Madrid signs Morris Almond through 2012, but is Red Claw enough?

Call him "La almendra" In anticipation of a certain-to-be hard-fought ACB playoff tournament, Real Madrid has welcomed aboard Morris Almond, who averaged some 24.6 points per game this season for the NBDL’s Maine Red Claws and Springfield Armor. The official league website touts Almond as a potential addition to help out Madrid’s outside game (“…un excelente anotador con experiencia en la NBA para reforzar el juego exterior”), but public consensus has it that Madrid’s only “weakness” (i.e. matchup battle at which they’re inferior to FC Barcelona) is underneath. The official ACB writeup noted that Morris Almond signed through the 2011-12 season publicly, with director-general Jorge Valdano and officials Antonio Maceiras and Alberto Herreros in attendance. The 6’5” Almond brings a CV that includes time with the Utah Jazz (by whom he was drafted 25th overall in 2007 after four years with University of Rice and a conference player-of-the-year award) and Orlando Magic; A...