Eurobasket Daily News Report:

EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 4/25/2008

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Men News

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ABA

Nate Brown Shines Once Again in Iceland -by Surujh Roopnarine
Former Strong Island Sound guard Nate Brown (6'0''-G-80, college: St.Peter's) has been named the Eurobasket.com Icelandic Defensive Player of the Year. Brown, who was an All-Defensive First Team Selection in 2006 with Ungmennafelagio Snaefell and in 2007 with IR Reykjavik, stepped up his ball-hawking abilities even more this season, leading the Express league in steals (3.5) as well as assists (7.7) while taking IR to the Semi-Finals of the playoffs. Brown did all he could to get his team to the Finals, totaling 17 points and 11 assists in a 79-97 loss against top seeded Keflavik in the decisive game five of the series. The heady point guard from the Bronx, started off this season in France prior to heading to Iceland. His five year pro career has seen Brown man the point guard spot of teams in the USBL and ABA, but his true success has been in Iceland where he is a crowd favorite and the leader of IR.

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ANGOLA

Spain, Angola, Mali others know opponent -by Olusegun Ikuesan
Draw for the men and women basketball event 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will take place Saturday in China.

According to the president of Spanish Basketball Federation, FEB, Jos Luis Sez, will be present at the drawing, which is set to begin at 5:30 local time at the Wukesong Arena in Chinas capital , where the Olympic basketball competition, and a friendly tournament of the womens league to test the facility, will take place.

The national Spanish mens team will find out who their first round Beijing 2008 Olympic tournament rivals are. FIBA and the BOCOG, which stands for the XXIX Olympic Games Organizational Committee, will carry out a drawing at 5:30 p.m. local Chinese time to determine the groups of the mens and womens competitions.

The event will take place at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium of Beijing, where all Olympic basketball games will be played.

Lubomir Kotleva, FIBA athletics director, will carry out the drawing (which can be seen live on fiba.com) and will explain the procedure of how the groups will be made for the Olympic mens tournament to all present.

Its important to keep in mind that between June and July classifying tournaments will award spots to play in the Olympics to the teams that qualify.

There are three spots available for the mens tournament, and five available for the womens tournament. The drawing of the competition groups for the womens games will take place on Sunday, June 15th in Madrid, just as the womens Pre-Olympic tournament comes to a close in Spains capital.

MENS OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT
The mens teams which have already classified for the Olympics in Beijing are: Spain, U.S.A., Russia, Lithuania, Iran, China, Australia, Argentina and Angola.

There are three spots still available to complete the total of twelve teams that will participate in the mens tournament, and they will be decided at the classification tournament held among Brazil, Greece, Lebanon, Cape Verde, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Koream Solvenia, Cameroon, Croatia, and Puerto Rico in Athens (Greeece), from July 14th-20th.

WOMENS OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT
The womens competition still has five passports to the Olympic Games available. The countries which are already playing are: Australia, China, Korea, Mali, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States.

The Spanish womens national team will have the possibility of winning one of the 5 spots up for grabs at the Pre-Olympic tournament that will be played among Japan, Latvia, Senegal, Anola, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Figi, Belarus, Taiwan and Cuba, in Madrid (at the Telefnica Arena, June 9th-15th).

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ARAB CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day 1 - 21st Arab Clubs Championship (April 23 - May 5 Amman ,Jordan) -by Mohammed Malas

* Group A:

Zain (JOR) 101 - Al Tilal Aden 48 (Qs: 23-14, 53-24, 80-30 & 101-48)

# Best performance:
- Zain:
Rasheim Wright (193-G-81, college: District of Col.) (20 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast)
Zeid Abbas (203-C-83) (17 pts, 11 reb, 2 ast)
Mohammad Bushnaq (200-F-81) (15 pts, 6 reb)
- Al Tilal Aden:
Taha Alassari (180-G/F-84, college: Fredonia St.) (17 pts, 4 ast)

An Nasr (UAE) 100 - Qatar Club (QAT) 78 (Qs: 16-20, 47-37, 69-54 & 100-78)

# Best performance:
- An Nasr:
Amal McCaskill (211-F/C-73, agency: Huss Sport Agency, college: Marquette) (21 pts, 11 reb)
Justin Murray (198-F-81, agency: Tank Sports, college: Washington St.) (14 pts, 7 reb)
Al Khader Abdalla (13 pts, 3 ast)
- Qatar Club:
Maurice Hargrow (195-G-83, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Minnesota) (25 pts, 14 reb)
Jerry Holman (209-F/C-80, agency: Interperformances, college: Minnesota) (14 pts, 11 reb)
Mohammad Naeem (14 pts)

* Group B:

Al Ittihad Jeddah (KSA) 106 - De La Salle Al Quds Jerusalem (PAL) 83 (Qs: 23-18, 45-34, 77-62 & 106-83)

# Best performance:
- Al Ittihad Jeddah:
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (186-G-69, college: LSU) (33 pts, 6 ast, 4 stl)
Adel Guhani (29 pts, 3 ast, 2 stl)
- De La Salle Al Quds Jerusalem:
Hoky Golesh (21 pts, 7 reb)
Ammar Nofal (190-F-84) (18 pts)
Issa Kamel (192-F-83) (17 pts)

* Al Ittihad played with one import only as Jerod Ward and Priest Laudhradle will not play with the team in the tournament due to flight reservation reasons.

Al Nasr (LBA) 76 - Maghreb de Fes 70 (Qs: 14-23, 33-41, 48-53 & 76-70)

# Best performance:
- Al Nasr:
Ellia Zolic (19 pts, 11 reb)
Abdelhalim Kowan (12 pts, 5 ast)
Khaled Mohamad (12 pts, 2 ast, 3 stl)
- Maghreb de Fes:
Alpha Traore (188-G-83) (16 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl)
Matar N'Baye (192-G) (16 pts)
Mohamad Hajera (13 pts, 11 reb)

# Day 2 - 21st Arab Clubs Championship games:
- Thursday 24th of April:
16:00 Kuwait - As Seeb
18:00 Orthodox - Al Kahraba
20:00 Al Riyadi - Al Manama

Day 2 - 21st Arab Clubs Championship (April 23 - May 5 Amman ,Jordan) -by Mohammed Malas
* Group C:

Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut (LEB) 126 - Al Manama (BHR) 98 (Qs: 30-16, 61-37, 94-65 & 126-98)

# Best performance:
- Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut:
Fadi El Khatib (197-F-79, agency: Pro Management Agency) (40 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast)
Ace Custis (202-F-74, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: Virginia Tech) (18 pts, 4 ast)
- Al Manama:
Abdulla Kutaiba (197-F/G-80) (22 pts)
Mohammad Hussain (20 pts)
Albert Mouring (191-G-79, college: Connecticut) (19 pts, 3 ast, 2 stl)

Orthodox (JOR) 92 - Al Kahraba Electricity (IRQ) 81 (Qs: 26-15, 57-30, 81-55 & 92-81)

# Best performance:
- Orthodox:
Rob Anderson (196-G/F-79, college: George Mason) (33 pts)
Kelly Wise (208-F-80, college: Memphis) (19 pts, 19 reb)
Kevin Jobity (207-F/C-74, agency: Pro Management Agency, college: Niagara) (17 pts, 11 reb)
- Al Kahraba Electricity:
Malek Falah (16 pts, 2 ast)
Ahmad Obaid (13 pts)

* Group D:

Al Kuwait SC (KUW) 143 - As Seeb (OMA) 55 (Qs: 45-12, 68-32, 96-41 & 143-55)

# Best performance:
* Al Kuwait SC:
Ira Clark (203-F/C-75, college: Texas) (36 pts, 12 reb)
Andre Pitts (185-G-73, college: Huston-Tillotson) (36 pts, 5 ast)
* As Seeb:
Mark Strickland (208-F/C-70, college: Temple) (26 pts, 14 reb)

# Day 3 - 21st Arab Clubs Championship:
- Friday 25th of April:
14:00 Al Tilal - Qatar
16:00 De La Salle - Fes
18:00 An Nasr (LIB) - Al Ittihad
20:00 Zain - An Nasr (UAE)

Standings

Arab Club Championships Standings

Group A
1. An Nasr		1-0
2. Zain		1-0
3. Tilal		0-1
4. Qatar		0-1
Group B
1. Al Ittihad		1-0
2. Al Nasr		1-0
3. De La Salle		0-1
4. MAS		0-1
Group C
1. Orthodox		1-0
2. Al Riyadi		1-0
3. Al Manama		0-1
4. Al Kahraba		0-1
Group D
1. Al Kuwait		1-0
2. Sagesse		0-0
3. As Seeb		0-1

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AUSTRIA

Gmunden advances, Traiskirchen forces game 5 -by Stefan Heinrich
Gmunden won 4 game in Wels with 78:84 and they advances to the Semi-Finals, where they will meet the Furstenfeld Panthers. WBC Wels' captain Markus Markus Pargfrieder (194-F-78) retired after this game tonight, as he already announced at the beginning of the season that the 2007/08 will be the last in his career. We wish him and his family all his best for the future!

Traiskirchen managed to win game 4 in Kapfenberg and bring the series back to their home-court for the deciding game 5 on Sunday. Kapfenberg missed Ramiz Suljanovic due to an sprained ankle and they lost 81:89, but the game was close for 40 minutes.

WBC Wels - Gmunden Swans 78:84
WBC: Markus Pargfrieder 17, Palmer 17, Woschank 12, Davis 12, Klette 11, Archibald 4, Anderson 3, Stanek 2
Swans: Ian Boylan (198-G/F-83, college: Cal.St. Northridge) 27, Mayes 21, Mayer 13, Stelzer 12, Sullivan 6, Johnson 5

Kapfenberg Bulls - Traiskirchen Lions 81:89
Bulls: Kevin Nelson (192-G-84, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Park) 32, Grgat 19, Ray 15, Josipovic 8, Hallett 7
Lions: Dragan Zekovic (210-F-87, agency: Interperformances) 22, Milosevic 20, Lamesic 13, Vickery 11, Geisler 10, Paliashchuk 10, Rhynes 3

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BELGIUM

Standings - Division I

D1 Standings

1. Bree	25-7
2. Oostende	23-9
3. Charleroi	23-9
4. Liege	20-12
5. M.Hainaut	20-12
6. Aalstar	15-17
7. Verviers-Pep.	12-20
8. Antwerp	10-22
9. Leuven	7-25
10. Gent	5-27

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BOSNIA

Bosnian League 8 - 4TH round -by Elvir Halilovic

Results:
Slavija - Bosna ASA BHT 68:74
Siroki Prima Pivo - Borac Nektar 70:58
Igokea Partizan - Sloboda Dita 86:69
Grude - Zrinjski Mik Company 74:85

Standings:
1. Bosna ASA BHT 4-0 321:276 +45 8 pts.
2. Igokea Partizan 3-1 351:309 +42 7 pts.
3. Siroki Prima Pivo 3-1 324:288 +36 7 pts.
4. Slavija 2-2 331:337 -06 6 pts.
5. Zrinjski MC 2-2 341:352 -11 6 pts.

6. Sloboda Dita 2-2 263:307 -44 6 pts.
7. Borac Nektar 0-4 273:295 -22 4 pts.
8. Grude 0-4 308:348 -40 4 pts.

Grude - Zrinjski Mik Company 74:85
(14:13, 20:25, 23:26, 17:21)
Grude, SD Bili Brig; Att.: 450; Ref.: Duskaj, Pehar, Sobot
GRUDE: Lovric 3, M. Vranjes, Djulabic, M. Gligora 6, L. Gligora 9, Jelcic 5, Vujcic 11, Bura 9, Lozancic 8, Zitko 6, Perajica 17
Coach: Predrag Mikulic
ZRINJSKI MC: Filipovic 5, Bisko 8, Sarenac 18, Norac 1, Petric, Oroz, Dzidic 23, Brecic 2, Vuckovic 12, Buhac, Planinic 10, Grbavac 6
Coach: Nedeljko Zelenika

Igokea Partizan - Sloboda Dita 86:69
(21:27, 20:21, 14:11, 31:10)
Aleksandrovac, SD Nenad Bastinac; Att.: 600; Ref.: Adamovic, Bijedic, Coric
IGOKEA PARTIZAN: Tosic 4, Patterson, Bocka 9, Stazic 21, Vucurovic 2, Cup, Wright 4, Lydeka 9, Stefanovic 11, Kovacevic 12, Allen 14
Coach: Zoran Sretenovic
SLOBODA DITA: Halilovic, M. Milosevic 16, Hrncic, Halilbegovic, Albijanic 10, Persic, Tomovic 2, Tanasilovic, Matic 12, N. Milosevic 8, Jocovic 8, Ross 13
Coach: Senad Muminovic

Siroki Prima pivo - Borac Nektar 70:58
(21:11, 20:14, 15:18, 14:15)
Siroki Brijeg, SD Pecara; Att.: 500; Ref.: Zurapovic, Kralj, Drmic
SIROKI PP: Bubalo 7, Grays 8, Stemberger 14, Dijan 10, Zupic 5, Sola 3, Spralja 8, Naletilic, Susak, Fajardo 11, Bethel, Ezugwu 4
Coach: Ivan Velic
BORAC NEKTAR: Atanackovic 7, Z. Jovanovic 10, Stupar, Rothbart 8, V. Jovanovic 8, Gemaljevic 2, Djurasovic 2, Popovic 2, Franklin 9, Velimirovic 6, Paunovic, Ugrekhelidze 4
Coach: Milos Pejic

Slavija - Bosna ASA BH Telecom 68:74
(19:18, 24:23, 11:19, 14:14)
Istocno Sarajevo, SD Slavija; Att.: 300; Ref.: Obradovic, Lakic, Karovic
SLAVIJA: Gvozdenovic 5, Stanic 11, Tomasevic, Simeunovic, Mladenovic 8, Damjanovic D., Vukovic 7, Malovic 5, Grubisic, Ivanovic, Demic 7, Damjanovi A. 25
Coach: Goran Sehovac
BOSNA ASA BHT: Jefferson 9, Sehovic 6, Tomovic, Panic 3, Bavcic 2, Djurasovic, Bailey 20, Rahimic 7, Hajric 12, Pasalic, Jackson, Williams 15
Coach: Jurij Zdovc

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CZECH REPUBLIC

Czech NBL Awards -by Ondra Simecek
The awards for the best players of Czech Mattoni NBL for the current season were announced. The votes were collected from Mattoni NBL clubs, basketball experts and sports journalists.
The absolut winner is Radoslav Rancik (207-F/C-78, college: St.Cloud St.) from CEZ Nymburk who was awarded as MVP of the season, PF of the season and best Bosman A (together with Sarovic from Geofin) of the season. Rancik has also other three awards from the Stat leaders category: highest rating, points per game and best 3point shooter.
The Team of the season is CEZ Basketball Nymburk that won also in category of Event of the Year with their performace in ULEB Cup games and attandence of 10,500 spectators.
The award for the Coach of the season goes to Muli Katzurin from Nymburk.
A special award for an Extraodrinary propagation and promotion of the basketball in the Czech Republic goes to sport editors in the Czech Television for their weekly magazine Basketmania.

All awards see bellow:

MVP of the season Radoslav Rancik (CEZ Nymburk)

PG of the season Mike Mitchell (NH Ostrava)
SG of the season Goran Savanovic (BK Prostějov)
SF of the season Ladislav Sokolovsk (CEZ Nymburk)
PF of the season Radoslav Rancik (CEZ Nymburk)
C of the season Petr Benda (CEZ Nymburk)

Team of the season CEZ Basketball Nymburk

Coach of the season Muli Katzurin (CEZ Nymburk)

Players surprise of the season Tomas Satoransky (USK Praha)

Best Czech player of the season Petr Benda (CEZ Nymburk)

Best Bosman A of the season Robert Sarovic (Geofin Novy Jicin) a Radoslav Ranck (CEZ Nymburk)

Best Bosman B of the season Goran Savanovic (BK Prostějov)

Best Import player of the season Mike Mitchell (NH Ostrava)

Basketball Event of the season CEZ Nymburk in ULEB Cup

Best Czech player abroad Jiri Welsch (Unicaja Malaga, ACB Spain)

Award for an Extraordinary propagation and promotion of Basketball in the country:
sport editors of Czech Television for weekly magazine Basketmania

Stat leaders
Highest Rating Radoslav Rancik (CEZ Nymburk) rating 22,42/game
Points per game Radoslav Rancik (CEZ Nymburk) 17,82 points/game
Best shooter Petr Benda (CEZ Nymburk) 68,1%
Best 3points shooter Radoslav Rancik (CEZ Nymburk) 51%
Best 2 points shooter Aleksander Bojic (BK Prostějov) 68,3%
Best FT shooter Levell Sanders (BK Pardubice) 91,2%
The most points scored Tomas Hruby (BK st nad Labem) 763 points
Best dunker Jason McCoy (BK Koln) 1,68 dunks/game
Best rebounder Muris Andelija (USK Praha) 7,62 rebounds/game
Most assistences Stepan Vrubl (A PLUS OHL S Brno) 5,68 assistence/game
Most steals Rashaan Ames (BK Prostějov) 2,86 steals/game
Most minutes Stepan Vrubl (A PLUS OHL S Brno) 35,33 minutes/game

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EL SALVADOR

Cajar joins Denver -by Gianni Pascucci
Centro Educativo Denver tried to improve his level of competition signing well-known Panamanian Alejandro Cajar (190-G/F-78). He replaces in the Denver roster Dominican Cristian Herrera (205-F/C-84, agency: Court Side), and should play almost immediately in Liga Superior.

