Canadian Tries To Impress Heat

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If it's July, it's time for summer league in the National Basketball Association.

It usually flies under the radar, but this year there has been considerable focus on the Las Vegas summer league, where Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, the first and second picks of the NBA draft, made their professional debuts for the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle SuperSonics, respectively.

But Las Vegas isn't the only summer league going on. More typical is the case of Joel Anthony, an undrafted free agent from Montreal by way of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who is doing his best to impress Pat Riley and the Miami Heat, who invited him to play on their summer league entry in the lower profile Pepsi Pro Summer League in Orlando this week.

"It's been pretty good so far," said Anthony, fresh off recording six blocked shots and five rebounds in 28 minutes in a loss to the New Jersey Nets' summer league entry. "I'm learning a lot. It's still basketball, but it's a different level and there are new rules, so there's a lot to learn."

Among the other Canadian summer league hopefuls are: Carl English of Newfoundland, who was supposed to play for the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas but has been hampered by an ankle injury; Olu Famutimi of Toronto, who is playing with the Seattle SuperSonics in Las Vegas; and Levon Kendall of Vancouver, who is expected to make his professional debut with the Utah Jazz at the Rocky Mountain Revue beginning next week.

While some of his peers may have a higher profile, there is the possibility that Anthony might be the one to make the jump to the NBA first.</div>

Source: The Globe and Mail