Off The Glass

Coastal Carolina alum Leasure re-signs with New Zealand team

Coastal Carolina alum Jack Leasure has re-signed with New Zealand professional basketball team Taranaki Mountain Airs. And the club expects big things from him.

Taranaki Basketball chairman John Kensington told the Taranaki Daily News of the signing that "It's good for us. When you get someone back, you know what you are getting. We can now build our game around him."

The chairman went on to say other nice things about Leasure. The article is a good read.

Leasure also said his camp at Carolina Forest High School in mid-September went well. He said he got about 40 kids or so in that camp and also the one he held in his native Rochester, N.Y. He said he'll be doing it again next year.

Video link: Myrtle Beach's Sessions speaks at Cavs media day

To see Myrtle Beach native Ramon Sessions in his new Cleveland Cavaliers garb and for an interview with the first year Cav, visit Cavs.com.

Former Clemson standout Hamilton in Detroit Pistons' training camp

MCT file photo

According to his Twitter and Facebook pages, former Clemson standout Vernon Hamilton is in camp with the Detroit Pistons.

Hamilton, who was in camp with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and who has played overseas in recent years, said Friday on his Twitter page: "EVERYONE RETWEET THIS. IM PROUD TO SAY THE DETROIT PISTONS OFFICIALLY SIGNED ME TO THE TEAM TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MEDIA DAY MONDAY."

Hamilton later posted on his Facebook page: "Proud to say I am officially Number 20 of the Detroit Pistons..... Media Day Monday."

Hamilton joins a club led by head coach John Kuester who, like Hamilton, is a Benedictine High School alum. The school is in Richmond, Va.

NBA training camps begin next week.

Translation: Florence's Powell signs with German team, for now

According to a report on Schoenen Dunk, Florence native and former South Carolina Gamecocks standout Carlos Powell has signed to play for the German club Deutsche Bank Skyliners - for now.

According to the Google translation of the German report, Powell has signed with the team through the end of October, when the contract could possibly be extended. Check out the translation here: Google tranlate.

I recently tried to get in touch with Powell and got no response. Therefore, I can only speculate. But the NBA D-League draft is in November, and Powell was a D-League All-Star last season after being the No. 1 pick in the draft. He never got the call-up to the NBA before leaving the States to finish the year in China. Perhaps he is playing overseas until making a decision on whether to return to the D-League? It is uncertain, but definitely possible. NBA training camps begin this month.

Powell played for longtime Socastee coach and current Knicks assistant Dan D'Antoni on the Knicks' summer league team.

Q&A: Hemingway's Taylor talks about "Pros Vs. Joes" experience

Submitted photo

Travis Taylor's faith in his game has done a great deal for his career. His faith in God, well, is his life.

The Hemingway High School graduate and former South Carolina Mr. Basketball currently is a minister in Wilmington, N.C., at New Covenant Holiness Church while also continuing his dream in the hoops world. Just recently, Taylor popped up on television, competing against the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, Brent Barry and J.R. Rider in the popular sports reality show "Pros Vs. Joes."

A little background on Taylor first:

Taylor played collegiately at Cape Fear Community College in North Carolina and later at Claflin University in Orangeburg. Taylor has played for several U.S.-based minor league pro basketball teams, including the the Wilmington Sea Dawgs of the ABA in 2008-09 - after going 13th overall in the draft. "We were pretty good. I suffered through some tendinitis in my knee that limited my playing time and play." After getting healthy, Taylor said he had a falling out with the coaching staff and knew he would be with the team for only that season. Taylor said after the season he received several overseas offers that he "consulted with my bishop and wife about that were very nice." Taylor said he nearly signed with a team in Russia before running into visa problems and electing to stay home and play for the ABA's Charlotte Crossovers. However, "as most ABA teams do when funding is not the way it should be, they folded." But opportunity presented itself shortly thereafter, when Taylor was invited to represent Team USA in the 23-and-under world championships in France. "That was a great experience. I was third on the team in scoring at 15 [points per game], nine [rebounds per game] and four [assists per game]. Upon coming home, I was contacted by a representative from the NBA stating that I have been selected to participate in the NBA D-League Pre Draft Camp in Chantilly, Va. I went, of course, [and] did well, [leading] my team in scoring and rebounding at around 15 [points per game and [10 rebounds per game]. Months later, I received the call that I am in the 2010 NBA D-League Draft. So currently my path to the NBA is set. God has made way and I will be getting drafted in the NBA D-League this November."

