EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 1/6/2008

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Men News

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ABA

Chicago moves from ABA to PBL -by Gianni Pascucci

We were suspecting this starting from last month, when the PBL All Stars competing in the "FIBA Liga de la Americas" came out featuring some playing and coaching personnel of the ABA Cicero Cometas. We thought again at it, when we saw that M.A. Harris should have coached the PBL team based in Chicago, and we are sure now, that the PBL official website features at its top the logo of the Chicago Throwbacks. Furthermore, not the Cometas, neither the Throwbacks aren' t anymore featured in the "ABA teams" section of www.abalive.com. The ABA lost another piece, guys, this time the two teams in the Chicago area, one of the main markets in the country, and the Chicago Throwbacks will continue the season competing in the Premier Basketball League



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ARGENTINA

Terry Taylor to Independiente -by Facundo Iatzky
Terry Taylor (203-C-81, agency: R.H.Consultancy, college: Virginia Tech), recently released by Atenas Cordoba was signed by Independiente Neuquen. He will replace Jeff Aubry who returned to Puerto Rico. In Atenas Terry averaged 12.1 pts 7 reb 0.8 as 54.5 % 2p in 22 games.

Liga A round 10 -by Facundo Iatzky
Libertad Sunchales won easily again and remains in the first position. Sebastian Ginobili (190-G-72, agency: CDM) had his best game of the season with 26 points and Robert Battle added 15 pts and 16 rebs. In Sionista made his debut Maurice Riddick.
In the debut of Luis Orono as head coach, Ben Hur got a huge victory over Regatas Corrientes. Durelle Brown (202-F-79, agency: Interperformances, college: Manhattan) was the best with 22 points.
Belgrano San Nicolas got a good victory too. They defeated Atenas Cordoba with the good work of veteran Carlos Colla (186-G-66) and Diego Ferrero. Lamont Roland played his first game. The same for Moore and Mason in Atenas.
Gimnasia Comodoro continue recovering. This time they beat Penarol with the work of Jimmy Boston (201-F-77, college: N.C.Central) and Diego Prego.
Boca juniors won to Estudiantes Bahia Blanca in a hard game. One more time Leonardo Gutierrez (200-F-78) was outstanding.
El Nacional did not have problems to defeat Obras and remains in the second position. Cristian Amicucci (201-F/C-85) was his best scorer.
Quilmes Mar del Plata overcame Independiente in a fantastic final. Quilmes just could play with 7 players because of injuries. Antwon Hall (193-G-74, agency: Naiditch Entertainment, college: Life) (20 points) made the shot in the last second and Quilmes won 79-76.
The tenth round will be completed on Tuesday with Central entrerriano-Quimsa

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BALTIC LEAGUE

Rock has no problems against Neptunas -by Janar Filippov
TU/Rock beat short-handed Neptunas 81:69 in SEB BBL Elite division to get 5th win in 13 games. The hosts dominated the whole game except last 6 minutes while Neptunas made 16:2 run.

During the first quarter Rock quickly made a 17:1 run to take the lead 19:5 and never gave the double-digit lead away. Home team won the first quarter 23:12. Neptunas, playing without Paulius Pociuipa and Mindaugas Mockus, made only 1 of their 8 three-point attempts and were 3 of 11 from behind the foul line after first ten minutes.

Even though Rock made 10 turnovers in the first half, they still were able to gain a 15 point lead before the start of the second half.

The third quarter started like the first two - Rock made a rough 12:1 run, Neptunas was already behind by 26. Still, Jerel Allen Riccard helped to keep the game balanced and the quarter ended with Neptunas being behind - 64:42.

After Silver Leppik (185-G-83)'s second three-pointer and Asko Paade's great offensive game, Tartu was already ahead 73:49 with six minutes to go in the game. BUT, Neptunas never quit and won the last quarter 27:17. With one minute to go, visiting team was trailing only by ten, 65:75. Still, veteran Gert Kullamae (198-G/F-71)'s final three-pointer with 44 seconds left made everything clear and Rock got their first win of the year 2008.

Brian Cusworth (213-C-84, college: Harvard) scored 17 and added 9 rebounds, Giorgi Tsintsadze (192-G-86) added 16 points and 4 assists. Grigory Shukhovtsov was the top scorer for Neptunas with 17 points and 12 rebounds. He made 10 of his points in last 5 minutes.

Rock was superb behind three-point line, making 10 of 18 (55%), Neptunas on the other hand awful - 8 of 28.
Neptunas also made only 13 of their 29 free throw attempts.

Even though Rock won, teams head coach Ullar Kerde said that it was their worst game of the season. Rock made 20 turnovers.

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BULGARIA

Balkan with important away win -by Valentin Anguelov
In a game full of dramatic moments especially in the end Balkan recorded precious win in Samokov against Rilski Sportist with 98-87. Despite playing without one of their main players Ilko Nanev the hosts fought to the end and were very close to the win. Except Nanev the national player Aleksandar Gruev was sick and played only 24 minutes.

The game started very well for the home team who played better in the beginning and took a 13-6 lead. They continued in that tempo and their lead went up to ten points. In the last seconds of the first quarter the visitors cut three points of their deficit and the quarter ended 20-13. The visitors scored the first four points in the second quarter and cut to three, but in the next minutes Rilski Sportist again went up ahead, first 31-24 and then 37-27 in 17th minute. To the end of the first half though Balkan again managed to cut the deficit and the teams went in to the break with the score 43-41 in favour of the hosts.

The start of the second half was nervous for both teams as in the 24th minute the score was tied 47-47. Two minutes later the visitors even took the lead at 54-49. To the end of this quarter they continued to lead and in the last seconds the hosts cut their deficit to a single point, 60-61.

The last 10 minutes were very interesting and tensed. Balkan took a 71-67 lead but the hosts managed to turn back the things and take a 81-75 lead with 2.57 to go. Then the players of Rilski Sportist let their opponents score them 12 straight points with less then two minutes to go. They cut back to one, 87-88 with 1.17 to go but after a series of their mistakes and successfull free throws by the Balkan players finally it came down to a unpleasant start to the new year for the Samokov team.

