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International Notes: Bogut, France, Slovenia, Jeter

March 20th, 2020 at 8:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA center Andrew Bogut says players in Australia’s NBL were “used like pawns” in the league finals, according to an Associated Press report. His team, the Sydney Kings refused to fly across the country for Game 4 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Their opponent, Perth, had a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and was eventually awarded the title.  Travel restrictions were coming into effect across Australia when the Kings decided against taking the flight. “It’s something the NBL needs to learn from,” he said. “The disappointing thing is that it was left up to the players to decide.”

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • The French LNB plans to complete its season when the pandemic subsides, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. The LNB is evaluating several different formats if the season resumes, Lupo adds.
  • The Dutch Basketball League Eredivisie has decided to cancel the rest of the season and the Slovenian league has taken the same action. Neither league will crown a champion, according to the two posts from Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
  • Former NBA guard Pooh Jeter has returned to China and is eager to play again next month, he told Marc Spears of The Undefeated. Jeter has played there for eight years and is under quarantine there after flying back from the U.S. “It will definitely be exciting to play again,” he said. “I know China. And China definitely wanted to show it did things the right way.”
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International Notes: Australia, China, Turkey, EuroLeague

March 19th, 2020 at 10:12am CST by Luke Adams

After canceling the remainder of their best-of-five Grand Final series earlier this week due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia’s National Basketball League announced today that the Perth Wildcats have been crowned champions for 2019/20. Perth was leading the Sydney Kings 2-1 in the series when it was canceled.

In a statement, NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman and commissioner Jeremy Loeliger explained the decision and announced that former standout Providence guard Bryce Cotton has been named the Grand Final MVP.

The NBL’s press releases this week have made it clear that the league’s decision to cancel the rest of the Grand Final series was made in large part because the Kings expressed they weren’t comfortable with continuing to play those games. Bogut, who said Sydney’s decision was made after “almost three hours of back and forth (and plenty of tears),” registered his displeasure with the way the NBL handled things.

“I want to go on record to say I am beyond embarrassed and disappointed in regards to how this was handled by our league from the week leading up to the Grand Final series. More to come at a later date re: that,” Bogut wrote in a Twitter note. “This has nothing to do with the result announced today and I wish to congratulate the Perth Wildcats on being crowned Champions.”

Here’s more international news from basketball leagues around the world:

  • Jeremy Lin, Ekpe Udoh, and Antonio Blakeney are among the players who have now returned to China and will begin a two-week quarantine before returning to their respective CBA teams, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter links).
  • The Turkish government has made the decision to suspend all sports in the country, including basketball, Carchia writes in a story at Sportando. Players in Turkey expressed dismay last week that games were continuing amid the coronavirus outbreak, as we noted at the time.
  • The EuroLeague issued an update on the postponement of its season, addressing whether or not players are allowed to leave their respective cities, what will happen with this year’s EuroLeague Final Four, and much more. Carchia has the full memo at Sportando.
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And-Ones: Summer Olympics, Liggins, Pokusevski

March 18th, 2020 at 9:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

It appears inevitable that the Summer Olympics will be delayed, possibly until 2021, writes Paul Newberry of The Associated Press. Even though organizers in Tokyo have been insisting they will be ready on time, Newberry can’t envision how the world will be able to compete when so many regions are currently devoting their resources to the coronavirus pandemic.

The IOC, which admitted this week that the virus situation is “changing day by day,” has considered holding the events at empty venues or canceling the games altogether. Newberry doesn’t see either solution as fair to the athletes who have worked years to prepare or to the Japanese people who bought tickets well in advance.

The U.S. men’s basketball team continues to prepare as if the games are being held this summer, but there’s a strong level of uncertainty, assistant coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters, including Nick Friedell of ESPN.

“(Head coach Gregg Popovich) and I have spoken a couple of times over the last week or so,” Kerr said. “And everything’s just up in the air. There’s no sense of whether things are going to be delayed or anything. We’re all kind of sitting here wondering what’s going to happen, and so is the rest of the world. We’re just going to plan as if this is going to happen, and we’re going to try and put together a roster, and that’s all we can do.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • FIBA is examining alternatives if the qualifying tournaments to fill the four open Olympic spots can’t be played, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The World Cup final standings or the FIBA rankings may be used to select the four teams.
  • Former NBA swingman DeAndre Liggins is involved in a controversy with his Panionios team in Greece, relays Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Flex Basketball Management, which represents Liggins, tweeted a statement today claiming that he has not been registered with the Greek Basketball Federation and isn’t eligible to play, even though he has been with the team since February 12 and is under contract for the rest of the season. “The club was very misleading and did not pay him or agents, and did not cover flight expenses as agreed upon,” the agency claims. “They didn’t help him in his return flight due to the virus pandemic and league suspension, and didn’t help other players as well while ignoring all communication.” (Twitter links)
  • Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas tells Aris Barkas of EuroHoops that 7-footer Aleksej Pokusevski will likely enter the NBA draft. He’s projected as the 25th pick in the latest ESPN mock draft.
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International Notes: China, Russia, Poland, Japan

