EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 10/4/2010 1:00:00 AM

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Men News

*****************************************************
  ASEAN LEAGUE   


Barracudas Commons -Garnett Tandem is no joke ... - by Sheryl Reyes
The Philippine Patriots won the first game against the Brunei Barracudas but it was not an easy win for the Patriots,they survived the fighting Barracudas, powered by the massive heft of the bulky Christopher Garnett (211-C-80, college: Indiana SE) who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds with his good post moves, defensive skills, and shooting capabilities he sure is a big help for his team , alongside him is Chris Commons (204-F-84, college: USC Aiken) who is a very athletic player who can run the floor and can play anywhere on the basketball court, he finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and three steals, Despite the teams lost , they have shown that Barracudas is not an easy to beat team,both of them are first timers in the ABL but they are showing some skills that can be an advantage of the Brunei Barracudas. They are no sleeping giants they are for sure ready to rumble .

Philippine Patriots Proved They are the Defending Champions!! - by Sheryl Reyes
The Philippine Patriots started slow but finished strongly with a 71-62 win over the Brunei Barracudas.PBA favourite import Anthony Johnson (197-G/F-79, college: La-Lafayette) registered a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds while dishing out three assists in 36 minutes of action with that numbers he ended up getting player of the game, He was a big key ingredient of the Patriots lead in the second quarter highlighted by two breakaway dunks to take a 39-31 lead at the half.Along side him was Donald Little (211-C-78, college: Cincinnati) who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. He is exppected to show more of what he can do in the next comming games. A very revealing ex pba player Junjun Cabatu (193-F-84) led all locals in scoring by making all of his nine points in the first quarter as he helped the Patriots overcome a poor start to grab a slim 21-20 advantage.Erwin Sta Maria added nine points and three boards, along with Warren Ybanez (170-G-79) who had three points, five rebounds and six assists and big man Chito Jaime (196-F/C-83) with three points and six boards.



Standings
O Standings
 1. Philip.Patriots 1-0 
 2. Singapore S. 1-0 
 3. Thailand S. 1-0 
 4. Barracudas 0-1 
 5. KL Dragons 0-1 
 6. Satria Muda 0-1 


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  ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS U18   


Standings
Standings
Group E
1. Iran4-1
2. S.Korea4-1
3. Taiwan3-2
4. Lebanon2-3
5. Kazakhstan2-3
6. Malaysia0-5
Group F
1. China5-0
2. Japan3-2
3. Philippines3-2
4. Yemen3-2
5. Syria1-4
6. Iraq0-5
Classification
1. India2-0
2. Sri Lanka1-1
3. S.Arabia1-1
4. Qatar0-2


Asia-Basket.com All-Asian U18 Championships Awards 2010 - by Emiliano
#s#
Zhelin Wang
Wang
Giyun Kim
Kim
Ailun Guo
Guo
Kiefer Isaac Ravena
Ravena
Amer Al Sati
Al Sati
#e#5

MVP: Wang Zhelin (213-C-94) China
Best Guard: Kim Giyun (184-G-92)
Best Forward: Kiefer Isaac Ravena (181-G/F-93)
Best Center: Wang Zhelin (213-C-94) China
Best Defensive Player: Amer Al Sati (203-C-92)
Best Coach: Stefann Robinson China

1st Team
G: Kim Giyun (184-92)
G: Guo Ailun (193-93) China
G/F: Kiefer Isaac Ravena (181-93)
C: Amer Al Sati (203-92)
C: Wang Zhelin (213-94) of Fujian China

2nd Team
G: Seiya Ando (184-92)
G/F: Ahmad Ibrahim (201-92) USA
F: Muhammad Otabachi (192-92)
F: Moon SeongGon (193-93)
C: Samer Abdullah (92)

Honorable Mention
Abdullah Aljaizani (192-F-92)
Hu Lung-Mao (194-F-92)
Azim Yagodkin (182-G-92) of BK Almaty Kazakhstan



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  BELARUS   


Nenad Pistoljevic joins BK Minsk-2006 - by Eurobasket
BK Minsk-2006 agreed terms with 30-year old Serbian guard Nenad Pistoljevic (196-G-80). Pistoljevic played most recently at Radnicki Basket Beograd (Serbia). While playing 6 games for Radnicki Basket last season he recorded 12.0ppg, 3.7rpg, 4.7apg and 1.7spg. Pistoljevic is a very experienced player. He played also pro basketball in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Russia and Ukraine.

By Eurobasket Data Center

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  BELGIUM   


Welcome to D1 regular season (Round One) - by Eurobasket News
Leuven - Oostende 70-81
Oostende celebrated 70-81 road win against Leuven in the first round of the Belgian top division. Caleb Green (203-F-85, college: ORU) was the MVP of this meeting with valuation 26: 16 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists for 29 minutes. Matt Lojeski (198-G-85, college: Hawaii) helped with double-double of 14 points and 11 rebs. For the hosts, Adeola Dagunduro (196-G-86, college: Nebraska) delivered 17 pts.

Liege - Antwerp 70-75
Nice road win for the Giants, who got 21 points and 8 rebounds from Darnell Wilson (198-F-85, agency: Court Side, college: Canisius). Bryan Hopkins (183-G-83, college: SMU) secured a great help with 18 pts and 6 boards. For the home side, Andrija Stipanovic top-scored with 16 pts.

Aalstar - M.Hainaut 84-58
Aalstar was too strong for Dexia Mons-Hainaut for 1-0 record at the beginning of the new season. Anthony Hilliard (193-G/F-86, college: Elizabeth City) stepped up for the hosts in this game with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Justin Cage (198-F-85, agency: Priority Sports, college: Xavier) collected 13 points and 5 boards in defeat.

Charleroi - Gent (November 2)

Stats Leaders - Division I
Points Per Game
 Anthony HILLIARD
  Aalstar
  (193-G/F-86)
  Avg: 21
 1. Hilliard, Aalstar21.0 
 2. Wilson, Antwerp21.0 
 3. Hopkins, Antwerp18.0 
 4. Dagunduro, Leuven17.0 
 5. Copeland, Aalstar17.0 
 6. Stipanovic, Liege16.0 
 7. Green, Oostende16.0 
 8. Matela, Liege15.0 
 9. Muya, Liege15.0 
 10. Lojeski, Oostende14.0 
Rebounds Per Game
 Matt LOJESKI
  Oostende
  (198-G-85)
  Avg: 11
 1. Lojeski, Oostende11.0 
 2. Ruoff, Aalstar9.0 
 3. Hilliard, Aalstar9.0 
 4. Matela, Liege8.0 
 5. Copeland, Aalstar8.0 
 6. Wilson, Antwerp8.0 
 7. Johnson, Aalstar8.0 
 8. Young, Aalstar7.0 
 9. Mejri, Antwerp7.0 
 10. Marnegrave, Leuven7.0 
Assists Per Game
 Caleb GREEN
  Oostende
  (203-F-85)
  Avg: 7
 1. Green, Oostende7.0 
 2. Burrell, Aalstar6.0 
 3. Lewis, M.Hainaut4.0 
 4. Mitchell, Oostende4.0 
 5. Dagunduro, Leuven3.0 
 6. Hopkins, Antwerp3.0 
 7. Johnson, Aalstar3.0 
 8. Faison, Oostende3.0 
 9. Copeland, Aalstar2.0 
 10. Cage, M.Hainaut2.0 
Steals Per Game
 Darrel MITCHELL
  Oostende
  (180-G-84)
  Avg: 4
 1. Mitchell, Oostende4.0 
 2. Green, Oostende4.0 
 3. Faison, Oostende3.0 
 4. Hopkins, Antwerp2.0 
 5. Stipanovic, Liege2.0 
 6. Creppy, Leuven2.0 
 7. Matela, Liege2.0 
 8. Marnegrave, Leuven2.0 
 9. Muya, Liege2.0 
 10. Gonzales, Aalstar2.0 
Blocks Per Game
 Salah MEJRI
  Antwerp
  (214-C-86)
  Avg: 4
 1. Mejri, Antwerp4.0 
 2. Ruoff, Aalstar1.0 
 3. Johnson, Aalstar1.0 
 4. Foster, M.Hainaut1.0 
 5. Tofi, Leuven1.0 
 6. Faison, Oostende1.0 
 7. Taylor, M.Hainaut1.0 
 8. Pelle, Oostende0.0 
 9. Copeland, Aalstar0.0 
 10. Muya, Liege0.0 


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  DENMARK   


Svendborg looking for new player? - by Thomas Soltau
The rabbits recently announced that they have cancelled the contract of russian center Dmitri Nekrasov (213-C-86, college: Hill JC). The young talent have had some issues with injury, but the reason for the departure, seems to me more the fact that Nekrasov did not live up to some team rules regarding practice.

Svendborg's roster is loaded with great players, but at center they do seem a bit thin, so likely the team will use their last US option to add another big guy to the frontline.

The Rabbits are 2-0 this season so fare.

Horsholm 79ers sign Billy Blackmon - by Eurobasket
Horsholm 79ers signed 22-year old American center Billy Blackmon (208-C-88, agency: GOTathletes). Blackmon played most recently at Charleston Southern University (NCAA) in the U.S. It will be his first year in professional basketball. While playing 30 games for Charleston So. last season his stats were: 2.9ppg and 5.3rpg. In his first game in Denmark (Horshold was edged by Horsens 66-65) he scored 6 points and added 6 rebounds in 30 minutes.

By Eurobasket Data Center

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  DOMINICA   


X-Men and Raptors 1 Game from the Championship - by Mickey Joseph
Last night in in front of a massive crowd at Lindo Park not withstanding the early evening showers DCP Original X-Men and Gloria Shillingford Raptors proved to strong for the Paix Bouche Eagles and Raffoul Snipers and going two up in the best of five series.

Game 1 - Gloria Shillingford Raptors made a miraculous comeback against the Raffoul Snipers to win the game after being down by 28 points in the second half, the Raptors facing certain defeat from a confident Snipers team slowly chewed into the lead point by point with tenacious defense and clutch plays by Troy Henry ably supported by Steve Hypolite tied the game at 68 a piece with 14 seconds remaining in the game, when Troy Henry took the ball right to the basket and got fouled by the Snipers team and getting to the foul line to take two shots to win the game, which he made superbly and giving the Raptors that miraculous victory. Final Scores Gloria Shillingford Raptors 70 points and Raffoul Snipers 68 points, top scoring for Raptors were Troy Henry 19 pts, Steve Hypolite 18 pts and Devon Barton 14 while Lenin Paul 22 pts and Dave Alexis 21 pts. Series now stand at 2-0 Raptors

Game 2 - Paix Bouche Eagles vowing to make a come back and tie the Premier Division finals 1 a piece ran into a buzz saw and could not establish their game, many of their top shooters like Lynvor John and Earl Mathew could not find the range and fell behind the Glam DCP Original X-Men with stella play from the DCP Original X-Men players Joseph Hypolite, Garth Joseph and Simon Joseph. While the Eagles try the best to get back into the game they just could not overcome the 20 point lead develop by the DCP Original X-Men. The final score was Glam DCP Original X-Men 72 points to Paix Bouche Eagles 47 points, top scoring for the DCP Original X-Men were Garth Joseph 20 pts, Joseph Hypolite 18 pts and Simon Joseph 11 pts while Andel 'Brad' George 23 pts and Earl Mathew 11 pts. Series now stand at 2-0 DCP Original X-Men

The games will continue in Paix Bouche from 6.00 pm with two games,

Game 1- 6.00 pm - Raffoul Snipers verses Gloria Shillingford Raptors
Game 2 -8-00 pm - The Glam DCP Original X-Men verses Paix Bouche Eagles.


*****************************************************
  EUROLEAGUE   


Olympiacos: First and undefeated at Turkey - by Kostas Papadopoulos
Olympiacos finished the Bandirma tournament organized by Banvit and the coaches association of Turkey with a win, making the absolute in this tournament. The Reds edged Turk Telecom 86-76 and won the tournament.
Dusan Ivkovic (agency: Beo Basket ) team showed a serious profile from the beginning and starting from the defense, started building a security lead that was kept until the end. The Serbian head coach gave minutes to all the players and tried different rotations, watching them performing as planned.
Loukas Mavrokefalides (207-C-84) was named the tournament MVP and Thodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77, agency: FCM) won the trophy for passing the most assists.
Turk Telecom: Wesson 8, Safartzik 4, Hatziyeva 6, Basak 18, Karamoyikik, Sankaya 12, Gilstrap 4. Owens 5, Simpson 7, Ogut 2.
Olympiacos: Thodoros Papaloukas 4 (2 ass), Radoslav Nesterovic (212-C-76) 16 (8/11 2p.), Vassilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket) 12 (4 ass), Keselj 4, Loukas Mavrokefalides 14 (5/8 2p.), Glyniadakis 2, Nielsen 6, Kostas Papanikolaou (203-F/G-90) 15 (4/4 2p.), Milos Teodosic (195-G-87) 8 (6 ass), Halperin 2, Gordon 3.
After the end of the tournament, Milos Teodosic stated: 'The important thing is that we are becoming better in some part of the game every day, but we are not yet as good as we want and as we have to be. We still have two weeks ahead of us till the official games start in order to improve and become a team. But we still are not going to be as ready as required. This is going to happen in time. Efes is the most difficult opponent in these friendly games (referring to the last friendly game Olympiacos had to play on Sunday evening), both due to the team's dynamics and also due to circumstance: That is the constant travelling and the trip to Istanbul. We are going to measure our strength and mainly try to improve something more'.

On the second day of the tournament, the Reds easily took the win against Banvit 75-55 and advanced to the tournament final.
Olympiacos made an excellent start and led even by thirty points, finishing the first half with a double score (48-24). In the second half, the Reds began in a more relaxed rhythm against the hosts, but the yelling of Dusan Ivkovic (agency: Beo Basket ) quickly restored order.
Kostas Papanikolaou and Radoslav Nesterovic were the best for Olympiacos.
OLYMPIACOS (0/1 1p., 27/44 2p., 7/18 3p., 37-13 rebs, 19 turnovers, 23 ass., 4 steals, 2 blocks): Thodoros Papaloukas 5, Gordon 3, Keselj 2, Teodosic 8, Kostas Papanikolaou 15, Mavrokefalides 8, Glyniadakis 4, Nilsen 9, Nesterovic 11, Halperin 5, Vassilis Spanoulis 5
Banvit (12/19 1p., 17/43 2p., 3/17 3p., 15-7 rebs, 6 turnovers, 12 ass., 9 steals): Edge 3, Yildirim, Williams 11, Akpinar 10, Davis 14, Cinco, Turna, Golubovic 11, Turkyilmaz, Pacun 3, Ermis 3



Channing Toney joins Prokom - by Eurobasket News
Prokom landed Channing Toney (196-G-86, agency: Interperformances, college: UAB). The 24-year-old guard inked his first pro contract. Channing Toney just graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He tallied 8.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in the senior college season. Channing Toney played in the PBLs Manchester Millrats pre-season camp. He also participated the Eurobasket Summer Leagues in Atlanta and Las Vegas.


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  FINLAND   


KORISLIIGA: Pyrinto got a slow start - by Rauno Hurmalainen
Korisliiga, Round 4: Every team wants to beat last season Finnish Champions. This season Pyrinto (Tampere) will notice that. Actually Pyrinto players have noticed that already three times. Pyrinto record is now 1-3, when Kataja (Joensuu) defeated last season Champions 83-68 (37-34). Quarters: 24-13, 13-21, 21-15, 25-19. Kataja was ahead in everything: more points, more rebounds (43-34), less turnovers (11-19), etc. Sami Lehtoranta (205-C/F-79) led the hosts with 22 pts and seven rbs. Jared Newson (195-G/F-84, agency: Court Side, college: Tennessee-Martin) (18) and Juho Nenonen (202-F-87) (10) were also in double digits. Damon Williams (201-F-73, college: Colorado St.-Pueblo) led Pyrinto with 21 pts/9 rbs. Olli Ahvenniemi (207-C-83, college: Maine) (12) and Antero Lehto (184-G-84) (11) also over 10 points.
Division 1. (the second highest level) got also started with four contests. Three of them were certain kind of thrillers. Newcomer Riento (Saynatsalo) defeated Huima (Aanekoski) by three 72-69 (45-44), when American F Tezarray Banks (206-F-82, college: Boise St.) scored the last four points of the game. SayRi: Demarcus Hall (201-F-85, college: CSU Bakersfield) 25/12, Tezarray Banks 16/12, Vesa Pylkkanen 11 - Huima: Treylon Manning 25, Sami Mantymaa 12, Toni Ovaskainen 12. When BC Nokia upset BC Jyvaskyla 91-83 (43-39) the hosting team could thank Pyrinto's youngsters Pekka Setala and Alex Vaenerberg, who helped a lot. Baboucarr Bojang (204-F-80, college: Illinois St.) is still going strong - of course. BC Nokia: Baboucarr Bojang 25/15, Pekka Setala 18, Alex Vaenerberg 18 - BC Jyvaskyla: Reijo Ojanen 23, Tuukka Ahila 20, Jani Parkkinen 15. Korikobrat (Lapua) was ahead vs FoKoPo (Forssa) for 36 minutes, but visitors won finally by one (77-78) as Andre Foreman (198-F/G-69, college: Salisbury St.) made both his FTs with five seconds to go. Lapua: Derick Nelson (196-F-86, agency: ACMT, college: Oakland) 22/11, Tyrwone Still (198-F-77, agency: GOTathletes, college: W.Virginia St.) 21/12, Benny Valentine (170-G-87, college: E.Washington) 21 - FoKoPo: Jeremy McCulloch (212-C-82, college: E.Washington) 23/10, Olli Kaunismaki 12, Markus Molenius 11. And one clear win at Loimaa, where local Korikonkarit lost by 26 pts vs Ura Basket (Kaarina): 60-86 (24-47). LoKoKo: J'son Stamper (200-F/C-85, agency: JEMsports, college: Minnesota) 26/11, Eero Aaltonen 10 - Ura Basket: Sakari Salminen 20/12, Zach Ramey 18/12, Miska Ahokas 12.

Korisliiga Round: 4 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Salon Vilpas - ToPo 86-75
Salon Vilpas beat Torpan Pojat 86:75 on Saturday. Theron Wilson (195-F-87, college: Bradley) stepped up with 29 points and Harris Dijuan nailed 22. Heinonen Timo answered with 20 points in the losing effort and Richards Frank notched 19.

Kouvot - Karhu 92-50
Kouvot overcame Karhu 92:50 to tie them at 2-2 record. Five players scored in double figures as Walker led them all with 23 points and Antto Nikkarinen (185-G-91) ended up with 20. Middleton Cedrick finished the night with 14 points in defeat.

KTP - Namika Lahti 89-79
KTP improved to 4-0 record on top of the standings beating Namika Lahti 89:79. Sefton Barrett (196-F-83, agency: Limelight Hoops, college: Cent.Michigan) top-scored for the winners with 23 points and Fields Jerald notched 22. Ayers Ryan responded with 21 points and 12 rebounds in defeat.

LrNMKY - Korihait 68-69
UU-Korihait grabbed valuable 69:68 over Lappeenrannan NMKY as Lawrence Wright (195-F-84, college: Bradley) led the way with 18 points, Reaves James had 16 and Sarcevic Bojan posted 15. Moore Malik ended up with 19 points for the hosts.

Kataja - Pyrinto 83-68
Kataja won over Pyrinto 83:68 at the end of the Regular Season Round 4. Sami Lehtoranta (205-C/F-79) top-scored for the winners with 22 points and Newson Jared netted 18. Williams Damon poured in 21 points in the losing effort.



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  FRANCE   


ProB: Round One review - by Eurobasket News
Bourg - Lille 70-76
Lille opened the new season with nice 70-76 road win against Bourg. Sean Barnette (195-F-86, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Wingate) stepped up for the guests with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Olivier Gouez (219-C-84) followed him with 14 pts and 6 boards. For the home side, Daniel Coleman (206-F-85, college: Minnesota) shined with 22 points and 6 boards.

St Vallier - Nantes 79-63
St Vallier had an easy job against Nantes getting 20 points and 12 rebounds from Charles-Henry Bronchard (200-F/C-82, agency: Court Side). Kyle Shiloh (191-G-85, college: Nevada) helped the hosts with 16 pts and 5 assists. On the other side, Armand Charles (193-F-83) and David Gonzalvez netted 11 points each.

Nanterre - Maurienne 93-75
Nanterre had Johan Passave-Ducteil (200-C-85) in a game mood with 21 points and 6 rebounds. Nate Carter (199-F/C-83, college: Oklahoma) secured a nice help adding 19 points and also 6 boards. In the loosing squad, Joachim Ekanga Ehawa (188-G-77) top-scored with 14 pts.

Charleville - Antibes 61-73
Antibes celebrated against Charleville mostly thanks to Justin Ingram (185-G-85, college: Toledo) and Steeve Ho You Fat (201-F-88), who scored 15 points and grabbed 6 rebounds each. Beside that, Ingram handed out 6 assists to his teammates. For the hosts, Jonathan McClark (200-F-77, college: Rider) was good with 24 pts and also 6 boards.

Le Portel - Rouen 70-75
Five-point road win for Rouen, who joined group of the teams with 1-0. Devonne Giles (203-F-83, college: Texas Tech) exploded in this game with double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Giles was named MVP as he reached valuation 29. Mehdi Labeyrie (202-F-78) delivered 16 points for Le Portel.

Evreux - Boulogne 84-80
Calvin Watson (196-G-85, agency: Court Side, college: N.Texas) was the leading player in Evreux with 26 points. He reached valuation 27 and was the MVP of this meeting. In Boulogne, Darryl Monroe (202-F-86, agency: Pro Partner Sports Management, college: George Mason) came up with double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Boulazac - Quimper 71-69
Tiny home win for Boulazac, who got 21 points and 7 rebounds from Malick Badiane (211-F/C-84). Their second scorer was Amadi McKenzie (201-F-86) with 14 pts. Jean-Richard Volcy (203-F-82, college: N.Michigan) responded with 18 points and 9 boards in defeat. Boulzac 1-0, Quimper 0-1.

Fos Ouest - Clermont 81-57
Fos Ouest destroyed Clermont for the first win of the season. Mohamad Hachad (194-G-83, college: Northwestern) stepped up for the hosts with 18 points (5 rebs), while Sherman Gay (201-F-82, college: Loyola Marymount) (7 rebs) and Lee Cummard added 16 pts each. Raphael Wilson (195-F-89) and O'Draien Bassett stopped 13 pts apiece in loss.

Chalons-Reims - Dijon 42-72
Dijon impressed last night with 42-72 blowout win against Chalons-Reims. Erroyl Bing (198-F/C-82, college: E.Carolina) came up with 13 points and 8 rebounds in this victory, while Errick Craven (188-G-83, college: USC) added one point less than him. Donald Wilson (193-G-84, agency: Court Side, college: Portland) had 11 pts and 5 boards in loss.

Giles' a double-double lands him ProB Player of the Week award - by Eurobasket News
27-year old forward Devonne Giles (203-F-83) put on an amazing game for SPO Rouen Basket and receives a Eurobasket.com ProB Player of the Week award for round 1.
He had a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds, while his team beat Le Portel 75-70. Giles turned to be Rouen's top player in his first season with the team.

Second best performed player last round was Charles-Henri Bronchard (200-F/C-82, agency: Court Side) of Saint Vallier Basket Drome. He is a forward in his first season at St Vallier. In the last game Bronchard recorded impressive double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds. Of course he lead St Vallier to comfortable win 79-63 over Nantes. His team has extremely good start of the season. They won their first game. However the season is at the beginning, so everything can happen. They still may lose their high position in the standings. Bronchard is a newcomer at St Vallier and quickly became the team's new leader.

Third place about best performers goes to forward Sherman Gay (201-F-82) of Fos Ouest Provence Basket (#5). Gay scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He was a key player of Fos Ouest, leading his team to a 81-57 easy win against Clermont. Fos Ouest has a very good start of the season. But there was just one game played, so it's too early to judge them at this stage. Gay also has a very good start of the season with very strong stats. The season just started for Gay as he played only first game. But it already looks like he can be team's leader.

