2 dunks already.

 From the SI.com live blog:

Matt Dollinger:  Mensah-Bonsu is really playing aggressive. Draws a foul in the post on Melo. Drains two FTs to give him eight points.

2:32	Matt Dollinger:  Probably not a good sign that he's having his way with Team USA's interior. Probably.

Usual Fun with Pops!

Yeah, not a good sign for the NBA decision-makers.

If I were a sports reporter, I think Pops' career would make for a really intersting investigative piece.  

Pops is a guy who has succeeded every time he's gotten a chance in the NBA, yet still can't seem to stick in the league.  He has proven a very effective rebounder, has scored some when he's gotten minutes, and consistently brought energy at least a little defense to his teams each time they have given him an opportunity.   Plus, he's been a fan favorite everywhere he's gone.

I would love to learn more about why he hasn't stuck in the NBA.  I know he had the one big injury, but that doesn't fully explain it.

My theory is that he has an agent with few NBA ties (and lots of international ties) and that the agents actually control who sits on the bench of a lot of teams by packaging demanding contracts for bench players in order to establish good relationships for the agnets who control access to the stars.  I don't actually know if that's true, but it's never made sense why every team has expressed such positive feelings about Pops, but hten he loses out on a roster spot to so many guys who are CLEARLY lesser players. Maybe there's no story there, but I'd should love to learn more about that side of the NBA.

Only other cleint of John Greig in the NBA is Demarcus Cousins.

 Wait, are you cheering for someone who is playing against the USA? If you like the Soviet Union so much, why don't you move there?

 A story about Pops and his dream of bringing down The Greatest Country in the World, for all of you who hate America.

good theory FQ that was an interesting post

Sorry about the many typos in that post.

Pops finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 turnovers.   He also drew an impressive 9 fouls and shot 12 FTs (the entire US team shot 18 FTs).  The TO numbers are high, but the US is going to force a ton of TOs in every game and it's clear that Pops more than held his own.

Also noteworthy is that the British team includes two other former A-10 players: Ogo Adegboye (athletic guard a year out of St. Bona who was forced to play point there, even though he isn't much of a ball handler) and Keiron Achara (Duquesne's Scottish big man who Pops once literally jumped over to throw down an alley oop in what I think might be the single most underrated GW basketball play in history).

Lots of love for Pops and GW on the broadcast and a special shoutout to Scott Van Pelton's SportsCenter love for Pops. But truthfully, Pops wasn't exactly a threat for and 1's on all those fouls he drew. He mostly got whacked trying to find a lane to the basket which he rarely found. Still, glad to see our hard-working alum show why he was so beloved.

If Pop's agent can't help him get into the league, wouldn't that be Pop's fault?  Unless his agent has some secrets on him that prevents Pops from switching agents, Pops' D League ane Euro League status is a choice made by the former GW standout.

Pops should have switched agents a long time ago.

But the fact that Pops dropped 12 points and 9 rebounds on the dream team show he should be in the NBA. FQ aptly pointed that out.

Why do the Wizards pay Blatche $25 or $30 million not to play, but Pops or Mike can't find a home in the NBA.? It has nothing to do with team basketball ability or court sense.

Pops is a huge fan favorite and has always come through when given a chance.The contracts, bizarre salary cap maneuvering, etc. shows why an energetic team player can't get a break.

Really be hard for someone to say Pops doesn't belong in the NBA. Wasn't Jermemy Lin in the same situation?

Watched the first half (where he scored all his points) on DVR.  Pops was aggressive and didn't shy away against a pretty awesome US team, but he drove in without a plan a few times (bailed out by foul calls), missed a ton of free throws and turned the ball over way too many times.  Good game overall, but I don't see any teams breathlessly on the phone with Greig trying to sign him up.

He was 8-12 from the line. That's not too bad.

Even in 40 pt blow outs, somebody's gotta score for the opposing team...whether that be Brazil, Barbados or Britain.  It doesn't mean that the players getting on the box scores in these blow out losses are NBA caliber.

Pops has had about 60 games in 4 seasons in the NBA.  Scouts know what they need to know about him.  They probably think he's too small to play center and not a good enough scorer/poor finisher to win time at the PF posisition.    The career PER 36 Minutes Totals for Pops:

 Bigfan, it's not quite like the Lin situation. The Knicks were about to cut Jeremy Lin before that breakout game and sign Mike James, but decided to give him one more chance. Had they cut him and no one picked him up, no one would've said "I can't believe Jeremy Lin can't get a contract." The fact is that aside from the 2010 summer league, he never once showed that he was good enough to play in the NBA. Pops, while he has his flaws, offers energy, athleticism, and rebounding at a reasonably high level and can be had for the minimum. He's been a fan favorite and a fairly productive player everywhere he's been. Not a starter by any stretch, but he's definitely a role player who can give you 10-15 effective minutes off the bench.