Amidst all of this, "Pros Vs. Joes" came calling.

Q&A: Travis Taylor playing the part as "Joe"

Q | How did the "Pros Vs. Joes" gig come about?

Travis | Pros vs. Joes was filmed I’ll say around March [after] I was contacted by this guy who is in the productionacting business. He told me they needed a tall contestent to be on and I said "yeah." It really wasn’t much to do ... just know that it's not real and a contract wasn’t coming from it. I decided to give my acting career a boost!

NOTE: I was unable to find the episode on Spike's website, where I had previously watched it. You may be able to get the episode free here: Fancast

Q | So, overall, what was the experience of playing on "Pros Vs. Joes" like?

Travis | It was OK, I guess. I was happy I was gonna be on national television, but the fact that I couldn’t really do what I want ate at me. But overall [its was a] great experience and Cali was nice.

Q | They titled the episode "Trash Talk Heard 'Round the World." At one point you called Hakeem Olajuwon a "Nightmare" and even yawned as the Pros came onto the court. Tell me a little about that and how it plays into the entertainment of the show via what actually can be a real part of basketball.

Travis |Well trash talking is in every game - basketball, baseball, football, you name it, it has trash talking in it. I can’t really go into too much detail on how much of the show is real and how much isn’t. I’ll tell you this: the fight was real; everything else I’ll leave to your imagination.

Q | You guys were referred to as perhaps the best Joes team they had ever had despite narrowly losing. What does that mean to you?

Travis | It really didn’t trigger in my mind like that because I knew the segway behind everything. It’s kind of a fiction show, it's entertainment [and] nothing more.

Q | Did you get to know any of the guys on your team or form any new friendships?

Travis | Well, that’s kind of a funny story. I was on another team but was switched off of it maybe five minutes before the game. I didn’t know them, didn’t talk with them prior or afterwards but they seem like pretty cool guys. I did keep in contact with one of my teammates on the first team I was on. We exchanged numbers and still talk today.

Q | Tell me about your experience with the Pros. What was it like going against Hakeem Olajuwon, in particular? And J.R. and Brent weren't exactly slouches either. Just talk about competing with and interacting with those guys.

Travis |There was nothing really said outside the show ... we didn’t see [the Pros] until game time and after the game was over I went back to my hotel room, texted my Bishop, called my wife and read my bible. Going up against Hakeem was cool, I guess. He is really 7foot, not a fabricated 7-footer. Off set wasn’t too much talking between us and them but when we did talk on pauses in filming on court he seemed pretty cool.

Q | Tell me how this experience affected you as you move forward and if you learned anything from it.

Travis | It showed me the business side to the TV world. I don’t believe nothing on TV now like reality shows and half the stuff that comes on TV. It changed my perspective on how things go on TV; behind the scenes of this TV show showed me a lot that I didn’t know. I kind of thought some things were real. Entertainment is entertainment and basketball is basketball.

Q | Aside from being on "Pros Vs. Joes," tell me something about yourself that many people would find interesting.

Travis | What's funny and what many people that don’t know me don’t know is that I preached my first sermon at the age of 13 at Unity Pentecostal Holiness Church in Kingstree. I then journeyed succuming to peer pressure and the hype of the whole Mr. Basketball player of the year stuff  [and]I turned my heart away from God. But God being so forgiving and loving forgave me and allowed me to regain my place in the kingdom.

And perhaps a place in the NBA one of these days.

Georgetown's Brendon Knox signs deal to play pro in Portugal

Georgetown High School alum and former Auburn basketball standout Brendon Knox will be heading to Portugal on Sept. 20 - and so his professional basketball career will begin.

Knox said late Saturday night that he has signed to play for Barreirense Basket, a first division team in Barreiro, Portugal.

"I feel very blessed about playing on the next level ... hopefully I can be in the NBA soon," Knox said. "... also, I hope I can set an example for anybody that's trying to make it out of Georgetown."

So where does Sessions fit into Cavaliers' guard rotation?

So where does Ramon Sessions fit in with the Cavaliers - or more importantly into their guard rotation?

With the Cavs' semi-rebuilding roster thanks to King James' exit, it's an interesting topic as to where and how much several of the players on this roster will play.

And the Myrtle Beach native is right smack dab in the middle of it.

Well, bleacherreport.com has posted its opinion. Check that out and I'll give you mine.

Practically speaking, most would say Mo Williams starts at point guard. From that point on it gets complicated.

