Women's Semis Recap and Lotsa Baseball

The Women's Semifinals were very night and day this morning at Wimbledon. I was out at an interview but did DVR them and watch them when I returned home. In the first match Petra Kvitova took the first set from Victoria Azarenka 6-1 but Azarenka fought back to win the 2nd set 6-3 to send it to the third and final set. In that set Kvitova regained her form and dominated en route to her first ever Major final winning the third set 6-2. On Saturday Petra will face Maria Sharapova who sent off German wildcard Sabine Lisicki with a straight set 6-4, 6-3 win. Lisicki's magic ran out at the wrong time but Sharapova did look sharp after struggling a bit with her serve early in the first set. The Final will air on NBC at 9 AM on NBC on Saturday, July 2nd. As stated yesterday, the Men's Semifinals will take place tomorrow starting at 8AM on ESPN2.

So I've been hearing rumblings that I'm not giving baseball enough attention, so I will satisfy the masses by dedicating today's post to the MLB.

So let's hit the headlines, yesterday the St. Louis Cardinals released former closer Ryan Franklin who could not regain his form, and today the Boston Red Sox designated OF Mike Cameron for assignment after Josh Reddick has been on fire and Carl Crawford set to return shortly. Luckily no major injuries have occurred over the last few days, just sore feet for Angels INF Maicer Iztruis and Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis. Detroit Tigers SP Phil Coke was removed from his starting spot after imploding once again and will move to the bullpen and be replaced by Charlie Furbush. 

Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Braves and yes the Padres have been on a roll of late coming into today's games with at least 3 game winning streaks. While the Royals, Mariners, Nationals, and Astros all come into today with 3 or more game losing streaks. The Red Sox too are struggling going 3-7 in their last 10 after sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx. They were a game and a half ahead of the Yankees after that series, now they are 2.5 games behind the Yankees. Offenses have been sputtering all over the majors, not just the Red Sox offense which has scored 1 run two games in Philadelphia and get to face Cole Hamels today at Citizen's Bank Park. Monday has 8 games, 2 of them shutouts (Reds over Rays and Dodgers over Twins). Tuesday had the one extra game than normal and saw 2 more shutouts (A's over Marlins, and Phillies over Red Sox). Wednesday was back to normal, and saw 3 shutouts (Marlins over A's, Angels over Nationals, and Twins over Dodgers), it also had 5 other teams only manage to score 1 run. So we can give some credit to pitchers like Gio Gonzalez, Cliff Lee, and Dan Haren but most of these ineffective offenses are due to lack of clutch hitting and unfamiliarity with the opposing pitcher since it is Interleague Play. I usually am a Pro-Interleague Play advocate but these numbers only help fantasy pitching staffs, baseball shouldn't be always played at 1-0 and 2-1 but somewhere in the 5-4, 6-4 range in my beliefs. We have 11 days until the All-Star Break and what I expect to see in the AL iss the Red Sox righting the ship, the Rangers and Mariners pull away from the Mariners in the AL West, Detroit finally figures itself out and takes control of the Central from Cleveland. In the NL, look for the Mets try to get themselves back in consideration and be 2 games behind the Braves for 2nd in the East, Cincinnati to figure out that it's the class of the NL Central and pull back into the lead over the Brewers and Cardinals and lastly the Giants to really push the Diamondbacks out of the race in the West. 

Biggest Winner of the Night: Some great players/teams to chose from today in the NY Mets offense (52 runs in last 4 games, all wins), Dan Haren (7.1 2 hit, 0 R, 1 walk, 6 strikeout win), and Chris Carpenter (complete game 7 hit, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 strikeout win). But I'll give some love to the Marlins who defeated the A's 3-0 last night behind Ricky Nolasco's complete game shutout where he allowed 5 hits, 2 walks while striking out 3.


Biggest Loser of the Night: This has to be Phil Coke, as previously stated he not only got thumped 16-9 yesterday against the Mets, he lost his starting job after said performance. The loss put Coke's first season as a starter at a 1-8 record after allowing 8 runs, 7 earned in 4 innings giving up 10 hits, 2 walks while only striking out 1. And even ESPN added insult to injury with the headline "Flat Coke moved from rotation to 'pen".

