USA Wins Bronze Medal and France Clinch Fifth - Sep. 2, 2006

LeBron James

   USA out of gold medal race, Greece faces Spain in the final !!! - Sep. 1, 2006

Semifinals:

Greece - USA 101-95
Fed up with its recent failures, the United States assembled a new program with new plan.
The end result was all too familiar.
Greece used a sizzling stretch of shooting across the center two quarters to turn a 12-point deficit into a 14-point lead, and beat the Americans 101-95 Friday in the semifinals of the world championships.
"To lose any game is a shock to us," U.S. star Carmelo Anthony said. "We came in with the mentality to win the game and the gold medal."
Instead, the best Anthony can do now is add another bronze to his collection.
Greece (8-0) can earn a world title to go with the European championship it won in 2005 with a victory over Spain in Sunday's gold-medal game. Spain (8-0) beat Argentina 75-74 on Friday night.
"They played like a champion plays," U.S. forward Shane Battier said of Greece.
The Americans will have to wait at least two more years to remember what that feels like.
Done in again by their inept 3-point shooting -- and they weren't much better from the foul line -- the Americans will fall short of a championship in a major international tournament for the third straight time since winning gold at the 2000 Olympics.
The Greeks -- with no current NBA players on their roster -- danced in a circle at halfcourt after their victory.
"Big players play big games," said guard Theodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77), the MVP of the European final who had 12 assists Friday. "And today I think we played very good."
The U.S. (7-1) will return to the court Saturday against Argentina (7-1), hoping to match the bronze medal it left Athens with in 2004.
"Those guys are hurting," said USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo, who was put in charge of the program after a sixth-place finish in the 2002 worlds preceded the disappointment in Athens. "It's probably a better thing we have to come back tomorrow and play again instead of sitting on this for two days."
Anthony scored 27 points for the Americans, who couldn't overcome their 32 percent shooting from 3-point range or 59 percent from the foul line. Dwyane Wade added 19 and LeBron James had 17, but the three U.S. captains were unable to make up for their disappointment from Athens.
Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket), bound for the Houston Rockets, scored 22 points for Greece. Michalis Kakiouzis (206-C-76) added 15 and 6-foot-10 Sofocles Schortsianitis (206-F-85) -- nicknamed "Baby Shaq" -- added 14, shooting 6-of-7.
"Basketball is not just about dribbling and shooting," said Greece coach Panagiotis Yiannakis , who took a congratulatory call from Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis after the game. "You can come off the bench with a clear mind and give the best of your talent and that's what our players did today."
In Greece, thousands gathered in the streets, waved flags and honked car horns. Traffic information screens flashed the final score, and drivers abandoned cars to join celebrating crowds.
Continuously burning the Americans' poor defense against the pick-and-roll, the Greek team shot 63 percent (35-of-56) from the field and made 31 of 44 shots over the final three periods.
"We didn't make the right adjustments," U.S. center Chris Bosh (211-F-84, college: Georgia Tech) said. "They ran the same play. We made it easy for them."
The U.S. hasn't even played for a world championship since winning the last of its three titles in Toronto in 1994. Mike Krzyzewski -- who was looking for gold after winning bronze with the 1990 team -- and a few American players walked to midcourt to congratulate the Greeks, while most of the U.S. roster quickly headed to the locker room.
The Americans, who put together a national team program this year for the first time, now will be forced to qualify for the 2008 Olympics next summer in the FIBA Americas tournament in Venezuela.
"This one hurts," said Colangelo, who assembled the team. "We had the gold medal as our goal and anything short is disappointing. We go back to work and get ready for qualifying next summer."
The U.S. seemed in control after Joe Johnson's 3-pointer gave the Americans a 33-21 lead with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter. It was around then that James told his teammates on the bench: "They don't know what to do."
Well, they figured it out in a hurry.
Greece scored nine straight points, pulling within three on Papaloukas' drive with 3:51 left and forcing Krzyzewski to call a timeout. Dwight Howard (207-F-85) converted a three-point play, but the Greeks answered with a 13-2 surge, featuring eight points from Schortsianitis, to open a 43-38 lead and force Krzyzewski to call a second timeout.
Greece hit nine straight shots -- its only miss in the last 5 minutes was a heave from halfcourt as time expired -- and led 45-41 at halftime. The Greeks shot 56 percent (15-of-27) in the half.
The Americans were 2-of-10 from behind the arc -- after going 10-for-40 in their quarterfinal victory over Germany -- and trailed at the break for only the second time in the tournament. Italy had a nine-point cushion in a group play game.
Greece kept it up in the third quarter, hitting 14 of its 18 shots, including all four 3-pointers in the first 5 minutes. Kostas Tsartsaris (210-F-79)' 3-pointer with 5:45 left in the period gave the Greeks a 65-51 lead -- the biggest deficit the U.S. faced in the tournament.
After shooting 4-of-12 in the first quarter, Greece was 25-of-33 (76 percent) in the second and third and led 77-65 heading to the final period.
"It seemed like they didn't miss the whole third quarter," Wade said.
Anthony, Wade and James combined for the first 18 U.S. points in the quarter, and the Americans eventually got as close as 95-91 on Kirk Hinrich (191-G-81, agency: Octagon, college: Kansas)'s 3 with 36 seconds to play. But the U.S. missed its final two attempts from behind the arc, capping a 9-of-28 night.
Courtesy of AP

