Marc vs. Pau Gasol: 2nd Half of Grizzlies-Lakers Game

Here are more clips from the December 22 game between the Lakers and Grizzlies in Memphis. Fast forward to the last clip to see how Grizzlies fans sent Pau off after the game.

This series was by far the most animated people got all game. Thanks, Gasol and Guy Complaining in the Background.



The Grizz are still a young team and it's evident in how the players fail to mesh on the court sometimes. Here, Gasol sets a high screen and then cuts to the basket, only to be hit in the face by the ball before he can turn around to receive the pass. Kobe then goes down and makes them pay, followed by a OJ Mayo passing out gifts like Santa to Lowry for a three.


Ouch. Gay and Mayo throw up a pair of airballs, but Mayo shows awesome defensive ability in skying for a block, while the Gasol bros tussle underneath the boards.


Here's proof in the pudding of why Pau was the 3rd overall pick in 2001 and an all-star: very nice agility and touch for an extremely lanky 7-footer..

More proof in the aforementioned pudding: Big Brother again takes Little Brother off the dribble. Just like they used to do in the backyard.


Memphis guard Kyle Lowry shimmys into the paint and shows nice play-making, setting up Marc Gasol for a twisting lay-up conversion between two Euros.


For international fans who may have never seen an NBA game live before, here's a smattering of of the joie de vivre that goes on during breaks. Lots of lights, loud sounds, and a marching band.


Pau met a range of fan reactions when he left Memphis' FedEx Forum court after his post-game interviews. He naturally met tons of people during his 6.5+ years in Memphis, and some of then showed him mad love as he entered the tunnel leading to the locker rooms.. Other fans, though, still carry a carload of resentment toward him for somewhat-sudden his exit to LA last season, as was evident in "We hate number 16!" chants I heard behind me while he was waving to the fans. I think Pau carried off the whole returning thing as classily as he could.

Grizzlies vs. Lakers Live - First Half

On Monday, I visited my first NBA game of the season, and saw the Lakers' Pau Gasol make his long-awaited return to play his former team, the Grizzlies. Adding to the intrigue was his shaggy-bearded face-off with his brother, Marc Gasol, now manning the same position for the Grizzlies Pau once did. Here are first-half highlights:

Like Serbian Sasha Vujacic in the latter part of this courtside video, the Lakers nearly bobbled the win away, but hung on to secure a 105-96 victory by yet another round of Kobe Bryant heroics.


Vujacic substantially more sticky-fingered in this go-around, showing some court generalship and entry passing saavy.


Memphis center Marc Gasol is normally not considered the quicker of the Gasol brothers. The seven-footer is, after all, 20 pounds heavier than his lithe Laker sibling. In the sequence below, however, he posts Lamar Odom, executes an impressive spin move, and is fouled before he can drop the "Spanish Hammer."


After converting the free throw, Odom gets Gasol back, proving even the up-and-comer still has a bit farther up to come to stop the "Odom bomb" from dropping!
At the end of the clip, M. Gasol shows his quickness again in diving into the paint.


Gay shows some impressive blow-by speed against the Lakers' swingman Trevor Ariza. Not sure about the subsequent "MVP" chants, though, especially in light of how he finished the game.


All hail Darko! The oft-ridiculed Serbian center shows his defensive wares againt Pau and then go after a three-point miss by Gay with the tenacity of a preying mantis tearing into her mate!
He had 8 rebounds in the game.


Marc misses a jump hook shot over the long-armed defense of his older brother, and then Kobe trots down the court and unfurls a trifecta, making it look ridiculously easy.


The end of the first half brings physical play between the Gasol brothers and more proof that quicksilver Memphis point guard Mike Conley is the first human to ever be born with ice skates on.

Is Coach Watching? The Athlete-Bloggers' Dilemma.

