Apenas dos días después de que saliera a la luz el interés de Maccabi por fichar a Jason Williams, parece que Chocolate Blanco se ha quedado sin destino europeo, ya que el club israelí acaba de firmar al portorriqueño Carlos Arroyo como base para la próxima temporada, con opción a dos más. El ex de Pistons, Jazz y algún otro equipo, era en la actualidad base suplente en Orlando Magic (lo cual no es decir mucho, teniendo en cuenta que el titular es Jameer Nelson), y cobrará 2,5 millones de dólares por temporada. Tiene 29 años y ha rondado por suficientes equipos en la NBA como para darse cuenta de que ya se le ha pasado el arroz en la liga americana. Sin embargo, sigue siendo un jugador muy válido para Europa, rápido y con muy buen tiro, que seguro que pronto hace olvidar a Will Bynum en Tel Aviv.

Por cierto, aunque nunca triunfara del todo en la NBA, Arroyo tuvo el privilegio de estar en el equipo portorriqueño que sacó los colores a Estados Unidos, llegando a humillarle en algunos momentos, en las Olimpiadas de 2004 en Atenas. Fue la mayor paliza recibida por un equipo norteamericano en un torneo olímpico (92-73), y Arroyo metió 24 puntitos y dio 7 asistencias que le debieron de saber a gloria. En aquel equipo había cuatro hombres que repetirán este año: Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade y Carlos Boozer. En este vídeo se pueden ver algunas jugadas de aquel partido, con Arroyo de protagonista estelar:

¿Pensabais que el puente aéreo NBA-Europa había cerrado por vacaciones? No tan deprisa, amigos. Hoy mismo se ha confirmado el rumor que llevaba varios días circulando, y que coloca a Jason Williams en la órbita del Maccabi Tel Aviv. Williams, ahora mismo en las filas de los Miami Heat, no está lo que se dice despertando pasiones entre los equipos de la liga. Los Heat podrían tener interés en renovarle, pero siempre tirando a la baja. Así que J-Will ha decidido bucear un poco en aguas europeas a ver qué descubría... y se ha encontrado con un relativo interés por parte del equipo israelí. Y digo "relativo" porque por ahora las posturas no están lo que se dice cercanas: Maccabi parece dispuesto a ofrecerle en torno a 1,5 millones de dólares (menos de un millón de euros por temporada), mientras que Williams busca algo cercano al doble de esa cantidad. Para los curiosos, decir que Williams cobró el año pasado la nada despreciable cantidad de 8,9 millones de dólares, que no está nada mal. Y si los Heat no están dispuestos a ofrecerle el oro y el moro, es en parte por la iluminada reflexión (frente a los micrófonos de los medios, claro) que tuvo Williams en diciembre del año pasado, cuando su declive se hizo más evidente y su nombre empezó a aparecer en rumores de traspasos como elemento para "equilibrar salarios". Sus declaraciones fueron un puñetazo en la cara no sólo de los Heat, sino de todos los directivos de la liga: "A veces me da la sensación de que en esta liga somos como las prostitutas caras. Nos usan y se libran de nosotros cuando les apetece". Aunque a Williams no le falta razón y a nadie le gusta que le utilicen como relleno en un traspaso, cuando te embolsas casi 9 millones de dólares en una temporada, supongo que tienes que vigilar lo que dices. Y no creo que Pat Riley y los Heat hayan olvidado esas declaraciones, de ahí que sólo estén dispuestos a ofrecer lo justo por el base.

Los macabeos, por su parte, tampoco están por la labor de pagarle el dinero que pide al jugador. Williams ya no es el Chocolate Blanco que enamoró a medio mundo en los Sacramento Kings y que llevó la manija de aquel espectacular quinteto. De hecho, su papel en los Heat ha ido a menos a cada temporada que pasaba, aunque siempre ha estado en torno a los 25-30 minutos de juego. La temporada pasada promedió apenas 8,8 puntos y unas discretas 4,6 asistencias, ambas cifras bastante lejos de los momentos más álgidos de su carrera. Sin embargo, aunque está a punto de cumplir 33 años, se mantiene en buena forma, y sin duda sería un fichaje interesante para un Maccabi que ahora mismo está sin un base claro, tras haber perdido a Will Bynum, ya contratado por los Pistons. Williams, en un intento de forzar la situación, ha dicho que tiene otras ofertas, pero no ha trascendido ningún nombre, así que huele a "efecto zanahoria".

