EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 10/17/2008

Copyright © 1997-2008 Eurobasket
WARNING:
Do not copy, redistribute, publish or otherwise exploit information that you download from the site!
Do not encumber, license, modify, publish, sell, transfer or transmit, or in any way exploit, any of the
content of the report, nor will you attempt to do so.
More info:www.eurobasket.com


Men News

*****************************************************
  ADRIATIC LEAGUE   


Cibona inks Homan - by Milan Jovanovic
Croatian Euroleague team Cibona Zagreb, efter being in big deficite on center positions due to the injury of Prkacin and the unlucky Markota episode, decided to sign Jared Homan (206-C-83, college: Iowa St.) on a month trial.
Homan (208, USA) comes from a season in Slask, and if sattisfies on a month deal, could be resigned untill the end of the season.
Yet to see if coach Perasovic will be sattisfied, but the fact is - there's not much to choose from in this moment of the season.

Rawle Marshall suspended - by Milan Jovanovic
Cibona's hot new signing Rawle Marshall (200-G-82, college: Oakland) got a one game suspension, after the referee Srdjan Dozai reported to be attacked by the player in the tunnel between the court and dressing rooms, after the end of Zagreb-Cibona thriller on Saturday. Besides the one game suspension which will force Marshall to miss the Buducnost game, the club have also been fined with 3500 EUR.
Quite a blow for Cibona, since their guns are still empty, and the only two players started delivering are Marshall and Calloway.

*****************************************************
  ARGENTINA   


Liga A: El Nacional 85- Boca 63 - by Facundo Iatzky
In the first game of the 6th round, El Nacional MH got their firsst vicrtory over Boca juniors, a team that have not been playing good in the last rounds. For this reason they lost their third straight game. This time, El Nacional had a great second time, specially thanks to the magnific game of Fabian Sahdi (189-G-89). James Moore (203-C-82, agency: Duran International, college: N.Mexico St.) made his debut with El Nacional. the team of Juan Garcia improved ater Ralphy Holmes (192-G-79, college: Cal.St. Fullerton) joined them. Boca expect for the return of Carl edwards on Friday game.

El Nacional (85): Fabian Sahdi 16, Ralphy Holmes 6, Sebastian Castineira 10, Santiago Gonzalez 4 , Camargo Dionisio Gomez (203-F-80, college: Arkansas) 19 (FI), Gaston Torre 5, James Moore 13, Alexis Elsener (196-G-88) 12, Facundo Venturini 0, Ramiro Heinrich 0, Federico Antonellini 0, Francisco Hoffmann 0. coach: Juan Andres Garcia

Boca Juniors (63): Raymundo Legaria 7, Marcos Casini (188-G-80) 13, Anthony Johnson (198-G/F-79, college: La-Lafayette) 15, Gabriel Fernandez 2 , Mark Bortz 0 (FI), Fernando Calvi (200-F-81) 19, Nicolas Aguirre 1, Alejandro Alloatti 0, Leandro Masieri 0, Juan Orellano (-G-89) 6. coach: Oscar Sanchez

*****************************************************
  AUSTRALIA   


Wildcats cruise past Hawks at home - by Eurobasket News
Perth Wildcats - Wollongong Hawks 89-77

Perth Wildcats registered comfortable victory in the opener of round 5. It means that the Wildcats improved their score on 4-5 while the Hawks slipped on 2-4. Alex Loughton (205-F/C-83, agency: Octagon, college: ODU) and Shawn Redhage (202-F-81, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Arizona St.) were in a game mood, what was more than enough for the hosts to take this one at Challenge Stadium. It is also important to be mentioned that new Perth's acquisition Luke Kendall (193-G-81, college: Metro St.) had his debut in this game. Wildcats managed to create plus 6 already in the first frame, 23-29. Second period didn't change anything as players of head coach Conner Henry were focused, especially at the defensive end. They succeeded to stop Hawks on just 14 points in this period while on the other side they netted 3 more. It means that Pert Wildcats had solid 9-point lead at the half time. Third frame was the crucial one as the hosts reached double digit lead, what was too much for the Hawks until the end. Visitors had extremely poor percentage form the field making just 28 of 70 attempts. Alex Loughton paced the Wildcats to victory collecting 21 points and 4 boards. Shawn Redhage also was great adding 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Stephen Weigh (198-G/F-87)t contributed 15 points and 8 boards. The loosing side got 24 points and 8 rebounds from Anthony Petrie (203-F/C-83).

Perth Wildcats: Alex Loughton 21+4 boards, Shawn Redhage 20 +8 boards+4 as, Stephen Weigh 15+8 boards
Wollongong Hawks: Anthony Petrie 24+8 boards

*****************************************************
  AUSTRIA   


Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions - by Stefan Heinrich
#s#
#e#6


Vay


Zekovic


Mitchell


Danek


Geisler
Traiskirchen lost a couple of veterans from last season (Vickery, Rhynes) but they found another bunch of very young and talented players for the upcoming season. Nemanja Bjelica and Stevan Milosevic moved to Crvena Zvezda.

4 Markus Pinezich (170-G-88)
5 David Geisler (185-G-80) (C)
6 Tobias Stadelmann (180-G-88)
7 Deven Mitchell (196-F-84)
8 Djordje Drenovac (197-F-92)
9 Benedikt Danek (174-G-86)
10 Dmitri Paliashchuk (196-G/F-85)
11 Eric Schranz (205-C-90)
12 Dragan Zekovic (210-F-87)
13 Patrick Csar (207-C-90)
14 Titus Nicoara (201-F-88,)
15 Fabricio Vay (205-F-86)
16 Nikolay Varbanov (209-C-85)

Coach: Andrea Maghelli
Ass. Coach: Zoran Kostic

Kapfenberg Bulls - by Stefan Heinrich
#s#
#e#6


Zeleznik


Suljanovic


Arnold


Kugerl


Josipovic

The Kapfenberg Bulls might have the deeped roster of all Bundesilga teams in the 2008/09 season. The goal of Coach Schrittwieser is to have all players in perfect shape for the quarterfinals and the developement of all players.

4 Damir Zeleznik (191-G-80)
5 Jesse Seilern (189-G-90)
6 Romed Vieider (196-F-91)
7 Jeremy Fears (196-G-85)
8 Wayne Arnold (193-G-84)

9 Moritz Lanegger (188-G-90)
10 Samuel Knabl (204-C/F-82)
11 Seuni N'Diaye (215-F/C-83)<
12 Heinz Kugerl (211-C-86)
13 Corey Hallett (208-F/C-84)
14 Ramiz Suljanovic (206-F/C-79)
15 Branimir Josipovic (204-F-81)


Coach: Michael Schrittwieser
Ass. Coach: Midhat Kamenica



UBC St. Polten - by Stefan Heinrich
#s#
#e#6


Schreiner


Speiser


Jandl


Sibalic


Kerschbaummayr
During the last season the UBC St. Polten was known as Team Austria, but after Martin Kohlmaier und Heinz Kugerl left the team and so they had to bring 2 young foreign players in. This season St. Polten has the youngest squad in the ABL with an average age of 20,4 years.

4 Nizar Kapic
5 Thomas Schreiner (195-G-87)
6 Lukas Bock (184-G-89)
7 Martin Speiser (200-F-83) (C)
8 Benjamin Maier
9 Stefan Kerschbaummayr (183-G-84)
10 Andreas Bauch (186-G-85)
11 Jure Drazovic (201-F-86)
12 Christoph Greimeister (204-C-90)
13 Danilo Sibalic (202-C-88)
14 Alex Prosev
15 David Jandl (180-G-84)

Coach: Miodrag Radomirovic
Ass. Coach: Uros Vukadinovic

xion Dukes Klosterneuburg - by Stefan Heinrich
#s#
#e#6


Bobb


Nagler


Gartner


Creddle


Helbich
The xion Dukes Klosterneuburg had a very difficult pre-season with a lot of injuries of there key players. The new Americans couldnt impress Coach Sallomon therefore they made a lot of roster moves during the summer. Their goals for the new season is to reach the Top 6 and if this doesnt work out they want to qualify at least for the Quarterfinals.

4 Lukas Sallomon (191-G/F-87)
5 Curtis Bobb (196-G/F-78)
6 Robert Wagenlechner (210-C-87)
7 Damir Hamidovic (205-C/F-71) (C)
8 Damir Rajkovic (201-F-77)
9 Christoph Nagler (193-G-84)
10 Christof Hetzmannseder (181-G-88)
11 Manuel Gartner (199-F-86)
12 Melvin Creddle (185-G-82)
14 Zoran Helbich (204-F/C-74)
15 Andreas Diwald (186-G-82)
16 Bernd Stuppacher (195-F-86)
17 Mortiz Foster
18 Christoph Gschwind

Coach: Werner Sallomon
Ass. Coach: Armin Gottlicher

*****************************************************
  BALTIC LEAGUE   


Lietuvos Rytas and Valmiera get road wins - by Eurobasket News

Kalev/Cramo - Lietuvos Rytas 76:91
Matt Nielsen (208-F/C-78) tallied 18 points and 8 rebounds and Lietuvos Rytas celebrated the second win in the Baltic League Elite Division. They held off Kalev/Cramo at the Saku Arena in front of nearly 2500 spectators. Mindaugas Lukauskis (198-G-79) contributed 16 points in the win. Lietuvos Rytas thus improved to 2-1 record in the standings, while Kalev/Cramo slipped to 2-3.
Lietuvos Rytas surged ahead early on Mindaugas Lukauskis and Matt Nielsen fired from downtown to give the Lithuanian team a 15:5 lead. Free throws from Marius Prekevicius (195-F-84, agency: Interperformances, college: S.Florida) and Matt Nielsen allowed the visitors to enter the second frame ahead by 9 points 25:16. An 11:0 run gave Lietuvos Rytas a comfortable 19-point cushion in the second frame. But the hosts were cheered by the home crowd and refused to give up. Josh Pace (198-G/F-83, agency: Dynasty Sports, college: Syracuse) scored 4 straight points and ignited a 9:0 run to close the first half. Kalev/Cramo trimmed the distance to 8 points and headed to the second half hopeful. However Eidson chilled the hosts off a bit with a three-pointer to tip off the second half. Kalev/Cramo answered immediately with Josh Pace fueling one more rally that brought the hosts within 4 points from Lietuvos Rytas. Keerles came up with some big buckets as Kalev began the fourth quarter trailing by just 2 points 61:63. Matt Nielsen and Milko Bjelica (207-C-84) knocked down 10 points in the first five minutes of the fourth stanza and Lietuvos Rytas cleared off to a 12-point mark. Kalev ran out of steam and had no answer in the closing stages.
Gregor Arbet (194-F/G-83) paced Kalev/Cramo with 21 points. John Linehan (175-G-78, college: Providence) produced 16 points in the loss.

Kalev/Cramo: Gregor Arbet 21, John Linehan 16
Lietuvos Rytas: Matt Nielsen 18, Mindaugas Lukauskis 16, Chuck Eidson (201-F-80, agency: Court Side, college: S.Carolina) 12



Ventpsils - Valmiera 90:94
Valmiera surprised Ventspils on the road in the Baltic League Elite Division action. The game turned into a heated battle with neither side enjoying a big lead throughout the game. The teams traded baskets early in the game before Ronald Clark (196-G-81, college: Colorado St.) and Rinalds Sirsnins (187-G-85, agency: Promotex) put Valmiera up by 7 points. The visitors maintained the lead and entered the second period ahead by 5. However Tyrone Brazelton (180-G-86, college: W.Kentucky), Jurevicius and Georgios Tsiakos (204-F-82, agency: FCM) narrowed the deficit to 2 points midway through the second frame. Cavars and Ronald Clark ballooned the margin back to 6 points just for Tyrone Brazelton and Skirmants to make it 49:50 at halftime. Ronald Clark and Ivan Elliott (203-F-86, agency: LimeLight, college: UCSB) gave Valmiera a 12-point advantage in the third frame but the hosts would not go away. Mareks Jurevicus (198-F-85) and Vairogs secured a 9-point deficit for Ventspils before the fourth term. Georgios Tsiakos and Tyrone Brazelton dragged the hosts within 7 points from Valmiera with less than five minutes left. But a bunch of misses did not allow Ventspils to capitalize. Poznaks, Ronald Clark and Rinalds Sirsnins ensured the winning outcome for Valmiera in the dying minutes and the victors improved to 2-1 record. Ventspils were denied the third straight win and also remained at 2-1 record in the ladder.
Ronald Clark paced Valmiera with 32 points and 8 rebounds. Rinalds Sirsnins added 20 points, while Ivan Elliott had 11 points for the winners. Mareks Jurevicus was impressive for Ventspils with 29 points and 6 rebounds. Tyrone Brazelton had 17 points, while Georgios Tsiakos delivered 12 points and 12 boards in the loss.

Ventspils: Mareks Jurevicus 29, Tyrone Brazelton 17, Georgios Tsiakos 12
Valmiera: Ronald Clark 32, Rinalds Sirsnins 20, Ivan Elliott 11


Standings - Men
BBL Standings
Elite Division
 1. ASK Riga 2-0 
 2. Lietuvos 2-1 
 3. Valmiera 2-1 
 4. Ventspils 2-1 
 5. Kalev/Cramo 2-3 
 6. Siauliai 1-1 
 7. TU/Rock 1-1 
 8. Barons/LMT 1-1 
 9. Zalgiris 1-2 
 10. Nevezis 0-1 
Challenge Cup
Group A
 1. VEF Riga 3-0 
 2. Tallinna Kalev 2-1 
 3. Norrkoping 2-1 
 4. Sakalai 2-1 
 5. Techasas 2-1 
 6. Zemgale 1-2 
 7. Alytus Alita 0-3 
 8. Valga Welg 0-3 
Group B
 1. Neptunas 3-0 
 2. Aisciai 2-1 
 3. TTU KK 2-1 
 4. Kaunas Tr. 2-1 
 5. ASK/Buki 1-2 
 6. Suduva 1-2 
 7. Liepajas 1-3 
 8. Keizarmezs 0-2 


*****************************************************
  BELGIUM   


Standings - Division II
D2 Standings
1. Hasselt 4-1
2. K. Willebroek 4-1
3. CEP Fleurus 4-1
4. Waregem 3-2
5. Bree 3-2
6. Wevelgem 3-2
7. Sint-Jan Antw. 3-2
8. De West Hoek 3-2
9. Carnieres 2-2
10. Ninane 2-3
11. Pitzemburg 2-3
12. Essor Charleroi 1-3
13. Boom 1-3
14. Falco Ghent 1-4
15. Nivelles 0-5


Div. II Regular Season - Round 5 - by Bertrand Larsimont

De West Hoek Zwevezele vs. Kangoeroes Willebroek 78-73
Quarter by quarter score evolution: 20-23, 32-38, 54-55 and 78-73.
Zwevezele: W. Dobbelaere 12; J. Bourdeaux 9; B. Verdickt 9; B. Bobb 16; B. Deceuninck 16; L. L'Hote 16.
Kangoeroes: M. Gorremans 4; K. Roelandts 16; Casteels 10; D. D'Haens 22; T. Van de Keere 12; De Wachter 4; Follens 3; Kalonji 2.

Bent Schoenen Waregem vs. Essor Charleroi 86-60
Quarter by quarter score evolution: 21-25, 37-43, 63-50 and 86-60.
During the game, Jorn Steinbach got injured (ligament injury). According to the Bent Schoenen Waregem web site, he will only be back in six weeks.
Waregem: F. Van Vooren 12; J. Steinbach 19; S. Robeyst 17; Bogaert 9; W. De Wilde 5; B. Cleymans 14; Raes 8; Colpaert 2.
Charleroi: R. Leclerqs 9; L. Bearzotti 8; E. Mampuya 18; Frippiat 5; J.F. Stache 10; Sperolini 6; R. Kitieu 2; Pellisier 2.

Boom BBC vs. Jaga Radiators Hasselt 73-80
Quarter by quarter score evolution: 17-21, 31-45, 58-69 and 73-80.
Boom: Lambreghts 23; Salden 17; P. Bayer 10; Van Wert 9; P. Van Hoecke 8; Vermeiren 2; Haerbos 2; Druwez 2.
Hasselt: H. Baert 26; M. Hendrix 19; D. Souveryns 11; G. Vanhove 10; W. Geysen 7; D. Clemente 2; R. Van Poelgeest 5.

CEP Fleurus vs. Jako Pitzemburg Mechelen 76-62
Quarter by quarter score evolution: 18-16, 34-22, 59-41 and 76-62.
Pitzemburg's guard Veldeman got injured in the first half. Excellent stats for Ludovic Pourtoit (182-G-88) of CEP: 25 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Nice week for CEP Fleurus after an honourable loss against Division I team BC Oostende in the first leg of Belgian Cup's eighth finals on Oct. 7th: 55-72.
Fleurus: Poulain 8; J. Vanesse 2; S. Tison 10; L. Pourtoit 25; A. Jadin 12; T. Rozewicz 5; B. Penninck 10; S. Semijejero 4.
Pitzemburg: Veldeman 7; Swaeb 13; D. Billet 4; Vandenbrande 5; Vangelder 9; Pottiez 8; Vanbreedam 8; Maris 8.

Royal Alsec Nivelles vs. BT Power Wevelgem 68-98
Quarter by quarter score evolution: 11-26, 29-49, 48-74 and 68-98.
Royal Alsec Nivelles will be hosted by CEP Fleurus for a derby on Friday night.
Nivelles: Karavokyros 10; J. Defosse 12; M. Pirlot 7; Seny 16; El Mouttabi 12; Van den Eynde 6; S. Buja 5.
Wevelgem: Vandenberghe 2; Samson 3; G. De Lepeleire 4; S. Naudts 13; R. Naudts 8; B. Guillemyn 31; Jouret 2; Lebon 2; A. Flanders 25; J. Fiers 8.

BC Ninane vs. Sint-Jan Antwerp 88-76
Against last season's vice-champions, the hometeam had a nice win with an excellent duo David Offermann - David Kalut in offense.
Ninane: X. Hubert 5; S. Tihon 8; B. Bontemps 8; D. Offermann 23; F. Delsaute 16; F. Lhoest 6; D. Kalut 22.
Sint-Jan: Goethart 2, W. Van Schil 10; L. Tielens 22; T. Van De Vondel 16; V. Verbeeck 5; S. Tielens 6; J. Ceyssens 15.

Falco Ghent vs. Basket Bree 72-89
Quarter by quarter score evolution: 16-20, 40-46, 55-59 and 74-89.
Falco: Huyghe 14; Vanderkimpen 2; F. Bwatu 6; Van Haevermaet 17; De Schepper 24; J. Selhorst 2; Segers 4; Brysse 5.
Bree: O. Hodge 19; K. Reed 10; E. Norvell 5; H. Orsulic 8; M. Meeks 13; R. McCollum 10; R. Moss 6; J. Vucica 14; T. Van Camp 4.

Bye: BCO Carnieres



*****************************************************
  BULGARIA   


Cherno More celebrates in debut - by Eurobasket News

Dinamo Bucharest - Rilski Sportist 88-79

Romanian Dinamo Bucharest made it for the first time in Balkan league. It means that Dinamo currently has 1-1 while at the same score also is Rilski Sportist. Everything started good for Bulgarians. They took control on Dinamo from the early beginning taking 9 point lead after 10 minutes, 17-26. Nothing has changed after that. Actually Dinamo was slightly better but on the other side Travis Peterson (208-C-85, agency: Edge Sports, college: Samford) and Ivan Lilov (196-F/G-88, agency: FCM) continued in the same rhythm extending lead of their team to 10 until the half time. At that point of game it seemed that Rilski Sportist is much closer to victory. However, the hosts didn't have the same thoughts. Chris Reaves (191-G-84, agency: N.E.T., college: Chaminade) and Miro Vranjic (201-F-83, agency: Court Side) woke up and together with their teammates netted amazing 33 points in third quarter. Bulgarians had many problems at the defensive end during the entire second half. When it was expected that Rilski recover from this shock and come back into the game, that didn't happen. Romanians ended last quarter 24-17 celebrating comfortable victory at the end. Chris Reaves was totally the best player for the winning team adding 23 points and 5 boards. Miro Vranjic contributed 19 points and 7 rebounds while Macedonian Kiril Pavlovski (210-C-85, agency: Global Sports Plaza) had 13 points and 8 boards. Travis Peterson drained 18 points in Rilski. Ivan Lilov was behind him with 15 points, 5 boards and 6 assists.

