EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 5/28/2008

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Men News

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ANGOLA

Tresor Quidome wins another title -by Eurobasket News
Tresor Quidome (192-G-80, agency: Interperformances) and his 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 notched 16 points to lead the charge. Dave Esterkamp dropped 14 points, while Harold Mrazek and Erroyl Bing scored 12 points apiece for the winners. The hosts sank 36% from the field and pulled down 35 boards including 12 offensive ones.
In Game 2 Fribourg made a huge step towards defending their LNA title when they held off brave Lugano away from home. The win marked a 2-0 lead for Fribourg in the best-of-five series. The Tigers now have their backs against the wall prior to could-be decisive road game with Fribourg on May 24. Lugano had little to test the visitors with in the second game. The reigning champions quickly jumped to a lead and wisely kept the hosts at bay in the first period. Well-balanced offense from Fribourg often confounded their opponents and Lugano found themselves trailing by 10 after the starting frame. The things slightly changed in the second quarter as Lugano fixed their defensive redoubts and managed to outscore the visitors 17:16 to remain down by 9 points at halftime. Fribourg however quickly responded with their own defensive excellence as they limited the hosts to 10 points in the third stanza for a 13-point buffer heading into the final part of the game. The Tigers were not ready to come up with some breakthrough and failed to cut the gap. Fribourg kept it cool throughout the dying minutes and sealed the winning outcome from free throw line. Tresor Quidome led the action with 16 points and 7 assists. Pascal Perrier-David notched 16 points, while Marcus Sloan and Erroyl Bing dropped 10 points apiece in a win. Bing added game-high 15 boards to his tally.

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AZERBAIJAN

Basak Rasim scores 6 points in the first final game -by Eurobasket News
Rasim Basak (202-F-80, agency: Court Side) scores 6 points in the first final game for his Turkish team. 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 and Tarence Kinsey led the winners with 15 points. Oguz Savas and James White netted 12 each, while Semih Erden collected 10 points and 10 rebounds. Erwin Dudley 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.

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BELGIUM

D1 Finals: Spirou Charleroi Wins Game 1 -by Steven Van puyvelde
In Belgian's first division the finals of the play-offs started today, and these finals are played between flemish team Euphony Bree and Uleb-cup participator TEC Spirou Charleroi. Because of the home court advantage the first game was played at the Expodroom in front of 3.900 people. But it where the visitors-fans that celebrated the most after the game, Charleroi leads the series now with 0-1 after a very close first game that ended finally in a 71- 75 score. And this after playing one overtime at a 66-66 score after regular time.

From the beginning the game was very intensive and both teams fought for every ball, in the tirth minute of the first quarter there was a litlle gap of 7 points caused by a stong playing Wes Wilkinson (206-F-84, college: Nebraska) . But Bree controlled the game and fought back immediatly and this under the reign of the experienced Odell Hodge (203-F/C-73, college: ODU) and Doron Doron Perkins (188-G-83, college: Santa Clara) (188-G-83, college: Santa Clara). From then the game was very tight and the second quarter ended at a 30-31 score. After the break Euphony Bree played superb and grabbed the lead with 8 points in front of the local supporters, Michael Michael Meeks (207-C/F-72, college: Canisius) (207-C/F-72, college: Canisius) came from the bench then and showed to be ideal role-player with some good long-distance shots. At the end of regular playing-time Charleroi came back and at the end of the 4th period American guard Matt Walsh (197-F/G-82, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Florida) tied the game with a nice three-point shot.

In overtime TEC Spirou Charleroi showed his big quality and finally they took the victory to Wallonia, we are already looking forward to the next game that will be played in Charleroi now. Probably there will be a very motivated Euphony Bree coming on the court on thursday, and i wouldn't be surprised if they tie the series to 1-1.

Euphony Bree:Perkins 16, Hodge 5, Fisher 16, Jacobsen 13, Lynch 9, Meeks 12
TEC Spirou Charleroi:Johnson 12, Matela 8, Walsh 11, Tabu 5, Wilkinson 15, Moors 4, Darden 5, Beghin 3, Roddick 7, Hamilton 5

Antwerp Giants News -by Peter Buyse

It seems Brandon Gay (203-F-82, college: San Diego) the Antwerp Giants leading scorer will also be part of the roster for the upcoming season. According to the team's management Gay had a contract of 1 year with an option for second year. The player had till 10 days after the end of the regular season to notify the team he did not want to return to Antwerp for the 2008-2009 season. According to Antwerp none of the parties used the escape clause.
In his first year in Belgium after having played 2 years in Germany he had averages of 14.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg in the Belgian League.
In the 10 games he played in the ULEB cup he averaged 13.8 and 3.7 rpg.
Brandon was voted team MVP by the Giants fanclub.

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BOSNIA

Kenan Bajramovic is close to leave Lietuvos Rytas -by Eurobasket News
Power forward of Lietuvos Rytas and Bosnian National Team, Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81, agency: Beo Basket), most probably will leave Lithuanian team.

Bajramovic with his team reached final of play-off in Lithuanian championship as well as in Baltic league. In Euroleague Lietuvos advanced to Top 16 but didn't succeed to qualify for the quarterfinals. Bajramovic has a very good season behind him. For 19 games in Euroleague he averaged 11.1 ppg and 5.7 rpg while for 18 appearances in Lithuanian championship he had 12 ppg and 5 rpg. He also got couple of important awards for the previous season. He is named to be the Eurobasket.com All-Baltic League Forward of the Year -08 as well as Eurobasket.com All-Lithuanian LKL Bosman Player of the Year -08.

But despite Lietuvos Rytas made good results and was a champion of regular season in Baltic and Lithuanian league, according to interview which Bajramovic gave to Bosnian media he is close to leave the team.

'It was one of my best seasons so far, maybe the best one. I made a debut in Euroleague and I think I showed good performance. Further plans? I have a valid contract with Lietuvos but I have an option if some other team wants to pay buy-out fee I will be able to leave. In fact, I will most probably do that.' - said Bajramovic.

As his next destination Bajramovic mentioned that it could be Russia but he did not exclude any other combination. 'I have couple of options for the next season but I didn't made a decision yet' - said Bajramovic. He also confirmed that he has a strong willingness to be included in all future projects of Bosnian National Team.

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BRAZIL

Troubles for Brazil before qualifications for Olympic Games -by Eurobasket News
National Team of Brazil is faced with a lot of problems before qualifications for Olympic Games in Peking, which will take a place in Athens.

Member of NBA team Phoenix Suns and the best player of Brazilian National Team, Leandrinho Barbosa (190-G-82), probably won't be able to help his country in order to qualify for the Olympic Games in Peking. Barbosa suffered knee injury at the beginning of NBA play-off series. After couple of examinations it is clear that Barbosa's injury is serious and he most probably won't be able to play in Athens.

Anderson Varejao (205-C-82) of Cleveland Cavaliers also suffered knee injury during the game against Boston Celtics. He already missed 38 games in NBA and he did not recover yet.

Brazilian National Team for sure can not count on Nene Hilario (207-C-82) of Denver Nugets, who underwent tumor surgery and didn't play for the entire season.

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CROATIA

Play-off final: Zadar easily takes 1-0 lead -by Eurobasket News
Zadar - Split CO 76-52
Zadar exploited home court advantage and easily beat Split at the first game of the play-off final 76-52 (best-of-five). Players of head coach Petrovic played furious first stanza making 9-0 run. Very soon the hosts extended its lead to double digits, 16-6. Split's head coach Slobodan Subotic called a time out after what Split answered with 8-0 coming on minus 2. Head coach of Zadar Aleksandar Petrovic done the same thing as Subotic and it was successful move. Zadar finished first period of the game 23-14. The hosts played even better second quarter. After 3-pointer by Shammell Stallworth (197-F-80, agency: Interperformances, college: USF) in 15th minute, Zadar set the score on 39-18. After Shammell Stallworth's points it was clear that Split won't have any chance to make a surprise in hall Jazine, which was once again was fulfilled until the last seat. Zadar played very aggressive defense in first 20 minutes of the game after what they scored many easy baskets. They totally stopped Split's key player Marlon Garnett let him to score his first points in 20th minute. The hosts entered into the third quarter not so aggressive, what is natural after such a big advantage in the first half. Split made 9-0 run and came on 51-35. But in 26th minute Gecevski started another Zadar's run which brought them plus 20 again. Later, Zadar totally devastated Split touching plus 30, 72-42.
Juby Johnson (196-G-81, college: Miami, OH) paced the winners adding 14 points and 4 board. Shammell Stallworth finished the game with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Deian Ivanov (205-C-86) of Split had double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds.


Zadar - Split CO 76-52
(23-14,28-12, 12-15,13-11)

Zadar: Johnson 14 (4 st), Stallworth 12 (6 rebs), Barac 11 (4 rebs, 4 as, 4 st)
Split: Ivanov 15 (11 rebs), Peric 13 (7 rebs)

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FRANCE

Standings - ProB
ProB Standings
 1. Bourg 23-11 
 2. Rouen 23-11 
 3. Poitiers 22-12 
 4. Limoges 21-13 
 5. Saint-Etienne 20-14 
 6. Nanterre 19-15 
 7. Nantes 19-15 
 8. Evreux 18-16 
 9. Maurienne 18-16 
 10. Besancon 18-16 
 11. Brest 17-17 
 12. Quimper 15-19 
 13. Le Portel 14-20 
 14. Boulazac 14-20 
 15. St.Quentin 14-20 
 16. St.Vallier 13-21 
 17. Chalons 12-22 
 18. Reims 6-28 


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GERMANY

Goettingen: Jacobson and Dill receive contract extension -by Moritz Korff
The BG 74 Goettingen players Ben Jacobson (188-G-83, agency: Octagon, college: N.Iowa) and Robert Dill (207-F-82, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Lafayette) have earned contract-extension. Both signed for one more season with the Bundesliga-side. Jacobson joined the Violets' roster in January 08 after a short stint at Mitteldeutscher BC. He appeared in 17 games for Goettingen and averaged 9.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists a game. Dill got only limited playing time (close to 8 minutes per game) and averaged 2.7 points in 25 matches.