Other top performing players last week:
4. Korvotney Barber (201-F-87) of Nantes - 10 points and 15 rebounds
5. Sean Barnette (195-F-86) of Lille - 17 points and 9 rebounds
6. Philippe Haquet (199-F-86) of Fos Ouest - 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists
7. Daniel Coleman (206-F-85) of Bourg - 22 points and 6 rebounds
8. Darryl Monroe (202-F-86) of Boulogne - 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists
9. Calvin Watson (196-G-85) of Evreux - 26 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists
10. Kyle Shiloh (191-G-85) of St Vallier - 16 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists

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  GERMANY   


Olumuyiwa Famutimi Joins The Gloria Giants Duesseldorf - by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber
The Gloria Giants Duesseldorf announced on Saturday that Olumuyiwa Famutimi (197-G-84, college: Arkansas) will join the roster. Famutimi is a 26 year old 197cm guard that has the Canadian/Nigerian citzenship. Recently he played in Turkey at the World Championships for Canada playing 2 games: 2.0ppg, 1.5rpg. Last season, he played for Oyak Renault Bursa (Turkey-TBL, starting five): 29 games: 16.9ppg, 5.6rpg, 2.0apg, 1.9spg, FGP: 44.2%, 3PT: 44.4%, FT: 74.5%. He started his basketball careerwith Arkansas (NCAA) where he played from 2003-2005. In his senior year, he played 30 games: 9.4ppg, 4.2rpg, 1.0apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 43.8%, 3PT: 39.3%, FT: 67.3. He turned professional in 2005-2006 and joined the Arkansas RimRockers (D-League, starting five): 47 games: 6.8ppg, 2.7rpg, FGP: 51.3%, 3PT: 18.2%, FT: 75%.In the 2006-2007 season, he was a member of the San Antonio Spurs in training camp, but was waived in Oct.'06, then moved to Arkansas RimRockers (D-League, starting five), left in March'07: : 45 games: 11.5ppg, 5.4rpg, 1.7apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 47.6%, 3PT: 22.2%, FT: 82%. In 2007-2008, he played for Khimik-OPZ Yuzny (Ukraine-Superleague, starting five): Ukrainian Superleague: 19 games: 9.3ppg, 4.5rpg, 1.5spg, 2FGP: 55.0%, 3PT: 35.0%, FT: 75.0%; FIBA EuroCup: 10 games: 11.5ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.0apg, 1.5spg, 2FGP: 52.9%, 3PT: 44.4%, FT: 82.2%. He remained with Khimik-OPZ Yuzny (Ukraine-Superleague) in the 2008-2009 season playing EuroChallenge: 6 games: 6.7ppg, 4.7rpg, 1.3apg, 1.3spg; Ukrainian League: 35 games: 13.1ppg, 5.5rpg, Steals-5 (1.7spg), FGP: 55.0%, 3PT: 35.8%, FT: 78.0%. This past summer, he played NBA Summer League in Las Vegas (New York Knicks). Some of the awards that he has won in his career have been McDonald's and Parade All-America honors -03, SEC All-Freshman Team -04, Canadian Young National Team Camp -04,Canadian National Team -07-10, FIBA EuroCup Quarterfinals -08, FIBA EuroCup All-Star Game -08, Tournament of the Americas -07: 8 games: 7.6ppg, 3.3rpg, FGP: 41.0%, 3PT: 46.2%, FT: 78.6%, Ukrainian Superleague Semifinals -08, 09, Ukrainian Cup Semifinals -09, Ukrainian All-Star Game -09, Eurobasket.com All-Ukrainian Superleague 2nd Team -09, Marchand Cup -09: 3 games: 6.7ppg, 2.0rpg, 1.7apg, 2FP: 33.3%, 3PT: 28.6%, FIBA Americas in San Juan (Puerto Rico) -09 (Semifinals): 10 games: 8.0ppg, 2.9rpg, 2.3apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 40.8%, 3PT: 41.7%, FT: 71.4%, and Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League Honorable Mention -10.

Source: Gloria Giants Duesseldorf

Chad Prewitt Joins FC Bayern Munich - by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber
FC Bayern Munich got some help on the forward position by bringing in ex BEKO BBL player Chad Prewitt (206-F/C-80, agency: Priority Sports, college: Arizona St.). Prewitt is a 30 year old 206cm power forward/center that was born in Cody, Wyoming and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a great defender and team player who also has a nice shooting stroke. Can shoot the 3 with consistency, plays hard every night and wins everywhere he goes. He played at Arizona St. (NCAA) from 1998-2002. In his senior year, he played 28 games: 17.3 ppg 7.0 rpg 2.3 apg. He was drafted by St.Louis Sky Hawks (5rd (48) in 2002 and played 13 games: 5.9ppg, 3.9rpg, 11ast, 5steals, 2blocks. In 2003-2004, he played for Dakota Wizards (CBA) from 2003-2005. In 2005, he came to Germany and played for the Artland Dragons from 2005-2007. In teh 2007-2008 season, he started with Ago Rethimno (Greece-A1, starting five), only pre-season, then moved to EnBW Ludwigsburg (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five), German League: 12 games: 8.2ppg, 3.8rpg, 2FGP: 52.4%, 3PT: 37.5%, FT: 78.6%; ULEB Cup: 5 games: 10.0ppg, 4.0rpg, 1.8apg, 1.2spg; waived in Dec.'07, later that month signed back at Artland Dragons Quakenbrueck (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): German League: 24 games: 9.2ppg, 4.4rpg, 1.1apg, 2FGP: 50.7%, 3PT-1 (50.0%), FT: 75.8%; ULEB Cup: 4 games: 7.0ppg, 4.0rpg, 1.3apg. He then returned back to the Artland Dragons from 2008-2010. Last season, he played EuroChallenge: 10 games: 4.5ppg, 1.7rpg; German League: 30 games: 3.6ppg, 1.6rpg. Some awards that he has recieved in his career have been All Pac-10 Team -02, CBA Regular Season Champion -04, 05. CBA Champion -04, CBA All-Stars Game -05, CBA Western Conference Finalist -05, German Bundesliga Cup Semifinals -06, German Bundesliga Cup Winner -08, and German Bundesliga Regular Season Runner-Up -08

Source: FC Bayern Munich

Standings - 1. Bundesliga
1.Bundesliga Standings
 1. Art.Dragons 1-0 
 2. Bremerhaven 1-0 
 3. Brose Baskets 1-0 
 4. EWE Baskets 1-0 
 5. Goettingen 1-0 
 6. LTi 46ers 1-0 
 7. NY Phantoms 1-0 
 8. Phoenix Hagen 1-0 
 9. ALBA 0-0 
 10. MBC 0-0 
 11. Bayreuth 0-1 
 12. Dt.Bank SKY 0-1 
 13. Duesseldorf 0-1 
 14. EnBW L'burg 0-1 
 15. ratiopharm 0-1 
 16. TBB Trier 0-1 
 17. Telekom B. 0-1 
 18. Walter Tigers 0-1 


Welcome to Bundesliga Regular Season Round 1 - by Eurobasket News
LTi 46ers - Telekom B. 75-70
Zachery Peacock produced 21pt 6reb and Anthony Smith had 21pt 9reb leading LTi Giessen 46ers to a 75-70 season opening win over Telekom Baskets Bonn Saturday night in Giessen. The game was televised live on Sport1 in Germany and opened the BEKO Bundesliga season with a fun game for fans to see on TV. After falling behind 26-15 after the 1Q, Giessen outscored Bonn 21-8 in the 2Q taking a 36-34 halftime lead. Giessen edged ahead 55-52 after three and outscored Bonn down the stretch to earn the win. Zachary Peacock sealed the game with key free throws in the closing minutes. Head coach Vladi Bogojevic saw his 46er team shoot 45% from the floor making 5 of 15 threes (33%) and 20 of 26 FT (76%) while outrebounding Bonn 37-33. Jeremy Hunt (196-G-83, college: Memphis) led Bonn with 19pt 7reb and Folarin Campbell finished with 18pt 4 boards as Bonn hit 38% from the floor and 4 of 16 from three. The 46ers survived 19 turnovers in their season opening home victory. Giessen is 1-0 and Bonn 0-1.by Michael Taylor

Walter Tigers - Phoenix Hagen 76-89
Phoenix Hagen put six players in double figures to take an 89-76 season opening road win over Walter Tigers Tubingen Saturday night at Paul Horn Arena in Tubingen. Quentin Pryor topscored for Hagen with 16pt while Zygimantas Jonusas added 15pt 7reb, David Bell 14pt Bernd Kruel and Mark Dorris 12pt apiece along with 10pt from Matt Terwilliger in the win. Hagen shot 49% from the floor making 9 of 20 threes (45%) and a key 22 of 27 FT (81%) while outrebounding the Tigers 37-33 in their victory. Branislav Ratkovica (193-G-85, agency: Beo Basket) paced Tubingen's attack with 17pt 7ast followed by 15pt 6reb 5stl from Chris Oliver and 14pt 9reb from Dane Watts. Hagen started strong opening up a 10-6 lead behind hot three point shooting. After an early Tubingen timeout, the Tigers clawed back and Hagen held a 17-15 lead after 1Q. In the 2Q, Chris Oliver hit a 3 to give Tubingen an 18-17 advantage, but the Phoenix pushed their point total to 23 to regain the lead as big men Matt Terwilliger and Jacob Burtschi drilled back to back threes. Ken Williams FT pulled Tubingen to 23-20 but David Bell buried another 3 and Quentin Pryor finished a slam giving Hagen a 28-20 lead forcing a Tiger timeout. The Hagen lead stretched to 31-23 with 3:30 to play in the first half before Tubingen's Dane Watts got a tipin and a dunk pulling the Tigers to 31-27. Zygimantas Jonusas hit his second 3 of the 1H before Dane Watts hammered another dunk and 2FT from Anatoly Kashirov and 2FT by Branislav Ratkovica brought Tubingen back within one 34-33. Hagen's Quenton Pryor closed first half scoring with 2FT of his own and Hagen led 36-33 at the half. Key to their first half performance was their 7 for 12 three point shooting. Mark Dorris opened the 3Q with a dunk before Branislav Ratkovica responded with a 3 for Tubingen. Bernd Kruel finished a 3pt play and Ken Williams answered with a score for Tubingen. Hagen made an early run after an unsportsmanlike foul from Tubingen and the Phoenix stretched their lead to 47-38 at the 7min mark. Branislav Ratkovica and Chris Oliver pulled Tubingen to 47-42. Moments later, Oliver scored again bringing the Tigers to 50-46. A David Bell bucket and 2 Zygimantis Jonusas FT put the Phoenix up 54-46. Just under 4min in the 3Q, Branislav Ratkovica scored and Anatoly Kashirov sank 2FT bringing the Tigers to 54-50. Hagen took a timeout with 3min remaining in the 3Q. Kashirov cashed in again with a big tip in pulling Tubignen within 2, 54-52 with 2:45 to go in the 3rd. 2 Jonusas FT helped Hagen stop the momentum and David Bell regained momentum for Hagen with a big 3 and 2FT. Tubingen's Radovan Markovic sank a 3 in response and recently signed Whit Holcomb-Faye made 2FT cutting the margin to 61-57 with 30sec in the 3rd. Quentin Pryor added another basket for Hagen and the Phoenix led 63-57 after three. In the 4th, Matt Terwilliger FT and a Mark Dorris basket extended the Hagen lead to 67-57. Tubingen took a timeout with 9min remaining. Hagen maintained their advantage leading 72-61 before a Branislav Ratkovica 3. Jonusas rebuilt the Hagen lead to 10, 74-64 with 6min to go. Jonusas and Dorris gave Hagen a 14 point lead 78-64 with 5min remaining. A Matt Terwilliger bucket maintained the 14pt advantage 80-66 with 3:37 to play. A Chris Oliver basket was matched by 2 Mark Dorris FT before a Matt Terwilliger 3 opened an 85-68 margin. Dane Watts tipped in a score for Tubingen at the 2min mark. and a Chris Oliver score pulled Tubingen within 85-72 at the 1min mark. Down the stretch, Hagen iced their season opening 89-76 road win in Tubingen. by Michael Taylor

Brose Baskets - ratiopharm 70-59
Brose Baskets won their opener over ratiopharm 70:59. Anton Gavel (189-G-84, agency: Pro One Sports) notched 15 points to lead all the winners, while Pleiss Tibor had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Guenther Per replied with 12 points in the losing effort.

NY Phantoms - Bayreuth 68-61
NY Phantoms rolled over Bayreuth 68:61 on Sunday. Marcus Goree (201-F-77, college: W.Virginia) top-scored for the winners with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Greer LaMarr netted 14. Jeanty Osvaldo brought 16 points in the losing effort.

EnBW L'burg - Art.Dragons 55-70
Art.Dragons started 2010/2011 season with the road win over Ludwigsburg. Ruben Boumtje (212-C-78, college: Georgetown) stepped up with 21 points and 8 rebounds, while Hess Adam brought his side 17. Bowler John ended up with 15 points in the losing effort.

Bremerhaven - Duesseldorf 96-70
Bremerhaven rolled over Duesseldorf 96:70 in the start of the Regular Season Round 1. Craig Callahan (203-F-81, college: NC-Wilmington) paced all the winners with 23 points and Copeland Donald followed him with 13. Khartchenkov Nikita replied with 18 points for the guests and Brempong Ransford posted 16.

EWE Baskets - Dt.Bank SKY 70-67
Ewe Baskets Oldenburg overcame a slow start and strong performance from the Deutsche Bank Skyliners in their exciting 70-67 season opening home win Saturday night at Ewe Arena in Oldenburg. Oliver Stevic (204-F/C-84) topscored and led a 4Q comeback with 17pt 5reb and Oldenburg got 11pt apiece from Lou Campbell and Steven Smith (203-F-83, college: La Salle) in the win. AJ Moye led Frankfurt with 14pt 7reb while Dashaun Woods had 12pt 8reb 4ast, Jimmy McKinney 11pt 7reb and Bradley Buckman 10pt in the loss. Deutsche Bank Skyliners started strong building a 10-0 lead that grew to 13-3 at the 6min mark of the 1Q. Oldenburg fought back behind Lou Campbell and Aaron Baynes cutting the deficit to 13-8. Skyliners two new signings Jermaine Bucknor and Bradley Buckman pushed the Frankfurt lead to 18-10 and the Skyliners held a 20-16 advantage after the 1Q. Opening Q2, a Lou Campbell 3 pulled the Thunderbirds within 1, 20-19. Buckman hit a J and added 1FT to extend for the Skyliners. The teams traded baskets through the midpart of the quarter before a strong Skyliner push gave Frankfurt a 34-24 lead at the 3:30 mark. Later, a Jimmy McKinney 3 gave Frankfurt a 38-25 lead. Late first half threes from Oldenburgs Nemanja Protic and Steven Smith cut the halftime deficit to 39-31. After Rickey Paulding opened the 3Q with a Thunderbird bucket, AJ Moye and Kimmo Muurien gave Frankfurt a 43-33 lead. Nemanja Protic scored and Lou Campbell sank a 3 pulling Oldenburg within 45-38 before 2 Jermaine Bucknor FT and a FT from Moye gave Frankfurt a 48-38 lead. Aaron Baynes answered for Oldenburg but Brad Buckman sank 2FT rebuilding Frankfurt's 10 point lead. A Christopher McNaugton FT and 4pts from Oliver Stevic pulled Oldenburg to 50-45 with 2min in the 3Q. Frankfurt held a 53-50 lead heading into the 4th. Jimmy McKinney sank a 3 and Dashaun Woods added a score lifting the Skyliners to 58-51 early in the fourth. Oliver Stevic responded for Oldenburg bringing the Thunderbirds to 60-57. Brad Buckman and Stevic exchanged FTs. Another Stevic score brought Oldenburg to 62-60 with just under 4min remaning. AJ Moye answered for Frankfurt giving the Skyliners a 64-60 lead with 3:42 to play. Steven Smith drilled a big three for the Thunderbirds pulling the hosts to within 1, 64-63 with 1:46 to go. Go-to-guy Rickey Paulding then got the big basket to regain a 65-64 lead for Oldenburg with 1:06 to play. Frankfurt took a timeout. After two missed Skyliners FT, Oldenburg went to Oliver Stevic who pushed the Thunderbird lead to 67-64 with 32sec remaining. Frankfurt called timeout. Following a missed three, Frankfurt was forced to foul. Nemanja Protic drilled two clutch FT extending the Oldenburg advantage to 69-64. But Dashaun Woods stepped up for the Skyliners sinking a late three with 15sec to go. Oldenburg held a 69-67 lead and called timeout. Lou Campbell was fouled and went to the foul line with 12sec on the Ewe Arena clock. The veteran pg made one of two giving Oldenburg a 70-67 lead. In a desperate attempt to tie the game, Frankfurt's Pascal Roller and Dashaun Woods three point attempts could not connect and the Thunderbird crowd could celebrate an exciting, hardfought season opening home win. As a team, Oldenburg shot 40% from the floor making 8 of 23 threes (34%) and 22 of 34 FT (64%) compared with the Skyliners who hit 38% from the floor including 6 of 22 threes (27%) and 15 of 24 FT (62%). Skyliners outrebounded the Thunderbirds 38-34. Head coach Predrag Krunic and his Ewe Baskets Oldenburg team are 1-0 while Deutsche Bank Skyliners are 0-1. by Michael Taylor



Murat Didin (Gloria Giants Duesseldorf) Duesseldorf Will Be A Top BEKO BBL Team In The Future - by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber
Murat Didin (agency: Interperformances ) is in his first full season as head coach of TheGloria Giants Duesseldorf. He coached the Deutsche Bank Skyliners for four years and reached the playoffs each season. In 2005, his team lost a hard fought five game series battle to Bamberg in the BBL finals and in 2008, he lost in the semi finals to The Telekom Baskets Bonn and in 2009 in the Quarterfinals to eventual BBL champion EWE baskets Oldenburg. He had a 12 year playing career from 1970-1982 in Turkey. He played 12 times for the junior national team and four times for the senior national team of Turkey. He started his coaching career in 1982. He has coached 14 teams in his career including VIP Rimini in Italy and top Turkish teams Galatasaray, Fenerbache, Ulker Istanbul and Besiktas Istanbul. He took some time to talk with eurobasket after the 97-70 loss in Bremerhaven.

48 hours ago, You signed five new players and three players had to pack their bags. Was this not a risky decision to do on the day of the first game in Bremerhaven?

No I dont think it was risky. We were looking for the right players since the start of preseason. The season is long and there are still 33 games more to play. Jamaal Tatum didnt play in the first game. We will be ok.

Did Duesseldorf get some extra money from a magician late so you could add some more high profile players?



Yes we had a magician give us money. Lol. No actually we got some money from our sponsor Gloria which enabled us to get guys like Steven Wright or Ransford Brempong. We are happy about getting Olumuyiwa Famutimi who recently played for the Canadian National team at the World Championships in Turkey. He is a big talent. We got Steven Wright, because Deandre Haynes is not completely healthy.

I told you before the start of last season to get Steven Wright to Frankfurt. Now you finally signed him. Did you remember my words?


Of course, I rememberd your words. Last year, I was able to get Aubrey Reese and if I have the chance to get him then it is obvious I get him. Wright is a consistent player with space to improve.

How happy were you coaching your first game for Duesseldorf in Bremerhaven?


I had four years of success in Frankfurt, but I have to say that I am very happy in Duesseldorf now. Duesseldorf is a sports town with a good infrastructure a good place to live. Even though I have only been here a short while, it feels like I have been here years. I honestly believe that Duesseldorf can become a well respected and high level team in the BEKO BBL and we want to get better step by step each year. We have a new CEO with Fabian Hedderich and with Actori another sponsor that is a well known company and will help us move up as an organization in the next years. I think with new sponsors and the chance of new ones coming, the Gloria Giants Duesseldorf will become a top BEKO BBL organization in the future. We just have to go step by step.

Duesseldorf lost the first game in Bremerhaven 96-70. Duesseldorf was behind 50-36 at halftime. What were the biggest problems in the first 20 minutes?


In the first half, we almost played without a playmaking effect. Haynes is weak at the moment due to physical problems. Wright had jet lag and we couldnt lay Tatum because he had arrived shortly before the game.

In the third quarter, Bremerhaven went on a 15-4 run and that seemed to decide the game early. Why did Duesseldorf get off to a bad start in the third quarter?


We had four turnovers in this stretch and when you are already trailing, getting more turnovers wont help you get back into the game.

What were the biggest problems for the Gloria Giants Duesseldorf against Bremerhaven?


We were weak in the paint and we could of rebounded better.I think if we would have had a healthy Haynes and had a bit more hustle that we might have had better chances in this game. Lossing this game with so many new players is a normal thing and then against a top team like Bremerhaven. We have to digest this loss and just look ahead.I think once the whole team practices more we will become better.

Frankfurt lost a close game to Oldenburg 70-67. What was your reaction to this score?


It is no secret that Oldenburg is always strong at home. It will be hard for any team this eason to win in Oldenburg. Kamil Novak called me before our game and wished me luck, but we needed a miracle to win with a hurt Haynes. I also wished Kamil a lot of luck, but I guess it didnt help at the end.

What was the last DVD movie that you saw?


Salt with Angelina Jolie.

Thanks coach for chat.

Two new serbian centers in the 1. Regionalliga West - by Daniel Poerschke
Yesterday Nikola Bilos (208-F-85) and Marko Samanovic (206-C-85) had their debutes in the 1. Regionalliga West. Bilos is new at BG Hagen and Samanovic is new with TV Werne. But Bilos 19 Points was not enough to help his new team win againt Werne, where Samanovic had 17 Points in his first game. The final result was 63:81 for Werne. Hagen was playing without ill US star-center Adam Baumann (203-C/F-81, college: Youngstown St.). Mitar Trivunovic (196-G-77) top-scored with 25 Points for Werne.

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  GREECE   


Zalgiris shoot down Panathinaikos in Moscow - by Eurobasket News
Zalgiris - Panathinaikos 76:70

Zalgiris will play in the Alexander Gomelsky Cup Final. They held off Panathinaikos yesterday to reach the title game. The Kaunas team will take on hosting CSKA for the trophy. Panathinaikos will play against Partizan tonight.
Zalgiris did not wait for too long to surge in front. They limited the Greek side to just 11 points in the opening quarter and posted a 16:11 advantage at the first break. Panathinaikos could not get closer in the second term. Zalgiris stayed concentrated and determined as they posted a 39:30 halftime buffer. Things hardly changed after the main break. The Lithuanian team maintained the advantage playing aggressive defense. They ensured a 13-point advantage with ten minutes to go in regulation. Panathinaikos finally tuned up offensively in the fourth quarter. They Greek team unloaded 26 points but it was too late to save the encounter. Martynas Pocius (196-G-86, agency: Interperformances, college: Duke) stepped up with 17 points for Zalgiris. Travis Watson (203-F/C-81, college: Virginia) and Tomas Delininkaitis (192-G-82, agency: Interperformances) added 13 points apiece for the winners. Stratos Perperoglou (203-G/F-84) replied with 13 points for Panathinaikos. Andrew Nicholas (191-G-81, college: Maryland) accounted for 11 points in the loss.

Zalgiris: Martynas Pocius 17, Travis Watson 13, Tomas Delininkaitis 13
Panathinaikos: Stratos Perperoglou 13, Andrew Nicholas 11



Olympiacos: First and undefeated at Turkey - by Kostas Papadopoulos
Olympiacos finished the Bandirma tournament organized by Banvit and the coaches association of Turkey with a win, making the absolute in this tournament. The Reds edged Turk Telecom 86-76 and won the tournament.
Dusan Ivkovic (agency: Beo Basket ) team showed a serious profile from the beginning and starting from the defense, started building a security lead that was kept until the end. The Serbian head coach gave minutes to all the players and tried different rotations, watching them performing as planned.
Loukas Mavrokefalides (207-C-84) was named the tournament MVP and Thodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77, agency: FCM) won the trophy for passing the most assists.
Turk Telecom: Wesson 8, Safartzik 4, Hatziyeva 6, Basak 18, Karamoyikik, Sankaya 12, Gilstrap 4. Owens 5, Simpson 7, Ogut 2.
Olympiacos: Thodoros Papaloukas 4 (2 ass), Radoslav Nesterovic (212-C-76) 16 (8/11 2p.), Vassilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket) 12 (4 ass), Keselj 4, Loukas Mavrokefalides 14 (5/8 2p.), Glyniadakis 2, Nielsen 6, Kostas Papanikolaou (203-F/G-90) 15 (4/4 2p.), Milos Teodosic (195-G-87) 8 (6 ass), Halperin 2, Gordon 3.
After the end of the tournament, Milos Teodosic stated: 'The important thing is that we are becoming better in some part of the game every day, but we are not yet as good as we want and as we have to be. We still have two weeks ahead of us till the official games start in order to improve and become a team. But we still are not going to be as ready as required. This is going to happen in time. Efes is the most difficult opponent in these friendly games (referring to the last friendly game Olympiacos had to play on Sunday evening), both due to the team's dynamics and also due to circumstance: That is the constant travelling and the trip to Istanbul. We are going to measure our strength and mainly try to improve something more'.

