Argentina defeats USA in 2004 Olympics

This is a classic game. Just remember this game the next time you are thinking Team USA is too good, with all of its "athletic" stars. Watch the vid, and look at all the huge names playing for USA in this game (including this year's retread "veteran leader" Odom. This was a high-stakes, hard-fought, final four game, winner going to the Gold game (where Argentina won), loser to the Bronze (where USA won).

Scola Highlights

I could only find to links to the Scola highlights from today's game. The first is shot by hand from the Argentina fans in the stands. Very cool, and even includes his steal against Barbosa in the last minute.




The second is edited from a TV show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIB5QvH69eU

Sweet 16 Rewind

Great games in the so-called Eighth Finals (what we usually call the Sweet Sixteen). Oddly enough, we saw four of the pre-tourny favorites playing against each other, with Spain knocking out Greece, and Argentina knocking out Brazil. Outside of Team USA, it is an all-White final eight, as France, Angola, China all lose. Even the slightly mixed squads of Greece and Brazil lost to the all-White Spain and Argentina.

Luis Scola is the Larry Bird of this generation. He is absolutely amazing. If you haven't seen highlights of his performance tonight, do so, now. He was THAT good.

White stars of the Knockout round:

Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 37p, 9r
Huertas, PG (BRA) -- 32p
Linus Kleiza, SF (LTH) -- 30p, 9r, 2a
JC Navarro, SG (ESP) -- 22p (10 shots)
Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 21p (13 shots), 3r, 2a
Marko Popovic, PG (CRO) -- 21p (12 shots), 5r, 5a, 2s, 1b
Hedo Turkoglu, PF (TRK) -- 20p (10 shots), 4r, 3a
Andrey Vorontsevich, F (RUS) -- 18p (8 shots), 11r, 2s, 2b
J Lakovic, F (SLO) -- 19p (12 shots)
Sinan Guler, SG (TRK) -- 17p (10 shots), 3a
Timofey Mosgov, C (RUS) -- 16p (9 shots), 7r
Nenad Krstic, C (SRB) -- 16p (10 shots), 3r
N Zisis, PF (GRE) -- 16p, 4r
D Diamantidis, G (GRE) -- 16p (8 shots), 4r, 2s, 2b, 2a
A Rasic, G (SRB) 15p (6 shots), 3a, 2s
Rudy Fernandez, SF (ESP) -- 14p (7 shots)

World Championship Day 6 - Scola dominates again

Great day for White basketball fans as the uber-athletic New Zealanders take care of the Afro-French squad, driving their skill home with a last second shot sending the French down to the 4th seed. It was also nice to see Australia take care of Angola. Nothing like the World Championships to do a lot of damage to the myths of Black athletic superiority!

Luis Scola wraps up tournament MVP award with another incredible performance. No one else is even near his level. He is an artist with the basketball.



Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 32p, 7r
Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 25p (15 shots), 3a'
Tim Pleiss, C (GER) -- 23p (12 shots), 9r
O Daghles, G (JOR) -- 22p, 6a
Oguz Savas, (TRK) -- 20p (12 shots), 4r, 2a
JJ Barea, PG (PR) -- 19p, 7a
Rudy Fernadez, SG (ESP) -- 19p, 5r
Dusko Savanovic, PF (SRB) -- 19p, 5r, 2s
Fran Vasquez, PF (ESP) -- 19p (9 shots), 5r, 4b -- in 16 minutes!!!
Goran Dragic, SG (SLO) -- 18p (10 shots), 6r, 2a
Semih Erden, C (TRK) -- 18p (11 shots), 12r, 3b, 3a
Nenad Krstic, C (SRB) -- 18p (10 shots), 8r, 3a
Timofey Mosgov, C (RUS) -- 18p, 4r
M Machado, SF(BRA) -- 18p (5 shots!!!), 3r
Omer Asik, C (TRK) -- 17p, 13r, 2a, 2b
Renaldas Seibutis, SG (LTH) -- 17p (9 shots), 3a, 2s
M Gecevicius, SG (LTH) -- 16p, 4r, 2a
M Teodosic, SG (SRB) -- 16p, 4a, 4r, 3s
Carlos Delfino, SG (ARG) -- 13p, 7r, 4s, 1b
P Prigioni, PG (ARG) -- 13p, 9a, 5s, 3r

The Curious Case of Kevin Love

The entire world is commenting on the lack of playing time for Kevin Love, who is clearly the best big man for Team USA, and among the best overall players on the whole team.

This odd lack of playing time is puzzling to many observers, but the fact is, we here at White Basketball have seen this exact situation time and time again. It is part of very regular pattern. In American basketball, quality White players are denied minutes and starting spots even when they are outplaying and out-producing the Black player in front of them.

The pattern is also holding true that this usually happens under White coaches. Why? No one seems to know. But once you start to look for it, it is everywhere, as I have documented extensively on this blog.

The first step to overcoming this discrimination is acknowledgement of the problem, and I hope this blog will help raise awareness. Getting articles like this publised by ESPN certainly helps:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/19616/team-usa-no-love-for-love-from-coach-k

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- One of the big mysteries surrounding Team USA at the World Championship is why Kevin Love's playing time has been so limited.

He has been, by far, the most productive and aggressive player for the Americans when it comes to producing points and rebounds off the bench, but he is playing behind Andre Iguodala at the 4 spot and behind Lamar Odom (and sometimes Tyson Chandler) at center.

In yesterday's victory over Iran, which I dissected in my postgame column with a critical eye regarding the Americans' offense, Love led the team in scoring with 13 points despite playing the fewest minutes (just under 11) of anyone on the roster.

"I just go out there and try to be productive. Coach said today everybody's in their roles. I think for me, I know Lamar is going to be the starting center, and he's going to play a lot of minutes. So when I get the chance to come in, whether I'm playing 5 minutes or 25 minutes, I have to get the job done. And I feel I've done a good job contributing thus far," Love told ESPN.com.

Love played only 5:20 in Team USA's 2-point victory over Brazil, 13:24 in the 22-point victory over Slovenia and 13:14 in Team's USA's tournament-opening 28-point victory over Croatia.

That's a total of just 42 minutes in five games, yet Love leads Team USA in total rebounds with 28 (Kevin Durant is second with 27, and Odom has 26) and in offensive rebounds with 10 (Iguodala is 2nd with 6). He also has shot 50 percent from 3-point range and 61 percent overall, and he is the team's fifth leading scorer (8.3 ppg) behind Durant (18.8), Chauncey Billups (10.0), Derrick Rose (9.5) and Rudy Gay (9.0).

World Cup Round 5 Preview

Well, most of the damage has already been done, and the tournament has definitely not gone down as most would have suspected. Some big games tomorrow as teams jocky for positioning in the knockout round.

The biggie: Group D, France vs New Zealand. If France and Greece win tomorrow, Spain would finish 3rd, playing Greece in the knockout game, then getting USA in the quarter match!!! Wow. Spain is praying for a New Zealand victory tomorrow you can be sure!

France has to beat New Zealand to guarantee the 2nd seed, but with a New Zealand victory over France, a three-way tie would result between France, Spain, and New Zealand (going to a tie-breaker based on point differential).

So France could end up anywhere from 2nd to 4th seed if they lose. The 4th seed plays Turkey in the knockout round. The 3rd seed plays Greece-Russia winner, ending in Team USA's bracket for the quarters. The 2nd seed places Greece-Russia loser, ending in the top bracket against group A winner (Argentina/Serbia). That second seed is the best place to be, for certain.

Lithuania has earned the top spot in group D, with the unfortunate "gift" of facing the dangerous Puerto Rican squad in the knockout round. ***update: wrong, PR blew it against a weak African squad, China took their spot.


We also have a nice match in Argentina - Serbia for 1st in group A.

Australia-Angola is also big in group A, as the loser becomes the sacrificial lamb for Team USA in knockout round.

In group B, Brazil and Croatia play for the all-important 3rd seed. Loser faces the 1st seed from group A (Serbia/Argentina) in knockout.

In group C, Greece and Russia play for the 2nd seed. The placement really doesn't matter much, as they will both end up facing a tough squad from group D in the knockout round, possibly Spain.

World Championships Day 5 - Scola Scola Scola

Some big wins today for White basketball fans, as Russia beat Asian champ China, Euro-power Greece crushed African representative Ivory Coast, New Zealand beat the Black-dominated Canadian squad, Turkey beat the dark Puerto Rico, and Lithuania crushed the Afro-French squad. On other side of the coin, Africa got its first victory, when Angola beat Germany in OT to eliminate Germany and take a spot in the knockout round (as the sacrificial lamb for Team USA in the knockout round, unfortunately for them).

Scola continues to constrict his grip on the MVP trophy with another 30 point game.


Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 30p (18 shots), 13r
Marc Gasol, C (ESP) -- 25p (14 shots), 8r (5 off)
Jan Jagla, C (GER) -- 23p (17 shots), 6r, 3a
Jackson Vroman, PF (LEB) -- 22p (14 shots), 9r (5 off)
Macram BEN ROMDHANE, PF (TUN) -- 23p (8 shots)
Jaka Lakovic, F (SLO) -- 20p (13 shots), 3r, 3a, 2s
Marcelinho Machado, SF (BRA) -- 20p (10 shots), 3s
Tiago Splitter, C (BRA) -- 19p (13 shots), 4r
Milos Teodosic, SG (SRB) -- 19p (13 shots), 3r, 3a, 2s
J Maciulis, G (LIT) -- 19p (11 shots), 3s
Bojan Bogdanovic, SF (CRO) -- 19p (14 shots), 3a
Hamed Haddadi, C (IRI) -- 19p (17 shots), 5r
Novica Velickovic, PF (SRB) -- 18p (13 shots), 9r
Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 18p (14 shots)
Carlos Delfino, SG (ARG) -- 18p (17 shots), 5a
Heiko Schaffartzik, PG (GER) -- 18p (15 shots), 7r, 4a
Sergey Monya, F (RUS) -- 17p (7 shots), 6a, 3r, 2s
Tim Ohlbrecht, C (GER) -- 17p (9 shots), 4 r
Primoz Brezec, C (SLO) -- 16p (8 shots), 3r
Marco Popovic, PG (CRO) -- 16p (10 shots), 5a, 4r
Sasha Kaun, C (RUS) -- 16p (11 shots), 14r (6 off)
Hedo Turkoglu, F (TRK) -- 16p (11 shots), 5a
Nick Calathes, PG (GRE) -- 15p (10 shots), 8a, 7r
Fran Vasquez, PF (ESP) -- 15p (7 shots), 8r
Anton Ponkrashov, SG (RUS) -- 15p (14 shots), 5a
Nenad Krstic, C (SRB) -- 14p (9 shots), 10r (4 off)
Casey Frank, F (NZL) -- 14p (5 shots), 4r
Thomas Abercrombie, SF (NZL) -- 7p, 10r

Josh Heytvelt signs with Lottomatica Roma

Lottomatica Roma, powerhouse club in Italy's Serie A, overhauled its frontcourt on Monday (Aug. 17), agreeing to re-sign center Joshua Heytvelt (6'11"-240, college: Gonzaga) and releasing big man Andre Hutson.

