Argentina celebrating gold medal at the Olympic Games '04 (Photo: FIBA)
Semi-Finals: The Greek team thrashed the Puerto Rico 63-88 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides The 4th and final score begun with Santiagos dunk and 1 free throw from Jones Cama, but the Head Coach of Puerto Rico Mr. Manuel Cintron was not calmed enough and was called a technical foul, the Greek team scored 2 easy points. The score became 55-70 with the 2 free throws from Sanchez, 6.35 before the end of the game. There have been many fights during the last minutes so the two coaches had to calm things and for this reason mainly Manuel Cintron took the time out for his team with the score being 55-73, 5.12 before the end of the game. The Greek team has currently 4 players with double digits, with Sofoklis Schortsianitis leading the race with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Not for long though as Diamantidis with his 4th 3pointer made his personal points 15 and the difference 19 with the board showing 57-76, 4.38 before the end. It is more than obvious that the Hellenic team will travel to China for the Olympic games!! The difference went up to 20 points for the first time 3.28 before the end of the game, 58-78, before Vassilopoulos scores another 3pointer and Papaloukas a lay-up t make the difference 58-83 and to 25 points, 2.24 before the end of the game. The rest is simply history! The final result was 63-88
1st Semi Final Game: Croatia beat the Germans and is waiting an opponent for the finals - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides
The 4th quarter begun with a 3pointer scored by Davor Kus, a 2pointer scored by Prkcin while was continued with a couple of false balls by the German NT. The score was 52-49, 6.49 before the end of the game. Prkacin was hot and he proved it with another 3 points scored against the Big Dirg as he succeeded a goal-foul. Prkacin had now 8 points. The score was now 55-51, 5.10 before the end of the game. Tomas succeeded the highlighted scene of the game as he scored an amazing basket against Schultze. The game was turning now towards the Croats as Nowitzki was not able to score while Kus scored another 3pointer, brining the score to 63-53. The German NT had only 3.32 to fight the game and diverse the deficit of -10 points. Was it possible?? They just needed a small miracle to happen. The Greek fans were obviously voting for Germany.
The game was over only when an offensive rebound was won by the Croats. Marko Tomas (200-G-85) was the MVP of the game with his 21 points. The game was over, the Croats with more physical strength, better psychology and way much better basketball at the fourth and most crucial quarter, beat the Germans with 76-70 even though Dirk Nowitzki gave his best shot, he was all alone for another one tournament, the German team will now wait to see their opponent for a position in the Olympic games in less than two months in Beijing. For the History to add that Dirk Nowitzki finsihed the game with 30 points ,13 rebounds and 18 drawn fouls
2nd Semi Final - 3rd quarter: P. Rico Greece 50-68 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides The third quarter begun with a block shot of Sanchez over Vassilopoulos and an easy basket from Barea while Diamantidis answered with a 3pointer. Barea was on fire and with unanswered points cut the deficit to 41-51, 6.58 before the end of the third quarter. Barea continued to score and the difference went to 8 points, 45-53, 5.58 before the end of the quarter. Barea is the top scorer for the Puerto Rico team with 16 points, 8 of which were scored in the last 3 minutes with exactly the same way. Sofoklis Schortsianitis (206-C-85) (Big Sofo) though, was very hot, he scored 5 points with two goal-fouls nad brought the difference once more to 11 while he created big troubles in the centers of Puerto Rico as nearly every basket was foul too. Larry Ajuso scored his first points from the charity line 4.16 before the end of the third quarter. A magic assist from Papaloukas to Bouroussis made the score 49-62, 1.22 before the end of the quarter. A three pointer from Diamantidis put the tombstone to the Puerto Ricans dreams as the difference went up to 17 points, 50-67 0.24 before the end of the quarter. The final score for the third quarter was 50-68. Top performer for this quarter was definitely Sofoklis Schortsianitis with his 13 points in total but also the 5 fouls he won against the Puerto Rican centers.
2nd semi final - First half :P. Rico Greece 35-48 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides The second quarter started with a 2pointer of Big Sofo over Ramos. Barea became the 3rd P. Rican player to score after scoring the 1of 2 from the charity line. Rivera the ex AEKs player scored a long three pointer and cut the deficit to 15-21, 7.39 before the end of the first half but Tsartsaris was there to equalise the three pointers. Barea succeeded a goal foul over the newcomer Bourousis, while Vassilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) once more balanced the three point game with a three pointer from the arc. A couple of diverse fouls from the Spanish referee Mr. Hierrezuelo (Spanish to call P. Ricans??) brought the difference to only 6 points, 23-29, 5.07 before the end of the first half. Vassilis Spanoulis with another 3pointer, Bourousis with a goal-foul and Big Sofo with a basket in the paint after the amazing assist given by Papaloukas made the score 27-41, 1.37 before the end of the first half. The p. Ricans with 2 3 pointers cut the deficit to 10 before a new 3pointer from Vassilopoulos comes to increase the deficit to 13 by the end of the half. Score is 35-48 with top performer in this quarter Vassilis Spanoulis who scored 6 and Bourousis who scored 5.
2nd semi final First half: P. Rico Greece 35-48 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides The second quarter started with a 2pointer of Big Sofo over Ramos. Barea became the 3rd P. Rican player to score after scoring the 1of 2 from the charity line. Rivera the ex AEKs player scored a long three pointer and cut the deficit to 15-21, 7.39 before the end of the first half but Tsartsaris was there to equalise the three pointers. Barea succeeded a goal foul over the newcomer Bourousis, while Spanoulis once more balanced the three point game with a three pointer from the arc. A couple of diverse fouls from the Spanish referee Mr. Hierrezuelo (Spanish to call P. Ricans??) brought the difference to only 6 points, 23-29, 5.07 before the end of the first half. Spanoulis with another 3pointer, Bourousis with a goal-foul and Big Sofo with a basket in the paint after the amazing assist given by Papaloukas made the score 27-41, 1.37 before the end of the first half. The p. Ricans with 2 3 pointers cut the deficit to 10 before a new 3pointer from Vassilopoulos comes to increase the deficit to 13 by the end of the half. Score is 35-48 with top performer in this quarter Spanoulis who scored 6 and Bourousis who scored 5.
