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International Tournaments Abound, Wolves Working Out, and Other Notes

Bits and Pieces from the Basketball World. Like biscotti to dip in your daily cup.

By Tim Faklis
Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Thank goodness for FIBA.

There isn't a ton going on in the NBA, but the FIBA Africa Championships currently underway, the FIBA Americas start up on Friday, and the European Championships will be starting up in a week. Also, props to RussianBeesnyestEenterest.com on a stellar preview for Group A of Eurobasket. I cannot wait to see more of your work.

A couple notes:

  • J.J. Barea will play for Puerto Rico in the Americas tournament. Like Eurobasket, these games will be shown on ESPN3 in the United States.
  • There is one Minnesota connection to the Afrobasket tournament as well, just not with the Wolves. This fall, Aseem Marei out of Egypt will come into his second year as starting center at Minnesota State Mankato. He's had some notable games in tournament play this summer, including a 25 point, 19 rebound performance against the Ivory Coast. As a former student manager for MSU, I can tell you first-hand, this guy can play. Egypt will play the winner of Senegal and Nigeria in the Afrobasket semifinals.
Here's a quick clip of him against Senegal.

Speaking of international play, it was announced a while back that Kevin Love would be joining Kevin Durant in the 2014 FIBA World Cup for Team USA.

There are a couple videos of him working with KD floating around the internet. It looks like he's in good shape, no thanks to knuckle pushups. As an excuse to see Kevin Love on the court again (even if it's less than a minute), let's take a look:


Wouldn't be nice if he could add an arsenal of moves in the post?

A few final notes:

  • The Wolves have a new GM, according to CSN's Wizards beat reporter Chris Miller. We'll have more on this if/when it becomes official.
  • The 2013-14 Wolves TV schedule has been announced. There will be 75 games televised by Fox Sports North, the most ever televised by the network. You can view the press release here. There will also be 5 games televised by ESPN, as already announced. Two of those games (Nov 15 vs Denver and Feb 7 vs New Orleans) are in that group of 7 that FSN will not televise.
  • Jerry Zgoda is reporting the Wolves are in talks with Bobby Jackson to bring him back as player development coach. He would replace David Adelman, who has since been promoted following the departure of Bill Bayno.
  • Pioneer Press writer Charley Walters is reporting the Target Center renovation deal is finally moving along. In the $100 million renovation, the City of Minneapolis would pay $50 million, the Wolves would pay 44.3 million, and the AEG sports and entertainment firm would pay the remainder. There will be a formal vote by the city council next month.
We'll end it with a video of our newest addition, Ronny Turiaf, jumping over a monster truck. Yes, you read that correctly.