Spain - Argentina 75-74
JOSE Calderon's free throw with 19 seconds to play lifted Spain over Olympic champion Argentina 75-74 in a semi-final at the World Basketball Championship.
The Toronto Raptors point guard put through the second of two free throws after being fouled for the winning point, which gave the Spaniards their first medal in global competition since the 1984 Olympics.
Spain and Greece will meet in Sunday's final.
Andres Nocioni (199-F-79), who played for the NBA's Chicago Bulls, had a final chance to win for Argentina but his 3-point attempt with two seconds to go bounced off the rim.
Pau Gasol (214-F-80), a 213cm centre with the NBA Memphis Grizzlies, and forward Jorge Garbajosa (205-C/F-77, agency: Interperformances) led Spain's scoring with 19 points each while Emanuel Ginobili (198-G-77, agency: Interperformances), a guard with the NBA San Antonio Spurs, hit 21 to lead Argentina.
Ginobili sparked Argentina to a 21-15 lead in the first period.
But Gasol sank a lay-up on the break, his third basket of the night, and added a free throw on foul to put Spain up 32-30 halfway through the second quarter.
Argentina caught up twice with Spain, which won the 1984 silver and the 1980 bronze from the Olympics but no world championship medal.
But two free-throws by Barcelona shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro (192-G-80) on foul left the Iberians with a slight 40-38 lead at half-time.
Garbajosa hit two open shots and a cut-in jumper in the final minute as Spain stood 60-56 at the end of the third period.
Down 65-56, Argentina battled back to 69-67 with a three-pointer by Ginobili with three minutes to go.
Navarro made it 71-67 with a jumper in the paint. Gasol added two free-throws but Pepe Sanchez (193-G-77, college: Temple) hit back with a three-pointer to narrow the gap to 73-70 at 1:17.
Calderon sank a free throw but Ginobini hit an inside shot to make it 74-72 with 28 seconds to go.
Argentina forward Luis Scola (206-F/C-80) tied the score 74-74 with two free throws on Fernandez's foul with 22 seconds to go before Calderon's winning throw from the line.
Courtesy of the Australian

   Incredible Turkey - Aug. 31, 2006
Classification Games for 5th to 8th place

Lithuania - Turkey 84-95 (10-19, 17-4, 21-17, 27-35, 9-20)
Lithuania: Songaila 17, Kleiza 14+6reb, Macijauskas 13, Gustas 10, Kalnietis 8, Jankunas 7, D. Lavrinovic 7+7reb, Jasaitis 4, Zukauskas 3, K. Lavrinovic 1+6reb, Delininkaitis 0, Javtokas 0.
Turkey: Kurtoglu 24, Arslan 18+5ast, Ilyasova 13, Erdogan12, Gonlum 9+8reb, Atsur 9, Akyol 8, Demirel 2, Kutluay 0, Solak 0, Erden 0, Peker 0.
The classification games for 5th to 8th place were held in Japan, Turkey squeaked pass Lithuania by Overtime 95-84.
It was the second loss with Turkey after Lithuania was beaten by Turkey in the preliminary round. Turkey became the biggest dark horse in this tournament.
Turkey led the score 19-10 in the first quarter. Lithuania fought back immediately in the second half 17-4 and got the 4 points lead.
In the last 5 minutes, Lithuania had the 12 points advantage, but Turkey fulfilled the impossible mission from then on. Turkey made a 6-0 run and took the competition into the overtime.
Turkey did not give Lithuania any chance in the overtime game. With the 20-9 run, they won the furious game in the end.

France - Germany 75-73 (17-16, 21-15, 15-26, 22-16)


France: Gomis 17, Turiaf 15+6reb, Diaw 13+8reb, M. Pietrus 8, Foirest 7, Gelabale 7+8reb, F. Peitrus 5+5reb, Weis 3+5reb, Jeanneau 0, Petro 0, Bokolo 0, Diarra 0.

Germany: Nowitzki 29+6reb, Hamann12, Garrett 10, Okulaja 9+10reb, Femerling 6, Schultze 5, Greene 2, Roller 0, Grunheid 0, Jagla 0, Demirel 0, Herber 0.

The three turnovers in the last 18 seconds prevented German winning the game with France.

France focused on the defense with Nowitzki in the first half, so he can not find the correct way to score.

Under the leadship of Nowitzki, German suddenly erupted in the third quarter. With Nowitzki's 12 points, German made a 26-15.

The two teams chanced the score advantage several times in the fourth quarter. The Gomis's 3P FG helped France catch up with German 73-73.

Then German controlled the ball, but they did not grasp the ball in that time. The vital turnover of German help France contest with the Turkey in the game for 5^th and 6^th place.

   Greece and USA Continue winning ways - Aug. 30, 2006
1/4 Final Games:

Greece - France 73-56 (12-8, 22-16, 19-19, 20-13)
Greece: Papadopoulos 14, Fotsis 14, Diamantidis 13, Spanoulis 11, Schortsianitis 10, Hatzivrettas 5, Papaloukas 4, Tsartsaris 2, Dikoudis 0, Zisis 0, Kakiouzis 0, Vassilopoulos 0.
France: Gelabale 12+5reb, Diaw 9+6reb, Jeanneau 8, Bokolo 7, F. Pietrus 6+6reb, M. Pietrus 5, Turiaf 4+6reb, Gomis 3, Weis 2+5reb, Petro 0, Diarra 0, Foirest 0.
The third game of semi-final was held between Greece and France. France edged Angola 68-62 previously and Greece kept winning ways till now. Greece won the defense fight with France 73-56.
In the 7:08 of the first quarter, Gelabale got the first two points of the game. Then Greece made a 7-0 run. The two teams totally scored 20 points in the first quarter, they missed a lot of opportunity to shoot the ball.
After the first half competition, Greece's 2P FG percentage reached 50%, on the other hand, France only in 30%.
The France didn't get better in offense of the second half.
The Greece's defense was always well-known in this tournament. They only let Brazil score over 70 points in the preliminary round.

USA - German 85-65 (23-21, 17-18, 27-13, 18-13)

USA: Anthony 19, James 13+5reb, Johnson 11, Bosh 10, Paul 9, Howard 8, Brand 6, Hinrich 3, Wade 3+5ast+7reb, Jamison 2, Battier 1, Miller 0.

German: Nowitzki 15+9reb, Okulaja 15+9reb, Greene 9, Hamann 8, Schultze 7, Femerling 4, Herber 3, Garrett 2, Roller 2, Grunheid 0, Jagla 0, Demirel 0.

Germany played zone defense in the first half and Team USA struggled to find its shooting rhythm, leading by just one at halftime.

After intermission, USA Basketball went to its No. 1 problem solver during the FIBA World Championship - Carmelo Anthony - and as usual the forward didn't disappoint.

Anthony fired in 10 of his 19 points in the third quarter to ignite the USA in Wednesday's 85-65 quarterfinal victory. USA went on a 20-6 run to start the third period and opened up a comfortable double-digit lead.

Germany led by as many as five in the first quarter and thanks to Ademola Okulaja, who scored 11 points in the half, trailed by just one, 40-39, at intermission.