FULL STATS FROM THE GAME RILSKI SPORTIST - BALKAN

CURRENT STANDING IN MEN FIRST A-1

INDIVIDUAL STATS OF RILSKI SPORTIST

INDIVIDUAL STATS OF BALKAN

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CHINA

CBA all-star team info. -by Robert Wang
Today, CBA all-star teams are out today devided into 2 teams (red and blue).
Blue team: Head coach Gong Xiao Bin from Shan Dong team, Assist Coach: Guo Shi Qiang from Liao ning team.
Players: Wang Zhi Zhi, Liu Wei, Lamizana Herve, Wang Shi Peng, Li Nan, Liu xiang Tao, Tang zheng dong, Liu xiao Yu, Du Feng, Zhang Kai.
Red Team: Head coach Li chun Jiang from Guang Dong team, Assist coach: Sun Feng Wu from Yu Nan team.
Players: Ba ter, Li Xiao Xu, Lu Xiao Ming, Li Meng, Zhu Fang Yu, Yu Jun Kai, Yan Xing shu, Michael Harris, Ding Jin Hui, Wang Bo.
Starter from Blue team: Wang Zhi Zhi, Du Feng, Li Nan, Wang Shi peng, Liu Xiao Yu;
Starters from red team: Ba ter, Zhu Fang Yu, Wang Bo, Lu xiao Ming, Michael Harris.



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CYPRUS

Match Day 12: Keravnos thrashed Proteas EKA AEL 71-48! -by Chris Mammides
Just few days after the defeat and the disqualification from the Cup finals, Keravnos changed the scenery in the Cyprus Basketball (after many years) showed that this year could be different for Paris Papaellinas team. Keravnos, having the American Bryant Bryant Smith (196-G/F-77, college: Auburn) in a tremendous day, performing the best game with Keravnos jersey, whipped the Limasol team in a game which showed that the Strovolos team is the best defending team in the league. The game from the early beginning moved in an up-tempo with Maxime Zianveni (198-F-79) performing very well and scoring with great percentages, AEL was very close to the score and for a moment the small amount of fans who saw the game thought that it would have been another great derby from the two teams but…. The game ended to be anything else but a derby, the French forward in a very short time was called his third foul and after the first 13 minutes AEL lost in Strovolos, Woodward was in a very bad day, Karim Souchu (198-F-79, college: Furman) and Aleksic the same so only Radle tried a bit more but Bryant Smith, Lee and Panagiotis Trisokkas (206-C-80) with Aleksandar Radojevic (220-C-76, college: Barton County CC) did not want to repeat their poor performance in the cup, so with leading figure Bryant Bryant Smith scoring 26 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in 34 minutes, together with Patrick Lee (187-G-75, college: Va Commonwealth) 14 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists helped their team to finish the game much earlier than the final end as the difference went up to 15 points by the 25th minute of the game.
The quarters were: 19-14, 35-25, 52-38 and 71-48
The scorers for the two teams were:
Keravnos: Hart 7, Anastasiadis 2, Bryant Smith 26, Patrick Lee 14, Damjanovic 2, Panagiotis Trisokkas 10, Aleksandar Radojevic 10
Proteas EKA AEL: Liatsos 2, Karim Souchu 3, Aleksic 6, Radle 9, Palalas 2, Sudov 6, Maxime Zianveni 20.
In the other two games of the 12th week the results and the scorers were as follows:
Ydra Asfalistiki Enad - Intercollege Etha 87-74
Omonoia - Achilleas Kaimakli 77-67
On behalf of Omonia Arthur Davis (193-G-77, college: St.Joseph's) and Mucic scored 16 points per piece while Linas Juknevicius (189-G-84) and Marvin Stone (208-C-81, college: Louisville) scored 13 points each, on behalf of Achilleas Kaimakli, top performer was Zujovic with 26 points followed by Chris Garner (178-G-75, college: Memphis) who scored 18 points but had 1/7 two's and 4/8 free throws.

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EGYPT

third round results -by Andrew Youssef
From DR/ Alaa Metwaly the Egyptian commentator for basketball in the Egyptian TV send the result of the third round in the Egyptian basketball league as it :

-Gezira beat Zamalek 82-75

-Itthad beat Eastern company 102-73

-ElAhly 81 ELShams 66

-Gazco and Shourta 85-77 for Gazco

-Smouha beat Sporting 89-82

-Geish vs Damenhor 71-62

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ESTONIA

Rock has no problems against Neptunas -by Janar Filippov
TU/Rock beat short-handed Neptunas 81:69 in SEB BBL Elite division to get 5th win in 13 games. The hosts dominated the whole game except last 6 minutes while Neptunas made 16:2 run.

During the first quarter Rock quickly made a 17:1 run to take the lead 19:5 and never gave the double-digit lead away. Home team won the first quarter 23:12. Neptunas, playing without Paulius Pociuipa and Mindaugas Mockus, made only 1 of their 8 three-point attempts and were 3 of 11 from behind the foul line after first ten minutes.

Even though Rock made 10 turnovers in the first half, they still were able to gain a 15 point lead before the start of the second half.

The third quarter started like the first two - Rock made a rough 12:1 run, Neptunas was already behind by 26. Still, Jerel Allen Riccard helped to keep the game balanced and the quarter ended with Neptunas being behind - 64:42.

After Silver Leppik (185-G-83)'s second three-pointer and Asko Paade's great offensive game, Tartu was already ahead 73:49 with six minutes to go in the game. BUT, Neptunas never quit and won the last quarter 27:17. With one minute to go, visiting team was trailing only by ten, 65:75. Still, veteran Gert Kullamae (198-G/F-71)'s final three-pointer with 44 seconds left made everything clear and Rock got their first win of the year 2008.

Brian Cusworth (213-C-84, college: Harvard) scored 17 and added 9 rebounds, Giorgi Tsintsadze (192-G-86) added 16 points and 4 assists. Grigory Shukhovtsov was the top scorer for Neptunas with 17 points and 12 rebounds. He made 10 of his points in last 5 minutes.

Rock was superb behind three-point line, making 10 of 18 (55%), Neptunas on the other hand awful - 8 of 28.
Neptunas also made only 13 of their 29 free throw attempts.

Even though Rock won, teams head coach Ullar Kerde said that it was their worst game of the season. Rock made 20 turnovers.

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FINLAND

KORISLIIGA: Scottie Pippen - still going strong -by Rauno Hurmalainen

Korisliiga, Round 21-23. It did not hurt much at all. Scottie Pippen, 42, (202-G/F-65, college: Cent.Arkansas), the-ex-NBA-Superstar just coming to Finland and playing two Top League regular season games on ToPo (Helsinki) roster, and ToPo increasing Team's record from 20-1 to 22-1. Altogether 19 wins now in a row and # 1 position in Finland.
Tonight last season Finnish Champion Honka (Espoo) was too soft for ToPo - mentally and physically. Honka lost even more than Tarmo (Porvoo) on Friday night.
Scottie Pippen, the real Gentleman of basketball courts, played this time 29 minutes, scored nine (9) pts, grabbed nine (9) rbs, gave four assists and had one
shot blocked.

