacos:

It’s to the point where if we have a home game, their fans can’t come. The same thing goes for our fans if we play there. I don’t know how long ago it was, but they were shooting flares to the other side and throwing firecrackers. After the games, they would organize places to meet and they would go brawl.

Childress isn't joshing around, either. Here's flare-filled proof from a 2006 championship game:



His experience, unbelievably, makes my Turkish one seem lame by comparison.

As I've pointed out before, Childress was drawn to European basketball because of its emphasis on a more team-oriented game. He's not expected to be the biggest block of cheese in the cupboard:

I’m not expected to come in and drop 30. They don’t want that. Me coming in and taking 20 shots a game is something that they really don’t want. It’s good, because it’s something that I don’t want to do. I’ve never been a volume shooter, I’d rather take the good shot than shoot to shoot.

He emphasized it's hard to score, period, because not only are FIBA games shorter (40 minutes compared to the NBA's 48) but:

It’s tougher to score here. There’s no defensive three seconds. They play zone. There’s all kinds of ways that make it tougher to score; the game is a lot more physical. It’s more of a team game. It’s a little more evenly spread. Like you [NY Times reporter] said, 15 points in 27 minutes is a good number.

Bensonic Flavor

Meet Rod Benson.
He's a 6-10, expatriating, board-grabbing, keyboard-tapping machine.
Benson, who plays for SLUC Nancy (in France's best league), is not your run-of-the-mill athlete blogger, serving up bland P.R. drivel with the wit of a soggy armband.
No. What Benson serves up is invariably fresh, tasty and off the still sizzling skillet of his mind.

Here's a taste:

Benson, who plays with Tony Parker's younger brother, partly through that connection recently met up with the French National Team at a discotheque. The night was memorable - not memorable in a 'Ah, that was sweet' kind of way but more like a 'Ah, at least that'll be able to generate some laughs if I blog about it' sort of way.
An excerpt from his first nightlife experience in France ...

Right off the bat I realized that arriving at 11 p.m. meant that I was arriving way too early. All the French guys arrived at like 1 a.m.. I later realized that the fact that I can't speak French, coupled with loud music and noise, means that there is almost zero reason for me to open my mouth at a club. I did a lot of talking to myself, dancing with myself, and kickin' it — with myself. It was kinda awkward being the only person who knew, and danced, the entire Soulja Boy "Crank That" song.

The D.J. started playing some Snoop Dogg and Tupac and soon enough I was the only person C-Walking, too. I kind of felt like I was a mime. I said no words, I made no eye contact, I just moved around by myself while many people drank and watched.

Going back to his Tony Parker's brother, it looks like young TJ Parker and Rod Benson have no problem making fun of TJ Parker. You see, Tony "Deep-pockets" Parker, evidentally not feeling the latest economic crisis in the least, has bet his broseph $22,000 that he can't grow his hair out for 6 straight months. Au contraire, brother said, and the race is on.

Hilarity, in the form of this apt comparison b/t Parker and Carlos from Desperate Housewives, has ensued:

Here's where Benson now plays - Nancy in Lorraine Province (where Joan of Arc was born):


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Jennings Flourishing Thus Far

Lottomatica Roma's Brandon Jennings, the preps-to-peninsular pro in progression, has had a fine first month of preseason play in Italy.

Dario Marra tells us that he's averaged almost 20 points in his first 5 preseason games and

has shown, in this first part, why he’s considered as a potential first 5 picks in the next draft. Still very skinny, BJ is very quick and can handle the ball with both hands, has a great capacity to find a way to the basket, being very aggressive in dribbling to the basket and in shooting from long distance... . Obviously, Jennings could find some hard moments with teams more physical and, in general, with the slower European game, but there is no doubt that the roman audience – and all the Euroleague fans - may have some fun (he’s spectacular in open floor) in the next season.

If you daren't believe Dario, then check out this video of a scrimmage in which he scored 16 points and dished out 7 assists in his first scrimmage against a team from Serbia.

