EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 6/8/2011

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Men News

*****************************************************
  ARGENTINA   


Maxi Stanic is set to return to Boca Juniors - by Eurobasket News
Maximiliano Stanic (178-G-78, agency: Players Group) is reportedly coming back to Argentina. The 32-year-old guard will join Boca Juniors in the next season. Last season Maximiliano Stanic played for Valladolid in Spain. He averaged 4.3 points, 2.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds per appearance. Previously Maximiliano Stanic had stints in France and Italy. The guard played for Boca Juniors back in 2001/02 season. He averaged 7.2 points, 3.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds per game then. Maximiliano Stanic made it into Eurobasket.com French Pro A All-Bosmans Team back in 2008 while playing for Pau-Orthez. The guard was also Italian LegaDue Champion in 2006. Maximiliano Stanic on Argentinean National Team roster back in 2008.


Paolo Quinteros leaves CAI Zaragoza - by Eurobasket News
Paolo Quinteros (186-G-79) is no longer a member of CAI Zaragoza. The Argentinean guard decided to look for the new club despite CAI Zaragoza expressed interest to extend his deal. Quinteros appeared 33 times in ACB this season averaging 12.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists. His season-high was 27 points against Lagun Aro GBC. Quinteros joined Zaragoza in 2007 from Leon. In their first season together, he helped Zaragoza win the promotion from LEB Gold to ACB.
Before Zaragoza, Paolo Quinteros spent few years with Boca Juniors and Estudiantes. He also has experience from La Union and Uruguayan Trouvile. Quinteros is active member of the Argentinean National Team. At the latest World Championship in Turkey he had 4.3 ppg and 1 rpg for 9 games. In 2008, he helped Argentina win the Bronze at the Olympic Games in Beijing. He also has Bronze from the FIBA Americas in San Juan (Puerto Rico) -09 and Silver from Tournament of the Americas -07.

*****************************************************
  AUSTRALIA   


SEABL: Player of the Week, Round 9 - by Eurobasket News
CJ Massingale (191-G-82, agency: Prossin Sports Management, college: Metro St.) Knox Raiders

CJ Massingale returned to form with a scintillating 38pts@52% performance including 8 from 11 three-pointers, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks to lead the Raiders to an impressive 35 point bounce back victory over the Brisbane Spartans. With the sharp shooting from CJ the Raiders established a comfortable 32-16 advantage after one quarter. The Raiders then crushed any Spartan resurgence hopes, thanks in part to 18 points from Massingale in the third quarter including four three-pointers. .

Other notable performances were:

q Sandringham Sabres import Sanley Asumnu averaged 20pts, 8rebs and 1 ass to help his team to a rewarding 2-0 weekend with wins over Frankston and Dandenong.

q Fernandez Lockett (196-F-85, college: Austin Peay St.) produced 20pts@58%, 12rebs, 2ass and 5stls to guide the Mt Gambier Pioneers to a surprising victory over Geelong on Friday night.

q Canberra Gunners recorded the upset of the season so far this year thanks largely to the efforts of Import Kyle Jeffers (206-C-85, college: Oregon St.) who recorded 21pts@58%, 6rebs and 1ass.
Courtesy of: www.seabl.com.au



AIS Men outmuscled by China in opening game - by Eurobasket News
The AIS Mens Basketball program kicked off their nine game tour of China on the weekend with an 85-60 defeat at the hands of the Chinese U19 National team.

With many of the AIS Senior Men players on a separate tour in preparation for their upcoming U19 Wold Championships, the game was a great opportunity to blood some of our younger talent.

In front of a passionate 3,500 strong crowd the Chinese team jumped out to an early lead 15-8. Despite this the young AIS certainly didnt look out of place, with Institute captain Owen Odigie (196-F-93) and AIS Junior, 15 year old Dante Exum both attacking the basket hard for easy scores in the first few minutes.

Some early fouling by the AIS sent the Chinese to the free-throw line leading to easy points, which helped them, extend their lead to 13 by the quarter time break.

After some adjustments by Coach Stacker and the AIS in the second quarter the game began to really tighten up. Both teams had a couple of mini runs and moments of dominance, but the end result was that at half time the Chinese had slightly increased their lead to 15, 40-25.

The stats for both teams were virtually identical, with the one defining stat being that the Chinese were managing a slightly higher shooting percentage.

Despite the deficit the AIS went into the half with a strong sense of confidence and feeling like they were right in the game.

The third quarter saw the AIS step up their assertiveness. Owen Odigie continued to cause headaches for the Chinese as he finished off a perfectly executed play drawn up by Coach Stacker with a thunderous dunk that brought the Chinese fans to their feet.

The goal for the AIS Men was to get the margin below double figures by the third quarter break. An open three-point look on the buzzer would have done that had it dropped. It didnt, and instead the AIS finished the quarter down 11, but with a bunch of momentum having won the period by four points.

Unfortunately in the last quarter the AIS couldnt break the 11 point lead. For the first part of the quarter the game was an arm wrestle with neither team really being able to advance.

Late in the quarter however, the Chinese found some momentum allowing them to finish off the game with a run of scoring on their way to a 25-point win.

Owen Odigie finished with 13 points top scorer for the Australians, with Dante Exum just behind with 12 points on his first International Tour. Coach Stacker was very pleased with the men in their first hit out.

We will face the Chinese team two more times on this tour which will be a good indication of how much we improve over the tour. In the meantime we are prepared to play a strong USA contingent tomorrow night.

By Mat Neason, Mens Scholarship Coach
Courtesy of: www.basketball.net.au



*****************************************************
  BAHRAIN   


Stage ready for first GCC Games - by Yousef Ahmed
BAHRAIN is all set to host the inaugural edition of the GCC Games. The event, entitled Bahrain 11 or 'Bahrain One One', will take place from October 11 to 22. It will be the largest event of its kind ever to be held in the kingdom, bringing all six GCC nations together for a unique showcase of regional sporting talent.

The Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC), together with the Games' official communication and commercial partner, Netizen, announced yesterday the details of the event at a Press conference held at Khalifa Sports City in Isa Town. Speaking were BOC chief executive Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, BOC secretary general Shaikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Netizen chairman Khaled Al Doseri. 'This will be the biggest and most prestigious event for an athlete at the Gulf level,' Shaikh Ahmed told the GDN. More than 1,500 athletes are expected to compete at the inaugural games across 11 disciplines, including Paralympics and women's sports. Competition for the men will feature in athletics, bowling, road cycling, swimming, basketball, handball, volleyball, soccer and endurance horse riding, while there will be table tennis for the women and goal ball for special needs athletes.

Blind

Goal ball is a special internationally recognised sport specifically designed to accommodate the needs of the blind. The Games' opening ceremony will also be one to look forward to. To be held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad, it will not only highlight regional sport, but also the best of Bahraini culture. Expected to attend the inauguration are senior government dignitaries, sports personalities, observers and fans from across the region.Bahrain was officially awarded the right to host the Games during a meeting between the heads of various GCC Olympic committees in Kuwait last year. It had previously been proposed many years ago, but, due to different circumstances, will only be pushing through this year. 'Since winning the trust of our fellow GCC nations to host the inaugural edition of the GCC Games, we have undertaken every effort to ensure that our sporting infrastructure and organisation level matches the grand scale and vision of this event,' Shaikh Khalid said at yesterday's conference. 'We expect Bahrain 11 will attract major attention from people all around the globe, and as such, we have a responsibility to present the best of what Bahrain has to offer and demonstrate its ability in hosting events of this size and calibre.' The GCC Games will incorporate the Gulf Cup's side events, which are basketball, handball and volleyball. 'It's an evolution to the next level - the Gulf Cup will remain as a soccer competition on its own held every two years, while the other games will be held at these Games every four years,' Shaikh Ahmed explained. Shaikh Ahmed added that all of the kingdom's national teams competing in Bahrain 11 will be expected to defend their home court and challenge for a medal. 'It will be a challenge for all our sportsmen and women to perform,' Shaikh Ahmed said. 'We are pushing our teams to go for gold. We hope to see as many of our athletes on the podium.'