Tennis, Tennis and More Tennis- Why You Should Watch Wimbledon

I promise to keep today's post shorter than yesterday's massive researched list of forgotten NBA players. I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post but the only news in the NBA the last few days is negative not positive. The CBA expires tomorrow night at midnight and although David Stern is very optimistic that the two sides will come to an agreement shortly, all we can base these negotiations on right now are what is going on in the NFL. So lets switch gears more to a happy subject, tennis. I love tennis as you probably have gathered from the last month or so of posting. I am like most tennis fans these days, only really following the Major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open), but I do follow the top players when they play in warm-up tournaments such as Indian Wells, or Queens Club. My favorite tournament has always been Wimbledon and the epic John Isner-Nicholas Mahut match last year just cemented exactly why tennis should be a bigger sport in the US than what it currently is. 

This year's Wimbledon has been fantastic. On the Men's side you had all 4 top seeds (Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Murray) battling other top players such as highest ranked American Mardy Fish and flamboyant Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Wednesday's quarterfinals were definitely a tale of two stories. In the early morning games (8 AM start here on the east coast), Roger Federer jumped out to a commanding 6-3, 7-6 lead against Tsonga but boy did the tables turn quickly on the 6-time Wimbledon champion as Tsonga did not drop serve the rest of the match taking the next 3 sets breaking Federer once in each of them 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 en route to the major upset. It marked the first time in 179 career matches at a major that Federer lost after holding a 2 set to none lead. While Federer lost on Centre Court, Djokovic had to rally against the young Australian Bernard Tomic. Djokovic won the opening set 6-2, dropped the 2nd 6-3, before taking firm control winning the last two sets 6-3, and 7-5. In the afternoon, Britain's golden boy Andy Murray took on Feliciano Lopez on Centre Court. Murray dominated the Spanish lefty winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. While Murray moved on quickly, Nadal had a little tougher time on Court 1 vs. Mardy Fish. Nadal looked comfortable early taking the first two sets 6-3, 6-3 before dropping the third set 5-7 to Fish. Nadal then ended the match by taking the 4th set 6-4 to move on and face Murray in the semifinals. Djokovic and Tsonga will meet in the other semifinal on Friday.

On the Women's side, the top seeds have had a very rough go at it. Top seed Caroline Wozniacki failed to make the semifinals of a major once again and the Williams sisters lost on the same day for the first time ever. The semifinals of the women's draw will be played tomorrow starting with 4th seed Victoria Azarenka taking on 8th seeded Petra Kvitova at 8 AM EST. Neither of the women have ever made a major final let alone win one. Should be an amazing show of young Eastern European power with Azarenka the slight favorite to advance. In the second semifinal, young wildcard Sabine Lisicki of Germany becomes the first German woman to make the semifinals since Steffi Graf in 1998. She will take on 5th seeded Maria Sharapova. Sharapova once was the teen sensation of the sport but after years of injuries and poor execution she finally has it all together and looks to regain dominance in the sport. But she is going to have to break through against powerful server Lisicki who is playing with a ton of moxie and has the swagger of a 5-time champion not a first time semifinalist. I love her game and although I have been rooting for Sharapova throughout the tournament I will definitely be pulling for the underdog in this one. Should be some great tennis for the world to see! I highly recommend checking it out!

Last Night's Biggest Winner: I took a day off yesterday with the monster post of this but last night 1 man really stood out. Cliff Lee of the Philadelphia Phillies is seriously dealing right now. He has a 5-0 record in June with a 0.21 ERA. If that isn't pitcher of the month stats I don't know what is! He finished off the month by cooling off the daunting Red Sox lineup by throwing a complete game shutout allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.

Last Night's Biggest Loser: Well it was more during the day but I think Zack Greinke gets this unfortunate honor. While yes, he was facing the best offense in the majors, the Yankees he still gave up 7 earned runs in 2 innings en route to a 12-2 defeat. Greinke had been hot lately but this loss drops him to 7-3 on the season and the 31.50 ERA for the day just really looks ugly everywhere.