On the second day of the tournament, the Reds easily took the win against Banvit 75-55 and advanced to the tournament final.
Olympiacos made an excellent start and led even by thirty points, finishing the first half with a double score (48-24). In the second half, the Reds began in a more relaxed rhythm against the hosts, but the yelling of Dusan Ivkovic (agency: Beo Basket ) quickly restored order.
Kostas Papanikolaou and Radoslav Nesterovic were the best for Olympiacos.
OLYMPIACOS (0/1 1p., 27/44 2p., 7/18 3p., 37-13 rebs, 19 turnovers, 23 ass., 4 steals, 2 blocks): Thodoros Papaloukas 5, Gordon 3, Keselj 2, Teodosic 8, Kostas Papanikolaou 15, Mavrokefalides 8, Glyniadakis 4, Nilsen 9, Nesterovic 11, Halperin 5, Vassilis Spanoulis 5
Banvit (12/19 1p., 17/43 2p., 3/17 3p., 15-7 rebs, 6 turnovers, 12 ass., 9 steals): Edge 3, Yildirim, Williams 11, Akpinar 10, Davis 14, Cinco, Turna, Golubovic 11, Turkyilmaz, Pacun 3, Ermis 3



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  HOLLAND   


DBL: Round Two review - by Eurobasket News
Eiff.Towers - Landstede 75-53
Eiffel Towers jumped to 2-0 after 75-53 home win against Landstede. Stefan Wessels (203-F-84, agency: R.H.Consultancy) was the leading player in victory with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Frank Turner (178-G-88, agency: Court Side, college: Canisius) followed with 11 pts and 8 assists. In the loosing squad (1-1), Harry Marshall (183-G-88, agency: Limelight Hoops, college: Indiana St.) had 15 points and 7 rebs.

Giants - GasTerra F. 81-88
First appearance for the GasTerra Flames this season in Eredivisie and the first victory. Jason Ellis (201-F-82, college: Boise St.) shined for the Groningen team with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Jesse Kimbrough (183-G-82, college: Jacksonville) responded with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the hosts. They dropped to 0-2.

BS Weert - ZZ Leiden 87-75
BS Weert celebrated last night, so both teams have 1-1 record now in Dutch top division. Glenn Stokes (170-G-76, college: American) came up with 28 points and 6 assists for the hosts. Trey McDowell (188-G-85, college: Louisiana Tech) scored 18 pts and dished out 7 assists. In defeat, Seamus Boxley (201-F-82, college: Portland St.) had double-double of 14 pts and 14 rebs (6 as).

Magixx - DeFriesland 96-94 OT
OT win for the Magixx who got 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists from Brian Laing (195-G/F-85, agency: Rogue Sports, college: Seton Hall). Zaire Taylor (193-G-86, agency: 540 Sports, college: Missouri) helped with 20 pts. On the other side, Todd Brown (196-G-87, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Wright St.) delivered 23 pts. Magixx 1-1, DeFriesland 1-1.

Rotterdam - ABC 60-66
1-1 for Amsterdam and 0-1 for Rotterdam after this meeting. Jessey Voorn (193-G-90, agency: R.H.Consultancy) came up with 18 points for the former champions. Mohammed Kherrazi (200-F-90, agency: R.H.Consultancy) added 12 pts and 8 rebs. Patrick Hilliman (206-F/C-82, agency: R.H.Consultancy, college: High Point) answered with 22 points and 9 boards for the hosts.

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  HUNGARY   


Pre-season games - by Tamas Deri
The team of Pecs played two friendly games vs. Zrejanin in Novi Sad this weekend.

1st of October 2010, Novi Sad
Zrejanin Pecsi VSK-PANNONPOWER 83-75
(22-20, 21-22, 16-17, 24-16)
Pecs: Glavinic 16/6, Muhammad El-Amin (196-G/F, college: Stony Brook) 15/3, Deak , Eilingsfeld 8, Cartelo 5, Toth 18, Gemes 4, Hosszu 7/3, Kiss K. 2, Kovacs P -, Coach: Ivica Mavrenski

2nd of October 2010, Novi Sad
Zrejanin Pecsi VSK-PANNONPOWER 93-68
(26-16, 18-12, 29-18, 20-22)
Pecs: Josip Glavinic (192-G-82) 20/3, Muhammad El-Amin 10, Deak , Eiligsfeld 10, Cartelo 10, Toth 13/3, Kiss K. 3, Gemes 1, Kovacs P. 1, Hosszu -, Coach: Ivica Mavrenski

There were even 5 other pre-sesaon games played in Hungary this weekend.
The team of NYKK had an easy home victory against Salgotarjan still playing without foreigners - as Robert Jarvis and Carl Mitchell arrived later to the country.
Coach Ivkovics Kecskemet had a very close game against newcomer club Szeged and won only by 2 points. ZTE KK invited MJUS-Fortress Kormend for a friendly game and won also by two points against the rival club playing without Bennet Davis, who will arrive on monday to teh club. Sopron had an easy win against Falco KC Szombathely missing Laszlo Kalman, Tibor Pankar, Csaba Borszeki. Even Charles Gosa got injured during the game and some other players were in foul trouble, so it was even hard for the guests to finish the game. Albacomp eliminated ASE in their own arena last night lead by american rookies Tony Crocker (201-G/F-87, agency: Impact Basketball, college: Oklahoma) and Damian Hollis (203-F-88, college: George Washington). Crocker scored 27 points and played again an amazing defensive, Damian Hollis had a double-double with 26 points and more than 10 rebounds coming from the bench.

Marso-Vagp NYKK Salgotarjani KSE 102-58
(29-5, 23-18, 24-16, 26-19)
NYKK: Savic 12, Stojakovic 14/6, Curtis Marshall (196-G/F-83, agency: R.H.Consultancy, college: Texas Tech) 18, Sitku 5/3, Jozsef Lekli (206-F/C-87) 20, Czigler 6, Szarvas 2, Nagy K. 10/3, Mondzinger 9/3, Siska -, Helmeczi -, Varga M. 6, Coach: Ferenczi Tamas
SKSE: Balaton 9/6, Kocsis -, Sebok 5/3, Koma 6, Hartvich 10/6, Gal K. 6, Kiss K. -, Szabo Z. 9/3, Komaromi 4, Vavra 5, Meszaros R. 4, Coach: Soos Gabor

Kis-Raba Menti Takarek - Soproni KC - Falco-SZOVA KC Szombathely 81-67
(23-14, 17-20, 25-15, 16-28)
Sopron: Kelley 12, Charles Brooks (191-G-82, college: Niagara) 15/9, Molnar A. 11/3, Szabo Zs. 10, Darian Townes (208-F/C-84) 18, Halmai 4, Pojbics -, Keresztes 9, Gombas 2, Ugaros -, Coach: Meszlenyi Robert
Falco: Simon -, Gilbert 6, Hajmasy 8/6, Gosa 10, Mikalai Aliakseyeu (212-C-78, college: Buffalo) 25, Will 2, Szanati 8, Harazin 8, Coach: Nikola Lazic

T.O.M.Controll-KSE - Del-Konstrukt SZTE-Szedeak 78-76
(14-21, 23-16, 15-20, 26-19)
Kecskemet: LaGrange 11, Csabay 10, Denes 5/3, Orsulic 13/6, Bencze 6, Csorvasi 7, Ivan Siriscevic (198-G/F-87) 20/9, Lakatos 6/3, Coach: Stojan Ivkovic
Szeged: Vida 10, Rubin 12, Zsolt Kiss (195-F-79, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 15/9, Dukic 14, Bryson McKenzie (211-C-83, college: N.Illinois) 16, Nyilas 9/6, Molnar M. -, Simandi -, Meszaros -, Coach: Fodor Peter

Zalakeramia ZTE KK MJUS-Fortress Kormend 80-78
(21-18, 19-15, 25-30, 15-15)
ZTE: Williams 14, Vojvoda 6, Tamas Kaman (200-F/G-79, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 16/12, Wilson 7, Adam Toth (208-F/C-89, agency: FCM) 18, Kinter 3, Gaspar 5/3, Baki 8/6, Toth G. 1, Vertetics 2, Coach: Volgyi Peter
Kormend: Marcus Moore (198-G-80, college: Washington St.) 20, Ferencz 14/12, Fodor G. -, Bell 19/6, David 6, Trummer 6/6, Sonyak -, Boldizsar 2, Andras Rujak (187-G-88) 11, Hegedus -, Coach: Sabali Balazs

Atomeromu SE - Albacomp 58:102
(12:25, 11:19, 16:26,19:32)
ASE: Kovacs 11/6, Pavlik 12/9, Winters 12/6, Johnson 9/3, Sales 5, Morgen 7/3, Kortelyesi 2, Horti -, Toth -, Coach: Horvath Imre
Albacomp: Simon 6, Hanga 7/3, Tony Crocker 27/12, Keller 7, Jonathan Jones (211-C-79) 18/3, Damian Hollis 26/9, Madar 10/6, Bodi -, Keller V. -, Somogyfoki -, Debrody 1, Coach: Branislav Dzunic

Pecs is testing two croatian players - by Tamas Deri
The management of Pecs decided to invite two croatian players on a tryout. Josip Glavinic (192-G-82) might be the new playmaker of coach Mavrenskis team. The 192 cm tall, 28 years old Glavinic played many years with Dubrovnik and one-one season with Rijeka and Cedevita Zagreb before getting his first contract outside of Croatia with MBK Handlova in Slovakia last season. He got voted to the player of the year averaging 20.5ppg, 4.5rpg, 6.8apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 50.5%, 3PT: 34.9%, FT: 76.6% in 44 games of the Extraliga.

Ivan Cartelo (208-C-79, college: Purdue) might be the new center of the club. The 208 cm tall Croatian big man started his carreer on high level NCAA teams as Notre Dame and Purdue before getting home to Croatia. He played in the Adriatic League with KK Split, than he moved to Bosnia and finished the same season with Oberwart Gunners in Austria. The season 2007-08 he spent with KK Dubrava Zagreb in Croatia averaging 11.0 points and 8.7 rebounds in 30 games. After that he moved to Greece playing for KAO Dramas in the Greek 2nd league and got to a key player of his club. In the last season he step in 30 games on the court and helped his team with 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.


*****************************************************
  ICELAND   


Latest import signing - by Siggi Hjorleifsson
Here are the latest import signing in Iceland Express league.

KR have sign Marcus Walker (186-G-86, agency: Strategic Sports) 6'1' shooting guard out of Colorado State 2009. Average 17,1 points as a senior. Said to be good defender.
Snaefell added on their third import player in Latvian guard/forward Lauris Mizis (196-F-89)
Fjolnir did sign Ben Stywall (196-F-87, agency: Strategic Sports, college: NC-Greensboro)l 6'5' forward out of UNC Greensboro where he average 14,3 points and 10,4 rebounds last season
Tindastoll sign Josh Rivers (183-G-87, college: W.Illinois) 6'0' guard out of Western Illinois 2009 where he average 9,8 point as a senior
IR sign Lithuanian point guard/ shooting guard Karolis Marcinkevicius (187-G-83)

*****************************************************
  IRELAND   


Standings - EBS Superleague
SuperLeague Standings
North Conference
 1. Killester 1-0 
 2. DCU Saints 0-0 
 3. Belfast Star 0-1 
 4. UCD Marian 0-1 
 5. Ulster Elks 0-1 
South Conference
 1. Neptune 1-0 
 2. UCC Demons 1-0 
 3. UL Eagles 1-0 
 4. Moycullen 0-1 


*****************************************************
  ITALY   


Standings - Lega 2
Lega2 Standings
 1. Aget IM 1-0 
 2. Barcellona 1-0 
 3. Carmatic PT 1-0 
 4. Fastweb CM 1-0 
 5. Forli 1-0 
 6. Scafati Basket 1-0 
 7. Trenkwalder 1-0 
 8. Umana Reyer 1-0 
 9. Assigeco 0-1 
 10. Immobiliare SR 0-1 
 11. Jesi 0-1 
 12. N.Ferrara 0-1 
 13. Prima Veroli 0-1 
 14. San Severo 0-1 
 15. Snaidero UD 0-1 
 16. Tezenis Verona 0-1 


Lega2 Round: 1 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Jesi - Trenkwalder 75-79
Trenkwalder eked out a tough road win over Jesi. Robert Fultz (190-G-82, agency: Interperformances) top-scored with 26 points for the visitors. Romel Beck (203-G/F-82, agency: Interperformances, college: UNLV) added 22 points for the Reggio Emilia team. Michele Maggioli (212-C-77) produced 19 points and 6 rebounds for Jesi in the loss.

Forli - Tezenis Verona 85-75
Lorenzo Gordon unloaded 30 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead Forli past Tezenis Verona. Francesco Foiera (207-C-75, agency: Interperformances) had 20 points to his name. A.J. Abrams (180-G-86, college: Texas) answered with 22 points for Tezenis Verona.

Carmatic PT - Immobiliare SR 61-57
Carmatic Pistoia opened the season with a home win over Rimini. Janis Porzingis (201-F-82, agency: Stanley International) scored 16 points to lead the hosts. Ariel Filloy (190-G-87, agency: Interperformances) added 15 points for the winners. Rimini replied with 15 points from Terrence Roderick (195-G/F-88, agency: Interperformances, college: UAB). Quadre Lollis (200-F/C-73, college: Montana St.) notched 10 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

Scafati Basket - San Severo 76-65
Scafati Basket held off San Severo at home court in the opener. Ronald Davis (190-G-82, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee) accounted for 22 points for Scafati Basket. Roberto Chiacig (210-C-74) contributed 17 points and 11 caroms in the winning effort. Myles McKay (191-G-86, college: WiscKing.-Whitew.) answered with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for San Severo.

Assigeco - Fastweb CM 59-72
Fastweb Casale cruised past Assigeco Lodi on the road. Tommaso Fantoni (203-F-85, agency: Players Group) nailed 13 points to lead the visitors. Matteo Malaventura (196-G-78) and Giancarlo Ferrero (194-G/F-88, agency: Players Group) had 11 points apiece for Fastweb Casale. Paul Marigney (192-G-82, college: St.Mary's, CA) accounted for 16 points for Lodi.

Barcellona - Snaidero UD 83-67
Sigma Barcellona celebrated the first win in the season as they toppled Snaidero Udine. Joseph Crispin (186-G-79, agency: Interperformances, college: Penn St.) fired 21 points to pace Sigma Barcellona. Michael Hicks (193-G-76, college: Texas A&M - C.C.) added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the winners. Gerald Lee (208-F-87, college: ODU) delivered 14 points for Snaidero in the loss.

N.Ferrara - Aget IM 71-76
Aget Imola knocked down Ferrara on the road. Trent Whiting (185-G-76, college: BYU) was pivotal with 28 points. Ndudi Ebi (206-F-84, agency: Priority Sports, college: Arizona) and Martin Ringstrom (206-F-81, agency: Rasmussen Services) added 13 points each for Aget Imola. Jermaine Boyette (188-G-78, agency: SportsTalent, college: Weber St.) replied with 20 points for Ferrara in the loss.

Prima Veroli - Umana Reyer 65-74
Kiki Clark (173-G-84, college: St.Peter's) drained 33 points to lead Umana Reyer to the opening win in the season. They shot down Prima Veroli as Alvin Young (189-G-75, college: Niagara) added 15 points. Scottie Reynolds (188-G-87, college: Villanova) was responsible for 17 points in defeat.



Casale Monferrato start his season with a win in Lodi - by Michele Berra
Fastweb Junior Casale Monferrato begins the regular season with the road victory on the hard court of Assigeco Banca Popolare di Lodi, with a score of 59-72. Excellent defensive performance of the Junior, during the first three quarters, gave only 34 points to the home team.
Good shots and even distribution of points: only Matteo Malaventura (196-G-78) and Tommaso Fantoni (203-F-85, agency: Players Group) have played more than 30 minutes and nine of the the players of Casale Monferrato have scored at least a basket. Only during the last quarter Assigeco with the latest energy trying to back into the game also coming under the double digits; Casale, however, with focus and maturity close the match.

This is the complete boxscore of the game:

ASSIGECO CASALPUSTERLENGO: Boykin 13, Venuto 5, Bertolazzi, Cerella 15, Castelli 2, Ferri dnp, Szabo 6, Chiumenti, Banti 2, Marigney 16. Coach: Calvani.

FASTWEB CASALE: Matteo Malaventura 11, Gentile 3, Hickman 7, Nnamaka 6, Pierich 8, Masciadri, Taylor 9, Chiotti 4, Tommaso Fantoni 13, Ferrero 11. Coach.: Crespi


NBA Europe Live report: Armani Jeans Milano 113-125 New York Knicks - by Eurobasket News
Two historic clubs met for the first time to open 2010 NBA Europe Live by putting on a show for fans in Milan, Italy on Sunday night as the New York Knicks outlasted Armani Jeans Milano 125-113 before as sellout crowd of 10,672 at Mediolanum Forum. What was a close game late in the third quarter turned New York's way early in the fourth, and though Milano came within 101-109 late, that was as close as the hosts would get to taste victory. Amare Stoudemire (208-F-82, agency: Rogue Sports), the biggest addition for the Knicks over the summer, was unstoppable for the guests, with 32 points on 10-for-13 two-point shooting and 11-for-13 at the foul line. Hometown favorite Danilo Gallinari (205-G/F-88, agency: Players Group) followed with 24 points, including 5 three-pointers. For Milano, its own newcomer, Oleksiy Pecherov (212-C-85), gave the home fans plenty to like with 23 points off the bench. Jonas Maciulis (198-G/F-85, agency: Interperformances) added 18 points for Milano, while Ibby Jaaber had 16, Stefano Mancinelli and David Hawkins (193-G-82, college: Temple) 11 each. The next NBA Europe Live game involving a Turkish Airlines Euroleague team will feature Regal FC Barcelona hosting the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in a meeting of the champions of each competition.

A right hook of Marijonas Peravicius gave an early 6-3 advantage to Milano that was immediatey tied from beyond the arc by Gallinari. Another long-distance shot by Tyson Chandler put New York ahead 6-9. After Jaaber stole and assisted Mancinelli for an open-court dunk, Ronny Turiaf completed a three-point play to put New York up 8-12. Amare Stoudemireand Chandler extended the difference to 9-16 halfway through the quarter, but the Lithuanian duo of Petravicius and Maciulis scored twice in the paint to keep Milano close at 13-16. Six points in a row from Gallinari on either side of a mid-range jumper by Oleksiy Pecherov for Milano kept New York in front by 15-24, its high lead so far. Hawkins and Mason Rocca bot Milano back within 21-24, before Randolph and Mordente exchanged free throws for a 23-26 lead for New York after 12 minutes.

Mancinelli opened the second quarter by scoring a layup to keep Milano close. Marco Mordente and Oleksiy Pecherov climbed off the bench ready, nailing back-to-back three-pointers to keep the hosts within 32-33. That's when Jaaber stole two consecutive balls and converted both to give Milano a 36-33 advantage. More good defense from Rocca allowed Mordente to score an easy layup and the additional free throw, extending the margin to 39-34. Douglas stopped several minutes for New York with the easy layup in the open court, Maciulis downed a turnaround jumper for Milano, and then Gallinari from downtown scored to close the gap to 41-39. An astonishing dunk by Amare Stoudemire tied the score at 43, Oleksiy Pecherov and Felton exchanged baskets and New York pulled ahead 48-50 on the latter's additional free throw. Amare Stoudemire then scored 7 late points to secure a 52-58 halftime lead for the visitors.

Hawkins opened the scoring in the third quarter as Milano got within 54-58, but then a 6-0 run for the Knicks gave them a double-digit cushion, 54-64. Back-to-back triples from Maciulis reduced the gap to 60-66. Gallinari with two free throws regained a 60-70 margin but Petravicius and Jaaber answered immediately for Milano. Felton then went to the rim to fix a 64-72 lead for New York with 5:53 left in the third quarter. Oleksiy Pecherov and Amare Stoudemire exchanged three-pointers, Petravicius scored a layup in traffic as Milano stayed close at 69-75. Oleksiy Pecherov kept getting stronger with a slam before Mancinelli bagged a shot from downtown at 76-82. After big man Timofey Mozgov scored a reverse layup to keep New York ahead by 76-84, Oleksiy Pecherov kept Milano in the game from beyond the arc. Or so it seemed. Chandler responded with a pair of mid-range jumpers and Roger Mason buried a long-distance strike as New York surged ahead 79-91 at the end of three quarters.

To open the final quarter, Billy Walker also landed a three-porter to give the Knicks the largest margin until then, 79-94. Anthony Randolph added two driving baskets before his dunk broke the game open at 82-102 early in the quarter. Consecutive steals and easy points from Hawkins and Jaaber made it 92-109, then Milano climbed to within 101-109 with Jaaber finishing from downtown a 13-0 run. But Gallinari appeared again from long distance and an alley-oop dunk for Randolph put the victory on ice for the Knicks with 3 minutes left.
Courtesy of: Euroleague.net

*****************************************************
  JAPAN   


Standings - JBL
JBL Standings
 1. Toshiba 5-1 
 2. Aishin 4-2 
 3. Tochigi Brex 4-2 
 4. Toyota 4-2 
 5. Hitachi S. 3-3 
 6. Hokkaido 2-4 
 7. Panasonic 2-4 
 8. Mitsubishi 0-6 


Stats Leaders - JBL Superleague
Points Per Game
 Ryan FOREHAN-KELLY
  Aishin
  (197-F/G-80)
  Avg: 20.5
 1. Forehan-K., Aishin20.5 
 2. Kawamura, Tochigi .19.7 
 3. Sakuragi, Aishin18.7 
 4. Maraker, Hokkaido18.0 
 5. Orimo, Hokkaido17.5 
 6. Takeuchi, Aishin16.8 
 7. Merritt, Tochigi Brex16.4 
 8. Takeuchi, Hitachi S.16.2 
 9. Kikuchi, Toshiba15.7 
 10. Lett, Mitsubishi15.0 
Rebounds Per Game
 Joji TAKEUCHI
  Hitachi S.
  (206-C-85)
  Avg: 15.7
 1. Takeuchi, Hitachi S.15.7 
 2. Takeuchi, Aishin12.5 
 3. Gibbs, Toyota8.8 
 4. Maraker, Hokkaido8.6 
 5. Hale, Mitsubishi8.4 
 6. Custis, Panasonic8.3 
 7. Sakuragi, Aishin8.0 
 8. Holcomb, Tochigi Brex6.4 
 9. Violette, Toshiba6.3 
 10. Takahashi, Toyota6.2 
Assists Per Game
 Hidenori KASHIWAKURA
  Hokkaido
  (174-G-80)
  Avg: 6
 1. Kashiwakura, Hokka.6.0 
 2. Nishimura, Hitachi S.4.7 
 3. Igarashi, Mitsubishi4.6 
 4. Kashiwagi, Aishin4.3 
 5. Sakurai, Hokkaido3.8 
 6. Yamada, Hokkaido3.8 
 7. Kinoshita, Panasonic3.8 
 8. Sakuragi, Aishin3.5 
 9. Tabuse, Tochigi .3.4 
 10. Miyanga, Toshiba2.8 
Steals Per Game
 Shinsuke KASHIWAGI
  Aishin
  (183-G-81)
  Avg: 2.2
 1. Kashiwagi, Aishin2.2 
 2. Sakurai, Hokkaido1.8 
 3. Hirose, Panasonic1.7 
 4. Kikuchi, Toshiba1.7 
 5. Forehan-K., Aishin1.5 
 6. Igarashi, Mitsubishi1.4 
 7. Hale, Mitsubishi1.4 
 8. Kashiwakura, Hokka.1.4 
 9. O''Bannon, Toshiba1.3 
 10. Sato, Hitachi S.1.3 
Blocks Per Game
 Ontario LETT
  Mitsubishi
  (198-F-79)
  Avg: 2
 1. Lett, Mitsubishi2.0 
 2. Takeuchi, Hitachi S.1.7 
 3. Yamada, Hokkaido1.4 
 4. Takeuchi, Aishin1.3 
 5. Maraker, Hokkaido1.2 
 6. Aono, Panasonic1.2 
 7. Takahashi, Toyota1.0 
 8. Ricci, Toyota1.0 
 9. Hale, Mitsubishi1.0 
 10. Holcomb, Tochigi Brex0.8 


JBL Round: 6 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Toshiba - Toyota 58-83
Toshiba lost to Toyota 58:83 as the latter became the first team to upset the league-leaders. Takeki Shonaka (180-G-84) led the way with 18 points, while Gibbs Jeff followed him with 16 points and 14 rebounds. O'Bannon Charles ended up with 13 points in the losing effort.

Hitachi S. - Panasonic 72-67
Hitachi edged Panasonic 72:67 at the Regular Season Round 6. Daisuke Kobayashi (189-G-87) poured in 14 points and Aboya Alfred netted 13. Five players scored double figures for the Trians as Hirose Kenta paced them all with 15.

