Basketbrawl During Israeli Cup Finals

Iverson's 'Retirement' Update + Highlights

Turkish Besiktas famous import, Allen Iverson, appears close to end his career in basketball. The former Philadelphia Sixers’ guard injured his left ankle recently and can’t stand the pain anymore. Later today, he will do a press conference to announce that he is going to have surgery in the United States and will be treated here.

“Leaving the basketball world makes me sad but, sometimes, we have to accept things like they are. I can say goodbye to basketball,” he revealed yesterday.

Via Turkish News

Also the highlights from Iverson's recent game in Turkey. He scored 17 points and dished out eight assists in Besiktas' overtime loss against Efes Pilson.




UPDATE:

Allen Iverson may be 35 and in need of having a lesion removed from his right leg that will take 4-6 weeks to rehab, and he might not have any NBA teams interested in him, but his manager, Gary Moore, told the Associated Press that his client isn't planning on hanging it up just yet.

Once the lesion is removed in the United States, Iverson is planning to head back to Turkey to be with his team, Besiktas, for the playoffs, the AP reports.

Iverson "totally disputes" that he is retiring, Moore told the AP. After all, Iverson has another year on the two-year, $4 million deal he signed with the Turkish club in the fall.

"People need to know that Allen is and always has been a fighter," Moore said, according to the AP. "He's got a battle ahead of him."

VIA Yahoo Sports

Okay so he's not retiring. I knew I shouldn't have went ahead with unreliable Turkish news.

Eid Mubarak + Iverson Debut In Turkey

Iverson: I'm Taking My Talents to Istanbul, Turkey

Allen Iverson has agreed in principle to sign an incentive-laden, two-year, $4 million contract with Besiktas of the Turkish professional league, sources told Yahoo! Sports on Sunday night.

Iverson plans to sign the contract this week, the sources said, and is expected to report to Besiktas the week of Oct. 31.

Iverson’s contract will give him an opt-out clause after this season. There’s no escape clause during the season for Iverson to leave Turkey and return to the NBA.

Iverson, 35, could make his debut for Besiktas on Nov. 6 in a game against Bornova. Besiktas played its first game of the season on Oct. 19 and is 1-1 in league standings.

Iverson has solicited more lucrative offers to play in China this season, but has been intrigued with the prospects of playing in Istanbul. After controversial exits with his last three franchises – Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia – Iverson exhausted interest from NBA teams. Despite averaging 26.7 points in his 14-year NBA career, Iverson ran out of opportunities in the league.

Besiktas is considered third among the three most powerful franchises in the Turkish first division. The club has a strong following, and team officials believe Iverson could be an immense gate draw.

VIA Yahoo Sports

Euroleague Finals: FC Barcelona over Olympiacos

Euroleague Final Four Highlights

Get a good look at some of the NBA prospects, including those whose rights are being held by NBA teams, and former NBA players that are playing in the Euroleague Final Four.

Euros, Raptors and ... Fran Vazquez?!

The Raptors are always characterized as an international team by NBA executives, analysts, etc primarily because they play in an culturally diverse city like Toronto and have international players in their rotation. Please note that the correct term should have been European because they are all from Europe and none from outside the continent. And while there are 5 Europeans on the roster, they all play like the stereotypical European player. That's not to say that all Europeans play like that, but all of the Europeans on the Raptors roster sure do.

However you can't necessarily fault the Raptors for going this route after the history of being burned by American free agents. In this area the Raptors do have an advantage over other teams however you can't build a team with so many holes and players with overlapping skill sets that don't fit.

Nonetheless one of the MANY holes that the Raptors have includes not having a shotblocker. These are hard to come by and are sometimes wildly overpaid for what they do (see Diop, Dalembert, Okafor). So if there was one type of player that the Raptors are missing from their roster, its an athletic Euro shotblocker.(NOTE: EURO IS NOT A REQUREMENT LOL) Although he's not proven yet in the NBA, he could prove to be a smarter investment dollars wise compared to already established bigs with large financial commitments such as Okafor and Biedrins. And there are a couple of them playing overseas after being drafted by NBA teams. Meet Spaniard Fran Vazquez.



Height: 6'10" to 6'11"
Weight: 240 lbs
Born: 1 May, 1983 (Age 27)
Nationality: Spain
Position: PF/C

After being drafted 11th overall in the 2005 NBA draft, Mr. Vazquez decided NOT join the Orlando Magic because he had no interest whatsoever playing in the NBA.

In the summer of 2005 he got a massive 4 year contract from Akasvayu Girona and it had a massive buyout. Even if he wanted to play in the NBA, it impossible for him to come over since NBA teams can only contribute $500,000 to a buyout. That means the rest of the buyout would have to come out of his own pocket. There were also reports that he was whipped by his girlfriend who was heavily influencing his decision to stay in Europe.

Fast forward to 2010. Fran Vazquez has established himself overseas dunking and blocking shots left and right. In the 2008/09 ACB season, he was ranked 1st in PER, TS%, eFG%, Points per possession, and blocked shots per 40 minutes. In the 2008/09 Euroleague games, he was top 10 in all those categories and was 1st in all the shot blocking categories. This season Fran set the Euroleague blocked shots record this season on a team that featured the likes of Ricky Rubio and former NBA guard Juan Carlos Navarro. In the ACB, he was 2nd in blocks and 1st again in blocked shots per 40 minutes.

His contract is coming to an end after this season but there is a club option for the next season. I've also read somewhere that he has a NBA buyout of 5M Euros, which doesn't make sense because he is set to earn 1.8M Euros for the 2010/11 season if his team picks up his option. In any case if his girlfriend does let him come to the NBA and if his buyout issues are resolved, I'd look for him to get something like a 3 year 12M-14M dollar contract in the NBA. Judging by what Luis Scola, Anthony Parker, Marc Gasol, etc got in the NBA, that seems like a fair deal.

So how would the Raptors get Fran Vazquez? First they would need to trade for his rights. Colangelo could simply offer cash, which MLSE has a lot of, to Otis Smith and trade for his rights. Then the Raptors would need to use part of the Mid Level Exception to sign him. He would not be restricted to the 1st round rookie scale since 3 years have went by since Fran Vazquez was drafted.

Oh and here are some of his highlights:





UPDATE FROM DRAFTEXPRESS:

Not much has changed since the last time we discussed Fran Vazquez as an NBA prospect. He’s still the same terrific athlete who ranks as one of the best shot blockers and most efficient players in the Euroleague--and he still appears to have little to no interest in making his way to the NBA to play for the team that drafted him: the Orlando Magic. With the Magic in the midst of the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if GM Otis Smith even bothers to show up at this point to initiate the courting process.

LANK