EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 1/4/2008

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Men News

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ABA

ABA Championship Playoffs Awarded to Quebec City -by Joe Pietaro
The American Basketball Association announced that the 2007-2008 ABA Championship Playoffs have been awarded to Quebec City and will be a part of Quebec City's 400th Birthday Celebration.
"We are very pleased to have been invited by the Quebec Kebekwa and the City of Quebec to hold the playoffs there," said Joe Newman, ABA CEO. "The Kebs are one of the best organizations in the ABA and they have put together a very exciting program. And to be a part of the 400th Birthday Celebration of this magnificent city is an even greater honor. We are humbled."
"We are very honored to have been selected as the Host Team for the ABA Championships," added team President Vincent Bernier. "And we are very appreciative of the support we have received from Mayor Regis Labeaume, the Tourism Division, and the Official Hotel of the ABA Championship Playoffs, the Chateau Laurier."
The playoffs are scheduled from Tuesday, March 25th through Sunday, March 30th with Quarter Final, Semi-Final and Finals schedules for Quebec. There will be a variety of other events to be announced shortly.

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ADRIATIC LEAGUE

Branko Jorovic joins Hemofarm STADA -by Dragan Jankovski
Just couple of days after Branko Jorovic (205-F-81) split with Crvena Zvezda, the player agreed terms with Hemofarm STADA. According to Hemofarm's head coach Miroslav Nikolic contract is not signed yet but everything is agreed and it is just formality that is expected to happen today or tomorrow.

In the past Jorovic used to play for Borac, FMP and Crvena Zvezda but he was not able the play for the entire year due to serious back injury.

Slovan inks Jokic, close to Petrov -by Zeljko Zule
Geoplin Slovan inked Igor Jokic (204-F-80) ex Rogla till end of the season. He averaging 20,8 points, 9,4 rebounds, 3,4 assists, 2,0 steals, 0,2 block and 3,6 tournovers in 5 games of A-1 Slovenian League UPC Telemach. Slovenian team is also very close to ink former NT member Simon Petrov (191-G-76) ex Air Avellino.

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ARGENTINA

More movements -by Facundo Iatzky

Atenas Cordoba signed Brandon Mason (194-G/F-81, college: N.Mexico St.) an excellent deffensive player. He will replace Erron Maxey (198-F-78, college: Providence) who averaged 16 pts 5.8 reb 1.1 as in 28.2 min (22 games). Good numbers but the coach Bualo looks another type of player.

The same Atenas day signed center James Moore (203-C-82, agency: Duran International, college: N.Mexico St.) and released Terry Taylor.

Facundo Venturini (198-F-87) moved to Obras Sanitarias. He was playing recently in Gimnasia Comodoro(6.8 pts 1.2 reb)


Cheik YaYa Dia, recently released by Belgrano, was signed by Boca Juniors



Liga B rosters 2007/2008 -by Facundo Iatzky
Group south:
Atletico Regina:
Gaston Gonzalez (175-G-79), Agustin Papa, Leonardo Ansaloni, Javier Solis (190-F-71), Guido Gadanoto, Emiliano Piccinini (190-F-84), Javier Sanchez, Nicolas Francisco (184-G-83), Diego Casemayor, Diego Felicevich, Nicolas Toncovich, Marcos Rodeghiero
Ciudad Bragado:
Mariano Marini, Joaquin Baeza, Francisco Rasio, Ezequiel Romero, Martin Trimboli (197-F-85), Fermin Cassani (184-F-84), Juan Pablo Cassani, Pedro Massalin, Marcelo Piuma, Javier Corniglia (196-C/F-83), Javier Abadie (204-C-82), Andres Lopez
El Sureno Universitario:
Oscar Lopez, Lautaro Miranda, Ramiro Fayanas, Daniel Miranda (185-G-80), Alvaro Rodriguez, Andres Greco, Carlos Gonzalez, Martin Juarez, Marcos Moreno (200-F/C-80), Marcos Moreno (200-F/C-80), Daniel Ojeda, Sebastian Morales (201-F/C-88)
Estudiantes Santa Rosa:
Gonzalo Perez, Nicolas Leguizamon, Valentin Blanco (185-G-87), Leon Nicanoff (185-G-91), Pablo Lamare (190-F-70), Tempesta Lucas (190-F-79), Ramiro Carrizo, Maximiliano Maneiro, Ramiro Diaz Cuello, Fabricio Guiretti, Pablo Hoya, Matias Guinda, Mariano Tagliotti, Juan Manuel Apollonio (198-C-89)
Gimnasia Buenos Aires:
Ignacio Alzaga, Diego Rios, Gabriel Menza, Facundo Lapadula, Roberto Pavlotski, Leandro Heffes, Santiago Ferrario (208-C-79), Claudio Cepeda, Facundo Santana, Facundo Gaudelli, Franco Tonelli, Facundo Flores
Gimnasia Villa del Parque:
Horacio Pacheco (180-G-67), Andres Lopresti (175-G-76), Dario Canzutti, Juan Manuel Ocampos, Juan Pablo Zilla, Mariano Pautasso, Luciano Cansutti, Mariano Mazzini (193-F-81), Pablo Cihal, Gaston Bernasconi, Ricardo Simari, Martin Zekas (200-C-87)
Independiente tandil:
Emanuel Hartstock, Juan Aquino, Juan Ilero, Juan Ignacio Mateo (194-G-85), Fernando Cano, Nazareno Lanusse, Ignacio Popp, Guillermo Crespo, Eber Ferros Marina, Pablo Maglia (201-C-70), Juan Manuel Trapote, Alejandro Arca
Velez sarsfield:
German Tamagusuku, Andres Molteno (190-G-86), Matias Rodriguez, Maximiliano Lamarque, Adrian Garcia (187-G-81), Federico Pollio, Pablo Israeloff (198-F-78), Pablo Noy, Horacio Beigier (200-F/C-69), Ruben Runke, Martin Terzi, Juan Jose Blanco
Group Center-South:
Banco Nacion:
Damian Horn (194-F/G-85), Facundo Romani, Maximiliano Fernandez, Juan Manuel Jimenez (192-F-85), Pablo Noguera (190-F-79), Nicolas Ballicora (198-F/C-81), Federico Mateo, Leandro Gonzalez, Juan Morrone, Fernando Vidal (188-F-82), Tomas Crom, Juan Gimenez
Firmat FC:
Diego Foradori, Lionel Sola (183-G-83), Cesar Avalle, Fernando Crespi (178-G-86), Cristian Mendoza, Emiliano Stenta (189-F-79), Gonzalo Maggio , Gregorio Fernandez, Omar Zanocco (194-F/C-75), Alejandro Pappalardi, Patricio Alloco, Leonel Mariani
Racing Gualeguaychu:
Cristian Delgui (185-G-81), Brian Barjacoba, Sebastian Scandolera, Abel Pascual, Mauro Cabrera, Matias Subiabre, Fabricio Rebecchi, Aldo Risso, Ivan Castelli (200-F/C-72), Matias Novello (198-C-84), Pablo Mander (200-C-89), Federico Salvarredi
Rosario Central:
Juan Gandoy (180-G-82), Flavio Bianchini (184-G-72), Francisco Stettler, Adrian Dilenardo, Pablo Illia, Roman Talotti (187-G-87), Juan Pablo Lupo, Manuel Morello, Mariano Allegranza, Pablo Maggi (200-C-86), Gabriel Robledo, Juan Camino
San Andres:
Ezequiel Lamas, Nahuel Marchetti, Dante Predazzi (195-F-85), Pablo Zaldo, Laureano Fuentes, Gonzalo Jacquet, Cristian Maida, Carlos Calvi, Leandro Puigdemasa, Javier Montero (200-F/C-71), Leonardo Miranda (199-C-76), Jose Pappalardi (203-C-82)
San Martin Junin:
Mario Caporaletti, Adriano Di Biaggio (190-G-83), Sebastian Sartorelli, Daniel Lares (187-F-79), Juan Abdala (194-F-74), Diego Lorio, Renzo Di Perna, Matias Merlo, Jose Martinez, Emanuel Pagella, Alfredo Vaccarezza (196-F-77), Leonardo Adaro, Matias Angeli
Sportivo Escobar:
Emilio Ziegler (182-G-86), Santiago Sicardi, Nicolas Tabarez (188-F-78), Fernando Bruckner, German Genero (200-F/C-72), Walter Cricri, Javier Torrens, Marcos Jalevich, Nicolas Medina, Damian Lombardi, Pablo Cominguez (195-F-88), Lisandro Rasio
Sportivo Rojas:
Gabriel Paolin, Andres Boni, Jonatan Slider (188-G-87), Enrique Morais (188-F-83), Arturo Kreiber (202-F-79), Cristian Nalpatian, Leandro Saavedra, Diego Morra, Guillermo Saavedra, Lisandro Cuberli (197-C-79), Manuel Sanchez,Leonel Di Giacomo
Group North-east:
Almagro Eperanza:
Roy Melchiorre, Marcelo Suarez (185-G-81), Sebastian Punet, Javier Giletta (180-F-79), Luciano Pilatti, Francisco Pruvost, Andres Horst, Rodrigo Pascal (198-C-85), Martin Barlasina (200-C-81), German Oreggioni, Javier Skibski, Sebastian Andreoli (185-F-81)
Brown San Vicente:
Ezequiel Gaido, Andres Berman, Lucio Clemente, Jaime Cabre (186-G-83), Ulises Broda, Federico Bonini (194-F-84), Hector Minzer, Ignacio Fernandez (195-F-81), Roman Medina (197-F/C-85), Alberto Falasconi, Jonatan Morero, Pablo Fernandez (192-G-80)
Colon Santa Fe:
Jose Luis Villa (177-G-73), Lucas Ortiz, Maximiliano D'Amelio, Ignacio Revellino, Adrian Almeida, Hernan Delpino, Nicolas Pairone (197-F-87), Marcos Piedrabuena, Federico Dellagustina (195-G-84), Rodrigo Bourquin, Julian Boris, Leonardo Else (198-F-87)
Estudiantes Concordia:
Joaquin Etcheverry, Matias Moretto, Ramiro Carulla (190-G-73), Ariel Blanc, Cristian Rausch, Claudio Farabello (196-F-71), Isaac Monti, Fernando Etchenausse, Marcelo Rodriguez (194-F-75), Federico Cabrera, Eduardo Nunez (206-C-80), David Rolando
Tomas de Rocamora:
Juan Pablo Martinez (184-G-85), Norberto Santini, Franco Dellavedova, Miguel Ricci, Diego Lopez (193-G-80), Matias Hansen, Carlos Perez (195-F-71), Horacio Rigada, Oscar Cabrera, Mauro Sierra (198-F/C-80), Lujan Caire (196-F/C-76), Sebastian Bernasconi
Obera TC:
Daniel Clavell (188-G-75), Matias Bonfiglio, Nicolas Martinez (180-G-89), Juan Pablo Rotta, Nestor Braccia, Gonzalo Traverso (196-G/F-88), Denis Gomez, Mauro Bianco (202-F/C-78), Leandro Petersen, Marcos Jovanovich, Guillermo Rasmussen (205-C-84), Alejandro Madorran
Union Santa fe:
Emmanuel Forrest (184-G-80), Alvaro Todone (180-G-85), Osvaldo Benitez, Jose Torrielli (186-F-81), Rodrigo Salaberry, Damian Peruchena, Alejandro Bahler, Jose Lenardon, Diego Faltoni (206-C-78), Oscar Godoy (203-C-79), Javier Khum, Exequiel Toledo
Union y Fuerza saenz pena:
Ariel Alvarez, Juan Michlig, Francisco Magallanes (195-F-79), Felix Vargas, Mauro Aleksandrowicz, Edgardo Agudo, Julio Ruiz (192-G-84), Jose Gonzalez, Lucas Arn (198-F-89), Diego Fernandez, Jesus Villalba (182-G-87), Gustavo Rath (194-F-74)
group north-west
Anzorena Mendoza:
Ariel Bernabei (188-F-75), Pablo Osores (191-F-86), Matias Estalles, Javier Mendez (204-C-81), Lucas Misetich, Emiliano Maldonado (186-G-84), Antonio Vargas, Ariel Arriagada, Facundo Rubia, Lucas Rubia, Federico Aguilera, Jorge Flores
Banda Norte:
Alejandro Fidalgo (180-G-82), Javier Hugo Llanos, Luciano Poggi, Rabdel Hechavarria, Juan Pablo Miazzo, Santiago Arese, Lucas Barlasina (194-F-82), Nicolas Arese, Hernan Tetamantti (198-F-79), Luciano Barlasina, Gaston Campana (201-F/C-79), Mauro Meneguzzo
Barrio Parque:
Marcos Ferreira, German Colli (180-G-87), Carlos Flores (184-F-80), Juan Seia, German Garcia, Samuel Aladin, David Pineda, Carlos Laguzzi (198-F-81), Hector Martirena, Alfredo Ganami, Andres Mariani Nicolas Rossi (196-C-85)
Independiente Santiago del estero:
Franco Leguizamon, Sebastian Maccio, Andres Auadt, Daniel Nubie, Oscar Neme (190-F-71), Dario Montoli, Sergio De la Iglesia, Gerardo Filippi (200-F-83), Victor Sudol (201-F/C-83), Gabriel Forlin (198-F/C-69), Emmanuel Ingrata Mario Paredes
Alberdi Tucuman:
Luis Arganaraz, Lisandro Caniza, Luis Ahumada, Gustavo Ahumada (196-F-81), Pablo Osores, Alejandro Olivares, Matias Acuna, Javier Lopez (196-F-84) Juan Meza (198-F/C-85), Jose Perroni (185-G-87), Walter Molina, Marcos Vera
Juvenil Estudiantes:
Jorge Chahab (180-G-83), Emiliano Roh (176-G-81), Emiliano Carpinetti, Santiago Turri, Gustavo Ferrochio, Matias Della Mea, Gustavo Maranguello, Manuel Bustos, Pablo Marrero, Fabricio Bonini, Gonzalo Bagatoli (196-F-83) Jeremias Acosta (207-C-85)
9 de julio:
Adrian Forastieri, Juan Fernandez (195-G-90), Gustavo Ismael Fernandez (180-G-68), Alejandro Usandivaras, Leandro Giovanna, Miguel Gerlero (192-G-88), Victor Chana, Leonardo Diaz, Cristian Balcells, Leonardo Segura, Gustavo Acosta, Claudio Comba, Juan Gallo (195-G/F-87)