News from Phoenix Hagen -by Daniel Poerschke
Phoenix Hagen of the 2. Bundesliga Pro A made some more player personell decisions: Lukas Dawidowski (198-F-83) will not return to the Firebirds for the upcoming season. The club and the player came to an agreement, to cancel the option for 2008/09. Back-Up Center Oliver Kreiter (208-C-87) will not return as well.
Meanwhile the club announced, that Youngster Dominik Spohr (200-F-89) will stay in Hagen. Also the Phoenix Hagen Juniors Thorben Paulsen (189-G-90), Max Schulze-Pals (200-F-90) and Yannick Opitz (185-G-90) will be part of team for next year.

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GREECE

Yannis Tzimas agreed terms with AS Trikalla for another year. -by Simon Varvakis
Yannis Tzimas continues as the head coach at the bench of AS Trikalla after leading the team to the A1 league. The team of AS Trikalla were the champions of A2 league this year. The administration of AS Trikalla expressed their confidence in the skills of Yannis Tzimas and announced the renewal of his contract for another year. The coach came to the team 1.5 years ago and led the team to play in the A1 league. Yannis Tzimas thanked the president and the administration for the vote of confidence and he mentioned that the team will start getting organised in professional level so that it's ready tto play in the big league. The planning of the roster for new season has begun already.

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GUINEA

U-18 Zone 2 qualifying tournament concluded -by Kristian Santiago

Men
Results:

Game n1. Guinea vs Mali :37-55 (14-28)
Game n2. Mauritania vs Senegal: 42- 51 (21-24)
Game n3. Guinea vs Mauritania: 51-43 (31-25)
Game n4. Senegal vs Mali : 36-59 (20-30)
Game n5. Mauritania vs Mali : 47-58 (32-38)
Game n6. Senegal vs Guinea : 53-50 (24-25)

Final Standings:


1.Mali : 6 points
2. Senegal : 5 points
3. Guinea : 4 points
4. Mauritania : 3 points

Women

Results:

Game n1. Guinea vs Mali : 32-75 (11-38)
Game n2. Mali vs Guinea: 42-33 (20-14)

Final Standings:

1. Mali : 4 points
2. Guinea : 2 points


Mali and Guinea will represent the zone 2 at the 10th edition of African U18 Championships for women to be held from 02nd to 10th October 2008 in Tunis, Tunisia.
Mali and Senegal will represent the zone 2 at the 16th edition of African U18 Championships for men to be held from 16th to 25th October 2008 in Cairo, Egypt.



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GUYANA

Ifill shines among Asias brightest stars -by Kristian Santiago
By Kiev Chesney (Starbroek News)

After shinning as one of the premier scorers in the Asian Basketball League, Andrew Ifill (197-G/F-79) has returned home for a breath of fresh air during the off-season break.
The 197cm (66) small forward played his rookie international basketball season with the Saudi Arabians An Naser Riyadh basketball team with whom he signed a one-year deal last October.
When I joined the team in late October, the season had already started and my coach told me that I have a lot of work to do, Ifill told Stabroek Sport in an exclusive interview.
The former Bounty Colts player did not back down from the challenge and instantly assumed the role of the primary scorer for his team.
The result was him finishing the season with an average 25 points per game (PPG), 10 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 2.75 steals.
It was no easy task for me to get those numbers among some of Asias and Europes best players but I knew that I had the talent and I worked real hard over the years to get there so it was just a matter of me getting the work done when I got the opportunity, he recounted Ifill also revealed that the he had received offers from a few other teams in the league and may be changing teams depending on how lucrative the offers are.
Like the other international leagues, the Asian League has many former NBA players such as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (186-G-69, college: LSU) also known as Chris Jackson.
Ifill said that he thought his game had improved tremendously from playing professional basketball.
I have learnt lot from the experience of playing there because the fundamentals of the players are extremely high, he said.
However, I recognized that many of the players are not as athletic as the players in the NBA [National Basketball Association] and in some cases as some of the players that we have right here in Guyana.
Since I have been back I keep telling people that we have many players that can make it to play basketball professionally if they get the chance, he declared.
I have seen it with my own two eyes; we have a lot of talent here but only a few get the chance to shine abroad. I think that if sports in general and more specifically basketball in Guyana get more attention from the government our athletes can really go places, He said.
After discovering his love for the game at age seven, Ifill grew into one of the most promising `ballers that this country has produced.
He confessed that after being on the team which captured the Inter-Guiana Games title in 1996, he became determined to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional basketball player.
Ifill plans to focus on strength and speed training in the off-season followed by ball handling work as the break comes to a close.
He said that without persons who had helped and supported him from the start, including his family, his coach Phillip George, his fans, Rhondell Murphy, Godfrey Munroe, and Anthony de Hart it would not have been possible for him to achive his dream of playing professional basketball.
As far as making the jump to the NBA is concerned, Ifill said he would leave the negotiations up to his agents and would remain focused on trying to dominate in that league until an opportunity presents itself.

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HOLLAND

Darnell Wilson from Landstede Zwolle to Matrixx Magixx -by Fred Roggen

Forward Darnell Wilson (198-F-85, college: Canisius), this season League-topscorer in the FEB Eredivisie, moved from Landstede Zwolle to the Matrixx Magixx in Nijmegen.
The 23-year old Wilson signed a contract for two seasons with the Magixx's. Wilson, former member of Canisius College, averaged 19.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season.
Coach Michael Schuurs: Darnell is a very excellent creating player, who can play on the small as on the power forwardposition.



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INDONESIA

A Mild IBL Final 2008 -by Lola Abas

In 2008 season Indonesia Basketball League, Satria Muda Britama proved that they are the best team in Indonesia. Within 3 times successively grabbed the IBL A Mild Trophy.

After beat Bhinneka in semifinals, satria Muda Britama goes to final against Garuda Bandung.

There were tight games between Satria Muda Britama and Garuda Bandung.

After 2 points ahead in the 1st and 2nd games in Jakarta for Satria Muda, Garuda won by a nose and stole 1 point in the 3rd game in Bandung. But at the 4th game, Garuda should admit Satria Muda Britama.

Totally all four games are really hard games, but there were really interesting games.

All IBL teams should watch for Garuda Bandung in the next IBL seasons.

Below is the list of Satria Muda Britama players:

1. Ronny Gunawan (191-F/C-80)
2. Faisal Ahmad (180-G-81)
3. Wahyu Jati (189-F-77)
4. Wendha Wijaya (182-G-82)
5. Amin Prihantono (188-F-82)
6. Wellyanson Situmorang (188-F-82)
7. Anangga Kurniawan (185-F-84)
8. Youbel Sondakh (188-F-84)
9. Christian Ronaldo Sitepu (198-F/C-86)
10. Agung Sunarko (177-G-76)
11. Bobby Juneidi (186-G-86)

12. Teguh Arifianto (180-G-80)



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IRAN

Iran loses to Italy in the European tour opener -by Eurobasket News
Iran - Italy 56:77

Iran started their European tour as they plan to play five games in Italy in the upcoming weeks. Iranian National team opened the series against Italy and fell short at the end. Iran will play against the same opponents today before playing versus Algeria, Croatia and once again Italy at the international tournament from May 28 through May 31. Iran have already qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing as the winner of the Asia Championship last year. They will play in Group A alongside Argentina, Australia, Russia and Lithuania.
Iran struggled right from the start in the game as the hosts ran away to a 12-point distance at the end of the first stanza. The things hardly improve for Asian outfit in the second period as experimental Italian squad stretched the gap to as many as 21 points at halftime. Iran dominated the paint due to impressive performance from Hamed Hadadi (218-C-85, agency: Huss Sport Agency) however Italy got too many open looks and enjoyed a 24-point buffer before the fourth term. Italy maintained the lead throughout the final quarter and sealed the winning outcome at the end of the game. Bruno Cerella (194-F-86) scored 15 points to pace Italian side. Andrea Cinciarini (191-G-86) poured in 13 points, while Luigi Datome (202-G/F-87) had 9 for the winners. Iman Zandi (186-G-81) answered with 10 points. Hamed Hadadi contributed 8 points and 11 boards in a losing effort. Iran outrebounded the hosts 37:34 but sank 38% from the field and issued only 6 assists. The second game is scheduled for today in Alba Adriatica.

Iran: Iman Zandi 10, Hamed Hadadi 8+11 boards, Rezaee 9
Italy: Bruno Cerella 15, Andrea Cinciarini 13, Luigi Datome 9

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ITALY

Italy defeats Iran -by Gianni Pascucci
A young Team Italy prevailed over Iran 77-56 in Alba Adriatica. The game was the first of a long series of test matches that will allow coach Carlo Recalcati to find some new names for the National Team, and to prepare as best as possible the Qualification Round to Eurobasket '09. Debuting ITA-ARG Bruno Cerella (194-F-86) scored 15 point to lead the Azzurri, Daniele Cinciarini (194-G-83, agency: Interperformances) added 13 pts and Luigi Datome (202-G/F-87) 9 at the winning side, while the Iran team was led by Iman Zandi (186-G-81) with 10 pts and Hooman Rezaei (207-C-81) with 9 pts. Hamed Hadadi (218-C-85, agency: Huss Sport Agency) scored 8 pts and grabbed11 rebounds, helping his team to ourebound Italy 37-34. Italy will play again Italy tonigh in Campli.

