Eurobasket Daily News Report:

EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 6/16/2008

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Men News

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ARGENTINA

Liga A update -by Facundo Iatzky
Ben Hur: Signed Mariano Castets
Boca Jrs: signed Fernando Calvi, and Alejandro Aloatti
Gimnasia Comodoro: Signed German Sciutto
Independiente: signed Leandro Lauro
Lanus: signed Julian Olmedo, Diego Prego, Wendell Gibson
Olimpico: released Mario Sepulveda and signed Martin trovellesi, Fernando Gutman
Penarol: signed David Jackson
Quilmes: signed Pablo Gil and Ezequiel Dentis

TNA:
Gimnasia LP: hired Facundo Petracci as head coach
San Martin Corrientes: signed Luciano Rivero and Lucas Gornatti. Pablo d'angelo is the head coach
La Union formosa: hired Gabriel Picatto as head coach.

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BOSNIA

Score in the final series is tied 1-1 -by Eurobasket News
Igokea Partizan grabbed the first win the play-off final of Bosnian championship celebrating against Bosna ASA BHT 80-78 thus the score in the final series is tied on 1-1. The third decisive game will be played at Bosna's home court in Sarajevo on Tuesday.

At the front of their fans Igokea Partizan opened the game batter making 23-16 at the end of the first stanza. In the second period both teams were successful in their offensive sets so Igokea kept plus 7 until the breather. During these 20 minutes big guys of both teams dominated on court. Tautvydas Lydeka

(208-C/F-83) of Igokea and Lance Williams (206-C-80, college: De Paul) of Bosna netted 12 points each. Same trend continued in the second frame but this time Bosna finished it with plus one which meant that the hosts entered into the crucial period with 64-58. Visitors intensified defense in the last stanza playing very patiently on the other side of the court. With 30 second to go they finally came pretty close on 80-78. At their next possession Edin Bavcic (210-F/C-84, agency: Beo Basket) attempted from behind the arc but unfortunately for Bosna's fans he missed. On the other side Sinisa Kovacevic (200-F-78) of Igokea wasn't concentrated two times from the free throw line thus visitors had another chance to tie the score in Aleksandrovac. Dewayne Jefferson (191-G-79, college: Miss.Valley St.) took the ball but he made traveling.
Nikola Vucurovic (200-G/F-80) was the top scorer for the winning team with 16 points. Tautvydas Lydeka

and Slavko Stefanovic (206-F-81, agency: Beo Basket) added 12 points each. Hero from the last game in Sarajevo, Goran Ikonic (196-G-80), scored 17 points for visitors. Center Lance Williams stopped on 15 points while Edin Bavcic had one point less than him.

Igokea Partizan - Bosna ASA BHT 80-78 (1-1)
(23:16, 20:20, 21:22, 16:20)

Igokea Partizan: Vucurovic 16, Lydeka 12, Stefanovic 12, Tosic 9, Bocka 9
Bosna: Ikonic 17, Williams 15, Bavcic 14, Bailey 12

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CAMEROON

Victor Samnick grabs the title in France -by Eurobasket News
Cameroon native Victor Samnick (203-F-79, college: Georgetown) celebrates the title today in French Pro A. His team Sluc Nancy smashed Roanne in the final game 84-53 thus Samnick and his teammates will compete in Euroleague next season. After 21 wins and 9 defeats in Pro A regular season, Samnick's team showed great performance in the play-off. At the first point Vichy felt Nancy's power in the quarterfinals 2-0 while at the next stage ASVEL was defeated 2-1.

Victor Samnick was the second scorer of his team in the final game. He registered double-double, 16 points and 10 rebounds for 23 minutes. He followed the key player of the game Jeff Greer with index value 23. Samnick's team struggled at the beginning of the game as Roanne made 5-0 run. Very soon Nancy answered with 6 consecutive points after what above mentioned Greer came on the scene scoring 15 points. Thus after first 10 minutes Nancy already had solid lead 23-14. During the next 10 minutes Nancy touched plus 13 but at the end they finished first half with 45-34. Third stanza was crucial period of the game as Nancy stopped Roanne on just 9 points while they netted 21. It means that Victor Samnick and his teammates came into the last quarter with plus 23. Roanne totally gave up so Nancy extended its lead even more until the end.

Victor Samnick played 37 games for Nancy this season averaging 9 points and 6 rebounds. He joined new French champion in 2006 from Paris Basket Racing.

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CROATIA

Team Croatia officially starts preparations today -by Eurobasket News
This morning players of Croatian National Team assembled in city of Selac where they will start preparations for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will take a place from July 14th in Athens. National Team will start preparations without head coach Jasmin Repesa and guard Roko Leni Ukic

(195-G-84), who finished the season with Lottomatica Roma on Thursday.

'Our head coach will arrive on Tuesday when he finishes obligations in Rome. We have the plan. He gave us directions so we will do everything just like he told us' - said coach Drazen Anzulovic , who will lead the team until Repesa's arrival.

The first practice will be held today at 18h. Despite most of the players had just couple of days to rest from their duties in other teams all of them, except of above mention Ukic, are there. Ukic will most probably join the team on Thursday. He got five days off by Jasmin Repesa.

Players which start preparations for Olympic Qualifying Tournament are: Dalibor Bagaric, Marko Banic, Stanko Barac, Davor Kus, Kresimir Loncar, Branimir Longin, Damir Markota, Sandro Nicevic, Zoran Planinic, Marko Popovic, Nikola Prkacin, Marin Rozic, Damjan Rudez, Krunoslav Simon, Marko Tomas, Ante Tomic and Jakov Vladovic.

Until the middle of July it will be known which 12 players will represent Croatia in Athens.

'Of course we have more quality players but some of them do not want to participate in projects of NT. If we succeed to make a team sprit and if all of us give 100% percent of our abilities we have a chance to make a good result. I joined NT because I feel responsibility to do this. My opinion is that all of us are obligated to join and give our best for Croatian Natonal Team' - said Anzulovic.

Croatia "B" loses two friendlies in China -by Eurobasket News
Croatian National team 'B' failed to deliver in the first two games of the friendly three-game series against China. The first exhibition game was played in Yantai and Chinese team celebrated a narrow 65:60 victory over their European opponents. Croatia got to a better start and enjoyed an 11:3 lead early on. The hosts capped the first frame on an 8:2 run to trail by 2 at the end of it. Ding Jinhui (204-C-89) converted a free throw to give China their first lead of the game 27:26 midway through the second period. They enjoyed a 29:26 advantage at halftime. The hosts maintained the cushion early in the third period before Croatia accounted for 12 straight points to grab the lead back at 48:46. China replied with a 14:6 run in the final quarter to jump ahead and rolled to the win at the end. Wang Zhizhi (214-C-79) provided 11 points for the home team. Jianlian Yi (212-C/F-87) added 8 points and 7 boards for the winners. Croatia answered with 10 points from Jure Lalic (212-C-86). Luka Zoric (211-C/F-84) had 9 points in defeat.
Two days later the teams met again in Shanghai. China led right from the start as they held to a 10-point lead late in the first frame. They stretched the gap to 18 points over the experimental Croatian squad before the visitors struck back to cut it to 12 at halftime. Croatia never surrendered and clipped the distance to just 3 points early in the fourth period. But Jianlian Yi and Chen Jianghua (188-G-89) were deadly from charity stripe in the dying minutes to seal the winning outcome for the hosts. Jianlian Yi had 18 points and 13 boards for the winners. Wang Shipen added 17 points in the second win for China. Ivan Novacic (201-F-85) answered with 15 points for Croatia. Rok Stipcevic (189-G-86) chipped in 14 points, while Jure Lalic posted 12 in a losing effort. The teams will play their third game in Jiyuan on Monday.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Brothers Greer celebrate the title in France -by Eurobasket News
Brothers Jeff Greer (195-G/F-79, college: Rutgers) and Ricardo Greer (195-F/G-78, college: Pittsburgh) captured the title in French Pro A. Their team Sluc Nancy outplayed Roanne in the final game 84-53. Nancy came through the play-off with score 5-1. In the quarterfinal they outplayed Vichy 2-0 while at the next stage ASVEL suffered 2 defeats.

Roanne started the final game better grabbing quick 5-0 lead but Nancy immediately answered with 6-0 run. After that Jeff Greer stepped up showing fantastic performance in the first quarter. He collected 15 point including a basket at the buzzer setting the score on 23-14 after first 10 minutes. Nancy continued second stanza in the same rhythm and after Amagou's 3-pointer extended lead to 13 points. Later, after the breathed, Nancy totally took control on their opponent. Brothers Greer and their teammates intensified defense which outcame with just 9 points by Roanne in third frame. Nothing new was seen in the French play-off final in the last period when once again Nancy didn't let Roanne to score more than 10 points. Roanne somehow stopped after its 41st point today. During the next 15 minutes they struggled a lot with offensive sets which finally resulted with defeat of 31 points.