2nd Semi Final 1st quarter: Puerto Rico Greece 11-17 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides The Puerto Rican team started the game with Aroyo, Ayuso, Jones Cama, Sanchez, Lee and Peter John Ramos (222-C-85) while Coach Yiannakis used today as starters the same five as in the Preliminary round: Spanoulis, Diamantidis, Vassilopoulos, Fotsis and Tsartsaris. OAKA is packed! There are probably more than 18,000 Basketball fans in the court, the atmosphere once more is great. The game begun as usual with a basket by Diamantidis, followed by two free throws from Tsartsaris and a steal with a 2pointer by Spanoulis and a very early 6-0 in one minute. Tough defence from the Hellenic team and an early 2-10 but two fouls were called against Spanoulis. Lee scored 2 free throws for P. Rico while Fotsis scored his first 3pointer 5.55 before the end of the quarter. Another steal from Tsartsaris and Spanoulis is scoring an amazing reverse lay-up to shape a difference of 11 points 4-15, 5.34 before the end of the quarter. Lee scored the first P. Rican 3pointer 4.30 before the end. The first change for the Hellenic NT is Zisis over Spanoulis. Schortsianitis scored his first basket 10 seconds after his entrance in the game. The score is now 7-17, 2.49 before the end of the quarter. The captain of the Hellenic team entered to the court 2.25 before the end of the quarter. The quarter is finishing with 11-19. Top scorer for the Greek team are 4 players with 4 points while from the P. Rican team Peter John Ramos has 6 and Lee 5 as they are the only two players to score!.
Semi Finals: 3rd quarter Croatia Vs Germany 47-48 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides OAKA is slowly slowly becoming more crowded, Hellenic flags, cups and jerseys are colouring in blue OAKAs atmosphere, the game follows between Greece and Puerto Rico is sold out. In regards to the game now, Loncar scored the first basket while Kaman answer with a basket in the paint scoring his 6th point. The scored remain 2-2, 7.30 before the end of the third quarter, the negative factor for the German NT is the 3rd foul which was called for Kaman 7.17 before the end of the 3rd quarter. Kaman lost the last 4 offences for his team before he was able to score 4 unanswered points 4.26 before the end making the score 40-39 (Nowitzki added another two points from the charity line), the 2 NBAers have now 31 points from the German team (21 by Nowitzki and 10 by Kaman). In the next 2 minutes, Planininc succeeded I tip in after his own shot while Roller scored his first three pointer and soon after a two pointer bringing his team in the leading role 1.42 before the end 42-44. Tomas balanced the game with two shots from the free throw line and Zoran Planinic (198-G-82) scored a two pointer but 0.10 before the end of the 3rd quarter was called a technical foul (he wanted a foul in an attempt for a three pointer which was never called) and the German team with Nowitzki scored the one out of 2. Chris Kaman (213-C-82, college: Cent.Michigan) was the top performer in the 3rd quarter as he scored 8 points.
Semi Finals: 2nd quarter- Croatia Germany 36-31 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides Nowitzki's great performance in the first 3 minutes, the German NBAer scored 10 points and cut the deficit to a single basket 26-24. The Croats in the first 3.45 were able to score just a two free throws. The next couple of minutes belonged to Planinic and Loncar as the two players scored blocked and rebound in less than 3 minutes, bringing the score into a safety figure for their team, score 2.49 before the end of the first half 36-26. The next two minutes was a monologue on behalf of the superstar NBAer Dirk Nowitzki (211-F-78) as he scored, earn a couple of fouls and rebound but he was all alone as his team-mates and especially the guards forgot their good form and were not able to help their leader. The score was 36-31 1.06 before the end of the game. The Croats loose another couple of baskets so the scored remained unchanged for the last minutes. Top scorer of this quarter was Dirk Nowitzki with his 19 points. On behalf of the Croat NT, Tomas didnt score but he remains at the top as the other Croat with some decent figures was Planinic with his 6.
Semi Finals - 1st quarter: Croatia - Germany 24-14 - July 19, 2008 - by Chris Mammides The Croats with an amazing Marko Tomas (200-G-85) overscored Dirk Nowitzki's team with ten points in this first quarter. The big Dirk was only able t oscore 6 points and mainly it was the reason why the Croats were able to take this quite big difference at the beggining of the game. Anotehr factor is obviously the very good defence of the Croats especially against the shorter players of the German team as Roller and Green are having big troubles agains the Croats. Top scorer as mentioned before was Marko Tomas with 11 poitns in less than 8 minutes.
Argentina
Defeats Italy for Gold - Aug 28, 2004
- by Arthur Volbert Argentina - Italy 84-69
Argentina: Sanchez 3p+4r+5a, Ginobili 16p+6r+6a, Montecchia 16p+2r, Fernandez
1p, Sconochini 2p+2r, Scola 25p+11r+1a+1s, Nocioni 7p+9r, Wolkowyski 13p+3r
Italy: Basile 9p, Galanda 7p+2r+3s, Soragna 12p+4r+1s, Marconato 6p+4r, Pozzecco
12p, Righetti 3p, Rombaldoni 10p+1r+2a, Bulleri 5p, Chiacig 3p+4r, Garri
2p+6r+1s
Reversing the result of its 76-75 preliminary-round loss, just as the USA
reversed its earlier loss to Lithuania, Argentina won the gold medal with an
84-69 triumph over Italy.
With Fabricio Oberto out with a broken hand, power forward
Luis Scola
(206-F/C-80) played 37 minutes, scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace
the Argentine victory. The 2002 second round draft choice of the San Antonio
Spurs, who for salary cap reasons will play another year in Europe, hit 10 of
his 13 shots and all five of his free throws.
Alex Montecchia scored 17 points and San Antonio's Manu Ginobili scored 16,
grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Ruben Wolkowyski scored 13 points
and grabbed 3 rebounds. Matteo Saragna and Gianmaro Pozzecco scored 12 points
for Italy and Rodolpho Rombaldoni scored 10. These were the only Italians in
double figures.
Argentina only hit 3 of 14 three-pointers, to 11 of 31 for the Italians, but
Argentina outscored Italy 46-20 in the paint and had 14 fast break points to
only 2 for Italy.
Argentina led 23-16 at the end of the first quarter but Italy narrowed the
Argentine lead to 43-41 at the half. Argentina opened up a 6 point lead, 60-54,
at the end of the third quarter and outscored Italy 24-15 in the fourth.
USA
Wins Bronze, Defeats Lithuania 104-96 -- Greece Fifth, Spain Seventh - Aug 28,
2004 - by
Arthur Volbert 3rd Place Game: USA - Lithuania 104-96
USA: Iverson 15p+3a, Marbury 14p+5a, Wade 9p+6a, Boozer 7p+8r, Anthony 3p+4r,
James 6p+2a+2s, Marion 22p+6r+3s, Stoudemire 4p, Duncan 6p+8r, Odom
14p+7r+2a+3s, Jefferson 4p+5r
Lithuania: Ginevicius 3p, M. Zukauskas 8p+2a, Macijauskas 24p, Stombergas 13p,
Siskauskas 13p+3a, Songaila 5p+4r+2a, E. Zukauskas 4p+2r, Jasikevicius
17p+3r+4a+2s, Javtokas 9p+6r
The United States initially brought the wrong uniforms to today's bronze medal
game. But the right team showed up, the one that beat Spain two days ago, and
it defeated Lithuania 104-96. The USA has now defeated both of the undefeated
preliminary group leaders in the final round and neither Lithuania nor Spain
will go home with a medal.