The Forgotten Faces of the NBA Draft

         So since the NBA Draft talk has really settled down around the sports world I thought today would be the perfect day to bring out something I had worked on a few years back with my best friend and former college roommate Brandon. Brandon and I are both fanatics about the NBA, the NBA Draft and of course Fantasy Basketball. The amount of mock drafts we've done over the past 5 years would sicken many people, but it is just so addictively fun! It was a few years ago while we were watching the 2nd round of the 2009 NBA Draft when we were really enthralled by how many foreign players were being taken that we had never heard of before. This inspired us to research exactly how many players from overseas were selected in the 1st or 2nd round of the NBA Drafts that have never had a career average of 5 points per game. We decided to start with this decades draft, 2001 and work our way forward, and I recently added 2 years agos draft and last years to the list of The Forgotten Faces of the NBA Draft. The list is long but there are small blurbs about each player. Shouldn't be a tough read just looks daunting! I hope you enjoy reading where so many players are in the world as much as I enjoyed researching it all.

• Ousmane Cisse (Drafted 2001 47^th overall by Denver, PF) Cisse played 1 career game with the Orlando Magic after spending some time with the Globetrotters and has played professionally in Israel since 2005.
• Antonis Fostis (Drafted 2001 48^th overall by Memphis, SF) Fostis was selected by the Grizzlies when they were in Vancouver and played 1 season for them averaging 3.9 ppg and 2.2 rpg in 28 appearances. Since 2002 he has played in Greece and Spain.
• Ruben Boumtje Boumtje (Drafted 2001 50^th overall by Portland, C) Played in 44 games in 3 years then was traded and waived immediately, has played overseas in Germany since 2006.
• Robertas Javtokas (Drafted 2001 56^th overall by San Antonio, SF) Javtokas has never played a minute in the NBA but his rights are still retained by the Spurs. He has played overseas in Lithuania, Greece and Russia most recently.
• Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Drafted 2002 5^th overall by Denver, SF) Tskitishvili was listed as the 30th worst draft pick of all time by ESPN in 2006. He has career averages of 2.9 ppg and 1.8 rpg. Since 2006 he has played in Italy, Greece and Spain most recently playing with former URI star Jimmy Baron at Lagun Aro GBC.
• Milos Vujanic (Drafted 2002 36^th overall by New York, PG) Vujanic has not played in the NBA, his rights are owned by Phoenix now and he has played overseas in Spain, Turkey, Russia and currently in Greece.
• Mario Kasun (Drafted 2002 41^st overall by Los Angeles Clippers, C) He played in 73 games over 2 years for the Magic averaging less than 8 minutes a game. He has also played in Germany, Spain, Greece and currently plays in his home country of Croatia.
• Federico Kammerichs (Drafted 2002 51^st overall by Portland, PF) He has never played in the NBA, and has played overseas in Spain and now plays back in his homeland of Argentina.
• Mladen Sekularac (Drafted 2002 55^th overall by Dallas, G/F) Sekularac was once regarded as a huge talent and possible lottery pick but has never played a game in the NBA and has played in Spain, Greece, Belgium, Montenegro and currently plays in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
• Zarko Cabarkapa (Drafted 2003 17^th overall by Phoenix, SF) Cabarkapa's career averages in the NBA are 4.3 ppg and 2.1 rpg while playing for Phoenix and Golden State. He stopped playing for 3 years due to injuries but in 2009 he played for his old team in Montenegro before hanging it up for good at age 28.
• Zoran Planinic (Drafted 2003 22^nd overall by New Jersey, PG) In 3 NBA seasons Planinic averaged 4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He has since played in Spain and now plays in Russia.
• Ndudi Ebi (Drafted 2003 26^th overall by Minnesota, SF) Ebi played in the NBDL for 2 years but never made it to the NBA. He has played in Israel, Italy and currently plays in France.