Honka had a 15-point-lead already during the first half, but NT players Kimmo Muurinen (202-F-81, college: UALR) and Jukka Matinen (203-F-78) got early in foul troubles, and ToPo came back to the game. There may also be wrong players on NT, because ToPo's Iiro Tenngren (204-F/C-79, agency: Court Side, college: Middle Tenn.St.) or Timo Heinonen (198-F-81) are not there. Tonight Honka had nobody able to stop Tenngren and Heinonen. Tenngren tallied 32 pts (personal record on top level) and Heinonen netted 29 pts (treys 5/7).

5500 people saw live such basketball entertainment in two days, which should be able to be seen more often. Thanks, Scottie (Pippen), visiting Finland! All the best!

ToPo - Honka 98-85 (39-45) (Iiro Tenngren 32, Timo Heinonen 29 - Monte Cummings 22, Petteri Koponen 18).



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FRANCE

Pro A Transfer news -by Chris Spiesser
Gravelines has finally changed its coach. Frederic Sarre has been released with a disappointing 4w-8d record. He will be replaced by Philippe Namyst who was in charge of the Nordist's youngsters. Last year he coached Chalons en Champagne in ProB. Christian Devos, the president spoke about rediscovering the team's enthusiasm as a priority objective that should lead to a better standing. The new coach will be assisted by Laurent Vila and Christophe Millois

Eddie Basden left Cholet. His replacement is a combo 3/4 swingman: Reggie Golson (201-F-81, agency: Court Side, college: SE Missouri St.) who comes from the Netherlands. Last year he played in Paderborn (1st division - Germany) where he posted 12.8ppg and grabbed 4.8rpg.

To densify its play in the paint after Mott's departure, Chalon is testing Rolan Roberts (201-F/C-78, college: S.Illinois) although he will not be on the roster for this week's game in Le Havre. The inside player started this season in Limoges where he posted 10.5ppg and 5.3 rpg.

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GREECE

A2: Match Day 14 - Trikala leading the race -by Chris Mammides

The results for the 14th week of the A2 league were as follows:

Peristeri - Halkida 68 - 47

Coach Manouselis team continue added another victory in its series after thrashing the team of Halkida and with a record of 9-5 is currently in the fifth position of the table. Top scorers was the NBAer Cezary Trybanski (215-C-79) with 16 points and perfect stats 5/5 two's and 6/6 free throws dashing down 5 rebounds and 3 block shots. From Halkida top scorer was Kantartzis with 17 points.
Panorama - Pagrati 71 - 63

Panorama beat Pagrati and with a 10-4 record is following Trikala in the secodn place of the league. Top scorer was Theodoros Panaras (195-F-76) with 14 while 13 points were added by Kakaroudis and Kuburovic. From Pagrati top scorer was Nikos Liakopoulos (201-F-76) with 31 points, Nikos Liakopoulos was the only player from Pagrati to score double digits.
Xanthi - ICBS 66 - 68

With Bojan Jovanovic (186-G-82) in a great day scoring 24 points and Maslarinos another 19 points ICBS succeed its second road win this seazon over the good team of Xanthi, from teh home team top scorer was Nikoloudis with 21 and 16 from Vassilis Moulakis (180-G-77) which they were not enough to help his team to win this home game.
Ilysiakos - Ionikos Lamias 56 - 64

With the returned (after an injury) Costas Christou (203-C/F-77) in a great shape scoring 18 points, Coach Prelevic's team never faced a problem in the fourth road win over the weak team of Ilysiakos, from Ilysiakos top scorer was once more Apostolos Koutroulias (206-C-76) who scored 27 points
P. Faliro - Trikala 59 - 72

Nikos Katsares (188-G-83) and Nikos Kaklamanos (189-G-81) were in very good moods and their performance was excelent so coach Tsolakis's team could not resist to the top ranked team of the league (11-3 record) even though Yannis Rodostoglou (191-G-83) and Theodoros Aposkitis (193-G-73) tried their best they simply could not do anything other that hteir 16 points each.
MENT - Sporting 77 - 55

MENT with Koukoulekidis in the position of a head coach after his small presence in the Cyprus league, did not face any difficulty against the last team in the league, Sporting. Top scorers were Vukadin Mandic (200-F/G-82) (17), Dimitris Makris (203-F-78) and Dimitris Despos (209-C-76) (14 each) and Dimitris Spanoulis (192-G-79) with 13 points while from the team of sporting top scorer was Michalis Perakis (207-C-84) with 17 points and Dimos Fotiou (197-F-82) with 16.
Panerythraikos - Apollon Patras 80 - 69

Coach Houhoulis team with Phillip Hopson (195-G/F-74, college: Barton County CC) and Costas Maglos (208-F/C-75, college: Boston Coll.) leading the scorers with 17 and 16 points respectively beat Coach Papadopoulos team who had in a positive performance only Theodoros Georgitsis (205-C/F-83) with 12 points.
Dafni - Iraklis 66 - 51

Christos Petrodimopoulos (209-F/C-80) and Kakiouzis led their team with 20 and 17 points over Iraklis who had only Totsios to try abit more than the others.



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HUNGARY

Dombovar: Still on the road to glory -by Tamas Deri
With the excellent performance of their starting five, Dombovar took the win in Szekesfehervar. Marco Sanders (202-F-79, college: Point Park), Mike English (194-F-82, agency: Interperformances, college: Mo.-Kansas City), Julien Mills (193-G-84, agency: Warren Sports, college: Ball St.), Ferenc Bodi (198-F-77) and Attila Deak (193-F-77) had great periods in the game and were unstoppable today. On the other side Velibor Radovic (202-F/G-72, agency: Beo Basket) showed in the first half that he is a real experinced player, but in the second half Cory Bradford (191-G-78, agency: Edge Sports, college: Illinois) hit 5 threes in 5 minutes. However, even this excellent individual performance was not enough and even despite a lot of foul problems the guests were able to win this very important game.