Montepaschi Siena to the finals -by Stefano Pini
Montepaschi SI-Armani J. MI 99-76 (aggregate 3-0)
Montepaschi Siena is the first team qualified for the finals. Siena is continuining his winning streak in the playoff: 6-0 in two rounds. But we've to appreciate what Armani Jeans has done in this season and his this series. Romain Sato (194-G-81, college: Xavier) played an amazing game 3, erasing Gallinari and scoring 21 points (8/8 by 2p.). The natural MVP of the league Ksystof Lavrinovic (210-C-79) added 22 points and 8 rebounds. In the playoff he's averaging 18,3 points (in 25,2 minutes) 6,9 rebs, 1 block and 2,2 steals. Siena shooted very well in this game (13/26 by 3p) without unforced errors (9 turnovers). Armani Jeans for 25' was in the game, with the pride and the talent of his starting five. Honorable mention for Melvin Booker (185-G-72, college: Missouri) that played 38' scoring 12 points with 3 assists. Milano's future (Will Giorgio Armani become the owner of the team and not only a sponsor? Will Danilo Gallinari (206-G/F-88, agency: Players Group) stay antoher year in Milano as leader in Euroleague or will he fly in NBA, dreaming New York and Mike D'Antoni?) will be clear in the next weeks. Tonight Lottomatica Roma will try to reach Montepaschi Siena to the finals.

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KUWAIT

Johnson signs for Al Sahel -by Ali Ahmed
Al Sahel basketball team management agreed terms with the American forward Dalron Johnson to play for them the final four .




Add depth to the forward position. Outstanding potential. He is a quick forward that can run the floor, shoots the ball and has a nice touch around the basket. He possesses great ability to go to the offensive boards.





Awards/Achievements:
Named HS second-team overall division and first-team all-League (El Camino Real) -99
All-Mountain West Newcomer Team -00
Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year -00
MWC Tournament Finalist -02
All-MWC 1st Team -02
Baltic League All-Star Game -06, 07
Baltic League Quarterfinals -06
Latvian League Regular Season Champion -06
Latvian League Champion -06

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LITHUANIA

Kadziulis moves to Siauliai -by Erildas Budraitis
After the end of the LKL season Siauliai signed new player. The team from Siauliai signed the Atlas Star guard Gintaras Kadziulis (193-G-80). The 28 year old lithuanian averaged 11,2 points, 3 boards and 2,4 assists in the Poland league. Kadziulis has already played in Atlas Star, Panevezys, Lietuvos rytas, Alytus, Ural Great, Anwil and Kager. Kadziulis in the Siauliai team will replace previous point guard Marius Prekevicius.

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MALI

U-18 Zone 2 qualifying tournament concluded -by Kristian Santiago

Men
Results:

Game n1. Guinea vs Mali :37-55 (14-28)
Game n2. Mauritania vs Senegal: 42- 51 (21-24)
Game n3. Guinea vs Mauritania: 51-43 (31-25)
Game n4. Senegal vs Mali : 36-59 (20-30)
Game n5. Mauritania vs Mali : 47-58 (32-38)
Game n6. Senegal vs Guinea : 53-50 (24-25)

Final Standings:


1.Mali : 6 points
2. Senegal : 5 points
3. Guinea : 4 points
4. Mauritania : 3 points

Women

Results:

Game n1. Guinea vs Mali : 32-75 (11-38)
Game n2. Mali vs Guinea: 42-33 (20-14)

Final Standings:

1. Mali : 4 points
2. Guinea : 2 points


Mali and Guinea will represent the zone 2 at the 10th edition of African U18 Championships for women to be held from 02nd to 10th October 2008 in Tunis, Tunisia.
Mali and Senegal will represent the zone 2 at the 16th edition of African U18 Championships for men to be held from 16th to 25th October 2008 in Cairo, Egypt.



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NBA

Detroit nips Boston to tie series -by Eurobasket News
Detroit - Boston 94:75

The Detroit Pistons took care of business in the fourth game of the Eastern conference finals against Boston to square things up. The teams now move back to Massachusetts for the fifth game. Antonio McDyess (6'9''-F-74, college: Alabama) came up with one of his best performance in the year tallying 21 point and 16 rebounds to propel the Pistons to a vital series-evening victory. Richard Hamilton (6'7''-G-78, college: Connecticut) contributed 20 points, while Rasheed Wallace (6'10''-F/C-75, college: N.Carolina) had 14 for the winning side. The hosts marked their intentions early on scoring 10 unanswered points to open the encounter. Boston however kept it close and trailed by just 5 at the end of the frame. The Pistons made another run at the start of the second period igniting an 11:2 rally and then drove to a 43:39 advantage at halftime. The Celtics stayed at a striking distance throughout the next two quarters but Detroit managed to maintain the lead. Paul Pierce (6'7''-F-77, college: Kansas) poured in a layup for the visitors to trail by 5 points with less than 5 minutes left. However Rasheed Wallace scored two free throws and Chauncey Billups drained a three-pointer to make it a 10-point game with under 3 minutes remaining. Boston never recovered suffering their 7th road loss in the postseason. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (6'10''-F-76) came up with 16 points apiece for the Celtics. Ray Allen and James Posey scored 11 points each in defeat. Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday in Boston. The sixth game will be played on Friday back in Motown.

Detroit: Antonio McDyess 21+16 boards, Richard Hamilton 20, Rasheed Wallace 14
Boston: Kevin Garnett 16, Paul Pierce 16

Noah Arrested on Charges of Marijuana -by Bryan Floyd
Florida star Joakim Noah with possession of marijuana and having an open container of alcohol.Gainesville police spokesman Sgt. Rick Roberts says Noah was arrested around 1:50 a.m. Sunday after an officer spotted him on a sidewalk holding a plastic cup containing an amber drink, a violation of city law. During a search at the station, officers found marijuana in his pocket.Noah was released after signing a notice to appear before a judge -- standard procedure for such offenses. He could face up to 6 months in jail and a $500 fine for the marijuana charge.Noah led the Gators to consecutive national championships before being selected ninth overall in last June's draft by the Bulls. He averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 74 games as a rookie.Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam said general manager John Paxson 'did express to Joakim his disappointment in his actions this weekend' and added: 'Until we gather further information on this situation, we won't be making any further comment.'

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NCAA3

Eagles' Hammond to play professionally in Germany -by Moritz Korff
Like many kids growing up in Brooklyn, Doug Hammond (6'6''-F/C) dreamed of playing basketball and getting paid for it. That dream has come true as the Green Mountain College senior recently signed a contract to play for SSV Lok Bernau, a team located 10 miles outside Berlin that plays in Germany's second tier of professional basketball.

'Since I first started playing organized basketball this has been my dream, but I never thought it would happen,' the 6-foot-6 Hammond said Monday. 'This is the most exciting moment of my life. I just can't believe it.'

It was difficult for anyone to ignore Hammond's accomplishments this year. He led the nation (NCAA Division III) in blocked shots, was second in rebounding and 10th in scoring.

Hammond will be taking the spot of Jason Boone (6'6''-F/C-85, college: New York U.), an all-conference player from NYU, on SSV Lok Bernau's roster. Boone is moving up to Germany's top division, a step Hammond hopes he will be able to make at some point.

Hammond played his first three years at Southern Vermont College, left school for a year and came to GMC to finish.

'I had a pretty good junior year. Then, when I was first in the country in blocked shots and second in rebounding, I thought that somebody would have to look at a player like me or at least be interested,' Hammond said.

He and GMC coach Todd Montana put together a highlight tape and the day after personnel looked at in Germany, they gave Hammond a call.

'It happened a lot quicker than I thought it would,' Hammond said.

'He's a good kid,' Montana said. 'He has worked really hard this year in order to get paid to play a game that he loves.'

Hammond has a 1-year-old daughter Rylee and because this team is in the second tier, he will not be able to afford to have her in Germany with him.

'I'm nervous about going to a place where I won't know anybody,' Hammond said. 'I know it's going to be a culture shock.'

Practice begins the first of August and Hammond will arrive in Germany July 30.

Hammond still needs to complete three classes to get his degree. He said he will either return to campus to take them or earn the credits online.

His highlight during his year on the Poultney campus? That's an easy one. Hammond does not hesitate.

'Cutting down the net,' he said. 'Winning the championship. There was no better feeling.'

That happened on Feb. 24 when Green Mountain defeated Newbury College 68-66 in the championship game of the NCAA Division III Independent Conference Tournament.

Hammond had 24 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots in that game, earning the honor of the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

It was a year to remember for Hammond. He led his team to a 23-5 record and a road victory over Castleton State, the other school he was considering attending for his final year. He blocked two shots in the final 19 seconds to preserve the victory over Newbury in the title game and he finished the season averaging 23.4 points and 14.8 rebounds per game with 114 blocked shots. He also earned the honor of Association of Division III Independent Conference Player of the Year and D3hoops.com All-Second Team for the Northeast Region.

Now, he has a chance to make more memories in a game he loves. And draw a paycheck for it.

Courtesy of http://www.rutlandherald.com

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NICARAGUA

Wins for Tigres and Delfines in ACB -by Gianni Pascucci
The inauguaral nigh of the ACB 2008 ened with two unexpected results: Delfines de la BICU-Inatec prevailed 75-72 over Pumas de la Unival, thanks to a three pointer hit by Mark Joseph at the buzzer. Joseph was also the game best scorer at 29 points, while Pumas were led by imports Jamarr Hardy (193-G-83, agency: 011 Sports, college: Lenoir CC) with 22 points and Miles Gusdry with 17 points. In the other game, Tigres defeated 80-79 reigning champions Tiburones-Bancentro. Keyshawn Reed (183-G-84), Jason Walters (196-G-71, college: Mt.Senario) and Julio Gonzalez (-F) scored 16 pts each to lead Tigres, while Pedro Salazar (204-C-72) was the best in Tiburones at 22.

