Angola - Canada 84-74
Angola: Gomes 8, Almeida 10, Lutonda 22, Mingas 4, Muzadi 14, Costa 5,
Victoriano 4, Monteiro 14, Vitoriano, Carvalho 3
Canada: Meldrum, D.Thomas 10, Anderson 2, Meeks 13, Jobity 18,
N.Thomas 2, Hamilton 5, Channer 2, Karangwa 2, Swords, Barrett 20
Full stats
The game between teams, which count on taking the third place. The
final result was a little surprising, since Canada was ranked higher
than Angola. That was the first victory of African team at this
tournament.
Angola scored its first victory ever over Canada in FIBA senior men's
competition, 84-74 in the preliminary round of the World Basketball
Championship in the RCA Dome on Friday.
Miguel Lutonda led Angola (1-1) with 22 points. Valter Monterio scored
14, Victor Muzadi 12 and Carlos Almeida 10.
Angola faces Spain Saturday in the RCA Dome.
by FIBA
Spain - Yugoslavia 71-69
Spain: Rodríguez 9, Navarro 13, Jiménez 5, Gasol 25, Garbajosa 11;
Angulo 1, Marco 3, Alfonso Reyes, Paraíso 4
Yugoslavia: Jaric 6, Bodiroga 16, Gurovic 7, Tomasevic 6, Drobnjak 7;
Rakocevic, Divac 2, Radmanovic 2, Vujanic 7, Stojakovic 16, Cabarkapa
Full stats
The winner of this game is also a winner of Group A.That was the
bigegst upset of the tournament so far as the main candidate to
challenge U.S. for the gold medal lost their game.
Pau Gasol's individual brilliance created the possibility, but the
timely play of his lesser known teammates made it happen. With Gasol
scoring 25 points, Spain stunned heavily favored Yugoslavia 71-69 to
remain unbeaten in the World Basketball Championship on Friday in the
RCA Dome.
It was the first victory for Spain over Yugoslavia in a FIBA senior
men's competition since the 1984 Olympics, and the first in the World
Championship since 1950.
"You can understand it is a happy day for us because we beat a great
team," said Spain coach Javier Imbroda. "For us, this is a big push
ahead. ... We feel good. Now, we see a future with more happiness."
Spain (2-0), which assured its advancement from Group A, faces Angola
on Saturday in the RCA Dome. Yugoslavia (1-1) faces Canada in Conseco
Fieldhouse, needing a victory to advance.
"The lesson the team learned today is that a team that plays good
defense can win, not only in the World Championship but on all levels
of basketball," said Yugoslavia coach Svetislav Pesic. "I believe they
were prepared to guard the Yugoslavian offense and that is why they
were able to win the game."
Gasol didn't make a basket in the fourth quarter and in fact missed
two critical free throws with 27 seconds remaining and Spain leading
71-69 that left open the door. Yugoslavia turned to its leader, Dejan
Bodiroga, who had scored eight points in the period, all on isolation
plays. But Spain had two fouls to give and took both, running the
clock down to nine seconds. With less time to create, Bodiroga was
unable to get a clean shot against Carlos Jimenez, who pulled the
rebound of the miss and was fouled with 1.1 seconds remaining. He
missed both free throws, but time expired before the rebound could be
controlled.
by FIBA
Group B
Puerto Rico - Lebanon 99-77
Puerto Rico: Ayuso 37, C.Dalmau 15, D.Santiago 13, R.Dalmau 12,
J.Ortiz 11, Hourruitiner 8, Allende 3, Latimer, Apodaca, Mincy,
Arroyo, Perez
Lebanon: Bardawil 19, Vogel 19, El Khatib 13, Mchantaf 7, El Boustani
6, Khouri 4, El Hajj 4, Fahed 3, Samaha 2, Doumiati
Full stats
Puerto Rico could not afford to lose this game in order to think about
advancing to the next stage. Lebanon is still looking for their first
victory in the tournament. However it did not happen this time yet.
Elias Ayuso erupted for 37 points to lead Puerto Rico to its second
consecutive victory, 99-77, over Lebanon in the preliminary round of
the World Basketball Championship on Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Ayuso, who scored 22 points in a 78-75 victory over Turkey on Thursday
night, hit 10-of-14 shots, including 7-of-10 from the 3-point line.
Christian Dalmau had 15 points, Daniel Santiago 13, Raymond Dalmau 12
and Jose Ortiz 11 for Puerto Rico, which faces Brazil on Saturday in
Conseco Fieldhouse.
