NBA: A GREAT DUEL (article in English and Español)

We will have a great game tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles between the leader of the Western Conference-Los Angeles Lakers (record of 31-8) - and the leader of the Eastern Conference-Cleveland Cavaliers (record of 31-7, thanks to its record of 20-0 at home)-, which can be understood as a duel between the 2 candidates-of course we can not forget Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and Paul Pierce- to be the MVP of the NBA 2008-09, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James .

So, it is a very important game, which is the first of a Cleveland´s difficult upcoming games-Cavs will play during the next 10 days very complicated games at Los Angeles, Portland, Utah, Orlando and Detroit- in which it will seek to show that it is a serious candidate to be the NBA´s Champion this season. Although the main interest will be the particular duel between Kobe (27.2 points-47% FGP, 36.5% 3PP and 86.4% FTP, 5.5 rebounds and 5 assists this season) and Lebron (27. 8 points per game, 50% FGP, 29% 3PP 78% FTP, 7.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists this season), we believe that the key to decide the winner of this game will be the performance of other players.

On the one hand, we believe it will be very important to decide the winner, the performance of the Lakers´s players in the paint, since Bynum and Pau Gasol must play very concentrated and with great determination to exploit the weaknesses of the Cavs´s play in the paint(Cleveland has injured the Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who is the best Cavs´s offensive center-13.5 points, 51% FGP, 7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks- and it only has in this position, "Big Ben” Wallace and Anderson Varejão, who are good defensive players, showing intensity and work -14 rebounds per game between both-, but offensively their performance are very poor, although I must say that Varejao is gradually improving his shot, but still ... he must improve to be a better player) and to make a great job with the defensive rebounds to avoid that players like Lebron James and Mo Williams can have second chances to score, because if it can be difficult to see a Lebron or Mo´s mistake, what can we expect when in the same attack they have several shots ( Mo Williams is playing very well, taking advantage of the strong defences over Lebron, and he is getting very good numbers and percentages: 16 points per game-46% FGP and 93% in FTP and besides 4 assists and 3 rebounds - becoming the second alternative in the Cavs´s attack and counteracting the Wally Szczerbiak´s bad level during this season-he is playing 19 minutes per game with only 6 points per game-)-obviously it will also be important to try to stop Lebron the work of Trevor Ariza, player who is synonymous of concentration, intensity and defensive vision-his numbers are this season: 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists and especially we must remark that he is the 8th best player in the league in steals per game (1.74) and 2nd in number of steals per 48 minutes (3.4) and the number of steals per turnovers(1.62)-.

Besides the play in the paint, we should pay attention to the play of the guard of both teams too, because on one hand Los Angeles Lakers can arrive to this game without Jordan Farman-his absence is sure- and without the Slovenian Sasha Vujacic-he is doubtful until the last minute-, which will produce that the veteran Derek Fisher-he is 34 year´s old-, must play all the game, which is not a very good news, cause Fisher is not in his best moment and he starts to show fatigue and of course his performance is not very satisfactory in some games, as for example the last played when he finished with 9 points (3-11 in FG) in 41 minutes played. On the other hand, the Cavs also have problems in this position since last Thursday, during the game played against Chicago Bulls, the guard in the starting lineup Delonte West was injured (the Delonte´s numbers are this season: 12.3 points-he is improving his percentages: 46% FGP, 40% 3P, 83%FTP- and 3.5 assists per game), which is a serious problem for the coach Mike Brown, because during this 5 or 6 weeks in which Delonte will be out, we will see Mo Williams as the playmaker-this is not his best role-of the starting lineup, in which we will see the incorporation of the "forgotten" Sasha Pavlovic-the Serbian was having a horrible season, without many chances to play and besides he was showing a very poor performance, but last Friday he had a chance to play again in the starting lineup and he showed that Mike Brown can be calm because the Slovenian played like he made last years and he showed a great performance during Friday´s game against New Orleans Hornets, since his numbers were 19 points with 4-4 in 3P-.

Anyway, a game, in which besides the performance of Kobe and Lebron, the “small details” will have great importance to decide the winner, which should be Los Angeles Lakers, specially if it takes care the paint and it imposes its power in the paint. At 10:30 PM ET (4:30 CET) at the Staples, we will have the outcome.