Jeff Greer paced the winners to the title nailing 29 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for 35 minutes. He had very good shooting percentage making 6 of 10 attempts from behind the arc. He also had 5 of 6 from the field and 1 of 2 from the FT line. At the same time he was the MVP of the final game with index value 35. His brother Ricardo Greer contributed in the final with 5 points and 9 rebounds.

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EGYPT

"Egypt is one of the best leagues I have played ever" -by Sherif Soliman
Last night i had a chance to have dinner with Danny johnson Gezira point gaurd, He was preparing to flay back home.I asked him about playing in egypt and his impressions about it.He was looking forward to see his new born sun and his family back home.

SS:Where do you put this season in your basketball carrier?
DJ:To be honest with you this season is one of my best ever,I won my first champion in my life.I used to play in big teams in eurpe but we never won the league.

SS: How hard was it for you to win the campionchip?
DJ:It is a very tough laegue to win,what makes it hard is that he best six teams can win any time so that you have no easy games to play,If you dont play hard every game you will lose.

SS:What about your coach.team mates,mangment?
DJ:They became all my friends,and we had great times togther,they reially hellped me to be in the team very fast.however,when you play in such a big team you dont have to do everything this helped me to lead the team to the championchip.

SS:Gezira players are cosiderd very religious,how did feel abuot it?
DJ:They treated me like one of them,I never felt anything strange because of my religion,They where so kind to me,the only problem i had was language as most of them doesnt speak english.

SS:Will you come again to Egypt:
DJ: Sure,If i dont get a better offer in Eurpe i will come back to play here again.

Danny Johnson (201-F)

Sporting holds the cup for the second time since1977 -by Sherif Soliman
Sporting 87-80 Gezira: Sporitng won the cup after a great perfrmance to over come Gezira the super league champoin 2008.However, It was a great victory for the sporting fans,mangment,players who celibrated the victory togther after 35 years in hall 4 at Cairo stadeium.Chauncey sporting point gaurd prooved to everyone that he was the best import this season scoring 30 points.Sabry Abd El Naby sporting haed coach couldnt hold his tears after the game,He sent a clear message to Sporting mangment who put him under pressure in the last couple of weeks(I am the best coach in the league who can lead this team )Chauncey Leslie (183-G-81, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents, college: Iowa)

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EL SALVADOR

UTEC wins University League -by Jaime Arevalo
Universidad Tecnologica-UTEC, with the same coach, Rodolfo Mena , but a totally different roster from the team competing in Liga Superior, triumphed in the first edition of the Liga Universitaria, run this season by the El Salvador Basketball Federation (FESABAL). In the last and decisive game Universidad Tecnologica defeated Universidad Jose Matias Delgado with 25 points of difference. With 28 points, Mauricio Lahud (176-G-84) was the main performer, followed by Eduardo Orellana and Jorge Loucel (186-F-90). The top player of 'Matias', Eduardo Aguilar (176-G-86), was limited by the good defense of the UTEC players.

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FRANCE

[ProA Final] : Nancy is the '08 champion -by Aurelien Hipp
Nancy - Roanne 84-53 (23-14, 22-20, 21-9, 18-10)
Nancy: Dowdell 2, Amagou 8, Lefevre, Julian 15, J.Greer 29 (MVP), Parker 2, Harrison 3, Zaki, Samnick 16, R.Greer 5, Bauer 4
Roanne: Byars 11, Poupet 4, Hess, Soliman 8, Cazalon 2, Rush 6, Pellin 2, Kone 5, Badiane 2, Salyers 13

On the wings of the 07-08' season MVP, Roanne is starting better in this game (5 consecutive points), with a quick 5-0 lead. However, Nancy didn't wait to answer since Samnick was hyper-active in the paint (6pts in a row) to bring back his team. Nancy, with better offensive arguments, couldn't create a gap since Ricardo Greer couldn't get some calls he expected and to let 4 possessions go out (6 turnovers at half-time). In fact, the other member of the Greer bros made an unbelievable job in this first half (15pts) with 3 consecutive treys, including one of his specialty, a buzzer-beater to end the first period. Adding some beautiful fastbreaks, Jeff put his team on a solid lead after 10 minutes (23-14).
Amagou starts the 2nd quarter with another basket from downtown, while Jeff goes on giving Nancy a 13pt-lead. This is compelling Roanne's coach to find other offensive solutions with Rush and Byars bringing some important points. Roanne is led in the rebounds category (22 vs 11) and isn't agressive enough (2 free-throws attempted). The defending champion is pulled away by 11, and will need more to offer their fans a back-to-back.
This third quarter is the beginning of a nightmare for Roanne. After a couple of points by Badiane and Pellin, and another trey from Byars, Roanne stays stuck at 41pts. Nancy puts a much higher pressure, closing some offensive options for Roanne (Pellin has too take open shots but cannot convert them) and forcing errors for Roanne. From this moment on, Roanne will vanish in this game. After 9pts scored in the third, Roanne could only score 10 in the last period.
On the other side, Jeff Greer adds 8pts consecutive points to reach a total of 29, giving hum a deserved MVP title. With 3 minutes to, Jean-Luc Monschau could offer a standing-ovation to his stars (Bauer, Greer). After 3 defeats in Bercy for the last 3 finals, Nancy has turned the curse down. SLUC Nancy is the 2008 champion and will discover the Euroleague!

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GERMANY

U20 National Team announced -by Moritz Korff
The German U20 National Team will have a training camp in Kienbaum from June 18-25 and travel to Poland later this month to attend the international tournament in Inowroclaw. 'Bundestrainer' Emir Mutapcic selected the following players for this action. Christian Standhardinger (201-F-89) from Ehingen and Bamberg's Tim Ohlbrecht (211-C/F-88) will not participate, but are members of the U20-squad as well. Fabian Thuelig (196-F-89) and Oskar Fassler (198-G-88) who are currently involved in the Bundesliga-Finals will join the team when the series as come to an end:

Robin Benzing (209-F-89) - University of Michigan, USA
Ziyed Chennoufi (202-F-88) - Hagen
Bastian Doreth (183-G-89) - Franken Hexer
Oskar Fassler - Berlin
Per Guenther (187-G-88, agency: Rasmussen Services) - Ulm
Elias Harris (202-F-89) - Speyer
Philipp Heyden (208-C-88) - Kirchheim/Ludwigsburg
Michael Jost (203-F-88) - Stahnsdorf
Philip Noch (200-G/F-89) - Braunschweig
Robert Oehle (209-C-88) - Paderborn
Tim Ohlbrecht - Bamberg/Breitenguessbach
Tibor Pleiss

(215-F/C-89) - Koeln
Kevin Schaffartzik (184-G-88) - Stahnsdorf
Stefan Schmidt (206-C-89) - Franken Hexer
Philipp Schwethelm (200-F-89, agency: Court Side) - Koeln
Tom Spoeler (206-F-88) - Leverkusen
Lucca Staiger (196-G-88) - Iowa State University, USA
Christian Standhardinger - Ehingen
Karsten Tadda (190-G-88) - Bamberg/Breitenguessbach
Fabian Thuelig - Bonn

Reserve players:
Cornelius Adler (195-G/F-89) - Ehingen
Joleik Schaffrath (206-C-88, agency: Heinrich Sports) - Oldenburg

Head Coach: Emir Mutapcic
Coach Assistants: Robert Bauer, Alan Ibrahimagic

Alba stun Bonn to take 2-1 in the Final series -by Eurobasket News
ALBA-Bonn 99:69 (18-20, 35-9, 30-16, 16-24)

Alba Berlin made the Final series 2-1 over Bonn tonight. Trailing 18:20 after the opening quarter the winner of the regular season produced massive 35:9 to seal 99:69 victory. Julius Jenkins

(187-G-81, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Georgia Southern) led the winners with 26 points. Bobby Brown

(188-G-84, agency: Priority Sports, college: Cal.St. Fullerton) and Aleksandar Nadjfeji

(203-F-76) followed him with 16 points apiece. Bernd Kruel

(210-C/F-76) top-scored for the guests with 13 points. Winsome Frazier

(193-G/F-82, agency: Interperformances, college: Mississippi St.) nailed 11 and Patrick Flomo (203-F-80, college: Ohio) scored 10.

