International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Spain Wins EuroBasket 2022

September 18th, 2022 at 5:18pm CST by JD Shaw

After defeating France 88-76 in the championship game, Spain has officially won EuroBasket 2022, as announced on social media (Twitter link). This is the fourth time Spain has won the tournament.

Spain was led by Raptors forward Juancho Hernangomez, who finished with 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting. His seven three-pointers were the second-highest mark in a EuroBasket final, trailing only Aleksander Djordjevic in 1995, according to EuroHoops. He also won the game’s MVP award.

“Spain played better from start to finish, they had a clear gameplan and we didn’t execute ours well enough, we never really had control of the game,” France guard Evan Fournier said, per EuroHoops.

Hernangomez’s brother, Willy Hernangomez, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Spain, while Lorenzo Brown recorded 14 points and 11 assists. France was led by Fournier’s 23 points and only led once during the contest — when Rudy Gobert made a free throw to make it 1-0.

Magic Notes: Offseason, Wagner, EuroBasket

September 18th, 2022 at 4:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Following a 22-60 season in 2021/22, the Magic are crossing their fingers that No. 1 overall draft pick Paolo Banchero can become their transformative franchise player. In a new piece for The Athletic, Zach Harper recaps the Banchero draft selection and the rest of Orlando’s eventful 2022 offseason

In addition to Banchero, the Magic selected swingman Caleb Houstan out of Michigan with the No. 32 pick in the draft. Harper thinks that the team had a solid, under-the-radar summer and views Banchero as a prospect capable of making a positive impact on the team even as a rookie. Still, Harper cautions that the team will probably continue to have trouble recording a significant uptick in wins this season. He also wonders about how the team’s top three healthy backcourt players — Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz — will contribute.

There’s more out of Orlando:

Magic small forward Franz Wagner, the No. 7 draft pick in 2021 out of Michigan, enjoyed an eventful 2022 EuroBasket run playing for his native Germany. Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel takes a look at where the 21-year-old thrived for the German national team, and what areas could still use some work. Price notes that Wagner’s play-making, his three-point shooting, and his skills as an off-ball cutter were among the highlights of his summer abroad. Price suggests that Wagner could still work to upgrade his ability to finish around the rim in coverage.
After nabbing the bronze medal against Poland today, Wagner is optimistic that the German national team can look at its success at EuroBasket as a foundation for the future, per John Rammas of Eurohoops.“Hopefully, we can keep a little momentum from this,” Wagner said. “It was very difficult, I thought. Mentally, to re-focus and get a really intense Polish team. They did a good job fighting all tournament and obviously tonight. That was the toughest part.”

International Notes: W. Hernangomez, Baynes, Loyd, Raduljica

September 18th, 2022 at 10:40am CST by Arthur Hill

With Spain set to face France in today’s gold medal game of the EuroBasket tournament, Willy Hernangomez is confident that his team has already exceeded expectations, writes John Rammas of Eurohoops. The Spanish squad had to overcome a double-digit deficit to rally past Germany in Friday’s semifinal round.

“It is a game which you have to enjoy. We don’t have any pressure, I think the job is already done,” Hernangomez said. “Still, we have one more step left. That ambition that we have, that characterizes us, is going to come out. We are going to give everything once more, we are going to leave everything on the floor and enjoy a final. I think it’s an incredible, unique opportunity, so we will fight for gold.”

The Pelicans’ center has been Spain’s leading scorer and rebounder in the tournament, averaging 17.6 points and 6.8 boards in eight games. He’s looking forward to the matchup with French center Rudy Gobert.

