OwnMyTeam Blog

It has been announced the former Bull’s first round draft pick Marcus Fizer was released from Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv on September 15th. Fizer was signed through the remainder of the season, but he had not healed quickly enough from his knee injury last year. Basically, Maccabi was about to start the season and they didn’t want to wait on Fizer. Fizer still has the low post game that netted him 30 points in a game on two different occasions with the Chicago Bulls. Fizer likely lost out on some serious cash, but this situation might be better for his career. If they decided to keep him, Maccabi likely would have tried to push up his recovery time (which is common with players on short contracts overseas).

There isn’t an exact timetable announced for when Fizer should be 100% healthy, but he will have the option of signing with the D League or another team in Europe later this year. Fizer likely won’t be 100% for NBA training camps, so he will miss out on that opportunity. Marcus Fizer should consider an NBA comeback and use the NBDL to make it happen. The Iowa Energy need to sell tickets, so they would go out and get Fizer even if he wasn’t going to be ready for the season opener.

There are several teams in the NBA that need scoring in the low post badly. The Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets are two of those teams. If Marcus Fizer comes back to the NBDL it will only be a matter of time before he is called up.

Recently it was announced to members that OMT would not be continuing a relationship with the IBL. For more information on the official statement click here. It sounds like everyone parted on good terms, so let’s call this a no fault divorce. Sorry kid. Its not your fault, and Mommy and Daddy still love you. Seriously, the members at OwMyTeam have been considering both domestic and international leagues over the past few days in the private member forums.

At this time OwnMyTeam has made contact with two leagues domestically, but members are also keeping the option open to go with a international league. The domestic leagues under serious consideration are spring/summer exposure leagues. OMT members seem to like what a spring exposure league has to offer. During this time winter leagues are finishing which means there are a lot of available players to sign. On top of that these leagues do a solid job of keeping expenses under control. Low expenses can be passed on in low ticket prices directly to the fans.

Everyone is welcome to get involved in this process and include their input on the league and location of the future first professional basketball team run by you, the fans. Click here to join OwnMyTeam today!

If you follow this blog you know Iceland is a country with a developed basketball system that brings in players from all over the world to play in their Express League.  Iceland has 12 professional teams in the Express League and 10 teams in the division below that. This is a country with less than half a million people that supports two leagues. It’s completely normal for a pro game in Iceland to draw more fans than a game in the BBL in the UK (even in large cities).

In case you thought I was joking or you thought I might be exaggerating I brought proof. Check out the video below from the Iceland Express League.

Have you seen this kind of excitement from the fans at a minor league game here in the USA?

Check out the intense rivalry between the two teams (KR and IR) from Reykjavik.

This is what happens when you win a championship in Iceland.

Check out the Iceland Express League All-Star game.

Can you say Iceland AND1 style?

After all that interesting video you have seen with your own eyes that basketball in Iceland is for real. They have more fans showing up to these gyms than I’ve seen at most minor league games here in the USA. Did you see all the sponsor banners and floor signs? Express teams have a ton of sponsors. 

How confident are you in the stability of minor league basketball? If you go to IR’s gym you will find a championship banner from 1954. The Express League is extremely stable. Despite the rich basketball history of the country there is still a lot of growth potiental for the league. If OMT came in and raised the salaries (a little) the league would explode with talent by stealing many new D1 graduates from other leagues. Once that happens can you imagine the demand to see a game? We could be talking about building a venue that will seat 4,000 to 5,000 people and competing in the EuroCup.

Believe it or not this next video was shot in Rekjavik at 4 AM in the morning.

This next video is on the yearly fashion show in downtown Rekjavik.

This next video is a shot of the city from the church.

Ready for an outdoor swim this December? Trust me, it will be great.

Minor league basketball struggles with selling season tickets and sponsorships. The Iceland Express League has tons of sponsors and fills the seats. Minor league basketball is extremely unstable. The best league outside the NBDL is brand new. The Express League is older than the Corvette. So, what do you think about Iceland now?

When starting or purchasing a team in Europe comes up in discussion many times it is met with a blank stare. Here in the United States we have been guilty of ignoring the development of basketball in Europe. 2004 caught Team USA completely by surprise. Many of the future stars of the NBA are currently being born in Europe and all across the World. This article is specifically designed to give potiental OMT owners the opportunity to build a knowledge base of a subject that might be unfamiliar to them.

Many Pro teams in Europe develop talent as young as 10 years old. These teams have under 12 teams, under 16 teams, and so on. The top players in the local community will likely end up on the pro team for that community (at least intially).