Así que por ahora lo que existe es el rumor y poco más... Salvo en la Wikipedia, claro. Allí, como siempre, van adelantados al resto del mundo. Tanto, que ellos ya viven en el futuro y han incluido a Jason Williams en la plantilla del equipo que aparece en su página. Y encima lo ponen en el banquillo...

Questo.

Bryan Colangelo Meets With The Media

It was the first time since the early days of May that B.C. sat down and took questions from the scribes in Toronto. The session is actually 35 minutes long and pretty informative. Anyone that saw it could probably gather from the way he was speaking that the Raptors really had no intention to keep the 17^th pick and if they ended up having to do so, it probably wouldn’t be a decision they made on their own. I actually watched the conference again online in order to soak everything up so I’ll just talk about the major things. (You can find the conference up on Raptors.com)

1. Colangelo acknowledged the Raps were in talks with several teams, with many of those talks involving the 17^th overall pick in Thursday’s draft. He noted that the Raptors would have to choose a player on behalf of the team they were trading the pick to because the selection itself could not be moved on its own. The reason for that is Toronto didn’t have a first round pick last season and teams are prohibited from doing that two drafts in a row. The opening to the conference was pretty vague until he was asked about specifics. He also talked about the fact there were multiple players he was receiving overtures about from other teams in the league. It wasn’t just the so-called ‘obvious’ one. Toward the end of the conference, he went on to note that any trades that were on the table would either keep the Raptors at par with where they’ve been or make them a better team. He also said there were a couple that could actually make the Raps significantly better right away, which I think we’ve come to find out is accurate. Two deals were on the table waiting for the Raps to respond to them, one was still being negotiated and two more were ‘simmering’ somewhere on the backburner.

2. T.J. Ford came up and he stated that the guard’s health was actually not as big of a concern to people around the league as the media may think. Ford is apparently in the same condition today as he was when they acquired him back in 2006 – there is no greater risk associated with him playing basketball and further injuring himself. B.C. also revealed that after the season ended, he had a talk with T.J. and his representatives, in which they came to an ‘amicable agreement’ where the team would look to move him to a new team since he wanted to start and Jose Calderon is clearly the man around these parts now. It seems T.J. doesn’t care where he plays – as long as he starts. Anyway, Colangelo acknowledged that he’d look to find a solution that would be good for all the parties involved and Ford was aware he would probably be traded because of all the rumours out there. For those of you wondering, Ford’s contract is completely insured by something called the T.T.D. program so a team would lose a basketball asset if he got injured – not financially, though. According to B.C., the Raptors had four or five conversations going on with teams around the league that involved T.J., which is actually surprising because there are only about three rumours I’ve heard.

3. A reporter asked a question about the low American dollar not being attractive to players now compared to European offers. This obviously turned into a discussion about Anthony Parker and, to a lesser degree, Carlos Delfino. In the last few days, reports have surfaced that AP got an offer from the Greek squad, Olympiacos that would pay him a ridiculous amount of money compared to the $4.55 million he’ll make with Toronto this coming season. B.C. said he called AP and his agent(s) to talk about it and see ‘what was real’ and there was truth to the rumours that AP received an offer or multiple offers. However, Colangelo noted that Parker expressed the fact he would rather stay in the NBA and that is his first choice but human nature would obviously be drawn to such an attractive offer overseas, especially since he’s so well known in Europe after his years with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. Now, big dollars are being thrown around in Europe for basketball players and a lot of North American players are enticed by it because they could make more playing over there than in the NBA. B.C. noted that Europe was ‘fighting back a little bit’ with regards to taking talent back from North America rather than always having their teams raided. However, he made it clear that since AP is under contract to the Raptors, the ball is in their court and a buyout of their starting shooting guard’s contract just wouldn’t make sense from any conceivable angle. He said he’d like for Parker to retire a Raptor if possible but who knows what will happen when this season is done. For those of you who haven’t heard, Delfino was also offered a deal from another Greek team, Panathinaikos. Unlike Anthony Parker, he may actually be in a position to join them because he is a restricted free agent and the Raptors could allow it. They are also considered to be the dominant team in the Greek league, which might be attractive to him. It is also the main reason Olympiacos is so willing to offer a big contract to AP, since they want to take over.

