LA NBA CON UN NUEVO RÉCORD DE 113 JUGADORES INTERNACIONALES DE 41 PAÍSES Y TERRITORIOS

 - Por tercer año consecutivo la liga tendrá al menos 100 jugadores internacionales y todos los equipos cuenta con al menos uno de ellos en su roster -

La National Basketball Association (NBA) anunció hoy que un número record de 113 jugadores internacionales de 41 países y territorios estarán registrados en los rosters de sus 30 equipos en la noche de apertura de la temporada 2016-17, superando la marca de 101 jugadores internacionales que tuvo durante la temporada 2014-15. Esta será la tercera temporada consecutiva donde en la noche de apertura se cuenta al menos con 100 jugadores internacionales y donde cada uno de los 30 equipos cuenta con al menos uno de ellos. 

Los rosters para esta noche de apertura contará con un número récord de jugadores Europeos (61), Africanos (14) y Españoles (8).  Canadá es el país que más representantes tiene por tercer año consecutivo con 11 jugadores.  Francia se ubica en el Segundo puesto, también por tercer año consecutivo, con 10 jugadores.  Brasil empata su propia marca al presentar a 9 jugadores, Australia también empata su anterior récord al tener 8 jugadores, y Croacia logra igualar su marca con 5 jugadores.

El Utah Jazz lidera la liga al tener a 7 jugadores internacionales, mientras los Dallas Mavericks, los Denver Nuggets, el Oklahoma City Thunder, el Orlando Magic, los Philadelphia 76ers, los San Antonio Spurs y los Toronto Raptors, les siguen al tener cada uno a 6 jugadores internacionales. Los Angeles Lakers, los Minnesota Timberwolves y los New York Knicks cuentan con 5 jugadores internacionales cada uno.

La temporada número 71 de la NBA comienza esta noche con tres juegos: los actuales campeones, los Cleveland Cavalier harán los honores a los New York Knicks a partir de las 8 p.m. hora del Este. En el segundo encuentro, los San Antonio Spurs visitan a los Golden State Warriors a las 10:30 p.m., un juego entre los equipos que tuvieron las mejores marcas de la liga la temporada pasada. Además, los Portland Trail Blazers recibirán al Utah Jazz a partir de las 10 p.m. hora del Este a través de NBA LEAGUE PASS.

Un buen número de jugadores internacionales de alto nivel harán su debut en la NBA durante la semana de apertura, incluyendo a:

·         Dragan Bender (Croacia), la selección global #4, durante el juego Phoenix Suns vs Sacramento Kings, el 26 de octubre a las 10 p.m. hora del Este, a través de NBA LEAGUE PASS

·         Buddy Hield (Bahamas), la selección global #6, y Jamal Murray (Canadá), la #7, se verán en el encuentro entre los New Orleans Pelicans y los Denver Nuggets, también el 26 de octubre a las 8 p.m. hora del este, por NBA LEAGUE PASS

·         Jakob Poeltl, selección global #9 y primer austriaco en la historia de la NBA, quien debutará en el juego Toronto Raptors vs Detroit Pistons, el 26 de octubre a las 7:30 p.m. hora del este, a través de NBA LEAGUE PASS

·         Thon Maker (Sudán del Sur/Australia), la selección global #10, en el choque entre los Milwaukee Bucks y los Charlotte Hornets, el 26 de octubre a las 8 p.m. hora del este, por NBA LEAGUE PASS.

·       
  Los seleccionados en 2014, Joel Embiid (Camerún) y Dario Saric (Croacia) con los 76ers que reciben al  Oklahoma City Thunder el 26 de octubre a las 8 p.m. hora del Este.

Las marcas previas de jugadores internacionales (101) y países y territorios representados (39) fueron impuestas al inicio de las temporadas 2014-15 y 2013-14, respectivamente. Los rosters de la NBA abrieron la temporada 2015-16 con 100 jugadores internacionales de 37 países y territorios.