The Games' 11 sports will be hosted at different venues across the kingdom. Khalifa Sports City will stage handball, swimming and athletics; Isa Sports City will feature basketball, volleyball, table tennis and goal ball; the National Stadium in Riffa will hold all the soccer matches; bowling will be held at the Sitra commercial centre; road cycling will take place next to Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir; and the endurance horse ride will be held at the Bahrain International Endurance Village, also in Sakhir. Al Doseri commented: 'Our aim as proud partners of Bahrain 11 is to help deliver on the vision of the Games. We are pursuing partnerships with major regional broadcast networks to ensure that all of Bahrain 11's competitions will be available in every household in the GCC and across Middle East and North Africa region while turning the participating athletes into bona fide stars.' Meanwhile, the official Bahrain 11 mascot, named 'Ghaleb', and the Games' logo, were also unveiled at yesterday's conference.

The GCC Games will be rotated between the GCC member states every four years. Saudi Arabia will hold its second edition in 2015. More sporting disciplines are expected to be added with each edition of the Games.

Source GDN BY PATRICK SALOMON , Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011



*****************************************************
  BRAZIL   


Brazilian U19 National Team 2011 - by Eurobasket
Brazilian U19 National Team 2011
#s#
Arthur Casimiro
Casimiro
Raul Neto
Neto
David Rossetto
Rossetto
Bruno Irigoyen
Irigoyen
Erick Camilo
Camilo
#e#5
Arthur Casimiro 206-C-92 Paulistano Brazil
Raul Neto 184-G-92 Pitagoras/Minas Brazil
David Rossetto 180-G-93 Pinheiros/Sky Brazil
Bruno Irigoyen 190-G/F-92 Pitagoras/Minas Brazil
Felicio Cristiano 206-C-93 Pitagoras/Minas Brazil
Durval Cunha 199-F-92 Barueri Brazil
Erick Camilo 203-F-92 Paulistano Brazil
Felipe Vezaro 190-G-92 Blinn JC USA
Felipe Taddei 192-G-92 Vivo/Franca Brazil
Leonardo Meindl 191-F-93 Vivo/Franca Brazil
Lucas Mariano 205-C-93 Vivo/Franca Brazil
Gabriel Aguirre 207-C-92 Palmeiras Brazil
Lucas Riva 211-C-92 Estudiantes II Spain



U19 Brazilian NT announced - by Eurobasket News
List with 13 players of the U19 Brazilian NT is announced. They will represent Brazil at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship in Latvia.

U19 Brazil: Arthur Casimiro (Paulistano), Raul Neto (184-G-92) (Minas Tenis Clube), David Rossetto de Oliveira (Pinheiros), Irigoyen Bruno (Minas Tenis Clube), Felicio Cristiano (Minas Tenis Clube), Cunha Durval (Palmeiras), Erik Rodriguez Camilo (Paulistano), Andr Felipe Vezaro (Blinn College, USA), Felipe Taddei (Franca), Leonardo Meindl (Franca), Mariano Lucas (Franca), Gabriel Aguirre (Palmeiras), Lucas Nogueira (Estudiantes de La Plata, Spain).

The team will go to Latvia at the end of this week for three friendly games. They will play on June 11, 12 and 14. After that, U19 Brazil will go to Lithuania for more exhibitions. They will meet the home squad twice and after that Brazil will play against Australia, Argentina and Canada. FIBA U19 World Championship will be held in Valmiera, Liepaja and Riga from 30 June to 10 July. Brazil is placed to Group A of the Preliminary Round, together with Poland, Russia and Tunisia. In the opening game, Brazil will take on Russia. All of their three games in the first stage Brazil will play in Valmeira.

*****************************************************
  BULGARIA   


Pavlin Ivanov leads U19 Benetton to title in Italy - by Eurobasket News
Bulgarian prospect Pavlin Ivanov (195-G-93, agency: Beo Basket) finished very successful season last weekend. The 18-year-old guard paced his Benetton Treviso to U19 championship title in Italy. They outplayed Virtus Siena 72-66 in the Big Final to win the trophy. Ivanov was named MVP of the Finals and he scored 14 points.
Benetton celebrated in this game thanks to impressive last quarter. Before that, Benetton opened the game with 17-15 lead, but Siena responded with 9-17 in the second period. The Siena team continued with 15-21 after the breather jumping to 12-point lead with 10:00 to go. As mentioned above, Benetton players exploded when it mattered most and finished the game with excellent 31-13 run for the final 72-66 victory.
Pavlin Ivanov joined Benetton three years ago from Tiger Yambol. He was a member of U16 and U18 Bulgaria so far. Last summer in Vilnius, Ivanov had 11.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 2.1 apg for 9 games at the U18 EuroBasket. In 2009, he paced Bulgaria to Gold at the U16 EuroBasket Division B in Portugal. He had 23.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 3.4 apg for 8 games at this event.

*****************************************************
  CANADA   


NBL: Investors from afar look at creating Hub City franchise - by Eurobasket News
Moncton is among the cities a group of American and Japanese investors is considering for a National Basketball League of Canada franchise.

Bill Miller, who is working with the international group, said Monday that prospective investors will likely make a decision by Wednesday on whether to apply for an NBL franchise.

Moncton and Kitchener, Ont. are the two locations the group will discuss during an investors meeting in Tokyo.

Among those attending will be Masaki Hitosugi, the businessman instrumental in a Japanese all-star team playing an exhibition contest in Saint John April 24.

The game, featuring the Saint John Mill Rats and Japanese pro league players, raised money for tsunami relief in the Sendai region.

It was during that weekend that initial discussion occurred between Hitosugi, Miller and representatives of the NBL's founding franchises.

'None of this would have happened if three things hadn't occurred,' Miller said from Laconia, N.H. 'One, Saint John stepped up and helped the people over there (Japan). Two, it was extremely well done, and three, I think we're dealing with good, decent people in the NBL.'

The fledgling Canadian professional basketball league launched May 12 with three charter franchises, the Mill Rats, the Halifax Rainmen and the Quebec Kebs.

The teams left the Premier Basketball League following the 2011 season over disagreements with league management.

Three Ontario franchises, London, Kingston and Oshawa have applied to join the new league. All applications will be considered during the league's first general meeting June 15 in Toronto.

Ian McCarthy, the NBL's interim chief operating officer, called a Moncton team inevitable and said his preference would be to see the franchise operating this year.

'Kitchener would have been a great place for them but we felt that Moncton would be better because they'd have more support from us geographically in terms of helping them with how to do things,' said McCarthy, who is also president and general manager of the Mill Rats.

'For an owner to come into Moncton, you're almost guaranteed to have people who would be interested in coming watch the team play against rivals from Saint John or Halifax...It's very appealing.'

Discussions between NBL executives and the City of Moncton have been ongoing since the concept of the Canadian league was first floated back in January.

Relocating a former Premier League franchise or the formation of a non-profit community ownership group were among the concepts considered.

Ian Fowler, Moncton's general manager of economic development, tourism and culture, is more optimistic that a franchise will hit the hardwood during the 2012-13 season.

Prospective ownership groups in Fredericton and Barrie, Ont., are also shooting for a season two startup.

'That's great news,' Fowler said of the Japanese interest.

'We'd certainly sit down with any ownership group for discussions. But as I say, it's now the middle of June and the clock is ticking.

'We certainly have a genuine interest in wanting to be part of it but at the same time we want to make sure that the product is properly rolled out and that the initial success in Moncton is as solid as it was in Saint John last year.'

