Luol Deng Ready For Great Britain

Playing in front of 450 spectators in Sussex is a long way from megastardom in the US with Chicago Bulls, but for Luol Deng, it is just as important.

On Thursday night the Chicago Bulls star made his home debut for Great Britain against Ireland in Crawley, in a warm-up match ahead of key Euro-basket games against Georgia and Croatia.

But the 22-year-old hopes it will be the first step on the road to the 2012 Olympic Games, and the start of a revolution in British basketball.

When the London Games come around, the Sudan-born player will be 27, and on the basis of his current form, would walk into any Olympic team in the world.

Last season he was the National Basketball Association's Sportsman of the Year, and is poised to sign a new four-year contract, which would put him above Premier League stars such as Wayne Rooney and John Terry in terms of earnings.

But for £70 a day, Deng has chosen to play for Britain, a country which, in its one previous Olympic basketball tournament - also in London, in 1948 - lost all three games.

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source : news.bbc.co.uk

KNICKS' LEE ENJOYING TIME WITH TEAM USA

August 17, 2007 -- On his first day in Las Vegas Wednesday as a member of Team USA's practice squad, Knicks forward David Lee heard the words he wanted to hear: he's being considered for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.

Team USA CEO Jerry Colangelo spoke to the newly created band of young guns scrimmaging against Team USA, which will compete next week in the Olympic qualifier in Sin City.

"They told us we're in the pipeline for the future Olympics," Lee told The Post yesterday in a phone interview from Vegas. "Playing in the Olympics, that would be priceless. But just to be in the loop is a great honor. I'm gaining experience against these guys this week and earning respect from them. So far it's been fun. But it was nerve wracking going in there looking at all those names, like an All-Star Game."

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski singled Lee out during an initial talk.

"The first day Coach K and Colangelo talked about putting together a team, not necessarily the best players in the league, not the best scorers," Lee said. "It's not like that anymore. They're trying to do a team filling holes."

According to Lee, Krzyzewski pointed to the forward's rebounding ability and said, "We want one of the best offensive rebounders in the league on this team."

"I'm here to be a rebounder and lead the defense, the same reason I get playing time with the Knicks," Lee said.

In the first scrimmage against the Olympic stars Wednesday, the youngsters upset Team A, which featured Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd and Amare Stoudamire.

"We're simulating what other teams will do, so we packed in a zone and forced them to shoot outside," Lee said. "You can't guard Kobe and LeBron off the dribble, so it's the only way to be successful."

Lee, who missed the final 23 games with a mysterious stress reaction in his right leg, said he's feeling sore, but his injury has healed.

"I have muscle soreness from both legs because I had so much time off, but the injury itself is feeling normally," he said. "I have a good bounce in my step."

source : nypost.com

Wizards, Grizzlies Finalize Trade of Spanish Guard

Guard Juan Carlos Navarro's trade to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for a future conditional first-round draft pick was completed yesterday, the Washington Wizards announced.

The Wizards and Grizzlies agreed in principle to the trade on Aug. 3, but the deal's completion was delayed because Navarro had to finalize the details of the buyout on his contract with his team in Spain, FC Barcelona.

Navarro, a 6-foot-3 guard who has been one of the top players in Europe for several seasons, was drafted by the Wizards in the second round of the 2002 draft but never signed with the team.

According to a league source, the draft pick received by the Wizards will be top 19 protected in 2008, meaning the Grizzlies would keep the pick if they finish with one of the top 19 picks. The pick is top 16 protected in 2009, top 14 protected from 2010 to 2012 and top 12 protected in 2013.

If the Wizards have not received the pick by 2013, they will receive a second-round pick and cash considerations.

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source : washingtonpost.com

Pistons Sign Jarvis Hayes from Wizards

All summer, the Pistons said they could live with a backup-small-forward-by-committee system. They said they could fill minutes behind Tayshaun Prince with second-round draft pick Sammy Mejia, rookie guard Arron Afflalo and maybe even shooting guard Richard Hamilton.

