Alabi gets chance to shine at Raptors

By Ifeanyi Ibeh

September 26, 2010 02:32AM

Nigerian basketball player, Solomon Alabi has a chance to impress the entire coaching team of the Toronto Raptors ahead of the upcoming 2010/2011 National Basketball Association (NBA) season.

The Kaduna-born Alabi got the opportunity after the Raptors’ prized rookie Ed Davis underwent arthroscopic surgery to fix a meniscus tear to his right knee.

Davis, who was selected out of North Carolina with the 13th pick of this year’s NBA draft, hurt his knee while playing a pickup game not sanctioned by the NBA side a week ago and had to undergo surgery on Monday to fix the tear.

Canadian newspaper, The Toronto Sun reported that the 21 year-old will be out for close to two months before he will be able to resume basketball-related activities.

And with the club’s training camp all set to commence next week, there is no way the 6 foot 9 inch power forward will return in time for the Raptors’ first pre-season game in Vancouver on October 6, or for the commencement of the new season which gets underway on October 26.

It was however a blessing in disguise for Alabi, who was acquired at the last NBA draft on June 24 from the Dallas Mavericks, as he now has a chance to make an impression with the coaching staff and become a starter ahead of his debut season in the world’s most competitive basketball league.

Selected 50th overall in the 2010 NBA draft, the 7 foot 1 inch Alabi is renowned for his defensive abilities but has in the past two months added offensive qualities to his skills’ repertoire. The 22 year-old was discovered seven years ago in Nigeria by the Raptors’ erstwhile assistant general manager, and former Nigerian basketball star Masai Ujiri who is now with the Denver Nuggets.

Udoka in Chicago

News out of Chicago has it that Nigerian basketball player Ime Udoka had a workout with the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday at the Berto Centre.

A report in Chicagobreakingsports.com stated that no contract offer was made, but that it’s possible that the 32-year-old Udoka, who spent last season with the Sacramento Kings but who had previously played for the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs, could secure a training camp invitation from the team that was led to six NBA titles by the legendary Michael Jordan back in the 90s.

However out of the start of training camp is Kelenna Azubuike of the New York Knicks who is still recovering from patella tendon surgery in his knee from last November.

“He’s got one of the roughest injuries for a basketball player; the patella tendon,” New York Knicks president of basketball operations Donnie Walsh said during a pre-camp press conference. “He’s been here for three weeks, working 9-to-5 every day. Our trainers feel he can do it. But there’s always the danger of a setback.

“I don’t think he’ll be ready for training camp but he could be ready for the regular season when that rolls around.”

Azubuike, a 6 foot 5 inch shooting guard, was born in London, England to Nigerian parents but has yet to represent his country of birth or Nigeria.