EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 5/27/2008

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Men News

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AUSTRALIA

David Gruber moves to West Sydney Razorbacks -by Eurobasket News
Power forward / center David Gruber (198-F/C-81, college: N.Iowa) agreed terms with West Sydney Razorbacks. Gruber spent last two seasons playing for Frankston Blues. He graduated on University Northern Iowa on 2004. His best season for Northern Iowa was 02/03 when he for 28 games averaged 13.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 1.5 apg. At his last year at N. Iowa he had 12.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 1 apg for 31 games.

Gruber got award All-MVC Honorable Mention twice (02 and 04). On 2001 was named to be at JUCO team all-Region 11.

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AUSTRIA

BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld is a New Champion! -by Eurobasket News
Oberwart Gunners -BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld 88:89

BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld is a new champion in Austria. The team had a terrific road win over Oberwart Gunners to triumph in the country. Just 89:88 was enough to celebrate in the campaign after five battles of the two best teams of the regular season. Anthony Shavies (191-G-83, college: Missouri St.) led the winners with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Samo Grum (194-G/F-79, agency: VTBM/SRBM) and Miljan Goljovic supported him with 14 points apiece in a win. Jason Johnson (202-F/C-77, college: Tennessee St.) top-scored for the hosts with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Marko Moric (207-F-81, agency: World Sport Agency) nailed 16, whilst Jay Youngblood (196-G-84, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Kent St.) posted 15.
The Final series brought even more desire and interest than it was expected as BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld and Oberwart Gunners left the intrigue not only for the last game, but for the last seconds as well.
The Panthers won the best-of-five series 3-2, taking the final two games by a total of 3 points, to become the 16th team to win the Austrian League.
Oberwart Gunners opened the game with ten consecutive points in the opening tip and led to 26:19 after the first 10 minutes. BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld woke up later in the half to take 51:45 lead after the first half. Hannes Ochsenhofer sparked a 10-2 charge midway through the fourth quarter as the Gunners stormed back and eventually tied the score at 78:78. Slobodan Ocokoljic made it 86:86 with a minute to play. Anthony Shavies went to the line and made the first clutch free throw, enough to bring his team the title. A 89:88 was a great win and thank to both teams it was a great final campaign.

Oberwart Gunners:Jason Johnson 21+10 rebs, Marko Moric 16, Jay Youngblood 15
BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld: Anthony Shavies 24+8 rebs, Samo Grum 14, Miljan Goljovic 14

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BOSNIA

On Tuesday last round in Bosnian League 8 -by Elvir Halilovic

Before last round everything is known in Bosnian League 8. Almost everything...
In Play-Off will play Igokea Partizan like second placed team and Siroki Prima Pivo like third placed team. They also can change the places if Siroki win against Bosna on 'Pecara' and Igokea lose game in Istocno Sarajevo. In other Semifinal will play Bosna ASA BH Telecom with team from place four. For now that is Sloboda Dita which have one win more than Borac Nektar. In last round both teams are visitors. Sloboda Dita play against Zrinjski and Borac goes to Grude.

Bosnian League 8, 14TH round (Tuesday May 27TH)
Siroki Brijeg: Siroki Prima Pivo - Bosna ASA BH Telecom (Ref.: Kralj, Jovanic, Adamovic)
Istocno Sarajevo: Slavija - Igokea Partizan (Ref.: Obradovic, Pehar, Drmic)
Grude: Grude - Borac Nektar (Ref.: Zurapovic, Kunosic, Hatibovic)
Mostar: Zrinjski Mik Company - Sloboda Dita (Ref.: Duskaj, Okuka, Lakic)
All matches started at 20:00.

You can listen live broadcast from Siroki Brijeg and from other cities on www.rtvvogosca.ba and www.rtvbostel.com (on Bosnian language).

Play-Off started this weekend (May 31TH). Teams will playing for two win.



Krupalija two more years in Dijon! -by Nedzad Kladusak
There is no doubt Damir Krupalija is the runner-up in the french PRO A. Dijon was desperately fighting against the relegation and after the arrival of the bosnian PF Dijon almost reached (finishing 9th-ranked) the french playoff. After he has been the idol of most Charleroi fans he conquered also the hearts of french supporters who expressed their gratefulness with a transparent stating he is a part of Dijon.
Now he extended for two more years which is a first sign of Dijon that they want to compete for the spots which entitle to play in the european competitions.

Ermin Jazvin has been stopped by the medical department of Maroussi and he won t be able to help his teammates in the next 10-12 days. He has a little inflammation which is however painful.
Maroussi opened the series by a victory in the first match against the squad of former NT-coach Nenad Markovic. The winner will promote to the Euroleague which would be a sensational result for both teams.

Kenan Bajramovic expressed for the bosnian tabloid-daily newspaper Dnevni Avaz that he is interested in leaving Lietuvas Rytas after the team missed the Euroleague.
He added that he has some offers including Russia and stated that a particiaption in the Euroleague is not a imperative.Damir Krupalija (205-F/C-79, college: Illinois)

Stats Leaders - D1
CENTROTRANS LIGA ZA PRVAKA BIH Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1. A.Damjanovic (SLA)19,83
2. Williams (BOS) 19,15
3. M. Milosevic (SLO) 16,85
4. Vuckovic (ZRI) 16,15
5. Z. Jovanovic (BOR) 15,92
Rebounds Per Game
1. Matic (SLO) 7,6
2. Fajardo (SIR) 7,2
3. Williams (BOS) 6,9
4. Spralja (SIR) 6,4
5. Milosevic (SLO) 6,0
Assists Per Game
1. Vujcic (GRU) 6,0
2. Gvozdenovic (SLA) 4,4
3. Jovanovic (BOR) 4,0
4. Allen (IGO) 3,4
5. Bailey (BOS) 3,4
Steals Per Game
1. Franklin (BOR) 1,8
2. Stemberger (SIR) 1,7
3. Dzidic (ZRI) 1,7
Blocks Per Game
1. Rothbart (BOR) 1,3
2. Lydeka (IGO) 1,1
3. Patterson (IGO) 0,9
2FGP
1. Williams (BOS) 8,14
2. Damjanov (SLA) 7,00
3. Matic (SLO) 5,22
3FGP
1. Jovanovic (BOR) 2,67
2. Vuckovic (ZRI) 2,43
3. Grays (SIR) 2,33
Free Throws
1. Stemberger (SIR) 5,78
2. Zitko (GRU) 5,00
3. Fajardo (SIR) 4,89
Ranking
1. Lance Williams (BOS)
2. Z. Jovanovic (BOR)
3. A. Damjanovic (SLA)
4. Fajardo (SIR)
5. M. Milosevic (SLO)


Transfer news -by Nedzad Kladusak
The bosnian championship enters a decisive stage. The first four positions seem to be determined.
The teams not participating in the second stage of competition already began their preparations for the 2008/2009 season.

Slavija is strongly interested in signing Sabahudin Sabahudin Hodzic (217-C-84). He already practices with the team and a final agreement seems to be very close.
The leading scorer of MIMS Sarajevo and former player of Bosna Sarajevo, Elnis Adel Prasovic (201-F-84), is the target of Novi Grad, Slavija and as it seems Zrinjski.
There are also some reports that also at least a foreign team expressed its wish to add him to its roster.

Bosna Sarajevo signed a 4-yr contract with Aldin Klinac (213-C-90), one of the top prospects of its junior team. Montenegrinian star coach Dusko Vujosevic
has offered Klinac to come to a try out to Partizan. This surprising invitation might be a consequence of the sensational impact Kikanovic had in the serbian championship.

Zenica Celik has invited Kabine Sissoko (209-C-86, agency: Interperformances) a player with SUI-CRO passport. He is intended to reinforce Zenica under the boards where it had only Sadibasic and several younger players.

After the departure of Zoran Sretenovic Igokea seems to be interested in Drago Karalic the former coach of KK Borac.
KK Impuls is currently negotiating with Adel Adel Prasovic who coached KK Ilidza with some players like the cadet star of KK Bosna Kobaslic, Edin Bavcic and Aldin Klinac.

Bosnian League 8, 13TH round - First place for Bosna ASA -by Elvir Halilovic

Results:
Igokea Partizan - Siroki Prima Pivo 71:52
Bosna ASA BH Telecom - Zrinjski Mik Company 68:56
Sloboda Dita - Grude 91:77
Borac Nektar - Slavija 85:67


Standings:
1. Bosna ASA BHT 11-2 1046:869 +177 24 pts.
2. Igokea Partizan 9-4 1121:979 +142 22 pts.
3. Siroki Prima Pivo 9-4 1056:980 +76 22 pts.
4. Sloboda Dita 8-5 1024:1031 -07 21 pts.
5. Borac Nektar 7-6 1012:972 +40 20 pts.
6. Zrinjski MC 3-10 1037:1151 -114 16 pts.
7. Slavija 3-10 982:1152 -170 16 pts.
8. Grude 2-11 987:1131 -144 15 pts.


Igokea Partizan - Siroki Prima Pivo 71:52
(21:12, 16:13, 20:9, 14:18)
Aleksandrovac, SD Nenad Bastinac; Att.: 2.000; Ref.: Bijedic, Duskaj, Nozinovic
IGOKEA PARTIZAN: Tosic 6, Patterson 9, Bocka 15, Stazic, Djurica 2, Vucurovic 8, Cup, Wright, Lydeka 4, Stefanovic 10, Kovacevic 13, Allen 4
Coach: Drago Karalic
SIROKI PRIMA PIVO: Bubalo, Planinic, Grays 9, Stemberger 14, Dijan 11, Zupic, Sola 1, Naletilic, Susak, Fajardo 13, Bethel, Ezugwu 4
Coach: Ivan Velic


Bosna ASA BHT - Zrinjski Mik Company 68:56
(14:18, 25:7, 12:16, 17:15)
Sarajevo, SD Skenderija; Att.: 300; Ref.: Okuka, Sobot, Karovic
BOSNA ASA BHT: Jefferson, Sehovic 4, Tomovic 2 (3 ass.), Ikonic 7, Bavcic 6 (6 reb.), Zimic, Bailey 10, Rahimic 11, Hajric 5 (7 reb.), Pasalic 6, Jackson 2, Williams 15
Coach: Jurij Zdovc
ZRINJSKI MC: Filipovic, Bisko, Norac 4, Petric, Oroz, Dzidic 9, Simovic 11, Brecic 2, Vuckovic 22 (16 reb.), Buhac, Planinic 8, Grbavac
Coach: Nedeljko Zelenika


Sloboda Dita - Grude 91:77
(22:14, 28:14, 18:25, 23:24)
Tuzla, SD Mejdan; Att.: 500; Ref.: Kralj, Babic, Ignjatovic
SLOBODA DITA: Halilovic 3, M.Milosevic 21, Hrncic 11, Albijanic 4, Jeftic 3, Persic 2, Tomovic 9, Tanasilovic 11, Matic 8, N.Milosevic, Jocovic 17, Ross 2
Coach: Senad Muminovic
GRUDE: Lovric, Vranjes, Djulabic, M. Gligora 10, L. Gligora 12, Jelcic 5, Vujcic 4, Bura 7, Lozancic 13, Zitko 22, Perajica 4
Coach: Predrag Mikulic


Borac Nektar - Slavija 85:67
(20:20, 28:10, 17:13, 20:24)
Banja Luka, SD Borik; Att.: 500; Ref.: Pehar, Drmic, Lovric
BORAC NEKTAR: Franklin 12, Z. Jovanovic 16, Stupar, Rothbart, V. Jovanovic 9, Gemaljevic 19, Djurasovic 1, Josipovic 10, Pavlovic 2, Milinovic 6, Velimirovic 2, Popovic 8
Coach: Milos Pejic
SLAVIJA: Gvozdenovic 17, Stanic 11, Tomasevic, Simeunovic, Mladenovic 6, D. Damjanovic, Vukovic 4, Grubisic 1, A. Damjanovic 28
Coach/player: Aleksandar Damjanovic



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BRAZIL

Universo/BRB closes out the semis against Minas -by Eurobasket News
Universo/BRB - Minas 112:102

Lula Fereiras Universo/BRB continued their title chase after they dealt with Minas in the semis. Yesterday Universo celebrated a confident home win to win the series three game to one. Universo will now have a chance to grab their second consecutive title as they take on Flamengo in the Final best-of-five series. Flamengo however will have a home-court advantage as they claimed the regular season title. Universo got to an aggressive start and it paid off as they enjoyed a 32:21 lead ten minutes into the game. Minas who were led by sizzling performance from Johnson cut the gap by 2 points in the second term and kept the intrigue burning. However the second half brought no relief for the visitors. In a high-tempo offensively minded game the hosts managed to keep Minas at bay and triumphed at the end. Arthur Luiz Belchior (197-G/F-82) knocked down 28 points to pace the home team. Maurice Spillers (199-F-74, college: Utah St.) and Marcio Cipriano (201-C-79) netted 17 points apiece for the winners. Jasper Johnson (201-C-83, college: Delta St.) was simply unstoppable for Minas tallying game-high 43 points and 14 boards. Luiz Felipe Campos (192-G-80) added 20 points in a losing effort. Universo/BRB shot solid 56% from the field and limited their opponents to 47% accuracy. Both teams were almost equally matched under the rims with Minas collecting 29 boards and Brazilia pulling down 28 caroms.
So now Universo/BRB will take on Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro on May 30 in the finals opener.

Universo/BRB: Arthur Luiz Belchior 28, Maurice Spillers 17, Marcio Cipriano 17
Minas: Jasper Johnson 43+14 boards, Luiz Felipe Campos 20

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BULGARIA

Hristo Nikolov:My heart will always stay with CSKA -by Aglika Atanasova
After the end of the regular season in the Bulgarian championship, one of the most promising young talents-Hristo Nikolov (200-F-85) signed a two-year contract with the champs Lukoil Academic. Nikolov is the first new player to join the team for the next season. Nikolov has played his last six seasons for the team of CSKA where he started his career and grew up as a player. He rejected an offer for a five-year contract with his ex-team CSKA.


Hristo, why did you choose the team of Lukoil?

-Lukoil is the best team in the Bulgarian championship and that is why I consider it the best decision at this stage of my career. It is a great chance to play in such team because as you know Lukoil is the only Bulgarian team that competes at international level (Uleb Cup), which gives the players the opportunity to be noticed abroad.

Did you have offers from foreign teams?

-Yes, but as I've just mentioned, Lukoil is the best option for me at present.

How do you see your place in the team?

-Well, I don't know yet. It's too early to say anything but what I know for sure is that I will do my best to achieve the maximum Im capable of.

What do you think of Zeljko Lukaich?

-I appreciate his job and I think he's doing very well as a coach. I've already had an individual practice with the assistant coach Yordan Kolev and I believe he can help me a lot to develop my potential, which is very important for the improvement of my future performances.

After six seasons in CSKA what would you miss the most?

-First of all, I would like to say that my herat will always stay with CSKA. What I will miss the most...I guess that would be the fans. The unbelievable and loyal fans, who followed the team everywhere. I think now is the time to express my gratitude and thanks to them. With this audience I've been through the most unforgettable moments in my life. I would also like to thank the Tishanski family, because they helped me a lot personally as well as professionally.

What about you relations with Rosen Barchovski?

-Rosen is a great person. Even though we have had arguments and different points of view in many cases I will always be grateful for the chances he gave me and the trust he placed in me.

How would you comment the situation in CSKA through the last season, for example the problems with the salaries?

-Well, at first the team started very well. In the beginning we were all sticking together, by developing team spirit. Our relations were perfect and the atmosphere was great. We were even trying to compete with each other in order to improve the team play. I would lie if I say that after the problems things in the team didnt change, because they did. The motivation shattered, the relationships among players strained and the team tore apart. Even though no one blamed the American players for taking their money, everyone realized that it was not fair.

Have you been invited to play for the national team yet?

-No, but it will be a great honor for me to take part in it and I will do my best to justifiy the coaches' expectations.

A few words about the head-coach of the national team-Pini Gershon ?

-Of course, I respect him because hes a big name in the European basketball. He's a professional who has gained much experience in prestigious championships and tournaments in Europe. He has proved his great class by achieving important victories over the most successful teams. I believe he's a good specialist and he knows exactly what to demand from each player. If the players follow his instructions and perform everything well I think the national team will achieve big success.

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BURKINA FASO

Zerbo Frejus hopes for the semis -by Eurobasket News
Frejus Zerbo (205-C-89) and his Le Havre overwhelmed Chorale Roanne to tie the series at 1-1 after 100:70. The hosts enjoyed 61:26, at the break and did not have any difficulties in the end. T.J. Thompson paced the winners with 28 points, while Marcellus Sommerville added 18. Frejus Zerbo played 2 minutes of the game and enjoyed his Quarterfinal game for the team. Le Havre simply rolled in the first half against Chorale Roanne, scoring as many as 37 points in the second quarter to break the game open.
The series will have a decisive game on May 27th. Frejus Zerbo hopes for the semis and needs a win with his team.

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CAPE VERDE

Seven Stars Won their International Tournament -by Pedro Gomes
Seven Stars won, Sunday, the International tournament, they hosted this weekend in Praia, in commemoration of their 30th anniversary, 150 years of the city Praia.

With two victories in as many games, against Pantera Negra (66-62) and the professional team of Angola, Desportivo de Huila club (80-69), the young Seven Stars team managed to win this international level tournament.

The Angolan team had to settle for second, since they beat Predio, 85 to 62, in the inaugural day of the tournament.

Predio finished third, with a victory against Pantera Negra, from the island of Sal (73-67), and a loss against Desportivo da Huila 85 to 62.

The international Cape Verdean player, Ivan Almeida (197-F-89), 19 years old, won the MVP of the tournament. Ivan scored 31 points against Huila to help Seven win.