The NY Times' Pete Thamel did a recent story on Jennings in which some interesting facts came to light:

1. Jennings makes $1.2 million a year in salary and endorsements, and the team provides a luxury three-bedroom apartment, a Volvo station wagon and eight round-trip tickets between Rome and the United States.

2. His mother and younger brother are living with him in Rome, providing him a support network. His mom drives him around, since he lacks a license. Jennings pays his brother's $20,000 international school tuition. “Right now, we have no worries,” Jennings said. “As long as those two are good, I’m happy.”

3. During the night's Jennings stays home, on his computer. This could be seen in a negative light - he's not experiencing the culture of a world-class city or a positive one - he's "staying out of trouble" and keeping in contact with him friends and family back home. It is after all his job to improve his basketball game and a boring social life is one of the best ways to free up time to do that.

4. One positive "cultural" influence the move has had on his lifestyle so far is a change in diet.

The dinners at Del Taco and In N Out Burger, two fast-food restaurants in abundance near the family’s Los Angeles home, have been replaced by salmon, chicken and vegetables bought fresh daily at a local market.

5. Jennings is at least saying the right things on the expanding-your-mind-when-you-travel front, even if he stays mostly in his apartment and gym. He said he'd ask anybody making the same leap: "What do you want to get out of it? If they’re coming over here for the money, don’t do it. If they want to learn and get better, they should think about it. If you have a bad attitude, it’s not going to be good.”

It'll be interesting to see if that attitude holds up as the season wears on.

Not Just the Green

In my previous article about NBA-to-Europe posterboy Josh Childress, I mentioned that his primary reason for playing in Europe is the vertitable Aegean sea of Euros he'll swim in for making the jump.

Still, saying that was his sole reason is cynical and short-sighted.

Instead, as this interview with Frank Lawlor of euroleague.net shows, he's thinking of more than buckets of purple, yellow, green, orange, blue, a kind of mauveish rouge, and grey.

To wit:

As a player who proved himself at all levels in your own country, what attracted you to the European game in the prime of your career?

"I think just seeing the style of play here in terms of getting back to a team game was something that really attracted me. I had been four years in the NBA and it's a different game. This is little more team-focused, team-oriented, which is something I felt like it would be good to get back to."

Some people have called Euroleague game a perfect hybrid between the NCAA and the NBA: the very passionate crowds and team basketball of the former, with a skill level that is always getting closer to the latter. Do you see that comparison as accurate?

"I think it's a very accurate comparison. It's the same exact thing that I would say, both ways. And I think that year after year that skill level is getting higher. European basketball is getting better and more skillful at the same time."

Do you consider yourself a trailblazer?

"People have called me that, and I do agree to an extent. I guess I am just the first guy in my position who wanted to try Europe at this stage of his career. And I'm going to give it my best shot. Whether a trailblazer or not, I felt comfortable that this was a good fit for me. I am sure it will be an eye-opener for other guys who will see me and maybe give Europe a shot, too."

Wristy Business

My main man, Ricky Rubio, will miss the Euroleague preseason with surgery for a wrist injury. Although he's supposed to only miss the preseason, but you never know. I hope he's able to rebound soon and hit the Euroleague regular season pavement running.

From Euroleague.net:
DKV Joventut teenage superstar Ricky Rubio will undergo surgery on his right wrist, the club announced Monday. Rubio has been sidelined for the entire preseason due to this hand injury and will undergo a wrist arthroscopy as soon as tomorrow to investigate if ligaments are damaged. The arthroscopy will also allow DKV Joventut to estimate how long Rubio will be sidelined. Rubio helped Joventut to win the Spanish King's Cup and the ULEB Cup titles with Joventut last season, as well as reaching the 2008 Olympic final with Spain this summer.

Continental Creme de la Dunk Kings

As mentioned in an earlier post, Victor Claver is one of the up and coming small forwards in Spain. How up this Iberian pogo-stick can actually get is now fully viewable in this footage of an ACB dunk contest.


And who's the African guy throwing dunks with vicious regularity?
That's 19-year old Serge Ibaka, a 2008 draft pick who could become the sickest slammer to ever play in a European leage.