Cheers,

J&F

NBA: EL GRAN DUELO DEL MOMENTO (article in English and Español)

Gran partido esta noche en el Staples Center de Los Angeles entre el líder de la conferencia Oeste-Los Angeles Lakers(31 victorias y 8 derrotas)- y el líder la conferencia Este-Cleveland Cavaliers (31 victorias y 7 derrotas, gracias a su 20 victorias y 0 derrotas en sus partidos en casa)-, o lo que es lo mismo un duelo entre los 2 candidatos-con permiso de Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard y Paul Pierce- a ser designados MVP de la NBA, Kobe Bryant y Lebron James.
Es decir, partidos de altos vuelos, con el que Cleveland comienza una serie de partidos muy complicados-en 10 días los Cavs visitarán la pista de equipos muy potentes como los Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic y Detroit Pistons- en la que tratará de demostrar que sigue siendo un serio candidato a conseguir el título de la Nba esta temporada.
Aunque todos los focos se centren en el duelo particular entre Kobe( 27,2 puntos-47,7% en tiros de campo, 36,5% en triples y 86,4% en tiros libres-,5,5 rebotes y 5 asistencias esta temporada) y Lebron (27. 8 puntos por partido-50% en tiros de campo, 29% en triples y 78% en tiros libres-, 7,1 rebotes y 6,7 asistencias esta temporada), creemos que la clave para decantar al vencedor de este partido habrá que buscarla en el rendimiento de otros jugadores de ambos equipos.
Por un lado, creemos que será muy importante el juego interior de los Lakers, tanto Bynum como Pau Gasol tienen que salir muy concentrados y jugar con mucha determinación para aprovecharse de las carencias del juego interior de los Cavs( Cleveland tiene lesionado al pívot lituano Zydrunas Ilgauskas-ofensivamente es el mejor pívot de los Cavs pues aporta 13,5 puntos (51% en tiros de campo) 7 rebotes, 1, 2 tapones- y sólo puede contar en esta posición con “Big” Ben Wallace y Anderson Varejao que son buenos jugadores defensivamente, ofrecen intensidad y trabajo-cada uno consigue 7 rebotes por partido-, pero ofensivamente sus prestaciones son muy deficientes-aunque hay que decir que Varejao poco a poco está mejorando su tiro, pero en fin…sigue siendo poco fiable) y conseguir el mayor número posible de rebotes defensivos para evitar de esta forma que jugadores como Lebron James o Mo Williams tengan segundas oportunidades, pues si ya cuesta ver fallar un tiro a Lebron o a Mo, qué podemos esperar cuando en un mismo ataque tienen varios tiros (Mo Williams está jugando muy bien, aprovechándose de las fuertes defensas sobre Lebron, y está consiguiendo muy buenos números y con buenos porcentajes: 16 puntos por partido-46% en tiros de campo y 93% en tiros libres, con 4 asistencias y 3 rebotes-, convirtiendo en el segundo en discordia tras Lebron, y supliendo el bajísimo nivel de Wally Szczerbiak que no está teniendo la importancia de otros años y apenas juega 19 minutos con 6 puntos por partido)-evidentemente también será importante para intentar para a Lebron la labor de Trevor Ariza, jugador que es sinónimo de concentración, intensidad y visión defensiva –gran temporada la suya con 9 puntos, 5 rebotes y 2 asistencias y sobre todo por lo que se refiere a robos de balón, pues es el 8º mejor jugador de la liga en robos de balón por partido(1,74) y el 2º en número de robos cada 48 minutos(3,4) y en el número de robos-perdidas por partido(1,62)-.
Además del juego interior, también deberemos prestar atención al juego de los bases de ambos equipos, pues por un lado Los Angeles Lakers pueden llegar a este partido bajo mínimos, pues además del lesionado Jordan Farmar, es posible que se pierda este partido el esloveno Sasha Vujacic-será duda hasta el último momento-, lo cual conllevaría que veamos jugando prácticamente todo el partido al veterano Derek Fisher-34 años-, que evidentemente ya no está en su mejor momento de forma y parece que está acusando el cansancio acumulado y por ejemplo su último partido no fue demasiado brillante, pues acabó con 9 puntos (3-11 en tiros de campo) en 41 minutos disputados. Por otro lado, los Cavs también tiene problemas en esta posición, ya que el pasado jueves, durante el partido contra Chicago Bulls, se lesionó el base titular Delonte West(12,3 puntos-este año está mejorando en porcentajes, 46% en tiros de campo, 40% en triples, 83% en tiros libres y 3,5 asistencias por partidos), lo cual es un serio inconveniente para el entrenador Mike Brown, pues durante las 5 o 6 semanas en las que Delonte va a estar lesionado, vamos a ver a Mo Williams con las funciones de base creador-no es su mejor role- y la incorporación al quinteto de un “olvidado” Sasha Pavlovic, pues el serbio estaba teniendo una temporada horrorosa, sin casi oportunidades y con un rendimiento pésimo, pero ya se sabe que el que tuvo, retuvo y el pasado viernes volvió a tener la oportunidad de estar en el quinteto titular y aprovechó la oportunidad, deleitándonos con un gran partido contra New Orleans Hornets, donde consiguió 19 puntos con 4-4 en triples.
En fin, partido en el que, además del rendimiento de Kobe y Lebron, tendrán mucha importancia muchos pequeños detalles para decantar el ganador, que en condiciones normales debería ser los Los Angeles Lakers, para lo cual sobre todo deben cuidar e imponer su ley en la pintura, que es el posición más desequilibrada entre ambos equipos.
A las 10.30 PM ET (4.30 c.e.t)en el Staples tendremos el desenlace.
Cheers,
J&F