FIBA is the governing body of basketball in Europe. All the leagues play under FIBA rules. They decide if your team can move up to the next league in a particular country. That depends on both finances and winning. Europe also has international competitions like EuroLeague and EuroCup. The top teams from each country have the opportunity to compete in EuroCup. The top teams in the EuroCup can eventually end up in the EuroLeague.

Arenas are much smaller in Europe compared to the USA. The Iowa Energy (D League) play in an arena that seats over 16,000 people. CSKA Moscow (a team with a 50 million dollar operating budget) has an arena that seats around 5,500 people. On the extreme end Panathinaikos Athens has an arena that seats 19,000 people. While CSKA Moscow has an enormous operating budget (and Athens has a large arena), there are teams in the EuroLeague with much smaller budgets and arenas. Union Olimpija is a franchise in Slovenia and the EuroLeague. Their yearly operating budget is around 3.1 million dollars. Hala Tivoli (their arena) seats around 5,200 people. Air Avellino in Italy plays in an arena that seats only 4,000 people.

Countries in Europe are in many cases smaller than states here in the good ole’ USA. The entire country of Denmark is smaller than the state of Iowa. The travel costs for a league in Denmark would be much lower than a minor league club in the CBA or PBL.

What are the best leagues in Europe? Click here to read an article that discuses this. Many do regard the ACB league in Spain to be the best league even though teams in Russia and Greece might have a larger operating budget. As a whole, competition is at its highest in Spain. The worst teams in the ACB are a lot better than the worst teams in the Russian SuperLeague A. Import players in the ACB, France ProA, and Italy SerieA can expect to make six figures. Many athletes make 6 or 7 figures on top teams in Russia, Greece, and Germany as well. Leagues like Denmark, Norway, and Finland do not generally pay their players six figures. Top import players might expect to pull down $50,000 USD at most. Many bring in $20,000-$30,000 which is more than the D-League that starts at $12,000. A country like Denmark is known by agents and players as a great league to start a career in Europe.

What type of player could you expect to sign on a team in Denmark? Josh Gross is a 6′6 guard/forward out of UNC-Greensboro. Last season he averaged close to 15 points per game and 5 rebounds. Josh now likely understands he will not be playing in the NBA, but his season in the D-League would make him an excellent candidate to play in Denmark this coming season. A team in Denmark might offer him $40,000 for the season. That would likely average out to 5,000 a month.

Keep in mind various countries have different rules. You can’t play in the BBL (UK) as an import player without four years of college. Iceland limits each team’s roster to only 2 players from the United States. One great thing about Belgium is the lack of restrictions on import players. Optima Gent has 6 players from the USA listed on their roster. My belief is that we can compete with teams that have larger budgets down the road in the EuroCup. We literally could go up against teams that are paying one player $250,000 a year while our top player might make $30,000 to $60,000.

Hopefully this article has scratched the surface of what running a team in Europe would be like. Denmark’s top league starts in early October and the regular season ends 21 games later in early March. The finals end in late April. Teams in Denmark’s top league do get the opportunity to qualify for the EuroCup. The top teams in the EuroCup eventually do get the opportunity to replace some of the teams at the bottom of the EuroLeague. If OMT runs a team in Europe it might start small, but it has the opportunity to compete in a league only second to the NBA. This is not something the PBL, NBDL, CBA, or any other domestic league can claim. Honestly, a D-League title doesn’t really matter to the vast majority of basketball fans. Ask a fan in NYC, LA, or anytown USA who won the D League title or the PBL title. Even locals to that town won’t know. Ask a basketball fan in Europe who won the EuroLeague title. CSKA Moscow!

If you have the budget to play in the PBL, then you do have the option of running a team in Europe instead. Would you rather go after a country title and EuroCup birth or a CBA/PBL title?

September is quickly approaching and not long from now seasons in the NBA and Europe will begin. Players will begin reporting to camp and a new season will be upon us. Now as these winter teams are winding down their seasons OMT will be focusing on the beginning of the IBL season in May. OwnMyTeam will actually tip off the regular season the first week of May. Between now and then we have so much work to do and of course we need your help. A name the team contest is not far away, and like the franchise mode in your EA Sports games there are a lot of decisions to make in the off season.

With many decisions on the horizon it is time for everyone who hasn’t already joined OMT to do so. Don’t wait for decisions to pass for you to be involved. Long before the May tip off we will be hiring coaches and selecting players. The only way to get in on that is to join OMT. You will be able to indentify new players. You will also get to suggest coaches to walk the sideline. However, if you aren’t a member you’ll likely be treated just like Stan Kroenke, Bret Bearup, and Mark Warkenien would treat you. With a deaf ear….

