EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 7/12/2008

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Men News

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  ADRIATIC LEAGUE   


Zagreb gets the 'wild card' for season 2008/09 - by Dragan Jankovski
After yesterday's general assembly of Sidro company, it is known who will be the last participant of Adriatic league 08/09. It is announced that another team from Croatia will take a place in regional championship next season and it will be Zagreb. It means that instead of three Croatia increased its number to four representatives for the next season. Despite basketball public gave some kind of advantage to Bosnian teams Igokea Partizan and Siroki Prima pivo, Sidro company decided to gave a 'wild card' to Zagreb. As reminder the first 'wild card' already was reserved for Montenegrin represent Buducnost Podgorica. Zagreb finished last season on third position in Croatian A1 league with same score like Cibona. The team reached play-off semifinals where Zadar beat them 2-1.
Another important new came from Ljubljana yesterday. General assembly decided to stop with organizing All-Star games. After two successful years there won't be All-Star games any more. They also decided to eliminate quarterfinal games before the play-off. The main problems about the quarterfinals were the dates which Euroleague confirmed for its games. All dates which were suggested by the general assembly are already reserved for elite European competition. Adriatic league will once again have three representatives in Euroleague: Partizan Igokea, Union Olimpija and Cibona.

Participants of Adriatic league 07/08
Serbia - Partizan Igokea, Hemofarm STADA, Crvena Zvezda, FMP and Vojvodina Srbijagas
Croatia - Cibona, Zadar, Split, Zagreb
Slovenia - Union Olimpija, Helios Domzale, Krka
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosna ASA BHT
Montenegro - Buducnost

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  ARGENTINA   


Argentina past Poland - by Ana Soifer

Argentina beat Poland 88-86 in Rosario on Wednesday in their first warm-up game for the Olympics.

Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino were watching the game at the bench Manu due to his injury, and Delfino is still in talk over a new contract with the Toronto Raptors.

Center Fabricio Oberto left the game through injury as the Argentinians struggled against the Poles after trailing by as many as 10 points in the third quarter.

Luis Scola had 22 points and nine rebounds while Andres Nocioni (199-F-79) scored 17.

Argentina Nacional team will play next weekend in Buenos Aires against Mexico, Poland and Uruguay.

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  AUSTRALIA   


Boomers Olympic team revealed - by Eurobasket News
With NBA 75-million dollar man Andrew Bogut (212-F/C-84, college: Utah) and international stars David Andersen (212-C-80) and Matt Nielsen (208-F/C-78) taking the court, that elusive Olympic medal for the Australian men's basketball team may be in sight.

'We really have a talented group of guys going over and if we can push through the first round we have the ability to surprise everyone with our results,' Olympian Chris Anstey (213-C-75), who finished fourth in Sydney 2000 said.

Anstey, the reigning National Basketball League most valuable player, heads to Beijing with Olympic experience and high expectations for the team.

'We're right up there with the European teams at the moment. We have a really unique style of basketball and if the teams we play don't adapt to it in time, we'll have a good advantage over them.'

Fresh off the back of a challenging tour in Europe and clean sweep series against Iran and New Zealand, the Australian team is in the valuable position of returning home for a training camp before arriving in Beijing.

'We're fortunate to have this time to fix the issues we've identified in Greece and get over to Beijing with the best preparation we've ever had,' head coach Brian Goorjian said.

The biggest test for Goorjian is blending Bogut, Nielsen and Andersen with the other players after long seasons away in the American and Russian leagues.

'The challenge we face now is learning to play together,' Goorjian said. 'The quality of players and the depth of experience we have is really exciting, but when Bogut joins us, we've got just eight days to make it work.'

Backing the household names such as CJ Bruton (188-G-75, college: Indian Hills CC) and Glen Saville (197-G/F-76) will be some fresh new faces whose impact is certain to be felt both in Beijing and the coming years of international basketball.

Rising stars Patrick Mills (178-G-88) (19) and Joe Ingles (203-G/F-87) (20) are among six players making their Olympic debut in Beijing.

'The young players are going to be very important to our results,' Goorjian said. 'They'll be playing and contributing in Beijing but you'll be watching them for the next two Games to come.'

Australia have drawn a tough group for the Games, facing Athens gold medallists Argentina, Asian champions Iran, Lithuania, European champions Russia and one team to be determined in a qualification series next week.

They avoid the powerhouse US 'Dream Team', 2006 world champions Spain and hosts China in the preliminaries. Goorjian will however put his team up against the United States in a pre-Olympic face-off in Shanghai on August 5.

With the 'face of the Games' Yao Ming hitting the boards for China, men's basketball is set to be the biggest team sport in Beijing.

At a difficult time for the sport domestically, the Olympic Games promise to mark an exciting time in the growth of Australian basketball.


Men's basketball section of the 2008 Australian Olympic team:

David Andersen
Chris Anstey
David Barlow (205-F-83, college: Metro St.)
Andrew Bogut
CJ Bruton
Joe Ingles
Patrick Mills
Brad Newley
Matt Nielsen
Shawn Redhage (202-F-81, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Arizona St.)
Glen Saville
Mark Worthington (202-F-83, college: Metro St.)

Courtesy of www.nbl.com.au

Toronto Raptors inks Nathan Jawai, new assistant coach in Perth - by Eurobasket News
Cairns Taipans superstar, Nathan Jawai (207-C-86, college: Midland CC), got contract in NBA. Just one day after Indiana Pacers announced his trade to Toronto, Jawai put signature on two year deal with the Raptors. 22-year old Jawai demonstrated wonderful performance last season with The Taipans. He played 30 games in NBL averaging 17.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2 apg and 1 bpg. He finished the competition as a third rebounder while at the same time he was named to be the Rookie of the Year. His cairns Taipans finished regular season on 6th place with score 16-4 after what they lost in the play-off eightfinals against New Zealand Breakers. Jawai was a member of Australian U21 National Team which participated on World Championship in Argentina in 2005.

In the meantime Perth Wildcats named Mark Radford assistant coach. Radford spent last 5 years as a head coach of the North-West Tasmania Thunder.

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  CAMEROON   


National team in Trouble - by Gilles Bouwe
A very popular newspaper in our country name 'Le MESSAGER ' have as main title this morning :Our national basketball team on strike in FRANCE.
The players are not satisfied about the poor conditions of the preparation for the preolmpique tournament. They are in a second level hotel with no telephone bad food no Doctor any water to drink and a lot of other difficulties.Some of them like Njoya Seidou have leave the camp . The other are still waiting for solution from the country.
It is clear that in Cameroon things are different when we speak about other sport than SOCCER.

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  CROATIA   


Market news - by Eurobasket News
Cedevita announced signing of 23-year old Tomislav Petrovic (202-G/F-85), who spent previous season in Kvarner. Petrovic is a player who can be used on positions 2 and 3. He had 19 appearances for Kvarner in A1 league averaging 15.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg. The team ended previous season on fifth place in play-out group of A1 league with score 9-11. Before Kvarner, Petrovic spent three years in Maksimir Zagreb. Actually on season 04/05 his Maksimir became a winner of A2 league getting the promotion to A1. Petrovic was a member of Croatian U16 and U20 National team. His new team Cedevita will compete next season in EuroChallenge where ist rival at the first stage will be French team Toulon. If Cedevita knock-out Toulon it will have to take on Assesoft or Spartak St. Petersburg.

Sasa Jankovic (-F) put signature on the contract with Zabok. Jankovic played last season for Slovakian team Casta SPU Nitra. He averaged 8.2 ppg and 3.2 rpg in Slovakian championship which Nitra finished on eighth place with score 20-24. Before Nitra he played for two more Slovakian teams, Levice and Dolny Kubin. He showed the best performance as a player of Kubin adding 15.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.8 apg and 2.6 spg in 34 games. Jankovic arrived to Slovakia in 2006 from Croatian team Kantrida Rijeka, which that season won A2 championship.

In the meantime another Croatian team will take a place in Adriatic league for the new season. Despite it didn't qualify for it Zagreb received a wild-card from management of the league. Thus Croatia instead of three, which officially qualified, will have four teams in this regional contest.

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  CYPRUS   


Is Keravnos ready for another one? - by Nasios Orinos

On Wednesday the 9th of July Keravnos Strovolou has elected the new Board of Directors. Team President, Mr. Paris Papaellinas, who is the heart and soul of the club, was happy with winning the championship and promises even better days. It remains to be seen though, as Keravnos has already lost 3 starting lineup players, while the Captain of the team is still undecided as to whether he will continue his career at the Strovolos team. Patrick Lee, Bryant Smith and Alekxandar Radojevic have left the team for different reasons. Lets remind that Patrick plays the 1 position and has worked wonders by setting up the team and running the drills but also with good defense and scoring. Bryant Smith who was expected to remain with Keravnos, played the 2 position and was mainly distinguished by his stability throughout his presence on the team. Radojevic, even though did not play well at the playoffs, was very good during the regular season. We even dare to day that is among the 3 best Centers ever been on the island and the team should have kept him. From our experience, it will be difficult for Keravnos to replace all three positions with players of this caliber. You look around, and the teams that win championships are teams with good point guards but especially good centers. We are sure that the new Board will try to land big men this summer and lets hope it does.

In the meantime, Dragan Radja thinks otherwise. AEL has already landed a few players and is confident about returning to the throne.
Furthermore, it is too soon to say, but rumor has it that Apoel will be back also. The new man of Apoel, Christodoulos Ellinas, promises a new era for the team and we are sure he plans to build up a team that will become a threat to contend for the title.

Eurobasket.com will keep you posted for any news in the Cyprus league.


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  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC   


Reales de La Vega sign Melvyn Lopez as Head Coach. - by Jaime Gomez
Melvin Lopez the winningest Head Coach in Dominican Republic's Basketball has been named Head Coach for Reales de La Vega. Lopez will try to get Reales to the LIDOBA playoffs after miserable performances the last two years, where the have failed to reach the playoffs.

Lopez has won 24 championships in the diferent Leagues in Dominican Republic, his latest in District National with San Lazaro. He has won twice in LIDOBA, three in National District, four in Santiago Regional Tournament, seven in La Vega Regional, three in San Cristobal Regional and three in San Francisco Regional.

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  EUROLEAGUE   


Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu press conference transcript - by Kostas Papadopoulos
Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu had a press conference on Wednesday to define the competition's new strategies and future plans, based on the decisions taken in the Euroleague Assembly in Berlin, the day before the 2008-09 Draw. The new proposal is based on sports results in both ULEB competitions, the Euroleague and the Eurocup. The new structure is set to allow a group of 16 teams maximum to have long-term contracts due to its sports results, as well as the possibility for all countries to either get to the Euroleague or have more teams in the competition.
'The decisions taken and the discussions made in Berlin on Monday are the most important ones since the Euroleague was created in 2000. It means a quality jump forwards in the evolution of our project. A quality jump that allows to say that the 10th edition of the Euroleague, which will take part in the 2009-10 season, will mean the creation of a real European League. The main guideline of this project will be stability. That stability will allow teams to have long-term contracts but at the same time, it is based on sports results. Not only those teams will gain that stability due to its results, but may also lose it because of that. Stability, sports results and the fact that he will an open league, from all points of view. It is an open league in terms of clubs and also in terms of countries. The fact that it becomes an open league for countries is a new fact, as it hasn´t been in place before. Any change that means stability for the clubs may translate into closed leagues, but this is an open league. These three issues - stability, sports results and an open league - define this project and allows us to have the best clubs from the 2009-10 season, as well as the domestic champions in the best leagues in Europe, as well as the champion of our second competition, the Eurocup.'
'We will distribute the long-term licenses to a maximum of 16 clubs, what we called License A, that allow clubs to have multi-year contracts. Those contracts will expire when the club is the worst ranked in that group of 16 teams. Each year a team will leave this group and another one will replace it based on its Euroleague or Eurocup results from the previous three years. From that moment, a team will lose its License A and the best team out of the group will replace it, just as in the domestic leagues. Obviously, in a group of 16 teams maximum, having more than one team losing its spot would be excessive. Of course, that team entering that group will be based on sports results in ULEB competitions in the previous three years, too. It is an open, dynamic system bases on sports results in our competitions. That, of course, is a quality jump, very different from the actual model. In terms of countries, all domestic champions in the best leagues in Europe will be able to play. None will be left out. Due to this dynamic system, there will be a ranking of countries to allow those that are not in the Euroleague right now to be there in the future. If all teams and leagues know that if they do well, they may be in the competition or have more teams in the future, that comes with an extra motivation to do well in the Euroleague and the Eurocup. It will not be a closed league and no people will have to call asking this or that. Clubs will have an access to the Euroleague that they don't have right now.'
'To make our project big we will need to have clubs with arenas of at least 10,000 seats. It will come with new criteria to distribute its resources. It comes with a concept that I think is very important and that is not easy to explain: the chance that clubs can incorporate their multi-year license as an active value in its accounting. It will make the teams become more solid due to its improved wealth. That means that this active value may be in the market, otherwise this cannot be profitable. And that active may be in the market according to rules already known: authorization from its national league, an accurate market...The Spanish League and the Italian League already did it in the past, even if it was some years ago. It gives stability to the clubs and gives the team an active value to consider. It helps the club, because it can incorporate the license to improve its economic situation. Having the support of the Assembly in such a key project is a matter of satisfaction for everyone working here. We haven't reached this point in a casual way. We are fully aware than European basketball needs to be revitalized. We all have to value the hard work they are doing but it needs to be revitalized. We look at Europe as a whole and it needs to be reactivated. We are open to create a strong, powerful European structure to face challenges that European basketball has in the future. That cannot be done through a creative process. We have travelled all around the continent, talking to federations, leagues, players, coaches, owners all around Europe, asking country by country what the situation was. This structure is the result of the analysis we did, based on the information we got, to make a proposal that as solid as possible.'

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  FRANCE   


ProA Trades: Bluthenthal to Le Mans and other market news - by Chris Spiesser
Le Mans signed David Bluthenthal (201-F-80, college: USC) to try to take profit of its third and final Euroleague guaranteed year. Next to Maleye N'Doye, Pape Badiane and Dewarick Spencer, the isreali forward puts another touch to an impressive recruitement. Last year, Bluthenthal played for the Maccabi Tel-Aviv, posting 8.7ppg and 2.4rpg in Euroleague. But the swingman has also experienced, in Bologna, the fact of being a team leader in the main european competition in 2006/2007 (16.0ppg, 4.2rpg).

Pau announced the signing of Jean-Aime Toupane as head coach for the next season. Laurent Mopsus, on the bench since December will be Jean-Aime Toupane 's first assistant. The GM, Claude Bergeaud, also announced the name of the 2008/2009 center: Hiram Fuller. This physical player suffered of lot of injuries since his apparition in Pau during the 2005/2006 season (12.8ppg, 7.3rpg). Next to the other physical recruit, Omar Thomas and the chance that will be given to the youngsters (Vaty, Heurtel, Raposo, ...), coach Jean-Aime Toupane shouldn't have any trouble to set the huge defense that he was famous for in Clermont.

After Moerman, Sciarra and Dobbins, Orleans hired a young center from the CFBB: Frens Johwe Casseus (211-C-89). He will share the paint of the young team with Luc Louves and try to grab some minutes in ProA. This new signing brings some more credit to the team's talent devellopement that will be framed by coach Francois Peronnet.

Rouen found a new PG to replace Fred Moncade who left for Pau. The newcomer is Kevin Houston (180-G-85, college: Long Beach St.). Last year he played two games for Saint-Etienne (16.5ppg, 3.5rpg, 3.5apg) before going back to the States and experience in Venezuela.

Beside Nick George and Tony Skinn, Gravelines hired Loic Akono (180-G-87) and J.K. Edwards (203-C-82, college: UNLV). Akono is a young PG developped in Gravelines who played for Brest last year. His tremendous season ending could lead him to grab serious minutes in ProA. Edwards followed his coach, Christian Monschau to the North. He will bring his density to the paint an try to reproduce his 8.3ppg and 6.6apg that he posted for Le Havre.

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  FYR MACEDONIA   


Macedonian National Team 2008 - by Todor Chalovski
#s#
#e#6


Stefanov


Ilievski


Tasovski


Wilkinson


Samardziski

4 Vrbica Stefanov (188-G-73) of Vive Menorca (ESP)
5 Vlado Ilievski (190-G-80) of Montepaschi Siena (ITA)
6 Jane Petrovski (181-G-87) of MZT FON Univerzitet Skopje
7 Aleksandar Dimitrovski (193-G-80) of Feni Indistri Kavadarci
8 Marjan Gurov (201-F-80) of Feni Indistrija Kavadarci
9 Riste Stefanov (198-G-83) of PBC Lukoil Akademik Sophia (BUL)
10 Dimtche Tasovski (202-F-80) of Strumica 2005
11 Todor Gecevski (209-C-77) of KK Zadar (CRO)
12 Pero Antic (210-F-82) of PBC Lukoil Akademik Sophia (BUL)
13 Zlatko Gocevski (206-C-82) of Feni Indistrija Kavadarci
14 Mike Wilkinson (204-F-81) of BC Khimky Moscow (RUS)
15 Predrag Samardziski (215-C-86) of FMP Zeleznik Beograd (SRB)

Eftim Bogoev (185-G-80) of Strumica 2005

Pero Blazevski (200-C-72) of Vardar Osiguruvanje Skopje

Darius Washington (188-G-85) of Aris Thessaloniki (GRE)

Toni Grncarov (191-G-80) of Strumica 2005

Aleksandar Kostoski (188-G-88) of BCM Gravelines Dunkerque Grand Littoral (FRA)

Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82) of Real Madrid (ESP)

Dimitar Mirakovski (180-G-81) of KK Fersped-Rabotnicki Skopje

Goran Samardziev (188-G-81) of Feni Indistrija Kavadarci

Darko Sokolov (190-G-86) of Strumica 2005

Ognen Stojanovski (190-G-85) of KK Fersped-Rabotnicki Skopje

Vojdan Stojanovski (194-G-87) of AMMAK SP Ohrid

Gjorgi Cekovski (202-F/C-81) of SK Cherkassy Monkeys (UKR)


Head coach: Jovica Arsic .



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  GABON   


FOREIGN PLAYER PICTURE OF RECORDS BY THE FEGABAB SEASON 2007-2008 - by Tim Ndjiki

FOREIGN OF THE ELITE.

The elite championship permitted several clubs to reinforce their strength during the phase return; many players were even recruited out of Gabon, what gave back the very attractive championship.
1 Mujanayi Fabrice ; (86 -Lambarn-Gabon) ; Congolese ; MANGA Basket
2 Massoundji ; John (83 -Garoua -Cameroon) ; Chadian ; MANGA Basket
3 Johd Masrabe ; ( 81- Koutadis -Chad) Chadian ; MANGA Basket
4 Mit Mesmin ; (81- Brazzaville Congolese ; MANGA Basket
5 Campani Sylvains ; ( 1984 Bangui) ; RCA ATOMICK
6 Ganazoui Apollinaires ( 80- Bangui) RCA ATOMICK
7 Dieye Pope Birame ; ( 86-) Senegalese ATOMICK
8 Ibango Daddy ; ( 84) ; Kinshasa RDC Stade Mandji
9 Otombo Doudou ; (85) ; Kinshasa RDC Stade Mandji
10 Lifetu Armand ; ( 85) ; Kinshasa Congolese Stade Mandji
11 Mouaba Kopia Brice J. ; ( 80 Bangui) (RCA).CAS 1987
12 Sylla Oussenou (88) Dakar (Senegal) CAS 1987
13 Ouilikon Mesmin Cyr ; ( 81 Bangui) (RCA) CAS 1987
14 Gadi Mario ; Tchadienne ; CAS 1987
15 Tato Cyrille ; ( 87 Dla) ; Cameroon ASSCTG
16 Diop Bambas ; (88) ; Dakar Senegal ; ASSCTG
17 Pindra Mohamed ; ( 81) ; Libreville ; Beninese AOBB
18 Bouli Paul Armand ; ( 85) ; Yaound - Cameroonian TOUNGUI
19 KOUZOU J Michel ; (86 ) ;Yaound ; Cameroonian TOUNGUI
20 Moutombo K. Bebina ; ( 78) Kinshasa ; Congolese Somo B
21 Buzango Johnnie ; ( 88) Kinshasa ; Congolese SOMO B



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  GERMANY   


Schwelmer Baskets land Virgil Matthews - by Moritz Korff
Virgil Matthews (191-G-83, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Montana) returns to German basketball and will join the Schwelmer Baskets. In which league the 24-year-old Guard is going to play with his new team, is still unsure. Matthews will have to run through a one-month try-out period in Schwelm. His last reported club were the Tacoma Jazz (IBL) in 2007. In the 2006-07 season he averaged 18 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.6 steals in 29 games of the 2. Bundesliga for KICZ Muenchen.