Team USA had success cracking the zone in the second half and used its defense (24 forced turnovers) to get easy baskets.

LeBron James finished with 13 points and Joe Johnson dropped in 11 for Team USA.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 points to lead Germany.

Team USA, which is now 7-0 at the World Championship, will play Greece on Friday at 6:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.

(Courtesy of NBA)

   Spain and Argentina clinch to the semi-final - Aug 29, 2006
1/4 Final Games:

Spain - Lithuania 89-67 (28-11, 19-19, 18-12, 24-25)
Spain: P. Gasol 25+9reb, Navarro 22, Fernandez 10, M. Gasol 7, Jimenez 5+6reb, Reyes 4+5reb, Calderon 4, Mumbru 4, Garbajosa 4, S. Rodriguez 2, B. Rodriguez 2, Cabezas 0.
Lithuania: Lavrinovic 17, Aleiza 15+14reb, Kalnietis 14, K. Lavrinovic 8, Zukauskas 5, Delininkaitis 4, Songaila 2+5reb, Gustas 2, Macijauskas 0, Jasaitis 0, Jankunas 0, Javtokas 0.
Spain destroyed Lithuania to reach the semi-finals of the FIBA World Championship for the first time in 24 years.
The Spaniards, one of the most talented sides in international basketball, forced the Baltic giants into 15 first-half turnovers and Juan Carlos Carlos Navarro and Pau Gasol (214-F-80) each poured in 15 points before the break as they rolled to an 89-67 victory.
Spain began with a brilliant start 28-11 in the first quarter, Navarro scored 10 point of the 28.
Spain got at least 20 scores' lead after the third quarter. The two teams contest their fourth quarter games without any suspense.
Spanish aggressive defense made Lithuania 28 turnovers of the game. The 17 steals broke the rhythm of game completely.
Gasol played 28 minutes and was eight of 16 from the floor. He was magnficent on defense as well, blocking three shots and coming up with one of Spain's 17 steals.

Argentina - Turkey 83-58 (25-16, 18-7, 32-17, 8-18)
Argentina: Nocioni 21+6reb, Delfino 14+8reb, Scola 13+6reb, Oberto 10, Herrmann 8, Ginobili 7, Sanchez 5+6reb, Fernandez 3, Wolkowisky 2, Prigioni 0, Gutierrez 0, Farabello 0.
Turkey: Akyol 11, Erdogan 10, Peker 8+6reb, Ilyasova 5, Kurtoglu 5, erden 4+5reb, Demirel 4, Gonlum 3, Atsur 3, Arslan 2, Kutluay 2, Solak 1.

Argentina - the champion of Athens Olympic Games, prevailed the biggest dark horse Turkey 83-58 with ease.
Argentina long for prove their powerful strength in this World Championship. Under the lead of Ginobili, Argentina kept the 100% winning record in the preliminary round and swept to New Zealand in the 1/8 Finals.
In the beginning of the first quarter, the Turkey players seemed to be a little nervous. With Ginobili's two points from the foul line, Argentina led 7-0 start.
The Argentina's defense was full of energy, it caused Turkey's FG percentage so low in the first half. Turkey players became more and more fussy. They missed a lot of simple ways shooting. So Argentina led the score 75-40 after the third quarter.
The 35 points advantage made Argentina have more chance to practice their bench players. Argentina only scored 8 points in the last quarter.
Argentina will contest with Spain for the final ticket.

   USA crushes Australia, Germany edges Nigeria - Aug 27, 2006
1/8 Final Games:

USA - Australia 113-73 (27-23, 32-6, 29-20, 25-24)
USA: Anthony 20, Johnson 18, Wade 15, Bosh 12+9reb, Battier 12, Howard 8, Miller 8, Brand 8, James 5, Jamison 3, Hinrich 2+5ast, Paul 2
Australia: Bogut 20+6reb, Newley 15, Mackinnon 8+7reb, Bruce 6, Barlow 5, Bruton 5, Worthington 5, Helliwell 4, Kendall 3, Smith 2, Hinder 0, Kickert 0
THE United States Dream Team barely got out of second gear in a 113-73 victory over Australia at the men's basketball world championships at Saitama Super Arena today.
The Boomers stuck with the gold medal favourite for one quarter, but after that it was a one-way procession as the Americans geared up for the business end of the tournament.
Australia was outclassed today in the round of 16 clash and will soon be on its way home, but a highly inexperienced team decimated by injuries and withdrawals could be proud of its effort over the past fortnight.
Andrew Bogut and Brad Newley, who will steer the team's fortunes for the next decade, showed flashes of brilliance, but the Americans dominated proceedings after the first break.
A 32-6 second term, including a blanketing 15-0 stretch, blew the game open and the young Australians couldn't recover.
Before the game, bookmakers gave Australia no chance of causing a massive upset.
Centrebet had the US at the rare odds of an even $1.00, while the Boomers were $39 in an extraordinary discrepancy for a two-horse race.
SportsTAB was slightly more forgiving, listing the Dream Team at $1.01 and Australia $21.
The US jumped to an 11-5 lead courtesy of some hot outside shooting, but the Boomers settled quickly and Bogut seemed determined to prove a point about his ability at the highest level.
A dunk, two free-throws and a three-pointer from the Milwaukee Bucks star gave Australia a 15-14 lead five minutes into the quarter.
The Americans were in cruise control and showed the young Aussies little respect as they wasted possession and turned the ball over attempting spectacular plays.
It didn't bother the Boomers who hit their open shots and trailed just 27-23 after a surprisingly competitive opening term.
But the Americans pulled away in the second quarter.
The US led 59-29 at half-time and coasted the rest of the way in a warm-up for its quarter-final showdown with Germany.
Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points for the US and Joe Johnson added 18.
Courtesy of Fox Sports