Wins for ExSal and Cosmos -by Jaime Arevalo
The ExSal 'Gorilllas' prevailed over UTEC in an important game of the last round of Liga Superior two nights ago. The final score was 80-67, and ExSal completed a succesful comeback during the second half of the game, after that the 'Tecnologicos' had started well, pointing on a zone defense and on an ordered, low-paced game. Jose Antonio Orellana (189-F-87) was the game top scorer, with 21 points in losing effort, and Carlos Martinez (190-F-79) scored 19 points to lead ExSal, well assisted by Sergio Zetino (173-G-87), Oscar Rivera (186-G-80) and Salvador Bandek (181-G-78). In the other game of the night, Cosmos took finally a win,
103-92 over San Marcos. Yet withoout any import player, coach Ernesto Rodriguez made a great job, pointing on his domestic veterans Mario Flores (183-G-85), Chester Davis (187-G/F-77), Carlos Vigil (189-G-76) and Giovanni Guardado (192-F-76). Edwin Lopez (183-G/F-85) was again the top scorer, leading Cosmos with 25 points, while the best performer in San Marcos was Michael Pierrot (208-C-84), who scored nothing less than 41 points (!!) in losing effort

Standings - Liga Superior

Liga Superior Standings

1. ExSAL	9-1
2. UTEC	4-4
3. Denver	3-4
4. San Marcos	3-6
5. Cosmos	2-6
6. Nacionales	0-0

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ESTONIA

BC Pirita advances to semis -by Janar Filippov

BC Pirita is the second semifinalist in Estonian Meistriliiga after beating Valga Welg 86:69 on the road and winning the series 2:0. William Sharp (202-F-84) was the star of the evening with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists. Ivo Uibukant (197-F-80) and Andre Parn (200-F-77) added 16 points. Pirita made 19/20 FT. In 3rd quarter, the guests made 16:5 run in six minutes and had a double-digit lead until the end.

P: Sharp 19+14rb+7as, Uibukant 16+4rb, Parn 16, Joosep Pokla (198-G-86) 9 (FG 3/16)+5st, Romil Jermakov (181-G-87) 9+4rb, Johnny Gray (186-G-83, college: Pacific) 9+4as
V: Antti Vasar (195-F-79) 16+7rb+7to, Reinar Hallik (208-C-84) 12, Dwayne Smith (191-G-80, college: Eckerd) 11, Heiko Rannula (186-G-83) 9, Sharunas Skadas (206-C/F-81, college: Lewis) 8+9rb, Veljo Vares (200-F/G-81) 5

The reigning champion TU/Rock started the quarterfinal against BC Kraft Moobel/Kohila and won at home 91:75. It was not an easy victory for the champions as they led by only 7 points with three minutes left to play. Brian Cusworth (213-C-84, college: Harvard) led Rock with 21 points, Heiko Niidas (206-C-83) scored 17 for Kohila.

R: Cusworth 21+8rb, Gert Kullamae (198-G/F-71) 16, Giorgi Tsintsadze (192-G-86) 15+8as, Vallo Allingu (206-C-78) 10+5rb, Silver Leppik (185-G-83) 9+4rb+5as+4st

K: Heiko Niidas 17+5r, Greg McQuay (201-F-76, college: Purdue) 16+8rb+3bs, Heigo Erm (190-G/F-80) 14+6rb+5as, Karl-Peeter Dorbek (187-G-80) 11+7to, Reimo Tamm (185-G-84) 8 (FG 1/8)+4as

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EUROLEAGUE

Rising Star Trophy winner: Danilo Gallinari -by Eurobasket
A silky-smooth forward with a great shot and a solid all-around game, Danilo Gallinari

(202-G-88, agency: Players Group) of Armani Jeans Milano made instant impact on courts around the continent this season and has been rewarded with the 2008 Euroleague Rising Star Trophy in a vote of the competition's head coaches. The teenage forward, who came into the season with but two minutes of Euroleague experience under his belt, quickly became not only a top scoring threat for Milano, but a team leader. Gallinari dealt with everything that opposing defenses threw at him and wound up among the top 10 regular season performers in index rating. Besides leading Milano in scoring with 14.9 points per game, Gallinari was among his team's top three players in rebounding, steals and blocked shots. 'I enjoyed myself playing the Euroleague this season, even though I would like to have played more games,' Gallinari said. 'I hope to play another Euroleague and reach a lot further in the competition.'

The four-year old Rising Star Trophy recognizes the best Euroleague Basketball player who was younger than 22 on July 1 of the summer before the season started. Partizan Igokea center Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) is the runner-up, forward Nicolas Batum (201-F-88) of Le Mans placed third and center Omer Asik (211-C-86) of Fenerbahce fourth. The Rising Star Trophy is among several end-of-season honors awarded by Euroleague Basketball. Already announced has been the Alphonso Ford (188-G-71, college: Miss.Valley St.) Top Scorer Trophy, the only statistics-based award, which went to Marc Salyers (205-F-79, college: Samford) of Chorale Roanne. The Best Defender Trophy is still to be awarded and the nominees for the All-Euroleague team announced. The All-Euroleague first and second teams, plus the Euroleague MVP, will be revealed at the Euroleague Basketball Awards Ceremony on May 3 during the Final Four in Madrid. The Aleksander Gomelsky Coach of the Year Trophy and the Euroleague Club Executive of the Year are post-season awards.

Gallinari, who turns 20 in August, never looked like a teenager on the court this season. His basketball pedigree surely helped. Gallinari's father, Vittorio Gallinari, was an Italian basketball star in the 1980s and early 1990s, best known for his work on the defensive end of the floor. Vittorio Gallinari won the 1987 Euroleague crown with Milano and also played for the Italian national team. Despite missing the first two games of the season through injury, the younger Gallinari stepped right in when ready and promptly dropped 18 points and 7 rebounds in his first Euroleague game as a starter. He reached the 20-point mark the next week the first of four 20-point games he would mark up in the regular season. Moreover, Gallinari seemed to rise to the occasion against the toughest teams, averaging 23.5 points on 53.3% two-point and 38.5% three-point shooting, 4 rebounds and 3 steals in two games against Maccabi Elite, the only team from Milano's Group B that would eventually qualify for the Final Four. He also hit the key three-pointers down the stretch to lead Milano to its only home win of the season in January against Aris TT Bank. Consistency was a big part of his success and Gallinari scored in double figures in all but two appearances all season. Gallinari is the fourth winner of the award and the third to come from an Italian club. Last season the award went to Rudy Fernandez (197-G-85) of DKV Joventut. The 2006 trophy was awarded to Andrea Bargnani (209-F/C-85) of Benetton Treviso and in 2005 the winner was Erazem Lorbek

(210-F/C-84, college: Michigan St.) of Climamio Bologna.

How does it feel to be the Rising Star Trophy winner in your first Euroleague season?
'Obviously, it's a great feeling. It gives me great satisfaction and it's a reward for the job I did during the season with the team, and individually with the coaches. I recognize it as a great accomplishment.'

What do you think of the fact that two of the four winners so far are Italian and another played in the Italian League?
'That's a great sign for Italian basketball and a good result, especially, for Italian players. I hope to see very soon that more Italian teams rise up and reach the best European level.'

How did you enjoy your first Euroleague season?
'It's a very high-level competition. It's more physical, and everything is more difficult, especially going to the basket. The speed is also higher, so you have less time to take decisions. I enjoyed myself playing the Euroleague this season, even though I would like to have played more games. I hope to play another Euroleague and reach a lot further in the competition.'

You witnessed a 50 Years celebration in Milan during the season. What does this anniversary mean to a rising star like you?
'It's a great sensation to play for a team like Olympia Milano, that has done so much in the past. It's an honor for me to wear this jersey and it pushes me to always give my best. I hope in the future that Olympia will again reach the kind of results they had when my father was playing.'

Courtesy of Euroleague

Euroleague's Best Defender Trophy winner: Dimitris Diamantidis, Panathinaikos -by Kostas Papadopoulos

A player whose abilities without the ball in his hands is quickly becoming the stuff of legend, Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) of Panathinaikos, has been voted the Euroleague Basketball Best Defender Trophy winner for the fourth season in a row. His ability to control a game and inspire his team with defense are among the reasons that Dimitris Diamantidis has won the award again in a vote by Euroleague head coaches. Dimitris Diamantidis has been the only winner of the Best Defender Trophy since the award was started four seasons ago, coinciding with his rookie season in the Euroleague. The 27-year-old guards all-around defensive skills are what make him such a valuable player for the Greens. Among all Euroleague players this season, Dimitris Diamantidis finished fifth in steals per game, fourth in defensive rebounds and 15th in blocked shots. Indeed, he was the only guard ranked among the best 10 rebounders or among the top 25 players in blocks. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv's big man Terence Morris (206-F-79, college: Maryland) finished second in the voting for the award. David Hawkins (193-G-82, agency: CAA Sports, college: Temple) of Lottomatica Roma finished third, followed by Unicaja's center Boniface NDong and Fenerbahce Ulker's center Omer Asik (211-C-86).
The Best Defender Trophy is among several end-of-season honors awarded by Euroleague Basketball. Already announced have been the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy, which went to Marc Salyers (205-F-79, college: Samford) of Chorale Roanne, and the Rising Star Trophy, won by Danilo Gallinari (202-G-88, agency: Players Group) from Armani Jeans Milano. The nominees for the All-Euroleague team are still to be announced. The All-Euroleague first and second teams, plus the Euroleague MVP, will be revealed at the Euroleague Basketball Awards Ceremony on May 3 during the Final Four in Madrid. The Aleksander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year Trophy and the Euroleague Club Executive of the Year are post-season awards.

Diamantidis, nicknamed 'Spiderman' at home in Greece for his long arms and uncanny ability to steal the ball in almost any situation, continues to make an impact on the Euroleague's all-time charts for statistical leaders. He climbed to sixth all-time in steals this season and boasts the best steals-per-game average of anyone in the top 10. He is only one blocked shot away from the all-time top 20 and, once again, would be the only guard with that distinction. His dominance for his team was also readily apparent this season: Diamantidis led Panathinaikos in minutes played, defensive rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots. Those numbers are a tribute to Diamantidiss drive, durability and his special physical attributes, which prevent opposing teams from finding mismatches against him. His impressive speed allows him to keep pace with even the quickest guards, while his size and long arms help him deal with big men, too. The Best Defender Trophy is the latest in a series of honors that have defined Diamantidis's impressive career since he joined Panathinaikos and the Euroleague four seasons ago. Last season, he helped the Greens lift the Euroleague crown at the Final Four in Athens and was named Final Four MVP as well as an All-Euroleague first team selection.

By the courtesy of Euroleague.net

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FINLAND

KORISLIIGA: TC signed Bernard Harris -by Rauno Hurmalainen
Team Componenta (Karkkila) has found and signed the new Head Coach. Bernard Harris , 57, will be TC new Head Coach 2008-09. So, by the same
Harris will do a come back on top level in Finland, where he played from 1980 for fifteen years and acted as Head Coach last time five years ago as
being 2002-03 the Head Coach of FoKoPo in Forssa.
Transfer news: Arto Talvitie (190-G-80) 28, will leave YMCA Turku and move to FoKoPo (Forssa) for 2008-09 season. Passed season Talvitie played in I-division
averaging 12,8 ppg and 4,3 rpg in 29,0 mpg. Niilo Lehtila (195-G-83), 24, has re-signed with Korihait (Uusikaupunki). The contract is model 1+1 years. Last season Lehtila averaged 5,5 ppg - 2,1 rpg.

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FRANCE

French Cup: Cholet, ASVEL reach finals -by Chris Spiesser
Cholet will have an opportunity to win a second trophy this season: After winning the Semaine des As, De Colo and his partners will face ASVEL in the French Cup final. The teams downed Gravelines and Nanterre, respectively.

ASVEL 57, Nanterre 43
Probably tired, both teams had a catastrophic initial quarter, ending the first 20 minutes with ASVEL up 16-22. If things went better for the green team in the third quarter, Nanterre couldn't raise its accuracy, ending on poor 17-of-63 (27%) shooting. Coach Donnadieu noted that it was hard to face ASVEL's physical impact, embodied by Nsonwu at 10 points and 10 rebounds and Conley at 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. And good defense on Steffon Bradford (7 points, 5 rebounds) was notable. Despite the loss, the Francilian coach appreciated his team's adventures.

Cholet 80, Gravelines 77
After a tight first quarter (22-21), Cholet and its three Americans -- Golson (15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 6 rebounds), Wiggins (17 points, 5 rebounds) and Dobbins (18 points, 5 rebounds) -- dug a decisive gap over the second and third quarters, outscoring Gravelines 20-14 and 25-21. Grier keep his team alive the whole game long with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. The Maritimes came back in the final minutes, Grier finding allies in Schmitt (10 points, 6 rebounds), Dubiez (14 points) and Mokongo (13 points), but Tchicamboud (11 points) and Dobbins on the line netted the crucial points for Cholet.

Cholet v. ASVEL will be the closing game of the traditional French Cup weekend in Bercy. This year, the event will take place May 17-18 with the youngsters' finals, men's and women's professional and amateur finals, and much more! For the full program, see CoupeDeFranceDeBasket.com. (Edited by Os Davis)

ESPE Chalons-en-Champagne Basket Pro sign Christophe Humbert -by Eurobasket
ESPE Chalons-en-Champagne Basket Pro (ProB) strengthened their roster with addition of 29-year old domestic forward Christophe Humbert (202-F-79, college: Florida Southern). Humbert played most recently (season 2005-06) at Entente Orleans 45 (ProA). Humbert is experienced player. After graduating college in the States, he came back to Europe and played in Spain and then at different teams in France. He has season ending injury at just before last season, which put him out of court for almost two years. He may be a very important addition to the team, but it all depends on what shape he is in.

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FYR MACEDONIA

Standings - Division II

D2 Standings

1. Pop Sport S.	19-7
2. Torus	18-8
3. Ovce Pole	17-9
4. Centar S.	16-10
5. Goce Delchev	14-12
6. Plejmejker C.	11-12
7. Teteks	11-14
8. Kozuv	11-15
9. Negotino	11-15
10. Heraklea	8-17
11. ABA	4-21

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GERMANY

Bisselik new Coach in Wuerzburg -by Moritz Korff
Berthold Bisselik has been named the new Head Coach of the SCH Wuerzburg Baskets (Regionalliga South-East). The 46-year-old signed a contract for the next two years. Bisselik, the former coach of the German A2, U20 and U18 National Team, served as a Head Coach and Director of Basketball Operations for the Rhoendorf Dragons from 1999 until 2007. In Wuerzburg he is going to follow Ivo Nakic. One of his goal will be to guide the Baskets to the 2. Bundesliga Pro B.

Eurobasket.com 2007-2008 All-Regionalliga South-East Team -by Moritz Korff
Eurobasket.com German All-Regionalliga South-East Player of the Year:
Calvin Wooten (186-G-84, college: Oakland) - Dachau

Eurobasket.com German All-Regionalliga South-East First Team:
Stephen Cramer (188-G, college: Hope (MI)) - Weiden
Calvin Wooten - Dachau
Hrvoje Pervan (203-F-84, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Mercer) - Wuerzburg
Mirko Virijevic (201-F-81, college: Freed-Hardeman) - Muenchen
Anton Kazarnovski (205-F/C-85, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement) - Muenchen

Eurobasket.com German All-Regionalliga South-East Second Team:
Ali Thomas (188-G-79, college: USF) - Landsberg
Jon Simon (180-G-84, college: Colgate) - Landshut
Konrad Tota (196-F-80, college: Dickinson St.) - Dresden
Chris Brown (201-F-83, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Chattanooga) - Zwickau
Kyle Kunkel (201-F/C-81, college: Rocky Mountain) - Leitershofen/Stadtbergen

Regionalliga News -by Moritz Korff
SSV Lok Bernau (Regionalliga North) hired Alexander Rosenthal (201-F-88) for the 2008-2009 season. The 19-year-old Forward spent this past season with Hertener Loewen of the 2. Bundesliga Pro B and averaged 5.4 points over 30 games played.

