Diogu Using Olympics to get Back to NBA

(Ike) Diogu came to the Olympics looking for a single person: that one NBA general manager who will give him another chance, a real chance, to play at the highest level. He never thought he’d inspire a country.

The son of Nigerian schoolteachers, Diogu led the D’Tigers to stunning upsets of Greece and Lithuania at a qualifying tournament in Venezuela. For an encore, his 25-point, 10-rebound performance against the Dominican Republic clinched Nigeria’s first-ever Olympic berth in basketball.

Once here, it didn’t take long for Diogu’s crew to score a first Olympic victory, beating Tunisia in its London debut. Do you believe in miracles?

“When we first got together, we talked about making history,” Diogu said. “My brother lives in Nigeria, and he said the place is just going crazy. With all the turmoil going on over there, this gives the country something to rally around. Our soccer team didn’t make it, so we’re the team everyone is riding on.”

Raptors Re-Sign Center Aaron Gray

The Toronto Raptors announced Friday they have re-signed centre Aaron Gray. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

Gray averaged 3.9 points, with career bests of 5.7 rebounds (third on team) and 16.6 minutes in 49 games with the Raptors last season. He started 40 contests, averaging 4.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 17.4 minutes. Gray finished the season second on the club in field goal percentage at .516 (83-161). He paced the team in rebounding 11 times, with six 10-plus rebound efforts, and recorded two double-doubles. He posted season highs with 12 points and 12 rebounds February 22 versus Detroit.

Gray played for the New Orleans Hornets in the 2010-11 season, averaging 3.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 13.0 minutes. He shot .566 (56-99) from the field in his 41 appearances, including six in a starting role. He started six consecutive games from February 5-15, averaging 6.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 25.8 minutes.

Gray, 7-foot, 270 pounds, was a second-round selection (49th overall) by Chicago in the 2007 NBA Draft. He was dealt by the Bulls to the Hornets in January 2010.

Gray posted his career highs against the Raptors on April 16, 2008 with a 19-point/22-rebound performance for the Bulls.

Gray played four seasons collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh. He was named Big East Most Improved Player in 2005-06, upping his scoring and rebound averages from 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds as a sophomore to 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds in his junior season. He was an All-Big East First Team selection as a senior, posting averages of 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds.

Raja Bell Buyout Saga Continues

The Raja Bell saga goes on.

The Salt Lake Tribune learned Monday that Bell has not accepted a buyout with the Jazz, despite the veteran guard saying July 8 a verbal agreement had been reached between the sides and only formalities remained.

“We’ve been given the greenlight by Utah to go ahead and find something that works for us. We’ve agreed to the terms,” Bell said in July. “So I think it’s safe to say now we are in the market again and we’re entertaining our options at this point.”

Jazz General Manager Kevin O’Connor would not discuss Bell’s buyout when recently asked about the situation during Summer League in Orlando, Fla. But a league source confirmed Monday the Jazz have officially offered Bell a buyout. He has refused to accept the deal, though, stalling an already long-delayed process.

Lakers to Switch to Princeton Offense?

Kobe Bryant has been searching for spacing and freedom and flow on offense, for a way to counter defenses bent on sagging and suffocating him on the floor. Even before the Los Angeles Lakers delivered him point guard Steve Nash, Bryant had raised an idea with coach Mike Brown about the possibility of employing a distant cousin to the triangle – the Princeton offense.

So there was Brown and Bryant in a side room in a Las Vegas gymnasium during Team USA’s training camp in early July, listening to Eddie Jordan detail the offense’s intricacies, laying out how Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum would benefit with and without the basketball. Here was an old-school Ivy League blueprint daring to be a solution for the Showtime Lakers’ issues.

Jordan happens to be the foremost Princeton authority in the NBA, the heir to architect Pete Carril, and that’s an immense part of why the Lakers are moving toward an agreement to hire Jordan as an assistant coach. Jordan sold his vision of the offense to a most willing subject, and ultimately Bryant departed for these Olympics convinced that the Lakers have a sound plan of action for the 2012-13 season.

Hornets Hope Major Changes Bring Wins?

But that reality aside, is there much to not like about the work done by Hornets General Manager Dell Demps and his staff this offseason? And as a result, is there any reason to not believe the Hornets won’t be vastly improved because of it?

There’s a level of enthusiasm, hope and expectation surrounding the Hornets that perhaps only has been matched once during the team’s tenure in New Orleans, the offseason of 2008, when there was great promise after the Hornets pushed San Antonio to seven games in the Western Conference semifinals and appeared ready to make the jump and become a conference championship contender for several seasons.

And the talk has remained audible even as the Saints have opened training camp — a statement that hasn’t often been made about the Hornets during the offseason — because of all the good things that have happened to the Hornets, and all the good things they have made happen, since the NBA Draft Lottery.

Magic Hope Vaughn is the Next Doc Rivers

The Orlando Magic may have just identified their next Doc Rivers.

The Magic introduced Jacque Vaughn as their new head coach at a news conference Monday, and Vaughn seemingly reminded everyone of a young Doc, whom the Magic plucked from the broadcast booth in 1999 and turned into an NBA head coach. Like Doc when he came to Orlando, Jacque is a former NBA point guard who has never been a head coach before at any level. But there’s just something about the way he walks and talks that makes you think he might be something special someday.

He is an intelligent, eloquent man who loves poetry and quoted Maya Angelou on Monday: “Some people will forget what you said and how you said it, but they’ll never forget how you make them feel.” He communicates and relates well to players. He has charisma, a sense of humor and that innate ability to light up a press conference.

Report: Nate Robinson to Sign With Bulls

The agent for Nate Robinson, Aaron Goodwin, says the veteran point guard will sign with Chicago today “barring unforeseen problems.”

Robinson averaged 11.2 points (42.4 percent shooting overall), 23.5 minutes, 1.2 steals and a career-high 4.5 assists per game with Golden State last season. Assuming the signing takes place, this will be the 28-year-old’s fifth team since the 2009-10 campaign.