Boozer and Okur stay; Impact on Britishy Gordon

So, the Jazz are going to keep at least two of the three bigmen that could have potentially left this summer. Good for them, I guess. I don't know, it's hard for me to get too excited about anything that happens with Utah. I sort of hate them, but in a totally passive way. But, whatever. This means Utah will still be pretty good, as they have been for a little while now. Can they make that next step? I don't know. They looked very good at times this season, but slumped in the end and had to endure a beating from the Lakers.

Paul Millsap's situation is still unresolved, and I'd guess that this news would make the Jazz less likely to throw big money at him. They'd have to go into the luxury tax to resign him, and that's just not something a lot of owners like to do. Especially owners of small market teams. But, who knows. The list of Milsap's potential suitors is pretty interesting. You'd sort of expect Detroit to be interested, but OKC and Memphis are odd names. I mean, we all know that Marc Gasol is the shit, and the Grizz just drafted Thabeet. OKC look relatively set right now, with a promising young lineup of Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Green-Krstic. But Millsap is young, and they're unlikely to sign a big name next summer. So, why not, I guess.

Anyway, the far more interesting (alright, maybe not) impact of this news is the effect it has Ben "I didn't realise Mount Vernon was in the UK" Gordon (at least, Pete Rock* never told me it was in the UK). Now it seems to be either Gordon or Millsap for the Pistons, unless they're going to hold off to next summer (they aren't going to do that). Right now, it looks like the Pistons really need a big man. Sheed and McDyess could both be leaving, and Austin Daye isn't a real big dude. Millsap's a very good fit, you'd think. But Ben Gordon is dreamy. And I'm pretty sure the Pistons would instantly become the biggest thing in Great Britain if they signed him, because Gordon's leading them to gold in 2012. Him and Luol Deng. Wait. Shouldn't the Bulls already be huge there? Are they? We need answers.

*Water No Get Enemy just came on, and I'd never realised that this was the sample on Grown Man Sport. I've heard both tracks plenty of times. How bizarre.

Curry Fired, Interrupts Speculation on Stephon Marbury's Destination

So, this happened. Just now, apparently.

It's hard to really say too much about the job Michael Curry did in Detroit, just because the situation turned out to be so dreadful. Dumars obviously wasn't really aiming to win last season, instead looking toward the rumored (as in, I'm not even sure it exists) free agent class of 2010. Granted, the talent the Pistons did have still should have gotten them more than 39 wins, but how many more? Hell if I know. I'm not sure if it was bad enough to fire Curry, and I'm pretty sure Doug Collins (if that's who they hire) isn't really any better. But the Pistons are going to sign Ben Gordon, so who cares about the coach? Everything will be alright with Ben Gordon.

The Mourning After

Alright, the obligatory preface: I went into the tournament expecting losses to both Italy and Brazil, a close match with Egypt,and an early trip home. After the first two matches I thought Egypt would win the final group match easily, and the US would go home as the only team in the tournament without a point. So, to beat Egypt and miraculously get into the semifinal was great. To beat Spain was astounding. But this still sucked. Losing sucks. Always.

Coming into the final, I really had no idea what to expect. Brazil's an especially awful matchup for the US. In addition to being really, really good, os verde e amarelo have always produced a style of play which has confounded the Americans, and the US had only managed one win against the Brazilians in 13 tries, coming into this tournament. The 3-0 loss a little over a week ago didn't do anything to change the perception that the US could very well get slaughtered in the final. But after the win against Spain, things just seemed different. It was impossible to tell whether the US would come out confident and committed, as they did against Spain, or timid and unsure, as they had in the second group match.

So, yea, I guess the start was kind of good. Brazil had most of the possession, and did well to work the ball around, but the US mostly avoided giving up any brilliant chances. They even attacked, occasionally. The first goal was just...I don't know, weird. A great cross from Spector, and a perfect touch from Dempsey to send it creeping between Julio Cesar and the far post. It was pretty cool, but my immediate reaction was "alright, hold on". And, you know, 80+ minutes is a long time to hold on. And Brazil continued to have chances after the goal, but the US held their ground, and avoided completely retreating into the defensive shell we've seen before. Tim Howard made good saves, but wasn't forced into any Kasey Keller in the Gold Cup type stuff.

The second goal was pretty fucking brilliant. Rico Clark gets the ball off a misplaced pass, places a perfect ball to Donovan with his first touch, and Donovan and Davies work it back and forth to create the chance. Donovan collects Davies' pass, avoids Ramires with a perfect first touch, and slides the ball far post past Julio Cesar. An absolutely perfect counter attack. One of the best US goals in recent memory, and at the time one of the most significant. It was up there with Feilhaber against Mexico, anyway.