THE FINAL OF RAMÓN CALDERÓN (article in English and Español)

Those who follow our blog know that we have criticized many times the decisions taken by the president of Real Madrid, Ramon Calderon, and especially his sportive´s decisions and promises-¿where are Kaka, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo or the excellence that he promised? the pathetic situation after the Huntelaar and Lass´s arrival, the continuity of the incompetent Mijatovic as football director, the Calderon´s public critics to the Real Madrid´s players, the negative of David Villa and Santi Cazola,the Vlade Divac´s situation-he had a good salary but he had not any functions- , the supposed big commission in some transfers, the departure of Michel as director of the youth Real Madrid´s players, etc..-

But obviously, these situations can be described as minutiae if we compare these facts with the latest news related with the scandal in the last Assembly of Real Madrid. Anyway, I must say that this scandal was foreseeable if we bear in mind the Calderon´s actions during these last 30 months, because he has always been related with controversy, which was reported by some medias and especially by the Spanish radio,Cadena Cope, whose sports´s director, Jose Antonio Abellán ,explained many times some Calderon´s irregularities-during the elections, with the Real Madrid´s subscriptions, with the sale of tickets for the games, abuse with credit cards, the Real Madrid´s job of the Calderón´s brother, the acquisition of different flats for his sons and daughters, etc-, which were signs that if we talk about Calderon, anything is possible and even the scandal during the last Assembly is a normal thing. I presume that more or less everybody knows what happened during these Assembly, but just in case, I remember that, according to the Spanish newspaper Marca, many people, who had not the right to vote in these Assembly, were in the Assembly and they voted and "accidentally" they voted for Ramon Calderon, who later, to justify what happened in the assembly, returned to lie and he swore on his honour ("I swear on my honour that neither I nor anyone of my “directives” have manipulated this assembly")- of course this sentence will be one of the famous phrases, and we can unite it to the famous sentence of the other controversial president, Joan Laporta: “que n 'aprenguin-something like “they learn from me” , que no los embauquen, and al loro!!-something like be careful because they want to mislead you- (obviously as FC Barcelona is making a good season, nobody is criticizing the labour of this man, who was beleaguered 5 months in a vote of confidence against his mismanagement) -.We say that Calderon returned to lie-he lied many times during these last 30 months- because the medias, Marca and Cadena Cope, are dismantle the theories of a conspiracy against the "poor" Calderon and they are showing photos where we can see members of the Calderon´s family with some persons who, without the right to vote, voted in that Assembly. Moreover Cadena Cope radio announced last Wednesday that it could speak about a very important person in this scandal, the young “Nanín”-he is a 25 year´s old man, very close to a Calderon´s daughter and whose contribution to the Calderon´s victory in the elections was very important and in fact his labour was remarked by Calderon when he won the elections (he said "I want to thank from here to Nacho and Nanín! This victory would have been impossible without them"-by the way, the other guy ,Nacho (Ignacio Horcajada), as Cadena Cope announced, has been dedicated to sell the sponsors´s tickets-these tickets should be free- , for example, his company earned1.832.80 EUR when he sold 4 tickets for the game against Bate Borisov) -.As I said before Nanín-he appears in the photo alongside a former Real Madrid´s directive, Melchor Miralle- spoke last Wednesday with a famous journalist Quique Guasch-he works in Cadena Cope Radio- and he dismantled the theory that Calderon did not know anything, because Nanín confirmed that he acted according the Calderon´s instructions and besides that the Ramón Calderón´s sister was in the Assembly and even she has not the right to vote, she voted…so Mr Calderon, stop giving more bad excuses and justifications and stop to damage this important Spanish sportive club and resign!!-although you said the resignation is synonym of cowardice(he wanted to criticized the former president Florentino Perez), it is the best thing that you can do and fortunately it seems that we will see your official resignation this afternoon ant 18.00 c.e.t (of course we must wait cause he is the “best” if we talk about the change of his opinion-yesterday he said that he resigned and later he-it seems that he received some pressure from some medias- decide to continue as the president…so we will see what will happen at 18.00
Cheers,