Lebanon, which dropped to 0-2 and faces elimination, was led by Joseph
Vogel and Charles Bardawil with 19 points apiece. Vogel added 12
rebounds. Fady El Khatib scored 13points and pulled 11 rebounds.
by FIBA
Brazil - Turkey 88-86
Brazil: Marcelo Machado 30, Helio Filho 2, Anderson Varejao 11,
Vanderlei Mazzuchini 8, Sandro Franca Varejao 6; Rogerio Klafke 19,
Demetrius Ferraciu 8, Guilherme Giovannoni 4, Alex Garcia, Leandro
Barbosa
Turkey: Ibrahim Kutluay 13, Kerem Tunceri 8, Asim Pars 4, Mirsad
Turkcan 22, Hidayet Turkoglu 25; Harun Erdenay 10, Kaya Peker, Mehmet
Okur 4, Haluk Yildirim, Huseyin Besok
Full stats
Turkey had to win this game after beiing upset yesterday by Puerto
Rico. Brazil wanted at the same point confirm that they are thinking
about medal position at WC.
Marcelo Machado drilled a 3-point basket as time expired to lift
Brazil to an 88-86 victory over Turkey in the preliminary round of the
World Basketball Championship on Friday in Conseco Fieldhouse.
Trailing 86-82 with 38 seconds to play in the game, Brazil outscored
Turkey 6-0 the rest of the period to win 88-86. The run was capped by
Machado's shot. Brazil outscored Turkey 32-16 in the fourth period,
with Machado scoring 12 of his 30 points in the period.
Brazil (2-0) faces Puerto Rico (2-0) on Saturday in Conseco
Fieldhouse. Turkey, a disappointing 0-2 coming off a second-place
finish in the European championships, faces Lebanon in Conseco
Fieldhouse, with the loser eliminated.
by FIBA
Germany did not have too much chances for winning the game. USA knew
their opponent from the exhibition game, which took place just before
the WC.
Despite Nowitzki's 34 points, U.S. team controled whole game and took
another easy victory 104-87. They will face Yao Ming's China team
tomorrow.
China - Algeria 96-82
China: Yao Ming 38, Li Nan 14, Menk Bateer 9, Liu Wei 9, Hu Weidong 9,
Gong Xiaobin 6, Chen Ke 6, Guo Shioiang 5, Liu Yudong, Ke Mo, Du Feng
Algeria: Doubal 24, Boulaya 19, Boughedir 13, Belhimeur 6, Boudissa 5,
Benramdane 5, Haif 5, Oukid 3, Mehenaoui 2, Ouali, Sayah
Both teams lost their games in day 1, but China had much more to
prove.
Yao Ming scored 38 points and hauled down 12 rebounds as China beat
Algeria 96-82. With Yao sitting on the bench in the third quarter,
China blew the 18-point lead they had gained at the end of the first
quarter. But with Yao back in the game, China re-established its
dominance and widened its lead as the game ended. One wonders how far
China could have gone in this tournament if Wang Zhizhi had been
allowed to play. He had worked on his defense and rebounding all
summer and did well in the Southern Cal Pro Summer League. Would he
have contained Dirk Nowitzke last night? Would China be playing the
USA team for first place in the group tomorrow? Will China have the
wisdom to let its players develop as European players have developed?
Will its officials see that they need to sacrifice current regional
competitions if they want to take a place at the top of the basketball
world by the 2008 Olympics in Beijing?
by Arthur Volbert
Group D
New Zealand - Venezuela 98-85
New Zealand: Dickel 10, Penney 20, Jones 20, Cameron 5, Marks 15;
Boucher 8, Rampton 2, Henare 9, Book 7, Hickey, Winitana, Flavell 2
Venezuela: Mijares 5, Torres 22, Díaz 26, Herrera 18, Lugo 10; Machado
1, Quiroz 2, Heredia, Morris, Romero 1. Full
box score
The second round starts now.
Stage one of the Burger King Tall Blacks’ world championship mission
was accomplished early with their 98-85 victory over Venezuela at
Indianapolis’ RCA Dome.
The result – their second victory in as many games – ensured the Kiwis
finish, at worst, second in their pool with the top three moving
through to the second stage. The top 12 teams will contest the next
round and New Zealand’s opponents next week will include the United
States.
"It’s a great honour to make it into the second round of the world
championships," said coach Tab Baldwin. "It’s something we set our
sights on and believed we were capable of.
"It’s now a big ask to play against teams we expect to meet there. I
don’t want to see the second round as the end of the road for us, but
obviously the mountain gets a little steeper to climb.
"This is hugely significant to a lot of people back home."
When the original draw was made for this tournament, the match against
Venezuela, the fifth and last qualifiers from South America, probably
loomed as the Tall Blacks’ winnable pool game. The opening win over
Russia put them in the box seat, but they needed to guard against
complacency.
That had been a major weakness during the pre-tournament buildup in
Europe, when the Kiwis beat world champions Yugoslavia, but lost
winnable games against Germany and Lithuania on successive days.
They also entered the Venezuela match with a question mark hanging
over star forward Sean Marks, who sprained an ankle in the dying
seconds of the game against Russia. He missed the morning practice and
needed painkillers to take the court.
