EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 7/10/2007

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Men News

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ADRIATIC LEAGUE

Markoishvili leaves Union Olimpija -by Zeljko Zule
Georgian NT member Manuhar Markoishvili (196-G-86) after three sucessful seasons has left Union Olimpija to join Ukrainian runner-up and Cup champion Kyiv!

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AUSTRALIA

U19: Australia finish pre-Worlds with narrow loss -by Gauthier Gerard
The Australian Under 19 Men's team, the Emus, lost to European Champions France 79 - 71 in their final game of the pre-Worlds tournament in Cacares, Spain over night. Andrew Ogilvy (211-C/F-88) top scored with 15 points to go with 8 rebounds to lead the Emus with Shannon Seebohm and Pat Mills adding 12 points each and Daniel Johnson tallying 10 points and 7 rebounds.
source: Bob Mcgugan and Bill Baxter for BA Media

The Australians started the game in a positive, confident manner, buoyed by their recent success against the French in the Douai Tournament. The Emus extended defence unsettled the French early and with Head Coach Marty Clarke rotating his players effectively, the Emus went to the first break leading 22-18. The Australian pressure continued after the first break and the Emus extended their lead to 28-18 three minutes into the second half.
In an effort to get back into the game The French extended their defence which was immediately effective. They restricted the Emus scoring by forcing the Aussies out of their alignment and forced poor shots. With four minutes to go before the break the score was 30-30. The Australian coaches again rotated their players effectively with the Emus going into the half time break leading 41-38. The third quarter was a very rugged affair with both teams in the bonus midway through the half. The Emus struggled in the contest and found themselves down 62-56 at the end of the third.
The Emus opened the fourth quarter with extended defence and strong rebounding and after three minutes had reduced the deficit to one point. The French again countered and extended their lead only to see the aggressive Emus get back to within one point. The Emus forced the flamboyant French out of their running game leaving the score at 70-all with just over one minute to play. The talented French team regained the ascendancy in the final minute to record a victory.
"It was a terrific effort,” Clarke said. "Our good spacing and dribble penetration caused the French problems on several occasions throughout the game. This has been a valuable experience against contrasting styles. We are looking forward to the commencement of the worlds."

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AUSTRIA

Stegnjaic moves to Oberwart -by Stefan Heinrich
Milan Stegnjaic (205-F/C-82) moves back to Oberwart where he started his Austrian career in 2004 and after that he played for the Feldkirch Baskets and the Furstenfeld Panthers. Last year he played 34 games for the Panthers and he had the following numbers: 9.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, FG: 46.9 %, 3P: 36.0 %, FT: 77.1 %.

Oberwart manager Andreas Leitner said that Stegnjaic was their number one player for the Forward spot as he is a good shooter and also a good low-post player. Stegnajic is happy to play again Oberwart as his family (girlfriend and young boy) are also living in Oberwart.

Austria beats Montenegro -by Stefan Heinrich
Today the Austrian U20 team won against Montenegro with 85-83. In a very close game the Austrian had the better end for them and they deserved this win and Richard Richard Poiger (206-F-87) was the key player for Austria as he had 23 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

Austria (85): Richard Poiger 23, Lorenzo O'Neal (188-G-88) 18, Schreiner 13, Wagenlechner 10, Fenzal 7, Kunovjanek 7, Hetzmannseder 5, Graf 2
Montenegro (83): Suad Sehovic (195-G-87, agency: Ultimate Sports Agency) 25, Vladimir Dasic (208-F-88) 19, Zekovic 12, Martinic 8, Popovic 7, Savovic 6, Mijovic 2, Gajovic 2, Jovanovic 2

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BOSNIA

BIH lost Mrsic, Krasic, Castle, Tuljkovic, Opacak, Princ..... -by Nedzad Kladusak

Bosnian-Hercegovinian basketball is currently in the worst situation ever. It is not a surprise anymore that the bosnian basketball association ignores the most talented kids in BIH. The indifferent behaviour of the officials so far (Nihad Imamovic tries to improve the situation) made it hard for the players to be motivated. The criterias which have been applied to all NT candidates are very intransparent and the rosters of the NT especially in younger categories have been created by manager and wealthy parents.
Today Barisa Krasic declared his retreat from NT. Well he is not the first but it is a shame that a man of his qualities both personal but also his skills on the court has left the NT. He was one of the first players from western Herzegovina who decided to play for BIH and he was proudly defending the bosnian colours. He is a player who contributed very much to the results of Cibona Zagreb in EL and the domestic championship. However despite he has not received a call of Nenad Markovic neither for the EC in Belgrade nor for the first part of EC qualifiers he was still hopeful to be included in the second stage of EC qualifiers. Today after Tuljkovic and a couple of other players cancelled their participation Markovic called Krasic but everything else but a refusal would have been a humiliation of Krasic. But Nenad Markovic did not trust this experienced patriot bringing instead players that always failed when they have been needed most.
One could forgive once but the same mistake has been made a week before with Damir Mrsic. Mrsic is not a very demanding character who needs to be treated in a special way but it is sad that such a great sportmen and such a respected player like Nenad Markovic does not understand that a call of 17 yrs old Nihad Djedovic and the psychological support through asking Mrsic to sit on the bench during minor matches is not the proper way to treat players like Damir Mrsic. Even if you would get some quality on the court ( ask Tony Parker if you would) you can t humiliate such an authority within your squad. What would have happened if someone would have benched Nenad Markovic in favour of Gordan Firic or even worse Nihad Djedovic?
Well what needs BIH? It s a matter of respect, loyalty and orientation on performance.

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BRAZIL

NBA Summer League: Marquinhos and Morro trying out -by Gustavo Cardoso

The NBA Summer League started last Friday with two Brazilians assigned to different rosters. While Marquinhos is playing for the Hornets, Morro has not played yet for the Summer League standing leaders Dallas Mavericks (2w-0l). The Mavericks have beat the Trailblazers (72-68), and the Seattle Supersonics (77-66) with great performances by Puerto Rican guard Juan Jose Barea (15.5 ppg). Morro is yet to see some action on a 15 player roster

'Marquinhos' de Souza (207-F-84) has played one game so far for his Hornets (0w-1l). The Hornets lost to the Warriors 110 to 102 on stellar performances by center Patrick O'Bryant (37 points) and guard Kelenna Azubuike (29 points) of the Bay Area squad. On the Hornets side Anthony Robertson and Hilton Armstrong were the top performers with 22 and 17 points respectively.

Marquinhos went scoreless throughout his 11 minutes on court caputuring 1 rebound, and sishing 1 assist. The Hornets will be back on court against the Timberwolves later on today while the Mavs will face the Nuggets tomorrow.



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BULGARIA

CSKA: Bye bye, Danielson -by Vladi Lazarova

CSKA and Greg Danielson (206-C-81, agency: Global Sports Plaza, college: Drake) will part ways. The power forward don't want to play in Bulgaria anymore, no matter the head coach Rossen Barchovski type his name in his list for the new season.

“We have interest, but Danielson don't have any desire to come back in the team”, said Barchovski. 26-years old American spent the last 12 months in CSKA, but failed in key games to show he can be a leader of “The Reds”.

Trevor Harvey (211-C-80, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Florida St.) is another name who is leaving the squad for sure. 211 cm tall center made the biggest mistake in the last final game against Lukoil Akademik and CSKA lost the battle for the title.



CSKA: Detchev will be assistant coach -by Vladi Lazarova

The head coach of CSKA Rossen Barchovski will have a good man by his side. His assistant in the Men's team will be one of the most loveable domestic players in the last 10 years - Toni Detchev (192-G-71). 192 cm tall guard announced the end of his career in June, after “The Reds” finished the championship with silver. At the age of 36 he is full of ambitions to continue in basketball. Not at the court, but next to the court. Detchev was the last captain of CSKA. He has good relations with all other players in the squad. He already spent a week with lessons of famous Serbian coach and European scout Milan Minic in Belgrade.




CSKA wants Mladenov -by Vladi Lazarova

CSKA has interest to sign former Lukoil Akademik big man Boyko Mladenov (212-C/F-81, agency: Interperformances). 212 cm tall center spent last 3 years in a “student” jersey and won everything what he can win in Bulgaria - plenty of titles and cups, reached twice ULEB Cup 1/8 finals. Now Rossen Barchovski will negotiate with 26-years old player to join his team. They worked together in the past, when Barchovski was head coach of the Bulgarian NT. The contract between Mladenov and Lukoil expired in June and the club didn't offer him a new deal, neither Boyko wanted to stay. This is not something new, because last season he didn't get a lot of playing time from former head coach of Akademik - Macedonian Marin Dokuzovski.



CSKA: Bozov is the new captain -by Vladi Lazarova
One of the most important players not only for CSKA, but for Bulgarian National team (men) -Yordan Bozov (191-G-79, agency: Interperformances) is the new captain of “The Reds”. The announcement was made from Rossen Barchovski - the man who didn't stop trying to save CSKA after the death of GM Emil Cohen. Barchovski will be president, manager and head coach next season.
“I will try. If I feel I can't give all my best everywhere, I'll search for somebody to help me to work with the team”, said former guard of “The Reds” and Bulgarian NT.
191 cm tall Bozov is the biggest symbol of the club. 28-years old talent grown up in CSKA. He started playing in the Men's league with CSKA. He left the club only twice - first time to try his luck to play in college in the States, second time when he signed with Levski 4 years ago, only because they promised him to try to make him a pure playmaker, something that never happened. The biggest strength of Bozov is his velocity and speed and his deadly long range shooting.
“I am excited. CSKA is my home. I have moral engagement here. I can't just leave, before I am 100% sure there is no hope to save the team. Now I am very happy that CSKA will survive and more than that, we will be able to be competitive team”, said Bozov at the pressconference today.

CSKA signed 17-years old prospect -by Vladi Lazarova
Rossen Barchovski was happy to announce today the contract between CSKA and one of the most talented boys in the country - 17-years old Lyuben Paskov (195-F-90). He is son of well known former Bulgarian women's National team, Slavia and Neftohimik Burgas forward Polina Paskova. After finishing her career Polina became very good singer of traditional folk music.
Last season 195 cm tall forward Paskov spent in Spartak MVR.

CSKA: Mirakovski will stay -by Vladi Lazarova

The most stable and probably the best foreign player in Men's CSKA last season - Dimitar Mirakovski (180-G-81, agency: Global Sports Plaza), will stay in the team. 180 cm tall Macedonian playmaker will have big part in the “Red” squad from this autumn. Next to him in the team will be another Macedonian - Sinisa Avramovski (210-C-85, agency: Global Sports Plaza). 210 cm tall prospect spent the second half of the last season in Cherno more, because he didn't take a lot of time at the court in CSKA. Now Rossen Barchovski wants Avramovski back.

“There is no doubt two guys are coming back to us. Mirakovski did a great job, now we must find a backup playmaker. For Avramovski is time to show his skills”, said the head coach.




CSKA: No money for Barkley -by Vladi Lazarova
CSKA will not have anough money to keep his first and last summer foreigh edition - former NBA guard Erick Barkley (186-G-78, agency: Edge Sports, college: St.John's). After the death of GM Emil Cohen, the club is fighting to stay alive and don't have financial resources to have high paid players from abroad. This is the only reason “The Reds” to say “Good Bye” to Barkley a lot before his appearance in the country.
“We just can't afford it. It will be so hard for us to build a team to be competitive in the league. We can't think for something more at this moment”, said Rossen Barchovski. "The chances to see CSKA Men's team in FIBA Eurocup this autumn are very, very small", he added.

CSKA is saved! -by Vladi Lazarova
Finally some good news for CSKA. After the sudden death of president Vladimir Fedyaev and GM Emil Cohen in a car crash in France on 24th June, the “Red” club was on a verge of bankruptcy and abolition. But this won't happen, because it seems that there are still people with big hearts in Bulgaria. The man who will save men's and women's team of CSKA is well known: former Minister of sports in the country Vassil Ivanov - Luciano. He will help with personal money. The same will be done from some of his friends, famous businessmen with good financial status. Luciano refused to tell their names, neither the exact amount of their support.
The rumours are that around 500 000 euro will be enough for two squads to start the new season with almost the same players, especially Bulgarians. With them the club will be able to compete for at least silver and bronze in the league and for the Cup.
During Cohen's management women's CSKA won treble: gold in the championship and for the Cup and gold in Adriatic league. Men's team finished second in the league after Lukoil Akademik and thrid for the National Cup. Both squads played in FIBA Eurocup too. Women played 1/8 final, men stopped their way earlier in the group. The dream of Emil Cohen was to see both teams champions in the same year. He dreamed to see his club making history in Europe. He died with this dream at the age of 33 behind the wheel of his new BMW in France...

Dunav prepare a men's team for the new season -by Valentin Anguelov
Dunav Ruse will have a team in Men First A1 for a second consecutive season and will predominantly keep its players from the first one. That was what Rosen Dunov, the general manager of the men's division at BC Dunav, revealed for the media today.
Mr Dunov confirmed that three of the key players from last season - Manuel Markov, Todor Tenev (204-C-83) and Mihail Dimitrov have already signed new contracts with the club. Most of the others have been approached and their contracts are in negotiation. Talented youngsters such as local boys Slavov, Tihov and Bachvarov, as well as Varna-born Kasabov, will once again be included in the main squad.
The only player to have definitely left the club as yet is last season's men championship topscorer Simeon Tsenov (196-F-82), who recently signed with Varna club Cherno More IG. The other Dunav star player Manuel Markov is set to undergo surgery on damaged cruciate ligaments in his knee and will likely miss the first few months of the new season.
Other experienced and some younger players are being approached to join Dunav. They have also recruited a new head-coach, whose name Mr Dunov wouldn't reveal just yet.
The team is to start pre-season training on the 1-st of August.

by Christomir Rackov - BulgarianBasket.com

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CHILE

Centro-Sur: UCon, Liceo and Puente to the final four -by Daniel Valencia

After the Top 4 played in Valparaiso, Centro-Sur league is in the final weeks before the Final Four. Universidad de Concepcion, Liceo Mixto and Puente Alto are already qualified, while Boston College and Universidad Catolica are fighting for the last spot. These are the complete results of weekend's action.

July 6

Liceo Mixto 93 - Puente Alto 90
Lic: Rodrigo Espinoza 23 pts. / Pal: Francisco Avello 29 pts.

July 7

Deportivo Aleman 68 - Liceo Mixto 72
Ale: Julio Becerra 24 pts. / Lic: Patricio Briones 28 pts.

Concepcion 63 - Boston College 83
Con: Gustavo Barrera 16 pts. / Bos: Ronald Cruces 26 pts.

Universidad de Concepcion 66 - Universidad Catolica 54
Ucon: Samuel Bravo 19 pts. / Uc: Sascha Frings 15 pts.

July 8

Deportivo Aleman 67 - Sagrados Corazones 63
Ale: Rodolfo Caceres 24 pts. / Cor: Hector Gomez 28 pts.

Concepcion 59 - Universidad Catolica 79
Con: Gustavo Barrera 18 pts. / Uc: Mike Elliot 21 pts.

Universidad de Concepcion 95 - Boston College 80
Ucon: Eduardo Marechal 29 pts. / Bos: Marcos Cornez 19 pts.


Standings


1. Universidad de Concepcion - 22 pts.

2. Liceo Mixto - 21 pts.

3. Puente Alto - 19 pts.

4. Boston College - 18 pts

5. Universidad Catolica - 18 pts.

6. Deportivo Aleman - 15 pts.

7. Concepcion - 14 pts.

8. Sagrados Corazones - 13 pts.



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CHINA

Basketball Without Borders Camp Opens in China -by Arthur Volbert
Rosters have been announced for the Asia Basketball Without Borders Camp held in China for the third year and in Shanghai for the second consecutive year, bringing together 50 top young participants from 17 different countries and territories across Asia. Ten Chinese players are attending. The most prominent players are 207 cm power forward Dong Hanlin of Guangdong, from the class of 1991, Zhang Zhoujun of Zhejiang, also from the class of '91, Luo Hanchen of the Class of 1994, and Jiang Liyang (215-C) of Jiangsu.

Dong starred at the recent Nike camp and as a legitimate 6-9 power forward, 3 cm taller than Li Xiaoxu and Ding Jinhui, may play a prominent role in the future. Zhang was named as a candidate for the Under-19 team but missed out on being named to the final team. He is a 6-8 209 small forward. Luo, a 6-0 combo guard, is considered to be truly younger than the other players. He may have just finished the tenth grade in high school and be around 15 or 16 years of age.

Jiang is listed here as being 7-0 and 253. No age is listed for Jiang. Jiang, who comes from rural China, has just begun to play high-level basketball after serving in the Navy where he sprouted from 6-7 to his current height. A source reports that many websites in China reprinted my initial Asia-basket article on Jiang. Then some professional reporters asked the junior coach of Jiangsu about Jiang. The coach said that Jiang won't be ready for 2 years. He also added, “Jiang Liyang was born in 1988, that's the truth.” As noted, I saw Rik Smits as a freshman at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Like Jiang, Smits did not have good basketball preparation. He started out as a judo competitor in the Netherlands like his champion father until he outgrew that sport. You could see his physical skill as a freshman but he was not a very good basketball player on a low-major Division I team. He was better as a sophomore but still not a real star. He did not truly blossom until his junior year. So if Jiang is two years away, he is following the type of path that Smits followed.

The players will spend 3 days with NBA players and coaches, including three-time Basketball without Borders Asia camp director Dean Cooper from the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets Coach Wayne Chapman, Gary Colson from the Memphis Grizzlies, Clay Moser with 24 years of professional basketball experience, Jim Lynam participating in his third Basketball without Borders camp, and Keith D'Amelio who will be starting as a trainer of the Toronto Raptors this coming season. Acting as coaches were NBA players Matt Carroll from Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warrios Adonal Foyle both participating in their second BWB camp, LA Lakers Guard Sasha Vujacic from Slovenia, Rockets guard Luther Head, NBA legends Vlade Divac and Scottie Pippen, and Shanghai's native son, Yao Ming.