Trier acquires a second player from Polonia Warszawa - by Moritz Korff
TBB Trier clinched another signing for the 2008-09 season in the 1. Bundesliga. Tyrone Riley (201-F-82, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: USF) made an an agreement with the club for one year. He played for SPEC Polonia Warszawa in this past season and was a team mate of Norman Richardson (196-F/G-77, college: Hofstra), who moves to Trier too. Riley played 24 games for Polonia and averaged 8.8 points as well as 5.8 boards per contest during 2007-08. When shooting hoops for the Polynorm Giants Bergen Op Zoom in the year before Riley produced 15.5 points and 7.2 rebounds a game and was named a Dutch All-Star.

Zack Wright continues his career in France - by Moritz Korff
The most outstanding player of this past season in the 2. Bundesliga Pro B is going to leave Germany and will take his game to France. As the first division-side Elan Chalon announced on its website today, Zack Wright (188-G-85, agency: Weller Sports - Entertainment, college: Cent.Missouri St.) made a deal with the club from the French/Swiss-border. Wright earned a bunch of personal accolades after his first season in Europe, including Eurobasket.com All-German 2. Bundesliga Pro B Player of the Year, Guard of the Year, Import Player of the Year and All-League First Team honors. He had 25 appearances for SG Braunschweig in this past season and led the league in points (24.8) and steals per game (3.5) and was sixth in assists (4.9) per outing.

Yarbrough moves on to Bonn - by Moritz Korff
Vincent Yarbrough (201-F-81, college: Tennessee) makes a move inside the Bundesliga and will play for the Telekom Baskets Bonn in the 2008-09 season. The 27-year-old, who was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA-Draft, lined up for Ludwigsburg 14 times in this past season and averaged 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest. Bonn will be Yarbrough's third club in Germany. In 2007 he won the Bundesliga-championship with Bamberg, before joining the EnBW-squad in February 08.
For Coach Michael Koch and his Telekom Baskets it's the first signing of the summer.

Germany passes last test before Olympic Qualifying Tournament - by Moritz Korff
The German Men's National Team won its final exhibition game prior to the start of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament that begins on Monday. The Germans earned an 84:74 victory over Canada in Mannheim on Friday.
Before the players hit the hardwood Germany's new center Chris Kaman (213-C-82, college: Cent.Michigan) suffered a setback in his plans of making his debut on the German national squad. Some insurance papers are still missing so the big man of the LA Clippers was forced to inactivity again. The German officials are hoping that Kaman will be in uniform on Thuesday, when Germany wants to make the first step towards Beijing in the game against Cape Verde.
After a close first quarter (23:22) in Mannheim the host stepped up in defense and held the Canadians at ten points in the second stanza. At the half the Germans were ahead 47:32 and continued to play well, while the Canadian post players more and more got into foul trouble, which affected the guests' game. One of them was Canada's leading scorer and dominating player from game one, Joel Anthony (206-C-82, college: UNLV), who remained on the bench for more than 25 minutes and only contributed four points. On the other end Dirk Nowitzki (211-F-78) showed an impressive performance in the third quarter, when he collected ten of his 25 points. With a score of 68:51 the match went into the final period. Germany slowed down a little bit, while Canada saw a chance for a comeback. Tyler Kepkay (183-G-87, college: E.Utah JC) nailed two shots from beyond the arc, followed by a trey of Carl English (192-G-81, college: Hawaii), which cut the lead to eight points. Germany called a time-out and looked much sharper afterwards with Robert Garrett (193-G-77, agency: SportsTalent) and birthday boy Sven Schultze (208-C-78, agency: Court Side) hitting outside-shots as well. With four minutes left in the game Samuel Dalembert (211-C-81, college: Seton Hall), Rans Brempong (203-F-81, college: W.Carolina) and Levon Kendall (209-F-84, college: Pittsburgh) fouled out, while Coach Dirk Bauermann gave some of his key players a little rest on the bench in the closing sequences.

The German team will travel to Athens tomorrow and sits out on the first day of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Monday, followed by two games within two days against Cape Verde and New Zealand, trying to advance to the knock-out stages.

Germany: Nowitzki (25 pts, 4 as), Jagla (12 pts, 9 rbs), Hamann (11 pts), Schultze (8 pts), Greene (6 pts), Roller (6 pts), Femerling (5 pts), Garrett (5 pts), Wysocki (4 pts, 5 rbs), Zwiener (1 pt), Geib, Ohlbrecht.
Canada: Dalembert (12 pts), Anderson (11 pts), Kepkay (9 pts), English (8 pts), Kendall (8 pts), Thomas (8 pts), Anthony (4 pts), Barrett (4 pts), Doornekamp (4 pts), Famutimi (4 pts), Brempong (2 pts).

Boxscore: click

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  GREECE   


A1 Transfer News - by Simon Varvakis
AEL 1964 Larissa announced Michail Tsairelis (206-F/C-88) on-loan from Aris Thessaloniki for a one year and Sotiris Manolopoulos (208-F-87) who was released from Basquietinca.com Mallorca. He also signed a one year contract with AEL 1964 Larissa.

Aris Thessaloniki agreed terms with Lazaros Agadakos (208-C-80, agency: FCM) for another year.

Kolossos Rhodes announced today the deal with Spiros Panteliadis (191-G-77) for 2 years. Spiros Panteliadis played in the Euroleague with Aris Thessaloniki last year.

Egaleo renewed the contacts of Dejan Hohler (188-G-86) and Chris Bracey (198-F-80, college: W.Texas A&M) for next year and also renewed the contract of the leader of the team Avra Kallinikidis (197-F-77).

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  GUATEMALA   


Sat-Cybertech ends Third place in Liga Centroamericana - by Victor Padilla
Sat-Cybertech concluded its participation in Liga Centroamericana 2008 with a 69-80 loss against Liceo 'Expreso Rojo', in a game where the Costa Rican team ended undefeated their participation in the Final Four held at Cancun, and thus, became the Champions of this tournament. Hernol Hall (205-C-82, agency: Sports Plus International, college: Lon Morris JC) and import player Kendrick Jones (190-G-83, college: Columbus St.), who was named MVP of the tournament, scored 23 and 20 points each to lead the now champions to their last victory. Sat-Cybertech's scorers were import player Henry Martinez (186-G/F-75, agency: Interperformances) with 29 points and Ricardo Amaya (191-G-84, agency: Tank Sports) (191-G-84, agency: Tank Sports) with 14. Therefore, with one win and two losses in the Final Four, Sat-Cybertech ended Third in the tournament, behind Liceo and runner-up Pioneros de Quintana Roo, who will represent Centroamerica at Liga de las Americas 2008 now being announced for August.

Liga Metro reschedules Games 2 and 3 of the Finals - by Victor Padilla
As a proof of the current good standing between the National Basketball Federation of Guatemala (FNBG) and the new authorities of Liga Metropolitana de Baloncesto, the pending games of the Finals of Torneo de Apertura have been rescheduled for Tuesday July 15th and Thursday July 17th, 2008. Yesterday, Mr. Marlon Hernandez, President of Liga Metro, announced their decision in response to this request from the President of FNBG, Mr. Manuel Matzer, in order to allow the Men's National Team to participate in the International Tournament that will take place during this weekend at the northern city of Huehuetenango, with the following visiting teams: Icevic Tegucigalpa, from Honduras, 4th place at the recently concluded Liga Centroamericana de Baloncesto; the National Team of El Salvador, led by Mr. Vladimir Aguilar , and host team, Huehuetenango. Guatemala's national team will be lead by Head Coach Otto Larios , and will include players from the two finalist teams, Leones de Marte and Sat-Cybertech, as well as an outstanding list of young players from the Summer Training Camp organized by FNBG this year.

Liga Metro releases calendar for the coming games of Torneo de Apertura - by Victor Padilla

After 5 dates, Liga Metro updated its calendar for Torneo de Apertura 2008, to be played at two venues during the month of April (Gimnasio Teodoro Palacios Flores and Parque La Democracia).

Thursday, April 3
19:00 (F) SAGRADO CORAZON vs. DE LA PENA SAGRADO
20:30 (M) ESTUDIANTES vs. U.R.L.

Saturday, April 5
20:00 (M) ELITE SPORT B.C. vs. LEMANS

Sunday, April 6
10:00 (F) GELATINAS CASTILLA vs. U.R.L.
11:30 (M) LEONES DE MARTE vs. ZENCA
13:00 (M) CORPOEVISA vs. CREACIONES R.L.
14:30 (M) MILLONARIOS vs. COMPUSYS

Tuesday, April 8
19:00 (F) DE LA PENA SAGRADO vs. MYSTICS
20:30 (M) SAT-CYBERTECH vs. U.R.L.

Thursday, April 10
19:00 (F) U.R.L. vs. SAGRADO CORAZON
20:30 (M) U.S.A.C. vs. CREACIONES R.L.

Sunday, April 13
10:00 (F) U.S.A.C. vs. MYSTICS
11:30 (M) U.S.A.C. vs. LEMANS
13:00 (M) MILLONARIOS vs. U.R.L.
14:30 (M) ESTUDIANTES vs. ELITE SPORT B.C.

* Favorite teams in black




No surprises! Leones and Sat-Cybertech to meet in the Finals - by Victor Padilla
Leones de Marte and Sat-Cybertech fulfilled everybody's expectatives by surpassing Lemans and Corpoevisa, respectively in the Semi Finals of Liga Metro Torneo de Apertura 2008. Leones won 92 to 64, and Sat-Cybertech did its own with 59 to 42. Therefore, it is now up to the two winningest teams of Liga Metro to prove who will get the crown of Champions in this first tournament of the year. The Finals are to start next Tuesday July 8th, will continue on Thursday the 10th and, if necessary, will end on next Tuesday July 15th, when Liga Metro will finally get its new 2008 champion.

Guatemala is candidate to host the Final Four Round of Liga Centroamericana - by Victor Padilla
Fibaamericas (www.fibaamericas.com) has invited Liga Premier 2007 Champions, SAT-Cybertech, and the National Basketball Federation of Guatemala to host the Final Four Round of Liga Centroamericana de Clubes 2008, scheduled tentatively for the end of April. Although the Second Round of the classification phase is still under way, having Sat-Cybertech at the top of Group B of the tournament has ignited the process to evaluate the feasibility of this event, which will include an International Satellite TV Broadcast under FIBA requirements for the six final games of the competition. -'It will be very interesting to organize this event in Guatemala, as our people would have the chance to see at home a high level of professional basketball, because the leading teams in the competition are including former NBA players in their rosters', meditated Mr. Everardo Berreondo, owner of SAT-Cybertech. Preliminary talks have concluded that Gimnasio Nacional Teodoro Palacios Flores, with a 5000 seats capacity, would be used as the main venue for the event, and discussions are under way with TV stations and sponsors to define key details for the project. 1st and 2nd places of the Final Four of Liga Centroamericana will capture two spots to participate in the Second Edition of Liga de las Americas, a tournament that is also organized by Fibaamericas and is scheduled for later this year.

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  ISRAEL   


Gilboa-Galil lands Roberts - by Yehonatan Eliahu
The new united team of Hapoel Gilboa-Galil Elyon announced today officially the signing of guard Brian Roberts (188-G-85, agency: Arik Krayn Services) (188-G-85, agency: Arik Krayn Services). Roberts is coming out of four years playing for Dayton College and he will make his first experience outside the States in Gilboa-Galil under coach Oded Katash . Roberts, who is currently attending the NBA summer league playing for Orlando Magic, averaged 18.4 points and 3.4 assists as a Senior and he is known as a good shooter. He will share the two guard spots with Guni Izraeli (185-G-84, agency: Gross Zeev ISA) and Aaron Nixon.

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  ITALY   


Recalcati calls 18 players, but who will attend the camp ? - by Gianni Pascucci
National Team coach Carlo Recalcati called the eighteeen players down at the Italian Senior National Team Camp, scheduled for July 19-26 in Bormio:
Valerio Amoroso (202-F-80)
Massimo Bulleri (188-G-77)
Daniele Cavaliero (189-G-84)
Daniele Cinciarini (194-G-83, agency: Interperformances)
Alessandro Cittadini (207-C/F-79)
Luigi Datome (202-G/F-87)
Christian Di Giuliomaria (208-C/F-79)
Tommaso Fantoni (203-F-85, agency: Players Group)
Danilo Gallinari (205-G/F-88, agency: Players Group)
Angelo Gigli (209-F/C-83)
Daniel Hackett (196-G-87)
Stefano Mancinelli (202-F-83, agency: Megasport)
Andrea Michelori (202-F/C-78)
Marco Mordente (192-G-79)
Giuseppe Poeta (190-G-85)
Matteo Soragna (199-G/F-75)
Luca Vitali (201-G-86)
Joel Zacchetti (209-C/F-82)
From this group of players should came out the squad for the Euro 2009 Qualification Round, the problem is that Italian Players Union (GIBA) announced a strike that will force all these players to not go to Bormio. The reason is the extension of the agreement between the FIP - Italian Basketball Federation and the Lega A - Italian Basketball League over the import players quota. The agreement tells about 4 Imports, 2 Bosmans, 2 Naturalized Italians and 4 Domestic players per each Serie A team till June 2009, while GIBA wants obviously to increase the domestic players quota. The point is that this announced strike damages the National Team, instead of hitting the clubs, who are the main factors of the agreement via their league council. Will the players have the courage to move against their true employers ?

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  MONTENEGRO   


Efes Pilsen wants Predrag Drobnjak - by Eurobasket News
Predrag Drobnjak (212-F/C-75), who played last season for Besiktas Cola Turka, is very close to continue career in Efes Pilsen. In the past Drobnjak already had three successful years with Efes. According to Montenegrin media head coach of Efes Pilsen, Ergin Ataman, showed serious intension for Drobnjak's services. The main problem for his signing is the fact that Efes in its roster already has too many players from abroad. One of the possible solutions is that Drobnjak will receive Turkish passport after what there won't be any obstacles on his way to Efes. Drobnjak started last season in Aksavayu Girona but in December he moved to Beskitas. He had 23 appearances in Turkish TBL averaging 8.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 1 apg. He also played 5 games for Besiktas in ULEB Cup adding 8.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 1 apg. Drobnjak has pretty good NBA experiences as he spent one year in Atlanta Hawks and two in Seattle Supersonics. After not so brilliant 05/06 season in TAU Ceramica he returned to Partizan Belgrade, what was a very good move. He finished the competition in Euroleague as a fourth scorer with 15.7 ppg. At the same time he was fifth Euroleague rebounder grabbing 6.5 rpg. Coach Dusko Vujosevic put his name on the list of candidates for Montenegrin National Team for Eurobasket 2009 qualifications.

In the meantime Montenegrin U20 National Team played two friendly games in Belgrade. In the first one Montenegrins suffered defeat against Serbian U20 National Team 75-96. Vladimir Dasic (209-F-88, agency: Beo Basket) scored 24 points for his team while Sead Sehovic (200-G-89) stopped on 15 points. Montenegrins had more reasons for a joy after second game when they beat Serbian U18 National Team 91-84. Serbians are two years younger but anyway Montenegro showed solid performance on that game. Vladimir Dasic again led his team to win scoring 34 points. Sead Sehovic had 19 while Danilo Pavicevic (192-G/F-89) added 15 points.

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  NBA   


Clippers inks Baron Davis, Brent Barry in Houston - by Eurobasket News
Los Angeles Clippers announced signing of Baron Davis (6'2''-G-79, agency: Life Sports, college: UCLA) to multiyear contract. Davis spent last three and a half seasons with Golden State Warriors reaching Western Conference Semifinals in 2007. His 21.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 7.6 apg and 2.3 spg in 82 games wasn't enough for the Warriors to reach the play-off last season. Two seasons before, when Golden State reached above mentioned semis of the Western Conference, Baron Davis showed magnificent performance in play-off. For 11 games he registered 25.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.5 apg and 2.9 spg. Before Golden State, Davis played almost six years for the Hornets. He was a member of USA National Team on World Championship in Indianapolis.

In the meantime free agent Brent Barry (6'6''-G-71, college: Oregon St.) signed 2-years deal with Houston Rockets. He will be the third member of the family in club's history. Barry had 31 appearances in San Antonio jersey last season averaging 7.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg and 1.7 apg. For 16 games in play-off Berry added 5.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg and 1.1 apg. His four years with the Spurs were extremely successful as they won two NBA rings. Before Spurs he played 4 years in Seattle Supersonics, one in Chicago Bulls and two in Los Angeles Clippers. Interesting is that Berry won on the slum dunk contest at his rookie NBA season.

Cleveland Cavaliers announced signing of J.J. Hickson (6'9''-F/C-88). The Cavaliers grabbed him on this summer's draft as 19th pick of the first round. Hickson entered into the NBA mix after just one year at North Carolina State University. He played 31 games for his school averaging 14.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1 apg and 1.5 bpg. He was named to be in ACC All-Freshmans Team for the last season.

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  NCAA1   


Roy Williams previews the 2008-09 Tar Heels - by Eurobasket News
North Carolina in 2008-09 will return all five starters and its top six scorers among 13 lettermen, including consensus National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough (6'9''-F-85), from last year's team that won a school-record 36 games and reached the program's 17th Final Four.

The Tar Heels are hoping to sweep the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and Tournament titles for a third consecutive season, a feat that has been accomplished just twice before in the league's first 54 years (UNC 1967-69, Duke 1999-2001).

Last year, Carolina went 36-3 and won the ACC regular-season title outright with a 14-2 mark that included an 8-0 record on the road. The Tar Heels beat Clemson in the ACC championship game to win an unprecedented 17th ACC Tournament and was the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. UNC advanced to the Final Four in San Antonio with an 83-73 victory over No. 3 seed Louisville in the East Regional final in Charlotte.

Hansbrough won every major National Player of the Year award after averaging an ACC-best 22.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. He was also ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player and NCAA East Regional MVP. He was named ACC Player of the Week a record eight times.

The 6-9 senior from Poplar Bluff, Mo., is second in scoring at UNC with 2,168 points and needs just 123 points to pass Phil Ford. He is already the ACC's leader in made free throws with 733 and needs to make 173 more (he's averaged 244 per season) to become the NCAA's alltime leader.

Hansbrough could also become the first player since the 1940s to earn first-team All-America honors in four seasons and the only player to earn first-team All-ACC honors four times.

'What more can you say about Tyler,' says head coach Roy Williams. 'He's one of the most competitive people I've ever been around, he sets an incredible example with his work ethic and he plays hard on virtually every possession - even in practice. He has made so many big plays in the past three years it's hard to keep track of them. The bottom line is he has worked hard for and earned every award he's been given and he's going to go down as one of the greatest players ever to play college basketball.

'And with all that he has accomplished, he's never satisfied with his game. Tyler can shoot the ball from the perimeter, but he didn't have complete confidence to do it in game situations until late in the season,' says Williams. 'He has to develop the confidence to step out and shoot that shot, which will make his inside game even more difficult for people to guard. He has made great strides defensively, but will continue to improve, especially in defending on the floor away from the basket. He is overlooked for his defensive play in a way that reminds me of (the Celtics') Paul Pierce. Paul was a great defensive player at Kansas and is a great defender in the NBA, but never got any credit for it until one game in the NBA Finals when he stops Kobe (Bryant). Tyler got some notice for his defensive play late last year, but I think people will really notice it even more this year.'