According to reports in the local newspaper Neue OZ the P4two Ballers Osnabrueck, who won the championship in the Regionalliga North and moved up to the 2. Bundesliga Pro B, will go into the 2008-2009 campaign with a new man at the helm. Coach Dimitris Polychroniadis will stay with the club, but take over another postion. The name of the successor has not been announced yet. Meanwhile Christian Bohlmann (194-F-85) was awarded a contract extension for 2008-2009.

The NOMA Iserlohn Kangaroos, who will go to the start in the Regionalliga West next season after finishing this past season in 15th place in the 2. Bundesliga Pro B, have found a new coach. That is what derwesten.de published Wednesday. Dragan Torbica, a 39-year-old Serb who spent his career as a player at Proleter Zrenjanin (ALBA Berlins Coach Luka Pavicevic was one of his teammates) has agreed terms with the Kangaroos. As a coach Torbica worked for KK Novi Sad of the Serbian A-League during the past years.

Gary Johnson (188-G-82, college: Cent.Florida) returns to BG Suedpark Bochum (Regionalliga West). The member of the 2007-2008 Eurobasket.com German All-Regionalliga West First Team helped SVD 49 Dortmund to win the title in this past season and shot hoops for Bochum the year before. Meanwhile, Patrick Abraham (189-F-82), Jonathan Dauber (205-C-82) and Conrad Asseko-Allogo (197-F-85), who will make his comeback after an injury, decided to stay with the team. Sebastian Niebruegge (177-G-81) of GV Waltrop is the second new player for the upcoming season.

Six players to stay in Essen -by Moritz Korff
Ethan Shaw (203-F-83, college: Detroit Mercy), Marko Radulovic (188-G-80), Sebastian Schroeter (207-C-83, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement), Andre Schroeder (182-G-82), Tim Doll (184-G-88) and Tom Doll (182-G-83) are going to stay with the ETB Wohnbau Baskets Essen for the upcoming season. Essen qualified for the 2. Bundesliga Pro A by capturing the championship in the Pro B-league. If Brandon Lincoln (193-G-83, college: Oregon) will play one more year in Essen is not sure yet. However, the club-officials offered him a new contract. Lincoln led the team in points per game (17.4) during the championship-season.

Ludwigsburg: McCray signs contract-extension, Heyden returns -by Moritz Korff
Two young Germans have signed multi-year-contracts with EnBW Ludwigsburg (1. Bundesliga). Phillipp Heyden (208-C-88), who played for ALBA Berlin/TuS Lichterfelde since 2006, returns to Ludwigsburg for the next season. He made an agreement with the team for the next 5 years. David McCray (188-G-86) will stay 4 more years. The 21-year-old Guard is both shooting hoops for Ludwigsburg and for the Kirchheim Knights. He has had 9 Bundesliga-appearances so far this season and is averaging 6 points per contest.

Bundesliga Game Day 32: Wednesday April 23rd results! -by Michael Taylor
Bundesliga Game Day 32 played out Wednesday night in Germany and the playoffs became finalized as Eisbaren Bremerhaven sealed the 8th and final playoff spot with an exciting 82-81 road win over Deutsche Bank Skyliners at Ballsporthalle in Frankfurt. Other highlights included Aleksandar Najfeji's game winning basket also gave ALBA Berlin a last second 74-73 win over EnBW Ludwigsburg at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart and ratiopharm Ulm topping Walter Tigers Tubingen 78-70 in an exciting Baden-Wurtemburg Derby game at Tubingen Arena.

Wednesday April 23
ALBA Berlin 74 EnBW Ludwigsburg 73
Aleksandar Nadjfeji finished a bucket at the buzzer to win the game as ALBA Berlin topped EnBW Ludwigsburg 74-73 at Porsche Arena Wednesday night in Stuttgart. Bundesliga MVP Julius Jenkins led all scorers with 20pt on 4 of 8 three point shooting while Goran Nikolic and Nadjfeji added 13pt 5reb apiece in the win. ALBA jumped to a 24-18 lead after 1Q but a strong Ludwigsburg 2Q gave the hosts a 42-40 halftime lead. Ludwigsburg powered to a 64-53 advantage with a strong 3rd before ALBA outscored the hosts 21-9 in the 4th for the dramatic comeback win. ALBA hit 48% for the game and made 8 of 18 threes (44%) while Ludwigsburg shot 46% from the floor and hit 8 of 22 threes (36%). ALBA outrebounded Ludwigsburg 36-28 and made 12 of 16 FT (75%) to 7 of 14 for the hosts. ALBA Berlin survived 18 turnovers in the comeback win. Ronald Ross topscored for Ludwigsburg with 17pt 6reb, Coleman Collins added 16pt and Brandon Woudstra 13 for Ludwigsburg. Head coach Luka Pavicevic and his ALBA team remains atop the Bundesliga in first place with a 25-7 record while Ludwigsburg slipped to 14-18.

Bayer Leverkusen 89 LTi Giessen 46ers 69
Brendan Winters drilled 4 threes and finished with 20pt 7reb to lead Bayer Leverkusen over LTi Giessen 89-69 Wednesday at historic Wilhelm Dopatkahalle in Leverkusen. With Achim Kuczmann announced as Bundesliga Coach of the Year, Leverkusen ran to a 29-20 lead after 1Q and held a 49-37 lead at half. Leverkusen sealed the win with a 19-9 3Q taking a 68-46 into the 4th. Rookie Matthias Goddek enjoyed a 14pt game while Zack Whiting added a 13pt 10reb 10 assist triple double, the first of any player this Bundesliga season. Brant Bailey finished with 10pt 7reb for Leverkusen. In the win, Leverkusen shot 47% from the floor and made 12 of 27 threes (44%) while sinking 15 of 21 FT (71%). Rouven Roussler and Corey Rouse scored 16pt apiece for the 46ers in the loss. Giessen, who fell to 1-15 on the road, shot 39% from the floor and only 10 of 21 FT while being outrebounded 46-38 by Leverkusen. With the win, Leverkusen improved to 24-8 while Giessen fell to 9-23.

Artland Dragons 85 BG74 Gottingen 72
Sparked by a strong second half, Artland Dragons won 85-72 over BG74 Gottingen Wednesday night at Artland Arena. The even first half saw the Dragons hold a 19-18 lead after 1Q before Gottingen took a 37-36 advantage into half. Artland's 24-17 3Q turned the game their way and Head Coach Chris Fleming and his team sealed the win in the fourth. EJ Rowland led 5 Dragons in double figures with 17pt followed by Chad Prewitt and Lamont McIntosh with 14pt apiece. Leon Rodgers scored 11pt and Adam Chubb 10 for the winners. Artland hit 47% from the floor and 12 of 27 from three (44%) along with 13 of 19 FT (68%) while dishing out 21ast to 13turnovers. Gottingen was led by Darren Brooks with 21pt and Jahmar Thorpe with 14pt 9reb. Gottingen outrebounded Artland 41-31 and shot 46% but made only 4 of 13 threes (30%) and suffered 18turnovers. Artland upped their record to 23-9 while Gottingen dropped to 12-20.

brose Baskets Bamberg 77 Science City Jena 61
Robert Garrett scored 25pt in leading brose Baskets Bamberg to a 77-61 victory over Science City Jena Wednesday night at JAKO Arena in Bamberg. After leading 18-17 after 1Q, Bamberg saw Jena fight back and take a 37-36 lead at half. Head coach Dirk Bauermann and his team jumped to an 18-11 3Q and finished with a 23-13 4th to earn the win. Steffen Hamann scored 14pt and Darren Fenn 12pt in the win. Bamberg shot 40% from the floor and 10 of 32 (31%) from three. Bamberg's 19 for 26 FT (73%) keyed the win. Jason Miller and Lavelle Felton led Jena with 13pt apiece and Ali Seggelke and Mark Davis chipped in 10pt each. Jena shot 43% from the floor and made 7 of 20 threes (35%) but only 10 of 16 FT (62%). Jena did outrebound the reigning German Champs 37-34. Bamberg improved to 22-10 while Jena fell to 5-27.

Telekom Baskets Bonn 75 TBB Trier 59
Artur Kolodziejski came off the Bonn bench to score 14pt as Telekom Baskets Bonn beat TBB Trier 75-59 Wednesday night at Hardtberghalle in Bonn. After an even 1Q at 17, Bonn raced to a 44-37 halftime lead and finished the game with a 13-7 3Q. Winsome Frazier added 12pt, JJ Strasser 11pt and Ronnie Burrell 10pt for Bonn in the win. Head coach Michael Koch saw his Bonn team shoot only 38% from the floor and made 5 of 16 threes (31%) but grabbed an impressive 19 offensive rebounds. Trier was led by Mike Benton's 13pt and 11 from James Gillingham. Trier hit 40% from the field and 3 of 14 from three (21%). Bonn improved to 20-12 while Trier dropped to 6-26.

Eisbaren Bremerhaven 82 Deutsche Bank Skyliner 81
Eisbaren Bremerhaven claimed the 8th playoff place filling the field with an exciting 82-81 road win over Deutsche Bank Skyliners Wednesday night at Ballsporthalle in Frankfurt. Tony Bobbitt led Five Eisbaren in double figures with 16pt on 4 for 9 from three followed by 13pt apiece from Nate Funk (3 for 4 threes) and Anthony Tolliver (11reb). Ivars Timermanis chipped in 11pt (3 for 5 threes) and Matt Haryasz 10pt 7boards in the win. Bremerhaven shot 49% from the floor and drilled 16 of 31 from three (51%). Head Coach Sarunas Sakalauskas and his Bremerhaven team took a 44-41 lead into half and led 60-58 going into the 4th before the exciting finish. Matt Haryasz sealed with playoffs with two clutch FT with 9sec remaining. Pascal Roller led Frankfurt with 19pt on 4 for 7 three point shooting with help from Derrick Allen 17pt 8reb and Ilian Evtimov 14pt 4reb. Frankfurt shot 43% and made 10 of 24 threes (41%). The Skyliners enjoyed a big advantage from the foul line making 21 of 27 (77%) while Bremerhaven made only 6 of 9 FT. Bremerhaven's three game win streak down the stretch has helped them make the playoffs for the third straight season. Bremerhaven is now 18-14 while Frankfurt slipped to 21-12.

ratiopharm Ulm 78 Walter Tigers Tubingen 70
ratiopharm Ulm hit 5 three pointers to begin the game racing to an early lead before fighting off a Walter Tigers Tubingen comeback in an exciting 78-70 win over their Baden-Wurtemburg rivals Wednesday night at Tubingen Arena. Ulm jumped to a 24-18 1Q lead and, powered by their transition game, extended the lead to 41-25 in the 2Q. Tubingen battled back to cut the deficit to 45-37 at half. The Tigers comeback continued with a strong 3Q cutting Ulm's lead to 61-57 heading into the 4th. Tubingen took their 1st lead of the game at 63-61 before Ulm outscored the Tigers 17-7 down the stretch to seal the victory. Dru Joyce led Ulm with 17pt 6reb 9ast and Jeff Gibbs went for a strong 15pt 7reb. Konrad Wysocki chipped in 14pt and EJ Gallup scored 8 of his 11pt in the final minutes to help seal the win. Ulm shot 48% from the floor and made 8 of 19 threes (42%) along with 16 of 23 FT (69%). Tubingen was led by Ray Nixon (15pt), Rasko Katic (15pt 12reb) and Bingo Merriex (14pt 11reb). The Tigers shot 37% from the floor and 6 of 29 from three (20%) along with 10 of 14 FT. With the intense derby win, Ulm upped their record to 15-18 while Tubingen dropped to 10-22.

Game Day 32 matchups for April 30
Koln 99ers @ NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig 7pm

Ewe Baskets Oldenburg @ digibu Baskets Paderborn 8pm

Thomas Dreesen from Herten to Hagen -by Moritz Korff
After a great season on the roster of Hertener Loewen (2. Bundesliga Pro B) the Belgian sharpshooter Thomas Dreesen (201-F-88) it was no surprise that he attracted the interest of other teams. Only a couple of days after finishing his first campaign in Germany, the Belgian Junion International signed a contract with Phoenix Hagen (2. Bundesliga Pro A) for the upcoming season. Dreesen who led Herten in points per game set a league-record with 12 three-pointers made in a game against Speyer during the 2002-2008 campaign and nailed a league-leading 122 threes through the season.

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GREECE

Euroleague's Best Defender Trophy winner: Dimitris Diamantidis, Panathinaikos -by Kostas Papadopoulos

By the courtesy of Euroleague.net

A1: Regular season closes, Rethymno sent to A2 -by Chris Mammides

The regular seazon finished last night! The team from Crete, Ago Rethimno Almeco, is the unfortunate team to be relegated to A2, despite earning the exact same number of points as Kolossos Rodou and PAOK Thessalonikis. Even though the Rhodes and Thessaloniki teams lost their games to AEK and Aris, respectively, they will remain to the division on tiebreakers.

Results and the top scorers of the night were:

Egaleo 102:66 Olympiada Patras

Top scorers: Prodromos Nikolaidis (201-F-78), 20; Periklis Dorkofikis (206-F-80) 17.

PAOK 74:75 ARIS

Top scorers: Giorgos Tsiakos (204-F-82), 23 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists; Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82, college: Kansas St.) 22 points, 15 rebounds and 3 steals.

Kolossos Rodou 74:79 AEK

Top scorers: Savo Djikanovic (211-C-75), 20; Sasa Vasiljevic (183-G-79) 24 points.

Olympia Larissas 84:73 Panionios

Top scorers: Mike King (193-G-78, college: George Washington), 27 points; Aleksandar Capin (186-G-82), 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.

Marousi 90:74 AEL 1964

Top scorers: Kostas Kaimakoglou (206-C/F-83), 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists; Giannis Papachristou (194-G-80), 16 points.

Panathinaikos 95:84 Panellinos

Top scorers: Sarunas Jasikevicius (192-G-76, college: Maryland), 24 points and 3 assists; Anthony Grundy (189-G-79, college: N.Carolina St.), 30 points and 4 assists.

Olympiakos 80:48 Ago Rethimno Almeco

Top scorers: Iakovos Tsakalidis (218-C-79), 13 points; Ian Vouyoukas (212-C/F-85, college: St.Louis) 14 points and 11 rebounds. (Edited by Os Davis)

Interiew with Coach Fotis Takianos -by George Manousidis
Eurobasket: what is the little secret that you have as a team?
We shouldnt forget that that your team tries to rise two very difficult categories in two years.
Coach Fotis Takianos : the main points are three.
1. The selection of the players which comes out according to the agonistic value of them and also according to their character. So we created a good team atmosphere and all of us accepted the role that each one has in the team.
2. We have created two top departments for the players; the training and the medical departments. Both of them consist of the most specialized team that we could find. The coherence and communication between them, the players and the staff of the team are exceptional.
3. A philosophy of an attack defense was a target that we achieved with a lot of work this year. Also it is important that we convince our attack players to focus on the defense of their team.

Eurobasket: Do you believe that there is a player who was distinguished in your team this year?
Coach Fotis Takianos : The answer is classical; all of my players were distinguished.
That happened because we asked them to do their best for this championship, and they did it! It is considerable that most of the players improved their figure in regard the previous years.

Eurobasket: Do you believe that the managerial problems that you face will affect the team?
Coach Fotis Takianos : The problems that you refer to exist. I would say that the team is in a zero point. We are trying hard to keep up with our good progress. Most of all that I am glad about is that my players try to do so on their own. I told you earlier that we have exceptional characters. The importance is to encourage the successful performance of the players and then to take care of the managerial problems of the team.

Eurobasket: There is a scenario for a possible merger of the team; what is your answer to that?
Coach Fotis Takianos : They are so wrong about this and I feel so annoyed with those who invent such stories. It is better to recognize where we were at the beginning of the championship and where we are standing now in the end. On 18th May we can talk about everything. Until then, we should focus in the team.

