Caja Laboral made sure they open EuroLeague Top 16 with victory. The Basque team shot down visiting Olympiacos in Group F opener for both sides. Maciej Lampe (211-F/C-85) delivered 25 points to pace Zan Tabak team. Olympiacos looked better in the opening minutes. The Reds gained a 24:19 lead after ten minutes. Caja Laboral however managed to slow their opponents down in the second term. The hosts cut the margin at 4-point mark at the interval 40:44. Caja Laboral went off the dressing room firing from all guns. They dominated in the third term completing a 27:11 rally and taking a 12-point lead into the fourth stanza. Olympiacos stopped the bleeding but could not overcome a deep deficit losing the game at the end. Brad Oleson (191-G-83, agency: Duran International, college: Alaska-Fairb.) provided 15 points, while Thomas Heurtel (188-G-89) added 13 points and 7 assists for Caja Laboral. Vassilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket) answered with 18 points for Olympiacos. Pero Antic (210-F-82, agency: Beo Basket) had 13 points in the loss.
Highwater rising the shacks are sliding down,Folks lose their possessions, the folks are leaving town.Reformation shook it, broke it, then she hung it on the wall,Say you dancin' with whom they tell you to or you don't dance at all.It's tough out there,Highwater everywhere.Bob DylanXXX The Spanish Players Association the ABP, has given a 48 hour ultimatum to the Spanish League offices, the ACB to attend to its demands [read more]
Highwater rising the shacks are sliding down, Folks lose their possessions, the folks are leaving town. Reformation shook it, broke it, then she hung it on the wall, Say you dancin' with whom they tell you to or you don't dance at all. It's tough out there, Highwater everywhere. Bob Dylan
XXX The Spanish Players Association the ABP, has given a 48 hour ultimatum to the Spanish League offices, the ACB to attend to its demands. If not a players strike is threatened 10 days before the league playoffs are scheduled to begin.
From the mouth of the Player Associations President the Spanish version of the NBA Derrick Fischer, Jose Luis Llorente, these words: "Our Association has left the negotiating table because the league has absolutely broken the basis of the negotiations, has broken the actual ground rules. From the very first moment of our reunion the actual, in force and legally valid collective agreement was the basis of negotiations. From the very first moment the league has broken this basis and collective agreement therefore we have left the table until these conditions are recovered. We have given the league 48 hours to return to continue negotiations".
Some of the demands of the Players Association include: 1. Increase the Minimum Salary which at the moment is 25,000 Euros. 2. Double the actual coverage of the Guaranteed Salary Fund and ease the recovery process. 3. Teams that are not up to date on salary payments to players lose their right to first refusal on said players. 4. No restrictions on procuring a contract for those players that utilize the labor law (Real Decree #1006) to terminate their contracts with their clubs
Other negotiating points include: Christmas vacations, the conditions of unfulfilled contractual obligations to present players and that these clubs be prohibited from contracting new players, the ability of clubs to declare bankruptcy and continue to compete in the league and points regarding labor laws, free agent status, and the clubs social fiscal contributions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The economic situation is Spain is in dire straits with 27% general unemployment and in the age group of most players that unemployment figure reaches almost 50%. It is a bad time all around. Take my word for it... Right now the times are worse than a Ponzi Scheme and there seems no end in sight.
Highwater risin', rising night and day, All the gold and silver are being stolen away. Big Joe Turner looking east and west from the dark room of his mind, He made it to Kansas City, twelfth street and vine. Nothin' standing there, Highwater everywhere. Bob Dylan
Tim Shea is an American and long time European basketball coach and former NBA International Scouting Director residing in Spain. He is a frequent contributor to Eurobasket.