Bobcats
Coaches: Wayne Chapman
Matt Carroll
Sasha Vujacic

Jersey# Last Name First Name Country BOD Ht(in) Wt(Lbs) Position
66 DONG Hanlin China 1/1/1991 6'9 4
28 SUN Changchao China 1989 6'4 198 1
37 MENG Xiangyang China 1991 6'6 198 3
8 LO YuChun Chinese Taipei 5/7/1988 6'0 182 1
1 AMJAD Mohammad Iran 17/3/1990 5'11 158 1
71 FARBOD Farman Iran 10/3/1991 6'10 194 5
5 SALMANI Emad Iran 8/22/1990 5'11 149 2
55 HARATA Takuya Japan 11/9/1989 6'7 188 4
2 SELEZNYOV Danil Kazakhstan 5/17/1990 5'10 132 3
42 LEE Seoung Hyun Korea 4/16/1992 6'5 198 5
73 ISKANDAR Rabih Jean Lebanon 10/17/1991 6'10 242 5
31 SHABABI Amir Syria 1988 6'4 3
13 SALEM Talal United Arab 9/26/1988 6'2 165 1

Bulls
Coaches: Clay Moser
Scottie Pippen
Chris Duhon
Chun-Man Fong

Jersey# Last Name First Name Country BOD Ht(in) Wt(Lbs) Position
61 LUO Hanchen China 1/1/1994 6'0 1,2
36 WANG Pu China 1993 6'6 216 3
57 ASSI Omar Sami sudqi Jordan 9/6/1988 6'7 187 5
39 KHUDYAKOV Roman Kazakhstan 1/26/1989 6'6 198 3
18 KOZHANOV Yuriy Kazakhstan 5/1/1990 6'3 171 3
12 KIM Ji Wan Korea 2/6/1990 6'2 165 1
40 JANG Jae Sok Korea 3/2/1991 6'6 185 4
19 KASYMALIEV Emil Kyrgyzstan 1/13/1989 6'3 176 3
64 SHIROBOKOV Stanislav Kyrgyzstan 3/1/1998 6'9 190 4,5
7 AL-DOSSARI Saif Qatar 11/3/1989 5'11 175 1
11 SIAN Lim Wai Singapore 11/21/1988 6'1 187 3,4
65 YAHIN Aleksandr Uzbekistan 2/24/1989 6'9 209 5

Warriors
Coaches: Gary Colson
Adonal Foyle
Vlade Divac
Mihaijlo Lalic

Jersey# Last Name First Name Country BOD Ht(in) Wt(Lbs) Position
35 SUN Hefeng China 1992 6'6 194 3
53 YIN Tianren China 1989 6'7 198 3
4 SINGH Dilawar India 2/22/1988 5'11 187 2
15 KUMAR Sharwan India 1/1/1988 6'3 180 2
16 MINATOYA Arekushisu(Alexis) Japan 8/31/1988 6'3 199 3
38 MITSUHARA Yuki Japan 12/27/1989 6'6 199 3
3 PARK Suk Hwan Korea 3/11/1989 5'10 149 1
10 CHO Chan Hyung Korea 6/18/1989 6'1 165 2
62 HALMURZIN Aziz Kyrgyzstan 3/17/1988 6'8 198 3
59 BLOSHINSKYI Maxim Kyrgyzstan 5/18/1990 6'7 187 3
20 SHEE FAI Loh Malaysia 1/16/1989 6'3 176 3
75 JIANG Liyang China 7'0 253 5

Rockets
Coaches: Jim Lynam
Yao Ming
Luther Head
Gao Yao Bin

Jersey# Last Name First Name Country BOD Ht(in) Wt(Lbs) Position
60 ZHANG Zhoujun China 1991 6'8 209 3
9 ZHANG Caibao China 1990 6'1 187 1
29 WU Chieng-Lung Chinese Taipei 9/5/1988 6'4 3
32 KUMAR Sunil India 3/25/1991 6'5 187 3
54 KAZEMI Arsalan Iran 4/22/1990 6'7 176 4
63 IWASHITA Tatsuro Japan 12/16/1988 6'9 199 5
17 KANAMARU Kosuke Japan 3/8/1989 6'3 170 2
69 KACHEROVSKIY Yaroslav Kazakhstan 2/5/1989 6'7 171 4
41 MELNICHENKO Anton Kazakhstan 1/7/1989 6'4 154 3
6 PARK Kyung Sang Korea 5/20/1990 5'11 156 2
34 SAAD Bachir Lebanon 3/3/1991 6'5 199 3
21 NASER Rashed United Arab 10/19/1988 6'3 176 1



Official Chinese Roster for Under-19 Championships Has 19 Players -by Arthur Volbert
The official FIBA website for the World Under-19 Championships has listed the roster for China's team and that team contains 19 players, 7 more than allowed. It contains all 12 players I was told were named to the team.

But in addition it contains Chen Jianghua (187-G-89), Zhou Peng, Ding Jinhui and Liu Xiaoyu, who have been playing in the NBA summer league in Las Vegas. It also contains Zheng Zhun, Zhang Jiadi and Liu Yahui, whom I was told had been cut from the team. It will be interesting to see who shows up for the game on July 12 against Serbia. Www.nbadraft.net reported that Chen has an ankle injury that will keep him out for two months.

It is possible that the national team players were named just as a precaution and will remain in Las Vegas. But it would not shock me if some or all of them showed up for the game against Serbia.

The likelihood is that Zheng Zhun, Zhang Jiadi and Liu Yahui were the last cuts from the team and were named as a precaution in case there were injuries and the national team members did not show up.

Note that Ding Jinhui is listed as being born in 1989 on the official roster and as being almost the same age as Zhou Peng. Relative ages are important even if real ages can't be trusted.

China's U19 team played practice games in Spain and beat Australia 73-70 and then lost to Spain 46-81 the next day. But Spain lost to Australia 70-79. But these were practice games -- some games you play to win and some games you play to practice.

Official Roster
Zhichao BA 19/02/1989 Liaoning (CHN)
Jianghua CHEN PG 187cm 6'2" 12/03/1989 Guangdong (CHN) Guangdong Southern Tigers, CBA (CHN)
DELEHEI 21/06/1990 Neimenggu (CHN)
Jinhui DING 27/10/1989 Zhejiang (CHN)
Aoke GU 12/12/1988 Liaoning (CHN)
Jingyu LI 03/04/1991 Shandong (CHN)
Xiaoxu LI 05/06/1990 Liaoning (CHN)
Xiaoyu LIU 14/03/1989 Jilin (CHN)
Yahui LIU 09/01/1990 Jiangsu (CHN)
Wei SU 28/07/1989 Shandong (CHN)
Yuchen TIAN 30/12/1992 Jilin (CHN)
Zheng WANG 08/02/1990 Hebei (CHN)
Xu XU 05/01/1989 Henan (CHN)
Yong XU 30/03/1989 Shanghai (CHN)
Qin YANG 28/04/1989 Jiangsu (CHN)
Bo ZHANG 30/09/1990 Liaoning (CHN)
Jiadi ZHANG 09/07/1988 Liaoning (CHN)
Zhun ZHENG 12/08/1992 Heilongjiang (CHN)
Peng ZHOU 11/10/1989 Liaoning (CHN)

Real Roster?
Su Wei Guangdong 213 cm 1987, 1989 Made Guangdong senior roster mid-season
Ba Zichao Guangdong 200 cm 1989 attended USBA academy this season
Wang Zheng Guangdong 216 cm 1990 attended Asian Nike camp last summer
Tian Yuchen Shanghai 206 cm 1992 attended USBA academy last season
Xu Yong Shanghai 202 cm 1989 Made Shanghai senior team mid-season
Li Jingyu Shandong 198 cm 1991 attended USBA academy camp this season
Gu Aoke Shanghai 195 cm 1985,1988 supposedly can do 360 degree dunk
Xu Xu Bayi 194 cm 1989,1990 attended USBA academy this season
Zhang Bo Bayi 196 cm 1989,1990 played in Albert Schweitzer tourney in 2006
Yang Qin Bayi 195 cm 1988, 1989 played in Albert Schweitzer tourney in 2006
Delehei Bayi 208 cm 1987, 1989, 1990 played several games for Bayi senior team last year
Li Xiaoxu Liaoning 204 cm 1990 played on senior team for two years

Yi's Buzzer Beater Defeats Cleveland -by Arthur Volbert
Last night Yi Jianlian (212-C/F-87) showed why the Milwaukee Bucks risked the sixth pick of the NBA draft on getting him. He hit a turnaround jump shot from the right corner with 0.4 seconds left to give China an 85-84 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Las Vegas Summer League.

According to an article on www.nba.com , Yi struggled in the first three quarters, missing all six of his shots. His first field goal did not come until the 9:45 mark of the fourth quarter. However, Yi had a monster fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his team-high 20 points (3-11 FG, 14-17 FT) in the quarter. Yi also grabbed four rebounds and collected eight fouls in the win.

We must remember that Cleveland had no draft choices this year, so did not have a draftee like Spenser Hawes who wished to prove that he should have been picked ahead of Yi. But Cleveland did beat the San Antonio Spurs summer league team 67-53 in its previous game.

Yi showed the clutch shooting and determination that caused Milwaukee general manager Larry Harris and others to believe that Yi was the third best prospect in the draft and one who could even have a better career than Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.

This is why Milwaukee will not give up on Yi and will force him to not play in the NBA this year if he refuses to go to Milwaukee. Since Yi needs NBA experience to maximize his playing potential for the 2008 Olympics, refusing the offer from the Bucks would be as harmful to Chinese Basketball as was Wang Zhizhi's move to the Los Angeles Clippers.

China used an eight-man rotation as it seriously tried to win the game against Cleveland. Yi, Wang Zhizhi, Zhu Fangyu, Wang Shipeng and Liu Wei were the starters and Sun Yue, Mo Ke and Zhou Peng were the reserves.

This would be the rotation that would be used if the Olympics were to be held tomorrow except that Yao Ming would grab Mo Ke's minutes and some from Wang Zhizhi and Yi.

Zhou appears to now be ahead of Wang Lei as the backup perimeter scorer. Zhou is from the class of 1989 and is adept at both outside shooting and driving to the basket. He is extremely agile for being 6-9 though he needs to spend considerably more time in the weight room before he becomes an NBA draftee. He had 2 points and 2 rebounds in 12 minutes last night.

2006 first round pick Shannon Brown led Cleveland with 26 points and Daniel Gibson, a star in Cleveland's Eastern Conference win against Detroit, scored 14.

For the complete box score of the game, go to http://www.nba.com/summerleague2007/games/boxscore.jsp?gameId=1520700011 .

China 85
Wang Zhizhi 34min+18p+7r, Yi Jianlian 31min+20p+4r+3bl, Zhu Fangyu 33min+15p+6r, Wang Shipeng 30min+16p+4r+3a, Liu Wei 29min+6p+4r+4a+3to, Sun Yue 17min+2p+2r+1a, Mo Ke 14min+6p, Zhou Peng 12min+2p+2r

Yi turns best performance of day 3 of NBA Summer League -by Alex Yams

Yi Beats the Buzzer to Lift Team China Over Cavs
Posted Jul 8 2007 11:20PM


Yi struggled from the field but came up clutch when it mattered the most, scoring 17 in the fourth quarter.

Team China Basketball 85, Cleveland 84
Las Vegas, July 8 -- Yi Jianlian's turnaround jump shot from the right corner with 0.4 seconds left gave Team China an 85-84 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

With Team China down one, it set a pick and roll with Yi to create a mismatch. When the mismatch happened, they fed Yi on the low post and he put home the game-winner.

Cavs' Matt Walsh nailed a 3-pointer with 18.3 seconds left to give Cleveland an 84-83 lead before Yi's heroics.

Yi struggled in the first three quarters, missing all six of his shots. His first field goal did not come until the 9:45 mark of the fourth quarter. However, Yi had a monster fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his team-high 20 points (3-11 FG, 14-17 FT) in the quarter. Yi also grabbed four rebounds and collected eight fouls in the win.

Wang ZhiZhi accounted for 18 points (5-9 FG, 5-6 FT) and seven rebounds for Team China.

2006 first round pick Shannon Brown had a game-high 26 points (11-16 FG) in 32 minutes of action for the Cavs, while Daniel Gibson produced 14 points (2-4 FG, 10-11 FT) in just 17 minutes of play. Gibson suffered a left ankle sprain in the second quarter and did not return.

“We didn't execute down the stretch,” Gibson said of the Cavs play. “We gave them a lot of easy baskets. We had a lot of fouls which gave them a lot of easy points.”

Article courtesy of Dennis Rogers



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COSTA RICA

Liceo ends third in Central America Championship for Clubs -by Gianni Pascucci
Even defeating 64-62 the host team Nacional de Ingenieros in the last game of the competition, Banco Nacional-Liceo de Costa Rica ended at the second place the in the 2007 edition of the Central America Championship for Clubs. The final classification is as follows: 1. Nacional de Ingenieros (HON), 2. Liceo de Costa Rica (CRC), 3. Fupade Coast (NIC), 4. Bodega Radio (GUA), 5. Denver (ESA), and, for sure, the final result of Liceo has been conditioned by the unexpected loss suffered from Nicaraguan Fupade Coast, 58-60 in the first round of the tournment.

Barva wins Game 2 on the road -by Gianni Pascucci
Defeating Deportivo Saprissa 77-62 on the road, Ferreteria Brenes Barva stayed in the race for the Apertura title 2007 of the CostaRican National League. The first half of teh game ended 37-35 for Saprissa, but Leandro Mateo (204-C-81) and David Carnegie (192-F-85) were very effective under the boards and Isaac St.Rose (190-G-84, college: John Brown) led the team at the offensive side, scoring 29 points as the top scorer of the game. Another time more, Henry Martinez (186-G/F-75) was the best in Saprissa, with 24 points. The Decisive Game 3 will be played tomorrow night.

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CYPRUS

Sizopoulos is officialy a Near East player1 -by Chris Mammides
As eurobasket.com wrote last week, Near East agreed terms with the Cypriot international Antreas Sizopoulos, ex player of Milonas. Sizopoulos is the second Cypriot player after Neofytou who signs for Near East. It seems that these two players are trasfering from team to team as a package!!!

*****************************************************
E.CHAMPS U20

Serbia beat France 96:81 in game #3 -by Dragan Jankovski

Serbian U20 National Team made second win on European Championship beating France 96:81 so they finished on position 2 of group A. At the beginning of the game Labovic and Teodosic were unstoppable and after 9 minutes Serbian NT already made 24:14. In 25th minute, after Dragovic's dunk, Serbia had maximum advantage during the game 64:48. In the last quarter France started to play much better and came on 75:73, Serbian players didn't score any points four minutes but then on the scene came Nikola Dragovic (203-F-87, agency: Beo Basket) and for just one minute with two successful 3-pts shots decided winner of this game, 81:74 in 37th minute. Dragan Labovic (208-C/F-87) scored the most for Serbia 31 points with 6 rebounds. PG Milos Teodosic (196-G-87) added double-double 19 points and 10 assists while clutch player of the game Nikola Dragovic (203-F-87, agency: Beo Basket) collected 15 points and 4 rebounds. On the other side Nando De Colo (195-G-87) was very good posting 31 points including 7 rebounds.

Next game Serbian U20 NT will play tomorrow against Turkey. In group E are also Lithuania, Russia, Slovenia and France.



Serbia - France 96:81
(26:20,24:24,22:16,24:21)

Serbia: Teodosic 19 (10 as), Tepic 2 (4 as), Nikolic 2, Djurkovic 14 (9 rebs), Labovic 31 (6 rebs), Kovacevic, Stimac 9 (7 rebs), Paunic 4 (4 rebs), Dragovic 15 (4 rebs), Nikolic 7
DNP: Zivcevic.
France: Cel 8 (4 rebs), Marc 11 (4 rebs), De Colo 31 (7 rebs), Le Pellec 2, Sy, Curti 8, Causeur 7, Koma, Salmon 9 (7 rebs), Jonckheere, Kolb 5
DNP: Cheriet.



Division A: Full coverage of Day 3 -by Eurobasket News
Three days are over in U20 European Championship for Men. It left only 4 teams that stay undefeated- Slovenia, Russia, Spain and Italy.
In Group A Slovenia finished the Group on the first spot after a win over Hungary. The co-hosts won 69:56 to go on 3-0. Gasper Vidmar (210-C/F-87) led the way for Slovenia with 19 points and nine rebounds while Emir Preldzic added 15 points.
Dragan Labovic (208-C/F-87) and Milos Teodosic (196-G-87) combined for 50 points as reigning champions Serbia outlasted a resilent France side 96:81. Serbia finished with 2-1, while France failed at 1-2.

Russian U20 National team posted third consecutive win in Group B as they rallied past Turkey 88:74. This victory marked a perfect 3-0 record for Russia as they finished the preliminary round on top of Group B.
Turkey kept it close in the opening frame and trailed by just one point after it 20:21. Russia led throughout the second quarter but Oguz Savas secured a minimum advantage for Turkey as they entered the second half 44:43. The game remained very close before Russia spurred to a 10:2 run and surge ahead 65:62 at the end of the third frame. Russia controlled the game in the final stanza and set themselves comfortably 82:72 with less than 2 minutes to go in the game. Turkey never got closer and suffered their second loss of the tournament. Russia's guard Alexey Shved (195-G-88) scored game-high 22 points, dished out 7 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds. Pavel Sergeev (187-G-87) notched another 13 points in a win. Turkey had 5 players overstepping 10-point mark. Bora Pacun nailed 14 points to lead Turkey. Russia will play in Group E of qualification round together with Turkey. They tip off the next round against Serbia tomorrow. Turkey will play versus still undefeated Slovenia.
Lithuanian U20 team gained their first win at the U20 European championship in Slovenia and Italy. They outscored Greece in the third round of action and secured the Top 12 birth. The loss meanwhile meant Greece were eliminated from the Top 12 and will play in the relegation round. Greece grabbed an early 20:17 lead and opened the second frame with a 6:0 run to extend it to 26:17. Lithuania cut the deficit to 3 points 32:35 at halftime. And once again Greek team went out of the dressing room fast and furious and sparked to a 9:2 run to clear off to 44:34. Lithuania however maintained the distance and used a mini-spurt at the end of the third quarter to come back within a 1-point distance 52:53. Greece made another effort to leave Lithuania behind nailing 10 unanswered points at the start of the final frame. But Povilas Butkevicius consecutive baskets saw Lithuania cut the lead to 64:69. Then Vilmantas Dilys added 5 straight points to tie the score with 3 minutes to go in regulation. Lithuania never gave it up. Edvinas Ruzgas' perfect free throw shooting sealed a win for Lithuania and sent them to the qualifying round. Povilas Butkevicius topscored for Lithuania with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Ernestas Ezerskis (195-G-87) provided 13 points to ensure a win. Dimitrios Verginis had game-high 25 points and Georgios Trichopoulos added 15 in a defeat. Lithuania shot solid 55.6% from the field.