J&F

EL FIN DE CALDERÓN (article in English and Español)

Los que seguís nuestro blog sabéis que hemos sido muy críticos con las decisiones tomadas por el presidente del Real Madrid, Ramón Calderón, sobre todo en lo que se refería en la parcela deportivo-¿dónde esta Kaka, Cesc, Cristiano, la excelencia prometida?, la patética situación tras los fichajes de Huntelaar y Lass, el mantener en el cargo a un incompetente como Mijatovic, las críticas que públicamente Calderón dedicó en una Universidad a la plantilla, las funciones de Vlado Divac, supuesto engorde de las comisiones en los fichajes, el no de Villa y Cazorla,la marcha de Michel del fútbol base, etc-. Pero evidentemente estas situaciones pueden ser calificadas como minucias ante lo que hemos vivido en las últimas fechas con el escándalo en la última Asamblea del Real Madrid.
De todas formas, hay que decir que este escándalo es una crónica de una muerte anunciada, pues qué podíamos esperar de un personaje como Calderón que a lo largo de estos 2 años y medio siempre ha estado vinculado con situaciones controvertidas y que hemos conocido gracias en gran parte a la labor de distintos medios de comunicación y especialmente a la emisora de radio la Cadena Cope, cuyo director de deportes José Antonio Abellán nos ha contado noche tras noche multitud de irregularidades de este caballero-irregularidades en las elecciones, en el voto por correo, en los abonos, en la venta de entradas, uso abusivo de la tarjeta del Real Madrid, la "colocación" del hermano de Ramón como abogado del Real Madrid,que si los hijos de Calderón tenían pisos de protección oficial adjudicados de una manera poco legal, etc-, que hacían suponer que con Calderón cualquier cosa era y es posible, hasta incluso lo que aconteció en la última Asamblea. Supongo que más o menos todos conocéis lo que ocurrió en esa Asamblea, pero por si acaso hay algún despistado, decir que según destapó el diario Marca, en esa Asamblea acudieron muchas personas que no tenían derecho a votar, pues no eran socios compromisarios y que “casualmente” votaron a favor de Ramón Calderón, quien días después para justificar lo acontecido en la asamblea volvió a representar su papel favorito, el de Pinocho de Concha Espina-forma con la que José Antonio Abellán designa a Calderón- y nos volvió a mentir a todos y está vez además jurando por su honor (“Juro por mi honor que ni yo-Ramón Calderón-ni nadie de mi Junta hemos manipulado esta asamblea”) -esta frase ya va a quedar como una de las frases célebres y la podemos unir a las del otro controvertido presidente, Joan Laporta:" que n´ aprenguin, que no les embauquen, y al loro!!"(evidentemente como ahora el FC Barcelona va bien deportivamente, pues los medios están dejando tranquilo al hombre que fue vapuleado hace 5 meses en una moción de censura contra su gestión)-. Decimos que Calderón volvió a mentir porque las teorías que defienden algunos de que todo esto ha sido una conspiración contra el “pobre” Calderón y que Don Ramón no sabía nada de esto, se desmonta, además de con las múltiples fotos aparecidas en el diario Marca que vinculan a la familia Calderón con las personas que votaron sin tener derecho a hacerlo, sobre todo por las declaraciones de un personaje clave, “Nanín”-un chico de 25 años, muy amigo de luna de las hijas de Calderón y que cuya contribución fue clave para que Calderón ganase las elecciones o al menos ha sido lo dijo Calderón el día que gano ( alabó el trabajo de 2 “fenómenos, Nanín y Nacho” y dijo “Quiero dar las gracias desde aquí a Nacho y a Nanín! ¡Nada de esto habría sido posible sin ellos! -por cierto que el tal Nacho(Ignacio Horcajada),según denunció la Cadena Cope, se ha dedicado a revender entradas gratis destinadas a los patrocinadores y por ejemplo su empresa cobró 1832,80 euros por 4 entradas del partido contra el Bate Borisov)-. Pues bien, el tal Nanín-en la foto sale acompañado de ex directivo Melchor Miralles- el pasado miércoles desmontó la teoría de que Calderón no sabía nada cuando le comentó al colaborador de la Cadena Cope, el famoso periodista Quique Guasch, que él actuó a