Germany - Nigeria 78-77 (25-22, 23-22, 14-14, 16-19)
Germany: Nowitzki 23+9reb+5ast, Okulaja 19+8reb, Greene 9, Demirel 7, Herber 7, Schultze 6, Femerling 4+5reb, Hamann 3, Garrett 0
Nigeria: Ibekwe 22+10reb, Muoneke 16+5reb, Awojobi 15, Udoka 8, Ere 6+5reb, Nwosu 5, Anagonye 3, Oguchi 2, Varem 0, Nwankwo 0
Dirk Nowitzki led Germany with 23 points and nine rebounds in a dramatic 78-77 victory over Nigeria that put them into the World Basketball Championship quarter-finals.
The win sets up a expected last-eight showdown with the United States team of National Basketball Association stars, who play Australia later Sunday.
Few have figured out how to stop Nowitzki, the superstar forward of the NBA's        Dallas Mavericks, but a highly motivated and energetic Nigeria gave it a decent shot with tight defense.
They pulled to within one point of Germany with 35 seconds remaining but Tunji Awojobi missed a free throw to equal the scores and Germany hung on.
"This is a very great accomplishment for the German team. Nigeria played outstanding defense and they are a very hard-nosed side," said German coach Dirk Bauderman.
Power forward Sven Schultze added: "It was a very, very tough game but we were leading for the whole match so in the end we deserved to win and that's all that matters."
The Germans ended the first quarter 25-22 in front but the Nigerians held their own, restricting Nowitzki to six points and three boards.
A three-pointer from captain Ademola Okulaja stretched their lead to six points early in the second period but the Nigerians stayed in the race, going into half time 48-44 behind.
Okulaja is Nigerian by birth and was facing his homeland for the first time in his life. The 31-year-old was born Lagos but moved to Berlin when he was three.
The Nigerian team, packed with US college stars, never gave up and a Gabe Muoneke jump shot outside the paint drew them level at 58-58 with 1:29 on the clock in the third quarter.
Four late free throws from Nowitzki restored Germany's lead at 62-58 going into the final stretch.
Nine straight points from Okulaja put the Germans 73-64 up with 5:39 left to play but Nigeria closed to within four points with 1:30 left to set up the dramatic finale.
"It was a different feeling. It was very exciting," Okulaja said of playing his home country, and praised them for doing "a great job".
Nigeria, who were bidding to become the first African team to make the final eight since Egypt finished fifth in 1950, was led by Ekene Ibekwe with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Muoneke with 16 points.
Their American coach, Sam Vincent, paid tribute to his team who he said had a bright future.
"A lot of credit must go to Germany. Every time we rallied they answered with a big three-pointer or strong defensive play," he said.
"But our team fought hard. I think the future is very bright as long as we continue to work hard and imporve."
Germany, who were playing Nigeria for the first time ever, now have a 5-1 record in Japan with their only loss to Spain in the group stages.

France - Angola 68-62 (17-6, 17-18, 15-11, 19-27)
France: Jeanneau 16+5ast, Gelabale 14+6reb, Diaw 14+5reb, F. Pietrus 8+7reb, Diarra 6, Weis 4+6reb, M. Pietrus 4+6reb, Turiaf 2, Gomis 0, Foirest 0, Bokolo 0, Petro 0.
Angola: Almeida 13, Cipriano 12+6reb+7ast, Morais 12, Gomes 11+7reb, Mingas 7, A. Costa 3, Moussa 2, Lutonda 2, Barros 0, L. Costa 0, Carvalho 0, Neto 0.
Aymeric Jeanneau hit six free throws in the final 36 seconds to lead France to a 68-62 victory over Angola and a quarter-final spot at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.
France controlled the first three quarter’s rhythm. But Angola did not give up the games, they took a 27-19 run in the fourth quarter. The 14 points gap led Angola to lose.
The low percentage of FG made Angola only got 6 points in the first quarter. The unstable performance prevented the African Champion to the semi-finals.

Greece - China 95-64 (11-18, 30-18, 26-6, 28-22)
Greece: Papaloukas 19, Spanoulis 15, Kakiouzis 11+7reb, schortsianitis 10, Vassilopoulos 8, Fotsis 8, Diamantidis 7, Papadopoulos 6+5reb, Dikoudis 5, Tsartsaris 4, Hatzivrettas 2, Zisis 0.
China: S. Wang 16+6reb, Yao 10+8reb, Zhu 10, Yi 9+5reb, Chen 8, Sun 4, liu 3, Zhang 3, Z. Wang 1, S. Zhang 0, Du 0.
Too many turnovers limited China to oppose to European Champion Greece.
Compared with two teams strength, Greece obviously stronger than China. But Chinese coach was very familiar with Greece team. So he said:"Although Greece is a powerful team, nothing is impossible in this game."
This is also the first time Yao contest with his new team member spanoulis.
China led a marvelous beginning 12-2 in the first quarter. But China have 12 turnovers in the second quarter and lost the score advantage.
Greece's aggressive defense in the third quarter let China only got 6 points.
So the fourth quarter had not any suspense.
Greece have 13 steals in this game, but China have no steal.
 

   Lithuania and Argentina advance to the quarterfinals - Aug 26, 2006
1/8 Finals games:

Argentina - New Zealand 79-62 (21-16, 16-13, 22-15, 20-18)
Argentina: Ginobili 28, Oberto 23+10reb, Scola 10+8reb, Sanchez 4+5ast, Prigioni 4, Wolkowisky 4, Nocioni 2+8reb, Herrmann 2, Delfino 2
N.Zealand: Dickel 15, Penney 11, Jones 9, Bradshaw 9+5reb, Cameron 6, Henare 5, Frank 5+5reb, Rampton 2, Boucher 0, Vukona 0
Argentina was the first team, which qualified to the quarterfinals after they defeated New Zealand 79-62. Argentina controled entire game. The took early lead in the first quarter and carried it till the end. Argentina was lead by trio Emanuel Ginobili (198-G-77, agency: Interperformances) (28), Fabricio Oberto (207-C-75, agency: Interperformances) (23+10 rebounds) and Luis Scola (206-F/C-80) (10+8 rebounds). Mark Dickel (187-G-76) (15) and Kirk Penney (195-G-80) (11) were top players for defeated New Zealand.

