New american in Lukoil Academic

Antonio Burks in Lukoil Academic

30-08-2007 03:05

27 years old point guard Antonio Burks will play fro Lukoil Academic. The 183 cm tall American started last year with Miami heat in the NBA but got released just before the start of the season. He moved to Europe and signed with Crvena Zvezda where he played 18 games for them in Adriatic League with average of 9.3 points and 2.9 assists per game. In ULEB Cup Burks managed 8.8 points and 4.2 assists in 12 games for his team. However he left the team in April.

Burks graduated from University of Memphis and was drafted in NBA from Orlando Magic in 2004. Interesting fact is that he was selected as second round pick nember 36, two picks behind Donta Smith, his new teammate in Lukoil Academic.

He played for three teams in NBA, Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat. In year 2005/06 he played 57 games for Memphis while scoring 2.0 points per match.

In the college he was selected as Conference USA player of the year. In his senior year he averaged 16.0 points, 5.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds per contest. He was playing under of the best coaches in NCAA John Calipari. The experts in the US are saying he is very good defender, with good vision on the court and great passing skills. However he doesn’t have the size to play against bigger ans more athletic players of his positions in the NBA.
After the end of last year Lukoil Academic didn’t extend Lamont Jones and found his replacement in Antonio Burks. The club continue to look to find a center.