Villanueva, Ariza Promise to Boost Dominican Basketball to Elite Levels

Jamba Juice, that fine, fine California-based juice and smoothie chain , offers a health "boost" - protein, fiber, echinecea, etc. - injected into its smoothies, taking the concoctions' flavor from heights of deliciousness to breathtaking healthful perfection.

Well, the Dominican Republic national basketball program could soon receive a life-infusing "boost" of its own - in the form of Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva and L.A. Lakers sixth man of the year candidate Trevor Ariza.

Villanueva, a 6-11, sweet-shooting power forward, was released by USA Basketball, clearing the path to switching sports citizenship, ESPN.com reported.

The island nation of 1.2 million has in the last few years hovered around the top finishers in American tournaments, but not been able to break through to the top, as evidenced in the final standings below:

Centrobasket Championship for Men	2008	3
CBC Championship for Men	2007	2
Centrobasket U17 Championship for Men	2007	3
Central American and Caribbean Games for Men	2006	3

The most recent team had a solid foundation with Hawks power forward Al Horford and Sacramento Kings swingman Francisco Garcia. Both young players have improved during the 2008-09 NBA campaign.












22-year-old Horford's numbers:

Year	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
07-08	ATL	81	77	31.4	0.499	0.000	0.731	3.1	6.6	9.7	1.5	0.7	0.9	1.69	3.30	10.1
08-09	ATL	67	67	33.5	0.525	0.000	0.727	2.2	7.1	9.3	2.4	0.8	1.4	1.54	2.80	11.5

27-year-old Garcia's numbers:

07-08	SAC	79	20	26.5	0.463	0.391	0.779	0.7	2.7	3.3	1.6	1.2	0.6	1.62	2.90	12.3
08-09	SAC	64	35	30.3	0.447	0.400	0.818	0.9	2.5	3.4	2.3	1.2	1.0	1.73	3.00	12.8

The national team, currently ranked 31st in the FIBA world rankings, would have improved due to the two NBA players' emergence, but Villanueva and Ariza could take the team to unprecedented heights for the upcoming Americas World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Mexico, Aug. 19-30.

Both young veterans are also still improving and in the upside of their careers.


Villanueva, a 24-year-old, has a perimeter game well-suited for international play. Last year, he posted impressive production in limited minutes due to foul trouble:

Year	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
05-06	TOR	81	36	29.1	0.463	0.327	0.706	2.2	4.2	6.4	1.1	0.7	0.8	1.22	3.00	13.0
06-07	MIL	39	17	25.2	0.470	0.337	0.820	1.6	4.3	5.8	0.9	0.6	0.3	1.38	2.80	11.8
07-08	MIL	76	31	24.1	0.435	0.297	0.783	1.9	4.2	6.1	1.0	0.4	0.5	1.41	2.30	11.7
08-09	MIL	77	47	27.0	0.449	0.348	0.835	2.0	4.7	6.7	1.8	0.6	0.7	1.78	3.30	16.3

23-year-old Ariza, still waiting pending confirmation of Dominican citizenship, would be a perfect fit for a Dominican team brandishing Villanueva and Horford in the front court and Garcia in the back court. He's a 6-8 glue guy who's long, rangy, athletic and defensively-oriented - the kind of player any team aspiring for greatness needs.


In the last year, Ariza has posted the same kind of production he posted two years ago for the Magic, but this time for a championship contender:

Year	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
04-05	NYK	80	12	17.3	0.442	0.231	0.695	1.1	1.9	3.0	1.1	0.9	0.2	0.91	1.90	5.9
05-06	NYK	36	10	19.7	0.418	0.333	0.545	1.4	2.4	3.8	1.3	1.2	0.2	1.28	2.20	4.6
05-06	ORL	21	0	13.8	0.400	0.000	0.700	1.4	2.5	3.9	0.7	0.7	0.1	0.76	1.00	4.7
06-07	ORL	57	7	22.4	0.539	0.000	0.620	1.7	2.6	4.4	1.1	1.0	0.3	1.47	2.40	8.9
07-08	ORL	11	0	10.5	0.452	0.000	0.533	0.5	1.7	2.2	0.7	0.4	0.3	0.45	0.80	3.3
07-08	LAL	24	3	18.0	0.524	0.333	0.683	1.0	2.5	3.5	1.5	1.1	0.3	0.75	1.50	6.5
08-09	LAL	82	20	24.4	0.460	0.319	0.710	1.4	2.9	4.3	1.8	1.7	0.3	1.06	2.00	8.9

If the Dominican Republic's national program can receive its "Jamba boost," it should be able to contend with Puerto Rico for second-best team status in North America, which would cause a shift in the normal North American representatives at the World Championships and Olympics.

Qualifying for those tournaments would do much for basketball's popularity in the Domincan Republic.

Baseball is now the nation's most popular sport. 22 Dominicans - including Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez and Pedro Martinez, have played in the majors, according to wikipedia.

Excluding Villanueva and Ariza, five Domincans have played in the NBA, according to databaseBasketball.com.

The first - in 1988 - was Al Horford's dad, Tito Horford.


Full disclosure: Freelance basketball reporter Evin Demirel has both Charlie Villanueva and Francisco Garcia on his fantasy basketball team this year. His interest in their improvement this season is in no way unbiased.

European Exodus Age Limit? What Age Limit?

The Atlantic ran a recent story highlighting a somewhat immature star high school senior considering dipping his toes in college waters for the requisite season or bounding off to Europe for higher pay and tougher comp.

Meet 6-5 Lance Stephenson, Brooklyn Finest's:

Lance Stephenson’s nickname is “Born Ready”—as in, ready for the NBA. But on a winter night in a tiny gym in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the 6-foot-5 high-school senior mostly looked ready for a time-out—of the preschool variety. Stephenson slumped when teammates failed to pass him the ball, shook his head in disgust when they missed shots, jogged back lazily on defense, and whined about fouls. Stephenson’s other nickname is “Sir Lance-a-lot,” but he seldom looked heroic, and seemed to be doing little to lead his team...

For all his pouty shenanigans, though, "Born Ready" racked up 38 points and 14 rebounds to lead his three-time defending New York City public-school champion to another victory.

Uber-agent Sonny Vaccaro, who brokered the deal sending Brandon Jennings to Rome, sees Stephenson - like a handful of other high school players - as another possible Europlayer, if he can handle the adversity of juggling new culture, new playing style, tougher coaches and playing with grizzled-ass professional veterans on the court. All these factors, though, form a crucible that could make Stephenson all the more "Born Ready" come the 2010 NBA draft.

And if a 17-year-old high school senior can't skip college and go pro abroad, why couldn't a 17-year-old junior? For that matter, why not a 16-year-old junior, or younger? It's bound to happen soon, Vaccaro said.

If that seems like one more sign of the basketball apocalypse, consider that many of the Europeans who populate NBA rosters began playing professionally as young as 14. In any case, Vaccaro believes Europe should be a destination only for exceptionally talented and relatively mature players. And Jennings has cautioned that his Italian sojourn hasn’t been one big scoop of gelato: “I don’t want anyone coming over here thinking it’s easy,” he wrote on his Under Armour blog.