Caimanes defeat Jaguares -by Gianni Pascucci
In the last round of Liga Premier, Caimanes de Santa Teresa upset Jaguares, till now undefeated, winning the game 73-72. Harold Barberena was the game top performer, with 14 points for Caimanes, followed by Jose Martinez and Norlan Garay, who scored 13 points each. The Liga Premier standings are now:
1. Jaguares 3-1
2. American College 2-1
3. Fupade Coast-SS 1-2
4. Caimanes 1-3

ACB Standinga
D1 Standings
ACB
 1. Tigres 1-0 
 2. Delfines 1-0 
 3. Vikingos de V. 0-0 
 4. Halcones 0-0 
 5. Pumas 0-1 
 6. Tiburones 0-1 
Liga Premier
 1. Jaguares 3-1 
 2. American Coll. 2-1 
 3. Fupade Coast 1-2 
 4. Caimanes 1-3 


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PANAMA

Standings - CBS
CBS Standings
 1. Magnates 0-0 
 2. Caimanes 0-0 
 3. Navieros 0-0 
 4. Canguros 0-0 
 5. Fieras 0-0 
 6. Colosos 0-0 
 7. Toros 0-0 


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POLAND

Second place for Maciej Lampe in Russia -by Eurobasket News
Member of Polish National Team, Maciej Lampe (210-C-85, agency: Edge Sports), and his team Khimky from Moscow region finished Russian Superleague at second position. They could not grab any win in final series against Russian giant CSKA losing it 3-0. Maciej Lampe was the best player of his team on third game, which Khimky lost at home 78-88. Lampe collected 21 points and 4 rebounds for 28 minutes. He had nice shot percentage on Monday night (8/11 FG2, 5/7 FT).

It was sixth consecutive title in Russian championship for CSKA, 15th since 1993. With this score they hold new Russian record in all sports activities. CSKA managed to score 12 of 22 attempts from behind the arc what was the main difference in this game. On the other side Khimky had only 6 of 20 for 3-pts. With 4 minutes to go it was clear that Khimky won't be able to register any win in final series as CSKA reached an advantage of 17 points.

Maciel Lampe was one of the best players of Khimky this season. For 7 games in ULEB Cup he averaged 16.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg. For 17 appearances in Russian Superleague (without play-off) he had 14.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 1.4 apg.
Lampe joined Khimky in October 2006 because his team Dynamo St. Petersburg went bankrupt before the beginning of championship. With Khimky he won National Cup of Russia 2008 and was MVP of the final tournament. Before Dynamo, he played three seasons in NBA as a member of New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Hornets. Knicks picked him on NBA draft 2003.

Lampe played for Polish U16 and U18 National Team in the past. Since 2007 he is member of Polish senior NT.

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PORTUGAL

PROLIGA final game 1 and 2 recap -by Bruno Baltazar
The PROLIGA final just started and this weekend the games 1 and 2 had place in Guimaraes arena with a surprising win for Fisica and a expected Guimaraes win in game 2.
To remember in the regular season both teams won against each other and Vitoria won in the last seconds in the final 8 of the portuguese cup.
In game one Vitoria showed they were a little tired because in the previous match up they played 5 games against Academica .
Vitoria begun the game stronger with a partial of 6-0 and at the half they were leading 46-40 but in the 2nd half everything changed ,in the 3rd quarter with a good defense Fisica spet their game up and came leading by 1 point ,in the last quarter 88-93 win for Fisica .

In the second game the first half was similiar to the 1st half of the previous game,Vitoria leading 45-37,but in the 2nd half Vitoria didnt let Fisica recover even if in the last quarter they recovered till 2 points but Vitoria showed why they are the better team in the paper(win 85-81).

Highlights in this 2 games for the usual suspects,Miguel Barroca (182-G-84) with his 3 points shots show against Tommie Eddie and Vitoria players.

This upcoming weekend will take place the game 3 and 4 in Fisica arena ,to remember the first team to win 3 games is the champion.

Manuel Povea will not comeback to Ovarense -by Bruno Baltazar
Spanish coach Manuel Povea will not coach the 3 times portuguese champions of Ovarense.
The team leaved a note to the press stating the orcament cuts for next season due their main sponsor will not sponser them no longer for next season.

Team says the coach did everything correct ,winning everything stated as goals to this season when he signed the contract(won the portuguese championship)and a extraordinary person.
He arrived to the team when Magalhaes left to Angola in the middle of the season,right on time to win the champion even if they had some injurys in the middle to that road.
Early in the season he was coaching Lusitania that he coached the past 3 seasons with sucess.

Ovarense wishes him the best of luck and will keep working on the next season to have a competitive team.

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PUERTO RICO

Conquistadors outshoot Criollos -by Luis Ramirez
The Guaynabo Conquistadors made more 3 point shots than regular two pointers to beat the Caguas Criollos 85-81. The Criollos looked good for the 1st half of the game winning the 1st quarter 21-20 and taking the 1st half 43-33. In the 2nd half the Conquistadors hitting the long range shots and they were able to score 28 points in the 4th quarter to take control of the game and thus get the win. For Guaynabo, Terrence Shannon (203-F-79, agency: N.E.T., college: Elgin CC) scored 20 points making 4 out of 6 three pointers, he was followed by Carmelo Lee with 18 points most of these points coming off bombs as he shot 5 out of 12 from 3 point range. For Caguas, Peter John Ramos (222-C-85) scored 26 points followed by Angel Alamo with 12 points.

Standings - BSN
BSN Standings
Super 6
1. Santurce 11
2. Guaynabo 9
3. Arecibo 8
4. Carolina 8
5. Caguas 6
6. Fajardo 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


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RUSSIA

Standings - Superleague B
B Superleague Standings
 1. Magnitogorsk 34-14 
 2. Zaretchny 32-16 
 3. Chelabinsk 28-20 
 4. Khimky-2 26-22 
 5. Severstal 26-22 
 6. N.Novg.NBA 25-23 
 7. Revda 23-25 
 8. Triumph-2 22-26 
 9. Ural Ekater. 22-26 
 10. Dynamo-2 22-26 
 11. Krasnodar 21-27 
 12. Rjazan 20-28 
 13. Irkutsk 11-37 


Stats Leaders - Superleague A
Superleague A Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Nailon, Novos. 22.0
2 Hamilton, Krasn. 19.0
3 Warrick, Krasn. 17.5
4 Bremer, Vladiv. 16.2
5 Domercant, DynM 15.8
Rebounds Per Game
1 Blair, Vladiv. 9.3
2 Nailon, Novos. 8.8
3 Hamilton, Krasn. 8.4
4 Araujo, St.Pet. 7.8
5 Wright, Perm 7.2
Assists Per Game
1 Bremer, Vladiv. 5.7
2 Papaloukas, CSKA 5.4
3 Cooper, Novos. 5.3
4 Wisniewski, Perm 4.6
5 Ponkrashov, Khim 4.5
Steals Per Game
1 Kirksay, Kazan 2.2
2 Nailon, Novos. 2.1
3 Chatman, Triumph 2.0
Blocks Per Game
1 Goree, CSKA 1.2
2 Sokolov, Kazan 1.1
2 Babitchev, Rostov 1.1
2 Fotsis, DynM 1.1
2FGP
1 Zisis, CSKA 68.5
2 Demeshkin, Sam 68.3
3 Vorontsevich, 68.2
3FGP
1 Burke, Khimky 58.3
2 Andersen, CSKA 56.7
3 Toporov, Triumph 53.9
Free Throws
1 Chikalkin, Kazan 95.7
2 Gratchev, Surgut 93.9
3 Zisis, CSKA 93.6


Stats Leaders - Superleague B
Superleague B Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Igumnov, Magnit. 21.6
2 Pustahvar, Zaret. 19.5
3 Kurtenok, NNovg 18.9
4 Lunev, Magnit. 18.0
5 Zvarykin, Dyn-2 15.5
Rebounds Per Game
1 Mozgov, Khim-2 11.1
2 Tkatchenko, Dyn-2 9.5
3 Cheremnyh, Revda 8.6
4 Sharapov, Cherep 7.9
5 Jurtaev, Cherep. 7.8
Assists Per Game
1 Glazunov, Ekater 6.4
2 Igumnov, Magnit. 4.7
3 Filin, Zaret. 4.7
4 Manikhin, Ekater 4.7
5 Krivko, Revda 4.6
Steals Per Game
1 Glazunov, Ekater 2.7
2 Baburin, NNovg 2.0
3 Lagutin, Krasnod 2.0
Blocks Per Game
1 Mozgov, Khim-2 2.1
2 Cheremnyh, Revda 1.5
3 Ponosov, Rjazan 1.3
2FGP
1 Pustahvar, Zaret. 61.0
2 Garshin, NNovg 60.0
3 Kurinnoy, Magnit 58.8
3FGP
1 Pivcaykin, Zaret. 46.5
2 Filin, Zaret. 46.3
3 Chirkov, Cherep 45.7
Free Throws
1 Bazhenov, Cherep 93.2
2 Baklenev, Dyn-2 91.9
3 Igumnov, Magnit. 87.0


Standings - Higher League
Higher Standings
Div.A
 1. Saransk 50-6 
 2. Ural Great-2 44-12 
 3. Volzhan.-GES 39-17 
 4. Kursk 37-19 
 5. Akad.-Globus 35-21 
 6. CSKA-Trinta 31-25 
 7. Uniks-2 Kazan 29-37 
 8. Lobnya MR 26-30 
 9. Dinamo May. 25-31 
 10. Naltchik 21-35 
 11. Lipetsk 19-37 
 12. Spartak-2 SP 19-37 
 13. Ukhta 17-39 
 14. Stavropol 16-40 
 15. CSK VVS 12-44 
Div.B Center
 1. Voronezh 28-8 
 2. Tambov 26-10 
 3. Tula 24-12 
 4. Dizelist 24-12 
 5. Severstal-2 23-13 
 6. Bryansk 14-22 
 7. Cherkessk 13-23 
 8. Avtodor 11-25 
 9. Belgorod 9-27 
 10. Tolyatti 8-28 
Div.B Ural-Siberia
 1. Stary Sobol 41-11 
 2. Omsk 38-14 
 3. Orenburg 37-15 
 4. Tobolsk 36-16 
 5. Tomsk 36-16 
 6. Surgut 29-23 
 7. Ural-2 Ekat. 25-27 
 8. UPI Ekater. 25-27 
 9. NGU Novosyb. 25-27 
 10. Magnitogorsk-2 21-31 
 11. Krasnoyarsk-2 19-33 
 12. Seversk 18-34 
 13. Gaysky GOK 11-41 
 14. Izhevsk 0-52 


