EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 2/22/2008
Copyright © 1997-2007 EurobasketMen News
*****************************************************One of the leading players of Slovenian National Cup holder Union Olimpija, Marko Milic (199-G-77), agreed terms with the club and extended contract for two more seasons. In interview for the Slovenian local newspapers Milic announced that he is planning to play for another 3-4 seasons after what he would like to stay in the club from Ljubljana.
For 17 games in Adriatic league Milic averaged 15 ppg and 4.7 rpg and 2.4 apg while for 14 games in Euroleague he had 15.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 1.5 apg.
After two double digit wins over Ulbra at home, Franca went south to Sao Bernardo for the third match of the final series, yesterday. The Francanos won by 76 to 75 and took the Paulista title once again.
The game was very competitive from the start, different from what was seen on Game 2 when Franca started off with 11-0 run. Ulbra started better in the first, but Franca reacted on the second. In the third the team coached by Jose Neto got things together once again and kept the lead. In the fourth the scoreboard changestook place play after play, and the match was decided in the final seconds.
Diego (15 points) and Vanderlei (15) were the top players for Ulbra. In Franca, Helinho, with 26, and Rogerio Klafke, with 20, were key factors for Coach Helio Rubens .
Panathinaikos - Partizan Igokea 67-65
(21-23,13-17,15-16,18-9)
It seems that Alfred Hitchcock influenced all the games between Partizan and Panathinaikos as all the three games this season were exactly the same, full of tension, full of excitement, great basketball and the final winner no matter what is Panathinaikos. Last night it was the third time that Partizan touched the 'dream' but couldn't finally grab it. The Serbian and Adriatic league champion reached differences as high as 16 points and with an amazing 9 minutes in the third quarter, were able to eliminate all Obradovic's solution, but a really solid 8-0 in the last minute of the 3rd quarter, made the Serbs to thing twice as PAO started to play much better in the last period with much stronger defence proving once more that Defence is in their blood. But still Partizan had a chance 2:30 before the end of the game extended the lead to 6 points but firstly it was Palacio to miss a lay-up and in the next possession the same player was wide-open but missed the shot from behind the arc.
Panathinaikos's power and familiarity in tough situations appeared in the last quarter and thanks to Hatzivretas, Spanoulis and Batiste, Obradovic's Greens recorded a valuable victory (the first in the round). Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) led his team (in another game) with 20 points beign the only Green player with double digits. Michael Batiste scored 9 points and 12 rebounds while on the other side Partizan got 13 points from Dusan Kecman
Top scorers:
PAO: Spanoulis 20, Batiste 9 (12 rebs), Diamantidis 9 (4 rebs), Winston 9 (5 st)
Partizan Igokea: Kecman 13, Palacio 11 (4 st), Vitkovac 10 (7 rebs), Tepic 9
In the other Greek interest game, Aris defeated for a second consecutive time, this time it was the Lithuanian Lietuvos Rytas to beat Herbert's yellows with 89-75, with Wright remainign pointless and Massey once more trying for all the team with his 19 points and 10 rebounds, on the otehr hand Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81) once more was the top performer for the Lithuanians.
PAO - Partizan Igokea 67-65
Partizan Igokea really doesn't have a luck against green PAO this season. Last night it was the third time when Partizan again was a small step away from the real sensation but it didn't happen. Namely, reining Serbian and Adriatic league champion had plus 6 on the half time against reining Greek and European champion in the middle of Athens. Black and white team reached 49-35 at the half way of the third quarter. PAO started to play much better in the last period but still Partizan had a chance 2:30 remaining in the game to extend lead to 6 but Palacio at the first point missed a lay-up and at the next possesion he was wide-open but unsuccessful from behind the arc. Quality and experience of PAO's players came on the scene and thanks to Hatzivretas, Spanoulis and Batiste Greek giant recorded valuable win, especially after defeat in the first round against Efes Pilsen in Turkey. Ex NBAer Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket) led his team to this very tough victory netting 20 points and he was the only one who scored more than 9 points in PAO. Michael Batiste (203-F-77, college: Arizona St.) had 9 points and 12 rebounds while on the other side Partizan got 13 points from Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket).
Head coach of PAO Zeljko Obradovic after the game said: 'Partizan played much better than us in this game. One of the reasons for our not so good performance is the fact that we played against Olympiakos last week-end and all players concentrated on that game. I want to congratulate them because they succeeded to return into the game after minus 15. Of course I am very grateful to our fans which, like always, helped us a lot tonight.'
On the other Partizan's head coach Dusko Vujosevic was very proud on his players because for the third time this season they played thriller game again big PAO. He also said that Partizan missed a great opportunity to record a win tonight but he stated that nothing is over yet. Partizan didn't play any game at home so far in Euroleague TOP 16.
Panathinaikos - Partizan Igokea 67-65
(21-23,13-17,15-16,18-9)
PAO: Spanoulis 20, Batiste 9 (12 rebs), Diamantidis 9 (4 rebs), Winston 9 (5 st)
Partizan Igokea: Kecman 13, Palacio 11 (4 st), Vitkovac 10 (7 rebs), Tepic 9
Panathinaikos - Partizan Igokea 67-65
(21-23,13-17,15-16,18-9)
It seems that Alfred Hitchcock influenced all the games between Partizan and Panathinaikos as all the three games this season were exactly the same, full of tension, full of excitement, great basketball and the final winner no matter what is Panathinaikos. Last night it was the third time that Partizan touched the 'dream' but couldn't finally grab it. The Serbian and Adriatic league champion reached differences as high as 16 points and with an amazing 9 minutes in the third quarter, were able to eliminate all Obradovic's solution, but a really solid 8-0 in the last minute of the 3rd quarter, made the Serbs to thing twice as PAO started to play much better in the last period with much stronger defence proving once more that Defence is in their blood. But still Partizan had a chance 2:30 before the end of the game extended the lead to 6 points but firstly it was Palacio to miss a lay-up and in the next possession the same player was wide-open but missed the shot from behind the arc.