Dinamo: Chris Reaves 23+ 5 boards, Miro Vranjic 19+7 boards, Kiril Pavlovski 13+8 boards
Rilski Sportist: Travis Peterson 18, Ivan Lilov 15+5 boards+6 as, Bogdan Boev (196-G-82) 12



Cherno More - Radnicki 034 Group 86-79

In the other game Radnicki 034 Group suffered road defeat against Cherno More in Bulgaria 79-86. Interesting is that it was the first game of Cherno More in one of the European competitions after 8 years. It was very exciting game until the very end where question about the winner is resolved in the last 3 minutes. After 69-69 the hosts made 7-0 run, what turned our as unreachable for Serbians. Corey McIntosh (183-G-85, college: Iowa St.) shined in Cherno More with 25 points and 6 assists. Atila Santos (208-C-83, college: Minn.St.-Mankato) maybe was even better than him with 19 points and 17 boards. These two players have the same index value 26. Radnicki 034 Group got 17 points and 4 rebounds from Rajko Kljajevic (204-F-85, agency: Interperformances).

Cherno More: Corey McIntosh 25+6 as, Atila Santos 19+17 boards, Zeljko Bojovic 15
Radnicki 034: Rajko Kljajevic 17+4 boards, Uros Duvnjak 14+5 boards, Danilo Draskovic 13+10 boards



*****************************************************
  CANADA   


Canadian swingman with NBA potential is heading to Elmira - by Gianni Pascucci
Eugene Kotorobai (6'5''-F-82) of Richmond Hill, Ontario has accepted an invitation to attend the Elmira Bulldogs training camp that will begin in mid-december. Kotorobai averaged 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.0 block per game during the 2007-08 season for NCAA D-1 Long Island University. What is most intriguing about this player with Moldavian origins is that he had 71 3-point makes this past season while competing at the NCAA D-1 level. A player of Kotorobai's size with a deadly stroke is usually only seen playing in the NBA or on top teams in the Euroleague but few players in the Euroleague can rebound like Kotorobai can. 'I have spoken with his agent and we fully expect Eugene Kotorobai to be in camp in Elmira unless some time between now and the start of camp a lucrative offer from Europe catches his eye or a roster spot in the NBA opens up for him. These are the type of players fans can expect to see more and more of as we look to not only deliever a championship to the City of Elmira but we also look to provide the ultimate experience for fans on a game by game basis', stated Bulldogs GM and Head Coach, James R. Schutz . The Elmira Bulldogs now currently have a total of 9 players on thier 2009 training camp roster with either NCAA D-1 or NCAA D-2 experience. The Bulldogs will compete in the Eastern Basketball Alliance (EBA) for the upcoming 2009 season with games running from January through April.

Steve Nash sprains right ankle - by Eurobasket News
Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash (190-G-74, college: Santa Clara) left Wednesday night's pre-season game against the Atlanta Hawks after spraining his right ankle.

Nash was injured late in the first half and was not expected to return, according to the Suns.

The Victoria native limped and grimaced as he left the court. No details of the injury were immediately available.

The Suns were without centre Shaquille O'Neal, who was just resting, according to coach Terry Porter.

Forward Amare Stoudemire (torn iris in right eye) and Leandro Barbosa, who returned to the team this week after being with his ailing mother in Sao Paulo, Brazil, also did not play.

The Hawks were without point guard Mike Bibby (right oblique strain) and forward Marvin Williams (sprained right thumb).

Courtesy of http://www.cbc.ca

*****************************************************
  CROATIA   


Standings - Ozujsko A1 League
A1 Standings
 1. Sibenka 1-0 
 2. Alkar Sinj 1-0 
 3. Cedevita 1-0 
 4. Dubrovnik 1-0 
 5. Zabok 1-0 
 6. Trogir 0-1 
 7. Borik 0-1 
 8. Kvarner NR 0-1 
 9. Dubrava 0-1 
 10. Svjetlost 0-1 
Will join on later stage:
 1. KK Split - 
 2. KK Zagreb - 
 3. Cibona - 
 4. Zadar - 


Rawle Marshall suspended - by Milan Jovanovic
Cibona's hot new signing Rawle Marshall (200-G-82, college: Oakland) got a one game suspension, after the referee Srdjan Dozai reported to be attacked by the player in the tunnel between the court and dressing rooms, after the end of Zagreb-Cibona thriller on Saturday. Besides the one game suspension which will force Marshall to miss the Buducnost game, the club have also been fined with 3500 EUR.
Quite a blow for Cibona, since their guns are still empty, and the only two players started delivering are Marshall and Calloway.

Cibona inks Homan - by Milan Jovanovic
Croatian Euroleague team Cibona Zagreb, efter being in big deficite on center positions due to the injury of Prkacin and the unlucky Markota episode, decided to sign Jared Homan (206-C-83, college: Iowa St.) on a month trial.
Homan (208, USA) comes from a season in Slask, and if sattisfies on a month deal, could be resigned untill the end of the season.
Yet to see if coach Perasovic will be sattisfied, but the fact is - there's not much to choose from in this moment of the season.

Cibona Zagreb sends Filip Kruslin to Dubrava on loan - by Eurobasket News
Management of Cibona and head coach Velimir Perasovic decided to send young prospect Filip Kruslin (198-G-89) on loan to another team from Zagreb - Dubrava. Kruslin appeared 7 times with Cibona in domestic championship averaging 5.1 ppg and 1.1 rpg. He also had 9 games in Adriatic league as well as 4 in Euroleague recording around 1.5 ppg. Kruslin played for U20 Croatia on European Championship in Riga this summer. He had 8 games for his country collecting 8.5 ppg, 2 rpg and 1.5 apg. The best performance he demonstrated against Latvia adding 21 points and 3 rebounds for 28 minutes. Kruslin also played for U18 Croatia on EC 2007 in Madrid registering a way better digits. In 7 games he had 16.7 ppg and 2.7 rpg. Young prospect will for sure get more chance to play in Dubrava, what was the main reason of this Cibona's move.

Avtodor Saratov hired Juri Selikhov as a new head coach. It means that Croatian Niksa Bavcevic won't stay any more on the bench of the Russian team. Interesting is that Avtodor currently has perfect score 4-0 in Superleague B. As a reminder, Bavcevic agreed terms with Avtodor less than two months ago. From 2005 to 2007 Bavcevic worked as a head coach in Belgian team Dexia-Mons Hainaut. In the past he also spent 6 years as a head coach of Go-Pass Pepinster. In 2003 he was named 'Eurobasket Belgian League Coach of the Year -03'. Three years later, he won Belgian National Cup with Mons.

*****************************************************
  D-LEAGUE   


2009 NBA D-League Showcase Schedule Announced - by Eurobasket News
The schedule for the four-day, 16-game, NBA Development League Showcase, which features all 16 teams competing between Jan. 5-8, 2009, was announced today. The fifth annual event will take place at the McKay Events Center, home of the Utah Flash, in Orem, Utah. Fans can log onto www.nba.com/futurecast to watch every Showcase game streamed live, online, for free.

Action tips off on Monday, Jan. 5, when the Sioux Falls Skyforce take on the Albuquerque Thunderbirds at 11 a.m. MT, and continues with three more contests during the afternoon and evening. The schedules for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday also include four games each, beginning at 11 a.m. MT (see full schedule attached).

'The Showcase represents one of the largest events to ever come to Utah County,' said Flash owner Brandt Anderson. 'In addition to the eyes of the basketball world being focused on Utah County for that week, you could never put a price tag on the national and international media exposure that comes to the state as part of the Flash hosting this event.'

The Flash also will host general managers, player personnel staff and scouts from each of the 30 NBA teams who will converge in Utah for four days to evaluate the league's talent. Numerous members of the international basketball community will also make the trip to Orem to watch the games in person.

'We are excited to bring the world-wide basketball community to Orem, UT for this year's NBA D-League Showcase,' Chris Alpert, NBA D-League Vice President of Basketball Operations and Player Personnel said. 'This event provides our players with a tremendous opportunity to compete in front of NBA scouts and highlights one of our great markets. This is a great setting for the basketball community to see the caliber of talent in the NBA D-League first-hand.'

The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA's official minor league and features 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams. The league has produced 15 percent of the players on 2007-08 end-of-season NBA rosters and continues to develop current NBA coaches and referees. In fostering the league's connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote youth basketball, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. The NBA D-League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout this season fans can watch all NBA D-League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast.



2009 NBA D-League Showcase Schedule (all times local)

Monday, January 5
Sioux Falls vs. Albuquerque 11 a.m.
Austin vs. Colorado 1:45 p.m.
Los Angeles vs. Bakersfield 4:30 p.m.
Reno vs. Rio Grande Valley 7:15 p.m.

Tuesday, January 6
Idaho vs. Fort Wayne 11 a.m.
Iowa vs. Dakota 1:45 p.m.
Erie vs. Tulsa 4:30 p.m.
Anaheim vs. Utah 7:15 p.m.

Wednesday, January 7
Rio Grande Valley vs. Sioux Falls 11 am
Fort Wayne vs. Iowa 1:45 p.m.
Albuquerque vs. Erie 4:30 p.m.
Dakota vs. Reno 7:15 p.m.

Thursday, January 8
Tulsa vs. Idaho 11 a.m.
Colorado vs. Anaheim 1:45 p.m.
Bakersfield vs. Austin 4:30 p.m.
Utah vs. Los Angeles 7:15 p.m.

Courtesy od NBDL

*****************************************************
  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC   


Dominicans abroad: Luis Flores in Israel - by Jordan Olivo
The Dominican Luis Flores (188-G-81, college: Manhattan) made his debut in the Israel Winner Cup in the defeat of his team Hapoel Holon 62 - 82 before the Bnei Hasharon.

Flores made 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 turnover in 32 minutes was in court.

The Dominican threw for 11-4 from the field (36%), including 3-0 from three points line, and 2-2 from free throws (100%).

Luis Flores and Hapoel Holon will begin the season the next October 26 against the Bnei Hasharon.

*****************************************************
  EBA   


Canadian swingman with NBA potential is heading to Elmira - by Gianni Pascucci
Eugene Kotorobai (6'5''-F-82) of Richmond Hill, Ontario has accepted an invitation to attend the Elmira Bulldogs training camp that will begin in mid-december. Kotorobai averaged 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.0 block per game during the 2007-08 season for NCAA D-1 Long Island University. What is most intriguing about this player with Moldavian origins is that he had 71 3-point makes this past season while competing at the NCAA D-1 level. A player of Kotorobai's size with a deadly stroke is usually only seen playing in the NBA or on top teams in the Euroleague but few players in the Euroleague can rebound like Kotorobai can. 'I have spoken with his agent and we fully expect Eugene Kotorobai to be in camp in Elmira unless some time between now and the start of camp a lucrative offer from Europe catches his eye or a roster spot in the NBA opens up for him. These are the type of players fans can expect to see more and more of as we look to not only deliever a championship to the City of Elmira but we also look to provide the ultimate experience for fans on a game by game basis', stated Bulldogs GM and Head Coach, James R. Schutz . The Elmira Bulldogs now currently have a total of 9 players on thier 2009 training camp roster with either NCAA D-1 or NCAA D-2 experience. The Bulldogs will compete in the Eastern Basketball Alliance (EBA) for the upcoming 2009 season with games running from January through April.

*****************************************************
  EGYPT   


Tunisia to host the Aribian Nations Chapion ship - by Sherif Soliman


The city of Nabeul in Northern Tunisia is set to host the Arabian Nations Championships starting October 25th and ending November 5th. The FTBB (Tunisan Basketball Federation) and the UAB (Union of Arabian Basketball) are going to co-host this event and are currently managing together all the details like the accomodation while ART of Tunisia has the exclusive television rights.Egyptian national team will be particpating in the championship hopeing to return back with the Arab Cup.

Ramy Gunady (185-G-81)

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


Lietuvos Rytas earn second win in Baltic League season - by Eurobasket News
Kalev/Cramo - Lietuvos Rytas 76:91

Matt Nielsen (208-F/C-78) tallied 18 points and 8 rebounds and Lietuvos Rytas celebrated the second win in the Baltic League Elite Division. They held off Kalev/Cramo at the Saku Arena in front of nearly 2500 spectators. Mindaugas Lukauskis (198-G-79) contributed 16 points in the win. Lietuvos Rytas thus improved to 2-1 record in the standings, while Kalev/Cramo slipped to 2-3.
Lietuvos Rytas surged ahead early on Mindaugas Lukauskis and Matt Nielsen fired from downtown to give the Lithuanian team a 15:5 lead. Free throws from Marius Prekevicius (195-F-84, agency: Interperformances, college: S.Florida) and Matt Nielsen allowed the visitors to enter the second frame ahead by 9 points 25:16. An 11:0 run gave Lietuvos Rytas a comfortable 19-point cushion in the second frame. But the hosts were cheered by the home crowd and refused to give up. Josh Pace (198-G/F-83, agency: Dynasty Sports, college: Syracuse) scored 4 straight points and ignited a 9:0 run to close the first half. Kalev/Cramo trimmed the distance to 8 points and headed to the second half hopeful. However Eidson chilled the hosts off a bit with a three-pointer to tip off the second half. Kalev/Cramo answered immediately with Josh Pace fueling one more rally that brought the hosts within 4 points from Lietuvos Rytas. Keerles came up with some big buckets as Kalev began the fourth quarter trailing by just 2 points 61:63. Matt Nielsen and Milko Bjelica (207-C-84) knocked down 10 points in the first five minutes of the fourth stanza and Lietuvos Rytas cleared off to a 12-point mark. Kalev ran out of steam and had no answer in the closing stages.
Gregor Arbet (194-F/G-83) paced Kalev/Cramo with 21 points. John Linehan (175-G-78, college: Providence) produced 16 points in the loss.

Kalev/Cramo: Gregor Arbet 21, John Linehan 16
Lietuvos Rytas: Matt Nielsen 18, Mindaugas Lukauskis 16, Chuck Eidson (201-F-80, agency: Court Side, college: S.Carolina) 12

*****************************************************
  FINLAND   


FINNISH CUP: YMCA LPR scored 109 pts - by Rauno Hurmalainen

Finnish Cup, Quarter-Finals: Three games tonight. YMCA Lappeenranta visiting Joensuu and scoring 109 pts! That was 13 pts too much for Kataja (96-109).
Jerel Blassingame (175-G-81, agency: CAA Sports, college: UNLV) (YMCA LPR) scored 22 pts and gave 14 assists! HL Coleman (202-F-74, college: Wyoming) netted 28 pts and Demtrius Brown (197-F-83, college: San Jose St.) 27 pts + 12 rbs, so YMCA LPR got 77 pts from these decent American players. Kataja was playing this time with eight players. Jeremiah Wood (200-F-85, agency: Court Side) had the game highs 30 pts and 18 rbs. Petri Virtanen (183-G-80) added 22 and Sami Lehtoranta (205-C/F-79, agency: ANYPEX) 19 pts.
ToPo (Helsinki) defeated FoKoPo (Forssa) 80-72. Robert Epps (201-F-79, agency: Tank Sports, college: St.Thomas Aquinas) and Eero Lehtinen (191-G-85) netted both 21 pts. Mikko Jalonen (186-G-82) and Vincent Hunter (208-F-84, college: Arkansas) scored both 19 pts for FoKoPo. Team Componenta (Karkkila) made it also to the Final 4. TC started to play during the second half and beat Vilpas (Salo) 84-68. Marcus Watts (201-F-86, college: Chattanooga) and Frank Richards (188-G-82, college: Kansas St.) combined 37 pts for TC. Quennell Green (198-G/F-84, college: SE Louisiana) and Aubrey Conerly (183-G-83, college: Jacksonville) combined 36 pts for Vilpas. The Finnish Cup Final 4 Teams: Honka (Espoo), Team Componenta (Karkkila), ToPo (Helsinki) and YMCA Lappeenranta. Semi-Finals: 11.11. YMCA Lappeenranta vs Honka. 12.11. Team Componenta - ToPo.

Kataja - YMCA Lappeenranta 96-109 (47-59) (Jeremiah Wood 30/18, Petri Virtanen 22, Sami Lehtoranta 19 - HL Coleman 28, Demtrius Brown 27/12, Jerel Blassingame 22/14a).

ToPo - FoKoPo 80-72 (41-33) (Robert Epps 21, Eero Lehtinen 21, Isaac Spencer 12 - Mikko Jalonen 19, Vincent Hunter 19, Ray Cunningham 13/11).

Team Componenta - Vilpas 84-68 (33-36) (Marcus Watts 19, Frank Richards 18, Martti Kuisma 17 - Quinnell Green 19, Aubrey Conerly 17).



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


Feni Industri remains perfect in Balkan league - by Eurobasket News

Feni Indistri - CSU Cuadripol 86-75

Feni Industri took care for another victory in Balkan league. After road win against Radnicki 034 Group in the opening round, this time Mac-champion outplayed Romanian CSU Cuadripol without any extra efforts. Feni had Gjorgi Cekovski (202-F/C-81, agency: Arik Krayn Services), Donald Cole (204-C-81, agency: Edge Sports, college: Sam Houston St.) and Milan Prekovic (195-G/F-75) in a game mood from the early beginning. Except of the first stanza, which belonged to Romanians 15-19, Feni Industri was the team which dominated during the entire time. Second quarter could be the most important period of the game as the hosts ended it with impressive 27-13. Milan Prekovic was on fire but, what was even more important, he dished out 11 assists keeping his teammates 'warm'. After the breather, above mentioned killing trio continued where it stopped in the first half. Thus after 30 minutes of the game Macedonians had 68-54, despite CSU Cuadripol also had couple of very motivated players. During the last ten minutes Romanians come a little bit closer but it for sure was not enough against tough Macedonians. Gjorgi Cekovski registered double-double in the winning team, 21 points and 11 rebounds. Donald Cole had 17+5 while Milan Prekovic stopped on 15 points and 11 assists. Ionut Dragusin (221-C-85) shined in CSU Cuadripol with 22 points and 6 rebounds but his team will have to look for another chance in order to record the first win in Balkan league. Alex Hartman (201-G/F-85, agency: Tank Sports, college: Concordia (OR)) followed Ionut Dragusin scoring 21 points.

Feni Industri: Gjorgi Cekovski 21+11 boards, Donald Cole 17+5 boards, Milan Prekovic 15+11 as
CSU Cuadripol: Ionut Dragusin 22+6 boards, Alex Hartman 21, Darko Veljovic (203-F-74) 10+9 boards, Senai Isleam (217-C-76, agency: Court Side) 10+7 boards



Mega Hypo Leasing - Ferpsed Rabotnicki 77-68

Mega Hypo Leasing was better than Fersped Rabotnicki 77-68 mostly owing to golden kid from U19 WC in Novi Sad, U18 EC in Madrid and U20 EC in RIga, Stefan Stojacic (195-G-89), as well as another youngster Aleksandar Mitrovic (201-G-90). First 20 minutes belonged to Macedonians, despite Mega entered into this match strongly creating 4-point lead in the first quarter. Fersped Rabotnicki had big guy Ersid Ljuca (208-C-81, agency: World Sport Agency) and Toni Simic (210-C-76, agency: Interperformances) in a game mood, what was enough for 29 -30 at the half time. Young Belgrade's team showed up after the breather with strong willingness to fight, what also helped it at the offensive end. The hosts made few easy baskets from the fast breaks making a turn before the last quarter 51-47. During the last ten minutes Stefan Stojacic and his teammates just sealed the second victory in Balkan league improving on 2-1. Ferpsed Rabotnicki is on 1-1.
Stefan Stojacic led Mega HL to victory netting 19 points. He had pretty good shot percentage 4/6 FG2, 3/4 3-pts and 2/2 FTs. Aleksandar Mitrovic also was great scoring just one point less while Dusan Katnic (193-G-89) had 11 points and 4 rebounds. Macedonian team got the most from Toni Simic, who scored 14 points and 4 rebounds.