ALBACOMP - DOMBOVAR KC 96-101

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IBL

IBL schedule two multi-team exposure camps -by Trask Frost
The International Basketball League has scheduled two separate exposure camps for players interested in earning a roster spot on an IBL team for the 2008 season. The first camp will take place on Friday, March 14, and Sunday, March 16 at the Genesis Center in Gary, Indiana. The second camp will be held at Woodburn High School, just south of Portland, Oregon on Saturday, March 22, and Sunday, March 23.

Each camp offers several guarantees for players who attend:
• Attendees will play in actual pre-season IBL games
• At least 6 IBL teams will be in attendance at each camp
• At least 5 agents will be in attendance at each camp

Additionally, each player will be given a thorough evaluation. Camp Directors and coaches will give each player feedback on whether that player's skills are sufficient to play in the American minor leagues, and/or whether that player can expect to earn a contract overseas.

Following the 2007 season, the IBL had over 100 players earn contracts with overseas teams. The IBL expects this number to grow to at least 125 players following the 2008 season.

2008 IBL Exposure Camp Information:

Camp 1
March 14 and 16
Genesis Center (1 Genesis Center Plaza, Gary, IN)
Camp begins at 9:30am on both dates

Camp 2
March 22 and 23
Woodburn High School (1785 N. Front Street, Woodburn, OR)
Camp begins at 9:30am on both dates.

The cost for each camp is $125. To learn more or register, contact Terrance Dickens at (503) 805-3311, or visit the ‘Tryouts' section of the IBL website at www.iblhoopsonline.com.###

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ISRAEL

Hapoel Jerusalem inks Noel Felix -by Kristian Santiago
Former Fresno State Bulldog Noel Felix (205-C/F-81, college: Fresno St.) replaces Marcus Slaughter (203-F-85, college: San Diego St.) in Jerusalem and earns 200.000 $ in the rest of the season.
Felix, who had a brief stint in the NBA with the Sonics and played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the past is coming from the bench in the Dan Shamir -led ULEB Cup-team. After starting the season in the D-League, the forward is out to prove that he is capable of playing well for the top clubs in Europe.

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ITALY

Lucas joins Treviso -by Gianni Pascucci
Benetton Treviso announced the signing of point guard John Lucas III (180-G-82, college: Oklahoma St.). Spanish veteran Rodrigo De La Fuente (200-F-76, agency: Interperformances, college: Washington) has been released

Upim Bologna defeats Teramo -by Gianni Pascucci

In the anticipated game of the 18th round, Upim Bologna prevailed over Siviglia Wear Teramo 92-91 on the road. Bologna took advantage one time more from a good night of Horace Jenkins (186-G-74, college: William Paterson), who scored 25 points to lead his team, while three other teammates, Stefano Mancinelli (202-F-83), Alessandro Cittadini (207-C/F-79) and James Thomas (203-F/C-80, college: Texas), added 15 pts each. The game top scorer, however, was Clay Tucker (194-G-80, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee), who poured in 31 points in losing effort, and Roger Powell (198-F-83, agency: Interperformances, college: Illinois) added 13 pts and 6 rebs for Teramo.
See complete boxscore at www.legabasket.it



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LATVIA

Latvian U18 team clinches Baltic Sea Cup title -by Eurobasket News
Latvian youngsters were perfect at the annual Baltic Sea Cup tournament in Tallinn. After starting with two difficult victories over Sweden and Finland the Latvian U18 squad confidently wrapped up the action. Yesterday Latvia dismantled the hosts 91:54. The visitors grabbed a 23:9 lead after the opening frame and controlled the pace further on. Estonia fought bravely throughout the next two quarters but ran out of steam at late stages. Latvian players ended this one in style outscoring their opponents 21:8 in the fourth term and claiming a comprehensive victory. Kaspars Jakubonis (188-G-90) led Latvia with 18 points. Lauris Blaus (204-C-90), Kristers Zeidaks (200-F-90) and Martins Laksa (196-F-90) nailed 12 points apiece in a winning clause. Siim Raudla (179-G-90) scored 16 points in a losing effort. Kristjan Kitsing (201-F/C-90) had 15 points for winless Estonian side.
Latvia U18 team finished the tournament perfect as they completed the action with another tremendous win. Earlier today they managed to upset Poland 93:59 to remain on top of the ladder. Latvian basketballers dominated the scene building a 47:33 lead at halftime. Polish squad had little counterarguments as they were limited to only 10 points in the third stanza and saw Latvia drive beyond reach. Kristers Zeidaks came up with 18 points and 8 boards for the trophy holders. Kalvis Krumins (182-G-90) scored 15 points in a win. Piotr Pamula (190-G-90) answered with 21 points for Polish side.

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LEBANON

Khatib to stay in Ukraine -by Mohammed Malas
Fadi El Khatib (197-F-79, agency: Pro Management Agency), a new development may delay his return to Lebanon .......

Star began Lebanese Fadi El Khatib yesterday, Thursday, to negotiate with the Ukrainian Cherkassky Club, which is playing in the professional ranks since the beginning of the current season, in order to decide its future with the club in question, the President stressed that he adheres El khatib according to the communication by phone before leaving Beirut yesterday, the first Wednesday sources close to the Fadi Al-Khatib stressed that went to Ukraine to complement his professional obligation contract items linked Bnade present, the basis of the speech which he heard from the President, knowing that the round of negotiations between the two parties, which started yesterday and will be crucial for the survival of hand-Khatib in Ukraine or not, the same sources pointed out that Round negotiations require several sessions may last for more than a day, especially Khatib seeks to develop stable in the event completed his career with professional Cherkassy, especially since Team coach did not provide a climate that would enable it to bid as required, especially in recent times and pointed to reliable information "Major General" that the terms of the contract between Fadi Al-Khatib one hand, and the club Cherkassy other hand, prohibits the club Ukrainian contract avoided under any circumstances, whether due to injury or illness, or anything else, according to those considerations Fadi left to Ukraine to join his team, has spent the holidays in Lebanon, which coincided with open lines of the Ukrainian Club, and more specifically with President Stickler Bndjemna Lebanese sources said that any move to annul the contract by the Ukrainians in the event yielded pressure trained this trend, the Cherkassy is obliged to pay the legal implications of the either in regard to the return to Lebanon Khatib, playing in the championships of Foreign Affairs, the matter is dependent on the fate of the contract with Cherkassy, especially as the new figures in the subject, to hand maintained, with the Ukrainian club professional, and the enrolment Khatib his team committed this contract, either in the event of the oldest Cherkassy its dissolution, the Khatib will be available to him to participate in the benefits of any foreign club Lebanese.