instancias de Calderón y que en esa Asamblea votó la hermana de Ramón Calderón y lo hizo, como no, sin tener derecho a voto, así que no nos venga el Sr Calderón con milongas y excusas de mal pagador y lo que tiene que hacer de una vez es marcharse y dejar tranquila a esta entidad del fútbol español, pero bueno como decimos habrá que esperar acontecimientos y hasta que Calderón no salga públicamente diciendo que se va y convoque nuevas elecciones, podemos esperar cualquier cosa de este personaje-ayer parece que presentó la dimisión por la tarde y luego se volvió atrás y decidió continuar en el cargo (parece que recibió fuertes presiones de algún grupo de comunicación para que no dimita por el momento, aunque parece que finalmente dimitará esta tarde a las 6 de la tarde, aunque si lo hace volverá a ser poco coherente, pues recordemos que dijo que sólo dimiten los cobardes-en alusión al antiguo presidente Florentino Perez- y que él no lo es y que no pensaba dimitir).
Contaremos lo que acontezca en este apasionante tema.
Cheers
J&F

NBA: DECISIVE DAYS FOR SERGIO RODRIGUEZ (article in English and Español)

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These days seem decisive to the future of Sergio Rodriguez in Portland Trail Blazers, because after the injury of Steve Blake-the habitual guard in the starting line up-, we will see once if the coach Nate McMillan trust or does not trust in the” Spanish Chocolate”. The truth is that Sergio is not having much luck in his NBA´s adventure, because until this moment he only showed off his tremendous value in concrete moments- an example was a game against Denver Nuggets a year ago where his numbers were: 23 points and 11 assists in 30 minutes-, but the truth is that he has not had many opportunities to play-in fact he is playing 14 minutes per game during this season-, because the conservative Nate McMillan dislikes the fast and imaginative Sergio´s play and he prefers players with a completely different style for the playmaker´s position -in fact the guard in the starting line up is Steve Blake, who is a good shooter and he does not commit many turnovers but a team with aspirations to the title must have in the roster a better playmaker, because the Blake´s numbers as playmaker are poor: 4.7 assists in 31 minutes per game (NBA rank 31)-. It is true that since the Sergio´s agent requested of a transfer-it was last November-, it seemed that Nate changed his opinion about Sergio and he had more minutes on the floor, the fact is that it was a mirage and now we are seeing the habitual situation during the last seasons: Sergio Rodriguez on the bench and without many chances to play and of course many rumours about his future(there were possible interests from teams like Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and now the latest rumour is from the Madison Square Garden, since there is the possible interest from the New York Knicks to acquire this guard- the first rumour was Sergio to New York and the center- forward David Lee to Portland (David Lee is playing very well and his numbers during this season are 15 points and 11 rebounds, so I do not believe that the Knicks wants to follow from this player) and now the latest is the transaction Sergio Rodriguez-Nate Robinson(I think that it would not be a good acquisition for Blazers, because Nate is a similar player to Steve Blake, cause he is a good scorer but even he is worse player than Blake if we talk about the assists per game... so, Nate is not a necessary player for Blazers, because Portland has an incredible and excellent shooter as the super star Brandon Roy, so I think that best thing for Blazer is only one Nate in the team-although it also would be a good news if Blazers have other coach- and this Nate must trust on Sergio Rodriguez-by the way I think it would be a great news for Sergio this transaction to New York because it is sure that the phenomenal Mike D'Antoni, who wants a fast and dynamic play, would trust on the style of Sergio, who is the 7th best player in the NBA in number of assist every 48 minutes (10,2 assists) during this season-.

