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So here is some “Daco” news. Mbenga has received an offer from the Lakers. However, he is looking for something bigger from the Heat and it could come today…
MiamiHerald: And I’m told Mbenga, who worked out in Miami on Monday, has a minimum-level offer to return to the Lakers.
Lakers.com: The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Joe Crawford, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Crawford, a 22 year-old native of Detroit, Michigan, played four seasons at the University of Kentucky, averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 127 games (76 starts).
As a senior, Crawford ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring with a team-high 17.9 points per game, scoring 20-plus points 13 times while topping 30 points on three occasions.
Earning Second Team All-SEC honors from league coaches as a senior, Crawford finished his collegiate career as Kentucky’s 19th all-time leading scorer with 1,438 points while ranking seventh all-time in three-point field goals made (186).
Additionally, the 6’5” Crawford started all six games for the Lakers Summer League entry in Las Vegas this past July, averaging 11.3 points including .455 (5-of-11) shooting from behind the arc, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 32.7 minutes.
Here is a small update on Kobe’s pinky surgery. They estimate it will take about 4 weeks to heal. Yet, as of now, no date has been set and Kobe is rethinking the surgery…
O.C. Register: Eventually surgery will have to be performed on Kobe Bryant’s right pinky finger. The procedure is necessary to mend the ligament damage that he incurred during the past NBA season.
However, Lakers spokesman John Black reported Monday that Bryant has not decided when he is going to have his finger mended. According to Black, Bryant planned to take a few days to contemplate the situation, upon his return from the Beijing Olympics.
Bryant’s post-surgery recovery likely will take at least four weeks. Prior to leaving for China, Bryant said he expected to be ready for training camp the opening week of October.
Lakers.com: The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Sun Yue to a multi-year contract, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of 2007 NBA draft, the 6-9 guard started for the Chinese National Team this past month in the men’s basketball tournament at the Beijing Olympics. In six games, Sun averaged 6.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.33 steals in 28.0 minutes.
Playing for the Beijing Aoshen Olympians of the American Basketball Association for the past three seasons, Sun, 23, was named First Team All-ABA in both 2007 and 2008 while earning Second-Team All-ABA honors in 2006.
Posting a 12-point, 14-rebound, 12-assist, 8-block, 4-steal triple-double against the L.A. Aftershock during his rookie season in the ABA (2005-06), Sun averaged 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 10.5 assists in 2006-07 when the team played its home games at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA before moving to Singapore for the 2007-08 season.
Forum Blue & Gold: It’s about five weeks until the Lakers head into training camp. Five weeks with really no basketball to speak of as we watch the start of football (both American and in Europe) and writers and bloggers start working on team previews.
And when those previews come out, a lot of people are going to pick the Los Angeles Lakers to win a title. There’s good reason for that - the Lakers went six games into the NBA Finals last season without their starting center and having Kobe’s finger held in place by a piece of tape.
Lakers fans have a reputation, in some part deserved, of thinking anything short of hanging a new banner and having a parade downtown is a failed season. Going into this season that certainly will be the expectation of many.
But is that fair?
I don’t think that it is. For two primary reasons, one practical and one philosophical…
RealGM: Sun Yue helped make a name for himself while leading China in this year’s Olympics and hopes to show himself to the world in the NBA, according to China Daily.
Yue was selected with the fortieth overall pick in this June’s NBA Draft by the Lakers, and the team has reportedly agreed to terms with the point guard on a deal.
“I want to show myself to the world,” said Sun. “I tried to do my best and play my part on the court. For me, every second counts at the Olympics, so I want to take the chance to let people know me.”
Sun played against his future teammate Kobe Bryant, during China’s opening round loss to the United States.
“I met Kobe and told him I’d like to play with him next season, he said ‘OK’, and ’see you in training camp’,” Sun added.
The league’s MVP appears to be impressed with his newest teammate, as well.
“I think he’s very talented, actually,” said Bryant. “I was very impressed by him. I think he has great size, great length, good shooting touch, good ball handler, good vision, good pace.”
“I was surprised at his size right off the top. He was able to handle the ball. I tried to test him a little bit, see if he could go left, go right, that sort of thing. So I like him.”
I took a few things away from the USA vs. Spain gold medal game.
The one that sticks out the most is that Team USA would NOT have won the gold without the one and only Kobe Bryant.
It took the final game of the Olympics to truly test this “Redeem Team”, it took the gold medal game to see if this team is truly the best in the world.
They proved that, and it’s not like we needed any more reassurance. However, Kobe Bryant also proved that he is the best on the planet, and one of the biggest pieces Team USA needed to regain gold, and solidify the United States as the finest in the world.
The respect is un-matched, and with all the talent on that USA team, and all the big names that are asked to carry their respective NBA teams, everybody knew when it came down to it, the star of stars would be Kobe Bryant, and he would lead them to the promise land.
Some of us wondered if Kobe would ever put his stamp on these Olympics, if indeed he would ever prove that he is the best of the best. When team USA needed him, he stepped up. When the rest were lost, he was there to guide them. When the team was looking for answers Kobe stepped up to the challenge.
ESPN: Order is restored in international basketball. The United States is back on top, but not by that much anymore.
Culminating a three-year mission to end years of embarrassment, the U.S. Olympic team survived a huge challenge from Spain, winning 118-107 Sunday in the gold-medal game.
After overwhelming everyone for seven games, the Americans led by only four points with under 2½ minutes to play. Then the U.S. proved it could handle a close game that seemed would never come in Beijing.
Their prize: the first U.S. gold medal since the 2000 Olympics.
Argentina won the bronze with an 87-75 victory against Lithuania.
Dwyane Wade scored 27 points for the Americans, who found a much gamer Spanish team than the one it humiliated by 37 points earlier in the tournament. Kobe Bryant added 20 points.
In a game so void of defense that it felt more like an NBA All-Star game than one with a title at stake, the Americans had too much offense down the stretch. Bryant converted a clutch four-point play with 3:10 remaining, holding his finger to his lips to quiet the rowdy Spanish crowd behind the basket.
Wade added another 3-pointer that made it 111-104 with just over 2 minutes left, and only then could the Americans relax a little.
They began to celebrate during a break after some technical fouls on Spain with 26 seconds left, then celebrated at midcourt when it was over with “Born in the USA” blaring over the arena’s speakers.
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