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CROATIA

Stanko Barac returns from Pamesa to TAU -by Eurobasket News
Member of Croatian National Team Stanko Barac (217-C-86) will return to TAU Ceramica. Barac played this season for Pamesa Valencia as a loaned player from TAU. The team from Vitoria knocked out Pamesa at the play-off quarterfinals 2-1.

Barac joined TAU previous summer from Bosnian team Siroki Prima pivo. Croatian center will rejoin TAU during the summer when he will start to work with Croatian coach Neven Spahija. Pamesa Valencia officially thanked to Barac for his performance at the team's official web site wishing him luck in the future. Barac had 48 appearances for Pamesa this season in all competitions where the team from Valencia participated. He played 33 games in ACB averaging 6 points and 3 rebounds for 15 minutes per game. He had the best game vs his TAU scoring 13 points twice. He also had 9 rebounds and 3 boards. For 14 games in ULEB Cup Barac had 6.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 1.1 bpg. Barac was picked on NBA draft 2007 by Miami Heat, who later traded him to Indiana Pacers. In August 2007 he put signature on a 5-years deal with TAU.

However, Pamesa did not waste time as they immediately find a replacement for him. It is Albanian player with Turkish passport Ermal Kuqo (207-C-80, agency: Beo Basket). He also plays on position 5 and he spent last season in Efes Pilsen. Kuqo is a member of Turkish NT but he uses his second name, Ermal Kurtoglu.

Stegnjaic and Moric are second with Oberwart -by Eurobasket News
Milan Stegnjaic (205-F/C-82) and Marko Moric (207-F-81, agency: World Sport Agency) finished second with Oberwart Gunners in Austria. BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld had a terrific road win over Oberwart Gunners to triumph in the country. Just 89:88 was enough to celebrate in the campaign after five battles of the two best teams of the regular season. Anthony Shavies led the winners with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Samo Grum and Miljan Goljovic supported him with 14 points apiece in a win. Jason Johnson top-scored for the hosts with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Croatian Marko Moric nailed 16, whilst Jay Youngblood posted 15.
The Final series brought even more desire and interest than it was expected as BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld and Oberwart Gunners left the intrigue not only for the last game, but for the last seconds as well.
The Panthers won the best-of-five series 3-2, taking the final two games by a total of 3 points, to become the 16th team to win the Austrian League.
Oberwart Gunners opened the game with ten consecutive points in the opening tip and led to 26:19 after the first 10 minutes. BSC Raiffeisen Furstenfeld woke up later in the half to take 51:45 lead after the first half. Hannes Ochsenhofer sparked a 10-2 charge midway through the fourth quarter as the Gunners stormed back and eventually tied the score at 78:78. Slobodan Ocokoljic made it 86:86 with a minute to play. Anthony Shavies went to the line and made the first clutch free throw, enough to bring his team the title. A 89:88 was a great win and thank to both teams it was a great final campaign. Croatian Milan Stegnjaic ended up with 3 points.
Before that more than 2000 spectators witnessed Oberwart thumping their opponents at home and claiming a win in Game 3. The Gunners got to a better start as they led 7:2 in the opening minutes. Milan Stegnjaic scored 11 points in the first frame and allowed the hosts to accumulate a 30:22 lead. Oberwart opened the second quarter with a same aggressiveness and quickly jumped to a 7:3 run to stretch the gap to 12 points. However Anthony Shavies scored 5 quick points late in the frame to cut the gap to 7 points at halftime. Oberwart once again looked dominant early in the third frame as they cleared off to a 16-point distance. But the Panthers stayed competitive and Samo Grum teamed up with Shelton Colwell to stay within 10 points from the hosts heading into the final period. Michael Dale fired from downtown to cut the deficit to 6 points early in the fourth frame. But the Gunners reacted fast tallying a 10:3 run to pile up a 13-point advantage midway through the frame. Furstenfeld never recovered in the dying stages and the Gunners celebrated the second victory in the series. Jay Youngblood led the charge with 25 points for Oberwart. Domonique Crawford nailed 21 points and collected 8 boards, while Jason Johnson added 14 points in a win. Shelton Colwell answered with game-high 29 points and 15 boards for the Panthers. Anthony Shavies chipped in 16 points in a losing effort. The hosts sank 51% from the field, while limiting their opponents to 46% accuracy. Milan Stegnjaic posted 13 points, while Marko Moric had 11.

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CZECH REPUBLIC

BK Prostejov survives in overtime -by Eurobasket News
BK Prostejov - Geofin Novy Jicin 104:103 OT (15:25 45:50 72:76 94:94)

BK Prostejov survived in overtime semifinal and tied the series at 2-2 against Geofin Novy Jicin. Trailing in the first three quarters the hosts came back to the game and won 104:103. The best-of-five semifinal series is now tied but Novy Jicin hosts Game 5 on Wednesday. Rashaan Ames (184-G-77, college: Shaw) led the winners with 28 points. Stanislav Votroubek (214-C-81, agency: PPGroup) netted 20, whilst Goran Savanovic (198-G-73) scored 12. Hurl Beechum (196-F-73, college: Iowa St.) top-scored for the winners with 26 points and Kenny Walker (206-F/C-80, college: Alabama) produced 21.
Geofin Novy Jicin got a better start ans dominated the court in the opening quarter. The visitors had 10 points adcanatge after the first 10 minutes of the game. Even though BK Prostejov reduced a bit in the second period the teams left the court with 45:50 for the guests.
Geofin Novy Jicin, that led 65:76 late in the third quarter, lost the control of the game. Rashaan Ames and Bojic created a 20-3 run that put Prostejov ahead, 85:79. Stanislav Votroubek sent the teams to another period after a shot from the arc, 94:94. Kenny Walker with a lay-up gave Novy Jicin its last lead with less than a minute to play in overtime. Marton Bader (212-F/C-80, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) scored two points to set up the Final 104:103 win for BK Prostejov.

BK Prostejov:Rashaan Ames 28, Stanislav Votroubek 20, Goran Savanovic 12
Geofin Novy Jicin: Hurl Beechum 26, Kenny Walker 21, Robert Sarovic (205-F-78) 11

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Standings - District National
District National Standings
 1. San Lazaro 4-0 
 2. Villa Francisca 3-1 
 3. Los Prados 3-2 
 4. Villa Duarte 2-3 
 5. San Carlos 0-0 
 6. Naco 0-0 
 7. Los Mina 0-5 


Lidoba's League Starts Soon. -by Kerwin Abreu
D.R.: Lidoba's League almost start. For this a lot of players will be called up for his team. Players like Eulis Baez (201-F-82, college: W.Illinois), Reggie Charles (200-F-81, agency: Global Sports Plaza), Luis Flores (188-G-81, college: Manhattan), Jack Michael Martinez (203-F/C-81, agency: Paris Global Sports), Sammy Mejia (198-G-83, college: De Paul), Ronald Ramon (185-G-86, agency: CAA Sports), Franklin Western (200-F-72, college: Providence), Felipe Lopez (197-G/F-74, college: St.John's), Alexis Montas (202-F/C-79), Jaime Peterson (204-F-71, college: Pittsburgh) and others. This next season has great expectations cause this will be lidoba's 4th season and everything looks like it will be the best amount all.

We are going to be giving details of the players arrivals to their teams.

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EGYPT

Somouha keeps crushing big teams & Itthad is giving thier fans a big shock -by Sherif Soliman
Somouha with great performance killed Gezira and Ahly on the roll .They started with gezira by a killing shot in the last second to win 63-62.Then they beated Ahly last night 60-57 to reach the second win in alexandria with no defeat.Somouha played great defence agaist both teams depending on the big guy HONDRE BREWER who made an averrage of 5 blocks in the last couple of games.On the other hand Itthad failed to win any of the last tow games with Ahly and Zamalek giving thier fans a big shock.Hondre Brewer (213-C-80, college: USF)

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EL SALVADOR

Liga Superior Finals: ExSal wins Game 1 -by Jaime Arevalo
ExSal defeated Denver 96-93 in Game 1 of the Liga Superior Finals two nights ago. The game was very close, the two teams stayed head to head all game long, and players like Oscar Rivera (186-G-80), Nathan Watson (191-G-83, agency: TASM, college: Auburn), Dion Harper (202-F/C-74, college: Texas Arlington), Jorge Loucel (186-F-90), Carlos Alas (181-G-79) gave all their best. The man of the game, however, was Miguel Banos (186-F/C-84), who led the way in ExSal with 28 points. He combined quick penetrations in the paint to hitting three pointers from outside, and was unstoppable for Denver

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FRANCE

Pro B Playoffs: Saint-Etienne and Besancon, the outsiders rule! -by Chris Spiesser
Following the same schedule then in ProA, the 2nd french level is also playing its postseason. Many surprises during the two first games of the quarter finals. The winner of the Playoffs will for sure reach ProA as Rouen got sacked by Besancon. No promotion neither for Limoges which lost twice against Saint-Etienne. Nanterre is suffocating since its french cup semi final and Poitiers was mercyless. Finally Bourg suffered at home against Nantes but reversed the trend in the final minutes in Nantes. Important as the bressans can't count anymore on Rouen's triumph which would have driven them to the upper level thanks to their second place during the regular phase.

Rouen 68-87 Besancon
Besancon 80-74 Rouen
Besancon could count on a brilliant Scott Emerson (206-F-80, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Mercer) (13pts, 8.5rbs over the two games) to face the normans which might have been slightly demotivated after their regular season success.

Limoges 66-73 St-Etienne
St-Etienne 95-87 Limoges
The biggest surprise. Limoges hired Willie Jenking to try to clinch to ProA spot but St-Etienne controled the pace in Beaublanc and was on fire at home. The recepy to the win, with a nice inside participation by Passave (13.0ppg - 83.3%, 6.5rpg, 2.5spg) and Holland (17.00ppg, 6.00rpg, 3.5spg).

Nanterre 74-75 Poitiers
Poitiers 80-75 Nanterre
As usual, Poitiers could rely on its triple threat, Gunn, Younger (16.0ppg, 10.5rpg) and Guillard. But since a few game, Lamine Kante is red hot. During these playoffs the 1987 born posts 15.5ppg and 5.0rpg with a 68.4 accuracy percentage!

Bourg 90-101 Nantes
Nantes 72-76 Bourg
The only quarter that will play a game 3, tomorrow in Bourg. Bourg was close to the exit in Nantes but Ludovic Chelle's accuracy made the difference in the second half (19pts 5/7 3pts, 4rbs, 3ass). If Boissie and Freeman are both over 20 ranking points during the two first games, Mehdi Labeyrie was the winning factor in the first game with 28pts (10/16), 4rbs and 3ass. Note that the bressans are playing without their go-to-guy, Raphael Desroses (13.8ppg, 4.6rpg) and hired from Angelo Tsagarakis from NCAA2 to rplace him. This former member of the french young NT compels 9.5ppg during the playoffs. Another curiosity is Bourg's total roster implication, Tsagarakis being the 9th of his team at the evaluation while the 1st, Kareem Reid averages less points (8.0ppg). Of course, the Best Kept Secret dishes 11.5apg!

NM1 Day 34: Mulhouse loses in overtime and is condemed -by Chris Spiesser
The season is over, Mulhouse got kicked out of the league in the overtime of its last game after a brilliant fight against Antibes. Longwy is the beneficiary of this result as the lorrains remain in the division for the next year.

Antibes 84-75 (ot) Mulhouse
The alsatians end very close from a tremendous result that could have saved the team but the azureans and their numerous crowd had the final word. Especially thanks to Julien Doreau (200-F-83) (18pts) that could be seen as Mulhouse's undertaker. He nailed 2 decisive three pointers to clinch the tie and to secure the win, 5 minutes later. For Mulhouse it is of course a catastrophy. The team wasn't aiming a direct ProB promotion but expected a quiet season which did not happen! If there are many explanations to this relegation (Adell's suspension, many injuries, offensive weakness, ...), the home loss against Longwy is, of course, the fact that leads Mulhouse to its sad future.

Charleville 104-75 Toulouges
No worries for the other 2008/2009 ProB team that was on parade against Toulouges. Kresta posted a 15pts, 12rbs double double against a catalan team that braved the Ardennians with only 5 men. Toulouges ends the season on a 1-14 balance and we can read about financial troubles on some internet forums...

Blois 82-68 Feurs
Finally it is Blois which ends at place 3, after a home win against Feurs, one of the 2008 relegated team. Blot (30pts, 8/10 3pts, 7rbs) and Orr (22pts, 12rbs, 3stl, 5ass) put a final touch to their statistics to end as top scorer (20.0ppg) and top rebounder (9.0rpg).

Angers 62-76 Golbey-Epinal
The vosgians secured place 4 with this result and conclude a tremendous second phase. With only three losses over the 17 last games, the GET, finally, ends only one win behind Charleville. Bach (11pts 4/6, 8rbs) and his partners can regret the three points home loss against the ardennians early in the season.

Andrzieux 64-79 Fos
The provencals end the season on a good result after three losses in a row that costed nothing else then a ProB spot!

Challans 98-78 Livin
The two teams were also playing for fun and the locals won with three top fit players. Wagner curls the triple double (10pts, 8rbs, 9ass), Correa posted a double double (11pts, 10rbs, 3stl) while Scott prove again his true level (24pts 7/11, 5rbs, 3stl, 6blk, 2ass).

Bordeaux 69-102 Lille
With 7 players above 10 ranking points, Lille scored one of the best evaluation of the season (121) and prove that they could have done better then their 9th spot. The team shot at 66%, Malet was the most efficient (19pts 7/9, 4rbs, 6ass) while Kere cleaned 14 rebounds.

Boulogne 80-97 Longwy and Centre Fdral 60-84 Saint-Chamond happened last week (see last NM1 post).

A complete NM1 season review will be online in the next days.

Nancy, Asvel and Le Mans advanced to the semis -by Eurobasket News
French Play-offs found out 3 out of 4 semifinalists after two first games of the Quarterfinal stage. Nancy, Asvel Basket and Le Mans advanced to the French League semifinals by sweeping their best-of-three series. Chorale Roanne and Le Havre are tied at 1-1 and face each other in Game 3.
Nancy overcame Vichy 64:69 on the road to be the first team in the semis. Vichy used a 9-2 run to get a 30:25 edge midway through the second quarter, but Samnick stepped up with 7 unanswered points. In the end of the game Nancy allowed the hosts to stay only to 3 points and held the score for good. Jeff Greer (195-G/F-79, college: Rutgers) paced the winners with 14 points. Victor Samnick (203-F-79, college: Georgetown) and Cyril Julian each added 12, while Curtis Shumpert scored 18 points for Vichy.
Le Mans beat Cholet 65:74 also on a road. Antoine Diot (192-G-89) and Alain Koffi made it 24:40, at halftime, that was almost the end for the hosts' campaign. Cholet tried hard in the second half, but could not tie the game. Luke Bogdanovic paced the winners with 18 points. Nicolas Batum netted 13 while Sam Clancy (201-F-80, college: USC) had 10. Claude Marquis top-scored with 20 points for Cholet.
Asvel overcame Hyeres-Toulon 90:95 away from home to reach the semifinals behind 29 points from Robert Conley (198-G/F-77, college: Clayton St.). Austin Nichols (198-F-82, agency: ACMT, college: Humboldt St.) chipped in 24 points for Toulon.
Le Havre overwhelmed Chorale Roanne to tie the series at 1-1 after 100:70. The hosts enjoyed 61:26, at the break and did not have any difficulties in the end. T.J. Thompson (178-G-82, agency: SportsTalent, college: George Washington) paced the winners with 28 points, while Marcellus Sommerville (201-F-82, college: Bradley) added 18.

Standings - N1
N1 Standings
 1. Antibes 27-7 
 2. Charleville 26-8 
 3. Blois 25-9 
 4. Get Vosges 25-9 
 5. Fos Ouest 24-10 
 6. Angers 21-13 
 7. St Chamond 20-14 
 8. Challans 20-14 
 9. Lille 19-15 
 10. Boulogne 17-17 
 11. Bordeaux 17-17 
 12. Lievin 16-18 
 13. Longwy 14-20 
 14. Mulhouse 14-20 
 15. Feurs 8-26 
 16. Andrezieux 7-27 
 17. Toulouges 5-29 
 18. Centre Feder. 1-33 


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GEORGIA

Eurobasket.com All-Georgian League Awards 2007-08 -by Eurobasket
#s#
#e#6


Shermadini


Gamqrelidze


Berishvili


Tugushi


Stefanov
Player of the Year: Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89, agency: Life Sports) of Maccabi Brinkford Tbilisi
Guard of the Year: Giorgi Gamqrelidze (183-G-86) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Forward of the Year: Mikheil Berishvili (205-F-87) of B.C. Vita
Center of the Year: Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) of Maccabi Brinkford Tbilisi
Newcomer of the Year: Davit Ioseliani of Maccabi Brinkford Tbilisi
Most Improved Player of the Year: Mikheil Berishvili (205-F-87) of B.C. Vita
Bosman Player of the Year: Jovan Stefanov (208-F-83) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Import Player of the Year: Jovan Stefanov (208-F-83) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Domestic Player of the Year: Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) of Maccabi Brinkford Tbilisi
Defensive Player of the Year: Giorgi Gamqrelidze (183-G-86) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Coach of the Year: David Ustiashvili of Energy Invest Rustavi

1st Team
Giorgi Gamqrelidze (183-G-86) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Konstantine Tugushi (193-G-84) of Avia Tbilisi
Mikheil Berishvili (205-F-87) of B.C. Vita
Jovan Stefanov (208-F-83) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) of Maccabi Brinkford Tbilisi

2nd Team
Giorgi Nikoladze (188-G-81) of Avia Tbilisi
Besik Lezhava (192-G-86) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Misha Chochua (192-G-87) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Davit Barbakadze (204-F-82) of Avia Tbilisi
Richard Matiashvili (210-C-89) of Avia Tbilisi

Honorable Mention
Anatoli Boisa (195-G-83) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Mikheli Chitashvili (185-G-84) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Mishka Panchulidze (195-F-83) of TSU Tbilisi
Revaz Atanelishvili (207-C-86) of Dinamo Tbilisi
Giorgi Markhvashvili (190-G-85) of B.C. Vita
Davit Gvimradze (203-F-86) of B.C. Vita
Nodar Beraia (192-G-86) of Avia Tbilisi

All-Domestic Players Team
Giorgi Gamqrelidze (183-G-86) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Konstantine Tugushi (193-G-84) of Avia Tbilisi
Besik Lezhava (192-G-86) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Mikheil Berishvili (205-F-87) of B.C. Vita
Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) of Maccabi Brinkford Tbilisi

All-Imports Team
Belton Rivers (193-G-84) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Talba Jolivet Toudjani (201-F-80) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Jovan Stefanov (208-F-83) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Plaside Rodumta (212-C-76) of Avia Tbilisi
Anwar Ferguson (213-C-81) of Energy Invest Rustavi

All-Defensive Team
Giorgi Gamqrelidze (183-G-86) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Anatoli Boisa (195-G-83) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Mikheli Chitashvili (185-G-84) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Jovan Stefanov (208-F-83) of Energy Invest Rustavi
Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89) of Maccabi Brinkford Tbilisi

All-Newcomers Team
Davit Ioseliani (Maccabi)
Giorgi Nanetashvili (Dinamo)
Akaki Dvalishvili (203-C-91) (Energy)
Davit Gasitashvili (Vita)
Giorgi Elanidze (198-F-91) (TSU)

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GERMANY

Coach Dirk Bauermann will leave Bamberg -by Moritz Korff
Dirk Bauermann will step back from his position as a Headcoach of the Brose Baskets Bamberg (1. Bundesliga), the club announced on its website today. In the future Bauermann is going to work as the Headcoach of the German National Team only and agreed to a 5-year-contract with the German Basketball Federation. He came to Bamberg in 2001 and won two German championship-titles with the team (2005 and 2007). Also, he helped to establish Bamberg as one of the finest basketball-programs in Germany. His team dropped out of the Bundesliga-Playoffs in the quarterfinals on Friday after being defeated by Oldenburg 3:1 in the series.