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ARMENIA

Zargaryan - a star in the making ? -by Kristian Santiago
Zareh Zargaryan could be another big time player from Armenia.The young forward is currently averaging 11.4 points per game in his first year at the Glendale Community College in California and should be getting looks from D1 schools already.The team's third leading scorer is also a great passer with 4.8 assists per game which are team's best.
His needs to work on his shooting as his 39% aren't great but with another year time to polish his game , the future looks definitely bright for the Glendale-native.

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AUSTRIA

Two wednesday games of the ÖBL -by Bernd Maurer
Allianz Swans Gmunden - UBC St. Polten 93:75 (70:58, 49:34, 22:16)

At the beginning it was an exciting game. After seven minutes St. Polten was ahead with 11:15. Until the first break the champion captured the lead and with a nice zone-defense in the second quarter Gmunden enlarge the lead to 36:19! After the halftime St. Polten tried their best, but with a 10-2 run the game was over.


Swans: Hutter (196-F/G-80, agency: Interperformances) 21, Schoninger 18, Boylan 13

UBC: Kohlmaier (218-C-84, agency: Interperformances) 25, Speiser 22, Kugerl 12


Kapfenberg Bulls - Oberwart Gunners 73:69 (62:53, 37:44, 20:25)

After a poor start (0:7), the gunners began to play like the last rounds. The game stayed thrilling and the gunners took a small lead into the halftime. In the third quarter Kapfenberg made a 16:0 run and turn around the game. Artner (185-G-84) equalized the game, but Ray (193-F-80, college: N.C.Central) secured the victory!


Bulls: Ray, Suljanovic je 21, Zeleznik 12

Gunners: Artner 21, Youngblood 14, Boone, Johnson je 11

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BOSNIA

Cup BiH - 1/8-final round -by Elvir Halilovic
Ugljevik: Rudar - Sloboda Dita (January 9TH)
Sarajevo: Bosna ASA BHT - Vogosca MIMS (January 10TH)
Siroki Brijeg: Siroki Prima Pivo - Lasta Capljina (January 9TH)
Cazin: Cazin Limometal - Borac Nektar (January 16TH)
Trebinje: SL IAT Leotar - Grude (January 9TH)
I. Sarajevo: Slavija - Zenica Celik (January 16TH)
Teslic: Teslic - Igokea Partizan (January 9TH)

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CBA

Albany Patroons sign Gordon Malone -by Eurobasket
Albany Patroons strengthened their roster with addition of 34-year old power forward Gordon Malone (6'10''-F/C-74, agency: Tank Sports, college: W.Virginia). Malone played most recently at Strong Island Sound (ABA). Will Bowers (7'1''-C-85, college: Maryland) was placed on the injured reserve list. Albany Patroons also waived Tom Sadler (6'10''-F/C-82, agency: Vision Sports Management, college: Franklin Pierce).

East Kentucky Miners sign Anthony Slater -by Eurobasket
East Kentucky Miners agreed terms with 29-year old n guard Anthony Slater (5'9''-G-79, agency: Global Sports Plaza, college: Florida Atlantic). Slater played most recently at Rome Gladiators (WBA). East Kentucky Miners also waived Bryant Northern (6'0''-G-82, college: Louisville)

Great Falls Explorers sign Joe Principe and waive 4 players!!! -by Eurobasket
Great Falls Explorers signed 28-year old center Joe Principe (6'10''-C-80, college: ODU). Principe played most recently at Old Dominion University (NCAA). It will be his first year in professional basketball. Great Falls Explorers waived 3 players: Mike Chavez (6'7''-G/F-83, college: Montana) , Mike Harmon (6'11''-F-79, college: Detroit Mercy) , Omar Guinea (6'8''-F-81, college: Henderson St.), Vinson Smith (6'4''-F, college: Mo.-Kansas City)

New Coach Assistant for Oklahoma Cavalry -by Eurobasket
Oklahoma Cavalry announced Today that Greg Minor will be the new Coach Assistant for the remainder of the 2007-08. Oklahoma Cavalry also waived Malcolm Johnson (6'4''-G/F-76, college: TCU)

Rio Grande Valley Silverados sign Patrick Fields -by Eurobasket
Rio Grande Valley Silverados agreed terms with 24-year old n swingman Patrick Fields (6'6''-G/F-84, college: Baylor). Fields played most recently at Austin Toros (D-League). Rio Grande Valley Silverados also waived Colin Lien (6'11''-C-84, college: UTPA)

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CHINA

New Imports Arrived China -by Robert Wang
Former NBA center Sharone Wright (211-C-73, college: Clemson) just arrived in China with high payment. He signed with Jiang Su team for the rest of season. Current forward RAHEIM BROWN was replaced by Sharone.

CBA All-star Voting Result -by Robert Wang
CBA all-star ended voting today, here is the detail of result on top 3:
Guard: Wang Shi Peng (736913), Lu xiao Ming (731852), Liu Xiao Yu (624429); Forward: Zhu Fang Yu (712454), Du Feng (690845), Li Nan (457925),Center: Wang Zhi Zhi (932852), Ba ter (746430), Li Meng (723243). Wang Zhi zhi led the voting now! Coach: Gong xiao Bin (Shan Dong 880324), Guo Shi Qiang (Liao Ning 875542), Li Chun Jiang (Guang Dong 872208). This all-star game will be hold in Cheng du on Jan. 12-13, 2008. All- star game was hold in Cheng du on Year 2000, Wang Zhi Zhi led the slam dunk.





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D-LEAGUE

Latest D-League Player Movement -by Surujh Roopnarine
December 26th
Iowa Energy: Acquired Jeff Hagen (7'0''-C-82, college: Minnesota) and waived Luke Whitehead.
Idaho Stampede: Re-signed Mike Taylor (6'2''-G-86, college: Iowa St.)

December 27th
Anaheim Arsenal: Released Guillermo Diaz due to injury.
Sioux Falls Skyforce: Signed Chris Alexander (7'1''-C-80, college: Iowa St.)

December 28th
Colorado 14ers: Waived Brian Greene due to injury.

December 31st
Austin Toros: Signed Kris Lang (6'11''-F/C-79, agency: SportsTalent, college: N.Carolina) and Justin Reed (6'8''-F-82, college: Mississippi).