Hansbrough is the first player to win Associated Press Player of the Year honors and return to college the following season since LSU's Shaquille O'Neal in 1991-92.

Junior guards Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, senior swingman Marcus Ginyard (6'5''-G/F-87) and junior forward Deon Thompson started alongside Hansbrough a year ago and senior Danny Green (6'5''-G/F-87) was the fourth-leading scorer and second-leading three-point scorer and shot blocker. Seniors Bobby Frasor (6'3''-G-86) and Mike Copeland (6'7''-F), sophomore Will Graves and walkons Marc Campbell (5'11''-G), Patrick Moody, J.B. Tanner and Jack Wooten all return as well, giving the Tar Heels plenty of experience.

Expectations for the 99th season of Carolina Basketball will be sky high as UNC is expected to be among the top preseason picks to contend for a national championship.

'When you describe our team you would describe a very experienced team and a very talented team, and that's what I've always said you want - experienced talent,' says Williams. 'We don't want our kids to think about a record. Our fans, the media and everybody else will put enough pressure on them, but we have to improve on things that will make our team better. I am going to convince our players that it isn't only what you accomplish at the end of the season. If that is all you are worried about then you are not going to do the job every single day to improve and then you won't even be around in March or April.'

Williams says obviously the disappointment of the season-ending loss to Kansas will serve as motivation, but there was plenty of success a year ago to learn from as well.

'This group learned they can win on the road, as we were extremely focused and became a great road team, but we have to continue to do that again this year. And we have to focus on how did we lose that last game in the Final Four. We lost because we weren't as aggressive and didn't have the same intensity as Kansas did. They came out and hit us right between the eyes and it took us a while to recover. The players laugh at me all the time when I say `Let's not go out there and tiptoe through the tulips,' but that's what we did. We went out and said, `Wow, we're in the Final Four,' and Kansas came out thinking they were in a fight right from the start. We didn't realize we were until all of a sudden they are kicking our tails. Now when I say, `Let's not go out there and tiptoe through the tulips,' they are going to know what I am saying.'

One area Williams always emphasizes is defense and improved play there is a priority.

'There's no question we became an above average defensive team, but we've got to be even better this year,' says Williams. 'This may be one of those years we take the rims off the baskets for the first week of practice, not just the first day.'

Williams says outstanding defensive teams play hard every possession and making individual stops each possession leads to better team defense.

'We've got to be better individual defenders, and some of that is giving a more consistent effort. Our kids give good effort overall, but to win championships it has to be more consistent and it has to be more intelligent. If they do those kinds of things then they can become better individual defenders. The next step is to become better defenders away from the ball, because then your team becomes better defensively.'

Williams wants to take advantage of the squad's depth and push the pace of play with an aggressive, pressure defense. He also expects his veterans to make fewer mistakes.

'We want to create more opportunities and possessions with our defense by playing a faster tempo. More people get to play more with a faster tempo. But with this kind of team I am going to push them more. There's no need to put up with anything mediocre now. If you are not going to do it right, there is somebody else who will do it right. They may not like it when it happens, but they are going to like the overall objective. It's going to be a lot more attention to detail and suffer the consequences if you don't do the small things.'

Lawson, Ellington and Green declared for the NBA Draft following the 2008 Final Four, attended the NBA's predraft camp and worked out for individual teams but ultimately decided to withdraw from the draft and return to Carolina.

'It will be a challenge for all of our kids -not just Ty, Danny and Wayne- to see how hungry they are going to be,' adds Williams. 'They must focus on the team as opposed to how they are doing individually and understand how our team is doing will dictate how successful they are as individuals. I am confident they'll do that because our kids have such good character that they will take care of it. But they have to be aware of that every day.'

Ellington and Lawson headline a dynamic backcourt that is at least three-deep at each position. Ellington, a sweet-shooting 6-4 wing from Wynnewood, Pa., teamed with Hansbrough last year to score more points than any two-player tandem in Carolina history. He averaged 16.6 points, shot 40 percent from three-point range and is ninth in UNC history in free throw accuracy at 83.0 percent. He scored 20 or more points nine times, including 36 in a memorable overtime win at Clemson and 24 against the Tigers in the ACC Tournament championship game. He earned second-team All-ACC honors, All-ACC Tournament honors for the second time in as many years and All-NCAA East Regional honors.

'Wayne has the ability to shoot the ball and score as well as any two-guard in the country,' says Williams. 'Knocking down good shots from the outside is an important part of our offense and Wayne is one of our best at doing that. He has to get bigger and stronger. We talked about that right after the season and the NBA people told him the same thing. He improved his defensive play drastically from his freshman to sophomore season and he has to do that again.'

Lawson, a 5-11 speedster from Clinton, Md., pushes the ball up the floor as quickly as anybody in the nation. He helped UNC finish second in the country in scoring, top the 90-point mark in 20 of 39 games and lead the ACC in scoring, field goal percentage, assists and assist-turnover margin. Lawson averaged 12.7 points and 5.2 assists per game and had an ACC-best assist-error ratio of 2.4 to 1. He scored 20 or more points four times with a career-high 26 at Rutgers, and shot 51.5 percent from the floor and 83.5 percent from the free throw line.

The All-NCAA East Regional selection missed seven games and most of two others due to a pair of sprained ankles. He was playing his best basketball in the middle of the ACC schedule when he was injured on Feb. 3 at Florida State and missed the next six games. He tweaked the ankle against Louisville in the Final 8 and was less than 100 percent against the Jayhawks in the national semifinals.

'Ty is a unique offensive threat because of his ability to break down defenses and attack the basket,' says Williams. 'He takes care of the ball, which is so important, and isn't afraid to take a big shot. We need him to apply more defensive pressure on the ball. Everybody knows he flirted with the NBA. The NBA people told him he had to be more consistent and tougher. He can't let little things bother him. I am confident he will have a great, great year and help us play at the pace I really like.'

Frasor is coming off an injury shortened season, his second in a row. One of the team's best leaders, the Blue Island, Ill., native tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Nevada on December 27 and missed the final 27 games. He started all 31 games as a freshman in 2005-06 and has 207 assists in 71 career contests. He had 25 assists and only 10 turnovers and was Carolina's defensive player of the game five times in the first dozen games last year. He made three three-pointers in the win at Kentucky.

'Bobby has done a great job rehabbing his knee and is way ahead of where people thought he would be,' says Williams, who indicates Frasor will play primarily at the point. 'It will be a real challenge for him to get his quickness back to where it was when he got hurt, because he had improved his foot speed and lateral quickness maybe as much as anybody I ever coached. He has to get back to that stage where he does a good job keeping the ball in front of him. He's a great leader and the best talker we have on defense.'

The three-spot (swingman) is one of the most experienced, talented and versatile positions on the squad with seniors Ginyard and Green and third-year sophomore Graves, capable of producing on both ends of the floor. Last year that trio combined for 20.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. Ginyard played four different positions, Green saw plenty of action at the four, and Graves came off the bench a number of times to provide long-distance shooting.

Ginyard, a 6-5 native of Alexandria, Va., earned All-ACC Tournament honors after scoring double figures in each of the three wins en route to the title. He filled in as backup point guard when Lawson was injured and even played the four against Clemson in the ACC championship game. Ginyard was Carolina's defensive player of the game 11 times, including the NCAA Regional final vs. Louisville, and was voted a co-captain by his teammates. He was named to both the media and coaches' All-ACC defensive teams, getting more votes from the coaches than any player in the league. Yet Williams expects more from his vocal leader in his final season.

'I expect Marcus to have a great year but I want him to be a lock down defender,' says Williams. 'I don't want him just to grade out well, but grade out well and make it impossible for other people to score. I think he has that ability. It was phenomenal last year that he could play the two and the three and then step in at the point when Lawson went down. He's working on his shot each day, and hopefully he will be able to knock down some more of those as well.'

Ginyard has won Carolina's defensive player of the year award in each of the last two seasons. Seven-foot center Brendan Haywood (1999-2001) and point guard Derrick Phelps (1992-94) are the only Tar Heels to win that award three times.

Green can also play multiple positions and makes key contributions in a number of areas. He's scored 871 points, grabbed 3.9 rebounds a game, converted 107 three-pointers, blocked 104 shots and has the third-highest free throw percentage (.843) in Carolina history. He has scored in double figures 37 times, including 24 times a year ago, and was Carolina's defensive player of the game six times as a junior. The North Babylon, N.Y., native had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots in the win at Duke, a career-high 20 points against Kentucky and Valparaiso and 12 first-half points in the Sweet 16 win over Washington State. He hit a pair of three-pointers and had two steals and two assists in the final three minutes to help UNC overcome an 11-point deficit in the home win over Clemson.

Green is the only Tar Heel in history to make at least 100 three-point field goals and block 50 or more shots. He is 10th in UNC history in blocked shots.

'Danny gave us a spark so many times last year and has the ability to help us win games in different ways,' says Williams. 'He has to cut down on his turnovers and be more consistent defensively. I know he will be very focused this year to do the little things that help us. He has a great opportunity to give us some outside shooting and we really need that to be successful.'

Graves red-shirted in 2006-07, then played in all but three games last year. The Greensboro, N.C., native made 19 of his 27 field goals from behind the arc and shot 44.2 percent from three-point range. He scored a season-high 14 points against Valparaiso and had 10 in the home win over Virginia Tech.

'Will has to continue to work on his conditioning, physically be able to handle situations better and become more consistent with his outside shot,' says Williams. 'He came into several games last year when we needed a lift from the outside and he was able to give it to us.'

Up front, the Tar Heels will have just two returning big men - Hansbrough and Thompson, a 6-8 forward from Torrance, Calif. - healthy at the start of the season. Copeland, a 6-7 forward from Winston-Salem, N.C., tore his right ACL in the spring and will be unable to play until later in the season.

Thompson started all but one game last year and averaged 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds. He led UNC in blocked shots with 51 and scored in double figures 14 times with highs of 17 vs. Boston College and 16 vs. NC State and Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He had nine rebounds and a career-high five blocks in the win at Duke.

'Deon has worked exceptionally hard in the offseason, continuing to work on his body and he has gotten a great deal of confidence from those workouts,' says Williams. 'Now he has to take that confidence and translate it into better and more confident play. He can't get down on himself when things don't go as well. I think he will be better defensively and block more shots and get more rebounds this year. He and Tyler (Hansbrough) both need to stop turning the ball over so much.'

The Tar Heels welcome four scholarship freshmen - 6-10 forward Ed Davis from Richmond, Va., 6-1 point guard Larry Drew II from Encino, Calif., 6-4 swingman Justin Watts from Durham, N.C., and 7-0 forward Tyler Zeller from Washington, Ind.

'The big guys should make more of an immediate impact because losing Alex Stepheson (who transferred after his sophomore year) only gives us two experienced post players in Deon and Tyler,' says Williams. 'You always need four of those guys. Zeller gives us the ability to score from the outside and run the floor. Davis gives the ability to score inside and block some shots and be a really good passer. Drew gives us another true point guard. He will have some adjustment to the speed of the game, but once he makes that adjustment, he is a thinking man's point guard and a true quarterback and I think we will see those things from him. Watts hasn't been put in as many competitive situations as those other guys, who played in the national high school all-star games, but he has skills and is going to do some good things for us.'

Williams, who entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, begins his 21st season as a head coach with a record of 560-134. He is first among active coaches and third alltime in winning percentage (.807), third in NCAA Tournament wins with 49 and is tied for fourth with six trips to the Final Four. He has led the Tar Heels to a 142-33 record, including ACC regular-season titles in 2005, 2007 and 2008, two ACC Tournament titles and two Final Fours. Over the last seven years, Williams has led his teams at Kansas and Carolina to 205 wins, more than any other coach in college basketball.

Courtesy of www.ncaa.com
*by Steve Kirschner, Associate Director of Athletics

Montana names Bill Evans assistant coach - by Eurobasket News
Veteran coach Bill Evans will join the University of Montana men's basketball program as an assistant coach.

Head coach Wayne Tinkle made the announcement Thursday.

Evans has coached for 30 years, most recently as the head man at his alma mater, Southern Utah, where he led the men's program from 1992 to 2007.

He served as an assistant coach for the Thunderbirds from 1990-92 before being elevated to the head job.

Evans will begin his duties at Montana on July 14.

'I am honored to become a part of a program that has such great tradition,' said Evans via telephone Thursday. 'I am also appreciative of coach Tinkle giving me this opportunity. I look at Montana as the flagship program in the Big Sky Conference.

'I know that the success of Grizzly athletics and Grizzly basketball are very important to the people of Montana, and I will do everything I can to keep that success going,' Evans said. 'There is a lot of potential in the men's basketball program at Montana, and I will strive with coach Tinkle and our staff to reach that potential.

'My family is important to me, and the University of Montana and Missoula will be a great environment for them.'

Evans' 209 career victories at Southern Utah are the most in school history. He was the coach of the year four times during his tenure there.

He guided the Thunderbirds to their first-ever NCAA tournament berth in 2001, a 67-64 setback to ninth-ranked Boston College, and posted a record of 25-6 that season.

He coached 27 all-conference players during his tenure at SUU.

'Bill brings a ton of experience to our program,' Tinkle said. 'He is an outstanding person, with a proven track record as a Division I head coach.

'He graduated his players, brought his team to the NCAA tournament, and had a couple of players go on to play in the NBA,' Tinkle added. 'He brings instant credibility to our staff. He has valuable contacts which will hopefully open up new geographical recruiting areas for us.'

Prior to coaching at SUU, Evans had stints at the University of Alaska-Anchorage (1986-90), as an assistant at SUU (1985-86), at Idaho State as a graduate assistant (1984-85), and as a volunteer assistant coach at Southern Utah (1983-84).

He began his coaching career as the head mentor at Port Sulphur High School in New Orleans, from 1977-83, and had a six-year record of 112-47 there.

He earned his B.A. degree in physical education at Southern Utah in 1972 and his master's degree in athletic administration from Idaho State in 1985.

Bill and his wife, Sunny, have five children: Quentin, Dave, Tori, Trajan, and Kansas.
Courtesy of missoulian.com

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  NCAA2   


New head coach at West Chester University - by Eurobasket News
Damien Blair was named the head mens basketball coach at West Chester University by Director of Athletics, Dr. Edward Matejkovic, Thursday afternoon. The 1996 graduate of WCU returns to his alma mater after 10 seasons as head coach at Downingtown West High School.

Blair replaces his former head coach Dick DeLaney, who retired in May after 21 seasons along the Golden Rams sideline as the schools all-time winningest coach with 370 victories.

The programs second all-time leading scorer during his playing days, Blair was introduced as the schools 26th head mens basketball coach during a press conference held inside Hollinger Field House at West Chester University. He becomes the programs fifth head coach since 1960 and the first African-American mentor in program history.

This is an exciting time for our mens basketball program, Matejkovic said. Damien is an energetic, young coach, who we feel can build upon the tradition of our program. His ties to fellow alumni and friends of the West Chester basketball will be beneficial to his success.

Damien portrayed an impeccable work ethic and commitment to excellence as a player at West Chester that will translate well to his new position. His success at Downingtown High School in preparing young student-athletes for the next level was an attractive asset during our exhaustive national search for a head coach.

Blair led Downingtown High to the Ches-Mont League boys basketball championship, the first title in school history, this past winter and a spot in the PIAA state playoffs for the fourth time during his tenure. Overall, Blair compiled a career record of 173-78 (.689) in his high school coaching career. This will be Blairs first head coaching position on the collegiate level.

It is an honor to accept this position at my alma mater, and I am dedicated to putting this program in the best possible position to be successful, Blair said. I would like to thank Dr. Matejkovic and the committee for giving me this opportunity, and I look forward to the challenges ahead with heightened enthusiasm. The rich basketball tradition and strong alumni involvement make West Chester University one of the best programs in the country and that is why I am excited to be here.

The rookie college mentor inherits a squad that finished 12-15 a year ago and missed the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs for the second straight campaign. The Golden Rams graduated just one player off that team while welcoming back team captain and second team All-PSAC East performer Kenneth St. George.

The hiring of Coach Blair is definitely a step in the right direction for our program, St. George said. He will push us to the limit to get us to the next level. The talent is there. We just needed somebody with the right type of guidance. West Chester University made a great choice in picking Coach Blair.

Blair leaves Downingtown High as the schools all-time winningest boys basketball coach. He was named the West Chester Daily Local coach of the year as well as Ches-mont League coach of the year this past season.

During his collegiate playing career, Blair set seven individual scoring records on the career, season and game levels. His 2,025 career points stands second all-time at West Chester University and seventh all-time in PSAC history. Only Kevin Givens (1980-84) scored more points (2,054) in a Golden Rams uniform than Blair.

The flashy guard was a two-time PSAC East player of the year (1994, 1995) and four-time all-league selection, including three first team nods, during his illustrious playing career. Blair was inducted into the Messikomer Mens Basketball Hall of Fame at West Chester University in 2001.

Blair played semi-professional basketball with the Delaware Blue Bombers of the United States Basketball League for a brief stint after his college career came to a close and was invited to the Philadelphia 76ers tryout camp in 1996.

Blair received his bachelors of science degree in Education from WCU in May 1996 and is a certified Health & Physical Education instructor in the state of Pennsylvania. He completed his masters in Athletic Administration from WCU in May 2007 and is currently working on his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at Immaculata University.

Courtesy of wcupagoldenrams.com



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


Canguros and Magnates won on CBS 2008.- - by Eddie Munoz
Canguros de Parque Lefevre defeated Toros del Chorrillo 110-100 in a very disputed game this win put Canguros in the 4th place trying to advance to Semifinals the best scorers of the game were Gabriel Giron 33 Points and Daniel Munoz (178-G-84) point guard of Canguros with 21 Points and 9 Assistances including four 3 Points Shots, by Toros were Colbert Prince 22 Points and Daniel King 21 Points. In the 2nd game in another buzzer end Magnates de Calidonia won over Colosos de Tumba Muerto 75-73 Joel Munoz (179-G-80, agency: HM Sports Agency) with 25 points leaded the Magnates and Angel Rivera by Colosos with 16 Points were the best scorers of the game.

Standings - CBS
CBS Standings
 1. Caimanes 10-0 
 2. Magnates 6-2 
 3. Navieros 5-3 
 4. Canguros 4-5 
 5. Fieras 3-6 
 6. Colosos 3-6 
 7. Toros 0-9 


*****************************************************
  PHILIPPINES   


Philippines set to follow US cage program - by Hector Santos
A comprehensive program patterned after USA Basketball is being adopted by the BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Executive director Noli Eala Wednesday said BAP-SBP is on the verge of putting up a national team organizing committee composed of officials from top commercial and collegiate leagues and the best coaching minds in Philippine basketball.

The committee will be made up of representatives from the Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine Basketball League, UAAP, NCAA, Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) and at least three coaches with winning traditions in their respective leagues.

Eala declined to identify the coaches but a source said former mens team and Talk N Text coach Chot Reyes, De La Salle Universitys Franz Pumaren, Norman Black of Ateneo de Manila University and Junel Baculi are candidates.

The former PBA commissioner said the organizing committee will take care of the scouting and screening of players and coaches as well as the training, funding and selection of team members for elite tournaments.

Hopefully, this will systematize the formation of the national team, said Eala, who will act as ex-officio chairman of the committee.

BAP-SBP competitions commission head Bernie Atienza will be in charge of the committee, whose chief aim is to develop, manage and coordinate programs for the national team.

Patterned after the structure of USA Basketball, the SBP national team organizing committee will serve as the backbone of the organizations thrust to bring the country back in the international basketball scene.

Eala said the committee is targeting the 2010 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey and 2012 London Olympics. PDI

*****************************************************
  PORTUGAL   


Vitoria adds Gama - by Luis Rocha
After the leave of Pedro Azevedo (193-F-81), Vitoria went back to the market and add Alexandre Gama (184-G-76). Gama plays 1 or 2 and comes from Acadmica. Hes an experiemnted player with lots of experience and can be a good solution to play with Carlos Fechas (180-G-81) in 1 or even to fight for position 2. He made a really nice last season and his leave was not expected in Coimbra they counted on him , but at the end Vitoria take him out to Guimares.