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LITHUANIA

Rimas Kurtinaitis will guide Slask Wroclaw -by Eurobasket News
ASCO Slask Wroclaw announced the signing of Lithuanian basketball coach and a renowned player Rimas Kurtinaitis as a new head coach for the team. He will replace Andrzej Adamek who steps down to take over as an assistant. Rimas Kurtinaitis is well known as one of the key players for both Zalgiris and USSR National team. He also worked as a coach of Azerbaijan National team and Lithuanian Sakalai. Rimas Kurtinaitis was also an assistant coach with the Lithuanian National team during the last Eurobasket tournament. Slask are now at 4-3 record in Group G of ULEB Cup. They share the third spot with Panionios and take on Ludwigsburg on January 8.

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NORWAY

Ulriken come from behind to add pain to Ammerud -by Eurobasket News
Ammerud were close to claiming their second win in the season and starting 2008 on a high note but were held off by the striving Ulriken Eagles at the crunch time. Ammerud dominated the major part of the home encounter and seemed to be en route to a rare victory at the BLNO. The hosts grabbed an early lead and soon extended it to 10 points late in the second stanza. Peter Bullock (198-F-82, college: Alaska-Anch.) ignited a couple of runs for the visitors to keep them alive. However Jan Patrick Romero (175-G-88) and Rodney Hawthorne (195-F-75, college: Mo.-Kansas City) allowed Ammerud to enjoy a 66:57 lead with less than 3 minutes remaining in regulation. But Peter Bullock scored 8 points in the dying seconds for the Eagles fueling a 13:2 rally from the visitors to pull away an important victory at the end. Peter Bullock led all scorers with 23 points and 14 boards for the Eagles. Frank Nyborg (195-F-83) had 15 points, while Adam Zahn (203-F-84, college: Oregon) contributed 12 points and 10 boards as the Eagles improved to 6-3 record. Rodney Hawthorne answered with 17 points and 7 boards in a losing clause. Ulriken had an obvious dominance under the rims outrebounding the hosts 52:33.
Meanwhile Tromso stayed close to Ulriken as they posted an impressive 112:80 road win over Fjellhamar. Seven Tromso players score in double digits as the visitors climbed to 6-4 record. Anthony Williams (203-F-83, college: Cent.Florida) led the way with game-high 25 points. Aleksei Karvanen (200-F-74, college: Oklahoma City) delivered 20 points, while Hani Issalhi (187-G-84) added 16 points for the winners. Willy Sharma (184-G-82, college: BYU-Hawaii) drained 23 points for the home side. Aleksandar Paunovic (205-F/C-82, agency: Global Sports Plaza) dropped 15 points as Fjellhamar slid to 4-7 record in the ladder. Tromso visits undefeated Asker tomorrow, while Ulriken takes on Kristiansand.

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PBL

Chicago moves from ABA to PBL -by Gianni Pascucci

We were suspecting this starting from last month, when the PBL All Stars competing in the "FIBA Liga de la Americas" came out featuring some playing and coaching personnel of the ABA Cicero Cometas. We thought again at it, when we saw that M.A. Harris should have coached the PBL team based in Chicago, and we are sure now, that the PBL official website features at its top the logo of the Chicago Throwbacks. Furthermore, not the Cometas, neither the Throwbacks aren' t anymore featured in the "ABA teams" section of www.abalive.com. The ABA lost another piece, guys, this time the two teams in the Chicago area, one of the main markets in the country, and the Chicago Throwbacks will continue the season competing in the Premier Basketball League



First PBL results -by Gianni Pascucci
In front of around 130 people (!) the Quad City Riverhawks defeated 127-92 the Dallas Defenders in their home opener, led by Willie Mitchell (6'8''-F/C-76, college: UAB) and Ryan Edwards (6'5''-F-83, college: Missouri Baptist), who scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, while the best in Dallas was Ronald Blackshear (6'5''-G-78, agency: Heinrich Sports, college: Marshall) , who scored 19 pts. The Wilmington Sea Dawgs started off their PBL season on the road defeating the Maryland Nighthawks by a score of 92 to 89. Cedric McGinnis (6'9''-C-77, college: Georgia Southern) led the team with 27 points, Charles Ward (6'7''-F-79, college: St.Augustine) added 16 points and Alvin Jefferson (6'9''-C/F-74, college: Auburn) helped the team with 13 points and 11 rebounds. After falling in the inaugural league game, the Jacksonville Jam took their revenge defeating on the road the Reading Railers 104-101, shooting an interesting 55% from beyond the arc. Six Jam players ended teh game in double figures led by Brian Greene (6'5''-G-84, college: Florida A&M) with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Jerry Williams (6'6''-F-79, college: Cumberlands) with 16 points.

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PORTUGAL

Illiabum inks a new guard -by Sergio Silva
Illiabum, from Proliga, inked the guard Alexandre Martins (185-G-84) to replace Angelo Baptista who left the team due to personal reasons. Alexandre Martins was with Galitos/Weber/Novagres (Proliga) last season, where he averaged 9.4ppg and 2.4apg in 26 games, and this season he signed with AD Vagos Lusavouga Dewalt but he didn't play any official game. The lack of playing time was also the main reason why he came back to a lower division.

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RUSSIA

Latest transfer news -by Aleksandra Sanders
Neptunas has rented Shukhovtsov Grigoriy from Dynamo Moscow team for the rest of the season. On the 3rd of January Grigoriy made his debut in Baltic league game against BK VENTSPILS. Although Neptunas lost the game 71-91, Grigoriy showed good results.

Spartak Spb has lost to Sibrtelekom-locomotive with the score 98:79 -by Marina Vyalova

Spartak Spb has lost to Sibrtelekom-locomotive with the score 98:79 (20:25, 25:25, 30:15, 23:14)

It was the debut for Spartak`s new head coach Miglinieks Igors. The situation wasn't good for this team from the very beginning due to the absence of players like Porta Antonio, who is recovering after knee operation and Alexandr Pavlov who is gong to come backin the middle of the month after suffering a concussion. On the other hand there were 2 center players on the court for the same time - Rakovic Milovan and Araujo Rafael Paul.

Before the main break the teams were playing as equals, but the situation has changed since. The home team was very successful in their long distance shots and
the Spb`s team couldnt find a way to stop the strong game of Lee Nailon. The final score of the game was 98-79.