Mitsubishi - Hokkaido 83-90
Trailing 16 points at the halftime Hokkaido grabbed valuable 90:83 win over Mitsubishi. Ryota Sakurai (194-G-83) and Christian Maraker (206-F-82, college: Pacific) erupted with 29 points for the winners and Ayer Chris netted 13. Lett Ontario delivered 18 points in defeat.

Tochigi Brex - Aishin 73-67
Tochigi Brex beat Aishin 73:67 to hand them their second loss in the league. Randy Holcomb (204-F/C-79, agency: Edge Sports, college: San Diego St.) top-scored for the winners with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Takeda Ken and Tabuse Yuta netted 14 each. Forehan-Kelly Ryan replied with 23 points for Aishin.



Best players of Japanese JBL round 5 - by Eurobasket News
Experienced naturalized American center J.R. Sakuragi (206-C-76) had an amazing evening in the last round for league's second-best Aishin Sea Horses and that's him to receive a Asia-basket.com Player of the Week award for round 5.
The 34-year old center had the game-high 24 points adding nine rebounds and four assists for Aishin in his team's victory, helping them to beat Tochigi Brex (#3, 3-2) 84-69. The game was between two of the league's top four teams. Aishin maintains the 2nd position in American JBL. They are still close to the very top. Aishin would have been even better if they kept winning the games like in the last round. They have a solid 4-1 record. Sakuragi has many years of experience at Aishin, through which he has constantly improved. Univ.of Calif.at Los Angeles graduate has very impressive stats this year. Sakuragi is in league's top in points (3rd best: 19.4ppg), rebounds (4th best: 8.6rpg), assists (7th best: 3.6apg) and averages solid 61.5% FGP.

The second most remarkable performance in last round's games was 33-year old American forward Ron Hale (203-F-77) of Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins. Hale impressed basketball fans with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds. Bad luck as Mitsubishi was edged in overtime by slightly higher-ranked Hokkaido (#7, 1-4) 83-79. Mitsubishi are still at the very bottom. 5 lost games is too many considering they did not win any game. Hale is well-known by Mitsubishi fans and he already established his position as the team's most reliable player.

The third best performed player last round was another Aishin Sea Horses' star - former international Kosuke Takeuchi (205-C/F-85). Takeuchi scored 18 points and grabbed eighteen rebounds (!!!). He was another key player of Aishin, helping his team with a 84-69 easy win against #3 ranked Tochigi Brex in a game of the week. Aishin is closer and closer to the top of the standings. They will still need more victories. But 4-1 record is not that bad... Takeuchi has a great season in Japan. After only 5 games, he made it on the list of the league's leaders in points with 18.4ppg (4th best) and rebounds with 13.2rpg (#1 in league).

Other top performing players last week:
4. Daiji Yamada (200-C-81) of Hokkaido - 18 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists
5. Takehiko Orimo (190-G-70) of Hokkaido - 21 points and 4 rebounds
6. Yuta Tabuse (173-G-80) of Tochigi Brex - 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists
7. Daisuke Noguchi (196-F-83) of Hokkaido - 20 points and 3 rebounds
8. Randy Holcomb (204-F/C-79) of Tochigi Brex - 15 points and 6 rebounds
9. Jeff Gibbs (188-F-80) of Toyota - 10 points and 11 rebounds
10. Joji Takeuchi (206-C-85) of Hitachi S. - 8 points, 16 rebounds and 2 assists

*****************************************************
  KUWAIT   


Watson joins Al Kuwait - by Ali Ahmed
Al Kuwait SC came up with important signing for the this season. The kuwaity outfit inked a one-year deal with the American guard Boney Watson (183-G, college: Sam Houston St.).

Awards/Achievements:
Columbia High Schools All Century Team
Southland Conference Champions -00
All-Southland Conference Team -00
Qatar Emir Cup Semifinals -06
Qatar Regular Season Championship Finals 06
Qatar Heir Apparent Cup Finals - 06
Arab Club Championships -07 (quarterfinals), 10
Asia-basket.com All-arab Club Championships 2nd Team -07
Gulf Club Championships Winner -08
Asia-basket.com All-asian Club Championships Honorable Mention -08
Qatari D1 regular Season Champion -09
Qatar Heir Apparent Cup Champion -09
Gulf Club Championship Semifinals -09
Qatar Emir Cup Winner -09, 10 (MVP)
Qatar League Champion -09
Qatar League Regular Season Runner-Up -10
Qatar League Finalist -10



*****************************************************
  LEBANON   


Latest Transactions and updates... Three weeks to go - by Rabih Khoury
Just three weeks before the tip-off of the Lebanese Basketball league on the 24th , the transactions and player market is going wild.Imports are arriving one after the other, and Lebanese players are trying to get their best offer to sign.
Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut got Tony Williams (202-F-78, agency: ACMT, college: Louisville) and Lonnie Cooper (193-G-76, college: Louisiana Tech. But the latest news is that the team is negotiating a very high level center from Puerto Rico who may sign soon with the team.
The runner-ups, Champville signed Rammel Allen (210-C-79, college: Bridgeport) and Jasmon Youngblood (195-G-84, college: Kent St.) that arrived to Lebanon yesterday and will start their practice with the team on monday.
Al Moutahed Tripoli signed coach Coughter Paul , and decided to have Omari Peterkin (204-F/C-83, college: Boston U.) and Courtney Pigram (185-G-85, college: E.Tenn.St.).
Sagesse - Al Hekmeh Beirut situation is getting clearer. After several try outs for Frans Steyn and Brandon Mason (194-G/F-81, college: N.Mexico St.), Sagesse - Al Hekmeh Beirut released both and now have Anthony Danridge (196-G/F-86, college: N.Mexico) and Thompson Garnett (207-F/C-80, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Providence). Also the team is in serious negotiations with an X-NBA player who may sign soon.
Hoops Club signed the french coach Hugues Occansey , and foreigners Tony Murphy (193-G-86, agency: Rice and Rice, college: Norfolk St.) and Eryk Thomas (200-C-85, college: E.Tenn.St.) .
Anibal Zahle signed with coach Toni Vujanic . As for the foreigners, the team signed with Trayvon Lathan (201-G-84, college: Chowan Univ.) and Marcus Fleming (204-F-78, college: Alcorn St.).
Antranik Beirut signed with coach Aaron Mitchell and their two foreigners arrived and started practicing. They are Arizona Reid (196-F-86, college: High Point) and Jason Johnson (201-F-86, college: S.Carolina St.)
Kahraba Zouk situation is still very strange. The team didn't sign any player yet. The coach is still Toni Khalil.
Byblos the new comers from D2 signed Calvin Warner (201-F-80, college: Jacksonville) and Brandon Mason.
Haouch El-Oumara, also the new comers from D2 are still working to sign their new coach and players. Nothing is official yet.

Also to note that their will two friendly tournaments. the first one is Sharjah Tournament from October 6 till 15. Champville and Sagesse - Al Hekmeh Beirut are participating in it. Also Houssam-Din Hariri Tournament in Beiruth from October 15 till 23. Sagesse - Al Hekmeh Beirut and Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut reprensts Lebanon


Another Ex-NBA in Lebanon...Sagesse inks Dermarr Johnson - by Rabih Khoury
After try outs for several players failed, Sagesse - Al Hekmeh Beirut management found the right choice... Yes it is DerMarr Johnson (206-G-80, college: Cincinnati). The experienced player will have his first complete year in the middle east after playing for short time last year in Asian Club Championship with Al-Hilal from KSA where he averaged 22.3ppg, 6.7rpg, 3.6apg, 2.3spg, 1.4bpg and was the league second scorer. Dermarr had a very big NBA experience where he played for Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns,New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets... Also he had many years playing in the NBDL as well as Italy, Puerto Rico and China.

Dermarr will arrive on tuesday night to Lebanon to join the Green Castle...

Caughter with Mouttahed and Vujanic to Anibal - by Maarouf Mawloud
By Maarouf Mawloud

Before three weeks from the beginning of the championship,Mouttahed Tripoli signed officially coach Coughter Paul who has a big coaching experience in many countries as Germany,Greece,Bahrain,Kuwait,Taiwan,Belgium,Finland,South Africa,Scotland,Pakistan,India,USA,China and specially in LEBANON.
Coach Paul is a certified FIBA expert (since 1990) and has conducted coaching clinics around the world for FIBA and the Olympic Solidarity Program as well as for Sports America, WABA,the NBA and the Asian Basketball Confederation. Coach Paul has been consulted by virtually every NBA team regarding international players as well for evaluations on the development of US players competing overseas.

As for Anibal Zahle,and after the problem between Mouttahed and Coach Toni Vujanic ...Vujanic has decided to be the head coach of Anibal Zahle this afternoon after the confirmation of President Ahmad Safadi. (Anibal Zahle signed Mourad Barakat 3 days ago but they released him directly when the negotiations with Vujanic had started)


*****************************************************
  LIBYA   


AL-Naser club signed with new players - by Wasim Baruni
Mustafa Niang: Senegalese citizen born in 1983 and high caliber play at the World Cup in Japan with the Senegal team and get a couple of days for the title of best player in the match length of 2.6M and plays in two and struck first is characterized by triple penetrations...Mezi Noico: nigerian nationality born in 1988 obtained the best defense in the NCAA play in the center of the U.S. playmaker and a very high caliber.

Joseph Mbang signed with champoin Ahly bengize - by Wasim Baruni
Joseph Mbang was born on November 1, 1985 Height: 198cm / 6'6'' Position: Forward Career 2001-2004 Inter-Clube de Luanda (Angola) 2004-2005: Monroe CC
:2005-2008 (Rhode Island (NCAA) 2009: Recreativo's Libolo (Angola-D1)...During the 2004-2005...During the 2004-05 season, played in 32 games...Averaged 12.7 points 2006-2007 33 games: 8.4ppg, 4.3rpg, FGP: 41.6%, 3Pts: 39.3%, FT: 69.8% 2007-2008 31 games: 6.3ppg, 4.1rpg, FGP: 41.1%, 3Pts: 27.0%, FT: 68.9%


*****************************************************
  LITHUANIA   


Zalgiris shoot down Panathinaikos in Moscow - by Eurobasket News
Zalgiris - Panathinaikos 76:70

Zalgiris will play in the Alexander Gomelsky Cup Final. They held off Panathinaikos yesterday to reach the title game. The Kaunas team will take on hosting CSKA for the trophy. Panathinaikos will play against Partizan tonight.
Zalgiris did not wait for too long to surge in front. They limited the Greek side to just 11 points in the opening quarter and posted a 16:11 advantage at the first break. Panathinaikos could not get closer in the second term. Zalgiris stayed concentrated and determined as they posted a 39:30 halftime buffer. Things hardly changed after the main break. The Lithuanian team maintained the advantage playing aggressive defense. They ensured a 13-point advantage with ten minutes to go in regulation. Panathinaikos finally tuned up offensively in the fourth quarter. They Greek team unloaded 26 points but it was too late to save the encounter. Martynas Pocius (196-G-86, agency: Interperformances, college: Duke) stepped up with 17 points for Zalgiris. Travis Watson (203-F/C-81, college: Virginia) and Tomas Delininkaitis (192-G-82, agency: Interperformances) added 13 points apiece for the winners. Stratos Perperoglou (203-G/F-84) replied with 13 points for Panathinaikos. Andrew Nicholas (191-G-81, college: Maryland) accounted for 11 points in the loss.

Zalgiris: Martynas Pocius 17, Travis Watson 13, Tomas Delininkaitis 13
Panathinaikos: Stratos Perperoglou 13, Andrew Nicholas 11



BC Siauliai adds Herring to their roster - by Eurobasket
BC Siauliai added to their roster 24-year old American swingman Jaycen Herring (196-G/F-86, college: SE Missouri St.). Herring played most recently at Paulistano/Amil Sao Paolo (Brazil). Herring played also pro basketball in Qatar and Syria. It will be his first year in Europe and 2nd professional season overall. In the first game for Siauliai in Baltic League (tehy beat Nevezis) he played 25 minutes scoring just 4 points and adding 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

By Eurobasket Data Center

*****************************************************
  LUXEMBOURG   


DBBL to open season 10-11 this weekend in Luxembourg!!! Di Bartholomeo no longer Soleuvre coach!! - by John Thomas
It has been announced that Andre Di Bartolomeo is no longer the coach of Soleuvre. Apparently, Di Bartholomeo had to stop coaching because of problems with his back. Soleuvre has not yet announced a successor.

The DBBL season is going to start this weekend in Luxembourg. Make sure to come back and often to http://www.eurobasket.com/Luxembourg/basketball.asp to read pre-season capsules on each team in the DBBL along with comments from coaches, players and club officials.

The first round looks like this:

On Saturday, October 2nd, Black Star Mersch will host Amicale Steinsel and T71 will host Residence of Walferdange. Both games begin
at 20:30.

Black Star Mersch was surprisingly brought up to the DBBL last seaon by veteran Coach Paul Missavage, now an assistant coach at Etzella along with Amadeo Dias. Black Star's former American Billy Arre (196-F-86, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Lock Haven) is now playing for BBC Nitia in National 2 and Captain Pit Hoffmann left for Amicale in Steinsel. Black Star Mersch will struggle this season to win against the top teams and needs to have a remarkable season to keep from going back down to N2. Their former American player Billy McDaniel is back and the new coach is Mike Smith. Sharp shooter Jerome Hansen retired, but Black star added Mike Schumacher from Arlon, experienced veteran forward Jeff Kirsch and guard Tom Rausch of Amicale.

Amicale is led by head coach Kresimir Basic and American player Louis Birdsong of the George Mason Patriots. They have an extremely quick and very talented backcourt featuring Christian Schartz, Eric Jeitz, Raul Birenbaum, Christopher Jones and veterans Pit Hoffman and Olivier Haan. Inside they have Chris Scholtes and Michael Zianveni. They will also be expecting big things in the future from youngsters Alex Laurent and Ben Melcher. This is a highly motivated team that could win on any given night and could make the final four if things go their way.

Jan Enjebo is back for his third season at the helm at T71. Except for Martin Rajniak who left for Basket Esch, most of the team returns for the defending DBBL Champions of Dudelange. There will be more about T71 in the next days. Residence of Walferdange had nearly the same team back as last year. Head Coach Nikolaos Kontos returns with high scoring Marcus Kennedy. Marco Leschek 2'03' is a big threat in the middle and young Max Schmit a transfer from Heffingen will play a lot at the point. Residence also has Pit Koster to help with scoring. Our nod goes to T71 for the winner of the match due to their experience, depth and talent, Tom Schumacher, Frank Muller and company will repeat as a top contender for the title once again under Coach Enjebo's direction.

On Sunday, October 3rd, Soleuvre will host Contern (18:00), Sparta travels to Etzella (17:15) and Musel Pikes will open at Basket Esch (17:45).

Darko Ristic is the new coach at Contern who lost five key players in Gilles Becker, Eric Jeitz, Ken Diederich, Dave Schroeder and Yves Braun. Brandon Gary is back in the middle. Newcomer Armel Milango and Sven Pezzotta will replace the guard spots. Contern also a dded a pair of players from BBC Nitia in steve Kuhlman and tom Kaiser. They will be better than most think and win this opening match at Soleuvre. Contern is our pick for 'Dark Horse' of the DBBL.

Soleuvre seeks a new coach but will always be tough at home with Domonique Crawford, Christian Weisen and David Barthle inside. Musel Pikes and National Team Coach Frank Baum replaced Jeremy Buttell with 27 year old Trenton Wurtz, an experienced 2'03' center who played recently in New Zealand. They also have Guy Schmitz and Laurent Schwartz in the back court and centers Tom Schmitz and Thomas Wojnowski in the paint.

Basket Esch, just up from National 2, is stacked. During the off-season, they picked up veteran guard Ken Deiderich from Contern and Martin Rajniak from & 71. 2nd year head Coach Franck Meriguet also has American John Reimold, Christophe Donnersbach and European pivot player Stefan Svitek. Youngsters Joe Biewer and Alex Rodenbourg will also play important roles. Look for Basket Esch to be very strong and contend for one of the top four spots.

Defending Cup Champion and Larrie Smith have another tough squad. Former coach Olaf Stoltz is back Doug Marty, their Head Coach from last year is now holding the reins at Etzella. Veteran guards Patrick Arbaut, Tom Wagner and Julien Hublart are all scoring threats. They replaced Phil Grant with big man Cory Abercromie out of Pittsburgh State to do damage inside with scoring and rebounding. Sparta picked up Dean Gindt from Racing and have some depth with Xavier Engel and Rene Wolzfeld.

Doug Marty has the talented Dustin Scott finally healthy again after some pre-season woes. Captain Neslon DelGado is in good early season form with vererans Tim Giver and Jairo DelGado also at guard spots. Raphael Albaladejo and Pit Hoffmann will share time in the post. Veteran forward Cedric Schroeder is healthy again and Christian Wulff is a solid point guard who will try to be ready by January of 2011 to add some depth. Youngster Gilles Polfer will bring some lift when he is in better health. This match is a toss up with Etzella having a slight edge due to the fact that they are playing at home.

Come back in the next days to take a detailed look at each of the ten teams in the DBBL and to read about the results of the first round.



*****************************************************
  MEXICO   


LNBP, Round 10: Halcones Xalapa joins Pioneros on top - by Eurobasket News
Soles - Jaguares 77-63
Soles outplayed Jaguares mostly owing to Kevin Kruger (186-G-83, college: UNLV), who drained 20 points. Anthony Pedroza (191-G-79, agency: Edge Sports, college: Oregon) also had very important role in this victory netting 18 pts. In the loosing squad, Jermaine Johnson (201-F-85, college: Charleston) shined with 20 points and 11 rebs. Soles 6-4, Jaguares 1-9.

Huracanes - Ola Verde 81-73
6-4 for Huracanes and 5-5 for Ola Verde after this game. Robert Hornsby (196-F/C, college: Troy) top-scored for Huracanes with 18 points. Aaron Eneas (202-F-78, agency: Promotex) collected 20 points and 5 rebounds in loss.

Abejas - Angeles 84-87
Jermaine Walker (198-F-77, college: Miami (FL)) and Luis Villaroel were the leading players in this victory with 31 and 29 points respectively. Beside that, they grabbed 14 rebounds together. In the loosing squad, Steve Monreal (180-G, college: Cal.St.-Monterey) collected 29 points and 6 boards. Angeles 8-2, Abejas 3-7.

Halc.Rojos - Lobos Grises 83-64
Fifth victory of the season for Halcones Rojos, whose top-scorer was Miguel Ayala (198-F/G-82, college: UTEP) with 17 pts. Jaime Lloreda (201-F/C-80, college: LSU) (9 rebs) and Carmelo Lee (201-F-77, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Long Beach St.) helped with 14 and 13 points respectively. In Lobos Grises, Myron Allen delivered 21 pts.

Halc.Xalapa - Algodoneros 90-84
Orlando Mendez-Valdez (185-G-86, college: W.Kentucky) was in a game mood last night helping Halcones Halapa with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Louis Roe (200-F-72, college: Massachusetts) followed closely with 22 pts and 8 boards. Lee Cook (208-C/F-80, college: Bowie St.) replied with 26 points in defeat. Halcones Xalapa joined Pioneros on top with almost perfect 9-1 record.

Potros - Panteras 86-74
Rafael Perez (193-G/F-82, agency: Paris Global Sports) paced Potros to fourth victory of the season. He spent 30 minutes on the court collecting 25 points and 8 rebounds. Ricardo Melendez (180-G-83) responded with 21 points in defeat.

Volcanes - Fuerza Regia 81-104
Tenth straight loss for Volcanoes and this time it was Fuerza Regia (7-3) who outplayed them. Michael Gale (193-G-82, college: Centenary) came up with 25 points and 7 rebounds for the winners. The hosts got 28 pts and 6 boards from Cheyenne Moore (198-G-84, college: Georgetown, KY).

Pioneros - Toros 88-96
Toros crushed Pioneros handing them first loss of the season. Ikechukwu Ofoegbu (205-F-85, agency: 011 Sports, college: SMU) shined for the winners with double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. He reached valuation 36. Nathan Brumfield (196-F-86, college: Oklahoma Baptist) was way better than the others in defeat with 33 pts and 7 rebs.

Lechugueros - Titanes 106-99 OT
5-5 for Lechugueros and 4-6 for Titanes after this meeting. Ricky Johns (193-G-85, college: Utah) exploded offensively last night with 35 points. He also had 6 rebounds and 7 assists beside that. In Titanes, Salomon Angounou (202-F-83, agency: Union Sports, college: Arizona St.) collected 24 points and 14 rebs.

Standings - LNBP
LNBP Standings
 1. Halc.Xalapa 9-1 
 2. Pioneros 9-1 
 3. Angeles 8-2 
 4. Toros 8-2 
 5. Fuerza Regia 7-3 
 6. Huracanes 6-4 
 7. Soles 6-4 
 8. Halc.Rojos 5-5 
 9. Lechugueros 5-5 
 10. Lobos Grises 5-5 
 11. Ola Verde 5-5 
 12. Algodoneros 4-6 
 13. Potros 4-6 
 14. Titanes 4-6 
 15. Abejas 3-7 
 16. Jaguares 1-9 
 17. Panteras 1-9 
 18. Volcanes 0-10 


*****************************************************
  NBA   


NBA Europe Live report: Armani Jeans Milano 113-125 New York Knicks - by Eurobasket News
Two historic clubs met for the first time to open 2010 NBA Europe Live by putting on a show for fans in Milan, Italy on Sunday night as the New York Knicks outlasted Armani Jeans Milano 125-113 before as sellout crowd of 10,672 at Mediolanum Forum. What was a close game late in the third quarter turned New York's way early in the fourth, and though Milano came within 101-109 late, that was as close as the hosts would get to taste victory. Amare Stoudemire (208-F-82, agency: Rogue Sports), the biggest addition for the Knicks over the summer, was unstoppable for the guests, with 32 points on 10-for-13 two-point shooting and 11-for-13 at the foul line. Hometown favorite Danilo Gallinari (205-G/F-88, agency: Players Group) followed with 24 points, including 5 three-pointers. For Milano, its own newcomer, Oleksiy Pecherov (212-C-85), gave the home fans plenty to like with 23 points off the bench. Jonas Maciulis (198-G/F-85, agency: Interperformances) added 18 points for Milano, while Ibby Jaaber had 16, Stefano Mancinelli and David Hawkins (193-G-82, college: Temple) 11 each. The next NBA Europe Live game involving a Turkish Airlines Euroleague team will feature Regal FC Barcelona hosting the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday in a meeting of the champions of each competition.

A right hook of Marijonas Peravicius gave an early 6-3 advantage to Milano that was immediatey tied from beyond the arc by Gallinari. Another long-distance shot by Tyson Chandler put New York ahead 6-9. After Jaaber stole and assisted Mancinelli for an open-court dunk, Ronny Turiaf completed a three-point play to put New York up 8-12. Amare Stoudemireand Chandler extended the difference to 9-16 halfway through the quarter, but the Lithuanian duo of Petravicius and Maciulis scored twice in the paint to keep Milano close at 13-16. Six points in a row from Gallinari on either side of a mid-range jumper by Oleksiy Pecherov for Milano kept New York in front by 15-24, its high lead so far. Hawkins and Mason Rocca bot Milano back within 21-24, before Randolph and Mordente exchanged free throws for a 23-26 lead for New York after 12 minutes.

Mancinelli opened the second quarter by scoring a layup to keep Milano close. Marco Mordente and Oleksiy Pecherov climbed off the bench ready, nailing back-to-back three-pointers to keep the hosts within 32-33. That's when Jaaber stole two consecutive balls and converted both to give Milano a 36-33 advantage. More good defense from Rocca allowed Mordente to score an easy layup and the additional free throw, extending the margin to 39-34. Douglas stopped several minutes for New York with the easy layup in the open court, Maciulis downed a turnaround jumper for Milano, and then Gallinari from downtown scored to close the gap to 41-39. An astonishing dunk by Amare Stoudemire tied the score at 43, Oleksiy Pecherov and Felton exchanged baskets and New York pulled ahead 48-50 on the latter's additional free throw. Amare Stoudemire then scored 7 late points to secure a 52-58 halftime lead for the visitors.

Hawkins opened the scoring in the third quarter as Milano got within 54-58, but then a 6-0 run for the Knicks gave them a double-digit cushion, 54-64. Back-to-back triples from Maciulis reduced the gap to 60-66. Gallinari with two free throws regained a 60-70 margin but Petravicius and Jaaber answered immediately for Milano. Felton then went to the rim to fix a 64-72 lead for New York with 5:53 left in the third quarter. Oleksiy Pecherov and Amare Stoudemire exchanged three-pointers, Petravicius scored a layup in traffic as Milano stayed close at 69-75. Oleksiy Pecherov kept getting stronger with a slam before Mancinelli bagged a shot from downtown at 76-82. After big man Timofey Mozgov scored a reverse layup to keep New York ahead by 76-84, Oleksiy Pecherov kept Milano in the game from beyond the arc. Or so it seemed. Chandler responded with a pair of mid-range jumpers and Roger Mason buried a long-distance strike as New York surged ahead 79-91 at the end of three quarters.

