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NBA promotes Curry to VP of basketball operations

NEW YORK -- Michael Curry has been promoted to NBA vice president of basketball operations, commissioner David Stern announced on Thursday.

Curry had served as the vice president of player development for the NBA D-League since September.

In his new role, Curry will continue to oversee all of the D-League's player development programs and will also assume basketball operations responsibilities for the NBA, reporting to executive vice president of operations Stu Jackson.

"Michael is widely respected by teams and players in both the NBA and the D-League for his knowledge of the game and his leadership qualities," NBA president of league operations Joel Litvin said. "He has done a tremendous job for the D-League and this is a great opportunity for us to utilize his talents at the NBA level as well."

Curry, 37, retired as a player in 2005 after an 11-year career and served as president of the Players Association from 2000-04.

Known as a solid defensive player, Curry had career averages of 4.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in 667 NBA games with six teams. Curry made 152 of his 269 starts in two seasons with the Detroit Pistons (2001-02 and 2002-03).

Curry was not drafted by an NBA franchise and played in Germany, Belgium and France (1990-92), the United States Basketball League (1992), in Italy (1993-94) and the Continental Basketball Association (1992-93 and 1995-96).

Women's Basketball meets and greet fans at football Tailgate/Fan Fest

AUSTIN, Texas -- As thousands of avid Longhorn fans poured onto the UT campus prior to the Texas-Colorado football game under sunny skies Saturday, many of those fans made their way to the "Texas Women's Basketball Tailgate/Fan Fest" where music, festivities, giveways and photo opportunities and autographs from the Longhorns coaches and players awaited them. The Basketball Tailgate/Fan Fest, sponsored by Coca-Cola, was a three-hour fun fest held outside UT's Memorial Stadium for three hours prior to the start of the UT-Colorado game. It featured a fun zone with games and inflatables for children, face painting, Japanese drummers (the Taiko Drummers) and the popular autograph session with women's basketball team members. Fans also had a chance to win prizes and purchase season tickets and season mini-pack tickets (a five-game ticket package) for the upcoming 2005-06 campaign. The Longhorns, ranked No. 9 in the preseason ESPN.com national poll, will open their season with two exhibition games in three weeks. First, UT hosts Everyones Internet on Thursday, Nov. 3, followed by a Thursday, November 10th game against the Houston Jaguars. These two exhibitions both start at 7 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center. Texas' season opener takes place against New Mexico on Friday, Nov. 18 (7 p.m.) in Austin.

Southall glad to be back at basketball practice

Considering the alternative, Michael Southall was thrilled to be at the University of Louisiana's 8 a.m. basketball practice Saturday. "Compared to where I was a year ago, this is great," Southall said after the Ragin' Cajuns worked out for nearly three hours Saturday. "I couldn't wait for it to start." The 6-foot-10 postman was opening a Cajun practice session for the first time in three years, after missing the 2003-04 season on academic suspension and the 2004-05 campaign battling an assortment of legal troubles - not the least of which was a jail term in 2004 stemming from probation violations. UL head coach Robert Lee OK'ed Southall's return to the program with several conditions including academic performance and strict adherence to team policies. Even though the squad held limited workouts prior to Saturday, the NCAA's official opening day of full fall practice was Southall's first basketball court - as compared to judicial court - appearance since the NIT Tournament in March 2003. But the two-time All-Sun Belt pick showed few ill effects during the lengthy session. In fact, he's down to about 240 pounds compared to the 260-plus he played at in his first two years. "I need to be around 250 when we start playing," he said. The Cajuns are a very different team than the one Southall last centered. UL has won two straight Sun Belt tournament titles and made two straight NCAA appearances. And only one player - fellow postman Chris Cameron - was an active member of the squad the last time Southall played. "It's a whole new flavor," Southall said. "I've got to get to know a lot of the guys, but having the preseason helps. You learn what their strength is and some tendencies, and it helps with conditioning. And after those practices, we've been hooping every day, and that's how you get to know each other."