Italy - Lithuania 68-71 (20-17, 15-19, 14-14, 19-21)
Italy: Rocca 15+8reb, Di Bella 15+9reb, Gigli 9+6reb, Belinelli 9, Mordente 8, Soragna 5, Marconato 4, Pecile 3, Michelori 0, Garri 0, Basile 0
Lithuania: Macijauskas 15, D.Lavrinovic 12+6reb, Songaila 12+6reb, Kleiza 7+6reb, Kalnietis 7, K.Lavrinovic 6, Javtokas 6+8reb, Gustas 6, Delininkaitis 0, Zukauskas 0
The game of the day was for sure the one between Italy and Lithuania. Italy despite sending not too experienced team, surprised many experts by their unexpectedly good game. Coach Carlo Recalcati managed to put together a mixture of very good players and the system seem to work fine till they faced Lithuanians. Lithuania sent very experienced roster, but so far disappointed barely making it to the 1/8 finals with 2 games lost in their group. The game was very toughand the lead was changing every few minutes. Italian team get small lead at the end of 1st euarted and kept it in first few minutes of 2nd quarter. Then Lithuanians catch up and the lead was flipping again between two teams. It was the last quarter, which prevailed about the final result. More experienced Lithuanians managed to get few points advantage over Italy and despite constant attacks of ambitious Italians, managed to kept small lead winning the game in the last thrilling seconds by 3 points. The best players for Lithuania were Arvydas Macijauskas (192-G-80) (15 points), Darjus Lavrinovic (212-C-79) (12+6 rebounds) and Darius Songaila (205-C/F-78, agency: Priority Sports, college: Wake Forest) (12+6 rebounds), while Italy was lead by Mason Rocca (204-F-77) and Fabio Di Bella (187-G-78), who had 15 points each.

Turkey - Slovenia 90-84 (21-19, 24-17, 16-24, 30-24)
Turkey: Serkan Erdogan (190-G-78, agency: Interperformances) 24, Gonlum 11+8reb, Akyol 11, Kaya Peker (207-C/F-80) 10, Kurtoglu 8, Atsur 6, Arslan 6, Kutluay 6, Solak 4, Demirel 4, Ilyasova 0, Erden 0.
Slovenia: Udrih 18, Nesterovic 14+5reb, Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80, agency: Interperformances) 14+8reb, Becirovic 13+5reb+5ast, Brezec 11+7reb, Milic 6, Lakovic 3, Zagorac 3, Ozbolt 0, Dragic 0, Slokar 0.
Serkan Erdogan (190-G-78, agency: Interperformances)'s 8 points in the last two minutes helped Turkey fightback Slovenia 90-84. Kaya Peker (207-C/F-80)'s important 3Pts lead the score in the last period of time. With the miss of Bostjan Nachbar (207-G/F-80, agency: Interperformances)'s shooting, Slovenia adopted the foul tactics. Both sides' FG percentage are pretty good ?Turkey 58% and Slovenia 50%. Unfortunately, Slovenia FT's percentage is only 60%. Turkey will meet with Argentina for the semi-finals.

Spain - Serbia and Montenegro 87-75 (20-10, 23-21, 23-21, 21-23)
Spain: P. Pau Gasol (214-F-80) 19+15reb, Fernandez 18, Calderon 13, M. Gasol 9, Mumbru 8, Navarro 7, Garbajosa 6, Cabezas 3, Jimenez 2+6reb, S. Rodriguez 2, B. Rodriguez 0, Reyes 0.
Serbia and Montenegro: Milicia 18+15reb, Marinovic 15, Popovic 10+5reb, Rakocevic 11, Raicevic 9, Jorovic 5, Tripkovic 3, Ilic 2, Avdalovic 0, Askrabic 0, Perovic 0.
Spanish prodigy Pau Gasol (214-F-80) led Spain to Victory five champions of World championship SRB 87-75. Pau Gasol (214-F-80) and Calderon's fabulous performance help Spain take a 20-10 run in the first quarter. Serbia and Montenegro rebounded from second quarter. In the last three quarters, the two team's score difference within 2 points.

   Day 6 - Aug 24, 2006
Carlos Delfino led a fourth quarter rally by Argentina as they recovered from a seven point deficit early at the end of the third period to take a 83-79 win over Serbia & Montenegro. Dirk Nowitzki scored 47 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Germany to a historic 108-103 triple overtime victory over Angola - the first time a FIBA World Championship match went to three extra sessions. Shipeng Wang's buzzer-beating three-pointer gave China a 78-77 triumph over Slovenia in a thriller on Thursday to place the Asian Champions in the last 16 of the FIBA World Championship. Australia hammered Qatar 93-46 to bring a halt to a three-game losing streak and keep their hopes alive for a place in the last 16 of the FIBA World Championship. After losing their first three games of the 2006 FIBA World Championship, New Zealand advanced to the Final 16 with an 86-75 victory over Panama - their second straight win. Larry Ayuso poured in 25 points but it wasn't enough to carry Puerto Rico past Italy in Thursday's Group D clash in Sapporo.

Group A in Sendai
Serbia & Montenegro - Argentina 79-83
Serbia & Montenegro: Rakocevic 25, Milicic 24+12reb, Avdalovic 8, Popovic 6, Jorovic 6, Nikolic 6+8reb, Perovic 4, Raicevic 0, Ilic 0, Tripkovic 0, Marinovic 0, Askrabic 0.
Argentina: Scola 22+13reb+5ast, Delfino 14, Ginobili 13, Nocioni 12, Sanchez 9+5reb+10ast, Herrmann 7, Wolkowisky 4+5reb, Oberto 2, Fernandez 0, Farabello 0.
Lebanon - Nigeria 72-95
Lebanon: Fahed 25+6ast, Vogel 16+7reb, Beshara-Feghali 10+8reb, El Khatib 8, Abdel-Nour 6, Mahmoud 3, Tawbe 2+6reb, El Turk 0, Fakhreddine 0, Khoury 0, Balaa 0.
Nigeria: Ere 19, Ibekwe 12+8reb, Nwosu 11+6reb, Awojobi 11+7reb+5ast, Muoneke 11, Udoka 10+7reb+9ast, Oguchi 8, Varem 8, Anagonye 3+6reb, Akognon 2, Obasohan 0, Nwankwo 0.
France - Venezuela 81-61

France: F. Pietrus 19+8reb, Diaw 11, Weis 10, Fortest 8, M. Pietrus 7, Petro 7+6reb, Gelabale 6, Jeanneau 4+5reb, Turiaf 4+6reb, Diarra 3, Gomis 2, Bokolo 0.