Mega HL: Stefan Stojacic 19, Aleksandar Mitrovic 18, Dusan Katnic 11+4 rebs, Uros Nikolic (207-F/C-87) 10+8 boards
Rabotnicki: Toni Simic14+4 boards, Ersid Ljuca 12+5 boards, Dime Tasovski (201-F-80, agency: Interperformances) 11, Nikola Karakolev (197-G-87) 11



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


Artland Dragons bring in Jamon Gordon - by Moritz Korff
Jamon Gordon (191-G-84, agency: 540 Sports, college: Virginia Tech) has joined the Artland Dragons Quakenbrueck (1. Bundesliga) on a tryout-basis. The 24-year-old Guard from Jacksonville, Florida will spend at least ten days with the Dragons, trying to land a contract. Gordon appeared in 27 games of the Turkish first league in this past season, averaging 10.8 points, 4.6 boards, 2.8 assists and 2.1 steals for Antalya Buyuksehir Belediye. In pre-season he was close to the Greek A1-outfit AS Trikalla 2000, but did not make the roster for the 2008-09 campaign there.

Jenkins receives a contract extension - by Manuel Schust
ALBA Berlin announced today that the MVP of last season Julius Jenkins (187-G-81, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Georgia Southern) extended his contract for 2 more seasons.
Jenkins, who currently leads the league in assists, had to leave yesterday's game against Ludwigsburg with a bruised knee. Further treatments will show wheather the injury is severe.
Jenkins started his pro career with Nueremberg in Germany's second division. After one season with Euphony Bree in Belgium he joined ALBA Berlin and soon became one of the league's top players.

THE DEUTSCHE BANK SKYLINERS WITH EXTRA POWER BAR AGAINST BG GOTTINGEN OCTOBER 18TH - by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber
After the sensational victory in the Euro challenge against MBC Nikolaev after 23 loses in a row in International play, THE DEUTSCHE BANK SKYLINERS want to continue their success back into the BBL with a win against BG Gottingen on Saturday October 18th. After going through a comfortable torture of little sleep and food in the Ukraine, the team was still able to pull out some energy out of their gas tank compartment used for rainy days by winning and setting up the knockout punch for next week for the return Eurochallenge game in the Ballsporthalle. 'We are alive and well. This type of Odyssey can always happen to a team,' said a joking Murat Didin . After this two day calamity, will the team be fit for Gottingen? 'We will train very hard the next two days. We want to win and will need to defend our home court advantage,' explained German National player Konrad Wysocki (202-F-82, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Princeton). Frankfurt also will need to return to the drawing board and seek a way to rebound from their bitter three point loss in Ulm. 'We have to be ready and play smart. We cant allow any second shots. They hustle like rats and keep coming back after you like hungry piranha,' commented Ilian Evtimov (201-F-83, agency: Interperformances, college: N.Carolina St.). BG Gttingen has no International games and can focus on finding a way to stop THE DEUTSCHE BANK SKYLINERS. 'Our 12 day game layoff could hurt us or be an advantage for us and the big win for Frankfurt could help them against us,'warned Gottingen guard Kyle Bailey (188-G-82, college: Santa Clara).
Both teams support identical records at 2-2 with BG Gottingen hanging out at position nine, and Frankfurt at position eleven. BG Gottingen will be an unpleasant opponent since they are more than unpredictable. They beat top BBL power houses Bamberg and The Artland Dragons, but lost a close hard fought battle against Trier and sustained a scoring drought against Brauschweig losing 56 to 49. Last season Frankfurt and Gottingen split the season series. Gottingen walked all over Frankfurt in the Ballsporthalle winning easily 77 to 60. This was a game, where just about everything went wrong for Murat Didin and his players. The shooting was so poor, that the team may have had more luck shooting blindfolded on that day. However in the return game in the dark and mysterious Lokhalle, the team rebounded with an aggressive effort edging Gottingen 74 to 67 fueled by the long awaited breakout game by Maksym Shtein (206-C-80, agency: LimeLight), who chipped in with 24 points. He and Frankfurt fans were hopeful that more playing time would be the reward, but that thought was shattered about as quickly as was Alba Berlins hopes of registering a perfect season like The New England Patriots did last season in the NFL with their loss to Ludwigsburg last night.
The return of BG Gottingen back to the big show last season in the BBL was a positive surprise as the team had not smelt BBL air for 19 years. Before the deregulation in the 80s, Gottingen had always had a top Basketball tradition that marked its climax in the 80s as they won three BBL titles in 1980, 1983 and 1984 under the legendary American coach Terry Schofield. In a country, where Soccer is by far the #1 sport, it is all the more curious when a sport like Basketball is still #1 in Gttingen after 19 years of not being in the BBL.'It is great for me too see how much Basketball has developed in the last two seasons in Gottingen. When we won the second divison north league two years ago, the people didnt really notice so much. Back then we played in a small gym, but now the support is so big in the Lokhalle. I get stopped all over the place for autographs. Now it is a big deal,'said Kyle Bailey .
BG Gottingen finished last season in 14th season and could of ended a lot higher had the team not had a seven game losing streak at the beginning of season. Still they managed to beat top teams like Bonn and Leverkusen. The brain behind the success of team is coach John Patrick , who likes to overwhelm the enemy of quick run and gun Basketball. He adores small ball and is a very disciplined coach. 'We like to give the other team 40 minutes of hell,' said John Patrick . He is a Basketball fanatic, who has a lot of experience having coached in Australia and in Japan, where he won the Japanese title in 2006 with Toyota Alvark. He quickly showed his coaching skills as he led Gttingen to the second division north title in 2007 dominating the competition, losing only twice to MBC and Schalke. BBL teams had success last season against Gottingen, when they slowed down the game and controlled the tempo. This season, Gottingen will try to be even more unpredictable inside since they got two big American bangers Jason Miller (208-F/C-80, college: Oklahoma St.) and Chris Oliver. John Patrick also has no shyness by playing his whole roster on a consistent rate. So far this season, he has rotated 12 guys and his quick substituting most likely wont change.
BG Gottingen is led by American Clif Brown (200-F-84, agency: Court Side, college: Niagara), who has become the go to guy in the early part of the season. He is averaging 17,3 points, 7,3 rebounds and is shooting 55,3% from the field. He furthered his experience last season by playing ULEB Cup for Hapoel Gali Eylon in Israel, where he had extremely good stats with 14,5 points and 3,7 rebounds in ten games. American Kyle Bailey out of Santa Clara University is a scoring point guard, who is averaging 14,0 points, 3,5 rebounds and 4,5 assists per game. American Jason Miller, who played in Jena last season is averaging 11,3 points and 5,8 rebounds per game. 'He likes the inside out game,'explained coach Murat Didin . All rounder American Ben Jacobson (188-G-83, agency: Octagon, college: N.Iowa), who also played in France is averaging 8,3 points, 3,3 rebounds and 1,3 assists this season for Gottingen. He can create his own shot and is a respectable defender. American Roderick Trice (191-F-84, college: S.Carolina), who celebrated cult status in Cuxhaven last season is a very dangerous rebounder at 188m with 8,1 last season. This season he is averaging 8,0 points, 5,7 rebounds and 1,3 assists per game. His nickname is Rocky and he might not challenge anyone into the boxing ring, but he wont shy away from anyone under the hoops. American Charles Lee (192-G/F-84, college: Bucknell) is averaging 6,3 points, 2,3 rebounds and 1,3 assists per game and can be a scoring threat. He had two fine seasons in Israel(9,4 points) and Belgium(10,1 points). The Gottingen bench is not deep, but coach Patrick can count on every player to play hard no matter if its for eight minutes or two minutes. Guys like John Little (180-G-84, college: N.Iowa), Jason Boone (198-F/C-85, college: New York U.) and German Marco Grimaldi (188-G-83) will be looming in the wings for a chance. Also coming off the bench is 26 year old German Robert Dill (207-F-82, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Lafayette), who has a 17 hour work day. When he arrives to practice at night, he has already worked eight hours for a company. He is a role model for everyone showing his mind works overtime not only on the court.
No game in the BBL is ever easy anymore. The greatest hurdle that THE DEUTSCHE BANK SKYLINERS will have to jump is being watchful and not being overconfident. Coach Murta Didin has the utmost respect for BG Gottingen. 'They are a hustling and fighting team. They dont have any super talented players, but they like to play Basketball. They beat Bamberg with a lot of energy. Not only will our team defense have to play good, but also our individual defense will be important.'THE DEUTSCHE BANK SKYLINERS showed incredible character in the win in the Ukraine and will try to carry that momentum into the Gottingen game. American Keith Simmons (196-G-85, college: Holy Cross) had an inspiring game in the Euro challenge and key players like Pascal Roller (180-G-76), Lorenzo Gordon (201-F-83, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Oklahoma City) and Ilian Evtimov will need to perform. The win at Nikolaev also cured the shooting shyness of Adam Emmeneker, who let the ball fly toward the basket scoring eight points. Frankfurt scores more points, shoot better from the field and dish out more assists. Under normal circumstances, they should be able to prevail. However that is probably also what Bamberg and The Artland Dragons thought this season and were greeted with a rude loss. THE DEUTSCHE BANK SKYLINERS host BG Gottingen on Saturday October 18th at 18:30

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


Standings - A2
A2 Standings
 1. DASH Perist. 1-0 
 2. Dafni 1-0 
 3. Iraklis 1-0 
 4. Near East 1-0 
 5. Ilysiakos 1-0 
 6. Rethymno 1-0 
 7. Ermis L. 1-0 
 8. Panerythrai. 1-0 
 9. MENT 0-1 
 10. KAOD 0-1 
 11. Olimpias 0-1 
 12. ICBS 0-1 
 13. Keravnos Aigio 0-1 
 14. Xanthi 0-1 
 15. Apollon 0-1 
 16. HSBC Pagrati 0-1 


Standings - A1
A1 Standings
 1. Panathinaikos 1-0 
 2. Olympiakos 1-0 
 3. Aris 1-0 
 4. Panionios 1-0 
 5. AEK 1-0 
 6. Olimpia L. 1-0 
 7. Kavala/P. 0-0 
 8. AEL 1964 0-0 
 9. Panellinios 0-1 
 10. Marousi 0-1 
 11. Kolossos 0-1 
 12. PAOK 0-1 
 13. Trikalla 0-1 
 14. Egaleo 0-1 


*****************************************************
  INDIA   


India finish with wooden spoon at Kuwait in FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup - by Anil Kumar
Kazakhstan down India, finish second

Kazakhstan used their bench for most of the game, yet proved good enough to beat fellow Middle Asia rivals India 59-53 in the second FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup at Kuwait..

The win, Kazakhstans third in four outings their only defeat coming against Jordan on Sunday helped them finish second in the final rankings.

India, having lost all their four games, took the wooden spoon.

Scores

Kazakhstan 59 (Rustam Yargaliyev 19, Dimitry Gavrilov 15, Maxim Voyeikov 11) bt India 53 (Vineeth Revi Mathew 14). Quarterwise Scores: 14-8, 34-21, 45-37.


Earlier Game reviews:

Qatar closed their campaign in the second FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup with an 82-47 win over India on Sunday.

Already out of contention for the title, having lost all their previous three outings, it was Qatars first win.

India, winless in the tournament after three games, take on Kazakhstan on Monday.

With Khalid Abdi confined to the sidelines, his ankle in bandage, Omer Salem led the Qatari
barrage with 19 points. Ali Ali chipped in with 17 points.

Its always good to win, said Qatar coach Kent Davison.

What is really crucially about this win is that these players will now break off to play for their clubs. And they would come back to me only in December. So this victory is what will remain in our minds when we reassemble, he said.

Having said that, I reiterate that the boys showed tremendous character to even come back to the court after last nights disappointment.

So in all respects, this win has more significance than the score-line, the American said.

Robinson with 12 points was the leading scorer for India.

Every game is a learning experience for my team, said India coach Aleksandar Bucan.

Scores

Qatar 82 (Omer Salem 19, Ali Ali 17) bt India 47 (Robinson 12). Quarterwise Scores: 20-12, 45-20, 66-36.


Against Jordan:

Zaid Abbas scored 13 points in the second quarter as Jordan shrugged off a sluggish start to beat India 69-48 in the second FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup here on Friday.
Rasheim Wright, playing his first international tournament in a long time, was the leading scorer for Jordan with a game-high 24 points.
But it was Abbas spree that injected the pace for a slow-starting Jordan.
Abbas went on to finish with 16 points, apart from collecting seven boards five in defense and was named MVP for the game.


They denied us the pace initially and we struggled to get into rhythm, Jordan coach Mario Palma said.

We didnt get to see the ball as much as we would have liked, but then we also didnt press hard enough, the Portuguese said.

Trideep Rai sank back-to-back three-pointers to put India ahead early in the game and the Middle Asia nation seemed to hold fort as they closed the first quarter 15-13.

Trideep went on to finish with a team-high 17 points, sinking five of his eight attempts from behind the arc.

India continued to lead and Wrights double free throws twice in succession brought helped Jordan regain the lead (21-23) midway through the second quarter.

Abbas took over after that for the rest of the first half and pulled away to a 37-27 lead at the end of the first half.

The rest of the game saw India play catching up, but ran out of breath against the much better coordinated opposition.

Im happy with the way we started without any fear of the opposition, India coach Aleksandar Bucan said.

Also happy with the way we finished, he added.

I think we played far better than we did yesterday and thats what matters for us. Lets not forget this is a much better opposition, the Serbian said.

Its important for us to learn from these games in the overall scheme of things.

Jordan play Qatar on Saturday, while India have a rest day.


Scores

Jordan 69 (Rasheim Wright 24, Zaid Abbas 16) bt India 48 (Trideep Rai 17, Robinson 10). Quarterwise Scores: 13-15, 37-27, 58-36.

Against Kuwait:

Hosts Kuwait rode on Abdulaziz Mohammeds MVP performance to beat India 81-69 in the second FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup on Thursday.

Mohammed returned a game-high 23 points and got splendid support from Abdullah Alsarraf and Ahmad Almutairi.

Alsarraf succeeded three times from behind the arc for his 16 points to kick off Kuwaits rally in the second quarter. Almutairi accounted for 15 points, including four three-pointers, to seal the issue in the fourth.



Robinson, coming back to the National Team after a long gap, led the scoring for India with 14 points.

The 200cm center struggled initially to find his bearings, but came into his own in the second half, scoring 12 of his 14 points.

India began rather confidently, with Vijobi Vakkachan leading the scoring to take his team 20-10 ahead at the end of the first quarter.

Kuwait found their rhythm midway through the second quarter, began to narrow down the lead as Alsarraf led a 19-7 run to put the hosts ahead (29-27) for the first time in the game.

India managed to hold on to a 31-30 lead at the end of the first half, but Kuwait had regained their composure.

The two teams shared the honors in the third quarter, which ended locked at 53.

Kuwait found the much needed support from the partisan crowd at the Al Qadsia court to boost their chances, with Almutairi sinking two three pointers in the dying moments.

Although we won, Im really not satisfied with the way we played, Kuwait coach Zoran Kreckovic said.

May be it was the first game nervousness. I hope they improve from here, he said.

I think the final five minutes of the second quarter and the first five minutes of the third proved crucial in the end, India coach Aleksandar Bucan said.

Once they got back into the game, they just rode on the home support, he said.


Scores

Kuwait 81 (Abdulaziz Mohammed 23, Abdullah Alsarraf 16, Ahmed Almutairi 15) bt India 69 (Robinson 14, Trideep Rai 14). Quarterwise Scores: 10-20, 30-31, 53-53.

*****************************************************
  JUCO   


Casper's Steward will miss season - by Eurobasket News
Art Steward is going to have a wait a year to make his return to the Casper basketball scene.

Casper College men's basketball coach Joel Davidson announced Wednesday that Steward, a former Natrona County standout, is out for the season with a foot injury.

'He got tangled up and landed funny,' Davidson said. 'After having it looked at, we just decided it was best to fix it now and not delay the inevitable.'

'One option was to continue to rest and try to play on it later. Art, his Mom and I all agreed it's best to fix it and be done with it. What's not to say it couldn't get hurt again?'

The injury, which is to the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, occurred during a rebounding drill at practice on Oct. 6. Steward, who transferred to Casper this year, was sidelined most of last season at Wallace State in Hanceville, Ala., with the same injury. No surgery is planned yet, but Davidson expects Steward to have one in the next few weeks to fix the foot. Davidson sounded confident Steward would get a redshirt.

The Thunderbirds' first game is on Halloween, and Davidson said the loss of Steward will likely have a big impact on the team.
'It hurts,' Davidson said. 'There is no question. Art is a kind of kid we want to build the program around.'

'... He definitely would have started. He is probably our best defender, and would have drawn the toughest defensive assignment every night. He had been playing really well. It will have an affect on what we do, but we do have other people at that (wing) position. Hopefully someone else will step up.'

Steward was a three-time all-state selection for the Mustangs, and was the Class 4A Player of the Year in 2007, when he also led NC to a state title.

'I feel bad for him because he's a good kid and deserves something good to happen to him,' Davidson said. 'He'll get through it and things will work out.'

Courtesy of http://www.casperstartribune.net

*****************************************************
  LATVIA   


Standings - LBAL
LBAL Standings
Austrumi
 1. Salacgriva 2-0 
 2. Lielvarde 2-0 
 3. Jekabpils 1-1 
 4. Cesu SS 1-1 
 5. Madona 1-1 
 6. DU/Hansabanka 1-1 
 7. Gulbene 0-2 
 8. Sigulda 0-2 
Centrs A
 1. Saulkrasti 2-0 
 2. Livu akvaparks 1-0 
 3. VIA Riga 1-0 
 4. Ridzene M. 1-1 
 5. Ogre/Sonora 0-0 
 6. LU 0-1 
 7. Ridzene 90 0-3 
Centrs B
 1. Turiba 3-0 
 2. Kursa/MRU 1-1 
 3. 3.BJSS 1-1 
 4. VEF Riga 1-1 
 5. Juramalas SS 1-1 
 6. BJSS 1-1 
 7. Ogre/LDz 1-1 
 8. DSN 0-1 
 9. Ridzene 91 0-2 
Rietumi
 1. Dartija 2-0 
 2. Bauska 2-0 
 3. Elvi Kuldiga 1-0 
 4. Perkons 1-0 
 5. Variants 1-1 
 6. Olaine 1-1 
 7. Talsi 0-1 
 8. Tukums 0-2 
 9. Saldus-2 0-3 


Valmiera beat Ventpsils in Baltic League - by Eurobasket News
Ventpsils - Valmiera 90:94

Valmiera surprised Ventspils on the road in the Baltic League Elite Division action. The game turned into a heated battle with neither side enjoying a big lead throughout the game. The teams traded baskets early in the game before Ronald Clark (196-G-81, college: Colorado St.) and Rinalds Sirsnins (187-G-85, agency: Promotex) put Valmiera up by 7 points. The visitors maintained the lead and entered the second period ahead by 5. However Tyrone Brazelton (180-G-86, college: W.Kentucky), Jurevicius and Georgios Tsiakos (204-F-82, agency: FCM) narrowed the deficit to 2 points midway through the second frame. Cavars and Ronald Clark ballooned the margin back to 6 points just for Tyrone Brazelton and Skirmants to make it 49:50 at halftime. Ronald Clark and Ivan Elliott (203-F-86, agency: LimeLight, college: UCSB) gave Valmiera a 12-point advantage in the third frame but the hosts would not go away. Mareks Jurevicus (198-F-85) and Vairogs secured a 9-point deficit for Ventspils before the fourth term. Georgios Tsiakos and Tyrone Brazelton dragged the hosts within 7 points from Valmiera with less than five minutes left. But a bunch of misses did not allow Ventspils to capitalize. Poznaks, Ronald Clark and Rinalds Sirsnins ensured the winning outcome for Valmiera in the dying minutes and the victors improved to 2-1 record. Ventspils were denied the third straight win and also remained at 2-1 record in the ladder.
Ronald Clark paced Valmiera with 32 points and 8 rebounds. Rinalds Sirsnins added 20 points, while Ivan Elliott had 11 points for the winners. Mareks Jurevicus was impressive for Ventspils with 29 points and 6 rebounds. Tyrone Brazelton had 17 points, while Georgios Tsiakos delivered 12 points and 12 boards in the loss.

Ventspils: Mareks Jurevicus 29, Tyrone Brazelton 17, Georgios Tsiakos 12
Valmiera: Ronald Clark 32, Rinalds Sirsnins 20, Ivan Elliott 11

*****************************************************
  LEBANON   


Final 08-09 Rosters - by Hassan Thini
Riyadi management announced the official roster for the season 2008 - 2009 as listed Below:
Joseph Vogel
Omar Turk
Mohamed Ibrahim
Fadi Khatib
Hussein Tawbeh
Ali Mahmoud
Fakhruddin Ali
Abdullah Hijazi
Yahya Sabra
Amir Saud
Mohammed Jalloul
Yasser Kasim
Ismail Ahmad
Knight Johnson

Final 08-09 Rosters - by Hassan Thini
1_Riyadi: Fadi khatib, Mohammad Ibrahim, Yehya Sabra, joe vogel, omar el turk, hsein tawbe,ali mahmoud, ali fakher el din, amir saoud, mohammad jalloul, yaser kasem.
imports: nate johson and ismail ahmad.
coach: fouad abou chakra.

