B-Ball Potpourri Post # 2

[by Kris SANTIAGO] - Welcome to the second edition of my potpourri of basketball stories from around the globe.

Sierra Leone, a war-torn country, is still trying to organize a national basketball program and had some sponsorship through German basketball brand K1X in the past years. 

In the meanwhile, guys like Ansu Sesay (Milano, Italy) and Alpha Bangura (Al Qadsia, Kuwait) should be role models for young players in the West African country. 

Here is an interesting interview with Alpha, who claims, that his mother dragged him onto basketball.

No rest - Maccabi's Esteban Batista is going to suit up for Uruguay in the South American Championships in Puerto Rico.

Chinese basketball player and NBA-prospect Xu Yong in danger of loosing his life. Tough story here, I deeply wish he can recover from the disease!

O.J. Mayo may cashed some money in while being at USC...did you really wonder? 

Draftexpress probably knows already who will be in Orlando for the NBA Pre-Draft Camp.

From Europe, you got Georgi Tsintsadze (Georgia/Tartu Rock), Mantas Kalnietis (Lithuania/Zalgiris), Peja Samardziski (Serbia/FMP) and Anton Ponkrashov (Russia/BC Khimky) in Disneyworld. Africa is represented by Cameroonian Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (UCLA) and John Riek (The Winchendon School) from the Sudan. 

No Longar Longar (Sudan) or Parfait Bitee (Cameroon) here, who played at the Portsmouth Invitational before.

British-Ghanaian Pops Mensah-Bonsu (brought in for exactly ONE game...) saved the day and CB Granada with a rebound in the end of the game against Tau. 

Granada's win over Tau Ceramica secured the Andalusians another season in the ACB and probably a big paycheck for Pops who is now a hometown-hero and is pronounced "Pup Menha Bonha" in perfect Andalusian.


In Greece, there are some "good" and some "bad" teams in terms of paying their players. If you are a pro player, you better read the list before signing a contract there. 

Real wants to sign Jeremiah "Pavel" Massey (They should have given him some Slovakian name at least...) for a million dollars...that's 16.528 Euros these days I guess.

Other teams are currently struggling financially or could be facing some problems soon.
Solobasket reports that Akasvayu Girona is going to lose their main sponsor, a real estate company, who are also responsible for the delay of the payment of the players for the last two months.Akasvayu Vic, who were promoted recently to LEB Gold, are in the same situation and have to find a new sponsor for the next season as well.
Polaris World wont' be the main sponsor of Murcia anymore which could cause the withdrawal of Murcia from the ACB for the 2008-2009 season,
while Forum Valladolid, who were relegated last weekend, are having financial instabilities as they rely heavily on their president Javier Herrero. 

Good news for Africa!
"The president of the Spanish Federation of Basketball, Jose Luis Saez, and the general secretary of FIBA Africa, Alphonse Bilé, signed in Beijing an agreement between the two entities for which the FEB is committed to actively participate in the development of African basketball. "
Sounds promising, as the FEB will be doing a lot to improve the quality and the level of coaching and playing through diverse programs on the continent.
This could also mean an influx of new talent in Spain as they are going to be able to scout players way better then ever before.

And some funny stuff in the end:
Ever wondered why Pat Riley is not coaching the Heat the next season? Take a look here 

It could have been easy for him to practice though; he had the opportunity to work with these ladies right here 

I'm out like warm beer in the biergarten.