In Group C Macedonia were unable to advance to the qualifying round of the U20 European championship in Slovenia and Italy. They lost to Croatia in the third round of preliminary competition in Group C to finish the group action winless.
Macedonia led early in the game 24:20. They maneged to extend the lead to as many as 9 points midway through the second frame 37:28. Franko Filipovic helped Croatia cut the lead to 37:33 but Macedonia held on to it and went into the dressing room 42:36 ahead. They remained leading almost all the way through the third quarter but Vukicevic's jumper at the end of it put Craotia in front 55:54. Aleksandar Stefanovski (200-G/F-87) drained a long jumper to grab the lead back for Macedonia 57:55. But Croatia immediately replied with a 18:0 run that erased all possible hopes for Macedonia in this game. Setting up a comfortable 73:57 lead Croatia cruised to an overall win and secured a Top 12 birth.
Franko Filipovic topscored for Croatia with 19 points. Marin Han added another 13 points, while Filip Vukicevic finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Kiril Nikolovski answered with 12 points for Macedonia. Nikola Karakolev (197-G-87) and Aleksandar Stefanovski had 11 points apiece in a loss.
Spain beat Israel 77:73. Xavier Rey led the winners with 23 points and 20 rebounds. Yogev Ohayon produced 19 points in the losing effort. Macedonia will now play in the relegation round and face Greece tomorrow. Croatia will battle in qulifying round Group F and take on Italy the same day.

Free throw shooting proved the difference as Georgia edged Bulgaria in the third round in Group D of the U20 European championship in Slovenia and Italy. Ival Lilov first put Bulgaria ahead 74:73 as he converted two free throws with 56 seconds left in regulation. Then Giorgi Gaprindashvili replied with two free throws of his own to regain the lead for Georgia 75:74. Ivan Lilov grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with no time on the clock. He missed both of his attempts from the charity line to present Georgia with a victory.
Georgia looked more confident from the start of the game as they recorded a solid 22:12 first frame. Bulgaria however closed the gap in the second and went into the dressing room trailing by just 1 point 35:36. Misha Chochua (192-G-87) maintained the minimum advantage for Georgian side in the third quarter and throughout the fourth. But a final effort from Bulgaria almost brought them a win, but they fell just short of a victory. Misha Chochua led Georgia with 22 points. Lasha Parghalava contributed 17 points in a winning effort. Chavdar Kostov (190-G-88) and Ivan Lilov paced Bulgaria with 16 points each.
Georgia outrebounded the opponents 38:32 and shot impressive 61.5% from the field. Bulgaria lacked accuracy converting just 36.8% of field goals and 57.1% of free throws.
Both teams qualified to Top 16 and will now play in Group F. Georgia takes on Israel tomorrow. Bulgaria will try to improve their record against Spain.
Latvia did not secure a big lead in the third quarter to lose their third round encounter to Italy 65:72. Latvia performed a spectacular come back attempt at the start of the third quarter 22:2 to put themselves ahead 53:39 with 5 minutes left in the third frame. But timeouts and coach's advice helped Italy to pull back within one point entering the final frame 55:54. Both teams struggled to find the basket during first 4 minutes of the final quarter before Ariel Filloy broke the deadlock hitting a jumper and regaining the lead for Italy. The teams kept it close till the dying stage of the game when Italy spurred to a 7:0 run and cleared off to 67:60 distance. Rihards Kuksiks knocked down a trey and Reinis Strupovics added a basket to climb back to 65:67. However Pietro Aradori drained a long jumper and converted two free throws to seal a victory for Italy.
Luigi Datome (202-G/F-87) secured 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead Italian squad. Pietro Aradori had 11 points for the winners. Ronalds Zakis produced 25 points and 10 rebounds for Latvia. Reinis Strupovics and Rihards Kuksiks netted 10 points apiece in a loss. Latvia dominated the boards 46:38, but committed 22 turnovers.
Latvian team will now play in the classification round. They face Hungary tomorrow.

Division B: Day 3 results -by Eurobasket News
Division B closed Day 3 in the U20 European Championship for Men in Warsaw. Two games were played in each group yesterday.
In Group A Montenegro overcame Czech Republic 88:66. With a win in every quarter Montenegro dominated in the court. Vladimir Dasic (208-F-88) paced the winners with 29 points and 8 rebounds. Michal Vocetka (192-G/F-87) scored only 9 and was the top-scorer in defeat. Germany beat Austria 63:51 with 21 points from Per Gunther. Thomas Schreiner's 24 points and 12 rebounds were not enough for Austria.
In Group B Ireland had a thrilled over Switzerland and won 74:73 due to the win in the last quarter. Scott Kinevane produced 17 points for the winners. David Ramseier top-scored with 16 points and 10 rebounds for Switzerland.
Ukraine reached the second win in Group C beating Slovak Republic 95:54. Oleksandr Kolchenko (196-F-88) led the winners with 24 points. Portugal got the first win overcoming Belarus 77:72. Fabio Lima (178-G-88) scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Portugal. Dzmitry Shylovich ended up with 17 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.
In Group D all four teams has 1-1 record. Romania won an overtime battle over Finland 87:86. Vlad Jiscanu (-87) top-scored with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Great Britain did not have many problems against Belgium downing them 80:68. Daniel Clark (210-C-88) had one of the best games so far in the tournament. He poured in 33 points, made 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 block-shots.

*****************************************************
ESTONIA

U20 NT wins Holland -by Janar Filippov

U20 European Championship. Division B, Warsaw

Estonia - Holland 70:63 (half 49:28!)


Tanel Kurbas (195-F-88) 16, Sten-Timmu Sokk (180-G-89) 15+6as+4st, Allar Velleramm (191-F-87) 10, Ivar Tulit (202-F-88) 9+5, Siim-Sander Vene (200-F-90) 6, Tarmo Tartes (206-C-87) 6

Estonia won 2nd game in row, despite being outrebounded 30:47 (off.rb - 8:18). Holland made 30 turnovers and shot only 18/61 FG.

Poland (3/3) and Estonia (2/2), both unbeaten, will face each other on Monday, 09th July, to decide the group winner.



*****************************************************
EURO CHAMPS

Doron Jamchy: I hope we will make Giannakis' life difficult the evening of our possible game at Spain -by Kostas Papadopoulos
Doron Jamchy (197-F/G-61), the best Israeli shooter of all time, one of its greatest players and Israel's top scorer of all times, with 4.224 points, 11 Israeli Championships won with Maccabi Tel Aviv and 7 Israeli State Cups, was present at Athens 1st Eurostar and gave at Eurobasket.com a brief interview, stating though some interesting things:
Q: What do you think are the chances of Israel to qualify from the Additional Qualifying Round to the forthcoming Eurobasket 2007 of Spain?
D.J.: First of all, I hope we can do it. However, it will not be easy to qualify and as an example I bring our loss from Portugal at the previous round, which brought us to the additional round instead of the final round of Eurobasket. We have a very talented team, with many talented players, although we still have the disadvantage of not having a full knowledge of our roster for the games. If it was difficult to qualify with our initial roster, after the withdrawals of Arnold and Burstein it would be even more difficult.
Q: If Israel qualifies, it will face Greece at the very first game of the first round of the Eurobasket 2007. What do you think of such a game, especially since Greece, in such a case, will have few games to be prepared for the game (we remind that the team to qualify to Group A of Granada will become just 3 days before Eurobasket's beginning)?
D.J.: The most games between Greece and Israel during the last years have been almost equal. However, generally there were also games with big differences for Greece. Of course, we made it difficult for Greece to qualify at Beograd and I think that our game at that Tuesday gave Greece a strong, mental especially, advantage for the rest of Eurobasket 2005. We raise their self-esteem a lot. In any case, Greece is a very difficult and talented team, the champions of Europe and 2nd team of World Championship, a very strong team. Giannakis is a very good friend of me and I hope we will make his life difficult that evening (we should have qualified firstly, of course).
Q: Do you have any idea of the presence of Israel's funs at Spain?
D.J.: With our national team the things are very different than with Maccabi and the presence of its funs at Euroleague's Final 4etc. Certainly, some people will follow us at Spain, but in any case I believe that Greeks will be much many at Granada than we.
Q: And something about the 1st Eurostar?
D.J.: It is always very good for me and I feel very happy when I have the chance to feel the great Greek hospitality for one more time. I feel also happy to meet again my friends - journalists - and to feel the support and admiration of all my years at the past. I really feel blessed to be here in Athens and join all these great players and old friends.

*****************************************************
FYR MACEDONIA

Macedonia will play in relegation round -by Eurobasket News
FYR Macedonia - Croatia 70:88
Macedonia were unable to advance to the qualifying round of the U20 European championship in Slovenia and Italy. They lost to Croatia in the third round of preliminary competition in Group C to finish the group action winless.
Macedonia led early in the game 24:20. They maneged to extend the lead to as many as 9 points midway through the second frame 37:28. Franko Filipovic (206-F-87) helped Croatia cut the lead to 37:33 but Macedonia held on to it and went into the dressing room 42:36 ahead. They remained leading almost all the way through the third quarter but Vukicevic's jumper at the end of it put Craotia in front 55:54. Aleksandar Stefanovski drained a long jumper to grab the lead back for Macedonia 57:55. But Croatia immediately replied with a 18:0 run that erased all possible hopes for Macedonia in this game. Setting up a comfortable 73:57 lead Croatia cruised to an overall win and secured a Top 12 birth.
Franko Filipovic topscored for Croatia with 19 points. Marin Han (198-F/G-87) added another 13 points, while Filip Vukicevic finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Kiril Nikolovski (210-C-88, agency: Interperformances) answered with 12 points for Macedonia. Nikola Karakolev (197-G-87) and Aleksandar Stefanovski had 11 points apiece in a loss.
Macedonia will now play in the relegation round and face Greece tomorrow. Croatia will battle in qulifying round Group F and take on Italy the same day.

Macedonia U20: Kiril Nikolovski 12 points, Nikola Karakolev 11, Aleksandar Stefanovski 11
Croatia U20: Franko Filipovic 19, Marin Han 13.

*****************************************************
GEORGIA

Free throw shooting is key factor in win -by Eurobasket News
Georgia - Bulgaria 75:74
Free throw shooting proved the difference as Georgia edged Bulgaria in the third round of the U20 European championship in Slovenia and Italy. Ival Lilov first put Bulgaria ahead 74:73 as he converted two free throws with 56 seconds left in regulation. Then Giorgi Gaprindashvili replied with two free throws of his own to regain the lead for Georgia 75:74. Ivan Lilov (195-F-88) grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with no time on the clock. He missed both of his attempts from the charity line to present Georgia with a victory.
Georgia looked more confident from the start of the game as they recorded a solid 22:12 first frame. Bulgaria however closed the gap in the second and went into the dressing room trailing by just 1 point 35:36. Misha Chochua (192-G-87) maintained the minimum advantage for Georgian side in the third quarter and throughout the fourth. But a final effort from Bulgaria almost brought them a win, but they fell just short of a victory. Misha Chochua led Georgia with 22 points. Lasha Parghalava (190-G-87) contributed 17 points in a winning effort. Chavdar Kostov (190-G-88) and Ivan Lilov paced Bulgaria with 16 points each.
Georgia outrebounded the opponents 38:32 and shot impressive 61.5% from the field. Bulgaria lacked accuracy converting just 36.8% of field goals and 57.1% of free throws.
Both teams qualified to Top 16 and will now play in Group F. Georgia takes on Israel tomorrow. Bulgaria will try to improve their record against Spain.

Georgia U20: Misha Chochua 22 points, Lasha Parghalava 17, Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) 10+13 boards
Bulgaria U20: Chavdar Kostov 16, Ivan Lilov 16.

*****************************************************
GERMANY

Eric Taylor stays in Leverkusen -by Moritz Korff
The Bayer Giants Leverkusen (1. Bundesliga) re-signed Eric Taylor (201-F-76, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: St.Francis,PA) for the upcoming season. After the departure of a pair of last seasons' key players like John Goldsberry or Derrick Allen Taylor is the fifth member of the Giants' squad for 2007-2008 at this time. The others are: Nate Fox (203-F-77, agency: Interperformances, college: Maine), Gordon Geib (180-G-83, agency: LimeLight), Tom Spoeler (206-F-88) and Ben Spoeler (206-F-88). Taylor was the third best rebounder for Leverkusen during the past season (5.9 rpg) and had double-figures in points per game: 10.1.

Brandon Gary brings versatility to Karlsruhe -by Moritz Korff
BG Karlsruhe turns more and more into an early favorite of the 2. Bundesliga Pro A. The team that has been relegated from the 1. Bundesliga recently announced the signing of Brandon Gary (202-F-83, college: Hutchinson JC) today. Gary had the highest average in the Efficiency Rating of all players in the 2. Bundesliga during this past season, while suiting up for the Iserlohn Kangaroos. 24-year-old Gary is a very versatile athlete and can play several positions. He averaged 23.6 points, 11 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals in 29 games of the 2006-2007 season and was named the 2006-2007 Eurobasket.com All-2. Bundesliga North Forward of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Braunschweig signed Jonathan Levy -by Moritz Korff
Jonathan Levy (193-G-82, college: Cal.St.-San Bernar.) is not going to shoot hoops for ratiopharm Ulm next season, but he will stay in Germany. The member of the 2006 Eurobasket.com All-German 2.Bundesliga 1st Team signed a one-year-deal with the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig (1. Bundesliga). Scoring 14.9 points per contest Levy helped to keep Ulm in the league after winning the championship in the 2. Bundesliga South the year before.

Leverkusen signs D2 All-American Point Guard -by Daniel Poerschke

According to his agent Rob Wilson, Zack Whiting (193-G-84) signed with BBL club Bayer Giants Leverkusen for the upcoming season. Whiting aka Mr. Triple Double comes from NCAA 2 school Chaminade, where he averaged 20.7ppg, 10.7apg and 7.1rpg last season. In 2006/07 Whiting had 19 Double-Doubles and 6 Triple Doubles.

He is a three time First Team Pac West Selection, the 2006-07 conference player of the year, the nation's leader in assists, a First Team Daktronics All West Region selection, he got an invitation to the NABC Division II All-Star game, was a Bob Cousy Award finalist and he was a Daktronics Men's Basketball All-American last season.



2. Bundesliga-News -by Moritz Korff

FC Schalke 04 (Pro A) added some size to the roster by bringing in Klaus Schille (210-C/F-82, agency: LimeLight, college: Cal-Riverside). The 25-year-old post player moved to Union Shops Rastatt during this past season after a very short stint in Danmark. In 25 games of the 2. Bundesliga South for the Pioneers Schille scored 11.7 points and also pulled down 5.3 boards per contest.

Veteran shooter Igor Starcevic (201-F-72) decided to remain a part of TV Langen (Pro A) one more season. Starcevic, 34 years of age, came to the Giraffes in January at mid-season and helped the team in 14 games (5.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg).


Christian Klink (207-C-81) returns to BV TU Chemnitz 99 (Pro A) for the upcoming season. The 26-year-old Center spent the past season wearing the jersey of BC Energie Zwickau. He scored 25.6 points per game in the 2. Regionalliga. Klink already played for the Niners from 2003 until 2006.



*****************************************************
GREECE

Doron Jamchy: I hope we will make Giannakis' life difficult the evening of our possible game at Spain -by Kostas Papadopoulos
Doron Jamchy (197-F/G-61), the best Israeli shooter of all time, one of its greatest players and Israel's top scorer of all times, with 4.224 points, 11 Israeli Championships won with Maccabi Tel Aviv and 7 Israeli State Cups, was present at Athens 1st Eurostar and gave at Eurobasket.com a brief interview, stating though some interesting things:
Q: What do you think are the chances of Israel to qualify from the Additional Qualifying Round to the forthcoming Eurobasket 2007 of Spain?
D.J.: First of all, I hope we can do it. However, it will not be easy to qualify and as an example I bring our loss from Portugal at the previous round, which brought us to the additional round instead of the final round of Eurobasket. We have a very talented team, with many talented players, although we still have the disadvantage of not having a full knowledge of our roster for the games. If it was difficult to qualify with our initial roster, after the withdrawals of Arnold and Burstein it would be even more difficult.
Q: If Israel qualifies, it will face Greece at the very first game of the first round of the Eurobasket 2007. What do you think of such a game, especially since Greece, in such a case, will have few games to be prepared for the game (we remind that the team to qualify to Group A of Granada will become just 3 days before Eurobasket's beginning)?
D.J.: The most games between Greece and Israel during the last years have been almost equal. However, generally there were also games with big differences for Greece. Of course, we made it difficult for Greece to qualify at Beograd and I think that our game at that Tuesday gave Greece a strong, mental especially, advantage for the rest of Eurobasket 2005. We raise their self-esteem a lot. In any case, Greece is a very difficult and talented team, the champions of Europe and 2nd team of World Championship, a very strong team. Giannakis is a very good friend of me and I hope we will make his life difficult that evening (we should have qualified firstly, of course).
Q: Do you have any idea of the presence of Israel's funs at Spain?
D.J.: With our national team the things are very different than with Maccabi and the presence of its funs at Euroleague's Final 4etc. Certainly, some people will follow us at Spain, but in any case I believe that Greeks will be much many at Granada than we.
Q: And something about the 1st Eurostar?
D.J.: It is always very good for me and I feel very happy when I have the chance to feel the great Greek hospitality for one more time. I feel also happy to meet again my friends - journalists - and to feel the support and admiration of all my years at the past. I really feel blessed to be here in Athens and join all these great players and old friends.

More transfer news -by Chris Mammides
A1
Maroussi agreed terms with Travon Bryant (206-F-83, college: Missouri) The American power forward has experience in the Greek league since he played for Peristeri, Kolossos Rodou and Iraklis Thesalonikis.
Aris agreed terms and officially announced the Canadian Head Coach Herbert Gordon, Gordon was coaching Pau Ortez last season and he is currently the Head coach of the Georgia NT. The contract of the Canadian Coach is for 2+1 years.
Panionios announced officially the new head Coach which is Minas Gekos , at the same time agreed terms with Giannis Georgallis and is expected in the next few days to announced at least five Greek players.
A2
Xanthi agreed terms and renewed the contract of Ivan Skara (204-F-82, college: Cleveland St. CC) for another season, furthermore the team of Xanthi agreed terms with Filiousis and Behlivanis ex players of Panorama
Panagiotis Saxonis will remain the president of Panorama and Fotis Takianos the head coach on the new era in the A2 division.

