NBA Lockout: Golden State Warriors' Ekpe Udoh to Israel a Good Move
Let's face it: life with no NBA is not as easy as the media would make it seem.
If someone would have told me months ago that the first basketball game that I watched in the 2011-12 season would be between then-No. 16 Arizona and Duquesne, I would have hoped you were joking.
So if early season college basketball tournaments and national programs playing mid-majors nightly on ESPN is not quite enough to give you your roundball fix, take solace in this—some players on your team are using this "opportunity" to better themselves.
And for the Warriors, it's hard to imagine a player that could benefit from playing extra basketball than the team's second-year big man out of Baylor, Ekpe Udoh.
The Warriors surprised fans and analysts alike when Stern announced their selection of Udoh with the No. 6 pick in the 2010 NBA draft. The team clearly needed interior size, and experts expected the Warriors to take the younger, more offensive-minded Greg Monroe, who wound up going with the very next pick to the Detroit Pistons.
The organization lauded Udoh's ability to defend the rim—he averaged almost 10 rebounds and four blocks per game in his junior campaign—but after his rookie training camp and season was derailed by a wrist injury and subsequent surgery, the 6'10" 245-pound bruiser was forced to round out his skills via on-the-job training.
In his 58 games, Udoh failed to average 20 minutes per game, so his 4.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks are hard to read. His offense was very much a work-in-progress.
So after USBasket.com reported that Udoh had signed with Israeli club Bnei Hasharon for the duration of the lockout, you may have a heard a collective sigh of relief from the Bay Area.
Not only will Udoh have the chance to be the focal inside presence for a club whose current inside presence is an inch shorter and has averaged just 13 points and seven rebounds, but he'll also be reunited with former Baylor teammates LaceDarius Dunn and Demond "Tweety" Carter.
If the lockout brings no other positives than this, at least Udoh should now have the opportunity for consistent minutes and touches, something that may have been hard to come by during even the preseason in such a crowded Warriors front court.
While rookie Jeremy Tyler brings hope for the future—and fans hope for the Andris Biedrins of the past—Udoh's move overseas just might be enough to crown him as the Warriors center of the present.