Joshua Heytvelt arrived to Roma in May this year from Oyak Renault Bursa in Turkey. He appeared just twice in Serie A (the highest pro league in Italy, one of the top three in Europe) with 1 ppg and 2.5 rpg, but it seems he showed enough during the off-season to secure another deal with the club.

Heytvelt shined in the Turkish Basketball League last season averaging 17.3 points, 20 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks for 30 games. He ended this season as the second best rebounder and fifth shot blocker.

Eurobasket awarded him with Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League 1st Team and Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League Defensive Player of the Year.

Last season was the first one for Heytvelt as a pro. He graduated in 2009 at Gonzaga averaging 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in his senior year.

Walter Herrmann looking to return to NBA

Small forward Walter Herrmann (6'10"), who spent last season playing in the Spanish League for Caja Laboral, apparently misses playing in the NBA.

The Hoops Market reports that Herrmann is in discussions with the team to terminate his deal so he can return to North America, where the 31-year-old Argentine forward played for the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006-08 and the Detroit Pistons in 2007-09.

Herrmann's agent says there is some NBA interest in his client. In his four NBA seasons, Herrmann averaged 5.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

Whatever happened to... Robert Swift

Robert Swift is famous for being the first White player drafted straight out of high school. Robert was the Sonic's top pick in the 2004 draft, the 12th choice overall. He played four seasons.

He never really caught on in the league, peaking out in his second year, playing 47 games, averaging 21 minutes a game, 6.4 points and 5.6 rebounds. After missing a complete season because of severe injury, he played only 8 games in year three, and 26 games in year four. He had a brief stopover with his hometown team, the NBDL's Bakersfield team, before quitting the sport in 2009.

This past week it was announced that Robert will be resurrecting his professional career in Japan.



The BJ League announced today (Aug. 16th) that former NBA Player Robert Swift has agreed to terms to play for the Tokyo Apache this upcoming season.
Swift, a 216cm center, had previously played for the Seattle Super Sonics and Oklahoma City Thunder after jumping to the NBA straight out of Bakersfield High School.
As a player, Swift is not only talented around the basket, but provides a large interior presence that can run the floor.
According to his new teammate Darin Satoshi Maki's twitter feed, he also has Japanese heritage, being quarter Japanese. This should allow fans to become closer and help Swift get into touch with his Japanese side.

World Championships Day 4 -- Ersan Ilyasova

Half-pool action again today, back to full schedule tomorrow and Thursday for the final two group rounds.

Ilyasova comes up huge today in Turkey's massive win for Group C lead, over hated rival Greece. The fans were whistling against Greece THE ENTIRE GAME, from minute one, great game atmosphere.


Ersan Ilyasova, PF (TUR) -- 26p (14 shots), 5r
Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 26p (19 shots)
Thomas Abercrombie, SF (NZL) -- 23p (17 shots), 7r
Tomofey Mosgov, C (RUS) -- 19p (10 shots), 5r
Fadi El Khatib, SF (LEB) -- 18p (8 shots), 7r
I Bourousis, C (GRE) -- 15p (13 shots), 7r
Levon Kendall, PF (CAN) -- 15p (8 shots), 4r
JJ Barea, PG (PR) -- 13p (7 shots), 9a

Thomas Abercrombie Meets the World

Every international tournament marks some young player's coming out party, as his spectacular play and athleticism get him noticed worldwide, often leading to a contract in the NBA. One such player definitely catching eyes this tournament is Thomas Abercrombie, shooting guard for New Zealand. He is 6'6, 198# and 23 years old, currenlty playing for the Breakers, in the New Zealand Basketball League.

He actually led his team in rebounding in NZ first game against Lithuania, amassing an incredible 8 offensive rebounds, finishing with 11 total, to go with 7 points, in 21 minutes.

Against Spain, he got even better, pouring in 19 points (on only 11 shots), and cleared 6 rebounds, tied for team high, in only 21 minutes off the bench.

In today's game against Lebanon, Abercrombie was back in the starting lineup, and played for a full 30 minutes, making the most of it: 23 points (on 17 shots). Again leading the team in rebounds with 7 total, of which 5 were on the offensive glass.

After three games, Abercrombie actually has more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds. This stat really highlights his toughness and athleticism. He lets the big guys clean the glass on the defensive side, but on offensive, he attacks the rim with ferocity.


Here is one of his sweet dunks. It was the same play they ran a couple days ago against Spain, with him finishing over Marc Gasol. I hope somene puts together a full highlight reel from the Championships for him. He is an amazing leaper, and his overall game is solid. I would expect to see him move up from the New Zealand pro league very shortly after this breakout performance.

World Championships Day 3 - Luis Scola

Kevin Love gets buried behind Odom, playing only 5 minutes. What a joke, this is why I do not support USA basketball.

Splitter, PF (BRA) - 13p, 10r in nice game against USA. Too bad Varejao did not play, but he will be back in action for the next game. Watch out for Brazil in the medal rounds.

All-White Argentina of course destroyed all-Black Angola. The African sides are very weak, as usual.

Other White stars today (only half the teams playing today):

Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 32p (21 shots), 8r, 3st
Hamed Haddadi, C (IRI) - 23p, 13r, 4b
Carlos Delfino, GS (ARG) -- 22p (12 shots), 5r, 4a, 4st
Dusko Savonovic, PF (SRB) -- 21p (10 shots), 7r
Marko Keselj, F (SRB) - 21p (10 shots), in 15 min.
Kosta Perovic, C (SRB) -- 20p (11 shots), 6r, 2b
Roko UKIC, PG (CRO) -- 20p (14 shots), 7a
Marko POPOVIC, PG (CRO) -- 17p (7 shots) in 15 min.
Marko TOMAS, SG (CRO) -- 17p (8 shots), 4a
Aleks Maric, C (AUS) -- 15p (9 shots), 5r
Uros Slokar, PF/C (SLO) -- 15p (8 shots), 6r
Jaka LAKOVIC, PG (SLO) -- 15p (9 shots), 4a
Goran Dragic, SG (SLO) -- 14p (10 shots), 4r, 4a

World Championship Day 2 - Luis Scola

Star performers:

Luis Scola, PF, ARG -- 31p (19 shots), 9r (4 off)
Vassilis SPANOULIS, PG, GRE -- 28p (12 shots)
Hamed Haddadi, C, IRI -- 27p, 9r (5 off)
Joe Ingles, SG, AUS -- 22p (15 shots), 4r
Marc Gasol, C, ESP -- 22p (9 shots)
Jan Jagla, PF, GER -- 22p (11 shots), 9r, 4a
Kirk Penney, SG, NZL -- 21p
Kosta Perovic, C, SRB -- 20p (10 shots)
JJ Barea, PG, PUR -- 20p (12 shots)
Jackson Vroman, PF, LEB -- 19p, 5r, 3st
Linus Kleiza, SG, LTH -- 18p, 10r
Tiago Splitter, PF, BRA -- 16p (10 shot), 4r
Kevin Love, PF, USA -- 10p, 11r (5 off) in 13 minutes
Levon Kendell, PF, CAN -- 9p, 11r
Ilyasova, PF, TUR -- 10p, 10r

World Championships Day One - Kirk Penney

Of course, the big news of the day was the shocking loss of all-White Spain to the heavily Black squad from France. France actually started a White player at guard, who then got a grand total of 8 minutes playing time. We have seen that pattern of "starting only to sit on the bench" far too often in the NBA. It is hard to know what motivates it.

There were a number of incredible performances by White players at the Worlds today.

Kirk Penney, SG (NZL) -- 37p (20 shots and 16-20 FTs)
Linus Kleiza, SF (LTH)-- 27p (15 shots), 8r
Carolos DelFino, SG (ARG)-- 27p (18 shots), 8r
JJ Barea, PG (PUR) -- 25p (17 shots), 4a, 4r
Aleks Maric, C (AUS)-- 23p (14 shots), 9r
Derek Anderson, PF (AUS) -- 22p (10 shots), 9 r, 4a
Aleksandar Rasic, SG (SRB) -- 22p (9 shots), in 18 minutes
Ioannis Bourousis, C (GRK) -- 21p (12 shots), 8r
Luis Scola, PF (ARG) -- 20p (12 shots), 4r
Guilherme Giovannoni, PF (BRZ) -- 17p (10 shots), 7r
JC Navarro, SG (ESP) -- 17p (13 shots)
Ersan İlyasova, PF (TRK) -- 17p (8 shots), 8r, 3a, in 21 min.
H. Haddadi, C (IRN) -- 16p, 9r, 5 blocks
Goran Dragic, SG(SLO) -- 16p (9 shots), 8a, 5r
Marko Popovic, PG (CRO) -- 16p (8 shots)
Levon Kendall, PF (CAN) -- 11r (4 offensive)
Kevin Love (USA) -- 10r in 11 minutes.
Marcelo Huertas, PG (BRZ) -- 10p (5 shots), 9a in 22 min.
A. Ponkrashov, PG (RUS) -- 10p (5 shots), 11a

World Championship friendly updates

Greece is looking great. Last weekend they beat Croatia by 9, Germany by 28, and Russia by 38. Nice addition they found in former Florida Gator Nick Calathes, who led them in scoring.

--In a surprise to me, Serbia ended up beating Turkey fairly easily 83-70, led by Nenad Krstic.

--Angola, the African champions, got crushed over the weekend by Brazil 59-89. So much for African basketball superiority!

--Germany is not looking strong. They always have a great defense, but they are not getting any scoring punch, and appear to be stuck at the lower levels of the comp: losing by one to Croatia, winning by 3 over Russia (also, Russia beat Croatia by 1).

--Puerto Rico, lost the best of three with Argentina over the last week, although they played without Carlos Arroyo and Renaldo Balkman (and the last game without their big man Ramos). They lost the first game in overtime by five, then won by 7, but lost the final in the series by 13.

--Argentina played their three games against P.R. without Oberto and Nocioni, and the first two without Prigioni, who will all be with them for the Worlds. Luis Scola continues to play like a monster, scoring 33 in their final victory over P.R. Scola may be the best player in the tournament at the Worlds.