2_Muttahed: mazen mnaynme, mario abboud, tarek hawchar, elie jermanous, roy smeha, mohammad fahes, alain boustany, elie rostoum, mohammad akkary, mohammad jabre.
imoprts: daren kelly and anthony williams.
coach: tony vuanijc

3_Sagesse: brian bechara, basem balaa, nadim souaid, elie habr, rony fahed, sabah khoury, joe ghattas, joe mansour,robert bou dagher,imad saade, david Der Yeghiayan.
imports: samaki walker
coach: vaslin matic.

4_Blue Stars: milo abou jaoude, aboudi el farekh, jad mbarak, naji birak, mario fahed, ahmad ozeir, jean abdel el nour, rodrigue akl, miguel martinez, marwan ziade, jad bittar, anthony yammine.
imports: william bird.
coach:lucias mandougas.

5_Champville: rami akiki, elie stephan, hsein kansou, nadim hawi, karl sarkis, ralf sarkis, joe abi mrad, ray dagher, samer mechrif, brahim awkar.
coach: ghassan sarkis.

6_Feytroun: elie franjieh. georges keidy, marwan el hajj, georges khaled, pierre njeim, jad naoum, fouad nati, brahim yasin, roy chalhoub, rabih dib.
coach: elie nasr.

7_Antranik: vicken eskedjian, hosep loutchkajian, yervant avakian, patrick bou abboud, rony abou jaoude, ruddy farajj, simon daoud, riyad el khatib.
coach: georges kelzi

8_Anibal: jihad el murr, bashir saad, charbel chibani, georges ghanem, elie kassouf, walid zakhya, paul chalhoub, alain endrawous, charbel kharma, khalil friejeh, salim el dirani, charl el kassouf.
imports: alvin sims.
coach: roro zaloum.

9_Tebnin: ghaleb rida, hasan el lakkis, anis fghali, mohammad hamdar, mohammad akkad, ralf akl, charbel el sokhon, mohammad dagher, mohammad salim, michel hakim, hilal chit.
imports: chudney gray.
coach: tony khalil.

10_Kahraba: mark kozah, jason kozah, nabil hassoun, maekel el narr, joey zaloum, badih souaid, georges mandali, georges rizk, jad bachour, georges salibi, ribal bchara, wael habchi.
coach: sarkis korjian.

*****************************************************
  LITHUANIA   


Lietuvos Rytas earn second win in Baltic League season - by Eurobasket News
Kalev/Cramo - Lietuvos Rytas 76:91

Matt Nielsen (208-F/C-78) tallied 18 points and 8 rebounds and Lietuvos Rytas celebrated the second win in the Baltic League Elite Division. They held off Kalev/Cramo at the Saku Arena in front of nearly 2500 spectators. Mindaugas Lukauskis (198-G-79) contributed 16 points in the win. Lietuvos Rytas thus improved to 2-1 record in the standings, while Kalev/Cramo slipped to 2-3.
Lietuvos Rytas surged ahead early on Mindaugas Lukauskis and Matt Nielsen fired from downtown to give the Lithuanian team a 15:5 lead. Free throws from Marius Prekevicius (195-F-84, agency: Interperformances, college: S.Florida) and Matt Nielsen allowed the visitors to enter the second frame ahead by 9 points 25:16. An 11:0 run gave Lietuvos Rytas a comfortable 19-point cushion in the second frame. But the hosts were cheered by the home crowd and refused to give up. Josh Pace (198-G/F-83, agency: Dynasty Sports, college: Syracuse) scored 4 straight points and ignited a 9:0 run to close the first half. Kalev/Cramo trimmed the distance to 8 points and headed to the second half hopeful. However Eidson chilled the hosts off a bit with a three-pointer to tip off the second half. Kalev/Cramo answered immediately with Josh Pace fueling one more rally that brought the hosts within 4 points from Lietuvos Rytas. Keerles came up with some big buckets as Kalev began the fourth quarter trailing by just 2 points 61:63. Matt Nielsen and Milko Bjelica (207-C-84) knocked down 10 points in the first five minutes of the fourth stanza and Lietuvos Rytas cleared off to a 12-point mark. Kalev ran out of steam and had no answer in the closing stages.
Gregor Arbet (194-F/G-83) paced Kalev/Cramo with 21 points. John Linehan (175-G-78, college: Providence) produced 16 points in the loss.

Kalev/Cramo: Gregor Arbet 21, John Linehan 16
Lietuvos Rytas: Matt Nielsen 18, Mindaugas Lukauskis 16, Chuck Eidson (201-F-80, agency: Court Side, college: S.Carolina) 12

*****************************************************
  MONTENEGRO   


Big guy Ivan Todorovic moves to Slovenia - by Eurobasket News
Slovenian team Helios Domzale announced signing of center Ivan Todorovic (214-C/F-84, agency: 011 Sports) on a 2-month contract with an option to be extended until the end of season. Todorovic missed almost the entire 07/08 due to obligations to his ex team FMP Zeleznik. In March this year he joined Egaleo AO appearing 5 times in Greek A2 league with average digits 5 ppg and 4.4 rpg. During the summer he was one of the options for Estonian BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn but he didn't sign the contract. From 2002 to 2007 Todorovic used to play for FMP Zeleznik. In his last season with the Panthers he had 4.3 ppg and 2 rpg for 18 games in Adriatic league. At the same season he appeared 11 times in ULEB Cup having 2.8 ppg and 1.6 rpg. During these 5 years with FMP Ivan Todorovic won Yugoslavian National Cup in 2003. Three years later FMP became the Adriatic league champion while in 2007 Todorovic put another National Cup trophy to his 'pocket'. It is the third one, as his first came in 2001 with Buducnost Podgorica. Actually at the same season, Montenegrin powerhouse celebrated in Yugoslavian championship. So many titles but not so much playing time for Todorovic in neither of these two teams. He always was used as a rotation player on position 5/4. Now Todorovic will have to convince coaching staff of Helios that he is good enough for Adriatic league in order to get the contract until the end of the season.

*****************************************************
  NAIA   


Doane College Picked Ninth in GPAC - by Stephan Ditgens


Doane College men's basketball team was picked to finish ninth this season by the GPAC coaches. Last season, Doane finished 12-16 overall and 8-10 in the GPAC. Doane returns two starters from last year's squad, junior guards Tyler Cyboron and Brett McFarland. Senior center Jack Lind returns along with forward Scott Neuhalfen and guard Trent Schlautman as players who did earn some starts last year.

Dakota Wesleyan was the preseason favorite, collecting 12 of 13 first place votes (a team can not vote for themselves). Northwestern College received the other first place vote and was picked second. Below is the complete preseason poll.

source: www.doane.edu

*****************************************************
  NBA   


Charlotte exercises options for Morrison and Dudley, inks Williams - by Eurobasket News
Charlotte Bobcats exercised options for 09/10 season in the contracts of Adam Morrison (6'8''-F-84, agency: Priority Sports, college: Gonzaga) and Jared Dudley (6'7''-F-85, agency: Priority Sports, college: Boston Coll.). The team also signed Justin Williams (6'10''-F/C-84, college: Wyoming) to a non-guaranteed contract.

Adam Morrison was originally third overall pick on 2006 NBA Draft selected by the Bobcats. It means that Morrison will earn around $4.4 million in the final year of his rookie contract. He missed the entire last season due to ACL injury. In 06/07 he appeared 78 times in regular season averaging 11.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 2.1 apg getting the award 'NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team -07'. Morrison came out from Gonzaga in 2006 with impressive digits. In 33 games he recorded 28.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 1.8 apg leading his school to NCAA Sweet 16. After that he was named 'Collegeinsider.com NCAA All-America Team -06' as well as 'USBWA All-NCAA District IX Player of the Year -06'. Gonzaga won WCC Tournament three times while in 2006 Morrison was named 'All-WCC Player of the Year'.

Jared Dudley was selected as 22nd pick in the 2007 NBA Draft and he will earn around $1.1 million in 09/10. He played 73 games last season in jersey of the Bobcats adding 5.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 1.1 apg. Dudley graduated last year at Boston College with average digits 19 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3 apg and 1.4 spg. At the end of the season he was named ;All-ACC Player of the Year -07;. A year before his Boston reached NCAA Sweet 16.

At the same time Charlotte Bobcats inked power forward Justin Williams to a non-guaranteed contract. As a reminder, Williams parted ways with Golden State few days ago. Over the previous two seasons he played for Sacramento and Houstin collecting 3.4 ppg and 3.3 rpg in 49 games in total.

New cuts in Miami and Atlanta - by Eurobasket News
Miami Heat decided to release Omar Barlett (6'8''-F-80, college: Jacksonville St.) and Eddie Basden (6'5''-G/F-83, college: Charlotte). Both players joined the Heat at the end of the last month.
Omar Barlett spent previous three seasons in Polish team Energa Czarni Slupsk. He ended the last one as a fifth rebounder of Polish top division with 7.3 rpg. At the same time he had 11.6 ppg, 1.1 apg and 1.2 spg in 27 games. Before Czarni Slupsk, Barlett used to play for Portuguese Ovarense and Belenenses. He came out from Jacksonville State University in 2003.
Eddie Basden changed two teams last season. He started in French Cholet Basket adding 11.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg in 4 FIBA EuroCup games. In January this year he agreed terms with Telekom Basket Bonn averaging 8.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.9 apg and 1.7 spg for 27 games in German Bundesleague. His team succeeded to reach the play-off final. In the past he was a member of Ulker Istanbul, Tulsa 66ers and Chicago Bulls. In 05/06 he appeared in 15 NBA games registering 2.2 ppg and 1.5 rpg.

Atlanta Hawks also waived two players Marcus Hubbard (6'9''-C-83, college: Kilgore JC) and Frank Robinson (6'4''-G-84, college: Cal.St. Fullerton).
Marcus Hubbard arrived to Atlanta from Angelo State University NCAA2. He was 'All-LSC South Division 1st Team -07, 08'. On season 06/07 Hubbard had 21.7 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.3 apg and 1.2 bpg.
Frank Robinson is another this year's graduate. He came out from California State University-Fullerton with 15.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 2.5 apg in his senior year. His school was Big West Tournament Winner -08 while he was awarded with 'All-Big West 2nd Team -08'. Robinson also got 'All-Big West Defensive Player of the Year -08'.

Lakers probably will start season with 15 on roster - by Eurobasket News
All indications are that the Lakers will open the season with 15 players, the maximum allowed by the NBA.

Early in training camp, the Lakers considered carrying 13 players, which would have given the team flexibility to pick up another player or two during the regular season.

But now it appears, based on their play in training camp, that backup center Didier Mbenga (7'0''-C-80) has earned a roster spot and that rookie guard Joe Crawford (6'5''-G-86, college: Kentucky) will get the nod over Coby Karl (6'4''-G-83, college: Boise St.), who made the team last season as an undrafted rookie free agent.

Guards Brandon Heath (6'4''-G-84, agency: Octagon, college: San Diego St.) and forward C. J. Giles also are pushing for a spot that may be hard to come by.

The Lakers already have 13 players under contract who are assured of making the team.

Crawford was drafted out of Kentucky in the second round by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the NBA draft. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard has to make the team for his contract to be guaranteed.

'It's definitely more pressure coming in not guaranteed,' Crawford said. 'You don't know what these guys [the Lakers' coaching staff] are thinking every day. You just have to stay confident. You're going to have some bad days, but you have to be strong and pull through it.'

Crawford has played in all three exhibition games, averaging 8.3 minutes and 2.7 points. 'If I make this team or if I don't make this team, I'll be better the next time this situation comes around,' Crawford said.

If Crawford does stay with the Lakers, he'll probably play some in the NBA Development League for the Lakers' D-Fenders team.


Open forum

The 1,100 season-ticket holders who watched the Lakers open practice today at Staples Center were generally sedate during the session.

'That's kind of the way the players are in a lot of practices,' Lakers Coach Phil Jackson quipped. At first the fans didn't cheer, or applaud, as they sat quietly eating the box lunches the Lakers provided.

Jackson said Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw explained the practice drills to the crowd. 'It got boring, boring, boring,' Jackson said, smiling.

A few fans took pictures, but they were mostly quiet during the drills.

Then the Lakers started to scrimmage and the crowd came alive, yelling, screaming. When Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) leaped up and grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, the crowd cheered.

Jackson joked he had 'no idea' of the benefit of having fans watch the Lakers practice.

'It's more accessibility of the players to the fans,' Jackson said. 'I think that's what it's supposed to be.'


Ankle injury

Lakers guard Alexander Vujacic (6'7''-G-84)'s painful left ankle will force him to sit out most basketball activities for 10 to 14 days, the team reiterated Wednesday.

Vujacic's injury officially is diagnosed as an avulsion fracture of his left ankle, the team said. That means a small layer of the bone flaked off and is embedded in tissue.

He will be reevaluated in one week, but his goal is to be back on the court by then.

Vujacic suffered a sprained ankle two weeks ago on the first day of training camp.

Since then he has seen three foot specialists -- the last one Monday -- and was told that when he sprained his ankle it aggravated his fracture. Vujacic said he wasn't sure when he suffered the avulsion fracture.

The Lakers hope that with time off the injuries will improve and that Vujacic might be ready for the season opener Oct. 28.

Courtesy of http://www.latimes.com

*****************************************************
  NCAA1   


Kirk Speraw confident in UCF's young basketball team - by Eurobasket News
Seven Knights are preparing for a crash course in Division I men's basketball.

UCF is loaded with new faces who must quickly bond and make a swift transition to the pace and intensity of college basketball. The Knights roster includes seven true freshmen and one redshirt freshman, making UCF one of the youngest teams in the country.

Coach Kirk Speraw, who will speak today at Conference USA's basketball media day and will lead the team's first practice of the 2008-09 season Friday, is confident in his team.

'The preseason has gone well for the number of new faces and people who have never gone through all of this before,' Speraw said. 'They work hard and are eager to improve.'

Speraw expects to spend much of the season teaching his young flock.

'It will change how we do things, and I am not sure to what degree,' Speraw said. 'It will affect how quickly we can move and implement things based on how quickly they learn. We will have to repeat a lot more to help them learn to play at this level.'

While the young Knights will likely go through growing pains, Speraw sees some advantages to the lineup.

'They bring a new energy level to the program,' Speraw said. 'They are all excited to be here.'

The Knights will have a strong guide on the court in senior guard Jermaine Taylor, who was named to the preseason All-Conference USA team selected by the league's coaches. He averaged 20.8 points per game last year and enters the campaign as the nation's 10th-leading returning scorer.

Speraw said he expects Taylor and senior center Kenrick Zondervan to help the team prepare for nonconference games against Florida, South Florida, New Mexico and Ole Miss.

'Those are all very strong teams and those guys are going to challenge us,' Speraw said. 'Hopefully we've got a schedule where our youth will be challenged early in the season but will still have an opportunity to be successful. We need them to get acclimated to Division I basketball quickly and prepare for conference, because I think that's going to be tougher this year.'

Courtesy of http://www.orlandosentinel.com

Coach Stew Morrill gets a new contract at Utah State - by Eurobasket News
Utah State basketball coach Stew Morrill has signed a new contract that runs through the 2014-15 season.

Morrill, 56, has more wins than any other coach in school history, passing E. Lowell Romney's 225 victories with a Jan. 17 win over Boise State. Morrill is 237-86 in 10 years at Utah State.

He also coached at Montana and CSU and has a career record of 455-224. He went 121-86 in seven seasons at Colorado State University before leaving for Utah State.

Terms were not disclosed. The (Logan, Utah) Herald Journal reported Morrill had four years left on his previous contract, which would have ended after the 2011-12 season.

The Herald Journal reported Morrill had a base salary of $372,687. The coach did not discuss new financial terms.

Courtesy of http://www.coloradoan.com

*****************************************************
  NEW ZEALAND   


Nenad Vucinic wins Estonian pre-season Cup - by Eurobasket News
Tall Black coach Nenad Vucinic enjoyed early success with his new Estonian club Kalev/Cramo, guiding them to victory in the Estonian Cup pre-season competition.

Last seasons national league runners-up overcame TTU KK 90-61 in the final with former New Zealand NBL star Josh Pace recording a double double of 15 points/11 rebounds.

Kalev cruised to the title game by defeating Kuremaa 85-75 in the quarterfinals and overwhelming Parnu 105-53 in the semis, after leading 59-18 at halftime.

Meanwhile, former national coach Tab Baldwin and his U-Mobitelco Cluj Napoca had an easy start to the Romanian national league, walking over Rapid Bucuresti 106-32 in their opening game.

Emerging Tall Black Leon Henry finished with 18 points (8/8 FG, 1/1 3pt, 1/2 FT) and six rebounds in 17 minutes as 2007/08 runners-up Mobitelco ran out to a 41-7 advantage in the opening quarter.

In Spain, Tall Black centre Craig Bradshaw led Grupo Begar Leon to a 61-51 win over Basquet Mallorca, scoring 14 points (6/7 FG, 2/4 FT) and grabbing five rebounds. Leon, relegated from the ACB last season, are 3-1 for the season, tied in second position on the LEB Gold competition.

Former NZ centre Tony Rampton helped Sydney Spirit to a pair of wins over the weekend, posting two points (1/2 FG), six rebounds and two blocks in a 98-92 road win over the winless Gold Coast Blaze.

Tall Black Casey Frank had 14 points (6/10 FG, 2/4 FT), six boards and two assists for the Blaze, while international captain Pero Cameron had six points and three rebounds.

Courtesy of http://www.basketball.org.nz

*****************************************************
  NORWAY   


Tromso stay unbeaten - by Eurobasket News
Tromso posted the fourth consecutive victory in the BLNO. The Storm overcame Asker 97:79 and remained on top of the ladder. The latest Tromso game was a one-sided traffic as the Storm looked comfortable en route to the win. Ronald Timus (198-G/F-84, agency: Rice and Rice, college: Morgan St.) secured 29 points for Tromso. Taj Finger (203-F-86) nailed 22 points and 6 boards for the winners. Frank Nyborg (195-F-83) replied with 17 points for Asker as they lost for the first time in the season.
The Storm jumped to an early lead as they piled up a 24:14 advantage at the first intermission. The visitors stretched the gap to 18 points at the interval and never looked back again.
The Ulriken Eagles occupied the second spot in the BLNO standings. The Eagles toppled 3B/Vaerums Verk 94:77 at home court. Ulriken exploded with a 28:9 first period and grabbed the initiative. The hosts extended the margin to as many as 23 points at halftime. The Eagles slowed down after the long break and allowed 3B to cut the distance however kept their opponents at arms length throughout the reminder of the game. Peter Bullock (198-F-82, college: Alaska-Anch.) tallied 23 points and 12 boards for the Eagles. Delano Thomas (203-F-82, college: Shawnee St.) notched 22 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Ahmed Diomande answered with 20 points and 7 caroms in defeat.