On the other hand, Italy, which lost to 11th place Serbia-Montenegro 74-72,
and Argentina, which needed a last-second shot to beat the Serbs 83-82, will be
going for the gold later today. Note that China beat Serbia-Montenegro 67-66.
So, as I have said, these teams are all on a similar level, except for Angola,
and anyone can beat anyone on a given day.
The USA won today's game even though Lithuania hit a record 21 of 37
three-pointers, breaking the Olympic three-point record which Italy set
yesterday. But the USA scored 36 points in the paint to 18 for Lithuania and,
with superior quickness and leaping ability outrebounded the Lithuanians 40-26.
The United States can beat any team in the tournament when, as today, it
brings its A game and lose to any team, save Angola, when, like yesterday, it
brings its B game.
The game was tied 24-24 at the end of the first quarter and the USA forged
ahead 49-44 at the half. The score at the end of three quarters was 74-71 in
favor of the United States.
Shawn Marion
(201-F-78, college:
UNLV) of the Phoenix Suns was the star for the USA, scoring 22 points,
grabbing 6 rebounds and making 3 steals. He hit 9 of 15 shots and both of his
free throws. Lithuania could not contain his inside play. Allen Iverson added
15 points for the USA while Lamar Odom and Stephon Marbury each scored 14. Tim
Duncan, held to 24 minutes of playing time by foul trouble, scored only 6 points
but hit two critical free throws with 40 seconds left in the game.
Arvydas Macijauskas led Lituania with 24 points. Sarunas Jasikevisius scored
17 points while both Saulius Stombergas and Ramunas Siskauskas added 13.
5th Place Game: Greece - Puerto Rico 85-75
Greece: Papaloukis 6p, Zisis 6p+4r, Papanikolaou 2p+2r, Spanoulis 7p+2r+3a,
Chatzivrettas 17p, Tsartsaris 5p, Diamantidis 7p+8r+3a+1s+2b, Papadopoulos
15p+3r+1a, Kakiouzis 20p+6r+3a+3s+1b
Puerto Rico: Ortiz 13p+6r+2a+2s, Casiano 5p, Hatton 5p+2r+2a, Arroyo 12p+4a+3s,
Ayuso 14p+2r, Hourriitiner 10p, Santiago 7p+9r
Scoring 50 points in the paint and 18 on fast breaks, Greece defeated Purto Rico
85-75 to gain fifth place in the Olympic tournament.
Michael Kakiouzis scored 20 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished out 3 assists,
made 3 steals and blocked a shot to lead Greece. Nicholaos Chatzivrettas added
17 points and Lazaros Papadopoulos netted 15. Dimetrios Diamantidis scored 7
points, grabbed 8 rebounds and also had 3 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.
Elias Ayuso led Puerto Rico with 14 points. 40-year-old Jose Ortiz scored 13
points, grabbed 6 rebounds, had 2 assists and made 2 steals. Carlos Arroyo of
the Utah Jazz scored 12 points, handed out 4 assists and made 3 steals. Rolando
Hourritener added 10 points.
Greece jumped out to a 25-15 first quarter lead and was ahead 44-36 at the
half. It led 66-56 after three quarters and maintained that 10-point lead at
the end of the game.
7th Place Game: Spain - China 92-76
Spain: Gasol 37p+7r+2a+1b, Comas 3p, Navarro 9p+2r+1a, Caldaroni 2p+6r+1a,
Reyes 6p+6r+2a, Jiminez 0p+4r+2s, Yerba 2p+2r, Duenas 7p+3r, Fernandez 2p+2r, de
la Fuente 4p+2r+4a+3s+1b, Garbajosa 20p+6r
China: Liu 3p+6r+2a+4to, Guo 11p, Zhu 4p, Li 16p+3r, Yi 8p+4r+1b, Mo 4p, Yao
14p+7r+3a+1b, Bateer 5p+1r, Du 11p+1a
Pau Gasol scored 37 points and Yao Ming, Mo Ke and Yi Jianlian fouled out of the
game as Spain defeated China today, 92-76. Reacting to its disappointment at
losing to the USA in the quarterfinals, Spain was determined to show it was one
of the best teams in the tournament.
China, however, did not fade away and lost to Spain by fewer points than it
lost in the opening game of the tournament. It lost by 25 in the opener while
today it lost by 16 and never trailed by more than 20. This tournament was a
learning process for China and Spain taught the team a few more lessons today.
China fell behind 25-21 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 42-32 at the
half. Spain extended its lead to 65-50 after three quarters.
Jorge Garbajosa had 20 points and 6 rebounds for Spain and Juan Carlos
Navarro had 9 to support the outstanding performance by Gasol. Li Nan led China
in scoring with 16 points and Yao had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Guo Shiquang
and Du Feng both scored 11 points. Yi Jianlian, despite fouling out, had his
best game of the tournament with 8 points, 4 rebounds and a block. Zhu Fangyu
continued his disappointing performance scoring only 4 points and missing all 4
of his three-point shots.
Italy,
Argentina Go For Gold as USA, Lithuania Seek Bronze - Aug 27, 2004
- by
Arthur Volbert Semifinals: Italy - Lithuania 100-91
Italy: Radulovic 2p+5r, Basile 31p+4r, Galanda 16p+5r+2b, Soragna 12p+2r+2a,
Marconato 6p+9r+3a+1b+1s, Pozzecco 17p+2r+3a+3s, Bulleri 12p+5r+2a, Chiacig
4p+5r
Lithuania: M. Zukauskas 8p+2r, Macijauskas 26p+5r+1a+1s, Stombergas 12p+2a+2s,
Siskauskas 4p+7r+4a+1s, Songaila 6p+2r+1a, E. Zukauskas 10p+5r+2a+1b, Larinovic
15p+3r, Jasikevicius 9p+5r+9a+2s, Salenga 1p
As expected, Lithuania will face the United States tomorrow in a rematch of
their exciting preliminary round contest. Unexpectedly, the game will be for
the bronze medal as Italy and Argentina will be playing for the gold.
Italy defeated Lithuania today 100-91, a result every bit as surprising as
Argentina's earlier 89-81 victory over the USA. Italy and Argentina will also
be playing a rematch of an exciting preliminary game, a contest which Italy won
76-75.