To open the final quarter, Billy Walker also landed a three-porter to give the Knicks the largest margin until then, 79-94. Anthony Randolph added two driving baskets before his dunk broke the game open at 82-102 early in the quarter. Consecutive steals and easy points from Hawkins and Jaaber made it 92-109, then Milano climbed to within 101-109 with Jaaber finishing from downtown a 13-0 run. But Gallinari appeared again from long distance and an alley-oop dunk for Randolph put the victory on ice for the Knicks with 3 minutes left.
Courtesy of: Euroleague.net

*****************************************************
  NEW ZEALAND   


Heat Reseves remain unbeaten - by Mike Lacey
Harbour Heat Reserves completed their regular season games in the Supercity Competition with a comfortable 84-69 victory over Northside at Atlas Place on Saturday. The Heat, unbeaten to date, now have a week off before finding out their semi final opponents. In the early exchanges it was Northside who made the running, jumping out to a 18-6 advantage at the 5 minute mark. However, that was about as good as it got for Northside as they succumbed to a 20-3 run either side of the first quarter break and never really regained momentum after that onslaught.
Karl Noyer was the main antagonist, scoring off 4 consecutive plays, the beneficiary of some sloppy defence but precision passing from Hayden Allen, Nick Classen and Tony Wallbutton. Even so, when Northside guard Sefo Leusagi landed a three with 2:30 remaining in the second period they were back in front 30-28 Allen then nailed his only three of the game and a composed finish in the dying seconds of the half from Heat captain Dan Ryan gave Harbour a 41-36 advantage. Noyer led all scorers at the interval with 14 points whilst the tireless Marco Alexander had 13 points for Northside.
Zac Fitzgerald and Ryan were prominent for the Heat in the third period as they extended their lead into double figures, really putting the clamps on the Northside offence, restricting them to 13 points in the quarter.
A jump hook from Warrick Siddall gave Northside some hope early in the final period but a similar move from Ryan and consecutive baskets from the impressive Wallbutton had the Heat up 66-57 with 6 minutes remaining. Northside made a couple of mini runs at the Heat via Siddall and Jordan Reid but the Heat were equal to the task and came home on the back of 10 points in the quarter from Wallbutton and a further 5 from Fitzgerald.
Final score;
Harbour Heat Reserves 84 (Karl Noyer 20, Tont Wallbutton 17, Zac Fitzgerald 16, Dan Ryan 12 points and 14 rebounds).
Northside 69 (Marco Alexander 19, Sefo Leusagi 15, Cameron Stuart 11).


Heat remain unbeaten - by Mike Lacey
Harbour Heat Reserves completed their regular season games in the Supercity Competition with a comfortable 84-69 victory over Northside at Atlas Place on Saturday. The Heat, unbeaten to date, now have a week off before finding out their semi final opponents. In the early exchanges it was Northside who made the running, jumping out to a 18-6 advantage at the 5 minute mark. However, that was about as good as it got for Northside as they succumbed to a 20-3 run either side of the first quarter break and never really regained momentum after that onslaught.
Karl Noyer was the main antagonist, scoring off 4 consecutive plays, the beneficiary of some sloppy defence but precision passing from Hayden Allen, Nick Classen and Tony Wallbutton. Even so, when Northside guard Sefo Leusagi landed a three with 2:30 remaining in the second period they were back in front 30-28 Allen then nailed his only three of the game and a composed finish in the dying seconds of the half from Heat captain Daniel Ryan (195-F-81) gave Harbour a 41-36 advantage. Noyer led all scorers at the interval with 14 points whilst the tireless Marco Alexander had 13 points for Northside.
Zac Fitzgerald and Ryan were prominent for the Heat in the third period as they extended their lead into double figures, really putting the clamps on the Northside offence, restricting them to 13 points in the quarter.
A jump hook from Warrick Siddall gave Northside some hope early in the final period but a similar move from Ryan and consecutive baskets from the impressive Wallbutton had the Heat up 66-57 with 6 minutes remaining. Northside made a couple of mini runs at the Heat via Siddall and Jordan Reid but the Heat were equal to the task and came home on the back of 10 points in the quarter from Wallbutton and a further 5 from Fitzgerald.
Final score;
Harbour Heat Reserves 84 (Karl Noyer 20, Tonty Wallbutton 17, Zac Fitzgerald 16, Daniel Ryan 12 points and 14 rebounds).
Northside 69 (Marco Alexander 19, Sefo Leusagi 15, Cameron Stuart 11).


*****************************************************
  NORWAY   


BLNO Round: 2 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Baerum - Ammerud 71-83
Ammerud grabbed 83:71 win over Baerum. Samuel Diomande (191-G-88, agency: Promotex) and Hagen Thor top-scored for the winners with 23 points each, while Okoroafor Orji netted 12. Oatis Donald collected 18 points and 16 rebounds in defeat.

Froya - Kristiansand 65-72
Kristiansand overcame Froya 75:62 at the Regular Season Round 2. Antonio Russell (183-G-84, college: W.Carolina) and Ross Hunter combined for 50 points and 20 rebounds for the winners, while Mariampillar Brian netted 9. Kombat Miilah replied with 23 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort.

Gimle - Tromso 72-84
Gimle lost to Tromso 72:84 at the Regular Season Round 2. Ronald Timus (197-G/F-84, agency: Rice and Rice, college: Morgan St.) stepped up with 30 points for the winners, while Issalhi Hani followed him with 13. Djerman Ivan ended up with 21 points in the losing effort.



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


Philippine Patriots Proved They are the Defending Champions!! - by Sheryl Reyes
The Philippine Patriots started slow but finished strongly with a 71-62 win over the Brunei Barracudas.PBA favourite import Anthony Johnson (197-G/F-79, college: La-Lafayette) registered a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds while dishing out three assists in 36 minutes of action with that numbers he ended up getting player of the game, He was a big key ingredient of the Patriots lead in the second quarter highlighted by two breakaway dunks to take a 39-31 lead at the half.Along side him was Donald Little (211-C-78, college: Cincinnati) who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. He is exppected to show more of what he can do in the next comming games. A very revealing ex pba player Junjun Cabatu (193-F-84) led all locals in scoring by making all of his nine points in the first quarter as he helped the Patriots overcome a poor start to grab a slim 21-20 advantage.Erwin Sta Maria added nine points and three boards, along with Warren Ybanez (170-G-79) who had three points, five rebounds and six assists and big man Chito Jaime (196-F/C-83) with three points and six boards.



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


Standings - 2 Liga
2Liga Standings
Group A
 1. AZS Kutno 2-0 
 2. MMKS SIDEn 2-0 
 3. SMS PZKosz W. 2-0 
 4. Trefl II Sopot 1-0 
 5. Zuraw Gn. 1-0 
 6. Korsarz 1-1 
 7. OSSM W-wa 1-1 
 8. Polpak 1-1 
 9. Tur B.Podl. 1-1 
 10. Zyrardowianka 1-1 
 11. AZS Olsztyn 0-2 
 12. Basket Pila 0-2 
 13. Norgips 0-2 
 14. Plock 0-2 
Group B
 1. AZS PO Opole 2-0 
 2. Ksiezak 2-0 
 3. Open Basket 2-0 
 4. AZS PP Poznan 1-1 
 5. Gliwice 1-1 
 6. KK A-Bild 1-1 
 7. MKS Skiern. 1-1 
 8. Nysa Klodzko 1-1 
 9. Obiekty Wrocl. 1-1 
 10. Pogon Prudnik 1-1 
 11. Pogon Ruda Sl. 1-1 
 12. Stal Ostrow 1-1 
 13. Sudety JG 1-1 
 14. Alba 0-2 
 15. AZS Pol.Cz-wa 0-2 
 16. Slask Wroclaw 0-2 
Group C
 1. KKS Novum L. 2-0 
 2. MKS Limanowa 2-0 
 3. MOSiR Krosno 2-0 
 4. UMKS Kielce 2-0 
 5. Znicz 2-0 
 6. AZS AWF K-ce 1-1 
 7. HK Zory 1-1 
 8. Polonia P. 1-1 
 9. Staco Niepol. 1-1 
 10. Unia Tarnow 1-1 
 11. Wisla Krakow 1-1 
 12. AZS PR Radom 0-2 
 13. AZS Rzeszow 0-2 
 14. Cracovia 0-2 
 15. MCKiS Jaw. 0-2 
 16. Mickiewicz 0-2 


Channing Toney joins Prokom - by Eurobasket News
Prokom landed Channing Toney (196-G-86, agency: Interperformances, college: UAB). The 24-year-old guard inked his first pro contract. Channing Toney just graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He tallied 8.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in the senior college season. Channing Toney played in the PBLs Manchester Millrats pre-season camp. He also participated the Eurobasket Summer Leagues in Atlanta and Las Vegas.


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


Two straight wins for Ovarense at Antonio Pratas Trophy - by Eurobasket News
Ovarense posted two victories in a row at the start of Antonio Pratas Trophy. They defeated Illibaum and CAB Madeira to stay undefeated. Ovarense opened the tournament with a 78:73 win over Illibaum. Matthew Webster (203-F-84, college: Evansville) stepped up with 24 points to pace Ovarense. Ryan Schneider (201-F-85, college: Marist) contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Evan Harris (206-F/C-86, college: Harvard) replied with 21 points and 8 rebounds for Illibaum.
Next Ovarense faced CAB Madeira and celebrated an 83:79 success. Jason Smith (183-G-83, college: Al.-Huntsville) came up with 22 points to lead the winners. Nuno Cortez (205-C-82) added 19 points and 13 boards for Ovarense. Bobby Madison (198-F-82, college: W.Michigan) accounted for 25 points and 11 rebounds for CAB Madeira.
Porto opened the competition with an 82:68 victory over Guimaraes. Gregory Stempin (203-F-79, agency: Duran International, college: Toledo), Jose Costa (187-G-73) and Joao Santos (205-C-79, college: Nevada) delivered 16 points each to lead Porto. Brandon Brown (201-F-86, college: Cal.St.-San Bernar.) replied with 23 points for Guimaraes.
Sampaense held off Academica 64:59 behind 16 points from Riley Luettgerodt (196-G/F-85, college: Hawaii). Jessan Gray (208-F-84, agency: Beggs and Lane, college: Iowa St.) delivered 13 points and 8 caroms in the winning case. Fernando Sousa (192-F/G-81) produced 22 points for Academica.
In the meantime Benfica split their starting two games. First the LPB champions narrowly defeated Barreirense 69:68. Antonio Tavares (183-G-75) scored 13 points to pace the charge. Sergio Ramos (200-F-76) contributed 11 points in the win. Tyrone Curnell (201-F-88, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Valdosta St.) and Joao Guerreiro (205-F-90) nailed 14 points each in defeat.
Then Benfica faced Lusitania and suffered a 74:79 defeat. Terrence Hundley (191-G-85, college: W.Georgia) fired 18 points to lead the LPB newcomers. Daniel Monteiro (182-G-82) and Mohamed Camara (196-F-83) provided 15 points each in the win. Sergio Ramos answered with 23 points for Benfica.



*****************************************************
  ROMANIA   


Div.A Round: 1 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Mures - Timisoara 88-78
Mures edged Timisoara 88:78 on Sunday to close Regular Season Round 1 with the win. Flavius Lapuste (201-F-78) paced all the winners with 18 points and Cooley JuJuan netted 17. Markovic Nenad was responsible for 23 points in the losing effort.

Gaz Metan - Brasov 129-42
Gaz Metan smashed Brasov 129:42 at the start of the league. Six players scotred in double figures as Deven Mitchell (196-F-84, agency: Interperformances) led them all with 26 points and Dumitrescu Tudor netted 23. Barbu Dragos posted 11 in defeat and Buruiana Stefan added 10.

Craiova - Politehnica Iasi 80-67
Simms Kenneth collected 23 points and 19 rebounds as Craiova edged Politehnica Iasi 80:67. Casey Wohlleb (201-G-86, college: Florida Gulf Coast) nailed 17 and Wooten Ronell followed them with 15. Dawson LeRoy delivered 22 points in defeat and Moscalu Florin notched 21.

Oradea - CSM Bucur. 91-82
Oradea outscored CSM Bucuresti 91:82 at the Regular Season Round 1. Michael Schachtner (206-F-86, agency: Court Side, college: Wisc.-Green Bay) paced all the winners with 25 points and Mandic Andelko notched 22. Santana Angel and Waterstradt Dan nailed 16 points each in the losing effort.

Rovinari - Otopeni 75-78
Rovinari lost to Otopeni 75:78 as the latter got 28 points from LeVar Seals (194-G-82, college: De Paul). Popovic Slobodan collected 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Scott Cortney added 15. Darby Louis produced 26 points for the hosts.

U.Mobitel.CN - Pitesti 88-69
U Mobitelco BT produced a 88:69 win at the start of the Regular Season Round 1 in October 3rd. Zoran Krstanovic (205-C-82) erupted with 38 points and 13 rebounds, while Dykes Kyndall scored 22. Gennie Donte delivered 17 points in the losing case.

Miercurea C. - Steaua Turabo 65-67
Steaua Turabo grabbed 67:65 over Miercurea on October 2nd. Robert Turner (206-F-82, agency: Court Side, college: Pepperdine) and Lucic Uros stepped up with 14 points each, while Stanescu Virgil netted 11. Coleman Yamene produced 17 points for the home side.

CSU Sibiu - Ploiesti 80-87
CSU Sibiu lost their opener to Ploiesti 80:87. Doneal Mack (196-G-87, college: Memphis) paced all the winners with 27 points and Ilic Nikola as well as Calhoun Qarraan scored 12 each. Craciun Cristian finished the night with 16 points in the losing effort.



Standings
Div.A Standings
 1. Craiova 1-0 
 2. Gaz Metan 1-0 
 3. Mures 1-0 
 4. Oradea 1-0 
 5. Otopeni 1-0 
 6. Ploiesti 1-0 
 7. Steaua Turabo 1-0 
 8. U.Mobitel.CN 1-0 
 9. Brasov 0-1 
 10. CSM Bucur. 0-1 
 11. CSU Sibiu 0-1 
 12. Miercurea C. 0-1 
 13. Pitesti 0-1 
 14. Politehnica Iasi 0-1 
 15. Rovinari 0-1 
 16. Timisoara 0-1 


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


CSKA enter Alexander Gomelsky Cup Final - by Eurobasket News
CSKA - Partizan 75:63

CSKA will play in the Alexander Gomelsky Cup Final. They held off Partizan in the semifinal yesterday. The Moscow powerhouse will now take on Zalgiris in the title clash. Partizan will play against Panathinaikos on the final day of the tournament.
CSKA and Partizan stayed close throughout the opening quarter. The hosts eked out a narrow 17:15 lead after ten minutes. CSKA increased the tempo and cleared off to a 9-point distance in the second period. CSKA took over and rallied to a 44:30 lead at the interval. But Partizan found the ways to return into the game. They unloaded 24 points in the third stanza to cut the deficit at just 5 points with ten minutes remaining. Jamont Gordon (193-G/F-87, college: Mississippi St.) and Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke) opened the final period with six points in a row and CSKA soon completed a 13:4 run to leave Partizan far behind. The hosts did not slow down and rolled to the victory at the end. Trajan Langdon scored 14 points to lead the winners. Jamont Gordon added 13 points, while Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79), Boban Marjanovic (222-C-88, agency: Beo Basket) and Nikita Kurbanov (202-F-86) had 8 points each in the victory. Nathan Jawai (207-C-86, college: Midland CC) answered with 19 points and 8 rebounds for Partizan. Sava Lesic (205-C/F-88) canned 15 points in defeat.

CSKA: Trajan Langdon 14, Jamont Gordon 13, Matjaz Smodis 8, Boban Marjanovic 8, Nikita Kurbanov 8
Partizan: Nathan Jawai 19, Sava Lesic 15


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


CSKA enter Alexander Gomelsky Cup Final - by Eurobasket News
CSKA - Partizan 75:63

CSKA will play in the Alexander Gomelsky Cup Final. They held off Partizan in the semifinal yesterday. The Moscow powerhouse will now take on Zalgiris in the title clash. Partizan will play against Panathinaikos on the final day of the tournament.
CSKA and Partizan stayed close throughout the opening quarter. The hosts eked out a narrow 17:15 lead after ten minutes. CSKA increased the tempo and cleared off to a 9-point distance in the second period. CSKA took over and rallied to a 44:30 lead at the interval. But Partizan found the ways to return into the game. They unloaded 24 points in the third stanza to cut the deficit at just 5 points with ten minutes remaining. Jamont Gordon (193-G/F-87, college: Mississippi St.) and Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke) opened the final period with six points in a row and CSKA soon completed a 13:4 run to leave Partizan far behind. The hosts did not slow down and rolled to the victory at the end. Trajan Langdon scored 14 points to lead the winners. Jamont Gordon added 13 points, while Matjaz Smodis (205-F-79), Boban Marjanovic (222-C-88, agency: Beo Basket) and Nikita Kurbanov (202-F-86) had 8 points each in the victory. Nathan Jawai (207-C-86, college: Midland CC) answered with 19 points and 8 rebounds for Partizan. Sava Lesic (205-C/F-88) canned 15 points in defeat.

CSKA: Trajan Langdon 14, Jamont Gordon 13, Matjaz Smodis 8, Boban Marjanovic 8, Nikita Kurbanov 8
Partizan: Nathan Jawai 19, Sava Lesic 15


*****************************************************
  SLOVAKIA   


Extraliga Round: 3 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Levice - Komarno 88-77
Levice celebrated the first win as they toppled Komarno. Joe Wolfinger (213-C-85, college: Citadel) notched 28 points and 14 rebounds for Levice. Andrej Cervenka (197-G/F-84) added 15 points in the winning effort. Martins Berkis (199-F-85, agency: Warren Sports International) tallied 24 points for Komarno.

Pezinok - Nitra 95-91
Pezinok celebrated the second straight win at the start of the new season. They worked hard to stop visiting Nitra. Nenad Milosevic (190-G-83) unleashed 26 points to pace the hosts. Jessie Sapp (191-G, college: Georgetown) contributed 24 points for the reigning champions. Ronald Moore (183-G-88, college: Siena) replied with 28 points, 12 assists and 7 caroms for Nitra. Miroslav Kral (194-F-89) accounted for 20 points in defeat.

Inter Bratislava - Prievidza 84-72
Inter climbed on top of the standings after they held off Prievidza in Bratislava. Richard Kucsa (189-G-85) nailed 25 points to lead the effort. Jerrenda Wheeler (188-G-87, college: Shorter) had 23 points for Inter. Marek Jurik (192-G/F-78, agency: Promotex) and Igor Majoros (200-F-80, agency: Promotex, college: SW Baptist) answered with 19 points each for Prievidza as they suffered the third straight defeat.

Handlova - Nova Ves 80-73
Juraj Gavlak (185-G-79) posted 22 points and Handlova tamed Nova Ves. Robert Nuber (186-G-83) delivered 18 points for the hosts as they improved at 2-1 record. Louis Johnson (203-F/C, college: W.Illinois) answered with 22 points and 13 rebounds for Nova Ves.

B.Bystrica - Vahostav-Zilina 66-75
Vahostav-Zilina recorded the second win in the season as they shot down Banska Bystrica on the road. Justin Carter (193-F-87, college: Creighton) stepped up with 20 points and 12 rebounds for the visitors. Michal Kozar (191-F-90) contributed 15 points in the winning effort. Maros Rendla (195-G/F-88) answered with 22 points and 8 rebounds for Banska Bystrica as they suffered teh second defeat in a row.



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  SOUTH KOREA   


Ha could give boost to natl basketball team - by Jerry Lee
The national basketball teams front court could get a boost with the addition of center Ha Seung-Jin (222-C-85). The 25-year-old center trained with the 2010 Asian Games national team for the first time on Tuesday at the National Training Center in Taeneung, northern Seoul, and he will train with the team until Oct. 27.

Ha had been recovering from a calf injury and missed out on two of the national teams previous training camp sessions.

I have a renewed sense of responsibility by merely returning to the National Training Center, Ha said. Ive been hearing a lot about the national team. Having participated in a training session, it was a tense atmosphere, as I had expected.

Head coach Yoo Jae-hak had selected 12 players for the 2010 Asian Games at the end of its recent training camp in the United States. With the addition of Ha, Yoo will have to ponder his options and drop a player at the end of the current camp.

Listed at 2.21 meters (7 feet 2 inches) and 138 kilograms (304 pounds), Ha can provide the national teams front court with much needed size and height at the Asian Games. However, Ha is not fully recovered.

I think its the worst injury Ive suffered so far, Ha said. Im not even at 50 percent at this point but its important not to rush it. In the past, Ive aggravated injuries by pushing myself too hard in haste.

Despite Has current physical condition, Yoo has been a strong supporter of Ha, saying he will opt to keep Ha if he can provide five minutes off the bench. Against top Asian contenders like China and Iran, Has presence in the paint could provide a big boost for Koreas front court.

I need to know exactly what the coach wants out of me, Ha said. I think I will be utilized in defensive roles more than on offense. I need to battle other big men and grab rebounds.

Ha is also one of the few Korean players to have overseas experience. Drafted in the second round of the 2004 NBA Amateur Draft by the Portland Trailblazers, Ha played for three seasons with Portland before spending two more in the NBA Developmental League. He returned to Korea and joined KCC Egis in 2009 and has been one of the most dominant big men in the KBL.

With players like Ham Ji-hoon, last years KBL most valuable player, and Lee Seung-joon of Samsung on the roster, critics have said that Ha would not fit in well with the national team. Yoo is pushing to have his team play an up-tempo brand of basketball with full-court pressure defense. So Ha is focused on getting in shape at this point.

I think we can talk about such matters after the final roster is announced, said Ha.



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


LEB Gold Round: 1 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
La Palma - Navarra 77-81
Navarra opened the new season with nice 77-81 win against La Palma. Jason Blair (201-F/C-79, agency: BrezoPro, college: San Diego) spent 31 minutes on the court for Navarra collecting 18 points and 7 rebounds. He was the MVP of this meeting with valuation 25. The hosts got 20 points and 6 rebs from Juan Palacios (203-F-85).

Burgos - Huesca 83-74
Nine-point win for Burgos in Round One of LEB Gold. Peter Lorant (207-F/C-85) shined for the hosts with 19 points and 9 rebounds (valuation 24). Rolands Freimanis (208-F-88, agency: Players Group) was the best player in Huesca with double-double of 24 points and 13 rebs.

Girona - Obradoiro 69-85
Obaridoro cruised past Girona on the road for 69-85 win and 1-0 in LEB Gold. Oriol Junyent (207-C-76) top-scored for the guests with 17 points and he had 7 rebounds beside that. David Navarro (192-G/F-83) delivered 19 points for the hosts.

Clin.Rincon - Ourense 71-69
Clinicas Rincon escaped with tiny 71-69 home win against Ourense for 1-0 in LEB Gold. Augusto Cesar Lima (206-C-91) was the leading player in victory with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Jonathan Kale (203-F-85, college: Providence) responded with 17 points and 11 rebounds in loss.

CB Murcia - Breogan 83-87
Breogan grabbed valuable 83-87 win against Murcia to open the new LEB Gold season. Eric Hayes (193-G-87, agency: Priority Sports, college: Maryland) exploded for the guests with 22 points (8 of 8 from the free throw line). Vitor Faverani (211-C-88, agency: Interperformances) shined in Murcia with double-double of 23 points and 10 rebs.

Leon - La Laguna 77-66
Leon grabbed this one mostly thanks to Franco Rocchia (192-G-85), who scored 20 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Emmanuel Quezada Martinez helped with 14 pts and 6 rebs. In La Laguna, Ricardo Guillen (205-F/C-76) (6 rebs) and Mike Gansey (5 rebs) delivered 15 points each.

CB Tarragona - Alcazar 78-81
Road win for Alcazar, who had Francisco Robles (195-G-81) in a game mood with 17 points. Jerod Ward (206-F/G-76, college: Michigan) also demonstrated nice performance and helped his team with 15 pts (6 rebs). For the home side, Juan Aguilar (187-G-88) shined with 19 pts and 9 assists.

Melilla - Palencia 74-72
Melilla was better than Palencia for 1-0 record at the beginning of LEB Gold 2010/11 season. Jason Detrick (198-G-80, agency: BrezoPro, college: Oklahoma) top-scored for the hosts with 29 points. Kyle Austin (203-F-88, college: Cal-Riverside) had 15 points and 7 boards in defeat.