--Spain has beaten three quality opponents fairly easily in the past week, still looking like the tourny favorites: beating Ivory Coast by 15, Lithuania by 21, and Slovenia by 20. JC Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, and Marc Gasol look to be the keys to their success.

--Lithuania beat Slovenia by 3, considered a slight upset the way they have respectively been playing lately, led by Kleiza and Javtokas. Dragic continues to pour in points for Slovenia.

--New Zealand squeeked out a victory over Iran 69-68, led by Kirk Penney's 28. In their 71-76 loss to Serbia, Penney poured in 34.

--Iran now has Hadaddi in action, and are a very tough squad with him on the floor.

Turkey looking strong

Turkey is of course amped up, being the host nation for the tournament, and they are looking very strong in their early friendlies. They beat New Zealand and Iran by wide margins (87-65 & 93-53). They play Serbia today, which should be a good game, but Serbia is not looking as strong against those same teams (winning by 76-71 & 96-68).

Team Turkey is in the group of death at the Worlds, along with Greece, Puerto Rico, Russia, China, and Ivory Coast. It will be a tough fight for the top three spots in that group, with the winner of Russia-China likely taking the fourth advancement spot.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=adidas-cup-to-rehearse-world-championship-2010-08-08

Carl English Update

I developed a liking for Carl English watching him play for Canada against Team USA in 2008. It was fun watching him and Kobe go at it. Kobe fancied himself the team's designated stopper, looking to smother the opponent's best scorer, and English was it for Team Canada. English held his own, making some nice scoring moves and scored 11, including going to the line for 8 FTs. He was definitely fun to watch, and it definitely earned my respect.

Carl is playing in Europe professionally. He will play for DKV Joventut in the ACB league (Europe's top league, based in Spain). Of course, he is playing for Canada during the Worlds.

Canada is in Group D, and looks like they have a chance to advance. Spain looks out of their reach, but beating Lebanon, New Zealand is quite doable. If they play well, they might even catch France or Lithuania in the group standings.

Team Canada plays friendlies against China and France this coming up week before heading off to Europe for some more pre-tourny tournies.

http://turkey2010.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/10/fwcm/news/p/eid/4728/nid/42377/sid/4728/article.html

World Championships 2010

Looks to be a great tournament shaping up for White basketball fans.

Spain is the prohibitive favorite. They are the defending World Champs, as well as the European Champions from last year. Of course, the big minus is Pau Gasol not playing, but the entire rest of the team is coming back, and better than ever.

The United States has to be considered a dark horse. After the loss of David Lee and coach Dantoni, as well as both Lopez brothers, they are looking especially weak down low. Kevin Love looks to be the only White player to make the team.

Argentina all-White squad is currently the number one ranked team in the world, so they cannot be overlooked.

Brazil's integrated team also looks very powerful and should give Team USA a solid beating in their group.

Serbia's all-White squad looks to be dark horses, having turned around their national program and taken 2nd in the Euro 2009 Championship.

Slovenia looks to be an up-and-coming squad as well, led by the surging Goran Dragic, although it would be a major shocker to see them make the medal stand.

It is with great sadness for me to report that the Italian team did not make the tournament. Although ranking in FIBAs top 10, and better than most teams that did make the field, they could not make it out of the tough European qualifying.

Puerto Rico's integrated team also looks to be a dark horse, bring a very high-powered and mentally tough team to the tournament.

France's all-Black team looks good on paper, and includes the addition of Joachim Noah, but like all all-black teams, will probably underperform.

The "friendly" pre-tournament games heat up this weekend, so look forward to frequent updates.

White Basketball League Forming

David Andersen to Rockets

The Houston Rockets have signed center David Andersen(notes) to a multiyear contract to help make up for the loss of Yao Ming(notes).
The Rockets acquired the rights to the 6-foot-11 Andersen in a trade with Atlanta on July 14. Houston scrambled to find a center after announcing in June that Yao was out indefinitely with a hairline fracture in his left foot.
Yao announced last month that he would have surgery to repair the injury, a decision that will likely keep him out all of next season. The seven-time All-Star underwent the procedure the following week.
Andersen was a second-round draft choice of the Hawks in 2002. He has spent his career in his native Australia and in Europe, most recently in the Spanish League with FC Barcelona, where he averaged 11.1 points and 4.1 rebounds last season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=As9ZctOlp9MgS27iCSEf_bmLvLYF?slug=ap-rockets-andersen&prov=ap&type=lgns

White of the Night: Jose Calderon

Beautiful night in Indiana, as the Pacers start three American Whites, and win a big one over the Rockets!

Interesting stat from NY: New York has outscored opponents by 53 points when Gallinari has been on the court during the four games since he returned from injury. Gallinari made our list of top performers again tonight, scoring a smooth 11 on 5, in only 17 min.

Sean Marks thrust into the starting C spot in N.O., and good to see him do well.

But, oh, J.C. Superstar! Jose Calderon, in his return from injury game, proves his worth, leading the Raptors to victory, and earning our White of the Night.


Top White Performers:

Nowitzki: 26p - 7 reb -- 36 min
Scola: 25p - 7 reb -- 38 min
Calderon: 23p (10 shots) - 10a -- 29 min
Bargnani: 22p (13 shots) - 5 reb -- 30 min
Turkoglu: 22p - 3 reb - 2a -- 38 min
Lee: 19p (11 shots) - 14 reb -- 34 min
P Gasol: 18p (12 shots) - 6 reb -- 28 min
Hinrich: 17p (11 shots) - 5 reb - 7a -- 32 min
Stojakovic: 17p -- 39 min
B Lopez: 15p - 8 reb -- 35 min
Nocioni: 15p (10 shots) - 6 reb - 3a -- 33 min
Murphy: 14p (10 reb) - 16 reb -- 33 min
Dunleavy: 13p - 4 reb -- 27 min
Vujacic: 13p (7 shots) - 2 reb - 3a -- 25 min
M Miller: 12p - 9 reb - 5a -- 29 min
Gallinari: 11p (5 shots) -- 17 min
Love: 11p (6 shots) - 5 reb -- 22 min
Marks: 10p - 7 reb -- 29 min
Novak: 10p -- 22 min
Szczerbiak: 10p (5 shots) -- 14 min
Radmanovic: 10p (5 shots) -- 13 min
Nesterovic: 9p (5 shots) -- 15 min
Pachulia: 9p (3 shots) - 6 reb -- 22 min
Najera: 9p (4 shots) - 6 reb -- 25 min
Foster: 8p - 7 reb -- 30 min
Barry: 8p - 8 reb -- 21 min
Ridnour: 7p - 4a - 5 stl -- 26 min
Gray: 7p - team high 7 reb -- 22 min
Biedrins: 6p - 13 reb - 4 blk -- 34 min

White of the Night: David Lee

Fantastic shooting nights for Dirk (30 on 16), Udrih (24 on 11), Scola (19 on 10), and Novak (14 on 7), but how can we not give the White of the Night to David Lee, for a monster 25p-16r game, leading Dantoni's squad in a vindication win over the sinking Suns!

David is having a banner year, and is currently second in the league for double-doubles. He is a sure lock on attaining All-Star status, and congratulations for him for bringing it strong every night, turning the Knicks around.





Nowitzki: 30p (16 shots) - 5 reb -- 36 min
Lee: 25p - 16 reb -- 35 min
Udrih: 24p (11 shots) - 3 reb - 3a -- 39 min
Stojakovic: 20p - 10 reb -- 39 min
Scola: 19p (10 shots) - 9 reb -- 34 min
Bargnani: 16p - 6 reb - 3a -- 40 min
Novak: 14p (7 shots) -- 24 min
Varejao: 12p - 8 reb -- 38 min
Walton: 11p - 2 stl - 2 blk -- 20 min
M Gasol: 11p - team high 6 reb - 3a -- 25 min
Collison: 11p - 7 reb -- 26 min
P Gasol: 10p - 6 reb - 3a -- 31 min
Gallinari: 10p (6 shots) -- 18 min
Alexander: 9p - 3 reb -- 11 min
Nash: 9p - 6 reb - 19a -- 38 min
Barry: 9p (4 shots) -- 23 min
Krstic: 9p - 5 reb -- 21 min
Fernandez: 9p -- 23 min
Szczerbiak: 8p - team high 10 reb -- 23 min
Przybilla: 6p - game high 15 reb -- 21 min
Anderson: 4p - team high 10 reb -- 16 min

The Synergy of White Basketball

It's a simple fact: White basketball players are better team players, and make those around them better. Chalk it up to better passing, more court awareness, less selfishness, better basketball IQ, and probably other reasons.

Look at the list of best 5 man units in the league, www.82games.com/0809/USORT13.HTM:

Denver's best unit includes Kleiza and Andersen.
Utah's best unit includes Korver, Kiriklenko, and Okur.
Portland's best unit includes Blake, Fernandez, and Pyzybilla.
Indiana's best unit includes Murphy and Foster.
Miami's best unit includes Quinn.
Chicago's best unit includes Nocioni.

So why is it that none of these guys starts?

Whites of the Night: Turkoglu & Nowitzki

Scalabrine starting at C seems to be just the thing the Celtics needed to get back on the winning track. Great for Brian, and great to seem him get more comfortable in his starting role, as his points are trending up!

The Italian rookie Gallinari (Knicks) finally gets back from injury. Can't wait to see him in regular action.

The co-Whites of the Night are Nowitzki and Turkoglu, for their equally spectacular offensive nights. Kleiza was also fantastic, and deserves recognition as well. Kleiza is a superb athlete and scorer, and deserves to be getting major minutes.


Nowitzki: 39p (20 shots) - 8 reb -- 39 min
Turkoglu: 31p (16 shots) - 4 reb - 5a -- 30 min
B Lopez: 28p (17 shots) - 10 reb -- 41 min
Kleiza: 26p (13 shots) - 5 reb -- 36 min
Okur: 23p (15 shots) - 11 reb -- 39 min
Ginobili: 21p (11 shots) -6 reb - 4a -- 31 min
Nocioni: 17p (8 shots) - 15 reb -- 31 min
Lee: 15p (9 shots) - 11 reb -- 39 min
Fernandez: 15p (11 shots) - 4 reb -- 33 min
Bonner: 12p - 11 reb -- 29 min
Kirilenko: 12p - 3 reb - 4a -- 34 min
Scalabrine: 11p (8 shots) - 4 reb -- 29 min
Rodriguez: 10p (7 shots) - 5a -- 21 min
Stojakovic: 10p - 6 reb -- 37 min
Alexander: 9p (6 shots) -- 9 min
Scola: 9p (5 shots) - 5 reb -- 26 min
Andersen: 5p (2 shots) - team high 9 reb -- 27 min
Przybilla: 2p (1 shot) - team high 10 reb -- 28 min

Whatever happened to... Kevin Pittsnogle

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — There is a middle school up the hill from the McDonald’s here, and behind it are several classroom trailers, the type that are added when space gets tight and are never taken away.