January 3rd
Austin Toros: Re-signed Marcus Williams (6'7''-F-86, college: Arizona)

Mad Ants Withstand Third Quarter Surge, Defeat Skyforce 100-92 -by Surujh Roopnarine
The Ft. Wayne Mad Ants (6-8) built a comfortable lead in the first half against the visiting Sioux Falls Skyforce (5-10), then held on in the second half and came away with the 100-92 victory on Thursday night.
The inside-outside combination of Sammy Mejia (6'6''-G-83, college: De Paul) and Corey Minnifield (6'8''-F-81, agency: Naiditch Entertainment, college: Loyola (LA)) led the way for Ft. Wayne as they combined for 43 points and 15 rebounds. Though sloppy with the ball (27 turnovers), Ft. Wayne played solid defense holding Sioux Falls to 42% shooting from the field including a tough 4-18 (22.2%) from behind the arc. Kasib Powell (6'7''-F-81, college: Texas Tech) once again led the Skyforce, this time with a team leading 20 points in the losing effort.
SKYFORCE: Kasib Powell (20p+6rb+5to), Elton Nesbitt (18p), Chris Alexander (14p+9rb), Carl Elliott (14p)
MAD ANTS: Corey Minnifield (22p+9rb+6to), Sammy Mejia (21p+6rb), Earl Calloway (14p+9rb+7to), Larry Turner (11p+6rb)

Cavs Assign Cedric Simmons to Rio Grande Valley -by Surujh Roopnarine
The Cleveland Cavaliers have assigned second year forward Cedric Simmons (6'9''-F/C-86, college: N.Carolina St.) to their D-League affiliates, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Originally drafted by the New Orleans Hornets in 2006 (#15 overall), Simmons 47-game NBA career has him averaging 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game.

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EUROLEAGUE

CSKA guarantees Top 16 birth -by Eurobasket News
CSKA - Olimpija 74:57

CSKA easily secured their 9th win in the Euroleague season and booked the ticket to the next round of the competition. The win over Olimpija came in Moscow in front of 4,500 crowd of basketball fans. CSKA also took a revenge for the only loss in the season that they suffered in Ljubljana. This time the intrigue lived for just a single frame. A mass of turnovers highlighted the first frame as the teams could not adjust for some time early on. The scoring was low and Olimpija even managed to enjoy a slight momentum when Maurice Bailey (183-G-81, college: Sacred Heart) and Rizvic combined 5 points to put the visitors ahead 11:6. Later Sasa Doncic (201-G-74, agency: VTBM/SRBM) came up with a layup and Olimpija forced Ettore Messina to call for timeout. It helped as the hosts answered with a 7:0 rally to tied the score at 13 after the opening frame. CSKA used a couple of fastbreaks to explode with a 9:0 run early in the second quarter and soon piled up a 25:19 lead. Marko Milic (199-G-77) produced 4 straight points for Olimpija to remain in contest 23:25. However David Andersen (212-C-80) scored 6 points and J.R. Holden (185-G-76, college: Bucknell) connected from downtown to mount the pressure on the visiting side 34:28 at halftime. The defense became the key stress for CSKA in the third period as they kept Olimpija mum for almost 3 minutes and enlarged the gap to 10 points. A couple of timeouts from Mehmet Becirovic could not shake things up for Slovenian team as the deficit just kept on growing. CSKA led by as many as 17 points at one point, but Ronell Taylor (196-G-82, college: UAB) and Maurice Bailey cut it to 9 points late in the frame. The hosts still finished the period on a high note as Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) and Andersen restored a 13-point cushion heading into the fourth stanza. Olimpija once again were unable to score for about 2 minutes early in the final term and CSKA widened the hole to 15 points. Maurice Bailey worked hard for Olimpija as he paced the visitors to climb within 11 points from the home team. However CSKA got a tight grip on the game now and kept their opponents on a safe distance till the end of this one. David Andersen sparked with game-high 25 points and 8 boards for CSKA. Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke) added 10 points, while Theodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77, agency: Interperformances) nailed 9 points and dished out 5 assists in a win. Maurice Bailey stepped up with 15 points for Olimpija.
Olimpija fell to 3-7 record and have just theoretical chances of making it to the next round. They face Zalgiris in Round 11 in Ljubljana. CSKA travels to Piraeus to take on Olympiakos next week.

CSKA: David Andersen 25, Trajan Langdon 10, Theodoros Papaloukas 9
Olimpija: Maurice Bailey 15, Marko Milic 12

Supreme oppening for the Greek teams in Euroleague for 2008 -by Chris Mammides

Olympiakos succeeded in getting their first road win this season (after ten weeks) in the Euroleague after beating Virtus Bologna 80-91. With quarters being 20-25, 40-50, 59-71 and 80-91, Gershon's team did not face any problems from Stefano Pilastrini's team. With Lynn Greer (186-G-79, college: Temple) leading the scorers with 23 points in his first game after more than a month showed that he did not lose his touch. From close distance it was Qyntel Woods (204-F/G-81, college: N.Mississippi JC) and Marc Jackson (206-C/F-75, college: Temple) who scored 17 and 16 points respectively while the Greek international Loukas Mavrokefalidis (207-C-84) together with Iakovos Tsakalidis (218-C-79) dominated in the paint on both edges. The top scorer for the Italian team was the American Spencer who scored 17 points followed by Stevan Stojkov (182-G-89) with 10.

In the other game with Greek color, Gordon Herberts team, Aris Thessalonikis succeded his second road win in Eurolegue after beating Cibona Zagreb 76-83 in Halla Drazen Petrovic. With this victory Aris booked a place for the next round in the top 16 teams of Europe for a second consecutive season. The quarters were: 20-24, 41-48, 62-68 and 76-83. The usual top performer was once more the American power forward Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82, college: Kansas St.) who finished the game with 20 points while 18 points were added from Dimitris Tsaldaris (196-F-80) and 13 points from Wright. On behalf of the Croat team the top scorer was Warren with 29 points while Larry Ajuzo scored 23.

It is worth mentioning that Aris agreed terms with Darius Washington (188-G-85, college: Memphis), the American PG will play as a Bosman when he receives his FYROM passport. Another player who agreed to terms with Aris was the Georgian power forward Vladimir Boisa (209-F/C-81), ex-player of the Russian Sparta Vladivostok.



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GERMANY

Lars Buss from Jena to MBC -by Moritz Korff
Lars Buss (202-C-78, agency: LimeLight) has left Bundesliga-side Science City Jena and moved to Mitteldeutscher BC of the 2. Bundesliga Pro A. The 29 year old veteran had 14 appearances for Jena in the first division during this current season. After the signing for US-Bigman Jason Miller (208-F/C-80, college: Oklahoma St.) it would have been even more difficult for the lefty to receive playing time in the Jena squad.

Morinia-brothers reunited in Osnabrueck -by Moritz Korff
The P4two Ballers Osnabrueck (Regionalliga North) have found the player to replace shooter Steve Janzen (191-G-82), who decided not to come back to Germany after the Christmas Break. To fill this spot the Ballers hired Larry Morinia (180-G-80, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: Montana St.-Northern), the brother of their Playmaker Lamar Morinia (183-G-81, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Montana St.-Northern). Both were already teammates in college, when attending MSU Northern.
27-year-old Larry Morinia, a member of the NAIA All-America Second Team in 2004, spent most of his time as a pro in the ABA and IBL so far. In the 2006 season he averaged 24.8 points in 18 games for the Eugene Chargers (IBL) and advanced to the ABA-Finals with the Gallup Outlaws one year later. During the 2007 campaign Morinia played for Phoenix Flame, another team of the IBL.

News from Hagen -by Daniel Poerschke
Benjamin Rust (199-F-79, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement) will be loaned from Pro A club Phoenix Hagen to 1. Regionalliga West team Schwelmer Baskets for the rest of the season. Benjamin Rust played in 13 games so far for Hagen, averaging 3.8ppg. Schwelm currently is in first place in the 1. Regionalliga West and with the newest addidtion they are sending out a strong message to the other competing teams.

Also in the 1. Regionalliga West BBV Hagen announced the signing of Donny McLendon (183-G-83, agency: Scorers1st Sportmanagement). Lendon graduated from NCAA 1 school The Citadel last summer. In just three seasons as a Citadel Bulldog, McLendon worked his way to fifth place in all-time 3-pointers at the school with 160 made baskets from long range. McLendon recorded 20-plus-point performances this past year, while tallying two games with a career-high of six 3-point baskets.

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GREECE

Week 10: Ideal premiere for the Greek teams in Euroleague for 2008! -by Chris Mammides

Olympiakos succeeded in getting their first road win this season (after ten weeks) in the Euroleague after beating Virtus Bologna 80-91. With quarters being 20-25, 40-50, 59-71 and 80-91, Gershon's team did not face any problems from Stefano Pilastrini's team. With Lynn Greer (186-G-79, college: Temple) leading the scorers with 23 points in his first game after more than a month showed that he did not lose his touch. From close distance it was Qyntel Woods (204-F/G-81, college: N.Mississippi JC) and Marc Jackson (206-C/F-75, college: Temple) who scored 17 and 16 points respectively while the Greek international Loukas Mavrokefalidis (207-C-84) together with Iakovos Tsakalidis (218-C-79) dominated in the paint on both edges. The top scorer for the Italian team was the American Spencer who scored 17 points followed by Stevan Stojkov (182-G-89) with 10.

In the other game with Greek color, Gordon Herberts team, Aris Thessalonikis succeded his second road win in Eurolegue after beating Cibona Zagreb 76-83 in Halla Drazen Petrovic. With this victory Aris booked a place for the next round in the top 16 teams of Europe for a second consecutive season. The quarters were: 20-24, 41-48, 62-68 and 76-83. The usual top performer was once more Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82, college: Kansas St.) who finished the game with 20 points while 18 points were added from Dimitris Tsaldaris (196-F-80) and 13 points from Wright. On behalf of the Croat team the top scorer was Warren with 29 points while Larry Ajuzo scored 23.

It is worth mentioning that Aris agreed terms with Darius Washington (188-G-85, college: Memphis), the American PG will play as a Bosman when he receives his FYROM passport. Another player who agreed to terms with Aris was the Georgian power forward Vladimir Boisa, ex-player of the Russian Sparta Vladivostok.