Gianluca
Basile (193-G-75) scored 31 points, hitting 7 of 11 three-pointers and all 8
of his free throws to lead the Italians against Lithuania. Gianmarco Pozecco
scored 17 points, Giacomo Galanda scored 16, while Matteo Soragna and Massimo
Bolleri both scored 12.
Arvydas Macijauskas poured in 26 points for Lithuania, hitting 6 of 10
three-pointers. Kristov Larinovic added 15 points, Saulius Strombergas had 12
and Eurelijus Zukauskas had 10 for Lithuania. Sarunas Jasikevicius added 9
points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
This was a game of scoring streaks. Lithuania jumped off to a 26-20 lead at
the end of the first quarter and extended this margin to 34-23. Then Italy went
on a 21-point run to take a 44-34 lead and maintained a 49-43 margin at the end
of the first half.
Italy led 73-63 at the end of the third quarter. Then Lithuania went on a
15-point run to begin the fourth quarter to convert this deficit to a 78-73
lead. But Italy battled back and outscored Lituania 27-14 the remainder of the
game to achieve its final 9-point margin of victory.
Argentina
Beats United States 89-81 in Semifinal - Aug 27, 2004
- by Arthur
Volbert Argentina - USA 89-81
Argentina: Sanchez 4p+7a, Ginobili 29p+3r+3a, Montecchia 12p+2a+2s, Oberto
6p+4r+4a, Herrmann 11p+4r, Fernandez 1p+3r, Scola 4p+4r+2s+2b, Nocioni 13p+5r,
Wolkowyski 3p+4r
USA: Iverson 10p+2r+3a+2s, Marbury 18p, Wade 2p+2r+2a+2s, Boozer 8p+9r+3s, James
3p, Marion 9p+5r+3s, Duncan 10p+6r, Odom 14p+8r+3a+2s, Jefferson 7p+2r
The erratic United States team, bereft of most of its superstars and showing its
unfamiliarity with the style of international play, lost to Argentina today,
89-81. Argentina, finally playing up to the potential of the team that almost
won the world title in 2002, had five players in double figures, including 29
points from
Emanuel Ginobili (198-G-77, agency:
Interperformances)
Andres Nocioni had 13 points, Alex Montecchia had 12 points, Walter Herrmann
had 11 points and Luis Scola had 10. Point guard Pepe Sanchez had 4 points and
7 assists. Fabricio Oberto had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Tim Duncan of the United States was in foul trouble most of the game,
unfamiliar with international officiating, playing less than 20 minutes and
fouling out with 5 minutes left in the game. With Shaquille O'Neal, Ben
Wallace, Brad Miller and Jermaine O'Neal not on the team, power forward Carlos
Boozer served as the backup center. Boozer, as a restricted free agent,
recently became a member of the Utah Jazz when the Cleveland Cavaliers refused
to match Utah's offer sheet.
Argentina hit 11 of 22 three point shots. The United States, as suspected
unable to put together two good shooting games in a row, only hit 3 of 11
three-pointers.
Argentina jumped off to a 24-20 first quarter lead and was ahead 43-38 at the
half. It led 70-57 at the end of the third quarter en route to its 8 point
victory margin. Argentina led by 5 points or more the entire second half,
demonstrating its superiority today over the USA team.
I would like to comment on yesterday's controversy after USA Coach Larry
Brown called a timeout with 23 seconds left and his team leading by 11 points.
While such a timeout is considered extremely bad manners in Europe, it is very
acceptable, even encouraged, in the NBA. There, because of poor overall foul
shooting and the propensity of the trailing team to foul immediately on defense
and throw up quick three-pointers on offense, such a timeout does indeed have
tactical value. Also I believe that coaches are encouraged to use all their
time outs in the NBA so that the television broadcasters can get in all their
commercials. While this may be extemely frustrating to spectators and TV
viewers, it is extremely profitable for the NBA clubs and their league.
Day
Five Games Summary - Aug 23, 2004 - by
Eurobasket
In the last day of group eliminational, there were some interesting results.
World Champions (Serbia/Montenegro) are already out of the competition. They
lost in the "last chance game" to China, and Asian champion made it to the
quarterfinals instead of Serbia/Montenegro. China will face in the quarterfinals
Group B leader, undefeated Lithuania.
USA also had to win their game to make it to the quarterfinals. But the opponent
was Angola, which is considered as the weakest team of the tournament. So
Americans had no problem to get 36-points victory. They will play against
undefeated Spain in the quarterfinals.
Spain faced unpredictable New Zealand. And that was not an easy game. However
Spaniards secured 88-84 victory and will face USA in the quarterfinals.
Italy similarly like China managed to get 1-point victory against Argentina.
Both teams had already secured their place in the quarterfinals, where Italy
will face Puerto Rico and Argentina will play against host Greece.
In other games Greece crushed Puerto Rico by 20 points and Lithuania did not
have bigger problems to beat Australia by 15 points.
Group A
Spain - New Zealand 88-84
Spain: Calderón 3, Navarro 10, Jiménez 6, Gasol 14, Garbajosa 17; Comas 3, Reyes
4, Dueñas, Fernández 15, De la Fuente 3, Iturbe 3, Yebra 10
New Zealand: Dickel 8, Jones 23, Camerón 18, Rampton, Marks 13; Penney 6, Henare
2, Boucher 6, Book 8 Spain makes a perfect record to the quarterfinals - by Juanjo Martin
Spain stopped speculations and reached the victory in the last
match of Preliminaries. Head coach Mario Pesquera utilized his usual starter
players in this match, proving that he don't want to lose any match in the
event. This triumph allows to keep invict in the Olympic Games. A loss would
have knocked out Serbia, a tough rival in the final phase although they aren't
in their best moment right now. The Spanish team had the chance to send them
back home, but it won against New Zealand, which is mathematically out of
Quarterfinals. Many people remembered the Eurobasket'99 when Spain depended on
Yugoslavia's victory over Russia to get the bid for quarterfinals but they lost.
Today the fair play has imposed and the forth classified of Pool A will be the
winner of Serbia-China.
One of the faults of Spain in this Olympics is the 3-pointers.
In the four disputed matches Spain has a poor 15/65 (11th in the ranking, only
above USA). In this match seemed to be solved: 14/26 from the perimeter (9/14 in
the first half), contrasting with New Zealand's record: 9/35. Navarro started to
show signs of life (two 3-pointers in the first minutes) and his partners joined
to the party.
Jorge Garbajosa completed once more a great game, leading Spain in the
second period with seven points in a row and a later shot beyond the arc.
Rudy Fernandez had
more minutes in the court and could managed them with very good numbers: 15 pts
with 3/3 in 3p. The scoreboard showed 48-37 for Spain in the break.