If you’ve watched Team USA during the Olympics you likely got the opportunity to check out Alex Mumbru from Spain. He had a solid summer averaging 6.1 points and 2.1 rebounds for the Spanish National Team. Mumbru played about 17 minutes per game with the National Team, and that is about 7 or 8 minutes less than he played with Real Madrid last winter. Mumbru shot a smoking 82% from beyond the arc on 9 for 11 shooting this summer. With Real Madrid he has been averaging around 10 or 11 points per game and 4 boards. Keep in mind FIBA basketball games are only 40 minutes. According to Eurobasket, Mumbru is signed through 2009.

I’ve seen enough of Mumbru to believe he belongs in the NBA. At 6′7 he’s the perfect small forward in Europe, but scouts may have wondered how he would handle wings in the NBA. The Olympics have shown us he is quick enough to get some minutes in the NBA. We’ve seen success stories and struggles with vets leaving Europe for the NBA, so the only way to know how successful he would be is to bring him over. A couple of teams in contention could really use him. While the Celtics shouldn’t expect Mumbru to play the Posey role, they really need to add a piece since the Cavs landed Mo Williams. The Spurs aren’t getting any younger and really need to locate more support for their “big three”. Mumbru would be a pretty solid backup forward off the bench. With Camby going to the Clippers fans are left wondering what the Nugget front court will look like. Nene is always an injury concern. Steven Hunter was hurt the majority of last season. Kenyon Martin was healthy last season, but he has really bad knees. Nobody really knows if Chris “Birdman” Andersen can still play. Personally, I would suggest the Nuggets slide Melo to the 4 spot and start Kleiza at 3. If the Nuggets do this they could benefit from signing Mumbru to come off the bench.

To bring Mumbru over this summer a team would have to contribute to a contract buyout with Real Madrid. An NBA team can contribute up to $500,000. It is unclear if Real Madrid would be willing to participate in talks this summer. If not Mumbru should be in the NBA when he turns 30 for the 2009-2010 season.

Team USA has finally taken care of business by defeating Spain to win the gold in the Beijing Olympics. Most analysts and critics took a long time to come around to Team USA and most actually believed Spain or Greece would win the Gold this summer. Does this mean guys like Ric Bucher with ESPN had no idea what they were talking about? A couple of years ago the United States took a beating from Greece. After the game the international media asked Coach K a couple of questions. His responses basically where vague sentences like number 24 played really well. I also like number 16. This led the international media to wonder if Coach K and Team USA watched any tape at all as they didn’t know the player’s names.

I’m very proud of our accomplishment, but I’m not ready to put Coach K and Jerry Colangelo on a pedestal so to speak. Let’s think about Jerry Colangelo’s job for a second. He is basically the GM of Team USA. Puting together Team USA is like going to a Lamborghini dealership to find fast cars (not difficult). The same can be said for Coach K. He had the difficult job of coaching the best players in the world. Remember, a gold is expected. I’m very proud of the accomplishment, but I also understand that this is supposed to happen. I only hope that teams in the future look to find those that will play roles.

The role players of today will probably be a little old for the next olympics in 2012. I’d like to see several role players get the opportunity to try out for a 3 year commitment next summer.

1. Defensive Specialist- DeShawn Stevenson (Solider Boy!) 6-5, 218 Guard

2. Roleplayer- Udonis Haslem 6-8, 235 Forward

3. Roleplayer- John Salmons 6-6, 207 G/F

The above players aren’t big time stars, but I really like their game. It’s obvious guys like Kevin Durant should get tryouts to make the team, but I’d like to see how some roleplayers would come in a play the “Posey” role for Team USA. I would again require a 3 year commitment for anyone that wants to be on Team USA. I’d also continue with the Select Team to pull players from that are praticing with Team USA. Below is a list of guys I’d list for Team USA 2012 right now (of course it can change as time goes on).

Carmelo Anthony PF, Dwayne Wade SG, Lebron James SF, Chris Paul PG, Deron Williams, PG, Dwight Howard C, Chris Bosh PF/C, 5 remaining roster spots

In addition I would build a Select Team of role players and rising stars to compete for these remaining spots each summer.

Tyson Chandler PF/C, Greg Oden C, Kevin Durant G/F, Andre Iguodala G/F, LaMarcus Aldridge PF/C, Monta Ellis G, Al Jefferson PF/C, Brandon Roy G/F, Amare Stoudamire PF/C, Devin Harris G, Josh Smith F/G, Marvin Williams Jr. F, Derrick Rose PG, Michael Beasley PF, Kevin Love PF, OJ Mayo G, Randy Foye G, Al Horford PF/C

Right now that would be my announced team as long as all those players agreed to participate. Of course before the rookies got invited they would need to have a strong first season in the NBA. Well there you go Conangelo. Those are my suggested lamborghinis.

