Juan Carlos Navarro

Source: myespn.go.com --- 1 day ago
Being an NBA player ... what does that mean to you? One of the first words out of almost anybody's mouth would be "money." I mean, you make the NBA, you make money. (Some rookies would swear it is not true, but nobody believes them.) But it just keeps happening. Josh Childress, Jannero Pargo, Carlos Arroyo, Carlos Delfino, Earl Boykins, Juan Carlos Navarro, Bostjan Nachbar, Nenad Krstic, Primoz Brezec, Loren Woods ... they could all be playing in the NBA if they wanted to. Yet they're all going to be playing overseas this season, and the primary reason is money. Today Gordan Giricek joins the list , having just signed a two-year deal to play for Fenerbahce in Turkey. Giricek's agent, Marc Fleisher, tells me that European teams are feeling everything has changed: There is a new sense in Europe that anyone is available. It used to be that they would only go after certain kinds of NBA players. They would make offers to unrestricted free agents or to players who were at the end of their careers. But now they sense that there is an opportunity, thanks to the way the collective bargaining agreement is set up, that they can go after and get NBA players. It's a whole new world. Fleisher adds that most European teams are wholly distinct from NBA teams in an important way. "They don't care about making money," he explains. "They are all about promoting the sponsor, or civic pride, or in the case of some clubs, national pride." That changes ...

Source: myespn.go.com --- 27 days ago
Josh Childress, former sixth overall pick in the NBA draft, and a player who played very well for an Atlanta team that put a real scare into the eventual champions, is leaving the NBA to play for Greece. He signed a contract today with Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, in Athens, at 2:30 p.m. local time. (You can see pictures of Childress smiling over his contract .) His agents made clear in a conference call today that when taxes and incentives -- including the use of a very nice home -- are factored in, Childress can make more playing in Greece then he can in the NBA. There have been plenty of NBA players who have turned down NBA jobs to play overseas, including Juan Carlos Navarro, Tiago Splitter, Bostjan Nachbar, Carlos Delfino, Primoz Brezec, and Fran Vazquez. There have also been Americans like Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Loren Woods who have chosen European contracts over hanging around and hoping an NBA team will pick them up. But Childress is the first American player in line to make big money as a key part of a good team who has decided to ditch the NBA. As NBA fans, how should we take this? Just about every reaction I have seen from NBA fans has been along the lines of "oh no, this is bad for us." My reaction is exactly the opposite. Unless you're a fan of the Atlanta Hawks, have a party! This might be a little bit of a short-term black eye for the NBA, but this is great for NBA fans, and ultimately, the NBA. There are lots of re ...

Source: features.csmonitor.com --- 5 days ago
Basketball fans following the Beijing Games will notice that many of the best international players on the court do not compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) – because they choose not to. In fact, on Saturday, when the United States Olympic team takes to the court against Spain, their opponents will include Juan Carlos Navarro, [...] ...

Source: www.greenbandwagon.com --- 4 days ago
Samsonite - Dumb and Dumber (via digimay ) I thought Spain would take care of the ball, make the US run a half court offense, shoot well from 3-point land, and overall make it a competitive game. Turns out I was way off as the US dominated. I even did a radio interview at halftime (more on that in a future post) where I said Spain would make a run and Team USA would end up winning by 15 or so. Ouch. Yes the Americans had 16 turnovers. But that pales in comparison to Spain's 28. And Team USA's half court offense was just fine. Carmelo Anthony showed up and knocked down 3s. Chris Paul was excellent. Tayshaun Prince contributed. LeBron James was LeBron James. And Dwyane Wade served notice yet again. On the flip side I was disappointed in Juan Carlos Navarro and Jose Calderon. Somewhere Gilbert Arenas is chuckling. More stuff I messed up: The US was 12 of 25 from beyond the arc and 19 of 24 from the line. Nothing wrong with that. Lingering Questions: Did Spain quit? Did the Spanish play possum? Did I egregiously overrate Spain and simultaneously underrate America? For the record I would answer those as follows: Yes, Grasping at Straws, Yes. Closing Side Notes: Chris Paul on this day off plans: "I might go see the Great Wall..." For some reason I thought that was awesome. Oh and give Yao Ming and company credit for advancing to the next round. I expected a little more from Germany and on a different note poor -  showing by Russia. ...

Source: rimshots.freedomblogging.com --- 26 days ago
When Tiago Splitter spurned the Spurs to stay overseas, eyebrows were raised. When the likes of Primoz Brezec, Carlos Delfino, Bostjan Nachbar and Juan Carlos Navarro left the NBA and headed back to Europe, the grumbling started around the league. But Josh Childress’ decision to turn down a deal with Atlanta – who smugly thought they had [...] ...