*****************************************************
  PANAMA   


Panama College players update - by Rolando Delabarrera
As we start the 2008/2009 basketball season some Panamanians playing stateside have relocated to different teams and a new one has begun his collegiate career in the US. Josimar Ayarza, played last season at Cuesta College and signed a letter of intent to play for Arizona Western this season. Before the school year began it was reported that he had returned to Cuesta College. Eduardo Archibold ,spent his first two years at West Georgia an NCAA D2 school. He has now transferred to Lemoyne College in Syracue another NCAA D2 school. Apparently, Lemoyne was a school he was interested in out of high school and he decided to end his career there. A newcomer to the US basketball scene is Daniel King who will suit up this year for New Mexico Junior College. Daniel is a former Basketball without borders participant and should make a strong showing this year. Eduardo Archibold (205-F/C-87)

*****************************************************
  PARAGUAY   


Libertad wins again - by Gianni Pascucci
Libertad defeated again Sol de America in the Top 5 Final Seriers yesterday night in Asuncion and now leads the series 2-0. The game ended 73-69 and this time Libertad dominated the first quarter (ended 21-8), never looking back. Import Brian Craig (206-C-79, college: Miles) led the white and black attack, with 18 points, followed by Ricardo Ozuna (185-G/F-82) with 14 and Aldo Acosta (192-F-76) with 13. Jamal Nichols (206-F-83, college: De Paul) and Renzo Ferrari (191-G/F-84) were the main perormers in Sol, with 18 and 14 points, respectively. Tomorrow, saturday 18, will be played Game 3

*****************************************************
  PBL   


PBL Draft held at Detroit - by Gianni Pascucci

The Premier Basketball League is pleased to announce that the Detroit Panthers selected Willie Mitchell (6'9''-F/C-76, college: UAB) (6'9''-F/C-76, college: UAB) as the top pick in the 2nd annual PBL Entry Draft. The draft was held on October 16 at the ESPN Zone in downtown Chicago, under the spotlight of national media as well as scouts and agents. Mitchell played his college ball at Alabama-Birmingham and has had success playing overseas. Last year he helped the PBLs Quad City Riverhawks win the Western Division regular season title. Mitchell stated: 'It is a great honor to be selected first in the PBL draft by the Panthers. I was overwhelmed by the professionalism of the league and the media exposure provided to the players at this incredible event. I cannot wait for training camp to begin, so that I can help the Panthers have a great first season in the PBL'.

The following are round-by-round selections from the Draft:
FIRST ROUND
1. Detroit Panthers - Willie Mitchell (6'9'-F/C-76, college: Alabama-Birmingham)
2. Halifax Rainmen - Walter Moyse (6'10''-F/C-81, college: Acadia Nova Scotia)
3. Buffalo Stampede - Karl Rainey (6'4''-F-80, college: Johnson C. Smith)
4. Montreal Sasquatch - Gallo Cham (6'7''-F-85, college: Univ. of North Florida)
5. Augusta Groove - Demetrius Howard (6'5''-G-85, college: Augusta State
6. Manchester Millrats - Sam Carey (6'8''-C, agency: Passing Lane, college: Southern New Hampshire)
7. Quebec City Kebs - Larry House (6'4''-F/G-80, college: Creighton)
8. Chicago Throwbacks - Imari Sawyer (6'2''-G-82, college: De Paul)
9. Battle Creek Knights - Kenny Langhorne (6'5''-F/G-83, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: S.Arkansas)
10. Vermont Frost Heaves - John Bryant (6'7''-F-82, college: St.Joseph's)
11. Mid-Michigan Destroyers - Luke Lloyd (6'8''-C/F-77, agency: Rasmussen Services, college: Morehead St.)
12. Rochester RazorSharks - Brian Jackson (6'1''-G-84, college: Mountain State)
13. Wilmington Sea Dawgs - Travis Taylor (6'8'-F/C, college: Cape Fear CC)
14. Maryland Nighthawks - Luis da Silva (6'0''-G-82) St. Patricks HS (N.J.)
SECOND ROUND
15. Wilmington Sea Dawgs - Franchot Brown (6'4''-F, colleeg: Armstrong Atlantic State)
16. Rochester RazorSharks - waived their 2nd Round Pick for the Rights to Draft Ratdech Kruatiwa (6'3''-G/F-85) from Maryland and undisclosed consideration
17. Mid-Michigan Destroyers - Odgra Bobo (6'6'-F, college: Oakland CC)
18. Vermont Frost Heaves - Taylor Lay (6'7''-F-82, college: NC-Wilmington)
19. Battle Creek Knights - Duke Cleveland (6'8''-C-80, college: Grand Valley St.)
20. Chicago Throwbacks - Jimmie Miles (6'2''-G-84, college: Robert Morris)

21. Quebec City Kebs - Jean-Philippe Morin (6'7''-F-83, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Laval Quebec)
22. Manchester Millrats - Roosevelt Lee (6'6''-F-86, college: Midland JC)
23. Augusta Groove - Lansen Leach (6'0''-G, college: Elizabeth City State)
24. Montreal Sasquatch - Romuald Augustin (6'7''-F-79, college: Bryant)
25. Buffalo Stampede - Nick Perioli (5'9''-G-85, college: Oswego St.)
26. Halifax Rainmen - David Bailey (6'8''-F, college: Prince George CC)
27. Detroit Panthers - Reggie Riley (6'3''-G/F-80, college: Newman)
28. Maryland Nighthawks - Patrick Robinson (6'2'-G, college: Cincinnati)



Rainmen ready to draft 'excited' mystery man - by Eurobasket News
The Halifax Rainmen say they have their man, but they arent letting the cat out of the bag just yet.

The Rainmen are picking second overall in the Premier Basketball League draft this morning in Chicago, and are set to lay the first stones on the foundation for the 2009 season.

The Rainmen, who pick after the Detroit Panthers, have identified a big man who was reportedly a top PBL player last year. They are already confident he will report to Halifax.

The player were looking to draft, weve had conversations with him, Rainmen co-owner Andre Levingston said. Hes very familiar with this city, with our organization. Hes excited about the opportunity to come to Halifax.

Teams gain exclusive PBL negotiating rights to players drafted today and retain them until Nov. 16.

The Rainmen pick again at the 25th spot in the two-round draft.

'Well land a big man with our first pick, Levingston said. Then well look to bring in a highly-skilled player in the second round who can do some banging and some rebounding.

The two players drafted today are expected to be the stars of this seasons team along with returnees Eric Crookshank, Brian Silverhorn, Kadiri Richard and Jimmy Twyman.

The Rainmen protected the four stars of last years team and have their negotiating rights until Nov. 16. The rest of the team will be made up of free agent signings.

Levingston is excited for todays draft, which takes place in the morning and will be streamed online on pblproball.com on tape delay at 8 p.m. He said it legitimizes the PBL.

I just like the draft process, he said. It legitimizes this league and my first impression of the PBL has been strong.

Were looking to draft players who can help us win every night, and Im excited to be a part of it.

Courtesy of http://www.metronews.ca

*****************************************************
  PORTUGAL   


Interview with Manuel Sico - by Bruno Baltazar
The last 2 months in the life of the young international portuguese player,Fernando Sico (202-F/C-88) (202-F/C-88) of Barreirense/Unilogos was a nightmare ,after the European he went to Guine and got sick with malaria,after his sucessfull recover he is here in the 1st person to tell us what happened.

In the last month of August you were in the European Under 20 representing Portugal,how did it went that experience?
Fernando Sico - Its always a great thing to represent the national team and just that fact means alot to me,in the sportive level it was good at the team and personal level but i must admit we could got more then the 6th place we got.

You arrived from Guinea 5 years ago to study and get better as a basketball player ,what was the biggest differences between Portugal and Guinea?
Fernando Sico- The weather ,the food and the education,also the level of basketball is much higher and motivates me alot to practise and play in this country.

You got sick when you came back from Guinea in August how it was that bad moment?
Fernando Sico- I got a amazing support from everyone that loves me ,family,friends,the doctors were really nice and everybody helped me to go thru this bad situation that i went thru.

Are you ready to play again?
Fernando Sico- Since the past Thursday i been practising and i feel good to play again but lets not rush things and at the right time i will be back on the floor.

What do you hope for this season at the team and at the personal level?
Fernando Sico- At the personal level that this season goes better then the last 2,i hope that this season i can really show everybody that i can put my numbers and that Barreirense can be seen as a afirmation team with results and not a team full of kids and thats why we work hard everydays ,theres not many teams that bet on the formation such as us do ,we have our place in here to develp as players and when i was 17 years old i was already playing with the professional team and theres more cases in here such as Antonio Pires,Pedro Pereira,Jose Silva,Joao Gomes,Miguel Graca,Ricardo Gomes between others...

What do you recomend to the youth players?
Fernando Sico- Work alot,never give up ,fallow your dreams and never forget the studies and school as well.

The last msg its that he hopes to see more ppl go to the arena and support Barreirense/Unilogos and he waits and hopes a season with sucess.

Academica beats FC Porto - by Portugal Eurobasket
Academica hosted and beat FC Porto 82-71 last night in a game delayed from day 3. Briosa played enough to put pressure on Porto side which had Paulo Cunha, Joao Figueiredo and Paulo Diamantino unavailable due to injuries but managed to recover Nuno Marcal whose physical condition was far from the one he showed so many times. Though Academica managed to explore well their frontcourt players Scooby Johnson (201-F-83, agency: Court Side, college: Tex.A&M-Comm.) and Anthony Williams to score points in the paint as FC Porto's Christian Burns was the only one showing matter to battle Briosa's centers. Not even the youngsters Fabio Fernandes, Jose Almeida and Augusto Sobrinho took the chance to show their value.

Academica-FC Porto, 82-71

*****************************************************
  PUERTO RICO   


Captains Win Championship - by Luis Ramirez
The Arecibo Captains have won the William Ramirez International Tournament held in Venezuela. The Captains beat Houston Blaze 89-71; they were led by Angel Figueroa (196-G/F-81, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Dowling) who scored 29 points. This tournament was played with the intent of sharpening their skills for the upcoming League of the Americas Tournament which will get underway the 15th of December and run thru early February. The participating countries in this upcoming tournament will be: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

*****************************************************
  ROMANIA   


Standings
Div.A Standings
 1. CSU Atlassib 1-0 
 2. U.Mobitel. CN 1-0 
 3. Pitesti 1-0 
 4. Gaz Metan 1-0 
 5. Rovinari 1-0 
 6. Otopeni 1-0 
 7. Timisoara 1-0 
 8. Dinamo B. 0-0 
 9. Targoviste 0-1 
 10. Craiova 0-1 
 11. CSU Brasov 0-1 
 12. Oradea 0-1 
 13. Rapid B. 0-1 
 14. Mures 0-1 
 15. Ploiesti 0-1 


1-1 for Romanian teams in Balkan league - by Eurobasket News

Dinamo Bucharest - Rilski Sportist 88-79

Romanian Dinamo Bucharest made it for the first time in Balkan league. It means that Dinamo currently has 1-1 while at the same score also is Rilski Sportist. Everything started good for Bulgarians. They took control on Dinamo from the early beginning taking 9 point lead after 10 minutes, 17-26. Nothing has changed after that. Actually Dinamo was slightly better but on the other side Travis Peterson (208-C-85, agency: Edge Sports, college: Samford) and Ivan Lilov (196-F/G-88, agency: FCM) continued in the same rhythm extending lead of their team to 10 until the half time. At that point of game it seemed that Rilski Sportist is much closer to victory. However, the hosts didn't have the same thoughts. Chris Reaves (191-G-84, agency: N.E.T., college: Chaminade) and Miro Vranjic (201-F-83, agency: Court Side) woke up and together with their teammates netted amazing 33 points in third quarter. Bulgarians had many problems at the defensive end during the entire second half. When it was expected that Rilski recover from this shock and come back into the game, that didn't happen. Romanians ended last quarter 24-17 celebrating comfortable victory at the end. Chris Reaves was totally the best player for the winning team adding 23 points and 5 boards. Miro Vranjic contributed 19 points and 7 rebounds while Macedonian Kiril Pavlovski (210-C-85, agency: Global Sports Plaza) had 13 points and 8 boards. Travis Peterson drained 18 points in Rilski. Ivan Lilov was behind him with 15 points, 5 boards and 6 assists.

Dinamo: Chris Reaves 23+ 5 boards, Miro Vranjic 19+7 boards, Kiril Pavlovski 13+8 boards
Rilski Sportist: Travis Peterson 18, Ivan Lilov 15+5 boards+6 as, Bogdan Boev (196-G-82) 12



Feni Indistri - CSU Cuadripol 86-75

Feni Industri took care for another victory in Balkan league. After road win against Radnicki 034 Group in the opening round, this time Mac-champion outplayed Romanian CSU Cuadripol without any extra efforts. Feni had Gjorgi Cekovski (202-F/C-81, agency: Arik Krayn Services), Donald Cole (204-C-81, agency: Edge Sports, college: Sam Houston St.) and Milan Prekovic (195-G/F-75) in a game mood from the early beginning. Except of the first stanza, which belonged to Romanians 15-19, Feni Industri was the team which dominated during the entire time. Second quarter could be the most important period of the game as the hosts ended it with impressive 27-13. Milan Prekovic was on fire but, what was even more important, he dished out 11 assists keeping his teammates 'warm'. After the breather, above mentioned killing trio continued where it stopped in the first half. Thus after 30 minutes of the game Macedonians had 68-54, despite CSU Cuadripol also had couple of very motivated players. During the last ten minutes Romanians come a little bit closer but it for sure was not enough against tough Macedonians. Gjorgi Cekovski registered double-double in the winning team, 21 points and 11 rebounds. Donald Cole had 17+5 while Milan Prekovic stopped on 15 points and 11 assists. Ionut Dragusin (221-C-85) shined in CSU Cuadripol with 22 points and 6 rebounds but his team will have to look for another chance in order to record the first win in Balkan league. Alex Hartman (201-G/F-85, agency: Tank Sports, college: Concordia (OR)) followed Ionut Dragusin scoring 21 points.

Feni Industri: Gjorgi Cekovski 21+11 boards, Donald Cole 17+5 boards, Milan Prekovic 15+11 as
CSU Cuadripol: Ionut Dragusin 22+6 boards, Alex Hartman 21, Darko Veljovic (203-F-74) 10+9 boards, Senai Isleam (217-C-76, agency: Court Side) 10+7 boards



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


BIBL: Stojacic leads Mega HL vs Rabotnicki, Radnicki 034 defeated - by Dragan Jankovski
In the second round of Balkan International Basketball League, Serbian representatives registered one win and one defeat.

Mega Hypo Leasing was better than Fersped Rabotnicki 77-68 mostly owing to golden kid from U19 WC in Novi Sad, U18 EC in Madrid and U20 EC in RIga, Stefan Stojacic (195-G-89), as well as another youngster Aleksandar Mitrovic (201-G-90). First 20 minutes belonged to Macedonians, despite Mega entered into this match strongly creating 4-point lead in the first quarter. Fersped Rabotnicki had big guy Ersid Ljuca (208-C-81, agency: World Sport Agency) and Toni Simic (210-C-76, agency: Interperformances) in a game mood, what was enough for 29 -30 at the half time. Young Belgrade's team showed up after the breather with strong willingness to fight, what also helped it at the offensive end. The hosts made few easy baskets from the fast breaks making a turn before the last quarter 51-47. During the last ten minutes Stefan Stojacic and his teammates just sealed the second victory in Balkan league improving on 2-1. Ferpsed Rabotnicki is on 1-1.
Stefan Stojacic led Mega HL to victory netting 19 points. He had pretty good shot percentage 4/6 FG2, 3/4 3-pts and 2/2 FTs. Aleksandar Mitrovic also was great scoring just one point less while Dusan Katnic (193-G-89) had 11 points and 4 rebounds. Macedonian team got the most from Toni Simic, who scored 14 points and 4 rebounds.


Mega Hypo Leasing - Ferpsed Rabotnicki 77-68
(18-14, 11-16, 22-17, 26-11)

Mega HL: Stojacic 19, Mitrovic 18, Katnic 11 (4 rebs), Nikolic 10 (8 rebs)
Rabotnicki: SImic 14 (4 rebs), Ljuca 12 (5 rebs), Tasovski 11, Karakolev 11
---


In the other game Radnicki 034 Group suffered road defeat against Cherno More in Bulgaria 79-86. Interesting is that it was the first game of Cherno More in one of the European competitions after 8 years. It was very exciting game until the very end where question about the winner is resolved in the last 3 minutes. After 69-69 the hosts made 7-0 run, what turned our as unreachable for Serbians. Corey McIntosh (183-G-85, college: Iowa St.) shined in Cherno More with 25 points and 6 assists. Atila Santos (208-C-83, college: Minn.St.-Mankato) maybe was even better than him with 19 points and 17 boards. These two players have the same index value 26. Radnicki 034 Group got 17 points and 4 rebounds from Rajko Kljajevic (204-F-85, agency: Interperformances).


Cherno More - Radnicki 034 Group 86-79
(19-19, 21-18, 15-20, 31-22)

Cherno More: McIntosh 25 (6 as), Santos 19 (17 rebs), Bojovic 15
Radnicki 034: Kljajevic 17 (4 rebs), Duvnjak 14 (5 rebs), Draskovic 13 (10 rebs)

*****************************************************
  SLOVAKIA   


Pezinok and Bystrica jump on 3-0 - by Eurobasket News
Third round of Slovakian Extraliga was played yesterday.

Reining champion AB Cosmetics Pezinok trashed, until that moment undefeated, Astrum Levice 95-71. Question about the winner is resolved already in the first half as Pezinok created plus 18, 50-32. Until the end of the game the hosts just extended their lead even more. Dusan Snopko (195-G-75) was the key player for the winners draining 20 points. Peter Micuda (206-C-72) was behind him with 16 points while Andrej Lukjanec (203-F/C-69) netted 15. Levice got 17 points from Richard Klein (196-F-77) while Nenad Milosevic (188-G-83) had one point less.

SKP Banska Bystrica grabbed important road victory against Slavia TU Kosice 78-64 and together with Pezinok remained on top of Extraliga with 3-0. Bystrica opened the game well making 21-11 in the first frame. During the following 20 minutes visitors earned even bigger lead recording pretty comfortable victory at the end. Croatian Ivan Skara (204-F-82, college: Cleveland St. CC) paced Bystrica to third win nailing 17 points. Michal Batka (205-C-87) had the same number in Kosice, who slipped on 1-2.

HBK Prievidza made it against Spisska Nova Ves in very exciting game 81-78 improving its score on 2-1. On the other side SNV dropped on 1-2. Viliam Ridzon (193-G-75) shined for the winning side scoring 21 points. Gabriel Szalay (215-C-86) followed him with 18. It is exactly how much scored Igor Pesta (203-F/C-84) but for Spisska Nova Ves.

Inter defeated Chemosvit in Bratislava 99-81 without any extra efforts. It was a game between two winless teams after two rounds. Konrad Tota (196-F-80, college: Dickinson St.) top-scored for Inter with 26 points while Vincent Polakovic (203-F-84, college: USF) also shined pouring in 25 points. Zachary Ingles (188-G-83, college: E.Kentucky) also had 25 but for the loosing side.

MBK Handlova suffered home defeat vs MBK Rieker Komarno 92-99 remaining on just one win so far. Komarno jumped on 2-1 thanks to 26 points by Igor Majoros (200-F-80, agency: Promotex, college: SW Baptist). Interesting is that Dom Johnson (183-G-85, college: Illinois St.) drained amazing 43 points for the hosts, but unfortunately to him it was not enough for the victory.

SPU Nitra takes it easily over Dolny Kubin 95-80, who remains on the bottom of the standing with 0-3. Nitra got 20 points from Dametri Hill (203-C-74, college: Florida) and 15 from Roman Vido (204-C-88) recording second win in Extraliga. Lukas Dubovsky (192-G-87) netted 17 for Dolny Kubin.

*****************************************************
  TURKEY   


Beko Basketball league 2008-2009 Season begins - by Baha Kurtulus
Last three seasons Turkish Basketball League was very struggling. It will start at 16 October, 2008, 20.00 p.m. with a match between last season championship Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul and Casa TED Kolejliler Ankara. Casa TED Kolejliler Ankara was raised to premier league two years ago and showed a high quality and performance, and played noticeable matches.
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul with the same technique team and coach, includes Gordon Giricek, Marques Green ve Devin Smith to its staff and be very strong and powerful this year. We are wondering the match between Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul and Casa TED Kolejliler Ankara which changed their last three seasons succesful coach and restructured with a very young and new team .
This year it can be predicted that Turkish Basketball league will be very tough like last two seasons. We would like to wish a succesful year to all teams.

Market News - by Serdar Ortakuyu
TB2L side Yesilyurt may have lost their starting center Dennis Mims (205-F-80, college: Indiana, PA) but immediately reinforced the froncourt with Johnny Phillips (204-F/C-79, agency: World Sport Agency, college: Texas Tech) who had already played in Turkey for Beykoz Mersin Bsb and FMV Isikspor while Akcakoca Poyraz finally put an end to their big man seacrh and inked the athletic Tim Parham (206-F-83, agency: EM-PA, college: Md-Eastern Shore), most recently played in Venezuella.
ITU ended up joining forces with Oklahoma center Longar Longar (211-C-83, college: Oklahoma) who is coming off a good showcase at Portsmouth Invitational 2008 and Usak signed with former Florida State star Trevor Harvey (211-C-80, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Florida St.) who played for Fenerbahce between 2003-2005.