It was a different game of what we have seen in the first two games, but not in the beginning. Bonn did not mind taking not only the lead, but control of the game in the beginning of it. First quarter ended up as the underdog had 20:18 advantage. It was however the dream for them as Alba woke up immediately in the second quarter. A massive 35:9 shocked Bonn that was glad that the period was over. Both teams went to the lockers as the board showed 53:29.

The game was not over at that time and that was another reason for Alba to prove. The hosts produced 30:16 in the third period to make the score for the Final series inappropriate. Having plus 38 points before the last period Alba allowed the guests to reduce a bit. Bonn replied with 24:16 and did not let Alba to score tree digits number in the end losing 99:69.

Game 4 is scheduled in Bonn for June 17th.

ALBA:Julius Jenkins

26, Bobby Brown

16, Aleksandar Nadjfeji

16
Bonn:Bernd Kruel

13, Winsome Frazier

11, Patrick Flomo 10

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GREECE

Triple transfer strike from Aris Thessaloniki -by Simon Varvakis
Aris Thessaloniki announced 3 transfers this week. Coach Andrea Mazzon managed to break his contract with Fortitudo Bologna and signed with Aris for the next 2 years. Coach Mazzon is returning to Aris after a season with Fortitudo and as he said he has 'returned home'. The new coach had already started planning this year's roster even before he signed and the first 2 transfers followed the announcement of his signing.

Sean Marshall (198-G/F-85, college: Boston Coll.) of Karsiyaka was the first player to sign for next year's roster. The small forward of Karsiyaka was one of the best players of the team and he averaged 18.8ppg, 5.2rpg, 1.5apg, 2FGP: 56.8%, 3PT: 37.5%, FT: 66.0% in 33 games. He recently gave an interview for the team's official website where he said that he will do whatever he can to help the team. There is also a clause in his contract that says that he can sign in an NBA team if he finds a contract before June 30rd.

The third announcement from Aris Thessaloniki was the much anticipated Keydren Clark (173-G-84, college: St.Peter's) of Scavolini. Keydren Clark has a bulgarian passport that makes him a Bosman player for Aris. He is one of the best scoring guards and was the leading scorer for Aigaleo BC in 2006-2007. Keydren Clark last year averaged in Scavolini 15.3ppg, 2.9rpg, 1.9apg, 2.0spg, 2FGP:49.3%, 3PT:40.6%, FT-3(88.2%) in 34 games. The announcement of Keydren Clark means that Darius Washington will soon be sold with the prime contestant being Unics Kazan who is rumored to be offering the most amount of money for the player.

Calls to 19 players for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men by Panagiotis Yiannakis -by George Manousidis
National coach, Panagiotis Giannakis , call-up 19 players for the preparation of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men, which will take place July 14-20 at the OAKA.
The new comers are Vassilis Xanthopoulos, Dimitris Tsaldaris, Ioannis Kalampokis, Kostas Koufos, Ian Vougioukas and Giorgos Printezis.
Preparations will begin at 23 June in Karpenissi, for a period of seven days.
New persons in technical team of the National men are Nikos Linardos and Dimitris Priftis.
The 19 players are:
Vassilis Spanoulis, Nikos Zisis, Dimitris Diamantidis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Dimos Dikoudis, Stratos Perperoglou, Antonis Fotsis, Theodoros Papaloukas, Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Giannis Bourousis, Sofoklis Schortsianitis, Giorgos Printezis, Ian Vougioukas, Michalis Pelekanos, Kostas Koufos, Dimitris Tsaldaris, Andreas Glyniadakis, Ioannis Kalampokis, Vassilis Xanthopoulos

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HOLLAND

West Brabant Giants signs Carlos Taylor -by Fred Roggen
This weekend reached West Brabant Giants an agreement with American Carlos Taylor (185-G-86) for the upcoming season. The technicall staf of the Giants has high expectations of Carlos Taylor, who played
the past two seasons for Montana State and averaged 18.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists last season. The roster of the Giants for next season exists at this moment from seven players: Bart Jilesen, Calvin Smith, Arvin Slagter, Mathijs Hak and the Americansplayers Tim Blue, Durelle Brown and Carlos Taylor.

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IVORY COAST

Second place for Mohamed Kone in France -by Eurobasket News
Mohamed Kone (211-C-81, college: Valparaiso) and his team Roanne couldn't handle Sluc Nancy in the final of French Pro A. They suffered serious defeat 84-53 what means that Roanne didn't succeed to defend championship title. Everything started good for Roanne's players as they opened the game with 5-0 run. Their happy moments couldn't last long as Nancy immediately answered setting the score on 6-5. Cone and his teammates couldn't stop Jeff Greer during the first ten minutes as he totally smashed them netting 15 points. So after nice beginning Roanne had deficit of 9 points at the end of the first stanza. The second one started badly for Cone's team as Amagou hit 3-pointer for plus 13. Visitors weren't able to get any closer so its minus became even bigger after 20 minutes, 45-34. Roanne totally lost control on this game in third frame scoring just 9 points. They had big problems with running the plays as Nancy improved its defense rapidly. Thanks to Jeff Greer and Victor Samcnik Nancy resolved question about the winner with more than 10 minutes before the end. They went into the last frame with advantage of 23 points and later just made it even bigger.

Mohamed Kone spent 21 minutes on court collecting 5 points and 7 boards. He struggled with his shot today adding just 1 of 5 attempts from the field and 1 of 2 from behind the arc. Kone had 26 appearances for Roanne in Pro A this year averaging 6 points and 4 rebounds. He started the season in another Pro A team Chalone but in January he joined Roanne.

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JORDAN

Ireifej joines the NT -by Mohammed Malas
Former Zain point guard Francis Ireifej will be back to Jordan National Team's trainings from the begininng of today after one year absence from action due to his willing to continue his studies in the United States...

The national team members came back from their camp in turkey, They won in all the games which they played there to prepare for West Asian Championship for NTs which will begin on the 19th of this month in Amman.

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LITHUANIA

Lithuania without Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the Olympic Games -by Eurobasket News
Unfortunately to Team Lithuania LeBron James (203-F-84) will be the only player of Cleveland Cavaliers who will participate this year on the Olympic Games. Management of the club doesn't want to let Zydrunas Ilgauskas (218-C-75, agency: Interperformances) to play for Lithuanians in Peking.

GM of Cleveland Cavaliers, Danny Ferry, said that Ilgauskas' playing for Lithuanian Team would be very risk move. Namely, Ilgauskas is a player who had a lot of problems with injuries during his career while Cavs have the most worries about his foot. The player also suffered a back injury this year so the team doesn't want to take any risk.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a very good last season in NBA. He had 73 appearances in regular season averaging 14.1 ppg and 9.3 rpg. He also played 13 games in NBA play-off adding 13.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg.

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LUXEMBOURG

News from Heffingen -by Eurobasket News
In Heffingen there will be some changes for the upcoming season. The officials found a successor for coach Johnny Griffin, who moves to Amicale. Mika Turunen from Finland will sign a contract with USH in the upcoming days. Turunen worked 15 years for Lappeenranta as player, head coach, president, executive director and press officer. He also could even lead the team into the Fiba-Eurocup. After Elton Ferreira (Etzella) and Olivier Haan (Amicale) also Sam Ferreira (Etzella) and Rui Nunes (Arantia) will leave the club. Only Chris Zender from Les Esprants will join the promoted team.
Courtesy of basketnews.lu

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MEXICO

First playoff results -by Gianni Pascucci
Just before the start of the Liga del Sureste playoffs, Panamanian Jaime Lloreda (201-F-80, agency: HM Sports Agency, college: LSU) agreed to terms with Dorados de Playa del Carmen. His debut was very good, given that he scored 19 pts and grabbed tons of rebounds in the win 111-61 (!) of Dorados over Aluxes, Game 1 of teh semifinals. The other best performers were Greg Lewis (198-F-78, college: Winthrop), who scored 19 points and Arturo Vazquez (194-G/F-78), who scored 16 in Dorados. As usual, Eric Carr (200-F-71, college: Penn St.) led Aluxes with 25 points and Michael Saulsberry (203-F-64, college: La-Monroe) added 10 points. In the other series, Los Leopardos de Merida prevailed over Marineros 87-81, led by Harold Arceneaux (198-F-77, college: Weber St.), who scored 21 pts, Nick Jones (190-G-81, college: UCSB), who scored 21 he too, and Eric Martin (197-F-76, college: Cincinnati), who added 19. The best in Marineros was Kris Collins (188-G-83, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: N.Mexico), who completed an impressive losing effort scoring 44 points.