*****************************************************
  PUERTO RICO   


Slovenia stops Puerto Rico - by Luis Ramirez
Slovenia the only other unbeaten team defeated Puerto Rico today 79-68. The Slovenian team took the lead early in the 1st quarter and basically controlled the tempo of the game thru out. The 1st quarter ended 21-14 in favor of Slovenia, they also took the 2nd quarter to take the half 41-28. Puerto Rico did not look sharp from three point range and point guard Jose Juan Barea committed some early turnovers as he simply could not find his rhythm. Carlos Arroyo (188-G-79, agency: Interperformances, college: Florida Intern.) on the other hand scored 21 points in the game for Puerto Rico. Slovenia continued their dominance during the second half and Puerto Rico could not like in previous games, come back strong in the final quarter. For Slovenia Rasho Nesterovic scored 16 points and Domen Lorbek followed with 15 points. For Puerto Rico Daniel Santiago followed Arroyo's 21 point performance with 16 points of his own. Puerto Rico now travels to Athens to try and win a berth for the Olympic Games in China next month. Puerto Rico will first face Cameroon.

*****************************************************
  RUSSIA   


Another Pashutin in Spartak St. Petersburg, Ural extends Plisnic - by Eurobasket News
After four seasons in CSKA Moscow, Zakhar Pashutin (195-G-74) will leave the club. Despite he has a valid contract with CSKA for one more year the team decided to let him leave to Spartak St. Petersburg. It means that Zakhar will join his brother Evgeni, who took over the team last month. Zakhar Pashutin played 24 games for CSKA last season in Russian Superleague averaging 7.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg and 1.3 spg. He had much lower digits for 7 games in Euroleague. Experienced Pashutin has 5 championship titles of Russia in his 'pocket'. All of the those he won with CSKA. At the same time the team lifted Euroleague twice and National Cup three times. At the late nineties he was a member Russian National Team which played in the final of World Championship in 1998. Pashutin also was a member of Russian NT which grabbed the gold medal at the last European Championship in Spain. He had important role in the team adding 8.2 ppg and 2.9 rpg in 9 games. At the end, after almost 15 years, he will return to his former team Spartak St. Petersburg.

In the meantime Vanja Plisnic (207-F/C-80, agency: Beo Basket) extended contract with Ural Great Perm for two more years. Plisnic played 21 games in Superleague last season having 12.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 1.5 apg. He had much better performance in FIBA Eurocup averaging 15.3 ppg and 5.1 rpg. Plisnic arrived to Ural Great from Serbian team Hemofarm Vrsac in 2007. Hemofarm was a regular season champion in Serbian Superleague but it wasn't able to handle Partizan Igokea in the final of play-off. Before Hemofarm, Plisnic used to play for Telindus Oostende, Vojvodina Srbiajagas, FMP and Radnicki Belgrade. His best achievement so far is the title of Adriatic league in 2004 and National Cup of Serbia in 2003.

Anatoly Kashirov arrives to Spartak St. Petersburg on loan - by Eurobasket News
After bothers Pashoutin, Spartak St. Petersburg got another reinforcement from CSKA. It is young center Anatoly Kashirov (215-C-87, agency: Court Side) who will spent one season in Spartak as a loaned player. Kashirov didn't have a lot of chance to play last season in current Euroleague champion. For 8 games he averaged just 1.9 ppg while in Russian championship he had 4.4 ppg and 2.4 rpg in 13 games. He played for Russian U20 National Team last summer on European Championship in Slovenia. He also played on U20 European Championship in Turkey two years ago and on U18 EC in Belgrade in 2005. Head coach of CSKA, Ettore Messina, stated that young Kashirov desperately needs more playing time and that he hopes he will get it with coach Evgeni Pashutin, who knows Kashirov very well.

Eurobasket.com All-Russian A Superleague Awards 2007-08 - by Eurobasket
Player of the Year: Trajan Langdon (192-G-76) of CSKA Moscow
Guard of the Year: Trajan Langdon (192-G-76) of CSKA Moscow
Forward of the Year: Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) of CSKA Moscow
Center of the Year: Maciej Lampe (210-C-85) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
Bosman Player of the Year: Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow
Import Player of the Year: Trajan Langdon (192-G-76) of CSKA Moscow
Domestic Player of the Year: J.R. Holden (185-G-76) of CSKA Moscow
Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Goree (201-F-77) of CSKA
Coach of the Year: Ettore Messina of CSKA

1st Team
Trajan Langdon (192-G-76) of CSKA Moscow
Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow
Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) of CSKA Moscow
Maciej Lampe (210-C-85) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
Darjus Lavrinovic (212-C-79) of Dynamo Moscow of Unics

2nd Team
Kelly McCarty (201-F-75) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
J.R. Holden (185-G-76) of CSKA Moscow
Sergei Toporov (197-F-81) of Triumph Lyubertsy
Henry Domercant (192-G-80) of Dynamo Moscow
Lee Nailon (204-F-75) of Sibirtelekom-Lokomotiv Novosybirsk

Honorable Mention
Theodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77) of CSKA
Daniel Ewing (191-G-83) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
Vitali Fridzon (195-G-85) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
Dusko Savanovic (204-F/C-83) of Unics
Terrell Lyday (190-G-79) of Triumph Lyubertsy
Mire Chatman (187-G-78) of Triumph Lyubertsy
Travis Hansen (198-G/F-78) of Dynamo Moscow
J.R. Bremer (191-G-80) of Spartak Primorie
Andrew Wisniewski (191-G-81) of Ural Great
Kresimir Loncar (210-F-83) of Lokomotiv Rostov na Donu
Stanislav Makshantsev (205-F-78) of Spartak Primorie Vladivostok
Marque Perry (186-G-81) of CSK VVS Samara
Joe Smith (193-G-77) of Spartak St.Petersburg
Aleksei Zozulin (199-G/F-83) of Ural Great
Zendon Hamilton (209-C-75) of Enisey Krasnoyarsk
Marcus Goree (201-F-77) of CSKA

All-Domestic Players Team
Vitali Fridzon (195-G-85) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
Sergei Toporov (197-F-81) of Triumph Lyubertsy
Aleksei Zozulin (199-G/F-83) of Ural Great
Stanislav Makshantsev (205-F-78) of Spartak Primorie Vladivostok
J.R. Holden (185-G-76) of CSKA Moscow

All-Imports Team
Trajan Langdon (192-G-76) of CSKA Moscow
Kelly McCarty (201-F-75) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
Henry Domercant (192-G-80) of Dynamo Moscow
J.R. Bremer of Spartak Primorie
Lee Nailon (204-F-75) of Sibirtelekom-Lokomotiv Novosybirsk

All-Bosmans Team
Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) of CSKA Moscow
Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79) of CSKA Moscow
Maciej Lampe (210-C-85) of BC Khimky Moscow Region
Darjus Lavrinovic of Unics
Kresimir Loncar (210-F-83) of Lokomotiv Rostov na Donu

*****************************************************
  SEBL   


SEBL Metro A-League opens with tight contests... - by David Archer
#s#
#e#6


Kelley


Penland


Cook


Cox


Johnson



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Division: Mon., July 7th @ Clayton St...


BC Lakers 69 vs. Speedboys 64... Eric Wilson led a balanced BC Lakers attack with 13 points, helping his squad to a hard-fought victory over the Atlanta Speedboys. Brandon Kelley (5'11''-G-84) led the Speedboys with 20. The Speedboys held a slim 33-32 lead at the half.


Young Gunz 64 vs. Black Monopoly 56... The Young Gunz filled in for the absent DOTS team and got their season off to a good start with a 64-56 win over the Black Monopoly team, who is sponsored by Allstar Cafe'. Adrian Penland (6'1''-G-80) paced the Gunz with 26 points, while DeJuan Johnson (6'7'') hit 18 for BM.


Tri-County 68 vs. Young Gunz 58... Tri-County took advantage of a wear-legged Young Gunz and pulled away late for a 10-point victory. Former Clark-Atlanta star Derrick Allen (6'5''-G-85, college: Valdosta St.) downed 24 points. For Young Gunz, former Lander star, Adrian Penland again led the way with 25 points.
----------------------------------------------------------


North Division: Wed., July 9th @ JH Morgan...


Skyline 85 vs. Supreme 68... Skyline led 42-37 at the half, but used a late second half run fueled by J.D. Pollock (6'5''-G) to bury the Supreme in the North Division's season opener. Pollock scored 13 of his 16 total down the stretch, including three treys. But, it was Faulker University signee Chris Palmore who led all scorers with 25 points. Palmore downed 17 in the first half for Skyline. Nick Mattone (6'4''-G) and Antone Anderson (6'4''-F-81) got 16 and 15 for Skyline, while Alex Cornett (6'11''-C) had 13 points and 9 rebounds. For Supreme, Mike Carson (6'4''-G) downed 21, Robert McKinney (6'5''-F/C) 14, Carlos Hampton (6'4''-F) 13, Kenyatta Baylor 10, Cedric Ward (5'9''-G) six, Jazz Bryant four.


ServPro-1 76 vs. BC Force 84... After struggling through a win-less season last summer, BC Force has revamped its roster and their opening night win over perennial powerhouse, Servpro-1, has them looking like an early favorite. Antonio Cook (6'6''-G/F-80) led the Force with 23 points, coming on seven tri-fectas. All said, the Force downed 14 threes as a team. Though Servpro-1 actually scored 33 field goals, to the Force's 29, the long range shots were the difference on this night. Darrell Wilkins (6'1''-G-84) also had 18 for the Force, while John Allison (7'1''-C-87) had 17, Cedric McClinic 16, Kelvin McConnell (6'0''-G-89) six and Neon Winters four. For Servpro-1, Larry Cox (6'10''-C-84) of Cartersville Baseline Warriors had 31 points and 12 rebounds, while Shan Finley got 20 and Jermaine Spivey 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Spencer Dixion rounded out the scoring for ServPro-1 with eight points.


Baseline-1 55 vs. BC Celtics 53... Baseline-1, the defending champs, had a difficult time against the Celtics on opening night. These teams battled it out several times last summer with high-scoring barn-burners, but this night was a defensive struggled, as both defenses badgered the other into missed jumpers and turnovers. Baseline held a slim 27-25 lead at the half, but had to fight back from as many as seven in the second half to get by the Celtics. Kurtis Wood led Baseline's balanced attack with 14, while Ronell Wooten (6'4''-G-85) had 13, Joe Hamilton (6'6''-F-79) 11, Chris Jones (6'6''-F-82) 10, Marcus Henderson (6'8''-F-79) three, Courtney Stanley two and A.J. Mastin (6'2''-G-83) two. For the Celtics, Michael Reynolds (6'3''-G-84) had 23, Dexter Shaw (6'3''-G-89) 10, Jeff Croft (6'3''-G) 10, Scott Windom (6'6''-F) six and Kyle Hartsook two.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

South Division: Thur., July 10th @ Clayton St...


Lakers 66 vs. Black Monopoly 51... The Lakers pushed their record to 2-0, with a win over Allstar Cafe's Black Monop squad. Eric Wilson led the Lakers with 13 and Torrin Greene had 12. For BM, Richard Lusane (6'5''-G) had 17 and Mike Jones (6'8''-F/C-83, college: Gardner-Webb) 10. BM fell to 1-1 on the season.


Speedboys 65 vs. Young Gunz 57... The Speedboys evened their record to 1-1 with a 65-57 win over the Young Gunz. Jamal Johnson (6'7''-C-81) pumped in 23 for the Speedboys while Michael Sloan (6'4''-G) had 13. For YG, Frank Davis (6'2''-G-88) had 22 and B.J. Puckett (6'8''-F-83) had 14.


DOTS 54 vs. Tri-County 59... Last season Tri-County got off to a horrid 0-5 start, losing all five games by slim margins. Thus far in the 2008 season, the Crusaders are 2-0. Last summer, Baseline-1 ran through the league and won the SEBL Championship. The common denominator here? Ernest Scott (6'7''-F-82), college: Valdosta St.). Scott, who played for Tri-County several years back, when they last won the South Division Title, played for Baseline last summer but has returned to the Crusaders. He provided a well-rounded presence for his team and helped them to a 59-54 win over DOTS. Scott had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Derrick Allen led Tri-County with 14 points. Miguel Morton (6'10''-F) had 14 for DOTS and Larry Diamond (6'2''-G) got 10. DOTS, who advanced to the SEBL Title game last year after a strong start, has sunk to 0-2 to start the 2008 campaign.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


UPCOMING GAMES:


-------------------------------------------
Sun., July 13th @ JH Morgan Gym…
4:00pm - BC Celtics vs. BC Force
5:00pm - ServPro-1 vs. Supreme
6:00pm - Baseline-1 vs. Skyline
-------------------------------------------
Mon., July 14th @ Clayton St…
6:30pm - DOTS vs. Young Gunz
7:30pm - BC Lakers vs. Tri-County
8:30pm - Black Monop vs. Speedboys
--------------------------------------------------
Wed., July 16th @ JH Morgan Gym…
6:30pm - BC Celtics vs. Supreme
7:30pm - Baseline-1 vs. BC Force
8:30pm - Servpro-1 vs. Skyline
--------------------------------------------------
Wed., July 16 @ Clayton State…
6:30pm - Speedboys vs. Tri-County
7:30pm - BC Lakers vs. DOTS
8:30pm - Black Monop vs. Young Gunz
--------------------------------------------------
Thur., July 17 @ Clayton State…
6:30pm - BC Lakers vs. Young Gunz
7:30pm - Black Monop vs. Tri-County
8:30pm - Atl. Speedboys vs. DOTS
--------------------------------------------------



Stats Leaders

SEBL Metro

A-League

Points Per Game
Darnell Cox.......... 31.0
Adrian Penland..... 25.5
Chris Palmore....... 25.0
Tony Cook............ 23.0
Mike Reynolds...... 23.0
Mike Carson......... 21.0
Shan Finley........... 20.0


*****************************************************
  SERBIA   


Vladimir Dasic too strong for Serbian U18 National Team - by Dragan Jankovski
Serbian U18 National Team suffered 84-91 defeat in a friendly game against Montenegro U20 NT. Anyway Serbian juniors showed decent performance against two years older players from Montenegro. Visitors took control on Serbians at the beginning finishing first quarter 21-26. During the next ten minutes the hosts started to play a bit better but they still couldn't stop Vladimir Dasic (209-F-88, agency: Beo Basket) who dominated at the offensive end. Beginning of the second half brought totally different picture on the court. Serbian youngsters were the ones which controlled rhythm of the game. Mostly owing to Anrija Milutinovic (199-G-90) and Bojan Subotic (204-F/C-90) Serbia entered into the last period having advantage of 3 points. They succeeded to extend lead to 73-68 at the middle of the crucial ten minutes. It was the last lead of Serbian juniors as Dasic once again stepped up on the scene. He drained two triples making turn 73-74. With 4 minutes remaining Dasic totally exploded hitting two more 3-pointers and resolved question about the winner. At the end he stopped on 34 points in this game. Sead Sehovic (200-G-89) once again followed him adding 19 points. Bojan Subotic netted 22 points for Serbian juniors while Anrija Milutinovic had 17 points. Aleksandar Vlahovic (193-G-90), who scored 11 points, and Aleksandar Mitrovic (201-G-90), who posted 9, also showed good performance.

Serbian juniors will have a chance to revenge this defeat against two years older Montenegrins today at 19h.


U18 Serbia - U20 Montenegro 84-91
(21-26,21-18,21-16,21-31)

Serbia: Subotic 22, Milutinovic 17, Vlahovic 11, Mitrovic 9, Musli 7
Montenegro: Dasic 34, Sehovic 19, Pavicevic 15, Djurisic 8

Plisnic stays in Ural Great Perm - by Zoran Popovic
Vanja Plisnic (207-F/C-80, agency: Beo Basket) agreed terms and extends contract with Ural Great Perm for next two seasons. Plisnic had excellent season in Russia and in FIBA Cup he scored average 15.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and in Russian league 12.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 asssistant per game. Vanja Plisnic started career in NAP Novi Sad 1997-1998 and also played for KK Radnicki Beograd 1998-2000, Vojvodina Srbija Gas Novi Sad 2000-2002, FMP Zeleznik Beograd 2002-2004, returned in Vojvodina Srbija Gas Novi Sad in period 2004-2006. Season 2006-2007 Plisnic started in Telindus BC Oostende and in January 2007 moved in KK Hemofarm Stada Vrsac. With Vojvodina Srbija Gas Novi Sad he won Serbia and Montenegro National Cup 2003. Plisnic was member of Yugoslavia National team U20 and Serbia and Montenegro University team.

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
Free Throws
1 Martinic Goran 92.1 %
2 Djapa Dalibor 90.6 %
3 Markovic Radov 89.3 %


Stats Leaders - 1B
1B Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Micevic Nikola 5.31
2 Gagović Vuksan 4.68
3 Teodosic Jovan 4.68
4 Mihajlović Saša 4.49
5 Djurović Borislav 4.48
Rebounds Per Game
1 Micevic Nikola 2.0
2 Gagović Vuksan 1.7
3 Djurović Borislav 1.5
4 Marković Bojan 1.5
4 Glisić Marko 1.5
Assists Per Game
1 Marković Bojan 14.1
2 Jovičić Bojan 12.6
3 Teodosić Jovan 8.1
4 Pilčević Radenko 7.5
5 Dzeverdanovic Niko 6.9


*****************************************************
  SLOVENIA   


Zlatorog inks Lucic, Koper adds Mihalic and Simunic - by Zeljko Zule

Zlatorog inked Uros Lucic (207-C-83) ex Vizura for the upcoming season.
Luka Koper signed Jernej Mihalic (203-G/F-85) ex Helios and Ivan Simunic (203-F-86, agency: Interperformances) ex Elektra Esotech for one season.

Vladimir Mihailovic (193-G-82) and Vjeran Soldo (208-F/C-84) of Krka are free agents.
Mario Primorac (B1) got new sponsor and change their name from Casino Maribor to MFC.2 Maribor.



*****************************************************
  SPAIN   


Lubos Barton to Barca, Simas Jasaitis in DKV Joventut - by Eurobasket News
Lubos Barton (200-F/G-80, college: Valparaiso) signed 3-year contract with Barcelna. Czech guard / small forward spent last three very successful seasons in DKV Joventut. During this period his team won ULEB Cup, 'Copa del Rey' and FIBA Eurocup. He played 17 games for Joventut in ULEB Cup last season adding 9.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.1 spg. He registered very similar numbers in ACB regular season as well as in play-off. Previous summer he showed wonderful performance with Czech National Team on European Championship. His team was eliminated at the first stage but he averaged 16.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 3.3 apg for these three games. In the past Barton also played for Lottomatica Roma and Fortitudo Bologna. He graduated at Valparaiso in 2002.

In the meantime DKV Joventut announced signing of Simas Jasaitis (202-F/G-82) on a one year contract. Jasaitis captured the title with TAU Caramica in ACB last season beating Barca 4-0 in the play-off final. He had 28 appearances in regular season averaging 4.1 ppg and 1.9 rpg. Jasaitis also played 21 games for TAU in Euroleague having 4.6 ppg and 1.4 rpg. He arrived to Vitoria from Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2007 despite he signed 3-year contract with the Israli team a year before. With Maccabi Jasaitis grabbed the title in Isreali Premier league. He showed decent performance at the previous European Championship in Spain where Lithuanians won bronze medal. Before Maccabi, Jasaitis played 5 years for Lietuvos Rytas winning 4 trophies with them: ULEB Cup, Baltic league and domestic championship twice.

*****************************************************
  SWITZERLAND   


Sdent BBC Nyon inks Donte Minter - by Eurobasket News
Sdent BBC Nyon announced signing of Donte Minter (203-F, college: Virginia) on one year contract. Minter is American center who played last season at Appalachian State University. His average stats for 30 games in NCAA1 was 13.9 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.8 apg and 1.5 bpg. His school was regular season champion of Southern Conf. North Division while he was named to be in All-Southern Conference first team. He transferred to Appalachian from Virginia in 2006.