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SAUDI ARABIA

Ifill shines among Asias brightest stars -by Kristian Santiago
By Kiev Chesney (Starbroek News)

After shinning as one of the premier scorers in the Asian Basketball League, Andrew Ifill (197-G/F-79) has returned home for a breath of fresh air during the off-season break.
The 197cm (66) small forward played his rookie international basketball season with the Saudi Arabians An Naser Riyadh basketball team with whom he signed a one-year deal last October.
When I joined the team in late October, the season had already started and my coach told me that I have a lot of work to do, Ifill told Stabroek Sport in an exclusive interview.
The former Bounty Colts player did not back down from the challenge and instantly assumed the role of the primary scorer for his team.
The result was him finishing the season with an average 25 points per game (PPG), 10 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 2.75 steals.
It was no easy task for me to get those numbers among some of Asias and Europes best players but I knew that I had the talent and I worked real hard over the years to get there so it was just a matter of me getting the work done when I got the opportunity, he recounted Ifill also revealed that the he had received offers from a few other teams in the league and may be changing teams depending on how lucrative the offers are.
Like the other international leagues, the Asian League has many former NBA players such as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (186-G-69, college: LSU) also known as Chris Jackson.
Ifill said that he thought his game had improved tremendously from playing professional basketball.
I have learnt lot from the experience of playing there because the fundamentals of the players are extremely high, he said.
However, I recognized that many of the players are not as athletic as the players in the NBA [National Basketball Association] and in some cases as some of the players that we have right here in Guyana.
Since I have been back I keep telling people that we have many players that can make it to play basketball professionally if they get the chance, he declared.
I have seen it with my own two eyes; we have a lot of talent here but only a few get the chance to shine abroad. I think that if sports in general and more specifically basketball in Guyana get more attention from the government our athletes can really go places, He said.
After discovering his love for the game at age seven, Ifill grew into one of the most promising `ballers that this country has produced.
He confessed that after being on the team which captured the Inter-Guiana Games title in 1996, he became determined to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional basketball player.
Ifill plans to focus on strength and speed training in the off-season followed by ball handling work as the break comes to a close.
He said that without persons who had helped and supported him from the start, including his family, his coach Phillip George, his fans, Rhondell Murphy, Godfrey Munroe, and Anthony de Hart it would not have been possible for him to achive his dream of playing professional basketball.
As far as making the jump to the NBA is concerned, Ifill said he would leave the negotiations up to his agents and would remain focused on trying to dominate in that league until an opportunity presents itself.

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SERBIA

Standings - 1 Srpska Liga
1Srpska Standings
Group North
 1. Superfund 22-4 
 2. Obrenovac 22-4 
 3. Radnicki B. 21-5 
 4. Partizan II 18-8 
 5. Mladost Z. 17-9 
 6. Zemun Lasta 17-9 
 7. Sport Key NS 14-12 
 8. Viva Basket 10-16 
 9. Srem 10-16 
 10. FKL 9-17 
 11. Polet 9-17 
 12. Grocka 8-18 
 13. Backa Topola 3-23 
 14. Sinalco Spart. 2-24 
Group South
 1. Maraton 20-6 
 2. Mladost C. 20-6 
 3. Pirot 17-9 
 4. Bor RTB 16-10 
 5. Zlatibor 16-10 
 6. Napredak A. 15-11 
 7. KK Nis 14-12 
 8. Ribnica 12-14 
 9. Svilajnac 11-15 
 10. Prokuplje 10-16 
 11. Mladost PP 10-16 
 12. Novi Pazar 8-18 
 13. Jablanica M. 8-18 
 14. Krusavec 5-21 


Standings - B Liga
B League Standings
 1. Tamis 22-4 
 2. Metalac 21-5 
 3. Crnokosa 18-8 
 4. Vrbas 16-10 
 5. Beograd 16-10 
 6. Proleter Naft. 15-11 
 7. FMP II 15-11 
 8. Kikinda 14-12 
 9. Beovuk 72 12-14 
 10. Kotez Bambi 11-15 
 11. Vojvodina Z. 11-15 
 12. Sloboda U. 6-20 
 13. Prva Petolet. 4-22 
 14. Zeleznicar C. 1-25 


Stats Leaders - 1A
A league Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Erceg Zoran 18.1
2 Dragićević Tadija 18.1
3 Ilić Nikola 16.8
4 Marshall Rawle 15.8
5 Dragojlović 15.3
Rebounds Per Game
1 Erceg Zoran 4.8
2 Ilić Nikola 4.8
3 Veličković Novica 4.2
4 Kecman Duan 4.0
5 Bajić Goran 3.9
Assists Per Game
1 Cook Omar Shrife 7.3
2 Aleksić Vukain 5.3
3 Pavković Miljan 4.4
4 Palacio Sigmund 3.6
5 Marković Stefan 3.5
Steals Per Game
1 Bocka Miljan 2.7
2 Dzambic Rade 2.5
3 Stanojević Jovo 2.4
Blocks Per Game
1 Bjegović Millan 1.4
2 Lucic Uros 1.0
3 Nikolic Uros 1.0
2FGP
1 Vreća Igor 100.0
2 Arsić Nemanja 100.0
3 Trivunović Mitar 100.0
3FGP
1 ivanović Stefan 100
2 Arnautović Namanja100
3 Leić Sava 80
Free Throws
1 Martinic Goran 92.1 %
2 Djapa Dalibor 90.6 %
3 Markovic Radov 89.3 %
Ranking
1 Ilić Nikola 24.0
2 Erceg Zoran 21.7
3 Peković Nikola 19.8
4 Cook Omar Shrife 19.2
5 Dragićević Tadija 16.6


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SEYCHELLES

Heat burn Razors -by Carlos Pereira
A day after Baya choked Premium Cobras and their top-scoring Nigerian player, Alao Solomon, the Heat burned the Razors at the Palais des Sports.

Winless in their first seven games, Beau Vallon chose to beat strugglers Razors to celebrate victory for the first time in the Mens Division One.
Coach Valli Ismals team took a decisive step towards victory by winning the first quarter 21-15, and although the Razors outscored them 17-14 in the second they still went for the breather with a three-point lead (35-32).
When play resumed, the Heat stayed hot, scoring 30 points and at the same time restricting Razors to just 18 for a 65-50 win.
Marlon Marimba top-scored for the Heat with 20 points, including three 3-pointers, while Tony General Barb (13 points) and Christopher Preira (10) were the other two players in double figures for the winning team.
Christopher Valmonts game-high 26 points went to waste as Razors conceded defeat for the sixth time one of those by a walkover. They have seven points, two less than the Heat, who have played a match more.

Meanwhile, in two Mens Division Two matches, Juniors had skipper Reggie Ah-kong (35 points) and Christopher Valmont (32) combining for 67 of their teams points in the 141-34 win over Fire Brigade, and Pointe Larue Falcons needed overtime to put an end to AAP Brothers five-game unbeaten run, edging them 62-60.
There were no winners at the end of normal time with the score tied at 57-57, but league leaders Falcons outscored AAP Brothers 5-3 in the five-minute overtime for their sixth win in seven matches. Their only loss was through a walkover, while AAP Brothers are fifth in the 11-team standings with 11 points after five victories and one defeat.G. G.

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SLOVENIA

Rizvic moves to Ukraine -by Zeljko Zule

Hasan Rizvic (212-C-84) ex Union Olimpija agreed terms with Azovmash for two seasons.
Parklji Bezigrad (B1) is negotiating with their former member Sasa Ljubenovic (205-F-82, agency: Promotex) of TCG Mercator and Jure Erzen (203-F/C-75) of TCG Mercator.
Rogaska (B1) inked Domen Ambroz (190-G-83) ex Celjski KK.
Terme Olimia (D2) signed Matjaz Terzan (198-C-81) ex Celjski KK.

. .



Mehmet Becirovic wins Ukrainian championship with Azovmash -by Eurobasket News
Slovenian coach Mehmet Becirovic, who took over Azovmash from Mariupol in February this year, won Ukrainian championship on Saturday night. Azovmash outplayed Kyiv 84-79 at the fourth game of final series, 3-1.

Becirovic started the season as a head coach of Union Olimpija but he parted ways with the team on January. He didn't wait too long as he very soon got an invitation to seat on the bench of Azovmash Mariupol.
In the past Becirovic used to work two seasons in Helios Domzale winning two titles with them. Helios captured title in Slovenian championship as well as in Slovenian National Cup on 2007. He is named to be the coach of the year 2007 in Slovenian 1A league.

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SOUTH KOREA

KBL Camp Application Deadline Is Over -by Rick Ross
More Than 500 applications were sent In and the Task of making the KBL
Camp will be decided in June,
This is an invited-players-only pre-draft camp.
The KBL will screen all the application documents at the beginning of
June and players that are invited for the pre-draft tryout will be informed in the middle of June.
The KBL will draft 20 foreign players for 2008~2009 season. (including of renewal players)
The Players who participates in the 2008 pre-draft tryout, will be qualified as a replacement player for 2008-2009 season.


The term of player's contract is from September 1st, 2008 to March 31st, 2009 (7 months contract).
Each player will receive the net amount of US$25,000 per month during the regular season.
Players will additionally get paid a net winning bonus of US$300 for every winning game as a winning bonus.
In the playoffs, players will be compensated for his extended services on a pro rata basis with the monthly payment of the net amount of US$25,000.
The players will additionally get paid a playoffs incentive bonus.
The clubs shall provide a dormitory room, meals during the season, and a round trip of airline ticket (business class) for each player.
A player once can invite one of his relatives during the season.
The clubs shall provide a round trip of airline ticket & his (or her) board and lodge for the maximum of 7 days.