“He is a very tough player,” Hernangomez said. “The best defender in the NBA, but if you want to be one of the best centers you have to face them and accept those challenges. Let’s go for it.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

Aron Baynes had 14 points and six rebounds while playing more than 13 minutes in his first game with Brisbane in Australia’s National Basketball League, tweets Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The 35-year-old center, who is returning after spinal cord surgery, was on a minutes restriction in the preseason contest. Baynes already looks like the best rim protector in the NBL, Uluc adds.
Appearing on a Eurohoops podcast, former Raptors guard Jordan Loyd disputes Duncan Robinson‘s contention that the G League is the second-best basketball league in the world. “Maybe he’s trying to say that there’s some crazy talented guys in the G League that can really score the ball,” said Loyd, who recently signed with Monaco in the EuroLeague, “but as far as saying the league as a whole is the most talented league, I don’t agree with that.”
Former center Bucks and Timberwolves center Miroslav Raduljica had an unusual reason for turning down an opportunity with Crvena Zvezda in the EuroLeague, according to Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando. Raduljica opted to work as a driver for the Serbian rock band YU Grupa during its tour of the United States.

And-Ones: Referees, Harrison, Bitadze, Korkmaz, Hoard

September 16th, 2022 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

There won’t be any labor strife regarding NBA officials for several years. The NBA and the National Basketball Referees Association announced that they have entered into a new collective bargaining agreement that covers the next seven seasons.

That CBA runs through the 2028/29 season. The contract addressed salary, travel, pension and marketing issue rights and was ratified by the overwhelming majority of the NBA referees, the NBRA announced (hat tip to Andrew Lopez of ESPN).

We have more from around the basketball world:

Former NBA guard Aaron Harrison has signed in Slovenia with KK Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Harrison played 38 games with the Hornets and Mavericks from 2015-18. He played in Turkey last season.
FIBA officially announced that disciplinary proceedings have been opened for the alleged attack on Sixers wing and Turkish national team member Furkan Korkmaz by Georgia players, including the Pacers’ Goga Bitadze, after Korkmaz was ejected from a EuroBasket contest, Eurohoops.net relays. Both sides agree that an incident happened and FIBA clarifies that they have the security camera footage from that day. What remains unclear is what kind of sanctions can be imposed, Eurohoops adds, as FIBA uses the wording “applicable disciplinary measures.”
Hapoel Tel Aviv has elected to retain Jaylen Hoard for the rest of he 2022/23 season, the team announced. Hoard joined the club on a partially guaranteed deal and now will get a full guarantee. After going undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2019, the 6’8″, French-born swingman joined the Trail Blazers on a two-way deal for the 2019/20 season. He then spent the subsequent two NBA seasons bouncing between the Thunder and their NBAGL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

And-Ones: Top Under-25 Players, Wade, EuroLeague, More

September 14th, 2022 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

Fifteen NBA executives polled by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype unanimously picked Mavericks star Luka Doncic as the NBA player under 25 years old whom they’d most want to build a team around. While Doncic’s selection comes as no surprise, there are some interesting picks further down Scotto’s list, which was derived from asking those 15 NBA execs to name the five players under 25 they’d most want to build around.

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant ranked second and third, with Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley following them at No. 4. Former first overall picks Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves) and Zion Williamson (Pelicans) came in at Nos. 5 and 6, with last season’s Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes (Raptors) rounding out the top seven. You can check out Scotto’s full story to see the other seven rising stars who received votes.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

After spending three years in an analyst role with the network, Dwyane Wade won’t return to TNT for the 2022/23 NBA season, reports Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. According to Marchand, TNT made an offer to retain Wade, but he decided to leave his position to focus on other business ventures.
Euroleague Basketball has appointed Dejan Bodiroga as its new president and Marshall Glickman as acting CEO, per a press release. They’ll replace Jordi Bertomeu, who served as president and CEO for 22 years and was a co-founder of Euroleague Basketball, which operates and oversees the EuroLeague and EuroCup, two of the world’s biggest non-NBA basketball leagues.
Former NBA star Baron Davis and ex-NBPA executive director Michele Roberts are among the backers of the new Fan Controlled Hoops league, which is scheduled to launch in February of 2023, as Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic outlines. The league, which will follow in the footsteps of Fan Controlled Football, will feature 4-on-4 games played on an LED floor, with fans getting the opportunity to illuminate parts of the court to create zones where players get extra points when they score.

And-Ones: Schröder, Free Agents, Hammon, Noel, Paul

September 13th, 2022 at 4:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Free agent guard Dennis Schröder continues to make a case to NBA teams for a contract offer. He scored a team-high 26 points and added five assists until he got ejected in the late going of Germany’s 107-96 victory over Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece in the EuroBasket quarterfinals, as Eurohoops.net relays.