Rod Benson, who until recently was a part-time blogger, most-of-the-time power forward for SLUC Nancy, raised a most interesting question this summer before he jetted off to France for a stint with the Euroleague team. As a D-league player trying out for NBA teams during summer league play, he wondered if his blogging had a negative effect on his marketability as a player. Could it be that his off-the-cuff blog-plosions could one day miff a potential employer and squash his chances of filling an NBA roster spot? While he took solace in the fact that other athlete-bloggers had trodden where he treads, he was keenly aware that he was among the more outspoken to brandish both ball and keyboard.

In the end, Benson decided to continue blogging:"...I certainly don’t see my own writing as having a negative impact on my chances of getting signed. I’m going to continue to write because I enjoy it and I just get so damn bored. I can only play so much Madden!"

He then asked his blog's reader's if they thought "the number of athletes who are candid about their social lives in their blogs will continue to grow? Do you think they should censor their material (beyond the obvious; clearly nobody should bad-mouth the NBA or their team in public)?"

The question post generated 172 comments in less than 3 days.

More than half of the people urged Rod to continue writing. Still, almost as many said that if he had to choose between playing and writing, he should first choose the former, only to indulge the latter once his playing days are over.

Here's the creme de la commentary creme:

Pro Rod's Blogging

From Jay S.
If the N.B.A. can 'work' (and I say work very loosely), with the gun-toting-nightclubbing-at-4am-involved-in-a-driveby-on-the-way-to-McDonalds-but-he-was-innocent-sort, then I can guarantee that a blog would not hurt your chances. To be brutally honest, if you were touted like Dwight [Howard] was, this discussion would not exist. N.B.A. sorts would let a blog slide depending on how much revenue you generate for them once your signed. Work on your game and make yourself Rod Benson, the guy who is a can't miss in the N.B.A., not 'Rod, the D-Leaguer / blogger'.

Or, as Matt Tharp put it, "I don't think that blogging is keeping you from playing at the next level. If any NBA owner thought any player could help him win 5 more games, I think he could go on television to host a show about being a male prostitute and still play."

From Jaris C:
As you've seen from youtube and just the internet, pro athletes are dying to show how "human" they are to the public. They have so much free time and why wouldn't a GM want his star PF blogging on a night before a game in Miami instead of partying on South Beach is beyond me.

From Key:
From a fan stand point, I would much rather read an athlete's blog than to read the story in a newspaper or magazine. It's always nice to get the story from the horse's mouth and not from another source.

(Such sentiment surely doesn't bode well for aspiring sports journalists like myself!)

From Natalio:
i think the nba would prosper from having you in their ranks and writing. the thing i like the most is that you're showing that you're more than a basketball player. i'm sure that's true about a lot of players -- i'm sure some of them are musicians, painters, businessmen, do magic and have other talents. but you're showing yours. you can call yourself a player and an author. anyway, nice work. i think most fans appreciate you, and i think it will pay off in the end by and nba team appreciating you too.

Against Rod's Blogging:

From Real World:
While the NBA is basketball, it's a business first. Real world business does not care about creative freedom. They care about business, perception, profits etc.. Most of the people running these corporations (make no mistake - a basketball team is just another corporation and often part of many other corporations) are also from different generation with different ideas of what values and communication are. Aside from a few of the youger generation owners like Mark Cuban, most don't get the concept of blogging or even using the computer/surfing the net.
Once you're on board, utilize it. Or wait until you're retired...

From ojochal1:
Life's full of choices. You can't have it all. It may come down, to blogging or playing ball. If it costs you your job by raising a stink It is time for you to sit down and think. Maybe that is why most great people write memoirs "after" they have had a career worth writing about and a little time for reflection upon events, versus in the moment "blog" spots.

(An interesting point, though how many worldwide acclaimed "great people" can the blogging world claim just 5 years into the technology's mainstream usage? Some of history's "great people" - like Julius Caesar, Francis Bacon, Thomas Jefferson, and Winston Churchill - regularly wrote letters that let them vent their cogitations in the same way blogging does for today's youth.

