Mr. Sheik.
In 5 games his total numbers are:
153:50
61 pts
24/54 44% FG - 3/4 75% 3FG - 4/10 40% FT
44 rebs (29 def, 15 of.)
23 blocks
7ass.
1 steal
6 TO

48 Minute Stats
19 points
14 rebounds
7 blocks
.3 assists
2 TO

Not too shabby. All you can do is go to town on the competition. Almost averaging a Trip/Doub with blocks!

Samb = Future Darko stopper :^)

Now that is pure genius.

Acker update

Euroleague Round-up: Greeks on Top - Basketball - Eurosport



Gershon off to a winning start with Olympiacos - Haaretz - Israel News

Here's the latest Samb Update:

http://www.feb.es/Pasarela/MostrarPa...rtido&p=131650

Although my Spanish isn't very good, thanks to Roscoe I am able to interpret some of these numbers. I looks like Cheik played 16 1/2 minutes in his most recent game. He scored 8 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. He shot 50% from the field, and attempted 3 foul shots, making 2 for a FT% of 67. Mr. Saimb also had 3 blocks in just over 16 minutes, making him a 9 blocks "per 48" player. Darko will certainly have his hands full when this guy is unleashed on the NBA.

Total stats for the season can be found here:
FEB || Federación Española de Baloncesto ||

Per game scoring averages on this season are (per 40) 15 points per game. I have no idea how to tell how much time Mr. Saimb actually gets, or how tough the competition is, but this does look encouraging.

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The city is obviously underwater and it wasn't built by mermaids. -TaShawn

What kind of rights do we have to Acker exactly? Looks like he is kicking azz over there.

We have his rights if he comes back to the NBA.

We'll have the right to match any contract he gets as long as we don't use the MLE on anyone else.

Managed to catch Acker's first game of the Euroleague Regular season. Hopefully I will be able to see some more of his games so I can bring you a report.

1st half:
He was very aggressive from the opening tip, scoring his teams first 6 points, all on drives to the basket including a pretty split between the defenders for a lefty layup.
Got a steal and ran the fast break with a no-look dish setting up a teammate for a layup.
Scored 9 points in the first quarter getting to the line for 3/4 FT. Got burned on D a few times, either on over-committing on the perimeter and getting blown past or getting lost on screens.
He was very aggressive getting to rim, if he saw a sniff of the paint he was going all the way and drew a number of fouls resulting in free throws. He was 7/9 FT in the first half.
Had a couple of careless turnovers when confronted with the full court press (which was every time down the court almost), but he didn't bring the ball up very often. He was quite capable when he did handle the ball on offense and managed to break down defenders a number of times.
He got another tough double clutch layup after splitting the D then followed that up next play with a solo move against a couple of defenders using the spin move for a tough runner from the dotted line.
Closed out the half with a monster rejection from the weak side on Zoran Planinic.
Only attempted 2 outside shots in the first half, one 3 and a baseline jumper which he both missed.
Ended up with 18 points and 9 boards in the first half, playing all but 1 or 2 minutes.

2nd Half:
Acker had a fairly quiet second half, and seemed to play a bit passive at times, not really looking for the ball or his shot. Thats not a bad thing as he was content to make the extra pass to open teammates.
He hit an 18 footer with his first shot in the second half, popping out off a screen. Scored a tough 'and 1' off a broken play, drawing Planinic's 4th foul.
Note: Planinic had a terrible game, as he over-dribbled constantly and got shown up by Acker a few times. Looked like his ego came to play rather than his game.

Late in the fourth Acker hit a long deuce off the dribble to stop a Tau run and snared a couple of offensive rebounds. He was really looking for rebounds in this game, both on defense and offense, something this years Pistons team could certainly use. He finished with a game-high 13 (6 on offense)

Olympiacos ran away with the game in the last 4 minutes to win quite easily.
Acker played 36 minutes, scoring 25 points on 8/12 shooting and 9/11 from the foul line. To go with 13 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 3 steals. The box score said he had 7 turnovers but I can only recall 3 or 4 that were definitely his. The game had a very fast tempo and there were quite a lot of turnovers from both teams. But in no way did he look out of control and he made just a couple of careless mistakes. His defense also tightened up a bit in the second half.

I hadn't seen much of Acker before this game, but he is not a point guard and really shouldn't be forced to be one. Its not his game. He does drive and finds open teammates and has good handles but he should be used more like Delfino. And he looks a lot like Tay out there, just his overall demeanour and style, and he does seem to cruise at times where you don't notice him for a few minutes. He had a big grin on his face after the game, hugging and high-fiving teammates. This year could really improve his game and give him a lot of confidence.

Interesting battle between 'Baby Shaq' and Luis Scola. Baby Shaq just forcing his way to the basket at will drawing fouls and frustrating Scola, culminating with 2 big blocks on the Argentinian. He got a few monster 2-hand dunks but he's got zero vertical. He's wide as a truck and very physical. He only played 15 minutes though.

And finally, I just gotta say, those greek cheerleaders are absolutely amazing! They don't do these over-emphatic violent body vibrations that you normally see, but rather a smooth almost sultry way of dancing that you really should send the kids to bed for.

If you got any questions I'll try to answer them. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

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Wow, we have an on-site reporter in Europe! Great recap.

It sounds like Acker may be too good for that league.

So we have his rights if and when he comes back. Do we have him locked up for 2 years when he comes back? Do these rights expire after a certain period of time if he stays over there?