Ummm, ok, quick question for ya’. Do you think we’d get sued if the members voted for Honka PlayBoys as our team name? Believe it or not the Honka Playboys belong to the Korisliiga which is the top division in Finland. Actually NBA draft pick Petteri Koponen is their point guard. All I can say is that the owners in Espoo, Finland sure know how to name a team. I wonder what the Honka Playboys cheerleading squad looks like? Maybe they wear short bunny tails?

All jokes aside members of OwnMyTeam are responsible for naming the team. Even beyond this they make all the decisions about the jersey. They picks the colors, logo, and design. To join in this process all you need to do is join OwnMyTeam.com today.

In a previous post I discussed the major opportunites to develop basketball in the Nordic region. Below I will post a picture of the Honka Playboys venue so you can understand what kind of facilities they play in. A team in this region is more likely to have a gym that seats 3500 compared to a Euroleague arena that seats 9000. An average salary might be more like $4000 a month compared to six figures in other leagues like Spain and France. Go Honka Playboys, I’ll be rooting for you this season!

Over the years basketball has really taken off in Nordic countries as it has all across Europe. However, these leagues are quality, but they aren’t anywhere near the top leagues in Europe. Countries like Spain, France, and Greece have much stronger leagues and pay much higher salaries. Countries like Iceland and Finland have leagues that are great for developing domestic talent and giving imports a place to start their career. Owning a team in one of these Nordic countries might be a great way for OMT to get started overseas.

Some talent from the IBL has made their way to these leagues. Scottie Pippen actually played a game in Sweden last year and made a cool $66,000 USD for his trouble. Rodman has also made big bucks bringing his game to the region. Attendance at these games was sky high, but I’m not sure these teams actually saw a net postive return on their investment. Rodman has played a couple games and made more than $200,000 doing it in leagues like the BBL (UK) and Nordic leagues as well. I just don’t think this gimmick method really promotes attendance and revenue growth for a particular team or league.

My suggestion for these franchises is to focus budget expenditures on securing talent that will play all season long. There are plenty of talented guys that will come in and help you win your country league for 66k a year. A team would likely generate more revenue on season-ticket and single ticket sales by providing a highly competitive team for their community. Instead of focusing on a gimmick a team should go out and get a quality player like a Keith Gayden to come in and start at power forward all year long. Gayden’s alley-oop dunks should attract plenty of fans.

I completely understand what the Dream Team did for basketball as a sport in Europe, but I don’t think bringing in an aging superstar duplicates this. Teams need to sign the best talent they can afford to put on the best product they can night in and night out. These Nordic Leagues can increase their talent so that they can compete in the EuroCup. I wouldn’t be shocked if someday one team made it to the EuroLeague. Starting salaries depend on talent and experience. In some leagues an import player might earn $2500-$4000 a month (with free transportation and housing). If these teams can get this average up a few thousand a month they could sign some quality talent.

Nope, sorry I’m not talking about McCain or Obama. Actually, I’m referring to all the voting power you have as a ’Real GM’ of a real IBL professional basketball franchise. It’s great to actually come up with a concept of allowing fans to run a pro team, but then the challenging part is deciding exactly how to make this practical. OMT has developed a voting module and voting schedule to show fans exactly how they will ‘Own the Dream’ by running the team as it is their own. To see the actual voting calendar click here.

I’m not sure all of those dates are concrete, but the voting calendar is an excellent example of just what ‘Owning the Dream’ means. OMT is giving you the responsibility of voting for the head coach on February 15th. Later on OMT is putting you in charge of voting in players as starters and backups. Now, of course the coach will be responsible for the rotation and playing time, but don’t forget you are the boss of the entire coaching staff. On June 1st the head coach has a mid season review where the fans evaluate his or her performance. If you are unsatisfied with his/her performance you can give him or her the boot. Will your favorite pro team let you do this now? I think not.

For current members I suggest checking out the voting schedule and module as we prepare for the season. For interested basketball fans the schedule shows you exactly what you will be responsible for once you sign up. Keep in mind that all these dates and votes aren’t concrete. If a big time star player begins negotiating with OMT in January, then it might be smart for OMT to have a vote in January. We also can’t predict roster changes, so the best thing a GM can do is visit OMT daily. GM votes and news come down quickly because this is the real deal. Can you handle it?