B' Division
Ilias Vrinas (192-G-88), ex player of Pagrati and Petros Bourousis (203-PF-87), ex player of AEK Athens (brother of Giannis Bourousis of Olympiakos) have agreed terms with Alimos
Makedonikos agreed terms with Yiorgos Mitsakis (181-G-81) and Kogias
Ikaros Serron agreed terms with the veteran Costas Sdrakas (188-G-72) and Mihalis Paralikakis (186-G-82)

C' Division
Papagou agreed terms with Christoforos Zaharis and Dimitris Leonidas.
AEK/Pegasous agreed terms with Lefteris Kokkalas (205-C-78) ex player of Kronos Ioanninon and Pavlos Nondas (206-PF-73)
A.S. Kefallonias agreed terms with Leonidas Triantafillopoulos (190-G-79), ex player of Poseidon Kalamatas
Other news
Two well known Americans (both of them ex Aris players) will play next season in the Russian league, Ryan Stack agreed terms with BC Kiev and Mike Wilkinson agreed terms with Kimki

Transfer news from the lower divisions -by Chris Mammides
A2
Peristeri agreed terms with Vangelis Margaritis (202-F82), Vangelis was among the top performers in the Second division with Keravnos's jersey. Head Coach Manos Manousellis has done remarkable movements this season for the team of Peristeri, as Vangelis was the third top scorer (and voted from the leagues' coaches as the top player/performer of the league). Margaritis is the among the players together with Nikos Kokkalis, who singed earlier on last week with Peristeri, which will be helping the team to promote in the A2, he is also consider to be among the players who will become targets for teams in the highest level, next season. Coach Manouselis is creating a team which will be among the top favorite teams for the promotion to the big league next season.

MENT agreed terms with the young talented forward Dimitris Arapis (203-F-90) the ex player of Asteras Thessalonikis (D) is consider to be among the top players (in his age) of the whole country

B' Division
Near East agreed terms with the Cypriot international Antreas Sizopoulos, ex player of Milonas. Sizopoulos is the second Cypriot player after Neofytou who signs for Near East. At the same time Near East have come to an agreement with the ex player of Ionikos Nikaias, Giorgos Fasoulopoulos (197-F-83) and the ex player of Panerythraikos, Giorgos Papoulidis (206-C-79).
Doukas renewed the contract of Apollonas Tsohlas(190-G83) fro another season
Keravnos Aigiou lost the top scorer of the season Vangelis Margaritis (who sign earlier on with Peristeri) but at the same time agreed terms with two players and renewed another one, Nikos Manolas renewed his contract for another season while Alexopoulos (190-G-83) and Lambis Angelopoulos (201-F-79) ex player of Panahaiki.

C ‘Division
Ierapetra agreed terms with Greg Taylor for the next season. Greg was among the top scorer in the Second division last season with Ionikos Nikaias Jersey. It's considered to be a great registration for the islanders of Ierapetra and at the same time is showing their targets for the coming season which is no other than the promotion in the Second division.
Savas Kiriakidis, ex player of Olympiakos Volou have come to an agreement with KAO Palaimon Korinthou, three more players have sign their contracts on Friday, Pavlos Trafalis, ex player of Arkadikos, Stathis Peroulis, ex player of EA Patron and Alexis Tsoubris (207-C-82) ex player of Ilioupolis

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HOLLAND

American shooting guard for Upstairs BSWeert -by Fred Roggen
Upstairs BS Weert has contracted the left-handed American shootingguard Trey McDowell (188-G) for the coming season. McDowell, is a easily scoring guard of the Louisiana Tech University.

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HONDURAS

Nacional de Ingenieros wins Central America Championship for Clubs -by Gianni Pascucci
Even falling to Liceo de Costa Rica 62-64 in the last game of the competition, host team Nacional de Ingenieros managed to win the 2007 edition of the Central America Championship for Clubs. The final classification is as follows: 1. Nacional de Ingenieros (HON), 2. Liceo de Costa Rica (CRC), 3. Fupade Coast (NIC), 4. Bodega Radio (GUA), 5. Denver (ESA).

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ISRAEL

Lubin signed with Afula/Gilboa -by Elad Zeevi
Lior Lubin (189-G-77, agency: Arik Krayn Services), who did not play basketball almost entire year due to repeating injuries, will make his comeback in Afula/Gilboa. the 30 years-old guard played in europe in the last three years, in Mariopol, Apolon and CSKA Sofia. now he is returning to Israel, as he will try to help Afula/Gilboa to top their achievement from last season (6th place). the team also extanded Gur Porat (197-G-79, agency: Arik Krayn Services) contract for another season.

Jamie Arnold Signs 2 Year Deal With Hapoel Jerusalem -by Josh Halickman
Jamie Arnold (203-F-75, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Wichita St.) signed a 2 year contract with Hapolel Jerusalem and will remain in Israel for the upcoming season. Arnold had signed with Dynamo Moscow earlier this summer after helping Maccabi Tel Aviv steal the league championship in May versus the same Jerusalem club. Immediately after singing in Russia, Arnold and his wife had second thoughts and the naturalized Israeli changed his mind about leaving. The signing of Arnold will bolster Jerusalem's roster after losing captain Meir Tapiro and Matan Naor in June. The move will also not count against Jerusalem's foreign signings.

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ITALY

Vlado Ilievski to Siena -by Stefano Pini
Montepaschi Siena is building a top level euroleague team: today they announced the deal with Vlado Ilievski (190-G-80, agency: World Sport Agency), last season at Vidivici Bologna. The player signed a 2+1 contract. Armani Jeans added an important player with italian passport: Casey Shaw (208-C-75, agency: Priority Sports, college: Toledo) that ended last season with 9,6p. and 5.4r. at Cantù.

Lega 2 market news -by Gianni Pascucci
Francesco Foiera (207-C/F-75, agency: Interperformances) agreed to extend his pact with Carife Basket Club Ferrara for another two seasons. Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari inked Luigi Dordei (202-F-81), last at Scavolini-Spar Pesaro, and Paolo Citrini, who will serve as coach assistant for the next season. Coopsette Crabs Rimini agreed to terms with Andrea Raschi (197-G-79). Pepsi JuveCaserta should announce soon the signing of USA-IRL Jay Larranaga (194-G/F-75, college: Bowling Green)

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LATVIA

Latvia is out of Top 12 -by Eurobasket News
Latvia - Italy 65:72
Latvia did not secure a big lead in the third quarter to lose their third round encounter to Italy 65:72. Latvia performed a spectacular come back attempt at the start of the third quarter 22:2 to put themselves ahead 53:39 with 5 minutes left in the third frame. But timeouts and coach's advice helped Italy to pull back within one point entering the final frame 55:54. Both teams struggled to find the basket during first 4 minutes of the final quarter before Ariel Filloy broke the deadlock hitting a jumper and regaining the lead for Italy. The teams kept it close till the dying stage of the game when Italy spurred to a 7:0 run and cleared off to 67:60 distance. Rihards Kuksiks (196-F-88) knocked down a trey and Reinis Strupovics (191-G-87) added a basket to climb back to 65:67. However Pietro Aradori (192-G-88) drained a long jumper and converted two free throws to seal a victory for Italy.
Luigi Datome (202-G/F-87) secured 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead Italian squad. Pietro Aradori had 11 points for the winners. Ronalds Zakis (207-F-87) produced 25 points and 10 rebounds for Latvia. Reinis Strupovics and Rihards Kuksiks netted 10 points apiece in a loss. Latvia dominated the boards 46:38, but committed 22 turnovers.
Latvian team will now play in the classification round. They face Hungary tomorrow.

Latvia U20: Ronalds Zakis 25+10 rebounds, Reinis Strupovics 10, Rihards Kuksiks 10
Italy U20: Luigi Datome 13+11 boards, Pietro Aradori 11.

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LITHUANIA

Lithuania beats Greece to go Top 12 -by Eurobasket News
Lithuania - Greece 84:75
Lithuanian U20 team gained their first win at the U20 European championship in Slovenia and Italy. They outscored Greece in the third round of action and secured the Top 12 birth. The loss meanwhile meant Greece were eliminated from the Top 12 and will play in the relegation round.
Greece grabbed an early 20:17 lead and opened the second frame with a 6:0 run to extend it to 26:17. Lithuania cut the deficit to 3 points 32:35 at halftime. And once again Greek team went out of the dressing room fast and furious and sparked to a 9:2 run to clear off to 44:34. Lithuania however maintained the distance and used a mini-spurt at the end of the third quarter to come back within a 1-point distance 52:53. Greece made another effort to leave Lithuania behind nailing 10 unanswered points at the start of the final frame. But Povilas Butkevicius (202-F-87)' consecutive baskets saw Lithuania cut the lead to 64:69. Then Vilmantas Dilys (205-F-87, agency: Interperformances) added 5 straight points to tie the score with 3 minutes to go in regulation. Lithuania never gave it up. Edvinas Ruzgas' perfect free throw shooting sealed a win for Lithuania and sent them to the qualifying round. Povilas Butkevicius topscored for Lithuania with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Ernestas Ezerskis (195-G-87) provided 13 points to ensure a win. Dimitrios Verginis had game-high 25 points and Georgios Trichopoulos added 15 in a defeat. Lithuania shot solid 55.6% from the field.

Lithuania U20: Povilas Butkevicius 16+13 boards, Ernestas Ezerskis 13, Vilmantas Dilys 12
Greece U20: Dimitrios Verginis 25, Georgios Trichopoulos 15.

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LUXEMBOURG

It's not just big, it's huge! -by Alexis Kreps
It's not just big, it's huge! Luxbasket camp is just one week away. The small country of Luxembourg is getting ready to receive players and coaches from around the globe. The players are coming from corners of the world and coaches as well. This year's camp features a bevy of Big Men true post players. Babacar Marone Ngom, Bart Tooms (211-C-83), Davy Easterling, Ivano Newbill (209-F/C-70, agency: Ashe Sports, college: Georgia Tech), Janis Poznaks (205-F/C-83) Khalifa Babacar Diop, Leighton Nash (203-F-76, college: S.Indiana), Lionel Mineo (221-C-86), osuji emanuel, Pape Mouhamadou Diouf, Paul Heomi Dakouo (204-C-85), Rudolph Mauricette (211-C-79, college: Bacone) and we cant forget the big man from the Luxembourg National team Alvin Jones (211-C-78, agency: Priority Sports, college: Georgia Tech). Each of these big men stands over 204cm with the tallest coming in at 221cm. They come from all backgrounds from rookies to NBA experienced veterans. As stated by Charles Barkley about this years NBA draft ”If you've got first pick you have got to go big.” The teams will find themselves with a variety to select from. Check back with us in a few days as we talk about the swingmen and the point guards.

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MALAWI

NOZOBAL ON PEAK -by Blena Chisenga
As NOZOBAL(Northern Zone Basketball League) is going to an end, teams
are working hard to find their way to sprite finals(date yet to be mentioned).

Currently Pistons and Mzuni Pointers are tied on same position after Pistons lost to
Moyale barracks on 07/07/07 and Mzuni Pointers lost to Pistons on 08/07/07.
Both teams are remaining with a single game,Mzuni Pointers will take Moyale barracks
on Saturday while Pistons will take Dynamytes (currently on position one).These are
the deciding games to know who will go to the finals between Mzuni Pointers and Pistons.

In related news, Bricks is leading in the Southern Zone Basketball League(SOZOBAL).
Bricks is the defending champion of the sprite tournament and reports show that they
are likely to grab the trophy again.

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MEXICO

LNBP COACHES TO PARTICIPATE IN SAN DIEGO SHOWCASE -by Justin Brink
The LNBP Player Showcase happening this August 8th and 9th is still accepting registrations. This will be an open tryout for players who want to compete professionally in Mexico's top professional basketball league. LNBP coaches will participate directly in the showcase as coaches during individual skill work outs and Showcase games. Registration for the Showcase is $150 and can be paid securely and quickly by calling EnFuegoHoops at: 619-618-1207 or 954-682-8920. For complete registration details check www.enfuegohoops.com.

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NBA

Summer League Report from Vegas -by Alex Yams
Summer league report

By Yahoo! Sports
July 6, 2007

LAS VEGAS - Here's who shined and struggled on the first day of the NBA summer league Friday, according to various front-office personnel and scouts around the league.

THUMBS UP


1. LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers - Aldridge played extremely well and showed a great deal of promise for his upcoming second year. He hit turnaround baseline jumpers and showed good range from 20 feet. He finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 74-66 loss to Boston.

2. Mike Conley Jr., Memphis Grizzlies - Conley showed great court presence in an 86-77 victory over Team China. He is very smooth and calm on the court and knows how to play the point guard position. He can finish with both hands around the basket and should really help Memphis. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.

3. Rudy Gay, Memphis Grizzlies - Gay was more assertive than he has ever been. He took the ball to the basket aggressively and had two impressive dunks over Yi Jianlian. He also hit a couple of threes and finished with 21 points and six rebounds. He should be a bigger contributor in his second season.

4. Yi Jianlian, Milwaukee Bucks - Yi is not playing summer league with the Bucks but instead with Team China. He is athletic enough to get his shot off with ease against NBA players, as evidenced by his 23 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field. However, Yi struggled with defense and turnovers (seven). He will need to get better in both categories in order to live up to his full potential.

5. Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics - Durant struggled to make shots in a 77-66 defeat to Dallas, but he proved he can easily get good looks at the next level. He showed good moves around the basket and was difficult for anyone to guard in finishing with 18 points on 5-for-17 shooting. Durant will be a star sooner rather than later.

THUMBS DOWN

1. Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia 76ers - Young did not do anything to warrant being drafted 12th overall in a 65-61 win over San Antonio. He seemed out of place on the court and finished with a mere five points and two rebounds in 25 minutes.

2. Jason Smith, Philadelphia 76ers - Smith really struggled with the speed of the game and only finished 1-for-6 from the floor with two points. The 7-footer is athletic enough to do well in the NBA but just needs an adjustment period.

3. Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers - The No. 1 overall pick of last month's draft really struggled. He finished with more fouls (10) than rebounds and points combined (eight). He needs a great deal of work on the offensive end. For the most part, the Celtics guarded him one-on-one in the post and he only managed six points to go along with his two rebounds.

4. Jeff Green, Seattle SuperSonics - Green started off scoring five points in the first three minutes but managed only two points the rest of the way. He needs to learn to be more assertive offensively or he will continue to struggle. The No. 5 overall pick has a good all-around game, but it will be wasted if he does not look to score more frequently

Mav's Bring Back George for Another Year. -by Bryan Floyd
Devean George has agreed to rejoin the Mavs on Sunday, according George's agent. George has agreed to a one-year contract worth about $2.5 million, said his agent Mark Bartelstein. George is expected to sign the deal on Wednesday, the first day teams can put pen to paper and make agreements official. “He's excited to be back with the Mavs," Bartelstein said. "It's what we really wanted to do all along." Bartelstein said that George had other offers but that none of them "blew him away. "Mavericks officials are prohibited from commenting on free agents until Wednesday. George was in the midst of a fine season last year until a knee injury forced him out for much of the second half. George played in 60 games and started 17. He averaged 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds while averaging 21.4 minutes a game.

Hawks ink Horford and Law; Ready for Summer League in Revue -by Alex Yams
Hawks sign first-round picks Horford, Law

July 9, 2007

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Hawks signed first-round draft picks Al Horford and Acie Law to multi-year contracts Monday, clearing the way for the two to play in the summer league this month in Salt Lake City.

The signings came only hours before the first workout at the team's camp for rookies and free agents.


Horford, the No. 3 pick in the first round, will earn $3.121 million as a rookie and $3.35 million in his second year. The first two years are guaranteed, and the Hawks have options for the third and fourth seasons.

Horford, a three-year starter at Florida, is expected to play forward and center for the Hawks.

Law, the No. 11 pick, is guaranteed salaries of $1.605 million as a rookie and $1.726 million is his second year.

Law is expected to compete for a starting job at point guard. Law averaged 18.1 points for Texas A&M as a senior.

The players will join other rookies and second-year players in the Rocky Mountain Revue, the annual summer league that begins on Friday and continues through July 20.

Yi turns best performance of day 3 of NBA Summer League -by Alex Yams

Yi Beats the Buzzer to Lift Team China Over Cavs
Posted Jul 8 2007 11:20PM


Yi struggled from the field but came up clutch when it mattered the most, scoring 17 in the fourth quarter.

Team China Basketball 85, Cleveland 84
Las Vegas, July 8 -- Yi Jianlian's turnaround jump shot from the right corner with 0.4 seconds left gave Team China an 85-84 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

With Team China down one, it set a pick and roll with Yi to create a mismatch. When the mismatch happened, they fed Yi on the low post and he put home the game-winner.

Cavs' Matt Walsh nailed a 3-pointer with 18.3 seconds left to give Cleveland an 84-83 lead before Yi's heroics.

Yi struggled in the first three quarters, missing all six of his shots. His first field goal did not come until the 9:45 mark of the fourth quarter. However, Yi had a monster fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his team-high 20 points (3-11 FG, 14-17 FT) in the quarter. Yi also grabbed four rebounds and collected eight fouls in the win.

Wang ZhiZhi accounted for 18 points (5-9 FG, 5-6 FT) and seven rebounds for Team China.

2006 first round pick Shannon Brown had a game-high 26 points (11-16 FG) in 32 minutes of action for the Cavs, while Daniel Gibson produced 14 points (2-4 FG, 10-11 FT) in just 17 minutes of play. Gibson suffered a left ankle sprain in the second quarter and did not return.

“We didn't execute down the stretch,” Gibson said of the Cavs play. “We gave them a lot of easy baskets. We had a lot of fouls which gave them a lot of easy points.”

Article courtesy of Dennis Rogers



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NCAA2

Leverkusen signs D2 All-American Point Guard -by Daniel Poerschke

According to his agent Rob Wilson, Zack Whiting (193-G-84) signed with BBL club Bayer Giants Leverkusen for the upcoming season. Whiting aka Mr. Triple Double comes from NCAA 2 school Chaminade, where he averaged 20.7ppg, 10.7apg and 7.1rpg last season. In 2006/07 Whiting had 19 Double-Doubles and 6 Triple Doubles.

He is a three time First Team Pac West Selection, the 2006-07 conference player of the year, the nation's leader in assists, a First Team Daktronics All West Region selection, he got an invitation to the NABC Division II All-Star game, was a Bob Cousy Award finalist and he was a Daktronics Men's Basketball All-American last season.



