Tag: Luis Scola

Lockout red tape keeps Ginobili waiting

The Argentine senior men’s basketball team will begin training today in Buenos Aires in preparation for the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, but Spurs guard Manu Ginobili’s participation remains clouded by the NBA lockout.

According to the ESPN Deportes website, the availability of Ginobili and fellow NBA players Luis Scola (Rockets), Carlos Delfino (Bucks) and Andres Nocioni (76ers) remains uncertain because the Argentine basketball federation has yet to secure insurance to cover the contracts of the NBA players.

Ordinarily, NBA teams are required to insure 80 percent of the contract of any player participating on a national team in a FIBA-sanctioned event. Because of the lockout, the entire burden of insuring the contracts falls on national federations, an expensive proposition for nations with multiple NBA participants.

German Vaccaro, president of the Argentine federation, is quoted in the ESPN Deportes article expressing confidence that the insurance, estimated to total $500,000, will be paid so the four players can join their national team for the tournament Aug. 28-Sept. 11 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

“One way or another, we are going to solve it, and NBA players will be able to play with the team,” Vaccaro told ESPN Deportes. “If we have to pay it, we’ll pay it, but I am very optimistic.”

In an interview with the Express-News in June, Ginobili said playing in the Olympic qualifying tournament in his homeland was “very, very important.” Equally vital to the Spurs All-Star guard: the opportunity to reunite with six teammates from the team that won the Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004.

“I know I only have this one and probably the next one to play with all my great friends on the team, Luis (Scola) and Fabri (Oberto) and (Andres) Nocioni and (Carlos) Delfino and the rest,” Ginobili said in June. “It is really exciting.”

Bogut out: Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will spend his time during the lockout as assistant coach of the Australian national team that will face New Zealand in an Olympic qualifying series.

Bogut hoped to play for Australia in the best-of-3 series, the winner of which will qualify for the 2012 London Games. But Basketball Australia was unable to insure his multimillion dollar contract, and instead the former No. 1 NBA draft pick will assist coach Brett Brown, the Spurs’ assistant coach, on the bench.

Brown joked Thursday: “He’ll be my richest assistant coach. He’s fantastic about wanting to play, but with injury and insurance issues with the NBA lockout, he’ll play his role from the bench next to me.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Parker not locked out of hoops in France

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

It appears Les Bleus have their point guard.

The French Basketball Federation has obtained insurance sufficient to cover the contracts of its NBA players, paving the way for the Spurs’ Tony Parker to play in the Eurobasket tournament in Lithuania later this summer.

The announcement came via a post on the official website for FIBA, the sport’s international governing body.

The question of insurance for international players has been a hot-button issue since the start of the NBA’s lockout July 1.

Typically, the NBA agrees to pay to insure 80 percent of a player’s salary, with foreign federations left to foot the remaining 20 percent. With a work stoppage in effect, however, the NBA has been unwilling to pick up its share of the tab, leaving the often cash-strapped international teams to shoulder the full financial burden.

For the French federation, that meant securing coverage for more than $125 million worth of NBA contracts. Earlier this summer, Parker said he wouldn’t consider playing this summer unless his contract was insured.

That obstacle cleared, the 29-year-old Parker was set to join fellow French NBA players Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf and Nicolas Batum for the start of training camp Wednesday in southern France. Eurobasket, an Olympic qualifying tournament, begins Aug. 31.

News of Les Bleus’ success in obtaining insurance came following a Tuesday meeting in New York between NBA commissioner David Stern and FIBA officials, though it is uncertain if the resolution was a direct result of those talks.

“Even before the formalization of the NBA lockout … the French Basketball Federation began working on insurance contracts of employment of selected players, in particular by proposing a pooling of insurance for all the federations concerned,” read a statement posted to FIBA.com. “Thanks to this French initiative, the coverage of the players is finalized.”

As such, Parker becomes the second Spurs player formally insured to play in this summer’s round of Olympic qualifiers.

Brazil announced last week it had secured insurance for its NBA contingent, making Spurs center Tiago Splitter available for the Tournament of Americas, which tips off Aug. 30 in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Meanwhile, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili and newly drafted point guard Cory Joseph are awaiting a resolution that would allow them to play for Argentina and Canada, respectively, in the same tournament.