Eurobasket: What was the most annoying event for you this year?
Coach Fotis Takianos : In spite of coming second during the championship and trying hard for the rise in A1, nobody has helped us. I also include the athletic (basketball) press in the city. You know it is very difficult especially for the players that try hard in the basketball field, not to have the appropriate support of the fans and the press. At least the press could write a good comment, only for the players good psychology.

Eurobasket: Which team do you believe will be in A1 next year?
Coach Fotis Takianos : We are going to be and the team of Trikala.

Standings - A2

A2 Standings

1. Trikalla 2000	21-5
2. Dafni	20-7
3. Panorama	19-7
4. Ionikos Lamias	17-9
5. DASH Perist.	16-10
6. Iraklis	14-12
7. HSBC Pagrati	14-12
8. ICBS	13-13
9. Xanthi	12-14
10. Panerythrai.	12-14
11. MENT	12-14
12. Apollon	10-16
13. Ilysiakos	9-17
14. Halkida	7-19
15. Sporting	7-20
16. P.Faliro	6-20

Standings - A1

A1 Standings

1. Panathin.	23-3
2. Olympiak.	22-4
3. Aris	18-8
4. Panionios	14-12
5. Panellinios	14-12
6. Maroussi	13-13
7. AEK	13-13
8. Olimpia L.	12-14
9. Egaleo	12-14
10. AEL	11-15
11. Kolossos	9-17
12. PAOK	9-17
13. Rethimno	9-17
14. Olimpiada P.	3-23

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GUATEMALA

Sat-Cybertech wins again, dismissing Universidad Rafael Landivar -by Victor Padilla
In their road of preparation for what will be a tough Torneo de Apertura - where at least 3 teams are counted as favorites to win it all (Leones, Elite and SAT)- , the current Guatemalan representative in the Central American region, Sat-Cybertech, defeated Universidad Rafael Landivar (URL) with a final score of 84 - 35, limiting the college players to what is possibly the lowest offensive production of a team in this tournament. Victor Padilla 18, Ricardo Amaya 17 pts and Enrique Samayoa 13 led the cause for the winners. And Melchor contested with 11 points at the losing side. The computerized team will see no more action in the coming two weeks, as they will concentrate in preparing for the final matches that await them at Liga Centroamericana de Clubes 2008, where they have gained a spot in the Final Four event scheduled for April 17-20.

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HAITI

Dalembert and his Pistons are 1-1 -by Eurobasket News
Samuel Dalembert (211-C-81, college: Seton Hall) scored 5 points, made 9 rebounds and 4 blocks in the biggest surprise of the starting days of playoffs happened at the Auburn Hills. One of the league favorites Detroit hosted the 7th-seeded Philadelphia and were looking to post an easy win. It looked as it would happen when Detroit got to a routine winning the first half by 13 points. The gap was stretched to 15 points in the third period and everything seemed to dull for the visitors. But Willie Green scored 4 point during a 10:0 run from the 76ers as they were back on track. The visitors clawed their way back into contest and jumped in front midway through the fourth period. Chauncey Billups missed three free throws in the crunch time and Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace came short on their own jump shots to present the 76ers with a victory. Andre Miller led the victors with 20 points. Willie Green added 17 points and Andre Iguodala had 16 points, 9 boards and 8 assists for the winning side. Rasheed Wallace notched 24 points and 9 boards for Detroit. Chauncey Billups secured 14 points in a loss.
In Game 2 Detroit posted an expected 105:88 win over Philadelphia and tied the series at 1-1. The surprising loss of the Pistons in Game 1 allowed some critics to cast doubt on Detroits title ambitions. But it took just two days for the Pistons to return to their best form. Rasheed Wallace netted 11 points in the first frame and the hosts piled up a 25:18 lead after the opening term. Detroit just kept mounting the pressure and headed into the fourth period leading by 22 points. The Pistons eased past a series evening victory in the last period. Richard Hamilton finished with 20 points and 7 boards for Detroit. Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace all scored 16 points each in a win. Louis Williams knocked down 17 points for the 76ers. Samuel Dalembert posted 3 points and made 7 rebounds.

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ICELAND

Eurobasket.com All-Icelandic League Awards 2007-08 -by Eurobasket

Flake

Isom

Shouse

Helm

Baeringsson

Player of the Year - Darrell Flake (193-F-80) of Skallagrimur
Guard of the Year - Cedric Isom (188-G-84) of Thor
Forward of the Year - Darrell Flake of Skallagrimur
Center of the Year - Hlynur Baeringsson (200-F-82) of Snaefell
Newcomer of the Year - Kjartan Kjartansson of Stjarnan
Most Improved Player of the Year - Sveinbjorn Claessen (191-G-86) of IR
Bosman Player of the Year - Andrew Fogel (188-G-85) of KR
Import Player of the Year - Darrell Flake of Skallagrimur
Domestic Player of the Year - Hlynur Baeringsson of Snaefell
Defensive Player of the Year - Nate Brown (183-G-80) of IR
Coach of the Year - Geoff Kotila of Snaefell

1st Team
Darrell Flake of Skallagrimur
Cedric Isom of Thor
Justin Shouse (180-G-81) of Snaefell
Joshua Helm (198-F-82) of KR
Hlynur Baeringsson of Snaefell

2nd Team
Brenton Birmingham (195-G-73) of Njardvik
B.A. Walker (188-G-84) of Keflavik
Pall Axel Vilbergsson (197-F/G-78) of Grindavik
Jonathan Griffin (191-G-83) of Grindavik
Damon Bailey (197-F-80) of Njardvik

All-Domestic Players Team
Hlynur Baeringsson of Snaefell
Brenton Birmingham of Njardvik
Pall Axel Vilbergsson of Grindavik
Odinn Asgeirsson (197-C-79) of Thor
Fridrik Stefansson (204-F/C-76) of Njardvik

All-Imports Team
Darrell Flake of Skallagrimur
Cedric Isom of Thor
Justin Shouse of Snaefell
Joshua Helm of KR
B.A. Walker of Keflavik

All-Bosmans Team
Andrew Fogel of KR
Luka Marolt (202-F-85) of Thor
Adame Darboe (190-G-86) of Grindavik
Tommy Johnson (196-G/F-81) of Keflavik
Samir Shaptahovic (174-G-81) of Tindastoll

All-Defensive Team
Nate Brown of IR
Hlynur Baeringsson of Snaefell
B.A. Walker of Keflavik
Fridrik Stefansson of Njardvik
Justin Shouse of Snaefell

All-Newcomers Team
Kjartan Kjartansson of Stjarnan
Atli Hreinsson (193-F-89) of Snaefell
Tryggvi Palsson (193-G-86) of Fjolnir
Thorsteinn Sverrisson (197-G-87) of Fjolnir
Trostur Johannsson (199-F-89) of Keflavik

(Edited by Os Davis)

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ISRAEL

Dan Shamir quit Jerusalem!! -by Netanel Dahan
Dan Shamir the Head Coach of Hapoel Jerusalem quit today, Dan decided to quit after the loss to Rishon (82-75)
Assistant Ziv Erez will be His replacement as the new Head Coach for Hapoel Jerusalem.
Dan Shamir brought to Jeruslaem 2 israeli cups in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008

Standings - Premier League

Premier L. Standings

1. Macc.T-A	16-6
2. Hap.Holon	16-6
3. Bnei Hash.	15-7
4. Nahariya	11-11
5. Ashkelon	11-11
6. Ramat Gan	10-12
7. Jerusalem	10-12
8. Hap.G.Elyon	8-14
9. Gilboa/Afula	7-15
10. Rishon LZ	6-16

Stats Leaders - Premier League

Premier League Stats Leaders

Points Per Game

1 Burtt, I ASH 20.4
2 Arnold, H JER 17.7
3 Tolbert, I RG 17
4 Mendez, MAC RL 16.7
5 Williams, B HASH 16.7

Rebounds Per Game

1 Ebi, B HASH 8.9
2 Campbell, H Holon 8.4
3 Massie, I ASH 8.2
4 Morris, Mac TA 8.0
5 Kozikaro, Nahariya 7

Assists Per Game

1 Tapiro, B HASH 5.6
2 Jones, Gilboa/A. 5.5
3 Rot, H HOL 4.7
4 Blsingame, R LZ 4.6
5 Ohayon GALIL 4.4

Steals Per Game

1 Ohayon, GALIL 2.1
2 Bowers, H JER 1.8
3 Rot, H HOL 1.8
4 Jones, H A/G 1.8
5 Tolbert, I RG 1.8

Blocks Per Game

1 Wallace, I ASH 2.0
2 Cisse, B HASH 1.7
3 Morris, MAC TA 1.4
4 Ebi, B HASH 1.2
5 Ibekwe, H G/A 1.1

2FGP

1 Wells, H JER 75
2 Arnold, H JER 73.4
3 Brown, H HOL 73.0
4 Garcia, MAC TA 70.9
5 Campbell. H HOL 70.7

3FGP

1 Sharp, Mac TA 52.6
2 Washam, H HOL 50
3 Shason, H JER 47.1
4 Tamir, H HOL 46
5 Burtt, I ASH 45.9

Free Throws

1 Yatzkan, I ASH 95.2
2 Hagag, H JER 92.5
3 Sharp, Mac TA 91.7
4 Itzkhaki, I RG 90.4
5 Tolbert, I RG 88.9

Ranking

1 Arnold H JER 22.6
2 Burtt, I ASH 22.0
3 Campbell H HOL 19.4
4 Ebi, B HASH 19.4
5 Williams, B HASH 19.4

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ITALY

Gallinari applies for 2008 NBA Draft -by Gianni Pascucci

Young Italian star Danilo Gallinari (206-F-88, agency: Players Group) stated to sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that he has decided to enter the 2008 NBA Draft, following in the footsteps of Andrea Bargnani (209-F/C-85) and Marco Belinelli (196-G-86), currently playing in the world's best league. Gallinari's move was expected, because he showed further improvements during this last season, and he seems now ready for the 'big leap.' Most draft analysis ranks him from the 5th to the 14th position, and none figure Danilo to go in the second round. With an outstanding performance in the upcoming Serie A playoffs, we believe Gallinari could be 2008 lottery material.

You can check out Danilo's official website at www.danilogallinari.it. (Edited by Os Davis)

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JORDAN

Jordan welcomes to 21st Arab Clubs Championship -by Eurobasket News
Zain and Orthodoxi host 21st Arab Clubs Championship which will be hosted from April 23-May 6. In 2008 15 competing teams represent 14 countries. Jordan and Lebanon are presented by two favorites of the countries.
The draw held in Egypt divided the teams into four groups. Two teams from each of them will advance to the next round.
In the first game day Zain smashed Al Tilal Aden from Yemen 101:48. Rasheim Wright (193-G-81, college: District of Col.) led the way with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Zeid Abbas (203-C-83) collected 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Mohammad Bushnaq (200-F-81) scored 15. Taha Alassari (180-G/F-84, college: Fredonia St.) ended up with 17 points and 4 assists in the losing effort. In the opening quarter the guests resisted in the game and trailed 23:14. The second period saw the spurt from the hosts that started to increase their lead. They had 53:24 by the half time and looked very optimistic in the campaign. After three quarters the spectators enjoyed plus 50 for the hosts and in the last quarter the task was to reach 100. Zain managed to do it and won 101: 48.
Orthodox will play tonight against Al Kahraba in their opener.

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KAZAKHSTAN

Justin Bailey leads Astana Tigers to the first win in the Finals -by Eurobasket News
Astana Tigers - BK Almaty 91:86 (OT)

The Final in the Kazakhstan D1 tipped off with Astana Tigers taking on BK Almaty in the best-of-five series. Game 1 was played and Astana Tigers claimed a dramatic win to grab the lead. The teams were tied after 10 minutes of action 21:21. But the Tigers gradually started to get away and led by 2 points at the long break 42:40. However Oleg Ten (185-G-74) paced BK Almaty and the D1 newcomers found themselves up by 3 points before the final term. The teams kept a close attention to defense in the dying moments and finally were all square at 74 at the end of regulation. The decisive moments happened early in the extra time when Justin Bailey (188-G-77, college: Hartford) three times robbed Oleg Ten in the midcourt and converted easy layups for Astana to spur ahead. BK Almaty never recovered and had to surrender in the first game. Justin bailey finished with 25 points to lead Astana. Aleksey Tsvetkov (206-F-84) answered with game-high 26 points for BK Almaty.

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LATVIA

Latvian Basketball League. Play-off -by Gunars Gailitis

Latvian Basketball League. Play-off

1/4 finals

Ventspils augstskola - BK Ventspils 65-90 (13-24; 14-20; 13-18; 25-28), series 0-2

Rudzajs 13, Gubats 11, Auns 10; Veselovs 19+12reb, Skirmants 14+7reb, Vairogs 14, Love 10

VEF Riga - SK Valmiera 96-69 (25-17; 25-15; 29-14; 17-23), series 1-0

Maris Gulbis (203-F-85) 25+8reb, Patmalnieks 17, Sheleketo 16, Zakis 12+8reb; Bankevics 17, Stimac 16+12reb, Jansons 11, Amolins 11

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LIGA SUDAMERICANA

The Final series returns to Argentina -by Eurobasket News
Flamengo - Regatas Corrientes 86:79

Flamengo survived both games in Rio de Janeiro and forced the decider on April 29 back in Corrientes. This time Flamengo got their hero in Fred Santos (181-G-80). The 28-year-old guard exploded with game-high 28 points to propel Flamengo to the vital second win in the Final series. His sizzling performance helped the hosts to acquire a 25:22 lead at the first intermission. The Brazilian team kept on mounting the pressure and stretched the advantage to 11 points at the interval. Flamengos defense closed Ramzee Stanton as he nailed just 6 points in the game. It prevented Regatas of threatening hosts lead seriously in the second term. Flamengo headed into the last frame 13 points ahead and eased to an overall win at the end. Marcelinho Machado (200-F/G-75, agency: Interperformances) and Helio Lima (186-G-81) scored 17 points apiece for Flamengo. Fernando Coloneze (207-C-78) added 12 points in a winning case. Chuck Robinson (201-F-72, college: E.Carolina) notched 21 points for Regatas. Javier Martinez (189-G-78) knocked down 16 points and dished out 6 assists in defeat. The home team outrebounded Regatas 38:26 and forced the visitors to 20 turnovers. Flamengo converted 44% from the field, while the Argentinean team answered with 46% accuracy. The series now move back to Argentina for the decisive fifth game.

Flamengo: Fred Santos 28, Marcelinho Machado 17, Helio Lima 17
Regatas: Chuck Robinson 21, Javier Martinez 16

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MALI

Spain, Angola, Mali others know opponent -by Olusegun Ikuesan
Draw for the men and women basketball event 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will take place Saturday in China.

According to the president of Spanish Basketball Federation, FEB, Jos Luis Sez, will be present at the drawing, which is set to begin at 5:30 local time at the Wukesong Arena in Chinas capital , where the Olympic basketball competition, and a friendly tournament of the womens league to test the facility, will take place.

The national Spanish mens team will find out who their first round Beijing 2008 Olympic tournament rivals are. FIBA and the BOCOG, which stands for the XXIX Olympic Games Organizational Committee, will carry out a drawing at 5:30 p.m. local Chinese time to determine the groups of the mens and womens competitions.

The event will take place at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium of Beijing, where all Olympic basketball games will be played.

Lubomir Kotleva, FIBA athletics director, will carry out the drawing (which can be seen live on fiba.com) and will explain the procedure of how the groups will be made for the Olympic mens tournament to all present.

Its important to keep in mind that between June and July classifying tournaments will award spots to play in the Olympics to the teams that qualify.

There are three spots available for the mens tournament, and five available for the womens tournament. The drawing of the competition groups for the womens games will take place on Sunday, June 15th in Madrid, just as the womens Pre-Olympic tournament comes to a close in Spains capital.

MENS OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT
The mens teams which have already classified for the Olympics in Beijing are: Spain, U.S.A., Russia, Lithuania, Iran, China, Australia, Argentina and Angola.

There are three spots still available to complete the total of twelve teams that will participate in the mens tournament, and they will be decided at the classification tournament held among Brazil, Greece, Lebanon, Cape Verde, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Koream Solvenia, Cameroon, Croatia, and Puerto Rico in Athens (Greeece), from July 14th-20th.

WOMENS OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT
The womens competition still has five passports to the Olympic Games available. The countries which are already playing are: Australia, China, Korea, Mali, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States.

The Spanish womens national team will have the possibility of winning one of the 5 spots up for grabs at the Pre-Olympic tournament that will be played among Japan, Latvia, Senegal, Anola, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Figi, Belarus, Taiwan and Cuba, in Madrid (at the Telefnica Arena, June 9th-15th).