Lleida - Caceres 68-81
Caceres cruised past Lleida on the road getting 21 points and 8 rebounds from Jose Angel Antelo (203-F-87), who was almost unmistakable last night. Jeffrey Xavier (185-G-85, agency: BrezoPro, college: Providence) helped the guests with 13 pts. On the other side, Hector Manzano (205-C/F-80) delivered 16 pts.

ACB: Round One review - by Eurobasket News
Caja Laboral - Meridiano A. 92-47
Caja Laboral opened the new season in style. The reigning champion destroyed Meridiano Alicante 92-47 for 1-0 record. Stanko Barac (217-C-86) scored 17 points and pulled down 7 rebounds for the hosts. Mirza Teletovic (206-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) netted 15 points for his team and was the last one with double-digits. In the loosing squad, Pape Sow (208-F-81, college: Cal.St. Fullerton) collected 10 points and 5 rebs.

Fuenlabrada - Lagun Aro GBC 71-64
Fuenlabrada celebrated in this game despite they had just one player with double-digits in scoring. It was Latvian international Kristaps Valters (190-G-81), who returned to the club this summer. Jimmy Baron (191-G-86, college: Rhode Island) responded with the same number for Lagun Aro GBC.

Cajasol - DKV Joventut 85-80
Cajasol had five players with double-digits in scoring today. Louis Bullock (185-G-76, college: Michigan) was the leading one with 19 and Paul Davis (211-C-84, college: Michigan St.) followed with 13. Earl Calloway (191-G-83, college: Indiana) and Juan Triguero netted 11 pts each, and Tariq Kirksay stopped to 10. DKV Joventut got 18 points and 5 rebounds from Will McDonald (206-C-79, college: S.Florida), who was the MVP of this meeting with valuation 22.

Valencia - Granada 104-81
Valencia had an easy job against Granada registering 104-81 victory. Rafael Martinez (191-G-82) was on fire this evening with 25 points (4 of 5 from behind the arc). Dusko Savanovic (204-F/C-83, agency: Beo Basket) also was great as he added 18 points with nice shot percentage. For the guests, Robert Kurz (206-F-85, agency: Priority Sports, college: Notre Dame) collected 24 points and 8 rebounds.

Regal Barca - Gran Canaria 83-58
Regal Barca destroyed Granca 83-58 this afternoon. Juan Carlos Navarro (192-G-80) top-scored for the hosts with 18 points, while Pete Mickeal (199-F-78, college: Cincinnati) followed him with 3 less. Terence Morris (207-F-79, college: Maryland) added 12 pts and 6 boards in this victory. Granca got 17 points from Jaycee Carroll (188-G-83, agency: Priority Sports).

CAI Zaragoza - Unicaja 76-79
Unicaja opened the new season with 76-79 road win against CAI Zaragoza. Saul Blanco (195-G/F-85) stepped up for the Malaga team with 18 points and Terrell McIntyre (175-G-77, college: Clemson) had 14. On the other side, Andres Miso (199-G-83, agency: Interperformances, college: Colegio Ecole) shined with 18 pts.

Menorca - Valladolid 73-61
The ACB returnee was better than Valladolid getting 15 points and 6 rebounds from Cuthbert Victor (196-G/F-83, college: Murray St.). Diego Ciorciari and Caio Torres (10 rebs) had 14 and 12 points respectively. For the guests, Lamont Barnes (208-F/C-78, college: Temple) collected 17 points and 7 boards.

Estudiantes - Real Madrid 79-84
Real Madrid was better than Estudiantes 79-84 in the season opener. The Whites had to work very hard in order to take this one and they made it mostly owing to Carlos Suarez (202-F-86, agency: Court Side), who demonstrated great performance. He spent 33 minutes on court collecting 21 points and 5 rebounds. Suarez reached valuation 29 and was the MVP of this game. Felipe Reyes (203-F/C-80) helped Real with 14 points and 5 rebounds, while Sergio Llull (5 rebs) and Sergio Rodriguez netted 12 and 11 points respectively. For the Students, German Gabriel (207-C-80) shined with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Jiri Welch scored 12, while Josh Asselin added 11 points and 9 boards.

Manresa - Bizkaia Bilbao 59-86
Bilbao destroyed Manresa on the road to start the new season. Alex Mumbru (202-F-79) came up with 18 points and 6 rebounds for his team, while Janis Blums (190-G-82) and Aaron Jackson (193-G-86, agency: Rogue Sports, college: Duquesne) netted 15 and 13 points respectively. Rodrigo San Miguel (190-G-85) (5 as) and Milan Majstorovic (207-C-83) posted 14 pts each for the hosts.

Standings - ACB
ACB Standings
 1. Bizkaia Bilbao 1-0 
 2. Caja Laboral 1-0 
 3. Cajasol 1-0 
 4. Fuenlabrada 1-0 
 5. Real Madrid 1-0 
 6. Regal Barca 1-0 
 7. Unicaja 1-0 
 8. Valencia 1-0 
 9. Vive Menorca 1-0 
 10. CAI Zaragoza 0-1 
 11. DKV Joventut 0-1 
 12. Estudiantes 0-1 
 13. Gran Canaria 0-1 
 14. Granada 0-1 
 15. Lagun Aro GBC 0-1 
 16. Manresa 0-1 
 17. Meridiano A. 0-1 
 18. Valladolid 0-1 


Not Only Stats: ACB Week 1 - by Natxo Mendaza
* Real Madrid beat Estudiantes in the city derby thanks to a huge contribution by Carlos Suarez (202-F-86, agency: Court Side) (21 points, 4 threes), who played his first game against his former team. Real Madrid struggled too much, though, until Sergio Llull took over at the point guard spot. Pablo Prigioni (191-G-77), who had a bitter argument against Messina, played only 6 minutes.

* Cajasol had a tough game against Joventut, whose roster has been built with a lot of youngsters raised in the farm teams of the club. Three ties (!!!) in the three first periods led to a thrilling end in the last one. Louis Bullock (185-G-76, college: Michigan) thanked coach Joan Plaza for signing him again and boosted Cajasol with 19 points. Who said he was too old for top-level? Kirskay helped too.

* Caja Laboral starts in a strong way the new season. They won the title last year and now they are leaders thanks to a 45-points win over Meridiano Alicante. The visitors lost by 51 ten years ago. I guess they would like to avoid visiting Vitoria in the future. Alicante didn't play deffense at all in a game that should have finished at halftime.

* Unicaja signed big players like McIntyre or Tripkovic this summer, but maybe their best 'addition' is going to be Saul Blanco (195-G/F-85), who missed almost a half of the past season due to injuries. He led his team to a tough win in Zaragoza. CAI Zaragoza is back in the ACB League, but Sal is back too!

* Gran Canaria's head coach admitted, before the game against Barcelona, that his team had a few chances to win. He was even too optimistic, as Gran Canaria had nothing to do against Navarro and his teammates. Gran Canaria would have needed a miracle, and they got no believers.

* Menorca enjoyed a great home win against Valladolid. Both teams are the best example of the good level LEB Gold (Spanish 2nd division) has got in the last few years. 15 players (8 from Menorca, 7 from Valladolid) were grown up in the lower divisions of Spanish basketball. Nobody can say they don't belong here.

* Jimmy Baron (191-G-86, college: Rhode Island) confirmed his shooting skills against Fuenlabrada, but he felt alone in his ACB debut. An old friend (Kristaps Valters (190-G-81), back after an average season in DKV Joventut ), and a new one, Gustavo Ayon (209-F/C-85, college: San Jose St.) (spent the last season on a loan in LEB Gold & Silver), helped Fuenlabrada to achieve its first win.

* Sergii Gladyr (196-G/F-89)r, winner of the ACB Supercup shooting contest, turned blind against Bizkaia Bilbao Basket and missed all his three-point shots. His teammates weren't a lot better, either, as Manresa was unable to overcome a solid Basque defense. The team from Bilbao was quite solid in shooting and rebounding, and showed what does the term 'balance' mean; blowout (+27)

* Power Electronics Valencia was the only one to reach the 100-point mark over the weekend. They looked pretty good in the ACB Supercup, and confirmed their good shape destroying Granada, whose new signings dissapointed. Only Robert Kurz (206-F-85, agency: Priority Sports, college: Notre Dame) met the expectations.

Standings - LEB Gold
LEB Gold Standings
 1. Alcazar 1-0 
 2. Breogan 1-0 
 3. Burgos 1-0 
 4. Caceres 1-0 
 5. Clin.Rincon 1-0 
 6. Leon 1-0 
 7. Melilla 1-0 
 8. Navarra 1-0 
 9. Obradoiro 1-0 
 10. CB Murcia 0-1 
 11. CB Tarragona 0-1 
 12. Girona 0-1 
 13. Huesca 0-1 
 14. La Laguna 0-1 
 15. La Palma 0-1 
 16. Lleida 0-1 
 17. Ourense 0-1 
 18. Palencia 0-1 


Standings - LEB Silver
LEB Silver Standings
 1. ADT Tarragona 1-0 
 2. Andorra 1-0 
 3. Clavijo 1-0 
 4. Mallorca 1-0 
 5. Plasencia 1-0 
 6. Promobys 1-0 
 7. Regal FC II 1-0 
 8. Avila 0-0 
 9. Coruna 0-1 
 10. Guadalajara 0-1 
 11. Illescas 0-1 
 12. Lan Mobel ISB 0-1 
 13. Oviedo Feve 0-1 
 14. Prat Juventud 0-1 
 15. Santurtzi 0-1 


LEB Silver Round: 1 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Clavijo - Lan Mobel ISB 100-75
Clavijo closed the first round of LEB Silver with excellent 100-75 victory against Lan Mobel ISB. David Mesa (200-C-80) demonstrated great performance for the hosts: 22 points and 11 rebounds with just one missed shot for 27 minutes. He reached valuation 38 and was named MVP of this meeting. Visitors got 16 points from Reggie Bratton (193-G/F-86, college: Lenoir-Rhyne).

Plasencia - Guadalajara 77-68
Plasencia celebrated 77-68 win against Guadalajara to open LEB Silver 2010/11 season. The hosts had five players with double-digits in scoring, with Ruben Martinez (196-F-85) leading the way with 16 pts. Visitors got 16 points and 14 rebs from Shane Lawal (206-F/C-86, agency: KMG Sports Management, college: Wayne St., MI).

Andorra - Oviedo Feve 71-66
Nestor Zamora (178-G-84) spent 31 minutes on the court for Andorra leading them to 71-66 win against Oviedo Feve. He scored 20 points in this game and dished out 5 assists. Javier Roman (207-F/C-80) responded with 17 points and 5 rebounds in loss.

Prat Juventud - Mallorca 79-83
Carles Bivia (185-G-85) was the leading scorer in this victory with 22 points. Ismael Torres (202-C-79) secured a nice help as he added 12 points and 8 rebounds. In the loosing squad, Cesar Bravo (200-F-81) was better than the others netting 20 points.

Illescas - Regal FC II 43-59
Nice road win for Regal Barca second team, who got 20 points and 14 rebounds from Reggie Larry (201-F-86, college: Boise St.). He reached valuation 28 and was the MVP. For the home side, Ondrej Kohout (203-F-91) had double-double of 15 pts and 10 rebs.

ADT Tarragona - Santurtzi 78-66
Xavier Guirao (190-G-87) came up with 20 points and 10 rebounds in this victory. With valuation 31, he was named MVP of this game. Edward Cage (203-F/C-78, college: Bradley) helped the hosts with 18 pts and 6 rebs. In defeat, Marcos Casado (183-G-83) had 21 points and 5 rebs.

Promobys - Coruna 86-60
Promobys had no troubles to beat Coruna for 1-0 in LEB Silver. Victor Perez (193-G/F-82) stepped up for the hosts with 22 points. Federico Bavosi (185-G-81) followed closely with 16. In Coruna, Ronald Thompson (208-F/C-81, college: Morehouse) collected 14 points and 6 rebs.

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


Standings - LNA
LNA Standings
 1. Fribourg 1-0 
 2. Lugano Tigers 1-0 
 3. SAM Massagno 1-0 
 4. SAV Vacallo 1-0 
 5. Starwings 1-0 
 6. BBC Nyon 0-1 
 7. Boncourt 0-1 
 8. Geneve Lions 0-1 
 9. Monthey 0-1 
 10. Zurich W. 0-1 


*****************************************************
  TPBL   


NEW TEAM TO JOIN IN 2011 (Texarkana,TX ), and 1 returning team (Cypress Synergy) - by Chris Cardenas
There's a new team wanting to take what many returning teams are trying to win , the TPBL CHAMPIONSHIP. In 2011 TEXARKANA,TX will be joining the league and has no intentions of acting like a 1st year team. With plans on playing some games in Texarkana,tx and some games in Texarkana,ar they will give many the opportunity to witness some of the best basketball Texas has to offer.
By no means can you count out a returning league team like the CYPRESS SYNERGY though !!! John Carswell and his team are back and are itching to show the rest of the league they havent lost a step.
for more TPBL info call the leagues new phone line at: 325-374-2910

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  UKRAINE   


Ukrainians in European championships - by Alexei Revenko
Serhiy Lishchuk   (210-C/F-82, agency: Beo Basket) and Sergii Gladyr   (196-G/F-89) played in first round ACB league. Power Electronics Valencia win Albolote Fundacion C.B. Granada 104 - 81. Serhiy Lishchuk  played 20 minutes, scored 9 points and 9 rebounds. Sergii Gladyr with his team Assignia Manresa loss Bizkaia Bilbao Basket 59-86. Serhiy played 25 minutes and added only 2 points and 2 rebounds. His percent 3pt goals 0/5. 
Oleksiy Pecherov  (212-C-85) played in NBA Europe Live 2010 with his team Armani Jeans Milano against New York Knicks. Oleksiy played well. 21 minutes on the floor he scored 23 points (8-13 field goals, 3-5 3pt goals) and added 5 rebounds and 2 steals. But his team loss the game. 

Superleague Round: 2 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Azovmash - Mykolaiv 94-80
Azovmash overcame Mykolaiv 94:80 to close Regular Season Round 2. Fred House (195-F-78, agency: Lanshire Group, college: S.Utah) stepped up with 23 points and Thomas Charles followed him with 14. Gilyevych Ivan ended up with 23 points in the losing effort.

Khimik - Hoverla 66-75
Hoverla jumped on top with 3-0 record after the road win over Khimik 75:66 in Yuzhniy. Dante Swanson (178-G-81, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Tulsa) top-scored for the winners with 16 points and Kryvych Igor delivered 13. Drezga Luka produced 12 points for the home side.

BC Odessa - Halychyna 88-82
Washington Andrew nailed 18 points and Gary Buchanan (191-G-80, college: Villanova) posted 17 as BC Odessa rolled over Halychyna 88:82. Morrison Scott ended up with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort.

BC Kyiv - DniproAzot 80-68
BC Kyiv improved to 2-0 record beating DniproAzot 80:68. Vitaly Kovalenko (201-F-84) poured in 16 points and Sandul Maksym as well as Briantsev Dmitri added 11 points each. Balashov ended up with 16 points for the guests.

Ferro-ZNTU - Kryvbasbasket 87-79
Ferro-ZNTU edged Kryvbasbasket 87:79 in Zaporizzhya. Christian Burns (203-F-85, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Philadelphia) top-scored for the winners with 26 points and Shaposhnikov Aleksandr followed him with 18. Zuza Jurica ended up with 17 points in the losing effort.

Mykolaiv - Halychyna 72-74
Halychyna surprised Mykolaiv 74:72 away from home at the start of the Regular Season Round 2. Alan Wiggins (206-F-84, college: USF) paced all the winners with 16 points and Williams Nick as well as Revzin Pavel scored 12 each. Korochkin Andrei delivered 17 points for the hosts.

BC Odessa - Hoverla 78-83
BC Odessa lost to Hoverla 78:83 on the last day of September. Dante Swanson stepped up with 21 points and Ulyanko Pavel delivered 20. Washington, Andrew answered with 23 points for the home side.

Dnipro - Mykolaiv 87-63
Dnipro rolled over Mykolaiv 87:63 in the opener of the Regular Season Round 2. Steve Burtt (185-G-84, college: Iona) was unstoppable with 32 points and Austin Mario followed him with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Iailo Leonid ended up with 12 points in the losing effort.



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  UNITED KINGDOM   


Standings - BBL
BBL Standings
 1. Cheshire J. 1-0 
 2. Everton T. 1-0 
 3. Glasgow R. 1-0 
 4. Sheffield S. 1-0 
 5. Worcester W. 1-0 
 6. Guildford H. 0-0 
 7. MK Lions 0-0 
 8. Worthing T. 0-0 
 9. Essex Pirates 0-1 
 10. Leicester R. 0-1 
 11. Plymouth R. 0-1 
 12. Newcastle E. 0-2 


BBL Sunday 4th Oct Round-Up - by Paul Nilsen
Glasgow Rocks are up and running in the BBL Championship with a 99-79 win over Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders north of the border.

After a disappointing BBL Trophy campaign, Sterling Davis's team started the league season in the best possible fashion as they dominated their visitors almost from the opening tip.By half time the Rocks held a comfortable 54-33 advantage.

Leicester worked hard to get back into the match. But despite a 6-0 opening to the second half they couldn't get any closer. A 10-2 burst to end the third quarter gave Rocks a 76-53 lead.

Cheshire Jets picked up their first win of the league season with an emphatic 91-59 victory over Essex Pirates in Chester.The Jets stormed out to a 30-11 first quarter lead and never let up from there. By half time the advantage was 52-28. Cheshire's Matt Schneck (203-C-88, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: St.Cloud St.) led all scorers with 28 points and he was ably supported by Jeremy Bell with 25.

In the BBL Trophy Guildford Heat confirmed their place in the semi-finals with a comfortable 67-86 win at Worthing Thunder.The Heat used a strong third quarter to break free from a Worthing side which had taken a half time lead at 43-39.

Three threes in a row from Schneider (2) and Martelle Mclemore formed the backbone of a 20-2 burst that put Guildford firmly in control. Mike Martin added another trey as the visitors led 53-70 with ten minutes remaining.

BBL Championship
Cheshire Jets 91 (30,52,68) (Schneck 28, Bell 25, Murray 14)
Essex Pirates 59 (11,28,42) (Hesson 19, Anderson 11, Gachette 10, Toluwase 10)

Cheshire Jets picked up their first win of the league season with an emphatic 91-59 victory over Essex Pirates in Chester.

The Jets stormed out to a 30-11 first quarter lead and never let up from there. By half time the advantage was 52-28 as Essex struggled to cope with the flow of points from Cheshire's offence.

Pirates were more in the match during a tight third quarter which ended 68-42 in the home team's favour but by that time the damage had been done. Jets signed off the match in style by opening up a 30 point lead with a convincing final stanza.

Jets head coach Paul Smith was understandably delighted with his team, but still saw room for improvement:'I am pleased to get the first win of the season and get some points on the board. Our intensity was good all night; we played for the full 40 minutes. However, there are still things we can do better and we'll be working hard to make that right.'

Cheshire's Matt Schneck (pictured) led all scorers with 28 points and he was ably supported by Jeremy Bell with 25.

Glasgow Rocks 99 (22,54,76) (Harrison 20, Mubarak 17, Livas 16)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 79 (16,33,53) (Simpson 21, Zamrov 17, Williams 11)

Glasgow Rocks are up and running in the BBL Championship with a 99-79 win over Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders north of the border.

After a disappointing BBL Trophy campaign, Sterling Davis's team started the league season in the best possible fashion as they dominated their visitors almost from the opening tip.

A 10-4 run midway through the first quarter helped Rocks to a 22-16 lead after ten minutes.With Brice Fantazia running the point Glasgow pulled away in the second period. Fantazia had three assists during a 19-4 run, which was capped by fellow new boy EJ Harrison's (pictured) three.

By half time the Rocks held a comfortable 54-33 advantage.Leicester worked hard to get back into the match. But despite a 6-0 opening to the second half they couldn't get any closer.

A 10-2 burst to end the third quarter gave Rocks a 76-53 lead.Glasgow's biggest margin was 28 points (81-53) early in the final stanza as the home side enjoyed a comfortable last quarter of action.

Rocks player-coach Sterling Davis said: 'The guys all rallied well tonight, and did a great job at both ends of the court. We still have a long way to go but it's always good to get that first win of the league season under the belt.'

BBL Trophy
Worthing Thunder 67 (14,43,53) (Zabas 17, Mebye 16,Nottley 11)
Guildford Heat 86 (21,39,70) (Mclemore 17, Martin 15, Janusauskas 13)

Guildford Heat confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy with a comfortable 67-86 win at Worthing Thunder.

The Heat used a strong third quarter to break free from a Worthing side which had taken a half time lead at 43-39.

After Guildford had dominated the opening period with Tomas Janusauskas making it 14-21 just before the first break, Worthing came roaring back.A 7-0 burst capped by Petroslav Zafirov's three trimmed the lead to 30-31 before Mansour Mebye levelled the match at 35-35.
Thunder strung together an 11-1 run to go 43-36 in front before David Schneider's three made it 43-39 at half time.Heat took over from then on.

Three threes in a row from Schneider (2) and Martelle Mclemore formed the backbone of a 20-2 burst that put Guildford firmly in control.Mike Martin added another trey as the visitors led 53-70 with ten minutes remaining.

The closest Thunder could get in the final stanza was 14 on Elvadas Zabas' layup, but six points from Mclemore took the score out to 64-86 as Heat cruised home.


BBL Saturday 03 Oct Round-Up - by Paul Nilsen
Worcester Wolves justified their pre-season tag of dark horses after they tipped-off their league campaign with a memorable and thrilling 99-96 overtime win against defending BBL Champions Newcastle Eagles.

In a pulsating and intense battle, the Wolves finally emerged victorious despite having blown a double-digit lead which almost allowed the Eagles to sneak a win in regulation.

However, having forced overtime with a last gasp score by Rod Middleton, the Wolves showed plenty of character to claim a famous victory which left Paul James understandably thrilled.

'It was absolutely fantastic. The team showed character when could have crumbled under pressure.'

'We managed to get to overtime and then go on and get the win.'

He added, 'This was an absolutely fantastic victory for us and the guys will now believe they belong in the top league.'

In the BBL Trophy, Guildford Heat Coach Creon Raftopoulos was also left delighted with the performance of his team after a magnificent defensive effort. The Heat held UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders to just seven final quarter points as they cantered to a 76-56 win at Surrey Sports Park.

The success takes them to the top of BBL Trophy Group 1 on two wins alongside the Raiders who have endured a thoroughly miserable weekend having also been blown out in the league at Sheffield on Friday night.

Heat avenged their loss at Plymouth with Coach Raftopoulos in no doubts as to what made the difference this time.

'It all boils down to defensive intensity.' explained the play-caller.

'We have worked really hard on defence all this week - we have been focusing on helping each other to defend the pick and roll.'

'Defence definitely won the game for us this weekend and holding them to just 7 points in the last period was a terrific performance.'

In the other BBL Trophy game played on Saturday night, the Marshall MK Lions claimed their first win of the new campaign and also a first ever career coaching win for Mike New after cruising to a comfortable 102-69 win at Essex Pirates.

The Coach was happy not only with the result which keeps his team in with a shot of progressing, but also because he had a full quota of players available.

'This is the first time we have had our full group of players all fit -even including training and I think it showed.'

'I am obviously pleased with how we performed while we also have to give creit to Essex who played hard.'

'They have a bright future with their young British kids.'

BBL Championship
Worcester Wolves 99 (28,51,73,OT 99)
Newcastle Eagles 96 (17,44,64,OT 96)

After opening the defence of their BBL Championship crown with a humiliating loss at Mersey Tigers last weekend, Worcester Wolves ensured it was another miserable night in the league for defending champions Newcastle Eagles with a super overtime win.

There had been little daylight between both teams in the early exchanges until the Wolves finished the first quarter with a superb 18-4 run to lead 28-17. The Eagles were unable to cope with the rapid-fire and high tempo Wolves offence and as the hosts began to convert from outside, they stretched their lead to 45-32.

However ahead of the half-time break, Flournoy's men rallied and a couple of triples in quick succession reduced the arrears to 51-44 heading into the second half.

Both teams traded baskets in the third and it looked like the Wolves were still in control with a double digit lead early in the final period. However, the Eagles began shifting through the gears and after being behind 81-70, they posted a 19-7 run to move in front.

It looked like the visitors might sneak it with the shift in momentum but the home team forced the extra period with a last gasp score by Rod Middleton. Much to the delight of Coach James, they then kept their composure to see out the win during the extra period as the Eagles danger man Trey Moore fouled out.

Worcester showed just the kind of resilience required to compete for silverware at all levels this season or at the very least improve on last years finish which saw them just miss out on a play-off spot.

In stark contrast, the Eagles now find themselves under pressure and in the unusual position of being at the foot of the Championship table after two opening defeats after this early double setback.