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MONTENEGRO

Nikolic is perfect from the field -by Eurobasket News
Goran Nikolic

(205-C-76, agency: Beo Basket) and his Alba Berlin made the Final series 2-1 over Bonn tonight. Trailing 18:20 after the opening quarter the winner of the regular season produced massive 35:9 to seal 99:69 victory. Julius Jenkins led the winners with 26 points. Bobby Brown and Aleksandar Nadjfeji followed him with 16 points apiece. Goran Nikolic

scored 8 points making 3/3 from the field. He added also 2 rebounds and 1 assist to his points. Bernd Kruel top-scored for the guests with 13 points. Winsome Frazier nailed 11 and Patrick Flomo scored 10.
It was a different game of what we have seen in the first two games, but not in the beginning. Bonn did not mind taking not only the lead, but control of the game in the beginning of it. First quarter ended up as the underdog had 20:18 advantage. It was however the dream for them as Alba woke up immediately in the second quarter. A massive 35:9 shocked Bonn that was glad that the period was over. Both teams went to the lockers as the board showed 53:29.
The game was not over at that time and that was another reason for Alba to prove. The hosts produced 30:16 in the third period to make the score for the Final series inappropriate. Having plus 38 points before the last period Alba allowed the guests to reduce a bit. Bonn replied with 24:16 and did not let Alba to score tree digits number in the end losing 99:69.

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NBA

Lakers win game 5 and the Final Series move to Boston -by Eurobasket

Los Angeles Lakers used home court advantage to win game 5 of the finals 103-98 and the Final Series move on the East Coast to Boston.

The Lakers blow their 19-point lead at the end of first quarter, when Celtics came as close as 4 points just 12 minutes later, but managed to avoid game 4 scenario and carry the lead for the rest of the game.
Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) scored 25 points, including a decisive dunk in the final minute and Lamar Odom (6'10''-F-79, college: Rhode Island) added 20 as the Lakers, playing with pride on their star-studded stage, prevented the Celtics from winning a 17th title with a 103-98 win in Game 5 on Sunday night to close to 3-2 in this restored rivalry.
No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals to win a title. The first 28 failed, and now the Lakers, who blew a 24-point lead and lost Game 4 and nearly squandered a 19-point lead in Game 5, have a chance to do something extraordinary.
They'll have to win on the Celtics' parquet floor Tuesday night to force a winner-take-all Game 7, where anything is possible.
Especially with Bryant, the game's best player, on hand.
Pau Gasol (7'0''-F/C-80) had 19 points and 13 rebounds, Odom had 11 rebounds and four blocks and Derek Fisher (6'1''-G-74, agency: Priority Sports, college: UALR) added 15 points.
Paul Pierce (6'7''-F-77, college: Kansas) led the Celtics with 38 points, Kevin Garnett (6'10''-F-76) added 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Ray Allen had 16 points. But Boston's Big Three couldn't close their first chance at winning it all, and now will get two cracks at home to finish the job.
After scoring 15 points in the first quarter, Bryant went cold from the floor and finished just 8-of-21. But he made a big steal, poking the ball away from Paul Pierce and streaking down to deliver a two-handed dunk with 37.4 seconds left.
The Celtics called a timeout, Jack Nicholson jumped to his feet and the scoreboard in Staples Center flashed: Not In Our House!

Courtesy of Yahoo.com

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NIGER

French title for young Zaki Amadou -by Eurobasket News
Young center of Sluc Nancy, Amadou Zaki (215-C-88, college: Saint-Brieuc), got 3 minutes from head coach Jean-Luc Monschau in today's final game of French Pro A. His team beat Roanne 84-53 but Amadou couldn't score any point in this game. He had only one but unsuccessful attempt from behind the arc. Nancy showed very good performance in the second and third quarter what was enough for comfortable win in the final. After 30 minutes they already had advantage of 23 points which they extended even more until the end of the game.

Young Amadou Zaki played 30 games for Nancy this season contributing with 2 ppg and 2 rpg. In the past he played for Nancy's juniors after what he was promoted to senior squad.

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PANAMA

Standings - CBS

CBS Standings

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

Canguros and Navieros won last night in CBS 2008.- -by Eddie Munoz
Canguros de Parque Lefevre refound the road to victory over Fieras de Juan Diaz 101-84 in a game that was very disputed game during the first 44 minutes in the court, the best scorers of the game were Randy Lay 24 Points, Luis Arciniegas 18 Points, Akbar Lawson 18 Points and Daniel Munoz (178-G-84) 14 Pointsby Canguros and by Fieras Fabio Gomez 23 Points and Manuel Guevara 18 Points. In the 2nd game Navieros defeated Toros del Chorrillo 93-90 in a game Toros open a 13 Poiints lead but they can't keep it an finally were defeated by Navieros. Enrique Phillips 19 Points and Joel Tesis 17 Points were the best by Navieros and Juan Lee 29 Points and Jonathan King 26 Points by Toros del Chorrillo.-

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Goroka and Mendi win basketball titles -by Eurobasket News
Goroka Snax Souths won the perpetual Pastor Isaac Joseph Shield after narrowly defeating Mendi Menjals 36-29 in the grand final to bag the menís title in the inaugural National Souths Basketball Championships in Mendi, Southern Highlands province, at the weekend.
In the women's division, Kambiri Souths of Mendi upset pre-tournament favourites Mt Hagen Snax Souths 34-29 to bag the trophy and K1,000 cash prize. The women's match which went right down to the wire kept the Momei oval crowd cheering until the final hooter despite being marred by inconsistent refereeing that disappointed the Mt Hagen team. Hagen Souths led by veterans Fernimore Gomia, Regina Kewa, Helen Wama, Sharon Salimogo and Pauline Apua went through the tournament undefeated, beating their opponents by cricket scores only to run out of puff in the decider to a more confident and experienced Kambiri Souths that boasted the likes of seasoned campaigner Elisah Ako, Mope Ore, Tanda Pima, Pauline Momei and up-coming junior Jessie Charles. Diminutive guard Charles who was in devastating form with fast breaks, thrilling ball handling tactics and contributed the most points for her team which enabled her to win the Late Andrew Mano best and fairest player of the tournament award in the women's division while Goroka's Timothy Thomas won in the mens' division.
It was also a hotly contested affair in the mens' division but Snax Goroka with the experiences of Bronson Kusain, Moki Malsan, Job Joe, Steven Kelly, Anta Bobola Michael Nao and Johnny Tombele just managed to edge out the host Menjals. Ever reliable Nelson Wasano with Peter Masi, Peter Paps and Simon Peter tried hard for the Menjals. The tournament that started on Friday attracted 24 teams from Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands and Southern Highlands. Local Mendi MP and tournament patron Ps Isaac Joseph, Wabag's National Court residential judge Nema Yalo and PNG Basketball Federations vice-president Timothy Lepa were on hand to officiate at the games.
Pastor Joseph announced that the provincial government under Governor Anderson Agiru is the major sponsor of the event with a K10,000.
He presented the money on Saturday during the opening ceremony. Pastor Joseph also announced that Mineral Resources Development Corporation and PNG Gaming Board are also the minor sponsors with K5,000 each. Mobile phone provider Digicel also pledged a K2,500 commitment apart from also assistance like preparations of the courts and other logistics.
Courtesy of: www.thenational.com.pg

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PARAGUAY

Felix Perez defeats Sacachispas -by Gianni Pascucci
Promising young forward Adolfo Lopez (197-F) scored 26 points to lead Felix Perez Cardozo to the win, 85-75, over Sacachispas in the last game of 'Group B2'. The game result was totally non influential over the finasl standings, given that Sacachispas was yet qualified for the Semifinal Round. The other best performers were Diego Lopez (189-G/F-84), who scored 20 pts in FPC, Enzo Ruiz (193-F-88), who scored 39 pts in Sacachispas and Derrick Miller (202-C/F-78, college: Georgetown, KY), who added 15.

National League Standings

National Standings

Group A
1. Sol de Am.	6-0
2. D.San Jose	2-4
3. Libertad	1-5
Group B
1. America	6-0
2. Sacachispas	2-4
3. Felix Perez	1-5

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PORTUGAL

Mario Leite is the new Ovarense head coach -by Bruno Baltazar
After many invitations from the Ovarense staff Mario Leite finally acepted team request to be the new head coach of the 5th times portuguese champions.
Earlier in the season after Luis Magalhaes left the team to Angola he coached them for a few games included ULEB CUP games and 4 wins in 4 games in LIGA UZO,but he didnt had the time to be their coach due to two facts ,his job besides basket and due the fact he had no assistant coach,so team hired Manuel Povea and he was their assistant coach,but now he finally found out time on his professional career to acept this challange for next year in a new competition with a different orcament(substancial reduced).
This week will take place a meeting with all the players from this season to decide their future,the only confirmated player for next season is the young portuguese Joao Soares (197-F-90) that have contract till 2012.