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MEXICO

Algodoneros Pick up Rolando Nunez, Galgos Sign Zack Jones -by Justin Brink
The Algodoneros of Torreon announced the signing of 21 year old Mexican American two guard, Rolando Nunez (-G-85). Torreon sought Nunez' abilities to convert from long distance and time will tell if their signing will pay off. Nunez, a native of L.A. who played at James Monroe high school, where he was recognized as one off the best shooters in Los Angeles, decided to forfeit his NCAA eligibility. After playing at Boise State and in community college, Nunez has his sites set on the LNBP and hopefully in a few years time crack the NBA ranks. No word on the details of Nunez' contract. In Tijuana, this past Tuesday, Zack Jones signed a 3 year deal as head coach for the LNBP's Tijuana Galgos. Jones was contracted last November and lead the Galgos to a 13-3 record in their final 16 games, reeling off 6 in a row and finishing in 7th place in the LNBP's Northern Division, good enough for the playoffs in which they lost in the first round to Monterrey's Fuerza Regia. Jones played for the San Diego State Aztecs in 81 and 82 then moved on to the NBA with the Nets and Cavs. Jones coached at Liberty University (NCAA DI), Horizon High School in San Diego, where he had an .861 win percentage and a stint in the CBA. Click here to comment on the Galgos and Algodoneros latest movements.

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NBA

Kobe Bryant dooms Denver in Game 2 -by Eurobasket News
Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) showed his excellent form scoring 49 points and leading the LA Lakers to the second straight win against Denver in the quarterfinal series. Kobe Bryant also dished out 10 assists and scored 19 points of his tally in just over 4 minutes of the fourth quarter to carry the hosts to a 122:107 win. The Lakers entered the final frame up by 10 points but the Nuggets persisted and trimmed the gap by 5 points midway through the frame. But from that moment it was Bryant's show at the Staples Center. The Lakers guard nailed 19 points and the hosts cleared off to a 120:101 distance and never looked back again. Koby Bryant was then substituted by Coby Karl and the history happened as it was the first time that a father coached against his son in NBA playoff game. Pau Gasol (7'0''-F/C-80) finished with 18 points and 10 boards, while Luke Walton also had 18 points for the winners. Allen Iverson (6'1''-G-75, college: Georgetown) answered with 31 points, while Carmelo Anthony nailed 23 points in a losing effort. The series now move to Denver for Games 3 and 4.
Detroit posted an expected 105:88 win over Philadelphia and tied the series at 1-1. The surprising loss of the Pistons in Game 1 allowed some critics to cast doubt on Detroits title ambitions. But it took just two days for the Pistons to return to their best form. Rasheed Wallace (6'10''-F/C-75, college: N.Carolina) netted 11 points in the first frame and the hosts piled up a 25:18 lead after the opening term. Detroit just kept mounting the pressure and headed into the fourth period leading by 22 points. The Pistons eased past a series evening victory in the last period. Richard Hamilton (6'7''-G-78, college: Connecticut) finished with 20 points and 7 boards for Detroit. Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace all scored 16 points each in a win. Louis Williams (6'3''-G-86) knocked down 17 points for the 76ers. Andre Miller (6'3''-G-76, college: Utah) added 14 points in a loss.
Baston looked like they are going to sweep the series against Atlanta. It was an easy jog for the Celtics in Game 2 as Kevin Garnett (6'10''-F-76) and Co dismantled their opponents 96:77 for a 2-0 lead. Kevin Garnett scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the winning side. Ray Allen contributed 15 points, while Paul Pierce (6'7''-F-77, college: Kansas) nailed 14 for the Celtics. Josh Smith (6'9''-F-85) and Marvin Williams (6'9''-F-86, college: N.Carolina) managed 13 points apiece in a loss. Atlanta shot just 38% from the field and could not make a single three-pointer down the stretch. They also lost the fight under the boards 35:45 and committed 21 turnovers.

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PORTUGAL

LIGA UZO semi finals (preview) -by Luis Rocha
Today the semis will begin. Ovarense will host Ginsio and tomorrow Porto do the same with Vagos. Ovarense has calmed down a bit, and their performances get higher stages. Is not quit the level expected but as done the trick. Ginsio comes to this semis without having the time needeed to prepare this fight. After beating CAB only in the 5th game, the task against Ovarense seems enourmous. The lack of big and strong players to play inside can harm Ginsio adn obviously benefit Ovarense. Ill go to Ovarense in this semis, and if Ginsio doesnt get the right motivation and restore their phisical level we can be talking of a sweep here. Porto will play Vagos and now after coach Alberto Babo had once again pick up the 'strings of the puppet' everything seems back to normality. the team was out on a limb, never listen to its coach but now it seems that those days are over. Vagos can always fight, they got a balanced roster, and if they stay healthy, they will cause a lot of problems to the inconsistency of Porto. Porto is the clear favourite but have to be aways warn against complacency, Porto`s players tend to fall asleep many times during the games. Lets see how Brandon Voorhees (201-F-84, college: Park) (Ginsio), Nate Daniels (201-F-83, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Mountain St.)(Ginsio), Pedro Nuno (190-G/F-71) (Vagos) and Tyrone Levett (Vagos9 get into those semis. If these star players will get there in good shape maybe things will be more levelled. On the other side it will be time to Graham Brown (205-C-84, college: Michigan) (Ovarense), Greg Stempin (203-F-79, agency: Duran International, college: Toledo) (Ovarense), Nuno Maral (Porto) and Paulo Cunha (199-G/F-80) (Porto) made their teams meet their big expectations and go forward on the competition.

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PUERTO RICO

Bimbo NBA Carmona and All Star Game -by Alessandro Fontana
The All Star Game will be played on 10th May in Fajardo, the teams are divided in Isla Division (players can be chosen from these teams: Arecibo, Caguas, Guayama, Mayaguez, Ponce and San German) and Metro Division (players from Carolina, Bayamon, Guaynabo, Fajardo, Humacao and Santurce).
During the All Star Game there will be also the Dunk Contest, the Three Points Contest and also an interesting game between young BSN players and Boricuas who are playing in the NCAA or in other American College Leagues.
BSN Boxscores
Humacao won against Bayamon 95-91, Ansel Guzman and Ricky Sanchez were 'the men' of the game with points and a great shot percentages. Bayamon played hard with an incredible Lee Benson in the painting area (17+19 for Lee) but it was not enough to conquer Humacao.
Carolina won against Guaynabo thanks to Bimbo Alejandro Carmona (194-G/F-83, agency: Next Level), at the moment the best player of this BSN 2008. Carmona is on fire, He scored 37 points yesterday night and he led up los Gigantes to the victory.
BAYAMON-HUMACAO= 91-95
B= Vega 20, Benson 17 (19 rebs), Western 13, Hinson 11, Langhi 10, Guevara 9, Valenzuela 6, Perez 5, Morales 0, Lopez 0, Valencia 0
H= Guzman 24, Victor 22, R. Sanchez 22, Riley 12, Nieves 7, Ayala 5, K. Sanchez 3, Morales 0, Malpica 0, Orozco 0.
GUAYNABO-CAROLINA= 94-96
G= Escalera 33, Lee 18, Latimer 16, Martinez 7 (12 rebs), Sheppard 7, Sanchez 6, Shannon 5, Ortiz 2
C= Carmona 37, Reyes 14, Ere 13, Hiraldo 13, Rivera 10, Edwards 6, Brown 2, Cruz 1, Villafane 0
A. Fontana

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QATAR

After Slow Start, Rayyan Cruises to Opening Day Victory at GCC'S -by Amir Abou-El-Kheir

Al Rayyan overcame a sluggish start to their GCC campaign to register a 96 60 victory over Al Nizwa of Oman in the late game on opening night. Marlon Parmer (191-G-80, agency: HM Sports Agency, college: Ky Wesleyan) led a balanced Al Rayyan attack with 19 points, while Yaseen Ismail (204-F-80) and Saleem Abdullah Mohammed (202-C-82) had 13 a piece. Rayyan hopes the victory is a sign of things to come as they look to defend the crown they won in Saudi Arabia last year.

In the other matches earlier tonight, Al Wasl of the UAE beat Al Ahli Manama of Bahrain 79-69, and Al Qadsia of Kuwait defeated Al-Nasr of Saudi 84-73.

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ROMANIA

Stats Leaders - Men

Stats Leaders

Points Per Game

1. McCullough,MUR 24.6
2. Smith TAR 24.5
3. Djordjic, ORA 21.3
4. Krstanovi, UMOB 21.1
5. Mojica, 19.8

Rebounds Per Game

1. Williams, DIN 14.2
2. Gnjato, PIT 11.2
3. Ambres, BRA 9.8
4. Pantelic, RAP 9.2
5. Krstanov, UMOB 9.0

Assists Per Game

1. Helcioiu, PIT 7.0
2. Cooley, MUR 6.9
3. Dawson, BRA 6.0
4. Telfer, 4.5
5. Tadic, DIN 4.5

2FGP

1. Stamate, TAR 100
2. Tadic, DIN 90.9
3. Bascovea, OTO 81.8

3FGP

1. Cunda, GAZ 69.2
2. Urucatu, DIN 62.5
3. Nixon, OTO 56.8

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RUSSIA

Stats Leaders - Superleague A

Superleague A Stats Leaders

Points Per Game

1 F. Warrick 17.4
2 J.R. Bremer 16.2
3 A. Scales 16.0
4 H. Domercant 15.8
5 A. Wisniewski 15.7

Rebounds Per Game

1 J. Blair 8.8
2 R. Araujo 7.8
3 B. Wright 7.2
4 T. Kirksay 6.7
5 M. Krivosheev 6.5

Assists Per Game

1 J.R. Bremer 5.7
2 A. Wisniewski 4.6
3 A. Ponkrashov 4.5
4 J.R. Holden 4.5
5 O. Askrabic 3.8

Steals Per Game

1 T. Kirksay 2.2
2 M. Chatman 2.0
3 S. Bykov 1.8
4 A. Scales 1.6
5 J. McCullough 1.6

Blocks Per Game

1 A. Fotsis 1.1
2 D. Sokolov 1.1
3 S. Monia 1.0
4 A. Banitchev 0.8
5 Y. Green 0.8

Controversy in Russian Superleague quarterfinal -by Eurobasket News
The Russian Superleague playoffs tipped off at the beginning of the week. The games brought some surprises as well as some dramas and controversial decisions. The most discussed event happened in Lyubertsy. Triumph hosted Dynamo in the quarterfinal opener. The game turned into a dramatic battle and it all came down to the final seconds. Henry Domercant (192-G-80, college: E.Illinois) nailed a jumper to give Dynamo an 86:85 lead with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation. But Sergei Toporov (197-F-81) drained a mad buzzer-beating triple and brought Triumph to an 88:86 victory. However Dynamo protested the shot claiming Sergei Toporov used more then 0.3 seconds to nail a trey. The Russian Basketball Federation gathered on an emergency meeting and decided to allow the protest. Thus the game is to be replayed on April 25.
CSKA won their opener against Spartak-Primorje 72:66. It was not an easy voyage for the Moscow outfit as many could have expected. Spartak-Primorje stunned the league favorites in the starting frame winning it 21:11. CSKA needed two quarter to adjust their rhythm and finally snatch a narrow victory. David Andersen (212-C-80) finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to pace CSKA. Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) had 14 points and J.R. Holden (185-G-76, college: Bucknell) added 9 for the hosts. J.R. Bremer (191-G-80, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: St.Bonaventure) answered with game-high 18 points and 9 assists for the visitors. Joseph Blair (208-C/F-74, college: Arizona) had 12 points and 8 boards in defeat.
Khimki stormed past Lokomotiv Rostov 92:74 at home. The hosts fired down Rostov team 26:8 in the second quarter to run away for good in this one. Six players scored in double figures for Khimki as they grabbed a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Anton Ponkrashov (200-G-86) provided 15 points and 6 assists for the winners. Maciej Lampe (210-C-85, agency: Edge Sports) accounted for 13 points in a win. Artem Kuzyakin (202-G-80) answered with 20 points for Lokomotiv. Sergei Vorotnikov (196-G-78) delivered 15 points in a loss.
Finally Unics pretty sensationally could not handle Ural Great at home falling short 78:81. Perm team relied on a strong 25:14 rally in the third period to clear off for good. Ralph Biggs (199-F-76, agency: Court Side, college: Towson) dropped 22 points to lead Ural Great. Aleksei Surovtsev (202-G-84) added 17 points in a winning effort. Tariq Kirksay (199-F-79, college: Iona) responded with 13 points, 9 assists and 9 boards for Unics.

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SERBIA

Superleague, round 6 Omar Cook leads Zvezda in Vrsac, Tulips easily beat Vizura -by Dragan Jankovski
Despite many bad circumstances which happened to Crvena Zvezda during the last 7 days the team from Belgrade was better than Swisslions Takovo on the road 78-72 improving to score 4-2 while Swisslions dropped to 1-4. The hosts were almost an equal rival until the end. The game is decided in the last minute. Namely, Aleksic of Swisslions scored for 70-73 for Zvezda but Raicevic and Kovac were concentrated at the next two possessions what was enough for the 4th win for red-and-white team. Zvezda played this game with a new head coach Milan Skobalj on the bench but without its captain Tadija Dragicevic (205-F-86, agency: Beo Basket), who is not ready to play yet. USA PG Omar Cook (186-G-82, college: St.John's) once again was the key player in his team collecting 16 points, 7 assists and 5 steals. Miroslav Raicevic (208-C-81, agency: Interperformances) followed him adding 14 points and 6 rebounds. Vladislav Dragoljovic (206-C-79, agency: Beo Basket) netted 17 points including 7 rebounds for Swisslions.

Vojvodina Srbijagas made an easy and totally expected win at home against Vizura 79-60. After first half it was clear that Tulips won't let Vizura to make a surprise in this game as they already made plus 16. In the last quarter Vizura just succeeded to avoid much worse defeat. The fact that nobody in Vizura finished the game with double digits talks for itself about Vojvodina's domination. Goran Bajic (207-C-83) had 11 points and 8 rebounds while Ivan Paunic (194-G-87) added 11 points, 5 rebounds and 6 steals for the Tulips.

Swisslions Takovo - Crvena Zvezda 72-78
(22-24,17-14,12-22,21-18)

Swisslions: Dragojlovic 17 (7 rebs), Vukadinov 14 (5 as), Aleksic 11 (6 rebs)
Zvezda: Cook 16 (7 as, 5 st), Raicevic 14 (6 rebs), Subotic 12

Vojvodina Srbijagas - Vizura 79-60
(27-12,15-14,23-14,14-20)

Vojvodina: Bajic 11 (8 rebs), Paunic 11 (5 rebs, 6 st), Mirkovic 10 (7 rebs)
Vizura: Karic 8, Avlijas 8 , Lesic 8

Serbian Basketball Federation got new general sponsor! -by Dragan Jankovski
After almost 7 months since the contract with 'Si & Si' company has expired, Serbian Basketball Federation got a new general sponsor. It is one of biggest telecommunication companies in Serbia and maybe in the entire region - 'Telekom Srbija'.

The contract is signed until May 2010 and both sides stated that it is just the beginning of very successful cooperation. 'Telekom Srbija' also shows strong willingness to help Serbian NT to return on the place where it deserves to be.

It seems that big companies are more than interested to invest in Serbian basketball. Just to remind that company 'Swisslions Takovo' already became a general sponsor of Serbian Superleague and A league.

Vlado Djurovic joins Metalac Valjevo, new head coach in Napredak Rubin -by Dragan Jankovski
After very good year in Serbian B league, management of BC Metalac decided to start a new season in A league with a new expirienced head coach on the bench. The team hired Vlado Djurovic, who used to work for many teams in the past. Some of them are Lietuvos Rytas, FMP, Buducnost and Aalst.

Participant of Serbian A league Napredak Rubin from Krusevac agreed terms with ex head coach of Masinac - Radenko Varagic.