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HUNGARY

Dombovar won New Year's first game! -by Tamas Deri
Last night in the first game of the year 2008 the team of DKC beat NYKK in a surprising very good game after the Christmas Break.

Player of the game was american guard, Mike English (194-F-82, agency: Basketball Beyond Borders, college: Mo.-Kansas City), who had a tripple-double with 16 points (7/7 2pt's, 2/4 FT's), 18 assists and 11 rebounds, it means all together 52 IBM! Best scorer of the game was Julien Mills (193-G-84, agency: Warren Sports, college: Ball St.), who scored 26 points (9/14 2pt's, 1/2 3pt's, 5/7 FT's), and had also 7 rebounds and 5 assists, 36 IBM. Even Marco Sanders (202-F-79, college: Point Park) had a great performance with 22 points and 6 rebounds in 33 minutes on the court.
From the guests Srdjan Helbich (205-F/C-76), Gary Buchanan (191-G-80, agency: Edge Sports, college: Villanova) and Branko Savic (181-G-79) were the top scorers with 23, 20 and 19.

PLANET LEASING DOMBOVAR KC - MARSO-VAGEP NYKK 103-92
(30-17, 23-23, 19-28, 31-24)
Dombovar, Att.: 1.200, Referees: Palla, Adam, Kiraly
DOMBOVAR KC: Mills 26/3, English 16, Deak 13/9, Bodi 18/9, Sanders 22/3, Kinsella 6/6, Simon 2, Coach: Dzunic Branislav
NYKK: Savic 19/9, Krasznai 1, Buchanan 20/15, Sitku 13/9, Helbich 23/3, Siska 12/6, Trepak 4, Coach: Deri Csaba

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IBL

KNIGHTS FREE AGENT CAMP FEB 2-3 -by John Gary
courtesy oursportscentral.com The Battle Creek Knights of the IBL will be hosting a free agent camp FEB.2-3. This will be the third and final free agent camp before the start of the KNights upcoming season on MARCH 20,2008 at the Kellogg Arena. There will be player agents scouts and IBL team personnel in attendance during the camp. THE camp will take place at the Battle CREEK fAMILY ymca 182 Capital Avenue NE.. The schedule for the camp follows; 2-2-08- REGISTRATION
10;30AM morning session-11am-1pm break 1pm-2pm
afternoon session 2-4pm
2-3-08- morning session 9-11am
The cost for the camp is 75 dollars for earl registars , after 2-1-08 the cost of the camp is 100 dollars, FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL lOGAN vander velden at 260-705-3594 or email LOGANLVANDERWELDEN@BCKNIGHTS.COM

Battle Creek Knights announce final free agent camp for 2008 season -by Trask Frost
Battle Creek, MI—The Battle Creek Knights have scheduled a third and final free agent camp for the upcoming 2008 season. The two day event will take place on Saturday, February 2, and Sunday, February 3 at the Battle Creek Family YMCA (182 Capital Ave. NE, Battle Creek, MI).

Camp Information

Saturday, February 2
Registration 10:30am
Morning Session: 11:00am—1:00pm
Afternoon Session: 2:00pm—4:00pm

Sunday, February 3
Morning Session: 9:00am—11:00am

Cost for the camp is $75 for early registration (Before February 1). After February 1, the cost is $100. For more information, contact Logan VanderVelden at (260) 705-3594 or lvandervelden@bcknights.com.

The Knights' 2008 season kicks off on Thursday, March 20 at Kellogg Arena.

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ICELAND

Two big home wins tonight -by Siggi Hjorleifsson

Snaefell vs Thor was a game sheduled on december 30 but was cancle at that time because of bad weather. Tonight the game was played. Snaefell have faced many injuries lately on their roster and one of their main player Sigurdur Thorvaldsson got injured after only one minute and did not play more in the game.
But Snaefell did very well tonight and won 93-63. Looks like none of Thor players came ready to play or maybe Snaefell just did not give them the chance of do well.
Leading scorers for Snaefell. Justin Shouse 23 + 7 rebs & 8 assist. Magni Hafsteinsson 16. Slobodan Subasic 15. Gudni Valentinusson 11. For Thor. Cedric Isom & Odinn Asgeirsson 12. Hrafn Johannsson 11.

Grindavik have been struggling lately, special on the defense end. But tonight they played very well as a team on both defense & offense and beat Keflavik 98-76. Keflavik first loss in the league this season. Jonathan Griffin with good game 35 pts. Adame Darboe (190-G-86, agency: Rasmussen Services) 16 + 9 assist.

Igor Beljanski (201-C-78, college: Chaminade) 14.
For Keflavik Anthony Susnjara (205-F/C-81, college: Co.Carolina) 14 Throstur Johannsson 11



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IRAN

Basketball, Iranian Style -by Mahin Gorgy
Basketball, Iranian Style
When Hoops Failed Josh Moore in Iran,
He Turned to a New Pursuit -- Blogging

By DAVID ROTH
Special to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
January 3, 2008


Everything was going pretty well for Josh Moore before he stopped off at Papa Pizza, a neon-lit restaurant in Babolsar, Iran. He left feeling sick, and it would take several weeks and one harrowing hospital visit before the New Jersey native was able to get back to doing what he was in Iran to do. That was, in no particular order: block shots, rebound, score when asked to, and generally begin the long process of getting back into basketball shape.

Away from the court, Mr. Moore was also trying to see and experience as much of Iran as he could -- an exploration which isn't exactly low-profile when you're 7-2 and 317 pounds. To the Iranians who stopped him on the street and asked him to pose for photos - women in chador; smiling kids Mr. Moore held aloft as if palming a basketball; Iranian men in knockoff American street wear - Mr. Moore probably resembled a figure out of myth. But this former (and, he hopes, future) NBA player was in a basketball backwater for the most ordinary of reasons: to make a living in basketball's thriving global market.

In 2004, after stints at two high schools, the University of Michigan, and a season on injured reserve with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, Mr. Moore found himself confronting the possible end of his basketball career at age 23. The deaths of a brother and his godmother sent him into a depression, and after that, he says "I had a few playing opportunities I really wasn't emotionally prepared for, so they didn't materialize into much."

The opportunity to play in Iran, he says, "literally came out of nowhere, but that's usually how it works with most of these overseas markets. Decent game tape and a name will get you just about anywhere."

"Anywhere" is right: There are dozens of professional basketball leagues around the globe, in nations from Argentina to Zambia. Italy's Lega A and Spain's ACB are home to what's recognized as the best basketball outside the NBA, but in lesser leagues, both the competition and the facilities can be a step down from the hoop-factory high schools Mr. Moore attended. What teams in foreign leagues great and small have in common, though, is a constant need for new talent and a willingness to look abroad to find it. Mr. Moore had played just two pro games in three years, but that didn't matter in the churning global hoops marketplace; in October he found a job with BEEM, a team in the Iranian Superleague.

But while Mr. Moore's game tape (and game) got him to Iran, Superleague rules, visa issues and that intestinal infection in Babolsar kept him from ever playing a game there. So he did what any computer-savvy, food-poisoning-stricken seven-footer would when marooned in Iran: He blogged.

Starting a blog was actually first suggested to me by my wife as a way to allow her to see the country," he says of Eastern-Hemisphere. The blog began as a casual travelogue, with a brief video tour of an assaultively opulent bedroom in the Shah's palace narrated for Mr. Moore's wife Mary and photos of Mr. Moore getting a haircut at a Tehran barber shop. (Caption: "My barber in L.A. could take a lesson from this guy! I was sharp at the museum that day.")

But it soon became more than that to Mr. Moore's growing readership and the athlete himself. Blogging, Mr. Moore says, "made me put down the athlete survival kit -- DVD player, video game system, iPod, etc. -- and pay closer attention to my surroundings, as opposed to shutting myself off and creating my own world within the country."

And so, armed with a translator, a camera phone and a sense of humor, Mr. Moore went about experiencing as much of Iran as he could. While some of what he saw may qualify as explosive in the Islamic Republic - in one post, he describes stumbling upon a thriving gay scene while hiking Kolakchal, a mountain in Tehran's Jamshidieh Park - most of what he observed is noteworthy precisely because of how recognizable it is. A shopping trip for bootleg videogames and CDs - Mr. Moore wrote that "the new Jay-Z CD is going for about two bucks, and it's not worth a cent more" - could just as easily have unfolded on New York City's Canal Street. Ditto for Mr. Moore's wine- and conversation-filled dinners with the young, westernized Iranians he describes as "my Persian family," which wouldn't be out of place anywhere in the U.S.

"Every time I have a conversation with someone and they talk about 50 Cent, I'm like, 'WHAT!?' " Mr. Moore wrote early in his stay, "Then they look at me like I'm crazy for thinking that they're trapped in a bubble of prayer and terrorism."
After many conversations with friends and strangers, Mr. Moore came to the conclusion that Iranians "love America. They have a problem with our politics and their own, but they are smart enough to separate the government and the people, because they face the same issue every day."

But while Mr. Moore left the country as a fan of Iran and its people, he didn't leave with a high opinion of the Superleague. "I would recommend Iran as a place to visit," he says, but adds that "as a league, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone."

Some of the oddities of Iranian basketball seem unique to that country - Mr. Moore says in most cities women aren't allowed to attend games, "and in the places that do allow them to attend, they sit on a completely different side of the arena from the men." But the league's other failings are common even in higher-profile foreign leagues. "You could be in a B-level gym that's packed one night, and the next be in a gym that's the equivalent of a bad outdoor park in the worst neighborhood in America, with only three spectators," Mr. Moore says.

Another drawback? Sporadic or nonexistent paychecks -- a not-unknown hazard in international leagues.

"An Iranian National Team player on my team was in tears because he had to sell his wife's car in order to pay his bills, because the owner refused to pay him," Mr. Moore says, adding that "the other American on my team didn't get paid at all, and he was the leading scorer." But while Mr. Moore warns that the Superleague's endemic shadiness could "completely kill their ability to get foreign players into that market," the promise of a paycheck - even if it turns out only to be a promise - remains enough to lure players to such far-flung locales as Siberia, Iceland, Cyprus and, yes, Iran.

