Croatia
triumphs in European Championship for Junior Men - Jul 25, 2002
- by
Eurobasket
"The Stars of Tomorrow" was the by-line
promised by the local organisers of the European Championship for Junior
Men held over the last week in Stuttgart, Germany, and the 12
participating nations did not disappoint. There was an abundance of
individual talent on display throughout the 9-day tournament as well as
some very well drilled, deep and formidable teams.
The competition format was two groups of six and after the preliminary
round of play Slovenia and Croatia emerged as group winners, followed by
Greece and Lithuania in second place. A further four teams (Turkey,
Latvia, Israel and France) also progressed to the quarter final round, and
Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Lithuania all won their respective games to
qualify for the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals
Greece and Slovenia were first up in what proved to be an intriguing
match-up. Greece had already proved its title credentials by winning the
prestigious Albert Schweitzer tournament in March this year, but Slovenia
was the only undefeated team in the competition and touted by scouts and
journalists as the deepest roster of all the participants. A further
mouth-watering subtext was the match-up at center between Erazem Lorbek of
Slovenia and Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Greece. Both players had dominated
under the basket throughout the tournament and supporters expected sparks
to fly when the two finally met. In the end it was indeed these two
players who would decide the outcome of the match.
Greece came out of the blocks early behind shooting guards Efstratios
Perperoglou and Constantinos Vassiliadis and built up a 27-21 lead by the
end of the first quarter, but a slow and steady comeback from Slovenia saw
the score tied at 62 by the end of the fourth quarter. The stage was set
for a dramatic finish and with just 5 seconds left on the game-clock
Schortsanitis was fouled and sent to the free-throw line, with his team
down by one point, 73-74. There was a huge amount of pressure on the 17
year old center, but he hit both freebies to give his team a one point
lead, 75-74. The options for Slovenia were limited, go for the win and the
glory or go home as a defeated semi-finalist. The Slovenians of course
went for the win and got the ball straight to their leader Erazem Lorbek
on the block, and the big guy delivered. Despite the attention of three
defenders he made his move and flipped the ball off the backboard and in
just before the buzzer sounded. It was a cruel end for an excellent Greek
team and its supporters (around 800 of whom came to Böblingen to cheer
their country on) but nobody could say that Slovenia did not deserve to be
in the final.
As soon as the heart rates had returned to normal and the Slovenian team
had stopped celebrating, it was time for the process to start all over
again and the next semi-final, Croatia v. Lithuania. Croatia was buoyed by
its own contingent of some 800 boisterous spectators in the arena, but it
didn't seem to help and the Croats trailed the Lithuanians for almost the
entire game. Croatia's top scorer and leader was point guard Roko Ukic,
but against Lithuania he could simply not get going, finishing the game
with just 9 points on 2/15 shooting. Lithuania flaunted a balanced attack
led by center Daruis Silinskis (12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks) and
forward Valdas Dabkus (16 points and 6 rebounds). As a result Lithuania
controlled the game comfortably from the front and entered the court at
the start of the fourth quarter with a 60-53 lead.
For the Lithuanians, the last quarter was a nightmare that they will want
to put behind them as soon as possible. A 14-0 run by Croatia was enough
to confirm that the game was by far from over and as soon as the crowd got
behind the Croatian team, it did not look like losing. The Lithuanians, on
the other hand, seemed intimidated by the Croatian comeback and could only
manage 6 points in the quarter and a 6-point loss, 69-75.
Final
Slovenia and Croatia entered the court on 21st July to find a capacity
crowd in Böblingen cheering both teams. Once again the Croats had the
psychological advantage as over 1,000 of their fans were present, but
Slovenia also had a section of the audience cheering them on. For Croatia,
this was the 5th final in a row in this age category, although the last
victory was in 1996. Slovenia's best ever finish had been 7th place in
1998, but as the only undefeated team in the tournament, held a slight
advantage in the final game.
As in the two semi-finals, the teams treated the fans to a close and
exciting game that went right down to the wire. Once again Croatia faced a
fourth quarter deficit, and once again the team showed huge heart in
mounting a spectacular comeback. The stars on the court were undoubtedly
Erazem Lorbek of Slovenia (32 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) and Roko Ukic
(25 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) and both players produced sublime
performances under intense pressure.
The fourth quarter of the game was all Slovenia, which had an 8-point lead
(69-61) with two minutes on the clock. This time the Croatians timed their
comeback a little bit later than against Lithuania and with 33 seconds to
go, the gap had been reduced to just two points, 72-70. Slovenia had
possession of the ball but a turnover led to a fast break and Ukic was
fouled. He hit two clutch free throws to tie the game (72-72) and leave
Slovenia in a very similar position as the day before. Once again Slovenia
went for a game winner, but full court pressure from Croatia led to a
turnover and guard Hrvoje Gasparac emerged with the ball. He was fouled
just as the buzzer sounded and would go to the line with the chance to win
the game. The Croatian team was already celebrating but the atmosphere
among the fans was extremely tense as victory was far from assured.
