Posts Tagged ‘Victor Claver’

International Rookie Class Goes Well Beyond 2012 Draftees

August 15, 2012  ·  12:41PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – When it comes to international talent entering the NBA Draft, this was a down year.

No international players were selected until the Nuggets took France’s Evan Fournier with the 20th pick. And at most, there will be four international rookies from the 2012 Draft on NBA rosters this season.

But there will be plenty of other new international faces in the league, five from previous drafts and four more free agents that have signed with teams this summer. Here’s what we might expect from each of the nine, listed in order of which guys could make the most impact.

1. Jonas Valanciunas, C, Toronto, 2011 Draft (No. 5 overall)
The 6-foot-11 Lithuanian had an underwhelming performance at the Olympics, playing less than 12 minutes per game and getting lost at times when trying to defend pick-and-rolls. He’s just 20 years old and may need a few years to make the jump, but there’s a lot of potential there, and he could eventually be the second-best player out of last year’s draft.

2. Mirza Teletovic, F, Brooklyn, Free agent
Teletovic, who turns 27 next month, probably won’t start for the Nets but he should have a pretty big role as a big man off the bench. He averaged 15.8 points and 6.3 boards for Caja Laboral last season, and was the leading scorer (21.7 ppg) in Euroleague play. He’s a bit of a gunner, but has a pretty complete offensive game. Defense may be an issue.

3. Donatas Motiejunas, F, Houston, 2011 Draft (No. 20)
The way the Rockets’ roster is shaping up, the team should be pretty bad, and Motiejunas should get plenty of playing time. He’s a seven-foot stretch four whose range doesn’t quite reach the 3-point line. Still, he had an impressive Rockets debut at Summer League, averaging 23.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per 30 minutes in Vegas. (more…)

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Long-Awaited Picks Claver, Freeland Finally (Set To Be) Blazers

July 27, 2012  ·  10:36AM

HANG TIME WEST – They are coming, finally. Eventually.

The Olympics are the last step. Victor Claver will play for Spain as a heavy favorite to medal and Joel Freeland for host Britain as a heavy favorite to not medal. They then become Trail Blazers teammates with enough recovery time on their hands before training camp opens.

That they will become Blazers at all is a development more significant than most international arrivals. Two at the same time is noteworthy. Two at the same time for the frontline, with the chance to immediately join the rotation, is important for a team trying to push back into the playoffs and can use their help.

Claver, a 6-foot-10, 245-pound small forward who can play some power forward, was the No. 22 pick in 2009. Freeland, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound power forward who can play some center, was No. 30 in 2006. That’s a lot of waiting that, at last, faces a payoff.

“I think the time was absolutely right for both of them to come,” said Neil Olshey, the new general manager who joined the organization years after both were drafted. “We’ve got a young roster and they’ve both got a chance to contribute immediately if their game translates from what they’ve done in international basketball. They both play positions where we’re going to need some depth. And they’ve both got transferrable skills. Joel’s ability to rebound, score around the basket, defend multiple positions. And Victor’s length, his ability to stretch the floor, he’s a nice complement to Nic.”

(more…)

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Spaniards Chime In On Dream Team

July 25, 2012  ·  11:39AM





HANG TIME, Texas — Maybe they’ve never heard the old saying about letting sleeping dogs lie in Spain.

It sure seemed foolish that Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Rodriguez and Victor Claver would want to wade into the debate about the merits of the original 1992 Dream Team vs. the 2012 edition.

And it looked a little sillier after the Americans whipped Spain 100-78 Tuesday night in Barcelona. Admittedly, Gasol did not play due to a shoulder injury and Rodriguez was strictly an observer in the final tuneup game before the start of the Olympic tournament. Nevertheless, here is the excerpt of an interview that was posted on Hoopshype:

Which American team is better: the Barcelona ’92 team or the current one?

Marc Gasol: Who has created this debate? They have, right? On a bad day for the ’92 team, the current team would lose by just 15 or 20 points against them.

Jose Calderon; It’s impossible to compare. That ’92 was breathtaking and we grew up watching them. (The current team) is also very good and if they win the gold medal, then you can start comparing. I don’t like to compare. It’s different players and different generations.

Rudy Fernandez: No disrespect to this current team, but I would choose the ’92 team. We all grew up with that team, I lived in Barcelona at that time, the players were amazing and they were the stars on their teams.

Juan Carlos Navarro: They are teams from different eras. Both are great teams, but I especially liked the ’92 Dream Team. I was young and my favorite player was on that team: Michael Jordan.

Sergio Rodriguez: I would say the Dream Team. That team in Barcelona was special for us Spaniards. Now we have two All-Star players, a lot of players on this team have played in the NBA… Something that was impossible to even dream about 20 years ago.

Victor Claver: The current team has to prove it. The ’92 team was the Dream Team, they won it all and they were dominant.

While we’ll concede that the members of Team Espana didn’t engage in any direct trash-talking or say anything egregiously inflammatory, one would think that it is not wise to give the favored Team USA any motivational edge. After all, that Kobe fella has a long, sharp-edged memory and he and his teammates will likely get to do their talking in the gold medal game on Aug. 12.

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