Plans call for NBL training camps and the pre-season to begin in October. A 30-game regular season schedule and playoffs would unfold between November and March.

The Moncton franchise would likely play its games at the 7,000-seat Coliseum, also home to the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Fowler said the league schedule works well with available dates at the Coliseum, which tends to be booked solid in late March and April with playoff hockey and trade shows.

He's confident that once an ownership group is established, a lease agreement comparable to ones negotiated with Harbour Station and the Halifax Metro Centre can be worked out.

'We have done some market research and the market research has been positive relative to the support of a team,' Fowler said.

'There are a lot of positives. The challenge is the time window.'

Courtesy of http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com

*****************************************************
  CBL   


Cary beats Fayetteville in shootout - by Eurobasket News
In a Monday night game in Fayetteville, the Invasion (8-0) came back from a 14-point deficit in the second half to win a shootout 122 - 117. The Crossover (2-4) controlled the game for 3 quarters with high-percentage shooting behind the arc and tough defense. But, the Invasion seemingly willed the win through a surge of offense and a few key defensive stops in the fourth quarter. Jarrick Jones (6'0''-G, college: Fayetteville St.) had 28 points in the losing effort for the Crossover. The final regular season home game for the Invasion is Friday, June 10th at 7pm at the Young Center in downtown Cary.

Notes:
-Fayetteville shot 19 of 38 behind the three-point line.

Courtesy of www.oursportscentral.com

Standings
CBL Standings
 1. Cary I. 8-0 
 2. Birmingham S. 4-2 
 3. Heartland P. 4-2 
 4. Gainesville G. 3-4 
 5. Florida Flight 3-5 
 6. Fayetteville C. 2-2 
 7. Wilmington SD 1-6 
 8. Miami Stars 0-0 
 9. Port City 0-3 


*****************************************************
  CHINA   


Standings - NBL
NBL Standings
 1. Ningxia Hanas 1-0 
 2. ShenYang 1-0 
 3. Sichuan 1-0 
 4. Whampoa 1-0 
 5. Changan Group 0-0 
 6. Guangzhou FM 0-0 
 7. Hangzhou 0-1 
 8. Hebei 0-1 
 9. Heilongjiang 0-1 
 10. Jiangsu 0-1 


China edge IBL All-Stars for second straight win - by Eurobasket News
Chinese National Team defeated IBL All-Stars 70:55 in Jiyuan on Sunday. It was the second straight victory for the Asian team in three-game exhibition series. China tested its closest reserve in this game. Zhang Kai (211-C-82) stepped up with 17 points to pace the winners. The teams got to a slow start. China led by a single point 9:8 after ten minutes of action. However the hosts shifted the gear in the next periods and ran away for a comfortable win at the end. Han Shuo (196-G-86) contributed 10 points for China. James Jackson (206-F-81, college: E.Michigan) answered with 12 points for the visitors. IBL All-Stars team was mainly comprised of the Elkhart Express players.
China celebrated an 85:63 win in Game 1 of the series. The teams are scheduled to clash once again in Yong Cheng in Henan Province.


AIS Men outmuscled by China in opening game - by Eurobasket News
The AIS Mens Basketball program kicked off their nine game tour of China on the weekend with an 85-60 defeat at the hands of the Chinese U19 National team.

With many of the AIS Senior Men players on a separate tour in preparation for their upcoming U19 Wold Championships, the game was a great opportunity to blood some of our younger talent.

In front of a passionate 3,500 strong crowd the Chinese team jumped out to an early lead 15-8. Despite this the young AIS certainly didnt look out of place, with Institute captain Owen Odigie (196-F-93) and AIS Junior, 15 year old Dante Exum both attacking the basket hard for easy scores in the first few minutes.

Some early fouling by the AIS sent the Chinese to the free-throw line leading to easy points, which helped them, extend their lead to 13 by the quarter time break.

After some adjustments by Coach Stacker and the AIS in the second quarter the game began to really tighten up. Both teams had a couple of mini runs and moments of dominance, but the end result was that at half time the Chinese had slightly increased their lead to 15, 40-25.

The stats for both teams were virtually identical, with the one defining stat being that the Chinese were managing a slightly higher shooting percentage.

Despite the deficit the AIS went into the half with a strong sense of confidence and feeling like they were right in the game.

The third quarter saw the AIS step up their assertiveness. Owen Odigie continued to cause headaches for the Chinese as he finished off a perfectly executed play drawn up by Coach Stacker with a thunderous dunk that brought the Chinese fans to their feet.

The goal for the AIS Men was to get the margin below double figures by the third quarter break. An open three-point look on the buzzer would have done that had it dropped. It didnt, and instead the AIS finished the quarter down 11, but with a bunch of momentum having won the period by four points.

Unfortunately in the last quarter the AIS couldnt break the 11 point lead. For the first part of the quarter the game was an arm wrestle with neither team really being able to advance.

Late in the quarter however, the Chinese found some momentum allowing them to finish off the game with a run of scoring on their way to a 25-point win.

Owen Odigie finished with 13 points top scorer for the Australians, with Dante Exum just behind with 12 points on his first International Tour. Coach Stacker was very pleased with the men in their first hit out.

We will face the Chinese team two more times on this tour which will be a good indication of how much we improve over the tour. In the meantime we are prepared to play a strong USA contingent tomorrow night.

By Mat Neason, Mens Scholarship Coach
Courtesy of: www.basketball.net.au



*****************************************************
  COSTA RICA   


Standings - D1
LBS Standings
 1. Escazu 8-1 
 2. Barva 7-1 
 3. ARBA San Ram. 5-3 
 4. Sanatura D. 3-5 
 5. Liceo 3-5 
 6. Cartago 3-5 
 7. Perez Zeledon 3-6 
 8. Goico 1-7 


Barva is back to the win - by Gianni Pascucci
In the last round of LBS action, USJ Arba San Ramon felt to Ferreteria Brenes-Barva, 64-83. The league reigning champions played an aggressive basketball till the tipoff, ending the first quarter ahead, 22-12, and never looking back till the end. The scoring was well distributed in Barva, where top performers were Isaac St.Rose (190-G/F-83, college: John Brown) and David Carnegie (193-F-84) with 11 points apiece, while the game top scorer was Daniel Simmons (194-F/C-80), with 13 pts in losing effort.


*****************************************************
  CZECH REPUBLIC   


DKV Joventut extends David Jelinek - by Eurobasket News
David Jelinek (194-G-90) will stay with DKV Joventut for at least one more year. The Czech Republic prospect signed a contract extension today. Jelinek appeared 34 times in ACB this season averaging 7 points and 1.6 rebounds. He joined DKV Joventut in 2007 from BBK IVes Brno.
David Jelinek was a member of the U20 Czech Republic National Team last summer. He played 2 games for them at U20 EuroBasket in Croatia registering 13.5 ppg and 3 rpg. Jelinek is also active member of the Czech senior NT. In 2009, he paced U20 Czech Republic to Silver medal at the EuroBasket Division B in Skopje. In 2006, he won the Gold with U16 Czech Republic at the EuroBasket in Tallinn. It is expected that Jelinek will get more chance to play with DKV Joventut next season. He was getting 15 minutes per game in 2010/11.

Germany U20 selection won the second and the third games over Czech Republic U20 - by Eurobasket News
Germany U20 selection won the second and the third games over Czech Republic U20 team. In Game 2 the hosts overcame the Czechs 77:54. Germany opened the game with 22-19 and then added 21-8 before heading to the lockers. In the third quarter Germany looked also better taking 17-10, while both teams nailed 17 points in the last frame. Patrick Heckmann (196-G/F-92) top-scored for the winners with 18 points and Mathis Monnninghoff netted 16. Michael Kessens posted11, whilst Daniel Theis (205-C-92) had 10.
In Game 3 Germany celebrated 71:53 win. The easy start allowed the hosts to control the rest of the game. Germany started with 24-12 and added 15-11 in the second frame. Czech Republic reduced the gap after 20-17 in the third period, but then Germany finished the game with 15-10 in the last stanza. Daniel Theis stepped up with 19 points, while Malte Ziegenhagen (193-G-91) posted 9.


