Euroleague squads are rapidly falling into place, with Wednesday and Thursday seeing seven players sign or re-sign with the big league’s clubs. For those of you keeping score at home, in reverse order, it was shooting guard Carl English from Kalise Gran Canaria to Tau Ceramica; point guard Bojan Popovic from Bruesa to Lietuvos Rytas; Andrew Wisniewski from Spartak St. Petersburg to Maccabi Tel Aviv; center Robertas Javtokas from Dynamo Moscow to BC Khimki Moscow region; and forward Milan Majstorovic, center Marko Scekic and shooting guard Marco Buljevic will re-up with EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
(Euroleague.net) – Tau Ceramica added more fire power for the upcoming 2009-10 season by inking shooting guard Carl English. Both parties reached an agreement to a one-year deal, with an option to extend it to the end of the 2010-11 season. English (192 cm, 28 years old) arrives from Kalise Gran Canaria, where he averaged 15.6 points and 2.8 assists in six Eurocup games last season, when he helped his club make it to the Spanish League playoffs. English has also played for Zadar in Croatia, Vidi Vici Bologna in Italy, the Florida Flame, and the North Charleston Lowgators in the NBA D-league. English was the 2006-07 Adriatic League top scorer at 20.3 points per game for Zadar, with which he made it to the Croatian League finals. English is also a member of the Canadian national team.
http://www.euroleague.net/euroleaguenews/transactions/2009-10-signings
Eurocup champ Lietuvos Rytas has chosen Bojan Popovic to fill its point guard slot, signing the playmaker to a one-year deal. Popovic (191, 26) arrives from Spanish side Bruesa where he averaged 6.6 points and two assists per game last season. He has two years of Euroleague experience under his belt as well, including the 2006-07 campaign with Dynamo Moscow, when he started all 22 games, averaged 10.7 points and led the team to the quarterfinal round of the playoffs. Popovic grew up at FMP Zeleznik, where he made his professional debut and helped the club win the Serbian Cup twice, and reach the ULEB Cup semifinals and win the Adriatic League both in 2004. He joined Dynamo in 2005 and helped the team win the ULEB Cup that season. After two years in Moscow, Popovic signed for Unicaja and later for Bruesa.
Maccabi Electra has come to terms with point guard Andrew Wisniewski on a two-year deal, the club announced today. Wisniewski (191, 27) arrives from Spartak St. Petersburg, where he averaged 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4 assists in 37 Russian League games last season, helping his team advance to the playoff semifinals. Wisniewski also reached the Russian League semifinals with Ural Great the previous season. Maccabi will be Wisniewski’s second Euroleague stop after playing seven games for Cibona in the 2006-07 campaign. He has also played for Snaidero Udine in Italy, Telekom Baskets Bonn in Germany and Crvena Zvezda in Serbia in his years following a college basketball career at Centenary College. Wisniewski helped Cibona win the Croatian League title in 2007.
BC Khimki Moscow region has reached an agreement with center Robertas Javtokas, who inked a two-year deal with the Euroleague newcomers, the club announced Wednesday. Javtokas (211, 29) arrives from Dynamo Moscow, where he averaged 11.9 points on 71.8% two-point shooting and 6.3 rebounds in 13 Eurocup games last season. In his two seasons with Dynamo, Javtokas helped the club advance to the Eurocup Final Eight in 2008 and 2009, as well as reach the Russian Cup final last season. Javtokas, an accomplished defensive big man with outstanding shot blocking skills, also helped Panathinaikos win a Triple Crown – Greek League, Greek Cup and Euroleague titles – in 2007. He has also played for Siauliai and Lietuvos Rytas in his native Lithuania, where he is a regular member of his national team. In his six seasons with Lietuvos Rytas, Javtokas helped the team win Lithuanian League titles in 2000, 2002 and 2006, as well as lifting the 2005 ULEB Cup trophy while he earned MVP honors in the final against Alfa Makedonikos. Javtokas also won a bronze medal with Lithuania at EuroBasket 2007. “We have been watching Robertas for a long time,” Khimki general manager Viktor Bychkov said. “Javtokas is experienced and ambitious, as well as a top defensive player.”
Euroleague newcomer EWE Baskets Oldenburg continued its efforts to keep the core of last season’s squad by re-signing big man Milan Majstorovic for two more seasons. Majstorovic (207, 26) was a key player last season as the club became German League champion for the first time. He averaged 7.4 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes per game in the regular season and increased his output to 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the playoffs. Last season was his second at Oldenburg, which he joined from Bilbao Basket in Spain. Majstorovic previously played for FMP Zeleznik, with whom he reached the ULEB Cup semifinals and won the Adriatic League in 2004. He began his career at Spartak Subotica in his native Serbia.
Oldenburg also announced Wednesday that center Marko Scekic and shooting guard Marco Buljevic had exercised options to remain another season with the club. Scekic (205, 28) contributed 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in a reserve role off the bench last season, his first with the club. He previously played for PGE Turow in Poland, Vojvodina Novi Sad in Serbia, Banjalucka Pivara in Bosnia and A Plus ZS Brno BC in the Czech Republic. Buljevic (196, 22) saw limited action in his first season with the club last year. Oldenburg now has nine players from last season’s squad under contract.
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