Standings - A Liga

A Standings

Superleague
1. Partizan	4-0
2. FMP	4-1
3. Crvena Zv.	4-2
4. Vojvodina	4-2
5. Hemofarm	3-3
6. Swisslion Tak.	1-4
7. Vizura	1-5
8. Borac	1-5
Others in Stage One
1. Radnicki 034	13-9
2. Mega AM	12-10
3. Sloga	12-10
4. Novi Sad	11-11
5. Masinac	10-12
6. Zdravlje	9-13
7. Radnicki NS	9-13
8. Napredak	9-13
9. Ergonom	2-12

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SLOVENIA

Standings - 1A

1A Standings

Places 1-8
1. Olimpija	8-0
2. Helios	6-2
3. Zlatorog	5-3
4. Slovan	4-4
5. Krka	3-5
6. Luka Koper	3-6
7. TCG Mercator	2-5
8. Elektra	1-7
Places 9-13
1. Alpos S.	12-18
2. Polzela	12-18
3. Zagorje	11-19
4. Kraski Zidar	9-21
5. Rogla	6-24

Zlatorog close to Adriatic League -by Zeljko Zule
Lance Harris (196-G-84, agency: Sports Plus International, college: Kansas St.) recorded double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Aleksandar Jevdic scored 15 points including four 3-pointers as Zlatorog extended their winning streak to four games.with a 71-65 victory over Slovan and is very close to Adriatic League. Zlatorog in first half made a 24-5 run and outrebounded Slovan 37-25. DeMarco Johnson had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Simon Petrov posted 17 points for Slovan who shot just 3-of-18 behind the arc.
The most shocking thing in Round 8 of League Play-Off happened in Skofja Loka when TCG Mercator stunned the big favorite Krka with a 87-85 victory. Mensud Julevic and Jure Erzen posted 22 points and Primoz Skok 20. TJ Sorrentine led the guests with 24 points, Davor Marcelic netted 17 while Rene Zvan missed a potential game-winning 3.points at the buzzer.

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

An Nasr beat Qatar Club in the opener -by Eurobasket News
In the first game day of 21st Arab Clubs Championship An Nasr from UAE beat Qatar Club 100:78. It was not an easy game for the team as they trailed 16:20 after the opening quarter. The things got much better at the half time when An Nasr improved to 47:37. In order to fell more comfortable in the end they won the third quarter and reached 100 points by the end of the campaign. Amal McCaskill (211-F/C-73, agency: Huss Sport Agency, college: Marquette) led the way with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Justin Murray (198-F-81, agency: Tank Sports, college: Washington St.) collected 14 points and 7 rebounds and Al Khader Abdalla netted 13. Maurice Hargrow (195-G-83, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Minnesota) shined in the losing effort with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

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URUGUAY

Uruguay named 19 for the NT -by Hector Lopez
Uruguay announced 19 players for the NT for the South American Championship from June 30th to July 6th. Eigth of them are playing outside Uruguay and they are
Mauricio Aguiar (199-F-83, agency: Players Group) - Italy
Nicolas Mazzarino (181-G-75, agency: Players Group) - Italy,
Esteban Batista (208-F/C-83) - Israel,
Leandro Garcia Morales (186-G-80, college: Texas A&M) - Venezuela
Martin Osimani (194-G-81, college: Duquesne) - Venezuela,
Jason Granger (186-G-89)- Spain
Claudio Charquero (202-C-77) - Spain
Juan Silveira (191-G-86) - US University.
The others players are:
Federico Alvarez (194-F-88),
Gustavo Barrera (194-G-85),
Nicolas Borselino (201-C-86),
Diego Castrillon (199-F-75),
Federico Haller (198-F-88),
Sebastian Izaguirre (203-C/F-85)
Fernando Martinez (170-G-79)
Gaston Paez (206-C/F-79)
Emilio Taboada (193-F-82)
Sebastian Vazquez (195-F-85)-
The trainings will begin May 7.

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USBL

Nate Brown Shines Once Again in Iceland -by Surujh Roopnarine
Former Strong Island Sound guard Nate Brown (6'0''-G-80, college: St.Peter's) has been named the Eurobasket.com Icelandic Defensive Player of the Year. Brown, who was an All-Defensive First Team Selection in 2006 with Ungmennafelagio Snaefell and in 2007 with IR Reykjavik, stepped up his ball-hawking abilities even more this season, leading the Express league in steals (3.5) as well as assists (7.7) while taking IR to the Semi-Finals of the playoffs. Brown did all he could to get his team to the Finals, totaling 17 points and 11 assists in a 79-97 loss against top seeded Keflavik in the decisive game five of the series. The heady point guard from the Bronx, started off this season in France prior to heading to Iceland. His five year pro career has seen Brown man the point guard spot of teams in the USBL and ABA, but his true success has been in Iceland where he is a crowd favorite and the leader of IR.

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VENEZUELA

Heissler Guillent: "I feel comfortable as the play maker" -by Francisco Vega
Caracas, Venezuela.- (LPB Press Department) One of the youngest and biggest surprises in Liga Profesional de Baloncesto 2008 has been Heissler Guillent (191-G-86), a young point guard of Guaros de Lara, who's had the challenge to help the team overcome the absence of Diego Guevara (184-G-77) despites the fact that he had practically no previous experience in the LPB, especially as the every day play maker. That's why the LPB Press Department interviewed the current top candidate for the Rookie of the Year award.

LPB: What do you think about your organization and how do you feel as a member of Guaros de Lara?
HG: 'I feel great. It's a team with lots of young players. We were hungry to get more minutes on court and this season we've been given the chance to show our talent. I'm happy to play here'

LPB: The coach, Gustavo Garcia , has given you the confidence to play point guard and you've stepped up to the challenge. How do you face such a responsability?
HG: 'I'm the starting point guard of the team and I gotta be the play maker and organize the game. Thank God that the coach has decided to give me that responsability. I have confidence in myself, I feel sure about things and everything is working out fluently so far'

LPB: Guaros has not been able to win that much as visitor. What do think is the missing ingredient for that to happen?
HG: 'We've lost lots of those visiting games right at the end of the match. We start out ok and we keep the scoreboard tight, but when the game is about to end, we lack the last push that's needed to get the victories away'

LPB: Do you feel comfortable as the play maker of this team?
HG: 'Yes, I feel comfortable with the responsability as the play maker. Everything is working out well for me so far and I know that every play starts with me and the ball, so I'll always be prepared for whenever the coach needs me'

LPB: What do you think about the expansion in the LPB?
HG: 'It's excellent. Several young players wanted the chance to show their talent. The only thing I don't like is the fact that there are too much imported players in the league and that's what's keeping the coaches from giving more minutes to the young talents on court'

LPB: What's your opinion on the coach?
HG: 'He trusts everyone of his players equally. He talks to us and works for the team with all he's got. I'm glad I'm able to respond to that confidence he gives me'

LPB: Your family's support has been a key for you, hasn't it?
HG: 'Yes. It's excellent and very important for me. I feel proud that I'm able to represent their name'

LPB: Your goals for this season.
HG: 'The main goal is to advance to the playoffs. I'd also like to win the Rookie of the Year award.

LPB: What message can you tell the young guys so that they can follow your example?
HG: 'I tell all of those young kids to continue playing. They should never give up so that they can get what they really want in life and they have to fight for it, cause nothing is impossible'

Translation: Francisco Vega (Latinbasket.com Venezuela)

Gustavo Garcia: "Guaros is like an expansion team" -by Francisco Vega
Caracas, Venezuela.- (LPB Press Department) Head coach Gustavo Garcia , of Guaros de Lara, has expressed that his team is sort of an expansion team, due to the fact that most of his players have had to step up to roles they didn't have in the past, specially because of the critical absences of key starting players, which are related to injuries or their participation in foreign leagues. Here's what he said to the LPB Press Department.

Garcia was a champion as a player (1984), a head coach (1996) and an assistant coach (2001) with the same club in Venezuela, Gaiteros del Zulia, the team of his native Maracaibo. He was also the assistant coach of Puerto Rican Julio Toro in 2007, as Guaiqueries de Margarita took the title over Cocodrilos de Caracas in seven games.

LPB: What do you think about your team's performance in the league so far?
GG: 'Despites the fact that we have a negative win-loss record, the guys are doing a great job, because there isn't a single starting player from last season's team. We're practically playing with the reserve players. But they are now the starting five and they're doing a good job'

LPB: Why can't Guaros win more games on the road as they do at home?
GG: 'The LPB has the trend of making it tough for teams to earn wins as visitors. It's not just Guaros. We've won three matches far from home, but it's not easy. The other nine places that we go are difficult to get victories from, because the fans show big support during the games. Every place is a hostile environment'

LPB: How do you see the team developing in what's left of the regular season?
GG: 'We're going to get better. The guys are doing a good job for that to happen. I think Guaros is one of only a few teams that will actually have a great change coming up in terms of victories during the second half. Juan Carlos Rodriguez (193-G-78) is now back after an injury, Juan Manaure (190-G-79) also joined the group and we're expecting the arrival of Pablo Machado (207-C-77) and Diego Guevara (184-G-77), so the team is definitely going to get better. Besides, we've got the advantage of playing at home every weekend series during the second half of the calendar'

LPB: Your thoughts on the squad
GG: 'Even though we've been unlucky about the latin american community player, Ronald Blackshear (196-G-78) and Evan Brock (204-F-84) have helped us a lot. We've got a loyal and hard working group of players. The main argument for Guaros is the fact that we're humble and every guy gives a hundred percent of themselves in every game'

LPB: What's the team's strength and weakness?
GG: 'Our strength is our speed game and our defense. We always change it and the pressing defense works out well for us. Our weakness is height and physical aspect of the game. That's why we're not getting as much offensive rebounds as we would have wanted to'

LPB: As a coach, what do you think about the LPB's expansion?
GG: 'It's fabulous. In fact, Guaros is like an expansion team, cause most of our players this season are getting a lot more minutes than before and I consider that, in comparison to Deportivo or Gigantes, that are great clubs, we're the best expansion team because we've got several Venezuelans and not imported players on court'

LPB: You've trusted Heissler Guillent (191-G-86) as your starting point guard and play maker. What do you think about his performance?
GG: 'The good things happen to people when others don't get them. I always say this. This season, Diego Guevara is not here, but the discovery of Heissler has been a very positive thing for us. He's earned my confidence by doing hard work out there. He's been a pleasant surprise and I wish is for him to continue making that big effort and maintaining his humble character that will take him far'

Translation: Francisco Vega (Latinbasket.com Venezuela)

Standings - LPB

LPB Standings

1. Trotamundos	19-5
2. Gatos	15-9
3. Guaiqueries	14-8
4. Marinos	12-11
5. Gaiteros	12-11
6. Cocodrilos	11-9
7. Guaros	10-14
8. Dep.Tachira	9-12
9. Panteras	7-17
10. Gigantes	5-18

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YEMEN

Al Tilal Aden starts with a loss -by Eurobasket News
In the first game day of 21st Arab Clubs Championship Al Tilal Aden from Yemen lost to Zain from Jordan 48:101. Rasheim Wright (193-G-81, college: District of Col.) led the way with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Zeid Abbas (203-C-83) collected 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Mohammad Bushnaq (200-F-81) scored 15. Taha Alassari (180-G/F-84, college: Fredonia St.) ended up with 17 points and 4 assists in the losing effort. In the opening quarter the guests resisted in the game and trailed 23:14. The second period saw the spurt from the hosts that started to increase their lead. They had 53:24 by the half time and looked very optimistic in the campaign. After three quarters the spectators enjoyed plus 50 for the hosts and in the last quarter the task was to reach 100. Zain managed to do it and won 101: 48.

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Women News

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AUSTRIA - Women

Flying Foxes are victorious again -by Eurobasket News
Herzogenburg - Flying Foxes 55:69

Flying Foxes seem to be on the way of defending their Bundesliga title. They claimed the second win in a row in the final series and now stay one victory away from the title. And once again there dominance was pretty obvious. Yaneth Arias (188-F-82, agency: Next Level) and Sheryl Strobl (168-G-78, college: Niagara) teamed up for another big performance lifting the Foxes past hapless Herzogenburg. The hosts were stunned in the opening frame when they ended it trialing by 12 points. The complexion of the encounter never improved for the home team throughout the next two quarters as the visitors stretched the lead to as many as 21 points. It was all over for Herzogenburg and though they still fought bravely enough to outpace the Foxes 16:9 in the fourth period the visitors celebrated the second win in the Final. Yaneth Arias finished with game-high 25 points to lead the Flying Foxes. Sheryl Strobl netted 23 points in a winning case. DiAndrea Humpries (170-G-85) launched 14 points, while Maree Jones had 13 in defeat.

Herzogenburg: DiAndrea Humpries 14, Maree Jones 13
Flying Foxes: Yaneth Arias 25, Sheryl Strobl 23

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CHINA - Women

USA snaps Chinas perfect run -by Eurobasket News
USA - China 86:61

The USA team got their 4th straight win at the Good Luck Beijing tournament holding off hosting China today. China entered the game having won 4 straight games but could not deal with a dynamic duo of Sylvia Fowles (6'6''-C-85, college: LSU) and Lisa Leslie (6'5''-C-72, college: USC). The Chicago Sky centre produced 20 points and 16 boards, while the LA Sparks veteran added 26 points to pace the USA. The defense also worked well limiting Chinese leader Nan Chen (6'6''-C-83) to only 8 points and 8 boards in defeat. China remained in the contest early in the encounter as they trailed by 4 after the starting frame. But as the number of turnovers mounted China struggled to stay at a striking distance. The USA enjoyed a 43:35 advantage at halftime and stretched the margin to double digits early in the third stanza. China never recovered and the USA players coasted to their 4th win at the tournament. Kara Lawson (5'8''-G-81, college: Tennessee) and Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 8 points apiece for the winners. Bian Lan (6'0''-G-86) responded with 14 points for China. Chen Xiaoli (6'4''-C-82) netted 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a losing case. The visitors outrebounded their opponents 48:31. The USA also sank 54% from the field, while China converted just 33% of field goals. Both teams finished with 4-1 record and would now face each other in the tournaments final on Saturday.

USA: Lisa Leslie 26, Sylvia Fowles 20+16 boards, Taj McWilliams-Franklin 8, Kara Lawson 8
China: Bian Lan 14, Chen Xiaoli 13

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COLOMBIA - Women

Yaneth seems to be on the way for the title -by Eurobasket News
Yaneth Arias (188-F-82, agency: Next Level) and her Flying Foxes seem to be on the way of defending their Bundesliga title. They claimed the second win in a row in the final series and now stay one victory away from the title. And once again there dominance was pretty obvious. Yaneth Arias and Sheryl Strobl teamed up for another big performance lifting the Foxes past hapless Herzogenburg. The hosts were stunned in the opening frame when they ended it trialing by 12 points. The complexion of the encounter never improved for the home team throughout the next two quarters as the visitors stretched the lead to as many as 21 points. It was all over for Herzogenburg and though they still fought bravely enough to outpace the Foxes 16:9 in the fourth period the visitors celebrated the second win in the Final. Yaneth Arias finished with game-high 25 points to lead the Flying Foxes. Sheryl Strobl netted 23 points in a winning case. DiAndrea Humpries launched 14 points, while Maree Jones had 13 in defeat.
Flying Foxes reminded that they are the main force in the Austrian women's basketball overwhelming the regular season champions Herzogenburg in the starting game of the Bundesliga Final series. Herzogenburg jumped to an early 15:12 lead and maintained it throughout the second quarter. Flying Foxes trailed by 2 points at the interval but turned out into a difference force right after the break. Wien outfit held the hosts to 22 points in the second part of the encounter accounting for 42 points themselves and driving to an impressive win. Yaneth Arias nailed 31 points to lead all scorers. Sheryl Strobl provided 17 points in a winning case. DiAndrea Humpries notched 26 points for Herzogenburg. Gabriella Szoke dropped 11 in a loss.

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CUBA - Women

Cuba handles Korea at the Good Luck Beijing tournament -by Eurobasket News
Cuba - Korea 78:66

The preliminary round comes to an end at the Good Luck Beijing pre-Olympic tourney in China. Cuba and Korea opened the last day of action at this stage and the Lain American team proved stronger. Cuba edged Korea 78:66 to post their third win at the competition. Korea meanwhile lost their fourth game and slipped to 1-4 record. Yakelin Plutin (186-F-79) sparked Cuba to a fast start as they led 21:15 after the opening frame. But Korea soon adjusted the tempo and narrowed the gap to a single point 24:25 midway through the second period. Cubans however stayed in front and enjoyed a 38:34 lead at halftime. Korea kept it close throughout the third period and still trailed by 4 points at the end of it. But Cuba capitalized on a huge dominance under the boards to remain at the helm and celebrated a tough win. Yakelin Plutin notched 24 points and 12 boards for Cuba. Yayma Boulet (193-C-83) finished with 18 points and tournament-high 17 rebounds for the winners. Kim Jung Eun (181-F-87) replied with 14 points for Korea. Choi Youn Ah (170-G-85) canned 10 points in a losing effort. Cuba outrebounded Asian counterparts 50:29 and forced Korea to 16 turnovers. Korean players held Cuba to 36% from the field but were completely outmuscled in the paint. Cuba outscored Korea 40:16 from under the rims. Korea will now play against New Zealand for the 5th-6th spots on Saturday. Cuba will play for the Bronze medals on the same day.