Kenny Barker Transfers To Alaska-Anchorage -by Sanjey Noriega
Courtesy: UAA Sports Information
ANCHORAGE - Seawolf men's basketball coach Rusty Osborne announced Friday that guard Kenny Barker (6'3''-G) will transfer to Alaska Anchorage from Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Alaska Fairbanks. A second-team All-GNAC selection last season, Barker will redshirt the 2007-08 campaign in accordance with league rules and be eligible for his senior year in 2008-09.

The 6-3, 210-pound Barker was the GNAC's seventh-leading scorer in 2006-07 at 16.0 points per game, shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 82.8 percent from the free throw line. He also ranked second on the Nanooks' squad in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and assists (2.5 apg).

A three-year starter at UAF, the San Diego, Calif., native was a prep star at Clairemont High School, where he was the 2004 Harbor League Player of the Year, averaging 27 points as a senior.

“Kenny is a fine young man who we are pleased will be joining our program for the next two years,” Osborne said. “Although he will not play until 2008-09, as a returning all-conference player, he will be valuable next year in pushing our guys every day in practice. In addition, the redshirt year will allow him to get ahead academically, get comfortable in our system, and continue to improve his all-around skills. With his past success at the Division II level, we expect Kenny to be a candidate for national honors once he dons the Green & Gold in 2008.”

Barker joins an extremely strong Seawolf recruiting class that already includes fellow transfers Chris Bryant (G, 6-3, 200, Metlakatla HS/Drake) and Jeremiah Trueman (F, 6-9, 210, Stratford, New Zealand/San Diego Christian), plus freshmen Kyle Doerr (F, 6-7, 210, Rapid City, S.D./St. Thomas More HS), Phillip Hearn (G/F, 6-5, 200, West Anchorage HS) and Colin Voreis (F, 6-6, 225, Vermilion, Ohio).

UAA, which is coming off back-to-back NCAA appearances, will also premiere Div. I transfer and former Bartlett High star Doug Hardy and former Alaska 3A Player of the Year Lonnie Ridgeway in the backcourt next year. Both players redshirted in 2006-07.

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NICARAGUA

Fupade Coast ends at third place -by Gianni Pascucci
Veteran Elijah Allen (194-F-73) scored 24 pts and Alvin Camacho (193-G/F-78) added 21 pts to lead Fupade Coast to the win, 107-75 over Denver, from El Salvador, in the last round of the Central America Championship for Clubs. This large win, however, wasn't enough to grant the crown to the Nicaraguan team. In fact, Liceo de Costa Rica defeated Nacional de Ingenieros 64-62 in the last game of the competition, and these two teams ended with a 3-1 record exactly like Fupade Coast. Thanks to the scored points difference, Nacional de Ingenieros took the first place, Liceo ended at second place, and the team from Nicaragua was placed at the third place.

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PBL

Premier Basketball League Names Charlie Neal Supervisor Of Officials -by Jay
(Chicago, IL)…The Premier Basketball League announced today the addition of Charlie Neal as the professional basketball league's Supervisor of Officials. Neal will oversee all PBL officials, including hiring and training, hosting tryout camps, administrating and scheduling game officials and evaluating officials' performances. Neal will be based out of the PBL's Washington, DC office and will travel to each PBL market during the regular season and playoffs.

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Neal is a well-known professional and college basketball official, having officiated in the ABL, IBL, USBL and ABA along with NCAA Division I games. Neal has also worked as a clinician and observer at various professional and college referee camps around the United States.

In addition to his officiating career, Neal has worked as a sports broadcaster for over 30 years, including ESPN, where he is currently a play-by-play announcer for many college sporting events. Neal has also worked on-air for CBS, TNT and BET and has won numerous broadcasting awards throughout his career.

The Premier Basketball League will play a minimum of 24-games in their inaugural season beginning in late December 2007, followed by championship playoffs in April 2008.
Courtsey: PblPro

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POLAND

Zablocki and Wichniarz in Gornik -by Michal Falkowski
Tomasz Zablocki (202-F-78, agency: Promotex) and Lukasz Wichniarz become the Gornik Walbrzych's members. Zablocki last season played for Energa Czarni Slupsk - only about 4 ppg. and 1 rpg. Wichniarz was a key player of Sportino Inowroclaw. He averaged 13 ppg. and 5.5 rgp.

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PORTUGAL

What future to Portugal -by Portugal Eurobasket

The Summer of 2007 is being troubled in Portugal: although UZO League has the minimum 8 teams to draw their 13th edition, constant meetings between League and Federation presidents put on a hold any decision. Besides that, and after the departure of Benfica and Queluz probably to Proliga, the future of competition is still uncertain as a new league could be a reality, although not a 100%-professional league. With that, it is rumoured that many of professional teams don't like this supposed format, as it would go back in time in basketball history.
One thing id for sure: LCB - the professional legue - has 8 teams (Ovarense, FC Porto, CAB Madeira, Lusitânia, Belenenses, Barreirense, Ginasio and the rookie Vagos) despite the absent of Benfica, who decided not to participate in the league due to the 6-month punich given to Antonio Tavares, after his double control in anti-doping as the player used a medicin to prevent hair loss and Benfica doctor's authorized it. After the positive anti-doping control took place in December, the League suspended Tavares prevenctly but the decision came in mid-June, after a change of the process conductor.

More news can come on the next days



Belenenses win Summer League -by Portugal Eurobasket
Belenenses won the III Summer League by edging FC Porto in the Final, 38-29, in Povoa de Varzim. Diogo Carreira (180-G-78) with 16 points was MVP of the tournament which saw Ovarense took 3rd place after winning against Barreirense, 33-29.

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RUSSIA

Russia U20 team completes perfect preliminary round -by Eurobasket News
Russia - Turkey 88:74
Russian U20 National team posted third consecutive win yesterday as they rallied past Turkey 88:74. This victory marked a perfect 3-0 record for Russia as they finished the preliminary round on top of Group B.
Turkey kept it close in the opening frame and trailed by just one point after it 20:21. Russia led throughout the second quarter but Oguz Savas (208-C-87) secured a minimum advantage for Turkey as they entered the second half 44:43. The game remained very close before Russia spurred to a 10:2 run and surge ahead 65:62 at the end of the third frame. Russia controlled the game in the final stanza and set themselves comfortably 82:72 with less than 2 minutes to go in the game. Turkey never got closer and suffered their second loss of the tournament.
Russia's guard Alexey Shved (195-G-88) scored game-high 22 points, dished out 7 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds. Pavel Sergeev (187-G-87) notched another 13 points in a win. Turkey had 5 players overstepping 10-point mark. Bora Pacun (207-F-87) nailed 14 points to lead Turkey. Oguz Savas, Mehmet Yagmur and Caner Oner all chipped in 12 points in a loss. Russia converted 10 three pointers recording 47.6% of accuracy from behind the arc.
Russia will play in Group E of qualification round together with Turkey. They tip off the next round against Serbia tomorrow. Turkey will play versus still undefeated Slovenia.

Russia U20: Alexey Shved 22 points, Pavel Sergeev 13, Andrey Vorontsevich (204-C-87) 12
Turkey U20: Bora Pacun 14, Oguz Savas 12.

Transfert's news -by Sasha Pasko

Kirksay Tariq signed for Unics Kazan. Sides agreed for two-year's contract without public announce of terms. Tariq became fifth foreigner in Unics. And probably one more American player will sign for Unics this summer. Some media said about Jozeph Forte of Montepasci Siena. Still one position at perimeter was filled lasts days by St.-Petersburg's borned and played Russian prospect Pavel Sergeev. Young talent who shines at U-20 Eurobasket now was signed for one year.


Dynamo Moscow also signed two players lately. Both Nikola Prkacin and Petr Samoylenko agreed for two-years contracts.


Mike Wilkinson (204-F-81, college: Wisconsin) is another American player with EU's passport which came to Russia. Power forvard signed for Khimky where he'll replace Ruben Wolkovisky in two upcoming seasons.



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S.AFRICA

Summary of the Latest South African Basketball News This week -by Tshepo Ditshego
Senior National Team has left for Algeria
• On Sunday afternoon the senior national basketball team flew to Algeria to play in the All Africa games which start on the 11th of July until the 24th of July in the city of Algiers.
• South Africa will have a difficult time getting past Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, and Cote D'Ivoire considering the little preparation they had before they left.
• It's very possible that Lesego Molebatsi who is a product of the Engen IPT tournament, may be playing his last tournament for the national team to pursue a career in the corporate world.
• Quintin Denyssen is also thinking of hanging up his kicks after the African Championships.
• The retirement of these two players is going to leave a huge gaping hole in SA ball.

VUT wins Men's & Women's SASSU's
• For the first time in several years Vaal University of Technology dethroned Pretoria University in the final of the SASSU national club championships by beating them in the final at Wits last week Friday.
• In the Men's tournament Vaal also took the title after beating a less experienced University of Johannesburg team. VUT played with 4 national team members, who took time out from the national team camp to participate in the tournament.

PBL to make it's return
• Word on the street is, the Professional Basketball League in South Africa will be returning at the end of July.
• The contract for the next season is being drawn up by the sponsor, who is most likely Sprite.
• The 2nd season like the first will be a much shorter season than normal and the teams will be split into two confterences.
• The PBL owners were expecting more sponsors for season two but it seems that the only company that came on board is Sprite.
• Last years champions, the Soweto Panthers, have lost Lesego Molebatsi and Quintin Denyssen in the offseason. Both of them moved to the Egoli Magic.

South African Basketball Players Association to Host a clinic
• After the second meeting in Nasrec, the South African Players Association decided that they will be focusing their efforts on developing young players between the ages of 5 and 16.
• They will be hosting their first clinic for primary and high school kids at Braamfontein Center on the 22nd of July.
• This clinic will be catered towards those kids who are interested in basketball and would like to learn how to play and kids who are already playing but would like to improve their game.
• The clinic will be R100 per child for the day.
• This clinic will be unlike any clinic that has ever been done in South Africa.

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SEBL

WSEBL & SEBL City B-League Opening Day results... -by David Archer
Cartersville, GA - The WSEBL & SEBL City B-League began on Sunday afternoon at JH Morgan Gym. Game results and summaries are below...

WSEBL Women's League Games for 7/8/2007:

BaselineUSA Force 52 Prime Time 38... The Lady Force got 17 points from Bray Johnson and 15 from Mikki Garcon. The Force, who lead 21-13 at the break, pulled away in the second half. Jasmine Wilson led Prime Time with 11 and Miccha Baker had 10 in the loss.

North GA Stars 37 Lady Blast 30... Naena Saxton, Tiesha Jackson and Hart Harrison each had six points to help lead a balanced Star attack. The Lady Blast held a slim 16-15 lead at the intermission. Makai Cambell had eight for the Blast, while Chelsea Katt had four.

SEBL City B-League Conference Games for 7/8/2007:

BC Knicks-2 73 Cedartown Bulldogs 69... Travecca Nazarene player Ricky James poured in 32 points, while Travis Floyd and Jonathan Johnson each had 18, as the Knicks battled to a opening day win over a staunch Bulldog squad. Cedartown who led 44-40 at the half, before buckling late in the game, got 18 from Derrick Carey, 13 from Chris Careathers, 11 each from Weston Price and Najee Smith.

Adairsville Tigers 69 BC Howren (All Washed Up) 63... In a see-saw battle, the Tigers inched out late to claim the six-point victory. For the Tigers, Johnny Pritchett, who played at State Fair CC, scored 16, James Williams 15 and Cedric McClinic and former Chattanooga State player TJ Printup both hit 13. Mike Howren downed 18 for BC Howren, while Junior Gonzales had 15 and Eric Jarvis, who played at Reinhardt College, got 10.

Summer Hill Blue Devils 83 BC Sixers 46... After jumping out to a huge 47-10 half-time spread, the Devils cruised to victory over an unprepared Sixers club. State Fair CC player Kashif Gumbs and Mike Reynolds both had 13 points, while Darrell Jones had eight and Brandon Harris seven. Also, Chris Brown, London Smith and Dee Henderson all had six for the Devils. For the Sixers, former West Georgia player Lamar Hudson downed all 20 of his points in the second half, while Mark Purdue had nine, Corey Warn six and Eric Cochran five.

Baseline-2 78 Men of Trin Ballers 52... Baseline-2 led through out, but Trinity battled the whole way. Holding a 33-22 lead at the break, Baseline finally began to pull away with Jermaine Spivey (6'3''-G-72) of KTP Basket Kotka (FIN) and Jacob Selman leading the way. Spivey finished with 14, as Selman tallied 12 point on 4 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc. Mikaeil Carter, who plays at Truett McConell, also had 12, while former Reinhardt College star Chris Jones had 10 and Mike Linley eight. For Trinity, Richard Green and Ivan Jones had 11 each, while Darien Ulmers had 10.

BC GA Vikings announce roster for SEBL Summer Pro League -by David Archer
#s#
#e#5


Puckett


Canby


Daugherty


Borders

Cartersville, Georgia - BC GA Vikings announce their opening night roster for the upcoming SEBL Summer Pro League. The Vikings will compete in the NCAA Certified SEBL Metro A-League. They will play in the North Division at JH Morgan Gym in Cartersville, Georgia.



BC GA Vikings Roster:

# Player Name Pos. Ht. College
1 Michael Howren SF 6-2 Berry College
2 Blake Thompson (5'10''-G) of Georgia Southern University
3 Scott Windom F 6-6 Coastal GA
4 B.J. Puckett (6'9''-F-83) Clayton St.
5 Travis Canby (6'10''-F-81) of TS Goeppingen (GER) (6'9''-F-81, college: Kansas St.)
6 Frank Pinson (5'11''-G) of Albany State University PG 5-11 Albany St.
7 Jacob Selman (6'2''-G, college: Reinhardt) SG 6-1 Reinhardt Coll.
8 Adrien Borders (6'0''-G-83) of Gwinnett Ravia-Rebels
9 Ryan Daugherty (6'4'-F-87) of Kennesaw State University
10 Jeff Croft SF 6-4 Kennesaw St.
11 Jonathan Small (6'3''-G-79, college: Holmes CC)

12 Carter Deems (6'5''-F-86, college: Oxford JC, now of Toccoa Falls



Cartersville Warriors announce 2007 SEBL Summer Pro League roster... -by David Archer
#s#
#e#6


Rouse


Karim


Wilson


Williams


DeGroot

The Cartersville Warriors have announced their roster for the upcoming 2007 SEBL Summer Pro League which begins next week. The Warriors will be playing in the North Division of the SEBL Metro A-League Conference, an NCAA Certified summer league. The Warriors advanced to the 2006 SEBL Metro A-League Final Four, where they lost to the BC Lakers, the eventual SEBL Champs.

# Player Name Pos. Ht. Wt.
1 Bobby Rouse (6'5''-G/F-76) of USC-Salkahatchie
2 Lamar Karim (5'10''-G-83) Southern Poly
3 Jermaine Geter G 6-2 Allen University
4 Orlando Rivera PG 5-9 USC-Aiken
5 Marcus Wilson (6'4''-G-77) SG 6-4 Evansville
6 Zach Anderson (6'11''-F/C-78, college: Hawaii-Pacific)
7 Abraham Traore (6'11''-C-81, college: N.Carolina A&T)
8 Dennis James SF 6-5 Georgia Perimeter
9 Reggie King (6'4''-G) Avila Univ./Kennesaw St.
11 Latece Williams (6'8''-F-79) of Marshall
12 Travis DeGroot (6'3''-G-82) of Delta State

13 Kelvin McConnell (6'0"-G) of Kennesaw St.


Head Coach: Bobby Rouse



*****************************************************
SERBIA

New signings, Zoran Erceg will join Serbian NT -by Dragan Jankovski

Hemofarm Vrsac added Milos Trailovic (198-G-81) to their roster for the upcoming season. Trailovic played last 4 seasons in Ergonom Nis and for 20 games in A1 league this year he averaged 10.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2 apg and 1.9 spg. He signed one year contract.

Bosnian top team Igokea from Aleksandrovac extended ex player of Crvena Zvezda, RheinEnergie Coln and French Clermont Nikola Vucurovic (200-G/F-80). New head coach of Igokea is Miodrag Kadija who knows Vucurovic very well since they were together in Lovcen Cetinje.

Participant of Serbian A1 league Napredak Rubin extended contract with their head coach Miroslav Milojevic who satisfied management of the club. They also signed 2-years contract with Filip Gavranovic (204-F-86) and Sasa Crnobrnja while Nikola Filipovic (206-C-87, agency: Beo Basket) will stay in the club for one more season. Youngsters Dragan Milosavljevic and Mladen Misic signed first professional contract. Nenad Ivanovic (184-G-84), Vladimir Radmanovac (190-G-82) and Nenad Lekic left the team.


Power forward / center of FMP Zeleznik Zoran Erceg (211-C/F-85) definitely will join Serbian NT on the preparations for European Championship in Spain. FMP gave an official statement that after couple of medical examinations there is no need for a surgery at this moment so Erceg will join NT in Kovilovo on July 19th. After these examinations it is decided that Erceg's surgery can be avoided.



EC U20: Serbia beat France 96:81 in game #3 -by Dragan Jankovski

Serbian U20 National Team made second win on European Championship beating France 96:81 so they finished on position 2 of group A. At the beginning of the game Labovic and Teodosic were unstoppable and after 9 minutes Serbian NT already made 24:14. In 25th minute, after Dragovic's dunk, Serbia had maximum advantage during the game 64:48. In the last quarter France started to play much better and came on 75:73, Serbian players didn't score any points four minutes but then on the scene came Nikola Dragovic (203-F-87, agency: Beo Basket) and for just one minute with two successful 3-pts shots decided winner of this game, 81:74 in 37th minute. Dragan Labovic (208-C/F-87) scored the most for Serbia 31 points with 6 rebounds. PG Milos Teodosic (196-G-87) added double-double 19 points and 10 assists while clutch player of the game Nikola Dragovic (203-F-87, agency: Beo Basket) collected 15 points and 4 rebounds. On the other side Nando De Colo (195-G-87) was very good posting 31 points including 7 rebounds.

Next game Serbian U20 NT will play tomorrow against Turkey. In group E are also Lithuania, Russia, Slovenia and France.