So, after that, things looked pretty nice. For a while. Halftime just seemed...bad? I don't know. But I knew coming out of halftime that things would be different, and I'm not sure why. Luis Fabiano's early goal proved me right, unfortunately, and from there defeat sort of seemed inevitable. It wasn't, of course, and I thought the US actually responded fairly well. They occasionally attacked, but their defending continued to be pretty strong, and despite giving up some pretty good chances they avoided conceding the equalizer. For a while, at least. Brazil "scored" what seemed to be their second goal, as Tim Howard hit the ball out from behind the line on a shot from Kaka. But the referee allowed play to go on, even as Brazil's stars contested the decision, and at that point I thought maybe the football gods were acknowledging that they owed us one for Germany in 2002.

But, it wasn't to be. Luis Fabiano scored his second goal, on a rebound off the crossbar in the 74th minute. Lucio's headed goal on a corner was more or less the end, even though Oguchi Onyewu had a half chance on a late corner that went just over the bar. The heavily favored Brazilians came out ahead, again, and denied the US victory in their first FIFA tournament final. Or FIFA final tournament. I'm not sure which way it goes, after listening to John Harkes and JP Dellacamera yesterday.

Anyway. This could end up any number of ways for the Americans. It could have helped the team in a variety of ways, many of which are obvious. Hopefully they now realise that FIFA refs are very much willing to show them red cards, and that makes things just a bit harder. Obviously, playing four very good teams (three in the top 5) before the World Cup is immeasurably more telling than games against Haiti and Granada (huzzah for the Gold Cup), and hopefully Bradley will have somewhat figured out what works and what doesn't (doesn't=Sacha Kljestan, by the way. just so you know). The loss could keep the team "hungry", as the disappointment at full time was evident. Clint Dempsey's tears as he accepted the Bronze Ball showed just how much this tournament meant to the players, despite the naysayers' insistence that it was merely a warm up exercise for the World Cup. Which it is, to some extent, but so is everything else in international football. The World Cup is IT, and national teams mostly exist in order to get there and show the world what they can do.

So, although a second place finish is obviously a very nice achievement for the Americans, we won't really be able to judge the extent to which this tournament was a success until next summer. Having showed an ability to hang with the "big dogs", the pressure will be on to recreate these performances against the powerhouses they will inevitably face next summer. Perhaps even more important, the US will have to recreate the attacking display against Egypt in games where they aren't prohibitive underdogs. And while qualification (including a certain match at Azteca) and December's draw still lie ahead, the focus now turns towards recreating the magic of 2002 and this summer in about 346 days. Oh, and Grenada. Always Grenada.

Visca Penya

When David Stern announced the final pick of the first round in Wednesday's NBA draft, I was in a unique position. You see, I knew who Christian Eyenga was. Now, I'm not saying this to boost my basketball rep, or because I'm going to pretend that I know Eyenga will be the next big thing. No, I say this because when the Congolese forward's name was announced, I knew enough to ask....

WHAT THE FUCK?

I'd come across his name on a DKV Joventut fansite, where they were talking about his performance. There was a link to a video (he's number 15), where you can see that he's a pretty athletic player that seems to have decent basketball instincts. He's apparently put up pretty decent numbers for CB Prat. For those unfamiliar (*scoff*), CB Prat is DKV Joventut's reserve side, somewhat akin to Castilla's relationship with Real Madrid in football. CB Prat play in Spain's third division (LEB Plata), in front of crowds that would make your local high school team feel unloved. Now, I know very little about where LEB Plata would fit in American basketball, as far as the level of play. But I do know that there are thousands of players throughout Europe playing at a higher level, and many players that are distinguishing themselves in leagues filled with ex college stars and one time NBAers.

So, basically, this pick raises a few questions. First, how the hell did they know enough about Eyenga to make him their first round pick? Second, how did the Congolese youngster even end up playing in Catalonia? Finally, WHAT THE FUCK?!

I've come up with a theory. I do not think that they actually know that much about Eyenga. I mean, I'm sure they've scouted the guy, and that they think he looks good. Fine. But there has to be more to it than that. There are plenty of athletic players overseas, many putting up similar numbers at a higher level than Eyenga. But Eyenga does have one thing going for him: those other guys aren't being brought up at DKV Joventut.