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SPAIN

ACB Market 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.

Standings - LEB Gold
LEB Gold Standings
 1. Zaragoza 28-6 
 2. Leche Rio 24-10 
 3. Alicante 24-10 
 4. Bruesa 24-10 
 5. Plus Pujol 19-15 
 6. Tenerife 19-15 
 7. La Laguna 17-17 
 8. Rosalia 17-17 
 9. Los Barrios 17-17 
 10. Melilla 15-19 
 11. Burgos 15-19 
 12. Huelva 14-20 
 13. Aguas Gandia 13-21 
 14. Palma Aqua 13-21 
 15. Cantabria 12-22 
 16. Basquetinca 12-22 
 17. La Palma 12-22 
 18. L'Hospitalet 11-23 


Standings - LEB Silver / Bronze
LEB Standings
Silver
 1. Vic 27-7 
 2. Axarquia 24-10 
 3. Illescas 24-10 
 4. Caja Rioja 23-11 
 5. Gijon 23-11 
 6. Almeria 21-13 
 7. Caceres 20-14 
 8. Huesca 19-15 
 9. CB Tarrag. 17-17 
 10. Plasencia 17-17 
 11. Basq.Muro 14-20 
 12. Qalat Caja Sol 14-20 
 13. Palencia 12-22 
 14. Ourense 12-22 
 15. Cornella 11-23 
 16. Prat 11-23 
 17. Sabadell 9-25 
 18. Santa Pola 8-26 
Bronze
 1. Vigo 23-9 
 2. Archena 22-10 
 3. Guadalajara 19-13 
 4. Real M. II 18-14 
 5. Jerez 18-14 
 6. Torrealta 18-14 
 7. Coruna 18-14 
 8. Navarra 17-15 
 9. Salsa Musas 16-16 
 10. Cajasur 16-16 
 11. Esplugues-P. 15-17 
 12. Tijola 13-19 
 13. Opel Jovent 12-20 
 14. Merida 12-20 
 15. Badajoz 12-20 
 16. Obila 11-18 
 17. ADT Tarrag. 9-23 
 18. Torrevieja 0-0 


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TANZANIA

Arusha Kings in Dire Straights -by Carlos Pereira
by Victor Machota
Arusha

Arusha Kings may be reigning in Arusha but their pockets are empty.
The basketball team that had qualified for Muungano league in Zanzibar from May 17 has failed to make it to Zanzibar due to lack of funds.
The ZANTEL sponsored - league, however, went on as scheduled with Tanzania Mainland represented by three men's teams: Dodoma Spurs, ABC and Savio both from Dar es Salaam. Women had three teams taking part.
Zantel has set aside some Tsh.6.8 million for the winning teams in the competitions.
The King's leader, Elias Mwabukusi lamented last week that their team failed to get a sponsor to get them down to the Isles and hence had their place taken by a Dar es salaam team.
Mwabukusi said his team was now undergoing intensive training for the basketball intercity competitions due to take place in June in Dar es Salaam.

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TURKEY

El-Amin Heads Back To Ukraine? -by Uygar Karaca
According to Ukraine based newspapers, Turk Telekom Ankara's guard Khalid El-Amin (178-G-79, agency: Beo Basket, college: Connecticut) agreed to sign with The recently crowned champions of Ukrain,Azovmash Mariupol.El-Amin,who was voted as 'The best guard of Ukraine'in year 2007,played 12 matches in ULEB CUP with 19.7 points ,2.8 rebounds,3.6 asists and 1.5 steals average.El-Amin also made a great contribution for his team to reach Beko Basketball League playoff finals.

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U.KINGDOM

Stats Leaders - BBL
BBL Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Paez, Worcester 24.5
2 Life, Worcester 24.3
3 Myers, Ches. 23.9
4 Obazuaye, Ches. 23.7
5 Midgeley, Everton 21.6
Rebounds Per Game
1 Rob Myers, Ches.11.3
2 Durant, Worcester 11.2
3 Durham, Ply. 10.5
4 Moore, Ply. 8.9
5 Hamilton, Ches. 8.7
Assists Per Game
1 Yanders, Scottish 6.1
2 Walker, Ches. 5.8
3 Evans, Worcester 5.5
4 Brown, Milton 5.1
5 Flournoy, NCastle 4.8
Steals Per Game
1 Moore, Ches. 2.8
2 Gilbert, Guildford 2.3
3 Brown, Milton 2.1
Blocks Per Game
1 Davis, Everton 1.4
2 Chaney, Sheffield 1.3
3 White, Leicester 1.2
2FGP
1 Stewart, NCastle 68.8
2 Martin, Guildford 63.1
3 Flournoy, NCastle 62.5
3FGP
1 New, Milton 50.0
2 Jordan, Leicester 50.0
3 Jamison, Milton 50.0
Free Throws
1 Smith, NCastle 85.7
2 Hyatt, NCastle 85.0
3 Nottley, Guildford 84.6


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U.S.VIRGIN ISLANDS

More on Elegar, TV Times / Newton -by David Edole


Drexel senior Frank Elegar (206-C-86, agency: CAA Sports) is in Orlando this week to participate in the NBA Pre-Draft camp. This is the only official camp that is organized and run by the NBA. The camp is invitation only and consists of selected players eligible for this year's NBA draft

This year's camp is being held from May 27th through May 30th at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

Elegar, a Second Team All-CAA pick and All-Defensive team selection, led the Dragons in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots as a senior. Elegar was also a Second Team All-CAA pick as a junior. This past season, Elegar scored 20 points in a game nine times and recorded nine double-doubles, including a 33-point, 17-rebound performance against Delaware on Jan. 5.

You can catch some of the action in Orlando on TV. Below is the schedule:
NBA Pre-Draft Camp, ESPNU May 28 5:00 PM
NBA Pre-Draft Camp, NBATV May 29 12:00 PM
NBA Pre-Draft Camp, ESPNU May 29 2:00 PM
NBA Pre-Draft Camp, ESPNU May 29 5:00 PM
NBA Pre-Draft Camp, NBATV May 30 12:00 PM

The Washington Wizards officials are down in Orlando for the NBA's predraft camp, which runs from today to Friday. After taking a pulse from teams on which players had the best chances of getting drafted, the NBA invited candidates to the camp for workouts, drills and scrimmages.
Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld and his team will be watching closely to see what type of diamonds in the rough they can discover since Washington has no real chance of landing a future franchise player by the time the 18th pick comes around.
The Wizards have done a pretty good job finding talent late in the draft, however. Three years ago the Wizards didn't have a first-round pick at all. But in the second round they landed Andray Blatche, whom Vice President of Player Personnel Milt Newton discovered out of South Kent Prep in Connecticut. Blatche was seen as a project with great potential and he has steadily improved. This season, he posted career numbers, averaging 7.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.39 blocks in 20.5 minutes while serving primarily as the team's backup center. Blatche started 15 games this season, averaging 11.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks a game.



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VENEZUELA

Guaros twice on Barquisimeto -by Wolfgang Lucena
Guaros de Lara beat Panteras de Miranda once again this Monday in the Bolivarian Dome of Barquisimeto 95-91.
Guaros de Lara had its best player on Albert White whom finishes the game with 21 points followed for Evan Brock (204-F-84, college: Alabama) with 20 units. Another guaro helping on this win was Heissler Guillent putting 14 point in the scoring board.
Michael Flores (192-G-85) was doing his best for Panteras de Miranda and finishes the game with 21 points as well as Darwin Jaramillo (192-F-86) and Keller Miner with 19 points both of them.

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WBA

Standings
WBA Standings
 1. Buford M. 1-0 
 2. Mississippi HH 1-0 
 3. Tri-State 1-0 
 4. Memphis B. 0-1 
 5. Decatur CK 0-1 
 6. Cartersville W. 0-1 


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WCBPL

Standings
WCBPL Standings
 1. Santa Barbara 8-0 
 2. High Desert 4-0 
 3. Maywood B. 1-0 
 4. Pasadena 1-2 
 5. Hollywood 0-2 
 6. Ventura 0-2 
 7. Carlsbad 0-2 
 8. Newport Beach 0-4 




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Women News

*****************************************************
ARGENTINA - Women

Brazil outlasts Argentina in Loja -by Eurobasket News
Brazil - Argentina 73:67

The South American Championship is in its full swing with the most anticipated games being played. Yesterday the main favorites Brazil and Argentina faced each other in Round 3 showdown. The defending champions celebrated a tough victory to remain at the top of the ladder. However Argentina started the game more successfully and jumped to an early lead. Carolina Erica Sanchez (182-F/C-76) paced Argentinean side to a 28:19 lead at the end of the first stanza. However Brazil struck right back. Karen Rocha (177-G-84) and Chuca Ferreira (180-F/G-79) came off the bench to ignite a massive 26:10 run from Brazilian team. It allowed the reigning champions to accumulate a 7-point advantage at halftime. Brazil played a stifling defense at the moment and Argentina struggled to get things rolling. Brazilian bench players overwhelmed their counterparts and keeping Brazil in front throughout the third stanza. They stretched the gap to 11 points before the final frame. Argentina finally broke the deadlock in the fourth term cutting the margin to 5 points but Brazil withstood all comeback efforts from their opponents to register the third straight win at the tournament. Chuca Ferreira scored 21 points to lead all scorers. Karen Rocha knocked down 16 points in a winning case. Erica Sanchez answered with 17 points for Argentina. Maria Landra (188-F-83) canned 11 points in defeat. Argentina will next take on Colombia today. Brazil will face Venezuela in the fourth round.

Brazil: Chuca Ferreira 21, Karen Rocha 16, Soeli Garvao (187-C-77) 12+9 boards
Argentina: Erica Sanchez 17, Maria Landra 11

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AUSTRALIA - Women

Australians start another WNBA campaign -by Eurobasket News

Some Australian players have already started another season in WNBA, while there are some more that will apear in the few days.

