Jon Leuer had Frankfurt's lone highlight last Saturday with a nice drive and slam
Wednesday night should have seen the Bucks opening their season in San Antonio against the Spurs. Instead, we find ourselves trying to decode the NBA's labor negotiations with no certainty around when we might see NBA basketball next. Call me an optimist, but I'm still expecting hoping praying for some hoops by Christmas. Maybe?
In the meantime, there is professional basketball being played in other parts of the world, and some of it even involves players who either were or will be Milwaukee Bucks. So to take our minds off the lockout, here's a quick European roundup of guys you might be familiar with:
German Bundesliga: Jon Leuer and Frankfurt lose 83-57
After struggling with his stroke from nearly everywhere in his first few weeks, Leuer finally had a solid shooting game (5/8 fg, 3/3 ft, 13 pts) this past weekend while also adding his now customary eight rebounds. Unfortunately, his Fraport Skyliners were still manhandled at home by Alba Berlin 83-57, Frankfurt's third straight loss. That drops them to 2-4 on the season (13th in the Bundesliga standings), with their next game this Saturday against Brose Baskets.
Bundesliga Stats: 6 games, 32 mpg, .462/.182/.545, 13.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 ast, 1.0 stl, 0.5 blk, 2.8 to
Turkey: Ersan Ilyasova making himself at home at Anadolu Efes
Ersan Ilyasova has been feeling right at home in his native Turkey (that makes sense, right?), helping Anadolu Efes to a table-topping 3-0 start in the Turkish League. They have yet to be tested domestically, winning each game by at least 15 points, and haven't even needed Ersan much so far (just 19.3 mpg). However, they did suffer their first loss in Euroleague play last week with a narrow 80-79 defeat to Belgian champions Charleroi last week despite 21 points on nine shots from Ersan.
Turkish League Stats: 3 games, 19.3 mpg, .455/.429/.889, 12.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.3 ast, 1.7 stl, 0.3 blk, 0.7 to
Euroleague Stats: 2 games, 25.5 mpg, .778/.500/.667, 15.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 3.0 stl, 2.0 blk, 1.5 to
Italy: Chris Douglas-Roberts settling in with CS Bologna
CD-R wasn't expected back in Milwaukee anyway, but his decision to sign in Italy sans NBA out clause means he won't be making it back to the NBA this year period. Either way, he's making the most of his first foray into European hoops after signing a one-year deal this summer. Bolognia is 2-2 in Serie A so far with CD-R playing a key role alongside Finnish PG Petteri Koponen and former Iowa State big man Jared Homan.
Serie A: 4 games, 26.5 mpg, .531/.357/.769, 14.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.5 apg, 1.5 stl, 1.0 to
CD-R highlights start at the 7:00 mark