• Maciej Lampe (Drafted 2003 30^th overall by New York, PF) Lampe has career averages of 3.4 ppg and 2.2 rpg in 3 NBA seasons. Lampe has played in Russia, Israel and is currently back in Russia playing professionally.
• Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Drafted 2003 34^th overall by Los Angeles Clippers, F/C) Big Sofo turned down the chance to play in the NBA because he was under contract in Greece at the time, then in 2010 it expired and he tried out for the Clippers again but they were not impressed. He currently plays in Israel.
• Szymon Szewcyk (Drafted 2003 35^th overall by Milwaukee, PF) Szewcyk has never played in the NBA and has only participated in 1 summer league season. He has mostly played in Poland and Russia but currently plays in Italy.
• Slavko Vranes (Drafted 2003 39^th overall by New York, C) Slavko played 1 game in the NBA for Portland before being waived, he has played overseas in Montenegro and currently plays in Serbia.
• Malick Badiane (Drafted 2003 44^th overall by Houston, PF) Badiane played 1 preseason game before being waived by the Grizzlies in 2008. He most recently played professionally in China.
• Sani Becirovic (Drafted 2003 46^th overall by Denver, G) Sany Boy has never played in America and has played overseas in Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Turkey and currently plays in Russia.
• Paccelis Morlende (Drafted 2003 50^th overall by Philadelphia, PG) Morlende has not played in the NBA but his rights are owned by the Thunder. He played in France and most recently in Italy in 2006.
• Remon Van de Hare (Drafted 2003 52th overall by Toronto, C) Remon has not played in the NBA and currently plays in Cyprus professionally.
• Nedzad Sinanovic (Drafted 2003 54^th overall by Portland, C) Nedzad has not played in the NBA and has played professionally in Spain, Belgium and Germany.
• Xue Yuyang (Drafted 2003 57^th overall by Dallas, F/C) Xue has never played in the NBA and has only played professionally in China. 
• Andreas Glyniadakis (Drafted 2003 58^th overall by Detroit, C) Glyniadakis helped Albuquerque win the D-League title in 2006 and played 13 career NBA games for Seattle (now Oklahoma City) averaging 1.3 points per game. He most recently played in Greece in 2009.
• Rafael Araju (Drafted 2004 8^th overall by Toronto, C) Araju played college ball at BYU but in 139 career games he averaged 2.8 points per game over 3 seasons, 2 with Toronto and 1 with Utah. Araju currently plays in Brazil professionally.
• Pavel Podkolzin (Drafted 2004 21^st overall by Utah, C) Podkolzin played briefly in 6 games in the NBA before being waived a final time, he most recently played in Russia in 2010.
• Viktor Khrypa (Drafted 2004 22^nd overall by New Jersey, PF) Khrypa played in 9 NBA games averaging 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He currently plays for CSKA Moscow in Russia.
• Sergei Monia (Drafted 2004 23^rd overall by Portland, SF) Monia played in 26 games for Sacramento and Portland and averaged 3 points per game in those. He most recently played for Dynamo Moscow in Russia in 2010.
• Peter John Ramos (Drafted 2004 32^nd overall by Washington, C) Ramos played in 6 games for the Wizards averaging less than 2 points per game. He played a season for Roanoke in the NBDL as well. He returned to Puerto Rico to play after 2008 but currently plays in South Korea.
• Viktor Sanikidze (Drafted 2004 42^nd overall by Atlanta, SF) Sanikidze played in the NBA summer league one year but has not played in the NBA. He has played in Spain and most recently in Estonia in 2009.
• Ha Seung-Jin (Drafted 2004 46^th overall by Portland, C) Ha briefly played for the Trailblazers for half a season before being assigned to the D-League where he played for 2 years with Anaheim and Fort Worth. He currently is playing in South Korea.
• Pape Sow (Drafted 2004 47^th overall by Miami, C) Sow played for Toronto averaging 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in his only full season. He played for the Arkansas Rimrockers of the D-League for a year before heading overseas to Greece and now Spain.