In order for the Argentine federation to field its complete roster, which also includes NBA players Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni, it must first obtain coverage for about $75 million worth of contracts.

In an interview on Argentine television earlier this month, Ginobili said he was “optimistic” the insurance issue would be resolved in time for the team to open training camp July 29.

Yao, Shaq leave a big void

By DOUGLAS PILS
dpils@express-news.net

When the NBA finally comes back, it will be missing two global icons.

Without Shaquille O’Neal — rapper, shoe mogul and the best center of his generation — and now Yao Ming — the man who brought the world to the NBA — the league is much smaller.

Both had the game, personality and swagger that sold tickets, merchandise and worldwide appeal. Neither played much in 2010-11, but now that they’re truly gone the league has big holes in the big-man department.

When healthy, Yao changed games and, for a big man, his 83.3 free throw percentage was tops. O’Neal could move mountains under the basket, and he leaves us with lifetime of one-liners.

Who comes close to what they gave the NBA on and off the court?

It’s a different league from when Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson dominated. Now, we have 7-footers who win NBA titles with 3-pointers, flashy moves and 20-foot awkward looking fadeaway jumpers.

Dallas used to long for someone to compete with Olajuwon and Robinson. Now, all it needs inside to win a title is Tyson Chandler — a nice player and a difference maker this year, but he’s not going down as one of the all-time greats.

And he’s not selling products the way O’Neal and Yao could and can.

So, who are the most dynamic big men left?

Dwight Howard, Magic
The only center left who averages at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and the only one with star power for commercials — McDonalds, T-Mobile, adidas. And he mimics Shaq’s terrible free throws.

Brook Lopez, Nets
He upped his scoring to 20.4 per game this past season, but his rebounds dropped two per game to 6.0. The only commercial I’ve seen is on Disney with the Sprouse twins.

Nenê, Nuggets
Missed most of 2005-06 with a knee injury and 2007-08 with cancer, but he’s been dependable the past three seasons. I’m sure he’s popular in Brazil.

Andrew Bogut, Bucks
The 7-foot Aussie is the only other center besides Howard who averaged a double-double in 2010-11 at 12.8 points and 11.1 rebounds, and he led the NBA at 2.6 blocks a game. He does Time Warner spots in Milwaukee, but I couldn’t find any speaking roles.

Andrew Bynum, Lakers
He plays in Los Angeles, so you’d think he could rise into a leading man’s role. But it seems like we’re always waiting for him grow into his potential. After his last play of 2011 — knocking J.J. Barea to the floor — we’re still waiting.

IMPACT OF YAO

When the Rockets took China’s Yao Ming at No. 1 overall in 2002, he was the first foreigner to be No. 1.

The year before, Spain’s Pau Gasol became the highest at No. 4. In the 10 years before Yao’s selection, 20 foreign-born players who hadn’t played college ball in America were drafted.

In the next 10 drafts, including Yao’s, there have been 52, including six last month led by No. 3 overall pick Enes Kanter.

Toronto took Italy’s Andrea Bargnani at No. 1 in 2006, and Australia’s Andrew Bogut was No. 1 in 2005 after playing college for Utah.

Yao didn’t start the NBA’s international infusion, but he broadened the league’s reach into China and his play further dispelled the notion that basketball is solely an American game.

Here are seven of the best players drafted from overseas since Yao:

Bargnani, PF: Has career averages of 15.1 points — 21.4 in 2010-11 — and 4.9 rebounds for Toronto.

Nicolas Batum, SF, Trail Blazers: No. 25 in 2008, the Frenchman had his best season in his third year, averaging 12.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg.

Nenê, C, Nuggets: No. 7 in 2002, the Brazilian averages 12.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg — 14.3 and 7.6 the past three seasons.

Danilo Gallinari, SF, Nuggets: No. 6 by the Knicks in 2008, the Italian averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 2010-11.

Marc Gasol, C, Grizzlies: No. 48 overall in 2007, he’s blossomed in three seasons (12.6 ppg and 7.8 rpg).

Serge Ibaka, PF, Thunder: No. 24 in 2008 out of the Republic of Congo, he ended his second year atop the NBA with 198 blocks, with 9.9 ppg and 7.6 rpg.

Luis Scola, PF, Rockets: Spurs took him at No. 55 in 2002, traded him to Houston, and he’s averaged 14.3 ppg and 8 rpg in four years.