Joventut, for those who aren't fluent in Catalan (pfft), means "youth". And they live up to their name, with one of the best youth systems in all of European basketball. Their youth teams are dominant, at all levels, regularly smashing opposition (check out some of these results.). In recent years they've had numerous big names pass through, such as Ricky Rubio, Raul Lopez, Jordi Villacampa, and Rudy Fernandez. Wednesday's draft saw three players from La Penya (the club) taken in the first 50 picks, fewer than only the University of North Carolina. Henk Norel, taken much later than Rubio or Eyenga, only came into Joventut's first team this season. He'd played with CB Prat for a few seasons, after moving from a Dutch club.

So, wait. DKV Joventut are bringing in foreign kids? THIS IS LIKE FOOTBALL?! Yes, exactly. Just as you hear about Arsenal or Real Madrid bringing in the latest wunderkind, DKV Joventut appear to be scouring the globe for the next big thing. And doing a damn good job, it seems. I'm sure they aren't the first to come up with this idea, but at the very least they seem to be doing a better job of it than everybody else. Somewhat similar to Villarreal in La Liga, La Penya have stayed relevant despite few resources, and a relatively small fanbase. They've done this by staying a step ahead of the competition, spotting talent early, and doing a better job of cultivating that talent than most anybody else.

Which brings us back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Christian Eyenga. Now, this guy may not turn out great for them. I have no idea. But a few things are clear about the pick. First, they didn't want to bring in anybody new this season. Eyenga will likely stay in Catalonia for a little while, honing his skills without counting against the salary cap. But this wasn't a case of taking a guy because they had to. Clearly, the Cavaliers had their eye on Eyenga. The Lakers sold their pick for $3 million, and the Kings traded the 31st pick for Sergio Rodriguez plus stuff. But the Cavs kept the pick, taking Eyenga because of what he might become. And the hope that he might become the next (whoever) comes from the player's association with a club that seems to be showing the way forward in European basketball. Without great resources, or a huge fanbase, they are staying relevant by thinking a step ahead of the opposition. And, at this point? That seems to be enough for Danny Ferry. Just as Barcelona seemed to buy Martin Caceres because they assumed Villarreal knew what they were doing (that didn't go so well), Cleveland are more or less indicating that they trust La Penya on this one.

TAQ (Theoretically Asked Questions)

Q: So...who's Daniel Santiago?

A: The Puerto Rican center who has conquered two continents.

Q: You mean the guy whose NBA stats were: 122 games, 417 points (3.4 PPG) on 46.9% shooting (68.5% from the line). 260 rebounds (2.1 RPG), 38 assists (0.3 APG), 39 steals (0.3 SPG) and 47 blocks (0.4 BPG). That guy?

A: And Pizarro was assassinated. THAT'S NOT THE POINT. The point is, he's excursed (yea) on excursions, and competed in the NBA, Olympics, FIBA World Championships, Euroleague, and liga ACB. Basically? The world's 5 biggest basketball competitions. Probably.

Q: Alright, fair enough. So, are you actually "amigos" with Daniel Santiago?

A: No. Here at ADS, the word "amigo" is used rather liberally. Basically, our amigos are anyone we like. For actual amigos, we'll probably just go with English. Comprende?

Q: So, then...why Daniel Santiago? Other players have played in the US and abroad. Some have even played in Asia and South America.

A: Other guys may better embody the "pangea" aspect of this site, but...who's honestly had a weirder career than Santiago? He started at New Mexico, then moved to an NAIA school, where he won player of the year. Began his professional career in Puerto Rico, before moving to Italy. Got his break in the NBA with the Suns, but moved back to Italy after a couple seasons. After a single season with Lottomatica Roma, he gave the NBA another try, having his most productive season in the league as a Milwaukee Buck in 2003-2004. But it was not to be, and he went back to Europe once again, after his second season with Milwaukee proved far less successful (successful being a relative term). This time he went to Spain, where he played for Unicaja Malaga. During his time there they won their only liga ACB title to date, forever making Santiago a legend in Andalucia. Probably. Anyway, after three seasons at Unicaja (an eternity, for our Daniel), he moved onto FC Barcelona. Yea, that FC Barcelona. There he won his second ACB title, playing a key role in a front line that includes Fran Vasquez, David Andersen, and Ersan Ilyasova.

That's a really weird career, right? That kind of weirdness must be revered. So, basically? In summary, Daniel Santiago is a bad motherfucker.

Q: Wait, you mentioned that Barcelona have Vasquez, Andersen, and Ilyasova available. Aren't those guys all better than Santiago?

A: Shut up.

Q: Fair enough. Back to this "blog" thing. What are you going to talk about here?

A: Everything. Well, alright, maybe not everything. But lots of things.

Q: That doesn't answer my question.

A: That one's not even a question. I win.

Q: Are you drunk? You're drunk, aren't you?

A: We're done here.