Tully Bevilaqua (164-G-72) and her Indiana is 1-1. In the game over Detroit Kara Braxton scored career-high 22 points and the Detroit Shock prevailed against the Indiana Fever 76:71. Kara Braxton teamed up with another reserve Plenette Pierson for 42 point to provide needed help from the bench which proved decisive in this even battle. Detroit started the season on a 1-1 record and hoped to grab the victory at home. They worked hard at the start of the game to pile up a 22:10 lead after the starting frame. The Fever trimmed the gap to 7 points at the interval and surged in front after the long break. Katie Douglas paced the Fever to a 58:56 lead after three quarters of action. Cheryl Ford finally regained the lead for the hosts with just over 3 minutes left in regulation. Ebony Hoffman returned the advantage to Indiana but Plenette Pierson and Deanna Nolan scored back-to-back jumpers to carry the Shock to a 70:67 lead. Ebony Hoffman cut the gap back to a single point with a minute on the clock. However Deanna Nolan and Cheryl Ford were deadly from charity stripe to propel the Shock to the second win in the season. Deanna Nolan produced 14 points and 8 assists for the winners. Katie Douglas led the Fever with game-high 26 points. Tan White contributed 17 points, 6 assists and 5 boards in defeat. Detroit dominated the boards with 33 caroms overall. They also converted 47% from the field and limited their opponents to 41% accuracy. Both teams combined for massive 48 turnovers. Tully Bevilaqua opened the season with 8 points, 3 steals and 2 assists.
Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) and her Seattle is 3-1 in the Western Conference. The Phoenix Mercury suffered their third straight loss as they could not handle the Seattle Storm 83:87 at home court. In the meantime it was the third consecutive victory for the Storm as they remained ahead of the Western conference. Lauren Jackson came up with 30 points and grabbed 9 boards to lead the Storm past hapless Phoenix. However the hosts did not look hapless in the first three quarters of the encounter as they got to an aggressive start. The Mercury led by 20 points in the first half and maintained a 13-point margin at the interval. Seattle trimmed it to 6 points heading into the fourth term and made the final push in the dying minutes. Sue Bird penetrated under the rim and converted a layup to give the Storm 82:81 lead with 33 seconds remaining. Lauren Jackson added two more free throws to stretch the advantage to 3 points but Diana Taurasi immediately cut it back to one with a jumper. She then fouled Sue Bird and the Storm point guard sank one free throw to keep the visitors in front 85:83. Cappie Pondexter had a chance to tie the game but missed her attempt while Lauren Jackson sealed it from charity stripe. Swin Cash contributed 19 points and 7 boards, while Sue Bird had 13 points for the winners. Diana Taurasi led the hosts with 23 points. Cappie Pondexter scored 21 points and Kelly Miller had 15 in a loss.



*****************************************************
BELARUS - Women

Czech Republic bruises Belarus in Prostejov -by Eurobasket News
Czech Republic - Belarus 74:46

The Olympic Qualifying tournament will be played in Madrid starting June 9 so the National teams are getting ready for the upcoming event. Czech Republic team continued the series of friendly games. Yesterday they took on Belarus in Prostejov. The hosts looked better and finally posted the victory after a losing skid in Spain. Czech Republic stormed past their Belarusian counterparts 74:46. The hosts accumulated a 21:16 lead after the starting frame and kept dominating in the second quarter. They stretched the gap to 13 points by halftime. But the things changed drastically in the third period. The home side limited the visitors to woeful 2 points in the third stanza piling up unassailable 33-point cushion after three quarters of action. And though Belarusian team recovered in the final term they never seriously threatened the margin in the final minutes. Hana Machova (182-F/G-79) poured in 16 points to lead Czech Republic. Katerina Elhotova (179-G-89) secured 13 points, while Ivana Vecerova (194-C-79) added 11 for the winners. Anastasiya Verameyenka (191-C-87) nailed 11 points for Belarus. Yelena Leuchanka (196-C-83, college: W.Virginia) scored 10 points and Troina had 6 in a losing effort. The teams will meet again today in Brno. Later Czech Republic will play two games against China. Belarus will take on Latvia on June 2.

Czech Republic: Hana Machova 16, Katerina Elhotova 13, Ivana Vecerova 11
Belarus: Anastasiya Verameyenka 11, Yelena Leuchanka 10, Tatyana Troina (187-C-81, college: S.Carolina) 6

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BRAZIL - Women

Brazil outlasts Argentina in Loja -by Eurobasket News
Brazil - Argentina 73:67

The South American Championship is in its full swing with the most anticipated games being played. Yesterday the main favorites Brazil and Argentina faced each other in Round 3 showdown. The defending champions celebrated a tough victory to remain at the top of the ladder. However Argentina started the game more successfully and jumped to an early lead. Carolina Erica Sanchez (182-F/C-76) paced Argentinean side to a 28:19 lead at the end of the first stanza. However Brazil struck right back. Karen Rocha (177-G-84) and Chuca Ferreira (180-F/G-79) came off the bench to ignite a massive 26:10 run from Brazilian team. It allowed the reigning champions to accumulate a 7-point advantage at halftime. Brazil played a stifling defense at the moment and Argentina struggled to get things rolling. Brazilian bench players overwhelmed their counterparts and keeping Brazil in front throughout the third stanza. They stretched the gap to 11 points before the final frame. Argentina finally broke the deadlock in the fourth term cutting the margin to 5 points but Brazil withstood all comeback efforts from their opponents to register the third straight win at the tournament. Chuca Ferreira scored 21 points to lead all scorers. Karen Rocha knocked down 16 points in a winning case. Erica Sanchez answered with 17 points for Argentina. Maria Landra (188-F-83) canned 11 points in defeat. Argentina will next take on Colombia today. Brazil will face Venezuela in the fourth round.

Brazil: Chuca Ferreira 21, Karen Rocha 16, Soeli Garvao (187-C-77) 12+9 boards
Argentina: Erica Sanchez 17, Maria Landra 11

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CANADA - Women

Sutton-Brown opens the scoring account for Fever -by Eurobasket News
Having won the trophy in Turkey, Tammy Sutton-Brown (193-C-78, college: Rutgers) is already battles in WNBA. Canadian player and her Indiana is 1-1 so far in WNBA. In the game over Detroit Kara Braxton scored career-high 22 points and the Detroit Shock prevailed against the Indiana Fever 76:71. Kara Braxton teamed up with another reserve Plenette Pierson for 42 point to provide needed help from the bench which proved decisive in this even battle. Detroit started the season on a 1-1 record and hoped to grab the victory at home. They worked hard at the start of the game to pile up a 22:10 lead after the starting frame. The Fever trimmed the gap to 7 points at the interval and surged in front after the long break. Katie Douglas paced the Fever to a 58:56 lead after three quarters of action. Cheryl Ford finally regained the lead for the hosts with just over 3 minutes left in regulation. Ebony Hoffman returned the advantage to Indiana but Plenette Pierson and Deanna Nolan scored back-to-back jumpers to carry the Shock to a 70:67 lead. Ebony Hoffman cut the gap back to a single point with a minute on the clock. However Deanna Nolan and Cheryl Ford were deadly from charity stripe to propel the Shock to the second win in the season. Deanna Nolan produced 14 points and 8 assists for the winners. Katie Douglas led the Fever with game-high 26 points. Tan White contributed 17 points, 6 assists and 5 boards in defeat. Detroit dominated the boards with 33 caroms overall. They also converted 47% from the field and limited their opponents to 41% accuracy. Both teams combined for massive 48 turnovers. Tammy Sutton-Brown opened the season with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
In the first game Indiana beat Washington 64:53 as Tammy Sutton-Brown spent only 8 minutes in the court.

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COLOMBIA - Women

Colombian National Team for the Southamerican Championship: -by Victor Garcia
Colombian National team coached by Evelio Cano is playing already in Loja Ecuador the Southamerican Tournament.
The National team comes to be second and third in the former two Championships under the coaching of Guillermo Moreno, this time the National Federation decided to change the way and give the team to Coach Evelio Cano.
From the top 4 players of the team just one is back, Elena Diaz is the only one top player in the team, while Yaneth Arias, Erika Valek and the veteran Lebys Torres were not included, Heyssi Robledo was not included either.
The young hope Tatiana Mosquera (65 C) will have an important role in the team with Elena Diaz and Laura Estrada.
Elena Diaz (185-F-83, college: Nebraska)

Colombia lost three straight games in the Southamerican Championship: -by Victor Garcia
Colombia is not having a good performance in the Southamerican Championship in Loja, the National team fall in their first three games.
The first one was the lost against Venezuela 62-70, Elisa Garca scores 24 and 9 rebounds for Colombia but was not enough, Elena Diaz played just 15 minutes.
In the second Colombia lost against Brasil 47 100, Elena Diaz leaded the team with 9 points.
In the third Colombia lost against Chile 46-77.
Is the worst performance of the National Women team in the last 6 years.


*****************************************************
CYPRUS - Women

National team returns from Greece -by Nemanja Bjedov

After the win over G.C. Ayias Paraskevis on the first day of the tour, the Cypriot ladies lost to the second division group south champions Paleo Faliro Piraeus and then to the mixed team of the ruling Greek champions Esperides Kallitheas in a game in which the score was not officially kept.

Kalia Papadopoulou (166-G-80) led Cyprus once again with 14 points against Paleo Faliro Piraeus, while Sonia Papadopoulou finished the game with eight. The score was leveled throughout the first half as the teams headed to the locker rooms at 23-23. The hosts then took a three-point lead to start the final ten minutes at 38-35 and never looked back as the Cypriot players succumbed to accumulated fatigue.

This friendly game was a tough test as we played against the champions of the Greek A2. We arranged this game as we wanted to face a difficult opposition. The ladies played well and we are satisfied. Once the tiredness caught up with us we started losing control which is obvious if you look at the scores per period, said Antonis Konstantinidis after the second game on the tour.