Believe it or not, Americans have been playing basketball in Iran for years. Depending on where one falls on the hoops-nerd continuum, the names of Superleague veterans Chris Herren (previously of the Boston Celtics), Robert Whaley (23 games with the Utah Jazz in 2005-06) and Eddie Elisma (collegiate star at Georgia Tech) may be familiar. Only four Americans are currently playing there now, a steep decline from more than 20 a year ago. The dropoff has been precipitated in part by a Treasury Department investigation into whether players receiving paychecks from Superleague teams are violating the current sanctions regime. (Mr. Moore's unlucky former teammate suddenly seems luckier.)

Mr. Moore came home in November, and is currently practicing with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Developmental League. And he's still blogging, on more-domestic subjects ranging from the interview stylings of Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury ("a clown") to the current Democratic frontrunners ("flip a coin" between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, he says). Right now, Mr. Moore is focusing on making it back to the NBA and being a husband and father. "My wife's unwavering supporting and love has carried me through a lot, and the family we're building is the family I dreamed of having while growing up in the projects in Newark," he says. "That means a lot to me."

But he knows that making it back to the NBA may take him back into the international hoops market.

Asked about going back overseas, he says that "my family makes it virtually impossible for me to completely embrace the idea." But then there's economic necessity -- and Mr. Moore's curiosity.

"A place I've always admired, like Japan, and my family was with me the entire time? I would totally be open to that," he says. " 'The next 10 years in Japan' doesn't sound bad at all."

*****************************************************
ITALY

Lega2 - Market news -by Gabriele Fioretti
Ignis Novara, decided to not go on with Lloreda and announced the signing of Brandon Bowman (204-F-84, agency: David Lee services, college: Georgetown) from the Bakersfield Jam (NBDL). It seems that Soresina continues to have interest in their former point guard Passera. Pavia could also make changes with the point guard position after December rumours talked about Nolen, now the team coached by Sacco, could look for a point guard to help Meini.

McLeod joins Siena, Bowman joins Novara -by Gianni Pascucci
Montepaschi Siena agreed to terms with Keith McLeod (188-G-79, college: Bowling Green) to replace in roster the injured Rimantas Kaukenas (193-G-77, college: Seton Hall). Lega 2 team Ignis Basket Draghi Novara officially announced the agreement with Brandon Bowman (204-F-84, agency: David Lee services, college: Georgetown), who inked a contract till the end of the current season. To make room in roster for Bowman, Ignis Novara released Alessandro Bruno (206-C-84) and Jaime Lloreda (201-F-80, agency: HM Sports Agency, college: LSU).

Serie A Markets and Rumors -by Stefano Pini
To replace Mate Skelin (212-C-74) after his injury Cimberio Varese has reached a deal with Jaime Lloreda (201-F-80, agency: HM Sports Agency, college: LSU) released yesterday by Novara. Varese is working also to bring back Delonte Holland (201-F-82, college: De Paul) a player followed also by Snaidero Udine. Eldo Napoli's attentions are on Lionel Chalmers (183-G-80, college: Xavier). Benetton was close to Vladimir Boisa (209-F/C-81, agency: World Sport Agency) but the forward preferred Aris Salonicco.

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JAMAICA

Murray accepts full basketball scholarship to Campbellsville University -by Leonard Whyte
Linton Murray, one of the top basketball players in Jamaica, has accepted a full basketball scholarship to attend Campbellsville University in Kentucky. Murray, captain of the 2007 Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)/National Basketball League (NBL) champions, Urban Knights, and finals MVP, is schedule to start classes on January 14, 2008. Murray is an annual attendee at the Star Search Basketball and Life Skills Development Camp sponsored by the Jamaica Basketball Development (JBD), Inc, Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA), Nike, and KFC. He is the fourth student-athlete in the last three weeks to receive a basketball scholarship as Christopher Villas (Excelsior High), Melvin Robinson (St. George's High), and Omari Williams (Calabar High) all left the island recently to take up scholarship offers at Southside Baptist Christian School in Richmond, Virginia.

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JORDAN

Laws in ASU -by Mohammed Malas
Applied Science University (ASU) sports club signed with the american point guard Andre Laws (186-G-80, agency: Global Sports Plaza, college: San Diego) who arrived today to Amman, Jordan to join the D1 Champions who will take part Jordan Cup from the beginning of 15th of January.

Laws was graduated from San Diego University in 2002, He played previousley in Bosnia and in Mexico for 5 seasons, His average in his last season there was 23.5ppg, 2.5rpg, 4.7apg, and 64.2%2p in 43 games.

The 2nd import of the team will be known in the upcoming days.

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JUCO

Zargaryan - a star in the making ? -by Kristian Santiago
Zareh Zargaryan could be another big time player from Armenia.The young forward is currently averaging 11.4 points per game in his first year at the Glendale Community College in California and should be getting looks from D1 schools already.The team's third leading scorer is also a great passer with 4.8 assists per game which are team's best.
His needs to work on his shooting as his 39% aren't great but with another year time to polish his game , the future looks definitely bright for the Glendale-native.

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MEXICO

Last roster changes -by Gianni Pascucci
Union de Zacatecas officials found to be without a coach when Guillermo Vecchio adviced the team from Argentina (where he was passing the Christmas break) that he wasn' t able to come back to Mexico due to familiar problems. The recently signed import Brian Woodward (191-G-81, college: Rhode Island) also decided to come back to the USA, this is why Zacatecas will look soon for a new guard, while the interim head coach will be for some time former assistant Jesus Nava. Without advicing anyone, Issac Gildea (187-G-79, college: Humboldt St.) left Halcones UV Cordoba. He will be temporarly replaced in roster by USA-MEX Robert Brown (188-G-80), but it is also possible a new addition in the team roster. Panteras de Aguascalientes announced the signing of Terri "Doc" Ellis (203-C-80) to replace Mario Bennett (207-F-73, college: Arizona St.), who had to leave the team.

LNBP News and today's games -by Charles Elwes

The season is almost over and teams, players, owners, fans want to give it their best and see their team in the league playoffs.
Tonight's games are very important for some teams.

Mayas de Yucatan (15-25) hasn't given up and tonight will play versus Halcones Rojos (22-19). The Mayas

know they have 6 games more in the season and two more that were rescheduled against Soles Mexicali and Algodoneros Torreon in
the early part of the season.

Lobos de Durango have released Roy Smallwood (201-F-81, college: UTEP) who has played in just four games

with the team. The new player coming aboard is Brandon Cole. The Lobos (33-9) will receive Fuerza Regia (27-15) tonight in which they will present

their best player coming back to his old home, Nick Jones (190-G-81, college: UCSB) now with the Regios.


Dorados de Chihuahua(24-18) will play at Galgos de Tijuana(22-20) in wich coach " Tony " Ruiz decided to leave on the injured

list Detrick White (184-G-76, college: Mississippi St.) because they have four imports and only made the trip

Rafael 'Pachy' Cruz (187-G-79, agency: Next Level, college: Youngstown St.) ,

Keenan Jourdon (202-F-74, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Boston Coll.) and Antoine Broxsie.


Halcones Rojos Veracruz have a new coach in Chuck Skarshaug. The 67 year old coach told the media that he didn't leave his wife and kids back home to lose in these finals games with the team. He wanted all of the players that want to play to stay and said that are some players that aren't giving their best are still receiving

very nice paychecks. So lets see how coach Skarshaug changes the team. He was the coach in the 2005 season of Halcones Xalapa.


The games for today are:


Algodoneros Torreon ( 25-14) at Soles Mexicali (25-13)

Lobos UAC ( 13-29) at Union Zacatecas ( 20-22)

Santos Reales S.L.P (26-14) at Venados Nuevo Laredo (10-32)

Correcaminos Cd. Victoria (26-14) at Bravos Piedras Negras (10-31)

Pioneros Cancun (22-20) at Tecos UAG (26-16)

Lechugeros Leon (20-21) at Angeles Puebla (10-32)

Bucaneros Campeche (16-24) at Halcones Xalapa (35-7)

Panteras Aguascalientes (18-22) at Halcones Cordoba (28-14)


The leader in the diferent categories in the league are:


Leader in assists

Dallas Logan (193-G-82, college: Northwood) 231 total


Leader in rebounds

Ramel Allen (210-C-79, college: Bridgeport) 453 rebounds.


Scoring leader

Kenya Capers (194-F-73, college: Houston) 850 points.


Overall credits

LeRoy Hickerson (196-G-82, college: Cumberlands) 940 total credits.

A new coach for Veracruz -by Gianni Pascucci
Halcones Rojos UV Veracruz introduced to media their new coach: he is American Chuck Skarshaug, who replaces on the team's bench Enrique Ortega

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MOROCCO

Day 10 results -by Nour Amri
IRT completed a routine victory at home over CMC who slip down the standings to just second from bottom after two of their main rivals picked up wins. The 73-65 loss at Tangier was expected despite a very good performance of CMC's players as they showed good courage and fighting spirit but was not enough to beat the league's leader.

MAS secured but not easily their 7th win in the League regular season (73-65). The win over KAC came in FES, surprisingly in front of very few crowd of basketball fans. A mass of turnovers highlighted the first half as MAS players could not react and adjust against a good KAC's box & one defense. A spectacular fourth quarter by MAS turned the game on it's head after it looked like KAC was on his way to an impressive win with a 9 points lead at the break and 6 points at the end of the third quarter. But the local team stretched their legs opening up an eight-point advantage at the buzzer courtesy of an inspired performance by Matar M'baye, who scores 4 out of 4 three points in the last 6 minutes of the game.

A similarly impressive performance was put in by ASS who are slowly pulling themselves away from trouble after a convincing and hugely important 51-65 win over WAC. Few had expected Driss Houari and his players to get the positive result against a side that were coming into the game having won their 6 last games and blown away MAS and RCA in the previous games. However ASS controlled the game since the beginning with a solid defense and good consistency in offense, while the visitors looked to be dead and simply never recovered.

RCA picked up a comfortable 68-76 win against FUS after a very competitive game. To make matters worse for coach Naoufal Uariachi, just when they were about to get back into the game, the visitor team stepped on the gas in the final period to show they have a lot of experience and are up for the fight ahead to confirm their last year's title.

