FanHouse Alexis Ajinca

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

There are many French players in the NBA. But if there is one team that has more of a French connection than most, it's the Charlotte Bobcats. In this video we talk to NBA star Raja Bell, who tells us he loves French people -- but as far as as his teammates -- well, that's another story. We also hear from Frenchman Boris Diaw, Sean Singletary -- who is American, but understands French -- as well as Cartier Martin, who is proud to have a French name. And then there's always Alexis Ajinca, who is French but says people here don't believe that he's from France.

Check out the video after the jump.

The Suns' Amare Stoudemire had yet to play in a preseason game due to sustaining a torn iris in his right eye near the beginning of training camp. But it appears to be all healed up now, and STAT made his preseason debut in a double overtime (!) win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Amare played about 17 and a half minutes, and for the most part, I thought he had trouble getting up to the game's speed. He seemed a bit slow defensively, and at first a bit hesitant on the offensive end as well. That probably had more to do with Amare coming off the bench than it did him being rusty, because once he got a feel for what was going on, he was able to drive down the middle of the lane and throw down a vicious tomahawk jam over the Bobcats' Alexis Ajinca. (I'd love to show you the highlight, but apparently double overtime West coast preseason games are not the priority of people in charge of such things.)

After the game, Amare talked (literally, between bites of barbecued chicken and baked potato) about getting back out there for the first time in a game situation.

"It was good to get a win out there in double overtime. Personally, I felt pretty good, in my first day back. I played 17, 17 and a half minutes out there, it felt good. Rhythm wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, but other than that, played solid defense out there, was able to get involved offensively, you know, that's all I can ask for."

Amare ended up with 11 points and four rebounds on 3-9 shooting, again, just getting back into the groove. But he did have basically the highlight of the night, so when asked about his monster dunk on Ajinca, he responded in Boris Diaw's direction: "That's how I treat Frenchmans." He repeated the line louder, but of course, being French and all, Diaw predictably chose to avoid the confrontation.

With the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday night, FanHouse's Tom Ziller took a friend's advice and unilaterally decided what teams ought to do in the first round. Think of it as a shorter version of our ongoing Crystal Ballin' series.

1. Chicago -- Michael Beasley, Kansas State. Fan consensus would have the point guard from Memphis here, and it looks like John Paxson will swing that way, too. It looks like a whole lot of Chris Paul-induced "pure point" fervor to me. Beasley, though, is the rare unassailable post presence who also boasts great perimeter skills and extraordinary tenacity on the court. With a team so desperate for points on something other than jump shots, Beasley fits right in.

2. Miami -- Derrick Rose, Memphis. The Heat, on the other hand, has some firepower in the paint, between Dwyane Wade's irrepressible slashing and the alternating efforts of Shawn Marion and Udonis Haslem. But Wade needs help running the show. Rose would provide the right engine to push Miami's offensive abilities while offering some backcourt defensive support.

3. Minnesota -- Brook Lopez, Stanford. Like any other basketball aesthete, I have cracked some Brook Lopez jokes. But behind the Cheetah Girls t-shirts, he's a good prospect. The biggest thing he can offer Minnesota in some interior anchorage on defense. Al Jefferson got abused routinely in the paint last season, with nary a partner to help stunt the opponent. Lopez immediately fortifies the effort, maybe not creating a good defense by himself, but at least helping out. Oh, and he can score too.

27 more picks of questionable logic after the jump.