After sustaining one of the most gruesome injuries I have ever seen in professional sports, Raptors F/C Jorge Garbajosa announced that he’ll play for his country in the European Basketball Championships. The 29 year old is coming off a successful rookie campaign with the Raptors in which he averaged 8.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 28.5 mpg and received First All Rookie Team honours.
The Atlantic Division Champion Raptors were reluctant to let Garbajosa compete because of the severity of his injury, but an agreement was made and he’ll suit up for Spain. The Raptors have a total of four players playing in the European Basketball Championships; Rasho Nesterovic (Lithuania), Andrea Bargnani (Italy), Jorge Garbajosa (Spain) and Jose Calderon (Spain). Newly acquired Carlos Delfino played this summer in the FIBA Championships with Argentina where they finished second to the dominant American squad and qualified for the 2008 Olympics.
Technorati Tags: Jorge Garbajosa, Rasho Nesterovic, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, Carlos Delfino, FIBA Championships, 2008 Olympics
September 4th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
this post was a little late, but here’s Garbos stat line for spains first game 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in 18 minutes. Not too bad, good to see…just dont get hurt
September 4th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
That was one brutal injury man, even thinking about it gives me the creeps. One thing to add, the Raptors do have insurance if Garbo gets injured….
September 4th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
there is no way i would have let him play the euro championships if i was bc. insurance doesnt win you games, we all saw that in the playoffs when jorge was wearing armani instead of his fatigues.
September 5th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I think Garbo is a maniac for wanting to play…no way he should be out on a court. However, he is a professional, and you have to love his determinations. Nice to see. Hope he plays injury free for the rest of his career.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
i dont know…you pay a dude millions of dollars, he gets injured he doesnt play. fine! but then before the regular season starts, he will be playing at an aggressive clip, and risk injuring himself further? seems like a no brainer from a management perspective; to me anyways.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Look at this way, by the time he’s done playing for Spain and after training camp, he’ll be in mid-season form for the start of the season.
September 5th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I do like the optimism for Garbo being in mid season, but it still doesnt sit too well with me. If he remains injury free then great, but if a nagging injury hampers him all year then i’ll be pissed.
September 7th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
The Nets just signed Malik Allen. Keep sitting on your ass BC….
September 7th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
i know i’m sitting on my ass waiting for something. delfino better be the second coming of ginobli.