Serbia - France 96:81
(26:20,24:24,22:16,24:21)

Serbia: Teodosic 19 (10 as), Tepic 2 (4 as), Nikolic 2, Djurkovic 14 (9 rebs), Labovic 31 (6 rebs), Kovacevic, Stimac 9 (7 rebs), Paunic 4 (4 rebs), Dragovic 15 (4 rebs), Nikolic 7
DNP: Zivcevic.
France: Cel 8 (4 rebs), Marc 11 (4 rebs), De Colo 31 (7 rebs), Le Pellec 2, Sy, Curti 8, Causeur 7, Koma, Salmon 9 (7 rebs), Jonckheere, Kolb 5
DNP: Cheriet.



*****************************************************
SLOVENIA

Markoishvili leaves Union Olimpija -by Zeljko Zule
Georgian NT member Manuhar Markoishvili (196-G-86) after three sucessful seasons has left Union Olimpija to join Ukrainian runner-up and Cup champion Kyiv!

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SPAIN

Rudy stays in Badalona -by Robert Mayor
According to Catalunya Radio, DKV Joventut star, Rudy Fernandez (197-G-85), will continue one more season in club before leaving Europe and going to NBA. Rudy was pretended by many important European clubs, but finally has decided to continue being 'penya' player.

Hunter new Murcia player -by Robert Mayor
Jimmie Hunter (196-G-77, college: Life) is new Polaris World Murcia player as Spanish club made official. Hunter, that comes from Gran Canaria Grupo Dunas, completed an excellent season with island club averaging 17'2 points and 2'6 assits per game.

*****************************************************
SWITZERLAND

Lausanne Morges Basket made a strong recruitment -by Gregory Pepin
Lausanne Morges finished their recruitment this week end. The Roster for the 2007 - 2008 season will be :
Ted Morris (208-C, college: Indiana St.)
Sean Knitter (204-F/C-82, agency: 123 Podium, college: Lafayette)
Mike Baron (197-F-81, college: Hawaii-Pacific)
Lee Jeka (190-G-83)
Gino Martinez (192-F-83)
Luka Vertel (196-G/F-86)
Sean Walker (191-G-84, agency: Ultimate Sports Agency, college: Texas Southern)
Charly Pleux-Decollogne (172-G-84)
Amadou Diop (203-C)
Jerome Meylan (189-G-87)

+ 2 young swiss prospect coming for the U21 and U17 national Team..


This year might be a year of great goals for lausanne. Will they pursue at least of the title ? They seem to have the team for it !

*****************************************************
TAIWAN

Jones Cup Day 8: Jordan clinches Jones Cup title -by Chris Wang

Chen Hsin-an

-- Jordan 72-71 Iran

The Asian Championship is still three weeks away, but Jordan will convince itself that it was ready for the challenge.

Jordan closed out the game with a 27-17 rally in the 4th quarter to upset Iran 72-71 and avenged the loss to Iran in the bronze medal game of the Doha Asian Game last year. With the win, Jordan clinched its first ever Jones Cup title with a 7-1 record with one game to play.

Zaid Al Khas scored six of his nine points in the final minute, when he sank a three with 52 seconds to tie the score at 69 all and, after Iran's Hamed Hadadi made a pair of free-throws, dropped another go-ahead three with 17.6 seconds left to make the final score 72-71.

JOR: R. Wright 25p, O. Daghles 16p+7rb, Z. Al Khas 9p
IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 14p+6rb, H. Hadadi 13p

-- Taiwan 83-72 AIA

Surprisingly, Taiwan NT played its best game in the tournament without the service of bigmen Tien Lei and Tsun Wen-din. The home team made 14 treys and led from start to finish in the win over Athletes in Action 83-72 Monday night.

Taiwan led 21-14 after the first quarter. Lin Chih-jay was 4 for 4 from the three-point land in the second quarter and helped Taiwan increase the lead to 43-30 at the half.

Chen Hsin-an, who has been very quiet in the tournament, then single-handedly took over the third quarter when he made four consecutive threes to boost the score to 65-51.

Wu Dai-hao stepped up his game and filled up the void left by Tsun and Tien, scoring 22 points on 10 for 18 shooting to go with two blocks and 8 boards.

TWN: Wu Dai-hao 22p(10-17 FG)+8rb+4a+2blk, Chen Hsin-an 20p(5-9 3PT), Lin Chih-jay 19p(5-8 3PT)+8rb
AIA: C. Hammonds 14p, R. Rawlings 14p+9rb, B. Asbury 13p, A. Ruoff 12p

-- Philippines 88-80 Qatar

Chot Reyes became the first head coach to be ejected in the Jones Cup in the past 10 years but his boys didn't let him down. Philippines withheld Qatar's furious rally and secured a 88-80 win to boost its record to 5 wins and 3 losses.

Reyes received two technical fouls for his protest and was ejected with 30.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Qatar seized the moment for a 5-0 run to cut the deficit down 8 points, 62-54.

But Philippines didn't panic as it enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the final quarter before Qatar made the final push. With one minute left Qatar once again rallied and stayed close with 85-80. Kirby Raymundo and Kelly Williams then calmly made three of four free-throw to seal the victory.

PHI: M. Caguioa 14p, D. Hontiveros 13p, K. Williams 13p
QAT: Yasseen Ismail Musa 19p+7rb, E.A. Saeed 19p+12rb, O.A. Salem 14p+14rb

-- South Korea 81-78 Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan was ready to pull off one of the biggest upset in the tournament before Korean finally woke up and took advantage with their experience. South Korea ignited a 27-18 run in the final quarter to spoil the game for Kazakhstan. The final score was 81-78, South Korea.

However, the outcome was not decided before a controversial technical foul with less than a minute to play. Kazahstan head coach Vitaliy Strebkov was assessed a technical by Taiwanese referee Hsu Teh-jun for his protest with 38.9 seconds left and the score tied at 77 all.

South Korea received two free-throws plus a possession and scored three points to shake off the Kazakhs. Anton Ponomarev failed to covert his desperation three-pointer at the final buzzer.

Kazakhstan was also whistle for a technical with 2:42 left to play.

KOR: Ha Seung-jin 14p, Yang Hee-jong 14p, Kim Joo-sung 12p, Yang Dong-guen 12p, Kim Dong-woo 11p, Kim Min-soo 10p
KAZ: A. Ponomarev 23p+7rb, Korovnikov 23p+6rb, A. Tyutyunik 11p

-- Lebanon 82-74 Japan

Lebanon took advantage of its height and experience in the game and led by as many as 20 points for an easy win. Japan was outrebounded 55-26.

LIB: Fadi Khatib 25p+9rb+6a
JAP: Y. Okada 23p, S. Kikuchi 17p

-- Standing
Jordan 7-1
AIA 5-3
Lebanon 5-3
Philippines 5-3
Taiwan 5-3
Iran 4-4
South Korea 4-4
Qatar 3-5
Kazakhstan 1-7Japan 1-7

*****************************************************
TRINIDAD

Alfred Scores 28pts As Shak Attack Defeats NFM -by Don Farrell
KENYATTA ALFRED scored 28 points to pilot Detour Shak Attack to a 94-88 win over National Flour Mills as action got going again in the Men's First Division of the Supligen North Zone Basketball League on Friday night.

The league made a return to its old home at the St Paul Street Complex in Port-of-Spain.

It was not an easy win for the national champion as the NFM team put up a fight from the beginning but lost it down in the end.

After leading at the end of the first and second quarters, 28-24 and 41-36, respectively, the “Wrightson Road Boys” looked to be heading to a much needed victory.

But too many turnovers from the NFM team saw victory slipping as they were outscored 36-15 in the third period.

Although Kerry Westfield and Jason Delisle shared the scoring responsibility with19 and 18 respectively, they were also responsible for numerous turnovers. Westfield had four and Delisle five.

However, NFM remained aggressive and stayed close in the final ten minutes. Unfortunately the tension got too much for NFM's forward Andy Best, who got two technical fouls for arguing with the referee and was tossed out of the match with score 88-85 in favour of Shak Attack.

The Detour team took advantage of the NFM's loss of focus and went on a 6-3 run to win.

Also effective offensively for the winners were Kurt Christian (23) and Kenneth Roberts (15).

The only other player scoring in double figures for NFM was Vibert dean with 11 points.

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TURKEY

Transactions -by Sinan Kocak
Turkish international Ender Arslan (190-G-83) who travelled Europe on loan at Union Olimpija, TAU Ceramica and Panionios Forthnet last year, agreed to stay at Efes Pilsen for the upcoming season and will share the minutes with new signing Rashad Wright (189-G-82, college: Georgia) at the point guard position.
Pinar Karsiyaka inked experienced center Asim Pars (212-C-76, agency: World Sport Agency) who has played for many big clubs including Efes Pilsen, Ulker, Tofas and Dinamo Moscow so far. Former Turkish international spent the last season at Lokomotiv Rostov and averaged 6.5ppg, 3.2rpg and 1.2 apg in Russia.
Antalya Bsb announced Fikret Can Akin (190-G-83, agency: Interperformances) as their latest domestic signing. Former Turk Telekom and Banvit guard finished the last season on loan at Efes Pilsen and put pen on paper to join the newcomers of TBL. Antalya side also inked former Oklahoma Cowboy Aaron Pettway (211-F/C-80, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Oklahoma St.) who was an All Star selection in Poland last season.
Usak Belediyesi of TB2L added Halil Kutruza (193-G-84) and Goktug Ezel Akgor (195-G/F-84) from Bahcesehir University that decided to withdraw from the league.
Pertevniyal inked Rahim Rizvanoglu (184-G-86) from Bahcesehir University to inforce the point guard position. Rizvanoglu is known as a playmaker with a quick first step.

Beykoz Join Forces With Cetin Yilmaz -by Serdar Ortakuyu
Former Turkish National Team and Ulkerspor head coach Cetin Yilmaz agreed terms to sign with Beykozspor, going to celebrate the 100th anniversary this year. Despite having financial problems since they made it to BEKO TBL Beykoz managed to avoid the relegation two years in a row and this season the Istanbul club signed a sponsorship deal to solve the budget problems and will compete in the league under the name of TTNET Beykoz. Yilmaz who raised many players during his career, has been a commentator on Skyturk TV Euroleague broadcasts since he gave a break to coaching in 2006 after keeping Tuborg Pilsener in the league.
On the other hand Kepez Belediyesi, the new members of BEKO TBL, appointed Sabit Hadzic to head coach position last week and announced rest of their coaching staff for the 07/08 season. Former coach assistant Engin Taskiran will take the GM position at the Antalya club while Tevfik Tolunay will become their team manager and Mehmet Bitim who worked at Antalya BSB last season, is going to be the coach assistant of Kepez while Pertevniyal of TB2L, a part of Efes Pilsen's youth team program will be coached by Efes Pilsen senior team coach assistant Yagizer Ulug as announced from the club. Ulug will not be a part of Efes Pilsen coaching staff and only focus on Pertevniyal to replace Menderes Gumusdal who is expected to keep his position at the club as a youth team director.

New Rule: 3+2 -by Serdar Ortakuyu
TBF brought a new rule in terms of foreign player restrictions and after holding a meeting with BEKO TBL clubs both sides decided to add one more addition to the current 3+1 rule. From now on BEKO TBL clubs will be able to sign 5 players without no Bosman/Import restrictions and have the chance to keep 3 of them on the court while the other two will be sitting on the bench as a part of the new 3+2 rule. Teams to take advantage of the fifth foreign player will have to be paying 125.000 USD and it is going to be shared by the teams with 3 or less foreign players as those with 4 foreigners will be receiving/paying nothing. In 2008/09 season 3+2 rule will include one Bosman player and it is going to be two Bosmans in 2009-2010 season. After 2010 3+2 rule will change into 4+2 (3 Imports+3 Bosmans).

U20 In Quarters Despite The Losss -by Serdar Ortakuyu
After defeating Lithuania on the opening day of the EC last year's silver medalists Turkey lost to Greece and Russia but made it to the quarter finals by taking the second place in Group B. Turkey will take place in Group E now with Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, Lithuania and France but only face Serbia (July 10), Slovenia (July 11) and Frace (July 12) advancing to quarters from Group A for the semi final ticket.

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U.S.VIRGIN ISL.

CBA/ABA schedules -by David Edole
Upset Saturday
Three teams in the CBA upset perennial top ranked teams over the weekend in entertainign fashion. Starting with the most intriguing upset of the weekend, Legacy filled with Country Day high school players present and past upset Michael Ford and Ujima. That game was followed by the so called “old team” Running Rebels who then ran circles around an athletic Man Dem squad. On Saturday, Lakers upset the preseason favorite to win it all Guidance behind strong play from Roal Ceaser. And Hoyas bounced back from an opening lost with the addition of Steven Hodge outlasting Rockerz.

CBA Schedule for the week
@ Central High School Gymnasium

Monday July 9th (Game time 7:45pm)
Legacy vs. Guidance
Rockerz vs. Man Dem

Wednesday July 11th (Game time 7:45 pm)
Ujima vs. Lakers
Rebels vs. Hoyas

Friday July 13th (Game time 7:45pm)
Hoyas vs. Legacy
Guidance vs. Rockerz

Saturday July 14th (Game time 7:15pm)
Man Dem vs. Lakers
Rebels vs. Ujima


The ABA regular season come to a close with two games tonight. Run Dem vs. Ghetto Lions and big final game in Jam Squad vs. T. W. I (University of the Virgin Islands).

Monday July 9
Run Dem vs. Ghetto Lions 7:30 pm
Jam Squad vs. T.W.I. 9:00 pm
End of regular season
The playoffs start on July 11.

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UKRAINE

Kyiv Sign Markoishvili, Stack -by Alexei Naumov
Today BC Kyiv announced signing of a 20-year-old Georgian guard Manuhar Markoishvili, who was one of the leaders of Slovenian Olimpija last season.

Manuhar come to Kyiv off of a very solid season with Ljubljana: he averaged 10.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game over 26 Adriatic League contests. His stats were very similar in the Euroleague: 10.6 points 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

Markoishvili was more impressive during his 15 appearances for Olimpija in the Slovenian league, contributing with 13.4 points, 4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

BC Kyiv have also come to terms with a 31-year-old American Center Ryan Stack (212 cm., 100 kg), who has enormous experience and is called upon to strengthen the team's frontcourt.

Stack spent his collegiate career with the NCAA's South Carolina, averaging 9.6 points and 6 rebounds per game as a senior. He was selected 48th overall in the 1998 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and spent almost two seasons with the team.

One of Stack's most productive seasons was in 2001-02, when playing for Israeli side Maccabi Ramat Gan, he averaged 17.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game over 12 contests in the Saporta Cup.

The forward spent last season in Olympiacos, having played 14 games in the Euroleague, contributing with 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

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W.JONES CUP

Jones Cup Day 8: Jordan clinches Jones Cup title -by Chris Wang

Chen Hsin-an

-- Jordan 72-71 Iran

The Asian Championship is still three weeks away, but Jordan will convince itself that it was ready for the challenge.

Jordan closed out the game with a 27-17 rally in the 4th quarter to upset Iran 72-71 and avenged the loss to Iran in the bronze medal game of the Doha Asian Game last year. With the win, Jordan clinched its first ever Jones Cup title with a 7-1 record with one game to play.

Zaid Al Khas scored six of his nine points in the final minute, when he sank a three with 52 seconds to tie the score at 69 all and, after Iran's Hamed Hadadi made a pair of free-throws, dropped another go-ahead three with 17.6 seconds left to make the final score 72-71.

JOR: R. Wright 25p, O. Daghles 16p+7rb, Z. Al Khas 9p
IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 14p+6rb, H. Hadadi 13p

-- Taiwan 83-72 AIA

Surprisingly, Taiwan NT played its best game in the tournament without the service of bigmen Tien Lei and Tsun Wen-din. The home team made 14 treys and led from start to finish in the win over Athletes in Action 83-72 Monday night.

Taiwan led 21-14 after the first quarter. Lin Chih-jay was 4 for 4 from the three-point land in the second quarter and helped Taiwan increase the lead to 43-30 at the half.

Chen Hsin-an, who has been very quiet in the tournament, then single-handedly took over the third quarter when he made four consecutive threes to boost the score to 65-51.

Wu Dai-hao stepped up his game and filled up the void left by Tsun and Tien, scoring 22 points on 10 for 18 shooting to go with two blocks and 8 boards.

TWN: Wu Dai-hao 22p(10-17 FG)+8rb+4a+2blk, Chen Hsin-an 20p(5-9 3PT), Lin Chih-jay 19p(5-8 3PT)+8rb
AIA: C. Hammonds 14p, R. Rawlings 14p+9rb, B. Asbury 13p, A. Ruoff 12p

-- Philippines 88-80 Qatar

Chot Reyes became the first head coach to be ejected in the Jones Cup in the past 10 years but his boys didn't let him down. Philippines withheld Qatar's furious rally and secured a 88-80 win to boost its record to 5 wins and 3 losses.

Reyes received two technical fouls for his protest and was ejected with 30.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Qatar seized the moment for a 5-0 run to cut the deficit down 8 points, 62-54.

But Philippines didn't panic as it enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the final quarter before Qatar made the final push. With one minute left Qatar once again rallied and stayed close with 85-80. Kirby Raymundo and Kelly Williams then calmly made three of four free-throw to seal the victory.

PHI: M. Caguioa 14p, D. Hontiveros 13p, K. Williams 13p
QAT: Yasseen Ismail Musa 19p+7rb, E.A. Saeed 19p+12rb, O.A. Salem 14p+14rb

-- South Korea 81-78 Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan was ready to pull off one of the biggest upset in the tournament before Korean finally woke up and took advantage with their experience. South Korea ignited a 27-18 run in the final quarter to spoil the game for Kazakhstan. The final score was 81-78, South Korea.

However, the outcome was not decided before a controversial technical foul with less than a minute to play. Kazahstan head coach Vitaliy Strebkov was assessed a technical by Taiwanese referee Hsu Teh-jun for his protest with 38.9 seconds left and the score tied at 77 all.

South Korea received two free-throws plus a possession and scored three points to shake off the Kazakhs. Anton Ponomarev failed to covert his desperation three-pointer at the final buzzer.

Kazakhstan was also whistle for a technical with 2:42 left to play.

KOR: Ha Seung-jin 14p, Yang Hee-jong 14p, Kim Joo-sung 12p, Yang Dong-guen 12p, Kim Dong-woo 11p, Kim Min-soo 10p
KAZ: A. Ponomarev 23p+7rb, Korovnikov 23p+6rb, A. Tyutyunik 11p

-- Lebanon 82-74 Japan

Lebanon took advantage of its height and experience in the game and led by as many as 20 points for an easy win. Japan was outrebounded 55-26.