Fortunately for the team's supporters Gasparac showed no nerves whatsoever
in hitting both free-throws, winning the tournament for Croatia and
putting a final touch to a truly great basketball tournament.
All-Tournament Team
The following players were voted to the All-Tournament team by media
members present in Stuttgart:
Point guard: Roko Ukic (Croatia) - Ukic showed his
pedigree in Stuttgart not only as a great player, but also as a leader. At
1.90m the point guard may be slight in stature, but he displayed great
skill and heart and of course, a championship medal. He finished the
tournament with averages of 17.2 ppg, 6.25 rpg and 4 apg.
Shooting guard: Engin Ätsur (Turkey) - The 1.94m shooting
guard displayed a great scoring touch throughout the tournament and
averaged 22.3 ppg. More importantly, he led his team to 5th position in
the final standings and qualification to the World Championship for Junior
Men 2003 in Malaysia.
Small forward: Valdus Dabkas (Lithuania) - Dabkas was
perhaps a surprise selection to the all-tournament team. He was a key
member of a very balanced Lithuanian team that finished fourth in the
tournament and he averaged 12.5 ppg in 8 games.
Power forward: Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Greece) -
Schortsanitis was undoubtedly a fan favourite in Stuttgart who anointed
him with the nickname "Baby Shaq". Despite standing a good few centimeters
smaller than his L.A. Laker counterpart (at 2.06m), there are certainly
similarities in the way they play the game. Schortsanitis' inside power
was simply too much for his opponents at this level and many a hapless
defender was dunked on during the course of the event, to the delight of
the fans.
Center: Erazem Lorbek (Slovenia) - Lorbek not only picked
up All-Tournament honours but was also selected as the overall MVP.
Perhaps the most impressive facet of the game displayed by this 2.10
center was his touch around the basket and he shot an unbelievable 76%
from the floor. Although most of his work was carried out under the
basket, he was more than comfortable shooting the three pointer and he hit
6/13 (46%) in his 8 games. He finished the tournament with averages of
23.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.5 spg and 1.5 bpg.
Honourbale Mention Yotam Halperin (Israel) - this 1.94m shooting guard
confirmed his pedigree as one of the top prospects in Europe in his age
group. Unfortunately for him and his team he injured his ankle in
preliminary round action and never fully recovered. He sat out the final
group game in order to rest for the quarter-final in which Israel met
Lithuania. It was clear from the first play of the game that Halperin was
not 100% and although he managed to score 18 points in 26 minutes the team
his team was defeated. Fans and players alike have talked of Halperin's
similarity to Oded Kattash and there is certainly more than a grain of
truth in this. The Maccaabi Tel Aviv player is a silky smooth scorer who
seems to put his points on the board almost effortlessly. Despite only
playing in 5 games Halperin finished the tournament with averages of 23.4
ppg, 3.2 apg and 2.6 spg. Johan Petro (France) - a quick glance at the stats and
Johan Petro's performance during this competition will not jump out at you
(he averaged 8.8 ppg, 6 rpg and 1.5 bpg). However, if you saw him play you
would realise that he is a major European basketball prospect who, at just
16 years of age, will be eligible to play in the 2004 European
Championship for Junior Men. Although he is just 16, Petro already stands
2.12m and has the athleticism and raw talent to make a huge impact among
his peers. Constantinos Vassiliadis (Greece) - Greece had an
extremely strong backcourt in Vassiliadis and Perperoglou and in the big
games it was Vassiliadis who really led the team. The 1.99m guard had 32
points in the quarter-final against Poland and 22 in the semi-final
against Slovenia. Throughout the competition he proved to be almost
unstoppable going to the basket where he showed a superb touch in
finishing in traffic. He finished the tournament as the top scorer on the
Greek team at 20.9 ppg whilst also adding 6.5 rpg, 3 apg, and 1.6 spg.
by Jon Ingram (FIBA.COM)
All
about the EC for Juniors - Jul 23, 2002
- by
Eurobasket
Croatia claimed the title of the European Championship for Juniors
played in Stuttgart from 12th to 21st of July. The croatian team played
very good all along the event and only lost against Russia in the last
game of the first stage. However, they didn’t make it very good in the
final stage. France was close to knock them out and so was Lithuania, both
teams much weaker than the Balcanic side. Meanwhile, Slovenia was making
an incredible performance. After a perfect 5-0 in the first round, they
crushed Turkey in the quarters and played a tough semifinal against
Greece.