Standings - TBL
TBL Standings
 1. Fener.Ulker 1-0 
 2. Galatasaray 0-0 
 3. Efes Pilsen 0-0 
 4. Karsiyaka 0-0 
 5. Darussafaka 0-0 
 6. T.Telekom 0-0 
 7. Besiktas 0-0 
 8. Oyak Renault 0-0 
 9. Erdemir 0-0 
 10. Antalya 0-0 
 11. Banvit 0-0 
 12. Mersin 0-0 
 13. Aliaga 0-0 
 14. Selcuk Uni. 0-0 
 15. Kepez Bld 0-0 
 16. TED Koleji 0-1 


Standings - TB2L
TB2L Standings
Group A
 1. TED Istanbul 0-0 
 2. FMV Isik 0-0 
 3. Vestel 0-0 
 4. Bursa B-bol 0-0 
 5. Orman 0-0 
 6. Eyup 0-0 
 7. Akcakoca P. 0-0 
 8. Trabzonspor 0-0 
 9. Edirne Genclik 0-0 
 10. Pamukkale 0-0 
 11. Genc Telekom 0-0 
 12. Bornova 0-0 
Group B
 1. Mulkiye 0-0 
 2. Beykoz 0-0 
 3. Duzce Genclik 0-0 
 4. Canakkale 0-0 
 5. Gelisim 0-0 
 6. Ankara Basket 0-0 
 7. Genc Banvit. 0-0 
 8. Usak 0-0 
 9. Pertevniyal 0-0 
 10. Tofas 0-0 
 11. ITU 0-0 
 12. Yesilyurt 0-0 


Fenerbahce Ulker beats CASA TED Ankara Kolejliler easily. 83-46 - by Baha Kurtulus

With a fast start Fenerbahce Ulker leaded the match against CASA TED Ankara Kolejliler and played very well during all the match periods at the first match of the Turkish Basketball League. The difference increased to 37 points and the final score was 83-46.


Fenerbahce Ulker (83): Marques Green 3 (1 reb-7 ass), Mirsad Turkcan 7 (7 reb), Rasim Basak 3 (1 reb), Gordon Giricek 15 (3 reb-1 ass), Damir Mrsic 5 (5 reb-2 ass), Gasper Vidmar 11 (11 reb-1 ass), Hakan Demirel 3 (1 reb 1 ass) Oguz Savas 9 (7 reb 2 ass ), Devin Smith 11 (8 reb-4 ass), Serhat Cetin, Emir Preldzic 16 (2 reb-2 ass)

CASA TED Ankara Kolejliler (46): Ozgur Adiguzel (1 reb-1ass), Polat Kaya 5 (7 reb), Caner Oner ( 1 reb), Ziya Yarkan, Cevat Alper Ozcan, Caner Erdeniz 3 ( 2 reb), Onder Kulcebas 4 ( 1 reb), Kevin Bell 8 ( 2 reb), Quan Prowell 17 (7 reb-2 ass) Erek Hansen 9 ( 9 reb-1ass-4 blk)

1.period: 23-8
2.period: 22-14
3.period: 19-8
4.period: 19-16



*****************************************************
  UGANDA   


Blick Brothers Join English DIV. 3 Side - by Kristian Santiago
by Phillip Corry and Charles Mutebi

FORMER Nkumba Marines basketball stars Norman Blick (201-F-83) and Donald Blick (194-G/F-86) have found solace in the Southampton Trailblazers in the English Basketball League Division 3 (South).
The two brothers left Uganda early this year without the knowledge of their Entebbe-based side before the local basketball season tipped off. However their move to England was shrouded with controversy after signing for KCC Lions basketball team.
'We are playing for the Southampton Trailblazers,' Norman confirmed in an e-mail message.
'The crowd loves us, the kids love us and they get so excited with our moves.
Norman has played several games with the latest against Wellingborough Phoenix, where he came off the bench to score 12 points as his side won 75-67 but the powerful forward sustained a back injury that will keep him out for two months.
In 2006 he had a stint with a Qatari club before returning home to rejoin Marines.
His coach one Donneaud describes him as a massive wing span and with agility to bring an offense threat.

League champions Mogas Falcons Athletics are preparing for the Zone V club championship in Ethiopia starting October 28 but they need sh45m to make the four-day trip.
The club has turned to six separate fundraising schemes. They plan to raise the funds through an SMS competition which started October 10 and will run until the 24, a globetrotters evening October. 18 at the Lugogo Shopping Mall parking yard and a Falcons dance night at Ange Mystique on Thursday.
The dance will be preceded on the same day by a glamour and fashion evening at Lugogo. That will be followed by a barbeque on Friday at Makerere and finally a Haute cuisine dinner October. 24 at Arirang Restaurant.
If the drive succeeds, the club intends to sponsor a 19-man delegation which they hope will lodge a serious title challenge for the trophy.


Meanwhile, Lady Bucks recorded their eighth victory of the 2008 ladies MTN-FUBA league with a 58-47 win over the Victoria Lakers on Sunday.

*****************************************************
  UNITED KINGDOM   


Blick Brothers Join English DIV. 3 Side - by Kristian Santiago
by Phillip Corry and Charles Mutebi

FORMER Nkumba Marines basketball stars Norman Blick (201-F-83) and Donald Blick (194-G/F-86) have found solace in the Southampton Trailblazers in the English Basketball League Division 3 (South).
The two brothers left Uganda early this year without the knowledge of their Entebbe-based side before the local basketball season tipped off. However their move to England was shrouded with controversy after signing for KCC Lions basketball team.
'We are playing for the Southampton Trailblazers,' Norman confirmed in an e-mail message.
'The crowd loves us, the kids love us and they get so excited with our moves.
Norman has played several games with the latest against Wellingborough Phoenix, where he came off the bench to score 12 points as his side won 75-67 but the powerful forward sustained a back injury that will keep him out for two months.
In 2006 he had a stint with a Qatari club before returning home to rejoin Marines.
His coach one Donneaud describes him as a massive wing span and with agility to bring an offense threat.

League champions Mogas Falcons Athletics are preparing for the Zone V club championship in Ethiopia starting October 28 but they need sh45m to make the four-day trip.
The club has turned to six separate fundraising schemes. They plan to raise the funds through an SMS competition which started October 10 and will run until the 24, a globetrotters evening October. 18 at the Lugogo Shopping Mall parking yard and a Falcons dance night at Ange Mystique on Thursday.
The dance will be preceded on the same day by a glamour and fashion evening at Lugogo. That will be followed by a barbeque on Friday at Makerere and finally a Haute cuisine dinner October. 24 at Arirang Restaurant.
If the drive succeeds, the club intends to sponsor a 19-man delegation which they hope will lodge a serious title challenge for the trophy.


Meanwhile, Lady Bucks recorded their eighth victory of the 2008 ladies MTN-FUBA league with a 58-47 win over the Victoria Lakers on Sunday.

BBL Cup Competition Commences - by Andy Webb
The sixth BBL Cup tips off over the weekend with eight teams taking part in the first round as they look to move towards a place at the NIA in January.

Last year's final saw Marshal MK Lions pick up their first piece of silverware with a 69-66 victory against Newcastle Eagles, and both of last season's finalists along with Guilford Heat and Airwaves Plymouth Raiders have a bye to the quarter-finals of this year's competition.

The first final of the competition saw Sheffield Sharks defeat Scottish Rocks, and both of the inaugural finalists are in action over the weekend.

Sheffield travel to Worcester Wolves on Sunday, and new player-coach Atiba Lyons (198-F-82, college: Pace) is looking forward to the game: 'Cup games are play-off games inside the season in the sense it has a different atmosphere. However, we will still prepare for the game the same way.'

Lyons has yet to see the Wolves in action this season, but he expects a difficult game: I haven't had a chance to see them, so I am waiting on tape. I know they will have a potent offense and I think they get some tough inside play from Justin Brown (213-C-80, agency: Passing Lane, college: Connecticut).'

Rocks have reached three finals without ever lifting the trophy, and coach Sterling Davis is determined to be in hunt for more silverware as they prepare to host Everton Tigers on Sunday: 'It's not so much special that it's a cup game but more-so another opportunity for us to compete for silverware and that's what we are here to do.'

Tigers coach Tony Garbelotto is ready for a difficult game: 'They're a tough team, and it's going to be do or die. We have to play a game at a place no one's used to, in fact I'm probably one of the few people who's been there, and that was ten years ago.'

Worthing Thunder coach Gary Smith knows who his team has to look out for as they travel to Jelson Homes Leicester Riders on Saturday: 'To have Tony Windless coming off the bench with his experience is a big bonus, so we're going to have to be on the top of our game if we want to progress to the quarter finals.'

The first round line-up is completed at Northgate Arena where BiG Storage Cheshire Jets host PAWS London Capital, and coach Paul Smith is prepared for a difficult encounter: 'They had a great win against Guildford last week, so it's going to be very very tough. It's an important game for us because we want to stay in the Cup and give ourselves a chance of winning something.'

*****************************************************
  URBL   


URBL Draft Moved; Player Hotel Arrangements Updated - by Mac Claire

The URBL Audition and Draft has been moved to Antioch Sports Complex at 314 Erros St in San Antonio. From I-35, exit at Walters Street and travel east. Antioch Sports Complex will be about 1/2 mile on the right side, just past Antioch Baptist Church. The auditions begin at 9:00 AM.

Hotel Arrangements: Players will stay at the Days Inn San Antonio Airport, 542 NE Loop 410. A courtesy shuttle van is available to transport players to and from the airport.

For more information, email info@love4hoops.com or call Commissioner Mac Claire at 210-209-1198.




*****************************************************
  WCBL   


Breakers to China Report - 1 - by Gianni Pascucci
Today, we start publishing an interesting report, written by coach Curt Pickering , about the Santa Barbara Breakers tournee in China. See here the First Chapter.
China Chronicles Part 1 : It is a 25 day excursion that I will never forget. It all started back on June 19, 2008. My friend, Terry Layton was viewing the Breakers website and noticed that we were 16-0 and heading into the West Coast Basketball League Championship later that week. He called me and said, 'Do you want to go to China'? My immediate response was, 'Sure'. Terry had taken a team over in March of 2008 and knew that the basketball sponsors were looking for a team for September/October of 2008 to play games in China. He made contact via email later that day with them. We proceeded to win the League Championship on Saturday, June 21. Two days later, I got an email from China stating that they had viewed our website and was inviting us to come over for a 17 tour to play games against their professional participating in the China Basketball Association (CBA). From that moment on, I began planning out our Dream Trip to China. I had coached in Asia previously; in Kuwait, Bahrain, United Emirates and the Philippines. But, China really captured my attention as it has become the New Frontier for basketball since the marriage of Yao Ming and the NBA in 2002. Many, many emails were to follow over the next 12 weeks as both I, the owner/coach of the Santa Barbara Breakers and Han Yulin, Promoter for Chinese Basketball began a relationship that would eventually bring us face to face in the enormously rich and spacious Republic of China. Initially, I had to build a roster that would impress not only the Chinese media but also the basketball critics who are always expecting Michael Jordan and Larry Bird to make a comeback and grace their arenas. Not a chance for that but I felt that I could at least assemble a group of individuals who would demonstrate athleticism, basketball skill and team play. That would not be an easy task as most star players would either be on NBA rosters in September/October or already playing overseas. Such was the case of Breaker stars Tyler Newton (6'10''-C-82, college: Pacific) and Adam Zahn (6'8''-F/C-84, college: Oregon) in Japan; point guard Shantay Legans (5'10''-G-81, agency: Court Side, college: Fresno St.) in Holland and 7'1 center Rashid Byrd (7'0''-C-81, college: E.Oklahoma St. JC) in Mexico. Josh Merrill (6'9''-F-74, college: UCSB), MVP of the WCBL, was expecting his first child so he too, was not available for the tour. Since I did not provide a big bonus or championship ring for my players who had accomplished an unprecedented 18-0 record during our 2008 spring season in the WCBL, I decided the most loyal gesture I could demonstrate was to offer this great trip to China to our remaining 5 players who was part of the undefeated season. Four of the five quickly accepted when I gave them the official news the last week of June. Mark Peters (5'11''-G-81, college: Cal-Riverside), Tim Taylor (6'3''-G-82, college: Wayne St., NE), Justin Johnson (6'0''-G-83, college: Mississippi) and Allan Purnell (6'4''-G-82, college: Pacific) while Jeremy Vague (6'9''-F/C-79, college: Utah St.) declined due to personal reasons. I then chose to honor our new WCBL league cast of stars. Armand Thomas (6'9''-F-81, college: Cal.St. Northridge) was the leading rebounder in the league. He had previously played overseas in Cyprus. He was anxious to return to employment internationally so he gave me a quick thumbs up. Jermaine Small (6'8''-F/C-77, college: Iona), leading scorer in the WCBL for the Ventura Jets, gave an affirmative as did First Team All-Defensive Mark Dawson (6'8''-C, college: Long Beach St.) of the Carlsbad BeachDawgs. Filling out the remaining 3 positions was former Los Angeles Clippers center, Keith Closs (7'3''-C-76, agency: Court Side, college: Cent.Conn.St.), who stands just one inch shy of Yao Ming. Also committing was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6'6''-F/G-76, college: W.Kentucky), son of the Lakers legendary center. The final participant to fill out the 10 man squad was ABA All-Star Lemar Gayle (6'6''-F-79, college: CSU Bakersfield), who had torched the Breakers in 2007 for 47 points when he played for the Seattle Mountaineers.



*****************************************************

Women News

*****************************************************
  AUSTRALIA - Women  


Kristi Harrower to lift Spirit - by Eurobasket News
Bendigo Bank Spirit coach Bernie Harrower is hopeful daughter Kristi Harrower (166-G-75) will be free to play in this Friday's crunch match against Dandenong.

Kristi - one of the worlds leading point guards - was sacked by Russian club UMMC Ekaterinburg last month.

She has been battling to have the conditions of her lucrative contract honoured since.

Bernie said his 33-year-old daughter yesterday faxed a signed agreement of terms to her agent who forwarded it to the Russian club, and could be available for this weekends Womens National Basketball League clash if paperwork is completed in time.

The Russian club has to finally sign off on the agreement and Basketball Australia approve her clearance.

Shes signing the agreement and will send it back, so thats the latest we have on it, Bernie said.

Hopefully that will mean the clearance will be forthcoming.

Its getting closer, but I wont believe it until I see the clearance come through.

But were pretty hopeful shell be available for Friday night. Having Kristi coming into the team - if that happens - will certainly give us a lift in confidence, just because of her ability.

The inclusion of Kristi could not come at a more crucial time for the Spirit, who are languishing on the bottom of the WNBL ladder after losing their first three matches.

Defeat in last weekends double-header against Adelaide and then Perth followed a 15-point opening round loss to Canberra and Bernie knows the Spirit must rally promptly to avoid losing touch early in the season.

'I thought defensively against Canberra we were very good and then the next two games we were very poor, maybe thats the difference between playing at home and away', he said.

Offensively wed been struggling, then we got it together against Perth and defence goes out the door.

'We've got a long way to go and a win would certainly be good for our confidence'.

'We need some people to stand up at both ends of the floor for us and start to show us what theyre made of . . . I need our girls to start getting that fire in their belly'.

'We've got to keep improving and make sure we dont get too far off the pace'.

'If we go 0-4 were not necessarily off the pace . . . this year is probably a bit more open and last year clubs still made the finals despite coming from a long way back'.

The Spirit plays Dandenong at the Geelong Arena at 8pm Friday.

Courtesy of the Bendigo Advertiser

*****************************************************
  BALTIC LEAGUE - Women  


Standings
BWBL Standings
 1. Arvi 2-0 
 2. Tim-Scuf 1-0 
 3. Berezina 1-0 
 4. Olimpia 1-0 
 5. BC Star 1-0 
 6. Laisve 1-2 
 7. Cesis 0-0 
 8. Kozachka 0-0 
 9. Kazakhstan 0-0 
 10. Spartak SP 0-0 
 11. Tall.Living 0-1 
 12. Minsk-2006 0-1 
 13. Lemminkain. 0-1 
 14. Victoria 0-1 
 15. Ol.-NAEK 0-2 


*****************************************************
  BRAZIL - Women  


Brazilians start in Europe - by Eurobasket News
Bourges Basket overcame Besiktas Cola Turka in the opener of Euroleague 2008/2009. French champions were too good at home taking 79:49 victory. Brazilian Alessandra Santos (200-C-73) led the winners with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Nwal Endene Miyem netted 16, while Catherine Melain collected 10 points and 10 rebounds. Laura Harper ended up with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Shay Doron scored 12.
The final score could not show the whole picture of the game. Dumerc made the score 4-0 from the start for the hosts. French champions led 11:5 throughout the period but then Besiktas Cola Turka finished the quarter at 7-0 run. In the second period the game remained tough and only after 23-17 in it Bourges Basket had 34:29 at the halftime. Bourges, leading 34:31 at the start of the third quarter got a basket from Alessandra Santos and three-balls from Celine Dumerc and Catherine Melain to start a 16-2 run that the Turkish club never recovered from. A 22-11 in the third lifted Bourges up to 56:40 after the third period. With a 23-9 the French side finished the game and took 1-0 record in Group A. Turkish side had good thoughts about the beginning of the game but could not stay in race for the first win in the opener.
Spanish champions Ros Casares experienced little difficulties overcoming Lotos in the Euroleague opener for both teams. Lotos led for less than a minute at the start of the encounter before Ros Casares took over for good. The hosts dominated the game and piled up a 23:11 advantage with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. Marchanka however capped the term with a three-pointer to give Lotos hope. Snytsina and Marchanka trimmed the deficit to 3 points at the beginning of the second period. But Ros Casares went on a 13:1 rally to clear off. Ana Montanana accounted for three last points in the half as the Spanish team enjoyed a 19-point margin. Tornikidou, Erika De Souza (197-C-82) and Amaya Valdemoro lifted the Spaniards to a 21-point lead as they controlled the situation. Vesela and Elisa Aguilar finalized the third term with a 67:37 lead for Ros Casares. Lotos had little to say in the dying moments as the home team eased to the victory. Erika De Souza produced 21 points and 11 boards for Ros Casares. Amaya Valdemoro added 19 points, while Elisa Aguilar finished with 12 for the winning side. Ivana Matovic answered with 15 points for Lotos. Alana Beard secured 11 points in the loss. Lotos will take on UMMC in Poland in the second round. Ros Casares will visit Czech Republic to play against USK Prague.
The Hungarian champions MKB Euroleasing got to a perfect start of their Euroleague campaign. They defeated TTT Riga with Brazilian Natalia Burian (163-G-84) away from home to take the lead in preliminary Group B. Dora Horti and Kathleen Macleod set the tone early in the game as MKB jumped to a 4:0 lead. TTT Riga however quickly denied the deficit and the teams exchanged the baskets throughout the quarter. Kathleen Macleod capped the first frame with a jumper to give the Hungarian side a 24:23 lead at the first intermission. Ratkaine and Amber Holt stretched the gap to to 9 points at the start of the second period. MKB Euroleasing dominated the second quarter and enjoyed a 6-point advantage at halftime. But TTT Riga refused to give up. Tatyana Troina and Brumermane cut the deficit to just a single point with one quarter remaining. The teams kept it close throughout the fourth term before Dora Horti, Horvath and Amber Holt ignited an 8:0 run to give the visitors a decisive 11-point cushion with under 2 minutes left. Dora Horti finished with 16 points and 10 boards for MKB Euroleasing. Kathleen Macleod and Amber Holt added 16 points apiece for the winners. Tatyana Troina answered with 21 points for the hosts. Essence Carson secured 17 points in the losing case.

*****************************************************
  CROATIA - Women  


UMMC thrash Sibenik in Croatia - by Eurobasket News
Sibenik - UMMC Ekaterinburg 62:92

Russian UMMC secured an impressive success at the start of the Euroleague campaign. They visited Sibenik in Croatia and thumped them 92:62 to jump atop of Group C. Penny Taylor (185-F-81) and Sandrine Gruda (191-F/C-87) came up with 18 points apiece for UMMC. Agnieszka Bibrzycka (184-F/G-82, college: Abil.Christian) tallied 15 points, 8 boards and 7 assists for the winners. Constance Jinks (170-G-81, college: UNLV) answered with 16 points for Sibenik.
The hosts led early in the game due to buckets from Gardin and Cakic. However Asjha Jones and Sandrine Gruda paced UMMC in front and the Russian stronghold cleared off to an 8-point distance. Asjha Jones and Penny Taylor stretched the margin to 12 points at the first intermission. UMCC kept the hosts at bay throughout the second term and built a 45:29 lead at the interval. Sandrine Gruda and Agnieszka Bibrzycka ensured a 7:0 start to the third period as UMMC looked confident at the moment. Sibenik never recovered as they entered the fourth term down by 22 points. The Russian team eased to the victory in the final stanza and secured the opening win in Group C.
Sibenik will look for the initial win against Union Hainaut Basket on October 22. UMMC will travel to Poland to play against Lotos on October 23.