• Sergei Lishouk (Drafted 2004 49^th overall by Memphis, PF) Lishouk has never played in the NBA but played in Ukraine until 2009.
• Vassilis Spanoulis (Drafted 2004 50^th overall by Dallas, PG) Spanoulis played 1 season for Houston before sighting family reasons for his heading back to Greece to play until 2010. He averaged 2.7 points and 0.9 assists per game.
• Christian Drejer (Drafted 2004 51^st overall by New Jersey, SF) First Danish player ever selected in the NBA, quit University of Florida midway through season. Injuries and character flaws contributed to him never playing in the NBA, he most recently played in Italy in 2008.
• Romain Sato (Drafted 2004 52^nd overall by San Antonio, SG) Sato was a benchwarmer who rarely got into games for the Spurs. He then left to play in Italy and currently plays in Greece for Panathinaikos.
• Luis Flores (Drafted 2004 55^th overall by Houston, PG) Flores played 4.9 minutes per game for the Warriors in 15 games before being passed around the league some more. He currently plays in Ukraine.
• Sergei Karaulov (Drafted 2004 57^th overall by San Antonio, C) Has never played in the NBA and has played in his homeland of Uzbekistan.
• Fran Vazquez (Drafted 2005 11^th overall by Orlando, F/C) Vazquez was supposed to come over and pair with Dwight Howard in the front court but has decided to stay in Spain playing for FC Barcelona.
• Yaroslav Korolev (Drafted 2005 12^th overall by Los Angeles Clippers, SF) In 34 career games, Korolev averaged 1.1 points per game and 0.5 rebounds per game. He played briefly in the NBDL for Reno and Albuquerque before signing to play in Spain in 2010.
• Ian Mahinmi (Drafted 2005 28^th overall by San Antonio, C) Jury is still out on Mahinmi, who is currently playing for the World Champion Dallas Mavericks. In 88 career games for San Antonio and Dallas he has averaged 3.4 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
• Ricky Sanchez (Drafted 2005 35^th overall by Portland, F) Sanchez played in the D-League for Idaho but now plays in Puerto Rico both nationally and in the professional league.
• Roko Ukic (Drafted 2005 41^st overall by Toronto, PG) Ukic averaged 4.2 points and 2.1 assists per game in his only full season in the NBA backing up Jose Calderon. He played in 13 games for the Bucks before being asked to be waived because of his lack of a role on the team.
• Mile Ilic (Drafted 2005 43^rd overall by New Jersey, C) Ilic played in the D-League for a year for the Colorado 14ers before heading to Russia and currently plays in Serbia.
• Martynas Andriuskevicius (Drafted 2005 44^th overall by Orlando, C) Played in the D-League before suffering a major head injury during a Dakota Wizards practice fight. He then has played in Spain since 2007.
• Erazem Lorbek (Drafted 2005 46^th overall by Indiana, F) Lorbek has not played in an NBA game but his rights were just traded to San Antonio during this seasons draft. He currently plays in Spain for FC Barcelona.
• Mickael Gelabale (Drafted 2005 48^th overall by Seattle, SF) Gelabale played 2 years in Seattle averaging 4.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game before tearing his ACL. He played 1 year in the D-League for the Los Angeles D-fenders before heading overseas where he currently plays in France.
• Axel Hervelle (Drafted 2005 52^nd overall by Denver, F) Axel has never played in the NBA and most recently played for Real Madrid in 2009.
• Uros Slokar (Drafted 2005 58^th overall by Toronto, PF) Uros played in 20 games in his only season in the NBA, he has since then played in Slovenia and currently plays in Spain.
• Cenk Akyol (Drafted 2005 59^th overall by Atlanta, G) Cenk has never played in the NBA and currently plays in Turkey.
• Mouhamed Sene (Drafted 2006 10^th overall by Seattle/OKC, C) In 47 career games for Seattle, and Oklahoma City he averaged 2.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. Sene now plays in France.