The best young player of the last season, Koulla Nicodemou, was pleased with the trip to Athens but she also pointed out what needs to be done in the future: We need more practices and to spend some time together to became a real unit. I hope that until next summer this will be done as we need to be ready for the Games of the Small States 2009 which is held here in Cyprus.

Source: www.cybasketball.com



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

Czech Republic bruises Belarus in Prostejov -by Eurobasket News
Czech Republic - Belarus 74:46

The Olympic Qualifying tournament will be played in Madrid starting June 9 so the National teams are getting ready for the upcoming event. Czech Republic team continued the series of friendly games. Yesterday they took on Belarus in Prostejov. The hosts looked better and finally posted the victory after a losing skid in Spain. Czech Republic stormed past their Belarusian counterparts 74:46. The hosts accumulated a 21:16 lead after the starting frame and kept dominating in the second quarter. They stretched the gap to 13 points by halftime. But the things changed drastically in the third period. The home side limited the visitors to woeful 2 points in the third stanza piling up unassailable 33-point cushion after three quarters of action. And though Belarusian team recovered in the final term they never seriously threatened the margin in the final minutes. Hana Machova (182-F/G-79) poured in 16 points to lead Czech Republic. Katerina Elhotova (179-G-89) secured 13 points, while Ivana Vecerova (194-C-79) added 11 for the winners. Anastasiya Verameyenka (191-C-87) nailed 11 points for Belarus. Yelena Leuchanka (196-C-83, college: W.Virginia) scored 10 points and Troina had 6 in a losing effort. The teams will meet again today in Brno. Later Czech Republic will play two games against China. Belarus will take on Latvia on June 2.

Czech Republic: Hana Machova 16, Katerina Elhotova 13, Ivana Vecerova 11
Belarus: Anastasiya Verameyenka 11, Yelena Leuchanka 10, Tatyana Troina (187-C-81, college: S.Carolina) 6

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JORDAN - Women

Junior Women getting ready -by Fadi Sabbah
Jordan Basketball Federation assigned veteran coach Imad Saiid to prepare Jordan's Junior Women team for the Scholastic Games scheduled to take place in Amman in August. More than 30 girls born between 1990 and 1994 started practice and went through try-outs. The team will break for exams and immediately after that the final roster will be announced. The Junior Women National Team will travel abroad for a training camp in July.

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NIGERIA - Women

Sanni is in the line up of Shock -by Eurobasket News
Olayinka Sanni (188-C-86, college: W.Virginia) and her Detroit Shock is 4-1 from the start of WNBA. Shock recovered well after a sloppy first half to fire on all cylinders in the second against the Atlanta Dream. The WNBA expansion team played their second game in the season and got to a better start. They led by three points at the end of the first quarter but stretched the gap to as many as 18 in the second frame. However the Shock relied on a sizzling performance from Deanna Nolan in the second half to rally from behind. Nolan scored 24 points after the break and paced the Shock to a hard 88:76 win at the end. She knocked down a jumper early in the fourth term to give the visitors a 65:63 lead and Detroit controlled the situation from now on. Deanna Nolan finished with 33 points and 8 assists before being sidelined after a collision late in the fourth period. Nolan felt just two points shy of her career high set on July 24 last season. Alexis Hornbuckle delivered 12 points, while Kara Braxton nailed 11 in a winning case. Betty Lennox answered with 21 points in defeat. Camille Little notched 13 points and 8 boards, while Erika De Souza tallied 10 points and game-high 18 boards as Atlanta slipped to 0-2 record. The hosts outrebounded their opponents 42:37 but suffered 17 turnovers and committed 29 personal fouls. Detroit shot 45% from the field, while limiting their counterparts to 35% accuracy. Olayinka Sanni posted 6 points for the winners.
It is a pleasure to see that Olayinka Sanni starts in the line up for the team. Last night it was her again in the first five against New York as Shock won the game 72:62.

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POLAND - Women

Gdynia builds new team -by Maciej Schwarz
Lotos PKO BP Gdynia is in a middle of building new team. President of the team Mieczyslaw Krawczyk said: 'We have five players so far, and actually at this time, we cannot think of employing new ones. We are close to finish negotiations with our sponsors, which will make us sure what we can afford this season. However, the aims for 2008/09 campaign won't change too much. First of all, we want to take the Polish Championship from Wisla Can-Pack Krakow, and secondly we want to built the team strong enough to reach the play-offs of Euroleague and maybe even Final Four. All this aims will be set in front of the new head coach, which will be known around mid June. I can say that probably it will be international trainer.'
From unofficial informations we know that the club is very interested in rehiring Alana Beard (180-G/F-82, college: Duke) (180-G/F-82, college: Duke), Chamique Holdsclaw (188-F-77, agency: Merit Sports, college: Tennessee), Dominique Canty (175-G/F-77, agency: Merit Sports, college: Alabama), who contributed greatly to the club last season. And hiring Iziane Castro (183-G/F-82), E Mandir, Olexandra Gorbunova (186-F-86), Nilay Yigit (170-G-79), Milica Dabovic (175-G-82), and Henning Frohlich (183-G-82).
Coach's position should be filled probably by a coach from Balkan states, Italy, France or Russia.

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RUSSIA - Women

Standings - B Superleague -by Eurobasket
B Standings
East
1. Samara 23-5
2. Spartak P. 19-9
3. Nadezhda-2 17-11
4. Irtysh 16-12
5. Neftyanik 13-15
6. UMMC-Junior 11-17
7. Shelen-2 7-21
8. Slavyanka 2 6-22
West
1. Spartak N. 23-5
2. Spartak M. 23-5
3. Energy Iv. 18-10
4. Gloria M. 14-14
5. Moscow-2 14-14
6. Chevakata 9-19
7. Tver 6-22
8. Dyn-2 K. 5-23


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SOUTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - Women

Standings
South American Championships Standings
1. Brazil3-0
2. Venezue.2-0
3. Argenti.2-1
4. Chile1-2
5. Ecuador0-2
6. Colombia0-3


South American Championship. Day 3 -by Eurobasket News
Brazil - Argentina 73:67
The South American Championship is in its full swing with the most anticipated games being played. Yesterday the main favorites Brazil and Argentina faced each other in Round 3 showdown. The defending champions celebrated a tough victory to remain at the top of the ladder. However Argentina started the game more successfully and jumped to an early lead. Carolina Erica Sanchez (182-F/C-76) paced Argentinean side to a 28:19 lead at the end of the first stanza. However Brazil struck right back. Karen Rocha (177-G-84) and Chuca Ferreira (180-F/G-79) came off the bench to ignite a massive 26:10 run from Brazilian team. It allowed the reigning champions to accumulate a 7-point advantage at halftime. Brazil played a stifling defense at the moment and Argentina struggled to get things rolling. Brazilian bench players overwhelmed their counterparts and keeping Brazil in front throughout the third stanza. They stretched the gap to 11 points before the final frame. Argentina finally broke the deadlock in the fourth term cutting the margin to 5 points but Brazil withstood all comeback efforts from their opponents to register the third straight win at the tournament. Chuca Ferreira scored 21 points to lead all scorers. Karen Rocha knocked down 16 points in a winning case. Erica Sanchez answered with 17 points for Argentina. Maria Landra (188-F-83) canned 11 points in defeat. Argentina will next take on Colombia today. Brazil will face Venezuela in the fourth round.

Brazil: Chuca Ferreira 21, Karen Rocha 16, Soeli Garvao (187-C-77) 12+9 boards
Argentina: Erica Sanchez 17, Maria Landra 11


Ecuador - Venezuela 76-89
Venezuela drove to their third straight win and consolidated the top spot in the ladder. They will clash with Brazil in the top-shelf battle later tonight.


Chile - Colombia 77:56
Chile celebrated a key win in the pursuit for the spot in the top 4. They also revenged for a bitter loss to Colombia in the Bronze medals game in 2006. The teams are fighting for three tickets to the FIBA Americas Championship in 2009. Chile now has strong chances of finishing in the top 4 pool to play for possible qualification.

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SWEDEN - Women

Nnamaka Chioma joined Atlanta -by Eurobasket News
Chioma Nnamaka (183-G-85, college: Georgia Tech) joined Atlanta, a new team in WNBA this season. The Connecticut Sun gave some taste of WNBA action for the expansion team Atlanta Dream beating them 100:67. Tamika Whitmore came up with 22 points and 10 boards to lead the Sun. Asjha Jones added 18 points and Barbara Turner notched 15 points in a winning case. Betty Lennox had 17 points for the Dream. Stacey Lovelace dropped 11 points in a losing effort. Atlanta led early in the game but the home side replied with a 26:6 run to roll away for good. Chioma Nnamaka scored her first two points in the opener.
The Detroit Shock recovered well after a sloppy first half to fire on all cylinders in the second against the Atlanta Dream. The WNBA expansion team played their second game in the season and got to a better start. They led by three points at the end of the first quarter but stretched the gap to as many as 18 in the second frame. However the Shock relied on a sizzling performance from Deanna Nolan in the second half to rally from behind. Nolan scored 24 points after the break and paced the Shock to a hard 88:76 win at the end. She knocked down a jumper early in the fourth term to give the visitors a 65:63 lead and Detroit controlled the situation from now on. Deanna Nolan finished with 33 points and 8 assists before being sidelined after a collision late in the fourth period. Nolan felt just two points shy of her career high set on July 24 last season. Alexis Hornbuckle delivered 12 points, while Kara Braxton nailed 11 in a winning case. Betty Lennox answered with 21 points in defeat. Camille Little notched 13 points and 8 boards, while Erika De Souza tallied 10 points and game-high 18 boards as Atlanta slipped to 0-2 record. The hosts outrebounded their opponents 42:37 but suffered 17 turnovers and committed 29 personal fouls. Detroit shot 45% from the field, while limiting their counterparts to 35% accuracy. Chioma Nnamaka produced 3 points and 2 rebounds for her team.