I agree that Williams starts, but not necessarily as THE point guard. I would start he and Sessions side-by-side and give teams a non-traditional look, which fits into the fast-paced style new coach Byron Scott is looking to install with this team. This gives you two point guards - who both actually can play both the 1 or 2, which was obvious with Mo essentially playing the 2 with LeBron playing a lot of point forward and Sessions playing both positions in Milwaukee - on the floor at the same time.

How would this work?

It's not uncommon for teams to have more than one player bring the ball up the floor (see LeBron, Kobe, Wade or even Lamar Odom). This allows Williams to play more of a scoring role for the Cavs, who lose plenty of scoring with LeBron gone. Sessions is more of your traditional point guard anyway and a good playmaker. This would allow Mo to run off screens to get open looks, somewhat like Richard Hamilton has made a great living doing over the years. And, as I said before, this creates more options to execute a running game. This would also work with Gibson, who is a shooter.

So ... how does this affect the rest of the roster?

Well, I think this helps out Daniel Gibson, because he isn't necessarily a third-stringer like he would be with Mo and Ramon 1-2 at point guard. It leaves Anthony Parker coming off the bench. But based on numbers, Sessions produces more than Parker when he gets minutes. Parker's minutes likely would stay the same, just with it all off the bench. And as for point guard, Sessions would probably be a better assist guy than Mo, while Williams would benefit as a scorer.

Where do the issues lie?

Defensively. Having two point guards on the floor at once - a 6-3 Sessions instead of a 6-6 Parker - would likely create matchup problems. Perhaps a zone? That is the ultimate obstacle, but the answers to solving that problem are beyond me (but Scott is a good coach and could piece it together, I believe). The other obstacle is creating a successful substitution method (moves that make up for defensive fixes, etc.). But with this roster, the team is going to have this issue no matter who starts. Scott may even have to work with a system in which he plays whoever is playing well. Keep in mind, this team is far from perfect at this point.

The bottom line

The Cavaliers, with their current roster, are going to have to be somewhat of a system team. And I think that's why Scott wants to have a running team. Antawn Jamison is a nice piece for your halfcourt offense, but most of the other pieces point to the Cavs running and gunning. It's debatable whether this team will be a bottom dweller or a fringe playoff team. I think they can chase the bottom two Eastern Conference playoff spots ... if, they find a nice rotation method.

Scott has his work cut out for him, but he has pieces to play with. It basically comes down to how good of a chess player he is.

Catching up with Carolina Forest grad Chris Ford in Oklahoma

The Sun News file photo

The world of college basketball is treating Carolina Forest graduate Chris Ford well so far.

Ford, who said he will play this year as a true freshman at Western Oklahoma State, said "It's going pretty good ... I can't complain."

Ford, who said the team began official workouts and lifting this week, said the classroom is where he has had to made the biggest adjustment.

"It's not high school anymore, I can tell you that!" he said. "But other than [that], on the court [and in] the classroom is gong well. That's something that I need to focus on."

Before official workouts began, Ford said he was playing pick-up games every day and lifting on his own. He's already learning what to expect from the college game.

"It's a lot faster pace, so I have been working on my speed and agility to keep up with the guys on the perimeter," he said. "... But I handle my own."

A quick check-in with Socastee grad Lukas Varga in Denmark

So far, so good for Lukas Varga in Denmark.

The Socastee grad said this week that he is "playing well" in exhibition games with his his professional team, Lemvig Basket, a first division team in Lemvig, Denmark.

Varga, who played collegiately for USC-Aiken and Coker, said things are going well for him overall overseas and that "I like it a lot."

As for on-court adjustments playing professionally overseas?

"The 3-point line is backed up like NBA ... 24 second shot clock... circle in the lane for charges ... all those rules favor my game ... it's been good!" he said.

Translation: Italian team looking at Florence native Carlos Powell

Florence native Carlos Powell, who played for former Socastee High School coach Dan D'Antoni for the New York Knicks' summer league team, may be considering options overseas.

We know, at this point, that teams over there are at least considering him.

Italian team Naturhouse Ferrara apparently is considering Powell, according to a report on legaduebasket. The site is not in English, but through the Google translation it says This.

Powell was an NBA Development League All-Star last season before finishing the year in China. Powell was in camp with the Phoenix Suns last preseason.

Only time will tell if he ends up in an NBA camp again this fall or rather heads overseas earlier than last season when he played in the D-League.