TSC slumped to another disappointing loss, this time going down 81-72 at Tan-Tan. MET signed their first victory of the season and TSC dived in more troubles as they surfing with the relegation spots

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NAIA

Lee University refuses to surrender against East Carolina -by Eurobasket News
Lee University claimed one of the most outstanding victories in the school history as they bumped NCAA Division I members East Carolina 77:75 away from home. The East Carolina Pirates got to a slow start in the NCAA season as they entered the contest with 4-7 record. However they already got wins over North Carolina State and George Mason University in store before this one. The Flames meanwhile headed into this one with a perfect 9-0 record but still were obvious underdogs in the clash. About 5,000 East Carolina supporters never smelled any kind of sensation as the hosts looked pretty confident early in the matchup. Leading after the first half the Pirates extended the margin to 8 points early in the second half. However Desmond Blue entered the court for the Flames and piled up 5 consecutive points to lead the visiting side back into contest. The gap changed numerous times in the closing stages and the Flames trailed by 3 with less than a minute to go in regulation 72:75. Lee took a timeout and shortly after Brad Harris stepped up for a tremendous trey to tie things up at 75. East Carolina had enough time to decide the outcome but Sam Hinnant missed a jumper and Elmar Kuli-Zade grabbed a vital rebound with 10 seconds left on the clock and handed the ball to Ricky Harper (6'0''-G). Lee University senior made it just in time to drill a perfect layup with 0.2 seconds remaining to bring the Flames a historic victory. The hosts still tried to save this one but a long pass was just intercepted. Brad Harris finished the encounter with game-high 21 points to lead the Flames. Freddie Williams (5'11''-G-79, college: Texas) contributed 18 points, 7 boards and 4 assists for the winners. The Pirates answered with 18 points and 6 boards from Jamar Abrams (6'6''-G/F). Brandon Evans (6'2''-G) tallied 15 points in defeat. The Flames won the battle under the rims outrebounding their opponents 45:34. They also sank 43% from the field and 81% from charity stripe. Lee University suffered 22 turnovers forcing the home team to only 12 mistakes.
Lee University will continue their road tour against Brewton-Parker College next.

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NBA

2008 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile third returns announced -by Eurobasket
Kevin Garnett (6'10''-F-76) Leads all Players, Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) Leads all Western Conference Players
Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers remain the leaders in the Eastern Conference, while Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets lead Western Conference players after the third returns of 2008 NBA All-Star Balloting program presented by T-Mobile.
The 57th NBA All-Star Game will be played in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. 17. The game will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
Garnett leads all players with 1,527,963 votes with Cleveland's James - the 2007 top vote recipient - following Garnett at the forward spot in the East with 1,294,019 votes, the second-highest overall tally. The Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard leads Eastern Conference centers (1,260,987), with the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (1,019,582) and the New Jersey Nets' Jason Kidd (743,683) pacing the conference's guards.
Bryant leads all Western Conference players with 1,234,111 votes, with the Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady following him at guard (809,395). San Antonio's Tim Duncan passed Denver's Carmelo Anthony (1,029,335) to claim the top spot among the conference's forwards with 1,049,641 votes. Houston's Yao leads Western Conference centers (1,077,244).
The 2008 NBA All-Star Balloting program, which also includes partners 2K Sports and GameStop, allows fans worldwide to vote daily for their favorite players as starters for the All-Star Game in a variety of ways, including: at each NBA arena; in 20 languages on NBA.com; at more than 1,500 T-Mobile-owned retail locations with custom T-Mobile All-Star ballots and ballot boxes; and through mobile phones at t-zones on T-Mobile phones or wap.nba.com for any wireless carrier. For the first time, an All-Star Balloting widget is available on NBA.com. Fans can “grab” the widget and place it on their blogs, social network pages, or personal Web sites allowing others to vote directly from the widget. Select NBA arenas are also carrying a Spanish-language version of the ballot. Voting will continue through Jan. 13, for paper balloting and Jan. 20, for NBA.com balloting.
NBA All-Star 2008 is a week-long celebration that enables fans to experience the thrill of the world's greatest athletes playing the game they love and features a full slate of community-enhancing activities including the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service and fan festivals such as NBA All-Star Jam Session.
One hundred twenty players - 60 each from the Eastern and Western conferences - are listed on the NBA All-Star ballot. Voters select two guards, two forwards and one center from each conference. The 120 players on the ballot were selected by a panel of media experts who regularly cover the NBA. This year's panel included Ric Bucher (ESPN the Magazine), Rick Bonnell (Charlotte Observer), David DuPree (USA Today), Ernie Johnson (TNT), Jack McCallum (Sports Illustrated), Mike Monroe (San Antonio Express-News) and Sam Smith (Chicago Tribune).
Updated results for the Eastern and Western Conferences will be issued regularly leading up to the announcement of the All-Star starters on Thursday Jan. 24, prior to a TNT doubleheader. Following the completion of fan voting and the starting line-up announcement, the head coaches in each conference will vote to determine the remaining All-Stars in their respective conference, which will be announced Thursday, Jan. 31 prior to a TNT doubleheader.
As the presenting partner of the 2008 NBA All-Star Balloting program, and in support of the NBA's season-long effort to help the on-going rebuilding of New Orleans, T-Mobile will donate $1 for every ballot cast in T-Mobile-owned retail locations or on t-zones to the New Orleans Recovery School District. The week leading up to the 57th NBA All-Star Game will feature a full slate of community-enhancing activities and fan festivals, such as NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas and the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on Friday, Feb. 14.
In conjunction with All-Star Balloting, 2K Sports will give fans the chance to experience New Orleans and the best of basketball by entering the Official Balloting NBA 2K8 All-Star Sweepstakes for a chance to win two season tickets for the 2008-09 season to a team of their choice, a trip to NBA All-Star 2008 and to have their likeness as a digitized player incorporated in next year's game, NBA 2K9. As part of the grand prize, GameStop, the video game retailer, will offer a shopping spree. GameStop will also promote balloting throughout its 4,800 locations by utilizing in-store point-of-purchase materials.
The leaders of both the Eastern and Western Conference players for the third returns of the 2008 NBA All-Star voting program are attached:

2008 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING EASTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards: Kevin Garnett (Bos) 1,527,963; LeBron James (Clev) 1,294,019; Chris Bosh (Tor) 411,313; Paul Pierce (Bos) 352,243; Yi Jianlian (Mil) 291,447; Caron Butler (Was) 187,396; Hedo Turkoglu (Orl) 172,720; Tayshaun Prince (Det) 155,502; Josh Smith (Atl) 143,518; Rashard Lewis (Orl) 143,118.
Guards: Dwyane Wade (Mia) 1,019,582; Jason Kidd (NJ) 743,683; Ray Allen (Bos) 617,123; Vince Carter (NJ) 612,543; Gilbert Arenas (Was) 511,763; Chauncey Billups (Det) 331,872; Michael Redd (Mil) 221,777; Richard Hamilton (Det) 163,250; Joe Johnson (Atl) 149,367; Andre Iguodala (Phi) 140, 292.
Centers: Dwight Howard (Orl) 1,260,987; Shaquille O'Neal (Mia) 609,597; Rasheed Wallace (Det) 162,792; Ben Wallace (Chi) 146,332; Andrew Bogut (Mil) 132,469; Jermaine O'Neal (Ind) 120,690; Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Clev) 77,350; Emeka Okafor (Cha) 74,269; Zaza Pachulia (Atl) 58,430; Eddy Curry (NY) 53,084.

2008 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING WESTERN CONFERENCE
Forwards: Tim Duncan (SA) 1,049,641; Carmelo Anthony (Den) 1,029,335; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 830,970; Carlos Boozer (Utah) 347,899; Shane Battier (Hou) 297,672; Shawn Marion (Pho) 296,917; Josh Howard (Dal) 285,580; Luis Scola (Hou) 279,970; Kevin Durant (Sea) 242,953; Grant Hill (Pho) 209,057.
Guards: Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,234,111; Tracy McGrady (Hou) 809,395; Allen Iverson (Den) 694,611; Steve Nash (Pho) 684,813; Manu Ginobili (SA) 360,408; Tony Parker (SA) 316,541; Chris Paul (NO) 261,169; Baron Davis (GS) 247,187; Jason Terry (Dal) 218,052; Jerry Stackhouse (Dal) 192,017.
Centers: Yao Ming (Hou) 1,077,244; Amare Stoudemire (Pho) 583,249; Marcus Camby (Den) 221,527; Erick Dampier (Dal) 184,689; Pau Gasol (Mem) 139,254; Mehmet Okur (Utah) 112,434; Tyson Chandler (NO) 98,424; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 93,043; Chris Kaman (LAC) 83,516; Andris Biedrins (GS) 81,611

Courtesy of NBA.com

Injury sidelines Ron Artest for 3-4 weeks -by Eurobasket News
The Kings' forward Ron Artest (6'7''-G-79, college: St.John's) had to undergo a surgery on his right elbow after he missed two games. The surgery was successful but it would keep All-Star forward out of action for about 3-4 weeks. Ron Artest extends Sacramento's quite large injury list. Kevin Martin (6'7''-G/F-83, college: W.Carolina) with strained right groin and Michael Bibby (6'2''-G-78, college: Arizona) curing his left thumb are among the current losses for the undermanned Kings.
Jamaal Tinsley (6'3''-G-78, college: Iowa St.) missed the third straight encounter as he tried to cure a sore left hamstring. Meanwhile Tracy McGrady (6'8''-G/F-79) who is averaging 22.8 points per game for the Houston Rockets will have to miss at least ten days to treat a stretched tendon in his knee. The Rockets' guard already missed three games.
The action resumed after a day break in the NBA. The Boston Celtics remained with the best record in the league as they posted their 27th win edging Houston 97:93. Kevin Garnett (6'10''-F-76) stepped up for Boston as he delivered 11 points in the final 7 minutes in regulation to steal the win away for the Celtics. The hosts led by 20 points in the second quarter but Houston managed to cut the gap to 8 points heading into the fourth period. However Rafer Alston (6'2''-G-76, college: Fresno St.) and Bonzi Wells (6'5''-F-76, college: Ball St.) ignited an 11:0 run for the visitors as the Rockets grabbed an 81:78 advantage midway through the fourth period. The home team withstood to the challenge and consecutive baskets from Rajon Rondo (6'1''-G-86, college: Kentucky) and Garnett gave the lead back to Boston for good. Kevin Garnett finished with 26 points and 9 boards for the Celtics. Paul Pierce had 19 points as the winners improved to 27-3 record. Bonzi Wells banked 25 points and 9 boards off the bench as Houston fell to 15-17 record.
The Cleveland Cavaliers grabbed their 15th win in the season downing the Atlanta Hawks 98:94 behind 36 points from LeBron James (6'8''-F-84). James scored 32 points in the second half to help the Cavaliers come from behind and posted an important victory. He was also perfect from charity stripe in the dying stages when it mattered the most. Larry Hughes (6'5''-G-79, college: St.Louis) who had been badly criticized for the level of his performance throughout the last games added 14 points for the winners. Joe Johnson (6'8''-F-81, college: Arkansas) delivered 24 points, while Josh Smith (6'9''-F-85) netted 20 points in the 14th defeat for the Hawks. The Cavaliers sent forward Cedric Simmons (6'9''-F/C-86, college: N.Carolina St.) to the NBDL.