Noerdlingen inks Danny Gibson -by Moritz Korff
Bundesliga-newcomer VPV Giants Noerdlingen signed Danny Gibson (180-G-84, college: S.Indiana) for the next two years. Gibson appeared in 28 games for the Cuxhaven BasCats during the 2007-2008 season and averaged 15.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 2. Bundesliga Pro A-play. The BasCats finished the season in second place, right after Noerdlingen. Also, Gibson helped Cuxhaven to advance to the Quarterfinals of the German Cup-competition as the only second division-side.

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HOLLAND

Domien Loubry and Daniel Jones leaving West-Brabant Giants. -by Fred Roggen
Pointguard Domien Loubry (186-G-85) play the coming season at Optimums Ghent in the Belgian competition. Loubry had still an ongoing contract, but reached with the Giants nevertheless an agreement concerning an earlier departure. Loubry hopes that he has now more changes to get into the Belgian national team.

Dutch forward Daniel Jones (200-F-79, agency: R.H.Consultancy) got no new contract because the West Brabant Giants wants to reinforce their team on his position. Jones still not have a new team.

Eiffel Towers tie the series at 2-2 -by Eurobasket News

Eiffel Towers - MyGuide Amsterdam 79:63

Eiffel Towers tied the Final series against MyGuide Amsterdam. Game 4 saw 79:63 for the Towers and in the best-of-seven campaign the teams are even again. The hosts took a control of the game from the very beginning and led to the expected win. Akerboom Kees top-scored for the winners with 19 points. Robert Owens (201-F-82, college: Ball St.) nailed 17 and Travis Young (184-G-79, agency: Interperformances, college: Marshall) posted 15. Tamien Trent (183-G-82, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Fairleigh Dickinson) resisted with 21 points in the losing effort.
Eiffel Towers easily grabbed the lead from the first minutes and it was not a surprise as they had 24:13 by the end of it. Another push in the second period gave them 33:17 midway through the second quarter. One of the biggest lead the hosts had in the end of the first half with 18 points advantage. Amsterdam cut its deficit to 47:34 at halftime and hoped to stay closer later in the game.
Robert Owens and Brown stepped up to make EiffelTowers seal the outcome long before the final buzzer. Even though MyGuide Amsterdam won the third period 16:19, they lost the fourth period 16:10.

Game 5 is scheduled for May 27 and will move one of the teams closer to triumph. The series however will be over when one of the teams reach 4 victories agaist the opponent.

Eiffel Towers:Akerboom Kees 19, Robert Owens 17, Travis Young 15
MyGuide Amsterdam:Tamien Trent 21, Jeron Roberts (194-G/F-76, agency: Gross Zeev ISA, college: Wyoming) 14



FEB Finals: Eiffel Towers Evens Series, Win Game #4 In Rout -by Sanders Jackson


In what has become a topsy-turby series, with the home games won by the home team by large margins and a huge contrast in three-point shooting, the trend continued on Saturday night in the Maaspoort, with defending Dutch champion Eiffel Towers getting off to a good start, going on to defeat MyGuide Amsterdam by the score of 79-63 to tie the series at 2-2. Eiffel mad enine three-pointers, while MyGuide shot a horrific 2 of 15. The rebounding difference for the home teams in this series also played a factor in the Eiffel win, with Eiffel owning the boards at a 34-23 difference. But the person who helped make the difference for Eiffel, who was the pacesetter, was sharpshooter and Dutch international Kees Akerboom (199-F-83, agency: Court Side), whose 17 1st quarter points helped stake Eiffel to a 24-13 lead, which gave Eiffel the necessary energy needed to keep MyGuide on their heels for the rest of the half, with Eiffel leading 47-34 going into halftime.


In the 3rd quarter Eiffel had their biggest lead at one point 53-35 before MyGuide made a 11-3 run to cut it to 56-46 at the end of the 3rd quarter. MyGuide kept within striking distance in the early part of the 4th quarter, but Eiffel's Damone Brown (204-F-79, college: Syracuse) countered with a run of his own, scoring six points in a row to extend Eiffel's lead to 71-53, and it was from there academic. Akerboom led Eiffel with 19 pts., Robert Owens (201-F-82, college: Ball St.), who helped deflate a MyGuide run with some key scores, added 17. MyGuide's Tamien Trent (183-G-82, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Fairleigh Dickinson) led all scorers with 21 pts. The pivotial Game #5 will be Tuesday night in Amsterdam, with the winner putting themselves in the driver's seat.



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HUNGARY

Falco - Kormend in the Finals -by Tamas Deri

Szolnok could not use the home-court advantage and lost the Game Five 65-66 last night. The home team started the game very well after a 9-0 run they lead already 10-2 after 3 minutes.

Than Kenneth Henderson decided to lead his own team and Krmend could tie the game: with Fodors basket the score was 13-13 (it was the first basket mady by a domestic player in the game!).

In the beginning of the second quarter the home team did not find the rhythm (22-27), but after that they made one amazing 18-8 run and were up by 5 points after 20 minutes.
Krmend started also the third quarter better, and the game was tied after 30 minutes (57-57).

There was a very exciting last quarter of the playoffs. Three minutes before the end the guests were leading by 6 points, but Szolnok did not give up: Molnar and Harazin got the home team closer (65-66).

In the last minute Vavra missed his two free throws and Szolnok got the chance to decide the game, but in the last offense Jurkunas missed a three, Thomas grabbed the rebound and so Krmend will meet the biggest rival FALCO KC in the Finals. The first game will be played on Wednesday in Szombathely.


SZOLNOKI OLAJ KKPOLAROID-LAMI-VED KORMEND 65-66

(1818, 2217, 1722, 89)

Szolnok, Att.: 2800, Referees: Hartyani, Cziffra, Palla

SZOLNOK: Thomas Kelley (188-G-76, agency: Avi Zilberman, college: Michigan St.) 19/9, Cziczs, Hollins 10/3, Sabaliauskas 3/3, Andrius Jurkunas (205-F-76, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services, college: Clemson) 17/6, Molnar A. 5, Henrik Gobi (206-C-71, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 7/3, Harazin 4, Coach: Por Peter

KORMEND: Jermaine Thomas (187-G-84, agency: 540 Sports, college: La Salle) 13, Ferencz, Gergely Fodor (193-G-77, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents) 9/3, Kenneth Henderson (201-F-82, college: Texas Arlington) 17, Ocitti 10/6, Vavra P. 6, Marton Fodor (191-G-81, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 11/6, Trummer, Coach: Dragoljub Krivacevic


Szolnoki Olaj 18 40 57 65 65
Lami-Ved-Kormend 18 35 57 66 66

Szolnoki Olaj
Nr On court Pt 2 Pts 3 Pts Free th. D O T St To F Fa A Bl Mi
13 T. Harazin 6 3 / 3 100 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
4 L. Cziczs 0 0 / 1 0 0 / 2 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 3 2 0 29
10 A. Molnr 3 1 / 4 25 0 / 1 0 1 / 1 100 2 0 2 2 1 1 1 3 0 19
11 T. Kelley 19 3 / 8 38 3 / 6 50 4 / 5 80 3 0 3 1 2 1 4 4 0 36
15 A. Jurkunas 17 3 / 5 60 2 / 4 50 5 / 5 100 9 3 12 2 1 3 3 2 4 40
Nr Bench Pt 2 Pts 3 Pts Free th. D O T St To F Fa A Bl Mi
6 V. Hollins 10 2 / 8 25 1 / 6 17 3 / 4 75 4 3 7 1 4 5 5 1 0 34
7 D. Kovcs 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 R. Gal 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 G. Cseh 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 D. Sabaliauskas 3 0 / 0 0 1 / 2 50 0 / 0 0 3 1 4 0 3 2 1 2 0 19
12 V. Tth 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 H. Gbi 7 2 / 9 22 1 / 1 100 0 / 0 0 5 5 10 0 0 2 1 0 0 19


Lami-Ved-Kormend
Nr On court Pt 2 Pts 3 Pts Free th. D O T St To F Fa A Bl Mi
14 P. Vavra 6 3 / 7 43 0 / 1 0 0 / 3 0 5 3 8 1 1 2 3 2 2 19
13 S. Ocitti 10 2 / 4 50 2 / 4 50 0 / 0 0 2 1 3 1 1 4 2 0 0 29
4 T. Jermanie 13 6 / 10 60 0 / 3 0 1 / 3 33 7 0 7 5 1 1 5 8 0 37
5 K. Henderson 17 6 / 13 46 0 / 0 0 5 / 7 71 6 3 9 2 3 2 6 1 2 34
8 M. Fodor 11 2 / 6 33 2 / 4 50 1 / 3 33 2 0 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 28
Nr Bench Pt 2 Pts 3 Pts Free th. D O T St To F Fa A Bl Mi
6 T. Kocsis 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 R. Trummer 0 0 / 1 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
12 G. Fodor 9 3 / 4 75 1 / 1 100 0 / 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 5 0 4 0 21
9 G. Tth 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 R. Molnr 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 C. Ferencz 0 0 / 3 0 0 / 3 0 0 / 0 0 2 2 4 0 1 3 0 2 0 26

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ITALY

Scent of Finals for Roma -by Gianni Pascucci

Yesterday night in Avellino Lottomatica Roma took the second win in the Serie A semifinal, going to 2-0 in the aggregate like Siena. This result could allow Roma to sweep the seriers, 3-0 in next game at home. The game ended 85-78 and Air Avellino was clearly limited by the absence of Italian international Alex Righetti (198-G/F-77), injured. The best performer in Avellino was, once more, Marques Green (170-G-82, college: St.Bonaventure), who ended the game with 17 pts, 4 rebs, 4 steals and 10 assits. Devin Smith (196-G/F-81, college: Virginia) added 15 points, but it wasn' t enough. Lottomatica had five players ending the game in double digits, led by David Hawkins (193-G-82, agency: CAA Sports, college: Temple), with 19 points and 9 rebounds.The other best performers were Roko Leni Ukic (195-G-84), who scored 18 pts, grabbed 5 rebs and dished 4 assists and Erazem Lorbek (210-F/C-84, college: Michigan St.), who ended the game at 15 points and 9 rebounds
See complete boxscore at www.legabasket.it



Lega2-Playoff SF Game 4 -by Gabriele Fioretti
After game-4 there's both the finalist. Caserta and Jesi will face each otherr to get serie A. In the exciting sunday game, Jesi had three heroes in Michele Maggioli (212-C-77) (16+11) and the top scorer Anthony Maestranzi (178-G-84, college: N.Illinois) (24 scored) and Ryan Hoover (188-G-74, agency: SportsTalent, college: Notre Dame) that scored the last two free throws and defeated Reggio Emilia (without Benjamin Ortner (206-F/C-83, college: Metro St.), out for the hand broken in game-3), that had a great game by Alvin Young (191-F-75, agency: SportsTalent, college: Niagara) (17 pts) but most of all by the young Nicolo Melli (204-F-91). The player born in 1990 scored 16 pts and grabbed 15 rebs in a clutch match for his team.
The final will begin June the 1st at Caserta, where the first two games will be played.
Jesi-Reggio Emilia 70-69 (Jesi won the serie 3-1)
See complete boxscores at www.legaduebasket.it

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JAPAN

5 former JBL players selected in bj-league draft -by Kenny
The bj-league, entering its 4th season, held its annual draft yesterday (5/26) in Tokyo. With an influx of players from the highly-competitive JBL, this draft was the deepest draft in the history of the bj-league. With 5 players from the rival JBL participating in the bj-league tryouts, it was a mortal lock that they would be taken high in the draft.

Going #1 overall was F Yosuke Machida (198-F-83) to the expansion Shiga Lakestars. The Lakestars, who will be coached by former Hitachi Sunrockers head coach Bob Pierce, surprised no one by selecting the athletic 6-7 Machida. Machida, who joined the Toshiba Brave Thunders of the JBL in 2006 and played 2 seasons for them, decided to walk away from company employee/player life at Toshiba to start anew as a fully professional basketball player. 'Matchy,' as he's known to teammates and friends, will provide the Lakestars will solid 3-point shooting as well as exciting dunks as he's one of the few Japanese players who can dunk with regularity.

Also crossing over from the JBL to the bj-league and taken in the 1st round of the draft were G Yosuke Sugawara, formerly of Rera Kamuy Hokkaido (selected by the Ryukyu Golden Kings), F Shuichi Takada (formerly with Mitsubishi/selected by the Takamatsu Five Arrows), and pint-sized (5-3) G Takehiko Shimura, who was teammates with Machida on the Toshiba Brave Thunders and was selected by his hometown Sendai 89ers in yesterday's draft.

F Yuta Kojima also crossed over to the bj-league from the Hitachi Sunrockers of the JBL and was selected in the 3rd round of the draft by the Shiga Lakestars.

Notes: G Kosaku Yada, who spent last season as an assistant coach with Rera Kamuy Hokkaido, was selected by the Tokyo Apache in the 1st round. The half-American, half-Japanese Harvard grad reportedly wasn't able to make the Hokkaido roster last season and had to coach instead, but he should be good enough to make the less competitive bj-league's Apache roster.

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LATVIA

Barons triumphs in Latvia for the first time in club history -by Eurobasket News
Barons/LMT - ASK Riga 79:78

Barons is a new Champion in Latvia! The team won the best-of-seven series over ASK Riga 4-1 as the last game brought 79:78 for them. With 26:13 in the third period Barons flew to celebrate later in the game. More than 7000 spectators were pleasantly satisfied with their team success. Demetrius Alexander (204-F/C-75, agency: CAA Sports, college: Alabama) led the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds. J.P. Batista netted 17 points, while Armands Skele (192-G-83) added 13. Curtis Millage (185-G-81, college: Arizona St.) posted 21 points in a loss and Raitis Grafs (210-C-81, agency: Interperformances, college: Valparaiso) had 18. Armands Skele was named playoffs MVP after averaging 16.4 points and 3.8 assists per game.
Barons opened the game in an offensive style taking 13:7 lead. Even though ASK Riga bounced back with 16:17, the hosts stayed in front with 19:18 after the opening quarter. ASK Riga produced a good second period and it was them to take 28:33 in the middle of it. The board showed 36:47 at the half time as both teams disappeared in the lockers. Curtis Millage brought the guests the biggest 58:47 lead, but right after that barons came back into the game. A 26:13 in the third quarter lifted Barons on top as J.P. Batista (206-F/C-81, college: Gonzaga) made it 62:60. In a tough and interesting last period the hosts survived the tempo of ASK Riga and 79:78 brought them the first trophy in the club history.

Barons/LMT: Demetrius Alexander 22 points and 8 rebounds, J.P. Batista 17 points, Armands Skele 13, Dontell Jefferson (196-G-83, college: Arkansas) 10
ASK Riga: Curtis Millage 21, Raitis Grafs 18, Gatis Jahovics (200-F-84, agency: FCM) 13.

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LEBANON

Riyadi v/s Blue stars (1-0) -by Rony Daccache

From the other side, Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut easily overcome Blue Stars (98-77) without suffering from Ahmad Ismail's (201-F-76) absence. Blue Stars seemed surrendered starting the 2nd quarter. Next game is scheduled on Monday at 17h00 at Michel El-Murr stadium.


Best performance:

Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut: Joe Vogel (211-C-73, agency: Pro Management Agency, college: Colorado St.) (35 pts, 14 rbs), Ace Custis (202-F-74, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: Virginia Tech) (30 pts)


Blue Stars: Derrick Tarver (192-G-80, agency: Edge Sports, college: Akron) (23 pts), Waki Williams (206-F-82, college: Memphis) (15 pts), Jean Abdel-Nour (198-G/F-83) (15 pts)



Moutahed v/s Sagesse (2-2) -by Rony Daccache

Having a great fan support, Sagesse - Al Hekmeh Beirut imposed a 5th decisive game on Al Moutahed Tripoli (76-65) after beating it at Fouad Chehab stadium. Sagesse - Al Hekmeh Beirut won 2 consecutive games after being behind Al Moutahed Tripoli by 2 games. 5th and decisive game is scheduled on Monday May 26th at Al Moutahed Tripoli court at 21h45.