LIB: Fadi Khatib 25p+9rb+6a
JAP: Y. Okada 23p, S. Kikuchi 17p

-- Standing
Jordan 7-1
AIA 5-3
Lebanon 5-3
Philippines 5-3
Taiwan 5-3
Iran 4-4
South Korea 4-4
Qatar 3-5
Kazakhstan 1-7Japan 1-7



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Women News

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BELGIUM - Women

Belgium clinched fifth overcoming Canada in the last game -by Eurobasket News
Canada U21-Belgium U21 67:72 (19:15, 8:16, 20:14, 20:27)

Belgium U21 finished on the fifth spot in FIBA U21 World Championship for Women. In the last game of the tournament Belgium beat Canada 72:67. An 8-0 run late in the fourth quarter gave the Europeans the higher spot in the Championship. Sofie Hendrickx (186-F/C-86) top-scored for the first time in the team scoring 19 points. Sara Leemans (178-G/F-88) produced 15 points and made 12 rebounds, while Virginie Michiels (179-F-87) added 11. Kalisha Keane (-89) was the best in the losing effort with 22 points.

Both teams faced each other in the end of the Preliminary Round. Canada beat Belgium that time in group A to finish third. A deficit reached in the first half was saved till the last minutes of the game. Canada celebrated 69:58 and improved to 3-2. Belgium had 2-3 and was the last team to qualify.
It was the Europeans' time to revenge as they desired the win more than the opponents. Canada however led the game in the beginning. The North Americans went on a 19:15 lead after the opening quarter, but were quickly caught by Belgium in the second. Canada improved in the third with 20:14 win and looked forward to the end of the game.
In the end of the game Sara Leemans and then Virginie Michiels buried a jumper for a 66:62 Belgian lead. Canada then twice turned the ball over, and the Europeans eventually scored again, Marjorie Carpreaux sinking a pair of free throws for a 68:62 lead. Belgium led the game to the happy end and finished fifth in the tournament.

Canada U21: Kalisha Keane 22, Alisha Tatham (180-G/F-86) 11, Natalie Doma (191-C) 11+8 rebs
Belgium U21: Sofie Hendrickx 19, Sara Leemans 15+12 rebs, Virginie Michiels 11

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BRAZIL - Women

Hungary finished 7th rolling over Brazil -by Eurobasket News

Brazil U21-Hungary U21 67:75 (17:24, 9:15, 19:12, 22:24)

Hungary U21 clinched the 7th spot in FIBA U21 World Championship for Women. In the game for that place Europeans overcame Brazil 75:67. Holding the game after the first half, Hungary lost the third, but that was not an issue to lose the game. Barbara Semsei (178-G-86) led the winners with 28 points. Dora Horti (195-C-87) posted 16 points and made 9 rebounds, while Katalin Honti (178-G-87) added 13. Franciele Nacimiento (-87) struggled for the South Americans with 21 points and 18 rebounds.

Hungary started offensively as they reached 7 points gap in the opening quarter. Europeans went on a 24:17 lead after the first 10 minutes of the game. In the second quarter Brazil could not stay closer and Hungary even increased the lead. With 15:9 in the second Europeans had 39:26 at the half time.
Meanwhile Brazil battled back in the third closing the gap to 49:45 in the end of it. In the fourth quarter South Americans trailed by 65:67 with more than a minute in the game. The girl of the game, Barbara Semsei buried a three to return 5 points for Hungarians. The game was over at 75:67 for Europeans that clinched the 7th spot in the tournament. Brazil, being the only representative from the continent finished on the 8th place.


Brazil U21: Franciele Nacimiento 21+18 rebs, Jacqueline Silvestre (178-F-86) 14, Morais De Andrade 12+11 rebs
Hungary U21: Barbara Semsei 28, Dora Horti 16+9 rebs, Katalin Honti 13



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BULGARIA - Women

CSKA is saved! -by Vladi Lazarova
Finally some good news for CSKA. After the sudden death of president Vladimir Fedyaev and GM Emil Cohen in a car crash in France on 24th June, the “Red” club was on a verge of bankruptcy and abolition. But this won't happen, because it seems that there are still people with big hearts in Bulgaria. The man who will save men's and women's team of CSKA is well known: former Minister of sports in the country Vassil Ivanov - Luciano. He will help with personal money. The same will be done from some of his friends, famous businessmen with good financial status. Luciano refused to tell their names, neither the exact amount of their support.
The rumours are that around 500 000 euro will be enough for two squads to start the new season with almost the same players, especially Bulgarians. With them the club will be able to compete for at least silver and bronze in the league and for the Cup.
During Cohen's management women's CSKA won treble: gold in the championship and for the Cup and gold in Adriatic league. Men's team finished second in the league after Lukoil Akademik and thrid for the National Cup. Both squads played in FIBA Eurocup too. Women played 1/8 final, men stopped their way earlier in the group. The dream of Emil Cohen was to see both teams champions in the same year. He dreamed to see his club making history in Europe. He died with this dream at the age of 33 behind the wheel of his new BMW in France...

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CANADA - Women

Belgium clinched fifth overcoming Canada in the last game -by Eurobasket News
Canada U21-Belgium U21 67:72 (19:15, 8:16, 20:14, 20:27)

Belgium U21 finished on the fifth spot in FIBA U21 World Championship for Women. In the last game of the tournament Belgium beat Canada 72:67. An 8-0 run late in the fourth quarter gave the Europeans the higher spot in the Championship. Sofie Hendrickx (186-F/C-86) top-scored for the first time in the team scoring 19 points. Sara Leemans (178-G/F-88) produced 15 points and made 12 rebounds, while Virginie Michiels (179-F-87) added 11. Kalisha Keane (-89) was the best in the losing effort with 22 points.

Both teams faced each other in the end of the Preliminary Round. Canada beat Belgium that time in group A to finish third. A deficit reached in the first half was saved till the last minutes of the game. Canada celebrated 69:58 and improved to 3-2. Belgium had 2-3 and was the last team to qualify.
It was the Europeans' time to revenge as they desired the win more than the opponents. Canada however led the game in the beginning. The North Americans went on a 19:15 lead after the opening quarter, but were quickly caught by Belgium in the second. Canada improved in the third with 20:14 win and looked forward to the end of the game.
In the end of the game Sara Leemans and then Virginie Michiels buried a jumper for a 66:62 Belgian lead. Canada then twice turned the ball over, and the Europeans eventually scored again, Marjorie Carpreaux sinking a pair of free throws for a 68:62 lead. Belgium led the game to the happy end and finished fifth in the tournament.

Canada U21: Kalisha Keane 22, Alisha Tatham (180-G/F-86) 11, Natalie Doma (191-C) 11+8 rebs
Belgium U21: Sofie Hendrickx 19, Sara Leemans 15+12 rebs, Virginie Michiels 11

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CHINA - Women

China is 11th while Mali covers the bottom -by Eurobasket News
China U21-Mali U21 73:46 (18:9, 14:2, 11:14, 20:21)

China defeated Mali 73:46 and finished 11th in FIBA U21 World Championship for Women. With a 14:2 in the second quarter China proved that Asian basketball is a bit stronger now. Meanwhile Mali won 2 quarters out of 4, however could not escape a big loss. Lu Lu (184-G-86) led the winners with 12 points, while Fatoumata Bagayoko scored 18 for Mali.

China and Mali faced each other in the last game of the preliminary Round. China rolled that time over Mali 90:59. A 27:9 lead in the opening quarter made no intrigue later in the game. Lu Lu top-scored for the winners with 16 points. Meiling Zheng and Zheng Bowen (-90) produced 12 points each. China finished Group A with 1-4, while Mali stayed winless.

In the last game for both teams and not for the last place for the winner China started with 18:9 lead after the first 10 minutes. The second quarter was a nightmare for the Africans as they were defeated 2:14. By half-time, Mali's predicament had grown worse with China's advantage 42:11. China finished 21 of 47 inside the arc, and six of 15 beyond it. The Asians escaped the last spot, while Mali ended up on 12th.

China U21: Lu Lu 12
Mali U21: Fatoumata Bagayoko 18

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CZECH REP. - Women

Ukraine storms past Czech Republic for the 5th -by Eurobasket News
Ukraine - Czech Republic 95:76
Ukrainian U18 team finished the U18 European championship on a high note. They crushed Czech Republic team 95:76 to claim the 5th spot at the tournament. Ukraine had a strong start of the game as they revealed a 15:0 run. Czechs struggled early in the game and lost the opening frame 11:32. Ukraine maintained the advantage through the second quarter as they converted a couple of impressive plays and secured a 57:41 distance at halftime. The things started to change for Czech team in the third quarter. They posted a 24:7 run and closed the gap to just 67:65 after Behalova's jumper. Rosenbaumova added two more points to climb within 1 point 68:67. CZechs kept the deficit and remained trailing by 1 point entering the final 10 minutes 71:70. However Ukraine immediately reacted and spurred to a 17:3 to begin the fourth frame with. Setting an unassailable 88:73 lead with less than 3 minutes to go in regulation Ukraine had a sigh of relief and eased to a victory at the end. Tayisiya Bovykina (190-C-89) inspired Ukraine's offense with 33 points and 10 rebounds. Arina Lysyuk (170-G-89) added 15 points, 13 assists and 5 steals for the winners. Olesya Malashenko (185-F-91) dominated the paint with 13 points and 17 rebounds. Czech Republic were paced by 26 points from Dominika Behalova (166-G-90). Klara Rosenbaumova (182-F-90) netted 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a loss.
Ukraine obviously had an advantage under the rims as they outrebounded the opponents 62:46. They also shot more accurately from the field converting 52.5% (29.8% from Czechs).

Ukraine U18: Tayisiya Bovykina 33+10 boards, Arina Lysyuk 15+13 assists, Olesya Malashenko 13+17 boards
Czech Republic U18: Dominika Behalova 26, Klara Rosenbaumova 11, Aneta Bicistova (173-G-89) 10.

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ESTONIA - Women

Estonia U18 finished third beating Latvia -by Eurobasket News
Latvia U18-Estonia U18 49:66 (19-13, 10-16, 12-22, 8-15)

Estonia U18 finished third in FIBA U18 European Championship for women. In the game for the third place Estonia downed Latvia 66:49. Trailing by 13:19 Estonian squad could reinforce and took control of the game. Viive-Kai Rebane (184-F-89) was everywhere in the court scoring 17 points and making 19 rebounds. Sandra Andresson (175-G-89) posted 12, while Kati Rausberg (172-G-89) finished with 11 points. Anete Steinberga (185-C-90) produced 15 points and made 13 rebounds in the losing effort.

Both teams met each other in the Preliminary Round. Estonia beat the opener that time and stayed undefeated till the semifinal game. In the second battle of the Baltic teams Estonia won again.
Latvia started better as after Nimane's free throw the team went on a 15:8 lead. Ieva Krastina (176-G-90) with a free throw as well set up the score after the first with 19:13. In the second quarter Latvia had 8 points deficit after Eglite made 23:15. Jallai tied the score in the end of the second at 29 points each.
Even though Latvia stated the third with a lead, Estonia won the third 12:22 to go on 51:41 before the last 10 minutes. In the last quarter the score was never less than 10 points as Estonia celebrated 66:49 win.

Latvia U18: Anete Steinberga 15+13 rebs, Ieva Krastina 11
Estonia U18: Viive-Kai Rebane 17+19 rebs, Sandra Andresson 12, Kati Rausberg 11

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FRANCE - Women

France stun Italy to grab the 7th spot -by Eurobasket News
France - Italy 67:45
French U18 National team celebrated a 67:45 victory in their last encounter at the U18 European championship in Serbia. The win meant France fisnished the tournament at the 7th place and Italy occupied the 8th.
France had an overwhelming second quarter to prove the difference in this game. The teams kept it close in the opening frame with France taking a narrow lead 16:13. But they sparked to a 17:4 run in the second quarter and cleared off to a 33:17 distance. French defence limited Italy to just 5 points in the second frame and established a comfortable 36:18 gap at halftime. The defence continued to dominate the game in the third quarter as French squad allowed Italy to score 10 points and extended the lead to 52:28. The intrigue lost its grip and France sealed an easy victory at the end. Marielle Amant (189-C-89) ensured 14 points in a win. Lorraine Lokoka (184-C-89) provided 12 points and 8 rebounds for France. Martina Crippa (175-G-88) was the only Italian player to score in double digits as she poured in 21 points and made 5 steals in a defeat. France overpowered Italy under the rims 54:28. They also knocked down 57.4% field goals, however lacked accuracy in foul shooting 38.5%. Italy hit 31.6% from the field and 60% from free throw line.

France U18: Marielle Amant 14 points, Lorraine Lokoka 12, Melanie Plust (173-G-89) 9
Italy U18: Martina Crippa 21, Giulia Gatti (168-G-89) 7.

National Teams news -by Leslie Anderson

U16

The U16 had a good weekend with 3 victories in the 4-nation tournament in Troy. France had no problems against Hungary (79-30) in the first match and then put away Croatia in the second (82-54). The final match against Lithuania was tougher but France won (89-72).

U20

Not easy for the U20 in Italy last weekend as France only managed one victory. They lost to the hosts Italy in the first match (70-75) and also the second against Poland (54-70) before winning the final match (69-41) against Hungary. This was the last chance for certain players to make the final roster.

This week the players involved in the U21 World championship minus Sandrine Gruda will join up for the last preparation before the final selection is made for the U20 Europeans starting on Friday.

Senior team

Sabrina Reghaissia (188-F-83) is called into the Eurobasket 2007 preliminary roster as replacement for Emmanuelle Hermouet. She will join the squad when they start their preparation in August.



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GREECE - Women

Greece U18 clinched the fifth spot -by Eurobasket News
Greece U18-Israel U18 79:63 (13-16, 19-17, 19-18, 28-12)

Greece U18 finished on the fifth spot of U18 European Championship for Women in Romania. In the game for the fifth place the team overcame Israel 79:63. Everything seemed all right for Israel after three quarters, however Greece managed to storm with 28:12 in the last. Maria Bousnaki (182-G-89) led the winners with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Dionysia Alexandri (162-G-89) netted 11, while Tsakiridou scored 10. Gobuty and Ben Nun each nailed 14 points in defeat.
Nothing looked horrible for Israel in the opening tip of the game. The team went on a 3-0 run and then finished the first with 16:13. Idit Oryon (177-F-90) gave Israel the biggest lead in the second having 13:19 after a minute. Although Greece tied the score and went ahead, Dolev left Israel in front 33:32.
In the second half Greece led most of the time, but again Israel played better in the end. Both teams had the last break before the final quarter with 51 points each. The fourth quarter was however a nightmare for Israel. Greece was on fire and flew on the court scoring basket after a basket. Greece overcame Israel 79:63 and clinched 5th position.

Greece U18: Maria Bousnaki 25+12 rebs, Dionysia Alexandri 11, Tsakiridou 10
Israel U18: Gobuty 14, Ben Nun 14

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GUATEMALA - Women

Bodega Radio wins Central America Championship for Clubs -by Gianni Pascucci
Defeating 71-62 the host team Nacional de Ingenieros, the female team of Bodega Radio de Guatemala won the 2007 edition of the Central America Championship for Clubs, held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. With 29 pts in the final game, Blanca Amado (-80) was the main scorer of the game and the final MVP, the most outstanding in Nacional de Ingenieros was Danalid Jackson, with 22 pts.

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HUNGARY - Women

Hungary finished 7th rolling over Brazil -by Eurobasket News

Brazil U21-Hungary U21 67:75 (17:24, 9:15, 19:12, 22:24)

Hungary U21 clinched the 7th spot in FIBA U21 World Championship for Women. In the game for that place Europeans overcame Brazil 75:67. Holding the game after the first half, Hungary lost the third, but that was not an issue to lose the game. Barbara Semsei (178-G-86) led the winners with 28 points. Dora Horti (195-C-87) posted 16 points and made 9 rebounds, while Katalin Honti (178-G-87) added 13. Franciele Nacimiento (-87) struggled for the South Americans with 21 points and 18 rebounds.

Hungary started offensively as they reached 7 points gap in the opening quarter. Europeans went on a 24:17 lead after the first 10 minutes of the game. In the second quarter Brazil could not stay closer and Hungary even increased the lead. With 15:9 in the second Europeans had 39:26 at the half time.
Meanwhile Brazil battled back in the third closing the gap to 49:45 in the end of it. In the fourth quarter South Americans trailed by 65:67 with more than a minute in the game. The girl of the game, Barbara Semsei buried a three to return 5 points for Hungarians. The game was over at 75:67 for Europeans that clinched the 7th spot in the tournament. Brazil, being the only representative from the continent finished on the 8th place.


Brazil U21: Franciele Nacimiento 21+18 rebs, Jacqueline Silvestre (178-F-86) 14, Morais De Andrade 12+11 rebs
Hungary U21: Barbara Semsei 28, Dora Horti 16+9 rebs, Katalin Honti 13



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IRELAND - Women

Slovenia U18 takes the 7th from Ireland -by Eurobasket News
Ireland U18-Slovenia U18 58:69 (14-25, 14-21, 19-11, 11-12)

Slovenia finished on the 7th place in U18 FIBA European Championship for Women. In the game for that place Slovenia rolled over Ireland 69:58. A confident first quarter allowed Slovenia to control the rest of the game. Nika Baric (166-G-92) paced the win with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ines Kerin (172-G-90) produced 13, while Klavdija Oblak (170-G-88) ended up with 12. Orla O'Reilly top-scored with 21 points in the losing effort.

Ireland led only 3 times in the game and all of them were in the first quarter. The last lead was when McKenna drilled a three giving her team a 10:9 lead. The rest of the time Slovenia dominated in the court. The team won the first 25:14 and increased in the second with 21:14.
In the third quarter Horvat made the score inappropriate 57:41. Ireland however managed to reduce in the end trailing 57:47 after 30 minutes. In the last quarter a great come back from Ireland brought only 5 points. Kayleigh Scannell (175-G) with a three made 61:56. That was the end of the Irish attack. Slovenia scored some important baskets to finish at 69:58.

Ireland U18: Orla O'Reilly (175-F-90) 21, Kayleigh Scannell 13
Slovenia U18: Nika Baric 14+10 rebs, Ines Kerin 13, Klavdija Oblak 12

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ISRAEL - Women

Ashdod Signs Ayana Walker -by Eurobasket News
Maccabi Ashdod completed their roster for next season with the signing of Ayana Walker (191-F/C-79, college: Louisiana Tech), who won Championships with Ramla & Hapeol Tel Aviv.