His new team Sdent BBC Nyon already signed Jules Aw and Baptiste Cransac for the next season. The team ended last one on ninth place with score 9-13 what was not enough for play-off.

*****************************************************
  TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO   


St Augustine and ISPS score big in high school awards - by Don Farrell


St Augustine Secondary and International School of Port of Spain (ISPS) were big winners when the NGC/Express Secondary Schools Basketball League held their 2008 prize-giving ceremony yesterday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

St Augustine picked up the national Champion of Champions Under-20 and Under-17 titles, while Ashton Demurrel and Chris Nelson picked up the respective MVP awards for those divisions.

The 'Green Machine' also won the East Zone accolades for both divisions.

International School also grabbed a large haul at the awards function. They took the Girls Open and Boys Under-15 categories, with Matthew Temple and Kristen Temple taking the MVP awards for those divisions in that order.

ISPS were third among the Under-20 boys, runners-up at Under-17 level, in addition to finishing the best team among the Under-15 and Girls Open categories in the North Zone.

QRC, led by some strong performances by Shemuel Bartholomew in the North Zone Under-20 division, copped that category easily, and were second best among Under-15 boys, and third best among the Under-17s.

Barrackpore Senior Comprehensive came in for great plaudits after their girls topped the open category in their first year of competition, while Mason Hall were the dominant force in Tobago .

SSBL president, Ishmael St Bryce, was pleased that there were 'minimal incidents of injury or disruptions' in the 2008 staging of the League. But he also lamented the many challenges schools basketball continued to face.

Representatives of the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs did not show up to address the gathering, but Wynda Chandler, community relations officer of main sponsors NGC, made up for it with a lively session, as she interacted with the young players, inquiring how they saw themselves benefiting from the SSBL.

Several of the hard-working members of the league were also honoured for their continued service to the game, including long-standing official/coach Anthony Lewis, and Stephen Leonce, currently the coach of Success/Laventille.

trinidadexpress

Nets win thriller - by Don Farrell
FANS were treated to an enthralling double-header as action in the North Zone Basketball Commission continued at the Jean Pierre Complex, Port of Spain on Wednesday night.

In the feature fixture, debutants Mt Hope Spurs put in an impressive showing as they manfully stayed with Sportworld Straker Nets before bowing out to last yearA‚·s second-placed team 76-72 in overtime, following four very competitive quarters.

The scoreline was 72-72 after regulation time.

Hashim Arcia led the scoring with 20 points for Nets, who jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the opening period. They eventually led by four points (35-31) at the conclusion of the quarter.

Arcia, who netted 16 of his teams points in a victory to start the season the week before, was ably supported by Jeffery Harris (17) and former St Anthonys College player Imo Williams, who pitched in with a dozen.

Harris, who had 15 points in his team's opening win, had to leave the game early in the second period after sustaining a cut over his left eye, while attempting a lay-up.

Wearing a plaster, Harris returned to the floor with five minutes 12 seconds to play in the penultimate session and scored seven of his points to help Nets put away the newcomers down the stretch.

Jason Paul, player of the night without a doubt, took the fight to the winners but his gallant one-man effort of a game-high 26 points was not enough to take his squad over the line ahead of Nets, who were made to fight for their second win on the trot.

Spurs, who had no other player reaching double digits, won the league and knockout titles at the recently-concluded Mt Hope Community Tournament.

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  TURKEY   


Blakney at Telekom - by Sinan Can
TURK Telekom announced the official agreement with Roderick Blakney (181-G-76, college: S.Carolina St.). Experienced player who played for Olympiakos last season has averaged 4.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal in 22 Euroleague games. Blakney also averaged 9.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists at Greek League Play-Off's. Turk Telekom Coach Ercument Sunter said, 'After Khalid El Amin's departure we've found a good replacement for point guard position. Roderick is a very experienced, big time player. He will play a key role for us to win all competitions we'll be in coming season.'

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  URUGUAY   


Mexico and Uruguay tied training games - by Hector Lopez
Mexico and Uruguay tied 1-1 in training games played here, before both teams travel to Buenos Aires for a Super Four tournament with Argentina and Poland. Uruguay had just eight player, and only three of them played in the last South American Championship. In the first game Uruguay won 73-67 and last nigth Mexico was thw winner 73-61. The best scorer during the first game were Sebastian Izaguirre (203-C/F-85) 21 and Juan Pablo Silveira 19, for Uruguay, and Gustavo Ayon 18 and Arim Solares 13, for Mexico. In the last game Raymundo Castillo netted 20 for Mexico and Federico Alvarez 15 for Uruguay



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Women News

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  ALBANIA - Women  


Permeti paces Albania over Luxembourg - by Eurobasket News
Luxembourg -Albania 61:73 (16-20 14-13 15-13 16-27)

Albania wins the second semifinal game over the hosts, Luxembourg to seal the Finals of European Championship, Division C. A 27:16 in the last period was fatal for the hosts that will play for the third spot. Ina Permeti (-80) led the winners with 20 points to their impressive victory. Hasanaj netted 15 and Valbona Sako (-72) posted 14. Tessy Hetting (188-F-86) top-scored for Luxembourg with 21 points. Nadia Mossong (183-F-86) collected 15 ponts and 9 rebounds, whilst Stoll had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Tessy Hetting opened the scoring list for the hosts that fell confident in the early beginning. Albania replied with some baskets and had 13:7 after Deneko's shot. Cakici closed the opening quarter at 20:16 for Albania. Tessy Hetting tied the game at 24, and it was her again to give her team 25:24 lead. Albania did not give up and went with 30:33 to the lockers.
Luxembourg produced 15:13 in the third period to close the gap to 45:46 before the final period. Tessy Hetting gave her team 50:48, but unfortunately for the hosts it was their last lead. Albania mounted in 12-0 run to seal a place in the final. Valbona Sako made the final 73:61 score from the free throw line.

Luxembourg: Tessy Hetting 21, Nadia Mossong 15+9 rebs, Stoll 10+11 rebs
Albania: Ina Permeti 20, Hasanaj 15, Valbona Sako 14

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  AZERBAIJAN - Women  


Wales beats Azerbaijan in Luxembourg - by Eurobasket News
Wales - Azerbaijan 49:31

Welsh National Team celebrated a comfortable win over Azerbaijan in the lower playoffs at the European championship in Division C. Wales will now play against Scotland for the 5th spot tomorrow. Azerbaijan will fight for the 7th overall spot in the game versus Gibraltar. The teams entered the game trading baskets with neither side able to clear off. Alisultanova kept Azerbaijan ahead for some time. Wagstaff and Trott teamed up for 6 points in a row and Wales jumped ahead but Azerbaijan had the last laugh in the quarter. Musayeva and Biryuchkova scored 5 points and Azerbaijan led 14:13 at the end of the first frame. Yalland nailed a bunch of freebies early in the second stanza to regain the lead for Welsh side. Wales limited Azerbaijan to just 5 points in the second quarter and spurred ahead 23:19 at the interval. Jennings and Short gave Wales a 12-point advantage midway through the third frame. But Azerbaijan refused to surrender. Shimichenko and Zycova cut the difference to only 6 points late in the quarter. Shimichenko then nailed her second triple of the game and the margin was narrowed to a single point. But Trott, Jennings and Wagstaff crowned the period with 8 consecutive points and Wales led by 9 points heading into the final quarter. Wagstaff and Jennings made it a 46:31 game early in the fourth. Azerbaijan simply collapsed over the final minutes as they failed to score in the quarter and suffered a bitter loss. Rebecca Short nailed 14 points and pulled down 9 boards to lead Wales. Sarah Wagstaff provided 12 points in a winning case. Yana Shimichenko answered with 9 points for Azerbaijan.

Wales: Rebecca Short 14, Sarah Wagstaff 12, Kasey Jennings 7
Azerbaijan: Yana Shimichenko 9, Anastasiya Biryuchkova 6

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  BELARUS - Women  


Belarus U20 defeats Montenegro U20 in the opener - by Eurobasket News
Belarus U20 - Montenegro U20 70-64 (20-10, 17-25, 18-12, 15-17)

Belarus U20 celebrated the first win in European championship in Division A. In the opener the winner overcame Montenegrin U20 National team 70:64. Natalya Kozun (186-F-88) top-scored for the winners with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Tatsiana Likhtarovich (179-G-88) netted 16, while Tsikhamirava posted 11. Snezana Aleksic (170-G-89) was the best in the losing effort scoring 20 points and making 9 boards.
Last year Montenegrin U20 National team celebrated their first historic trophy at the European championship in Division B. They edged the home side 83:64 to claim the first ever title and ensured Division A birth. Also that time Snezana Aleksic topscored in the game with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Belarus however opened a 20:10 lead after the first period. Snezana Aleksic's three made the score 35:35, but Natalya Kozun sent the teams to the lockers with 37:35. Tsikhamirava's jump shot brought Belarus to 55:47 after 30 minutes of the game. It was not over as Turcinovic reduced to 66:60. Even thought Montanegro won the last quarter 15:17 it was not enough for the total success. Belarus remained hot and led the game to the first win, 70:64.

Belarus U20: Natalya Kozun 20+6 rebs, Tatsiana Likhtarovich 16, Tsikhamirava 11
Montenegro U20: Snezana Aleksic 20+9 rebs, Marija Jovanovic (175-G-88), M. 19

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  BELGIUM - Women  


Spanish U20 Team begins European championship defence successfully - by Eurobasket News
Spain U20 - Belgium U20 90:61

Spanish U20 National Team opened their European championship campaign with win. Today the reigning European U20 champions cruised past Belgium in preliminary Group C. Spain entered the game in a stunning manner. They accounted for the first 23 points of the game to leave Belgium far behind. Kara scored the first two points for Belgium with just over 3 minutes remaining in the first period. Gaby Ocete (166-G-88) scored 7 points in the opening frame and Spain piled up a 31:6 advantage after ten minutes of action. The onslaught continued in the second stanza as Carbo took over. She drained 12 points for Spanish team and they built a 57:27 lead at halftime. Beaurand opened the scoring tally for Belgium in the second half but Spain answered with 8 points in a row to extend the margin to 36 points. Spanish youngsters were up by 37 points before the final stanza and Belgium was left with little chances in the final quarter. Demonceau, Wittebolle and Boel shaved the difference early in the final frame. Spaniards slowed down in the fourth quarter and Belgium managed to clip the deficit a bit. Spain however easily secured the winning outcome and grabbed their initial victory at the tournament. Anna Carbo (176-F-88) drilled 23 points to pace Spain. Jael Freixanet (187-F-88), Gaby Ocete and Noelia Oliva (176-G-88) nailed 10 points apiece for the winners. Sara Leemans (178-G/F-88) answered with 17 points and 7 boards for Belgium. Jasmina Rosseel (168-G-89) netted 9 points in a losing effort. Belgium will play against Belarus in the second round. Spain faces Montenegro on Saturday.

Spain U20: Anna Carbo 23, Jael Freixanet 10, Gaby Ocete 10, Noelia Oliva 10
Belgium U20: Sara Leemans 17, Jasmina Rosseel 9

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  BOSNIA - Women  


News from senior National Team - by Eurobasket News
National Team of Bosnia and Herzegovina started preparations for Eurobasket 2009 qualifications yesterday in city of Zenica. Head coach of the National Team, Zoran Mikes, called 18 players to join this project. Just one of them, Jelena Dangubic (177-G-82) of Partizan Belgrade, didn't show up yesterday in Zenica. Most probably she will be replaced by Martina Jazic (185-F-90) of Mladi Krajisnik. Experienced Amra Mehmedic (175-G-81, agency: LBM Management) arrived to Zenica injured so coach Mikes won't be able to count on her for a while. Rivals of Bosnia and Herzegovina in qualifications for Eurobasket 2009 will be Poland, Turkey, Italy and Finland. The first game is scheduled for August 13th when Bosnia will meet Scandinavians. NT will practice in Zenica until 25th of July. Its next destination will be Daruvar where it will play against Croatia.

List of candidates for Bosnian National Team: Azra Becirovic, Lejla Bejtic, Aida Pilav, Milica Deura, Zdenka Kovacevic, Olja Stupar, Biljana Savic, Anja Stupar, Dragana Svitlica, Mirela Besic, Dijana Zepic, Marija Kovac, Zvjezdana Gagic, Matea Tavic, Elma Smajic and Sasa Cadjo (170-G-89).

Meanwhile, draw for Eurocup, where Bosnia and Herzegovina will have two representatives, was held yesterday in Munich. Mladi Krajisnik already found out who will be its first rival. Bosnian runner-up will have to start competition from qualification round taking on AKO Aris Holargou. On the other hand Bosnian champion, Zeleznicar, is placed directly to the preliminary round. Zeleznicar had good performance last season in Eurocup advancing to the second stage. Eurocup counts 58 teams in total this season while 38 of them are placed directly to the preliminary round. There was a possibility that both Bosnian teams avoid qualifications but that didn't happen.

Eurobasket.com All-Bosnia and Herzegovina League Awards 2007-08 - by Eurobasket
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Papcevic


Iriskic


Davis


Zakula


Music
Player of the Year: Svjetlana Papcevic (186-C-79) of ZKK Spars Sarajevo
Guard of the Year: Aldijana Iriskic (172-G-85) of Trocal Jedinstvo Tuzla
Forward of the Year: Alma Kovacevic (186-F/C-83) of Biss-Tours Celik Zenica
Center of the Year: Svjetlana Papcevic (186-C-79) of ZKK Spars Sarajevo
Newcomer of the Year: Marina Dzinic (189-C-92) of Trocal Jedinstvo Tuzla
Bosman Player of the Year: Martina Gambiraza (176-G-82) of Zeljeznicar Sarajevo
Import Player of the Year: Deonna Davis (170-G-84) of Zeljeznicar Sarajevo
Domestic Player of the Year: Svjetlana Papcevic (186-C-79) of ZKK Spars Sarajevo
Defensive Player of the Year: Zvjezdana Gagic (169-G-81) of Biss-Tours Celik Zenica
Coach of the Year: Elmedin Omanic of Zeljeznicar

1st Team
Deonna Davis (170-G-84) of Zeljeznicar Sarajevo
Aldijana Iriskic (172-G-85) of Trocal Jedinstvo Tuzla
Bosiljka Curovic (185-F-84) of Zrinjski Mostar
Alma Kovacevic (186-F/C-83) of Biss-Tours Celik Zenica
Svjetlana Papcevic (186-C-79) of ZKK Spars Sarajevo

2nd Team
Dragoslava Zakula (173-G-73) of Mladi Krajisnik
Zaklina Stojanovska (179-G-78) of Biss-Tours Celik Zenica
Alexandra Music (176-F-76) of Zeljeznicar Sarajevo
Mirela Besic (176-F-84) of Trocal Jedinstvo Tuzla
Aida Pilav (187-C-87) of Mladi Krajisnik Banja Luka

All-Domestic Players Team
Dragoslava Zakula (173-G-73) of Mladi Krajisnik
Aldijana Iriskic (172-G-85) of Trocal Jedinstvo Tuzla
Bosiljka Curovic (185-F-84) of Zrinjski Mostar
Alma Kovacevic (186-F/C-83) of Biss-Tours Celik Zenica
Svjetlana Papcevic (186-C-79) of ZKK Spars Sarajevo

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  BULGARIA - Women  


Sulmona welcomes Ukraine U20 over Bulgaria U20 - by Eurobasket News
Bulgaria U20-Ukraine U20 61:88 (13-21, 20-17, 18-26, 10-24)

Ukraine U20 beat Bulgaria U20 in the start of U20 European championship. Ukraine grabbed the lead from the very beginning and led to 88:61 total victory. The last 24:10 spurt was too good for Bulgaria that could not recover. Taisiia Bovykina (190-C-89, agency: LBM Management) led the winners with 25 points. Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) produced 18, whilst Aleksandra Prystupa (205-C-89, agency: LBM Management) collected 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jaklin Zlatanova (190-F-88) nailed 16 in defeat and Monika Todorova (162-G-91) scored 14.
The Ukrainians jumped ahead 21:13 after the first period. Olesya Malashenko made a successful jump shot to finish the opening quarter. It was her again to give her team 30:13 in the middle of the second period. Bulgaria created a 10-0 run to close the gap by the end of the first half. Sharovka however kept Ukrainian side in front, 38:33.
Taisiia Bovykina sparked a 13-3 run early in the third period to open a 53:40 cushion. Olesya Malashenko's three closed the third period at 64:51. A 13-0 surge in the opening stages of the final period ended all doubts as the lead grew to 77:53. Ukrainian team scored also last 10 points in the game and deserved the win more than the opponents.

Bulgaria U20: Jaklin Zlatanova 16, Monika Todorova 14
Ukraine U20: Taisiia Bovykina 25, Olesya Malashenko 18, Aleksandra Prystupa 16+10 rebs

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  CROATIA - Women  


Four Croatian teams in Europe next season - by Eurobasket News
Croatia will have four representatives in European competitions for season 2008/09. Current Croatian champion, Sibenik Jolly, will participate in Euroleague while Gospic, Dubrovnik and Medvescaka will take a place in Eurocup.

Sibenik Jolly is placed in Euroleague group C where it will have to take on Russian team Ekaterinburg and Spanish champion Ros Casares. Their opponents at the first stage will also be Polish Lotos, Czech USK and French Hainaut. The team from Czech Republic already was Sibenik's opponent in Euroleague last season. The main candidate for top position in group C for sure will be Ekaterinburg, who finished last season on third place in this competition. Spanish team will also have favorite role as they played in the quarterfinals last season and they also signed couple of really good players this summer. Sibenik will have to focus on other teams in the group in order to advance to the next stage. The defending champion is Spartak Moscow, who changed coach Hejkova hiring Hungarian Ladislav Ratgeber.

Gospic and Dubrovnik are placed directly to regular season of Eurocup. Group F is reserved for Gospic where its rivals are Cypriot Imperial and Italian Taranta. Fourth member of this group will be known after qualification games between Vienna and Gran Canaria. Dubrovnik will play against Spanish San Jose and Greek Panionios. They will also get the last opponent after qualification games between Madeira and Athinaikos. Third Croatian team in Eurocup, Medvescaka, starts competition from the first stage. They will meet SK Cesis and one of these two teams later will take a place in Group I where already are Sarajevo, Parma and Esperides.

U18 National Team celebrates on tournament in Slovenia - by Eurobasket News
As a part of preparations for the European championship in Slovakia, Croatian U18 National Team participated at the tournament in Slovenia. Except of Croatia and Slovenia, Ukrainians and Latvians also took a part on this event. In the first round Croatia suffered defeat against Latvia 58-63. Players of head coach Stipe Balic, had very confusing day at the offensive end committing many turnovers. At the same time they had many unsuccessful attempts from behind the arc. All these facts resulted with 5 points defeat at the opening day of the tournament. Tomica Bacic (182-F-90) was the best player of Croatia in this game adding 17 points and 8 rebounds. Tea Buzov (172-G-90) was behind her scoring 16 points. At the next round Croatia outplayed the hosts 59-49 without any bigger problems. Once again Tomica Bacic paced the winners with 17 points. As it was in the first round Tea Buzov was the second scorer of the team netting 9 points including 8 rebounds this time. Petra Ercegovic (182-C-90) also showed nice performance delivering 10 points. Croatia won the tournament in Slovenia thanks to tight win in the last round against Ukraine 44-43.
European championship in Slovakia will start on 18th July and it will end 9 days later. In the opening round Croatians will take on Serbia. At the same group with these two teams are placed France and Sweden.