Best performance:
----------------------

Sagesse: Sabah Khoury (196-G-82) (19 pts), Jumaine Jones (201-F-79, agency: Octagon, college: Georgia) (201-F-79, agency: Octagon, college: Georgia) (17 pts, 5 asst, 11 rbds), Rony Fahed (182-G-81, agency: Pro Management Agency) (16 pts, 8 asst)


Al Moutahed Tripoli: Norman Nolan (202-F/C-76, college: Virginia) (20 pts,8 rbds), Darren Kelly (190-G-78, college: Texas) (17 pts, 4 rbds, 6 asst), Alain Boustani (182-G-84, agency: Pro Management Agency) (196-G-82) (11 pts, 3 asst)



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LITHUANIA

Market News -by Lukas Zajancauskas
News and romors related to Lithuanian clubs or players :

It's big posibility that Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81, agency: Beo Basket) will leave Lietuvos Rytas. He has a contract with Rytas for the next season, but there is a option to leave a club, if someone pays ransom, which is not very big. Some Russian clubs are showing big interest in this player. This season was the best in Kenan Bajramovic career. The Bosnian averaged 11 points and 6 boards in Euroleague.

Tomas Delininkaitis (192-G-82, agency: Interperformances) remains in Ukraine, Azovmash Mariupol. Last season he averaged 12,8 points in ULEB Cup.

It is rumoured that TAU Ceramica is looking for a player, who can change Simas Jasaitis (202-F/G-82). This Lithuanian didn't met TAU expectations. And one the main candidates for this spot is Zalgiris player Jonas Maciulis (200-G/F-85, agency: Interperformances). The conctract has expired and it will be difficult for Zalgiris to keep this talented Lithuanian in their squad.

One of the main free agents in this year transfer market will be Darjus Lavrinovic (212-C-79). This Lithuania's NT center is linked with many Western Europe clubs. Such as Siena Montepaschi, Barcelona or TAU Ceramica. Now he is recovering from the back injury, which probably won't let him play at olympics.

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MONTENEGRO

Buducnost new-old champion -by Dragan Scepanovic

Basketball club Buducnost from Podgorica is new-old champion of Montenegro.In third game of final Basketball Club Budcnost in city of Podgorica win against Basketball Club Mogren form Budva 94-70 (27-15, 30-16, 23-23, 14-16 )

Podgorica , Sport center Moraca.Spect. 1.000 reff. Sutulovic , Dragojevic (Podgorica),Rutesic (Niksic)
BUDUCNOST: Otasvic, Micov 4 (4-4), Popovic 10 (7-5), Gordic 6 (3-2), Bjelica 4 (4-4), Sehovic 9, Markovic, Ljujic, Ivan Maras (209-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) 25 (10-8), Vladimir Dasic 22 (3-2), Dragicevic 12 (3-2), Sutulovic 2 , Coach Dejan Radonjic
MOGREN: Obradovic, Stefanovic 12 (2-2), Sinisa Tepavcevic (201-F-86) 4, Palalic 2, Mitrovic 14 (2-1), Zarko Dragicevic (188-G-81) 6, Boskovic, Subotic 4 (4-2), Vasic 3, Vukovic, Smiljanic 21 (1-1), Samir Leric (204-F/C-74) 4 (2-2).Note: Boris Lalovic (206-C-81) not play - injury , Coach Zeljko Bozovic



Lalovic,Leric and Tepavcevic remains in BC Mogren , Andrija Pejovic agreed terms with BC Niksic ? -by Dragan Scepanovic
DELFI SMG Agency announced today that they start negotiation with management of Basketball Club Mogren from Budva for extended contract for new season for basketball players Boris Lalovic (206-C-81), Samir Leric (204-F/C-74) and Sinisa Tepavcevic (201-F-86) and with Basketball Club Niksic for ex-basketball player of Basketball Club Ulcinj Andrija Pejovic (205-C-83).For Andrija Pejovic interest already show Montenegrin Basketball Clubs ABS Primorje from H.Novi and Basketball Club Budva new memeber of MNT1A Opportunity League

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NBA

Ginobili paces San Antonio to first win in conference finals -by Eurobasket News
Emanuel Ginobili (6'6''-G-77, agency: Interperformances) scored 30 points to make sure the Spurs were not sunken by the Lakers in the third game of the Western conference finals. He led the Spurs to a stunning 103:84 success and the defending champions kept alive in the title race. Tim Duncan (6'10''-F-76, college: Wake Forest) dominated the paint completing 22 points and 21 boards, while Tony Parker contributed 20 points for the winners. Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) answered with 30 points but this time received little help from his teammates. Lamar Odom struggled throughout the action going for 2/11 from the field and securing only 7 points at the end. Pau Gasol (7'0''-F/C-80) provided 15 points in defeat.
Emanuel Ginobili nailed 5 three-pointers in the first half to finish the opening part of the game with 22 points and lifted the Spurs to a 49:39 lead at the interval. The hosts kept the Lakers at distance and entered the fourth period up by 12 points. The Spurs then put on a 12:4 run to clear off to a 20-point distance. However Kobe Bryant was not about to surrender. He drained four treys to drag the Lakers back within 12 points with 5 minutes left in regulation. Tim Duncan then came up with one of his rare three-pointers, Brent Barry stole the ball and fed Emanuel Ginobili for open jumper and San Antonio never looked back again. The Spurs shot solid 51% from the field including 55% from beyond the arc. The Lakers converted 42% of field goals and struggled from charity stripe nailing only 47% of free throws. Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday.

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

Miami (OH) PG to transfer -by Jeremy Rubio
Alex Moosmann (6'0'-PG-88 college: Miami University) will be transferring to the University of Central Missouri, a Division II school. For the past couple of months it has been clear that the guard desired to transfer, and it has only been this past week that his new destination has been learned. Moosmann, a native of Washington, MO, will be returning to play ball in his home state. The RedHawk point guard has played 2 seasons at Miami, averaging 3.1ppg during the '07-'08 season, and 4.3ppg the previous year. Moosmann was a key part of the '06-'07 squad that won the Mid-American Conference tournament and advanced to the school's first NCAA tournament since 1999. He had an impressive 1.4-1 assist/turnover ratio during the '06-'07 campaign. The exact reason of his transferring is unclear, but it is speculated that it is mainly due to a decrease in playing time. This past season he averaged almost 4 minutes per game fewer than the year before, and appeared in 4 fewer games.

Four More Players Transfer -by Kevin Cochran

Long Beach St. will add Dwain Williams (6'0''-G-87) to their program. Williams averaged 11.0 points and 2.3 assists per game at Providence last season. The San Diego native says he wants to come back to California to be closer to his family.

Evansville welcomes Bryan Bouchie (6'10''-F-88), who averaged 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds as a freshman at Valparaiso.

Wyoming has added Auburn transfer Boubacar Sylla (7'1''-C-86) to their roster. Sylla played in only three games for the Tigers last year due to a stress fracture in his ankle, and played high school basketball at Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, CA. He is a native of Paris, France.

Sylla's scholarship at Auburn will be taken by Tony Neysmith (6'5''-G) who trasfers in from Oklahoma. Neysmith played in 22 games with four starts as a freshman for the Sooners.


All four players will sit out the 2008-2009 season. Bouchie, Neysmith, and Sylla will have three years of eligibility, while Williams will have two.



Crean's Mess at Indiana Gets Worse -by Kevin Cochran
Tom Crean's first year at Indiana could be the toughest of his coaching career.

Already without four starters, Crean dismissed forward Brandon McGee (6'7''-F), leaving the Hoosiers with only three returning players from their NCAA Tournament squad last season. Playing behind DJ White last season, McGee averaged 1.5 points and 1 rebound in 17 games. He was dismissed due to academic and team guideline violations.

'Our coaching and support staff tried to make this work out, but we felt that there were some basic standard operating procedures that were not being met,' Crean said in a staement from the university.

The move leaves Jordan Crawford (6'4''-G-88), Kyle Taber (6'7''-F) and walk-on Brett Finkelmeier (6'2''-G) as the lone returnees. Crean has added six new players-- forward Tom Pritchard, center Tijan Jobe (7'0''-C, college: Butler County CC), and guards Verdell Jones III, Matt Roth, Devan Dumes and Nick Williams.

Four Drop Out of NBA Draft -by Kevin Cochran
A total of 69 underclassmen declared for this years NBA draft. With only 60 picks in the draft, four prospects decided to return for another year of college competition.

The headliner of the returnees is Marquette guard Jerel McNeal (6'3''-G-87) (6'3''-G-87). As a junior, McNeal averaged 14.9 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. 'I felt it was in my best interest to come back and accomplish some of the goals I have set for myself and get better, both on the court and academically,' he said.

The other players who are returning are Alabama forward Alonzo Gee (6'6''-F-87), Memphis guard Antonio Anderson (6'6''-G-85), and Missouri forward Leo Lyons (6'9''-F). Anderson figures to have the biggest impact next year as Memphis loses standout guards Derrick Rose (6'4''-G-88) and Chris Douglas-Roberts (6'7''-G-87), the US Basket Player of the Year. Anderson said in a statement from the school that he was projected as a second round pick, and was not satisfied with that.

Gee averaged almost 15 points and seven rebounds last season for the Crimson Tide. 'I learned a lot from the draft process and I appreciate everyone's support,' he said. 'I have decided to return to Alabama and look forward to helping our program reach our goals for the 2008-09 season.'

Lyons led Missouri with 13.1 points per game and was the Big 12 field goal percentage leader. 'I just felt like it was the right decision,' he said. 'I really want to graduate, and by staying at Missouri that will happen.'

Shields Signs Extension at UALR -by Kevin Cochran
UALR head coach Steve Shields has signed a contract extension through 2013. The move comes on the heels of the Trojans winning the Sun Belt Conference West Division Title.

In five years at UALR, Shields has guided the Trojans to three Sun Belt Conference division titles and graduated all 16 players who exhausted their eligibility under his watch. The 2004 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Shields guided UALR to its second-best RPI finish in school history in 2004-05 (64th overall). In 2007-08, Shields led the Trojans to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals and a 20-11 record, the programs first 20-win season since 1995-96. He is 82-65 in five seasons as head coach (.558 winning percentage) and currently sits fourth on UALRs all-time list for coaching victories.

Courtesy: UALR Sports Information

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

The CBS introduced to media next wednesday -by Gianni Pascucci
In the last preseason game of the CBS, Canguros de Parque Lefevre prevailed over Toros del Chorrillo 68-62 led by Guillermo Bryant (205-C), with 19 pts and 10 rebs, Jorge Taton (200-F/C-81) and Michael Johnson (192-F-75), who added 9 points each. The best in Toros were Juan Lee (-G) with 21 pts and 6 assists and Jonathan King (187-G-90) with 14 pts. The Circuito de Baloncesto Superior (CBS league 2008) will officially start on next saturday, May 31, and wil be officially introduced to media on Wednesday, May 29, 12:00, at the Bennigan's Restaurant, Avenida Balboa, Panama City.

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PHILIPPINES

Payback time for Purefoods -by Eurobasket News
'08 All-Star Game MVP Peter June Simon (186-G-82) leads Giants to its 1st back-to-back wins in conference

Purefoods pulled off some measure of revenge versus Philippine Cup finals tormentor
Sta. Lucia in their first meeting in the import-laced tourney.

The Giants finished strong in the third quarter and sustained their romp in the final period to rip the Realtors, 82-74, and hit the .500 mark in the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference at the Cuneta Astrodome Sunday night.

James Yap starred in their third-quarter onslaught then Peter June Peter June Simon took over in the fourth, leading the Giants to victory in what had earlier been a defensive battle.

'We're pretty much on the rise because of our newfound weapon defense,' said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio moments after they nailed their fifth win in 10 outings.

'We've made progress from a struggling team into a middle team because of defense. We have an import comfortable playing off the ball and the locals are responding tremendously with him,' Gregorio added.

Against the Realtors, Gregorio said the key was completely taking away the game of Sta. Lucia import Wesley Wilson.

Peter June Simon and Yap combined for 43 points, Reda Rhalimi logged 19 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, and the whole Purefoods team put up an efficient defense limiting Wilson to 10 points and five rebounds.

Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez just couldn't squeeze out anything from Wilson in the fourth quarter that he gambled on his locals entering the homestretch.

After falling behind by 12, 64-76, the best the Realtors could get was at 72-80.

It was a sorry loss for the Realtors who took the half at 37-35 and seized control midway in the third period with a nine-point lead.

Yap and Rhalimi stopped the Realtors on their tracks, joining forces as Purefoods staged a counter-attack to grab the upperhand at 56-55.

The Realtors regained the lead, 60-59, at the end of the third before Peter June Simon took over the game at the start of the final canto.

Peter June Simon, the MVP in the recent All-Star game, rattled in six straight points to start the final quarter and there was no stopping the Giants from there.

The Giants shot 42.1 percent from the field while holding the Realtors to a 34.1-percent shooting. Purefoods also did much better in rebounding with Rhalimi and Jondan Salvador combining for 30 of the team's 61 caroms as against Sta. Lucia's 38. (NC)


The scores:

Purefoods 82 -- Peter June Simon 22, Yap 21, Rhalimi 15, Salvador 10, Raymundo 6, Villanueva 4, Yap R. 4, Lanete 0, Yee 0.

Sta. Lucia 74 -- Williams 22, Espino 15, Wilson 10, Reyes 8, Yeo 7, Miranda 4, Omolon 4, Coronel 2, Mendoza 2, Daa 0, Aquino 0, Gonzales 0.

Quarterscores: 18-14, 35-37, 59-60, 82-74
Courtesy of www.pba.ph

*****************************************************
POLAND

Hlebowicki wins the trophy abroad -by Eurobasket News
Michal Hlebowicki (204-F-76) and his Barons is a new Champion in Latvia! The team won the best-of-seven series over ASK Riga 4-1 as the last game brought 79:78 for them. With 26:13 in the third period Barons flew to celebrate later in the game. More than 7000 spectators were pleasantly satisfied with their team success. Demetrius Alexander led the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds. J.P. Batista netted 17 points, while Armands Skele added 13. Curtis Millage posted 21 points in a loss and Raitis Grafs had 18. Armands Skele was named playoffs MVP after averaging 16.4 points and 3.8 assists per game. Michal Hlebowicki ended up with 8 points for the winners.
Barons opened the game in an offensive style taking 13:7 lead. Even though ASK Riga bounced back with 16:17, the hosts stayed in front with 19:18 after the opening quarter. ASK Riga produced a good second period and it was them to take 28:33 in the middle of it. The board showed 36:47 at the half time as both teams disappeared in the lockers. Curtis Millage brought the guests the biggest 58:47 lead, but right after that barons came back into the game. A 26:13 in the third quarter lifted Barons on top as J.P. Batista made it 62:60. In a tough and interesting last period the hosts survived the tempo of ASK Riga and 79:78 brought them the first trophy in the club history.
Robert Tomaszek (205-F-81, college: Texas Tech) and his BK Prostejov survived in overtime semifinal and tied the series at 2-2 against Geofin Novy Jicin. Trailing in the first three quarters the hosts came back to the game and won 104:103. The best-of-five semifinal series is now tied but Novy Jicin hosts Game 5 on Wednesday. Rashaan Ames led the winners with 28 points. Stanislav Votroubek netted 20, whilst Goran Savanovic scored 12. Robert Tomaszek nailed 7 points for his team.
Geofin Novy Jicin got a better start ans dominated the court in the opening quarter. The visitors had 10 points adcanatge after the first 10 minutes of the game. Even though BK Prostejov reduced a bit in the second period the teams left the court with 45:50 for the guests.
Geofin Novy Jicin, that led 65:76 late in the third quarter, lost the control of the game. Rashaan Ames and Bojic created a 20-3 run that put Prostejov ahead, 85:79. Stanislav Votroubek sent the teams to another period after a shot from the arc, 94:94. Kenny Walker with a lay-up gave Novy Jicin its last lead with less than a minute to play in overtime. Marton Bader scored two points to set up the Final 104:103 win for BK Prostejov.

Trailing 12 points at the half Prokom ties the Final series -by Eurobasket News

Prokom Trefl Sopot - PGE Turow Zgorzelec 73:70 (16:22, 15:21, 21:17, 21:10)

Prokom Trefl Sopot won the second game at home to tie the series over PGE Turow Zgorzelec. The latter opened the game in a better style, but 21:10 in the final period brought 73:70 for the hosts. Donatas Slanina (192-G-77) and Filip Dylewicz (202-F-80, agency: Beo Basket) top-scored for the winners with 18 points apiece. Simonas Serapinas (197-F-82) supported them with 10 points. David Logan (184-G-82, college: Indianapolis) nailed 21 points for Turow and Thomas Kelati (195-G/F-82, college: Washington St.) scored 16.
It was another 'must-game' win for the defending champions that remained alive in the Final series. From the very beginning however it was Turow that started to bring one win home. Zgorzelec had 22:16 in the end of the opening quarter thank to David Logan and Thomas Kelati's efforts.
Turow increased to 12 points advantage at the half time and looked forward to step closer to the trophy. Prokom Trefl Sopot had probably nothing to lose at that time as the team scored some important baskets. With 21:17 the hosts reduced the gap to 8 points, but the final push was suggested in the last period. Prokom Trefl Sopot tied the game at 68:68 and then due to 21:10 in the period won the game 73:70. It was an important win for the defending champions, however after 2-2 now the series is still on.

Game 5 is scheduled for May 28, but May 31st might be the day to triumph for one of the teams.

