The interviews, as always, seem to be coming out of the virtual woodworks online these days. BallinEurope below rounds up some links featuring recent words of wisdom straight from the warriors’ mouths – though BiE forgives you if you skip directly to Charles Barkley’s bit at the end.
• From France, former Duke Blue Devil and current Cholet Basketeer DeMarcus Nelson talks to the Real GM site; Nelson explains that, while he went undrafted in 2008, this eventuality was ultimately his decision: After not hearing his name called in the first round, he contacted teams to tell them to eschew taking him in the second and therefore force him to play without a guaranteed contract.
• The always-worthy heinnews turned in a pair of extremely Euro-centric pieces. Not exactly an interview, but longtime CSKA Moscow hallmark J.R. Holden does turn in a blog entry about the Red Army’s rough season (“Yes, we lost some very winnable games and adjusting to a new coach, a new system/style of play, and injuries to some of our main guys had something to do with the losses; but overall, no name, no blame. WE lost together as a unit”) and his biography Blessed Footsteps, set for January release. (Heinnews has also just posted an excerpt from the book.)
Meanwhile, David Hein managed to get some time with the always quotable Dirk Bauermann, who spends quality time on the progress of the new Bayern Munchen basketball franchise, Dirk Nowitzki and Team Germany, plus Tibor Pliess and Brose Baskets Bamberg, among other topics.
• Former Siena College player Kenny Hasbrouck, the first Saints player ever to get an NBA contract (though he couldn’t stick with the Miami Heat), is now playing with Meridiano Alicante. At Bleacher Report, Hasbrouck’s interview contains a nice succinct description comparing three big leagues – though BiE would give European athleticism a little more credit: “The thing that sets the NBA apart from both leagues so far in my opinion is the combination of the strength, very high level of basketball IQ and athleticism. Euro basketball has a very high level of basketball IQ but lacks the other two with a small exception of a few players and the D League has the other two and lacks the basketball IQ.”
• From the In Case You Missed You Department, here’s the official interview with all-time Euroleague rebounding king Mirsad Turkcan of last week.
• Quick shameless plug: Don’t forget Zalgiris Radio’s brief tête-à-tête with Hungary’s Kornél Dávid!
• Last, and in no imaginable way least, is Charles Barkley’s already infamous seven-minute contribution to Birmingham radio station WJOX’s call-in show. This verbal throwdown by Sir Charles doesn’t have much to do with European basketball, but the truth is that even if BiE stood for “Badminton in Estonia,” Charles would get play here.
Highlights in text form – but it’s all highlights, really – may be found here, but give the entire show a listen to. Find out why Charles doesn’t dig too much on Christmas, why garbage men shouldn’t be tipped, and Brett Favre’s, um, habits.
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