Lista de jugadores internacionales para la noche de apertura 2016-17

(activos e inactivos):

Country	Full Name	NBA Team
Argentina	Luis Scola	Brooklyn Nets
Argentina	Nicolas Brussino	Dallas Mavericks
Argentina	Nicolas Laprovittola	San Antonio Spurs
Argentina	Manu Ginobili	San Antonio Spurs
Australia	Kyrie Irving	Cleveland Cavaliers
Australia	Andrew Bogut	Dallas Mavericks
Australia	Aron Baynes	Detroit Pistons
Australia	Matthew Dellavedova	Milwaukee Bucks
Australia	Ben Simmons	Philadelphia 76ers
Australia	Patty Mills	San Antonio Spurs
Australia	Dante Exum	Utah Jazz
Australia	Joe Ingles	Utah Jazz
Austria	Jakob Poeltl	Toronto Raptors
Bahamas	Buddy Hield	New Orleans Pelicans
Bosnia y Herzegovina	Jusuf Nurkic	Denver Nuggets
Bosnia y Herzegovina	Ivica Zubac	Los Angeles Lakers
Bosnia y Herzegovina	Mirza Teletovic	Milwaukee Bucks
Brasil	Tiago Splitter	Atlanta Hawks
Brasil	Cristiano Felicio	Chicago Bulls
Brasil	Anderson Varejao	Golden State Warriors
Brasil	Nene	Houston Rockets
Brasil	Marcelo Huertas	Los Angeles Lakers
Brasil	Leandro Barbosa	Phoenix Suns
Brasil	Bruno Caboclo	Toronto Raptors
Brasil	Lucas Nogueira	Toronto Raptors
Brasil	Raul Neto	Utah Jazz
Camerún	Luc Mbah a Moute	LA Clippers
Camerún	Joel Embiid	Philadelphia 76ers
Camerún	Pascal Siakam	Toronto Raptors
Canadá	Kelly Olynyk	Boston Celtics
Canadá	Anthony Bennett	Brooklyn Nets
Canadá	Tristan Thompson	Cleveland Cavaliers
Canadá	Dwight Powell	Dallas Mavericks
Canadá	Jamal Murray	Denver Nuggets
Canadá	Tyler Ennis	Houston Rockets
Canadá	Andrew Wiggins	Minnesota Timberwolves
Canadá	Nik Stauskas	Philadelphia 76ers
Canadá	Cory Joseph	Toronto Raptors
Canadá	Trey Lyles	Utah Jazz
Canadá	Andrew Nicholson	Washington Wizards
Cabo Verde	Walter Tavares	Atlanta Hawks
Congo	Serge Ibaka	Orlando Magic
Croacia	Bojan Bogdanovic	Brooklyn Nets
Croacia	Damjan Rudez	Orlando Magic
Croacia	Mario Hezonja	Orlando Magic
Croacia	Dario Saric	Philadelphia 76ers
Croacia	Dragan Bender	Phoenix Suns
República Checa	Tomas Satoransky	Washington Wizards
República Democrática del Congo	Emmanuel Mudiay	Denver Nuggets
República Democrática del Congo	Bismack Biyombo	Orlando Magic
República Dominicana	Al Horford	Boston Celtics
Francia	Nicolas Batum	Charlotte Hornets
Francia	Kevin Seraphin	Indiana Pacers
Francia	Alexis Ajinca	New Orleans Pelicans
Francia	Joffrey Lauvergne	Oklahoma City Thunder
Francia	Evan Fournier	Orlando Magic
Francia	Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot	Philadelphia 76ers
Francia	Tony Parker	San Antonio Spurs
Francia	Boris Diaw	Utah Jazz
Francia	Rudy Gobert	Utah Jazz
Francia	Ian Mahinmi	Washington Wizards
Georgia	Zaza Pachulia	Golden State Warriors
Alemania	Dennis Schroder	Atlanta Hawks
Alemania	Paul Zipser	Chicago Bulls
Alemania	Dirk Nowitzki	Dallas Mavericks
Grecia	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks
Grecia	Georgios Papagiannis	Sacramento Kings
Haití	Skal Labissiere	Sacramento Kings
Israel	Omri Casspi	Sacramento Kings
Italia	Marco Belinelli	Charlotte Hornets
Italia	Danilo Gallinari	Denver Nuggets
Letonia	Kristaps Porzingis	New York Knicks
Letonia	Davis Bertans	San Antonio Spurs
Lituania	Mindaugas Kuzminskas	New York Knicks
Lituania	Domantas Sabonis	Oklahoma City Thunder
Lituania	Jonas Valanciunas	Toronto Raptors
Mali	Cheick Diallo	New Orleans Pelicans
Montenegro	Nikola Mirotic	Chicago Bulls
Montenegro	Nikola Pekovic	Minnesota Timberwolves
Montenegro	Nikola Vucevic	Orlando Magic
Nueva Zelanda	Steven Adams	Oklahoma City Thunder
Nigeria	Festus Ezeli	Portland Trail Blazers
Polonia	Marcin Gortat	Washington Wizards
Puerto Rico	Jose Juan Barea	Dallas Mavericks
Rusia	Timofey Mozgov	Los Angeles Lakers
Senegal	Gorgui Dieng	Minnesota Timberwolves
Senegal	Maurice Ndour	New York Knicks
Serbia	Nikola Jokic	Denver Nuggets
Serbia	Boban Marjanovic	Detroit Pistons
Serbia	Nemanja Bjelica	Minnesota Timberwolves
Eslovenia	Beno Udrih	Detroit Pistons
Eslovenia	Goran Dragic	Miami Heat
Eslovenia	Sasha Vujacic	New York Knicks
Sudán del Sur	Luol Deng	Los Angeles Lakers
Sudán del Sur	Thon Maker	Milwaukee Bucks
España	Juancho Hernangomez	Denver Nuggets
España	Jose Calderon	Los Angeles Lakers
España	Marc Gasol	Memphis Grizzlies
España	Ricky Rubio	Minnesota Timberwolves
España	Guillermo Hernangomez	New York Knicks
España	Alex Abrines	Oklahoma City Thunder
España	Sergio Rodriguez	Philadelphia 76ers
España	Pau Gasol	San Antonio Spurs
Suecia	Jonas Jerebko	Boston Celtics
Suiza	Thabo Sefolosha	Atlanta Hawks
Suiza	Clint Capela	Houston Rockets
Túnez	Salah Mejri	Dallas Mavericks
Turquía	Omer Asik	New Orleans Pelicans
Turquía	Enes Kanter	Oklahoma City Thunder
Turquía	Ersan Ilyasova	Oklahoma City Thunder
Ucrania	Alex Len	Phoenix Suns
Ucrania	Joel Bolomboy	Utah Jazz
Venezuela	Greivis Vasquez	Brooklyn Nets

