Zach Andrew update-- knee injury

[Da Coach]

Zach Andrews has injured his right knee, and now his professional career is in limbo. I do not know how serious this injury is. But in Europe, if players get injured, the teams sometimes get rid of them quickly.

Costa Urbana Playas de Santa has lost all 3 of their games so far with Zach seeing very limited playing time. And now this morning, the team's website has announced that they have bought out Zach's contract, and he will no longer be with the team. There is no word what Zach will do next.

Here is the announcement--

http://www.galeriasdeangela.com/basketsantapola0708/noticias2/basket_santa_pola_noticias_0708_jornada03_cornella_baja_zachandrews.htm

Here is the translated page--

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=es_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.galeriasdeangela.com%2fbasketsantapola0708%2fnoticias2%2fbasket_santa_pola_noticias_0708_jornada03_cornella_baja_zachandrews.htm

[collegehoopjunkie]

That is really tough for Zach, and I hope he recovers and gets on with another team quickly.
If not, then maybe after he recovers, he can take that open slot with the Globetrotters.

[BUBraves06]

That's a bummer, hopefully he recovers quickly and can catch on somewhere else.

[mike radigan]

Is Frank Javi Zach's agent? If not, who is he?

It sounds to me that the first thing a player should do after signing a contract is purchase injury insurance.

[BradleyBrave]

Is this the same knee he had operated on after this past season? Zach is a tough young man, I am sure he will do all he can to get back. Hopefully it's not too serious and he's able to regain his amazing jumping ability and explosiveness.

[Da Coach]

Is Frank Javi Zach's agent? If not, who is he?

It sounds to me that the first thing a player should do after signing a contract is purchase injury insurance.

Frank Javi refers to the team's other center Javier Franco--

http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=ESP&Team=8538

Apparently they are unhappy with his performance (they are 0-3 so far), and with Zach's injury they are looking to quickly sign another center.

In European pro basketball, there is no player union, therefore contracts vary from team to team, country to country, and even player to player. It's possible Zach may have purchased some kind of insurance, but it is common for most Americans to have buyout clauses in their contracts that allow either the team or the player to back out easily. Cellus was able to get out of his contract in Hungary last year, even though he was their leading scorer, when he disliked living there and move to the French team for the second half of the season.

In the case of injury, unless the player is a valued superstar, it is common for the team to buy out the player and replace him quickly with another. There is not much loyalty to the players, and without a union, the players have little recourse.

Zach's agent is the same one Will Franklin has-- Ahmed Memic of Ultimate Sports Agency Services. Hopefully, he will help Zach catch on with another team.--

http://www.eurobasket.com/agency.asp?AgentNm=Memic%20Ahmed&AgencyNm=Ultimate%20Sports%20Agency

Note that Ahmed Memic appears to have acquired a new client, Lawrence Wright, who just left the Globetrotters and is looking to play in Europe.

[Da Coach]

Javier Franco, the other center on the roster, is a fan favorite. I notice the team's fan message board has a forum devoted just to Javier Franco--

http://www.galeriasdeangela.com/basketsantapola0708/basket_santa_pola_foro_mensajes.htm

Franco himself posts on that forum and appears to address the fans and answer questions. His latest entry thanks the fans for their concerns over his recent injury. He says he has "recovered from the blow", and now will be taking some time to recuperate. So he must also be out with an injury. But because he is one of the Spaniards on the team, the team will likely stick with him.

[mike radigan]

I already posted this tonight in the Lady Braves thread but I know many do not read about the women.

While at the game I talked to Zach Andrews and he said he would be leaving for Bosnia to play ball.

[Da Coach]

I wonder if he'll be playing with Lawrence Wright?