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NCAA2

USD Coyotes Lose Starting Point Guard Indefinitely -by Josh Van Klompenburg
From ArgusLeader.com

The third-ranked S.Dakota men's basketball team will be without starting point guard Dustin Little (6'5''-G-85) after he had surgery to repair a broken bone in his right hand.

The surgery, which was performed Wednesday by Dr. Paul Reynen of Sanford Sports Medicine in Sioux Falls, will sideline Little indefinitely.

Little, of Castlewood, suffered the injury earlier this week in practice. The 6-foot-5 senior had started all 14 games this season and was leading the team in assists. He is averaging 6.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game for the undefeated Coyotes (14-0). Little is coming off a performance in which he tied his career-high in rebounds in USD's win over Northern Michigan. In the 92-55 win on Sunday, he grabbed 10 rebounds while also recording seven points, five assists and three steals.

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NCAA3

Welton Tally's 2,000th Career Point -by Moritz Korff

Aurora University Spartan men's basketball senior standout Larry Welton (6'5''-F) (Chicago, IL/Thornwood H.S.) became just the third player in AU men's basketball history to surpass the 2,000 point mark for a career.

Just two seasons after becoming the 26th player to enter the AU 1,000 Point Club, Welton scored his 2,000th point on a jump shot with 2:53 remaining in the first half of AU's 74-63 loss at Franklin College on December 29, 2007.

Welton entered the night's contest at Franklin four points shy of 2,000 and finished the evening with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field, one-of-four from three-point range, and three-of-three from the free throw line. The previous night, in AU's 78-71 win over Baldwin-Wallace, Welton scored 45 points on 15-of-27 shooting from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. The 45 points was two shy of an AU single game record set by Clyde Oatis in the 1968-1969 season.

Welton reaches the 2,000 mark in just under three and one-half seasons in the AU men's basketball program. He scored 562 points as a freshman, 615 points as a sophomore, 559 points as a junior and entering the 2008 portion of the schedule in his senior season, he has 272 points. On the year, Welton is averaging 22.7 points per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field.

With 13 regular season contests remaining at AU, Welton is 138 points behind Clyde Oatis (1966-1970) for second on the all-time scoring list and is 445 points behind AU's all-time leading scorer Mickey Johnson (1970-1974), Johnson has 2,453 career points.


Courtesy of http://www.aurora.edu/athletics/bball-m/



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PORTUGAL

Lusitania add two new players -by Luis Rocha
Lusitania keep fixing it's roster. This time they add Daniel Caluico (198-F-83), and Emilio Barros. Caluico is a come back to the team, Barros has a long past in Portugal playing for many teams, in the last seasons he was in Campomairense.

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RUSSIA

CSKA guarantees Top 16 birth -by Eurobasket News
CSKA - Olimpija 74:57

CSKA easily secured their 9th win in the Euroleague season and booked the ticket to the next round of the competition. The win over Olimpija came in Moscow in front of 4,500 crowd of basketball fans. CSKA also took a revenge for the only loss in the season that they suffered in Ljubljana. This time the intrigue lived for just a single frame. A mass of turnovers highlighted the first frame as the teams could not adjust for some time early on. The scoring was low and Olimpija even managed to enjoy a slight momentum when Maurice Bailey (183-G-81, college: Sacred Heart) and Rizvic combined 5 points to put the visitors ahead 11:6. Later Sasa Doncic (201-G-74, agency: VTBM/SRBM) came up with a layup and Olimpija forced Ettore Messina to call for timeout. It helped as the hosts answered with a 7:0 rally to tied the score at 13 after the opening frame. CSKA used a couple of fastbreaks to explode with a 9:0 run early in the second quarter and soon piled up a 25:19 lead. Marko Milic (199-G-77) produced 4 straight points for Olimpija to remain in contest 23:25. However David Andersen (212-C-80) scored 6 points and J.R. Holden (185-G-76, college: Bucknell) connected from downtown to mount the pressure on the visiting side 34:28 at halftime. The defense became the key stress for CSKA in the third period as they kept Olimpija mum for almost 3 minutes and enlarged the gap to 10 points. A couple of timeouts from Mehmet Becirovic could not shake things up for Slovenian team as the deficit just kept on growing. CSKA led by as many as 17 points at one point, but Ronell Taylor (196-G-82, college: UAB) and Maurice Bailey cut it to 9 points late in the frame. The hosts still finished the period on a high note as Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) and Andersen restored a 13-point cushion heading into the fourth stanza. Olimpija once again were unable to score for about 2 minutes early in the final term and CSKA widened the hole to 15 points. Maurice Bailey worked hard for Olimpija as he paced the visitors to climb within 11 points from the home team. However CSKA got a tight grip on the game now and kept their opponents on a safe distance till the end of this one. David Andersen sparked with game-high 25 points and 8 boards for CSKA. Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke) added 10 points, while Theodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77, agency: Interperformances) nailed 9 points and dished out 5 assists in a win. Maurice Bailey stepped up with 15 points for Olimpija.
Olimpija fell to 3-7 record and have just theoretical chances of making it to the next round. They face Zalgiris in Round 11 in Ljubljana. CSKA travels to Piraeus to take on Olympiakos next week.

CSKA: David Andersen 25, Trajan Langdon 10, Theodoros Papaloukas 9
Olimpija: Maurice Bailey 15, Marko Milic 12

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SAUDI ARABIA

Ittihad Jiddah's imports..... -by Eurobasket News
By: Mohammed Malas

Al Ittihad Jeedeh under the control of the local head coach Ali Al Sanhani is now more ready for the Saudi League after finalizing the deal with their imports, Big time ex-NBA Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (186-G-69, college: LSU) and the center DeAngelo Collins (206-F-82).

Abdul-Rauf is a well known player as he played in NBA for 9 seasons playing with Denver Nuggets (6 seasons), Sacramento Kings (2 seasons and Vancouver Grizzlies (1 season), Then he moved to Turkey then Greece, Italy and Greece against last season.

While DeAngelo Collins had a previous experience in the region after playing with Orthodox in jordan last season averaging 10.0ppg, 8.5rpg, 2.2apg and 1.2spg, He played before in Turkey, China, Italy, Puerto Rico, Philippines and Venzuela.

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SERBIA

Branko Jorovic joins Hemofarm STADA -by Dragan Jankovski
Just couple of days after Branko Jorovic (205-F-81) split with Crvena Zvezda, the player agreed terms with Hemofarm STADA. According to Hemofarm's head coach Miroslav Nikolic contract is not signed yet but everything is agreed and it is just formality that is expected to happen today or tomorrow.

In the past Jorovic used to play for Borac, FMP and Crvena Zvezda but he was not able the play for the entire year due to serious back injury.

PAO better than Partizan Igokea in thriller ! -by Dragan Jankovski

The defending European champs Panathinaikos succeeded to beat Partizan Igokea in Athens 67-66 in their second toughest game this season (first was two months ago in Belgrade) so PAO improved to score 9-1 while Partizan dropped to 4-6. At the Green's last possession Jasikevicius made turn over after what Partizan had a chance 2.4 seconds remaining in the game but Pekovic could not score in the game's final possession from a tough situation. Sarunas Jasikevicius (192-G-76, college: Maryland) led the winners scoring 17 points and he was the only one with double digits in PAO. Partizan got 22 points and 8 rebounds from Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket) while center Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) again caused a lot of problems to PAO as he registered double-double, 15 points and 13 rebounds.



PAO - Partizan Igokea 67-66
(16-15,17-14,22-14,12-23)

PAO: Jasikevicius 17, Becirovic 9, Alvertis 8
Partizan Igokea: Kecman 22 (8 rebs), Pekovic 15 (13 rebs)



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SLOVENIA

Slovan inks Jokic, close to Petrov, Elektra adds Ivanovic -by Zeljko Zule

Igor Jokic (204-F-80) has left Rogla to join Geoplin Slovan till end of the season and isverclose to former NT member Simon Petrov (191-G-76) ex Air Avellino..

Elektra Esotech inked their former member Nikola Ivanovic (190-G-84) ex APOEL Nicosia till end of the season. He averaging 8,1 minutes, 2,1 points (2P 5-6, 3P 1-3, FT 4-10), 0,9 rebounds, 1,0 assists and 0,9 turnovers in 8 games of A-1 Cypriot League.



Euroleague: CSKA Moscow - Union Olimpija 74:57 -by Matej Bergant
CSKA Moscow beat Union Olimpija and became the first team to mathematically advance to the Top 16 by beating Union Olimpija 74:57. David Andersen (212-C-80) led the winners with 25 points and 8 rebounds. Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke) added 10 points and 7 rebounds for CSKA. Maurice Bailey (183-G-81, college: Sacred Heart) led Olimpija with 15 points, Marko Milic (199-G-77) added 12 while Sasa Doncic (201-G-74, agency: VTBM/SRBM) grabbed 11 rebounds for Union Olimpija.

CSKA Moscow : Union Olimpija 74:57 (13:13, 34:28, 54:41)
CSKA Moscow: Papalukas 9, Zisis 6 (2:2), Siskauskas 5 (2:2), Holden 7 (1:2), Andersen 25 (3:3), Vorontchevich 4 (2:2), Langdon 10 (5:6), Goree 6, Shved 2.
Union Olimpija: Doncic 8 (3:6), Booker 4, Rizvic 8, Milic 12 (2:2), Hukic 8, Bailey 15 (2:2), Taylor 2.

Helios hand Krka first road loss -by Zeljko Zule
Helios never trailed in second half and stopped Krka's impressive road start at six wins with a 84-81 vitory in Round 14. Helios improved their home record to 6-0, while loss snapped a ten-game winnings streak for Krka. The home team hit all six free-throws in the final minute, Aljaz Janza (185-G-81) finished with 21 points including five 3-pointers and Robert Troha added 17 points while TJ Sorrentine and Vjeran Soldo led Krka with 16 points apiece.