Now, consider that Plan B.Plan A is small forward Jarvis Hayes, a restricted free agent the Pistons signed Thursday to a one-year deal using a small portion of their $5.6-million midlevel exception. Washington did not match the offer.

"We are pleased to add Jarvis Hayes to our roster," team president Joe Dumars said in a news release. "Jarvis has proven himself as a solid NBA player over the last four seasons, and we like the flexibility and depth he will bring to our team at the small forward position."

Hayes fits the typical Pistons prototype as a player who has endured more than his share of struggles and was eventually cast off from another team. The No. 10 pick of Washington in the illustrious 2003 draft, Hayes has spent most of his four-year career with the Wizards battling injuries.

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source : freep.com

Nets Sign Hite

August 17, 2007 -- The Nets didn't necessarily get bigger but they added Hite - Robert Hite - to their roster yesterday.

Hite, a 6-foot-2 guard who played 12 games for the Heat last season, signed a one-year, $687,456 minimum deal with a partial guarantee (about $20,000) after impressing the Nets on their summer league team. Hite, undrafted in 2006 out of the University of Miami, averaged 4.3 points for the Heat. In four summer league games with the Nets, he averaged 12.0 points and shot .385 overall - but .467 on 3-pointers.

Hite became more attractive to the Nets when free agent Eddie House elected to sign for more money with the Celtics, getting one year and $1.5 million. Team president Rod Thorn, who noted Hite "performed capably" in the summer league, had said the Nets were looking to sign two more minimum guys so Hite fills one of those spots.

source : nypost.com

Sonics' Swift Sheds His Skin

In one swoop, Robert Swift's development as a man and a basketball player has reached its apex, at the precise moment when the Sonics are seeking a mature and productive center as a cornerstone of their future.

Quietly, as the Sonics franchise moves toward slow-simmering success on the court and uncertainty off it, Swift has rehabilitated his torn right anterior cruciate ligament in near anonymity. Not yet considered a bust because he was robbed of his opportunity to showcase his skills by the catastrophic injury, Swift has not played in an NBA regular-season game in 16 months, and he's hoping to make it to Oct. 31 at Denver's Pepsi Center with his rebuilt knee intact.

While many of his teammates were lying on tropical islands with umbrella drinks, Swift was begging the Sonics' strength and conditioning coach, Dwight Daub, to stay at the Furtado Center for more work. He arrived here Thursday at 11:30 a.m. as the Storm was practicing and worked arduously in the weight room while construction workers were milling around.Swift ignored them, flipped on an AC/DC compact disc and went to work.

"It's been exactly the opposite," Swift said when asked whether he's had to be coerced to rehab. "There are times when things are tough at home or I just want to be here, and I have to beg Dwight to stay here and he would say that I was done and to go home. I sometimes have been working too much."

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source : seattlepi.nwsource.com

Kings coach Reggie Theus received Sam Lacy Award

New Kings coach Reggie Theus was in Las Vegas on Friday to accept a Sam Lacy Pioneer Award from the Sports Task Force for the National Association of Black Journalists at their 32nd annual convention.

Theus was one of several recipients of the award, each with Las Vegas ties. The others included: boxing promoter Don King, boxing referee Richard Steele, ESPN NBA analyst and fromer UNLV standout Greg Anthony, UNLV women's basketball coach Regina Miller, and former University of Nevada-Reno women's athletics administrator Dr. Angela Taylor.

"I'm honored to be recognized with a Pioneer Award by the Sports Task Force of the NABJ," Theus said in a statement released by the Kings. "I have fond memories of my time at UNLV, and those years helped shape my career as an NBA player, as a broadcaster and now as a coach."

The Pioneer Awards honors black groundbreakers in the sports world and is the most prestigious accolade given by the NABJ Sports Task Force, which is made up of African American broadcasts sports journalists.

source : sacbee.com