But if there were any doubts about his health, they were quickly
dispelled when he drove baseline and dunked on rival Richard Lugo for
his team’s first points. Later in the opening quarter, he soared high
to convert an alley oop pass off an out-of-bounds play.
Venezuela started hot, shooting 70% (14/20 FG) in the first quarter.
Lugo, NBA guard Oscar Torres and forward Victor Diaz connecting with a
variety of mid-range jump shots to build an 11-point lead, but their
29-23 first-quarter advantage suggested the Kiwi defence had, as it
had the previous day, simply conceded too many points and needed to
tighten up.
"I tried to get too cute and played a zone defence too early," said
Baldwin. "That was like red meat in an alligator pit for those guys,
and Diaz and Torres tore us up."
But the South Americans were also so hot, they had to cool sooner or
later.
The Tall Blacks switched to a man-to-man defence and quickly closed
the gap with a 10-2 run early in the second quarter, taking their
first lead at 33-31 off a three-on-one fastbreak layup to Dillon
Boucher.
Torres and Diaz struck again with long-range baskets late in the
period to regain the initiative, and Diaz drained three free throws to
carry his side clear 48-47 at the break.
Notably, though, New Zealand had maintained their scoring rate and cut
drastically in the Venezuelans’ to take the quarter 24-19. With centre
Lugo in foul trouble, the Kiwis’ biggest momentum swing came on the
boards where they out-rebounded their opponents 16-3 (10-0 OR) in the
second quarter.
Venezuela threatened to draw away again early in the third quarter,
but Phill Jones produced seven straight points to regain parity, and
Kirk Penney and Pero Cameron really broke the game open for the Kiwis
with consecutive threes.
The Tall Blacks had further tightened the defensive screws, holding
their counterparts to just 13 points for the period to take 72-61 edge
into the final 10 minutes. A 15-0 run spanning the end of the third
quarter and the start of the fourth was the straw that enabled the men
in black to finally break the Venezuelans and book passage to the
second round.
Diaz finished with 26 points and Torres 22 (8/12 FG) were best
performers for the South Americans.
Jones (20 points, 8/14 FG, 3/6 3pt and eight rebounds) and Penney (20
points, 8/15 FG and 3/7 3pt) led the New Zealand effort, which was
notable for its balance. Baldwin gave his entire bench a run and they
responded by outscoring their counterparts 30-4, with Boucher
contributing eight points and six assists in a typically feisty
display.
Straight after the game Baldwin told his players there was still
plenty of room for improvement.
"We still don’t understand how good we can be," he said. "We have a
lot to learn about ourselves, we learnt a little tonight."
Next, the Tall Blacks face South American champions Argentina, who
have been very impressive so far this week. They beat Russia 100-81
behind Emanuel Ginobli’s 21 points and Baldwin fully expects them to
be around when the top placings are decided.
"We know we have a lot of work to do on video break downs tonight," he
said. "There are a lot of medal contenders here, but I think they are
legitimate medal prospects.
"They believe in themselves, they play an extraordinarily exciting
brand of basketball and their fastbreak just flows out of nothing.
"But I’m not going to question the heart, the toughness of the
leadership of our team. We will respect Argentina, play hard and do
the best we can."
Burger King Tall Blacks 98 (Phill Jones 20, Kirk Penney 20, Sean Marks
13, Mark Dickel 10) Venezuela 85 (Victor Diaz 26, Oscar Torres 22,
Carl Herrera 18, Richard Lugo 10)
Halftime 47-48
NEXT GAME: Saturday, August 31, 5.30pm (US)/Sunday, September 1,
10.30am (NZ) v Argentina
by Grant Chapman
Russia wanted to repair their reputation after surprising lose to New
Zealand in Day 1. Argentina wanted to confirm that they they are
thinking only about winning the group and taking medal position at the
end of tournament. But after the end of the game, it was clear that
Argentinean team should be seriously considered as the one coming back
with a medal, while it's another disappointed tournament for Russia.
Argentina defeated Russia 100-81 tonight in its second game of Pool D
of the world basketball championship at Indianapolis earning a spot on
the second round alongside New Zealand that beated Venzuela by 13
points.
Tomorro, Argentina will face New Zealand in a game that will determine
the winner of the group, while Venezuela and Russia will battle for
the remaining place on the second round.
Hugo Sconochini and Eamnuel Ginobili carried most of the offensive
load, combining for 47 points, as the inside game of Argentina could
not be as effective as usual on offense because Russian centers were
taller.
After a very tied first quarter, in which Argentina finished leading
by one point, the national team made a very impressive secon quarter,
outscoring Russia 28-17 and holding a 12-point lead at halftime.
In the beggining of the third quarter, Argentina had it difficult to
score, as Emanuel Ginóbli was the only player that scored in the first
minutes, but its tough defense allowed them to hold the lead. Late in
the period, four consecutive three pointers provided a 19-point lead
and after that, the victory was never at a risk. The margin got to be
as big as 31 midway thru the final quarter.
by Leonardo Contieri