*****************************************************
  DENMARK   


Norway edged Denmark at their U20 Nordic Championship 2011 opener - by Eurobasket News
Norway U20-Denmark U20 69:57

Norway edged Denmark at their Nordic Championship 2011 opener. The Norway side grabbed 69:57 in four-nation tournament and together with Sweden share the top after Day 1.
Denmark started with 18-14 in the first period, but was too far to keep the lead. Norway bounced back with 25-15 and then added 21-6 in the third quarter. Denmark won the last period 18-9 but could only reduce the gap.
Norway had 17 points as the biggest scoring run in the game. Denmark meanwhile scored 34 Points in paint, while Norway had 24. The lead changed three times in the game as the teams were also tied three times.
Stian Berg (187-G-91) paced all the winners with 17 points, whilst Fredrik Bohn (198-F-91) scored 11. Karamo Jawara (198-F-91) notched 9 and Oeivind Lundestad (190-G-91) netted 7. Thomas Laerke (193-G/F-91) ended up with 20 points and 10 rebounds in defeat, while Jonas Bergstedt (207-C-91) had 12.

Norway U20: Stian Berg 17, Fredrik Bohn 11, Karamo Jawara 9, Oeivind Lundestad 7
Denmark U20: Thomas Laerke 20+10 rebs, Jonas Bergstedt 12



*****************************************************
  D-LEAGUE   


Former Austin Toros forward/center Ian Mahinmi in NBA Finals - by Eurobasket News
Ian Mahinmi (6'9''-F/C-86) earned All-NBA D-League honors and played in the D-League Finals with the Austin Toros while on assignment from the San Antonio Spurs during his rookie year in 2007-08. Mahinmi averaged 17 points and eight rebounds during 2007-08, but had to sit out the entire 2008-09 season due to an ankle injury. Mahinmi played in 26 games with the Spurs in 2009-10 averaging four points and two rebounds. In his first year with the Mavericks after joining the team as a free agent for 2010-11, the center from France appeared in a career-high 56 games during the regular season, and has appeared in three playoff game appearances including eight minutes in game three of the finals.

Courtesy of www.oursportscentral.com

*****************************************************
  EGYPT   


Ahmad Ismail and his Riyadi clinched Asia Club Championship title - by Eurobasket News
Egyptian Ahmad Ismail (201-F-76) and his Riyadi clinched Asia Club Championship title. They overcame Mahram to celebrate the first ever success at the tournament. Fadi Khatib came up with a pivotal performance scoring 41 points in the victory. Riyadi opened the game with a 7:3 run to grab the lead. They maintained well throughout the starting quarter and recorded a 17:14 lead after ten minutes. But Samad Nikkhah stepped up for Mahram in the second period. He unleashed 19 points in the quarter to give Mahram a 39:38 lead at halftime. The teams traded baskets throughout close third term. The lead changed hands for several times before Mahram sealed the outcome at 58:57. Fadi Khatib and Jean Abed El Nour knocked down a pair of three-pointers early in the final frame to put Riyadi in front. Hamed Afagh and Cheikh Samb levelled things up but Fadi Khatib ensured a 6-point advantage for the Lebanese team with just over two minutes remaining. Loren Woods made it 84:77 game with just over a minute to go. Javad Davari replied with a three-pointer to keep Mahram hopeful however two mistakes from Chris Williams and perfect free throw shooting from Fadi Khatib sealed the winning outcome for Riyadi. Jean Abed El Nour produced 21 points, while Ahmad Ismail added 11 points and 15 rebounds for the winners. Samad Nikkhah answered with 28 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds for Mahram. Chris Williams notched 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the losing effort.
The season 2010-2011 Ahmad Ismail started for Al Ittihad Alexandria (Superleague, starting five), but in Apr.'11 moved to Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut (Lebanon-Div.A, starting five). After 6 games he averaged massive 21.0ppg, 11.5rpg, 5.2apg, 2.3spg, FGP: 75.9%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 44.4%.




*****************************************************
  EUROBASKET SUMMER LEAGUE   


Marcus Stout personal story about the Eurobasket Summer League - by Eurobasket
My name is Marcus Stout (6'4''-G-86, college: Fordham) and I attended the Eurobasket Summer League in Las Vegas in 2010. I had not played anywhere the previous season (2009-2010). My first year of professional basketball I played in the NBA Summer League for the Detroit Pistons and played in Austria for the Oberwart Gunners.
My first season in Europe started off great but was derailed by injury.
The injury didnt require surgery but forced me to sit out some games and not be able to play at the high level that I previously was playing which affected the team and my statistics.
After a long summer of working hard and getting my body back to 100%, I didnt receive an offer to continue my professional career. I kept working hard throughout the year expecting a call to come but it never did. I worked hard all throughout that year with the mindset of doing what I had to do to get back in to playing on a professional level.
I went through many options to see what I thought would be the most effective way to get some exposure.
I heard many good things about the Eurobasket Summer League and figured I would try my chances there.
As a result I attended the Eurobasket Summer League Las Vegas event and played extremely well and made the ESL All Tournament First Team.
Also I made some great connections and received some great exposure at the event.
I ended up playing for the Sheffield Sharks for the 2010-2011 season in the BBL in the United Kingdom.
The reason I landed that job was that my coach, Atiba Lyons seen me play at the ESL Las Vegas event and everything was history after that.
We ended having a very good season up winning the BBL Cup and being the playoff runner up.
I personally had a very good and quality season playing for the Sheffield Sharks averaging 16ppg, shooting 48% from the FG and 36% from the 3pt.
By the grace of God, and exposure from the Eurobasket Summerleague Las Vegas I was able to get back into playing professional basketball and look forward to continuing a long and successful career.


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


Marcus Stout personal story about the Eurobasket Summer League - by Eurobasket
My name is Marcus Stout (6'4''-G-86, college: Fordham) and I attended the Eurobasket Summer League in Las Vegas in 2010. I had not played anywhere the previous season (2009-2010). My first year of professional basketball I played in the NBA Summer League for the Detroit Pistons and played in Austria for the Oberwart Gunners.
My first season in Europe started off great but was derailed by injury.
The injury didnt require surgery but forced me to sit out some games and not be able to play at the high level that I previously was playing which affected the team and my statistics.
After a long summer of working hard and getting my body back to 100%, I didnt receive an offer to continue my professional career. I kept working hard throughout the year expecting a call to come but it never did. I worked hard all throughout that year with the mindset of doing what I had to do to get back in to playing on a professional level.
I went through many options to see what I thought would be the most effective way to get some exposure.
I heard many good things about the Eurobasket Summer League and figured I would try my chances there.
As a result I attended the Eurobasket Summer League Las Vegas event and played extremely well and made the ESL All Tournament First Team.
Also I made some great connections and received some great exposure at the event.
I ended up playing for the Sheffield Sharks for the 2010-2011 season in the BBL in the United Kingdom.
The reason I landed that job was that my coach, Atiba Lyons seen me play at the ESL Las Vegas event and everything was history after that.
We ended having a very good season up winning the BBL Cup and being the playoff runner up.
I personally had a very good and quality season playing for the Sheffield Sharks averaging 16ppg, shooting 48% from the FG and 36% from the 3pt.
By the grace of God, and exposure from the Eurobasket Summerleague Las Vegas I was able to get back into playing professional basketball and look forward to continuing a long and successful career.