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SERBIA

Napredak Rubin signed a new player -by Dragan Jankovski
Participant of Serbian A league, BC Napredak Rubin from Krusevac, added their ex player Marko Karapandzic (194-G-85) to the roster. Karapandzic spent last three seasons in Kraljevo playing for Ribnica and Masinac. He used to play for Napredak on season 03/04.

Ergonom close to signing Senegalese player -by Nenad Ilijev
Ergonom is very close to signing Senegalese power forward Bbouba Ba Pape (206-F/C-84). The 206cm tall Bbouba will be able to play as soon as his current team KAC Kenitra and the Moroccan Basketball Federation send all necessary documentation to the Serbian Federation.

Sasa Crnobrnja moves to Hercegovac -by Nenad Ilijev
Sasa Crnobrnja (201-F/C-83) became a new player of Bosnian Premier League side Hercegovac Bileca. Forward Crnobrnja started this season in Napredak Rubin averaging 2.5ppg and 1.4rpg. Hercegovac also added playmaker Dejan Bojinovic (193-G-82).

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SWEDEN

Solna quite easily surpasses Plannja at home -by Eurobasket News
Solna proved ambitions at the start of 2008 as they upset Basketligan leaders Plannja at home court. The Vikings marked their dominance early on as they stunned the favorites with a 23:12 first frame. The things just would not work out for the visitors in the first half. Solna deepened the damage after the intermission as they extended the gap to 20 points at halftime. Plannja simply looked too misbalanced to provide any sort of comeback in the second part of this one. The visitors finally adjusted their shooting late in the game but the outcome was already decided. The Vikings easily secured their 9th win in the season finalizing a 98:82 victory at the end. Rudy Mbemba (181-G-87) topscored with 25 points for the hosts. Brandon McKnight (188-G-83, college: Purdue) produced 23 points, while Bilal Salaam (201-F-81, college: Kutztown) added 17 points, 15 boards and 5 blocks in a winning case. Terry Williams (187-G-83, agency: Interperformances, college: Georgia Southern) paced Plannja with 22 points. Jim Enbom (195-F-76) netted 16 points as Plannja fell to 12-4 record. The home side were simply unstoppable from beyond the arc nailing 20/39 three-pointers. They also outrebounded the visitors 41:32 and forced those to 16 turnovers.
08 Stockholm used Plannja's loss to close the gap on the leader. 08 ensured a tight 84:83 road win over Boras to improve to 11-4 record in the second spot. Boras at the same time slipped to 7-8 on the border of the playoff zone. The teams were all square at 71 at the end of regulation but the visitors claimed a narrow win in the extra period. Jeremiah Johnson (183-G-77, agency: Court Side, college: Niagara) delivered 25 points and 9 boards for the winners. Jim Nystrom (194-G/F-82, college: Georgia Tech) had 16 points in a winning case. Michael Kingma (210-C-79, agency: R.H.Consultancy) provided 23 points and 10 boards in a loss.
Plannja and 08 will clash in the next round in one of the key matchups in the regular season. The battle is scheduled for January 11 at the Pontushallen.

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TAIWAN

BOT ends 28-game losing streak -by Chris Wang
Seldom-used reserves Lin Chih-long and Chou Ben Tang (200-C-78) combined for 16 points in the final quarter as Bank of Taiwan held off Taiwan Mobile with a 67-60 victory and finally ended BOT's SBL-record 28-game losing streak Saturday.

If you want to know how embarrassing the losing streak is, think about it: each team plays a 30-game regular season. It was like BOT has lost EVERY game in a complete season.

Yulon had a hard-fought win over Pure Youth Saturday, nevertheless, it tied the team record with the eleventh consecutive win and will try to tie the SBL-record 12-game winning streak in its next game.

Dacin, which has been shorthanded lately due to injury, has dropped three straight and is now at 5-5. The absence of Tien Lei, its leading scorer and rebounder, and lead guard Wang Chih-chun hurt the team. Lee Fong-yong and Chang Chi-feng also did not play Saturday.

Jan. 5

Yulon 100-93 PY
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 25p+6rb+4a+7s, Lee Chi-yi 19p+10rb, Chou Shih-yuan 18p, Chen Chih-chung 10p+7rb
PY: Lin Jin-ban 14p, Chien Jia-hong 13p, James Mao 13p, Doug Creighton 12p, Chang Yu-lin 12p

BOT 67-60 TM
BOT: Cheng An-jay 14p+7rb+3blk, Hsu Chi-chan 12p+9rb, Chang Bo-sheng 10p
TM: Hong Chi-chao 15p, Lai Kuo-hong 13p

TB 92-64 Dacin
TB: Yang Chin-min 22p, Wu Dai-hao 16p+8rb+3blk, Lo Shin-liang 11p+5rb+4a
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 16p

Jan. 4

TB 93-61 BOT
TB: Yang Chin-min 17p, Ho Sho-jen 16p, Wu Dai-hao 11p+2blk, Lo SHin-liang 10p+6a
BOT: Hsu CHi-chan 19p+11rb

dmedia 78-71 Dacin
dmedia: J. Sanders 21p+21rb+3blk, Wang Nan-kuei 15p, Lin Kwan-lun 13p, Ouyang Jin-hen 12p
Dacin: Lee Fong-yong 19p+7rb, Lin Yi-huei 13p+8rb, Chang Chi-feng 16p, Su Yi-chieh 10p

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TURKEY

Tarence Kinsey in Fenerbahce -by Alev Sonmez
After the transfer of Ibrahim Kutluay (198-F/G-74) to PAOK Marfin Thessaloniki, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul agreed on terms with the NBA player Tarence Kinsey (200-G-84, college: S.Carolina). The American player was drafted by Memphis Grizzlies and averaged 7.7 ppg and 2rpg and 1.1spg last season in NBA. Tarence Kinsey will come to Istanbul at the beginning of the week to sign the official contract