So, many rumours, but one thing is clear, these following games will be decisive to see the Sergio´s future, because if when Steve Blake is injured, Nate McMillan does not give minutes to Sergio and we see Sergio on the bench and the rookie Jarryd Bayless on the floor-Yesterday Bayless made an "exhibition" against Sixers, cause his numbers were 5 points (1-11! FGP), 0 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 rebounds in 25 minutes played ... spectacular!!!-, it will mean that the Sergio´s period at Blazers will arriving to the end and that the best thing that could happen to both sides is a transaction.
Tonight we will have the first clue in the game between Portland Trail Blazers and New Jersey Nets.

Cheers,

J&F

NBA: DÍAS DECISIVOS PARA SERGIO (article in English and Español)

Estos días parecen decisivos para el futuro de Sergio Rodríguez en los Portland Trail Blazers, pues tras la lesión del base titular Steve Blake veremos de una vez por todas si el entrenador Nate McMillan confía o no en “el Chacho”.
Lo cierto es que Sergio no está teniendo demasiada fortuna en su periplo por la NBA, pues por el momento sólo nos ha mostrado en momentos puntuales toda su tremenda calidad-un ejemplo fue un partido contra Denver Nuggets hace un año donde en 30 minutos se fue a los 23 puntos y 11 asistencias- , aunque la verdad muchas oportunidades tampoco es que haya tenido-esta temporada está teniendo una media de 14 minutos por partido-, porque el conservador Nate McMillan no confía en demasía en el juego rápido e imaginativo de Sergio y prefiere jugadores con un perfil totalmente diferente para la posición de base-de hecho el base habitual del equipo es Steve Blake, que es un buen lanzador y pierde pocos balones pero de base tiene poco, pues un equipo con aspiraciones tiene que tener en esta posición algo más que un jugador que aporta 4,7 asistencias en 31 minutos (rank 31 de la NBA)-.
Si bien es cierto que tras las declaraciones del agente de Sergio en las que solicitaba el traspaso parecía que Nate cambiaba su opinión sobre el Chacho y que poco a poco tenía más presencia en la pista, lo cierto es que al final parece que volvemos a lo de antes, mucho banquillo, poco juego y multitud de rumores relativos al futuro del “Spanish Chocolate”, que si a Dallas Mavericks, que si a Memphis Grizzlies, que si a Phoenix Suns o el último rumor que lo sitúa en “la Gran Manzana” para jugar en los New York Knicks a las ordenes del magistral Mike D´Antoni-se especula mucho con este destino, pues primero se especuló con la llegada de Sergio a New York a cambio del ala-pivot David Lee que está haciendo una gran temporada con 15 puntos y 11 rebotes(con lo que dudo mucho que los Knicks se quieran deshacer de él)y ahora con el posible intercambio por el saltarín Nate Robinson(no entendería mucho esta llegada a los Blazers, porque Nate es un poco como Steve Blake, buen lanzamiento, anotador, pero incluso asiste menos que Blake…y para anotar, los Blazers ya tienen al descomunal Brandon Roy, así que para traer más de lo mismo, mejor que se queden como están y que Nate McMillan confíe en Sergio, a quién por cierto le vendría fenomenal el traspaso a los Knicks, porque seguro que Mike D´Antoni, partidario de un juego rápido y dinámico, confiaría en el estilo de Sergio-recordemos que Sergio es esta temporada el 7 mejor jugador de la NBA en número asistencias cada 48 minutos (10, 2 de media)-
En fin, muchos rumores, pero una cosa está clara, estos partidos que vienen van a ser muy decisivos para su futuro, pues si con Steve Blake lesionado, Nate McMillan no le da minutos a Sergio y lo deja en el banquillo, apostando por el rookie Jarryd Bayless-ayer Bayless nos hizo una “exhibición” contra los Sixers pues sus números fueron 5 puntos (1-11!!! en tiros de campo), 0 asistencias, 2 pérdidas y 2 rebotes en 25 minutos jugados…espectacular!!!-significará que los días de Sergio están contados y que lo mejor que puede pasar para ambas partes es un cambio.
Esta noche contra los New Jersey Nets tendremos la primera pista.
Cheers,
J&F

