Erden Dominates Gasol in Eurobasket

Via Jess Camerato's Green Street Blog:

The Boston Celtics 2008 second round draft pick Semih Erden has yet to play in an NBA game, but he has already defeated one of the Los Angeles Lakers. On Saturday he helped Turkey defeat Pau Gasol and the Spanish team in the EuroBasket 2009 Group F qualifying round.

The 6-11 center led the team with six rebounds and scored 11 points, including two free throws that secured Turkey’s 63-60 victory over Spain. He also contributed two rebounds, an alley-oop from Hedo Turkoglu, a block, and a steal in the final five minutes of the back-and-forth match up. Turkey remains undefeated (3-0) and plays Serbia on Monday.

I don't have Pau Gasol's stats for the game, but the fact that Semih Erden outplayed him down the stretch tells me one thing: Gasol is satisfied with his sole NBA title and has happily reverted back to his soft ways in pivotal games.

Meanwhile, Ray Allen is still hiding his old sneakers. Unfortunately, he's placing them in sketchy, abandoned neighborhoods in downtown Hartford. Have fun finding the sneakers kids!

After getting called out by Michael Jordan during his HOF speech, Bryon Russell issued a challenge:

“I’ll play his ass right now,” Russell told Yahoo! Sports. “This is a call-out for him to come play me. He can come out here in his private jet and come play. He’s got millions of dollars. He can pay for the jet. He can meet me at the Recreation Center in Calabasas.

Let it go Bryon. Everyone outside of Chicago knows Jordan pushed off on that play. It's OK - it wasn't your fault.