Cuba: Yakelin Plutin 24+12 boards, Yayma Boulet 18+17 boards, Yulizeny Soria (180-F-79) 10
Korea: Kim Jung Eun 14, Choi Youn Ah 10

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CZECH REPUBLIC - Women

Gambrinus approaches the title in ZBL -by Eurobasket News
USK Praha - Gambrinus 62:80

Gambrinus made another step towards the ZBL title after they routed USK Praha in Czech capital. The dramas of the first game were left behind and Gambrinus marched confidently towards the second victory. Fernacikova and Lindsay Whalen (173-G-82, college: Minnesota) kept gave energetic start for USK Praha as they held to a 12:5 lead early on. Timea Beres (192-C-76) scored 9 points late in the frame and Gambrinus completed the first frame up by 2. Michaela Ferancikova (190-F-77) and Lindsay Whalen remained the main force for the hosts as they denied the deficit and drove USK Praha to a 37:36 lead at the interval. The situation changed radically after the long break. Gambrinus entered the second half on a 13:2 run and cleared off to a 49:39 distance. Hamchetou Maiga (185-G/F-78, college: ODU) and Timea Beres carried the visitors to a big lead, while Zuzana Zirkova (175-F/G-80) capped the quarter with 4 straight points stretching the advantage to as many as 18 points. Jana Vesela (194-F-83) nailed 2 free throws early in the fourth stanza and Gambrinus enjoyed a 20-point buffer with just over 8 minutes remaining. Michaela Ferancikova and Katerina Elhotova (179-G-89) dropped back-to-back trebles to trim the difference to 14 points but Tamika Whitmore (187-C/F-77, college: Memphis) reacted with a treble of her own and Gambrinus never looked back afterwards.
Tamika Whitmore completed a 20-point tally to lead Gambrinus. Zuzana Zirkova and Timea Beres finished with 15 points apiece for the winners. Lindsay Whalen answered with 24 points for USK Praha. Michaela Ferancikova dropped 15 points and 8 boards in a loss. Gambrinus outrebounded the home team 30:28 and forced those to 22 turnovers. Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday back in Brno.

USK Praha: Lindsay Whalen 24, Michaela Ferancikova 15
Gambrinus: Tamika Whitmore 20, Zuzana Zirkova 15, Timea Beres 15

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DENMARK - Women

Horsholm gets first win over Amager -by Eurobasket News
Horsholm - Amager 61:55

The Dameligaen defending champions Horsholm 79ers got to a winning start of the Final series against Amager. The 79ers came from behind to deliver a 61:55 home victory and pulled ahead in the series. The teams kept it close throughout the first stanza and were all square at 18 with 10 minutes gone in the game. The sides went on trading buckets in the second term with no one eager to rush things. Amager were just a bit more accurate and accumulated a 33:31 lead at the interval. But Horholm replied with a dogged defense right after the break and held the visitors to only 9 points in the third frame. It allowed the league favorites to surge ahead and to enter the fourth period up by 2 points. A stifling defense remained the key weapon for the hosts in the final period as they kept Amager at distance and finalized an important victory at the end. Kristine Jensen topscored for the home team with 20 points and 9 boards. Pernille Jensen added 13 points and Anne Thorius (179-G-77, college: Michigan) had 10 in a winning case. Sussie Kruuse (192-C-83) scored game-high 21 points for Amager. Tine Freil (180-G-70, college: Pacific) notched 11 points and 9 rebounds in defeat. Amager had a slight dominance under the rims 27:23 but suffered 20 turnovers. Horsholm converted 41% from the field. Game 2 is scheduled for April 27.

Horsholm: Kristine Jensen 20+9 boards, Pernille Jensen 13, Anne Thorius 10
Amager: Sussie Kruuse 21, Tine Freil 11

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GUATEMALA - Women

Alejandro Pepiche appointed Head Coach for the National Team -by Victor Padilla
After the successful response of all players to start their preparation for Centrobasket 2008 later this year, it has been informed that Alejandro Pepiche , from Argentina, will lead the National Team as Head Coach with the help of Mr. Jaime Kong (Bodega Radio) as Assistant Coach. Pepiche has already presented himself to the team and has been leading practice with them since last week, in Guatemala's effort to jump and compete with consistency at this high level tournament. The 2008 Centrobasket will receive teams from Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominican Republic and host Puerto Rico. Medallists will earn their tickets to participate next year in the 2009 Fiba Americas Championship.

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ITALY - Women

First market news and rumors for next season -by Massimo Finizio
Francesca Modica (175-G-81) should leave Venezia after 4 years to join Faenza. Simona Ballardini (183-F-81) should go to Venezia. Ines Ajanovic (195-C-80) seems to be close to sign for Faenza and Marija Eric (164-G-83) for Dynamo Kursk.

Pool Comense confirms coach Roberto Ricchini and probably leaves Angela Zampella (170-G-78, college: St.Joseph's) and LaToya Turner (191-C-80, college: Ohio St.).

in A2 Chieti changes coach for the last part of the season: Nino Marzoli leaves: the new coach will be Mimmo Trivelli and the president Riccardo Caponi quits his charge for Pontedera. The new president will be announced in the next few days.

Napoli joins Schio in the finals, Pomezia remains in A1 -by Massimo Finizio

The final series of the 2007-2008 A1 championship will be Famila Wuber Schio-Phard Napoli.

Phard Napoli got the right to defend the title in an incredible semifinal match in Taranto. Phard Napoli had an horrible start and only in the final quarter, with a 0-15 break, closed the double digit gap that Taranto accumulated in the first quarter.

Now Phard Napoli has the chance to win for the second straight time the italian championship. The first match of the final series will be played saturday night in Naples, while the second and third game will be played in Famila Wuber Schio. Evntually game fuor will be in Naples and game five will be in Famila Wuber Schio.

In the relagation finals Fiera di Roma basket Pomezia won 71-61 against Virtus Viterbo and doing so they got the right to remain in A1 next year. Clarisse Machanguana (194-C/F-73, college: ODU), Doneeka Hodges (175-G-82, college: LSU) and Francesca Di Battista (175-G-80) ended the match with a double digit score for the winnig team

Napoli upset Taranto -by Carlo Grilli
Playoff, semifinals, best-of-three series:

Levoni Taranto - Phard Napoli 66 - 67 (1-2: Napoli joins final)
(28-16, 42-27, 57-44)
LEVONI TARANTO: Balleggi M. 3 (1/2), Corbani C. 1 (0/1), Greco M. 9 (4/7), Zimerle A. 12 (1/8, 3/5), Sauret Gillespie A. 13 (4/9, 1/2), Summerton L. (0/1), Prado F. dnp, Frohlich L. 9 (3/6, 1/4), Brunson R. 19 (8/18, 0/1), Masoni M. dnp. Coach Corno Aldo
PHARD NAPOLI: Paterna S. dnp, Cirone M. 7 (2/5, 1/1), Mauriello P. 3 (1/3), Giauro S. 4 (2/3, 0/1), Barnes A. 8 (2/5, 1/2), Gentile I. 8 (2/3, 1/7), Horasan Y. 4 (2/4), Ndiaye A. 10 (3/6, 1/1), Lesdema N. (0/1), Kedra Holland-Corn (173-G-74) 23 (2/6, 2/5). Coach Molino Nino

Playout, final round, best-of-three series:

Gescom Viterbo - Fiera di Roma 61 - 71 (1-2: Viterbo relegated in A2)
(19-11, 25-34, 45-45)
GESCOM VITERBO: Danzi D. (0/2), Kouznetsova S. (0/2), Santucci L. 9 (2/5, 1/4), Brunelli G. dnp, Smith B. 14 (3/8, 0/1), Maslowski M. 21 (8/13, 0/1), Limoura L. 7 (1/5, 1/4), Siccardi V. 8 (4/6), Gorla L. 2 (1/1, 0/6), Crepaldi C.. Coach Agresti Claudio
FIERA DI ROMA POMEZIA: Di Battista F. 15 (3/7, 2/6), Servillo M. dnp, Hodges D. 13 (3/7, 1/6), Cinili S. 5 (2/2), Mendes Da Silva T. , Scimitani S. 4 (2/3), Machanguana C. 16 (6/14, 0/1), Lichnerova J. 7 (2/2, 1/2), Milica Beljanski (185-F-83) 3 (0/4, 1/1), Gattini C. 8 (4/9, 0/1). Coach Incecchi Sandro

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KAZAKHSTAN - Women

Standings - Women

D1 Standings

1. MKTU	0-0
2. Okzhetpes	0-0
3. Astana	0-0
4. Barsy Atyr.	0-0

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LATVIA - Women

Eurobasket.com All-Latvian LSBL Awards 2007-08 -by Eurobasket

White

Sales

Tare

Crockett

Riley

Regular Season MVP - Willnett Crockett (188-F/C-84) (SK Cesis)
Play-Off MVP - Ieva Tare (185-F-74) (TTT Riga)

Eurobasket.com awards:
Player of the Year - LaTanya White (170-G-82) (TTT Riga)
Guard of the Year - LaTanya White (TTT Riga)
Forward of the Year - Ieva Tare (TTT Riga)
Center of the Year - Ruth Riley (196-C-79) (TTT Riga)
Newcomer of the Year - Andra Priedniece (180-C-89) (BJSS Ridzene)
Most Improved Player of the Year - Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) (Liepajas metalurgs)
Bosman Player of the Year - Elizaveta Kityzina (194-C-80) (TTT Riga)
Import Player of the Year - LaTanya White (TTT Riga)
Domestic Player of the Year - Ieva Tare (TTT Riga)
Coach of the Year - Ainars Cukste (TTT Riga)

1st Team
LaTanya White (TTT Riga)
Nykesha Sales (183-F/G-76) (SK Cesis)
Ieva Tare (TTT Riga)
Willnett Crockett (SK Cesis)
Ruth Riley (TTT Riga)

2nd Team
Jennifer Derevjanik (175-G-82) (SK Cesis)
Baiba Eglite (174-G-89) (TTT Riga)
Dace Cinite (188-F-82) (SK Cesis)
Sabine Niedola (Liepajas metalurgs)
Kristine Vitola (194-C-91) (SK Riga)

All-Domestic Players Team
Zane Eglite (170-G-84) (TTT Riga)
Baiba Eglite (TTT Riga)
Ieva Tare (TTT Riga)
Sabine Niedola (Liepajas metalurgs)
Lasma Jekabsone (191-C-85) (SK Cesis)

All-Imports Team
LaTanya White (TTT Riga)
Jennifer Derevjanik (SK Cesis)
Nykesha Sales (SK Cesis)
Willnett Crockett (SK Cesis)
Ruth Riley (TTT Riga)

TTT Riga is crowned as LSBL champion! -by Eurobasket News
Cesis - TTT Riga 57:79

TTT Riga decided not to wait until coming back to Riga and put on the LSBL title in Cesis. The teams arrived to Cesis with the local favorites having their backs against the wall in the Final series. Cesis were down 0-2 and had to change things quickly. But TTT Riga proved too good for the hosts. Everything was in favor of the visitors as they got to a fresh start and overwhelmed the home side in the first quarter. Elizaveta Kityzina (194-C-80) and LaTanya White (170-G-82, college: Mississippi St.) teamed up to pace TTT Riga to a 27:11 start of the game. The things did not look brighter for Cesis in the second period. TTT Riga widened the damage and controlled the tempo. The visitors had a comfortable 52:29 lead at the interval. The hosts had little options left as Nykesha Sales (183-F/G-76, college: Connecticut) was limited in minutes and managed just 5 points at the end. Jessica Moore (191-C-82, college: Connecticut) also was not in her best form as she converted just 1/6 from the field. TTT Riga capitalized on numerous turnovers from Cesis to stay 21 points ahead at three-quarter time. Cesis looked doomed in the fourth term and the Riga outfit cruised to an overall win at the end. Elizaveta Kityzina led all scorers with 16 points and 8 boards. LaTanya White contributed 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Baiba Eglite (174-G-89) scored 12 points in a win. Lasma Jekabsone (191-C-85, college: Florida Intern.) answered with 13 points and 7 caroms for Cesis. Dace Cinite (188-F-82) nailed 12 points in a losing effort. The sides were equally matched on the boards with 38 boards apiece. TTT Riga converted 42% from the field, while Cesis responded with 35% accuracy.

Cesis: Lasma Jekabsone 13, Dace Cinite 12
TTT Riga: Elizaveta Kityzina 16, LaTanya White 15, Baiba Eglite 12

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NEW ZEALAND - Women

USA bruises New Zealand -by Eurobasket News
USA - New Zealand 78:60

The USA team secured their third straight win at the tournament edging winless New Zealand yesterday. The teams kept it close just for 5 starting minutes and then the USA team took over. Sylvia Fowles (6'6''-C-85, college: LSU) paced the USA as they grabbed a 20:14 lead at the first intermission. The North American team opened the second period with an 11:2 run and stretched the gap to as many as 15 points midway through the term. The onslaught continued throughout the quarter and the USA enjoyed a 48:22 advantage at the interval. The USA players prevailed after the break and allowed Tall Ferns just to trim the difference late in the encounter. Sylvia Fowles finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds for the USA. Katie Smith (5'11''-G-74, college: Ohio St.) nailed 10 points and Lisa Leslie (6'5''-C-72, college: USC) added 9 points for the winners. Aneka Kerr (6'0''-F-81) dropped 17 points and collected 7 rebounds for Tall Ferns. Angela Marino (5'6''-G-86) notched 14 points and 7 rebounds for Kiwis in a loss. The USA dominated the boards pulling down 55 rebounds. North American team outscored Tall Ferns 38:12 in the paint. They also limited their opponents to miserable 26% from the field. The USA will now take on the hosts China later tonight in the preliminary round finale. New Zealand will try to avoid winless record against Australia tonight.

USA: Sylvia Fowles 14, Katie Smith 10, Lisa Leslie 9
New Zealand: Aneka Kerr 17, Angela Marino 14

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PORTUGAL - Women

Eurobasket.com All-Portuguese League Awards 2007-08 -by Eurobasket

Nsimbo

Lima

Parham

Reese

Machado

Player of the Year - Pauline Nsimbo (187-F/C-82) (Olivais)
Guard of the Year - Larisse Lima (177-G/F-88) (ESSA)
Forward of the Year - Aja Parham (183-G/F-84) (Olivais)
Center of the Year - Pauline Nsimbo (Olivais)
Newcomer of the Year - Catia Lirio (182-C-89) (Povoa)
Most Improved Player of the Year - Filipa de Freitas (162-G-87) (Olivais)
Bosman Of the Year - Elena Radenkovik (189-C-85) (Esgueira)
Import Player of the Year - Pauline Nsimbo (Olivais)
Domestic Player of the Year - Ana Fonseca (-G-78) (Olivais)
Defensive Player of the Year - Pauline Nsimbo (Olivais)
Coach of the Year - Jose Araujo (Olivais)

1st Team
Larisse Lima (177-G/F-88) of ESSA/Barreiro (ESSA)
Maxann Reese (176-G-78) (Algs)
Aja Parham (Olivais)
Millene Machado (183-F/C-79) (Vagos)
Pauline Nsimbo (Olivais)

2nd Team
Joana Araujo (175-G-78) (Algs)
Ana Fonseca (Olivais)
Fernanda Beling (180-F-82) (Vagos)
Ali Mann (186-F-85) (CPN)
Lakethia Hampton (183-F/C-83) (Algs)

All-Domestic Players Team
Larisse Lima (ESSA)
Ana Fonseca (Olivais)
Nadia Tavares (176-F-88) (CAB)
Tatiana Iourtaeva (-F-78) (Vagos)
Ana Coelho (-C-74) (CPN)

All-Imports Team
Pauline Nsimbo (Olivais)
Aja Parham (Olivais)
Maxann Reese (Algs)
Lakethia Hampton (Algs)
Ali Mann (CPN)

All-Defensive Team
Larisse Lima (ESSA)
Ana Fonseca (Olivais)
Aja Parham (Olivais)
Ali Mann (CPN)
Pauline Nsimbo (Olivais)

All-Newcomers Team
Maria Correia (172-G/F-91) (CAB)
Marcy Goncalves (173-F-90) (CAB)
Sara Djassi (176-F-89) (ESSA)
Mariana Silva (178-C-88) (Ovarense)
Catia Lirio (Povoa)

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SERBIA - Women

Final Tournaments for youngsters report -by Dragana Vukovic

The last three weekends were reserved for the final tournaments of youngsters.
Cadettees opened serie of the final tornaments.Eight teams was devidede into two groups,group A:Vojvodina Nis Gas Novi Sad Nis Gas Novi Sad,Radivoj Korac,Eurobasket and Moravac,group B:Sivac,All Star,Celarevo and Dubocica.Vojvodina Nis Gas Novi Sad Nis Gas Novi Sad and Sivac took the first places in the groups and played final,Radivoj Korac and All Star was the second in the groups and played for the third place.Sivac took the title,Radivoj Korac beat All Star in the battle for the third place.Jovana Karakasevic was MVP of the tournament,Aleksandra Popovic was the best scorere of the tournament,both from Vojvodina Nis Gas Novi Sad Nis Gas Novi Sad.