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  CZECH REPUBLIC - Women  


Czech Republic U20 edges Greece U20 in Chieti - by Eurobasket News
Czech Republic U20-Greece U20 66-56 (19-15, 15-16, 15-12, 17-13)

Czech Republic U20 won the opener of European championship Division A in Group B. The team edged Greece U20 66:56 mostly due to the second half. Eva Mrhalkova (175-F-88) paced all the winners with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Katerina Hindrakova (176-G/F-88), Kamila Stepanova (190-C-88) and Ovsikova all posted 10 in a win. Dionysia Alexandri (170-G-89) and Merisioti top-scored in defeat with 10 points apiece.
Ovsikova scored first points in the game as her team went on a 7-0 run from the early beginning. Diela was first to open the scoring account for Greece as the latter replied with 8-0 run to take 8-7 lead. Ovsikova's three closed the first period at 19:15. The Czechs were in front for the whole second period but Spyridopoulou tied the score at 28:28. Again spurt by the Czech Republic U20 led them to 34:31 at the half time. Chairistanidou reduced it to 39:37 in the middle of the third quarter. The Czechs used a 7-0 surge late in the third period to turn a two-point lead into a nine-point 46:39 gap with two minutes left in the quarter. Dionysia Alexandri scored last after the thirty minutes of the game. Czech Republic U20 held the margin for plus 6 and 10 and led it to the first victory.

Czech Republic U20: Eva Mrhalkova 16+5 rebs, Katerina Hindrakova 10, Kamila Stepanova 10, Ovsikova 10
Greece U20: Dionysia Alexandri 10, Merisioti 10

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  E.CHAMPS (W) - Women  


European Championship Division C. Semifinals - by Eurobasket News

Semifinals

Luxembourg -Albania 61:73
Albania wins the second semifinal game over the hosts, Luxembourg to seal the Finals of European Championship, Division C. A 27:16 in the last period was fatal for the hosts that will play for the third spot. Ina Permeti (-80) led the winners with 20 points to their impressive victory. Hasanaj netted 15 and Valbona Sako (-72) posted 14. Tessy Hetting (188-F-86) top-scored for Luxembourg with 21 points. Nadia Mossong (183-F-86) collected 15 ponts and 9 rebounds, whilst Stoll had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Tessy Hetting opened the scoring list for the hosts that fell confident in the early beginning. Albania replied with some baskets and had 13:7 after Deneko's shot. Cakici closed the opening quarter at 20:16 for Albania. Tessy Hetting tied the game at 24, and it was her again to give her team 25:24 lead. Albania did not give up and went with 30:33 to the lockers.
Luxembourg produced 15:13 in the third period to close the gap to 45:46 before the final period. Tessy Hetting gave her team 50:48, but unfortunately for the hosts it was their last lead. Albania mounted in 12-0 run to seal a place in the final. Valbona Sako made the final 73:61 score from the free throw line.

Luxembourg: Tessy Hetting 21, Nadia Mossong 15+9 rebs, Stoll 10+11 rebs
Albania: Ina Permeti 20, Hasanaj 15, Valbona Sako 14



Malta - Andorra 58:37
Maltese National Team became the first finalist of the European championship in Division C held in Luxemburg. Today they held off Andorra to make it to the title decider. A low-scoring tight fixture saw the both sides strain every nerve to get past semifinal stage. R. Brincat scored back-to-back jumpers for Malta as they jumped in front 7:4 midway through the starting frame. Gomez scored three straight points for Andorra to keep them within striking distance. However Grima capped the first frame with two freebies to give Malta a 16:10 cushion into the second stanza. Parnis came up with 4 points early in the second stanza to spark a run from Maltese team. They posted an 11:2 rally to maintain a 27:14 advantage late in the half. Ellul and Meira traded three-pointers at the end of the frame and Malta led by 11 at the sides change. Sciberras and Grima kept it cool for Malta throughout the third stanza and Andorra managed to cut the gap by just two points before the final ten minutes. R. Brincatt took the floor in the fourth term. She netted 6 points and Malta kept their opponents at bay throughout the reminder of the contest. R. Brincat notched 16 points and 6 boards for Malta. Ellul nailed 12 points in a winning case. Laura Gomez replied with 12 points and 8 boards for Andorra. Nadia Mun posted 9 points in defeat.

Malta: R. Brincat 16, Lorretta Ellul 12, Leanne Sciberras 10
Andorra: Laura Gomez 12, Nadia Mun 9

Games for 5-8 places
Wales - Azerbaijan 49:31
Welsh National Team celebrated a comfortable win over Azerbaijan in the lower playoffs at the European championship in Division C. Wales will now play against Scotland for the 5th spot tomorrow. Azerbaijan will fight for the 7th overall spot in the game versus Gibraltar. The teams entered the game trading baskets with neither side able to clear off. Alisultanova kept Azerbaijan ahead for some time. Wagstaff and Trott teamed up for 6 points in a row and Wales jumped ahead but Azerbaijan had the last laugh in the quarter. Musayeva and Biryuchkova scored 5 points and Azerbaijan led 14:13 at the end of the first frame. Yalland nailed a bunch of freebies early in the second stanza to regain the lead for Welsh side. Wales limited Azerbaijan to just 5 points in the second quarter and spurred ahead 23:19 at the interval. Jennings and Short gave Wales a 12-point advantage midway through the third frame. But Azerbaijan refused to surrender. Shimichenko and Zycova cut the difference to only 6 points late in the quarter. Shimichenko then nailed her second triple of the game and the margin was narrowed to a single point. But Trott, Jennings and Wagstaff crowned the period with 8 consecutive points and Wales led by 9 points heading into the final quarter. Wagstaff and Jennings made it a 46:31 game early in the fourth. Azerbaijan simply collapsed over the final minutes as they failed to score in the quarter and suffered a bitter loss. Rebecca Short nailed 14 points and pulled down 9 boards to lead Wales. Sarah Wagstaff provided 12 points in a winning case. Yana Shimichenko answered with 9 points for Azerbaijan.

Wales: Rebecca Short 14, Sarah Wagstaff 12, Kasey Jennings 7
Azerbaijan: Yana Shimichenko 9, Anastasiya Biryuchkova 6

Scotland - Gibraltar 108:40
Scottish National Team overcame the dramas of elimination round of the European championship in Division C to thump Gibraltar. Scotland thus secured the game for the 5th overall spot tomorrow. Scottish side will take on their arch-rivals Wales in the curtain-closer for both teams at the tournament. Scotland experienced little problems en route to victory today. Bell and Moore combined for 8 points in a row for Scotland early in the game as they grabbed a 10:2 lead. Sene and Gomez cut the deficit but not for long. Cumming came up with 8 consecutive points for Scottish team as they gained an 18:8 advantage. Cumming added 6 more points late in the quarter to help Scotland to a 29:10 cushion at the first intermission. Scweikert scored 10 points in the second stanza and Scotland ran away to a 34-point distance at halftime. Chaloner and Bell opened the second half with 6 points in a row and never looked back again. Chaloner finalized an 8-point tally in the period and Scottish team headed into the final stanza with a massive 81:28 lead. They cruised past hapless opponents in the final minutes and celebrated a well-deserved win at the end. Rebecca Cumming (193-F-90) poured in 24 points to pace Scotland. Rowan Bell added 22 points, while Siobhan Moore (185-C-87) knocked down 14 points in a win. Annika Cross and Karla Gomez dropped 8 points each for Gibraltar.

Scotland: Rebecca Cumming 24, Rowan Bell 22, Siobhan Moore 14
Gibraltar: Annika Cross 8, Karla Gomez 8


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  EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS U20 - Women  


Division A results and stats. Day 1 - by Eurobasket News

Group A

Serbia U20 - Germany U20 74:44
Serbian U20 National team got to a winning start of the European championship in Italy. The 2007 championship runners-up thumped Germany to grab their first win in the preliminary Group A. Serbia is widely taken as one of the main favorites in any kind of tournament they take place in. Serbia lived up to the status and had little problems against Germany in the first game. Milovanovic, Miljkovic, Petrovic and Cerina all scored in the starting minutes to give Serbian team a 12:2 lead. Matovic capped the first frame with a three-pointer and Serbia led comfortably 26:9. Fatsawo opened the second quarter with a basket for Germany but Serbia quickly denied the effort. Petrovic nailed 7 points in the second term and Serbian team stretched the lead to 44:17 at halftime. Germany simply had no answers for the onslaught. Miljkovic and Cerina ignited another run from Serbia early in the third quarter to put aside any possible questions about the outcome. Schaffner and Dietz clipped the distance a bit at the start of the fourth stanza. Unger scored 7 straight points to keep Germany contestant but it was far from enough to revive any kind of intrigue. Serbia breezed to an overall easy win at the end. Jelena Milovanovic (191-F/C-89) led the winners with 14 points and 11 boards. Maja Miljkovic (176-G-88) delivered 14 points, while Sonja Petrovic (189-F-89) had 10 points for Serbia. Ireti Amojo (173-G-90) and Jacqueline Fatsawo (179-F-88) answered with 9 points apiece for Germany. Mirijam Unger provided 7 points in a loss. Serbia will face Italy, while Germany will play against France tomorrow.

Serbia U20: Jelena Milovanovic 14+11 boards, Maja Miljkovic 14, Sonja Petrovic 10
Germany U20: Ireti Amojo 9, Jacqueline Fatsawo 9


France U20-Italy U20 51:57

Italian U20 team surprised France U20 in Group A of the U20 European Championship for Women. The hosts of the tournament used 19:12 from the start to seal the victory. Arianna Zampieri (182-F-88) paced all the winners with 16 points. Chiara Consolini (182-F-88) netted 14, while Sabrina Cinili (185-F-89) scored 11. Marielle Amant (189-C-89) top-scored for the guests with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
France U20 was the favorite of the game as the team won recently Zamora Tournament held in Spain. There France overcame Italy 68:33 in the opener of the competition. Moreover France claimed Bronze medals at the U20 European championship that finished in Sofia last year. They narrowly defeated Turkey in a dramatic last day encounter.
France started out ice-cold as Italy created 11-3. Arianna Zampieri nailed a jump shot in the end of the opening quarter for 19:12 Italian lead. France started to recover in the second and Tahane sent the teams to the lockers for 29:25. French squad still trailed in the third period as Italy stayed ahead 43:35 late in the third. Marielle Amant pulled France back into the game in the paint as she scored Les Bleus's next seven points to make it 43:42 before Sarah Michel evened things at 44:44. Later on Italian team controlled the game and won the encounter.

France U20: Marielle Amant 15+8 rebs, Carine Paul (176-F-88) 12
Italy U20: Arianna Zampieri 16, Chiara Consolini 14, Sabrina Cinili 11

`
Group B
Czech Republic U20-Greece U20 66:56
Czech Republic U20 won the opener of European championship Division A in Group B. The team edged Greece U20 66:56 mostly due to the second half. Eva Mrhalkova (175-F-88) paced all the winners with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Katerina Hindrakova (176-G/F-88), Kamila Stepanova (190-C-88) and Ovsikova all posted 10 in a win. Dionysia Alexandri (170-G-89) and Merisioti top-scored in defeat with 10 points apiece.
Ovsikova scored first points in the game as her team went on a 7-0 run from the early beginning. Diela was first to open the scoring account for Greece as the latter replied with 8-0 run to take 8-7 lead. Ovsikova's three closed the first period at 19:15. The Czechs were in front for the whole second period but Spyridopoulou tied the score at 28:28. Again spurt by the Czech Republic U20 led them to 34:31 at the half time. Chairistanidou reduced it to 39:37 in the middle of the third quarter. The Czechs used a 7-0 surge late in the third period to turn a two-point lead into a nine-point 46:39 gap with two minutes left in the quarter. Dionysia Alexandri scored last after the thirty minutes of the game. Czech Republic U20 held the margin for plus 6 and 10 and led it to the first victory.

Czech Republic U20: Eva Mrhalkova 16+5 rebs, Katerina Hindrakova 10, Kamila Stepanova 10, Ovsikova 10
Greece U20: Dionysia Alexandri 10, Merisioti 10

Turkey U20- Latvia U20 75:77
Karline Nimane (187-F-90) made a driving lay-up with less than a second remaining to give Latvia U20 a thrilling 77:75 victory over Turkey U20 in European Championship Division A. Trailing 9 points before the final stanza Baltic team won the encounter. Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) led the winners with massive 18 points and 16 rebounds. Karline Nimane netted 16 and Anete Steinberga (185-C-90) collected 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Turkey U20 remembers 4th position last year in Sofia. That time France claimed Bronze medals as they narrowly defeated Turkey in a dramatic last day encounter. Turkey were ahead 32:28 at halftime but France revived in the second half. They finally caught up with Turkey midway through the final quarter and held on to the lead. Digbeu made it 63:57 game for France with less than 2 minutes to go. Bahar Bahar Caglar (188-F-88) drained two free throws and Gulnur Sandallioglu connected from afar to cut the deficit to 1 point with 47 seconds left. Ingrid Tanqueray converted two free throws and Bahar Bahar Caglar missed a jump shot to seal the win for France.
Today Latvia started to control the game and opened it with 25:15 in the opening tip. Bahar Caglar scored 9 points in a 17-2 run to go up 32:27 and Turkey led 38:34 at the break. Sabine Niedola tied the score for her team in the fourth quarter with 6 minutes remaining. Turkey were still ahead 72:67 with less than two minutes left. Neimane's shot from the arc toed the game again at 75:75. Karline Nimane made a driving lay-up with less than a second remaining to give Latvia U20 a thrilling 77:75 victory.

Turkey U20: Bahar Caglar 28+10 rebs, Yasemin Dalgalar (184-F-88) 16, Gizem Yavuz (168-G-88, agency: Prosportman) 14
Latvia U20: Sabine Niedola 18+16 rebs, Karline Nimane 16, Anete Steinberga 14+12 rebs

`

Group C

Bulgaria U20-Ukraine U20 61:88
Ukraine U20 beat Bulgaria U20 in the start of U20 European championship. Ukraine grabbed the lead from the very beginning and led to 88:61 total victory. The last 24:10 spurt was too good for Bulgaria that could not recover. Taisiia Bovykina (190-C-89, agency: LBM Management) led the winners with 25 points. Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) produced 18, whilst Aleksandra Prystupa (205-C-89, agency: LBM Management) collected 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jaklin Zlatanova (190-F-88) nailed 16 in defeat and Monika Todorova (162-G-91) scored 14.
The Ukrainians jumped ahead 21:13 after the first period. Olesya Malashenko made a successful jump shot to finish the opening quarter. It was her again to give her team 30:13 in the middle of the second period. Bulgaria created a 10-0 run to close the gap by the end of the first half. Sharovka however kept Ukrainian side in front, 38:33.
Taisiia Bovykina sparked a 13-3 run early in the third period to open a 53:40 cushion. Olesya Malashenko's three closed the third period at 64:51. A 13-0 surge in the opening stages of the final period ended all doubts as the lead grew to 77:53. Ukrainian team scored also last 10 points in the game and deserved the win more than the opponents.

Bulgaria U20: Jaklin Zlatanova 16, Monika Todorova 14
Ukraine U20: Taisiia Bovykina 25, Olesya Malashenko 18, Aleksandra Prystupa 16+10 rebs


Lithuania U20 - Russia U20 32:59

Russia U20 destroyed Lithuania U20 in the opener of European championship in Division A. Russia won all the quarters and led the game to the happy end. Natalia Vieru (198-C-89) top-scored for the winners with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Olga Zhuzhgova (203-C-88), Nataliya Zhedik (182-G-88) and Lukina produced each 8 points. Gintare Petronyte (195-C-89) resisted for the Baltic team with 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Saule Kontautaite (176-G-89) and Ieva Simkute (191-C-89) netted 6 apiece.
Lithuanian team is a newcomer of Division A as the last time the Baltic team spent in the lower one. Last year Montenegrin U20 National team celebrated their first historic trophy at the European championship in Division B. They edged Lithuania 83:64 to claim the first ever title and ensured Division A birth. Both teams advanced to the top division and now show their game with the better teams.
Russia meanwhile did not pay too much attention to it using a strong defensive showing. Lithuania played even with Russia in the opening quarter, trailing just 12:11. Keyru closed the quarter at 16:11 as Russia never looked behind. Lukina made plus 10 and then it was her again for 28:13. Morkunaite made a free throw to reduce at 18:28 at the half time. Russia dominated in the second half and truthfully won the encounter.

Lithuania U20: Gintare Petronyte 13+8 rebs, Saule Kontautaite 6, Ieva Simkute 6
Russia U20: Natalia Vieru 14+10 rebs, Olga Zhuzhgova 8, Nataliya Zhedik 8, Lukina 8

`

Group D

Belarus U20 - Montenegro U20 70:64
Belarus U20 celebrated the first win in European championship in Division A. In the opener the winner overcame Montenegrin U20 National team 70:64. Natalya Kozun (186-F-88) top-scored for the winners with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Tatsiana Likhtarovich (179-G-88) netted 16, while Tsikhamirava posted 11. Snezana Aleksic (170-G-89) was the best in the losing effort scoring 20 points and making 9 boards.
Last year Montenegrin U20 National team celebrated their first historic trophy at the European championship in Division B. They edged the home side 83:64 to claim the first ever title and ensured Division A birth. Also that time Snezana Aleksic topscored in the game with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Belarus however opened a 20:10 lead after the first period. Snezana Aleksic's three made the score 35:35, but Natalya Kozun sent the teams to the lockers with 37:35. Tsikhamirava's jump shot brought Belarus to 55:47 after 30 minutes of the game. It was not over as Turcinovic reduced to 66:60. Even thought Montanegro won the last quarter 15:17 it was not enough for the total success. Belarus remained hot and led the game to the first win, 70:64.

Belarus U20: Natalya Kozun 20+6 rebs, Tatsiana Likhtarovich 16, Tsikhamirava 11
Montenegro U20: Snezana Aleksic 20+9 rebs, Marija Jovanovic (175-G-88),19



Spain U20 - Belgium U20 90:61
Spanish U20 National Team opened their European championship campaign with win. Today the reigning European U20 champions cruised past Belgium in preliminary Group C. Spain entered the game in a stunning manner. They accounted for the first 23 points of the game to leave Belgium far behind. Kara scored the first two points for Belgium with just over 3 minutes remaining in the first period. Gaby Ocete (166-G-88) scored 7 points in the opening frame and Spain piled up a 31:6 advantage after ten minutes of action. The onslaught continued in the second stanza as Carbo took over. She drained 12 points for Spanish team and they built a 57:27 lead at halftime. Beaurand opened the scoring tally for Belgium in the second half but Spain answered with 8 points in a row to extend the margin to 36 points. Spanish youngsters were up by 37 points before the final stanza and Belgium was left with little chances in the final quarter. Demonceau, Wittebolle and Boel shaved the difference early in the final frame. Spaniards slowed down in the fourth quarter and Belgium managed to clip the deficit a bit. Spain however easily secured the winning outcome and grabbed their initial victory at the tournament. Anna Carbo (176-F-88) drilled 23 points to pace Spain. Jael Freixanet (187-F-88), Gaby Ocete and Noelia Oliva (176-G-88) nailed 10 points apiece for the winners. Sara Leemans (178-G/F-88) answered with 17 points and 7 boards for Belgium. Jasmina Rosseel (168-G-89) netted 9 points in a losing effort. Belgium will play against Belarus in the second round. Spain faces Montenegro on Saturday.

Spain U20: Anna Carbo 23, Jael Freixanet 10, Gaby Ocete 10, Noelia Oliva 10
Belgium U20: Sara Leemans 17, Jasmina Rosseel 9





Standings Div.B (Women) - by Eurobasket
Standings Div.B
Group A
1. U.Kingdom0-0
2. Hungary0-0
3. Ireland0-0
4. Romania0-0
5. Slovakia0-0
Group B
1. Israel0-0
2. Holland0-0
3. Poland0-0
4. Portugal0-0
5. Sweden0-0


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  FRANCE - Women  


The home court does matter - by Eurobasket News
France U20-Italy U20 51:57

Italian U20 team surprised France U20 in Group A of the U20 European Championship for Women. The hosts of the tournament used 19:12 from the start to seal the victory. Arianna Zampieri (182-F-88) paced all the winners with 16 points. Chiara Consolini (182-F-88) netted 14, while Sabrina Cinili (185-F-89) scored 11. Marielle Amant (189-C-89) top-scored for the guests with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
France U20 was the favorite of the game as the team won recently Zamora Tournament held in Spain. There France overcame Italy 68:33 in the opener of the competition. Moreover France claimed Bronze medals at the U20 European championship that finished in Sofia last year. They narrowly defeated Turkey in a dramatic last day encounter.
France started out ice-cold as Italy created 11-3. Arianna Zampieri nailed a jump shot in the end of the opening quarter for 19:12 Italian lead. France started to recover in the second and Tahane sent the teams to the lockers for 29:25. French squad still trailed in the third period as Italy stayed ahead 43:35 late in the third. Marielle Amant pulled France back into the game in the paint as she scored Les Bleus's next seven points to make it 43:42 before Sarah Michel evened things at 44:44. Later on Italian team controlled the game and won the encounter.