Carlos Pinto will be his assistant coach,another person from Ovar that knows the team really well.

Ovarense is the 3 time portuguese champions -by Bruno Baltazar
In game 7 ,game of every decisions Ovarense won easily the game that got them the 3rd straight champion(Portugal Telecom did the same from 2000-2003) and their 5th champion in Ovarense entire history.
5000 persons in Dolce Vita Arena-Ovarense court ,witnessed the closure of a great series of basketball and the end of LIGA UZO as next season teams will compete in FPB organization.

Porto in the 1st half did 13 turnovers(17in total),couldnt score ,either grab rebounds something they always did in the previous 6 games .
Nuno Marcal did 2-15 in shots just to leave a idea that everything went out in Porto, at the end of the game he said 'Impossible was to do any worse than what we did today'.

Score by partials- 1st quarter(17-6) , 2nd quarter (38-21) , 3rd quarter (58-36) , final score 70-49.

In Ovarense Graham Brown (205-C-84, college: Michigan) was the MPV of the game and the MPV ( 15 pts and 11 rebounds) of this finals (averages of 14.4pts per game ,9.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.9 blocks), John Waller stronger in the 3 point shots did 13 points in the game ,Miguel Miranda important in the rebounds area with 8 and for Porto only Julian Terrell did something with 15 points and 18 rebounds.

Manuel Povea after the game said'We defended really well,during the season we suffered alot with injuries players such as Ben Reed,changes of coaches and systems of work,i came to Portugal to grow as a coach and im really happy with this win'.

Alberto Babo,Porto coach congratulated Ovarense but also their own players ,we couldnt score today he also added.

Ben Reed that coudlnt contribute for the team in the final due to a injury said he knew his teamates could do without him ,he trusted them and we still won he said.
Miguel Miranda said the same injury problems they had and many people doubted they could do it but they did.

Deserved win for the best team in game 7 .

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SAINT VINCENT

Bequia All Stars win the Grenadines Basketball championship -by Eurobasket News
Bequia All Stars finally celebrated the Grenadines Basketball championship title. They failed to deliver on the four previous occasions but last weekend it all favoured them. Bequia paved their way into the Final beating Mustique Icon 62:57 in the semis. Meanwhile Union Island All Stars also booked their Final spot. They overcame Canouan Islanders 78:69 to set up an exciting Final matchup.
Bequia beat the odds and grabbed an impressive 69:57 victory to claim the crown. Otice Lewis nailed 19 points to pace the victors. Philmon Taylor came up with game-high 21 points for the Union Island in defeat. Mustique Icon triumphed in the Bronze medals game. They outgunned Canouan Islanders 84:76. The tournament's awards were given out after the Final. Damian Harry from Canouan Islanders was trumped the tournament's MVP. He averaged 36.4 points and 8.6 boards per game.
The basketball action will tip off again on July 12th. Bequia will enjoy the Tenth Anniversary Tournament.

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SERBIA

Play-off final: Hemofarm STADA ties the score on 1-1 -by Dragan Jankovski
In the second game of Superlegaue play-off final Hemofarm STADA outsmarted Partizan Igokea 88-84 tying the score on 1-1. Teams were almost leveled in the first quarter, which Partizan Igokea finished with plus one, 20-21. Reining Serbian champion started the second quarter better making 28-25 but it was a last lead of the black-and-white team yesterday. During the next couple of minutes of the second period Hemofarm intensified defense making 12-0 run. It resulted with 37-28 with one minute to go in the first half. The orange team continued in the same rhythm in third quarter extending its lead at the end of it on 11 points. Hemofarm had fantastic percentage from behind the arc during the entire game 52%, 12 of 23, and it can be one of the main reasons for this important victory. Players of head coach Vlada Vukoicic kept 10 points lead until the last 3 minutes of the game when Partizan finally answered draining 4 triples. Visitors came very close on 81-84 but Joksimovic, Macvan and Pavkovic were concentrated from the FT line setting the score in the final series on 1-1.
Rawle Marshall (201-G-82, college: Oakland) paced the winners collecting 27 points and 4 boards. Slovenian guard Nebojsa Joksimovic (193-G-81, agency: Beo Basket) helped Hemofarm with 15 points and 4 rebounds while PG Miljan Pavkovic (178-G-81, agency: Beo Basket) stopped on 14 points and 4 assists. Partizan Igokea got 22 points and 6 assists from Milton Palacio (190-G-78, college: Colorado St.). Center Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) netted 20 poins and grabbed 5 rebounds.

Hemofarm's fans will have another opportunity to watch their team in Vrsac. Game number 3 will be played in Belgrade tomorrow while Hemofarm will be host once agiain on June 18.

Hemofarm STADA - Partizan Igokea 88-84
(20-21,18-11,24-19,26-33)

Hemofarm: Marshall 27 (4 rebs), Joksimovic 15 (4 rebs), Pavkovic 14 (4 as), Vukosavljevic 10
Partizan: Palacio 22 (6 as), Pekovic 20 (5 rebs), Vitkovac 11 (5 rebs), Tripkovic 11

Another win for Serbian colony in ALBA Berlin -by Dragan Jankovski
Serbian colony in ALBA Berlin, Aleksandar Nadjfeji

(203-F-76), Dragan Dojcin

(204-F-76, agency: Beo Basket), Mladen Pantic

(210-C-82) and Luka Pavicevic, registered the second victory in the play-off final. ALBA beat Telekom Basket Bonn at home with huge difference 99-69. The team from Berlin once again took advantage in the final series and it is now 2-1. They will have an opportunity to capture the title in Bonn on June 17th but for sure it won't be an easy job.

Telekom Bonn had successful beginning of the game closing first quarter 18-20 but they couldn't even imagine what they will suffer in the next 10 minutes. It was a real terror by ALBAs players. It seemed that each of them was capable to score when he wants and from any position. Telekom Bonn was totally trashed during these 10 minutes 35-9. It meant that Aleksandar Nadjfeji

, Dragan Dojcin

, Mladen Pantic

and head coach Luka Pavicevic had advantage of 24 points at the half time. Interesting is that they didn't stop in the next quarter. They keep smashing Bonn finishing third quarter 30-16. ALBA Berlin had amazing plus 38 points before the last 10 minutes. Coach Pavicevic had a chance to give a good rest to some players before maybe the decisive game in Bonn.

Aleksandar Nadjfeji

shined once again scoring 16 points. He was perfect from the field shooting 6 of 6 while he also had 4 of 6 from the free throw line. For 16 minutes he grabbed 5 more rebounds and dished out 5 assists reaching index value 24. Dragan Dojcin

collected 6 points and 2 boards for 18 minutes. Center Mladen Pantic

spent just one minute on the court without any record.

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SLOVENIA

Market News and Rumors -by Zeljko Zule
Union Olimpija signed Croatian Damjan Rudez ex Split CO for 2+1 seasons.
Benetton NT aree seeking to reinforce the roster with NT member Nebojsa Joksimovic of Hemofarm.
Scavolini is interested in Jure Mocnik of Helios, Bojan Krivec of Krka and Tadej Kostomaj of Alpos Sentjur.
.

Union Olimpija signed Damjan Rudez -by Matej Bergant
Union Olimpija signed Damjan Rudez (207-F-86) on two years contract with an option to extend him for another year. Rudez was one of the main players of Split this season averaging 10.5ppg, 4.2rpg, 1.7apg in 26 games of Adriatic League and 17.1ppg, 3.8rpg, 1.8apg in 14 games of Croatian League and 13.1ppg, 4.4rpg, 2.1apg in 8 games of Croatian play-off. He also surprisingly led Split to finals of Croatian League, beating Euroleague team Cibona Zagreb on their way. He is also one of the candidats for Croatian NT for this summer's Olympic qualifying tournament in Athens.

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UKRAINE

Bajramovic back in Ukraine! / Rodriguez to Donetsk / Zivkovic instead of Vrzina -by Alexander Muzyka
- The news everybody knows was officially proved by BC Kyiv. Sasa Obradovic arrived in Ukraninan capital last Friday. He wiil rule 'wolves' with a help of Denys Zhuravliov and a new coach assistant Ivan Jeremic . By the way, Jeremic appeared in Kyiv with the Lietuvos Rytas player Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81) who is back to Ukraine after one-year delay.

- BC Donetsk has inked Andres Rodriguez (182-G-81).