• Oleksiy Pecherov (Drafted 2006 18^th overall by Washington, PF) In 111 career NBA games, for Washington and Minnesota, he averaged 3.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He currently plays in Italy.
• Sergio Rodriguez (Drafted 2006 27^th overall by Phoenix, PG) In 5 years he played 285 games for Portland, Sacramento and New York averaging 4.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He currently plays for Real Madrid in Spain.
• Joel Freeland (Drafted 2006 30^th overall by Portland, F) Joel has never played in the NBA and currently plays in Spain.
• Kosta Perovic (Drafted 2006 38^th overall by Golden State, C) Kosta played 7 career NBA games averaging 1.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Kosta currently plays for FC Barcelona in Spain.
• Marcus Vinicius (Drafted 2006 43^rd overall by New Orleans, SF) Vinicius played 50 career games for the Hornets averaging 1.9 points per game. He currently plays in Brazil.
• Lior Eliyahu (Drafted 2006 44^th overall by Orlando, F) Lior has never played in the NBA and has played in Israel and Spain. He now plays back in his homeland of Israel.
• Vladimir Veremeenko (Drafted 2006 48^th overall by Washington, F) Vladimir has never played in the NBA but currently plays in Russia professionally.
• Cheick Samb (Drafted 2006 51^st overall by Los Angeles Lakers, C) Cheick played 22 career NBA games averaging 1.0 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. He also has played in the D-League and currently plays in Iran.
• Guillermo Diaz (Drafted 2006 52^nd overall by Los Angeles Clippers, SG) Diaz played 6 career NBA games averaging 0.8 points and 1.0 assists per game. He spent some time in the D-League before heading overseas to the Czech Republic and Greece. He currently plays in Italy.
• Yotam Halperin (Drafted 2006 53^rd overall by Seattle, G) Yotam has never played in the NBA and currently plays in Israel.
• Ejike Ugboaja (Drafted 2006 55^th overall by Cleveland, F) Ejike has never played in the NBA. He currently plays in Spain.
• Edin Bavcic (Drafted 2006 56^th overall by Toronto, F) He has never played in the NBA, he has played in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy. He currently plays in the Ukraine.
• Loukas Mavrokefalidis (Drafted 2006 57^th overall by Minnesota, C) Loukas has never played in the NBA and currently plays in Greece.
• Damir Markota (Drafted 2006 59^th overall by San Antonio, PF) Markota spent a season on the Bucks bench before splitting town to play in Russia. He currently plays in Slovenia.
• Tiago Splitter (Drafted 2007 28^th overall by San Antonio, PF) Splitter spent an extra few years in Spain before coming over to San Antonio. The jury is still out on him as he averaged 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in his first NBA season.
• Petteri Koponen (Drafted 2007 30^th overall by Philadelphia, G) Koponen has never played in the NBA, always failing to impress during summer leagues but he currently plays in Italy and is property of the Mavericks after his rights were traded during this seasons draft.
• Kyrylo Fesenko (Drafted 2007 38^th overall by Philadelphia, PF) Jury is still somewhat out on Fesenko too, the big Ukranian has averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in 132 career games for Utah.
• Stanko Barac (Drafted 2007 39^th overall by Miami, C) Barac has never played in the NBA. He currently plays in Spain.
• Sun Yue (Drafted 2007 40^th overall by Los Angeles Lakers, SG) Sun played in 10 career games averaging 0.6 points per game. He also played for the D-League D-Fenders before heading back to China to play.
• Renaldas Seibutis (Drafted 2007 50^th overall by Dallas, G) Renaldas never made it past the summer leagues in the U.S. but currently plays professionally in his homeland of Lithuania.
• Giorgos Printezis (Drafted 2007 58^th overall by San Antonio, F) Giorgos has never played in the NBA but currently plays in his homeland of Greece.
• Milovan Rakovic (Drafted 2007 60^th overall by Dallas, F) Milovan has never played in the NBA but he currently plays in Italy after years of playing in Russia.
