Tag: In the News

Victorious Argentines happy to have day off

By Mike Monroe
mikemonroe@express-news.net

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — Manu Ginobili’s long march through the second round of the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament here is over, and just in time.

Playing on tired legs after four games in four days, the Spurs guard had 17 points and five assists as Argentina scored a 84-58 victory over the Dominican Republic on the final day of the second phase of a tournament that is as much marathon as test of basketball skills.

Each team played four games in five days in the first round. After a single day off, the second round required four games in four days.

There are no games today, and few players are more grateful than Ginobili.

“For our team it is important,” said Ginobili. “For me it is huge. I am not used to playing back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I was exhausted and had no legs at all, as you could tell.

“I’m just glad that we were able to extend our lead (early in the fourth quarter) while I was on the bench so I didn’t have to play 35 minutes.”

Up by nine entering the fourth period, Argentina’s Carlos Delfino scored eight unanswered points in the first 1:40 of the period to give his team some breathing space.

“We are a 32-year-old average team, so we can use the day off,” said Rockets forward Luis Scola. “Saturday, for sure, everybody will be ready to go.”

Brazil’s 94-72 victory over Puerto Rico on Thursday earned top seed in the semifinals, meaning it will face the Dominicans. Argentina will play Puerto Rico. Spurs center Tiago Splitter scored 17 points in three quarters of an easy victory, and sat the fourth period.

The winners of Saturday’s games will be assured berths in the 2012 Olympics in London, regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s championship game.

Canada’s quest for an Olympic berth ended Thursday when Denver Nuggets guard Gary Forbes, playing for Panama, scored 39 points to lead his team to its only victory of the second round, 91-89.

Canada, with Spurs draftee Cory Joseph scoring four points, needed a victory and a loss by Venezuela to finish fifth in the tournament and advance to next summer’s play-in tournament.

“I just wanted to play this one loose and do what I could do get a victory for our team in this round,” said Forbes, who made eight of 13 3-point shots. “We had to take this victory back to our country.”

Ex-Spur, union leader Mason says lost NBA season is ‘absolutely’ possible

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

LAS VEGAS — Late last week, thanks to a tweet both misplaced and misconstrued, Roger Mason Jr. became the inadvertent face of hope in the NBA players union’s ongoing labor battle with league owners.

By Wednesday afternoon, hope had seemed to vanish from Mason’s vocabulary.

Calling the good vibes that led up to Tuesday’s stalled bargaining session with owners “a false sense of optimism,” Mason — vice president of the players union and a former Spurs guard — said there was “absolutely” a possibility the entire 2011-12 season will be erased by the lockout.

“I’m an optimistic person at heart,” Mason said after a game in the Impact Competitive Basketball Series in Las Vegas. “But what would make me think we’d have a season?”

Today, Mason and other union bigwigs — including executive director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher — will deliver a similarly dreary forecast to an estimated 80 players set to gather here for a labor briefing that some believe could devolve into full-scale revolt.

On the surface, Mason’s pessimism appears at odds with a post that briefly appeared on his Twitter account last week, which read in part: “Looking like a season.” Many observers took the tweet to be a leak that significant progress had been made in closed-door negotiating sessions.

Initially, Mason claimed his account had been hacked. Wednesday, he said the tweet had been accidentally posted by one of his representatives without his knowledge.

Chillingly, Mason says the post was not a sign of optimism at all. It came, he said, in answer to the question: “How long is the lockout going to last?”

After union leaders left the bargaining table Tuesday in New York with the owners still clinging to the idea of a hard salary cap, Mason’s answer to that question hasn’t changed.

“Right now, it’s looking like we’re going to miss training camp and some preseason games,” Mason said. “Unless some things change, we could lose the season. There’s no reason for me to think otherwise.”

With nervousness growing among players about Hunter’s job performance, and with a powerful cartel of agents saber-rattling to decertify the union, Mason is bracing for a meeting with fellow players today that could become contentious.

At about the same time, owners will hold a Board of Governors briefing in Dallas, with a group that includes the Spurs’ Peter Holt, head of the NBA’s labor committee.

Reiterating the union was still steadfast against decertification, a so-called “nuclear option” that would drag out in court, Mason issued a call for harmony among players.

“We just need to be on the same page,” Mason said. “We don’t need a contingent of agents pushing for one thing and the union pushing for another. Anytime there’s turmoil on one side of the negotiation, it hurts you. I’m sure (owners) would love to have dissension among us.”

Manu + Kobe = Italian dream team?

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has been weighing an offer from his old Italian team Virtus Bologna .

But the team could provide a sweetener to seal the deal — the chance for Ginobili to play with Kobe Bryant.

Sportando.net reports that Bologna team president Claudio Sabatini said his team has been to join the team.

Bolognabasket.it reports that Bryant has been offered to join the team during the lockout.

The offer would start on Nov. 13, when the Italian team starts its season. Bryant should have an idea about the lockout at that time. His deal would provide him with an NBA-opt out for when the lockout ends if he joins them.

“Since week one, week we are working to bring to Bologna the best player in the world, at least for one month,” Sabatini said. “In the meantime, we are still in talks with Manu Ginobili to bring him back to Bologna during the NBA lockout.

“Who is the best player in the world? You know who he is and I don’t have to tell you the name. During the last years, a lot of people said that Bologna is not ‘Basket City’ anymore. If the best player of the world will arrive for the month of October and then will arrive Ginobili for two more months, everyone has to admit that Bologna is Basket City.”

Bryant turned 33 last month. And Ginobili is 34. Both have been dogged by nagging injuries in recent seasons. But there’s big money for both to make if they look overseas during the lockout.

The respect level between the two players always has been huge. And if they played together in Italy, there would probably be some interest across the United States from fans missing NBA action during the lockout.

I wonder if there could be some Virtus Bologna watch parties at Fatso’s or Schooners if Bryant and Ginobili join forces in what would be an extremely entertaining team to watch?