- Aleksandar Vrzina has left Khimik. Vladan Zivkovic will work as a head coach assistant both in Khimik (by Dmytro Bazelevskyi) and Khimik-2 (by Oleksandr Paschenko).

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Women News

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ANGOLA - Women

Brazil edges Angola to face Cuba in the decider -by Eurobasket News

Angola-Brazil 58:75 (8-28, 12-15, 14-16, 24-16)

Brazil joined Cuba in the game for the fifth place of FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women. The team from Latin America overcame Angola 75:58 last night. After 28:8 in the opening quarter Brazil took control of the game and never looked behind. Soeli Zakrzeski (187-C/F-77) led the winners with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Micaela Jacintho (180-F-79) and Kelly Santos (192-C-79) supported her with 10 points each. Nassecela Mauricio (181-F-80) collected 16 points and 10 rebounds in defeat, while Astrida Vicente (174-F/G-78) added 12.
Brazil proved their superiority right in the opening quarter. After an overtime defeat from Belarus Latin American team desired to recover and produced 28:8 in the first period. Angola had nothing to do with it, but remained alive in the court. The second quarter was more defensive and after 15:12 Brazil increased the lead to 22 points at the half.
In the third period the teams continued the stream of the previous quarters. Brazil had the biggest advantage of the game, plus 27 points. In the last quarter however Angola suggested their game. Africans scored 24 points and it was 8 points more than the favorites of the game. Brazil shot 48% from the floor compared to 32% for the Angolans. As a result Brazil advanced with 75:58 win and faces Cuba tonight for the last spot to Olympics.

Angola:Nassecela Mauricio 16+10 rebs, Astrida Vicente 12
Brazil: Soeli Zakrzeski 11+7 rebs, Micaela Jacintho 10, Kelly Santos 10

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BERMUDAS - Women

TBI Women's Basketball League tips off on Bermudas -by Eurobasket News
The Women's basketball continued to occupy the minds and hearts of Bermuda fans. TBI Women's Basketball championship started at the weekend. Two games opened the exciting season. The Somerset Hornets tipped off their season with a 30:20 win over St. George's Storm. Denice Burgess scored 13 points to lead the action. Nicole Crumpler provided 10 points for the winners. Mallory was the topscorer for the Storm with 6 points.
In another first fixture the Hamilton Parish Hurricanes held off the Warwick Suns 37:31. The Suns got to a better start and enjoyed an 18:11 lead at halftime. But an inspirational performance from Wenda Godfrey allowed the Hurricanes to come out on top. They raced in front in the final minutes and snatched their initial win in the season. Wenda Godfrey provided 13 points and 9 boards for the winners. Tiara Simmons knocked down 9 points for the Hurricanes. Gina Benjamin answered with 10 points for the Suns. Sade Fox and Tashae Thompson had 7 points apiece in defeat. Wenda Godfrey was trumped the Player of the Week for the first week of action in the League.
There are two more games scheduled for today in the tournament. The Somerset Hornets will face the Warwick Suns, while St. George's Storm will take on the Hamilton Parish Hurricanes.

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BRAZIL - Women

Brazil edges Angola to face Cuba in the decider -by Eurobasket News

Angola:Nassecela Mauricio 16+10 rebs, Astrida Vicente 12
Brazil: Soeli Zakrzeski 11+7 rebs, Micaela Jacintho 10, Kelly Santos 10

Brazil takes the last spot for Beijing -by Eurobasket News
Cuba-Brazil 67:72 (16-19, 18-15, 13-11, 20-27)

Brazil took the last spot in Beijing after the decisive game in FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women. Brazil beat Cuba 72:67 due to the last period win. Micaela Jacintho (180-F-79) led the winners with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Karla da Costa (173-G-78) nailed 11, while Kelly Santos (192-C-79) netted 10. Yamara Amargo (180-F-85) top-scored for Cuba with 17 points. Yakelin Plutin (186-F-79) ended up with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Yayma Boulet (193-C-83) collected 14 points and 8 rebounds.
It was the last game of the tournament and was expected more than any others. The game between Cuba and Brazil became the rivalry from the South American continent and brought an interest in the last day in Madrid. Brazil grabbed 19:16 lead in the opening quarter, but could not go to the lockers in the winning side. Cuba produced 18:15 and tied the score at the half. Moreover, it was the latter that went on a lead before the last period. A defensive 13:11 in the third quarter lifted Cuba up to 2 points in front. The latter was on top 61:56 four minutes from the end after two free throws by Oyanaisis Gelis (171-G-83). Karla buried two free throws with 32 seconds remaining to put Bassul's side in front at 67:65. Yakelin Plutin struggled hard and kept Cuba alive, but again Oyanaisis Gelis made a three pointer and brought a win for Brazil.

Cuba: Yamara Amargo 17, Yakelin Plutin 16+12 rebs, Yayma Boulet 14+8 rebs
Brazil:Micaela Jacintho 22+7 rebs, Karla da Costa 11, Kelly Santos 10

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CUBA - Women

Brazil takes the last spot for Beijing -by Eurobasket News
Cuba-Brazil 67:72 (16-19, 18-15, 13-11, 20-27)

Brazil took the last spot in Beijing after the decisive game in FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women. Brazil beat Cuba 72:67 due to the last period win. Micaela Jacintho (180-F-79) led the winners with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Karla da Costa (173-G-78) nailed 11, while Kelly Santos (192-C-79) netted 10. Yamara Amargo (180-F-85) top-scored for Cuba with 17 points. Yakelin Plutin (186-F-79) ended up with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Yayma Boulet (193-C-83) collected 14 points and 8 rebounds.
It was the last game of the tournament and was expected more than any others. The game between Cuba and Brazil became the rivalry from the South American continent and brought an interest in the last day in Madrid. Brazil grabbed 19:16 lead in the opening quarter, but could not go to the lockers in the winning side. Cuba produced 18:15 and tied the score at the half. Moreover, it was the latter that went on a lead before the last period. A defensive 13:11 in the third quarter lifted Cuba up to 2 points in front. The latter was on top 61:56 four minutes from the end after two free throws by Oyanaisis Gelis (171-G-83). Karla buried two free throws with 32 seconds remaining to put Bassul's side in front at 67:65. Yakelin Plutin struggled hard and kept Cuba alive, but again Oyanaisis Gelis made a three pointer and brought a win for Brazil.

Cuba: Yamara Amargo 17, Yakelin Plutin 16+12 rebs, Yayma Boulet 14+8 rebs
Brazil:Micaela Jacintho 22+7 rebs, Karla da Costa 11, Kelly Santos 10

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D.R. CONGO - Women

Mwadi Mabika and her Houston reach second win -by Eurobasket News
Mwadi Mabika (180-F-76) and her Houston Comets posted their second win in the season and just the 12th victory in the two last years beating the Seattle Storm 68:60 at home. Tina Thompson led the charge with 21 points and 10 boards for the Comets. Michelle Snow pulled down 16 boards for the hosts who outrebounded the Storm 46:30. Lauren Jackson scored 18 points for the Storm in defeat. The Comets led by 4 points at halftime and spurred ahead right after the long break. They outscored the visitors 12:5 to open the third stanza and stretched the gap to 11 points. Seattle fought bravely and cut the deficit to 4 points with under 2 minutes remaining. Tina Thompson replied with a three-pointer and then the home side knocked down 6 out of seven free throws to ensure the victory. Mwadi Mabika posted 7 points, made 4 rebounds and 1 assist.
On June 7th Indiana held off Houston 84:75 at the Conseco Fieldhouse. Katie Douglas produced 20 points to propel the Fever to the 4th win. Tammy Sutton-Brown added 19 points and Tan White had 15 as the Fever kept winning even without Tamika Catchings. The five All-Star is still recovering after the last season Achilles injury. The Houston Comets meanwhile are still looking for their best game as they were upset for the 7th time in the season. Tina Thompson had 19 points in a losing case. Mwadi Mabika finished the night with 3 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.

