| 16 May 2010
I guess you could say there were a few rumors over the weekend stemming from the waste and carnage that was the premature conclusion to the Cavaliers season on Thursday. One of those rumors - based on filth and fabrication - I'll be staying as far away from as possible, so stop emailing me. As far as speculation on Mike Brown and the decisions that Dan Gilbert will be making in the coming weeks? I may weigh in later. Pining for LeBron will also be later, because while it goes with out saying, I simply hope he re-ups and there's not much more to add other than that at the present moment. For now though, I did want to expand on one other Cavaliers related rumor/story reported early Sunday from the New York Post:
LeBron's HS teammate could be used as bait to lure him to Knicks - NY Post, Marc Berman:Now first off, offering "a summer-league roster spot" to somebody isn't all that big a deal. As stated in the report, Joyce did play on the Cavaliers summer league squad a couple years ago, and so did Romeo Travis for that matter. This is something I'm sure the Cavaliers would be glad to do for the next ten years if that really did qualify as "pulling out all the stops for James." Now maybe a training camp invitation is a bigger "stop" than that, maybe it isn't, I don't know, but the report didn't say the Knicks offered Dru Joyce III a guaranteed deal and regular season roster spot, which would have been a big deal. But with all that aside, I did want to offer a brief look at the career to date of the former SVSM lead guard since his time as an Akron Zip concluded, which is below...
Hooping on Foreign Hardwoods - Dru Joyce III
In 2008-2009 Dru Joyce made his professional debut signing with, and playing for, the German team Ratiopharm Ulm . He played in 34 games as a pro in Germany, averaging 10 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 30 minutes per game on the season.
This past offseason, he then signed on with the Polish team Energa Czarni Slupsk, and played with them for six games to start the year. In those six games, he averaged 4.5 points, 3 assists, 1.5 rebounds, and 15.5 minutes per game. In mid-November though, he then moved on to sign with the club Anwil Wloclawek, also of in Poland (pictured playing for below).
He has since played in 23 games for Anwil, averaging 8.3 points, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 rebounds per game over just about 20 minutes of playing time per night. That mark of 3.6 assists per game is good for second on the squad, and he did help his team advance to the 'Grand Finale' of the Tauron Basketball League in Poland as recently as Saturday. Anwil Wloclawek just finished off winning the semi-final round of the TBL 3-1 over Polpharma Starogard, and through those four playoff games Joyce averaged 6.2 points and 3 assists per contest.
It won't get any easier for his team in the finals though, as they're now set to square off with an Asseco Prokom club that just recently advanced further in the Euroleague Tournament than any team in the history of Poland. Asseco Prokom advanced to the Final Four of the Euroleague last month before losing to eventual runner-up Olympiacos. That Prokom squad is lead by Qyntel Woods - who was named Forward of the Year in the Euroleague - and should sweep Dru Joyce's team in the finals which start later this week. The two teams met earlier this season and Dru's Anwil team lost both times (along with Woods Asseco Prokom also employs former Duke guard Daniel Ewing). In those two match-ups (on 12-13-09 and 4-6-10) Dru did have two of his better games though - for whatever its worth - averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 assists. I'll keep you posted by way of twitter on this series as it unfolds.
Other American teammates of Joyce on his current squad:
Rashard Sullivan: played at Arkansas from 2002-05 then transferred to a DII school for his senior year.
Brett Winkleman: played at North Dakota State from 2005-2009.
Alex Dunn: played at Wyoming from 2001-2005.
So does all this mean he can play for the Knicks, or possibly somewhere else in the NBA?
On paper, no it does not. And no disrespect to Dru Joyce, but he doesn't even start. He's not in his team's the top three as far as points per game, and the team leader in assists (of which his 3.6 apg is second) averages twice as many (7) per game. There's also a difference in competition overseas from one league to the next, and while I won't get too technical here, it's safe to say that Poland for instance, is a long way from the top leagues in countries like Italy and Spain for example. Additionally, while the numbers may look to compare favorably to those that Ricky Rubio posted this season - 6 ppg 4 apg - Rubio's FC Barcelona team did win the Euroleague title, and does play a level of competition far and above the talent that Joyce's teams have competed against this season. Besides that, talking NBA prospect-wise, Joyce is 25 and Rubio's 20. Also to note, from my research of Qyntel Woods for the story I did on him a few weeks back for SLAM, the only legitimate NBA caliber prospect in Poland right now is Qyntel Woods from a talent standpoint. Now all that said, could Joyce compete for a roster spot somewhere? Probably / maybe. And I say that because the way I see it, there's probably about 500 guys playing professionally outside the NBA as talented as the last 50 or so players locked into those last one or two roster spots across the Association, and maybe Dru Joyce is one of those 500 guys. Meaning, it's basically a pick'em type situation navigating through that numbers game, and it pretty much boils down to who you know. And sure, Dru Joyce knows a couple people, but even if he does somehow plays himself onto a roster somewhere, I still can't see that guy he knows being swayed to sign there too just because of that...but I guess we'll keep an eye on it.
Previous 'Hooping on Foreign Hardwoods' posts: Smush Parker, Ira Newble, Luke Jackson, Damon Jones
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