Thunder players overseas

Joel Embust · Post #1 » by **Joel Embust** » Sun Feb 8, 2009 11:41 pm

I thought it would be cool to follow the progress of the two 2008 draft selections, Serge Ibaka and DeVon Hardin.

Serge Ibaka (Congo) is a 19 year old PF who is playing for Ricoh Manresa in the highest division of Spain. He was drafted at 24 by the Sonics.

Ibaka is finally getting steady minutes for his club. Last week he played a season high 26 minutes (of a possible 40, FIBA rules) and responded with a 16/15 1 block effort in a one point loss to Joventut.

Today he played 24 minutes and finished with 10/9 and 4 blocks in a 56-65 homewin over Murcia.

He has played a total of twenty games and is averaging 6.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 20 minutes per game. Those averages will go up as he is starting to play big minutes. He used to play around ten a game in his first ten games.

He's scoring at a high percentage (62.1%) because he gets most of his points from dunks.

DeVon Hardin (Cal Bears) is a 22 year old C who is playing for ESTIA Egaleo in the highest divison of Greece. He was drafted at 50 (second round) by the Sonics.

Hardin had a disappointing summer because of a foot injury. He did not take part in the summer leagues because of the injury. He didn't have a chance to show what he can bring to the team and that probably is the reason why he didn't get a contract in he NBA this season.

He signed a contract with a Turkish team, but they released him in September '08 due to the foot injury that has been bothering him all summer. Nobody knew where Hardin would end up this season until he was signed by ESTIA Egaleo in January.

Hardin played three games for his new team and is averaging a steady 7.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 24.7 minutes per contest.

He's always been a poor free throw shooter and is shooting 53.8% from the line in Greece.

Last games (Feb 8th):

Ibaka 10 points (5-6 FG), 9 rebounds, 4 blocks in 24 minutes.
Hardin 11 points (4-8 FG, 3-4 FT), 6 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal in 24 minutes.

big L · Post #2 » by **big L** » Mon Feb 9, 2009 2:16 am

Thanks, this is great information.

Post #3 » by **wizkid27** » Mon Feb 9, 2009 2:59 am

Thanks for the info. I haven't really done a great job of following these guys during the NBA season. I'll have to defer to people who know more (or at least have read more about them on the internet).

Post #4 » by **SD2042** » Mon Feb 9, 2009 7:27 am

This thread is a good idea for the fans to keep up wit hthe drafted players who are currently overseas. Good one Sonic-FAN.

Big_Mac79 · Post #5 » by **Big_Mac79** » Mon Feb 9, 2009 9:46 pm

Yotam Halperin PG
Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel Premier League 2008 27.3min 11pts 2.1reb 3.9ast

Paccelis Morlende PG
Gravelines Dunkerque BCM GL France LNB ProA 2008 16.3min 4.6pts 1reb 2.7ast

Peter Fehse has not played a game this year

wiff · Post #6 » by **wiff** » Fri Apr 3, 2009 3:21 pm

Does anyone have a website that follows over sea players who have their rights owned by an NBA club?

Or does anyone simply have the website for the team Ibaka plays for?

I'm curious to see how he is doing.

I'm hoping he comes over for Summer league. I want to see who is the better prospect between he and DJ White.

I didn't watch Indiana DJ's last season but I caught a couple games of his two years ago. I liked his game a lot. He was a pretty physical player out there. But at 6'9" I'm curious to see how his game will translate to the NBA.

big L · Post #7 » by **big L** » Fri Apr 3, 2009 3:32 pm

Yeah, the team site is here:

http://www.basquetmanresa.com/php/plantilla2.php

wiff · Post #8 » by **wiff** » Fri Apr 3, 2009 4:07 pm

Thanks looks like he has been a little inconsistent but he has had a couple games with 15pts and 16rebs.

Like I said before I hope he comes over for Summer league.

Post #9 » by **Nolan** » Fri Apr 3, 2009 11:52 pm

Thanks for the updates this is good stuff.