Sibenik: Constance Jinks 16, Luca Ivankovic (201-C-87) 14
UMMC: Penny Taylor 18, Sandrine Gruda 18, Agnieszka Bibrzycka 15

*****************************************************
  CZECH REPUBLIC - Women  


Umana Reyer Venezia handed Gambrinus a loss in Brno - by Eurobasket News
Gambrinus - Umana Reyer 68:77

Umana Reyer Venezia won the opener of EuroLeague Women in Czech Republic. Gambrinus Sika Brno tried to recover after 16-24 in the opening quarter but allowed Italian team to celebrate 77:68 win. Jenifer Nadalin (187-F/C-83, college: Furman) led the winners with 14 points to 1-0 record. Simona Ballardini (183-F-81) nailed 13, whilst Giorgia Sottana (177-G-88) added 12. Zuzana Zirkova (175-F/G-80) and Eva Viteckova (190-F-82) produced 13 each for the hosts, Liene Jansone (192-F/C-81, college: Siena) posted 11.
Giorgia Sottana opened the game for the visitors as they started to take control of the game. Jokic made it 16:9 and then Jenifer Nadalin closed the first at 24:16. The hosts did not panic and took the lead in the second quarter. Eva Viteckova nailed a three for 31:29 while Horakova added two more for the run. Simona Ballardini tied the game before the teams went to the lockers for 38:38.
Umana Reyer Venezia trailed 40:38 a minute into the second half but outscored their hosts 19-6 over the next nine minutes for a 57:46 lead. Kulichova finished the third period at 48:57 with a jump-shot. Fegyverneky brought the hosts back to the game at 66:69 with 2 minutes to go and kept their chances alive. Umana Reyer Venezia however finished the night with 8-2 run to seal the win in the opener.

Gambrinus:Zuzana Zirkova 13, Eva Viteckova 13, Liene Jansone 11
Umana Reyer: Jenifer Nadalin 14, Simona Ballardini 13, Giorgia Sottana 12

Union Hainaut Basket betters USK Prague in the Euroleague opener - by Eurobasket News
Union Hainaut Basket - USK Prague 78:62

Union Hainaut Basket took on the USK Prague in the Euroleague curtain-raiser for both teams. The French team looked the better side down the line and posted the deserved win at the end. The start of the game was all about USK Prague however. Ferancikova, Sonja Kireta (198-C-76) and Sandra Le Drean knocked down 6 straight points to pace the visitors. Hainaut answered with a 15:2 rally to build a 7-point lead late in the quarter. Beikes and Stansbury stretched the gap to 13 points at the end of the period. Chioma Nnamaka (183-G-85, college: Georgia Tech) and Ngoyisa looked pivotal early in the second term as they allowed Hainaut to extend the margin to 23 points. Evanthia Maltsi (180-F-78) took the charge for USK Prague nailing 7 points and trimming the distance to 19 points at the interval. Sonja Kireta and Lindsay Whalen dragged the Czech team within 16 points midway through the third frame but the hosts closed the frame with an 8:0 surge to secure a 24-point buffer between the teams. USK Prague had little chances to save the game in the final stanza and they surrendered at the end. Chioma Nnamaka led the home team with 12 points. Kathy Wambe (173-G-81) and Sabrina Reghaissia (188-F-83) dropped 11 points apiece for the winners. Sonja Kireta answered with 16 points for USK Prague. Evanthia Maltsi produced 15 points in the loss.
Union Hainaut Basket will next face Jolly Sibenik in Croatia. USK Prague will host Ros Casares.

Union Hainaut Basket: Chioma Nnamaka 12, Kathy Wambe 11, Sabrina Reghaissia 11
USK Prague: Sonja Kireta 16, Evanthia Maltsi 15

*****************************************************
  DENMARK - Women  


Falcon and Vaerlose celebrate in round two - by Eurobasket News
Round 2 of Danish Dameligean ended last week-end and except of Horsholm and Aabyhoj, two more teams, Falcon and Vaerlose, were victorious.

Falcon made it on the road against Virum 76-71 celebrating the first win this season. On the other side, it was unsuccessful 08/09 opener for Virum, who was free in the first round. Lisa Olden (188-C-86) was the key player for Falcon in this game adding 25 points and impressive 14 rebounds. Prue Kenny (178-G) contributed 15 points. Ivana Kostic (170-G-85) was a way better than the others in Virum collecting 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals with decent shot percentage. Trine Duelund (182-F-84) was behind her with 12 points and 5 boards.

In the other game Vaerlose took care for 100% successful round for the visiting teams. Vaerlose was better than Lemvig 67-57 jumping on 1-1, while the hosts slipped on 0-2. Except of the opening quarter, which belonged to the hosts, Vaerlose was the team who controlled rhythm of the game. Visitors had pretty good second half ending it 36-43. Chelsea Luhta paced her team to victory netting 23 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. Actually she was the only one with double digits in scoring for Vaerlose. Lemvig got 27 points and 9 boards from Claudia Porras (188-F-84).

*****************************************************
  EUROLEAGUE - Women  


Standings (Women)
Euroleague Standings
Group A
 1. Wisla Can-Pak 0-0 
 2. Bourges 0-0 
 3. Orenburg 0-0 
 4. Perfumerias 0-0 
 5. Pecsi 0-0 
 6. Besiktas 0-0 
Group B
 1. Gambrinus 0-0 
 2. TTT Riga 0-0 
 3. MKB Eurol. 0-0 
 4. CSKA 0-0 
 5. Villeneuve 0-0 
 6. Venezia 0-0 
Group C
 1. UMMC 0-0 
 2. Union Hainaut 0-0 
 3. Ros Casares 0-0 
 4. USK Praha 0-0 
 5. Sibenik 0-0 
 6. Lotos PKO BP 0-0 
Group D
 1. Fenerbahce 0-0 
 2. Maxima Br. 0-0 
 3. TEO Vilnius 0-0 
 4. Schio 0-0 
 5. Spartak V MR 0-0 
 6. Montpellier 0-0 


*****************************************************
  FINLAND - Women  


FINNISH CUP: Huima beat Catz 76-61 - by Rauno Hurmalainen

Finnish Cup, Quarter-Finals: Huima (Aanekoski) beat last season Finnish Cup winner Catz (Lappeenranta) 76-61 so there will be a new Cup winner
in the middle of December. Huima was winning the rebounds 48-35 and had five players in double figures. Carrie Bacon (182-F-80, college: Wyoming) led Huima with 20 pts. Catz had only Yelena Solovyeva (188-C-75) (21/15) and Elena Reshetko (184-C-86) (19) over 10 pts. PeKa (Kotka) lost again vs Espoo Team. This time the difference was 10 pts (54-64). PeKa had two and Espoo Team four players in double figures. HoNsU (Jyvaskyla) had no difficulties to win over BC Nokia (81-59) and Kori-80 (Kerava) made it also to the Final 4 by defeating RaPy (Tampere) 102-72. Semi-Finals on November 12: HoNsU - Espoo Team and Kori-80 - Huima.

Huima - Catz 76-61 (28-29) (Carrie Bacon 20, Erneisha Bailey 17/12, Kenya Robinson 14/12 - Yelena Solovyeva 21/15, Elena Reshetko 19).

PeKa - Espoo Team 54-64 (28-35) (Carithia Rivers 17, Sherida Triggs 12/12 - Henna Salomaa 16, Whitney Allen 15/11, Ashley Haynes 13/10).

HoNsU - BC Nokia 81-59 (46-29) (Raquel Collier 24, Amanda Decoud 20, Tiia Hietanen 14 - Calisha Yates 13/13, Kristin Higy 13, Mari Summanen 13).

Kori-80 - RaPy 102-72 (62-36)



Espoo wins PeKa again - by Esko Saarinen
Finnish women cup. Espoo Team will continue in Finnish cup. In three days times teams met each other and both times Espoo Team won. In league 69-80 ad now in cup 54 - 64. Espoo Team was better in everything, scoring, rebounding and eve turnovers. Hometeam Topeka Tornado had only three players who could battle with visitors. Henna Salomaa (177-G/F-89) 16/4, Whitney Allen (180-F-85) 15/11, Ashley Haynes (176-G/F-84, college: Austin Peay St.) 13/10 and Siiri Nuutinen 10/6 were too good to Topeka Tornado.
Carthia Rivers 17/5 and Sherida Triggs (185-F-85, college: ODU) 12/12 were a lot of better than sunday, but best player was Shanika Freeman 8/12.
Last year Espoo Team was in final, but lost to Catz Lappeenranta.
Other women's cup matches HoNsU - BC Nokia, Aanekosken Huima - Catz Lappeenranta and Kori-80 Keravan.

*****************************************************
  FRANCE - Women  


Kraayeveld led Maxima Broker Kosice to the win in the opener of EuroLeague Women action - by Eurobasket News
Lattes Montpellier - Broker Kosice 65:67

Cathrine Kraayeveld (193-F-81, agency: LBM Management, college: Oregon) led Maxima Broker Kosice to the win in the opener of EuroLeague Women action. Trailing after the first three quarters in the game Slovakian team produced 18-12 in the last stanza for 67:65 victory over Lattes Montpellier. Cathrine Kraayeveld top-scored with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Sidney Spencer (191-F-85, college: Tennessee) followed her with 12, while Linda Frohlich (188-F/C-79, agency: LBM Management, college: UNLV) added 11. Sheana Mosch (177-G-81, college: Duke) ended up with 21 points in defeat and Elodie Bertal (190-C-84) added 13.
Cohen contributed in the start of the game for the guests for an early lead in the game. Maxima Broker Kosice was in front in the whole period, except the last seconds of it. Gruszczynski was the last to score for the hosts giving them 20:19 advantage entering the second period. Lattes Montpellier looked better in the quarter and after 21-16 had 6 points deficit at the halftime. Gruszczynski made a lay-up for 41:35 sending the teams to the lockers.
Elodie Bertal scored for 45:35 in the beginning of the third quarter for the hosts. The visitors remained alive and after Cikosova made a jump-shot the score was 53:49. With the French team on top at 62:51 Sidney Spencer's jump shot sparked an 11-0 run to tie the contest. Trailing 65:62 Cohen scored 5 last points for her team as Maxima Broker Kosice celebrated the win in the opener of Euroleague.

Lattes Montpellier: Sheana Mosch 21, Elodie Bertal 13
Broker Kosice: Cathrine Kraayeveld 20+6 rebs, Sidney Spencer 12, Linda Frohlich 11

Union Hainaut Basket betters USK Prague in the Euroleague opener - by Eurobasket News
Union Hainaut Basket - USK Prague 78:62

Union Hainaut Basket took on the USK Prague in the Euroleague curtain-raiser for both teams. The French team looked the better side down the line and posted the deserved win at the end. The start of the game was all about USK Prague however. Ferancikova, Sonja Kireta (198-C-76) and Sandra Le Drean knocked down 6 straight points to pace the visitors. Hainaut answered with a 15:2 rally to build a 7-point lead late in the quarter. Beikes and Stansbury stretched the gap to 13 points at the end of the period. Chioma Nnamaka (183-G-85, college: Georgia Tech) and Ngoyisa looked pivotal early in the second term as they allowed Hainaut to extend the margin to 23 points. Evanthia Maltsi (180-F-78) took the charge for USK Prague nailing 7 points and trimming the distance to 19 points at the interval. Sonja Kireta and Lindsay Whalen dragged the Czech team within 16 points midway through the third frame but the hosts closed the frame with an 8:0 surge to secure a 24-point buffer between the teams. USK Prague had little chances to save the game in the final stanza and they surrendered at the end. Chioma Nnamaka led the home team with 12 points. Kathy Wambe (173-G-81) and Sabrina Reghaissia (188-F-83) dropped 11 points apiece for the winners. Sonja Kireta answered with 16 points for USK Prague. Evanthia Maltsi produced 15 points in the loss.
Union Hainaut Basket will next face Jolly Sibenik in Croatia. USK Prague will host Ros Casares.

Union Hainaut Basket: Chioma Nnamaka 12, Kathy Wambe 11, Sabrina Reghaissia 11
USK Prague: Sonja Kireta 16, Evanthia Maltsi 15

*****************************************************
  HUNGARY - Women  


MiZo Pecs ease past Perfumerias Avenida - by Eurobasket News
MiZo Pecs - Perfumerias Avenida 82:65

The Hungarian powerhouse got to a sloppy start but finally posted a comprehensive victory against visiting Perfumerias Avenida in the Euroleague opener. Trailing 19:20 at the first intermission MiZo Pecs managed to take over in the second term and breezed to the first win in Group A. Anna Vajda (191-F/C-84) nailed 6 points early in the game lifting the hosts to a 12:5 lead. Anna Vajda and Dalma Ivanyi (178-G-76, college: Florida Intern.) kept the hosts in front but Willingham, Petra Stampalija (190-C-80) and Anke De Mondt (180-F/G-79) allowed Perfumerias to earn a minimal advantage after ten minutes of action. Brooke Quennan (188-F-84, college: Boston Coll.) stepped up for MiZo Pecs in the second term. Her 9 points at the start of the quarter returned the home team into the drivers seat. Anna Vajda and Graziane Coelho paced Pecs to a 45:37 cushion at the interval. Petra Stampalija nailed 8 points in the third frame and Perfumerias Avenida stayed in the race. They were down by 4 points at the final break but failed to surge ahead. Brooke Quennan once again netted crucial buckets as she poured in 7 points at the beginning of the fourth term and extended the margin to 9 points. Avenida never recovered losing the battle at the end. Anna Vajda knocked down 26 points for MiZo Pecs. Brooke Quennan added 20 points and 10 boards, while Dalma Ivanyi contributed 13 points and 11 assists in the win. Petra Stampalija finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Avenida. Anke De Mondt dropped 10 points in the loss.
MiZo Pecs will play against Besiktas in Turkey in the second round. Perfumerias Avenida will host Russian Nadezhda in Salamanca.

MiZo Pecs: Anna Vajda 26, Brooke Quennan 20+10 boards, Dalma Ivanyi 13+11 assists
Perfumerias Avenida: Petra Stampalija 17+10 boards, Anke De Mondt 10

*****************************************************
  ITALY - Women  


Italy NT: the Additional Round draw - by Carlo Grilli
Italy was drawn in group B of the Additional Round, with Belgium and Croatia. The Giampiero Ticchi 's athletes will play in next January; only the winner will advance to European Championship (Latvia 2009) in group D with France, Belarus and Israel.
The complete schedule is:
First Leg:
January 4th: Croatia-Belgium
January 7th: Belgium-Italy
January 10th: Italy-Croatia
Second Leg:
January 13th: Belgium-Croatia
January 16th: Italy-Belgium
January 19th: Croatia-Italy

The draw for group A of Additional Round selected Bulgaria, Ukraine and Germany.

Umana Reyer Venezia handed Gambrinus a loss in Brno - by Eurobasket News
Gambrinus - Umana Reyer 68:77

Umana Reyer Venezia won the opener of EuroLeague Women in Czech Republic. Gambrinus Sika Brno tried to recover after 16-24 in the opening quarter but allowed Italian team to celebrate 77:68 win. Jenifer Nadalin (187-F/C-83, college: Furman) led the winners with 14 points to 1-0 record. Simona Ballardini (183-F-81) nailed 13, whilst Giorgia Sottana (177-G-88) added 12. Zuzana Zirkova (175-F/G-80) and Eva Viteckova (190-F-82) produced 13 each for the hosts, Liene Jansone (192-F/C-81, college: Siena) posted 11.
Giorgia Sottana opened the game for the visitors as they started to take control of the game. Jokic made it 16:9 and then Jenifer Nadalin closed the first at 24:16. The hosts did not panic and took the lead in the second quarter. Eva Viteckova nailed a three for 31:29 while Horakova added two more for the run. Simona Ballardini tied the game before the teams went to the lockers for 38:38.
Umana Reyer Venezia trailed 40:38 a minute into the second half but outscored their hosts 19-6 over the next nine minutes for a 57:46 lead. Kulichova finished the third period at 48:57 with a jump-shot. Fegyverneky brought the hosts back to the game at 66:69 with 2 minutes to go and kept their chances alive. Umana Reyer Venezia however finished the night with 8-2 run to seal the win in the opener.

Gambrinus:Zuzana Zirkova 13, Eva Viteckova 13, Liene Jansone 11
Umana Reyer: Jenifer Nadalin 14, Simona Ballardini 13, Giorgia Sottana 12

Spartak look for the third straight Euroleague triumph - by Eurobasket News
Spartak MR - Famila Schio 88:63

The Euroleague two-time defending champions Spartak Moscow Region got to a winning start of the new season in the strongest European club competition. Today they defeated Famila Schio at home to take the lead in Group D. Macchi and Moro put the visitors ahead early in the game and Schio kept in front for the bigger part of the opening term. However a a three-pointer from Sue Bird fueled a 14:4 rally that put Spartak up by 5 points. Kelly Miller (178-G-78, college: Georgia) and Marina Karpunina (178-F-84) stretched the gap to 11 points midway through the second frame. Nicole Antibe (187-C/F-74) and Macchi narrowed the distance back to 6 points but Spartak did not let them closer. Tatiana Shchegoleva (195-F/C-82) and Bird capped the half with 5 points and the hosts enjoyed a 50:39 advantage at halftime. Spartak converted 10 free throws in the third stanza and they extended the margin to as many as 12 points heading into the fourth quarter. Fowles, Tatiana Shchegoleva and Taurasi tipped the final frame with 7 straight points and Spartak ran away for good.
Tatiana Shchegoleva finished with 22 points and 6 boards for Spartak. Marina Karpunina added 17 points, while Kelly Miller dropped 14 for the winners. Kathrin Ress (193-F-85, college: Boston Coll.) answered with 20 points for Schio. Nicole Antibe secured 13 points in the loss.
Spartak outrebounded their opponents 37:29 and forced Schio to 17 turnovers. Spartak will next travel to Lithuania to face TEO Vilnius. Schio will host Montpellier in the second round.

Spartak MR: Tatiana Shchegoleva 22, Marina Karpunina 17, Kelly Miller 14
Schio: Kathrin Ress 20, Nicole Antibe 13

*****************************************************
  LITHUANIA - Women  


Yilmaz leads Fener to the successful start - by Eurobasket News
Fenerbahce - TEO Vilnius 76:68

Turkish Fenerbahce beat TEO Vilnius 76:68 in the EuroLeague Women opener for both sides. The intrigue remained until the last minutes of the game and the hosts grabbed 19-12 in the last to seal the first victory. Nevriye Yilmaz (195-C-80) top-scored for the winners with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Esmeral Tuncluer (175-G-80) nailed 15, while Nevin Nevlin (196-F/C-85, college: Stanford) scored 12. Crystal Langhorne (188-F/C-86, college: Maryland) collected 23 points and 12 rebounds in defeat and Ausra Bimbaite (179-G-82) netted 11.
Fenerbahce scored 4 consecutive points in the opening quarter to take a lead in the game. Powell made it 17:7 and Nevin Nevlin ended up the first period at 28:21. In the second frame the hosts kept 5-7 points deficit and had 6 points advantage at the halftime. Nevriye Yilmaz sent the teams to the lockers for 47:41, hosts lead.
TEO Vilnius seemed to have a better rest as the team started to take control in the third period. Kuin made a jump-shot for 55:56 with one minute to go in the quarter. Ramazanoglu closed the period at 57:56 after thirty minutes of the game. Powell buried a shot from the arc to start the fourth. The hosts did not look behind after and won the opener of Euroleague 2008/2009 campaign.