Prokom Trefl Sopot: Donatas Slanina 18, Filip Dylewicz 18, Simonas Serapinas 10
PGE Turow Zgorzelec: David Logan 21, Thomas Kelati 16



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PORTUGAL

Stats Leaders - UZO Liga
UZO Liga Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
E.J. Drayton BAR 20.2
Nate Daniels GIN 19.7
Nuno Marçal POR 18.7
Darrell Harris BAR 18.5
Deforrest Riley. BAR 18.3
Rebounds Per Game
Darrell Harris BAR 12.4
Omari Peterkin LUS 8.8
Ike Nwankwo BEL 8.8
Thiago Labbate GIN 8.4
Julian Terrell POR 8.4
Assists Per Game
Diogo Carreira BEL 5.3
José Costa CAB 5.1
Nuno Perdig. VAG 5.0
João Figuei. POR 4.8
Chris Alexander BAR 4.1
Steals Per Game
João Manuel CAB 2.7
Chris Alexander BAR2.2
Paulo Cunha POR 2.1
Nate Daniels GIN 2.1
Nuno Marçal POR 2.0
Blocks Per Game
Darrell Harris BAR 2.1
Omari Peterkin LUS 1.5
Thiago Labbate GIN 1.3
Brandon Voor. GIN 1.1
Julian Terrell POR 1.1
3FGP
Pedro Nuno VAG 46.5
Monty Scott CAB 45.5
Daniel Monte. BEL 39.5
Brandon Voor. GIN 39.2
Diogo Carreira BEL 38.3
Ranking
Darrell Harris BAR 27.3
E.J. Drayton BAR 24.3
Tyrone Levett VAG 21.1
Lance Sode. BEL 21.1
Diogo Carreira BEL 18.9


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PUERTO RICO

Standings - BSN
BSN Standings
Super 6
1. Santurce 11
2. Carolina 8
3. Arecibo 8
4. Guaynabo 6
5. Fajardo 5
6. Caguas 5
Others
1. Bayamon 16-16
2. Humacao 16-16
3. Ponce 15-17
4. San German 15-17
5. Mayaguez 7-25
6. Guayama 6-26


Giants too Big for Captains -by Luis Ramirez
The Carolina Giants beat the Arecibo Captains 110-95 in front of their home crowd. The Giants came out with fury as they held the Captains to just 18 points in the 1st quarter while they would go on to score 30 points in this quarter to take a commanding lead in the very first quarter. At the half the Giants were leading 56-46. In the 2nd half the Giants kept the Captains at bay and these were never a serious threat the rest of the game. For Carolina, Alejandro Carmona (194-G/F-83, agency: Next Level) scored 29 points followed by Ebi Ere with 26 points. For Arecibo, Angel Figueroa (196-G/F-81, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Dowling) scored 23 points followed by Carlos Rivera with 16 points.

Over at Guaynabo, the Conquistadors needed an extra period to overcome the Caguas Criollos as they beat the Criollos in overtime 107-93. Guaynabo got a good start in the 1st quarter as they went on to score 27 points while the Criollos would score 19. The half ended with Guaynabo in the lead 46-38. In the 3rd quarter the Criollos responded with an offensive run of their own and took the lead 61-58. This prepared the stage for the final quarter where Guaynabo came back to tie the game and sent it to overtime. In the overtime period it was all Conquistadors as they went on to score 22 points in this period while holding the Criollos to just 8 points. For Guaynabo, Carmelo Lee (200-F-77, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Long Beach St.) and Carlos Escalera both scored 21 points. For Caguas, Ricardo Melendez (180-G-83) scored 28 points followed by Peter John Ramos with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

In the final game of the night, the Santurce Crabbers continue to lead the way as they beat the Fajardo Cariduros 75-63. Fajardo took the 1st quarter 17-11 and they were also leading as the 1st half came to an end 36-25. But in the 2nd half the Crabbers started to erase this lead and in the 4th quarter they had taken over the lead and put a lot of defensive pressure on the Cariduros to get the win. The Cariduros have yet to get a win in this phase. For Santurce, Larry Ayuso (190-G-77, agency: Edge Sports, college: USC) scored 25 points followed by Robert Traylor with 12 points. For Fajardo, Gabe Muoneke (200-F-78, college: Texas) scored 18 points followed by Luis Salgado with 14 points.

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ROMANIA

CSU Asesoft Ploiesti evened the Finals -by Eurobasket News

U Mobitelco Cluj- CSU Asesoft Ploiesti 75:82

CSU Asesoft Ploiesti tied the series in the Final over U Mobitelco Cluj. Defending champion had a road 75:82 win for 2-2. It was another great Final game and it is expected at least two more. Bojan Obradovic (206-F/C-77, agency: Beo Basket) paced the winners with 21 points. Arvydas Cepulis (195-G-79) netted 17 and Adrian Blidaru (182-G-85) scored 14. Branko Cuic (196-G-78) top-scored for the hosts with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
U Mobitelco Cluj had 5:3 in the early beginning but then CSU Asesoft Ploiesti took a control of the first period. Arvydas Cepulis made it 9:11 and then it was him again to close the period at 20:24. Popa bounced back with the hosts for 27:26, however the defending champs had 32:27 at the half time. Bojan Obradovic brought the guests 38:48 after 24 minutes of the game. Seals closed the third period at 53:59 as the teams were on the way to fight in the last stanza. Mihai Silvasan (200-F-85, agency: Court Side) cut the deficit to 63:65 with only 5 minutes in the game. A 3-11 run made by CSU Asesoft Ploiesti brought them a second win in the Final series.

Game 5 is scheduled for May 29th.

U Mobitelco Cluj: Branko Cuic 24 points and 12 rebounds, Zoran Krstanovic (205-C-82) 13, Milan Medvedj (183-G-79) 13
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti: Bojan Obradovic 21 points, Arvydas Cepulis 17, Adrian Blidaru 14, Levente Szijarto (192-G/F-83) 10.



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RUSSIA

Third place is reserved for Dynamo Moscow -by Eurobasket News
Dynamo Moscow finished Russian Superlegaue on third place. Dynamo outplayed Ural Great at home 86-74 at the fourth game of the battle for third place, 3-1. It is the first medal for Dynamo over the past 3 years. On season 04/05, with Valeri Tihonenko, Dynamo was the second ranked team in Russia. Another Russian basketball legend, Sergei Bazarevich, led Dynamo from the bench this season to bronze medal. Bazarevic replaced Svetislav Pesic after ULEB Cup Final 8 in Turin.

Dyanamo suffered a real fiasco at the first game in Perm but it was maybe a good thing because later Dynamo played much tougher. Henry Domercant (192-G-80, college: E.Illinois) brought 19-10 to his team draining 4 triples of 4 attempts. Dynamo created fantastic 14-0 run during the last couple of minutes of the second quarter. It was 51-34 for the hosts what was untouchable for Ural until the end. Visitors had a chance with 6:14 remaining as they come closer on 63-72 but it was their maximum in this game. At the first point Dynamo realized fast break after what Henry Domercant decided question about the winner scoring long 3-pointer for 77-63 with 1:59 to go.
Henry Domercant paced the winners netting 20 points for 23 minutes. Antonis Fotsis (210-F-81) needed one more board for double-double as he added 14 points and 9 rebounds. Andrew Wisniewski (191-G-81, college: Centenary) had 16 points, 4 boards and 4 assists while Vanja Plisnic (207-F/C-80, agency: Beo Basket) had 13 points and 6 rebounds for Ural.


Dynamo Moscow - Ural Great 86-74
(24-20,27-14,19-16,16-24)

Dyanmo: Domercant 20, Fotsis 14 (9 rebs), Bykov 13, Domani 11
Ural: Wisniewski 16 (4 rebs, 4 as), Plisnic 13 (6 rebs), Basminov 8 (6 rebs)

CSKA captures 6th consecutive title ! -by Eurobasket News
CSKA is the new-old champion of Russia. The best European team finished season in style beating Khimky on the road at the third game of the final series 88-78. It is sixth consecutive title in Russian championship so far for CSKA Moscow. At the same time it is the 15th title (without USSR) what is new Russian record in all sports activities. Before CSKA women volleyball team Uralocke hold it with 14 titles in the row.

At the beginning Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke), who signed new contract with CSKA, led his team with 7 points setting the score on 10-6 at the middle of the first stanza. Very soon CSKA extended lead to 9 points thanks to J.R. Holden (185-G-76, college: Bucknell). Maciej Lampe (210-C-85, agency: Edge Sports) and Tucker were the key players for Khmiky at the second quarter almost tying the score. It was 24-23 after 14 minutes. With 5 minutes to go in the third period J.R. Holden, Langdon and Smodis took care for plus 7 for CSKA. Euroleague champion had fantastic 12 of 22 from behind the arc matched with only 6 of 20 by Khimky. Four minutes before the end, name of the new Russian champion was already known as CSKA crated advantage of 17 points. The bad thing is that Victor Khryapa sprained his ankle at the very end.
Trajan Langdon was the key player of his team collecting 21 points and 4 rebounds. Slovenian PF Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79), who as Langdon put signature on new contract with CSKA, netted 16 points. Khimky got 21 points and 4 boards from Maciej Lampe.

As it is already written above CSKA won 15 titles since 1993. Until now CSKA missed to win just two seasons (00/01, 01/02).


Khimky - CSKA 78-88
(17-22,15-12,19-24,27-30)

Khimky: Lampe 21 (4 rebs), McCarty 18 (7 rebs), Ponkrasov 14 (5 rebs)
CSKA: Langdon 21 (4 rebs), Smodis 16, Holden 13 (5 as)

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SERBIA

Standings - A Liga
A Standings
Superleague
 1. Partizan 11-1 
 2. FMP 10-2 
 3. Hemofarm 8-4 
 4. Crvena Zv. 7-5 
 5. Vojvodina 6-6 
 6. Swisslion Tak. 3-9 
 7. Borac 2-10 
 8. Vizura 1-11 
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 


Superleague, round 12 - Partizan Igokea too strong for Crvena Zvezda -by Dragan Jankovski
Reining Serbian and Adriatic league champions, Partizan Igokea, continues its domination in Serbian Superleague. Partizan celebrated over Crvena Zvezda in eternal derby 86-77.

As it was at the previous derby between those two rivals, Zvezda opened the game better reaching 21-12 after 8 minutes. Partizan's players looked sleepy during the entire first quarter but after two minutes pause they started to play with attitude. Black-and-white team tied the score very soon after what two eternal rivals played totally leveled second quarter. Zvezda played nice zone defense which Partizan tried to beat with many attempts from behind the arc (10 of 28 in total). But since the moment when Partizan has decided to put the ball closer to the basket to Pekovic it outcame with 12-0 run. Later, Zvezda came closer on minus 5 but they did not succeed to score a basket which could eventually make this game very interesting.
Euroleague player of the year Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) led the winners adding 22 points and 5 rebounds. Pekovic is MVP of the round with index value 34. Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket) followed him with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Novica Velickovic (205-F-86) had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Power forward Tadija Dragicevic (205-F-86, agency: Beo Basket) nailed 17 points grabbing 8 rebounds for Crvena Zvezda.

After this win Partizan remains on top with 11 wins and 1 defeat. On the other side Zvezda is on the fourth place at the moment with score 7-5. At the next round Partizan will meet Hemofarm STADA in Vrsac while Zvezda waits Swisslions Takovo in Pionir.


Partizan Igokea - Crvena Zvezda 86-77
(20-21,17-17,29-20,20-19)

Partizan: Pekovic 22 (5 rebs), Kecman 15 (5 rebs, 4 as), Velickovic 12 (8 rebs, 6 as)
Zvezda: Dragicevic 17 (8 rebs), Subotic 16 (5 rebs), Kikanovic 14 (4 rebs), Cook 13 (6 rebs, 6 as)

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SEYCHELLES

Baya choke Solomon and Cobras -by Carlos Pereira
HE going got tough for Premium Cobras on Saturday at the Palais des Sports and go-to-guy Alao Solomon just could not cope with the pressure.
The Nigerian utility player was a shadow of the player Premium Cobras fans had known him to be in previous matches he has played. Baya got a deserved win on a 71-59 score on the day in a Mens Division One match which did not live up to expectations.


Premium Cobras 59 Baya 71

Baya came into the game with one thing in mind: shut out Nigerian Solomon and stop him from getting the ball to attack the basket both in the paint and from distance shooting.

They were successful as their game plan worked effectively, despite a poor start. The Cobras, who had won their previous five games, led 9-0 before Baya got on the scoreboard through a centre Robert Lon free throw.
Bayas Lon (no. 11) attacks the hoop unchallengedCoach Guy Halls team held a four-point 14-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter but Baya shot into the lead for the first tine in the match at 25-23 on a Hendricks Denis 3-pointer with 2 minutes 50 seconds (2:50) left to play in the second 10-minute spell.
At half-time, Baya had improved their margin to five points 30-25 after outscoring Premium Cobras 20-11.
Expected to pose the biggest danger to Baya, but unable to get the kind of freedom the other teams gave him in the first five games during which he averaged 42 points, Solomon looked frustrated.
He questioned a number of the referees calls as did their bench and he left the court with only 3:07 played in the third quarter after being hit with a blocking foul his fifth of the encounter. As he left the court, he threw his shirt to the floor and kicked it. He left the game with just 14 points a team-high despite it being way too low from his high-scoring performances. The least points the Nigeria player had scored in a single match before Saturday is 34 against Cascade Bullets. His highest-scoring game was against Beau Vallon Heat when he got a season-high 49 points.
With no one to step up in Solomons absence, Baya went to work, winning the third quarter 26-18 for a 56-43 score.
Although the Cobras edged Baya 16-15 in the fourth quarter, coach Michel Malbrooks team, who had killed off the contest in the second and third quarters, are back in the title hunt and leave defending champions PLS Hawks as the only unbeaten team.
Jean-Paul JP Camille scored a game-high 21 points, including five 3-points one short of the season-high six treys held by Premium Cobras Solomon and Bayas international playmaker Giovanni Laval.
The other player to score five 3-pointers in a match this season is PLS Hawks veteran small forward Heribert Derjacques.
Denis and Lon added 14 points apiece fort Baya, while Seychelles power forward Dominic Pillay was Premium Cobras only other player in double figures with 13 points.

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SLOVAKIA

Nova Ves forces the decider -by Eurobasket News
Nova Ves - Inter 94:72

Nova Ves stayed alive in the Slovakian Extraliga semis as they survived the fourth game at home. Nova Ves entered the game trailing 1-2 and with their backs against the wall. But Inter Bratislava failed to complete the task away from home. Nova Ves marked their dominance right from the start and pretty easily cleared off to a 27:19 distance at the end of the first stanza. Inter could not match the hosts tempo and trailed by as many as 19 points at halftime. However the Bratislava outcome never said die and tried hard to spark the intrigue in the second half. They outgunned the home team 27:16 in the third quarter to head into the final term down by 10 points. But the visitors quickly ran out of steam and Nova Ves finalized the victory in the dying minutes. Viliam Ridzon (193-G-75) knocked down 20 points and grabbed 13 boards for the winners. Igor Pesta (203-F/C-84) scored 14 points, while Jordan Mason (189-G-80, agency: Pro Agents-Basketball Careers) had 13 for Nova Ves. Martin Micka (180-G-81, agency: Promotex) answered with 20 points for Inter. Dusan Pandula (195-F-84) secured 14 points and 8 boards in defeat. The hosts dominated the boards outrebounding Inter 42:32. Nova Ves converted 54% from the field, while Inter sank 40% of field goals. Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday in Bratislava.

Nova Ves: Viliam Ridzon 20+13 boards, Igor Pesta 14, Jordan Mason 13
Inter: Martin Micka 20, Dusan Pandula 14

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SLOVENIA

Interview with Miroslav Juric, the best scorer of the regular part of The UPC Telemach League in this season -by Jan Flac

At the end of the season we interviewed Miroslav Juric of Kraski Zidar Jadran, who was the best scorer of the regular part of The UPC Telemach League. He had an average of 19.6 points in 24 games. We were talking about his career the season he spent at Kraski Zidar Jadran. We also discussed some aspects of basketball as a game, controversy concerning foreign players in The Additional League of The UPC Telemach League For The Existence, injuries and much more.

Part one:

Miro, to become an expert at some field, as you are in the field of basketball, it usually takes many years. You own many trophies and in this season you were the best scorer of the regular part of The UPC Telemach League. Besides that, you were twice the best scorer of the Hungarian league and once of the Bosnian and Croatian League. You also played in five all star games in all these countries and were the best three point shooter in the Austrian league. These facts make us think that you might have started playing basketball very early. When, where and how did it actually happen?

It is true, I fell in love with basketball very early - when I was only ten years old. It all started in Zagreb, the city I come from. Together with my friends from Pescenica, my neighborhood, I joined one of the teams in that area.

How did you spend your early years as a basketball player? Which moments from those days were the brightest?

All the memories from those days are tremendous. We were young and very successful, playing for fun and winning most of the games.

Did these early memories have any special impact on you in a sense of motivation to build such a great career?

It seems like 'the seed of the winning mentality' was sown in my head then. Joy, persistence, competitiveness, leadership and a strong will to practice all grew rapidly from that seed. Soon after, I found myself playing basketball professionally.

We know you started playing professionally in Zrinjevac's basketball club from Zagreb, which used to be a 'talent farm' in Croatia. Besides that, rumors say that you were the most promising basketball player in Croatia at some point. Can you please tell us, how did your professional career start to develop?

Well, Zrinjevac invited me to play for them when I was a cadet. A high achieving team was formed and we won many championships, among them the national one, when we were juniors. Some of us youngsters were rewarded with the opportunity to play in the first team, which reached the finals in one of those years. So, when I was 17, I played the final series to win a national championship against the leading club in Croatia - Cibona. I was the best scorer in one of the games.

What happened next?