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LUXEMBOURG - Women

Sparta and Racing want cooperation -by Eurobasket News
Sparta Bertrange and Racing Luxembourg want to create a cooperation for their female youth teams. The teams from Fillettes on till Espoires should be formed from players of the two clubs. As the rules of the FLBB don't foresee that a team can represent two clubs and as the officials of Sparta and Racing want to keep both club-names for the teams, there could be some difficulties to realize the project. Everybody tells us that we don't do enough for our women teams. Now that we have build up a project, that will be in the interest of women's basketball, it is threatened to fail because of a lack in the rules, explained Sparta-president Romain Hoffmann. In Football cooperations like this are realized since many years under the name of Entente. The FLBB-officials think that this cooperation would be a good idea, but the problem is that our rules don't allow a team to have the name of two clubs. For the women teams the clubs can use the new 'partenariat et prt', so that the players that are not strong enough to play for Racing's Diekirch-League-team can play for Sparta in the Nationale II, told us the FLBB-president Marion Grethen. Sparta's women team will be enforced for next season by US-player Elisabeth Jury, that played for Racing last season.
Courtesy of basketnews.lu

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NIGERIA - Women

Sanni loses and wins with Detroit -by Eurobasket News
Olayinka Sanni (188-C-86, college: W.Virginia) won one game and lost another over the last three days for her Detroit in WNBA. At first Los Angeles Sparks closed on the Minnesota Lynx in the Western conference ladder after edging the Detroit Shock 80:73 at home. Lisa Leslie came up with 17 points, 12 boards and 5 blocks to lead the Sparks. Delisha Milton-Jones and Keisha Brown had 12 points each for the winners. Katie Smith answered with 16 points for the Shock. Deanna Nolan chipped in 14 points as Detroit suffered their 3rd loss in the season. The hosts enjoyed a 10-point advantage early in the fourth period but Detroit clawed their way back within a single point midway through the stanza. Delisha Milton-Jones and Candace Parker stepped up for the home team nailing jump shots and putting them away for good. The Sparks improved to 5-2 record after the win. Olayinka Sanni produced 3 points and 1 assist showing 100% from the field.
Tasha Humphrey nailed a career-high 28 points for the Detroit Shock as they outlasted the Phoenix Mercury 89:79 in Arizona. The teams last met in the WNBA Finals and there the Mercury celebrated victory. This time the Shock avenged of the last season's sour loss. Another rookie Alexis Hornbuckle pulled down 15 boards and Detroit dropped the defending champions to 2-6 record.Olayinka Sanni played only 3 minutes, but managed to grab a rebound for such a short period of time. Cappie Pondexter provided 28 points for the Mercury in a loss. Diana Taurasi had a woeful night shooting just 1/9 from the field and coming up with 9 points in defeat.

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OLYMPIC GAMES - Women

Last but one -by Eurobasket News

Cuba-Japan 66:58 (21-18, 16-8, 16-17, 13-15)

Cuba beat Japan in one of two games scheduled for tonight of FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women. The team from Latin America won 66:58
and will meet Brazil for the 5th place that will give a ticket to Beijing. Yayma Boulet (193-C-83) led the winners with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Yakelin Plutin (186-F-79) ended up with 12 points, while Clenia Noblet (191-C-87) scored 8. Noriko Koiso (183-C-74) top-scored for Japan with 12 points and Rika Tanaka (173-G-82) added 8.

For both teams this stage is decisive even though the winner does not take it all. Japan is eliminated, however Cuba will have a do or die game versus Brazil. Latin Americans opened the game with 21:18 taking a bit of control in the game. With 16:8 in the second period Cuba took full responsibility in the court dominating it over Japan. Both teams disappeared in the lockers for Cubans 11 points lead.
In the second half Japan brought the intrigue back providing at first 17:16 in the third quarter. In the last minutes of the game Japan closed to 61:58 but could not score anymore. Even though they won the period 15:13 it was not enough for the total win. Cuba nailed 5 more consecutive points in the end to seal a victory over the Asians.

Cuba:Yayma Boulet 24+9 rebs, Yakelin Plutin 12, Clenia Noblet 8
Japan: Noriko Koiso 12, Rika Tanaka 8

Angola-Brazil 58:75 (8-28, 12-15, 14-16, 24-16)
Brazil joined Cuba in the game for the fifth place of FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women. The team from Latin America overcame Angola 75:58 last night. After 28:8 in the opening quarter Brazil took control of the game and never looked behind. Soeli Zakrzeski (187-C/F-77) led the winners with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Micaela Jacintho (180-F-79) and Kelly Santos (192-C-79) supported her with 10 points each. Nassecela Mauricio (181-F-80) collected 16 points and 10 rebounds in defeat, while Astrida Vicente (174-F/G-78) added 12.
Brazil proved their superiority right in the opening quarter. After an overtime defeat from Belarus Latin American team desired to recover and produced 28:8 in the first period. Angola had nothing to do with it, but remained alive in the court. The second quarter was more defensive and after 15:12 Brazil increased the lead to 22 points at the half.
In the third period the teams continued the stream of the previous quarters. Brazil had the biggest advantage of the game, plus 27 points. In the last quarter however Angola suggested their game. Africans scored 24 points and it was 8 points more than the favorites of the game. Brazil shot 48% from the floor compared to 32% for the Angolans. As a result Brazil advanced with 75:58 win and faces Cuba tonight for the last spot to Olympics.

Angola:Nassecela Mauricio 16+10 rebs, Astrida Vicente 12
Brazil: Soeli Zakrzeski 11+7 rebs, Micaela Jacintho 10, Kelly Santos 10

Twelve participants are now finalized -by Eurobasket News
Brazil took the last spot in Beijing after the decisive game in FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women. Brazil beat Cuba 72:67 due to the last period win. Micaela Jacintho (180-F-79) led the winners with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Karla da Costa nailed 11, while Kelly Santos netted 10. Yamara Amargo top-scored for Cuba with 17 points. Yakelin Plutin (186-F-79) ended up with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Yayma Boulet collected 14 points and 8 rebounds.
It was the last game of the tournament and was expected more than any others. The game between Cuba and Brazil became the rivalry from the South American continent and brought an interest in the last day in Madrid. Brazil grabbed 19:16 lead in the opening quarter, but could not go to the lockers in the winning side. Cuba produced 18:15 and tied the score at the half. Moreover, it was the latter that went on a lead before the last period. A defensive 13:11 in the third quarter lifted Cuba up to 2 points in front. The latter was on top 61:56 four minutes from the end after two free throws by Oyanaisis Gelis (171-G-83). Karla buried two free throws with 32 seconds remaining to put Paulo Bassul 's side in front at 67:65. Yakelin Plutin struggled hard and kept Cuba alive, but again Oyanaisis Gelis made a three pointer and brought a win for Brazil.
That is why 12 participant women's national teams at the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are now finalized. Olympic Basketball Tournament for Women will be played from 9th to 23rd August 2008 in the brand new Wukesong Indoor Stadium.

Group A: Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Korea, Latvia, Russia
Group B: China, Czech Republic, Mali, New Zealand, Spain, USA

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PARAGUAY - Women

Sol de America defeats Olimpia -by Gianni Pascucci
In the last round of Female league First Division, Sol de America prevailed over Olimpia 92-85, and now not any team is undefeated. Paola Ferrari (178-G/F-85) scored 31 points to be the game top performer, and Jazmin Mercado (-G-89) added 14 in Sol de America, Carina Pena (-C-84) was the best in Olimpia with 14 pts in losing effort.
See here down all the last results:
UCA 85 - Libertad 67
FPC 44 - UAA 62
San Lorenzo 96 - C. Nueva 40
Sol de America 92 - Olimpia 85
STANDINGS
1. Olimpia 9-1
2. Sol de America 9-1,
3. UCA 7-3,
4. UAA 6-4,
5. Sport.San Lorenzo 4-6
6. Libertad 3-7,
7. Felix Perez 2-8,
8. Ciudad Nueva 0-10.

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PORTUGAL - Women

Penicheiro nailed 5 freebies over the final 15 seconds to seal the winning outcome for Monarchs -by Eurobasket News
The Sacramento Monarchs with a Portuguese player improved to 5-5 record after registering two road wins in a row over the last two days. Nicole Powell and Crystal Kelly came up with 18 points apiece to pace the Monarchs past the Lynx in Minneapolis. The hosts opened the game better as they held to a 10-point lead midway through the first frame. However Sacramento struck back finalizing the first half on a 43:18 rally to build a 15-point buffer at the interval. Candice Wiggins scored 9 points in the third frame and the Lynx denied the deficit. They cut the distance to a single point midway through the final period but the Monarchs withstood. Patricia Penicheiro (180-G-74, college: ODU) nailed 5 freebies over the final 15 seconds to seal the winning outcome for the visitors. Patricia Penicheiro, Scholanda Robinson and Laura Harper finished with 9 points each for the winners. Seimone Augustus nailed game-high 21 points for the Lynx. Candice Wiggins provided 17 points, 6 boards and 5 assists in defeat.
Last night however Los Angeles Sparks tied the league's best record of 8-2 as they held off the Sacramento Monarchs 74:66 away from home. The Monarchs stunned the visitors with a 22:8 first frame but could not maintain the lead. Candace Parker posted 15 points and 9 boards to spark the Sparks in the second half. Los Angeles put on an impressive show in the final frame as they fired a 16:2 rally to clear off for good in the final minutes. Lisa Leslie provided 14 points and 4 blocks, while Delisha Milton-Jones had 13 points in a winning case. Rebekkah Brunson notched 16 points and 8 boards for Sacramento. Nicole Powell contributed 13 points for the Monarchs who won two straight game away from home but could not keep the winning track at home. Patricia Penicheiro had 8 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.