The Slovenia – Greece game will be remembered for long time. With a
couple thousand fans of Greece yelling and throwing things to the court,
the game looked like a final. Last minute was apotheosic, the hellenic
side took a 72-73 advantage thanks to a three of Vasilopoulos, but Erazem
Lorbek tied with just some seconds to go. Schortsianitis had enough time
to draw a foul and score two FTs for a 74-75 lead. Slovenia had only 2,3
seconds for the last play, but it was ok for Erazem Lorbek, who got the
ball and had the patience to dribble and score a winning basket. Greek
fans didn’t like it and got annoyed, throwing tons of objects to the
court, something the police couldn’t avoid (well, maybe they even didn’t
try to).
So we had a very interesting final: Slovenia – Croatia. The team
coached by Meni Becirovic was the favourite and, despite the fact Croatia
dominated all along the first half, they seemed to be ready to reach the
title. The scoreboard said 67-61 with 3:14 to go and 70-65 when there were
only 2 minutes to be played. However, Croatia showed they are big and
hungry and stayed in the game. 6 points of Gasparac, two wrong plays of
Erazem Lorbek and two free throws of Roko Ukic made the game get tied
(72-72) with 6 seconds to go. Then Miha Fon ran the court, made a turnover
and then another big error: making a foul to Gasparac with no time in the
clock. The Croatian shooting guard easily sealed the win of his team and
the 2nd European Junior championship in its history, just after 2 times in
a row ending as runner up.
One of the most amazing things of the championship was the big
attendance and the hundreds of fans from many teams. Immigration helped
and there could be seen thousands of Greeks, Croatians, Turkish or even
Israeli fans during the championship. All them but Greece behaved well,
supporting the teams without violence and problems, giving some colour to
the championship. The problem, as usually, came from the Greek fans, that
made the team feel like if they were at home but also showed their worst
side: violence.
The championship was starred by power forwards and shooting guards. The
MVP, Erazem Lorbek, showed he deserved it. He played fantastic, scoring in
all the posible ways, rebounding, passing and being decisive in any
important moment. Michigan State has probably done its best signing of the
last decade. Also to be remembered the skills of the Croatian power
forwards Drago Pasalic and Mateo Kedzo, wonderful players with an
incredible touch. Keeping an eye on power forwards we shouldn’t forget
talentous Sasa Zagorac, a great back-to-the-basket player and also a nice
shooter and passer, Maciej Lampe, excellent player who lacked consistency,
or Paulius Jankunas, who has a natural born instinct for rebounds and also
good moves in both high and low posts.
About shooting guards, we should underline Costas Vasiliadis that
showed his huge winner character leading Greek team in all the games. He
joins his great skills with a leader and winning spirit that will make him
a star. In Turkey we could see a big Engin Atsur, a very good shooter and
dribbler with an instinct to score. Worth to be remembered are the
Slovenia’s guard Aleksander Vujacic, who has it all to have a bright
future, Israeli Yotam Halperin, top scorer of the championship but
sidelined in the important games, or Spanish Rodolfo “Rudy” Fernandez, who
has a great performance in the final rush of the event.
Those were the two strongest spots. However, it doesn’t mean there
weren’t stars in the other positions. For instance, we have the marvellous
Roko-Leni Ukic as playmaker in Croatia. He led the team to the title,
guiding the team and scoring tons of points. Also as point guard we cannot
forget French Pape-Phillippe Amagou, one of the great surprises of the
championship, or Danilo Smigic, who has talent and also charisma.
Undoubtedly, one of the main starrers of the event was the Greek
Sofoklis Schortsianitis. Big, strong and quick, he dominated the
championship thanks to his strength moves. When he will become finally pro
it will be much harder for him, but now it’s almost imposible for juniors
to stop him. If he has a fantastic present, the future is on the hands of
Johan Petro, an athletic 210cm and 16 years old French center. Also
Latvian Biedrins (1986, too) will have many things to say in the future,
just like the Lithuanian talented center, Darius Silinskis. He has moves,
height and speed to be a fantastic player in the next years.
However, there weren’t very good small forwards in the event. Valdas
Dabkus (Lithuania) was selected in the starting five, and although it’s
true he played good, he wasn’t better than Stratos Perperoglu (Greece) or
Gatis Jahovics (Latvia), even Piotr Stelmach (Poland).
At last, we have to focus on the organization: despite the fact Germans
are tidy and exact, the organization of the championship was far from
good, the people in charge made an effort but they hadn’t the resources
and the knowledge to fix the problems and do it ok. Scouts and agents were
charged high amounts by the accreditations, also there were complains
about the price of the organization’s hotel, as people paid a much higher
amount than what it really costed.
The first stage was caothic. There were two pavilions, each one in
different villages outside Stuttgart. Going from one court to the other
was very difficult, as there weren’t buses and it took about 45 minutes by
car. Those two pavilions didn’t worth to host this event, in fact they
weren’t ready and didn’t even be ok with the rulesets. There was also a
big problem with security and supporters, organization didn’t know how to
control them.
by Pablo Malo de Molina and Alex Gamez Arroyo
Croatia
is the champion!!! - Jul 21, 2002
- by
Yarone Arbel Finals: Croatia 74 - Slovenia 72 Croatia came to the finals with a legacy.
