Fox Sports Australia: Bogut sees 'huge chance' to play for Sydney Kings (via Zach Lowe)
Andrew Bogut's desire to play in his native Australia looks to be getting increasingly serious. Bogut traveled to Sydney on Monday to meet with the Kings' brass, with the hopes of making a final decision on his lockout future once an insurance plan is finalized.
"It is obviously a unique market and the Kings are an icon brand here in Sydney, so Sydney's definitely a huge chance," Bogut said after meeting Kings general manager David Wolf and the board.
Bogut will also have conference calls later this week with the Adelaide 36ers and Gold Coast Blaze, though the general sense seems to be that Sydney are now in the driver's seat while Perth is no longer an option. The NBL begins league play in early October, right around when the NBA's training camps would otherwise be starting up. Michael Jordan could not be reached for comment, but I'm sure he'd approve.
Woelfel: Joel Przybilla still interested in returning to Milwaukee
As first noted by BUCKS over in the FanPosts, Gery Woelfel is once again touting Joel Przybilla's interest in returning to Milwaukee next season. Woelfel mentioned this a couple times last season as well, so the idea isn't new, but it's always nice to hear about NBA players wanting to come to Wisconsin, isn't it?
"Milwaukee will be one of my top teams, definitely,'' Przybilla said in a telephone interview. "For me, Milwaukee is home. For me, the biggest thing in my life is my family and I think this where we'll probably spend the rest of our lives.''
Przybilla's wife, Noelle, is from Big Bend, just outside of Milwaukee, and has many family and friends residing in the area.
A healthy Przybilla's shot-blocking and tremendous rebounding skills would be a welcome addition to most any NBA squad, and the size-starved Bucks are certainly no exception. No offense to Jon Brockman, Larry Sanders or Drew Gooden, but it'd be nice to rely on a real center to back up Andrew Bogut, wouldn't it? The tough part is in that whole "healthy" piece. After playing in all 82 games in 08/09, Przybilla has been plagued by right knee issues the past two seasons, though he claims to be close to returning to full strength. Let's hope that's the case.
Eurobasket 2011: No Olympics for Ersan Ilyasova and Turkey
Turkey will once again miss out on Olympic basketball following a heart-breaking 68-67 loss to Serbia at the Eurobasket. Ersan Ilyasova (10 pts, 3/10 fg, 3/7 threes, 7 rebs) had a chance to win it in the waning seconds, but his difficult 18-foot fadeaway bounced off the rim, sending the Turks home empty-handed.
It's a bitter pill for Turkey, which last summer fell just a game short of World Championship gold, about as good as they could have hoped in a tournament that also featured the likes of Kevin Durant and Team USA. It's not surprising then that big things were expected of Turkey at this year's European Championships, particularly with Enes Kanter joining an already formidable roster that included Ilyasova, Hedo Turkoglu, and Omer Asik.
FIBA Americas: Carlos Delfino and the Golden Generation claim gold
A day after clinching a spot in London with a semifinal win over the Dominican Republic, Argentina wrapped up the FIBA Americas tournament in style, defeating arch-rivals Brazil 80-75 in front of a raucous home crowd in Mar del Plata. As expected, Argentina's "Golden Generation" once again got the job done: Luis Scola was again the star for the hosts (32 points on 18 shots) while Carlos Delfino scored 16 points on nine shots along with nine boards.
I am a GM: Impact Vegas rosters released
Stephen Jackson will be arriving on Wednesday to join Team B in the Impact Basketball Competitive Training series in Las Vegas. Jackson is still the only Buck confirmed to play in the so-called lockout league, though his team will also include former Homestead High standout Coby Karl.
SBN: Brandon Jennings #37 in top 99 players of 2015
Tom Ziller, Mike Prada and Andrew Sharp debate Jennings' future in their fun series on the future stars of the NBA.
In other Jennings news, while he hasn't been in any danger of being underexposed this summer, I have to say Under Armour's video series on him has been really well done (see Episode 4 above).
SBN: Chris Douglas-Roberts Signs With Virtus Bologna During NBA Lockout
A week after reports surfaced of Virtus Bologna making bids for Carlos Delfino and Manu Ginobili, the Italian team has apparently settled on former Buck Chris Douglas-Roberts as a fall-back option. CD-R would have been a restricted free agent if the Bucks had made him a qualifying offer before June 30, but the third year wing had fallen out of favor with Scott Skiles toward the end of the season and there was no sense that the Bucks were interested in re-signing the former Memphis star. Instead, the unrestricted free agent is heading to Italy for the full season, having signed a deal that does not include an out clause should the lockout be resolved.