Kevin Pittsnogle has put aside his basketball career for a chance to help a high school team as an assistant coach and teach special education students in his hometown, Martinsburg, W.Va. Inside one of the trailers last Friday stood a tall man with a familiar face. He wore a Bugs Bunny tie and a gray dress shirt with sleeves rolled to the elbows. Tattoos spilled to his wrists. He spoke kindly to two of his special education students, who called him Mr. Pittsnogle.

On the inside of the door was a sign: “You are who you choose to be.” For now, this is who Kevin Pittsnogle chooses to be.

Less than four years ago, he was a basketball star and a folk hero, a homegrown kid with a funny name, a bowl haircut, a 6-foot-11 frame covered in tattoos, and a baby-soft 3-point shot. During West Virginia’s unexpected thrill ride to the quarterfinals of the 2005 N.C.A.A. tournament, his name became a taunting verb: you’ve been Pittsnogled. His mother still has a box of the T-shirts in a closet. Less than three years ago, Pittsnogle was an all-American senior averaging 19.3 points who led West Virginia to the 2006 regional semifinals. He expected to be chosen in the N.B.A draft. He was not.

Now, at 24, he is a middle school teacher in his hometown. He is also an unpaid assistant coach for a high school basketball team. He bowls in leagues three nights a week and occasionally plays bingo at Big Bucks Bingo. His wife, Heather, is a bank teller. They have two children and live in a double-wide trailer, and together they wonder how much appetite they have for uprooting their lives again so Pittsnogle can have one more chance at a basketball career.

People approach Pittsnogle because he is both an icon and one of them. They excitedly review his exploits at West Virginia, maybe his 22 points and 8 rebounds in the 2005 tournament against Texas Tech or the 25 points he had in the overtime loss to Louisville in the regional final. They tell him that they wish he were still playing basketball. “I’ll say, ‘Me, too — sometimes,’ ” Pittsnogle said. He laughed his good-natured laugh, and sounded like someone who truly was not so sure.

In two years he played for nine teams, in the Continental Basketball Association, the N.B.A.’s development league, the N.B.A.’s summer leagues, in France and in Puerto Rico. Last summer, he suspended the chase. He just wanted to come home again. “I thought, I’m done for good,” he said.


As a player, Pittsnogle is a pure shooter whose body does not match his skills. Kelvin Sampson, then the coach at Oklahoma, once called him a “two-guard who grew to 6-11.” After college, Pittsnogle’s weight grew, too, by about 40 pounds, to 300. “I kept hearing, ‘You’re overweight,’ ” Pittsnogle said. “ ‘You can average 20 points a game, but we’re not going to bring you up until you lose some weight.’ ” Instead, he shed the burden of hoop dreams. His circuitous journey, usually with the family in tow (a son, Kwynsie, is nearly 3, and a daughter, Amyyah, was born in May), grew tiresome.

But something happened on the way back to an ordinary life. Pittsnogle learned last fall that he had a thyroid condition that slowed his metabolism. It helped explain his fluctuating weight, long trending upward. Medication has helped him lose 25 pounds and re-energize his playing hopes. He is pondering N.B.A. summer leagues, one last time. “If I look the way I’m supposed to look, and play the way I’m supposed to play, I think I’ll get a chance,” Pittsnogle said. “If not, I’ll come back and live my life here.”

His attitude is dipped in realism. A teacher at his level makes about $25,000. A four-month season in the N.B.A.’s developmental league pays about the same, but would keep hope for an N.B.A. career alive. An offer, though, would force a decision over whether to leave the family behind or have his wife quit her job.

Playing overseas can be far more lucrative but more discombobulating. “I’m open to anything,” Heather Pittsnogle said, holding 8-month-old Amyyah while speaking Friday night over the din of a high school game between Jefferson and Hedgesville, a rival of Martinsburg High, where Pittsnogle starred. “But I might have to bite my tongue if we go overseas.”

Pittsnogle whispered into the ears of players as they came off the court and cheered good plays. People in the stands occasionally pointed at him.

Long after Hedgesville won, Pittsnogle stood in the gym, dressed in his Bugs Bunny tie and gray dress shirt, rolled to the elbows. On a dare, he grabbed a ball and effortlessly flipped a shot from behind the 3-point arc. It hit the back of the rim.

He asked for the ball again. This time, nothing but net. He shrugged. Kevin Pittsnogle has chosen who he wants to be. But he wants one more shot at being who he was.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/sports/ncaabasketball/16pittsnogle.html?_r=2

Croshere bounces again, to the Spurs

The Spurs signed veteran forward Austin Croshere to a 10-day contract Friday.

Croshere was waived by Milwaukee on Jan. 6 after appearing in 11 games. He averaged 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 rebounds.

The 12th pick by Indiana in the 1997 draft, Croshere had his best season in 1999-2000, averaging 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds as the Pacers reached the NBA finals.

The former Providence star has averaged 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in 656 career games. He spent nine seasons with the Pacers before one-year stops in Dallas and Golden State.

In 68 playoff games, Croshere averaged 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds.

White of the Night: Steve Nash

Shocker in Cleveland: Pavlovic starts, and sees the most PT of any Cav tonight. Weird how erratic minutes can be in the NBA. But he performs spectacularly, scoring 19 on 10, in a solid all-around game. Wally Szczerbiak puts together a magnificent game at the same time, scoring 14 on 6 shots! Good work guys. As usual, our White athletes perform well when given the starting nod because of an injury ahead of them, making you wonder why they aren't getting more time to begin with...

White of the Night honors tonight to Steve Nash, for a very solid 20p-7r-14a game. Way to go MVSteve! The old man still gots it.

David Lee, 21 rebounds, wow. Perfect shooting game too, 6-6 for 15 points.

Dunleavy and Hinrich look to be coming on strong after their injury hiatus, great to see for us fans of the White America ballplayers.


Dunleavy: 22p (15 shots) - 3a - 2 blk -- 28 min
Nash: 20p (10 shots) - 7 reb - 14a -- 45 min
Bargnani: 20p (14 shots) - 5 reb -- 40 min
B Miller: 20p (7 shots) - 9 reb - 3a -- 31 min
Pavlovic: 19p (10 shots) - 6 reb - 2 stl -- 43 min
Kleiza: 18p (11 shots) - 4 reb - 3a -- 30 min
B Lopez: 17p (10 shots) - 6a - 2blk -- 32 min
Ridnour: 17p (11 shots) - 10a - 3 stl -- 37 min
Murphy: 15p (9 shots) - 15 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 41 min
Lee: 15p (6 shots) - 21 reb - 4a -- 42 min
Stojakovic: 15p - 6 reb -- 39 min
Radmanovic: 15p (9 shots) -- 15 min
Pachulia: 14p (8 shots) - team high 8 reb - 2 blk -- 30 min
Udrih: 14p (10 shots) - 2a -- 38 min
Szczerbiak: 14p (6 shots) - 4 reb -- 29 min
Bonner: 13p (8 shots) - 3 reb -- 20 min
Love: 13p - 14 reb (7 off) - 2 stl -- 25 min
Okur: 13p - 8 reb -- 30 min
Kirilenko: 13p (7 shots) - 6 reb - 4a - 3 stl -- 31 min
Turkoglu: 13p - 5 reb - 3a - 2 blk
P Gasol: 13p - 9 reb -- 20 min
Hinrich: 12p (6 shots) - 3 reb - 5a - 2 stl -- 30 min
Harpring: 12p (8 shots) - 2a -- 15 min
M Gasol: 12p (8 shots) - 10 reb - 3a -- 34 min
Nocioni: 11p - 6 reb - 2 stl -- 37 min
Biedrins: 10p - 9 reb - 2a -- 33 min
Przybilla: 4p - 11 reb (6 off) -- 21 min

White of the Night: Brad Miller

Overall, great night to be a White basketball fan! Seven of our guys scored 20 or more just tonight, topped off by Bargnani, who continues to impress in his starting role. But how can we not give the White of the Night to Brad Miller, for a monster 30p-22r game, leading his team to victory in triple overtime! Good work, Brad.

Newsflash: The Pacers start three White Americans! That is sweet enough, but then they go on to beat the Detroit Piston black-sketball team in a thriller! How sweet it is.

--Utah is fighting them for White Basketball standard-bearer right now, playing Whites for a full 63% of the minutes tonight.

--Ryan Anderson starting for the Nets, with Yi's injury. Man, this is his big chance, play like you belong big man!

--Breakout game for Joe Alexander too! Very nice. Play the man, coach!

Bargnani: 31p (14 shots) - team high 10 reb -- 39 min
B Miller: 30p (20 shots) - 22 reb - 2 stl -- 51 min
Lee: 30p (21 shots) - team high 10 reb - 6a - 2 stl -- 41 min
Ginobili: 27p (15 shots) - 3 reb - 2a - 3 stl -- 30 min
Ridnour: 25p - 9 reb - 4a -- 42 min
P Gasol: 21p (14 shots) - 5 reb -- 31 min
Nowitzki: 20p - 13 reb -- 38 min
Murphy: 18p (9 shots) - 13 reb -- 45 min
Udrih: 17p - 6 reb - 7a -- 56 min
Nocioni: 16p - 4 reb - 3a -- 30 min
Stojakovic: 16p -- 35 min
Korver: 14p - 4 reb - 2 blk -- 33 min
Koufos: 14p (9 shots) - 5 reb -- 27 min
Krstic: 14p (8 shots) - 11 reb - 2 blk -- 31 min
Collison: 13p (7 shots) - 11 reb -- 40 min
Alexander: 13p (8 shots) - 5 reb - 5a -- 17 min
B Lopez: 13p - team high 8 reb - 5 blk -- 31 min
Anderson: 13p (8 shots) - 4 reb - 2 stl -- 26 min
Hinrich: 12p (6 shots) - 5 reb - 6a -- 32 min
Biedrins: 12p (8 shots) - 14 reb - 4a - 5 blk
Dunleavy: 12p - 6 reb -- 33 min
Kirilenko: 12p - 4a -- 39 min
Bogut: 12p - 11 reb (6 off) - 2 blk -- 37 min
Foster: 11p (5 shots) - 7 reb - 4a -- 7 min
Harpring: 10p - 2 reb -- 17 min
Bonner: 10p - 5 reb - 4a -- 33 min
Okur: 9p - team high 9 reb - 4a -- 33 min
Scalabrine: 9p - 4 reb -- 27 min
Nesterovic: 8p - 5 reb -- 20 min

White of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki

Look at Birdman Anderson continuing his spectacular play, leading the team in boards and blocks, to go with 3 steals, in his 21 minutes. Oh yeah, and 15 points on 8 shots. The complete game!