Venezuela: Barrios 15+6reb, Torres 9, Lugo 8+7reb, Aguilera 7+5reb, Cedeno 6, Diaz 5, Morris 3, Machado 2, Mijares 2, Vallenilla 2, Marriaga 1+5reb, Bayona 1.

Group B in Hiroshima
Angola - Germany 103-108
Angola: Cipriano 33+5reb, Mingas 22+5reb, Gomes 21+11reb, Barros 15+6st, Morais 10+5reb, Almeida 2, A. Costa 0, L. Costa 0, Carvalho 0, Neto 0, Moussa 0, Lutonda 0.
Germany: Nowitzki 47+16reb, Okulaja 14+5reb, Greene 14, Femerling 12+5reb, Schultze 10+8reb, Demirel 7, Garrett 2, Herber 0, Roller 0, Grunheid 0, Jagla 0.
New Zealand - Panama 86-75 (31-25, 17-13, 17-16, 21-21)
New Zealand: Bradshaw 17+8reb, Penney 16, Cameron 14, Frank 8, Dickel 7, Henare 5+5ast, Jones 5, Boucher 5, Rampton 5, Winitana 2, Vukona 2, Olson 0.
Panama: Hicks 20+6reb, Douglas 15, Garces 13+5reb, Lloreda 7+8reb, Daley 6, Peralta 2, Garcia 2+6reb, Gomez 0, Levy 0, Cota 0, Cardenas 0.
Japan - Spain 55-104

Japan: Orimo 13, Yamada 12, Amino 11, Takeuchi 6+5reb, Igarashi 5, Sakurai 4, Kashiwagi 3, Furuta 1, Kawamura 0, Takeuchi 0, Setsumasa 0, Ito 0.

Spain: Gasol 21+16reb, Navarro 18, Mumbru 13, Garbajosa 12+7reb, M.Gasol 12+7reb, Jimenez 6, S. Rodriguez 6+5ast, B. Rodriguez 5, Reyes 5, Fernandez 4, Calderon 2+7ast, Cabezas 0.

Group C in Hamamatsu
Australia - Qatar 93-46
Australia: Worthington 17+5reb, Smith 16, Bogut 10+7reb, Machinnon 10+5st, Kendall 9, Barlow 7, Kickert 7, Bruce 5, Bruton 4, Helliwell 4, Newley 2+6reb, Hinder 2.
Qatar: Ali 16, A. Ali 12+9reb, Abdi 5, Salem 4+7reb, Saleem Abdullah 3, Sabed 2, Saleem Abdullah 2, Zaidan 2, Al Nasr 0, Daoud 0, Mohammed 0, Ismail 0.
Lithuania - Brazil 79-74
Lithuania: Macijauskas 21+7reb, gustas 19, Lavrinovic 12, Songaila 9+6reb, Aleiza 8, Zukauskas 4, Javtokas 4, K. Lavrinovic 2, Delininkaitis 0, Kalnietis 0, Jasaitis 0, Jankunas 0.
Brazil: Splitter 17+7reb, Barbosa 12, Varejao 9+6reb, Giovannoni 9, Machado 8, Garcia 8, Dos santos 7, Becker 4, Ferreira 0, Huertas 0, Torres 0, Quitino 0.
Greece - Turkey 76-69

Greece: Papadopoulos 17, Kakiouzis 17, Schortsianitis 14, Spanoulis 11, Fotsis 11+6reb, Diamantidis 4, Papaloukas 2, Zisis 0, Vassilopoulos 0, Hatzivrettas 0, Dikoudis 0, Tsartsaris 0.

Turkey: Erdogan 30, Gonlum 9, Peker 9+8reb, Atsur 6, Kutluay 6, Arslan 5, Kurtoglu 4, Akyol 0, Ilyasova 0, Solak 0, Erden 0, Demirel 0.

Group D in Sapporo
Slovenia - China 77-78
Slovenia: Becirovic 20, Slokar 15+6reb, Brezec 14+8reb, Nesterovic 11+10reb, Lakovic 9, Udrih 6, Milic 2, Jurak 0, Ozbolt 0, Nachbar 0, Zagorac 0, Dragic 0.
China: Yao 36+10reb, Du 11, Z. Wang 10, Liu 9+7reb+9ast, Zhu 5, S. Wang 3, Sun 2, Yi 2, Chen 0, Zhang 0, S. Zhang 0, Mo 0.
Italy - Puerto Rico 73-72
Italy: Marconato 10+8reb, Rocca 10, Soragna 8, Belinelli 7, Pecile 7, Garri 7, Gigli 7, Di Bella 6+5reb, Mancinelli 4, Michelori 4, Basile 3, Mordente 0.
Puerto Rico: Ayuso 25, Apodaca 12+9reb, Santiago 12+5reb, Reyes 10+7reb, Arroyo 8, Lee 3, Ramos 2, Hatton 0, Dalmau 0, Latimer 0, Rivera 0, Narvaez 0.
USA - Senegal 103-58
USA: Bosh 20+10reb, James 17, Anthony 12, Johnson 11, Jamison 9, Battier 9, Paul 7, Miller 5+8reb, Hinrich 5+5reb, Howard 4+6reb, Brand 4, Wade 0.
Senegal: M. Ndoye 25, Savane 8, Badiane 6+5reb, M. Ndiaye 6+9reb, M. Ndiaye 3, Aw 3, Cisse 3+5ast, N. Ndiaye 2, Niang 2, Pene 0, Faye 0, Diouf 0.

   Day 5 - USA squeak past Italy and China’s first win - Aug 23, 2006
For those who were concerned, Andres Nocioni showed his ankle was just fine as he led Argentina to their third consecutive easy win, 98-64 over Nigeria. Gasol scored 28 points as Spain survived a valliant effort by Angola, winning 93-83 and clinching first place in Group B of the 2006 FIBA World Championship. A hard-working China kept their hopes of progressing to the eight-finals at the FIBA World Championship alive after beating a disappointing Senegal 100-83. Serbia & Montenegro took a page out of Argentina's playbook, putting together a great first quarter to see off struggling Venezuela in a 90-65 win. Turkey will go into the final day of Group C undefeated after a 76-69 triumph over Qatar but the Asian team earned some respect after mounting a courageous comeback.