Snow to Fall in San Jose on Dec. 10 at Avaya Stadium

Ten tons of snow, children's activities, merchandise sale and toy drive among highlights of Earthquakes' Winterfest

The holidays will hit San Jose in full force on Saturday, Dec.10 as the San Jose Earthquakes will host the first-ever Winterfest at Avaya Stadium. The holiday-themed festival will run from noon through 5 p.m. and will feature more than 10 tons of snow and holiday-related activities ahead of a viewing party for MLS Cup 2016.

The two-acre 7UP Epicenter at Avaya Stadium will be transformed into a winter wonderland with numerous activities, including a giant inflatable snow globe and snowman bounce house. With roughly 2,100 cubic feet of snow available for snowballs and snowmen, fans will have an opportunity to have a true winter experience without the lengthy drive to the mountains. Families and friends can also snap their annual holiday cards on the stadium field with 'Happy Holidays!' illuminated on the large video display behind them.

Ahead of and during Winterfest, the Earthquakes will be hosting a toy drive benefitting Sacred Heart Community Services, Uplift Family Services, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, Bill Wilson Center and Shop with a Cop Silicon Valley. All toys donated to the Quakes in advance of Winterfest will be given to underprivileged youth at an exclusive window of entry from 10 a.m. to noon.

General admission to Winterfest is free, although new and gently used toys or canned goods are a suggested donation upon entry. Ticketed activities at the festival will benefit the Earthquakes Community Fund.

There will also be action on the Avaya Stadium field, with teams of police and fire fighters squaring off with bragging rights on the line at 2 p.m. That match will be followed by a second game, featuring two local high school teams.

For those who want to dress the part of a professional Earthquakes player, team-issued equipment will be sold on a first come, first served basis beginning at noon at the Earthquakes Team Store, powered by Gyft. Limited amounts of jerseys, shorts, socks and sliders will be for sale with all proceeds benefitting the Earthquakes Community Fund. A merchandise sale will also take place that same day at the team store.

Throughout the event, the TCL 4K bar will offer winter beverages, such as hot chocolate and eggnog, and food trucks will line up along the fence on the north end of the Epicenter just like an Earthquakes home match.

A Select-a-Seat event for existing and prospective Earthquakes season ticket holders will take place throughout the festivities, allowing the valued members of the Quakes community to find and select available seats for the 2017 season.

The festival will conclude with a viewing party for the 2016 MLS Cup, set to kick off at 5 p.m. PT, as the Eastern Conference champions and Western Conference champions battle to be crowned as the best team in Major League Soccer. 