Redick also continues his torrid pace, playing well, as usual, and trending up in minutes.

Nice game by Stevie Nashty, but his fellow MVP gets the prized White of the Night for his spectacular 44p-14r game! Monster game for Dirk!

Nowitzki: 44p (26 shots) - 14 reb -- 42 min
Nash: 23p (13 shots) - 5 reb - 6a -- 35 min
Turkoglu: 17p - 8a -- 35 min
Redick: 15p (9 shots) - 2 reb -- 26 min
Andersen: 15p (8 shots) - team high 10 reb - 3 stl - 2 blk -- 21 min
Hawes: 14p - 4 reb -- 27 min
Radmanovic: 12p (6 shots) - 6 reb -- 19 min
P Gasol: 11p - 7 reb - 4a - 2 stl - 2 blk -- 41 min
Pachulia: 10p - 11 reb (7 off) -- 31 min
Barry: 9p (5 shots) - 5a -- 17 min
Love: 8p - 9 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 24 min
Udrih: 8p - 2 reb - 3a -- 17 min
M Gasol: 6p - game high 11 reb -- 39 min

White of the Night: Mehmet Okur

What can we say about the White of the Night - Mehmet Okur! WOW An historic game, scoring 43 on only 19 shots.

Great display of White basketball in the game between the Jazz and the Pacers, with White athletes accounting for 48% of the minutes and 51% of the points for the Pacers, and 45% of the minutes and 63% of the points for the Jazz. It hardly gets any better than that!

Breakout game by Brook Lopez! He would have been the WotN on just about any other night. Beautiful.

Stop the presses: Scalabrine starts for Boston... Whoa

It is nice to see Ukic continue to trend upwards with his minutes and production. Hopefully he can keep it up even after Calderon returns.

And oh, yes, welcome back, Kirk Hinrich.

Okur: 43p (19 shots) - 9 reb - 3a -- 28 min
B Lopez: 31p (17 shots) - 13 reb - 2 blk -- 40 min
Lee: 24p (16 shots) - 9 reb - 3a -- 33 min
Bargnani: 23p - 8 reb - 3a -- 38 min
Kirilenko: 23p - 12 reb - 3a - 3 stl - 3 blk -- 41 min
Dunleavy: 20p (14 shots) - 7 reb - 2a -- 23 min
Bogut: 18p (12 shots) - 10 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 38 min
Ukic: 16p (12 shots) - 3 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 23 min
Blake: 16p - 10a - 3 stl -- 39 min
Ridnour: 14p - 3 reb - 10a -- 36 min
Krstic: 12p (8 shots) - 4 reb -- 23 min
Murphy: 12p - 10 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 31 min
Nesterovic: 12p - 4a - 2 blk -- ? min
Scalabrine: 11p - 2 reb - 2a -- 28 min
Foster: 11p (7 shots) - 8 reb - 4a - 2 stl -- 34 min
Humphries: 9p (5 shots) - 4 reb -- 20 min

White of the Night: Vladimir Radmanovic

Vladimir Radmanovic proves he is not ready to bury yet, taking advantage of his reinsertion into the starting lineup to earn the White of the Night!

Great to see Chris Quinn return to major action (31 min) down in Miami, let's hope to see more of that.







Turkoglu: 21p (12 shots) - 5 reb - 5a -- 37 min
Radmanovic: 18p (10 shots) - 7 reb - 2 stl -- 31 min
Ginobili: 18p (13 shots) - 3 reb - 4a -- 31 min
Belinelli: 17p - 3 reb - 2a - 2 stl -- 30 min
Bargnani: 17p - 9 reb - 3a -- 31 min
Udrih: 16p - 5 reb - 6a - 2 stl -- 35 min
Nowitzki: 15p - 8 reb - 2 stl -- 37 min
Nash: 14p (8 shots) - 5 reb - 12a -- 36 min
P Gasol: 14p - 18 reb (8 off) - 3a -- 39 min
B Miller: 13p - 7 reb - 5a -- 34 min
Quinn: 12p - 3 reb - 7a -- 31 min
Redick: 12p (9 shots) -- 28 min
Kapono: 12p (7 shots) - 2 reb - 2a - 2 stl -- 24 min
Biedrins: 11p - 9 reb - 3 blk -- 27 min
Dunleavy: 10p - 4 reb -- 22 min
Vujacic: 10p (5 shots) - 4 reb -- 19 min
Novak: 9p (3 shots) -- 12 min
Hawes: 8p - team high 8 reb - 2a -- 21 min

White of the Night: Nick Collison

Great game on Saturday night from Nick Collison, starting at C for OKC, winning the White of the Night recognition. Great to see Nick back in the lineup, with his thumb fully bandaged, but obviously still able to get the job done.



Top White game reports:
Okur: 22p (9 shots) - 6 reb -- 21 min
Collison: 21p (12 shots) - 9 reb (6 off) - 4a - 2 stl -- 35 min
Scola: 18p - 11 reb -- 27 min
Blake: 15p - 4 reb - 4a - 3 stl -- 38 min
Bogut: 14p (8 shots) - 7 reb - 2 blk -- 27 min
Lee: 14p - 11 reb -- 34 min
Ridnour: 12p - 9 reb - 6a -- 35 min
Fernandez: 12p (7 shots) - 6a -- 25 min
Morrison: 11p (6 shots) - 2 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 22 min
Nocioni: 11p - 2 reb -- 33 min
Kirilenko: 11p - 7 reb - 7a - 2 stl - 2 blk -- 31 min
Harpring: 11p - 2 reb -- 17 min
Biedrins: 10p (5 shots) - 6 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 33 min
Krstic: 8p - 2 reb - 2 blk -- 13 min
Love: 5p - game high 12 reb -- 22 min

Whites of the Night: Dunleavy & Murphy

White American basketball returns to Indiana! Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy combine for 46 points, very sweet, earning them both the White of the Night honors.

It is nice to see Novak earning more minutes for the Clips. Let's hope that trend continues, freeing up one of the best shooters in the league.

Alert, alert: Redick sighting in Orlando (sweet 15 on 7)!


Murphy: 24p (14 shots) - 6 reb - 3a -- 32 min
Dunleavy: 22p (14 shots) - 4 reb - 5a -- 23 min
P Gasol: 21p (13 shots) - 11 reb - 4a -- 41 min
Turkoglu: 21p (9 shots) - 6 reb - 4a -- 24 min
Bargnani: 21p (14 shots) - 8 reb - 2 blk -- 35 min
Hawes: 19p (11 shots) - 5 reb -- 28 min
Nowitzki: 19p (12 shots) - 7 reb -- 33 min
Redick: 15p (7 shots) - 4 reb -- 20 min
Novak: 14p -- 26 min
Scola: 14p (7 shots) - 6 reb -- 23 min
Varejao: 14p (10 shots) - 9 reb -- 35 min
Ginobili: 13p (9 shots) - 4 reb - 5a - 4 stl -- 25 min
Lee: 13p (8 shots) - 15 reb (7 reb) -- 37 min
Stojakovic: 12p - 4 reb -- 30 min
Bonner: 11p (6 shots) - 3 reb - 2 blk -- 22 min
Kapono: 11p - 2 reb - 6a -- 24 min
Nowitzki: 10p - 7 reb - 7a -- 38 min
Krstic: 10p - 3 reb - 2 blk -- 23 min
Ridnour: 10p - 3 reb - 5a -- 25 min
B Miller: 9p - 15 reb - 4a -- 40 min
Carroll: 9p (5 shots) -- 14 min
Nash: 9p - 12a - 2 stl -- 29 min
Collison: 8p - team high 10 reb -- 36 min
Amundson: 8p (3 shots) - 7 reb - 2 blk -- 29 min

White of the Night: Pau Gasol

Wow, some incredible games by our White athletes on Wednesday!

-- Awesome efficiency by: Bargnani, 25 on 9, Love 16 on 5, Okur 20 on 10!
--Biedrins with an insane stat line: 12p-17r-8a-3s-3b
--Amundson leads his team in rebounds, ripping down 14, including 9 on the offensive glass.
--Kleiza takes his starting opportunity to show off his skills, leading the Nuggets in scoring.
--Brook Lopez with 5 blocks to complement is 17p-8r night.

But how can we not give the coveted White of the Night to Pau Gasol for his monster 33p-18r game? Beautiful game by the Spaniard, yet again.

And let us not forget: welcome back, Mike Dunleavy!

P Gasol: 33p (21 shots) - 18 reb (8 off) - 2 blk
Bargnani: 25p (9 shots) - 4 reb - 2 blk -- 34 min
Kleiza: 21p (13 shots) - 7 reb -- 35 min
Turkoglu: 20p (12 shots) - 7 reb - 8a - 2 stl -- 37 min
Okur: 20p (10 shots) - 7 reb -- 28 min
B Lopez: 17p (11 shots) - team high 8 reb - 5 blk -- 31 min
Nash: 16p (9 shots) - 12a -- 43 min
Love: 16p (5 shots) - 15 reb -- 22 min
Szczerbiak: 15p (9 shots) - 5 reb -- 28 min
Korver: 15p (9 shots) - 6 reb - 4a -- 21 min
M Gasol: 14p (9 shots) - 10 reb - 3 stl -- 40 min
Varejao: 14p (9 shots) - 6 reb - 2 stl -- 32 min
Dunleavy: 14p - 4a -- 20 min
Belinelli: 14p -- 33 min
Kirilenko: 13p (10 shots) - 8 reb - 3a -- 27 min
Fernandez: 13p (10 shots) - 2 reb - 2a - 2 blk -- 30 min
Murphy: 12p - 6 reb -- 23 min
Kapono: 12p (8 shots) - 2 reb -- 25 min
Biedrins: 12p (8 shots) - 17 reb - 8a - 3 stl - 3 blk -- 38 min
Redick: 11p (7 shots) - 2a -- 19 min
Ridnour: 11p - 4a - 2 stl -- 22 min
Harpring: 10p (7 shots) -- 12 min
Nesterovic: 10p (6 shots) - 5 reb -- 16 min
Blake: 10p - 10a -- 33 min
Najera: 9p (6 shots) - 2 reb -- 14 min
Amundson: 9p - team high 14 reb (9 off) -- 25 min

White of the Night: Luis Scola

Weird news from Tuesday, Jan 6: Darius Songaila thrown into the starting lineup for the Wiz, then only gets to play less than half the game. Aaron Gray, Robert Swift, and Matt Carroll are stuck in the same "starting only to sit" routine. It is very weird.