Group A in Sendai
Nigeria - Argentina 64-98 (20-29, 10,12, 17-32, 17-25)
Nigeria: Muoneke 10, Udoka 9, Ere 8, Nwosu 8, awojobi 8, Anagonye 6+11reb, Akognon 5, Ibekwe 3+7reb, Nwankwo 3+5reb, Oguchi 2, Varem 2, Obasohan 0.
Argentina: Nocioni 23, Ginobili 20, Scola 12+5reb, Herrmann 12, Sanchez 9+5ast, Delfino 8+7reb, Wolkowisky 5, Oberto 4+8reb, Gutierrez 3, Fernandez 2, Farabello 0+5ast, Prigioni 0.
Venezuela - Serbia & Montenegro 65-90 (13-27, 16-19, 14-25, 22-19)
Venezuela: Diaz 11, Lugo 10+13reb, Machado 10+8reb, Torres 10, Barrios 7, Vallenilla 5, Cedeno 4, Mijares 2, Aguilera 2, Marriaga 2, Bayona 2, Morris 0.
Serbia & Montenegro: Rakocevic 26, Milicia 18+11reb, Avdalovic 12, Nikolic 10+6reb, Tripkovic 7, Askrabic 6, Jorovic 3, Marinovic 3, Popovic 2, Ilic 2, Raicevic 1, Perovic 0.

Group B in Hiroshima
Spain - Angola 93-83 (25-12, 21-24, 19-21, 28-26)
Spain: Gasol 28+5reb, Fernandez 16, Farbajosa 15, Navarro 12, Mumbru 7, Cabezas 6, Jimenez 5+6reb, Calderon 2+6ast, M. Gasol 2, Reyes 0, Rodriguez Gomez 0, Rodriguez 0.
Angola: Gomes 24+11reb, Lutonda 18, Carvalho 12, Mingas 9+8reb, Cipriano 6, Morais 5, Barros 5+6reb, Boukar 2, Almeida 2, A. Costa 0, L. Costa 0, Neto 0.
Panama - Germany 63-81 (15-17, 23-20, 7-26, 18-18)
Panama: Peralta 9, Douglas 9, Daley 9, D. Gomez 9, Hicks 9, Garces 6, M. Gomez 6, Cota 2, Lloreda Ferron 2+5reb, Cardenas 2, Levy 0, Garcia Murillo 0.
Germany: Nowitzki 25+13reb, Greene 12, Schultze 10, Okulaja 8+5reb, Femerling 6, Demirel 5, Herber 4, Jagla 4, Garrett 3, Hamann2, Grunheid 2, Soller 0.

Group C in Hamamatsu
Australia - Lithuania 57-78 (15-20, 13-15, 14-25, 15-18)
Australia: Newley 15, Bogut 12, Bruton 8, Smith 8, Machinnon 7+7reb, Barlow 4, Bruce 3, Kendall 0, Worthington 0, Kickert 0, Hinder 0, Helliwell 0.
Lithuania: Macijauskas 20+7ast, Javtokas 16+12reb, Songaila 14, K. Lavrinovic 10, D. Lavrinovic 7, Kalnietis 4, Kleiza 3, Delininkaitis 3, Zukauskas 0, Jasaitis 0, Jankunas 0.
Qatar - Turkey 69-76 (16-27, 19-22, 14-16, 20-11)
Qatar: Saeed 20+7reb, Ali 15, salem 11+13reb, A. Ali 9, Saleem Abdullah 6, Abdullah 4, Abdi 2, Daoud 2, Al Nasr 0, Mohammed 0, Ismail 0, zaidan 0.
Turkey: Atsur 12, Akyol 10, Arslan 10, Ilysasova 9+6reb, Demirel 9, Erden 8, Kurtoglu 6, Gonlum 6+8reb, Peker 4+5reb, Solak 2, Erdogan 0, Kutluay 0.

Group D in Sapporo
Senegal - China 83-100 (27-24, 22-21, 19-26, 15-29)
Senegal: Aw 19+10reb, Ndoye 14+5reb, Cisse 12, Savane 10, Pene 9+7ast, Badiane 8, M. Ndiaye 6, N. Ndiaye 5, M. Ndiaye 0, Faye 0, Niang 0, Diouf 0.
China: Yao 26+9reb, Z. Wang 19+9reb, S. Wang 17, Liu 16+8ast, Du 12, Zhu 8, Zhang 2, Chen 0, Sun 0, Zhang 0, Yi 0, Mo 0.
Puerto Rico - Slovenia 82-90 (17-27, 16-25, 22-15, 27-23)
Puerto Rico: Arroyo 21, Ayuso 20, Ramos 10+5reb, Apodaca 10+7reb, santiago 8, Latimer 8, Hatton 3, Rivera Isaac 2, Reyes 0, Dalmau 0, Narvaez 0, Lee 0.
Slovenia: Lakovic 24, Urdi 16, Brezec 14+7reb, Nesterovic 12+9reb, Nachbar 10+11reb, Slokar 5, Jurak 4, Ozbolt 3, Becirovic 2, Zagorac 0, Milic 0, Dragic 0.

   Day 4 - Lithuania's first win - Aug 22, 2006
Hot-shooting Larry Ayuso lifted Puerto Rico to a triumph over China in overtime on Tuesday at the FIBA World Championship. Lithuania thrashed Qatar in Group C for their first win at the FIBA World Championship. Antonis Fotsis and Nikos Zisis buried three-pointers at the end as Greece stunned Australia 72-69. Italy left it late but finally saw off a determined Senegal to clinch their third win. - Team USA passed their first test with flying colours when they beat Slovenia on Tuesday to maintain their unbeaten run.