*****************************************************
  FINLAND   


Sweden U20 registered the win in the opener of the Nordic Championship 2011 - by Eurobasket News
Finland U20-Sweden U20 61:66

Sweden U20 registered the win in the opener of the Nordic Championship 2011 over the hosts. Finland U20 selection tried hard but lost 61:66.
Sweden started the game with 22-20, but Finland bounced back with 21-16 to take 3-point lead at the halftime. Both teams nailed 9 points apiece in the third defensive frame, while Sweden grabbed the victory at the end. They needed 19-11 in the last stanza to seal the win.
Both teams had 7 points as the biggest scoring run. Sweden scored 34 points in paint, while Finland had 26. The lead changed 11 times in the game, while the teams were tied seven times.
Alexander Lindqvist (202-F-91) top-scored for the winners with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Lukas Winegarner (205-F-91) netted 11, while Charles Barton (191-G-92) posted 10. Sasu Salin (190-G-91) replied with 17 points for the home side and Carl Lindbom (204-F-91) added 16.

Finland U20: Sasu Salin 17, Carl Lindbom 16
Sweden U20: Alexander Lindqvist 19+11 rebs, Lukas Winegarner 11, Charles Barton 10





*****************************************************
  FRANCE   


Orleans adds Yohann Sangare - by Eurobasket News
Orleans announced signing of Yohann Sangare (193-G-83) for the next two years. The player arrives from Le Havre, where he spent this season. He appeared 24 times in ProA averaging 7.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Before Le Havre, Sangare spent two yeas in Italy. In 2009/10, he was a member of Carife Ferrara collecting 5.6 ppg and 2.4 rpg for 28 games in SerieA. In 2008/09, Sangare had 3.1 ppg and 1.2 rpg with Armani Jeans Milano. He also added 3 ppg and 1.6 rpg for 15 Eurolegaue games. From 2004 to 2008, Yohann Sangare was a member of ASVEL. He helped them win the French Cup in their last season together. Sangare played for the French National Team at the EuroBasket 2007 in Spain.

Germany U16 overcame France U16 in the first friendly game - by Eurobasket News
Germany U16-France U16 70:47 (19:4, 15:13, 12:13, 24:17)

Germany U16 overcame France U16 in the first game of three friendly series between two teams. Heidelberg saw 70:47 easy win in Game 1 for the German side.
Germany started amazing and reached 19-4 lead from the very beginning. They produced another 15-13 in the second frame for 34:17 lead heading to the lockers. France won the third period 13-12, but could not come closer. Germany finished the game with 24-17 and won the opener of the campaign.
Terry Thomas (198-F-95) and Constantin Ebert paced all the winners with 11 points each. Sebastian Heck (196-G-95) followed them with 9, while Stefan Ilzhofer, Maximilian Ugrai (195-F-95) and Jan-Niklas Wimberg netted 7 each.
The second game will be played on Wednesday in Heidelberg. The third game is scheduled for Friday in Berghausen.



Mathieu Guichard heads to Vichy - by Eurobasket News
JA Vichy strengthened their backcourt. They brought in Mathieu Guichard (188-G/F-88). The 23-year-old guard spent the previous season in ProB. He averaged 8.7 points, 1.9 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game for Stade Clermontois Auvergne.


Evreux pen deals with Austen Rowland and Lahaou Konate - by Eurobasket News
Evreux secured the services of Austen Rowland (186-G-81, agency: Court Side, college: Lehigh) and Lahaou Konate (196-G-91) for the next season. Austen Rowland signed for La Portel in November. He averaged 13.1 points, 6.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game in Pro B. Previously Austen Rowland played in Germany, Austria and USBL. The guard was named into Eurobasket.com All-German 2Bundesliga 1st Team back in 2005.
Lahaou Konate comes from NM1 League. The 19-year-old guard played for Denek. Lahaou Konate averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per appearance. Previously Lahaou Konate played for Hyeres-Toulon.
In the meantime Evreux parted ways with Philippe Da Silva (192-G-79). The guard notched 9.8 points, 7.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game.


*****************************************************
  GERMANY   


Dane Watts beko BBL Final pregame Thoughts (Alba Berlin Needs To Play With High Confidence And Make Big Plays) - by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber

Dane Watts (203-F-86, agency: Pro One Sports) is a 24 year old 203cm forward from Warrensburg that just completed his second season for the Walter Tigers Tuebingen averaging 13,7ppg, 7,6rpg and 1,1 apg. He played shortly in France recently for Hyeres-Toulon averaging 7,3ppg, 6,0rpg and 1,7apg. He played at Creighton (NCAA) from 2004-2008. In his senior year, he played 33 games: 11.3ppg, 6.4rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 53.4%, 3Pts: 42.5%, FT: 71.8%. In 2008, he came to Germany and started his professional basketball career with EnBW Ludwigsburg (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): 32 games: 8.9ppg, 3.8rpg, FGP-1 (68.4%), 3PT: 30.8%, FT: 68.7%. Last season, he played for The Walter Tigers Tuebingen playing 34 games: 10.2ppg, 5.4rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 57.1%, 3PT: 37.6%, FT: 71.0%. At Creighton, he won awards such as MVC Tournament Winner -05, 07, MVC All-Freshman Team -05, MVC Regular Season Runner-Up -07, and MVC Tournament Semifinals -08. Watts sat down with eurobasket and talked about the 2011 beko BBL final between Bamberg and Alba Berlin.

The Brose Baskets Bamberg beat The Artland Dragons 3-2 to reach the final. Were you surprised that Bamberg had to go the distance?

I was not surprised, I think in my earlier interview I said it could go 5 games. Artland did what they needed by protecting home court, Bamberg has been perfect all year at home.

Alba Berlin beat The Deutsche Bank Skyliners 3-2 where no team was able to win at home. How crazy is that and what does that say about the mental toughness of both teams on the road?

I could not believe that no team could win at home, I guess that is a good thing for Alba because they will have to win on the road to win the title. It seems the teams felt more pressure at home in front of their own fans and played more relaxed on the road.

The Brose Baskets Bamberg meet Alba Berlin in the finals. What kind of series can we expect and will this go the distance?

I hope that it is another great series and Alba has been playing well this postseason. If Bamberg lets one get away at home it is going to be a very interesting series.

Alba Berlin lost both games during the regular season including losing by 52 points in Bamberg. How much will that still be on the minds of Alba Berlin.

I dont think that is on their minds. Once the playoffs start it doesn't matter what happened during the year.

Both teams have very good guard play, but does the advantage still go to Bamberg on account of their experience and having played together longer whereas with Alba you had guys like Taylor Rochestie and Heiko Schaffartzik coming late in the season?

I would give the chemistry advantage to Bamberg, they have the majority of their championship team back. They have played great all season and will be planning on putting the icing on it with another championship.

Both teams also have very good forward play. Who has the edge and could the key matchup in this series be Predrag Suput-Derrick Allen?

They are two different players. DA is a high energy player that showed he deserves big minutes in the Frankfurt game 5. He has championship experience. Suput has been a key player for their championship run last season and has been a 2nd playmaker on the court for Bamberg this season.

Who has the edge on the center position? The Alba Berlin duo of Yassin Idbihi and Miroslav Raduljica have been tough on Frankfurt, but could get more resistance against Bamberg while the duo of Tibor Pleiss and Kyle Hines gives Bamberg a totally different face each time the other is on the court.

Idbihi and Raduljica have been tough this post season. They have been finishing plays inside and causing foul trouble for the other team. Hines is a different center that most people are not used to playing against. He is short but quick and explosive, he could cause problems as well.

The Brose Baskets Bamberg play a controlled offense with possibily the best ball movement in the beko BBL and their defense belongs to the best in the league, while Alba Berlin plays faster, less predictable and with changing defenses. What will be key for Alba Berlin/Bamberg to win this series?