4. B.C. had a lot to say about the draft itself, which wasn’t surprising since that is what the entire conference was scheduled for. He spoke at length about the 2008 class being very deep with role players and the possibility that an early second round selection could actually contribute to a team right away in 2008-2009. He also pointed out that if the Raptors ended up moving their 17^th pick, they would look at acquiring one later in the draft, whether it be a late first rounder or something early in the second round. He stated that there was so much uncertainty about how things would shake down, there could be a player projected to go much earlier still left in the second round for them to pick up and develop. He said the main theme of this draft was youth, which was no surprise. He also said there were quality big men around where the Raptors were drafting, all of whom had a lot of desirable skills. He went through each position, starting with the bigs like Robin Lopez, Roy Hibbert, Jason Thompson, Marreese Speights and others. He noted Lopez was constantly linked to the Raptors in the days leading up to the draft and his energy is amazing, although he isn’t offensively polished. On the other hand, Hibbert is probably more ready to play right away but doesn’t have all the physical tools some other guys have. He went on to talk about guys like J.J. Hickson, Donte Greene, Alexis Ajinca, Darrell Arthur and others and also noted that the ‘high risers’ in the draft have been Ajinca and Lopez due to their workout performances. Brandon Rush and D.J. White got some props as well for what the Raptors staff had scouted but listening to this, you never got the feeling B.C. was in love with any specific player. He talked about the intrigue of some of the big man ‘projects’ like Speights, DeAndre Jordan, Anthony Randolph and JaVale McGee are expected to be but I think he was more willing to trade the pick than use it on one of those guys. My gut feeling is if they kept #17, it would’ve been used on Ajinca or Lopez after everything I’ve heard and read in the past three days.

Jermaine O’Neal Deal Done

Like I mentioned earlier, Yahoo! Sports reported that the deal was close to being done around 6 PM on Wednesday afternoon. The Pacers and Raptors had agreed in principle to send J.O. and the 41st pick in the draft to Toronto and the following assets would go to Indiana: T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston and the 17^th pick in the draft. Either Maceo Baston or Joey Graham will need to be added to the deal to make it work financially, which won’t be a problem. I’d rather send Baston back to Indy because there’s no way he’ll ever get playing time here now. For those of you that would like to read the story, ESPN has it up and the link is http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3461029 .

I loved the deal from the moment I heard about it and I think it will really benefit the Raptors more on the court than it will for Indiana. Sure, they get some cap relief next summer when Rasho comes off the books and they have their new point guard, so they’re free to ship out Jamaal Tinsley, but the upside of J.O. working alongside Chris Bosh is too much to ignore. An interesting note is this deal is still pending physicals and because T.J. is a Base Year Compensation player, the trade can’t be made official until July 9. That’s right Raptor fans – we won’t be seeing any news conferences with our new six-time All-Star center for another two weeks or so. That disappointed me when I heard it reported on the Score Wednesday night but the fact the deal is all but official is good enough for me. It’s been reported by ESPN, Yahoo!, TSN, The Score and many other major news outlets around North America. I don’t think physicals will be an issue, either, since Pacers officials told a local newspaper that O’Neal’s knee was fine a few weeks ago. T.J. also finished the season pretty well and looked to be in good health so I doubt Larry Bird will find anything new to throw this thing off.