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U.KINGDOM

Leicester Riders sign Steve Vear -by Eurobasket News
The Riders announced the signing of guard Steve Vear (180-G). A 180cm guard played for London United, Worthing Thunder and Reading Rockets. He also played at the World University Games in Izmir in 2005. Steve Vear used to win the EBL Division 1 championship in 2006 and 2007. Steve Vear is expected to debut against the Plymouth Raiders today.
Meanwhile the BBL championship action continued with a couple of games scheduled for yesterday. The Everton Tigers stunned the Worcester Wolves 123:90 at home. The Wolves looked pretty convincing at early stages as James Life (194-G-83, college: Massachusetts) fueled the visitors with 17 points in the opening frame to secure a 32:15 lead for Worcester. But the hosts entered the second frame with a massive 21:7 rally to get back on track. Everton came completely awake in the third stanza as they buried 39 points to leave their opponents far behind. The Tigers never looked back afterwards completing an impressive victory at the end. Richard Midgley (189-G-83, college: California) notched 27 points to lead Everton. David Aliu (198-F-81, agency: IceBasket, college: Morehead St.) contributed 25 points for the winners. James Life responded with 25 points for the Wolves. Michael Gayle (175-G-84) had 15 points as the visitors slipped 5-12 record in the ladder.
The Guildford Heat limited the hosting Sheffield Sharks to only 68 points to celebrate a solid 81:68 victory yesterday. It was their 4th consecutive win at the championship, which put them at 10-3 record. Sheffield slid to 8-8 record at the 6th spot in the ladder. Tony Dorsey (200-F-70, college: N.Alabama) delivered 22 points and 10 boards to pace the visitors. Mike Martin (194-G-82, college: Brown) secured 15 points and 11 boards in a winning effort. Justice Graham (195-G-79, college: Glenville St.) knocked down 24 points to lead the Sharks.

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UKRAINE

Kyiv teams crash Odessa as Azovmash falls for the 3rd time -by Alexei Naumov
BC Kyiv extended their perfect Superleague record to 13 wins having defeated BC Odessa 102:79 in a resumed championship, claiming the only predictable win in a match-day full of sensations (scores and stats in English are available on the Official Website of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation)

Unlike in the teams' first encounter, when the Ukrainian vice-champions barely managed to escape with a win, Kyiv did not let Odessa's shooters get hot in this matchup, taking a 29:13 lead at the end of quarter 1.

The visitors tried to apply full-court pressure in the second, but to no avail.

After the intermission Kyiv made sure Odessa had no hopes for a positive result, knocking them out with a series of threes and some tough defense. Odessa scored their first basket of the quarter six minutes into it, making the score 70:35.

The home side relaxed during the final stretch and Odessa managed to cut the lead to 14, but Tomo Mahoric's time out cooled the visitor's run down.

Kyiv's Ryan Stack scored 17 points in the win. Artur Drozdov added 14.

Odessa's Oleksiy Golyahov had a game-high 19 in the losing effort.

Meanwhile, Kyiv's farm team also crashed Odessa's counterparts 102:48.

Andrei Novikov had 14 points and 7 rebounds for the winners, topping 6 players in double figures.

Cherkassy Release Podkovyrov -by Alexei Naumov
According to a report on the Official Website of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation, following a 62:75 loss to Kryvbassbasket, Cherkassy's bosses decided to end Andrei Podkovyrov coaching term.

Under Podkovyrov Cherkassy Monkeys were 6-7 in the Superleague and did not make it to the Final 4 of the Ukrainian Cup.

Volodymyr Holopov will head-coach Cherkassy in the team's upcoming FIBA EuroCup game in Turkey.

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ULEB CUP

Hapoel Jerusalem inks Noel Felix -by Kristian Santiago
Former Fresno State Bulldog Noel Felix (205-C/F-81, college: Fresno St.) replaces Marcus Slaughter (203-F-85, college: San Diego St.) in Jerusalem and earns 200.000 $ in the rest of the season.
Felix, who had a brief stint in the NBA with the Sonics and played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the past is coming from the bench in the Dan Shamir -led ULEB Cup-team. After starting the season in the D-League, the forward is out to prove that he is capable of playing well for the top clubs in Europe.

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URUGUAY

Bigua is now the only leader -by Hector Lopez
Leandro Garcia Morales (186-G-80, college: Texas A&M) scored 40 points and Kevin Young (206-C-84, college: Missouri) added 27 and 14 rebounds when Bigua crushed Trouville 111-78 to be now the only leader of the Uruguayan League. Mark Alan Bortz (208-F-82, college: Buffalo) scored 12 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for Bigua. The best scorer for Trouville was Thurman Zimmerman (196-F/G-83, agency: AMI, college: S.Carolina St.) with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Delano Thomas (203-F-82, college: Shawnee St.) scored 15. Kim Adams (203-F/C-82, college: Arkansas St.) scored two free shots with 4 seconds to play leading Malvin to beat 85-83 Hebraica Macabi. Adams netted 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Alexander Blackwell (205-F/C-70, agency: Duran International, college: Monmouth) scored 2 points and took 8 rebounds. For Hebraica Carlos Wheeler (203-F/C-78, college: Campbellsville) netted 18 points and Grady Reynolds (198-F-80, agency: Strategic Sports, college: St.John's) netted 9 and took 12 rebounds.



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Women News

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BELARUS - Women

Sviatlana Volnaya joins Fenerbahce -by Eurobasket News
Belarusian international Sviatlana Volnaya (187-G/F-79, college: Virginia) decided to part ways with Dynamo Moscow. She announced the departure from the team and later it became known that a 28-year-old guard inked a contract with Turkish Fenerbahce. The inability of Dynamo to stick to the contract financial obligations is rumored to be the main reason for the cancellation of the contract with Moscow team. Kelly Schumahacher and Simona Augustus also left the team during the season. Sviatlana Volnaya joins two other imports on Fenerbahce squad. Cappie Pondexter (175-G-83, college: Rutgers) and Tammy Sutton-Brown (193-C-78, college: Rutgers) lead Turkish powerhouse in this season's Euroleague. Fenerbahce are at 5-2 record in Group A at the moment.

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FINLAND - Women

SM-SARJA: PeKa won again in LPR -by Rauno Hurmalainen

SM-sarja, Round 17: In October 2007 the difference was 11 pts (70-81) and today 10 pts (74-84). That text can be connected with two top women's
Teams in Finland. PeKa (Kotka) has visited now twice this season in Lappeenranta and won both times. Local Catz was surprised this time most
by Dionne Pounds (178-F-84, college: Lamar), who played her first game with PeKa. Pounds' start was impressive: 23 pts in 30 minutes. Pounds' studies are over at Lamar University and she will be an excellent addition on PeKa's roster. Shanika Freeman (183-F/C-83, college: Jacksonville St.) added 16 pts and grabbed 12 rbs. In central Finland Huima (Aanekoski) lost the local derby vs HoNsU (Jyvaskyla) by one point: 64-65.