Magic second-year forward Franz Wagner added 19 points for the victors. Antetokounmpo was ejected with five minutes remaining for committing his second unsportsmanlike foul.

There’s a “rising buzz” in league circles regarding Schröder’s job prospects, Marc Stein tweets.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Speaking of free agents, Eric Pincus notes in a Bleacher Report post that there are plenty of veterans still looking for jobs. Pincus takes a closer look at where players like Schröder, Eric Bledsoe, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin and others might land.
Becky Hammon is showing NBA teams what they’re missing after she wasn’t offered a head coaching position, Nancy Armour of USA Today opines. Hammon has the Las Vegas Aces on the verge of a WNBA championship with a more creative offense while maintaining a solid defense. The former Spurs assistant was passed over the Orlando and Portland head coaching jobs in 2021.
Nerlens Noel‘s $58MM lawsuit against Rich Paul and Klutch Sports Group has been dismissed, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal tweets. As previously noted, the case is instead heading to NBPA arbitration. The judge ruled a “valid, enforceable agreement to arbitrate” existed between the parties.

And-Ones: Italy, Power Rankings, Markkanen, Tjarks

September 11th, 2022 at 7:24pm CST by JD Shaw

Italy defeated Serbia 94-86 in an upset win on Sunday, eliminating two-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and his team from the EuroBasket, as relayed by EuroHoops. The Italian team, which will play its quarterfinal contest vs. France on Wednesday, was led by Nicolo Melli and Achille Polonara, both of whom had 21 points.

Jokic finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Serbia was a +11 points when he was on the court, but the team was outscored by 19 points in the 11 minutes he sat, according to Adam Mares of DNVR Sports (Twitter link).

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Marc Stein releases the first edition of his power rankings (Substack link) for the 2022/23 season. The Warriors and Bucks, the two most recent NBA champions, sit at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The Celtics, Nuggets, and Clippers round out Stein’s top five.
New Jazz big man Lauri Markkanen scored a Finnish national team record 43 points in the squad’s win over Croatia, as covered by Sportando. Markkanen also recorded nine rebounds, shooting 19-of-28 from the floor. Utah acquired him as part of a deal that sent away Donovan Mitchell this month.
Basketball analyst Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer has tragically passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. A GoFundMe has been set up for the Tjarks family that can be found here. We at Hoops Rumors extend our sincerest condolences to Tjarks’ friends and family.

EuroBasket Notes: L. Brown, Antetokounmpo, Doncic, Ukraine

September 11th, 2022 at 10:30am CST by Arthur Hill

Former NBA point guard Lorenzo Brown is part of a controversy at the EuroBasket tournament, according to Eurohoops. Brown scored 28 points and handed out eight assists Saturday, leading Spain to an overtime win over Lithuania in an elimination game. At the post-game press conference, Lithuania’s Mindaugas Kuzminskas suggested the outcome would have been different if not for Brown, who was born in the United States but recently became a Spanish citizen.

“I am not sure how this team would look without Lorenzo Brown because you signed him only this summer,” Kuzminskas said to a Spanish reporter. “But it is how it is.”

Brown, 32, was a second-round pick in the 2013 draft and played for four teams in a five-year NBA career that ended after the 2018/19 season. He has been with several overseas teams since then and recently signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“Even if I haven’t been here long, I feel like these guys … they have known each other so long and they brought me in as one of them,” Brown said in response to Kuzminskas’ comments. “So it’s just an amazing feeling to have that brotherhood, “la familia” as they call it. It’s really a family. I am coming in here and I am a regular American guy and those guys are talking in Spanish. And I am learning every single day, so it’s amazing what I have learned and how they treated me so far. The outside noise doesn’t bother me at all. I am just worried about what these guys feel about me. And it’s amazing. They love me and I love these guys.”