• Alexis Ajinca (Drafted 2008 20^th overall by Charlotte, C) Jury is still out on Ajinca who in 71 career NBA games has averaged 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game while playing for Charlotte, Dallas and Toronto.
• Omer Asik (Drafted 2008 36^th overall by Portland, C) Asik played well for the Bulls this season but only averaged 2.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while appearing in all 82 games. So the jury is still out on the 24 year old Turkish center.
• Nathan Jawai (Drafted 2008 41^st overall by Indiana, PF) Jawai bounced around the D-League before making the Timberwolves squad where he averaged 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in 39 appearances. He currently plays in Serbia.
• Ante Tomic (Drafted 2008 44^th overall by Utah, C) Tomic has never played in the NBA and currently plays for Real Madrid in Spain.
• Tadija Dragicevic (Drafted 2008 53^rd overall by Utah, SF) Dragicevic has never played in the NBA and is currently playing in Italy.
• Sasha Kaun (Drafted 2008 56^th overall by Seattle, C) Sasha Kaun played college ball at Kansas University but never played in the NBA. He currently plays in homeland Russia for CSKA Moscow.
• Semih Erden (Drafted 2008 60^th overall by Boston, C) Erden like Asik, is a 24 year old Turkish center whom the jury is still out on. He averaged 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in his first NBA season with the Celtics and Cavaliers.
• Hasheem Thabeet (Drafted 2009 2^nd overall by Memphis, C) Thabeet was a huge disappointment out of University of Connecticut. In 115 career NBA games, Thabeet has averaged 2.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game for Memphis and Houston.
• Victor Claver (Drafted 2009 22^nd overall by Portland, SF) Claver has never played in the NBA and currently plays in Spain.
• Sergio Llull (Drafted 2009 34^th overall by Denver, PG) Llull has never played in the NBA. Llull currently plays for Real Madrid in Spain.
• Henk Norel (Drafted 2009 47^th overall by Minnesota, PF) Henk has never played in the NBA. He currently plays for DKV Jovenut in Spain.
• Sergiy Gladyr (Drafted 2009 49^th overall by Atlanta, SG) Sergiy has never played in the NBA. He currently plays in Spain.
• Goran Suton (Drafted 2009 50^th overall by Utah, C) Goran played his college ball at Michigan State but was cut by Utah and played in Russia last year. He currently has signed to play in Italy.
• Nando De Colo (Drafted 2009 53rd overall by San Antonio, PG) Nando has never played in the NBA. He currently plays for Valencia in Spain.
• Emir Preldzic (Drafted 2009 57^th overall by Phoenix, SF) Emir has never played in the NBA. He currently plays in Turkey.
• Chinemelu Elonu (Drafted 2009 59^th overall by LA Lakers, PF) Elonu played his college ball at Texas A&M University but never played in the NBA. He has played in Spain and Greece and currently plays in France.
• Kevin Seraphin (Drafted 2010 17^th overall by Chicago, PF) Jury is still out on Seraphin who was traded to Washington where he played in 58 games averaging 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game as a rookie.
• Tibor Pleiss (Drafted 2010 31^st overall by New Jersey, C) Tibor has never played in the NBA and currently plays in Germany. His draft rights are owned by Oklahoma City.
• Nemanja Bjelica (Drafted 2010 35^th overall by Washington, SF) Nemanja has never played in the NBA. He currently plays in Spain for Caja Laboral.
• Paulao Prestes (Drafted 2010 45^th overall by Minnesota, C) Paulao has never played in the NBA and currently plays in Spain.
• Pape Sy (Drafted 2010 53^rd overall by Atlanta, SF) Pape has played in 3 career NBA games averaging 2.3 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. He spent most of the season in the D-League with the Utah Flash.
• Hamady N’diaye (Drafted 2010 56^th overall by Minnesota, C) Hamady played his college ball at Rutgers University and played last year for the Dakota Wizards of the D-League. He has played 16 career NBA games averaging 1.1 points and 0.4 rebounds per game as a rookie for Washington.