Oscar Yebra,
who had hardly played in the opening match, continued with the offensive job in
the second half, making 10 pts. Spain let up in this period due to the match was
irrelevant for them, what was utilized by
Phill Jones (23
pts) to narrow the score. He was accompanied by NBA Marks and
mainly Pero
Cameron (18). Garbajosa came back to the floor to defend him and stopped his
scoring streak. Jones continued on fire and together to several Spanish
turnovers, the score was tied at 81 with more than 2 minutes to play.
Gasol hit
from the arc and scored two free shots to get Spain ahead. Cameron narrowed the
score again (86-84). Spain missed the next move with an open 3-pointer, but New
Zealand did the same, finishing their hopes with that failed 3-pointer.
Italy - Argentina 76-75
Italy: Bulleri 16, Soragna 6, Righetti 14, Galanda 1, Marconato 2; Radulovic 16,
Pozzeco 17, Rombaldoni, Chiacig 4, Garri
Argentina: Montecchia 5, Ginobili 19, Nocioni 6, Oberto 4, Wolkowyski 5; Sánchez
5, Fernández, Sconochini 6, Scola 19, Delfino 6 Comments by www.athens2004.com
Gianmarco POZZECCO, Guard (ITA)
"I was asked in the mixed zone it this was a strange game. In a way it was. The
win of China over Serbia/Montenegro worried us a little, but we are here to win.
Calculations are just a distraction for us. There is a possibility that we face
Greece in the quarterfinals. If so, it is going to be a very tough game, against
the team with the home advantage and its public, and we know how warm the Greek
public can be. But this is really their only advantage over us. My only concern
is about the referees possibly feeling psychological pressure in fornt of this
audience. But I think it won't happen, referees have shown that they are
honest."
Carlo RECALCATI, Head Coach (ITA)
"This was a real game, and this is very important. Both teams played openly. I
heard many talk about us facing the United States or Greece, and this is indeed
highly probable. But players must keep themselves out of that reasoning. The
game was very close to the character of both teams. We fought hard all the way
through. We tried to rebound well and keep the score low, and we won. We also
spared (Gianluca) BASILE for the quarterfinal. He is recovering well, and we are
very happy about that. (Michele) MIAN is going through X-rays tonight or
tomorrow morning and we'll see how bad his situation is."
Emanuel GINOBILI, Guard (ARG)
"It was a very tough game, as we expected it to be. Italy plays great
Basketball, with solid defense. We started well, but then made too many mistakes
and Italy caught up on us. Any team could have won, but unfortunately it wasn't
us."
Ruben MAGNANO, Head Coach (ARG)
"We are still unable to maintain a consistent level of performance. We allow our
opponents to get into the game, and this is something we must keep working on.
Now the first round is finished, and we don't know yet who we are facing. In any
case the game will be crucial for us, marking the future of our team in its
attempt to move on."
China - Serbia / Montenegro 67-66
China: Liu Wei 2, Zhu Fangyu 6, Li Nan 14, Mo Ke 6, Yao Ming 27; Chen Ke, Guio
Shiquiang, Zhang Jinsong, Yi Jianlian 12, Du Feng 12
Serbia / Montenegro: Bodiroga 6, Radmanovic 2, Vujanic 12, Drobnjak 17,
Tomasevic 9; Popovic 2, Rakocevic 5, Scepanovic 9, Avdalovic 4, Krstic 4 China edges Serbia/Montenegro, makes quarterfinals - by Arthur Volbert
After trailing most of the game, China rallied at the end of the fourth quarter
to convert a 60-53 deficit to a 67-63 lead and defeated Serbia-Montenegro
67-66. Du Feng hit two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to seal the victory.
The win sets up a quarterfinal match for China against Group B champion
Lithuania.
Yao Ming led China with 27 points on 9 of 12 shooting, making 9 of 10 free
throws. He also grabbed 13 rebounds, handed out 2 assists and blocked 2
shots.Li Nan contributed 14 points and Du Feng had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2
steals. Mo Ke had 6 points and 4 rebounds. Point guard Liu Wei only scored 2
points, but had 3 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and no turnovers.
The Chinese team only committed 12 turnovers, the same number as
Serbia-Montenegro. China outrebounded Serbia-Montenegro 33-31.
With Yao's superb performance today, Chinese officials will ignore his
outburst in the press conference after China's opening loss to Spain. The only
effects from that outburst is that Yao has not spoken at later after-game press
conferences. This outburst will not affect China's future relationships with
the NBA.
Today Mo Ke was the first spokesman for the team:
"We are very happy about the result, which gave us our berth to the
quarter-finals. We didn't play well in defense so far in this tournament, and we
said before the game that first of all everybody has to give everything
defensively. In offense we tried to play with Yao who played an excellent game
and carried us until the end. These three final minutes, when we fought back
and we took the lead are our best memories so far in the Games. I wish we can
make it also to semi-finals."
Yao added:
“It’s a day of great joy. In
1996, when I saw the Chinese team qualify for the quarterfinals (in Atlanta), I
was impressed. It was a great deed, and we did the same. Coach gave us a lesson
of life. His ‘never give up’ motto was the watchword for us. This win is a
treasure for the future generation of Chinese Basketball players. It was the
fruit of our labours. We just didn’t want to pack and go that early.”
I would like to thank the
official Olympic site www.athens2004.com
for the quotes.
Group B
Lithuania - Australia 100-85
Lithuania: Vidas Ginevicius 5, Arvydas Macijauskas 2, Ksistof Lavrinovic 18,
Dainius Salenga 4, Robertas Javtokas 23; Mindaugas Zukauskas 8, Saulius
Stombergas 12, Ramunas Siskauskas 5, Darius Songaila 10, Slanina Donatas 2,
Eurelijus Zukauskas, Sarunas Jasikevisius 11
Australia: Andrew Bogut 21, Jason Smith 9, Shane Heal 11, Glen Saville 19,
Matthew Nielsen 11; Anthony Ronaldson 2, Brett Maher 8, Martín Cattalini, John
Rillie 2, CJ Bruton 2, David Andersen Boomers relegated from the play-offs - by Chris Athanasopoulos
The Olympic dreams of the Australian men’s basketball team were
dashed by Lithuania on Monday after the Boomers were defeated by the powerful
European team by 15 points in the final round.
Unlike many
of the games in this tournament, the Boomers didn’t jump ahead and were never in
the lead. They were forced to fight from behind for the entire game.
Australia’s
crown prince of basketball,
Andrew Bogut (207-F/C-84), really stood up in this
game and showed the world what he had to offer. He came out firing and made an
impact at both ends of the floor in the first half. He finished the game with
21 points and nine rebounds.