Like I said before, this deal alters the Raptors’ frontcourt a lot. It should make them better defensively, they’ll get a lot more blocks with Jamario Moon and Chris Bosh playing off of O’Neal and their half court offense will be very hard to stop for opposing teams. I’m excited about having O’Neal in Toronto and I think this deal is a lot better than the other ones that were out there like Phoenix sending us Boris Diaw. I actually heard whispers that something could’ve been done with the Detroit Pistons for Richard Hamilton but I don’t buy that one at all. It just didn’t seem to make sense in any way for the Pistons even if they were moving Chauncey Billups because T.J. isn’t the type of guard you can picture playing for a Joe Dumars/Michael Curry team. Maybe that’s just me. The O’Neal deal has farther-reaching effects than a Hamilton deal would have, though.

Check out this article, written by ESPN’s John Hollinger, regarding who won the trade:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=Onealtrade-080625

The Immediate Future In Raptorland

So what now? What will the Raptors do for the rest of the summer now that they’ve acquired a former All-Star to bolster their frontcourt?

1. Get another draft pick. I wasn’t comfortable giving away #17 but it had to be done. They can still get a decent player later in the draft – even if they have to buy it outright with just cash. I like some of the players toward the bottom of the first round so if the Raps acquired one of those picks, I’d like it. There could still be a young big there that could develop down the line. Maybe even a swingman?

2. Try to get a wing scorer. If the Raptors acquired one more potent scorer, they would be a favourite in the East – at least a top four team in the Conference without question. The downside to the O’Neal trade is it used up the most attractive assets the team had: T.J. Ford because everyone needs a point guard, Rasho Nesterovic because of his $8.4 million worth of expiring contract and the 17^th pick in the draft. Is B.C. willing to part with Andrea Bargnani if some team was willing to give up a decent scorer for him? I don’t see it happening for many reasons so the Raps will really depend on their frontcourt. They can’t give up on Bargs just yet.

3. Re-sign Carlos Delfino and Jose Calderon. The Raps basically traded three players for one in the O’Neal deal so they need to restock their talent and make sure they keep the guys they already have. I don’t expect them to carry the full complement of 15 players but they should definitely have at least 13 guys. Calderon is the priority and hopefully they get him at a reasonable price for both parties. Delfino is probably a key guy now because the Raptors are already weak at the two and he would help keep it status quo.

4. Sign a free agent. This is where Bryan Colangelo will really need to use his smarts. The mid-level exception will likely be around $5.6 million or more this coming season and word has it the Raptors will likely be able to spend it without going over the luxury tax threshold. If that ends up being true, he needs to try and find a diamond in the rough to come in and possibly start at the shooting guard spot. Will you find a guy capable of scoring 20 points per game? Probably not, but they need to find someone who commands honest defense and can create his own shot. Let’s see that ingenuity and vision, B.C. I’m sure he already has a few names in mind. He went right after Kapono last season and may do the same with his new target come July 1.

5. Bring Roko Ukic to Toronto. He was drafted in 2005 and it seems people are always asking the media about him. Jose is obviously going to need a backup because he can’t play all 48 minutes so maybe it’s finally time for B.C. to buy out his European deal and bring him to the Raptors. They hold his rights and it’s been three seasons since then. I’m confident they can bring him in at a reasonable number and if they can’t, there has to be a decent backup out there capable of playing 10-15 minutes every night.

The Raptors only have about $7-8 million left in expiring contracts and they belong to Maceo Baston/Joey Graham (one will be in Indiana) and Anthony Parker so I don’t see them fetching the Raptors anything great unless a team is really looking to unload salary and doesn’t care who they get back. In my opinion, the Raptors are one more solid wing player away from being a very dangerous team in the NBA. It’s up to B.C. to make it happen. 2008-2009 could suddenly be a great season for the Toronto Raptors.

Headlines

“Heat Still Undecided With #2”

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/news/story?id=3460901

I think Pat Riley is still working the phones trying to move down with one of the teams directly below Miami. He doesn’t seem enamoured with Michael Beasley so why keep the #2 pick when you can move down and still get an O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless? It makes a lot of sense from the Heat standpoint. I think in the end, they’ll move down and get Mayo. He seems to be the one Riley really likes.