Well, due to the financial problems in the next season, a lot of players left the club and so did I. At first, I went to Bosnia, to Mostar and came back to Croatia for two years after that season. From then on, the road to professionalism led me only to the foreign countries.

Miro, you have a lot of knowledge and experiences in the field of basketball, as you have played for numerous clubs in the different countries. We know that BK Ventspils from Latvia has a special place in your memory. Anyway, please tell us which club you were most satisfied with.

Playing abroad is, in my opinion, much more different than playing at home. For me, it is hard to say which club I played for was the best, as all of them were great. It seems as if in Hungary, Latvia and Austria, society invests a lot in basketball, I would say more in comparison to Croatia and Slovenia. When I was there, halls were always full, season tickets sold sometimes a couple of months in advance and all the payments were regular. In Austria, every player even got his own Audi A4. Though, BK Ventspils is probably the most organized club I have played for. I think we lost only one game in the whole season, which worked very well on the players' self-esteem. Besides that, we needed at least half an hour to come out of a hall after each of the games, which tells you the fans were enthusiastic, treating us players really nicely. Once, after we won a game for more than 100 points, it was absolutely crazy.

Did you cooperate with any well known coach while playing for BK Ventspils or anywhere else abroad? Which one did you learn the most from?

Actually, I played under a lot of great and also well known coaches. The one at BK Ventspils was a coach of the Latvian national team. Also a lot of others I played under were coaches of national teams in countries where I played. Though, I would say I learned the most from Neven Spahija, who coached me in Zrinjevac for three years. I adopted his view on the game of basketball.

Part two:

Let us focus now on this season you played for Kraski Zidar Jadran from Sezana.

We know that you played in Seana before and that you have a family here. Was that one of the main reasons that influenced your decision to come here? How did everything actually happen?

My family and I wanted to stabilize a bit and as my better half comes from Seana, we all thought it would be a good decision to come here for at least one year. Besides, the club offered me the oportunity to continue my work as the main coordinator and basketball coach of younger players that I started working with in Austria.

How would you describe this season? What did you like the most?

Well, at the bottom line we can be satisfied with the season if we look at all that we went through (laugh) - injuries, inspection, coach exchanges, etc. The result was not even near what we expected at the beginning of the season, but some things sometimes just do not stay under the club's control. We all need to stand up after this fall and just go on.

How would you compare this season to all the others before?

Sometimes in our lives we have to make compromises and I made one by coming to Seana. I knew, this was not Maccabi (laugh), though some things could be organized better in my opinion. For example, we could have formed the team much sooner and one coach could have gotten an opportunity, including support, for the whole season.

Especially, Zoran Lazarevski tried to help the team at the end of the season with his winning mentality and great knowledge that he has from playing in the 1.B SKL this season.

I think Lazo was a good choice for our team. He knows the club and the players very well and if the the inspectors had not knocked on our doors, the whole story would have finished much better.

You were the oldest and the most experienced player through the whole season. You also worked as a head coach of some younger players in the club. That all leads us to the conclusion, you can deal very well with big responsibilities, among them being a supervisor. How did all that look in practice and how do you see yourself as a coach in the future?

While being a head coach of younger categories, I gained a lot of experience. I got them through hard work. Still, there were too many things going on outside the basketball court I had to focus on. Anyway, results came after hard work. I am proud of my players and I absolutely enjoy being a coach. This is all why I am so enthusiastic about the idea of taking over one of the teams on the professional level, after I finish my basketball career as a player. I have serious ambitions concerning this. Most of all, it is my pleasure to teach and share experiences with younger players.

Part three:

The controversy concerning foreign players made a big impact on Kraski Zidar Jadran. Three players from the starting five had to leave Slovenia on the day of the most important match with Nova Gorica in the additional qualifications of The League For The Existence. It seems as if there is a lot to be said about this topic. What is your opinion?

I think the whole championship should not be irregular. Conditions for all the teams must be the same. This types of things should have been resolved after the end of the season, not somewhere in the middle. I wish everything would happen on the court where we would have a much bigger advantage.

What do you think we can expect in the future? Will there be 14 teams in The UPC Telemach League next season? What would be your suggestion to solve this problem?

I think it would be fair, if that happend. The extension of the league would be the most appropriate option for all sides, in my opinion. We will do everything to make that come true and get what we think we deserve (smile).

You broke your finger in the second part of the UPC Telemach League and started playing again in the additional qualifications. Anyway, you are all right now and we would like to know what your short-term plans for the next season are. We would be glad to know, if you could trust us, whether or not you have gotten any serious offers.

My finger is okay now and a couple of clubs from Slovenia and abroad had have already shown an interest in me for the next season, which I am happy about. It will take some time from me now to set my priorities and to decide.



Short conversation with Vladimer Boisa -by Jan Flac

Vladimir Boisa (209-F/C-81, agency: World Sport Agency) has just came home to Ljubljana from Grece, where he played for Aris in this season. We asked him couple of questions.


Vladimer, what was your seasn at Aris like?
Well, unfortunately we did not get through the quarter finals in Grece and did not get the ticket for The Eurleague what we planned. Though, it was great playing for Aris, which is a well organized club with loyal fans.


What are your plans for the next season?
As first, I would like to have some rest and stay home here in Ljubljana with my family for a while. After that, I will look at all the offers and make the best decision. Aris as a club really made an impression on me, but we will see...


What about Olimpija?
Come on, you have Marko Milic (laugh). He was great this year.


We know he plays on your position, but we think you two could work great together...
Well, everything is still open.



Sporar retires as player, Parklji inked Jersin -by Zeljko Zule

Former NT member Milos Sporar (187-G-76) ex Rogla decided to retire. He won a silver medal in the U-22 European Championship 1998 and Croatian Cup 2004. Zlatorog already announced Sporar as new director of youth development.

Parklji Bezigrad (B1) signed Boris Jersin (183-G-85) ex Elektra Esotech for one season.

.



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SPAIN

Stanko Barac returns from Pamesa to TAU -by Eurobasket News
Member of Croatian National Team Stanko Barac (217-C-86) will return to TAU Ceramica. Barac played this season for Pamesa Valencia as a loaned player from TAU. The team from Vitoria knocked out Pamesa at the play-off quarterfinals 2-1.

Barac joined TAU previous summer from Bosnian team Siroki Prima pivo. Croatian center will rejoin TAU during the summer when he will start to work with Croatian coach Neven Spahija. Pamesa Valencia officially thanked to Barac for his performance at the team's official web site wishing him luck in the future. Barac had 48 appearances for Pamesa this season in all competitions where the team from Valencia participated. He played 33 games in ACB averaging 6 points and 3 rebounds for 15 minutes per game. He had the best game vs his TAU scoring 13 points twice. He also had 9 rebounds and 3 boards. For 14 games in ULEB Cup Barac had 6.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 1.1 bpg. Barac was picked on NBA draft 2007 by Miami Heat, who later traded him to Indiana Pacers. In August 2007 he put signature on a 5-years deal with TAU.

However, Pamesa did not waste time as they immediately find a replacement for him. It is Albanian player with Turkish passport Ermal Kuqo (207-C-80, agency: Beo Basket). He also plays on position 5 and he spent last season in Efes Pilsen. Kuqo is a member of Turkish NT but he uses his second name, Ermal Kurtoglu.

Market News -by Robert Mayor
- Center Ermal Kuqo will sign in a few days a two years deal with Pamesa Valencia. Ex- Efes Pilsen player was pretended by Valencian team since long time ago, and now will become a important part of the next season 'Taronja' team.

- Also in Valencia, Spanish guard Saul Blanco (195-G/F-85) sounds for the next season in order to complete backcourt game.

- C.B. Granada made public that Sergio Valdeolmillos won't continue in Spanish bench. Salva Maldonado or Luis Casimiro, will be, probably, the owners of the coach position.

- Ricard Casas will continue two more seasons in front of ViveMenorca bench. Catalonian trainner signed untill 2010.

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SURINAM

Randamie is close to triumph -by Eurobasket News
de Randamie Sergio and his Amsterdam won the regular season in Holland. Moreover the team is playing in the Final of the Play-offs against Eiffel Towers. Game 4 saw 79:63 for the Towers and in the best-of-seven campaign the teams are even again. The hosts took a control of the game from the very beginning and led to the expected win. Akerboom Kees top-scored for the winners with 19 points. Robert Owens nailed 17 and Travis Young posted 15. Tamien Trent resisted with 21 points in the losing effort. de Randamie Sergio played 9 minutes, scored 2 points, made 1 rebound and 1 steal.
Eiffel Towers easily grabbed the lead from the first minutes and it was not a surprise as they had 24:13 by the end of it. Another push in the second period gave them 33:17 midway through the second quarter. One of the biggest lead the hosts had in the end of the first half with 18 points advantage. Amsterdam cut its deficit to 47:34 at halftime and hoped to stay closer later in the game.
Robert Owens and Brown stepped up to make EiffelTowers seal the outcome long before the final buzzer. Even though MyGuide Amsterdam won the third period 16:19, they lost the fourth period 16:10.
Game 5 is scheduled for May 27 and will move one of the teams closer to triumph. The series however will be over when one of the teams reach 4 victories against the opponent.
de Randamie Sergio remains on top and scores in the last 6 games for the team. With such an effort he is too close to triumph with his team.

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SWITZERLAND

New signings in Grand-Saconnex Basket -by Eurobasket News
Grand-Saconnex Basket started with signings for season 08/09. The team extended contract for one more year with head coach Dulaine Harris, assistant coach Fabien Fonds and following players: Julien Senderos (198-F-80), Yassine Khoumssi (191-G-86) and Otarhe Agbavwe (183-G-81, college: Mass.-Lowell).

Dulaine Harris is a head coach of Grand-Saconnex since previous summer. Before Grand he was a head coach of Nyon (women team), Cossonay and Morges. Harris used to be a professional player. He spent couple of years in Italian Lega due (A2).

As a coach Harris, power forward / center Julien Senderos also joined Grand 10 months ago. He averaged 6.2 ppg and 2.9 rpg in LNA this season. In the past he already was a member of Grand-Saconnex almost 3 years.

Yassine Khoumssi is a point guard who spent last 4 years with Grand-Saconnex. Previous season in LNA he had 5.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 2.3 apg.

Otarhe Agbavwe is Nigerian / Swiss player who can be used on PG as well as on 2G. It will be his third consecutive season with Grand-Saconex. At the last one he averaged 4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 1.4 apg. As Senderos, Agbavwe already played for Grand in the past. He participated in the final of LNA with Boncourt on season 05/06.

Grand-Saconnex also signed to new players: Aurelien Tshitundu (191-F-83) and Cedric Bonga.

Fribourg wins LNA for the second time in a row -by Eurobasket News
Fribourg - Lugano 73:59

Fribourg once again stopped Lugano in the Finals defending their LNA title. The regular season champions held off the Tigers in the third game of the best-of-five Final series to celebrate the second straight championship in Switzerland. Lugano were the champions two years ago but suffered two straight defeats in the finals against Fribourg. This time Fribourg completed a sweep leaving no chance for Lugano. The teams entered the third game trading the baskets and Lugano kept it close in the starting frame. The teams were all tied at 19 after ten minutes of action but things changed radically after the intermission. Fribourg raised the tempo and easily ran away to a comfortable distance. The Tigers accounted for just 8 points in the second stanza and trailed by 12 at halftime. Lugano seemed to find the right attitude after the break as they threw all they got to stay alive in the series. They clawed back within single digits in the third quarter but Fribourg recovered well and maintained an 11-point buffer heading into the fourth frame. The Tigers never came to life in the final minutes allowing Fribourg to seal the positive outcome and started the celebration of the title before the supportive home crowd. Pascal Perrier-David (184-G-75) notched 16 points to lead the charge. Dave Esterkamp (200-F-78, college: Bowling Green) dropped 14 points, while Harold Mrazek (191-G-73) and Erroyl Bing (198-F-82, college: E.Carolina) scored 12 points apiece for the winners. The hosts sank 36% from the field and pulled down 35 boards including 12 offensive ones.

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SYRIA

finals cup -by Bashar Nashef
After the long battle that happened with all the syrian teams for the syrian cup after the end of the regular season. The two teams that reached the finals are the Ittihad from Aleppo and the army team from damascus. They will play two consecutive games starting next week to clarify who is the champion of the syrian cup, we hope the best for both teams and may the best win we will keep you updated about the result.

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TANZANIA

NBA Duo Expected in Arusha Next Month -by Carlos Pereira
by Suleiman Jongo

American basketball duo of Dikembe Mutombo who features for Houston Rockets and Kulenna Azubuike of Golden Star Warriors, are expected in the country early next month.
The NBA regular players have been included in the American delegates who are heading to Arusha to attend the Sullivan Summit scheduled for June 2-6.
According to the Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) secretary general Lawrence Cheyo, the duo will also take time to interact with basketball officials and players in Tanzania
'We have been informed of NBA players' impending tour and we take no chances to capitalize on their tour that will certainly be beneficial for us in terms of the game's promotion,' said Cheyo.
He said TBF has already communicated with their basketball counterparts in Arusha who will receive the NBA duo upon arrival.
Cheyo said their visit would have a positive impact on local based players who wish to develop a professional players.
Some of the delegates who will be attending the Arusha's Sullivan Summit are also expected to extend their stay in the country to scale Mount Kilimanjaro, visit national parks and other tourist destinations.

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TURKEY

Turkoglu:"I'm ready for the national team" -by Uygar Karaca
Orlando Magic Turkish star Hidayet Turkoglu (206-F-79) arrived Turkey on Monday and had a brief interview.
'This was a really long period away from my country,I've missed it,I've missed mum,dad and my friends.I'm very glad that I will be able to see them again.'
'I've felt the support of the Turkish people,really.Thanks to the ones who prayed for me and supported me by giving their love.I wanted to deserve this love and made a good effort.I've missed the All-star game by a small margin.I hope I'll make it next season.'I want to be useful to my country and national team like I did in NBA.There are so many talented players in the national team.I want to share my experience with them,be helpful to them.I'm ready for the national team.'

TB2L Stats Leaders
TB2L Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Knight, Eyup 23.0
2 Butler, Pertevniy 20.3
3 Boswell, Vestel 20.0
4 Gursu, FMV 18.6
5 Sidney, Aliaga 18.5
Rebounds Per Game
1 Crawford, Usak 12.0
2 Mimms, Yesilyurt 11.3
3 Andrews, Genc 10.8
4 Box, Duzce 10.7
5 Boswell, Vestel 10.5
Assists Per Game
1 Bayrak, Aliaga 9.0
2 Gacemer, Vestel 6.1
3 Altinmakas, Duzce 5.1
4 Eroglu, Orman 4.7
5 Aziz Kan, TED 4.6


Eurobasket.com All-Turkish TB2L Awards 2007-08 -by Eurobasket
#s#
#e#6


Sidney


Knight


Dixon


Denison


Dukes
Player of the Year - Ryan Sidney (188-G-82, agency: EM-PA, college: Boston Coll.) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Guard of the Year - Ryan Sidney (188-G-82) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Center of the Year - Sean Denison (210-F/C-85) of Tofas Bursa
Domestic Player of the Year - Cihat Sahin (203-F-83) of Tofas Bursa
Import Player of the Year - Ryan Sidney (188-G-82) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Coach of the Year - Gokhan Tastimur of Erdemir

1st Team
Ryan Sidney (188-G-82) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Joey Knight (186-G-83) of Eyupspor
Sean Denison (210-F/C-85) of Tofas Bursa
David Dixon (211-C-78) of Erdemirspor Belediyesi
Johnny Dukes (203-F-84) of ITU Istanbul

2nd Team
Osman Orcun Gollu (191-G/F-77) of Erdemirspor Belediyesi
Cihat Sahin (203-F-83) of Tofas Bursa
Lamar Butler (187-G-83) of Pertevniyal Istanbul
Harun Erdenay (190-G-68) of ITU Istanbul
Tyrus Boswell (202-F/C-78) of Vestelspor Manisa

Honorable Mention
Hakan Yapar (203-C-84) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Mahir Bayrak (180-G-79) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Chaz Crawford (208-F) of Usakspor Belediyesi
Bugra Gacemer (-83) of Vestelspor Manisa
Sertay Gursu (-87) of FMV Isikspor Istanbul
Dennis Mims (205-F-80) of Yesilyurt Istanbul
Zach Andrews (203-F-85) of Genc Banvitliler
Joel Box (206-F-84) of Rockford Fury (USA)

All-Domestic Players Team
Osman Orcun Gollu
Cihat Sahin (203-F-83) of Tofas Bursa
Harun Erdenay (190-G-68) of ITU Istanbul
Mahir Bayrak (180-G-79) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Sertay Gursu (-87) of FMV Isikspor Istanbul

All-Imports Team
Ryan Sidney (188-G-82) of Aliaga Belediyesi
Joey Knight (186-G-83) of Eyupspor
David Dixon (211-C-78) of Erdemirspor Belediyesi
Sean Denison (210-F/C-85) of Tofas Bursa
Johnny Dukes (203-F-84) of ITU Istanbul

More than 8,000 fans bring first win for Fenerbahce Ulker -by Eurobasket News
Fenerbahce Ulker - Turk Telekom 100:72

The Finals in Turkey are opened and it was Fenerbahce Ulker and 8,000 fans that won the opener over Telekom of Ankara 100:72. Although the difference in score is too big for the Final, Telekom struggled a lot in the first half. Mostly due to 22:12 in the third period Fenerbahce Ulker selaed the win. Will Solomon (187-G-78, college: Clemson) and Tarence Kinsey (200-G-84, college: S.Carolina) led the winners with 15 points. Oguz Savas (208-C-87) and James White (198-G-84, college: Cincinnati) netted 12 each, while Semih Erden (211-C-87) collected 10 points and 10 rebounds. Erwin Dudley (204-F/C-81, agency: Interperformances, college: Alabama) top-scored with 15 points in the losing effort.
After reaching 15:14 in a back-to-back opening the hosts created 6-0 run to close the first 25:18. Oguz Savas and Omer Onan restored a 36:27 lead. It seemed that the hosts would not stop, but nine points from the visitors brought 36:36 midway through the second period. Will Solomon shined for his team as the hosts went to the lockers with 58:38. The game was completely done at the end of the third period when Emir Preldzic scored for 84:54. Fenerbahce Ulker desired to start and to finish truthfully and capped 100 points by the end of the game.
Game 2 is scheduled for May 27 with Fenerbahce Ulker hosting another game. The teams will continue until one of them will reach 4 wins in the Final.