With the
score line looking abysmal towards the end of the first half, Matthew Nielsen
threw up a one-armed hook shot from three-quarter court which sank on the buzzer
for three points. It helped the deficit slightly, but the Australians still
went to the change rooms 24 points in arrears.
The massive
points differential at the halftime break was helped along by a 23-0 scoring
spree by the Lithuanians, the Australians struggled to contain the inside post
of Javtokas. However a good run by the Australians in the third quarter helped
them back to within seven points of the Europeans and they were down by only
nine at the final break.
All players
were given their share of court time throughout the match as head coach Brian
Goorjian experimented with different combinations to try and give his team an
edge.
Goorjian’s
experiments were not enough and the Lithuanians pushed their lead back out to 15
points with six minutes to go in the final term. Although Bogut and Glen
Saville worked hard to reduce the deficit the Europeans ran out victors by that
margin, 100-85.
Bogut showed
determination throughout the closing stages of the match. He chased down every
ball and threw himself around the court in the name of his team and perhaps for
a chance with professional teams around the world whose scouts are watching his
every move throughout this tournament.
The Boomers
will now play New Zealand on Tuesday in a play off for 9th position.
If the Boomers are victorious in their match tomorrow night they
will equal their performance at the Munich Games in 1972. If they are not
successful and come 10th in the competition it will be Australian
men’s basketball’s worst Olympic result since Melbourne in 1956, their first
Games, when they came 12th.
USA - Angola 89-53
USA: Iverson 10, Marbury 2, Odom, Jefferson 7, Duncan 15; Wade 9, Boozer 11,
Anthony 6, James 11, Okafor, Marion, Stoudamire 9
Angola: Cipriano 9, Costa 9, Monteiro 20, Muzadi 2, Moussa 2; Angelo Victoriano
1, Gomes 4, Almeida, Mingas 6 Comments by www.athens2004.com
Carlos BOOZER, Forward (USA)
"We had a good team effort, played with intensity in both ends of the court. All
players contributed to the win. We are getting better as a team, as we get more
comfortable with each other and look more comfortable on the court as well. We
are ready for a big win on Thursday."
Larry BROWN, Head Coach (USA)
"It was a fun game. It was an opportunity to give minutes to all the guys.
Angola was banged up and that was a factor, but we played pretty unselfishly.
However, we had many turnovers. Angola did not use a tight 2-3 zone. They played
almost no zone at all; even when they did, it was pretty extended. I don't
anticipate seeing much of a man-to-man defense against us in this tournament.
Defense causes more problems to us than offense.
We got to win three games in three days against very talented and well-coached
teams, but since our players play in the NBA they may play 4 games in 5 nights
in different cities, so they can dig deeper than most of these teams. Also in
Puerto Rico we played ten games in ten days, usually late so people see us on
TV.
We improved from our first game to the last one, and I feel better now than
after the Puerto Rico game. I didn't like a lot of the things my players did on
the court, but this is what young guys do. But anyway, I'm happy I got to play a
lot of the guys because some of them are not used to sitting on the bench."
Olimpio CIPRIANO, Forward (ANG)
"It was a great game, very competitive. We came here to do our best, but we had
three injured players. We came out with nine and tried our best to just play.
For the people of Angola it meant a lot that we played well against Lithuania
and Puerto Rico."
Mario PALMA, Head Coach (ANG)
"Without three starters, with a guard that will undergo a knee operation when we
get back home and another guard with back pain, we are not playing under normal
conditions. If we were in good physical condition, the outcome of our games
would have been different. If the US had lost three guards, they would not have
been able to win either.
Angola was a Portuguese colony that gained its independence in 1975. In 1980 we
won our first African Junior Championships, in 1986 we played in the World
Championship in Spain, in 1989 we started winning African Championships. Then
we've been to four Olympic Games in a row, and we did all this with no more than
20 players. In our country there are games played in open cement courts, and
there are no more than 10 competitive games a year. Here we played against very
strong teams, and we had very tight games. We only started losing by big margins
when we lost our players to injury. Still, all coaches here have complimented
our team and the job we have done."
Greece - Puerto Rico 78-58
Greece: Spanoulis 6, Chatzivretas 4, Diamantidis 2, Fotsis 7, Papadopoulos 13;
Alvertis 12, Papaloukas 3, Zisis 6, Papanikolau 3, Dikudis 6, Tsartsaris,
Kakiuzis 16
Puerto Rico: Arroyo 10, Ayuso 11, Casiano 5, Ortiz 2, Santiago 8; Hatton 9,
Dalmau 2, Fajardo 6, Ramos 5 Comments by www.athens2004.com
Michail KAKIOUZIS, Forward (GRE)
"We completed the first round with a win, and we accomplished our goal to get to
the top 6. We are getting better after a bad game against Lithuania. We are 100%
ready to give all we have against Argentina. It is sad to have something hanging
in the air about Puerto Rico not playing full out. In any case, we chose to play
good Basketball and that's what we'll try to do to get to the final four."
Peter John RAMOS (PUR)
"Both sides played hard, and the fans were great tonight. We tried to win but
did not succeed. We didn't have any preferences for our next opponent, we tried
our best but it was not possible to win the game."
Julio TORO, Head Coach (PUR)
"We played our worst game so far. Maybe someone can help me by telling me how
you can win without scoring. We missed many easy shots and shot 40% from the
free throw line. However, we must give credit to Greece. They played well and
did a good job in offensive rebounding. I hope we learn from this game and get
prepared, because the next game will be the hardest one. It's no time to put the
blame on anyone, we rather should think positive about the future. Only this
could give us a chance to fight for the medals. I did not choose our opponent,
or anything like this. There's no meaning in choosing between Italy and
Argentina, when the difference between them is so minimal, as we saw in the
previous game."
Panagiotis GIANNAKIS, Head Coach (GRE)
"Another win in the Olympic Games is something important. We controlled the pace
and the boards against a team that pulled a big win on the first day of the
tournament and came here to aim high. For the next round there is no opponent
one can take lightly; just remember what Angola and New Zealand did in this
tournament. All the players are waiting for the next game with great
anticipation. They certainly have a strong motive to write their names in the
history of Greek Basketball.
It never crossed my mind to choose an opponent. If you are not playing well, you
can't beat anybody. I have followed Basketball for a long time, and whoever
chose opponents had it turned against him in the end. I don't believe that
Puerto Rico chose not to play to win. I know of no team that plays to lose."
Day
Four Summary - Aug 21, 2004 - by
Eurobasket
Another disaster day for USA team (2-2) as they lost already 2nd game in the
Olympic Games, which gives them a poor 2-2 record, way below any expectations.