LHP Giovanni Soto Claimed off Waivers by the White Sox

LHP Giovanni Soto Claimed off Waivers by the White Sox

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics announced today that left-handed pitcher Giovanni Soto was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox.

Soto was claimed off waivers by the A’s on October 26 from the Chicago Cubs.  He began the 2016 season in the Indians organization but was traded to the Cubs on April 11 for cash considerations.  Soto spent the entire season at Triple-A Iowa where he went 1-3 with a 5.14 ERA and .274 opponents batting average in 33 relief appearances.  The 25-year-old left-hander struck out 55 batters in 49.0 innings but also walked 31.

 Fotos: Luis Alberto Torres-ISCDeportes 

The complete 2016 statistics for Soto follow:

SOTO	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Iowa (AAA)	1	3	5.14	33	0	0	0	0	49.0	51	32	28	31	55

A’s Claim RHP Josh Smith off Waivers from Cincinnati

  OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland A’s claimed right-handed pitcher Josh Smith off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, the club announced today.

Smith spent most of the season with the Reds and was 3-3 with a 4.68 ERA in 32 games, including two starts.  He allowed a .247 opponents batting average, which broke down to .219 against right-handed hitters and .287 against left-handers.  

The 29-year-old right-hander also pitched for Triple-A Louisville, where he compiled a 4-4 record and a 3.80 ERA in eight starts and one relief appearance.  Smith made his Major League debut with Cincinnati in 2015 and is 3-7 with a 5.46 ERA in 41 career appearances, including nine starts.  He has pitched primarily as a starter in his seven seasons in the minors where he is 58-47 with a 3.60 ERA in 162 games, 135 starts.

The complete 2016 statistics for Smith follow:

SMITH	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Louisville (AAA)	4	4	3.80	9	8	0	0	0	45.0	44	20	19	13	38
CINCINNATI	3	3	4.68	32	2	0	0	0	59.2	57	32	31	26	48

Fotos: Luis Aberto Torres - ISCDeportes 

Five Earthquakes Called to Respective National Teams

Cato, Colvey, Francis, Godoy and Quintero to represent Quakes on international stage

San Jose Earthquakes midfielders Cordell Cato, Anibal Godoy and Alberto Quintero, and defenders Kip Colvey and Shaun Francis have all been called to their respective national teams. Cato, Godoy, Quintero and Colvey will each compete in a pair of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, while Francis will play in a single Caribbean Cup qualifier.

Cato will join the Trinidad and Tobago National Team from Nov. 5-16 and will compete against Costa Rica at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Trinidad on Nov. 11 and against Honduras in Honduras on Nov. 15.

Cato, 24, has made 19 prior appearances for T&T, scoring three goals. In his MLS career, Cato has tallied seven goals and nine assists in 104 games played. He made 15 starts in 21 total appearances in 2016 for the Quakes.

Colvey will connect with the New Zealand All-Whites for two matches against New Caledonia. New Zealand hosts the island nation at QBE Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand on Nov. 12, before traveling to New Caledonia for their second meeting at Yoshida Stadium on Nov. 15.

Colvey, 22, was the Earthquakes' third-round SuperDraft selection in 2016 (No. 49 overall) and made three starts in four total appearances for the club this season, tallying one assist. His most recent appearance for the All-Whites was a 90-minute performance in a 1-1 draw against the United States.

Francis joins the Jamaica National Team for a third-round Caribbean Cup qualifying match against Suriname on Nov. 13. The match, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 5, got postponed due to safety concerns surrounding Hurricane Matthew.

Francis, 29, has scored two goals in seven prior appearances for Jamaica since his international debut in 2010. During his seven-year MLS career, Francis has tallied five assists in 90 games played, and made 17 starts for San Jose this season.

Godoy and Quintero link up with the Panama National Team for a pair of Hexagonal World Cup qualifiers. After taking on Honduras at Estadio Olympico in San Pedro Sula on Nov. 11, Panama returns home to host Mexico on Nov. 15 at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City.

Godoy, 26, started all 23 games he appeared in for San Jose in 2016, tallying one goal and two assists. He has scored one goal in 66 previous appearances for Panama.

Quintero, 28, appeared in 30 matches (29 starts) this season for the Quakes after joining the team on loan from Lobos BUAP in February. Quintero finished with three goals and four assists during his debut season with the club and has made 74 prior appearances with the Panama National Team, scoring four goals.