Sharp loves basketball home of Israel (By LORI EWING)

TORONTO (CP) - Derrick Sharp has played pro basketball in Israel for so long, he can conduct a post-game interview in Hebrew. He became an Israeli citizen nearly a decade ago, and in a city that worships its basketball team like Torontonians love their Leafs, he is recognized wherever he goes on the streets of Tel Aviv. The American-born Sharp may never have played in the NBA, but he says he has no regrets. He and his Canadian wife Justine Ellison have made their home in Israel, where powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv is treated like royalty. "When I grew up playing, of course your dream was to play in the NBA, but there's so many countries in Europe and Asia that have leagues, basketball has become a world game, so players can further their careers anywhere now," said the six-foot guard. "I've spent 12 years of my life there, for 10 months out of the year, so for the meantime I'm more Israeli than American. It is a home away from home." Sharp, who was born in Orlando, Fla., is the captain of reigning Euroleague champion Maccabi Tel Aviv, which will battle the Raptors in a pre-season game at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday. Playing in Toronto is also close to home for Sharp. He and his wife and their two children, Gabriel, four, and Emanuel, who's almost two, spend part of every summer in Hamilton, where Ellison's parents live. Ellison was a standout player for the University of Toronto, earning CIS athlete of the year honours in 1996 and winning the Nan Copp trophy as the top female player in Canadian university basketball the same year. The two met in Israel, where Ellison played for the Maccabi women's team. Despite the political turmoil in Israel, Sharp says they've come to love the country. "It's not too much to adjust to, it's really Americanized, the people there are great, they love us, we love them, and so it was a really easy transition," said Sharp, who has a third son Derrick Jr., nine, who also lives in Israel. "The stuff you see on T.V. is not like it is, it's just like being in any other country. They have places where you stay out of, you just have know where to go and where to be, and other than that, it's pretty safe." Maccabi is looking for its first victory over an NBA squad since they edged the Washington Bullets 98-97 in 1978. A victory over Toronto, or even better, the Orlando Magic, who Maccabi plays to cap their two-game North American road trip, would be ultimate bragging rights for the Israeli squad that is coming off two consecutive Euroleague titles. "It's more a measuring stick for our success of the past two years," said Maccabi centre and former Raptor Maceo Baston. "We've won back-to-back titles and beating an NBA team would kind of put the cherry on top of that. "This team (Toronto) is down right now, they're not a typical NBA-level team right now, but Orlando, that will be another measuring stick. Maccabi, every game is the most important game. There's no room for losing, no matter who we play." Maccabi knows a thing or two about winning. The storied franchise has won 45 of 51 Israeli titles - including 23 in a row from 1970 to '92 - since the league was launched in 1954, and has collected three of the last five Euroleague titles. Maccabi is the New York Yankees of the Israeli league, with critics crying foul over the fact the league has no salary cap. Maccabi enjoys huge sponsorship support, including Strauss-Elite, Israel's largest food company and the team's top sponsor for the past 36 years. Some of Maccabi's players, said Sharp, earn seven-figure salaries. And Maccabi's fervent fan support is unmatched. "It's like we're 15 Michael Jordans over there. And it's a small setting, so people see you in your car, or walking, I'm 6-10, black guy, so I'm pretty recognizable," said Baston. "We're like the entertainment, the movies, the show. They say we're in the game, it's a little drama, but we always prevail at the end, like a villain movie. We're always the good guy, the good guy always wins, and that's what Maccabi means to the people there." Baston played 16 games for the Raptors in 2003, and has played for Maccabi for the previous two seasons. The Raptors, meanwhile, are 0-2 in the pre-season as head coach Sam Mitchell evaluates new players. Mitchell said he's approaching Sunday's game like any other pre-season matchup, but Raptors forward Matt Bonner, who played against Maccabi Tel Aviv two years ago when he was with Italian team Sicilia, warned the Raptors can't take Maccabi lightly. "They have this aura about them, this vibe, buzz around them, at least when I was in Europe, when they walk into a gym, it's 'ooh, there's Maccabi Tel Aviv.' It's a kind of respect for them," said Bonner. "Maybe because they're not an NBA team maybe some players don't think (Maccabi) are as good as they are. But me, having played in Europe, I understand and respect what level they play at." Maccabi is the Raptors' third international pre-season opponent. Toronto edged Benetton Treviso of Italy, 86-83, last season, and defeated Panathinaikos of Greece 100-76 in 2003.

Canada-basketball Montreal gets semi-professional basketball team

OTTAWA, Oct.3 (Xinhua) -- The Montreal Matrix are the latest addition to the American Basketball Association, a league that ranks a step below the NBA.

The Matrix will play their opening game in Harlem on Nov. 5, with their home opener Nov. 11 against the Buffalo Rapids.

With nine Quebecers making up the majority of the team, officials hope that fans will come out to support their homegrown talent.

The challenge is creating awareness to Montrealers about the new team,said coach and general manager Pascal Jobin, adding that a couple of deals are in the making to promote the team.

The ABA is not as strong as the days when it had basketball legends such as Dr. J, Moses Malone and George Gervin playing on its teams. But many still feel that some players do have the potential to make it to the big-time. Enditem