France U20: Marielle Amant 15+8 rebs, Carine Paul (176-F-88) 12
Italy U20: Arianna Zampieri 16, Chiara Consolini 14, Sabrina Cinili 11

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  FYR MACEDONIA - Women  


U 18 National team crushes Romania - by Todor Chalovski
Macedonian U 18 National team for women beat Romania 88:48 in a friendly game, played in Skopje yesterday. They took a 88:48 lead after the first quarter, building their lead throughout the game, which finished at 40 points.
Jelena Antik (182-F-91) was game's top scorer with 22 points, Ana Tanturovska (170-G-90) and Sanja Radenkovic (179-F-91) added 11, while Edina Musa (170-G-91) scored 10.

The second friendly game between these two teams will be played today in Skopje.

Macedonian U 18 National team is preparing for the Division B of the European Championships, which will be played in Skopje from August 6 until August 15 2008.

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  GERMANY - Women  


Serbia U20 thrashes Germany at the European championship opener - by Eurobasket News
Serbia U20 - Germany U20 74:44

Serbian U20 National team got to a winning start of the European championship in Italy. The 2007 championship runners-up thumped Germany to grab their first win in the preliminary Group A. Serbia is widely taken as one of the main favorites in any kind of tournament they take place in. Serbia lived up to the status and had little problems against Germany in the first game. Milovanovic, Miljkovic, Petrovic and Cerina all scored in the starting minutes to give Serbian team a 12:2 lead. Matovic capped the first frame with a three-pointer and Serbia led comfortably 26:9. Fatsawo opened the second quarter with a basket for Germany but Serbia quickly denied the effort. Petrovic nailed 7 points in the second term and Serbian team stretched the lead to 44:17 at halftime. Germany simply had no answers for the onslaught. Miljkovic and Cerina ignited another run from Serbia early in the third quarter to put aside any possible questions about the outcome. Schaffner and Dietz clipped the distance a bit at the start of the fourth stanza. Unger scored 7 straight points to keep Germany contestant but it was far from enough to revive any kind of intrigue. Serbia breezed to an overall easy win at the end. Jelena Milovanovic (191-F/C-89) led the winners with 14 points and 11 boards. Maja Miljkovic (176-G-88) delivered 14 points, while Sonja Petrovic (189-F-89) had 10 points for Serbia. Ireti Amojo (173-G-90) and Jacqueline Fatsawo (179-F-88) answered with 9 points apiece for Germany. Mirijam Unger provided 7 points in a loss. Serbia will face Italy, while Germany will play against France tomorrow.

Serbia U20: Jelena Milovanovic 14+11 boards, Maja Miljkovic 14, Sonja Petrovic 10
Germany U20: Ireti Amojo 9, Jacqueline Fatsawo 9

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  GREECE - Women  


Czech Republic U20 edges Greece U20 in Chieti - by Eurobasket News
Czech Republic U20-Greece U20 66-56 (19-15, 15-16, 15-12, 17-13)

Czech Republic U20 won the opener of European championship Division A in Group B. The team edged Greece U20 66:56 mostly due to the second half. Eva Mrhalkova (175-F-88) paced all the winners with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Katerina Hindrakova (176-G/F-88), Kamila Stepanova (190-C-88) and Ovsikova all posted 10 in a win. Dionysia Alexandri (170-G-89) and Merisioti top-scored in defeat with 10 points apiece.
Ovsikova scored first points in the game as her team went on a 7-0 run from the early beginning. Diela was first to open the scoring account for Greece as the latter replied with 8-0 run to take 8-7 lead. Ovsikova's three closed the first period at 19:15. The Czechs were in front for the whole second period but Spyridopoulou tied the score at 28:28. Again spurt by the Czech Republic U20 led them to 34:31 at the half time. Chairistanidou reduced it to 39:37 in the middle of the third quarter. The Czechs used a 7-0 surge late in the third period to turn a two-point lead into a nine-point 46:39 gap with two minutes left in the quarter. Dionysia Alexandri scored last after the thirty minutes of the game. Czech Republic U20 held the margin for plus 6 and 10 and led it to the first victory.

Czech Republic U20: Eva Mrhalkova 16+5 rebs, Katerina Hindrakova 10, Kamila Stepanova 10, Ovsikova 10
Greece U20: Dionysia Alexandri 10, Merisioti 10

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  HUNGARY - Women  


U20 EC, division B: Hungary smashes Ireland - by Eurobasket News
Ireland - Hungary 44-80

In the first game of Group A on U20 European Championship division B in Poland Hungary registered comfortable win against Ireland. As a reminder these two teams are together with Slovak Republic, Romania and Great Britain placed in Preliminary Group A. From the beginning of the game Hungary took control on its opponent. 10 points lead after the first frame for Hungary didn't discourage Ireland as they improved a lot during the next ten minutes. However it was not enough for them to come any closer than it was in the first period. Ireland improved but on the other side Hungary showed toughness keeping advantage of 10 points until the half time. Third frame was crucial period of the game as Ireland recorded a big number of missed shots and bad decisions. The fact that they had 33 turnovers during the game talks everything for itself. On the other side Zsofia Varga (182-F-89) and Nora Kovats (180-G-88) continued to beat Irish defense which brought plus 22 for Hungarians at the end of third period. Ireland wasn't able to do anything in the last quarter. It was a chance for all Hungarian players to show what they can.

Zsofia Varga was the key player of the game collecting 19 points and 4 steals. Nora Kovats followed her netting 13 points while the last one with double digits in Hungary was Finda Mansare (189-F/C-89) with 10 points. Actually Mansare registered double-double as she grabbed 10 more boards. Shauna O'Connor (183-F-88) had 10 points and 4 rebounds for Ireland.


Ireland - Hungary 44-80
(11-21,14-14,9-21,10-24)

Ireland: Shauna O'Connor (4 rebs, 4 to), Rachel Clancy 6, Leah Westbrooks 5 (7 rebs)
Hungary: Zsofia Varga 19 (4 st), Nora Kovats 13, Finda Mansare 10 (10 rebs)

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  IRELAND - Women  


U20 EC, division B: Hungary smashes Ireland - by Eurobasket News
Ireland - Hungary 44-80

In the first game of Group A on U20 European Championship division B in Poland Hungary registered comfortable win against Ireland. As a reminder these two teams are together with Slovak Republic, Romania and Great Britain placed in Preliminary Group A. From the beginning of the game Hungary took control on its opponent. 10 points lead after the first frame for Hungary didn't discourage Ireland as they improved a lot during the next ten minutes. However it was not enough for them to come any closer than it was in the first period. Ireland improved but on the other side Hungary showed toughness keeping advantage of 10 points until the half time. Third frame was crucial period of the game as Ireland recorded a big number of missed shots and bad decisions. The fact that they had 33 turnovers during the game talks everything for itself. On the other side Zsofia Varga (182-F-89) and Nora Kovats (180-G-88) continued to beat Irish defense which brought plus 22 for Hungarians at the end of third period. Ireland wasn't able to do anything in the last quarter. It was a chance for all Hungarian players to show what they can.

Zsofia Varga was the key player of the game collecting 19 points and 4 steals. Nora Kovats followed her netting 13 points while the last one with double digits in Hungary was Finda Mansare (189-F/C-89) with 10 points. Actually Mansare registered double-double as she grabbed 10 more boards. Shauna O'Connor (183-F-88) had 10 points and 4 rebounds for Ireland.


Ireland - Hungary 44-80
(11-21,14-14,9-21,10-24)

Ireland: Shauna O'Connor (4 rebs, 4 to), Rachel Clancy 6, Leah Westbrooks 5 (7 rebs)
Hungary: Zsofia Varga 19 (4 st), Nora Kovats 13, Finda Mansare 10 (10 rebs)

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  ITALY - Women  


The home court does matter - by Eurobasket News
France U20-Italy U20 51:57

Italian U20 team surprised France U20 in Group A of the U20 European Championship for Women. The hosts of the tournament used 19:12 from the start to seal the victory. Arianna Zampieri (182-F-88) paced all the winners with 16 points. Chiara Consolini (182-F-88) netted 14, while Sabrina Cinili (185-F-89) scored 11. Marielle Amant (189-C-89) top-scored for the guests with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
France U20 was the favorite of the game as the team won recently Zamora Tournament held in Spain. There France overcame Italy 68:33 in the opener of the competition. Moreover France claimed Bronze medals at the U20 European championship that finished in Sofia last year. They narrowly defeated Turkey in a dramatic last day encounter.
France started out ice-cold as Italy created 11-3. Arianna Zampieri nailed a jump shot in the end of the opening quarter for 19:12 Italian lead. France started to recover in the second and Tahane sent the teams to the lockers for 29:25. French squad still trailed in the third period as Italy stayed ahead 43:35 late in the third. Marielle Amant pulled France back into the game in the paint as she scored Les Bleus's next seven points to make it 43:42 before Sarah Michel evened things at 44:44. Later on Italian team controlled the game and won the encounter.

France U20: Marielle Amant 15+8 rebs, Carine Paul (176-F-88) 12
Italy U20: Arianna Zampieri 16, Chiara Consolini 14, Sabrina Cinili 11

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  LATVIA - Women  


Chieti saw the first win for Latvia U20 over Turkey 20 - by Eurobasket News
Turkey U20- Latvia U20 75-77 (15-25, 23-9, 18-15, 19-28)

Karline Nimane (187-F-90) made a driving lay-up with less than a second remaining to give Latvia U20 a thrilling 77:75 victory over Turkey U20 in European Championship Division A. Trailing 9 points before the final stanza Baltic team won the encounter. Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) led the winners with massive 18 points and 16 rebounds. Karline Nimane netted 16 and Anete Steinberga (185-C-90) collected 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Turkey U20 remembers 4th position last year in Sofia. That time France claimed Bronze medals as they narrowly defeated Turkey in a dramatic last day encounter. Turkey were ahead 32:28 at halftime but France revived in the second half. They finally caught up with Turkey midway through the final quarter and held on to the lead. Digbeu made it 63:57 game for France with less than 2 minutes to go. Bahar Bahar Caglar (188-F-88) drained two free throws and Gulnur Sandallioglu connected from afar to cut the deficit to 1 point with 47 seconds left. Ingrid Tanqueray converted two free throws and Bahar Bahar Caglar missed a jump shot to seal the win for France.
Today Latvia started to control the game and opened it with 25:15 in the opening tip. Bahar Caglar scored 9 points in a 17-2 run to go up 32:27 and Turkey led 38:34 at the break. Sabine Niedola tied the score for her team in the fourth quarter with 6 minutes remaining. Turkey were still ahead 72:67 with less than two minutes left. Neimane's shot from the arc toed the game again at 75:75. Karline Nimane made a driving lay-up with less than a second remaining to give Latvia U20 a thrilling 77:75 victory.

Turkey U20: Bahar Caglar 28+10 rebs, Yasemin Dalgalar (184-F-88) 16, Gizem Yavuz (168-G-88, agency: Prosportman) 14
Latvia U20: Sabine Niedola 18+16 rebs, Karline Nimane 16, Anete Steinberga 14+12 rebs

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  LITHUANIA - Women  


Russia U20 destroys Lithuania U20 - by Eurobasket News
Lithuania U20 - Russia U20 32:59

Russia U20 destroyed Lithuania U20 in the opener of European championship in Division A. Russia won all the quarters and led the game to the happy end. Natalia Vieru (198-C-89) top-scored for the winners with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Olga Zhuzhgova (203-C-88), Nataliya Zhedik (182-G-88) and Lukina produced each 8 points. Gintare Petronyte (195-C-89) resisted for the Baltic team with 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Saule Kontautaite (176-G-89) and Ieva Simkute (191-C-89) netted 6 apiece.
Lithuanian team is a newcomer of Division A as the last time the Baltic team spent in the lower one. Last year Montenegrin U20 National team celebrated their first historic trophy at the European championship in Division B. They edged Lithuania 83:64 to claim the first ever title and ensured Division A birth. Both teams advanced to the top division and now show their game with the better teams.
Russia meanwhile did not pay too much attention to it using a strong defensive showing. Lithuania played even with Russia in the opening quarter, trailing just 12:11. Keyru closed the quarter at 16:11 as Russia never looked behind. Lukina made plus 10 and then it was her again for 28:13. Morkunaite made a free throw to reduce at 18:28 at the half time. Russia dominated in the second half and truthfully won the encounter.

Lithuania U20: Gintare Petronyte 13+8 rebs, Saule Kontautaite 6, Ieva Simkute 6
Russia U20: Natalia Vieru 14+10 rebs, Olga Zhuzhgova 8, Nataliya Zhedik 8, Lukina 8

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  LUXEMBOURG - Women  


Permeti paces Albania over Luxembourg - by Eurobasket News
Luxembourg -Albania 61:73 (16-20 14-13 15-13 16-27)

Albania wins the second semifinal game over the hosts, Luxembourg to seal the Finals of European Championship, Division C. A 27:16 in the last period was fatal for the hosts that will play for the third spot. Ina Permeti (-80) led the winners with 20 points to their impressive victory. Hasanaj netted 15 and Valbona Sako (-72) posted 14. Tessy Hetting (188-F-86) top-scored for Luxembourg with 21 points. Nadia Mossong (183-F-86) collected 15 ponts and 9 rebounds, whilst Stoll had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Tessy Hetting opened the scoring list for the hosts that fell confident in the early beginning. Albania replied with some baskets and had 13:7 after Deneko's shot. Cakici closed the opening quarter at 20:16 for Albania. Tessy Hetting tied the game at 24, and it was her again to give her team 25:24 lead. Albania did not give up and went with 30:33 to the lockers.
Luxembourg produced 15:13 in the third period to close the gap to 45:46 before the final period. Tessy Hetting gave her team 50:48, but unfortunately for the hosts it was their last lead. Albania mounted in 12-0 run to seal a place in the final. Valbona Sako made the final 73:61 score from the free throw line.

Luxembourg: Tessy Hetting 21, Nadia Mossong 15+9 rebs, Stoll 10+11 rebs
Albania: Ina Permeti 20, Hasanaj 15, Valbona Sako 14

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  MALTA - Women  


Malta will play in the Final of European Championship in Division C - by Eurobasket News
Malta - Andorra 58:37

Maltese National Team became the first finalist of the European championship in Division C held in Luxemburg. Today they held off Andorra to make it to the title decider. A low-scoring tight fixture saw the both sides strain every nerve to get past semifinal stage. Brincat scored back-to-back jumpers for Malta as they jumped in front 7:4 midway through the starting frame. Gomez scored three straight points for Andorra to keep them within striking distance. However Grima capped the first frame with two freebies to give Malta a 16:10 cushion into the second stanza. Parnis came up with 4 points early in the second stanza to spark a run from Maltese team. They posted an 11:2 rally to maintain a 27:14 advantage late in the half. Ellul and Meira traded three-pointers at the end of the frame and Malta led by 11 at the sides change. Sciberras and Grima kept it cool for Malta throughout the third stanza and Andorra managed to cut the gap by just two points before the final ten minutes. Brincatt took the floor in the fourth term. She netted 6 points and Malta kept their opponents at bay throughout the reminder of the contest. Rebecca Brincat notched 16 points and 6 boards for Malta. Ellul nailed 12 points in a winning case. Laura Gomez replied with 12 points and 8 boards for Andorra. Nadia Mun posted 9 points in defeat.

Malta: Rebecca Brincat 16, Lorretta Ellul 12, Leanne Sciberras 10
Andorra: Laura Gomez 12, Nadia Mun 9

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  MONTENEGRO - Women  


Belarus U20 defeats Montenegro U20 in the opener - by Eurobasket News
Belarus U20 - Montenegro U20 70-64 (20-10, 17-25, 18-12, 15-17)

Belarus U20 celebrated the first win in European championship in Division A. In the opener the winner overcame Montenegrin U20 National team 70:64. Natalya Kozun (186-F-88) top-scored for the winners with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Tatsiana Likhtarovich (179-G-88) netted 16, while Tsikhamirava posted 11. Snezana Aleksic (170-G-89) was the best in the losing effort scoring 20 points and making 9 boards.
Last year Montenegrin U20 National team celebrated their first historic trophy at the European championship in Division B. They edged the home side 83:64 to claim the first ever title and ensured Division A birth. Also that time Snezana Aleksic topscored in the game with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Belarus however opened a 20:10 lead after the first period. Snezana Aleksic's three made the score 35:35, but Natalya Kozun sent the teams to the lockers with 37:35. Tsikhamirava's jump shot brought Belarus to 55:47 after 30 minutes of the game. It was not over as Turcinovic reduced to 66:60. Even thought Montanegro won the last quarter 15:17 it was not enough for the total success. Belarus remained hot and led the game to the first win, 70:64.

Belarus U20: Natalya Kozun 20+6 rebs, Tatsiana Likhtarovich 16, Tsikhamirava 11
Montenegro U20: Snezana Aleksic 20+9 rebs, Marija Jovanovic (175-G-88), M. 19

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  PORTUGAL - Women  


CAB sign former player - by Luis Rocha
CAB sign Carla Vieira (171-G-80) a former player that has gone to Sapin play professionaly.After several years abroad, she now returns to Madeira to help the team in positions 2 and 3. Carla has a terrific shooting range,and can be very harmfull from the 3 point line. CAB who had a season very far from others, is now trying to build a strong roster, to reconquer the title. Getting Carla Vieira is certainly a good starting point to achieve that goal.

U20 EC, division B: Sweden outplays Portugal at the opener - by Eurobasket News
Portugal - Sweden 52-70

Sweden celebrated against Portugal at the opener of U20 European Championship division B in Poland. Both teams are placed into Preliminary Group B together with Israel, Netherlands and the host team Poland. Sweden grabbed the opening win on Eurobasket thanks to well played first half of the game. Namely, visitors in this game finished first stanza making advantage of 5 points, 10-15. During the next 10 minutes they intensified defense which resulted with many mistakes but Portuguese players. They had a lot of problems with running the plays which at the end of the game resulted with 17 turnovers. This aggressiveness by Sweden outcame with just 8 points from Portugal in this period. At the same time the hosts didn't succeeded to find a solution how to stop Frida Eldebrink (174-G-88), who dominated at the offensive end. Nothing has changed on the court after the breather. Eldebrink continued in the same rhythm while this time she got a help in offense from Frida Aili (178-G-88, agency: LBM Management). In this period Sweden extended lead even more entering into the last quarter with comfortable advantage of 21 points. It was not a difficult task for them to keep this lead until the very end.

Frida Eldebrink paced the winners draining 25 points and grabbing 8 rebounds for 30 minutes. At the same time she committed 8 turnovers. Frida Aili also shined for Sweden adding 14 points and 3 rebounds. Portugal got the most from Nadia Tavares (176-F-88), who had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Joana Bernardeco (171-G-90) followed her with 14 points. Portugal struggled a lot from behind the arc in this game as they made only 4 of 20 attempts.


Portugal - Sweden 52-70
(10-15,8-19,11-16,23-20)

Portugal: Nadia Tavares 23 (7 rebs, 3 st), Joana Bernardeco 14
Sweden: Frida Eldebrink 25 (8 rebs, 7 to), Frida Aili 14 (3 rebs)

ESSA has a new head coach - by Luis Rocha
Nuno Manaia is the new head coach of ESSA. Manaia was the former junior team coach, and this season won the U19 championship in Portugal. A natural sequence for Manaia, who works in ESSA from some years now. Next season will be tough, on account of the lack of strong finantial support given to the team, but it will be certainly a wonderfull challenge for this young coach. Now its time to prepare the season to come, and to search more backing help to strenght up the roster.