Bamberg just needs to continue what they have been doing all year, playing smart, unselfish basketball with tough defense. Alba needs to play with high confidence and make big plays, going to have to steal one in Bamberg.

Shaq announced his retirement. What was your favorite Shaq moment while he was in the NBA?

Shaq's retirement is 3-4 years overdue. He was my favorite player and most dominant big man in basketball, he hurt his legacy these last seasons playing at a fraction of his old self. His huge personality was good for the NBA and he will be missed.

Scottie Pippen stated that Lebron James is better than Michael Jordan. What is your take on this statement?

Scottie was closer than anyone to MJ and he would know. Its hard for people to think that now because of the titles but I think that they way Bron has been playing he could reach that level in 6-8 years.

What was the last DVD movie that you saw?

My Wife and Kids season 4.

Thanks Dane for the chat.





Oldenburger TB lands NCAA D3 Player of the Year - by Moritz Korff
Regionalliga North side Baskets Akademie Weser-Ems/Oldenburger TB has completed the signing of Michael Taylor (193-G-87), the reigning D3hoops.com Player of the Year. The 24-year-old guard played only one year of NCAA Division 3 ball, but certainly left his mark during the months he was suiting up for the Pirates of Whitworth College. Taylor received NCAA D3 2010-11 Player of the Year honors by D3hoops.com and made the All-America First Team (both D3hoops.com and NABC). He appeared in 30 games for the D3 powerhouse from Spokane, Washington and produced outstanding numbers for the Pirates, averaging 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest, while nailing 52.8% of his shots from beyond the arc and hitting 88.4% from the free throw line.
The native of Wenatchee, Washington began his college career at Eastern Washington (NCAA1) and transfered to the University of Montana following his freshman year. As a junior Taylor scored 4.2 points per contest for the Grizzlies, before moving on to Whitworth.

Germany U16 overcame France U16 in the first friendly game - by Eurobasket News
Germany U16-France U16 70:47 (19:4, 15:13, 12:13, 24:17)

Germany U16 overcame France U16 in the first game of three friendly series between two teams. Heidelberg saw 70:47 easy win in Game 1 for the German side.
Germany started amazing and reached 19-4 lead from the very beginning. They produced another 15-13 in the second frame for 34:17 lead heading to the lockers. France won the third period 13-12, but could not come closer. Germany finished the game with 24-17 and won the opener of the campaign.
Terry Thomas (198-F-95) and Constantin Ebert paced all the winners with 11 points each. Sebastian Heck (196-G-95) followed them with 9, while Stefan Ilzhofer, Maximilian Ugrai (195-F-95) and Jan-Niklas Wimberg netted 7 each.
The second game will be played on Wednesday in Heidelberg. The third game is scheduled for Friday in Berghausen.



Germany U20 selection won the second and the third games over Czech Republic U20 - by Eurobasket News
Germany U20 selection won the second and the third games over Czech Republic U20 team. In Game 2 the hosts overcame the Czechs 77:54. Germany opened the game with 22-19 and then added 21-8 before heading to the lockers. In the third quarter Germany looked also better taking 17-10, while both teams nailed 17 points in the last frame. Patrick Heckmann (196-G/F-92) top-scored for the winners with 18 points and Mathis Monnninghoff netted 16. Michael Kessens posted11, whilst Daniel Theis (205-C-92) had 10.
In Game 3 Germany celebrated 71:53 win. The easy start allowed the hosts to control the rest of the game. Germany started with 24-12 and added 15-11 in the second frame. Czech Republic reduced the gap after 20-17 in the third period, but then Germany finished the game with 15-10 in the last stanza. Daniel Theis stepped up with 19 points, while Malte Ziegenhagen (193-G-91) posted 9.


Torsten Schierenbeck named head coach at BG Dorsten - by Moritz Korff
BG Dorsten, newcomer to the 2. 8undesliga Pro B, has chosen Torsten Schierenbeck as its new head coach. He had worked for SSV Lok Bernau from 2006 until January 2011 and guided the club to promotion to the Pro B in 2010.
Meanwhile, also a couple of roster decisions have been made in Dorsten regarding the 2011-2012 campaign. Terry Bryant (186-G-85, college: SE Louisiana) who led BG in scoring in this past RLW season (21.4ppg) agreed to terms on a contract extension with the Dorsten team. Also Nderim Pelaj (179-G-88), Sebastian Rathjen (194-G-82) and Gerrit Budde (203-C-89) will remain on the squad. Philipp Spettmann (200-C-91) who returns from a one year-stint at ETB Essen and Max Schulze-Pals (200-F-90) of TV Werne have been announced newcomers to the team.

The Saar Pfalz Braves Add Nate Gerwig And Kosta Karamatskos - by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber

PRO A team the Saar-Pfalz-Braves have added two ex beko BBL players with Nate Gerwig (206-F/C-83, college: Kent St.) and Kosta Karamatskos (197-G-86). Gerwig is a 27 year old 206cm power forward/center from Pittsburg and is big center with pro body. Posts up and seals well, and is an effective inside scorer. Plays hard every night out and runs the floor well for a big man. Will be better pro than college stats indicate.he played for Paderborn Baskets (Germany-1.Bundesliga), left in Nov.'09: 4 games: 7.3ppg, 5.8rpg. Gerwig who had been coming back after a long injury recently took part in a try out camp in Mainz and left a lasting impression. 'Even if he is not totally fit, one could see his class and understanding of the game', stressed Saar-Pfalz-Braves manager Stephan Seile . Gerwig played at Kent State from 2001-2006. In his senior year, he played 32 games: 6.4ppg, 3.9rpg, FGP: 58.0%, FT: 58.1% In 2006-2007, he played in Finland for Porvoon Tarmo (Korisliiga): 22 games: 2.9ppg, 2.6rpg. In 2007-2008, he returned to the States and played for Fort Wayne Mad Ants (D-League), left in Feb.'08 due to injury: 40 games: 3.6ppg, 5.9rpg, FGP: 49.6%, FT: 49.1%. In 2008-2009, he came back to Germany and played for BV Chemnitz 99 (Germany-ProA, starting five): 30 games: 15.6ppg, 8.5rpg, 1.7apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 65.0%, FT: 61.8%. Awards and achievements that Gerwig has atained have been MAC All-Freshman Team -02, MAC Tournament Champion -02, NCAA Elite 8 -02, MAC Regular Season East Division Champion -02, 03, 06, MAC Tournament Finalist -03, and MAC Tournament Winner -06. The team also signed Kosta Karamatskos who had played for TBB Trier the last four years, but was known more for being on the bench than on the floor. In his four seasons, he played only a total of 55 games. He is a 25 year old 197cm guard that is a talented combo guard, with all the characteristics which described a 21st century Guard, he can play easily all three positions and even though he has the body of a typical forward his upgraded skills in dribbling, passing the ball and the fact that he is very good outside shooter and good in penetrations with very strong first step and all the elements of his upgrading technique are making him a very good guard which is becoming better and better each and every year. He started his career in 2003-2004 for BSG Ludwigsburg (Regionalliga). In 2004-2005, he played for EnBW Ludwigsburg (1.Bundesliga): 1 game: 0pts, has also a license for BSG Ludwigsburg (Regionalliga); 15 games: 7.3 ppg,. In 2005-2006, he played for USC Freiburg (Germany-2.Bundesliga): 23 games: 4.1ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.7apg, played also for USC Freiburg II (Germany-Regionalliga): 6 games: 8.0ppg. In 2006-2007, he played for Kirchheim Knights (Germany-2.Bundesliga): 30 games: 6.9ppg, 2.0rpg, 2.7apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 52.2%, 3FGP: 22.5%, FT: 53.5%. Awards and achievements in his career have been German Rookie All-Stars Game -05, German U20 National Team -05-06, German Bundesliga Rookies All-Star Game -06, and European Championships U20 in Izmir (Turkey) -06: 7 games: 2.7ppg, 1.4apg.


