Tag: National Basketball Association

Treading on hallowed ground: A trip to Estadio Manu Ginobili in Bahia Blanca

BAHIA BLANCA, Argentina — The gymnasium where Manu Ginobili developed the game that  has made him an NBA champion, Olympic champion and an NBA All-Star sits a few blocks from the center of Bahia Blanca, a town of nearly 300,000 in the Southeast corner of the province of Buenos Aires.

Ginobili was not the first star to be developed by the basketball club Bahiense del Norte, but he is the most celebrated, by far, and the gym has been re-named in his honor.

Ginobili’s friend, Dario Faure, came behind Ginobili on the Bahiense del Norte team by two years, and he understands the import of the tidy facility.

“This is hallowed ground,” said Faure, my guide on a tour of Bahia Blanca, along with another  Bahia Blancan and fluent English speaker, Federico Groppa, who filled in the gaps in my sincere, yet halting, attempts at speaking Spanish.

The three of us watched two teams of Bahia Blancan kids playing a “Mini A” League  game on Saturday morning, a game that included a lithe youngster with floppy black hair and a reckless style of play. It was, Groppa informed me, one of Ginobili’s nephews, the son of his oldest brother.

Parker: It’s France or nothing

If Tony Parker is going to play anywhere overseas during the NBA lockout, it’s going to be his native France. after a Les Bleus exhibition in London on Tuesday.

that Parker was in discussions to play in China should the lockout linger. Though Parker acknowledged informal talks with teams in China, he says his focus is on France, where he is part owner of the French League powerhouse ASVEL.

He tells ESPN.com he won’t make a decision about a lockout landing spot until after the Eurobasket tournament ends in September. A lot will depend on his health.

“I want to see if I’m healthy, if I’m hurt and by then we will also know a lot more what is happening with the situation of the lockout,” Parker said.  ”If I play (abroad), I will definitely play in France, for my fans, for my team, ASVEL.”

Parker is one of a handful of NBA stars to have his name linked with China.  The most notable is Kobe Bryant, the Lakers’ former MVP.

Due to wrangling with the Chinese Basketball Association, which is seeking to prohibit NBA players coming to that nation on a rental basis during the lockout, Parker says “it looks like China is not going to happen for any players.”

Speaking of his lockout plans, Parker said, “it’s more an emotional decision.”

“It’s not enough for me just to play for the money, stuff like that, because I am a student of the game,” Parker said. “I am passionate about the game. It would be great for my family, my friends, to see me in France.”

Actor Marc Blucas calls himself ‘Spurs groupie’ because of friendship with Duncan

Marc Blucas and Tim Duncan both have enjoyed much success since leaving Wake Forest.

Blucas and Duncan were teammates on the Demon Deacons’ 1994 team.

Blucas has gone to Hollywood to start an acting career which has included roles as Agent Riley Flinn in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the movies “We Were Soldiers,” ”Thr3e” and “The Killing Floor.” Most recently, he landed a continuing role in the new USA-TV series “Necessary Roughness.”

Duncan, of course, has had some success in his chosen field as well.

But Blucas said he has, who is out of work indefinitely as NBA players are locked out.

“I’m out there every day doing my thing and my friend is just sitting home,” Blucas told ESPN.com. “I need to make that call.”

After leaving Wake Forest, Blucas briefly played overseas with the Manchester Giants of the British Basketball League. But he struggled as a 6-foot-2 point guard and went to an acting career after originally thinking of becoming a lawyer.

But he’s never forgotten about Duncan, his old friend from college.

“Every kid who plays basketball wants to make it to the NBA, but I was a tweener: more of a shooting guard in a point-guard size body,” Blucas said. “I knew it wasn’t going to happen. So now I live vicariously through Tim. I’m a Spurs groupie.”