Let’s face it: talking about NBA castoffs now playing in China is too easy sometimes. They get all the shots, be it on the floor, in the photo sessions or from the critics. Heck, my first column for this site focused on a few of them, including MarShon Brooks and Michael Beasley, putting up ridiculous numbers. But what about the locals? And above all else, who is the next big thing – the next Great Wall, if you will – bound to
The quarterfinals are set for this year’s Eurobasket, as eight teams will play for two automatic bids to next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio. Of the eight remaining teams, seven will be preparing next summer for a chance to play in the Olympic games, as the 3rd through 7th place teams earn bids for next summer’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, in which 18 teams will be fighting for the three remaining bids for Rio. Here is a look at the quarterfinal matchups that
You can complain all you want about FIBA’s way of doing things, you’d probably be right more often than not. Only two teams from Europe can earn berths to the Rio Olympics this summer, while there will be four teams from FIBA-Americas (USA, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina)? But if you are a fan of basketball, this EuroBasket Tournament is an overdose of fun after a long empty summer. The best national teams in Europe go at it day after day nonstop, with
The first round of the FIBA Americas tournament was like a four-game warmup to eliminate the worst team in each group. Cuba simply wasn’t good enough, though 21-year-old Jasiel Rivero has talent. The surprise was a weak team from Brazil. It’s understandable that Leandro Barbosa, Nene Hilario, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter preferred to rest, but younger NBA players like Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira might have helped. The second round gets under way at 1:00 Eastern on Sunday, with every team
This year’s European Championship, the Eurobasket, will be kicking off this weekend with group play taking place in France, Croatia, Germany and Latvia, with 24 teams fighting for two automatic bids for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Both the champion and the runner-up will automatically qualify for the prestigious competition next summer, with the 3rd-7th place teams earning the right to fight for one of the three final bids for the Olympics in next summer’s three pre-Olympic qualifying tournaments. Team USA is
Aiming for a 2016 Olympic medal next summer in Rio (and dreaming of gold in 2020) the Canadian team began its FIBA Americas tournament with an ugly loss to Argentina. Canada could not stop 35-year-old forward Luis Scola was unstoppable, who scored 35 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a 94-87 upset. [Read more…]
The road to Rio made a stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico last night for the opener of the Marchand Cup, and Andrew Wiggins led Canada to an 85-80 victory over Luis Scola and Argentina. When you look around the globe and try to discern who the next basketball powerhouse will be, the best place to look is just north of the U.S. border. Canada will one day be able to field a tam of NBA players all in their primes
Steve Nash has retired as a player, and the Internet has been flooded in recent days about the point guard’s glorious past. I am here today to tell you a 15-year-old story that no one else has told, and give you an idea of where Nash hopes to be in five years when he turns 46. Ideally, it’ll be on the gold medal podium at the Tokyo Olympics as the executive director of Team Canada. [Read more…]