Fenerbahce Ulker: Will Solomon 15, Tarence Kinsey 15, Oguz Savas 12, James White 12, Semih Erden 10+10 rebs
Turk Telekom: Erwin Dudley 15, Barıs Ozcan 12, Khalid El-Amin (178-G-79, agency: Beo Basket, college: Connecticut) 11

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UKRAINE

Standings - Higher League
Higher Standings
Group A
1 BC Donetsk 33-3
2 DniproAzot 26-10
3 KDPU 24-12
4 MSDUShOR 18-18
5 Domograd 15-21
6 KTU 15-21
7 Hoverla 14-22
8 Kremin 14-22
9 Koksokhim-Stal 12-24
10 Gryfony 9-27
11-18 places
1 Polit.Kharkiv 23-5
2 DUEP 23-5
3 Adzhalyk 19-9
4 Fero-ZNTU 17-11
5 BC Sarny 14-14
6 Orlan 8-20
7 KMPU 6-22
8 BC Ternopil 2-26


el-Amin back to Ukraine! Rizvic joins him -by Alexander Muzyka
BC Donetsk added Dmytro Zabirchenko (191-G-84) to the roster of its newcomers.

After it was crowned one more time, Azovmash has announced that Khalid el-Amin (178-G-79) is back to Mariupol. The Ukrainian best guard 2007 played for Turk Telekom this season, scoring 19,7 ppg and 3,6 apg in ULEB Cup. Turkish team has reached TBL finals with his help. Now el-Amin has to play for two years for Azovmash helping 'em to save the champions title and to reach the new levels in ULEB Cup.

Tomas Delininkaitis (192-G-82) will stay in Mariupol, Mehmet Becirovic has announced at the press-conference. Lithuanian guard has 68% 3-points shots in ULEB Cup this season scoring 12,8 ppg for Azovmash.

Hasan Rizvic (212-C-84) will be the one more newcomer of Azovmash. Slovenian center played for Olimpija last three seasons and had average stats.

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VENEZUELA

Gaiteros join those fantastic four -by Wolfgang Lucena

Gaiteros Del Zulia defeated Deportivo Tachira to join up the group of the first four teams of the classification. It was necessary an over time after a regular time with 86 digits for both teams. The final score was Gaiteros 103 Deportivo Tachira 98 points.
Askia Jones led Gaiteros with 26 points followed for Ruben Nembhard with 20.

John Strickland was the player with the whole responsibility for Deportivo Tachira, scoring 18 points helped by Johnell Smith with 16.

So far the Fantastic Four of the professional basketball league of Venezuela are; Trotamundos de Carabobo (29-6), Cocodrilos de Caracas (22-12), Gatos de Monagas (21-12) and Gaiteros Del Zulia (21-14).



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WBA

Opening night results in the WBA... -by David Archer
#s#
#e#6


Allen


Cox


Walker


Fox


Stewart

WBA Exposure League opens its 2008 season with all teams in action...

Buford Majic 129 Memphis Blue Tornadoes 110...
Buford Majic toyed with the Memphis Blues in the first half, before breaking the game open and cruising to a 129-110 win.

Undersized, Memphis fought vailiantly until just after half-time, when the Majic had a big run to break it open. They led by as many as 24 going into the fourth quarter, behind the inside play of Ronald Allen(6'10''-F/C-84, college: Cincinnati), Markeal King (6'9''-C-77, college: Georgia St.) and B.J. Puckett (6'9''-F-83, college: Clayton St.).

Buford, coached by 2007 WBA Coach of the Year Lionel Garrett , had seven players in double figures, lead by duo Wayne Arnold (6'4''-G-84, college: Tennessee St.) and Roy Bright (6'6''-F-86, college: Cincinnati) with 22 each. Robert Kennedy of Memphis took game-high honors with 23.

Tri-State Crusaders 90 Cartersville Warriors 86...
Tri-State Crusaders jumped out to a huge first quarter lead, but had to hang on to edge Cartersville Warriors 90-86.

First year Head Coach Bobby Rouse , saw his Warriors squad struggle to score early, allowing the Crusaders to break out to an early 17 point advantage. The Warriors fought back through out the game and finally had the score whittled down to 87-86 with under 10 seconds remaining in the game. A costly Cartersville turnover allowed Tri-State to ice the game at the freethrow line at the end.

B.J. Walker (6'10''-F/C-84) of Oklahoma City University scored 27 and Mike Griffin followed with 20 for the Crusaders, who are coached by the timeless Gerald Oliver . Rookie Larry Cox (6'10''-C, college: Miss.Valley St.) paced the Warriors with 29 points, while Lemarr Farr (6'4''-G-83, college: Lambuth) scored 22 points, Jeremy Law (6'5''-G-82, college: Jacksonville St.) 14 and Ozzie Lee Henderson 12. The Warriors played without key roster players in Mike Dean, Jimmy Baxter, Joe Hamilton and Jermaine Spivey. Dean was working out with the Indiana Pacers, while Baxter was in Memphis working out for the the Grizzlies. Hamilton and Spivey both had previous family commitments. Last week, Cox worked out for the Celtics in Boston, but was able to make it back to get one practice in with the Warriors before Saturday's game.


Cartersville Warriors (0-1)
Lamarr Farr 4-8 12-13 22, Jeremy Law 3-9 6-6 14, Larry Cox 12-18 5-8 29, Donovan McMullen 0-4 0-0 0, Bayete Gordon 2-6 0-0 4, Erik Gainous 0-3 0-0 0, Rodney Mayes 0-3 2-2 2, Ozzie Lee Henderson 5-10 2-5 12, Antonio Simpson 1-11 0-0 3, El Amin Douab 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-75 27-34 86

Tri-State Crusaders (1-0)
Steven Elueyi 3-5 1-2 7, B.J. Walker 12-20 3-3 27, Tony Carr 6-14 3-3 15, Curtis Clark 4-8 3-4 11, Marcus Sims 0-0 0-0 0, Stephen Humphrey 0-1 0-0 0, Mike Griffin 6-15 6-8 20, Neil Wellington 3-7 0-0 6, Neil Rasnake 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 36-76 16-20 90
SCORE BY PERIODS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL PTS
Cartersville Warriors 12 22 24 28 86 3.0
Tri-State Crusaders 28 20 23 19 90 4.0

FG%: Cartersville Warriors .360, Tri-State Crusaders .474. 3-pt FG:Cartersville Warriors 5-19 (Farr 2-4, Law 2-4, Gordon 0-1, Gainous 0-1, Simpson 1-9), Tri-State Crusaders 2-10 (Carr 0-1, Clark 0-1, Griffin 2-5, Wellington 0-1, Rasnake 0-2). Rebounds: Cartersville Warriors 44 (Cox 12), Tri-State Crusaders 54 (Walker 14). Fouls Cartersville Warriors 24, Tri-State Crusaders 28. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: Cartersville Warriors 12 (Farr 4, Gordon 4), Tri-State Crusaders 15 (Griffin 8). Steals: Cartersville Warriors 11 (Law 3, Gordon 3), Tri-State Crusaders 9 (Griffin 3). Blocked shots: Cartersville Warriors 4 (Cox 3), Tri-State Crusaders 2 (Elueyi 1, Walker 1). Turnovers: Cartersville Warriors 27, Tri-State Crusaders 17. Attendance: 200. DakStats 3000 by Daktronics Inc. Brookings, SD



Mississippi Hardhats 104 Decatur Court Kings 98...
The Mississippi Hardhats, after falling behind by as many as 20, came back to slip by the visiting Decatur Court Kings 104-98.

Decatur, behind the guidance of Head Coach Reggie Fox, built a 20-point cushion only to see the Hardhats battle back to re-take the lead and eventually the win on opening night.

Kendrick Fox (6'7''-G/F-83) of Gulf Coast Bandits and Terrell Wilson scored 22 each for the 1-0 Hardhats. Dele Ojo Scored 17 and Al Stewart (5'10''-G-83, college: Drake) scored 15 points for the Court Kings, who start the season at 0-1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upcoming WBA Games:

Friday, May 30:
7:15pm Decatur Court Kings @ Buford Majic
7:15pm Mississippi Hardhats @ Memphis Blues

Saturday May 31:
7:15pm Cartersville Warriors @ Mississippi Hardhats
7:15pm Tri-State Crusaders @ Buford Majic

Sunday June 1:
4:00pm Cartersville Warriors @ Memphis Blues
4:00pm Buford Majic @ Decatur Court Kings

For more info visit http://wbaball.net or http://www.usbasket.com/wba/wba.asp





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Women News

*****************************************************
ANGOLA - Women

Spain chops up Angola -by Eurobasket News
Spain - Angola 71:39

Both Spain and Angola continued their preparation for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying tournament to be held in Madrid. Yesterday they met in Torneo Palencia. Spain faced little resistance from African team en route to a comfortable victory. Angola kept it close in the first frame before collapsing under the hosts pressure. Spain led 20:17 in the second quarter and drove to a 34:23 lead at halftime. The home side opened the second half with a 9:0 run to clear off to a safe distance and looked dominant from now on. They limited Angolan side to just 16 points in the second half and finalized a stunning victory at the end. Isabel Sanchez (178-G-76) led the action with 12 points. Laia Palau (178-G/F-79) contributed 11 points, while Lucila Pascua (196-C-83) provided 8 for the winners. Nassecela Mauricio (-F-80) answered with 16 points for Angola. Barbara Guimaraes (169-G-80) scored 6 points in defeat. Spain were without Amaya Valdemoro who missed both friendlies with Czech Republic due to a calf injury. Nuria Martinez was also unavailable for Spanish team in this one. Spain will take on New Zealand on May 30. On June 1 they will hosts Japan in the last friendly game before the Qualifying tournament.

Spain: Isabel Sanchez 12, Laia Palau 11, Lucila Pascua 8
Angola: Nassecela Mauricio 16, Barbara Guimaraes 6

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ARGENTINA - Women

Argentina routs Ecuador in Loja -by Eurobasket News
Ecuador - Argentina 46:98

Argentina continued their winning streak at the South American Championship. Hosting Ecuador became the second victim of the Argentinean squad falling short yesterday. The tournaments favorites marked their dominance right from the start. Argentina jumped ahead and rolled to a comfortable 30:11 lead after the opening stanza. The teams slowed down in the second term teaming up for just 15 points but it still allowed Argentina to stretch the gap to 24 points at the interval. Stephany Thomas (179-F-89) ignited another rally from Argentinean squad as they mounted the pressure and drove to a 66:33 advantage at three quarter time. Ecuador could not outscore Argentina in the final period and the favorites posted their second straight win. Stephany Thomas nailed 16 points to lead Argentina. Veronica Soberon (177-G/F-77) and Marcela Paoletta (170-G-79) provided 14 points apiece for the winners. Argentina improved on their free throw shooting which was woeful in the starting game. The team shot only 45% against Chile but managed 68% against Ecuador. Susana Jara (-80) answered with 14 points for Ecuador. Maria Espinoza (-83) knocked down 8 points as Ecuador fell to 0-2 record. Argentina will take on Brazil later tonight. Ecuador will seek for the initial victory against Venezuela.

Ecuador: Susana Jara 14, Maria Espinoza 8
Argentina: Stephany Thomas 16, Veronica Soberon 14, Marcela Paoletta 14

Argentina beats Ecuator -by Leonardo Contieri
Argentina won its second game in Ecuator, defeating home team 98-46 in the eve of the game against Brazil. Stephany Thomas Diaz was again the top scorer with 16 points and added 6 steals in only 19 minutes of play, Veronica Soberon added 14, Marcela Paoletta also scored 14 and Florencia Fernndez did a great job under the basket with 9 points and 10 rebounds while Constanza Landra added 9 points and 9 rebounds. Evelyn Jara Jara led the home team with 14 points and Andrea Muoz Saltos was the only other player to pass the ten point mark with 11. Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela are the three teams with a 2-0 record.

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BRAZIL - Women

Brazil marches past Colombia -by Eurobasket News
Brazil - Colombia 100:47

Brazilian team continued to roll confidently at the South American Championship in Loja, Ecuador. In the second round of the competition Brazil faced winless Colombia. The teams played evenly only in the first frame. Colombian team managed to keep it close and trailed by just 6 points after the opening period. However the things quickly turned the other way in the second period. Brazil limited their opponents to 7 points in the frame and stretched the advantage to 18 points. Paulo Bassul tried different players on the court but it never influenced the outcome. Brazilian players accounted for 33 points in the third period and cleared off to insurmountable 38 points before the fourth term. Colombia struggled to find the right rhythm and had to suffer the second defeat at the tournament. Brazil routed their opponents and remained at the top of the ladder together with Argentina and Venezuela. Soeli Garvao (187-C-77) notched 18 points and 7 boards to pace Brazil. Karla da Costa (173-G-78) had 17 points, while Chuca Ferreira (180-F/G-79) contributed 14 points for the winners. Londono answered with 10 points for Colombia. Elena Lopez delivered 9 points in a losing case. Brazil will take on Argentina in todays top-shelf battle.

Brazil: Soeli Garvao 18, Karla da Costa 17, Chuca Ferreira 14
Colombia: Londono 10, Elena Lopez 9

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BULGARIA - Women

Dunav Econt demolishes Lukoil Neftochimic -by Eurobasket News

Dunav Econt - Lukoil Neftochimic 80:37

It seemed that during the regular season both teams showed an expected intrigue in the country winning game by game in tough battles. In Game 2 of the Finals Dunav Econt demolished Lukoil Neftochimic 80:37 to take 2-0 record. The hosts dominated the whole game and won truthfully the campaign. Petja Djambazka (178-F-77) and Diana Naydenova (171-G-73, agency: Global Sports Plaza) led the winners with 15 points each. Svetla Asenova supported them with 12 points in a win. Nataliya Topalova (187-F-80) and Zornitza Kostova (176-G-82) both scored 8 points in defeat.
A disaster and 0-2 record in the Final was the result for Lukoil Neftochimic after two games on a road. Dunav Econt opened the game with 20:11 as both teams remained tough in the game. The second quarter was however the answer for a good defense from the hosts that used 25-5 for 45:16 lead at the half.
In the third period Dunav Econt produced 20:10 and still held the guests in defense. Another 15:11 in the last quarter saw 35:21 in the second half and as a total 80:37. Dunav Econt thrashed Lukoil Neftochimic and became too close to triumph in Bulgaria.

Game 3 is scheduled for May 27 and if Lukoil shows the same game it might be the last for them in the Final. Dunav is ready also to steal at least a win away from home to bring the trophy home.


Dunav Econt: Petja Djambazka 15, Diana Naydenova 15, Svetla Asenova 12
Lukoil Neftochimic: Nataliya Topalova 8, Zornitza Kostova 8, Radostina Slavova (186-F-86) 7



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COLOMBIA - Women

Brazil marches past Colombia -by Eurobasket News
Brazil - Colombia 100:47

Brazilian team continued to roll confidently at the South American Championship in Loja, Ecuador. In the second round of the competition Brazil faced winless Colombia. The teams played evenly only in the first frame. Colombian team managed to keep it close and trailed by just 6 points after the opening period. However the things quickly turned the other way in the second period. Brazil limited their opponents to 7 points in the frame and stretched the advantage to 18 points. Paulo Bassul tried different players on the court but it never influenced the outcome. Brazilian players accounted for 33 points in the third period and cleared off to insurmountable 38 points before the fourth term. Colombia struggled to find the right rhythm and had to suffer the second defeat at the tournament. Brazil routed their opponents and remained at the top of the ladder together with Argentina and Venezuela. Soeli Garvao (187-C-77) notched 18 points and 7 boards to pace Brazil. Karla da Costa (173-G-78) had 17 points, while Chuca Ferreira (180-F/G-79) contributed 14 points for the winners. Londono answered with 10 points for Colombia. Elena Lopez delivered 9 points in a losing case. Brazil will take on Argentina in todays top-shelf battle.

Brazil: Soeli Garvao 18, Karla da Costa 17, Chuca Ferreira 14
Colombia: Londono 10, Elena Lopez 9

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ECUADOR - Women

Argentina routs Ecuador in Loja -by Eurobasket News
Ecuador - Argentina 46:98

Argentina continued their winning streak at the South American Championship. Hosting Ecuador became the second victim of the Argentinean squad falling short yesterday. The tournaments favorites marked their dominance right from the start. Argentina jumped ahead and rolled to a comfortable 30:11 lead after the opening stanza. The teams slowed down in the second term teaming up for just 15 points but it still allowed Argentina to stretch the gap to 24 points at the interval. Stephany Thomas (179-F-89) ignited another rally from Argentinean squad as they mounted the pressure and drove to a 66:33 advantage at three quarter time. Ecuador could not outscore Argentina in the final period and the favorites posted their second straight win. Stephany Thomas nailed 16 points to lead Argentina. Veronica Soberon (177-G/F-77) and Marcela Paoletta (170-G-79) provided 14 points apiece for the winners. Argentina improved on their free throw shooting which was woeful in the starting game. The team shot only 45% against Chile but managed 68% against Ecuador. Susana Jara (-80) answered with 14 points for Ecuador. Maria Espinoza (-83) knocked down 8 points as Ecuador fell to 0-2 record. Argentina will take on Brazil later tonight. Ecuador will seek for the initial victory against Venezuela.