A REVISION OF THE TRANSFERS DURING THE LAST WEEK (article in English and Español)

We continue with the revision of the most important transactions in the European teams.

During these last days the protagonists continue being the German teams and specially Borussia Mönchengladbach, whose president, Rolf Königs, is looking for solutions to the defensive line, which was the main problem of the team during the first half of the season and he is signing many defensive players, since alongside the experienced Stalteri and Galasek, we will see the young but experienced Belgian goalkeeper, Logan Bailly – he played the last Olympic Games (Borussia paid 2,5 million euros to Racing Genk)- and the good Brazilian central defender Dante, who arrives from the fashionable Standard Liege-the Belgian team receives 2, 5 million for this player-. Anyway, good players whose performance should be enough to see Borussia next year playing in the Bundesliga, because at the moment Borussia is “building” a better team than its direct rivals (Arminia Bielefeld, Bochum, Energie Cottbus and Karlsruher). About the top Bundesliga´s team, we have news too, because on the one hand Werder Bremen has found again a solution for the unprofessional Brazilian Carlos Alberto, who will play on loan at the Vasco da Gama-it is a pity to see the actual performance of this former European Champion with FC Porto- and besides Werder is trying to solve its defensive problems-it is the seventh worst team in the Bundesliga if we talk about the numbers of goals received- and it signed on loan a powerful central midfielder, the Greek Alexandros Tziolis-he is an experienced player with 10 games played with the Greek National team(the truth is that it seems a bit strange this transaction from Panathinaikos to Werder, although it can be considered as normal if we bear in mind that the agent of this player is Paul Koutsoaliakos, who is a great expert of the German and Greek market)-.
In addition, the Bundesliga has the return of Kevin Boateng who after an unfortunate period in Tottenham-he had not any options to play there-, he has decided to look for minutes to show his abilities and he will have a new opportunity at Borussia Dortmund, whose football director-Michael Zorc- was looking for a central midfielder after the departure of the young and promising Kruska, who just signed with Club Bruges- by the way this Belgian team is also seeking a better balance in the team and FC Bruges signed also other young midfielder Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (he played the Olympic Game with the Belgium team), who arrives from Hamburg SV. We'll see if now FC Bruges can be a real alternative to RSC Anderlecht, which is the new club of the powerful striker Tom de Sutter (he has played 5 games with the Belgian National team), who arrives from Cercle Bruges thanks to a transfer fee of 3.1 million euros-.

Moreover other Bundesliga´s news are the departure from FC Schalke 04 of Peter Lovenkrands-it is a normal departure, because the Danish striker never found his place in the German team and his performance showed during these last year was far from the expectations after his good years during his Glasgow Rangers´s period. We will see if his future will be at Brondby, in the Dutch league, at Fulham FC or at Villarreal CF- and return to the Bundesliga-although he will play in the 2 Division, Hansa Rostock-of Krisztian Lisztes, which is a great news, because the fine Hungarian midfielder was very unlucky since when he was at his best moment, he suffered an untimely-it was when he finished contract with Werder Bremen- and serious injury, which spoiled his promising career. Moreover, in the second German league, we will see the arrival to SC Freiburg-it is struggling to return to the first division-of the striker Vitali Rodionov, who arrives from other fashionable team, FC Bate Borisov.