After signing Brandi McCain & Dionnah Jackson along with a solid Israeli bunch, Ashdod annouced today that they have signed forward Ayana Walker for the 07/08 season.

Last season Walker played the first half of the season in France for Tarbes, and averaged 12.5 points and 7.0 reobunds per game. In her last season in Israel, 05/06, she scored 15.1 points and grabbed 9.1 boards per game and won the Championship with Hapoel Tel Aviv. In 04/05 she played for Ramat Hen (14.8 ppg & 8.8 rpg), and in 03/04 she won the title with Ramla (16.5 & 9.1).

Walker has also won a WNBA title with the Detroit Shock in 2003. She played four seasons in Detroit starting in 2002, and then two more seasons in Charlotte. This summer, after Charlotte folded, Walker was signed by LA but was cut before training camp.
Courtesy of: http://www.safsal.co.il

Kolodny Signs With Anda -by Eurobasket News
Naomi Kolodny (172-G-82), Bnei Yehuda's point guard who was supposed to play in Poland next season, has signed a three year deal with Anda Ramat Hasharon.

Naomi Kolodny, a member of Israel's extended national team roster, will play for Anda Ramat Hasharon in the next three years. Naomi Kolodny was supposed to play in Poland next season but her Polish team backed out of the deal. Naomi Kolodny joins Deanna Jackson, Dada Vilipic, Limor Mizrachi, Meirav Dori and Shani Levi who are already signed.

Naomi Kolodny was one of the top Israelis in the league last season. She helped lead Bnei Yehuda's young team to a 3rd place finish and playoff semis. She finished the season averaging 9.6 points per game (6th among Israelis) and 3.5 assists per game. She hit 46.8% from downtown, which was 2nd best in the league after Monique Currie. In 05/06 Naomi Kolodny won the Championship with Hapoel Tel Aviv. In previous seasons she played for Motzkin, Ramat Hen, Raanana and Ramat Hasharon - where she grew up.

Orna Ostfeld: "Till now we couldn't find someone to share the minutes with Mizrachi at the point. Nomi has made a jump in the last 2-3 seasons, and I'm happy we signed her for the long run"
Courtesy of:http://www.safsal.co.il

Greece U18 clinched the fifth spot -by Eurobasket News
Greece U18-Israel U18 79:63 (13-16, 19-17, 19-18, 28-12)

Greece U18 finished on the fifth spot of U18 European Championship for Women in Romania. In the game for the fifth place the team overcame Israel 79:63. Everything seemed all right for Israel after three quarters, however Greece managed to storm with 28:12 in the last. Maria Bousnaki (182-G-89) led the winners with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Dionysia Alexandri (162-G-89) netted 11, while Tsakiridou scored 10. Gobuty and Ben Nun each nailed 14 points in defeat.
Nothing looked horrible for Israel in the opening tip of the game. The team went on a 3-0 run and then finished the first with 16:13. Idit Oryon (177-F-90) gave Israel the biggest lead in the second having 13:19 after a minute. Although Greece tied the score and went ahead, Dolev left Israel in front 33:32.
In the second half Greece led most of the time, but again Israel played better in the end. Both teams had the last break before the final quarter with 51 points each. The fourth quarter was however a nightmare for Israel. Greece was on fire and flew on the court scoring basket after a basket. Greece overcame Israel 79:63 and clinched 5th position.

Greece U18: Maria Bousnaki 25+12 rebs, Dionysia Alexandri 11, Tsakiridou 10
Israel U18: Gobuty 14, Ben Nun 14

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ITALY - Women

France stun Italy to grab the 7th spot -by Eurobasket News
France - Italy 67:45
French U18 National team celebrated a 67:45 victory in their last encounter at the U18 European championship in Serbia. The win meant France fisnished the tournament at the 7th place and Italy occupied the 8th.
France had an overwhelming second quarter to prove the difference in this game. The teams kept it close in the opening frame with France taking a narrow lead 16:13. But they sparked to a 17:4 run in the second quarter and cleared off to a 33:17 distance. French defence limited Italy to just 5 points in the second frame and established a comfortable 36:18 gap at halftime. The defence continued to dominate the game in the third quarter as French squad allowed Italy to score 10 points and extended the lead to 52:28. The intrigue lost its grip and France sealed an easy victory at the end. Marielle Amant (189-C-89) ensured 14 points in a win. Lorraine Lokoka (184-C-89) provided 12 points and 8 rebounds for France. Martina Crippa (175-G-88) was the only Italian player to score in double digits as she poured in 21 points and made 5 steals in a defeat. France overpowered Italy under the rims 54:28. They also knocked down 57.4% field goals, however lacked accuracy in foul shooting 38.5%. Italy hit 31.6% from the field and 60% from free throw line.

France U18: Marielle Amant 14 points, Lorraine Lokoka 12, Melanie Plust (173-G-89) 9
Italy U18: Martina Crippa 21, Giulia Gatti (168-G-89) 7.

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LATVIA - Women

Estonia U18 finished third beating Latvia -by Eurobasket News
Latvia U18-Estonia U18 49:66 (19-13, 10-16, 12-22, 8-15)

Estonia U18 finished third in FIBA U18 European Championship for women. In the game for the third place Estonia downed Latvia 66:49. Trailing by 13:19 Estonian squad could reinforce and took control of the game. Viive-Kai Rebane (184-F-89) was everywhere in the court scoring 17 points and making 19 rebounds. Sandra Andresson (175-G-89) posted 12, while Kati Rausberg (172-G-89) finished with 11 points. Anete Steinberga (185-C-90) produced 15 points and made 13 rebounds in the losing effort.

Both teams met each other in the Preliminary Round. Estonia beat the opener that time and stayed undefeated till the semifinal game. In the second battle of the Baltic teams Estonia won again.
Latvia started better as after Nimane's free throw the team went on a 15:8 lead. Ieva Krastina (176-G-90) with a free throw as well set up the score after the first with 19:13. In the second quarter Latvia had 8 points deficit after Eglite made 23:15. Jallai tied the score in the end of the second at 29 points each.
Even though Latvia stated the third with a lead, Estonia won the third 12:22 to go on 51:41 before the last 10 minutes. In the last quarter the score was never less than 10 points as Estonia celebrated 66:49 win.

Latvia U18: Anete Steinberga 15+13 rebs, Ieva Krastina 11
Estonia U18: Viive-Kai Rebane 17+19 rebs, Sandra Andresson 12, Kati Rausberg 11

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LITHUANIA - Women

Slovakia finishes U18 European champioship at the 9th place -by Eurobasket News
Slovakia - Lithuania 72:50
Slovakia celebrated an impressive 72:50 victory over Lithuania in the last encounter at the U18 European champiosnhip in Serbia. A perfect defence in the final quarter played a key role in Slovakia's win.
Both teams started the game aggressively and kept it close in the opening frame. Sandra Valukonyte's trey secured Lithuania a 22:20 lead after the first quarter. The game remained tight but the final rush 11:3 by Slovakian side saw them set a 40:31 gap at halftime. Nikola Kovalova (166-G) kept on delivering offensively in the third frame to secure a 57:48 lead entering the fourth frame. Slovak Republic then showed a spectacular piece of defensive basketball as they held their opponents to just 2 points and celebrated a confident 72:50 success. Slovakia had 4 players scoring in double figures. Nikola Kovalova completed game-high 16 points effort. Regina Palusna (193-C-89) provided 13 points and 9 rebounds, while Janka Mincikova (167-G-89) chipped in 12 points for the winners. Gintare Petronyte (195-C-89) had 14 points and 16 rebounds to lead Lithuania. Egidija Busaite provided 12 points in a loss.
Slovakia committed only 9 turnovers forcing Lithuania to 21. They also converted 83.3% of free throws.

Slovakia U18: Nikola Kovalova 16 points, Regina Palusna 13, Janka Mincikova 12
Lithuania U18: Gintare Petronyte 14+16 rebounds, Egidija Busaite 12, Saule Kontautaite (176-G-89) 8.

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MALI - Women

China is 11th while Mali covers the bottom -by Eurobasket News
China U21-Mali U21 73:46 (18:9, 14:2, 11:14, 20:21)

China defeated Mali 73:46 and finished 11th in FIBA U21 World Championship for Women. With a 14:2 in the second quarter China proved that Asian basketball is a bit stronger now. Meanwhile Mali won 2 quarters out of 4, however could not escape a big loss. Lu Lu (184-G-86) led the winners with 12 points, while Fatoumata Bagayoko scored 18 for Mali.

China and Mali faced each other in the last game of the preliminary Round. China rolled that time over Mali 90:59. A 27:9 lead in the opening quarter made no intrigue later in the game. Lu Lu top-scored for the winners with 16 points. Meiling Zheng and Zheng Bowen (-90) produced 12 points each. China finished Group A with 1-4, while Mali stayed winless.

In the last game for both teams and not for the last place for the winner China started with 18:9 lead after the first 10 minutes. The second quarter was a nightmare for the Africans as they were defeated 2:14. By half-time, Mali's predicament had grown worse with China's advantage 42:11. China finished 21 of 47 inside the arc, and six of 15 beyond it. The Asians escaped the last spot, while Mali ended up on 12th.

China U21: Lu Lu 12
Mali U21: Fatoumata Bagayoko 18

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SLOVAK REP. - Women

Slovakia finishes U18 European champioship at the 9th place -by Eurobasket News
Slovakia - Lithuania 72:50
Slovakia celebrated an impressive 72:50 victory over Lithuania in the last encounter at the U18 European champiosnhip in Serbia. A perfect defence in the final quarter played a key role in Slovakia's win.
Both teams started the game aggressively and kept it close in the opening frame. Sandra Valukonyte's trey secured Lithuania a 22:20 lead after the first quarter. The game remained tight but the final rush 11:3 by Slovakian side saw them set a 40:31 gap at halftime. Nikola Kovalova (166-G) kept on delivering offensively in the third frame to secure a 57:48 lead entering the fourth frame. Slovak Republic then showed a spectacular piece of defensive basketball as they held their opponents to just 2 points and celebrated a confident 72:50 success. Slovakia had 4 players scoring in double figures. Nikola Kovalova completed game-high 16 points effort. Regina Palusna (193-C-89) provided 13 points and 9 rebounds, while Janka Mincikova (167-G-89) chipped in 12 points for the winners. Gintare Petronyte (195-C-89) had 14 points and 16 rebounds to lead Lithuania. Egidija Busaite provided 12 points in a loss.
Slovakia committed only 9 turnovers forcing Lithuania to 21. They also converted 83.3% of free throws.

Slovakia U18: Nikola Kovalova 16 points, Regina Palusna 13, Janka Mincikova 12
Lithuania U18: Gintare Petronyte 14+16 rebounds, Egidija Busaite 12, Saule Kontautaite (176-G-89) 8.

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SWEDEN - Women

Sweden fell short to Turkey -by Eurobasket News
Sweden - Turkey 57:66
Sweden lost to Turkey to complete the U18 European championship at the 12th spot. Last year's bronze medalists Sweden did not manage to keep the pace in the tournament and won only one out of eight game during it. The loss became the second one that Turkey handed in to Sweden during the competition. Sweden however had a confident start of this game as they posted an early lead 12:11. Stefanie Yderstrom (170-G-90)'s 5 consecutive points at the start of the second quarter saw Sweden to enlarge th elead to 19:12 but it was as far as it got. Turkey soon tied the game and controlled it from now on. A 14:3 run midway through the third quarter extended Turkey's advantage to 46:33 and they later completed the frame with a 54:40 gap. Sweden tried desperately to climb back into this one and narrowed the deficit to 61:54 with 4 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but Turkey held on to the lead. Burcu Tasbas' three pointer marked the capitulation for Scandinavian team. Durdane Gulsah Gumusay (180-F-89) led all scorers with 26 points. Yasemen Saylar (174-G-90) contributed 11 points for the winners. Danielle Hamilton Carter (187-C-90) replied with 16 points for Sweden. Stefanie Yderstrom finished with 8 points in a loss. Turkey dominated the rims outrebounding Sweden 39:32. Sweden at the same time shot 41.9% of field goals, comparing to 39.5% from Turkey.

Sweden U18: Danielle Hamilton Carter 16 points, Martina Staalvant 9, Stefanie Yderstrom 8
Turkey U18: Durdane Gulsah Gumusay 26, Yasemen Saylar 11.

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TRINIDAD - Women

Horizon Defeats Straker Nets -by Don Farrell
Defending champion Courts Horizon defeated Straker Nets, 79-71.

Leading the way for the Horizon team was Rachael Thompson-King, who recorded a double-double, topscoring with 26 points and grabbing 11 boards.

She did not do it on her own, though, as she was well-supported by guard/forward and national captain Pietra Gay.

Gay netted 18 points and assisted her teammates five times. Chezelle Griffith and Sojourner Hyles-Lewis also chipped in with 12 points. Griffith, too, had a double-double, rebounding 12 times.

For the Straker unit, it was Fanta patterson showing she had some fight in her, leading her team's attack with a matching high-score of 26 points, 12 of which came from behind the three-point arc.

She also had seven rebounds for Straker.

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TURKEY - Women

European Championship U-18, Turkey on 11th place -by Iva Ivanova
Turkey is took 11th place on Sunday at the UMCOR U18 European Championship Women in Novi Sad and much of their hopes will rely on Gumusay's inspiration. Her 26-point display crushed Sweden 66-57 in the last game of the Championship at Novi Sad. Burcu Tasbas and Durdane Gumusay shows a good performance into scorer group with 12.2 and 12.1 avg/pts. Turkey is on 15th place with 471 added points and 58.9 avg/pts. Serbia win a Gold medals, bronze is for Spain, Russia is third place.

Sweden - Turkey 57-66 (12-11, 14-19, 14-24, 17-12)

Sweden: Hagglund 7, Hanson, Gullberg 4, Staalvant 9, Jern Bruhn 4, Johansson 3, Lundgren 2, Hamilton Carter 16, Yderstrom 8, Halvarsson 4, Smith

Turkey: Eldas, Yapar 2, Saylar 11, Firat 3, Barut 8, Canitez, Tasbas 8, Durdane Gulsah Gumusay (180-F-89) 26, Bilge 8, Derici, Kavazoglu

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UKRAINE - Women

Ukraine storms past Czech Republic for the 5th -by Eurobasket News
Ukraine - Czech Republic 95:76
Ukrainian U18 team finished the U18 European championship on a high note. They crushed Czech Republic team 95:76 to claim the 5th spot at the tournament. Ukraine had a strong start of the game as they revealed a 15:0 run. Czechs struggled early in the game and lost the opening frame 11:32. Ukraine maintained the advantage through the second quarter as they converted a couple of impressive plays and secured a 57:41 distance at halftime. The things started to change for Czech team in the third quarter. They posted a 24:7 run and closed the gap to just 67:65 after Behalova's jumper. Rosenbaumova added two more points to climb within 1 point 68:67. CZechs kept the deficit and remained trailing by 1 point entering the final 10 minutes 71:70. However Ukraine immediately reacted and spurred to a 17:3 to begin the fourth frame with. Setting an unassailable 88:73 lead with less than 3 minutes to go in regulation Ukraine had a sigh of relief and eased to a victory at the end. Tayisiya Bovykina (190-C-89) inspired Ukraine's offense with 33 points and 10 rebounds. Arina Lysyuk (170-G-89) added 15 points, 13 assists and 5 steals for the winners. Olesya Malashenko (185-F-91) dominated the paint with 13 points and 17 rebounds. Czech Republic were paced by 26 points from Dominika Behalova (166-G-90). Klara Rosenbaumova (182-F-90) netted 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a loss.
Ukraine obviously had an advantage under the rims as they outrebounded the opponents 62:46. They also shot more accurately from the field converting 52.5% (29.8% from Czechs).

Ukraine U18: Tayisiya Bovykina 33+10 boards, Arina Lysyuk 15+13 assists, Olesya Malashenko 13+17 boards
Czech Republic U18: Dominika Behalova 26, Klara Rosenbaumova 11, Aneta Bicistova (173-G-89) 10.

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WNBA - Women

SHOCKing offense overpowers the Mercury -by Eurobasket News
Detroit Shock flew over the court yesterday as they handed in an impressive 111:82 loss to Phoenix Mercury. Phoenix led 41:39 at halftime but the advantage vanished in the third quarter. Detroit poured in league-high 40 points to rally past the Mercury 40:19 and almost actually secure the win in the game. They added 32 points in the final quarter to post a new league record of 72 half points. Detroit had 6 players scoring in double figures. Katie Smith (5'11''-G-74, college: Ohio St.) led the team's effort with 20 points. Deanna Nolan (5'11''-G/F-79, college: Georgia) chipped in 18 points, while Plenette Pierson contributed 13 points and 14 rebounds. All-Star starting centre Kara Braxton was sidelined by the Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer because of her "lethargic play". She appeared on court just in the last couple of minutes.
Tangela Smith (6'4''-F/C-77, college: Iowa) led Phoenix with 16 points. Belinda Snell (5'11''-F-81) provided another 15 points in the 8th loss of the Mercury. Detroit outrebounded Phoenix 55:26, committing twice as many turnovers as their opponents (20).
Meanwhile Minnesota were unable to stop Houston at home 67:79. Tina Thompson (6'2''-F-75, college: USC) netted 23 points to ensure the first road success for the Comets in the season. Simona Augustus (6'1''-G-84, college: LSU) produced 22 points in a loss, that became the fourth straight for the Lynx.

Detroit - Phoenix 111:82
Detroit: Katie Smith 20 points, Deanna Nolan 18
Phoenix: Tangela Smith 16, Belinda Snell 15

Minnesota - Houston 67:79
Minnesota: Simona Augustus 22, Lindsey Harding (5'8''-G-84, college: Duke) 16
Houston: Tina Thompson 23, Tamecka Dixon (5'9''-G-75, college: Kansas) 12

Indiana - Chicago 86:70
Indiana: Tamika Catchings (6'1''-F-79, college: Tennessee) 16+11 assists, Anna DeForge (5'10''-G-76, college: Nebraska) 14
Chicago: Cathy Joens 16, Candice Dupree (6'2''-F/C-84, college: Temple) 13

New York - Sacramento 71:61
New York: Cathrine Kraayeveld (6'4''-F-81, college: Oregon) 13, Erin Thorn (5'10''-G-81, college: BYU) 13
Sacramento: Rebekkah Brunson (6'3''-F/C-81, college: Georgetown) 18, Nicole Powell (6'2''-G/F-82, college: Stanford) 11.