Catz - PeKa 74-84 (42-38) (Yelena Solovyeva 15/12, Elena Reshetko 15 - Dionne Pounds 23, Shanika Freeman 16/12).

Huima - HoNsU 64-65 (38-26) (Kenya Robinson 21, Chrystal Erwin 14 - Breanne Watson 19, Lizanne Murphy 17/14).



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GREECE - Women

New Year Same Taste!!! -by Mike Koumartzakis
2008 started with no big news in the Greek women A1 Championship.

Three wins for Esperides, Aris Holargou and Athinaikos Ravenna, has let them three first with 21 points. Very close Apollon ptolemaidas with 20 and four teams following with 19 points. If this isn't a tough championship with 9 teams competing so strongly for the first position then what is? Unprecedented race for the championship and everyone follows.

At the other end of the standings Aias Evosmou is already at the second division and 3 others are flirting a lot with it.

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ISRAEL - Women

Liron Cohen in Spain -by Gil Goshen

EBE PROMOCIONES SANTA EULALIA - CLUB BALONCESTO SAN JOSE 67-73 .

On the 11th round San Jose won very important game ( away ) vs. Ibiza 73:67.
Liron led her team by having 18points ( she played only 25 minutes ).
San Jose is srill keeping the 3rd place.
Next round they will play vs. HONDARRIBIA - IRN ( ranked 11th with CHRISTON, SHAMEKA DE LYNN , TAMANE, ZANE and JANSONE, LIENE ..
Liron Cohen - GG basketball agency (173-G-82)

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ITALY - Women

Italian cup final four classification -by Massimo Finizio
With two straight losses Germano Zama Faenza seems to lose most of the chances to classify for the Italian cup final four. Infact Germano Zama Faenza's only chance is to win the road match against the A1 leader Umana Reyer Venezia and to hope that Phard Napoli, in a 7-0 winning streak, loses against New Wash Montigarda (2-4 their home recond this season).

Umana Reyer Venezia, Cras Taranto and Famila Wuber Schio are already certain to be in the final four despite the surprisingly loss of Famila Wuber Schio against Fiera di Roma basket Pomezia. Direct matches Famila Wuber Schio-Cras Taranto and Umana Reyer Venezia-Germano Zama Faenza will determine the starting position in the roster.

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LATVIA - Women

Latvian ladies victorious at the Baltic Sea Cup -by Eurobasket News
Latvian U18 team successfully completed their Baltic Sea Cup campaign as they clinched the trophy. Latvia claimed three victories at the tournament and secured the top spot in the ladder. The action was wrapped up today with a hard-fought 71:66 win over Sweden. Sweden got off to a better start and led by 4 points at the interval. Swedish players remained focused in the third stanza and maintained the gap. But the game finally turned Latvian way. A fierce offensive onslaught from Latvia resulted in them scoring 26 points and pulling away with a difficult victory. Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) banked 23 points and 10 boards to ensure the positive outcome. Anete Klinstone had 10 points, 6 boards and 4 assists for the winning side. Sweden responded with 16 points from Beata Gullberg (175-G-90). Julia Thornberg tallied 14 points in the second defeat for Swedish team.
Latvian U16 team also added to triumph as they won all three games in their section. Today Latvian juniors edged Estonia to top the ladder. A near perfect defense at early stages helped Latvian girls pile up a 31:19 lead at halftime. They never surrendered it celebrating the third straight win at the tournament. Linda Pagrode (167-G-92) topscored with 13 points for Latvia. Anna Ozolina (178-C-93) netted 12 points for the winners. Estonia were paced by 16 points and 10 boards from Maaja Bratka. The tournament was marked by an obvious dominance of Latvian basketball talents as U18 as well U16 both men and women selections reigned the scene in Tallinn.

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SPAIN - Women

Problems wit centers still continues in Burgos,Baranovic left team -by Ivan Villar
Troubles doesn't disappeared in Burgos.Team of Tito Sobrin has to play next game in Zaragoza with only 2 centers,Valiente and Miller.Vanda Vanda Baranovic-Urukalo (188-F-70)decided to leave Burgos after holidays.So managers are searching in market for american center.It's possible that Arranz Burgos can announce new signing on few weeks.

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TURKEY - Women

Sviatlana Volnaya joins Fenerbahce -by Eurobasket News
Belarusian international Sviatlana Volnaya (187-G/F-79, college: Virginia) decided to part ways with Dynamo Moscow. She announced the departure from the team and later it became known that a 28-year-old guard inked a contract with Turkish Fenerbahce. The inability of Dynamo to stick to the contract financial obligations is rumored to be the main reason for the cancellation of the contract with Moscow team. Kelly Schumahacher and Simona Augustus also left the team during the season. Sviatlana Volnaya joins two other imports on Fenerbahce squad. Cappie Pondexter (175-G-83, college: Rutgers) and Tammy Sutton-Brown (193-C-78, college: Rutgers) lead Turkish powerhouse in this season's Euroleague. Fenerbahce are at 5-2 record in Group A at the moment.

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WBCBL - Women

New Year Brings New Team to North Texas -by Willie McCray
New Year Brings New Team to North Texas

The North Texas Flash (NT FLASH) is excited to be the newest team in the Women's Blue Chip Basketball League for the 2008 season. NT FLASH is a new privately owned team with potential for greatness and access to a fan base of more than 6 million people in the Dallas Fort Worth area. The team will host games in the far North Dallas corridor where amateur sports is a way of life. Adding a women's semi-pro team to the area will round out opportunities for both fans and players. Dr. Rosita Brown Long, owner of the NT FLASH, professor and small business owner, sees basketball as the opportunity for building support systems and engaging in networking that can result in goal achievement for young women—body, soul, and spirit. She sees this as a great opportunity for ministry for women who may need extra support and encouragement to reach their life's goals.

The coach for the NT FLASH is Brian Hopgood. Hopgood was a former college starter at University of Louisville and went on to play for several US professional teams as well as internationally. With the help of his wife, Hopgood has been an active coach in girls' basketball in the North Dallas corridor for several years working with females ages 10 through 18. Hopgood's success as a coach has led to college scholarships for several of his team players in the past two years. He demonstrates to players how to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses using team techniques.

Team tryouts will be held during February 2008 at a location and time to be announced. In the meantime, interested persons can contact the team hotline (972) 786-3250 for announcements and to leave messages as to their interest in becoming a player, a fan, or a financial supporter.

- Dr. Rosita Brown Long