Bobo, I think you just described Reggie Evans who, despite being a 6'8" center with way less offensive skill than Pops, has been in the league for 10 years and just got 3 years and $5M from the Nets (which I believe is just over the minimum for someone with his length of service, meaning Pops could probably be had for about half that).

The 0.410 career shooting % would not indicate much offensive skill for Pops.  It is amazing that a one-trick poney (rebounding) can stick around the league this long.  The Nets deserve what they get from him.

Note: The one-trick poney I was refering to is Reggie Evans. 

I think there's a lot of guys who have stuck around for a long time who don't even have that one skill.  I mean, look at Tony Battie, who has hung around the NBA for 13 years without ever putting up 'per 36 minute' stats like Pops.  He's never averaged double figure rebounds per 36 minutes (Pops has always done that), he's only cracked 13 point per 36 minutes one time (barely), Pops has done it at multiple stops.    

This isn't to say your assesment about the scouts' take on Pops is wrong, just that I'd love to know more about what they think. And if it's just pure ability, why guys like Battie and Evans and so many other scrubs are able to stick in the league without showing as much Pops did during his brief stints.

FQ, you can't compare Pops's and Battie's per 36 min pts and rebounds without comparing their per 36 min personal fouls too.  Pops's foul numbers are off the charts.  I love the guy but he can't play defense in the NBA without fouling and can't put the ball in the hoop efficiently.  He doesn't belong in the NBA.

For his career, he's committed 1.3 more fouls than Battie.  That's not that huge a difference. (and when he got more minutes, his fouls per 36 generally went down)

You may be right about the defense - that's the kind of thing I'd love to hear more about whether that's the assessment of NBA GMs.  Then again, I'd love to hear more about why there are other guys who stick around in the league despite not being able to play defense (maybe worse than Pops?  I have no idea)

Battie was always a pretty solid defensive player, especially with the Celts for the beginning of his career.  He has a DWS (Defensive Win Shares) total of 21.4.  Pops has a DWS of 0.6 for his career (with an OWS of -0.2). 

If Pops was going to make it in the NBA, he really would have had to establish himself as a defensive stalwart in the paint and I just don't thing he was able to accomplish that task. 

The bottom line is it is very contract-based and probably agent-based and political.

Again, a player who told the Wizards to essentially piss off while he was playing there, gets

many millions for NOT playing. Pops who tries hard and put up 12 points and 9 rebounds against the NBA's best without an NBA point guard feeding him, is all energy and a fan favorite.

The NBA has nothing to do with team basketball or any sort of decent values. Pops, a decent guy, who clearly can play in the league. A 21 point 9 rebound performance against the Bulls in the regular season,doesn't get a chance. Most likely because he is too much of a nice guy to dump an agent who has no juice whatsoever in the NBA.

 No way of knowing if Greig is doing this, but I can guarantee you that every veteran borderline NBA player who's a free agent has his agent calling GM's all day every day trying to get them on a roster. If Pops wants to give the NBA another shot and Greig isn't spending all of his time working the phones, he should never represent anyone again.

Not sure how much Pops makes overseas, but it is likely considerable--and possibly around NBA minimum wages.

For Greig, who probably wants to land new NBA clients, though Pops apparently helped him land his other one, and otherwise is really an international agent, its probably easier to shop Pops overseas. And Greig's commission is the same. So maybe he doesn't give it his all.

Lot of marginal guys getting good contracts this summer it seems. Including one of Pop's British teammates Joel Freeland, who signed 3-year NBA deal after playing in Spain.

 Bigfan, conspiracy?

 I love Pops as much as anybody but it's not fair to blame his agent. He's had multiple chances and may get another one down the road. He's a 6'7 forward who can jump with anybody in the world but can't shoot and can't play D. For every Reggie Evans there are 10 guys like that who don't stick in the NBA. 

Pops case is a good case study for current GW players. I don't think most college players realize just how good you have to be to play in the NBA. If a guy like Pops can't make it, one of the best GW players ever and one of the best college players in the country during his senior year, then it will be that much tougher for them to. There are a few players on this year's squad who have NBA type talent but nobody has shown anywhere near the consistent drive or diversity in their game to even sniff a roster spot.