Panathinaikos's power and familiarity in tough situations appeared in the last quarter and thanks to Hatzivretas, Spanoulis and Batiste, Obradovic's Greens recorded a valuable victory (the first in the round). Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) led his team (in another game) with 20 points beign the only Green player with double digits. Michael Batiste scored 9 points and 12 rebounds while on the other side Partizan got 13 points from Dusan Kecman
Top scorers:
PAO: Spanoulis 20, Batiste 9 (12 rebs), Diamantidis 9 (4 rebs), Winston 9 (5 st)
Partizan Igokea: Kecman 13, Palacio 11 (4 st), Vitkovac 10 (7 rebs), Tepic 9
In the other Greek interest game, Aris defeated for a second consecutive time, this time it was the Lithuanian Lietuvos Rytas to beat Herbert's yellows with 89-75, with Wright remainign pointless and Massey once more trying for all the team with his 19 points and 10 rebounds, on the otehr hand Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81) once more was the top performer for the Lithuanians.
Kormend could beat Pecs in a very top game tonight in their own arena. Kormend lost only one game in 2008 (13th of January in Hodmezovasarhely) yet, after a very bad start of the season (4-10), won five games in a row.
PVSK-EXPO CENTER PECS - POLAROID-LAMI-VED KÖRMEND 85-90
(22-25, 24-19, 14-24, 15-22)
Pecs, Att.: 3.000, Referees: Palla, Adam, Kiss
PVSK: Kutasi 5/3, Nick Williams (192-G-83, agency: Beo Basket, college: Cincinnati) 14/9, Gabor Denes (197-F-82) 16/12, Toth 6, Lapov 10/3, Wittmann, Peter Grebenar (211-C-81) 18, Czigler 2, Dragan Aleksic (196-G-70, agency: Beo Basket) 14/6, Coach: Stojan Ivkovic
KORMEND: Marton Fodor (191-G-81, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 12/6, Ferencz 8/6, Rudolf Trummer (196-F-78, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 13/9, Ocitti 9/3, Vavra 12, Jermaine Thomas (187-G-84, agency: 540 Sports, college: La Salle) 12/6, McCants 5/3, Gergely Fodor (193-G-77, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents) 19/12, Coach: Dragoljub Krivacevic
One day before the deadline some teams signed foreigner players to try to make the rosters stronger.
As Andrius Jurkunas is still not fit and able to play the management of Szolnok decided to bring in a new power forward. Marqus Ledoux (203-F-80, college: Tulsa) just signed his contract this morning and practiced already with his new team twice. Ledoux played last season in Hungary for Kormend, where he was one key player, averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds in 30 minutes on the court. His achilles got cut in the 3rd game of the 1/4finals against Albacomp and could not finish the season. He had a very hard and long rehabilition in the United States and got fit in december, when signed in Austria, with the first division team of Gussing. He played there 10 games and averaged 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 27 minutes per game.
In yesterday's night game against Kormend Wittmann felt on the floor, and broke his hand. He will be not able to play at least for 6-8 months, so the management had to find a replacement very quickly. They decided the sign Srdjan Jovanovic (194-G-76), who is a well-known player in our country, as he played in Kecsekemet before. This season he started in Poland with Polpak, but left and just arrived in Hungary today.
The first interstate sports event in the history of Republic of Kosova, will take place on Thursday 21.02.2008.
The match between Republic of Kosova and republic of Albania will be played in both categories women, starting on 6:00 pm, men starting on 8:00 pm and it will be under the patronage of Prime Minister of Kosova Mr. Hashim Thaci. Basketball Federation of Kosova invites all kosovar fans to fill the Sports and Youth Hall in Prishtina with National flags, state flags and also the flags of all states that support Kosova.
Sourse: www.basketbolli.com
Latvian Basketball League
Division I
February, 19
Liepajas Lauvas - Bumerangs/Gulbene/ASK 84-82 (25-25; 25-17; 16-21; 18-19)
Jevgenijs Kosuskins (202-F-77) 24, Jurevicus 24, Ansons 11; Rudzitis 20, Poznaks 17, Rauza 14
VEF Riga - SK Valmiera 93-87 (17-21; 20-31; 26-12; 30-23)
Maksim Sheleketo (204-F-87) 37, Aleksejevs 14, Kolesnikov 14; Amolins 17, Nash 15, Olivero 14, Jankauskas 12, Stimac 12
ULEB Cup
Last 32
Lukoil Academic (BUL) - BK Ventspils 67-64 (16-17; 18-16; 18-22; 15-9)
Antic 17+11reb, Canak 13, Stoykov 11, Mujezinovic 10; Baxter 15, Akingbala 12+10reb, Vitols 11, Love 11
FIBA EuroCup
Quarter Final Round. First game
Barons/LMT - KK Zagreb 67:58 (13:14, 16:19, 23:13, 15:12)
Armands Skele (192-G-83) 25, Hlebowicki 13, Alexander 10+10reb; Vladovic 13, Simon 10, Zadarevi 9