Since 1994 they were in every EC Juniors finals (winning only the 1996
finals). Slovenia came to the finals with a perfect record in the current
championship (7-0). After the big games in the Semi Finals it wasn't a big
surprise the finals was another thrilling game. Just like the game Vs.
Greece in the SF, Slovenia had the last possession after free throws, and
ready to win the game, but just like the game vs. Lithuania, Croatia was
there to complete another huge come back and take the trophy. The first
quarter was balanced, and Croatia had a small 19-18 lead, But the first 4
minutes of the 2nd quarter were all Croatia. Led by Ukic the Croatians
made a 13-3 run, and took a 32-21 lead in the 14th minute. Slovenia scored
their way back to the game and by half time Croatia had a small 37-34
lead. The teams stayed close during the first minutes of the 3rd, but it
was Slovenia who pulled a 54-59 lead in the 29th minute, and at the buzzer
of the 3rd Slovenia led 56-59. The domination of Slovenia was complete
till the 38th minute. Erazem Lorbek led Slovenia to a 61-69 lead 2 minutes
to go, but then everything changed. Once again Croatia made a big comeback
to the game. Hrvoje Gasparac nailed a 3 point shot 33 seconds to go, to
make it a 70-72 game. Erazem Lorbek made a turnover, and Vujacic sent Roko
Ukic to the line 6 sec. to go. The best PG in the championship, who had a
bad game in the Sf, gave a 25 pts, 9 rbs and 6 as. performance in the
finals, and didn't miss the chance. The game was tied. In the Semi Finals
Slovenia were down by one point with 5 seconds to go, but managed to score
and win the game. This time, the had one more second with the game tied,
but... Miha Fon tried a long pass, but Croatia stole the ball at
mid-court, and the same Hrvoje Gasparac drawn a foul just as the buzzer
went off. Gasparac hit all his shots in the game till that point. 2/2 from
3 point land, and 2/2 from the line. He stayed perfect, and made both free
throws to win the game, and the championship, for Croatia. 74-72.
Croatia (19+18+19+18): Ukic
25 + 9 rbs + 6 as, Kedzo 10, Gasparac 10, Basljan 9, Tomas 8, Pasalic 7 +
7 rbs, Banic 5 + 10 rbs Slovenia
(18+16+25+13): E. Lorbek 32 - 15/21 FG + 7 rbs + 4 st, Vujacic 15 + 6 rbs,
Smigic 11, Zagorac 10, Fon 4
Greece
takes the bronze - Jul 21, 2002
- by Yarone Arbel Greece 82 - Lithuania 67 Greece won the bronze medal in the
championship after easily beatingLithuania 82-67. Greece had a 38-29 lead
by half time, and after the gap was in double digits in the last quarter,
the Lithuanians gave up. Vaseliadis had another good game with 21 points,
and baby shaq had a farewell with 18 pts and 8 rbs. Silinskis was the only
player in the Lithuanian team to score more than 8 points. Greece (24+14+18+26):
Vaseliadis 21, Schortsanitis 18 - 8/12 FG + 8 rbs, Theos 12, Perperoglou
10 + 7 rbs, Apostolidis 9, Xanthopoulos 8, Vasilopoulos 4 Lithuania (18+11+20+18):
Silinskis 15 + 8 rbs, Babrauskas 8, Savostjanovas 8, Pavlavicius 8, Dabkus
8, Jankunas 5 + 9 rbs, Pridotkas 5, Mazeika 3, Joneliunas 2
Turkish
Juniors got what they want - Jul 21, 2002
- by
Serdar Ortakuyu 5-6 Place: Turkey 71 - Israel 50 Turkey got an easy 71-50 win against Israel
for the last ticket to Malaysia and took the fifth place without star
forward Valentin Pastal..3 players scored double figures and Gokhan
Koroglu registered a double double. Limond was the only one for Israel to
score more than 6, as Israel played without their injured PGs Yotam
Halperin and Lior Lipshitz. Turkey (9+26+20+16): Murat
Kaya 10p , Baris Ermis 6p , Engin Atsur 15p , Goktug Akgor 4p , Ulug
Kacaniku 0p, Halil Kurtuza 3p , Gorkem Gurel 2p , Ibrahim Daloglu 10p ,
Gokhan Koroglu 12p+12r , Selim Saygin 2p , Caner Topaloglu 7p Israel (9+12+11+18)):Rab 1p
, Simin 3p , Synayderman 6p , Kohansky 6p , Zagury 5p , Limond 21p ,
Kazarnovsky 6p , Ben Chimol 2p