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SPAIN

Cajasol Sevilla sign Elmer Bennett -by Eurobasket
Cajasol Sevilla agreed terms with 38-year old American guard Elmer Bennett (183-G-70, college: Notre Dame) as a replacement for Pat Carroll. Bennett played most recently at DKV Joventut Badalona (ACB). Bennett is a very well-known player in Spain as he already spent here 10 years playing for Tau, Real and Joventut. He won twice Spanish ACB Championships, in 2002 (Tau) and 2005 (Real). He was also voted ACB Finals MVP in 2002.

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SUDAN

Riek going straight for the NBA Draft -by Kristian Santiago
18 year-old John Riek (218-C) from the Sudan stands 7-2 and could be the next Sudanese to play in the NBA.
After a journey from Bitui,Kenya to the Emirates to New York, the star of last year's Nike Hoop Jamboree at Lebron James Skills Camp started to play in the States for Our Savior New American once he arrived there.
The rising star changed schools and is now playing for The Winchendon School after getting advice by Sudanese pro Mustafa Al-Sayyad who is tutoring John.His futuer could be decided by the next NBA Draft this year , so let's wait and see how this young man is deciding or whoever is going to decide his path to a pro basketball-career.

The controversy of his transfer is documented in this article here by the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/basketball/articles/2007/12/18/a_basketball_odyssey/?page=1
and by the Daily News from New York: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hschool/2007/08/19/2007-08-19_the_tug_of_war_-2.html

Riek is not the only player from Sudan in high school sports right now as there are plenty of kids from the south of Sudan currently enrolled on schools around the country :

Marial Dhal, a 7-2 center and former Our Saviour-player now at Hillsborough Community College.

Thon Luony, a 6-6 forward transferred earlier to The Winchendon School from Our Savior.

Leek Leek, a 6-8 forward at Our Savior who is heavily recruited by Syracuse, Georgetown and St.John's.

Teeng Akol, a 6-11center at IMG Academy in Florida who has some interest in DePaul , St.John's , Kentucky and St.John's: http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1231022455&channel=1215674518

Ring Ayuel (225-C-88), a 7-5 center at Our Savior.

Steven Yien Gatkuoth, a 7-0 center formerly with Our Savior and now with Presbyterian College.

Ater Majok, a 6-10 center who made strides in Australia and should be enrolling in the U.S. on a college by the next year: http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,21855079-23769,00.html

Deng Leek, a 6-11 center at Laurel,Maryland.

Adhar Mayen (201-F), a 6-8 forward at the University of Hawaii: http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/12/sports/story04.html

Arol Longar (206-C) , a 6-9 forward at Panola JC in Florida.

Manock Lual , a 6-6 forward at UPEI in Canada.

Nyal Mac Koshwal (208-C) at DePaul where Thijin Moses (203-F) was recently dissmissed : http://www.hooplife.ca/viewArticle.php?id=144

With so much talent to choose from , even a junior-national team would have a good chance to compete against powerhouse Nigeria and Mali on a youth-level.
Until there is no peace in Sudan, a national team consisting of players from the southern part won't happen.And with the crisis in Darfur, such a project is in a far distance...

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TRINIDAD

Joseph leads Virginia Past Hartford -by Don Farrell
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Mamadi Diane had 20 points and nine rebounds and Adrian Joseph added 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead Virginia to a 78-70 win over Hartford on Sunday.

Virginia (10-2) grabbed the lead early in the first half and never let go, leading 41-28 at the half.

Diane was 6 of 8 from the field and went 4-for-5 on 3-pointers and Joseph posted his fifth double-double of the season with 15 pts and 12 rebs. Sean Singletary added 12 points, scoring in double figures for the 34th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Calvin Baker also scored 12 points for Virginia.


Joe Zeglinski and Jaret Von Rosenberg each had 15 points and Kevin Estes added 12 for the Hawks (5-9).

The Cavaliers shot 44 percent from the field to Hartford's 36 percent, and outrebounded the Hawks 51-40.

Missouri State Roar Pass Bradley -by Don Farrell
Trinidad and Tobago 6'7" center Dextroy Manswell had 4 pts 6 rebs and 3 blk shots as Missouri State Bears shook off a slow start and roared to life twice in the contest to chalk up a 91-80 Missouri Valley Conference basketball win over the Bradley Braves Wednesday night in Hammons Student Center. The Bears snapped a three-game losing streak and moved to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in the Valley. Bradley lost its fourth straight and slipped to 0-2 in the league and 7-7 for the season.

Benjamin's Marist Topples Hofstra -by Don Farrell
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Paced by 18 points and eight rebounds from red-shirt senior guard Louie McCroskey (Bronx, N.Y.), the Marist men's basketball team earned a 73-67 triumph over Hofstra on Saturday in the consolation game of the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. McCroskey shot 4-for-5 from three-point range.

The Red Foxes committed just eight turnovers in the game, with only one coming in the second half. Freshman guard Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.) had 16 points off the bench, and helped seal the victory by draining six of his seven free-throw attempts in the final 3:05.

After trailing by as much as seven in the first half, the Red Foxes went on a 23-6 run over a stretch of 8:09 as they expanded their lead to 10. Marist took a 37-28 lead into halftime, as McCroskey had a team-leading 12 points in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, a 13-4 Hofstra run enabled the Pride to take a 48-47 lead with 12:03 remaining. However, McCroskey answered with a three-pointer with 11:01 to play, and the Red Foxes never surrendered the lead after that. Marist shot 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:11.

Seniors Ben Farmer (Clinton, Conn.) and Spongy Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad) finished with nine points apiece. Benjamin also added six rebounds. Red-shirt senior Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) added eight points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field while collecting five rebounds. Stilphen now has 995 points in his career.

Charles Jenkins finished with a team-high 21 points for Hofstra, which fell to 2-8 with the loss. Nathaniel Lester contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Pride were playing without Antoine Agudio, the nation's second-leading scorer.

The total of eight turnovers was the second best for the Red Foxes in a game this season. Marist had just seven in its triumph over Wright State on Dec. 1.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Red Foxes, who improved their record to 7-6 overall. Marist will return to action on Friday with a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference contest at

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U.S.VIRGIN ISL.

Christmas on You Tube -by David Edole

V I Daga has recentley sent me an email on Virgin Islands phenom, 6-foot-9, 9th graderRakeem Christmas. He plays with North Catholic in Philly. I hope you enjoy this video of the next big thing from the VI. YouTube

Quote from Phil Kaseiecki at hoops invitational: There looks to be a good deal of potential in this young post player, who has a mature body for his age. He has long arms and used them to block several shots. At the offensive end, he needs some work, as he rarely got touches and when he did, tended to fade away on shots he took.
Coach Myron Corbett of the Virgin Islands National team is quoted as saying "Christmas is a millionaire waiting to happen. If God keeps him healthy the vault in the bank won't be big enough".



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UAE

Al Ahli the 10th team in Dubai Int'l Tournament -by Mohammed Malas
Al Ahli Dubai will be the 10th team in Dubai International Tournament (18-26 January) as the host team beside UAE National Team.

The team will be without their NT players but will be powered with three american players: Vincent Jones (210-C-77, college: Jackson St.), William Pippen (203-F-80, college: Middle Tenn.St.) and a 3rd one who will be known soon.

- The 10 teams in Dubai International Tournament this year (Teams will play under the name of their sponsors) :
UAE National Team (Al Boom Holding)
Mahram (Sama Al Imarat real estate) - Iran (Titleholders)
Al Jalaa Aleppo (Dubai Land) - Syria (Runner-ups)
Zain "ex-Fastlink" (Dubai Duty Free) - Jordan
Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut (Steelfab)- Lebanon
Al Gezira (Aramisc) - Egypt
Saba Battery (Fly Emirates) - Iran
Sagesse Beirut (Plus real estate) - Lebanon
Al Ittihad Aleppo (Continental real estate) - Syria
Al Ahli Dubai - Hosts

* Teams will be drawn into 2 groups in the 9th of January

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USBL

STORM FUTURE LEFT IN DOUBT AS USBL SUSPENDS OPS -by John Gary
courtesy oursportscentral.com When the USBL announced its decision to suspend operations on December 27, the Oklahoma Storm were left without a league for 08. Its disappointing said one Storm owner. There was talk last summer of the four Midwest division teams coming together to form a league of there own but storm officials have decided to wait and see if they put anything viable before them before deciding to join.



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Women News

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NAIA - Women

Brooke Smith scores 54 points in Union College victory -by Eurobasket News
The Union College record-book was filled with a new entry as sophomore Brooke Smith poured in the school-record 54 points to lift Union College past Berea College 127:116. The combined score also became the NAIA Division II record. Brooke Smith surpassed her previous career-high of 34 points. Union College also refreshed their school-record of points score in a single game as they overcame the previous one of 123 set up on November 5, 2004 against Mount Vernon Nazarene.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed by 12 points at the interval and seemed to have little chances for a win early in the second half. Berea continued to dominate and soon enlarged the gap to as many as 18 points. But Brooke Smith delivered 12 points in a 25:7 run that saw the Union College tie the game at 79 midway through the half. Smith continued to pile up points and the Lady Bulldogs surged ahead 92:85 with 10 minutes left in regulation. Susanna Todd later hit two free throws and Union reached a 10-point cushion with under 3 minutes remaining. Berea never recovered thereafter suffering their 6th loss in the season. Union College meanwhile improved to 10-4 record for the season. Allison Fowler had 20 points for the Lady Bulldogs. Susanna Todd scored 15 points, while Ashley Lunsford issued 13 points and career-high 9 assists. Berea answered with 27 points from Jade Howard. Heather Hutchins notched 21 points in a loss. Union enjoyed a 55:50 dominance in rebounds. The Lady Bulldogs will next take on Pikeville on January 5.

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SLOVAK REP. - Women

Butler leaves KOSIT 2013 Kosice -by Michal Maslany
Kim Butler (186-F-82, college: Oregon St.) leaves slovakian champion KOSIT 2013 Kosice. She did not make it to the starting five and in Euroleague matches she was given only little time on the floor. The team, which is fighting for second phase of Euroleague, is now searching for a new player.