March 18th, 2020 at 3:09pm CST by Jovan Alford

Earlier this week, a report indicated that Chinese Basketball Association teams collectively decided that foreign players who are under contract in the CBA and refuse to return to China will be banned from the league for three years.

With that being said, it seems as if several foreign players are heeding this warning and heading back, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. 

Some of the notable returning players are Jared Cunningham, Donatas Motiejunas, MarShon Brooks, Ty Lawson, and Jeremy Lin. Those players and others will quarantine for 14 days and get tested for COVID-19 upon returning to China.

The CBA’s season is set to resume play on April 15 with games reportedly taking place in Qingdao and Dongguan.

Here’s more on the international circuit:

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Australia’s NBL Cancels Remaining Championship Games

March 17th, 2020 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

Australia’s National Basketball League has announced in a press release that it has decided to cancel the remaining games of the Grand Final series between the Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats. The NBL’s Grand Final series is the league’s equivalent of the NBA Finals.

The Wildcats had a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five championship series, with Game 4 scheduled to take place on Friday at RAC Arena in Perth. The league had initially planned on playing games that were closed to the public. However, Kings management indicated on Tuesday that it wasn’t comfortable with continuing the series at all, given the worldwide coronavirus outbreak that has resulted in nearly every other major basketball league shutting down.

“We respect the decision in what are extraordinary times for everyone,” NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman said in a statement. “We are understanding of not just the players’ health and well being but also their desire to be with their families, especially given so many of them have family overseas. Having consulted with the Australian Basketball Players’ Association we have decided the remaining games shall not be played.”

Although the NBL’s announcement stated that the series will be canceled, rather than postponed, the league has yet to say which team will be crowned the champion for the 2019/20 season. Kestelman suggested the NBL will weigh that decision over the next 48 hours.

“We acknowledge both teams for what has been a fantastic series and season,” he said. “Sydney was the only team to have gone through an entire NBL season on top of the ladder and Perth was leading the Grand Final series.”

Sydney’s roster features former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Bogut and Pelicans draft-and-stash prospect Didi Louzada, while former NBA big man Miles Plumlee plays for Perth. It’s possible that veterans like Bogut and Plumlee – and other NBL players – will be available to NBA teams if and when the 2019/20 season resumes, assuming they’re on expiring contracts in Australia.

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International Notes: China, Japan, Greece, Europe

March 16th, 2020 at 7:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Chinese Basketball Association teams have collectively decided that foreign players who refuse to return to China will be banned for three years, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony tweets.

The CBA season will resume April 15th and will be played without spectators. All foreign players will have to quarantine for 14 days and then get tested for Covid-19, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports.

The games will only be played in two locations, Qingdao and Dongguan, Carchia adds. China considered going to a local-player-only format but ultimately decided to continue in its usual format. Teams will reportedly not be allowed to sign new foreign players to replace those who choose not to return, Givony adds.

We have more international notes:

  • Pro games have resumed without fans in Japan, though not without complications, Givony reports in a separate story. One game was postponed after a referee came down with a fever. Another team didn’t suit up this weekend after three American players were diagnosed with fevers. The league had been on hiatus since mid-February. The South Korean league, the KBL, has games scheduled without spectators at the end of this month after suspending play in late February, Givony adds.
  • Greece’s EuroLeague team Olympiacos allowed its foreign players to leave the country and return home, Nicola Lupo of Sportando relays. Team activities are suspended for the next few weeks, Lupo adds. Dwight Buycks, Wade Baldwin and Willie Reed are among the former NBA players listed on the Olympiacos roster.
  • Most of the Americans playing in Italy have fled the country while others around Europe have taken a wait-and-see approach, according to Jeff Greer of The Athletic. Virtually all of the leagues of Europe have suspended or cancelled their seasons. Guard Peyton Siva, who played 24 games for the Pistons in the 2013/14 season, chose to stay in Germany, where he was playing this season.
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Italian Leagues To Complete Season Once Play Resumes

March 15th, 2020 at 4:22pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Italian Basketball Federation president Gianni Petrucci has stated that Italian leagues will finish the 2019/20 season after the coronavirus pandemic has been controlled, Nicola Lupo of Sportando reports.