The above leaves a sports/humanities lover like myself with oodles to mentally chew on. I believe that Benson wouldn't have this quandry were he a much better player. His blogging is quirky, yes, but in no way incendiary. Players can mass distribute team-image damaging messages in a variety of ways besides blogging. As an NBA team owner, I'd worry more about a less-than-tactful player mouthing off on a youtubized video against the national anthem (cf. Howard, Josh), appearing in an underground DVD celebrating crime witness intimidation (cf. Anthony, Carmelo), or questioning an ex-teammate on how one's ass tastes (cf. O'Neal, Shaq-Daddy).

Questioning whether Benson should pour the time he now spends on his shannanigans and subsequent blogging into honing his basketball game is fair.

In the shortest term, messing around and writing about it has to be more fun than taking an extra 200 jump shots after practice or doing fast-twich plyometric training.

In the medium term, that messing around may prevent him from developing his basketball skill set, which in turn could cut down his playing time and deny showcasing himself for that elusive fat NBA contract.

Think long term, though.
Benson's now developing writing skills and the ability to craft a focused, entertaining blog post quickly. He's acquiring a legion of followers. He's developing his own "brand." He'll be able to grow it during the 10+ years left in his basketball career - which may, in the end, turn out to be more of a launching pad for his writing career.

I can easily see him down the line being a colorful talk show host a la John Salley in The Best Damn Sports Show Period and blogger/author to boot.

His earning potential will only increase throughout his 30s and 40s instead of stagnating in his late 20s as it would with a professional athlete.

And he'll walk with less of a hitch, too.

The Return of Ricky

Seemingly all hair, elbows, knees - and, oh yeah, frightfully fulgent talent too - the Iberian Boy King of Basketball is Back.

Ricky Rubio - 18-year star point guard of his home town DKV Joventut team - burst into mass international awarenesss in last summer's Olympics as the darling of the silver-winning Spanish national team.

As a 17-year-old - someone who wouldn't be able to legally smoke in the United States - he was smokin' world-class competition in the 18.5 minutes he averaged in 8 Olympic games. His line? 4.8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.1 steals per. His knock? 28% percent from the field. That will undoubtedly improve with age, though.

His Olympic success seemed to pave the way for the Spanish town of Badalona's Finest to dominate this season in Euroleague and domestic play. Especially since the team's star from last year, EuroFlyer Rudy Fernandez, is now scraping the stratosphere for the NBA's Portland Trailblazers.

Alas, before the season he had surgery on a wrist injury sustained in the Olympics and has missed all games until this week...

His production in the two games since his return has been understandably low: 2.5 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal in 6 minutes per. He hasn't even attempted a shot yet. But, more importantly, his team has won its two games - against Union Olimpija and Fenerbahçe Ülker.

Still, for those hankering for visions of the "Rubio of old," check out this mix of Ricky atomizing kids as a 14-year old:

Ricky Rubio at 14 year old
Uploaded by no1pointguard

(Found through Ballineurope)

When Cold Domestic hits Hot International

First things first.
Let's clear up what this pic from Brandon Jenning's Under Armour blog is all about.
It's about B-Jennings getting up early in the morning for a photo shoot with ESPN the magazine.
And it's certainly about acclimating pretty well to the locals, at least for this particular shoot.
Slight non-sequitor: What is it with some of these Italian males and their machismo? Even the lil one front, center and splayed, seems knee-deep in it. You'd think think he was holding onto a security blanket or something - jeesh.

How's Jennings' team doing?
Despite head coach Jasmin Repesa's surprise resignation on Dec. 9, Lottomatica Roma continues to do really poor/well. From Euroleague.net:

The shock announcement came the night before Roma heads to play DKV Joventut in Badalona on Thursday, when assistant coach Nando Gentile will take over the visitors' bench on an interim basis. Roma has lost four straight games in the Italian League, but has won five straight Euroleague games to lead Group C with a 5-1 record and on the verge of clinching a berth in the Top 16. Repesa cited domestic results in statements quoted by the club. Roma has struggled at home in the Italian League, losing four straight games, and currently sits in ninth place in the domestic standings.