Fantastic scoring night for Dirk, but the White of the Night award goes to Luis Scola for his monster game, pouring in 18 on 10 shots, and ripping down 17 rebounds. Nice job Luis!

Nowitzki: 34p (23 shots) - 4 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 38 min
Turkoglu: 22p (12 shots) - 5 reb - 7a - 3 stl -- 34 min
Scola: 18p (10 shots) - 17 reb (6 off) -- 36 min
B Miller: 18p (12 shots) - 12 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 34 min
Lee: 14p (9 shots) - 13 reb -- 35 min
M Gasol: 13p - 4 reb - 2 blk -- 29 min
Morrison: 13p (9 shots) -- 15 min
P Gasol: 10p - team high 8 reb - 5a -- 42 min
Redick: 8p (4 shots) - 3 reb -- 18 min

White of the Night: Mehmet Okur

Some very nice games in limited game action on Monday, Jan 5.

The Birdman actually led his team in rebounding in only 12 minutes of play, and Biedrins continues to rip down massive doses of rebounds, but the White of the Night goes to Mehmet Okur, for his efficient and high powered game manning the post for the Jazz.



Bargnani: 21p (13 shots) - 8 reb -- 36 min
Okur: 20p (12 shots) - 11 reb - 2 stl -- 33 min
Kirilenko: 15p (10 shots) - 5 eb - 3a - 2 blk -- 27 min
Murphy: 15p (10 shots) - 12 reb - 4a - 3 stl -- 31 min
Biedrins: 14p (10 shots) - 17 reb (6 off) - 3a -- 36 min
Bonner: 11p (7 shots) - 5 reb -- 31 min
Ukic: 11p (8 shots) -- 18 min
Koufos: 11p (6 shots) - 5 reb -- 19 min
Kleiza: 11p - 4 reb -- 21 min
Ginobili: 10p - 5 reb - 3a - 3 stl -- 26 min
Korver: 9p - 6 reb -- 24 min
Foster: 9p - 4 reb - 4a - 2 blk -- 16 min
Quinn: 8p (4 shots) -- 14 min
B Miller: 8p - 7 reb - 8a -- 32 min
Andersen: 6p (2 shots) - team high 9 reb -- 12 min

White of the Night: Vladimir Radmanovic

What a night for Radmanovic, making the most of his minutes, scoring 16 in only 18 minutes, on only 6 shots, enough to earn White of the Night for Sunday Jan 4.

Good to see Ukic and Novak in the top performers list, as well.

Nowitzki: 28p - 3 reb - 3a -- 34 min
P Gasol: 19p (9 shots) - 5 reb -- 28 min
M Gasol: 19p - 6 reb -- 28 min
Bargnani: 18p - 5 reb - 3a -- 36 min
Radmanovic: 16p (6 shots) - 4 reb -- 18 min
Novak: 15p (9 shots) - 2 reb 29 min
Fernandez: 14p - 5 reb - 3a - 3 stl -- 36 min
Lee: 14p - 14 reb - 2 blk -- 42 min
Blake: 13p - 3a -- 30 min
Ukic: 12p (6 shots) - 7a -- 23 min
Vujacic: 11p (7 shots) - 3 reb -- 25 min
Varejao: 10p - team high 10 reb - 39 min

White of the Night: Manu Ginobili

Great game by Manu Ginobili, taking the White of the Night award for Sat. Jan 3.

K-Love also deserves recognition for the noticable upswing in his game recently.

Ginobili: 21p (13 shots) - 3 reb - 3 stl -- 28 min
Stojakovic: 19p - 6 reb -- 40 min
Love: 18p - 12 reb -- 21 min
Scola: 16p (9 shots) - 11 reb -- 39 min
B Miller 13p - 9 reb - 6a -- 36 min
Nocioni: 13p - 3 reb - 3a -- 27 min
Murphy: 12p - 13 reb
Ridnour: 12p - 3 reb -- 29 min
B Lopez: 12p - 8 reb -- 30 min
Barry: 11p (6 shots) - 3a -- 23 min
Pachulia: 10p (4 shots) - 4 reb -- 17 min
Gray: 10p - team high 9 reb -- 32 min
Kleiza: 9p (5 shots) -- 10 min
Nesterovic: 8p -- 6 min
Alexander: 8p (4 shots) - 9 min

White of the Night: David Lee

What a way to start out the new year! Honestly, this has probably got to be the most solid overall night from our White ballplayers this year. Lots of high scorers, with some incredibly efficient games. Very sweet stuff, and very difficult to single out one guy for tonight's award.

Dirk led the night in PRA with 46, Varejao had an incredible game starting at C, Brad Miller was a monster on the glass and on offense, Pau led his team in rebounds and assists, Troy led his team in rebounds, assists, and steals, K-Love and Bonner shot the lights out... As I said, very tough to decide, but I have to give the White of the Night again to D-Lee for his sweet efficiency, hard work on the boards, and incredible 5 steals!

Tip of the hat also to Sasha Pavlovic, making our list of top performers for the first time this year.


Nowitzki: 31p - 4 reb - 5a - 4 stl - 2 blk -- 39 min
Varejao: 26p (14 shots) - 8 reb - 3 stl -- 31 min (starting C)
Lee: 26p (15 shots) - 11 reb - 3a - 5 stl -- 40 min
B Miller: 25p (18 shots) - 16 reb (8 off) -- 38 min
Okur: 21p (13 shots) - 13 reb - 2 blk -- 31 min
P Gasol: 21p (13 shots) - team high 11 reb - team high 6a -- 30 min
Love: 19p (9 shots) - 8 reb -- 25 min
Fernandez: 19p (11 shots) - 4 reb -- 36 min
Bargnani: 19p (12 shots) - 6 reb -- 32 min
Biedrins: 18p (12 shots) - 13 reb
Bonner: 16p (9 shots) - 29 min
Murphy: 15p - 18 reb - team high 5a - team high 3 stl
M Gasol: 15p - 11 reb - 2 stl -- 32 min
Stojakovic: 14p -- 36 min
Pavlovic: 13p (8 shots) - 5 reb -- 21 min
Ginobili: 13p - 6 reb - 6a - 5 stl -- 23 min
Nocioni: 11p (7 shots) -- 14 min
Belinelli: 10p - 6a -- 29 min
Przybilla: 10p (6 shots) - 7 reb -- 32 min
Kirilenko: 10p (6 shots) - 2 stl -- 11 min

White of the Night: Brook Lopez

Congratulations to Brook Lopez for a spectacular breakout game, starting at C for the Nets, earning the coveted White of the Night honors for the first time in his young career.

Barely beating out a very solid game from Andrea Bargnani, who performed spectacularly in his return to the starting lineup, including 5 blocks!

And let us not forget a tip of the hat to for Jose Calderon, continuing a very solid streak of play lately for the Raptors.

It is also really nice to see that Gortat has earned a spot in the regular rotation, after showing his worth while Howard was briefly down for the Magic.

Dec 31
Bargnani: 26p - 6 reb - 5 blk -- 41 min
B Lopez: 23p (13 shots) - 12 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 37 min
Turkoglu: 18p - 9 reb - 4a -- 30 min
Calderon: 18p (9 shots) - 11a - 5 reb -- 34 min
Biedrins: 15p - 13 reb (6 off) - 2 stl -- 35 min
Gortat: 14p (9 shots) - 7 reb -- 18 min
Ridnour: 11p - 7 reb - 11a -- 34 min
Bogut: 11p - team high 9 reb -- 40 min
Scola: 11p - team high 10 reb - 2 stl -- 32 min
Nocioni: 10p - 5 reb - 4a -- 29 min
Andersen: 10p - team high 10 reb -- 16 min
Kleiza: 10p -- 14 min
Davis: 8p (3 shots) - 3 reb -- 16 min

Nenad Krstic joins OKC

Nenad Krstic’s basketball journey didn’t begin with the luxuries that accompany AAU basketball.


Unlike most American-born players, he missed out on the exotic travel and the free apparel. Such treats didn’t exist during Krstic’s childhood days in Serbia.

Krstic’s unlikely NBA story started with pick-up games on cement-cracked playgrounds and inside underground gyms as a lanky teenager in Kraljevo, then a part of Yugoslovia. Basketball served as a much-needed diversion that helped take his mind off the battle that ripped apart his war-torn country in the early 1990s.

"It was always something in sports, especially in tough times during the war,” Krstic said. "So it was always being in sports rather than being in the streets.”

But Krstic, the Thunder’s newest 7-foot center, has come a long way since having to lace up a pair of worn-out Converse because his cash-strapped family couldn’t afford to purchase him a quality set of shoes.

The Thunder signed Krstic to a three-year, $15.6 million deal that launches a new chapter in his NBA career. Krstic will not be in uniform tonight against Golden State and cannot suit up until the final paperwork is completed on his work visa.

But he is eager to embark on his second NBA stint. After four seasons in New Jersey, he started this one in Russia. Krstic was one of a handful of players to flee to Europe when overseas clubs outbid NBA teams for talent.

"I know it’s just going to take some time,” said Krstic, who scored 13 points with 12 rebounds in his final game with the Nets on April 16. "Two weeks ago I played a game in Russia, and all of a sudden I’m in the NBA again in the middle of the season... I’m feeling great and I can’t wait to start playing again.”

Thunder general manager Sam Presti had his eye on Krstic as a potential free agent target next summer but finalized the deal 32 games into the season to bolster an injury-plagued and underachieving frontcourt.

While Presti was a front office executive in San Antonio, the Spurs were so high on the 19-year-old Krstic during the 2002 draft that they reportedly guaranteed they’d select him with the 26th pick. The Nets plucked him at 24.

"I think he’s going to bring a number of different things to our team,” Presti said. "First and foremost an ability to stretch the floor, and he adds another player to our roster with a high basketball IQ that understands how to play the game and play at a high level. Clearly we’re thrilled to have him.”

Four years ago, Nets coach Lawrence Frank said he would have been happy just to get anything out of his newest rookie. Then teammate Vince Carter said he didn’t even know who Krstic was before being traded from Toronto to the Nets.