This time they were defeated by Lithuania 94-90. Lithuania is definite leader in
the group with perfect 4-0 record.
In other games of group B Puerto Rico (3-1) beat Australia (1-3) in a very
important game, and host Greece (2-2) shut down Angola (0-4) in 32-points
victory.
In Group A China (1-3) lost the last hope of any decent performance as in the
game between last two teams in Group A, they were crushed by Italy (2-2) by
...37 points.
Argentina (3-1) managed to get a victory over New Zealand (1-3) 98-94. But that
only confirms that New Zealand's performance at the last World Championships was
not one-time flash, and they deserved their place among top 10 (even higher)
teams teams in the World.
Spain (4-0) is still undefeated leading in the group after they beat Serbia and
Montenegro (1-3).
Group A
Spain - Serbia & Montenegro 76-68 (18-14,
31-31, 51-52)
Spain: Calderon 15+4reb, Gasol 14+5reb, Navarro 13,
Jimenez 11, Reyes 10+6reb, Garbajosa 8, Comas 3, de la Fuente 2, Fernandez 0;
Coach: Pasquera
Serbia and Montenegro: Bodiroga 14, Drobnjak 13, Radmanovic 10+6reb, Vujanic 10,
Tomasevic 9+9reb, Rakocevic 6, Krstic 3, Avdalovic 3, Pavlovic 0, Scepanovic 0;
Coach: Obradovic Spain assures Group A leadership - by Juanjo Martin
Spain will be the first classified of Pool A in the Preliminaries of Olympic
Games. The reaminder match against New Zealand doesn't have consequences for
Spanish NT... although for the other NTs does. A loss will drop Serbia out of
Quarterfinals, which depends on other results to get the bid for next phase.
Today's match has been a real battle, Serbian NT has played very tough and
aggressive (ask Garbajosa or Gasol, for example). Obradovic was very nervous,
conditioned by the bad results that can eliminate Serbia of medal's fight, and
protested at every referee's decision due to the impotence of watching a team
lacking of order in the court (only the good job of
Rakocevic is
all right). It's a pity than a so powerful NT than Serbian, full of very
talented players, have to resort to force and dirty play to win the matches:
Tomasevic hitting
every player who is near (with or without ball), Vujanic throwing himself when
he fells any contact of rival guard... a series of actions that downgrade the
sport of basketball. They are great players, but tournament by tournament they
show us a deplorable spectacle. The worst thing of all is that they don't need
to do this kind of play. Why don't the players behave in the NT like in their
respective teams and only think about playing basketball?
The match in itself was a levelled game. Like in other matches, Gasol took many
yime to score due to the defense on him, but the points of Jimenez and
Felipe Reyes put
Spain ahead 25-17.
Jose Manuel
Calderon (15) is pacing Spain to the victory perfectly in each Olympics
match, like today. SRB forced to shot from the perimeter (an awful 1/14 in 3p)
and got closer thanks to
Drobnjak
(13) and Tomasevic (9p 9r) to tie in the intermission at 31.
A starting 6-0 in the third period, with Spain running and Gasol making his
first points, put some distance in the scoreboard, but Bodiroga and
Radmanovic (two
3-pointers) dealt with the comeback before the forth period, in which Tomasevic
made a flagrant foul to Gasol and continued provoking to Spanish players, who
thought only of themselves to reach the victory. Again
Carlos Jimenez with
a 2+1 play plus one basket, together with the free shots of Navarro (better than
the first matches but he isn't still the 'Bomb' that everyone wants) were the
keys to achieve a new and elaborate triumph.
Argentina - New Zealand 98-94 (23-25, 47-42,
76-71)
Argentina: Scola 25, Ginobili 19, Oberto 14+9reb+5ast,
Fernandez 11, Nocioni 10, Sanchez 8, Wolkowyski 4+5reb, Sconochini 4, Herrmann
3, Montecchia 0+5ast, Delfino 0; Coach: Magnano
New Zealand: Jones 25, Cameron 21, Penney 13, Dickel 11+7ast, Book 11+6reb,
Marks 6+5reb, Boucher 5, Olson 2, Henare 0, Rampton 0; Coach: Baldwin Comments by www.athens2004.com
Fabricio OBERTO, Center (ARG)
"We knew that it was going to be a tough game, because of New Zealand's style of
play. We needed a long time and a lot of energy to adapt to their defense; they
switch all the time and then play the quick transition. Now we must focus on the
next game against Italy, and continue creating and building up our game through
vistories. Italy is a strong team that desperately need to win, so this is our
next goal, and then we can think about the quarterfinals."
Pero CAMERON, Forward, Team Captain (NZL)
"We just couldn't stop them on defense, and this went on to the end. We are
improving, but in some parts of the game I'm afraid we're getting worse. Their
big guys scored 65 points, we've been humbled by them. We need to get more
confident as a team. Against Spain, we will play to get a result. Anything can
happen in this tournament."
Ruben MAGNANO, Head Coach (ARG)
"We played against a great team, which has its own special way of playing and
creates many difficulties for every opponent, no matter who the opponent is.
They have great heart and they are restless; we knew that from (the 2003 World
Championships in) Indianapolis. Congratulations to them, they played a great
game. As I have mentioned before, it's too early to speculate on the next round.
Our next game is against Italy, and this will be our focal point. But we are
ready for whatever opponent in the quarterfinals."
Tab BALDWIN, Head Coach (NZL)
"We played against one of the best teams in the world, which I am sure will
reach the medal round, and I really believe we had a chance. We had the right
mentality, but were defensively vulnerable, so we didn't get the job done.
Today's loss is kind of a disaster for us but it's not the end of the world. But
nonetheless we have some hopes left, if we succeed again in winning the right
game at the right time, as we did in Indianapolis."
Italy - China 89-52 (22-11, 44-26, 60-39)
Italy: Galanda 22, Chiacig 14, Pozzecco 10+4reb+12ast,
Mian 10, Basile 8, Soragna 7+5reb, Garri 5+4reb, Radulovic 4, Marconato 4+4reb,
Bulleri 3, Righetti 2, Rombaldoni 0; Coach: Recalcati
China: Yao Ming 9+6reb, Li Nan 9+4reb, Zhu Fangyu 7+5reb, Guo Shiqiang 7, Liu
Wei 7, Mo Ke 4, Yi Jianlian 3+7reb, Chen Ke 2, Zhang Yunsong 2, Zhang Jinsong 1,
Menke Bateer 1+4reb, Du Feng 0; Coach: Harris China Blown Out by Italy - by Arthur Volbert
Playing its first truly horrible game of the tournament, China
was destroyed by Italy today 89-52.
