Blazers add British Player to roster

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Rastapopoulos, May 11, 2010.

  1. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2008
    Messages:
    41,819
    Likes Received:
    26,159
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Ballin'
    ...no, not Joel Freeland, Dante Cunningham!

    (Okay, so the heading is intentionally misleading. Technically the player is already on the roster. But apparently he's now British!)
     
  2. oldmangrouch

    oldmangrouch persona non grata

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2008
    Messages:
    12,403
    Likes Received:
    6,325
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Great. Another player who won't be able to play in road games against the Suns!

    What the heck...it might be good experience for him.
     
  3. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2008
    Messages:
    41,819
    Likes Received:
    26,159
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Ballin'
    But don't you know that Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun?
     
  4. Nikolokolus

    Nikolokolus There's always next year

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2008
    Messages:
    30,704
    Likes Received:
    6,198
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Wasn't Dante an army/airforce brat or something? I'm guessing he must have been born in Merry Ole England where ever his dad was stationed. interesting.
     
  5. BrianFromWA

    BrianFromWA Editor in Chief Staff Member Editor in Chief

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2008
    Messages:
    26,096
    Likes Received:
    9,073
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Man, the Brits are going all-out trying to field a semi-competitive team for the 2012 Olympics. So we could have 3 Olympians on our roster (4 if Freeland comes over!).

    Suck that, Utah!
     
  6. handiman

    handiman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    5,881
    Likes Received:
    3,916
    Trophy Points:
    113
    What's it say for Dante's tryout that the article is dated 2 years ago and we're just now hearing about it?
     
  7. VanillaGorilla

    VanillaGorilla Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 16, 2009
    Messages:
    12,073
    Likes Received:
    4,750
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Yeah that is what I was wondering.
     
  8. BrianFromWA

    BrianFromWA Editor in Chief Staff Member Editor in Chief

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2008
    Messages:
    26,096
    Likes Received:
    9,073
    Trophy Points:
    113
    dunno, but it says on this blog that he doesn't have his passport yet.

    Maybe his grandparents were British, but his parents are both American citizens and both career Air Force who ended up at the highest enlisted rank you can get. Wonder how they feel about their boy taking an oath and/or playing for another country? He was born in MD and lived in Ramstein, Germany (like me!) when he was little, not England. Then again, his mom's name is Searcy Blankenship, which to my untrained ears sounds vaguely British.
     
  9. hasoos

    hasoos Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    9,418
    Likes Received:
    97
    Trophy Points:
    48
    All sorts of players from over here go play on the British team every year. Remember, you can have dual citizenship.
     
  10. Blazer_Hippie

    Blazer_Hippie Batum getting ballsy!

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2008
    Messages:
    1,857
    Likes Received:
    202
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    This is downright unamerican. Between this treasonous wanna-be Brit and Brandon's disrespect of the anthem, I'm starting to think the Trail Blazers are just a front for Al Queda.
     
  11. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2009
    Messages:
    30,672
    Likes Received:
    8,852
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired, while you work!
    The article says, it will be a great worldwide forum for Dante, trying out for the UK Olympics basketball team, which itself will try out to become one of the Olympic teams. I thought, he's already in the NBA, a bigger forum. Then I saw the comment dates.

    Rasta, you created the irrelevant thread, so now it's your responsibility to tell us what happened. Did he make the final team? I doubt it, since I've never seen this on his resume. Did the team make it to the Olympics? (UK? Am I kidding myself?)
     
  12. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2009
    Messages:
    30,672
    Likes Received:
    8,852
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired, while you work!
    Correction: The April 2008 article is before the 2008 Olympics, yet says he's trying out for what will become the 2012 Olympics. Now I'm even more confused.
     
  13. axs88

    axs88 Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    651
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Britain is automatically qualified for the Olympics since London's hosting it. Of course they didn't qualify for 2008. Ever since London won the right to host the 2012 games (I think back in 2006?), they have been trying hard to assemble a good team.
     
  14. BrianFromWA

    BrianFromWA Editor in Chief Staff Member Editor in Chief

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2008
    Messages:
    26,096
    Likes Received:
    9,073
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I don't think that's correct. THey had to win qualifying tournaments last year to get into EuroBasket DIvision A.
     
  15. axs88

    axs88 Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    651
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Oh, OK, thanks for clearing that up.
     

Share This Page