There’s more from EuroBasket:

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was able to take part in practice without any pain and is expected to play in today’s game against the Czech Republic, according to John Rammas of Eurohoops. Antetokounmpo suffered a mild ankle sprain in Thursday’s contest.
Although more than 30 NBA players are involved in this year’s tournament, Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic clearly stand above the rest, Slovenian forward Edo Muric told Rammas in a separate story. “They are both great players, they are next level. So if they want, they can score 50. In (Doncic’s 47-point) game against France, we played without our starting center, so Luka had to step up. That proves he is a very big player, beating France almost by himself, and Giannis is right there, too.”
Ukraine’s EuroBasket run ended today with a loss to Poland, but the team served as a source of pride for the war-torn nation, per The Associated Press. Players weren’t able to train in their own country in the wake of the Russian invasion, so they practiced wherever they could. “I hope it inspires and helps them a lot, just to get their thoughts off the war a little bit and just watch us play,” Svi Mykhailiuk said. “Obviously, today was not a great example of us playing, but this whole time, we did our best. I hope they enjoyed it. Obviously, it’s tough for everybody because all the guys’ families are still there and it’s tough having to be here. But I appreciate everyone being here. I appreciate everyone fighting.”

Team USA Will Play For Bronze At AmeriCup

September 10th, 2022 at 8:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

The American team will be in the bronze medal game at the AmeriCup tournament after dropping an 82-73 decision to Argentina in today’s semifinals (story via The Associated Press). Team USA was the defending champion, defeating Argentina for the gold medal five years ago.

Gabriel Deck, who played briefly for the Thunder over the past two seasons, led the Argentinian team with 30 points. Deck was waived by Oklahoma City in January and signed a two-year deal with Real Madrid. Former Spur Nicolas Laprovittola had 18 points and Facundo Campazzo, who is seeking another NBA opportunity after spending the past two years with the Nuggets, added 10.

“For sure, a lot of credit to Argentina and (coach Pablo Prigioni). It’s a good team, veteran team, a lot of good players, a lot of different weapons and they did a great job in the end,” said Team USA head coach and Jazz assistant Alex Jensen. “We made our runs. They did a good job taking it up another notch and we lost our patience.”

Argentina will face either Brazil or Canada for the gold medal, with the loser squaring off with the Americans for the bronze.

Team USA’s roster in the 24-team tournament was made up of former NBA players, along with a few G Leaguers. Its leading scorer in today’s game was former Heat, Pelicans and Thunder guard Norris Cole, who finished with 18 points.

“This is a good learning experience for our team,” he said following the loss. “And we’ll learn from it.”

Central Notes: Giannis, Mamukelashvili, Bulls, Pacers

September 9th, 2022 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo exited Greece’s 90-69 win over Estonia on Thursday early due to what the Greek team is referring to as a “light” right ankle sprain, per John Rammas of Eurohoops. Although Antetokounmpo checked out in the third quarter and didn’t return, the injury isn’t viewed as serious.

According to an Associated Press report (via ESPN), Greece’s head coach, Dimitrios Itoudis, said after the game that the Bucks forward received ice and treatment. However, it doesn’t sound like Giannis’ availability for the upcoming single-elimination stage of EuroBasket is in jeopardy. “It’s all good,” Itoudis said.

Here’s more from around the Central Division:

Eric Nehm of The Athletic checks in on how the Bucks‘ international players have been performing at EuroBasket 2022. While Antetokounmpo has obviously excelled, Milwaukee is also presumably encouraged by the play of two-way forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, who averaged 15.2 PPG and 11.0 RPG in the group stage for Georgia.
Given that Lonzo Ball‘s lengthy injury absence last season hurt the Bulls on both ends of the court, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic wonders if the team is better built to withstand a Ball injury in 2022/23. A recent report indicated that Chicago’s starting point guard may not be ready for the start of the regular season due to a lingering knee issue.
The Pacers have hired Isaac Yacob as their head video coordinator, sources tell Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (subscription required). According to Agness, Yacob – who previously worked for the Kings – built a strong rapport with Tyrese Haliburton in Sacramento.
In case you missed it, we’re asking you to vote on the projected win totals of all five Central teams for the 2022/23 season.