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Keravnos Strovolos looking into NBA veteran Tony Delk

Thursday, 02 July 2009 09:20

Following a disappointing season Keravnos Strovolos was very active in the off-season and after signing five international players so far and the national team first choice center Joseph Garcia, they are now considering signing the ex-NBA veteran Tony Delk.

The Covington, Tennessee, native spent his collegiate career at the University of Kentucky under Rick Pitino and 1996 he was drafted in the first round at 16th by Charlotte Hornets. Three games into his second season he was traded to Golden State Warriors where he managed to average just over 10 points per game. Apart from the Hornets and the Warriors, Delk also played for Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks in his 10-years long NBA career.

In 2006 Delk signed for Panathinaikos Athens, winning the Euroleague and the Greek Cup in his only season in Europe but skipping any of the play-offs action. Two years later he tried out with the Puerto Rico team Gigantes de Carolina but never played a single minute for them, eventually accepting the position of the assistant coach with the team.

Keravnos’ head coach Adi Azoulay is currently evaluating what Delk’s presence could bring to the team which now clearly has serious intentions of winning both trophies in Cyprus and keeping their European campaign alive for as long as possible.

In the meantime Intercollege/ETHA signed their first international player in the pre-season in Serbian power forward Petar Beader. Beader is a 24-year old versatile forward who can shoot from outside but also represents a significant presence in the key. After developing as a player in Beopetrol Belgrade and a season in KK Red Star Belgrade, Beader spent the last seven seasons with KK Radnicki Kragujevac. He has never played on a team outside Serbia.

Latest developments in Cypriot basketball

Wednesday, 01 July 2009 11:25

The last couple of days were very busy for Cypriot basketball as BMC AEK Larnaca signed their first two international players for the next season; the Cyprus Basketball Federation announced which teams will represent the country in the FIBA competitions, while at the same time Michalis Tsangaridis was elected as the new president of the Cyprus Coaches Association.

The Larnaca team agreed terms with two American players, Ronald Alexander and Jerome Coleman, for the upcoming season. The 25-year old center Alexander is familiar with Cypriot basketball as he played one game for BMC AEK in the previous season. In the fourth round of the season Alexander started the game against Keravnos Strovolos played at the Kition Athletic Center and he managed to score 16 points and grab seven rebounds in 33 minutes on the floor. However, the contract he had previously signed with Anibal Zahle team in Lebanon prevented him from staying in Cyprus. On the other hand, the guard Jerome Coleman started last season in the Hungarian top league side Szolnoki Olajbanyasz, but in January he moved to BS Odessa in Ukraine where he averaged over 14 points per game in 24 games.

The Cyprus Basketball Federation announced that the national champions Sea Star APOEL will directly advanced to the group stage of the FIBA EuroChallenge, while the national cup holders Proteas EKA AEL and Keravnos Strovolos will have to battle their way through the qualifications. The draw for the competition will be held on Wednesday, July 8 in Barcelona, Spain. The national women’s double holders, K.V. Imperial AEL, will take part in the FIBA EuroCup Women with high aspirations to reach further than last season’s eight-final.

Michalis Tsangaridis was elected as the new president of the Cyprus Coaches Association that was held in Nicosia last weekend. The head coach of K.V. Imperial AEL, Linos Gavril, was elected as the vice president, while the Sea Star APOEL’s assistant coach Nicos Lambrias is the new secretary. Gavril and Lambrias were also the assistants to Christos Stylianides in the men’s national team at the recently finished XIII Games of the Small States of Europe.