Hooped Up

Center Darko Milicic told The Post he is hoping his agent can work out an agreement with the Knicks to be released.

Milicic said he doesn’t want to leave money on the table, but feels it’s best for him and the Knicks to part ways. Milicic said he doesn’t want to play for another team, but rest for next season when he plans to return to Europe.

“I’m just trying to find some kind of solution,” Milicic told The Post. “I’m not just looking for a solution for my end, but a solution that would be good for them and me.

“I think for the team, why am I taking someone’s spot right now?,” Milicic added. “Why am I traveling, taking a spot? I’m taking someone’s spot when I know I’m never going to play. I understand them, they want to save money so they can get another player. I understand that. But I’m not going to leave any money.”

“If it was just me, I’d say bleep the money,” he said. “But I’m thinking about my wife and baby, and you never know what can happen tomorrow.”

New York Post

Marko Jaric who has been used by the Grizzlies as much as I’ve used Internet Explorer this year (zilch) is leaving the NBA to play in Spain and he’s taking his hot wife with him too. It’s a sad day for the Memphis chapter of the Adriana Lima stalkers club indeed.

Real Madrid gave its fans an early holiday present on Tuesday when it announced the signing of former Euroleague champion Marko Jaric for the remainder of the season, pending medical tests. Jaric will be reunited with head coach Ettore Messina at the end of a decade that they started by winning the 2001 Euroleague title together with Kinder Bologna.

How awesome is it that moving to beautiful Spain for millions to play a game you’d play for free is a set back.

via Press Release

Way back in 2005, the Boston Celtics selected Gerald Green with the 18th pick in the draft. Four years and NBA teams later, Green will now be playing for Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia. Damn, it was all good just a week ago.

“I’m just glad Gerald’s still involved with the game,” Pierce said. “He’s got a lot of talent. We’ll probably see him again in the NBA some time soon.

“I think he’s still a tremendous talent, but, you know, it’s tough to try to make that adjustment out of high school, learning the pro game. In high school, you really don’t understand what it’s all about. I’ve always said that the easiest thing sometimes is making it into the NBA. The hardest thing is staying.”

It’s almost unbelievable that a guy with that much talent couldn’t find himself on a NBA roster, yet here we are. But like my Russian friend Yakov always says about players who skip college “blah, blah, blah, blah”. You’re right, maybe I should learn Russian to preserve the friendship. Good luck in mother Russia Gerald Green.

via Boston Herald

Sweet blue bear wearing a headband! The Memphis Grizzlies are expected to sign ex-Rockets guard Von Wafer sometime next week to improve their outside shooting if things fall into place.

Wafer, a 6-5 Florida State alum, first needs to complete a divorce with his current team, Olympiakos, a European club that reportedly has Wafer under contract for $2 million but for whom he hasn’t logged significant playing time.

Wafer would then need a letter of clearance from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) before he could sign a deal with the Grizzlies.

I guess this proves that making a basketball career move based on seeing The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, is a really bad idea.

via Commercial Appeal

Greek basketball club Olympiakos announced on Tuesday that their former NBA star Josh Childress has come down with the H1N1 flu and will be out of action for more than a week.

“Our player Josh Childress has been diagnosed with the H1N1 flu. He is currently being treated and doctors are completely satisfied with his condition,” an announcement by Olympiakos said.

Childress is the third player of the team to come down with the H1N1 flu after Sophocles Schortsanitis and Kostas Papanikolaou were taken ill last month after the team returned from the United States where they played two friendly games with NBA teams.

Press Release

The Knicks-Maccabi Tel Aviv charity game at the Garden turned bizarre when the Maccabi coach Pini Gershon refused to leave the court after being ejected by the replacement referees after picking up his second technical foul midway through the third quarter.

The game was delayed 10 minutes as Garden security, a top Israeli rabbi, the referees, players and his coaching staff tried to convince the stubborn white-haired Gershon to leave. He was finally escorted off the court to cheers from the pro-Maccabi crowd at the Garden. The Knicks were leading by 20 points when Geshon picked up two quick technicals, which is an automatic ejection.

Watch Pini Gershon get stubborn at the (1:12) mark, after the jump.

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My god man! After watching this awesome clip of an  AEK Athens home game in the Greek league. Playing a basketball game in Utah, Los Angeles, or Detroit in the NBA as a visitor seems like a cake walk in comparison.

I have no idea what these fans are chanting, but if I was the visiting team I would be very scared to win.

BTW, The guy at (0:40) of this video rules!!!

Right now, you’re probably asking yourself, “What the Sofo! Who is this dude?”

Well, Sofoklis Schortsanitis aka Big Sofo was born in Tiko, Cameroon to a Greek father and a Cameroonian mother and was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers 34th overall in the 2003 NBA Draft. However, things didn’t work out so well with the Clippers and Sofo now plays for Olympiacos in the Euroleague and the Greek national team.

Great! So now that you and Big Sofo are practically Facebook friends. Check out what happens when all  6′10″, 375 lbs of Sofo serves Tibor Pleiss of Germany on a rim that isn’t exactly Sofo proof.

The Memphis Grizzlies have withdrawn their qualifying offer to guard Juan Carlos Navarro, making him an unrestricted free agent.

General manager Chris Wallace announced the move Thursday that surrenders the right to match any future offers if Navarro returns to the NBA. It’s a move that frees up salary cap space just before Memphis introduces veteran guard Allen Iverson at a news conference later Thursday.

In his only NBA season, Navarro averaged 10.9 points and 2.2 assists in 82 games in 2007-2008. After his rookie season, the six-foot-three, 170-pound guard returned to Spain to play with F.C. Barcelona.

Press Release

It was the lack of contractual guarantees and complex tax issues, plus having to pay a portion of his future salary for several years as part of a buyout with the DKV Joventut Spanish basketball team, that caused top draft pick Ricky Rubio to forgo an opportunity to play with the Timberwolvesthis season and instead accept a $1.45 million-per-year deal to play in Barcelona, according to El Mundo Deportivo. Rubio was paid $97,000 last season by DKV Joventut.

St. Paul Pioneer Press