BBL Trophy Group Stages
Guildford Heat 76 (23,38,54) (Martin 19, Joseph 15, Ogedegebe/Schneider 10)
UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders 56 (14,29,49) (Polk 18, Rowe 15, Toppert 9)

Guildford Heat replaced visiting UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders at the top of BBL Trophy Group 1 after conjuring up a sublime defensive display in the final period which ended the hopes of the visitors and completed a miserable weekend for Coach Love and his team.

Having been battered at Sheffield in the BBL Championship 24 hours earlier, the fragility of the Raiders was laid bare from the tip-off as Guildford produced a blistering opening to race into a 10-0 lead thanks to triples from Martin and Joseph.

By half-time, the home side were still in control and held a 9 point advantage at 38-29 with Raiders struggling to get their offence going.

The break came at a good time for the visitors who re-grouped and played much better in the third quarter, opening up with an 11-5 run to narrow to within five points at 45-40.
That was still the margin heading into the last ten minutes at 54-49 but the visiting team buckled in worrying fashion as they wilted spectacularly in the wake of some tenacious Heat defence.

BBL Trophy Group Stages
Essex Pirates 69 (19,35,65) (Hesson 27, Toluwase 11, Sing 10 )
Marshall MK Lions 102 (31,48,56) (Gardner 23, Gil 16, Williams 14)

Both teams headed into this BBL Trophy clash in search of a first victory of the season with the hosts having already blown their chances of reaching the semi-finals after two losses at the hands of Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

The same team also handed the Lions a narrow loss in their only previous game to date but this time Coach New and his players got to taste victory.

A strong first quarter paved the way with a 13-3 run doing the bulk of the damage and putting the visitors in control from tip to buzzer. The extra ball movement and strength in the paint also made it tough for Essex who are a young team still developing and the extra experience of the Lions was palpable.

There is nobody more experienced than Jelani Gardner (198-G-75, college: Pepperdine) and the veteran who has played at some of the biggest clubs in Europe came up trumps for his team with 23 points.

Despite some excellent work by Myles Hesson for the home team who poured in a game high score of 27 points, Lions never took their foot off the gas and even in the second half piled on the agony for the hosts.

They posted a 15-1 run to take the scores out to 88-52 and it was plain sailing until the buzzer as the Lions registered their first success of the new season.





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  URUGUAY   


Bigua lost for the first time - by Hector Lopez
Bigua lost its first game of the season, after nine wins, defeated 99-84 by Malvn, which are sharing the second position with Trouville 7-4, after the Uruguayan League 11th round. Fernando Martinez (170-G-79) scored 33 points for Malvin (10-6 for three-point shots), Joaquin Izuibejeres (184-G-82) added 25, Christopher Lee (206-C, college: S.Carolina St.) netted 13 and took 6 rebounds with 4 blocks, and Reque Newsome (204-C-81, college: S.Indiana) added 15 ponts 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Also for Malvin played Odell Bradley (193-F/G-81, agency: Tank Sports, college: IUPUI) (5 minutes 0 points 0 rebounds) for the first time . For Bigua Emilio Taboada (191-F-82) scored 21 points, Nick Billings (214-C-82, college: Binghamton) 13 points 5 rebounds and Elgrace Wilborn (203-F-83, college: W.Kentucky) 9 points 8 rebounds 2 blocks. Defensor Sporting, the last champions, beat Hebraica Macabi 89-75. Brian Woodward (191-G-81, college: Rhode Island) netted 15 points for the winners and Rob Ferguson (203-F-85, college: St.Joseph's), playing his first game for Defensor played 11 minutes with 4 points 2 rebounds. For Hebraica Grady Reynolds (198-F-80, agency: Strategic Sports, college: St.John's) netted 18 points with 6 rebounds and 4 blocks while Carl Elliott (193-G-83, agency: SportsTalent, college: George Washington) scored 18 points grabbed 6 rebounds with 4 blocks.
Other games:
Welcome 87 - Marcelo Perez (194-F-73) 20 points, Jimmy Boston (201-F-77, college: N.C.Central) 17 points 7 rebounds, Kevin Nelson (192-G-84, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Park) 15 points 8 rebounds
Aguada 78 - Brian Craig (206-C-79, college: Miles) 16 points 4 rebounds 3 blocks, Benjamin Puckett (205-F-83, college: Clayton St.) 8 points 5 rebounds.
- - -
Sayago 86 - Cedric McGowan (198-F-85, agency: Court Side, college: Cincinnati) 36 points 7 rebounds 1 block, Terrence Shelman (198-F-78) 8 points 10 rebounds 1 block
Cader 67 - Lavontay Fenderson (193-F-85, college: Wisc.-Parkside) 15 points 7 rebounds, Terrance Gamble (208-C-83, agency: HBA Sports, college: Tarleton St.) 11 points 11 rebounds 2 blocks, Jamelle Cornley (196-F-87, college: Penn St.) 11 points 2 rebounds.


Martinez's 33-point game gives him Player of the Week award - by Eurobasket News
31-year old guard Fernando Martinez (170-G-79) put on an amazing game in the last round for second-ranked Malvin and receives a Eurobasket.com Player of the Week award for round 11.
He had the game-high 33 points adding three rebounds and seven assists for Malvin in his team's victory, helping them to beat Bigua (#1, 8-1) 99-84. The game was between two of the league's top four teams. Despite this victory Malvin dropped to the 2nd position in Uruguayan league. They would have been even better if they hadn't lost a few games earlier this season. Malvin will need more victories to improve their 8-4 record. In the team's last game Martinez had a remarkable six three-pointers out of 10 attempts. He has many years of experience at Malvin, through which he has constantly improved. Martinez has impressive league stats. He is in league's top in points (9th best: 22.9ppg).

Second best performed player last round was Cedric McGowan (198-F-85, agency: Court Side) of Sayago. He is American forward in his first season at Sayago. In the last game McGowan recorded impressive 36 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Of course he lead Sayago to another comfortable win 86-67 over the lower-ranked Cader (#15, 2-9) being unquestionably team leader. Sayago's 6th position in the standings has not changed. His team lost some distance to top teams. But 6-4 record is not bad and everything may still change. McGowan is a newcomer at Sayago and quickly became the team's new leader. He belongs to the best scorers in the league with 27.7ppg (#3). He also registered 10.0 boards per game.

Third place about best performers goes to forward Harold Griffin (201-F) of Atletico Cordon (#12). Griffin got into 30-points club by scoring 31 points in the last round. He went also for ten rebounds . Despite Griffin's great performance Cordon lost 83-97 to the higher-ranked Olimpia (#8, 5-5). But his team cannot count on just a single shooter as he also needs help of the other teammates. The chances of Cordon not to end season on such low position in the league, however are less than slim as they have already lost 7 games, recording just four victories. With bigger assistance of his teammates, Griffin could try to bring Cordon's a little bit higher in the standings. Griffin has a very solid season. In 7 games in Uruguay he scored 13.0ppg. He also has 8.0rpg and FGP: 58.1%.

Other top performing players last week:
4. Craig Craft (191-G-87) of Cordon - 32 points and 8 rebounds
5. Ronald Douglas (201-C-87) of Bohemios - 17 points and 17 rebounds
6. Marcus Sikes (203-F-84) of Anastasia - 23 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists
7. Carl Elliott (193-G-83) of Hebraica - 18 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists
8. Greg Dilligard (203-F-85) of Olimpia - 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists
9. Johwen Villegas (193-G-85) of Olimpia - 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists
10. Emilio Taboada (191-F-82) of Bigua - 21 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists

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  VENEZUELA   


Demetric Shaw available and willing to play in Venezuela again - by Francisco Vega
Barquisimeto, Venezuela.- The experienced and talented scorer Demetric Shaw (191-G-78) pronounced himself available in the market and ready to make another good impression in Venezuelan basketball, in which he's played before for Lideres de Yaracuy in LNB 2007 and Toros de Aragua in LPB 2009.

Shaw, who's a well traveled 32-year old guard, known for his impressive scoring skills, has got experience in international leagues in such countries like Australia, Iceland, Argentina, Poland, Chile, Sweden, Colombia, China, Cyprus, Lebanon, Qatar, Italy, Mexico and Syria.

He's got a great concept of Venezuela's basketball. 'I played for Toros de Aragua back in 2009 and it was a very exciting team that was not doing well during the year, so they called me to try to turn things around. Unfortunately, I could not help the team to win like I thought, so we parted ways'.

Back in 2007, he was the top scorer of LNB with Lideres. 'It was fun to play, but nothing is as fun as the LPB, with all the fans and craziness of it all. I never knew that Venezuelans loved basketball so much. I went to a playoff game of Marinos and I saw the people there so crazy and excited that the entire arena was exploding with energy and anticipation of every shot', Shaw said.

He enjoyed his time getting to know the country's culture. 'People is hard-working but very humble. There are cities in Venezuela so beautiful that it seems as if God himself came and touched it. Also, the women there are some of the most lovely in the world. Most people can't make such a statement, but I have played over 20 countries on 5 continents, so I can truly say that the women there are among the best on Earth'.

After his time with Toros, he went on to play in Syria, a championship in Dubai and the FIBA Asia Cup in Iran. 'I'm excited about my continuing improvement even now, because now in my career, all I want to do is take home some more championships. That will be a definate goal of mine for any team that I play for when I come back to the beautiful land of Venezuela. Wait for me. I'll be there soon enough'.



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Women News

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  ADRIATIC LEAGUE - Women  


Sibenik wins Vojko Herksel Cup, Petra Stampalija MVP - by Zeljko Zule
Sibenik Jolly JBS won Vojko Herksel Cup for the first time with 85-69 win over Gospic CO. Petra Stampalija (190-C-80) had 17 points and 14 rebounds and was named the MVP of the final tournament, Luca Ivankovic scored 32 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and Mara Cakic added 16 points. Sibenik in the third quarter outscored Gospic 23-12 to take a lead 65-47. Martina Reid led Gospic with 31 points and Marina Vrsaljko added 16.
Sibenik Jolly JBS - Gospic CO 85-69 (Cakic 16, Balic 3, Lokas 7, Misura 4, Semren 4, Ivankovic 32, Salopek 2, Stampalija 17 - Ivezic 7, Reid 31, Gambiraza 3, Jurcevic 9, Badanjak 3, M.Vrsaljko 16).


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  BELGIUM - Women  


Belgian D1 round 2 best performance: Melissa Dennett - by Eurobasket News
American forward Melissa Dennett (188-F-83) put on an extraordinary performance in the last round for Sint Kateline Waver, receiving a Eurobasket.com Player of the Week award for round 2.
The 27-year old player had a double-double of 14 points and 19 rebounds, while her team beat BBC Boom (#6, 1-1) 67-52. Despite this victory Sint Kateline dropped to the 4th position in Belgian D1. But it's just the very beginning of the season and Sint Kateline won just one (their first) game. It's too early to say anything as the standings can be changed completely after next round. It's Dennett's second year at Sint Kateline and it's hard to imagine this team without her. Former Colorado State University star has very solid stats this year. Dennett leads league in rebounds with 19.0rpg. Dennett

The second best player in last round's games was young international center Emma Meesseman (188-C-93) of Blue Cats Ieper. Meesseman had a very good evening with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Of course she lead Ieper to another comfortable win 81-64 over Willebroek (0-2) being unquestionably team leader. The season is still at the very beginning and this victory may help a lot. Let's wait for the next round. Meesseman is one of the most experienced players at Ieper and has a reputation of the team's most reliable player. She belongs to the best scorers in the league with 20.5ppg (#1). She also registered 8.5 boards per game.

Third on the list of top players last round was American forward Brittany Wilkins (191-F/C-83, agency: LBM Management) of Point Chaud Sprimont (#10). Wilkins scored 13 points and grabbed thirteen rebounds (!!!). Despite Wilkins' great performance Point Chaud lost 64-68 to Jeugd Gentson (#1, 2-0). But her team cannot count on just a single player as she also needs help of the other teammates. Point Chaud can only dream about fighting for top spots in the league. They have awful season losing so far all 2 games. Too bad for Wilkins she does not play for a better team. But maybe if she did, her season stats would not be that high. Wilkins has individually a great season in Belgium. After only 2 games, she made it on the list of the league's leaders in points with 18.5ppg (2nd best) and rebounds with 11.0rpg (2nd best).

Other top performing players last week:
4. Sara Leemans (178-G/F-88) of Sint Kateline - 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists
5. Lieselot Malfait (190-C-87) of Jeugd Gentson - 12 points and 10 rebounds
6. Valerie Boydens (175-F-84) of Ieper - 15 points and 6 rebounds
7. Lien Lentacker (184-F/C-90) of Jeugd Gentson - 13 points and 5 rebounds
8. Dana Boonen (197-C-79) of BBC Boom - 12 points and 8 rebounds
9. Hanne Mestdagh (179-F-93) of Sint Kateline - 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists
10. Ilse Van den Vonder (174-F-80) of BBC Boom - 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists

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  CROATIA - Women  


Sibenik wins Vojko Herksel Cup, Petra Stampalija MVP - by Zeljko Zule
Sibenik Jolly JBS won Vojko Herksel Cup for the first time with 85-69 win over Gospic CO. Petra Stampalija (190-C-80) had 17 points and 14 rebounds and was named the MVP of the final tournament, Luca Ivankovic scored 32 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and Mara Cakic added 16 points. Sibenik in the third quarter outscored Gospic 23-12 to take a lead 65-47. Martina Reid led Gospic with 31 points and Marina Vrsaljko added 16.
Sibenik Jolly JBS - Gospic CO 85-69 (Cakic 16, Balic 3, Lokas 7, Misura 4, Semren 4, Ivankovic 32, Salopek 2, Stampalija 17 - Ivezic 7, Reid 31, Gambiraza 3, Jurcevic 9, Badanjak 3, M.Vrsaljko 16).


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  DENMARK - Women  


Standings - Dameligaen
Dameligaen Standings
 1. Horsholm 2-0 
 2. SISU 2-0 
 3. Amager 1-1 
 4. Horsens 1-1 
 5. Lemvig 1-1 
 6. Vaerlose 1-1 
 7. Aabyhoj 0-2 
 8. Falcon 0-2 


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  FINLAND - Women  


Stats Leaders - Women
Points Per Game
 Dionne POUNDS
  HoNsU
  (174-F-84)
  Avg: 32
 1. Pounds, HoNsU32.0 
 2. Vaughn, PeKa29.0 
 3. Wright, FoA27.0 
 4. Moss, ToPo27.0 
 5. Lehtoranta, PeKa22.0 
 6. Roundtree, HoNsU21.0 
 7. Moua, Kerava20.0 
 8. Tuukkanen, ToPo19.0 
 9. Sten, FoA16.0 
 10. Makinen, Kerava15.0 
Rebounds Per Game
 Silja PAAVOLA
  Kerava
  (183-C-83)
  Avg: 16
 1. Paavola, Kerava16.0 
 2. Robinson, Huima13.0 
 3. Kityzina, Catz12.0 
 4. Vaughn, PeKa12.0 
 5. Lahde, Espoo Team11.0 
 6. Jones, Huima10.0 
 7. Roundtree, HoNsU10.0 
 8. Juvonen, ToPo10.0 
 9. Tuukkanen, ToPo10.0 
 10. McCurdy, FoA9.0 
Assists Per Game
 Judy WRIGHT
  FoA
  (172-G-84)
  Avg: 4
 1. Wright, FoA4.0 
 2. Aaltonen, FoA4.0 
 3. Vaughn, PeKa3.0 
 4. Terry, PeKa3.0 
 5. Lehtoranta, PeKa3.0 
 6. Valtakari, Catz2.0 
 7. Tuukkanen, ToPo2.0 
 8. Richter, PeKa2.0 
 9. Juvonen, ToPo2.0 
 10. Morris, Huima2.0 
Steals Per Game
 LaCoya TERRY
  PeKa
  (178-F-87)
  Avg: 5
 1. Terry, PeKa5.0 
 2. Wright, FoA5.0 
 3. Tuukkanen, ToPo5.0 
 4. Dettmann, Espoo T.5.0 
 5. Pounds, HoNsU4.0 
 6. Vaughn, PeKa3.0 
 7. Vapamaa, Catz3.0 
 8. Juvonen, ToPo3.0 
 9. Moua, Kerava3.0 
 10. Lehtoranta, PeKa3.0 
Blocks Per Game
 Kaisa LIND
  HoNsU
  (179-F-87)
  Avg: 2
 1. Lind, HoNsU2.0 
 2. Paavola, Kerava2.0 
 3. Tuukkanen, ToPo1.0 
 4. Terry, PeKa1.0 
 5. Lahtinen, HoNsU1.0 
 6. Wilson, Espoo Team1.0 
 7. Moss, ToPo1.0 
 8. Moua, Kerava1.0 
 9. Juvonen, ToPo1.0 
 10. Kankus, Kerava1.0 


Standings - Women
D1 Standings
 1. FoA 1-0 
 2. Huima 1-0 
 3. PeKa 1-0 
 4. ToPo 1-0 
 5. Catz 0-1 
 6. Espoo Team 0-1 
 7. HoNsU 0-1 
 8. Kerava 0-1 


D1 Round: 1 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
FoA - HoNsU 85-68
FoA rolled over HoNsU 85:68 at the Regular Season Round 1. Judy Wright (172-G-84) erupted with 27 points for the winners and Sten Tiina followed her with 16. Pounds Dionne responded with 32 points in defeat, while Roundtree Margaret had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

ToPo - Espoo Team 64-56
ToPo edged Espoo Team 64:56 on Saturday as Dandra Moss (183-F-88, college: Va Commonwealth) shined with 27 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. Tuukkanen Taru collected 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Juvonen Anette added 9 points and 10 boards. Lahde Maija ended up with 13 points and 11 caroms in defeat.

PeKa - Kerava 82-66
PeKa beat Kerava 82:66 as the latter had 6 points in the roster. First two quarters of the game ware even and PeKa had 41-35 lead at the half-time. After the break PeKa took the lead and won the third quarter by points 25-11. Krystal Vaughn (185-G-86, agency: LBM Management, college: Va Commonwealth) top-scored for the winners with 29 points and Lehtoranta Linda-Lotta posted 22. Moua Michaela brought 20 points in the losing effort.

Huima - Catz 48-45
Huima won the opener of the League beating Catz 48:45. Sade Morris (180-G-88, college: Kansas) poured in 14 points for the winners and Robinson Kenya collected 11 points and 13 rebounds. Jallai Kerttu responded with 12 points for the guests.



Home teams started the season 2010-2011 victoriously - by Elina Koskinen
The season 2010-2011 started yesterday with four games. All the home teams were victorious and took two points.

In first round ToPo and Espoo Team were against each other in Helsinki. The match was even and finally ToPo reached to the two points by numbers 64-56. Leading characters in the game were ToPos Taru Tuukkanen and the American Dandra Moss. Moss netted 27 points and took 9 rebounds while Tuukkanen scored 19 points and 10 rebounds.

In Kotka took PeKa a home win from Kera Energia Team. First two quarters of the game ware even and PeKa had 41-35 lead at the half-time. After the break PeKa took the lead and won the third quarter by points 25-11. PeKas Krystal Vaughn was the leading scorer with 29 points. Michaela Moua scored the highest points (20) for Kerava Energia Team.

First round highest scores in points were made in Forssa where FOA took 82-66 win over HoNsU. Both teams scored evenly during the first half. In the second half FOA took 18-0 run and the game was basically over. FOAs Judy Wright led the scoring by 27 points. Dionne Pounds from HoNsU netted the highest personal points (32) in the first round.

Huima took the two points from last years champion Catz. The game was not a real scoring triumph, as the final numbers 48-45 shows. Both teams had difficulties to score and the scoring percentages were low during the game. Sade Morris from Huima sealed the victory for home team as she netted the free throws in only 6 seconds before the final whistle.


*****************************************************
  GERMANY - Women  


DBBL Round: 2 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Oberhausen - Freiburg 62-69
Sarah Hayes (173-G-84, college: Brown) knocked down 17 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and distributed 3 assists to lead Freiburg past Oberhausen. Mirna Paunovic (185-F/C-76) added 13 points and 9 rebounds for the visitors as they clinched the second straight win at the start of the season. Birte Thimm (180-F-87) nailed 14 points and collected 7 caroms for Oberhausen.

Marburg - Rhein MB 79-62
Shenita Landry (188-F, college: Temple) stepped up with 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Marburg past Rhein MB. Sandra Weber (183-G/F-85) contributed 19 points as the winners climbed at 2-0 record. Alissa Pierce (182-G/F-86) notched 18 points for Rhein MB who are yet to win in the championship.

Herner - Leipzig 78-65
Herner held off Leipzig at home court. Brisa Silva (168-G-84, college: Oklahoma St.) scored 22 points to lead the hosts to the first win in the season. Minja Terzic (188-F/C-79) added 12 points and 9 rebounds in the victory. Candace Williams (183-F-88, college: New Hampshire) replied with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists for the Eagles as they suffered the second loss in a row.

Wasserburg - Wolfenbuettel 65-61
Wasserburg stayed undefeated at the start of the season after they handled Wolfenbuettel. Rebecca Thoresen (178-F/G-78) accounted for 22 points for Wasserburg. Jessica Hootmann (190-C-85) netted 8 points in the victory. Roli-Ann Nikagbatse (178-F-84, college: Liberty) answered with 18 points for the Wildcats.

Halle - Chemnitz 58-72
Chemnitz overcame Halle on the road. Brianne O'Rourke (171-G-87, college: Penn St.) stepped up with 15 points to pace the Chemcatz to the first win in the season. Melissa Jeltema (175-G-88, college: Oakland) knocked down 13 points in the victory. Carrie Biemer (183-F-87, college: Pennsylvania) replied with 18 points and 6 rebounds for the Lions as they fell at 0-2 record.



Standings - Women
DBBL Standings
 1. Freiburg 2-0 
 2. Marburg 2-0 
 3. Saarlouis 2-0 
 4. Wasserburg 2-0 
 5. Chemnitz 1-1 
 6. Donau-Ries 1-1 
 7. Herner 1-1 
 8. Oberhausen 1-1 
 9. Halle 0-2 
 10. Leipzig 0-2 
 11. Rhein MB 0-2 
 12. Wolfenbuettel 0-2 


Stats Leaders - Women
Points Per Game
 Morgan HENDERSON
  Donau-Ries
  (185-F-88)
  Avg: 22
 1. Henderson, Donau.22.0 
 2. Thoresen, Wasse.21.0 
 3. Manakova, Saarl.17.0 
 4. Paunovic, Freiburg17.0 
 5. Landry, Marburg17.0 
 6. Lechlitner, Halle16.5 
 7. Biemer, Halle16.5 
 8. Austmann, Oberh.16.0 
 9. Williams, Leipzig15.5 
 10. Silva, Herner14.5 
Rebounds Per Game
 Morgan HENDERSON
  Donau-Ries
  (185-F-88)
  Avg: 11
 1. Henderson, Donau.11.0 
 2. Landry, Marburg11.0 
 3. Williams, Leipzig10.0 
 4. Manakova, Saarl.10.0 
 5. Haughian, Leipzig9.5 
 6. Hollinquest, Saarl.9.0 
 7. Rajecka, Donau-Ries8.0 
 8. Grieb, Chemnitz8.0 
 9. Greinacher, Oberh.7.5 
 10. Skuballa, Marburg7.0 
Assists Per Game
 Amanda REGO
  Donau-Ries
  (170-G-86)
  Avg: 7
 1. Rego, Donau-Ries7.0 
 2. Davidson, Marburg5.5 
 3. O''Rourke, Chemnitz4.5 
 4. Lechlitner, Halle4.0 
 5. Richter, Donau-Ries4.0 
 6. Mucke, Herner4.0 
 7. Austmann, Oberh.3.5 
 8. Hayes, Freiburg3.0 
 9. Pace, Leipzig3.0 
 10. Barnert, Saarlouis3.0 
Steals Per Game
 Amanda REGO
  Donau-Ries
  (170-G-86)
  Avg: 8
 1. Rego, Donau-Ries8.0 
 2. Barnert, Saarlouis5.0 
 3. Rajecka, Donau-Ries4.0 
 4. Tracey, Freiburg3.5 
 5. Austmann, Oberh.3.5 
 6. Flasarova, Wolfen.3.0 
 7. Henderson, Donau.3.0 
 8. Stupar, Saarlouis3.0 
 9. Hayes, Freiburg3.0 
 10. Hollinquest, Saarl.3.0 
Blocks Per Game
 Sabine LOEWE
  Donau-Ries
  (191-C/F-82)
  Avg: 3
 1. Loewe, Donau-Ries3.0 
 2. Rajecka, Donau-Ries2.0 
 3. Greunke, Rhein MB1.5 
 4. Almind, Oberhausen1.5 
 5. Tracey, Freiburg1.5 
 6. Pieczynski, Rhein M.1.0 
 7. Cromer, Chemnitz1.0 
 8. Smith, Saarlouis1.0 
 9. Kuhn, Wasserburg1.0 
 10. Manakova, Saarl.1.0 


*****************************************************
  HOLLAND - Women  


ProBuild Lions clinch 2010 SuperCup title - by Eurobasket News
ProBuild Lions - HLB Accountants 68:62

ProBuild Lions celebrated the 2010 SuperCup title. They shot down HLB Accountants for the trophy yesterday. Molly McDowell (178-G-81, college: S.Illinois) scored 21 points to lead the effort.
The Lions surged ahead early in the game. They accumulated a 16:6 lead but HLB Accountants managed to bounce back. Maxime Essenstam (189-C-93) scored quick 8 points to drag HLB Accountants within one 19:20. Maaike van de Bovenkamp (177-F-85) capped the period with a three-pointer as ProBuild Lions established a 23:19 advantage. But things turned around in the second term. Led by unstoppable Maxime Essenstam HLB Accountants surged in front. They limited their opponents to 11 points to take a 39:34 halftime advantage. ProBuild Lions cut the distance in the third period but failed to step in charge. HLB Accountants enjoyed a narrow 55:53 advantage early in the final quarter. The teams stayed close till the final moments when a lay-up from Kati Harty (168-G-87, college: Wisc.-Green Bay) and a three-pointer from Molly McDowell sealed the deal for the Lions.
Kati Harty and Maaike van de Bovenkamp produced 14 points each for ProBuild Lions. Maxime Essenstam answered with 27 points for HLB Accountants. Richelle Van Der Keijl (191-C-93) accounted for 11 points in defeat.