But Krstic quickly turned heads.

He averaged 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 34 minutes a game in the final month of his rookie season. Krstic then averaged 18.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 56.3 percent shooting in four games against Shaquille O’Neal and the eventual champion Miami Heat in the first round of the 2005 playoffs.

Krstic seemingly was headed for All-Star status in 2006-07 before a knee injury limited him to 26 games. He was averaging 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 32.6 minutes before tearing his ACL in December 2006.

"You would hope that he’s going to be able to come in and help our team get over the hump in some of these games,” said Desmond Mason. "But you don’t want to put too much pressure on the guy like he’s supposed to come in and save the whole entire season.”

White of the Night: Steve Blake

Steve Blake and the newly starting Rudy Fernandez lead the Blazers over the suddenly reeling all-black Celtics! Sweet.

Paul Davis mans-up and plays a spectacular game, including 10-10 FTs, in his first start for the Clips! Way to go, Paul.

Hell if Pachulia doesn't put together another gem of an efficient night, as usual in spot minutes. Free Zaza!

Haddadi, who some of you might remember from the Iranian Olympic team this last summer, scored his first NBA points tonight. Good on ya, lad!

Nowitzki: 24p - game high 13 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 38 min
Blake: 21p (12 shots) - 3 reb - 3a -- 38
Ridnour: 21p (15 shots) - 5 reb - 6a - 2 blk -- 41 min
Bogut: 20p (13 shots) - 14 reb - 4a - 3 blk -- 44 min
P Davis: 18p (10 shots) - 5 reb - 3a - 3 stl -- 38 min
M Gasol: 16p - 13 reb - 3a - 2 blk -- 40 min
B Miller: 15p - 13 reb (6 off) -- 38 min
Lee: 13p - 16 reb - 38 min
Ginobili: 13p (9 shots) - 5a -- 25 min
Udrih: 13p -- 27 min
Foster: 12p - 12 reb - 3a -- 27 min
Murphy: 10p - game high 14 reb - 2 stl -- 32 min
Amundson: 10p (6 shots) - 8 reb - 18 min
Pachulia: 9p (5 shots) - 5 reb - 1 stl - 1 blk -- 14 min
Varejao: 2p (1 shot) - team high 10 reb -- 24 min

White of the Night: Jose Calderon

Some great performances for all us White basketball fans last night, but I've got to give the prestigious White of the Night to Jose Calderon for his 21-6-16 night! Belinelli come in a close second for his spectacular game. Commendations to Love (17 on 7) and Scola (16 on 8) also.

--Utah looking more and more like a White Basketball team, their White players getting 50.75% of the total playing time in their deletion of the all-black 76ers! Sweet! Kirilenko also looks rejuvenated back in the starting lineup for Utah, filling up the sheet like the old days.

--The best rebounder in the league continues to perform miracles in spot minutes, of course I'm speaking of Zaza Pachulia.

--The Birdman thrown into the starting lineup for the Nuggets, but takes only 1 shot in 31 min??? Come on, Chris, play like you belong! He did lead the team in rebounding, but we expect more!

--Swift got the start down in OKC, nice to see. Go Big Red!

Belinelli: 23p (12 shots) - 6a -- 37 min
Calderon: 21p (14 shots) - 6 reb - 16a -- 44 min
Okur: 19p - 10 reb -- 35 min
Love: 17p (7 shots) - 7 reb -- 31 min
Nocioni: 17p (10 shots) - team high 8 reb -- 24 min
Scola: 16p (8 shots) - 5 reb -- 34 min
Kirilenko: 16p (12 shots) - game high 13 reb - 3a - 3 stl - 3 blk -- 36 min
Turkoglu: 14p - 5 reb - 8a -- 42 min
Biedrins: 13p (8 shots) - 15 reb - 2 stl - 5 blk -- 30 min
Korver: 12p (7 shots) - 5a -- 25 min
M Gasol: 12p - 5 reb - 3a - 3 stl - 2 blk -- 37 min
Kapono: 11p - 3 reb -- 30 min
Humphries: 10p - 4 reb -- 10 min
Pachulia: 8p (4 shots) - 8 reb -- 18 min

White of the Night: David Lee

Wow, what a game by David Lee, earning the White of the Night for Dec. 28!

Murphy and Biedrins continue their monster rebounding ways as well.

Lee: 19p (9 shots) - game high 12 reb (5 off) -- 37 min
Barea: 17p (12 shots) - 4 reb - 4a -- 28 min
Vujacic: 17p (10 shots) - 6a -- 31 min
Murphy: 16p - 16 reb - 4a -- 39 min
Belinelli: 14p (11 shots) -- 28 min
P Gasol: 13p - 9 reb - game high 7a -- 30 min
Varejao: 12p (8 shots) - 10 reb - 2 blk -- 32 min
Stojakovic: 12p - 8 reb - 3 stl -- 37 min
Kurz: 10p (4 shots) -- 9 min
Ilgauskas: 10p - 6 reb -- 27 min
Biedrins: 8p - 17 reb (6 off) - 3 stl -- 25 min
Diener: 8p (4 shots) - 4 reb -- 16 min

White of the Night: Hedo Turkoglu

Dec 27

Spectacular night from Hedo, scoring 26 on 12 shots, leading the Magic, and good old fashioned stat stuffer from Kirilenko for the Jazz. Also nice to see Fesenko, Korver, and Koufos step up for the Jazz.

Turkoglu: 26p (12 shots) - 7 reb -- 37 min
Kirilenko: 20p - 10 reb (5 off) - 5a - 3 stl -- 49 min
Ginobili: 20p (16 shots) - 4 reb - 4a -- 40 min
Bogut: 17p - 10 reb -- 26 min
M Gasol: 15p - 10 reb - 4 blk -- 41 min
Koufos: 14p (9 shots) - 4 reb -- 20 min
Bargnani: 13p -- 21 min
Korver: 13p (10 shots) - 6a -- 40 min
Fesenko: 12p (8 shots) - team high 11 reb - 3 blk -- 34 min
Nocioni: 11p -- 22 min
Calderon: 11p - 8a -- 38 min
Scola: 10p - game high 14 reb - 4a -- 46 min
Pachulia: 10p (7 shots) - 7 reb -- 20 min
B Lopez: 6p - game high 13 reb -- 30 min
Love: 5p - game high 10 reb - 20 min

White of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki

Dec 25 & 26

Utah, looking like a very White team, starting Koufos and Kirilenko, with Harpring, Korver, and Fesenko dominating the second team, resulting in Whites playing a remarkable 46% of the total minutes that game for the Jazz, leading them to victory over the Mavs.

Nowitzki: 30p (18 shots) - 5 reb -- 34 min
Belinelli: 22p (17 shots) - 4a - 2 stl -- 43 min
P Gasol: 20p (14 shots) - 5a - 3 blk -- 35 min
Turkoglu: 20p (12 shots) - 6 reb - 5a -- 36 min
B Miller: 20p (10 shots) - 8 reb -- 34 min
Koufos: 18p (11 shots) - 8 reb - 2 stl -- 29 min
Nowitzki: 17p (10 shots) - 8 reb -- 29 min
Calderon: 16p (9 shots) - 7 reb - 6a -- 38 min
Bargnani: 14p (5 shots) -- 21 min
Blake: 14p (11 shots) - 7a -- 38 min
B Lopez: 14p - team high 7 reb - 2 blk -- 31 min
M Gasol: 14p (10 shots) - 5 reb -- 23 min
Milicic: 14p (7 shots) - 5 reb -- 17 min
Nesterovic: 14p (9 shots) - 9 reb -- 27 min
Fernandez: 13p (8 shots) -- 28 min
Varejao: 13p (7 shots) - team high 13 reb -- 30 min
Nash: 13p (8 shots) - 4 reb - 8a -- 38 min
Gray: 12p (7 shots) - team high 11 reb (5 off) -- 25 min
Lee: 12p - team high 13 reb (6 off) -- 33 min
Ginobili: 11p - 4 reb - 4a -- 26 min
Kirilenko: 9p - team high 14 reb -- 38 min

White of the Night: Joel Przybilla

from Dec. 23rd:

Joel Przybilla earns the White of the Night honors for his monster game on the boards, ripping down 19 rebounds for the Blazers.

Nice to see Robert Swift in the lineup for OKC. He was performing well before his injury, so hopefully he will be back in the regular rotation soon.

Indiana looked a lot whiter tonight, even with Murphy out, as four of our guys got good minutes, including McRoberts and Diener. Very nice trend there, especially if they can keep it up when Dunleavy and Murphy get back.

Kirilenko: team high 22p (13 shots) - team high 11 reb -- 29 min
Nowitzki: 21p - 8 reb - 4a -- 35 min
Kleiza: 20p (10 shots) - 4 reb -- 26 min
P Gasol: 20p (10 shots) - 7 reb - 3a -- 35 min
Nocioni: 18p (10 shots) - 8 reb -- 30 min
Blake: 17p -- 31 min
Nesterovic: 13p - 3 blk -- 21 min
Foster: 12p - game high 14 reb (7 off) - 2 blk -- 31 min
Fernandez: 12p (9 shots) -- 21 min
Ridnour: 11p - 11a - 6 stl -- 44 min
Scola: 11p - team high 8 reb - 3a -- 31 min
Ilgauskas: 11p - 3 reb - 2 blk -- 27 min
Diener: 11p (6 shots) - 4a -- 18 min
Przybilla: 10p (6 shots) - 19 reb -- 39 min
Bogut: 9p - team high 11 reb -- 37 min
McRoberts: 8p - 4 reb - 5a - 2 stl -- 25 min
Pachulia: 8p (4 shots) - 4 reb -- 17 min

White of the Night: Chris Andersen

Chris Andersen, 6 BLOCKS, in only 21 minutes of play, wow! Chris is currently third in the league in blocks, at 2.4 pg, while averaging only 17 minutes. Keep up the great play, Birdman, you will be free eventually.

Props to Kleiza for a beautifully efficient night, 17 on 8 shots, and to Pau Gasol, for leading his team in rebounds, blocks, and assists.