1.Sivac

2.Vojvodina Nis Gas

3.Radivij Korac

4.All Star

Vojvodina Nis Gas - Sivac 58:69 ( 16:17,16:1511:18,15:19 )
Vojvodina Nis Gas:Sofia Ugarak,Lea Ramljak,Dejana Bjelajac 3,Aleksandra Popovic 19,Maja Grkovic 4,Aleksandra Bodlovic 4,Jelena Stankovski 2,Jovana Karakasevic 20 (11 rebs),Isidora Madzarevic 6 (19 rebs),Teodora Zagorac.

Sivac:Bojana Knezevic,Olivera Radojevic 2,Ksenija Vlaskalic 3,Jelena Gogic 14,Aleksandra Stanacev 10 (6 as),Jelena Stulic,Marija Markovic,Milica Zezelj,Nevena Ninkovic 14,Tamara Rajic 15 (18 rebs),Tisa Njegric 11,Stela Lausevic

Radivij Korac - All Star 78:50 ( 21:11,30:15,11:13,16:11 )

Radivoj Korac:Olivera Gapic 16 (11 rebs),Tijana dijan 11,Danica Dragicevic,Ines Lazin,Kaja Stankovic 6,Dijana Stancic 6,Ana Cucukov 9,Katarina Tomic 2,Kristina Bugarski,Snezana Colic 21,Natasa Miladinovic 6,Tatjana Andjelkovic.

All Star:Tamara Stevanovic 3,Tamara Stojanovic 5,Sasa Mladenovis,Aleksandra Petrovic 5,Dejana Ivanisevic 7,Jelena Djordjevic 2 (10 rebs),Tamara Vracevic 7,Tijana Milovcevic,Natalija Novakovic,Ivana Brajkovic 16,Milica Veslo,Djurdjica Mutavdzic 5 (9 rebs).

After the cadettees it was time for pionirees.Again,eight teams into two groups,group A:Sivac,KK Loznica,Gimnazijalac and Radivoj Korac,group B:ZKK Partizan Beograd Beograd Beograd,Titel,Njegos and Cuprija.Sivac and ZKK Partizan Beograd Beograd took the first places in the groups and played for the title,KK Loznica and Titel were second in the groups and played for the third place.ZKK Partizan Beograd beat Sivac in the final game,while Titel took the third place.Natasa Kovacevic (-94),from ZKK Partizan Beograd, was MVP of the tournament,Aleksandra Stanacev,from Sivac,was the best scorer of the tournament.

1.Partizan

2.Sivac

3.Titel

4.Loznica

Sivac - Partizan 55:72 ( 9:21,24:17,14:17,8:17 )

Sivac:Tamara Radonjic,Katarina Knezevic,Ranka Stojcic,Aleksandra Stanacev 24(7 as,8 steals),Kristina Licenberger,Olivera Dzuver 10,Ivana Popadic 2,Ana Predojevic,Maja Golubic,Natasa Polic 9 (7 rebs),Tijana Stojkov,Tamara Solak 10.

Partizan:Milica Savic 7 (8 staels),Dragana Petricic,Tamara Novic 24 (24 rebs),Ana Miloradovic 4 (9 rebs),Andrea Anicic,Milica Dangubic,Ksenija Milovanovic 6,Ana Marija Simic,Jovana Stankovic,Kristina Bajovic,Natasa Kovacevic 31 (7 as,5 steals,19 rebs),Viktorija Maksimovic.

Loznica -Titel 65:76 ( 20:23,10:15,12:25,23:13 )

Loznica:Bojana Jakovljevic 15,Jovana Vidakovic 39 (8 steals,15 rebs),Aleksandra Crvendakic,Teodora Petrovic 4,Branislava Maksimovic 2,Aleksandra Pantic 5.

Titel:Mirjana Momirov 24 (12 rebs),Dana Bozic,Marijana Corto 10,Jelena Putnik 2,Tatjana Makivic 2,Teodora Kajkut,Bogdana Rodic 2 (8 rebs),Branka Cvijic 2,Marijana Bagic 2,Branka Petrovic,Andjela Bakic 2,Ines Glolo 30 (10 rebs).

Juniores closed the tornaments for youngsters.Group A:Vojvodina Nis Gas Novi Sad,Radnicki Novi Beograd,Karaburma and Toplicanin,group B:Radivoj Korac,ZKK Kraljevo,Sivac and Tamis.Vojvodina Nis Gas Novi Sad and Radivoj Korac were the first in their groups,so they played final game.Radnicki Novi Beograd and ZKK Kraljevo took the second positions in the groups and played for the third place.In the thriller finish Radivoj Korac beat Vojvodina Nis Gas Novi Sad and took the title.ZKK Kraljevo beat Radnicki Novi Beograd and won the bronze.Kristina Baltic (186-G-90),from ZKK Kraljevo,was MVP of the tournament,Sara Krnjic (194-C-91) (194-C-91),from Vojvodina Nis Gas Novi Sad,was the best scorer of the tournament.

1.Radivoj Korac

2.Vojvodina

3.Kraljevo

4.Radnicki

Vojvodina Nis Gas - Radivoj Korac 70:71 ( 16:14,9:24,21:14,24:19 )

Vojvodina Nis Gas:Sara Krnjic 22 (12 rebs),Aleksandra Popovic,Djana Bjelajac,Latinka Dusanic 10 (6 as),Milena Stanic 19,Jovana Karakasevic 2,Jelena Kostic,Aleksandra Bodlovic,Isidora Madzarevic,Jelena Stankovski,Maja Grkovic,Aleksandra Dobranic 14 (8 rebs)

Radivoj Korac:Jasna Vasilev 3,Danica Dragicevic,Milana Zivadinovic 14,Kaja Stankovic 2,Jelena Jovanovic 12 (8 rebs),Ana Cucukov,Kristina Ostojic 3,Snezana Colic 5,Maja Vucurovic 17 (9 rebs),Dijana Stancic,Olivera Gapic,Milica Paligoric 15 (6 rebs).

Radnicki - Kraljevo 65:81 ( 8:15,21:22,17:27,19:17 )

Radnicki:Ana Komnenovic 4,Marija Popovic 4,Maja Cosovic 9 (9 rebs),Jelena Slaveska 9,Jelena Zoric 16,Ljubica Jankovic 9,Jelena Tokic,Sonja Kostic,Selena Kostic,Dragaan Damjanovic 6,Sanja Mandic 9,Julijana Latic.

Kraljevo:Aleksandra Racic 22 (8 rebs),Gorica Pijevac 16,Tatjana Zivanovic 16 (9 rebs),Andreja Dimic,Nevena Jovanovic 3,Nevena Rakicevic 2,Milena Marjanovic,Marija Jecmenica 4,Kristina Baltic 17 (5 as,4 steal,16 rebs),Zvezdana Vukadinovic,Jelena Vukadin.

A lot of talented players were on these tournaments.Zoran Kovacic selector of all young National Teams an Jovica Antonic selector of senior NT were following these tournaments.They noticed a lot of players that will take part in different National Teams this summer.

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SLOVAKIA - Women

McCarville leaving KOSIT, Kraayeveld to replace her -by Michal Maslany

The biggest star of slovak woman extraliga Janel McCarville (188-C-82, college: Minnesota) from KOSIT 2013 Kosice will move to CSKA Moskva for next season. KOSIT already find her replace in Cathrine Kraayeveld (193-F-81, agency: LBM Management, college: Oregon). 26-year old center from USA played last two seasons in belgian Euroliga team Dexia Namur and also she is teammate of Janel McCarville in WNBA club New York Liberty.

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SOUTH KOREA - Women

Cuba handles Korea at the Good Luck Beijing tournament -by Eurobasket News
Cuba - Korea 78:66

The preliminary round comes to an end at the Good Luck Beijing pre-Olympic tourney in China. Cuba and Korea opened the last day of action at this stage and the Lain American team proved stronger. Cuba edged Korea 78:66 to post their third win at the competition. Korea meanwhile lost their fourth game and slipped to 1-4 record. Yakelin Plutin (186-F-79) sparked Cuba to a fast start as they led 21:15 after the opening frame. But Korea soon adjusted the tempo and narrowed the gap to a single point 24:25 midway through the second period. Cubans however stayed in front and enjoyed a 38:34 lead at halftime. Korea kept it close throughout the third period and still trailed by 4 points at the end of it. But Cuba capitalized on a huge dominance under the boards to remain at the helm and celebrated a tough win. Yakelin Plutin notched 24 points and 12 boards for Cuba. Yayma Boulet (193-C-83) finished with 18 points and tournament-high 17 rebounds for the winners. Kim Jung Eun (181-F-87) replied with 14 points for Korea. Choi Youn Ah (170-G-85) canned 10 points in a losing effort. Cuba outrebounded Asian counterparts 50:29 and forced Korea to 16 turnovers. Korean players held Cuba to 36% from the field but were completely outmuscled in the paint. Cuba outscored Korea 40:16 from under the rims. Korea will now play against New Zealand for the 5th-6th spots on Saturday. Cuba will play for the Bronze medals on the same day.

Cuba: Yakelin Plutin 24+12 boards, Yayma Boulet 18+17 boards, Yulizeny Soria (180-F-79) 10
Korea: Kim Jung Eun 14, Choi Youn Ah 10

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SPAIN - Women

Victor Lapea has been extended in Cadi La Seu d'Urgell by 2 seasons -by Ivan Villar
Before season ends,market begins to move.Cadi La Seu's managers announced that his actual coach,Victor Lapena ,will be on catalan bench until 2010.Coach from Zaragoza has got principal aim of club,keeping on LF.Also his team is fighting for 8th place of table to play for Europe's competition.Cadi La Seu has completed a good season in spite of injures of their most important players as Jenny Benningfield.They hope to improve their roster for next season.

Blanca Marcos finished her season for injure during a practice -by Ivan Villar
Forward from Perfumerias Avenida has concluded her season this week.During week practice Blanca Marcos (177-G/F-87) crashed with her teammate Isa Sanchez and broked her finger.So she should to rest during 2 months.Bad new for Salamanca's team which is going to fight for league's tittle next week.In sipte of this long bench of Perfumerias let them keep their chances to arrive to final.Probably,the team coached by Jose Ignacio Hernandez will have to face with EBE-Promociones in semifinals.

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TURKEY - Women

Fenerbahce and Galatasaray to take the first leads -by Eurobasket News
Fenerbahce and Galatasaray won the openers of the Turkish semifinals. Both of the started the win campaigns at home.
The winner of the regular season overcame TED Kayseri 81:57. The hosts opened the game with 24:11 in the opening quarter and never looked behind. They increased to 15 points advantage before the teams went to the lockers. TED Kayseri lost the third quarter, but won the last one 19:18. Tammy Sutton-Brown led the winners with 15 points. Erdenay Gergena nailed 14, while Volnaya Sviatlana scored 11. Hulya Ozkan (186-F-80) ended up with 20 points in the losing effort.
Galatasaray smashed Besiktas 77:48 to win the opener as well. The guests however resisted in the opening quarter and trailed only 19:16. Three other quarters were too hard for the guests that scored only 48 points by the end of the game. Isil Alben (170-G-86) paced the winners with 21 points. Sophia Phienola netted 16 and Sencebe scored 14. Korona Zanze ended up with 14 points in the losing effort.

Fenerbahce - TED Kayseri 81:57
Fenerbahe: Tammy Sutton-Brown (193-C-78, college: Rutgers) 15, Erdenay Gergena 14, Volnaya Sviatlana 11
Ted Kayseri Koleji: Hulya Ozkan 20, Anita Moore 9

Galatasaray - Besiktas 77:48
Galatasaray: Isil Alben 21, Sophia Phienola 16, Esra Sencebe (170-G-81, agency: Prosportman) 14, Petra Ujhelyi 10
Beşiktaş Cola Turka:Korona Zanze 14, Nilay Yigit (170-G-79) 9

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WNBA - Women

USA snaps Chinas perfect run -by Eurobasket News
USA - China 86:61

The USA team got their 4th straight win at the Good Luck Beijing tournament holding off hosting China today. China entered the game having won 4 straight games but could not deal with a dynamic duo of Sylvia Fowles (6'6''-C-85, college: LSU) and Lisa Leslie (6'5''-C-72, college: USC). The Chicago Sky centre produced 20 points and 16 boards, while the LA Sparks veteran added 26 points to pace the USA. The defense also worked well limiting Chinese leader Nan Chen (6'6''-C-83) to only 8 points and 8 boards in defeat. China remained in the contest early in the encounter as they trailed by 4 after the starting frame. But as the number of turnovers mounted China struggled to stay at a striking distance. The USA enjoyed a 43:35 advantage at halftime and stretched the margin to double digits early in the third stanza. China never recovered and the USA players coasted to their 4th win at the tournament. Kara Lawson (5'8''-G-81, college: Tennessee) and Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 8 points apiece for the winners. Bian Lan (6'0''-G-86) responded with 14 points for China. Chen Xiaoli (6'4''-C-82) netted 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a losing case. The visitors outrebounded their opponents 48:31. The USA also sank 54% from the field, while China converted just 33% of field goals. Both teams finished with 4-1 record and would now face each other in the tournaments final on Saturday.

USA: Lisa Leslie 26, Sylvia Fowles 20+16 boards, Taj McWilliams-Franklin 8, Kara Lawson 8
China: Bian Lan 14, Chen Xiaoli 13

Sparks Acquire Delisha Milton-Jones for Taj to Washington -by Bruno Baltazar
The Los Angeles Sparks have acquired All-Star forward Delisha Milton-Jones (6'1''-F-74, college: Florida) from the Washington Mystics in a trade of forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin and the Sparks 2009 first round pick, it was announced today.

Milton-Jones returns to the Sparks who drafted her in the first round (fourth overall) of the WNBA Draft in 1999. She played six years in Los Angeles during which she helped lead the team to back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002. With Washington since 2005, she averaged 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game during their 2007 campaign.

A nine-year veteran, McWilliams-Franklin averaged 11.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in 2007, her first year with the Sparks.

Trades are part of the game, said Sparks coach Michael Cooper. DeLisha is a very good defensive player and Im sure shell bring the same intensity to the Sparks this time as she did the first time. Well miss what Taj brought to the team, but wish her all the best in Washington.

We are excited to welcome DeLisha back to the Sparks family, said Sparks general manager Penny Toler.

USA bruises New Zealand -by Eurobasket News
USA - New Zealand 78:60

The USA team secured their third straight win at the tournament edging winless New Zealand yesterday. The teams kept it close just for 5 starting minutes and then the USA team took over. Sylvia Fowles (6'6''-C-85, college: LSU) paced the USA as they grabbed a 20:14 lead at the first intermission. The North American team opened the second period with an 11:2 run and stretched the gap to as many as 15 points midway through the term. The onslaught continued throughout the quarter and the USA enjoyed a 48:22 advantage at the interval. The USA players prevailed after the break and allowed Tall Ferns just to trim the difference late in the encounter. Sylvia Fowles finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds for the USA. Katie Smith (5'11''-G-74, college: Ohio St.) nailed 10 points and Lisa Leslie (6'5''-C-72, college: USC) added 9 points for the winners. Aneka Kerr (6'0''-F-81) dropped 17 points and collected 7 rebounds for Tall Ferns. Angela Marino (5'6''-G-86) notched 14 points and 7 rebounds for Kiwis in a loss. The USA dominated the boards pulling down 55 rebounds. North American team outscored Tall Ferns 38:12 in the paint. They also limited their opponents to miserable 26% from the field. The USA will now take on the hosts China later tonight in the preliminary round finale. New Zealand will try to avoid winless record against Australia tonight.

USA: Sylvia Fowles 14, Katie Smith 10, Lisa Leslie 9
New Zealand: Aneka Kerr 17, Angela Marino 14