Fenerbahce: Nevriye Yilmaz 18+7 rebs, Esmeral Tuncluer 15, Nevin Nevlin 12
TEO Vilnius: Crystal Langhorne 23+12 rebs, Ausra Bimbaite 11

*****************************************************
  LUXEMBOURG - Women  


Etzella jumps on 2-0 - by Eurobasket News
In the last game of Round 2, Etzella outplayed Grengewald Hostert at home 84-67. Thus, with this victory Etzella improved on 2-0 joining Residence and T71 Dudelange on top of DBBL. Etzella was better team from the very beginning. Katie Donovan (183-F-82) entered into this game strongly leading the hosts to 10-point lead already in the first quarter, 28-18. Donovan netted 14 points in this period. Grengewald Hostert demonstrated slightly better performance during the following ten minutes. The main problem for the visitors were triples as they scored just 3 during the entire time having many unsuccessful attempts. Anyway, Grengewald Hostert somehow succeeded to cut the margin on 9 points, 52-43. Same picture on the court was seen after the breather. Katie Donovan kept smashing her rivals but they once again were better by just one point. It means that Etzella had 69-61 before the last frame. It somehow was expected that after two not so bad periods Grengewald Hostert finally come even closer but it didn't happen. In fact Etzella intensified defense putting big pressure on Grengewald's guards. Everything resulted with only 6 points by visitors in this period. On the other side Etzella had 14 ending the game with two consecutive triples. Katie Donovan was totally the best player of this match draining fantastic 35 points. In the next round Etzella will meet Amicale while Grengewald Hostert will take on undefeated Residence.

*****************************************************
  MONTENEGRO - Women  


Montenegrin 1A Woman Division schedule 2008-2009 - by Dragan Scepanovic

Regular Part of season 2008-2009

I ROUND
HERCEG NOVI - CASTEL NUOVO
ROLING - RUDAR

II ROUND
CASTEL NUOVO - RUDAR
HERCEG NOVI - ROLING

III ROUND
ROLING - CASTEL NUOVO
RUDAR - HERCEG NOVI

IV ROUND
CASTEL NUOVO - HERCEG NOVI
RUDAR - ROLING

V ROUND
RUDAR - CASTEL NUOVO
ROLING - HERCEG NOVI

VI ROUND
CASTEL NUOVO - ROLING
HERCEG NOVI - RUDAR

Basketball Club Buducnost from Podgorica and Basketball Club Jedinstvo from B.Polje will play in MNT Super-League ( second stage )

Standings - Women League
1A Standings
 1. BC H.Novi 0-0 
 2. BC Kastel 0-0 
 3. Roling Niksic 0-0 
 4. Rudar 0-0 
Will join on later stage:
 1. Buducnost - 
 2. Jedinstvo - 


*****************************************************
  NCAA1 - Women  


N.C. A&T's women picked No. 1 - by Eurobasket News
N.C. A&T's women's basketball team is the favorite to win the MEAC, according to a coaches' poll, and senior guard Amber Bland (5'11''-G) is the league's preseason player of the year. Also honored were A&T senior forward Brittanie Taylor-James (first team) and junior guard Ta'Wuana Cook (second team). The Aggies, who return five starters from a team that went 25-8 overall and 15-1 in the MEAC last season, garnered 18 of the possible 21 first-place votes. Joining Bland and Taylor-James on the first team are Corin Adams (Morgan State, April McBride (Maryland-Eastern Shore) and Whitney Cunningham (Coppin State). Joining Cook on the second team are Casey Morton (Maryland-Eastern Shore), Tiffany Reid (Maryland-Eastern Shore), Danielle Anders (Coppin State) and Marie Reid (S.C. State).

Greensboro College is picked to finish first in the USA South Conference, according to a coaches' poll. The Pride captured both the regular season and tournament championships last season for the third time in four years.

Courtesy of http://www.news-record.com

Center Lavender leads Ohio State - by Eurobasket News
That is the focus head coach Jim Foster stressed to his team as it headed into the upcoming season Monday at the Ohio State womens basketball media day at Value City Arena.

After finishing the regular season last year with a 22-7 record (13-5 Big Ten) and a fourth-straight regular season Big Ten title, the Buckeyes once again underachieved in the postseason, with losses in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Foster, however, is taking last season in stride and is focusing on the positives that came out of it.

Last year was sort of a transition year, we made the NCAA Tournament and we won the Big Ten and we got to get good enough and athletic enough to win in the next thing, Foster said. And I think we have gotten athletic.

Foster said he does not feel the pressure to improve on his tournament record because he knows what needs to be done.

We need to be better, he said. I dont need anyone to tell me that.

One player the Buckeyes look forward to seeing develop is center Jantel Lavender (6'4''-C-88), who is in her sophomore season. Lavender became the first Big Ten freshman ever to have won the Big Ten freshman of the year and Big Ten player of the year award in the same season.

In addition to the experience Lavender gained from playing last season, Trebilcock cites the importance of her first off-season with the team.

She has a full year of college lifting in, so shes just that much stronger people are definitely going to want to get out of her way this year.

Lavender herself believes that off-season workouts with strength and conditioning coach Dave Richardson have helped greatly. I think Ill be a much better rebounder just because I got the chance to work out with [coach Richardson], and I just feel so much stronger and its just unbelievable how good coach Rich is, Lavender said.

Foster, though, is still looking to see improvement from his star player. When asked what he was expecting to see out of her this year, Foster jokingly responded with, A left hand, commenting on her tendency to go to her strong hand.

Joining Lavender and Trebilcock in the lineup will be returning starters Star Allen, a senior forward, and a healthy Shavelle Little, a junior guard and 2008 Big Ten defensive player of the year. Little had knee surgery in the off-season to repair an injury from last season, but Foster said she is ready to go for the upcoming season. Also recovered is junior center Andrea Walker, who missed the first 10 games last season to a foot injury.

More good news for the Buckeyes is that they only graduated one starter from last season. The bad news is the starter they have to replace is Marscilla Packer, the teams second-leading scorer from a year ago and a member of the 2008 second-team all-Big Ten. The Buckeyes also lost Tamarah Riley, who, although not a starter, did receive significant playing time last season.

Replacing the empty roster spots are Amber Stokes, a freshman guard out of Gahanna, and highly touted freshman recruit Samantha Prahalis, a guard out of Commack, N.Y.

With a couple talented freshmen entering, minimal losses to graduation this season and an off-season to get healthy, the returning players from the team have much to look forward to and will look to improve on last years disappointment.

The Buckeyes big test of the season will come Dec. 3 when the North Carolina Tar Heels come to Columbus for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. UNC was one of the best teams in the country last season, finishing the year ranked No. 5, according to the ESPN/USA Today Poll.

The team will kick off the season Nov. 14 at home against Butler.

Courtesy of http://rivals.yahoo.com

*****************************************************
  POLAND - Women  


Ros Casares cruise past Lotos - by Eurobasket News
Ros Casares - Lotos 93:51

Spanish champions Ros Casares experienced little difficulties overcoming Lotos in the Euroleague opener for both teams. Lotos led for less than a minute at the start of the encounter before Ros Casares took over for good. The hosts dominated the game and piled up a 23:11 advantage with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. Marchanka however capped the term with a three-pointer to give Lotos hope. Snytsina and Marchanka trimmed the deficit to 3 points at the beginning of the second period. But Ros Casares went on a 13:1 rally to clear off. Ana Montanana accounted for three last points in the half as the Spanish team enjoyed a 19-point margin. Tornikidou, Erika De Souza (197-C-82) and Amaya Valdemoro (184-F-76) lifted the Spaniards to a 21-point lead as they controlled the situation. Vesela and Elisa Aguilar (178-G-76, college: George Washington) finalized the third term with a 67:37 lead for Ros Casares. Lotos had little to say in the dying moments as the home team eased to the victory. Erika De Souza produced 21 points and 11 boards for Ros Casares. Amaya Valdemoro added 19 points, while Elisa Aguilar finished with 12 for the winning side. Ivana Matovic (197-C-83) answered with 15 points for Lotos. Alana Beard (180-G/F-82, college: Duke) secured 11 points in the loss.
Lotos will take on UMMC in Poland in the second round. Ros Casares will visit Czech Republic to play against USK Prague.

Ros Casares: Erika De Souza 21+11 boards, Amaya Valdemoro 19, Elisa Aguilar 12
Lotos: Ivana Matovic 15, Alana Beard 11

*****************************************************
  ROMANIA - Women  


Standings - Women
D1 Standings
 1. Targoviste 2-0 
 2. Arad 2-0 
 3. Alexandria 2-0 
 4. Sf.Gheorghe 1-0 
 5. Satu Mare 1-1 
 6. Craiova 1-1 
 7. S.Studentesc 1-1 
 8. Cluj Napoca 1-1 
 9. Rapid 1-1 
 10. Govora 1-1 
 11. Oradea 0-1 
 12. Olimpia 0-2 
 13. Iasi 0-2 
 14. Alba Iulia 0-2 


*****************************************************
  RUSSIA - Women  


Spartak look for the third straight Euroleague triumph - by Eurobasket News
Spartak MR - Famila Schio 88:63

The Euroleague two-time defending champions Spartak Moscow Region got to a winning start of the new season in the strongest European club competition. Today they defeated Famila Schio at home to take the lead in Group D. Macchi and Moro put the visitors ahead early in the game and Schio kept in front for the bigger part of the opening term. However a a three-pointer from Sue Bird fueled a 14:4 rally that put Spartak up by 5 points. Kelly Miller (178-G-78, college: Georgia) and Marina Karpunina (178-F-84) stretched the gap to 11 points midway through the second frame. Nicole Antibe (187-C/F-74) and Macchi narrowed the distance back to 6 points but Spartak did not let them closer. Tatiana Shchegoleva (195-F/C-82) and Bird capped the half with 5 points and the hosts enjoyed a 50:39 advantage at halftime. Spartak converted 10 free throws in the third stanza and they extended the margin to as many as 12 points heading into the fourth quarter. Fowles, Tatiana Shchegoleva and Taurasi tipped the final frame with 7 straight points and Spartak ran away for good.
Tatiana Shchegoleva finished with 22 points and 6 boards for Spartak. Marina Karpunina added 17 points, while Kelly Miller dropped 14 for the winners. Kathrin Ress (193-F-85, college: Boston Coll.) answered with 20 points for Schio. Nicole Antibe secured 13 points in the loss.
Spartak outrebounded their opponents 37:29 and forced Schio to 17 turnovers. Spartak will next travel to Lithuania to face TEO Vilnius. Schio will host Montpellier in the second round.

Spartak MR: Tatiana Shchegoleva 22, Marina Karpunina 17, Kelly Miller 14
Schio: Kathrin Ress 20, Nicole Antibe 13

UMMC thrash Sibenik in Croatia - by Eurobasket News
Sibenik - UMMC Ekaterinburg 62:92

Russian UMMC secured an impressive success at the start of the Euroleague campaign. They visited Sibenik in Croatia and thumped them 92:62 to jump atop of Group C. Penny Taylor (185-F-81) and Sandrine Gruda (191-F/C-87) came up with 18 points apiece for UMMC. Agnieszka Bibrzycka (184-F/G-82, college: Abil.Christian) tallied 15 points, 8 boards and 7 assists for the winners. Constance Jinks (170-G-81, college: UNLV) answered with 16 points for Sibenik.
The hosts led early in the game due to buckets from Gardin and Cakic. However Asjha Jones and Sandrine Gruda paced UMMC in front and the Russian stronghold cleared off to an 8-point distance. Asjha Jones and Penny Taylor stretched the margin to 12 points at the first intermission. UMCC kept the hosts at bay throughout the second term and built a 45:29 lead at the interval. Sandrine Gruda and Agnieszka Bibrzycka ensured a 7:0 start to the third period as UMMC looked confident at the moment. Sibenik never recovered as they entered the fourth term down by 22 points. The Russian team eased to the victory in the final stanza and secured the opening win in Group C.
Sibenik will look for the initial win against Union Hainaut Basket on October 22. UMMC will travel to Poland to play against Lotos on October 23.

Sibenik: Constance Jinks 16, Luca Ivankovic (201-C-87) 14
UMMC: Penny Taylor 18, Sandrine Gruda 18, Agnieszka Bibrzycka 15

*****************************************************
  SLOVAKIA - Women  


Kraayeveld led Maxima Broker Kosice to the win in the opener of EuroLeague Women action - by Eurobasket News
Lattes Montpellier - Broker Kosice 65:67

Cathrine Kraayeveld (193-F-81, agency: LBM Management, college: Oregon) led Maxima Broker Kosice to the win in the opener of EuroLeague Women action. Trailing after the first three quarters in the game Slovakian team produced 18-12 in the last stanza for 67:65 victory over Lattes Montpellier. Cathrine Kraayeveld top-scored with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Sidney Spencer (191-F-85, college: Tennessee) followed her with 12, while Linda Frohlich (188-F/C-79, agency: LBM Management, college: UNLV) added 11. Sheana Mosch (177-G-81, college: Duke) ended up with 21 points in defeat and Elodie Bertal (190-C-84) added 13.
Cohen contributed in the start of the game for the guests for an early lead in the game. Maxima Broker Kosice was in front in the whole period, except the last seconds of it. Gruszczynski was the last to score for the hosts giving them 20:19 advantage entering the second period. Lattes Montpellier looked better in the quarter and after 21-16 had 6 points deficit at the halftime. Gruszczynski made a lay-up for 41:35 sending the teams to the lockers.
Elodie Bertal scored for 45:35 in the beginning of the third quarter for the hosts. The visitors remained alive and after Cikosova made a jump-shot the score was 53:49. With the French team on top at 62:51 Sidney Spencer's jump shot sparked an 11-0 run to tie the contest. Trailing 65:62 Cohen scored 5 last points for her team as Maxima Broker Kosice celebrated the win in the opener of Euroleague.

Lattes Montpellier: Sheana Mosch 21, Elodie Bertal 13
Broker Kosice: Cathrine Kraayeveld 20+6 rebs, Sidney Spencer 12, Linda Frohlich 11

*****************************************************
  SPAIN - Women  


Ros Casares cruise past Lotos - by Eurobasket News
Ros Casares - Lotos 93:51

Spanish champions Ros Casares experienced little difficulties overcoming Lotos in the Euroleague opener for both teams. Lotos led for less than a minute at the start of the encounter before Ros Casares took over for good. The hosts dominated the game and piled up a 23:11 advantage with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. Marchanka however capped the term with a three-pointer to give Lotos hope. Snytsina and Marchanka trimmed the deficit to 3 points at the beginning of the second period. But Ros Casares went on a 13:1 rally to clear off. Ana Montanana accounted for three last points in the half as the Spanish team enjoyed a 19-point margin. Tornikidou, Erika De Souza (197-C-82) and Amaya Valdemoro (184-F-76) lifted the Spaniards to a 21-point lead as they controlled the situation. Vesela and Elisa Aguilar (178-G-76, college: George Washington) finalized the third term with a 67:37 lead for Ros Casares. Lotos had little to say in the dying moments as the home team eased to the victory. Erika De Souza produced 21 points and 11 boards for Ros Casares. Amaya Valdemoro added 19 points, while Elisa Aguilar finished with 12 for the winning side. Ivana Matovic (197-C-83) answered with 15 points for Lotos. Alana Beard (180-G/F-82, college: Duke) secured 11 points in the loss.
Lotos will take on UMMC in Poland in the second round. Ros Casares will visit Czech Republic to play against USK Prague.

Ros Casares: Erika De Souza 21+11 boards, Amaya Valdemoro 19, Elisa Aguilar 12
Lotos: Ivana Matovic 15, Alana Beard 11

MiZo Pecs ease past Perfumerias Avenida - by Eurobasket News
MiZo Pecs - Perfumerias Avenida 82:65

The Hungarian powerhouse got to a sloppy start but finally posted a comprehensive victory against visiting Perfumerias Avenida in the Euroleague opener. Trailing 19:20 at the first intermission MiZo Pecs managed to take over in the second term and breezed to the first win in Group A. Anna Vajda (191-F/C-84) nailed 6 points early in the game lifting the hosts to a 12:5 lead. Anna Vajda and Dalma Ivanyi (178-G-76, college: Florida Intern.) kept the hosts in front but Willingham, Petra Stampalija (190-C-80) and Anke De Mondt (180-F/G-79) allowed Perfumerias to earn a minimal advantage after ten minutes of action. Brooke Quennan (188-F-84, college: Boston Coll.) stepped up for MiZo Pecs in the second term. Her 9 points at the start of the quarter returned the home team into the drivers seat. Anna Vajda and Graziane Coelho paced Pecs to a 45:37 cushion at the interval. Petra Stampalija nailed 8 points in the third frame and Perfumerias Avenida stayed in the race. They were down by 4 points at the final break but failed to surge ahead. Brooke Quennan once again netted crucial buckets as she poured in 7 points at the beginning of the fourth term and extended the margin to 9 points. Avenida never recovered losing the battle at the end. Anna Vajda knocked down 26 points for MiZo Pecs. Brooke Quennan added 20 points and 10 boards, while Dalma Ivanyi contributed 13 points and 11 assists in the win. Petra Stampalija finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Avenida. Anke De Mondt dropped 10 points in the loss.
MiZo Pecs will play against Besiktas in Turkey in the second round. Perfumerias Avenida will host Russian Nadezhda in Salamanca.

MiZo Pecs: Anna Vajda 26, Brooke Quennan 20+10 boards, Dalma Ivanyi 13+11 assists
Perfumerias Avenida: Petra Stampalija 17+10 boards, Anke De Mondt 10

*****************************************************
  SWEDEN - Women  


Standings - Damligan
Damligan Standings
 1. Solna Vikings 2-0 
 2. Brahe 1-0 
 3. 08 1-0 
 4. Norrkoping 1-0 
 5. Sundsvall 1-0 
 6. Telge Energi 1-0 
 7. Umea 0-1 
 8. Marbo Basket 0-1 
 9. Lulea BBK 0-1 
 10. Visby 0-1 
 11. Jamtland 0-1 
 12. Eskinstuna 0-2 


*****************************************************
  TURKEY - Women  


Yilmaz leads Fener to the successful start - by Eurobasket News
Fenerbahce - TEO Vilnius 76:68

Turkish Fenerbahce beat TEO Vilnius 76:68 in the EuroLeague Women opener for both sides. The intrigue remained until the last minutes of the game and the hosts grabbed 19-12 in the last to seal the first victory. Nevriye Yilmaz (195-C-80) top-scored for the winners with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Esmeral Tuncluer (175-G-80) nailed 15, while Nevin Nevlin (196-F/C-85, college: Stanford) scored 12. Crystal Langhorne (188-F/C-86, college: Maryland) collected 23 points and 12 rebounds in defeat and Ausra Bimbaite (179-G-82) netted 11.
Fenerbahce scored 4 consecutive points in the opening quarter to take a lead in the game. Powell made it 17:7 and Nevin Nevlin ended up the first period at 28:21. In the second frame the hosts kept 5-7 points deficit and had 6 points advantage at the halftime. Nevriye Yilmaz sent the teams to the lockers for 47:41, hosts lead.
TEO Vilnius seemed to have a better rest as the team started to take control in the third period. Kuin made a jump-shot for 55:56 with one minute to go in the quarter. Ramazanoglu closed the period at 57:56 after thirty minutes of the game. Powell buried a shot from the arc to start the fourth. The hosts did not look behind after and won the opener of Euroleague 2008/2009 campaign.

Fenerbahce: Nevriye Yilmaz 18+7 rebs, Esmeral Tuncluer 15, Nevin Nevlin 12
TEO Vilnius: Crystal Langhorne 23+12 rebs, Ausra Bimbaite 11

*****************************************************
  WNBA - Women  


Forward Kim Smith undergoes successful surgery - by Eurobasket News
The Sacramento Monarchs today announced forward Kim Smith (6'1''-F-84, agency: LBM Management, college: Utah) underwent successful surgery this morning to repair cartilage damage and remove a bone spur from her right ankle. Monarchs Team Doctor Kirk Lewis performed the surgery. It is projected she will be out four to six weeks; a complete recovery is expected.

Smith originally sprained her right ankle during practice on Aug. 20 of this year; she did not play in the post-season due to the injury. Through 21 games of the 2008 regular season, Smith averaged 1.6 points, 0.7 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.1 blocks and 6.8 minutes per game.

A first round selection (13th overall) by Sacramento in the 2006 WNBA Draft, Smith has appeared in 55 games for the Monarchs during her three-year career, averaging 8.4 minutes, 1.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.3 steals per game.

Expect Great Basketball in 2009 at ARCO Arena! Flexible and affordable ticket plans are on sale now. To purchase tickets or for more information, please visit SacramentoMonarchs.com.

Courtesy of The Sacramento Monarchs