LEB Gold Round 3 of Semi-Finals. Lucentum reach Final - May 18, 2013
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Palencia - Lucentum 76-81
Lucentum snatched a road win over Palencia to advance into LEB Gold Final. Palencia Baloncesto was ahead by 1 point after three quarters before a 22-16 charge of Meridiano Alicante, which allowed them to win the game. It was a great evening for power forward Guillermo Rejon (206-77) who led his team to a victory scoring 14 points and 7 rebounds (perfect from the field making all six shots). point guard Pedro Rivero (186-79) helped adding 17 points [read more]
Lucentum snatched a road win over Palencia to advance into LEB Gold Final. Palencia Baloncesto was ahead by 1 point after three quarters before a 22-16 charge of Meridiano Alicante, which allowed them to win the game. It was a great evening for power forward Guillermo Rejon (206-77) who led his team to a victory scoring 14 points and 7 rebounds (perfect from the field making all six shots). point guard Pedro Rivero (186-79) helped adding 17 points. The best for the losing side was American power forward Jonathan Durley (203-88, college: Wichita St.) with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 10 rebounds and Latvian forward Janis Porzingis (201-82, agency: Interperformances) scored 14 points and 8 rebounds. Five Meridiano Alicante and four Palencia Baloncesto players scored in double figures. Top scorers: Palencia: J.Durley 16+10reb, J.Porzingis 14+8reb+3ast, R.Fornas 14+5reb, C.Bravo 12+4reb+6ast, U.Otegui 9+3reb+1ast, X.Forcada 7+2reb+5ast Lucentum: P.Rivero 17+1reb+2ast, G.Rejon 14+7reb+1ast, A.Sabat 12+4reb+2ast, T.Coppenrath 11+4reb, A.Llorca 10+7reb+2ast, R.Bas 8+1reb
Caceres avoided elimination beating Andorra at home court. The game was mostly controlled by Caceres Basket. River Andorra managed to win second period 22-14. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. Caceres Basket dominated on the defensive end, holding River Andorra to just 7 points in first quarter. Caceres Basket looked well-organized offensively handing out 22 assists comparing to just 8 passes made by River Andorra's players. It was a good game for American guard Braydon Hobbs (195-89, college: Bellarmine) who led his team to a victory with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. Power forward Roberto Morentin (206-81, college: Cent.Florida) contributed with 13 points (on 6-of-7 shooting from the field) for the winners. Forward Marc Blanch (194-82) answered with 11 points and 7 rebounds and American forward Justin Safford (204-87, college: Missouri, agency: Hart Sports Mngm) added 9 points and 9 rebounds in the effort for River Andorra. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Top scorers: Andorra: M.Blanch 11+7reb+1ast, J.Safford 9+9reb, D.Wright 8+6reb, P.Sanchez 8+2reb, A.Moncasi 6+1reb, D.Flis 6+3reb+1ast Caceres: P.Robles 14+2reb+2ast, R.Morentin 13+4reb+1ast, A.Pena 10+3reb, B.Hobbs 8+7reb+9ast, O.Ashaolu 8+7reb+2ast, J.Duinker 6+5reb+1ast
FCB Regal adds Mavrokefalidis to their roster - May 15, 2013
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Regal FC Barcelona (ACB) added to their roster 29-year old Greek ex-international center Loukas Mavrokefalidis (207-118kg-84). He started the season at Spartak St.Petersburg in Russian PBL league. Mavrokefalidis managed to play in three leagues this year. In 15 PBL games he recorded 11.5ppg, 4.4rpg and 2.2apg. He also played 14 games in Eurocup where he averaged 14.5ppg, 5.3rpg and 1.4apg. Mavrokefalidis also played 21 games in VTB United League where he averaged impressive 15 [read more]
Regal FC Barcelona (ACB) added to their roster 29-year old Greek ex-international center Loukas Mavrokefalidis (207-118kg-84). He started the season at Spartak St.Petersburg in Russian PBL league. Mavrokefalidis managed to play in three leagues this year. In 15 PBL games he recorded 11.5ppg, 4.4rpg and 2.2apg. He also played 14 games in Eurocup where he averaged 14.5ppg, 5.3rpg and 1.4apg. Mavrokefalidis also played 21 games in VTB United League where he averaged impressive 15.5ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.8apg and 1.0spg. The last season he played also at Spartak St.Petersburg (PBL) in Russian league. Similarly like in this season, the team also played in three different competitions (!!!) that year, and Mavrokefalidis was exposed to basketball on different levels. In 14 PBL games he averaged 10.6ppg and 4.1rpg. He also played 16 games in Eurocup where he averaged 11.3ppg, 3.6rpg and 1.1apg. He helped them to make it to the semifinals. Mavrokefalidis also played 14 games in VTB United League where he averaged 11.1ppg, 5.1rpg and 1.3apg. He contributed to his team making it to the quarterfinals. In 2006 Mavrokefalidis was drafted by Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) in second round (57th overall). Mavrokefalidis was also voted Eurobasket.com All-EuroCup 2nd Team in 2013. The list of the past achievements is quite long as his team won Greek Cup for two years in a row (2010 and 2011). He was also a member of Greek international program for some years. Mavrokefalidis played for Greek Senior National Team between 2010 and 2011 and previously for U20 National Team back in 2004. He represented Greece at the World Championships U21 in Argentina eight years ago. Mavrokefalidis has played also professionally in Italy (Lottomatica Roma), Greece (Olympiacos, PAOK Thessaloniki and Marousi) and Spain (Valencia Basket). The scouts decsribe him following way:
(by Vagelis Kotsifis for NBADraft.net in 2006)
Excellent feel for the center position ... A good rebounder and great moves around the basket ... Can play back to the rim or facing the basket with the same efficiency ...
Lacks great athletic ability ... Not a huge leaper or tremendous foot speed ...
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