In addition, we must remark the return of Jermaine Defoe to Tottenham Hotspur (it was a serious Juande´s mistake, since Defoe is synonym of mobility, quality... the Juande´s “joke” is expensive, because Spurs sold him with a transfer fee of 9,3 million euros and now it pays 16,5 million euros, but this transaction is necessary for Spurs, because its offensive line is not showing a good performance and besides it is very possible that the Pavlyuchenko´s performance is worst during the second half of the season, because we must bear in mind that he will show fatigue because his last rest was one year ago, since during the last 12 months he has played the Russian league, the Euro, more Russian League and the Premier League´s games-); Other English new are: the arrival of Aziza Makukula and of Sebastien Puygrenier -on loan- to Bolton Wanderers- the French central defender did not show the expected level during his Zenit´s games and he is far from the level showed during his Nancy´s period- and the “banishment” of Lee Bowyer to second division-he will play in Birmingham City, which is fighting to return to the Premier League (I hope that we can see again this team in the Premier, because it is a pity and almost a sin to see the great James McFadden playing in the second division)-.

About the rest of the leagues, we want to remark the arrival of Brazilian striker Brandao to Olympique Marseille-finally Olympique rejected the Larsson´s option and it chosen this powerful striker(the price was 6 million euros) who played well will during his Shakhtar Donezk´s period-, the Sampdoria´s reinforcement – it seems that it is preparing for the possible departure of the brilliant Cassano to Inter and it just signed Giampaolo Pazzini (it paid to Fiorentina 8 million euros and the services until the end of this season of Emiliano Bonazzoli for this good striker although this year is not at his best level), Pazzini is the second arrival to Marassi, since Samp also signed on loan the right back Andrea Raggi, who arrived from Palermo)-, the transaction of Thiago Silva to AC Milan with a transfer fee of 10 million Euro- finally, we can see news and young faces in the veteran AC Milan defensive´s line. We think that it is a good news for AC Milan, cause Silva has shown a very high level during his last Fluminense´s years-, the arrival of: the Spanish central defender Sergio to Osasuna-this team must be harder and without absurd mistakes if it wants to have any chance to remain in the Spanish First Division-, the signature on loan of the goalkeeper Lafuente-Sporting de Gijón needed a goalkeeper after the injury of Ivan Cuellar although I do not believe that Lafuente has many chances to play-, the new Recreativo Huelva´s bet, the back Alain Nef, whose performance is a mystery because he did not have any chances play at Udinese; and the return to Peru of the good player Nolberto Solano,who after 10 years in the European football has decided to return to their country to play his last football years at the Universitario Lima . Finally, in Turkey, we do not have many news related with the top team-the most remarkable news were the transfer of Simsek to Besiktas and of Kayali and Emreciksin to Fenerbahçe and in fact, the Galatasaray´s coach, Michael Skibbe said that he does want any new player during this market(maybe the only big news for Galatasaray would be the resign of Skibbe as the coach)-and the only protagonist during the last days is Bursaspor, since the Bursa´s team will start the second half of the season with new coach, the young Ertugrul Saglam-he resigned as Besiktas´s coach some month ago when Besiktas lost its Uefa Cup´s round- and he is building a new team and he is signing players(the right midfielder Ali Tandoğan and the central defender Ayhab Tuna Üzümcü), whose performances knows very well after their Besiktas´s period.
These are the most important news during the last days and of course we will pay attention to the future news from Manchester City, the future of Podolski or if Fabian Ernst will play at Besiktas or if Ibisevic-we must wait to see if he has a big injury- or Cassano arrive to Inter.

Other articles about the winter market:

THE MARKET IS HERE (article in English and Español)

THE WINTER MARKET STARTS (article in English and Español)

A GREAT SUNDAY (article in English and Español)

Cheers,

J&F