“We’ll listen to what the government says, but our plan is to complete the current season and we’re studying different formats,” Petrucci said.

Across the rest of the world, including throughout other parts of Europe, several leagues have also been postponing or entirely shuttering their seasons, as Hoops Rumors has detailed over multiple posts. Much to the chagrin of its players, the Turkish BSL basketball league is also continuing play amidst the growing health crisis.

The timeline for the resumption of Italian Basketball Federation league play remains unclear.

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And-Ones: Belgian League, Clark, Pitino, NCAA Brackets

March 15th, 2020 at 2:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Belgium’s EuroMillions League has canceled the rest of its season in an effort to curtail the rampant spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, according to Sportando’s Nicola Lupo.

The EuroMillions League has named the team with the best record (13-4), FILOU Oostende, as its national champion. This is an intriguing step, and one several other leagues (like the NCAA) have yet to implement.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Wes Clark, a guard for Italy’s Serie A League team Pallacanestro Cantù, has returned home to the U.S. from Italy following the suspension of the season, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. The 6’0″ Clark is an alum of Missouri and Buffalo.
  • Newly-minted Iona College head coach Rick Pitino still intends to coach Greece’s national team for the June Olympic qualifier in British Columbia, Pitino told Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). Prior to his NCAA return, Pitino had served as head coach of the Greek EuroLeague club Panathinaikos since 2018.
  • The NCAA has decided not to release what would have been this year’s March Madness brackets, Stadium’s Jeff Goodman reports (Twitter link). NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt emailed all coaches relaying this decision. “To be clear, this is my decision,” Gavitt said in his message. “The basketball committees support and concur.”
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Players Dismayed As Games Continue In Turkey

March 14th, 2020 at 5:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

Most sports leagues around the world have suspended play amid the coronavirus pandemic, but games are still going on in Turkey’s BSL, leading to fear and exasperation among the players.

A presidential spokesman announced Thursday that all sporting events in the nation will be played with no fans present through the end of April, according to EuroHoops, Turkey is one of the least affected countries in the region, with just six cases of COVID-19 reported through Friday.

Former NBA guard Shane Larkin, now a high-scoring star with star for Istanbul’s Anadolu Efes, sent out a tweet last night questioning why the league continues to operate.

“In no way do I mean any disrespect to any of the decision-makers that are responsible for handling this coronavirus pandemic,” he wrote, “but I do not understand why the Turkish league is continuing to play when every other league in the world is either suspended or canceled. I understand playing games behind closed doors makes things somewhat safer, but that is NOT safe enough.”

Larkin, considered one of the top players in Europe, is under contract for one more season, but he has an opt-out clause allowing him to accept an NBA offer this summer. He reportedly turned down opportunities last year, but the current situation might affect his upcoming decision.

Also Friday, players from the Galatasaray team in the BSL issued a joint statement calling for games to be suspended immediately.

“There have been no precautions taken prior to this for our safety,” tweeted Galatasaray center Zach Auguste. “Expecting us to participate in a game tomorrow during this pandemic is asking us to willingly risk not just our own health and safety but our families who live with us as well.”

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International Updates: EuroLeague, LKL, VTB, NBL

March 13th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA isn’t the only major professional basketball league preparing for at least a 30-day hiatus. Euroleague Basketball president Jordi Bertomeu published a letter to fans today announcing that EuroLeague play will be halted until at least April 11, 2020. According to Bertomeu, there’s still optimism that the season will resume eventually, as is the case with the NBA.

With a small handful of exceptions, nearly all the basketball leagues across Europe have now been suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak. Here are a few more updates on the international front:

  • Lithuania’s basketball league – the LKL – has officially ended its season, per Donatas Urbonas (Twitter link). Zalgiris, which was in first place by five games with a 22-2 record, has been declared this year’s champion.
  • The VTB United League in Russia announced today that it has suspended its season (Twitter link).
  • The National Basketball League in Australia announced in a press release that the remaining games in its Grand Final Series – the league’s equivalent of the NBA Finals – between the Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats will be closed to the general public.
  • FIBA Europe officially suspended several events, including EuroLeague Women, EuroCup Women, and the FIBA Europe Cup.
  • In non-coronavirus news, German team Bayern Munich parted ways with former Thunder first-rounder Josh Huestis earlier this week, as Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando relays.
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