Group C in Hamamatsu
Lithuania - Qatar 106-65 (31-11, 29-17, 18-23, 28-14)
Lithuania: Lavrinovic 20+5reb, Kalnietis 14+5reb, macijauskas 13, Lavrinovic 12+5reb, Kalnietis 10+5ast, Javtokas 9, Songaila 7, Jankunas 6+6reb, Zukauskas 6+5ast, Delininkaitis 5, gustas 4, Jasaitis 0.
Qatar: S. Ali 20+5ast, A. Ali 11, Abdi 8, Saleem Abdullah 6+8reb, Abdullah 5, Daoud 4, Saeed 4, Mohammed 3, Zaidan 2, Salem 2, Ismail 0, Al Nasr 0.
Greece - Australia 72-69 (17-17, 22-17, 16-22, 17-13)
Greece: Diamantidis 20+6reb, Papadopoulos 12, Papaloukas 11, Spanoulis 10, Zisis 7, Fotsis 7, Chatzivrettas 2, Kakiouzis 2, Tsartsaris 1, Schortsanitis 0, Vassilopoulos 0, Ntikoudis 0.
Australia: Bogut 18+7reb, Barlou 11+6reb, Bruton 11+5ast+5st, Smith 9, Mackinnon 9+8reb+7ast, Bruce 8, Hinder 1, Kendall 0, Worthington 0, Kickert 0, Helliwell 0.
Turkey - Brazil 73-71 (25-23, 18-14, 13-21, 17-13)
Turkey: Erdogan 19, Kutluay 14, Gonlum 10+5reb, Kurtoglu 8, Peker 7+5ast, Arslan 6, Atsur 4, Ilyasova 3, Solak 2+5reb, Akyol 0, Erden 0, Demirel 0.
Brazil: Barbosa 26, Magalhaes Machado 13, Splitter Beims 13+8reb, Varejao 8+7reb, Ribeiro Garcia 5+5ast, Giovannoni 4+5reb, Dos Santos 2, Becker Da Rosa 0, Ferreira Jr. 0, Tieppo Huertas 0, Silveira Torres 0, Quirino Pereira 0.

Group D in Sapporo
China - Puerto Rico 87-90 (24-16, 14-23, 22-15, 16-22, 11-14)
China: Yao 29+8reb, Zhu 18, S. Wang 13, Liu 10+7reb+5ast, Z. Wang 7+5reb, Du 6, Yi 4+11reb, Chen 0, Zhang 0, Sun 0, Mo 0.
Puerto Rico: Ayuso 27, Arroyo 25+8reb+10ast, Santiago 14+7reb, Latimer 13+6reb, Lee 5, Apodaca 4, Reyes 2, Ramos 0, Hatton 0, Dalmau 0, Rivera Isaac 0, Narvaez 0.
Italy - Senegal 64-56 (16-16, 12-15, 14-14, 22-11)
Italy: Soragna 15, Mordente 14, Michelori 9+5reb, Belinelli 8, Mancinelli 6, Rocca 4+7reb, Di Bella 3, Gigli 3, Pecile 2, Basile 0, Marconato 0, Garri 0.
Senegal: Ndoye 18+7reb, Savane 12+5reb, Pene 10, Diouf 8, Aw 4, Badiane 4+6reb, M. Ndiaye 5reb, M. Ndiaye 0, Cisse 0, Nang 0, N. Ndiaye 0, Faye 0.
Slovenia - USA 114-95 (30-27, 36-22, 25-21, 23-25)
Slovenia: Becirovic 18, Nachbar 15+7reb, Brezec 15+12reb, Nesterovic 14+7reb, Lakovic 14, Urdih 8, Milic 5, Jurak 2, Ozbolt 2, Slokar 2, Zagorac 0, Dragic 0.
USA: Wade 20, James 19, Brand 16, Anthony 14, Battier 9, Jamison 8, Paul 9, Millar 8, Hinrich 5+7reb, Jonson 3, Howard 3, Bosh 0.

   Day 3 - Japan wins their first game and Serbia/Mont. Rebounds - Aug 21, 2006
For the second straight game, Argentina were able to rest their star players after taking control of this game early on and rolled to another easy win, defeating Venezuela 96-54. Eduardo Mingas scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Angola beat New Zealand 95-73 to advance to the Final 16 of the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Serbia & Montenegro had their best showing of the FIBA World Championship so far in a 104-57 destruction of Lebanon that puts them back in contention to reach the second round and keep their title defense alive a little longer. France got a major contribution down the stretch from the latest member of the team to hold off a second half rally from Nigeria and win 64-53. Four players scored in double figures as Japan captured their first victory at the 2006 FIBA World Championship by beating Panama 78-61 in Group B.

Group A in Sendai
Argentina - Venezuela 96-54 (18-10, 21-11, 35-17, 22-16)
Argentina: Herrmann 25+9reb, Scola 17, Wolkowisky 11, Oberto 10, Delfino 9+6ast.
Venezuela: Lugo 15+10reb, Barrios 9, Torres 8, Ballenilla 6, Diaz 6.
Serbia & Montenegro - Lebanon 104-57 (30-18, 25-15, 24-10, 25-14)
Serbia & Montenegro: Milicia 18, Askrabic 16+8reb, Raicevic 12, Marinovic 12, Popovic 11, Avdalovic 11.
Lebanon: El khatib 12, Feghali 11, Vogel 8, Samaha 7, Fahed 7.
France - Nigeria 64-53 (17-7, 16-8,14-21, 17-17)
France: Gelabale 14, Diarra 9, Weis 8, Petro 6, Diaw 5+9reb.
Nigeria: Udoka 17, Muoneke 14, Ibekwe 8+9reb, Ere 6, Nwosu 4.

Group B in Hiroshima
Angola - New Zealand 95-73 (21-12, 28-20, 20-23, 26,18)
Angola: Mingas 27+12reb, Gomes 20+7reb, Carvalho 12, Morais 8, Cipriano 7, Almeida 7.
New Zealand: Cameron 17+8reb, Penney 15, Jones 11, Bradshaw 9, Henare 8.
Germany - Spain 71-92 (22-26, 19-22, 19-24, 11-20)
Germany: Nowitzki 14+6reb+5ast, Greene 14, Herber 10, Femerling 9, Garrett 7.
Spain: Calderon 20+6ast, Navarro 19, Gasol 16, Garbajosa 12, Fernandez 7, Mumbru 7.
Japan - Panama 78-61 (14-22, 22-11, 21-12, 21-16)
Japan: Igarashi 18, Orimo 13, Sakurai 12, Takeuchi 11+8reb, Amino 8.
Panama: Douglas 16, Daley Hewitt 9, Garces 8, Cota 6, Gar