“Nuggets Send 20^th Pick To Charlotte”

Link: http://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/nuggets_trade_20pick_062508.html

This isn’t much of a headline but I’m just wondering what exactly Denver is doing. They have now moved out of Thursday’s draft entirely and it’s not like they have all the talent in the world. Why not draft a big man to come off the bench or someone that can actually play defense? The 20^th pick would’ve given them a chance to get a guy like that and they really need to make changes because that team isn’t going anywhere as it’s currently constituted.

“Sixers Extend Qualifying Offers To Iguodala, Williams”

Link: http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53178/20080625/sixers_extend_qualifying_offers_to_iguodala_and_williams/

This isn’t too surprising. The Sixers definitely need to keep Andre Iguodala if they have any hopes of continuing to improve with the young team they have. Louis Williams is also a good fit in the backcourt with Andre Miller but it doesn’t seem they have long-term plans to re-sign their point guard anyway. Iguodala turned down an extension from the Sixers earlier in the year so I’m interested in seeing what happens with him this offseason as a restricted free agent. Philly can keep him there regardless of what he thinks.

“Walsh Shops Randolph, Curry, Crawford”

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/sports/basketball/25nba.html?_r=2&ref=basketball&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I think there will be takers around the league for Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford but Eddy Curry is another story entirely. He never seems to be in good shape and I don’t see any team knocking the Knicks’ door down to get him unless they’re really desperate for a wide body or want the 6^th pick in the draft Thursday. Crawford is also one of the few guys that can go off for a random 40 points on any given night, especially if he’s in the right system. I think he’d be better suited to staying in New York. Randolph is very talented but with the wrong team to do any damage so maybe he’ll be enticing if he’s packaged with the pick.

There are so many other headlines around the league right now and it’s really fun to read it all. I advise anyone interested in finding out more to keep checking http://www.realgm.com , http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/index , and of course, http://www.nba.com . That’s it for this entry. See you all at the live blog co-hosted by Dino Nation’s James Borbath tomorrow night at 7 PM. The link is http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php?option=com_altcaster&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=83e5ad0d17 so join us because the Raptors will likely acquire another pick at some point. Until next time..

-Mark R.

[The Raptor Core]

(4-4, m. 3), para que luego cuatro puntos de Igor Rakocevic y un triple de Zoran Planinic dejaran un 11-6 en el marcador.

El conjunto de Belgrado se mostró muy duro de pelar hasta el descanso, con su proverbial dominio del rebote, sobre todo el de ataque (26-25), y luego un 28-28, tras un gran triple de Milenko Tepic). En la recta final, un triple providencial y una canasta de dos puntos a cargo deIgor Rakocevic colocaron el 72-64 en el ''electrónico'' y, aunque los serbios vendieron muy cara su derrota a base de una gran intensidad en su juego, el Tau Cerámica ya comenzaba a avistar la victoria, que finalmente se produjo por una renta de ocho puntos (74-66).

  Batista y Kasun durante el partido

Imagen encontrada en: http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/Barca/da/paso/Tau/gana/opciones/elpepudep/20080401elpepudep_15/Tes

Por su parte, el AXA FC Barcelona cayó derrotado frente al Maccabi Tel Aviv por 81-75, en un apretado encuentro en el que los azulgrana lucharon por mantener el tipo durante todo el partido pero acabaron sentenciados por un mal último minuto. El conjuto que dirige Xavi Pascual salió algo dubitativo al parqué del Nokia Arena. La visión de juego de Nikola Vujcic planteó graves problemas en la defensa interior de los blaugrana y concedió importantes ventajas a Terrence Morris, que una y otra vez sacó provecho del buen hacer de su compañero de pintura. Una vez sentado el pívot croata, el equipo catalán logró tomar el mando del luminoso, pero tras un par de ataques algo deslavazados, los hombres que dirige Zvi Sherf supieron cerrar con suficiencia el primer cuarto y recuperar una mínima ventaja.

La escuadra israelí cerró filas en defensa y empezó a abrir hueco al comienzo del segundo cuarto. Las salidas a la carrera que propiciaban los errores de los españoles, y las dificultades para frenar a los hombres altos del equipo macabeo (donde también resaltó Esteban Batista), dificultaron la remontada azulgrana. Gracias a las ayudas en defensa sobre el pívot uruguayo, el FC Barcelona logró frenar la sangría anotadora y acercarse en el marcador, y sólo la falta de acierto de los hombres de perímetro azulgranas impidió que se llegara al descanso con un resultado más ajustado (36-29).