Source: www.bleacherreport.com --- 14 days ago
The Tampa Bay Rays finally broke out of their losing streak with the Cleveland Indians, winning 8-4. The long ball played a large role in stopping the 0-5 skid they’ve claimed this year as a record against the Indians.   All three of their home runs came in the seventh inning. The first two came at the hands of Rafael Betancourt. He gave up a total of three runs in two-thirds of an inning. Evan Longoria spanked a two run shot after Carlos Pena walked. Cliff Floyd hit his over the right field fence on a 2-1 offering. Juan Rincon relieved, surrendering the third homer of the inning to Dioner Navarro.   The home-runs put the Rays up 8-3, squelching any thought of a Tribe comeback.   Longoria’s home run set the rookie homer mark for the club. It was his 22 nd of the season.   Fausto Carmona only lasted four in this one, giving up four runs on three hits, striking out four and walking five. With a tight strike zone on the lower half of the plate, Carmona could not catch a break, and the five walks were his albatross on this particular evening.   The Indians and Rays each scored a run in the first, Cleveland on three singles by David Dellucci, Kelly Shoppach, and Shin-Soo Choo, scoring Dellucci; the Rays on an Akinon Iwamura triple, and a Pena sac-fly.   In the third, the Indians would go up 3-1.  With one out, Shoppach walked, and Jhonny Peralta delivered his 18 th home-run of the season and his 62 nd RBI, continuing his hitting-hot str ...

Source: www.lonestarball.com --- 12 days ago
Not only is the NBA getting a hit from the donaghy scandal, but now there is worry about keeping their stars in the U.S.A. Carlos Delfino, Bostjan Nachbar, Carlos Arroyo, Jorge Garbajosa, Earl Boykins and Juan Carlos Navarro What do all of these players have in common?  They left the NBA to play overseas for more money.  Why is this?  there is no cap where they are playing.  Some of these owners overseas are  some of the richest people in the world.  They are willing to drop 40 or 50 million a year on players such as Lebron and Kobe.  Would Kobe and Lebron consider that?  Definite yes. When Kobe was asked if he would go overseas for the right amount of money, he responded "You can't turn down $40 million (a year), I don't care who you are," Bryant said. "If someone turns down 40, I'm beating them up." Lebron was also all ears when asked if he would go elsewhere in 2010, as he said "I haven’t been offered that, I haven’t talked to anybody," James said. "It’s just rumors?" When I asked him if he liked hearing them, he smiled and said: "I like hearing good rumors, not bad rumors. That’s a good rumor." D Wade was also asked the same question when he responded "They throw 30, 40, 50 million a year at me? I can't turn that down," said Heat star Dwyane Wade, a free agent in 2010 . The thing is that overseas owners are willing to pay the dollars to get world class superstars on their teams, these owners are some of the most powerful men i ...

Source: www.bulletsforever.com --- 13 days ago
In perusing over the newly-released 2008/09 schedule , it's clear that another bad start to the season is simply inexcusable. Bad starts have repeatedly killed us in the past.  Last year, of course, we lost our first five games pretty badly despite having complete roster continuity, and it cost us down the line.  Now, we weren't winning in Boston on their opening night and probably were going to lose to either Orlando or Denver , but imagine if we beat Indiana and New Jersey as we should.  Win those two and the infamous Juan Carlos Navarro game and we would have earned the home-court advantage against Cleveland in the playoffs. But wait, there's more.  We started 4-9 in 2007 and 12-18 in 2006.  2006 was particularly loony, since Caron Butler was playing off the bench, Chucky Atkins was screwing all sorts of stuff up and Antonio Daniels wasn't doing anything.   I'm willing to excuse that tough start, since we were adjusting without Larry Hughes and learning how to incorporate several new faces.  But, 4-9 in 2007?  The only new piece we needed to integrate was DeShawn Stevenson.  I'm not sure a better start would have made a difference in the playoffs, but three more wins there gives us the Southeast Division. This year, we're going to have roster continuity and a pretty easy schedule.  Eight of our first 14 are at home (actually, 15 of our first 24, to be exact), and of the six road games, only two are against playoff teams from las ...

Source: www.interbasket.net --- 12 days ago
You can add Orlando Magic guard Carlos Arroyo to the list of international players leaving the NBA for European clubs. Arroyo has joined Juan Carlos Navarro, Jorge Garbajosa, Carlos Delfino, Bostjan Nachbar, Primoz Brezec, and Nenad Krstic as the NBA continues losing players to tempting offers from across the Atlantic. Discuss the move in our forum [...] ...