Lasme-nia comes to Tel Aviv
Though Maccabi Tel Aviv had announced the team’s signings of Stephane Lasme and Alan Anderson as early as Saturday morning, Euroleague representatives only made the official announcement late yesterday. Nevertheless, the punchline remains the same and both players will be suiting up in Maccabi yellow for 2009-10; both signed one-year deals with options on the second. Lasme is quite the acquisition for Tel Aviv, as this big man really came into his own with Partizan Belgrade last season with 1.6 blocks to go with 11.3 points and 6.5 boards per game in Euroleague play.
Last season’s loaner to Maroussi Costa Coffee, Team Greece’s Eurobasket center Loukas Mavrokefalides, will be returning to and sticking with Olympiacos Piraeus through 2011. At 24 years old, Mavrokefalides led Maroussi to third place in the Greek League and a subsequent Euroleague qualifier spot.
(Euroleague.net) – Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv completed the non-Israeli portion of its roster over the weekend with the signings of power forward Stephane Lasme and swingman Alan Anderson. Both players agreed to deals for the coming season with options for a second year. Lasme (203 cm, 26 years old) arrives from Partizan Belgrade, where he averaged 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and was third in the league with 1.5 blocks in 19 Euroleague games last season, helping the club reach the Euroleague Quarterfinal Playoffs. Best known for his defense and athleticism, Lasme was also instrumental in Partizan winning three titles – the Adriatic League, Serbian Radivoj Korac Cup and Serbian League – in his European debut season. He averaged 11.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in the Adriatic League. Lasme has also played for Golden State and Miami in the NBA and for Los Angeles in the NBDL. Lasme had a successful college career at the University of Massachusetts, where he was named the Atlantic 10 conference’s Defensive Player of the year in 2006 and 2007. He holds the record for most triple-doubles in one NCAA season along with Jason Kidd and Michael Anderson. Lasme averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.1 blocks in 33 NCAA games in his senior year, the 2006-07 season. He is also a member of the Gabonese national team.
Anderson (198, 26) arrives from Cibona, where he averaged 15.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in eight Euroleague games after joining the club midway through last season. He was not with Cibona for either of its regular season games against Maccabi. Anderson was an important piece for Cibona late in the season and posted 27 points and 9.8 rebounds in the Croatian League finals in helping Cibona to win the title. Anderson also won the Croatian Kresimir Cosic Cup title and helped the club reach the Adriatic League final. He began the season with Triumph Lyubertsy in Russia and has also played for Virtus Bologna in Italy, Tulsa in the NBDL and Charlotte in the NBA. Anderson first made a name for himself during a four-year college basketball career at Michigan State University, where he helped the Spartans to advance to the 2005 NCAA Final Four, averaging 13.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 33 games.
Center Loukas Mavrokefalides, who comes off a great season on loan at Maroussi Costa Coffee, has agreed to a one-year contract extension that will keep him at Olympiacos until the 2010-2011 season. Mavrokefalides (208, 25) started his career in his hometown Kilkis and grew up with PAOK Thessaloniki, where he spent five seasons (2001-06). Since then he has played for Virtus Roma in Italy, Pamesa Valencia in Spain, Olympiacos Piraeus and Maroussi. Last season Mavrokefalides averaged 12.3 points, 5.7 boards and 1.8 assists in 12 Eurocup games and was a key factor for Maroussi as it finished the Greek League in third place and secured a berth in the Euroleague qualifying rounds. Mavrokefalides is also a member of the Greek national teams with whom he won a silver medal at 2005 World Under-21 Championships and a bronze medal at the 2003 World U-19 Championships. He is on the squad that will represent Greece this summer at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland.
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