Source: Saar-Pfalz-Braves






*****************************************************
  GREECE   


Eurobasket.com All-Greek A1 League awards 2010-11 - by Chris Mammides
Eurobasket.com All-Greek A1 League 1st Team 2011
#s#
Dimitris Diamantidis
Diamantidis
Nick Calathes
Calathes
Loukas Mavrokefalides
Mavrokefalides
Mike Batiste
Batiste
Ioannis Bourousis
Bourousis
#e#5

Player of the Year: Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) of Panathinaikos
Guard of the Year: Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) of Panathinaikos
Forward of the Year: Antonis Fotsis (210-F-81) of Panathinaikos
Center of the Year: Ioannis Bourousis (212-C-83) of Olympiakos
Newcomer of the Year: Romain Sato (194-G/F-81) of Panathinaikos
Most Improved Player of the Year: Nick Calathes (198-G-89) of Panathinaikos, Loukas Mavrokefalides (207-C-84)
Bosman Player of the Year: Radoslav Nesterovic (212-C-76) of Olympiakos
Import Player of the Year: Mike Batiste (203-F-77) of Panathinaikos
Domestic Player of the Year: Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) of Panathinaikos
Defensive Player of the Year: Gordon Jamon Lukas (191-G-84) of Olympiakos
Coach of the Year: Zeljko Obradovic of Panathinaikos

1st Team
G: Nick Calathes (198-89) of Panathinaikos
G: Dimitris Diamantidis (196-80) of Panathinaikos
C: Loukas Mavrokefalides (207-84) of Olympiakos
F: Mike Batiste (203-77) of Panathinaikos
C: Ioannis Bourousis (212-83) of Olympiakos

2nd Team
G: Milos Teodosic (195-87) of Olympiakos
G: Vassilis Spanoulis (193-82) of Olympiakos
G/F: Stratos Perperoglou (203-84) of Panathinaikos
F: Antonis Fotsis (210-81) of Panathinaikos
C: Radoslav Nesterovic (212-76) of Olympiakos

Honorable Mention
Thodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77) of Olympiakos
Kostas Papanikolaou (204-F/G-90) of Olympiakos
Konstantinos Sloukas (197-G-90) of Aris
Nikos Hatzivrettas (195-G-77) of Aris
Robert Dozier (206-F-85) of PAOK
Evangelos Mantzaris (190-G-90) of Peristeri GS
Kosta Charalampidis (189-G-76) of Aris
Nestoras Kommatos (203-F-77) of Marousi
Christos Tapoutos (208-F-82) of Aris
Pat Kalathis (208-G/F-85) of VAP Kolossos
Aleks Maric (211-C-84) of Panathinaikos
Milton Palacio (190-G-78) of Kavala

All-Domestic Players Team
G: Dimitris Diamantidis (196-80) of Panathinaikos
G: Vassilis Spanoulis (193-82) of Olympiakos
G/F: Stratos Perperoglou (203-84) of Panathinaikos
F: Antonis Fotsis (210-81) of Panathinaikos
C: Ioannis Bourousis (212-83) of Olympiakos

All-Imports Team
G: Drew Nicholas (191-81) of Panathinaikos
G: Gordon Jamon Lukas (191-84) of Olympiako
G/F: Romain Sato (194-81) of Panathinaikos
G: Rawle Marshall (201-82) of PAOK
F: Mike Batiste (203-77) of Panathinaikos

All-Bosmans Team
G: Milos Teodosic (195-87) of Olympiakos
F: Milutin Aleksic (203-82) of Panionios
F/C: Edin Bavcic (210-84) of Aris
C: Todor Gechevski (209-77) of PAOK
C: Dalibor Bagaric (217-80) of Marousi

All-Defensive Team
Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) of Panathinaikos
Nick Calathes (198-G-89) of Panathinaikos
Gordon Jamon Lukas (191-G-84) of Olympiakos
Antonis Fotsis (210-F-81) of Panathinaikos
Ioannis Bourousis (212-C-83) of Olympiakos

All-Newcomers Team
Ernest Scott (201-F-82) of Peristeri GS
Feliks Kojadinovic (197-G-79) of Marousi
Deon Thompson (203-F-88) of Ikaros
Radoslav Nesterovic (212-C-76) of Olympiakos
Cedric Simmons (206-F/C-86) of Kavala

All-Greeks Abroad
Costas Vasiliadis (200-G/F-84) of Bizkaia Bilbao Basket Spain
Nikolaos Zisis (195-G-83) of Montepaschi Siena Italy
Dimitrios Tsaldaris (196-G/F-80) of Dinamo Ford Sassari Italy
Dimitrios Mavroeidis (208-C-85) of Bizkaia Bilbao Basket Spain
Sofoklis Schortsanitis (206-C-85) of Maccabi Electra Tel-Aviv Israel


*****************************************************
  IBL   


China edge IBL All-Stars for second straight win - by Eurobasket News
Chinese National Team defeated IBL All-Stars 70:55 in Jiyuan on Sunday. It was the second straight victory for the Asian team in three-game exhibition series. China tested its closest reserve in this game. Zhang Kai (211-C-82) stepped up with 17 points to pace the winners. The teams got to a slow start. China led by a single point 9:8 after ten minutes of action. However the hosts shifted the gear in the next periods and ran away for a comfortable win at the end. Han Shuo (196-G-86) contributed 10 points for China. James Jackson (206-F-81, college: E.Michigan) answered with 12 points for the visitors. IBL All-Stars team was mainly comprised of the Elkhart Express players.
China celebrated an 85:63 win in Game 1 of the series. The teams are scheduled to clash once again in Yong Cheng in Henan Province.


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


U19 Benetton wins the title, Pavlin Ivanov MVP - by Eurobasket News
U19 Benetton is the new champion of Italy. They outplayed Virtus Siena 72-66 in the Big Final to win the title. Benetton celebrated in this game thanks to impressive last quarter. Before that, Benetton opened the game with 17-15 lead, but Siena responded with 9-17 in the second quarter. The Siena team continued with 15-21 after the breather jumping to 12-point lead with 10:00 to go. As mentioned above, Benetton players exploded when it mattered most and finished the game with excellent 31-13 run for the final 72-66 victory. Alesandro Zanelli (187-G-92) was the leading scorer in victory with 18 points and Dino Repesa (197-F-92) added three less than him. Armin Mazic (198-G-93) and Pavlin Ivanov (195-G-93, agency: Beo Basket) also shined netting 14 points each. Beside scoring, Ivanov done so many things on the court and he was named MVP of the Big Final. In the loosing squad, Amedeo Tessitori (201-C-94) top-scored with 16 pts. Marco Pascolo (198-F-93) stopped to 11.

Virtus Siena - Benetton Treviso 66-72 (15-17, 17-9, 21-15, 13-31)
Virtus Siena: Mirone 6, Marco Pascolo 11, Cucco, Imbro G. 5, Gori Savellini, Bernardi 8, Olleia, Rovere, Imbro M. 11, Reali, Bianconi 9, Amedeo Tessitori 16
Benetton Treviso: Contessa, Alesandro Zanelli 18, Zanatta, Armellin, Pavlin Ivanov 14, Armin Mazic 14, Masocco 5, De Paoli, Dino Repesa 15, Gaspardo, Utenti, Quarisa 6

Sergio Scariolo takes over Armani Jeans - by Eurobasket News
Sergio Scariolo (agency: Alti Sport ) has been appointed new head coach of Armani Jeans Milano. The 50-year-old specialist will be officially presented at this position on June 9. Sergio Scariolo (agency: Alti Sport ) is working with the Spanish National Team at the moment. Lately he worked with Khimky Moscow Region. He was named Eurobasket.com All-VTB League Coach of the Year in 2011. Sergio Scariolo (agency: Alti Sport ) was twice named ACB Coach of the Year while working with Real Madrid and Unicaja Malaga. The specialist also had stints with Virtus Bologna, Vitoria, Desio and Scavolini Pesaro.