ProBuild Lions: Molly McDowell 21, Kati Harty 14, Maaike van de Bovenkamp 14
HLB Accountants: Maxime Essenstam 27, Richelle Van Der Keijl 11


*****************************************************
  HUNGARY - Women  


Hungarian A round 3 best performance: Sara Krnjic - by Eurobasket News
Serbian center Sara Krnjic (193-C-91) put on an extraordinary performance in the last round for second-ranked Pecs 2010, receiving a Eurobasket.com Player of the Week award for round 3.
The 19-year old player had a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds, while her team outclassed, the league's worst team Cegledi EKK (#10, 0-2) with 54-point margin 105-51. Pecs 2010 maintains the 2nd position in Hungarian A. They maintain perfect record without any lost game in the league. The season is still on an early stage, but Pecs 2010 already had a very good start winning all 3 without losing a single one. Krnjic has many years of experience at Pecs 2010, through which he has constantly improved. Sara Krnjic has solid league stats. She is in league's top in rebounds (2nd best: 9.7rpg) and averages impressive 2.3spg and 61.5% FGP.

The second best player in last round's games was 24-year old American Danielle Page (188-F-86) of ZTE NKK. Page had a very good evening with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Of course she lead ZTE to another comfortable win 65-49 over Szolnok (2-1) being unquestionably team leader. The season is still at the very beginning and this victory may help a lot. Let's wait for the next round. Page is a newcomer at ZTE, but is already the team's top player. She belongs to the best scorers in the league with 24.0ppg (#2). She also registered 12.0 boards per game.

Third on the list of top players last round was another ZTE NKK's star - forward Judit Szelesy (184-F-78, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services). Szelesy scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. She was another key player of ZTE, helping her team with a 65-49 easy win against Szolnok (2-1). ZTE needs these victories very badly if they think about getting closer to top teams. Their record at this point is 2 victories and 1 lost games. Szelesy has a very solid season. In 2 games in Hungary she scored 7.5ppg.

Other top performing players last week:
4. Rita Rasheed (180-F-89) of Szeged - 24 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists
5. Monika Bukovszki (171-G-79) of ZTE - 14 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists
6. Zane Tamane (200-C-83) of MKB Eurol. - 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists
7. Bernadett Nemeth (173-G-80) of Szeged - 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists
8. Milica Cvetanovic (195-C-86) of Szolnok - 14 points and 13 rebounds
9. Abi Olajuwon (193-C-88) of SEAT Lami - 17 points and 12 rebounds
10. Edit Laczi (181-G/F-88) of Szeged - 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists

*****************************************************
  ISRAEL - Women  


Camille Little join to Electra Ramat Hasharon - by Gil Goshen


Camille Lttle signed with the Israeli champion and the cup holder
2009/10. The forward who won the wnba champion
with the Seattle Storm will join Alexis Hornbuckle and Chante Black.
Camille played in israel last season for Ramat Chen and had 16.4ppg, 9.6rpg, 2.2apg, 2.1spg, FGP 49.2%, 3PT: 31.6%, FT: 70.0%.
With the Seattle she had 41 games: 10.3ppg, 5.5rpg, 1.4apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 51.9%, 3PT: 32.1%, FT: 70.2%

Camille Little (188-F/G-85, college: N.Carolina)

LYNDRA WEAVER SIGNED WITH RAMAT CHEN - by Gil Goshen

Lyndra Weaver signed with Ramat Chen
and will join Ivory Latta and Tiffany Jackson.
Lyndra who was drafted 17 ( 2009 ) played 2009/10
for TTT Riga in the Euroleague and for Cankaya Universitesi in Tirkey and had
12.9ppg, 5.1rpg, 1.1apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 34.6%, 3PT: 60.0%, FT: 67.6%.
On her last year at the college she had: 2008-2009: Virginia (NCAA): 25 games: 19.9ppg, 6.4rpg, 1.4spg, FGP: 43.7%, 3Pts: 43.3%, FT: 81.1%.

.

*****************************************************
  LUXEMBOURG - Women  


Standings - Women
Diekirch League Standings
 1. AB Contern 1-0 
 2. Black Star 1-0 
 3. Etzella 1-0 
 4. Musel Pikes 1-0 
 5. T71 Dudelange 1-0 
 6. Amicale 0-1 
 7. Basket Esch 0-1 
 8. Heffingen 0-1 
 9. Racing 0-1 
 10. Residence 0-1 


*****************************************************
  POLAND - Women  


PLKK Round: 2 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Lider Prusz. - Lotos Gdynia 66-102
Lotos Gdynia cruised past Lider Pruszkow on the road in the opener. Marta Jujka (192-C-88) notched 20 points and 6 rebounds to lead Lotos. Elina Babkina (172-G-89, agency: LBM Management) contributed 18 points for the winning side. Alicja Bednarek (170-G-83) nailed 13 points for Lider Pruszkow.

Super-Pol - Wisla Can-Pak 51-78
Wisla toppled Super-Pol Leszno away from home. Gunta Basko (181-F-80, college: Siena) fired 20 points and collected 7 rebounds to pace the visitors. Ewelina Kobryn (193-C-82, agency: Data Plus Group) accounted for 12 points and 8 boards for the Krakow team. Mercedes Fox-Griffin (170-G-87, college: Oregon St.) nailed 14 points for Super-Pol.

CCC Polkowice - Inea AZS P. 78-44
CCC Polkowice celebrated the first win in the season. They fired past Inea Poznan in front of the home fans. Malgorzata Babicka (185-F/C-85, agency: Promotex) notched 16 points to pace CCC. Jene Morris (175-G-87, college: San Diego St.) added 14 points for the hosts. Candice Champion (185-F-87, college: Texas Arlington) answered with 15 points for Inea Poznan. Agnieszka Makowska (182-F-82) accounted for 10 points in the loss.

Artego Bydg. - LKS Siemens 76-60
Artego opened the win count as they held off LKS Siemens in Bydgoszcz. Kristen Morris (190-F-87, college: LSU) accounted for 18 points for the hosts. Marta Urbaniak (189-F-87) delivered 17 points in the victory. Dorota Sobczyk (187-F-77), Alena Novikava (178-G-88) and Roksana Schmidt (181-G-92) replied with 12 points each in defeat.

Widzew - Energa Torun 73-82
Energa Torun overcame Widzew Lodz on the road to improve at 1-1 record. Micaela Cocks (173-G-86, college: Oregon) scored 19 points to lead the visitors. Agata Gajda (175-G-80) added 19 points for the winners. Katarzyna Kenig (185-F-79) delivered 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for Widzew Lodz.



*****************************************************
  SOUTH KOREA - Women  


Womens team sneaks into FIBA quarterfinals - by Jerry Lee
The womens national basketball team managed to sneak into the quarterfinals at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, but they face the daunting task of facing the United States today.

In advancing out of the group stage for the first time since the 2002 World Championship in China, Koreas head coach Lim Dal-shik and his team have already achieved their goal of reaching the quarterfinals.

Korea finished a disappointing 13th overall at the 2006 event in Brazil. It remains to be seen if Korea can pull off an upset against the Americans, but that seems highly unlikely.

As the top-ranked team in the world, the U.S. breezed by its competition in the group stage of the tourney by winning all six of their games by an average of 31 points. The star-studded roster, featuring WNBA players such as Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi, are the favorites to win the tourney.

Korea, on the other hand, is hobbling into the quarterfinals with a depleted lineup.

Its key players are missing and several others are coping with injuries. Key players like Choi Yoon-ah, Ha Eun-joo and Kim Jung-eun have been scratched due to injuries and others like Jung Sun-min and Park Jung-eun are also in bad shape. Lim will have eight to nine players available for the tough quarterfinals matchup.

We achieved our goal, said Lim in a post-game interview. I want to thank my players for not giving up and trying their best under unfavorable circumstances. Im proud of them.

On Wednesday, Korea headed into their final group-stage game against rivals Japan facing a must-win situation. Coming off a 81-48 loss against Russia the previous night, Korea dropped its group stage record to 2-3. They also needed the Czech Republic to defeat Brazil in order to advance out of their group.

Korea had been in a tight game with the Russians, trailing by a single point at halftime, 29-28, but Lim opted to rest most of his starters for the game against Japan. Korea was out-scored 52-20 in the second half. The gamble paid off, as Korea pulled off a 65-64 nail-biter over its rival Japan. Leading the way for Korea was forward Jung. The captain scored 21 points, had six assists and added four steals in the game. The Czech Republic helped Koreas cause by defeating Brazil 84-70.



*****************************************************
  SPAIN - Women  


Cristal Kelly joins Argon Uni Girona - by Eurobasket
Argon Uni Girona agreed terms with 24-year old American forward Cristal Kelly (191-F-86, college: W.Kentucky). Kelly played most recently at San Antonio Silver Stars (WNBA) in the U.S. While playing 27 games for S.Antonio SS last season she recorded 3.0ppg and 1.2rpg.
She has played in Italy last season with ACP Livorno (Italy-A1, starting five) averaging 10.3ppg, 5.9rpg, 2.2spg, FGP: 51.3%, FT: 79.6% in 27 games.

By Eurobasket Data Center



Argon Uni Girona sign Evelina Guneva - by Eurobasket
Argon Uni Girona signed 30-year old Bulgarian former international forward Evelina Guneva (183-F-80, agency: Interperformances). Guneva played most recently at Moguerza Real Canoe N.C. (LF2). While playing 26 games for Real Canoe last season her stats were: 10.7ppg, 6.1rpg, 1.3apg and 1.3spg. Guneva is a very experienced player. She played also pro basketball in Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia and Turkey.

By Eurobasket Data Center

*****************************************************
  TURKEY - Women  


Anadlou Jet tournament program is announced - by Iva Ivanova
Basketball club Botasspor will host 3-day preseason tournament. Teams Botas Spor, Mersin BSB and Tarsus Belediyespor are in A group. Galatasaray Medical Park, Pankp Kayseri Sekerspor and Ceyhan Belediyesi are in B group.

Program of the 7th tournament is:

October 7th:
13:00 Pankup - Galatasaray
15:00 Tarsus Bld - Ceyhan Bld
17:00 Botas - Merisn BSB

October 8th:
13:00 Pankup - Ceyhan Bld
15:00 Botas - Tarsus Bld
17:00 Mersin BSB - Galatasaray

October 9th:
13:00 Galatasaray - Ceyhan Bld
15:00 Mersin BSB - Tarsus Bld
17:00 Botas - Pankup

*****************************************************
  VENEZUELA - Women  


Venezuela's Women U15 NT began trainings in Caracas - by Francisco Vega
Barquisimeto, Venezuela.- Venezuela's Women U15 NT began trainings in Caracas for the upcoming South American Championship to be played in Trinidad, Uruguay, from October 16th till the 20th.

16 players from all around the country were called up by head coach Alecia Landaeta . Her assistant coach will be Bricman Morales.

Girls attending trainings are Angely Maiz (Bolivar), Sharon Ponce (Carabobo), Melaniet Sevilla (Carabobo), Maholy Lovera (Distrito Capital), Danielle Wallen (Distrito Capital), Yolimar Martinez (Falcon), Leydimar Diaz (Guarico), Keisy Ford (Guarico), Mariangel Mendoza (Lara), Marines Mendoza (Lara), Lilibeth Maramara (Lara), Nathaly Castellano (Miranda), Marielka Garate (Miranda), Vanessa Toro (Merida), Vanessa Candallo (Monagas) and Yasmily Accent (Monagas).


*****************************************************
  WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Women  


Opals defeat les Bleues for 5th place and Russia beats Korea for rank 7 - by Bert Larsimont
The first two games of the day were classification ones: Korea was facing Russia for places 7 and 8 and France was playing the Australian Opals in the classification 5-6 game.

Russia, despite a fantastic Ilona Korstin (7/13 form the field), started slowly and was even behind at the end of the first quarter. We had to wait until the end of the second quarter to see Team Russia come up in front: 42-47 at half-time. Yeon Ha Beon, very efficient from long range, had played the whole time in the first half for the Koreans.

Russia of coach Boris Sokolovskiy took a larger lead in the third quarter: 46-58 and then 57-69 at the end of the period. Mainly making the difference in the paint, the Russians stayed ahead in the fourth. Final score: 76-87.

Ilona Korstin scored 21 points and Maria Stepanova (203-C-79) 16 in the win while Yeon Ha Beon of Korea finished with 24 points (and 40 minutes of play). Becky Hammon, Marina Kuzina and Natalia Vieru sat on the bench through the whole game for Russia. Russia finishes at rank 7 and Korea is ranked 8th in this tournament.

In the second game of the day, France was playing the Opals. Endene Myiem, already on the bench during the France vs. Korea game of yesterday, was not in uniform to play today. Australia started strongly: 5-11 after five minutes and even 7-21 at the end of the first quarter. Only Beikes (2 points), Ndongue (2 points) and Digbeu (3 points) had
scored for les Bleues.

In the second quarter, Liz Cambage and Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81), both Australian centers, were called a third foul. France came back step by step: 12-26 and 24-34. The French team played quicker. Especially efficient in fastbreak situation, France came closer afterwards: 37-44. But, led by Marianna Tolo, Australians had a strong finish in the third quarter. Cambage made 39-53 at the end of the third period indeed.

Ndongue had a fifth foul straight away at the beginning of the fourth and the Down Under girls were still ahead: 42-59. The girls of coach Pierre Vincent concentrated better and les Bleues, supported by a large number of French supporters, stayed in the game: 50-61 with less than four minutes to go. Coach Vincent took two time-outs in a row with 2:08 to go when the scoreboard showed 53-66. It will not change much in the end: 62-74 (final score).

Lauren Jackson with 13 points and Elizabeth Cambage (203-C-91) with 12 points were the best scorers for Australia. Elodie Godin (190-C-85) with 11 points and Clemence Beikes with 10 were the top scorers for les Bleues. Final rankings: Australia 5th, France 6th, Russia 7th and Korea 8th.

Hana Horakova: MVP of the 2010 World Championship for Women, All Star team also voted - by Bert Larsimont
The 2010 FIBA World Championship for Womens All Star Team looks as follows: Hana Horakova (182-F/G-79) of Czech Republic, Diana Taurasi (182-F/G-82, college: Connecticut) of the USA, Eva Viteckova (189-F-82) of Czech Republic, Sancho Lyttle (193-C-83, college: Houston) of Spain and Yelena Leuchanka (196-C-83, college: W.Virginia) of Belarus.

MVP of the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women is Hana Horakova.

A big applause was also given for the organizers of the tournament as well as the Czech Republic authorities as Mr. Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, was present at the final game.

USA wins the Gold in Karlovy Vary - by Eurobasket News
FINAL
USA - Czech Republic 89-69
It was sold out at the KV Arena tonight as Team USA was ready to battle against the Czechs. After 20 seconds, Jana Vesela was knocked out and sent to the bench for injury. She did not show up on court anymore in this game. Three attempts missed by the Americans and two missed for the local team... We had to wait a while to see Tina Charles (193-C-88, agency: LBM Management, college: Connecticut) opening the score on two free-throws. The game was now really beginning. 2-2, 4-4. At 6-5, a few turnovers occured. Sue Bird made a nice move on the baseline and hit a jumper. On a fastbreak, USA took a 6-point lead and the result of this was that Lubor Blazek took his first time-out with 4:55 remaining before the end of the first quarter. Czech captain Horakova wanted to show the way to the basket and did well indeed. But the US team remained calm and the big athletic centers did an excellent job to make 15-9. The Czechs did not shoot as well as in the previous games from long range so far but Katerina Elhotova hit a three to bring hope. Each hometeam's baskets were celebrated as a victory by a wonderful crowd. 19-14 at the end of the first quarter. A tough defense and a three-pointer by Elhotova kept the game close. Tamika Catchings (186-F-79, college: Tennessee), from the right wing and long range, made 24-18 later on. A few fastbreaks later by the US squad, it was 28-18. Viteckova kept Czech Republic alive at 28-20. It was a three-point festival with Peckova on one side and Moore on the other one. But then, the American stars accelerated: 37-25. Horakova scored and had a bonus on the next play: 37-28. The US team did not miss easy shots: 40-28. Every basket made by the Czechs turned out to be a real party in the stands... 40-33 with one minute left. And valiant Czech captain Horakova, the hero of a whole country, intercepted the ball to make 40-35. The score did no change before the half. All Czech fans, including the President of Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus, were happy. 6024 people attending the game, a record for the beautiful KV Arena (multi-purpose but mainly built for ice hockey games)! The third quarter started well for the Czechs but Taurasi responded by a nice jumper first and Bird by an easy lay-up just afterwards. The Czechs stayed in the race but WNBA star Diana Taurasi (182-F/G-82, college: Connecticut) was on fire. A few bad passes and wrong options for the local team allowed the Dream Team to take a larger lead: 55-39. After a time-out by coach Lubor Blazek , the Czechs made 55-41 but Bird, with a three-pointer, responded efficiently: 58-41. Physically very strong, Team USA kept outscoring the Czechs who remained silent for a while. The gap became deeper: 72-47 on an easy basket by Angel McCoughtry (185-F-86, college: Louisville). Third quarter ended on the score of 74-52. The fourth quarter was a big party for the Czech fans who celebrated each basket of their favourite team but the strongest team in this tournament was obviously the one of the United States. Czech player Petra Kulichova (198-C-84) hit a few pretty shots, just nothing but net but the score was in favour of the Americans: 82-59 with 6:35 left in the game. Surprisingly, Tereza Peckova (191-F-87) stayed on the floor a long time, which had not been the case so far in the tournament. It was 82-65 with 4:09 to go and Taurasi hit a great shot: 84-65. Team USA defended better afterwards and managed the last minutes perfectly well. Final score: 89-69. Best scorer for the USA was Angel McCoughtry with 18 points. The Czech top scorer was Petra Kulichova with 14 points. Team USA wins the gold medal and a spot for the next 2012 Olympic tournament while the Czech Republic gets the silver medal. The organization was just fantastic and the quality of the game probably the best one ever in the women tournaments history. *by Bert Larsimont

Places 3-4
Spain - Belarus 77-68
A 2/2 from three-point range launched Spain in this game for bronze medal. Alba Torrens (184-F-89) was efficient in offense but quickly Yelena Yelena Leuchanka (196-C-83, college: W.Virginia) of Belarus replied with two beautiful baskets from mid-range: 8-6. Sancho Sancho Lyttle (193-C-83, college: Houston) was well active today and started in a perfect manner at rebounding and stealing. Amaya Valdemoro (184-F-76) and Alba kept going with their show and Spain was quickly in front 15-6. Belarus looked tired. They probably had a hard time to recover after their elimination of yesterday against the Czechs. Sancho Lyttle inside was efficient but Belarus, mainly with Yelena Leuchanka, tried to remain in the race: 28-15 at the end of the first period. Alba Torrens started in the second quarter like she did in the first one. She hit a three from downtown to make 31-15. Sancho Lyttle was out of the game due to back problems and Belarus with Marchanka at playmaking came back at 33-20. Sancho Lyttle got back on the court just afterwards and, with the help of the other Spanish NT center Cindy Lima, controlled the air: 39-23. But Belarus' wil was not to let the game so easily to La Roja and the Green and Red were back at 39-28. Anastasyia Verameyenka kept her team awake and after a last foul by Torrens, Belarus closed the gap at 41-34 just before the break. Alba Torrens finished the first half with 17 points. The girls with a dress came back at 43-41 early in the third quarter. It was a close game again. The guards of Belarus played quickly. Torrens, Sancho Lyttle, Valdemoro and Montanana remained vigilant and despite efforts of Verameyenka for Belarus, reached a 10-point margin with just 2:15 remaining in the third quarter. This one ended up with a 62-53 score on the KV Arena electronic board. A nice attendance of 5131 basketball fans were enjoying the game. Amaya went on with hitting great baskets and Sancho went on with easy baskets in the paint for la Seleccion femenina: 69-55. Belarus' coach Buyalski made some substitutions and tried to find solutions but Spain remained well organized. Nevertheless, a three-pointer by Marina Kress and missing shot by the Spaniards just afterwards obliged Spanish coach Hernandez to take a time-out with 3:37 on the clock and 71-63. La Roja remained calm and concentrated while Belarus missed shots and had a few turnovers: 75-65 with 2:02 on the clock. Amaya played a tough defense and on a last basket made 77-68. Sancho Lyttle finished as best scorer for the Spanish sied while Verameyenka finished with 20 points for the team of Belarus, which will probably remain the nicest surprise in this tournament. Spain has a first medal in a FIBA World Championship for Women. *by Bert Larsimont

Places 5-6
France - Australia 62-74
The first two games of the day were classification ones: Korea was facing Russia for places 7 and 8 and France was playing the Australian Opals in the classification 5-6 game. In was the second game of the day, France was playing the Opals. Endene Miyem (188-F-88), already on the bench during the France vs. Korea game of yesterday, was not in uniform to play today. Australia started strongly: 5-11 after five minutes and even 7-21 at the end of the first quarter. Only Beikes (2 points), Ndongue (2 points) and Digbeu (3 points) had scored for les Bleues. In the second quarter, Liz Cambage and Lauren Jackson (196-F/C-81) (196-F/C-81), both Australian centers, were called a third foul. France came back step by step: 12-26 and 24-34. The French team played quicker. Especially efficient in fastbreak situation, France came closer afterwards: 37-44. But, led by Marianna Tolo, Australians had a strong finish in the third quarter. Cambage made 39-53 at the end of the third period indeed. Ndongue had a fifth foul straight away at the beginning of the fourth and the Down Under girls were still ahead: 42-59. The girls of coach Pierre Vincent concentrated better and les Bleues, supported by a large number of French supporters, stayed in the game: 50-61 with less than four minutes to go. Coach Vincent took two time-outs in a row with 2:08 to go when the scoreboard showed 53-66. It will not change much in the end: 62-74 (final score). Lauren Jackson with 13 points and Elizabeth Cambage (203-C-91) with 12 points were the best scorers for Australia. Elodie Godin (190-C-85) with 11 points and Clemence Beikes with 10 were the top scorers for les Bleues. Final rankings: Australia 5th, France 6th, Russia 7th and Korea 8th. *by Bert Larsimont

Places 7-8
South Korea - Russia 76-87
The first two games of the day were classification ones: Korea was facing Russia for places 7 and 8 and France was playing the Australian Opals in the classification 5-6 game. Russia, despite a fantastic Ilona Korstine (183-G-80) (7/13 form the field), started slowly and was even behind at the end of the first quarter. We had to wait until the end of the second quarter to see Team Russia come up in front: 42-47 at half-time. Beon Yeon-Ha (180-F-80), very efficient from long range, had played the whole time in the first half for the Koreans. Russia of coach Boris Sokolovskiy took a larger lead in the third quarter: 46-58 and then 57-69 at the end of the period. Mainly making the difference in the paint, the Russians stayed ahead in the fourth. Final score: 76-87. Ilona Korstine scored 21 points and Maria Stepanova (203-C-79) 16 in the win while Beon Yeon-Ha of Korea finished with 24 points (and 40 minutes of play). Becky Hammon, Marina Kuzina and Natalia Vieru sat on the bench through the whole game for Russia. Russia finishes at rank 7 and Korea is ranked 8th in this tournament. *by Bert Larsimont