But if China regroups rather than sulks, it still has a chance
to make the quarter-finals if it beats Serbia-Montenegro on Monday and New
Zealand loses to Spain.
Spain is undefeated in tournament and pre-tournament play and
would like to finish the preliminary round undefeated so it has a good chance of
beating New Zealand. Serbia-Montenegro, which is without NBA players Peja
Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, Marko Jaric and Darko Milicic, lost to New Zealand, a
team which China defeated. But if China gives up, Serbia-Montenegro will blow
the team out just as the Italians did.
China quickly fell behind to Italy 22-11 at the end of the
first quarter and then lost heart, trailing 44-26 at the half. It rallied to
narrow the margin to 50-36 in the middle of the third quarter, but when the
Italians came back China lost its poise, leading to the final 37 point margin.
China continued its awful shooting, hitting only 20 percent of
its two-point shots, making 8 shots out of 40. It actually hit 6 of 13
three-pointers, a very good shooting percentage for those shots. But China is
learning to play ball the international way, and that means taking two-point
opportunities to set up its three-point shooting. In previous years, the team
would merely hoist up three-pointers and win games against inferior teams when
its shooting was on.
We must remember that a medal in 2008 is the ultimate goal of
China. It is better for China to lose games while trying to play correctly than
to win games playing the old way. If China perseveres in its new style of play
it has a chance of a medal in 2008, and of making the quarterfinals Monday. If
Chinese nay-sayers cause the team to revert to its old style of play, all is
lost.
Yao Ming scored nine points today on 3 of 12 shooting. Li Nan
also scored 9 points.
Group B
Puerto Rico - Australia 87-82 (13-23, 41-51,
65-68)
Puerto Rico: Santiago 20+4reb, Ayuso 18+4reb, Arroyo
16+7ast, Fajardo 11+4reb, Casiano 10, Ortiz 7+6reb, hatton 3, Houruittiner 2;
Coach: Toro
Australia: Nielsen 20+7reb, Bogut 15+11reb, Heal 12+6ast, Smith 11+6reb, Bruton
10, Saville 7+8reb, Andersen 7+7reb, Maher 0, Rogers 0; Coach: Goorjian Boomers' finals dreams fades - by
Chris Athanasopoulos
The Olympic finals hopes of the Australian Boomers men's
basketball team are slowly fading after the team was defeated by Puerto Rico in
the fourth round of the Olympic tournament on Saturday 87-82.
After leading for most of the game, the Boomers were unable to hold off a
final-quarter surge by the Central Americans who outscored the Aussies 22 points
to 14 in the final term.
With less than a minute on the clock, the scores were close and Boomers coach
Brian Goorjian used both his time-outs as he tried to get his team over the
line.
In the dying seconds, a three-point attempt by captain Shane Heal rimmed out and
the hearts of Australia’s basketball fans dropped as the seconds counted down
and the Puerto Ricans ran out five-point victors.
Matthew Nielsen was outstanding for the Boomers with 20 points and seven
rebounds, but again he couldn’t finish the game, fouling out in the final
quarter.
Teenage sensation, Andrew Bogut, was a stand out for Australia with 15 points
and a massive 11 boards; nine of them at the defensive end.
Wollongong hero Glen Saville continues to play an integral role in the Boomers’
game with seven points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes on the court.
The Boomers face Lithuania in the final round of the preliminary draw on Monday
at 11.15am (6.15pm AEST). Puerto Rico beats Australia - by Raiza Zapater
Puerto Rico after winning their third game on this Olympics 2004 assures their
pass to the second round. Puerto Rico has only lost once and it was against
Lithuania.
During this game, Puerto Rico was led by
Daniel Santiago
(216-C-76, agency:
Priority Sports, college:
N.Mexico) who
netted 20 points, Larry Ayuso scored 18 and Carlos Arroyo had 16. Sharif Fajardo
had a better performance in this game scoring 11.
Next game for Puerto Rico befor going to the second round is against the host of
this Olympics, Greece on Monday.
Lithuania - USA 94-90
(23-26, 44-49, 67-69)
Lithuania: Jasikevicius 28+4ast, Stombergas 16+10reb,
Siskauskas 14+6reb, E.Zukauskas 11, Macijauskas 8, Songaila 7, M.Zukauskas 4,
Lavrinovic 3, Javtokas 3+4reb, Salenga 0; Coach: Sireika
USA: Jefferson 20, Duncan 16+12reb, Iverson 11, Odom 11+6ast, Boozer 10+5reb,
Marbury 8, Wade 6, Anthony 5, Marion 3+5reb, Wade 3, James 0, Stoudemire 0;
Coach: Brown USA lost again !!! Lithuania is a new Dream Team - by
Eurobasket.lt Lithuania national
basketball team is a new Deam Team. USA basketball team lost against Lithuania
in the group B on Saturday night!!! After heavy fight Lithuania triumphed 94:90.
USA lead almost all the game but in the last quater Sarunas Jasikevicius made 10
points in a row (3-three pointers + 1 free throw) and Lithuania was ahead by 5
points.
When the clock showed 5,1 sec., Ramunas Siskauskas went to shoot two free
throws. Ramas made second shot and result became 94:90 - victory for Lithuania!
Lithuania stands 4-0 now and they are sure for the 1st place in the group B.
It was the 4th lost for USA basketball team in Olympics history. Comments by www.athens2004.com
Richard JEFFERSON, Forward (USA)
"We controlled 98% of the game. Then down the stretch we made some turnovers and
let some calls we didn't get bother us. Lithuania also did a good job knocking
down three-pointers. We played as a team, and we are getting better. I don't see
the fact that I got out of my shooting slump something to build on. I'm a team
player, the coach shows me confidence and stays with me, and when my shots don't
fall I just can pass and find the open teammate."
Larry BROWN, Head Coach (USA)
"It's a disappoint loss to say the least, but we are getting better. We realize
now that we shouldn't let calls affect our game. Lithuania connected shots when
we didn't and handled the ball much better in the second half. We missed 11 free
throws, some of them in crucial stages of the fourth quarter, and gave up over
90 points, too much to beat a great team.
JASIKEVICIUS is a great player, but I don't think he would make it in the NBA
with the kind of screens set there. I am a fan of international Basketball, but
I believe that even its best players would struggle in our league.
We got our open shots today, I just hope some time our guys remember that they
hit them in the NBA. Our main plan anyway is to get the ball to (Tim) DUNCAN's
hands, which is difficult if opposing defenses pack it in the paint.
I don't think having a foreign coach in our staff would change a lot, since we
are talking about a team built within days, not exposed to the international
style of game and asked to play against the best teams in the world. If someone
can change all that, he is welcome to com