Quinton Hosley Emerges in Efes Pilsen-Real Madrid

Real Madrid won the match 95-81, and surged to 3-2 in Euroleague while dropping Efes Pilsen to 2-3. Real's Quinton Hosley did his best Niagra Falls impression this game, drowning Efes in a overpowering torrent of buckets.

• Hosley, a 6-6 swingman, who graduated Fresno St. two years ago, was making his first trip back to Turkey after dominating in the country last year. Playing for Izmir's Pinar Karşıyaka, Hosley averaged 23.2 points and 11.3 rebounds a game, garnering MVP honors for the domestic league.
• Although he hasn't been doing quite as well this year, averaging 12.2 points and 3.4 rebounds a game in Euroleague competition, he absolutely blew up against Efes. He scored 10 points in the first 8 minutes of the 1st quarter on an assortment of dunks, lay-ups, and short jumpers.
• He finished the 1st half with 20 points on 6/7 overall shooting in 11 minutes in the first half.
• For the game, he finished with 23 points on 6/7 shooting for 2-point range and 3/4 shooting from 3-point range in 23 minutes. Only 2 rebounds though.
• On the Turkish side, Serbian Milos Vujanic played an exceptional 2nd quarter, scoring 13 points on 3/3 shooting. His behind-the-back, hesitation, 8-foot teardrop to cap the first half was beauty borne of skill.
• Efes trailed 40-46 going into the 2nd half.
• Vujanic finished the game with 16 points while Charles Smith led Efes with 27 points.

N.B. In my preview article about Efes Pilsen, I noted the team's "takeover" of Turkish players this year relative to last year. For the record, 3 Efes Americans chipped in 42 of the team's 82 points against Real, while 2 of the team's Turks accounted for 20 of the points.

Efes Pilsen - Real Madrid: An experience made in Eurocasting Heaven

Using someone else's internet connection, I was able to tune into ESPN360 today and check out the recent match between Istanbul's Efes Pilsen (check out my preview article) and Real Madrid. The game was not broadcast by ESPN, but by Euroleague.tv and as watched the warm-ups I immediately noticed the familiar woodwind duduks of the Turkish crowd. Ah, memories...

A few other observations:

Listening to only one play-by-play announcer was a bit strange. It was like watching a man shoot play pool by himself. It seems Euroleague.tv does not have as large of an operating budget as the European broadcasters of soccer matches. The only 7,000 who watched the Efes-Real match in Istanbul bear testimony to this. Adding to the strangeness quotient was that the announcer was non-English speaking native. Some of the stranger, entertaining, things he said:

• Real's point guard Bullock throws alley-oop to Hosley, who lays it up in traffic. The announcer afterwards says: "Hosley, which were asking foul on that action."
• Real Madrid player makes a nice pivot and pass in the 2nd quarter. Announcer: "A gooood delicious deliver!"
• He tended to end everything with an extraneous "uh" - like a profoundly unsexy version of Michael Jackson, or Otis Redding.
• Efes' Vujanic missed a free throw and Real's Alex Mumbru almost hit a 3/4 court shot to end the 1st quarter.
• The announcer: "Missing the second-uh.. "Mumbru with a HOPE!.. close to the basket-uh..."
• Had a habit of saying a basketball player had found a "good solution' whenever he drove to the basket and scored a basket.

Like during Olympic basketball on nbc, euroleague.tv also didn't inject commercials during the breaks, leaving the American viewer to wallow in a kind of televised purgatory. Luckily, in this game, cheerleaders gesticulating wildly to songs that seemingly changed every 20-30 seconds filled the void.