Ecuador: Susana Jara 14, Maria Espinoza 8
Argentina: Stephany Thomas 16, Veronica Soberon 14, Marcela Paoletta 14

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FRANCE - Women

Lawson starts for Stars -by Eurobasket News
Edwige Lawson (167-G-79) opened her WNBA season with San Antonio Silver Stars that recently beat the Seattle Storm in Texas 87:72. It was the sixth straight win for San Antonio over Seattle. Sophia Young fired 23 points and Becky Hammon contributed 20 for the winners. Helen Darling nailed 7 points to ignite a 9:0 run for the hosts as the Silver Stars accumulated a 30:17 lead at the end of the first term. The hosts enjoyed an 18-point buffer at the interval but the Storm refused to give up. They cut the deficit to 3 points late in the third quarter just to see Erin Buescher poured in consecutive trebles giving the home side a 62:53 advantage at the end of third period. Sophia Young nailed 10 points in the final stanza to ensure the winning outcome for the Silver Stars. Swin Cash responded with 15 points for Seattle. Lauren Jackson was limited to 14 points and 7 boards in a losing effort.
Before that the San Antonio Silver Stars rallied past hapless Phoenix 81:76 to hand over the second straight loss to reigning WNBA champs. Sophia Young fired 25 points to lead the San Antonio who were coming out of a sour season opener after losing to the Sacramento Monarchs. The Silver Stars held the visitors to a 2/15 field goal shooting in the second quarter and piled up an 11-point cushion at the interval. Phoenix stayed close in the second half and managed to trim the deficit to 6 points after Cappie Pondexter hit a trey midway through the final term. However the Silver Stars capitalized on a technical foul called on Diana Taurasi and stretched the gap to 9 points with just over 4 minutes left. Phoenix never recovered suffering the second consecutive loss in the regular season. Becky Hammon scored 14 points, while Erin Buescher added 13 for the winners. Cappie Pondexter dropped 23 points for the Mercury. Diana Taurasi contributed 20 in a loss. Edwige Lawson played her first minutes for the team will be ready to score soon.

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GERMANY - Women

Stats Leaders - Women
Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Tulikihihifo, Got. 19.5
2 Paunovic, Freiburg 18.9
3 Woods, Leipzig 18.8
4 Hibbert, Wass. 17.6
5 Carroll, Munchen 17.2
Rebounds Per Game
1 Dennett, Freiburg 9.9
2 Tulikihihifo, Got. 9.5
3 Triggs, Halle 9.4
4 Zberch, Chemnitz 8.8
5 Muller, Munchen 8.2
Assists Per Game
1 Pop, Wass. 5.8
2 Woods, Leipzig 4.8
3 Comtesse, Saar. 4.8
4 Mersch, Ober. 4.1
5 Austmann, Ober. 4.0
Steals Per Game
1 Hayes, Freiburg 3.9
2 Woods, Leipzig 3.9
3 Austmann, Ober. 3.7
Blocks Per Game
1 Lassiter, Wass. 1.8
2 Muller, Munchen 1.7
3 Dennett, Freiburg 1.3
2FGP
1 Furkova, Wass. 66.2
2 Ernest, Ober. 61.7
3 Triggs, Halle 58.6
3FGP
1 Berger, Wass. 57.1
2 Krug, Halle 50.0
3 Barker, Ober. 41.8
Free Throws
1 Carroll, Munchen 90.4
2 Nakase, Herner 88.4
3 Adlerova, Leipzig 88.2


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GREECE - Women

Eurobasket.com All-Greek League Awards 2007-08 -by Eurobasket
#s#
#e#6


Kalentzou


Davis


Kaltsidou


Queenan


Katopodi
Player of the Year: Dimitra Kalentzou (174-G-78) of Esperides Ravenna
Guard of the Year: Dimitra Kalentzou of Esperides Ravenna
Forward of the Year: LaToya Davis (186-F/C-84) of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Center of the Year: Stella Kaltsidou (187-C/F-83) of Esperides Ravenna
Newcomer of the Year: Evangelia Katopodi (188-F/C-87) of Iraklis Thessaloniki
Most Improved Player of the Year: Zoi Dimitrakou (188-F-87) of Megas Alexandros
Bosman Player of the Year: Tatiana Zotova (196-F-70) of Aris Holargos
Import Player of the Year: LaToya Davis of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Domestic Player of the Year: Dimitra Kalentzou of Esperides Ravenna
Defensive Player of the Year: Kimberly Williams (168-G-74) of Megas Alexandros
Coach of the Year: Alekos Daglas of Esperides

1st Team
Dimitra Kalentzou of Esperides Ravenna
Brooke Queenan (188-F-84) of Panionios
LaToya Davis of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Stella Kaltsidou of Esperides Ravenna
Evangelia Katopodi of Iraklis

2nd Team
Eshaya Murphy (180-G-85) of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Vasileia Gkouzini (175-G-75) of Athinaikos
Brooke Reeves (188-F-75) of Megas Alexandros
Zoi Dimitrakou of Megas Alexandros
Maria Samorukova (191-C-71) of Panionios

Honorable Mention
Erica Davis (191-C-85) of Esperides Ravenna
Katerina Spatharou (172-G-83) of Panathinaikos
Meg Tierney (190-F/C-81) of Sporting
Afroditi Kosma (187-F/C-83) of Athinaikos
Trisha Skibbe (191-F/C-81) of Panathinaikos
Aikaterina Deli (166-G-75) of Panionios
Athena Christoforakis (183-F-80) of Kastoria
Erika Quigley (188-C-84) of Siemens

All-Domestic Players Team
Dimitra Kalentzou of Esperides Ravenna
Vasileia Gkouzini of Athinaikos
Zoi Dimitrakou of Megas Alexandros
Stella Kaltsidou of Esperides Ravenna
Evangelia Katopodi of Iraklis

All-Imports Team
Erica Davis of Esperides Ravenna
LaToya Davis of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Meg Tierney of Sporting
Kimberly Williams of Megas Alexandros
Brooke Queenan of Panionios

All-Bosmans Team
Ligita Kinkeviciene (173-G-76) of Kastoria
Anne Flesland (174-G-82) of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Elena Belova (185-F-84) of Panathinaikos
Tatiana Zotova of Aris Holargos
Jovana Milovanovic (171-G-83) of AIAS Evosmou

All-Defensive Team
Kimberly Williams of Megas Alexandros
Vasileia Gkouzini of Athinaikos
Eshaya Murphy of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Nelly Bibiri (187-F-80) of Iraklis
Evangelia Katopodi of Iraklis

All-Newcomers Team
Aglaia Karadima (183-G-82) of Apollon Ptolemaidas
Magda Karabatzaki (180-G-82) of Siemens
Athena Christoforakis of Kastoria
Pelagia Papamichail (189-F/C-86) of Kastoria
Evangelia Katopodi of Iraklis

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HOLLAND - Women

Yellow Bike grabs 72:73 win away from home -by Eurobasket News
AutoCAD Amazone - Yellow Bike 72 - 73

The winner of the regular season grabbed 72:73 road win to tie the Final series over AutoCAD Amazone at 2-2. The team easily opened the game with 27:17 lead and then even increased to 12 points advantage. AutoCAD Amazone did not give up and produced a good second period to reduce to 34:37 at the half. Moreover the home side took 58:56 lead at the end of the third period. Yellow Bike used last push and won the game in the last seconds. Marloes Roetgerink (189-C-77) and Leonie Kooij (187-F-86) led the winners with 17 points each. Laura Kooij (183-F-82) netted 12 and Anna Vicenzetto (183-C/F-77) scored 10.
Game 5 is scheduled for May 27th.

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HUNGARY - Women

PLAY-OFF 2008 - Final: 2:1 Pecs have the chance again, because they beat Sopron! -by Adam Patonay
This final started like in the last year. Just now Sopron and not Pecs stared with 2:0, but Pecs could won at home court. Usually 4-5.000 fans wait the teams in Lauber Dezso Arena, but now it' sonly was 2.500. Mizo started fantastic with excellent defense. Fegyverneky and Podrug was fantastic and they have the chance again for the title. Next game in Sopron at wednesday.

Mizo Pecs 2010 - MKB Euroleasing Sopron 62:49
(21-10, 21-18, 15-5, 12-9)
Pecs: Ivanyi 5, Zsofia Fegyverneky (178-G-84) 19/6, Podrug 14, Vajda A. 6, Coelho G. 14. Sub.: Richter D. -, Krivacevic T. 8, Somogyi A. -, Mszros K. 3/3, Kopcsi B. -, Kovts N. -
Sopron: Nmeth B. 5, Honti K. 2, Gorbunova O. 8, Krolyi A. 2, Branzova A. 7 Sub.: Erdgh E. -, Horti D. 7, Milovanovic J. 7, Semsei B. -, Horvth Zs. 4, Kocsis B. -

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SEYCHELLES - Women

HotShots take care of Stars -by Carlos Pereira
Earlier in the day, HotShots used a huge fourth-quarter performance during which they outscored Anse Etoile Stars to hand the Womens defending champions their first loss.

Anse Etoile Stars 46 HotShots 57

They achieved the same feat last season only to lose by a bigger margin difference to the defending champions in the second leg encounter. This time HotShots do not want history to repeat itself because they know they can decide their destiny.

Weve done it. We won by an 11-point margin a much bigger margin than last year. It HotShots Solin (dribbling) scored a game-leading 18 points in the 57-46 win over Starsputs us in a good situation and we hope to make the league title ours this year, said HotShots captain and centre Tina Agathine after Saturdays 57-46 win.
The victory came a day after HotShots Seychelles international player Beguitta Fontaine gave birth to a baby girl.
Trailing by four points 31-35 at the end of the third quarter, HotShots doubled their determination in the fourth during which they scored 26 points 12 of those through international power forward Myra Solin who finished with a game-leading 18 points.
With four treys for 12 of her 16 points, Jenita Toussaint was HotShots second best scorer, while Agathine added 13.
The Anse Boileau-based team, who lost the second quarter 9-21, won the first, third and fourth 10-9, 12-5 and 26-11 respectively to bring their points tally to six.
Skipper Simone Malbrook had the hot hands for the Stars with 16 points and Genevive Beaudoin added 13.
Meanwhile, in another womens league match played last week, Mont Fleuri got 26 points from skipper Bernadette Songor in a 74-35 defeat of Cadettes who were led in scoring by Veena Panagary with 15 points, including four treys.

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SOUTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - Women

South American Championship. Day 2 -by Eurobasket News
Brazil - Colombia 100:47
Brazilian team continued to roll confidently at the South American Championship in Loja, Ecuador. In the second round of the competition Brazil faced winless Colombia. The teams played evenly only in the first frame. Colombian team managed to keep it close and trailed by just 6 points after the opening period. However the things quickly turned the other way in the second period. Brazil limited their opponents to 7 points in the frame and stretched the advantage to 18 points. Paulo Bassul tried different players on the court but it never influenced the outcome. Brazilian players accounted for 33 points in the third period and cleared off to insurmountable 38 points before the fourth term. Colombia struggled to find the right rhythm and had to suffer the second defeat at the tournament. Brazil routed their opponents and remained at the top of the ladder together with Argentina and Venezuela. Soeli Garvao (187-C-77) notched 18 points and 7 boards to pace Brazil. Karla da Costa (173-G-78) had 17 points, while Chuca Ferreira (180-F/G-79) contributed 14 points for the winners. Londono answered with 10 points for Colombia. Elena Lopez delivered 9 points in a losing case. Brazil will take on Argentina in todays top-shelf battle.

Brazil: Soeli Garvao 18, Karla da Costa 17, Chuca Ferreira 14
Colombia: Londono 10, Elena Lopez 9


Ecuador - Argentina 46:98
Argentina continued their winning streak at the South American Championship. Hosting Ecuador became the second victim of the Argentinean squad falling short yesterday. The tournaments favorites marked their dominance right from the start. Argentina jumped ahead and rolled to a comfortable 30:11 lead after the opening stanza. The teams slowed down in the second term teaming up for just 15 points but it still allowed Argentina to stretch the gap to 24 points at the interval. Stephany Thomas (179-F-89) ignited another rally from Argentinean squad as they mounted the pressure and drove to a 66:33 advantage at three quarter time. Ecuador could not outscore Argentina in the final period and the favorites posted their second straight win. Stephany Thomas nailed 16 points to lead Argentina. Veronica Soberon (177-G/F-77) and Marcela Paoletta (170-G-79) provided 14 points apiece for the winners. Argentina improved on their free throw shooting which was woeful in the starting game. The team shot only 45% against Chile but managed 68% against Ecuador. Susana Jara (-80) answered with 14 points for Ecuador. Maria Espinoza (-83) knocked down 8 points as Ecuador fell to 0-2 record. Argentina will take on Brazil later tonight. Ecuador will seek for the initial victory against Venezuela.

Ecuador: Susana Jara 14, Maria Espinoza 8
Argentina: Stephany Thomas 16, Veronica Soberon 14, Marcela Paoletta 14


Venezuela - Chile 101:92

Standings
A Standings
 1. ARG 2-0 
 2. BRA 2-0 
 3. VEN 2-0 
 4. CHI 0-2 
 5. COL 0-2 
 6. ECU 0-2 


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SPAIN - Women

Current ACB Movers and Shakers -by Paul Nilsen
There has been plenty of movement in the market in recent days in the ACB but one person who has yet to confirm his intention is Sergio Scariolo, head coach of Unicaja Malaga. The Italian has been at the helm for over 300 games during his five season reign and it had been widely expected that he would step down after the season ended with Sundays shock semi-final loss against Tau.

However Scariolo is insisting that he will take his time before deciding whether he takes uop the option of another year on the South Coast or whether he plumps for no doubt many other offers that could come his way.

Both of the leagues orange teams have been sorting out their rosters in some depth with minnows Fuenlabrada having to again wheel and deal in the market with their limited resources to survive again. They have already lost their star prospect Saul Blanco who has made the move to Pamesa Valencia in a real blow for the Madrid club.

Blanco is expected to be joined on next years Pamesa roster by big man Ermal Kuqo, as the 28 year old will sign a two year deal subject to a medical later this week. Kuqo comes into the ACB having played in Turkey with Fenherbace and Efes Pilsen while he also has experience of the Adricatic League with Split.

Perhaps most importantly of all for the Valencians is that they have secured the contract of the prolific scoring Ruben Douglas for another season with the media and rumours in Spain claiming that the club are chasing Walter Herrman who has been on the fringes of Detroit Pistons action this year. On the subject of the NBA and Valencia one player who wont be in the club next season is Croatian Stanko Barac who was drafted by Miami Heat. The player signed for Tau Ceramica and has been on loan since late 2007 but will not stay with Pamesa.

Back to Fuenlabrada and with Blanco gone they have been trying to sign up Tom Wideman and Salvador Guardia but things arent looking too good. Guardia has apparently indicated that he will not continue although the club have insisted that the door will remain open while there are fears that they will not be able to meet the salary demands of Wideman who has been arguably their most consistent performer in recent years.

Jose Javier Jiminez the director of the club has also indicated interest in highly respected Spanish Junior Coach Luis Guil as a replacement for the departed head coach of Fuenla Luis Casimiro. Jiminez admitted he was an admirer of the play-caller but stopped short of declaring he would be the number one choice or had been offered the job.

At least the good news for Fuenla fans is that the club are making moves off the court with revelations that their income has been increased last season although still arguably miniscule by ACB standards.

Highly rated Juan Triguero (208-C-83) appears to be on the verge of a move from one end of Andalucia to the other after committing his future to the ACB. He is expected to leave Polaris World Murcia after three years at the club to move to Cajasol in Seville. His potential is huge but maybe his numbers havent been as good as they should have been. Seville will become his sixth club in a career that included a summer league with Orlando Magic.

Finally poor old Lazaros Papadopoulos continues to get in in the neck from some Madrid fans for his disappointing first season in the capital although many fans are now seemingly seeing the Greek center as a scapegoat when in truth there were many players at fault. It seems when the Whites have a major disappointment, the post mortem lasts not days but weeks and I suspect months.

Spain chops up Angola -by Eurobasket News
Spain - Angola 71:39

Both Spain and Angola continued their preparation for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying tournament to be held in Madrid. Yesterday they met in Torneo Palencia. Spain faced little resistance from African team en route to a comfortable victory. Angola kept it close in the first frame before collapsing under the hosts pressure. Spain led 20:17 in the second quarter and drove to a 34:23 lead at halftime. The home side opened the second half with a 9:0 run to clear off to a safe distance and looked dominant from now on. They limited Angolan side to just 16 points in the second half and finalized a stunning victory at the end. Isabel Sanchez (178-G-76) led the action with 12 points. Laia Palau (178-G/F-79) contributed 11 points, while Lucila Pascua (196-C-83) provided 8 for the winners. Nassecela Mauricio (-F-80) answered with 16 points for Angola. Barbara Guimaraes (169-G-80) scored 6 points in defeat. Spain were without Amaya Valdemoro who missed both friendlies with Czech Republic due to a calf injury. Nuria Martinez was also unavailable for Spanish team in this one. Spain will take on New Zealand on May 30. On June 1 they will hosts Japan in the last friendly game before the Qualifying tournament.

Spain: Isabel Sanchez 12, Laia Palau 11, Lucila Pascua 8
Angola: Nassecela Mauricio 16, Barbara Guimaraes 6

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TUNISIA - Women

The ES Cap Bon is the new Tunisia Champion -by Carlos Pereira
For the first time in his history the Espoir Sportif du Cap Bon is national champion.
ESCB was born at 1994 in the Nabeulian zone.
Only in the 2002/2003 season ESCB are at First Division.
In the second game of the play off finals, ESCP beat away the last champion CSS by 65-58.
Results by quarters
10' - 16-16
half time - 34-32 to CSS
30' - 46- 49 to ESCB
40'- 65-58 to ESCB.

Best players
From ESCB - Maya Tereira (from Mali) and Maha Chelli