Decepción azulgrana

La reanudación trajo consigo un mayor protagonismo de los ataques. Si bien en los 20 primeros minutos apenas se convirtió un lanzamiento de tres puntos, en el tercer periodo tuvo lugar una exhibición anotadora desde más allá de la línea de 6.25. El intercambio de canastas favoreció a los de Xavi Pascual que, con la tercera personal de Terrence Morris, pudieron disfrutar de un Ersan Ilyasova mucho más liberado. El turco, en estado de gracia, protagonizó la remontada, y un triple suyo colocó en el luminoso el empate a 57 con que se entró en el último cuarto.

El comienzo del cuarto periodo siguió la misma tónica, con el Maccabi tratando de abrir brecha en el marcador e Ilyasova manteniendo a los suyos en el partido. El conjunto catalán no le perdió la cara al partido, y de esta forma consiguieron llegar al último minuto con una mínima desventaja de cuatro puntos. Sin embargo, y después de haber logrado hacer lo más díficil, los azulgrana erraron tres ataques consecutivos y tiraron por tierra sus opciones de haber conseguido un importante triunfo en territorio israelí. El Maccabi no perdonó desde la línea de tiros libres y tomó así la delantera en la lucha por una plaza en la 'Final Four' de Madrid.

That said, this isn't a horrible move. To begin, there's the promise of some European football. Maccabi Tel Aviv's Wikipedia page ends with a chart on how far the team got in various European competitions in recent years. Doesn't look like Maccabi gets very far, and there's more UEFA Cup than Champions League in there, but provided this means regular, competitive playing time, it improves on Feilhaber's current pine-riding gig.

UPDATE: Thought I'd keep this post current in case Google or something refers people back to it.  Derby rejected Maccabi Tel Aviv's offer for Feilhaber.  So, no Israel for this Yanqui.  There is talk, however, of interest from Major League Soccer (MLS)...and that's more interesting still...and, possibly, driven by a desire to insure availability for the U.S. National team?

Euroleague

The injured man, a disc jockey at the club, was in serious but stable condition, the Haaretz newspaper reported. Bynum had a hearing in Tel Aviv and was to remain in custody until Sunday, according to the Haaretz newspaper.

Bynum plays for Israeli champion Maccabi Tel Aviv. A group of basketball players were at a Tel Aviv nightclub when they became involved in a fight, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Yahoo 

Fakt: Der israelische Traditionsclub Maccabi Tel Aviv befindet sich nach der 0:1-Niederlage beim Aufsteiger Hapoel Ironi auf einem Abstiegsplatz in der heimischen Liga. Der deutsche Traditionstrainer Lothar Matthäus sucht nach seinem Rauswurf in Salzburg immer noch nach einem neuen Job.

Gerücht: Lothar Matthäus wird Trainer bei Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Wahrheitsgehalt: Maximal: 25% "Es wäre eine Ehre für mich, Tel Aviv zu trainieren", verriet der deutsche Rekordinternationale der Bild-Zeitung. Er war auch schon in Israel und sah das Spiel gegen Maccabi Haifa (0:3). Vielleicht ist das Zitat aber auch ein Versuch, sich wieder ins Gespräch zu bringen. Denn Lothars Ehrgeiz ist wohl kaum unterhalb des UEFA Cups angesiedelt.

Quelle: sportal.de

Laut Informationen der "Bild" soll der neue Investor des israelischen Klubs Maccabi Tel Aviv dem deutschen Rekordnationalspieler ein Engagement als Trainer angeboten haben. Matthäus hatte sich am Samstag ein Spiel des Traditionsklubs angesehen.

Ganz abwegig scheint die Idee nicht zu sein. Denn der 46-Jährige erklärte: "Ich bin privat in Israel. Aber es wäre eine Ehre für mich, Tel Aviv zu trainieren." Zuletzt war Matthäus bei Red Bull Salzburg tätig.

Quelle: sport1.de