Whew! Plenty of foreigners were drafted this year so I'll be sure to keep the list updated! Thanks for reading, feel free to comment/correct about any player or overall. 

Fantasy Help Please! Mid-Season MLB Awards and Biggest Winner/Loser Returns

Stat of the day from my friend DiamondDocs: Adam Dunn vs. lefties update: 1-for-53. .019 average, .175 OBP, .019 slugging percentage. Well good thing I dropped him about a month ago after I had traded Trevor Cahill for him straight up. Stupid.

So my fantasy team is scuffling here and I think the best thing for me to do is get some opinions from people. My team is as follows:

C- J.P. Arencibia TOR
1B- Adrian Gonzalez BOS and 1B/OF- Michael Morse WAS
2B-Brian Roberts BAL (DL), 2B/OF- Dustin Ackley SEA, 2B/3B/OF- Ryan Roberts ARZ,
SS- Troy Tulowitzki COL
3B- Mike Moustakas KC, 3B/2B/SS- Maicer Izturis LAA
OF- Jay Bruce CIN, Shin Soo Choo CLE (DL),  Colby Rasmus STL, Mike Stanton FLA, Seth Smith COL
2 Utility spots
Categories- Runs, HRs, RBIs, SB, AVG., OPS.

SP- Jered Weaver LAA, Justin Verlander DET, Jon Lester BOS, Jhoulys Chacin COL, Max Scherzer DET, Shaun Marcum MIL and John Lannan WAS (Spot start)
RP- John Axford MIL, Joel Hanrahan PIT, Jordan Walden LAA
Categories Wins, Saves, K's, ERA, WHIP

I'd love any advice, opinions and trade options I could target out there. Steals and Avg seem to be my worst categories. 

I'll stay on the baseball theme and discuss a few mid-season awards since the All-Star game and unofficial middle of the season is a few weeks away.

American League:
MVP- Adrian Gonzalez BOS .361 AVG., 56 Runs, 114 Hits, 16 Home Runs, 71 RBIs, 1.026 OPS

Adrian has been absolutely on fire the last month and a half leading the Red Sox from the basement into contention in the AL East. Leads the league in AVG., Hits and RBIs. 

Cy Young- Justin Verlander DET 10-3 Record, 124 K's in 128.2 Innings, 2.38 ERA, 0.84 WHIP

Tough choice but Verlander has thrown a no-hitter and almost threw another one in the next start, he has been dominant this season and his miniscule WHIP is evidence of his control. 

Rookie of the Year- Michael Pineda SEA 7-4 Record, 94 K's in 95.2 Innings, 2.45 ERA, 1.00 WHIP

Pineda has been phenomenal as a rookie, just blows people away and has learned on the job very well behind last year's Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez. 

National League-
MVP- Jose Reyes NYM .341 AVG., 61 Runs, 113 Hits, 3 Home Runs, 28 Stolen Bases, 32 RBIs, .899 OPS.

Reyes has been unbelievable even with all the distractions about possible trades and free agent signings. Leads the league in AVG., Hits and is 2nd in Steals atop a feeble offense.

Cy Young- Roy Halladay PHI 10-3 Record, 123 K's in 127.1 Innings, 2.40 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.

Jurrjens gets honorable mention here, but Doc has been just dominant as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary here. 

Rookie of the Year- Danny Espinosa WAS- .242 AVG., 67 Hits, 14 HRs, 47 RBIs, .788 OPS.

Tough call here, no one has been outstanding but Espinosa has some pop for a young 2B and the Young Nats are going to be powerful very shortly. Honorable Mention-Darwin Barney CHC

And to bring back player of the night/weekend!

Biggest Winner of the Weekend: Very tough to say this weekend, Women's World Cup kicked off, the US Men's Soccer team lost in the Gold Cup Final to Mexico, College World Series set its final 2 in Florida and South Carolina, Kurt Busch got his first win of the year at Sonoma and Wimbledon finished up week 1. Oh and of course MLB regular news and NBA/NHL trades swirling everywhere. So to define one as the biggest winner, I'll take the easy out this time and say it's us the sports fans. Every major sport (save American football) was in some sort of action this weekend (Friday night counts too) and really entertained us and captivated our attention.

Biggest Loser of the Weekend: This seems pretty easy, nothing can top El Tri (Mexico's national team)'s celebration on American soil as they came from 2 goals down to defeat the US 4-2 in Pasadena, CA for the Gold Cup Final. Tim Howard's outbursts about the disgust of the trophy ceremony in Spanish only left more to be angry about as American soccer fans. Poor showing throughout by Bob Bradley's club.

Photo of the Day: This Thomas-as-sandman creation was seen at the Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Competition in New Hampshire last weekend
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