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ROMANIA - Women

Pascalau starts with the Storm -by Eurobasket News
Romanian Florina Pascalau (193-C-82) started her season in WNBA for Seattle Storm. Her first game she played on June 3rd against New York Liberty. Shameka Christon matched her career best with 25 points to pace the New York Liberty to a confident 77:63 victory over the Seattle Storm. The hosts jumped to a quick start and piled up a 16-point lead early in the game. The Strom however denied it trailing by just 2 points at the interval. Nevertheless Christon kept forcing the issue as she knocked down 15 points in the second half and the hosts rolled to their 2nd win in the season. Janel McCarville dropped 12 points, while Moore nailed 9 points for the winners. Lauren Jackson had 19 points for the Storm. Swoopes produced 15 points and 9 boards in defeat.
Last night Florina Pascalau played her second game as Houston Comets posted their second win in the season and just the 12th victory in the two last years beating the Seattle Storm 68:60 at home. Tina Thompson led the charge with 21 points and 10 boards for the Comets. Michelle Snow pulled down 16 boards for the hosts who outrebounded the Storm 46:30. Lauren Jackson scored 18 points for the Storm in defeat. The Comets led by 4 points at halftime and spurred ahead right after the long break. They outscored the visitors 12:5 to open the third stanza and stretched the gap to 11 points. Seattle fought bravely and cut the deficit to 4 points with under 2 minutes remaining. Tina Thompson replied with a three-pointer and then the home side knocked down 6 out of seven free throws to ensure the victory. Florina Pascalau managed to grab 1 rebound, made 1 foul and 1 turnover for just 5 minutes of the game.

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SAINT VINCENT - Women

Lyttle's effort for Comets -by Eurobasket News
The Houston Comets posted their second win in the season and just the 12th victory in the two last years beating the Seattle Storm 68:60 at home. Tina Thompson led the charge with 21 points and 10 boards for the Comets. Michelle Snow pulled down 16 boards for the hosts who outrebounded the Storm 46:30. Lauren Jackson scored 18 points for the Storm in defeat. The Comets led by 4 points at halftime and spurred ahead right after the long break. They outscored the visitors 12:5 to open the third stanza and stretched the gap to 11 points. Seattle fought bravely and cut the deficit to 4 points with under 2 minutes remaining. Tina Thompson replied with a three-pointer and then the home side knocked down 6 out of seven free throws to ensure the victory. Sancho Lyttle (193-C-83, college: Houston) ended up with 2 points and 2 rebounds for just 3 minutes in the court.
On June 7th Indiana held off Houston 84:75 at the Conseco Fieldhouse. Katie Douglas produced 20 points to propel the Fever to the 4th win. Tammy Sutton-Brown added 19 points and Tan White had 15 as the Fever kept winning even without Tamika Catchings. The five All-Star is still recovering after the last season Achilles injury. The Houston Comets meanwhile are still looking for their best game as they were upset for the 7th time in the season. Tina Thompson had 19 points in a losing case. Sancho Lyttle finished the night with 4 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound.

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SERBIA - Women

Hemofarm STADA captures 8th consecutive title -by Dragan Jankovski
Hemofam STADA continued its domination in Serbian championship. The orange team was better than Crvena Zvezda 88-85 in third game of the play-off final capturing 8th consecutive title.

Hemofarm's players had a strong willingness to finish final series at the front of their fans so they opened the game better. Very soon Zvezda showed it won't give up until the end so teams finished first 10 minutes leveled. However, just couple of minutes in the second quarter was enough for Hemofarm to take bigger lead. At the first point it was 38-27 for the hosts while later their advantage became even bigger, 42-27. During the last two minutes of the second period visitors succeeded to decrease its deficit on 11 points. After the half time Zvezda once again showed they are very dangerous rival. At the middle of third quarter they threatened coming closer on 50-47. But then Zvezda's head coach Dragomir Bukvic got technical foul after what Hemofarm very quick made 11-0 run. It was 61-49 for the hosts, which later kept advantage until the end. Zvezda had power to threat one more time coming on 73-69 but it was maximum from Belgrade's team last night.
Experienced point guard Biljana Stankovic (176-G-74) netted 25 points for the winners. Biljana Savic (190-C-83) followed her with 19 points while center Dara Kovacevic (197-C-83) had 16 points and 4 rebounds. Alexis Kendrick (173-G-84, college: Georgia) was totally the best in Zvezda collecting 29 points and 5 assists. Center Jelena Velinovic (193-C-81) added 19 points and 8 rebounds.

Head coach of Hemofarm STADA, Marina Maljkovic, after the game said: 'I am very grateful to management of our team which helped us a lot this season. It was a long and exhausting year but at the end we had enough power to end it in style. I want to congratulate my players for all their efforts. It wasn't an easy job. Also I want to congratulate Crvena Zvezda, who was very dangerous rival for us during the entire season.'

Hemofarm STADA - Crvena Zvezda 88-85
(24-24,22-11,17-21,25-29)

Hemofarm: Stankovic 25, Savic 19, Kovacevic 16 (4 rebs), Butulija 10
Zvezda: Kendrick 29 (5 as), Velinovic 19 (8 rebs), Sy 10, Zupancic 9

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WNBA - Women

Standings

WNBA Standings

Eastern
1. Connect. S.	8-2
2. Detroit S.	8-3
3. Indiana F.	5-3
4. New York L.	5-4
5. Chicago Sky	3-5
6. Washingt. M.	3-7
7. Atlanta D.	0-9
Western
1. L.Angeles S.	7-2
2. Seattle S.	7-5
3. Minnesota L.	6-4
4. S.Antonio SS	5-4
5. Sacram. M.	5-5
6. Phoenix M.	2-6
7. Houston C.	2-7

Houston grabs a rare win -by Eurobasket News
The Houston Comets posted their second win in the season and just the 12th victory in the two last years beating the Seattle Storm 68:60 at home. Tina Thompson (6'2''-F-75, agency: Merit Sports, college: USC) led the charge with 21 points and 10 boards for the Comets. Michelle Snow (6'5''-C-80, agency: Merit Sports, college: Tennessee) pulled down 16 boards for the hosts who outrebounded the Storm 46:30. Lauren Jackson scored 18 points for the Storm in defeat. The Comets led by 4 points at halftime and spurred ahead right after the long break. They outscored the visitors 12:5 to open the third stanza and stretched the gap to 11 points. Seattle fought bravely and cut the deficit to 4 points with under 2 minutes remaining. Tina Thompson replied with a three-pointer and then the home side knocked down 6 out of seven free throws to ensure the victory.
The Los Angeles Sparks tied the league's best record of 8-2 as they held off the Sacramento Monarchs 74:66 away from home. The Monarchs stunned the visitors with a 22:8 first frame but could not maintain the lead. Candace Parker (6'4''-F/C-86, college: Tennessee) posted 15 points and 9 boards to spark the Sparks in the second half. Los Angeles put on an impressive show in the final frame as they fired a 16:2 rally to clear off for good in the final minutes. Lisa Leslie provided 14 points and 4 blocks, while Delisha Milton-Jones had 13 points in a winning case. Rebekkah Brunson (6'3''-F/C-81, agency: LBM Management, college: Georgetown) notched 16 points and 8 boards for Sacramento. Nicole Powell contributed 13 points for the Monarchs who won two straight game away from home but could not keep the winning track at home.
Meanwhile rookie Tasha Humphrey (6'3''-F-85, college: Georgia) nailed a career-high 28 points for the Detroit Shock as they outlasted the Phoenix Mercury 89:79 in Arizona. The teams last met in the WNBA Finals and there the Mercury celebrated victory. This time the Shock avenged of the last season's sour loss. Another rookie Alexis Hornbuckle (5'11''-G-85, college: Tennessee) pulled down 15 boards and Detroit dropped the defending champions to 2-6 record. Cappie Pondexter (5'9''-G-83, college: Rutgers) provided 28 points for the Mercury in a loss. Diana Taurasi had a woeful night shooting just 1/9 from the field and coming up with 9 points in defeat.