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  RUSSIA - Women  


Russia U20 destroys Lithuania U20 - by Eurobasket News
Lithuania U20 - Russia U20 32:59

Russia U20 destroyed Lithuania U20 in the opener of European championship in Division A. Russia won all the quarters and led the game to the happy end. Natalia Vieru (198-C-89) top-scored for the winners with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Olga Zhuzhgova (203-C-88), Nataliya Zhedik (182-G-88) and Lukina produced each 8 points. Gintare Petronyte (195-C-89) resisted for the Baltic team with 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Saule Kontautaite (176-G-89) and Ieva Simkute (191-C-89) netted 6 apiece.
Lithuanian team is a newcomer of Division A as the last time the Baltic team spent in the lower one. Last year Montenegrin U20 National team celebrated their first historic trophy at the European championship in Division B. They edged Lithuania 83:64 to claim the first ever title and ensured Division A birth. Both teams advanced to the top division and now show their game with the better teams.
Russia meanwhile did not pay too much attention to it using a strong defensive showing. Lithuania played even with Russia in the opening quarter, trailing just 12:11. Keyru closed the quarter at 16:11 as Russia never looked behind. Lukina made plus 10 and then it was her again for 28:13. Morkunaite made a free throw to reduce at 18:28 at the half time. Russia dominated in the second half and truthfully won the encounter.

Lithuania U20: Gintare Petronyte 13+8 rebs, Saule Kontautaite 6, Ieva Simkute 6
Russia U20: Natalia Vieru 14+10 rebs, Olga Zhuzhgova 8, Nataliya Zhedik 8, Lukina 8

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  SCOTLAND - Women  


Scotland will play for the 5th spot in Luxembourg - by Eurobasket News
Scotland - Gibraltar 108:40

Scottish National Team overcame the dramas of elimination round of the European championship in Division C to thump Gibraltar. Scotland thus secured the game for the 5th overall spot tomorrow. Scottish side will take on their arch-rivals Wales in the curtain-closer for both teams at the tournament. Scotland experienced little problems en route to victory today. Bell and Moore combined for 8 points in a row for Scotland early in the game as they grabbed a 10:2 lead. Sene and Gomez cut the deficit but not for long. Cumming came up with 8 consecutive points for Scottish team as they gained an 18:8 advantage. Cumming added 6 more points late in the quarter to help Scotland to a 29:10 cushion at the first intermission. Scweikert scored 10 points in the second stanza and Scotland ran away to a 34-point distance at halftime. Chaloner and Bell opened the second half with 6 points in a row and never looked back again. Chaloner finalized an 8-point tally in the period and Scottish team headed into the final stanza with a massive 81:28 lead. They cruised past hapless opponents in the final minutes and celebrated a well-deserved win at the end. Rebecca Cumming (193-F-90) poured in 24 points to pace Scotland. Rowan Bell added 22 points, while Siobhan Moore (185-C-87) knocked down 14 points in a win. Annika Cross and Karla Gomez dropped 8 points each for Gibraltar.

Scotland: Rebecca Cumming 24, Rowan Bell 22, Siobhan Moore 14
Gibraltar: Annika Cross 8, Karla Gomez 8

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  SERBIA - Women  


Stats Leaders - 1A women
1A Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1.Grubor I. 25,4
2.Vidacic J. 20,4
3.Scekic M. 19,3
4.Bucevac N. 18,3
5.Rad J. 17,7
Rebounds Per Game
1.Vidacic J. 11,1
2.Jovanovic T. 10,7
3.Cvetanovic M. 10,5
4.Velinovic J. 8,8
5.Krnjic S. 8,6
Assists Per Game
1.Ristic M. 6,0
2.Musulin I. 5,4
3.Stankovic B. 4,8
4.Radocaj T. 4,3
5.Baculov D. 4,1
Steals Per Game
1.Caran M. 4,8
2.Bucevac N. 4,0
3.Scekic M. 3,6
4.Radic J. 3,3
5.Rad J. 3,2
Blocks Per Game
1.Jovanovic T. 1,9
2.Cvetanovic M. 1,5
3.Krnjic S. 1,1
4.Dobranic A. 1,0
5.Maksimovic N. 1,0
2FGP
1.Mitic J. 80%
2.Dosen M. 75,9%
3.Grubor I. 68,6%
3FGP
1.Matovic I. 60%
2.Rizvic D. 58,8%
3.Stankovic B. 48,7%


Results of Eurocup draw for Serbians - by Dragan Jankovski
Reining Serbian champion Hemofarm STADA and runner-up Crvena Zvezda got their rivals in Eurocup. This European competition will count 58 participants while 38 of those automatically qualified for the Preliminary Round. Crvena Zvezda, who finished last season on the second position with score 24-8, will have to start Eurocup from the qualification round. Zvezda's rival at the very first stage will be Romanian team Alexandria. The better team after two games will qualify for the Preliminary Round. It will take a place in group C where Bulgarian team Dunav Ekont, Spanish Rivas Futuro and Israeli Ramil already wait for their rivals.
On the other hand Hemofarm STADA is privileged to start competition directly from the Preliminary round because of the title which the orange team defended last season in Serbia. The team from Vrsac smashed Crvena Zvezda in the play-off final 4-0. Actually Zvezda was very close to win in game number two when they had advantage of 22 points with 8 minutes remaining but they couldn't keep it until the end. Both coaches later talked about this game as the most important one in the final series. Anyway, Hemofarm is placed in group K where it will play against Lithuanian Limnkainen, Portuguese De Vagos and Russian Volgoda-Chevkata. First two teams from each group will advance to the sixteen finals. The competition will start on October 23rd.

In the meantime Serbian U20 National Team is currently in Italy where today at 15:15h it will play the first game on European Championship. Its first rival at the opening day is Germany. In the second round Serbia will meet Italy while on Sunday its opponent will be France. Head coach of National Team, Jovica Antonic, gave couple of interviews to Serbian media these days where he stated that the Gold medal is the only option for them.

Easy victory of Serbian U20 NT on European Championship in Italy - by Dragan Jankovski

Serbian U20 National Team started European Championship in Italy beating Germany 74-44. Head coach of Serbian NT, Jovica Antonic, before the trip to Italy stated that the gold medal is the main target for his team. It seems that better start he couldn't even imagine. Serbia dominated from the very beginning. During the preparation period defense of Serbian team was its most powerful weapon. In the first quarter Serbian let Germany to post just 9 points. On the other side Jelena Milovanovic (191-F/C-89), Maja Miljkovic (176-G-88) and Sonja Petrovic (189-F-89) were in the right scoring mood. After first quarter Serbia already made solid advantage of 17 points. Runners-up from the previous European championship kept its defense on the same level in second quarter. This time Germany scored even less point, 8. On the half time it was 44-17 for Serbia. Just for the 20 minutes players of coach Antonic scored the same number of points which Germany had during the entire game. Third quarter finished 18-7 after what the last 10 minutes were just the formality. Germany had willingness decrease its minus a little bit and it was successful. Jelena Milovanovic led Serbia today nailing 14 points including 11 rebounds. Maja Miljkovic also had 14 points but with 5 boards. Sonja Petrovic stopped on 10 points and 6 rebounds. Germany got 9 points and 8 rebounds from Ireti Amojo (173-G-90).


Serbia - Germany 74-44
(26-9,18-8,18-7,12-20)

Serbia: Milovanovic 14 (11 rebs), Miljkovic 14 (5 rebs), Petrovic 10 (6 rebs)
Germany: Amojo 9 (8 rebs), Fatsawo 9, Bruns 7



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  SPAIN - Women  


Spanish U20 Team begins European championship defence successfully - by Eurobasket News
Spain U20 - Belgium U20 90:61

Spanish U20 National Team opened their European championship campaign with win. Today the reigning European U20 champions cruised past Belgium in preliminary Group C. Spain entered the game in a stunning manner. They accounted for the first 23 points of the game to leave Belgium far behind. Kara scored the first two points for Belgium with just over 3 minutes remaining in the first period. Gaby Ocete (166-G-88) scored 7 points in the opening frame and Spain piled up a 31:6 advantage after ten minutes of action. The onslaught continued in the second stanza as Carbo took over. She drained 12 points for Spanish team and they built a 57:27 lead at halftime. Beaurand opened the scoring tally for Belgium in the second half but Spain answered with 8 points in a row to extend the margin to 36 points. Spanish youngsters were up by 37 points before the final stanza and Belgium was left with little chances in the final quarter. Demonceau, Wittebolle and Boel shaved the difference early in the final frame. Spaniards slowed down in the fourth quarter and Belgium managed to clip the deficit a bit. Spain however easily secured the winning outcome and grabbed their initial victory at the tournament. Anna Carbo (176-F-88) drilled 23 points to pace Spain. Jael Freixanet (187-F-88), Gaby Ocete and Noelia Oliva (176-G-88) nailed 10 points apiece for the winners. Sara Leemans (178-G/F-88) answered with 17 points and 7 boards for Belgium. Jasmina Rosseel (168-G-89) netted 9 points in a losing effort. Belgium will play against Belarus in the second round. Spain faces Montenegro on Saturday.

Spain U20: Anna Carbo 23, Jael Freixanet 10, Gaby Ocete 10, Noelia Oliva 10
Belgium U20: Sara Leemans 17, Jasmina Rosseel 9

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  SWEDEN - Women  


U20 EC, division B: Sweden outplays Portugal at the opener - by Eurobasket News
Portugal - Sweden 52-70

Sweden celebrated against Portugal at the opener of U20 European Championship division B in Poland. Both teams are placed into Preliminary Group B together with Israel, Netherlands and the host team Poland. Sweden grabbed the opening win on Eurobasket thanks to well played first half of the game. Namely, visitors in this game finished first stanza making advantage of 5 points, 10-15. During the next 10 minutes they intensified defense which resulted with many mistakes but Portuguese players. They had a lot of problems with running the plays which at the end of the game resulted with 17 turnovers. This aggressiveness by Sweden outcame with just 8 points from Portugal in this period. At the same time the hosts didn't succeeded to find a solution how to stop Frida Eldebrink (174-G-88), who dominated at the offensive end. Nothing has changed on the court after the breather. Eldebrink continued in the same rhythm while this time she got a help in offense from Frida Aili (178-G-88, agency: LBM Management). In this period Sweden extended lead even more entering into the last quarter with comfortable advantage of 21 points. It was not a difficult task for them to keep this lead until the very end.

Frida Eldebrink paced the winners draining 25 points and grabbing 8 rebounds for 30 minutes. At the same time she committed 8 turnovers. Frida Aili also shined for Sweden adding 14 points and 3 rebounds. Portugal got the most from Nadia Tavares (176-F-88), who had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Joana Bernardeco (171-G-90) followed her with 14 points. Portugal struggled a lot from behind the arc in this game as they made only 4 of 20 attempts.


Portugal - Sweden 52-70
(10-15,8-19,11-16,23-20)

Portugal: Nadia Tavares 23 (7 rebs, 3 st), Joana Bernardeco 14
Sweden: Frida Eldebrink 25 (8 rebs, 7 to), Frida Aili 14 (3 rebs)

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  TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - Women  


TT basketball women in 2012 Olympic qualifiers - by Don Farrell
TRINIDAD and Tobagos Female Basketballers will attempt to start the qualification process for the 2012 Olympic Games at the coming Centro Basket Tournament in Monrovis, Puerto Rico from July 17th - 27th,2009.

The women from the twin-island republic earned the right to compete at the Centro tournament after finishing second at the Caribbean Basketball Championship last year.

Incidentally the Puerto Ricans were the only team to defeat the TT women at last years regional play-offs. The Centro Basketball competition is being staged by the FIBA Americas and will consist eight countries- among them Cuba, who are currently ranked sixth in the world, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, host nation Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago.

The top three teams from the play-offs will earn the right to compete at the Tournament of the Americas Championship and the top two teams will advance to the World Championship. Newsday learnt that the top teams from this championship will advance to the 2012 Olympics Games.

Next week the Trinidad and Tobago womens team will be strengthened by the return of three of its overseas based players. Among them forward Pietra Gay, a professional in Puerto Rico; guard Trecha Kennedy-Jackson, who campaigns in the United States and Rhea Cordio, who only recently completed university studies in the US.

But another foreign based player, Chavohn Osbourne also a recent graduate, and who represented TT at the regional competition last year, is unavailable. A number of top locals players however are also on the team including Patrice Edwards from the Maloney Pacers, Mahalia Simpson of the Straketr Nets and Defence Force Alicia Liverpool. The team is being coached by Christopher Jackson Charles and managed by Maurissa Gibson who returned from studies in the US recently.

Mystic's Waives Goring - by Don Farrell
Washington, D.C. General Manager Linda Hargrove announced today that center Gillian Goring has been waived. Goring was selected in the third round of the 2007 WNBA Draft.

It was very difficult to waive GG this year but it was really our only option. She is physically not going to be ready to play this season, it looks like it will be a full year rehab from the surgery that she had in early November said Hargrove. Our intentions are that she will go back to Oklahoma and rehab there and as soon as we can re-sign her we will.

Goring had knee surgery while playing in Turkey. During her rookie season, Goring appeared in 21 games and averaged 2.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. A standout at North Carolina State University, Goring averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in two seasons with the Wolfpacks.

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  TURKEY - Women  


Chieti saw the first win for Latvia U20 over Turkey 20 - by Eurobasket News
Turkey U20- Latvia U20 75-77 (15-25, 23-9, 18-15, 19-28)

Karline Nimane (187-F-90) made a driving lay-up with less than a second remaining to give Latvia U20 a thrilling 77:75 victory over Turkey U20 in European Championship Division A. Trailing 9 points before the final stanza Baltic team won the encounter. Sabine Niedola (182-F-91) led the winners with massive 18 points and 16 rebounds. Karline Nimane netted 16 and Anete Steinberga (185-C-90) collected 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Turkey U20 remembers 4th position last year in Sofia. That time France claimed Bronze medals as they narrowly defeated Turkey in a dramatic last day encounter. Turkey were ahead 32:28 at halftime but France revived in the second half. They finally caught up with Turkey midway through the final quarter and held on to the lead. Digbeu made it 63:57 game for France with less than 2 minutes to go. Bahar Bahar Caglar (188-F-88) drained two free throws and Gulnur Sandallioglu connected from afar to cut the deficit to 1 point with 47 seconds left. Ingrid Tanqueray converted two free throws and Bahar Bahar Caglar missed a jump shot to seal the win for France.
Today Latvia started to control the game and opened it with 25:15 in the opening tip. Bahar Caglar scored 9 points in a 17-2 run to go up 32:27 and Turkey led 38:34 at the break. Sabine Niedola tied the score for her team in the fourth quarter with 6 minutes remaining. Turkey were still ahead 72:67 with less than two minutes left. Neimane's shot from the arc toed the game again at 75:75. Karline Nimane made a driving lay-up with less than a second remaining to give Latvia U20 a thrilling 77:75 victory.

Turkey U20: Bahar Caglar 28+10 rebs, Yasemin Dalgalar (184-F-88) 16, Gizem Yavuz (168-G-88, agency: Prosportman) 14
Latvia U20: Sabine Niedola 18+16 rebs, Karline Nimane 16, Anete Steinberga 14+12 rebs

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  UKRAINE - Women  


Sulmona welcomes Ukraine U20 over Bulgaria U20 - by Eurobasket News
Bulgaria U20-Ukraine U20 61:88 (13-21, 20-17, 18-26, 10-24)

Ukraine U20 beat Bulgaria U20 in the start of U20 European championship. Ukraine grabbed the lead from the very beginning and led to 88:61 total victory. The last 24:10 spurt was too good for Bulgaria that could not recover. Taisiia Bovykina (190-C-89, agency: LBM Management) led the winners with 25 points. Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) produced 18, whilst Aleksandra Prystupa (205-C-89, agency: LBM Management) collected 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jaklin Zlatanova (190-F-88) nailed 16 in defeat and Monika Todorova (162-G-91) scored 14.
The Ukrainians jumped ahead 21:13 after the first period. Olesya Malashenko made a successful jump shot to finish the opening quarter. It was her again to give her team 30:13 in the middle of the second period. Bulgaria created a 10-0 run to close the gap by the end of the first half. Sharovka however kept Ukrainian side in front, 38:33.
Taisiia Bovykina sparked a 13-3 run early in the third period to open a 53:40 cushion. Olesya Malashenko's three closed the third period at 64:51. A 13-0 surge in the opening stages of the final period ended all doubts as the lead grew to 77:53. Ukrainian team scored also last 10 points in the game and deserved the win more than the opponents.

Bulgaria U20: Jaklin Zlatanova 16, Monika Todorova 14
Ukraine U20: Taisiia Bovykina 25, Olesya Malashenko 18, Aleksandra Prystupa 16+10 rebs

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  UNITED KINGDOM - Women  


Wales beats Azerbaijan in Luxembourg - by Eurobasket News
Wales - Azerbaijan 49:31

Welsh National Team celebrated a comfortable win over Azerbaijan in the lower playoffs at the European championship in Division C. Wales will now play against Scotland for the 5th spot tomorrow. Azerbaijan will fight for the 7th overall spot in the game versus Gibraltar. The teams entered the game trading baskets with neither side able to clear off. Alisultanova kept Azerbaijan ahead for some time. Wagstaff and Trott teamed up for 6 points in a row and Wales jumped ahead but Azerbaijan had the last laugh in the quarter. Musayeva and Biryuchkova scored 5 points and Azerbaijan led 14:13 at the end of the first frame. Yalland nailed a bunch of freebies early in the second stanza to regain the lead for Welsh side. Wales limited Azerbaijan to just 5 points in the second quarter and spurred ahead 23:19 at the interval. Jennings and Short gave Wales a 12-point advantage midway through the third frame. But Azerbaijan refused to surrender. Shimichenko and Zycova cut the difference to only 6 points late in the quarter. Shimichenko then nailed her second triple of the game and the margin was narrowed to a single point. But Trott, Jennings and Wagstaff crowned the period with 8 consecutive points and Wales led by 9 points heading into the final quarter. Wagstaff and Jennings made it a 46:31 game early in the fourth. Azerbaijan simply collapsed over the final minutes as they failed to score in the quarter and suffered a bitter loss. Rebecca Short nailed 14 points and pulled down 9 boards to lead Wales. Sarah Wagstaff provided 12 points in a winning case. Yana Shimichenko answered with 9 points for Azerbaijan.

Wales: Rebecca Short 14, Sarah Wagstaff 12, Kasey Jennings 7
Azerbaijan: Yana Shimichenko 9, Anastasiya Biryuchkova 6

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  WNBA - Women  


Sacramento easily deals with Los Angeles at home - by Eurobasket News
The Sacramento Monarchs held off the Los Angeles Sparks 87:69 at home court yesterday. Nicole Powell (6'2''-G/F-82, college: Stanford) nailed 24 points to pace the Monarchs. Kara Lawson (5'8''-G-81, college: Tennessee) added 13 points 10 of them coming in the decisive third period in the game. Lawson ignited the hosts to a 29:11 run in the third period as the Monarchs built an unassailable 15-point cushion before the final stanza. Ticha Penicheiro contributed 15 points and dished out season-high 9 assists. Candace Parker (6'4''-F/C-86, college: Tennessee) answered with 14 points, 11 boards and 6 blocks in defeat. Sidney Spencer had 14 points for the Sparks. Sacramento forced Los Angeles to as many as 27 turnovers and shot 44% from the field. The Monarchs are now tied with the Houston Comets at the bottom of the Western Conference.
Lauren Jackson (6'5''-F/C-81) nailed 19 points in the second half and the Seattle Storm overcame the visiting Phoenix Mercury 89:78 at the Key Arena. Swin Cash (6'2''-F-79, college: Connecticut) added 14 points, while Sue Bird and Tanisha Wright secured 11 points apiece for the winners. Cappie Pondexter (5'9''-G-83, college: Rutgers) dropped 20 points for the Mercury. Diana Taurasi was held to 16 points in a loss. Back-to-back trebles from Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson allowed the Storm to build a 10-point lead late in the third frame. The hosts then did not look back stretching the gap to as many as 19 in the final quarter. The Mercury dropped the third out of the last four games.