Other White games of note the last couple nights:

Nowitzki: 23p - 9 reb -- 35 min
Kleiza: 17p (8 shots) - 4 reb -- 28 min
Lee: 17p - team high 8 reb - 4a - 4 stl -- 43 min
P Gasol: 15p - team high 7 reb - team high 6a - 2 blk -- 33 min
Blake: 14p - 3 reb - 4a -- 29 min
Udrih: 13p - 4 reb - 4a - 6 stl -- 36 min
Belinelli: 12p - 6 reb -- 29 min
Turkoglu: 12p - 5 reb - 7a -- 29 min
Andersen: 11p - 3 reb - 6 blk -- 21 min
Milicic: 11p (5 shots) - game high 8 reb - 3 blk -- 33 min
Scola: 11p (7 shots) - 4 reb - 4a -- 28 min
Songaila: 10p (5 shots) - 3 reb -- 24 min
Ginobili: 10p - 5 reb - 3a -- 23 min

Analysis: First 1/3 of Season

The good news is, a number of our guys are having better years than ever. The bad news is, many of our favorite and most well-known guys are having down years.

On the rise (better stats than last year):
Nowitzki, Calderon, Okur, Lee, Murphy, Biedrins, Ridnour, Blake, Hawes, Kirilenko, Varejao, Kapono, Bonner, Pachulia, Swift, Andersen, Belinelli, Rodriguez, McRoberts, Amundson

Treading water (about the same as last year):
Pau Gasol, Bogut, Udrih, Bargnani, Ilgauskas, Foster, Scola, Nesterovich, Przybilla, Radmanovic, Redick, Gray, Kurz

Declining production:
Turkoglu, Kaman, Mike Miller, Brad Miller, Stojakovic, Ginobili, Collison, Hinrich, Nocioni, Kleiza, Korver, Milicic, Barry, Szczerbiak, Quinn, Oberto, Morrison, Songaila, Vujacic, Carroll, Pavlovic, Scalabrine, Walton, Diener, Harpring, Najera, Jaric, Croshere, Madsen, Cardinal, Mihm

Here are our top 40 contributors, calculated by adding up their average points, rebounds, assists, and minutes played:

name PRA+M
Dirk Nowitzki 76
Pau Gasol 65.4
Hedo Turkoglu 64.2
Mehmet Okur 61.7
Andris Biedrins 61.7
Steve Nash 61.3
Jose Calderon 60.7
Chris Kaman 60.7
David Lee 59.8
Troy Murphy 57.9
Andrew Bogut 55.3
Brad Miller 54.3
Mike Miller 52.7
Beno Udrih 51.2
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 50.2
Spencer Hawes 50
Luke Ridnour 49.2
Andrei Kirilenko 49.1
Manu Ginobili 49.1
Peja Stojakovic 49.1
Marc Gasol 47.8
Steve Blake 47.5
Brook Lopez 46.2
Anderson Varejao 42.7
Rudy Fernandez 42.3
Luis Scola 42.1
Andrea Bargnani 42
Jeff Foster 41.4
Kevin Love 40.4
Rasho Nesterovich 40.4
Andres Nocioni 38.9
Nick Collison 38.5
Kirk Hinrich 38.5
Joel Przybilla 37.7
Jason Kapono 37.1
Linas Kleiza 36.4
Matt Bonner 34.9
Kyle Korver 33.7
Darko Milicic 31.6

White of the Night: Luke Ridnour

News of note:
Josh McRoberts had his first significant minutes of the season, and played very well, blocking 4 shots, white scoring 10 with 8 boards. Let's hope to see more of Josh!
Steve Novak also makes our list for the first time this season, showing some aggressive shooting in his minutes.
Diener also gets some rare minutes, and performs well.
K-Love down to 6 minutes??? WTF...
Luke Ridnour wins White of the Night for his incredible efficiency, leading his team to a blowout victory.

Okur: 23p - 13 reb -- 40 min
Ridnour: 18p (7 shots) - 7a - 2 stl -- 26 min
Calderon: 16p - 4 reb - 4a -- 35 min
Nash: 16p - 11a - 2 stl -- 37 min
Nocioni: 15p - 8 reb - 3a - 2 stl -- 41 min
Novak: 14p -- 18 min
Turkoglu: 14p - 5 reb - 7a - 2 stl -- 42 min
Bonner: 14p - 3 reb - 3a -- 29 min
Belinelli: 13p - 4a - 2 stl -- 34 min
B Miller: 13p (8 shots) - 9 reb - 4a -- 28 min
Ginobili: 13p (8 shots) -7 reb - 3a -- 24 min
Bogut: 12p - 8 reb -- 22 min
Kapono: 12p -- 26 min
Diener: 12p (6 shots) -- 15 min
P Gasol: 11p - 7 reb -- 42 min
Kirilenko: 11p -- 29 min
Biedrins: 11p - 9 reb - 3a -- 34 min
McRoberts: 10p - 8 reb - 4 blk -- 28 min
Kleiza: 10p (3 shots) -- 16 min
Foster: 9p - team high 10 reb -- 33 min

White of the Night: Marco Belinelli

Belinelli breaks out, playing a team high 42 minutes, racking up a career high 27 points, and earning the prestigious White of the Night award.

Nelson had some kinda fit of temporary insanity, starting 3 Whites (Belinelli, Biedrins, Kurz). It looks like someone whispered in his ear right after the game started, though, as Kurz only played 12 minutes...

Chris Andersen lead the team in rebounds and swats 3 shots in his mere 23 minutes. WTF??? Somebody, please, free the Birdman!

For games Friday:


Belinelli: 27p - 6a - 2 stl -- 42 min
Okur: 26p - 12 reb -- 47 min
Nowitzki: 24p - 6 reb - 3a -- 36 min
Scola: 23p - 10 reb (5 off) -- 3 stl -- 30 min
Ilgauskas: 23p (14 shots) - 6 reb -- 27 min
B Miller: 17p (9 shots) - 11reb (5 off) -- 35 min
Nesterovic: 16p - 8 reb -- 35 min
Nocioni: 16p - 6 reb -- 33 min
Bargnani: 16p - 5 reb -- 28 min
Lee: 14p - 14 reb - 36 min
Biedrins: 14p - 15 reb - 6a -- 32 min
P Gasol: 13p - 11 reb -- 34 min
Kirilenko: 12p - 6 reb -- 37 min
Milicic: 11p (5 shots) - 2 blk -- 23 min
Collison: 10p (5 shots) - 9 reb -- 26 min
Carroll: 10p (6 shots) -- 16 min
Andersen: 6p - 10 reb - 3 blk -- 23 min

White of the Night: Steve Blake

White of the Night: Steve Blake, for putting together a solid 22-10, to go along with 4 steals, helping to power the Blazers in an exciting victory.

Varejao starting at C, continues to outplay the guy (Ben Wallace) who normally starts ahead of him at PF. Weird how that works.

Not quite as weird as Biedrins getting only 23 minutes. At least Belinelli continues to rise in Golden State!

Solid White performances for games Wednesday and Thursday:

Nowitzki: 27p - 10 reb - 4a -- 38 min
Okur: 23p - 9 reb -- 29 min
Blake: 22p - 4 reb - 10a - 4 stl -- 38 min
Nocioni: 22p - 4 reb - 3a -- 35 min
Belinelli: 21p - 4 reb - 4a -- 38 min
Korver: 18p - 9 reb -- 31 min
Ginobili: 17p - 9 reb - 5a -- 30 min
Biedrins: 16p - 10reb (5 off) - 2 blk -- 23 min
Nash: 15p - 11a -- 35 min
M Miller: 14p - 7 reb -- 34 min
Ridnour: 14p - 3a -- 32 min
Varejao: 13p - 11 reb - 2 slt -- 34 min
Calderon: 11p - 5 reb - 10a -- 37 min

White of the Night: Jose Calderon

Good news for Jake Voskuhl, getting the midseason call up, signing with the Toronto Raptors, who are again becoming a very White team.

--Gortat performs magnificently at C for Orlando, yet again. This guy is for real.
--Bonner continues to improve in his starting role for the Spurs!
--Belinelli continues to shine with good PT. Meanwhile, Kurz relegated back to the bench. Grrrr... Stupid Nellie.
--Ryan Anderson again explodes when given the PT. He Needs To Be STARTING!!!

Close for the White of the Night was Pau Gasol, leading his team in rebounds, assists, and blocks, second in scoring, powering the Lakers to victory.

But I have to give it to someone who performed even better: Jose Calderon, who shot a perfect game, scoring 22 on only 8 shots, schooling the diminutive Chris Paul.


Nowitzki: 27p (22 shots) - 10 reb - 2 blk -- 41 min
Biedrins: 23p (12 shots) - 9 reb (5 off) - 2 stl - 2 blk -- 31 min
Calderon: 22p (8 shots) - 7a -- 36 min (2 nights ago)
Anderson: team high 21p (11 shots) - 9 reb -- 32 min
Nash: 21p (18 shots) - 6 reb - 6a - 2 stl -- 39 min
Bogut: 20p (12 shots) - 11 reb -- 40 min
Belinelli: 19p (14 shots) - 4 reb - 6a -- 31 min
P Gasol: 18p (12 shots) - team high 11 reb - team high 6a - team high 3 blk -- 34 min
Kapono: team high 17p (13 shots) - 4 reb -- 40 min
Bonner: 17p (12 shots) - 8 reb - 2 stl -- 33 min
Gortat: 16p (13 shots) - 13 reb (7 off) - 3 blk -- 27 min
Lee: 15p (9 shots) - team high 12 reb - 2 stl -- 30 min
Calderon: 15p (10 shots) - 8a -- 38 min
Hawes: 15p (12 shots) - 10 reb - 2 blk -- 28 min
B Miller: 14p (9 shots) - 10 reb -- 26 min
Ginobili: 14p (10 shots) - 5 reb - 6a -- 30 min
Okur: 13p - 6 reb - 4a -- 39 min
Milicic: 13p (8 shots) - 5 blk -- 30 min
Nesterovic: 12p (6 shots) - 1 blk -- 17 min
Kirilenko: 12p (6 shots) - 3 reb - 2 blk -- 31 min
Barea: 12p - 9a - 4 reb - 2 stl -- 34 min
Turkoglu: 12p - 7 reb - 8a -- 40 min
M Miller: 11p (6 shots) - 9 reb -- 39 min
Bargnani: 10p (6 shots) - 2 blk -- 23 min
Collison: 10p (5 shots) - 8 reb - 5a -- 21 min
Foster: 9p - 11 reb (7 off) -- 29 min
Murphy: 8p (6 shots) - team high 12 reb -- 22 min
Love: 7p (7 shots) - team high 15 reb (6 off) -- 26 min
M Gasol: 7p - team high 7 reb - 4a - 3 blk -- 23 min


Games of Efficient Beauty:
Calderon (22 on 8), Nesterovic (12 on 6), Kirilenko (12 on 6), Collison (10 on 5), Kleiza (6 on 3), Songaila (8 on 4), Pachulia (4 on 2)