Hooped Up

Another van glorious season of NBA basketball is about to begin and Hooped Up does a quick and dirty preview of all 30 clubs.

Ever since the Celtics got Kevin Garnett, Boston versus whoever in the first round of the playoffs has given the eventual loser of the series hope. After the Bulls took the Celtics to multiple overtimes and eventually took an L in game 7. Optimism in Chi-Town about their ball club hasn’t been this high since Michael Jordan played. Read More »

This English squad could become a sleeper pick in the 2012 London Olympics with Luol Deng on board.

” GB take on Israel on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, with NBA star Luol Deng in the team for the first time this summer.

“Whenever you have a guy like that added to the team it gives you a chance to win every game,” said Mensah-Bonsu, who was GB’s top scorer in Turkey. ”

BBC

General manager John Paxson will confirm Wednesday that the Bulls have reached agreement on a six-year deal with restricted free agent Luol Deng. The deal is worth a guaranteed $71 million, according to sources. Incentives could push the contract’s value to $80 million, sources said. Deng, 23, rejected a five-year, $57.5 million extension in October and then joined in the season-long funk and malaise that shrouded theBulls’ underwhelming 2007-08 season. But Deng’s career averages of 15.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 48 percent shooting, not to mention his off-the-court charitable work that has endeared him to Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, made his re-signing one of management’s top off-season priorities.

Chicago Tribune

If the Bulls want to sign Luol Deng to a contract extension, they have weeks, not months, to do so. Though the official deadline to reach an extension isn’t until Oct. 31, Deng’s camp has made clear to the Bulls that negotiations won’t continue past the forward’s early-August commitment to Britain’s national team.

Chicago Tribune

Chicago Bull’s forward, Luol Deng, has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the UN Refugee Agency’s Humanitarian of the Year Award. The award is in recognition of Deng’s support of UNHCR’s ninemillion.org campaign to bring education and sports to millions of displaced children. Deng, himself a former refugee from south Sudan, will receive the award at the agency’s annual World Refugee Day commemoration to be held in Washington on June 20th.

Earlier this year, Deng, pledged to donate US$50 to ninemillion.org for every basket he scored and in a public service announcement he recorded in support of the campaign he urged his fans to support his efforts to improve the lives of young refugees.

SLAM

With Chicago Bull team mates Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, the British basketball squad will be the strongest it has ever been.  Hoping to bolster their hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Even though London is hosting the event, the Great Britain team, who did not enter for a place at Beijing in August, are not guaranteed an automatic passage to the Games because they have not qualified for enough leading tournaments since the team reformed in 2005.

Deng, 23, and Gordon, 25, his Chicago Bulls team-mate, will join the squad for the London selection camp in August. Chris Finch, the team’s coach, said: “It is by far the strongest list of names put out in the history of any of the home countries or GB, we’re really fortunate to have such a quality group.” 

The Times