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  JAPAN   


Tokyo Apache gave up 2011-2012 season - by Hiroyuki Anno
Tokyo Apache officially announced they would give up 2011-2012 season because they cannot sign with sponsor planned because of disaster in north part of Japan.
Next season,19 club would play in BJ league.

Club announce;
http://www.tokyoapache.com/en/tokyo-apache-announces-the-suspension-of-the-2010-2011-basketball-season-for-humanatarian-reasons-and-that-1000000-will-be-contributed-to-earthquake-relief-efforts-by-the-tokyo-apache-and-related-p/

*****************************************************
  LESOTHO   


2011 NBL Schedule - by Sekhoane Moshabesha
The annual Winter Tournament is slated to play on the 18th June 2011 at Lehakoe Sports Grounds in Maseru.More details will be available as time goes...Keep checking this site for regurlar updates.

There will also be a Money Tournament on the 2nd July in Mafeteng which will be used as a warm-up for the NBL league.

National league begins on July 30th 2011 and the licence fee per player has increased to M50.00.Team registration is still M250.00.
Deadline for team and licence registration is 08th June. Please note that this year all matters regarding registration will be dealt only at LBA offices not at the courts.Please note that due to limited time, there will now be games played mid week at Lehakoe, evennings for Maseru based teams but 1 match per night. For teams that are based out of Maseru we will still have weekend games at 1 venue.

NBL Standings
NBL 1st Round Standings
 1. Bashana Baeso 0-0 
 2. KTA All Stars 0-0 
 3. Lerotholi P. 0-0 
 4. Leseli 0-0 
 5. Lialuma 0-0 
 6. Limkokwing 0-0 
 7. Machabeng 0-0 
 8. Re 'Moho 0-0 
 9. Rovers 0-0 
 10. Shines 0-0 


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


Standings - Lower Leagues
CIBANE Standings
 1. Saltillo Caktus 3-0 
 2. UAZ Tuzos 1-0 
 3. Durango M. 1-1 
 4. Apodaca G. 1-2 
 5. Fresnillo M. 0-1 
 6. P.Negras A. 0-2 


CIBACOPA Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
 Kevin SOWELL
  Guasave
  (190-G-81)
  Avg: 30.7
 1. Sowell, Guasave30.7 
 2. White, Cananea28.0 
 3. Sowell, Culiacan27.3 
 4. Gale, Mexicali26.8 
 5. Brown, Tepic24.8 
 6. Moore, Culiacan24.2 
 7. White, Los Mochis24.2 
 8. Brown, Cananea23.7 
 9. Brown, Tepic23.3 
 10. Gabbidon, Tijuana23.3 
Rebounds Per Game
 Brandon BROWN
  Cananea
  (201-F-85)
  Avg: 11
 1. Brown, Cananea11.0 
 2. Moss, Nogales9.9 
 3. Angounou, Guasave9.8 
 4. Brown, Tepic9.6 
 5. VanderMeer, Mexica.9.6 
 6. Broxsie, Nogales8.7 
 7. Malloy, Los Mochis8.7 
 8. Shipley, Tijuana8.6 
 9. Thomas, Hermosillo8.1 
 10. Gray, Hermosillo8.1 
Assists Per Game
 William FUNN
  Guasave
  (188-G-82)
  Avg: 8.2
 1. Funn, Guasave8.2 
 2. Watson, Tijuana5.7 
 3. White, Los Mochis5.7 
 4. White, Cananea5.4 
 5. Winder, Guaymas5.2 
 6. Thomas, Hermosillo4.8 
 7. Brown, Tepic4.4 
 8. Nungaray, Guaymas4.3 
 9. Monreal, Hermosillo4.2 
 10. Marentes, Guaymas3.9 
Steals Per Game
 Davin WHITE
  Cananea
  (186-G-81)
  Avg: 2.2
 1. White, Cananea2.2 
 2. Moore, Culiacan2.0 
 3. Gale, Mexicali1.7 
 4. Roby, Guaymas1.7 
 5. Funn, Guasave1.7 
 6. Thomas, Cananea1.7 
 7. White, Los Mochis1.6 
 8. Brown, Nogales1.6 
 9. Sowell, Guasave1.6 
 10. Rougeau, Culiacan1.5 
Blocks Per Game
 Kevin SOWELL
  Culiacan
  (190-G-81)
  Avg: 3.2
 1. Sowell, Culiacan3.2 
 2. Gale, Mexicali2.6 
 3. Sowell, Guasave2.3 
 4. Shipley, Tijuana2.2 
 5. White, Los Mochis2.2 
 6. Wade, Hermosillo2.1 
 7. Funn, Guasave2.1 
 8. Brown, Tepic2.1 
 9. Thomas, Hermosillo2.0 
 10. Brown, Tepic2.0 


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


Warriors name Mark Jackson head coach - by Eurobasket News
The Golden State Warriors have named Mark Jackson (6'3''-G-65, college: St.John's), who played 17 seasons in the NBA and was working as a broadcaster, their new head coach.

Jackson, 46, replaces Keith Smart, who was not retained after the Warriors went 36-46 in his first season.

Golden State general manager Larry Riley said in a release that the club viewed Jackson as the best option after an extensive search and a 'great deal of consideration.'

'He will bring a youthful and fresh approach to our team and the fact that he enjoyed a stellar playing career, where he served most of that time as the leader of some very successful teams, will prove invaluable in the long run,' Riley said. 'We were looking for a coach with leadership ability and a strong personality and believe Mark possesses those qualities.'

Jackson, who will assume his duties at the conclusion of the NBA Finals, enjoyed a long and successful NBA career as a point guard. He guided his team to the playoffs in 14 of his 17 seasons, and ranks third all-time in assists (10,334) while averaging 8.0 for his career.

His hiring is the latest piece placed into the Warriors' leadership puzzle.

In April, the club announced Riley would stay on as general manager and executive vice president of basketball operations, while naming Bob Myers assistant general manager and vice president of basketball operations.

NBA legend Jerry West joined the Warriors as a member of the team's executive board in May.

'I have sensed that [owner Joe Lacob] is committed to winning and building a team and a culture the right way,' Jackson said in a release. 'I think we all witnessed that with some of the recent front office additions as well and some of the other positive things that have been done in recent months.'

Jackson will take over a team flush with young talent. Guards Monta Ellis, 25, and Stephen Curry, 23, were the Warriors' leaders in points and assists last season. Forwards David Lee and Dorell Wright -- 28 and 25 years old, respectively -- were also significant contributors.

'I am really elated about this opportunity and I'm looking forward to the challenge of building the Warriors into a perennial contender,' Jackson said.

Jackson averaged 9.6 points in 1,296 career games with seven teams. The New York Knicks selected him 18th overall in the 1987 NBA Draft, and Jackson went on to win rookie of the year honors. He was also named an All-Star in 1989.

Courtesy of www.torontosun.com

Dirk Nowitzki calls out teammate - by Eurobasket News
Dirk Nowitzki (6'11''-F-78) needs scoring help and he knows teammate Jason Terry (6'2''-G-77, college: Arizona) has yet to deliver in the NBA Finals.

Terry, the Dallas Mavericks' charismatic sixth man who likes to bust out his arms like airplane wings after he makes 3-pointers and prides himself on cold-blooded shooting in the clutch, has found little breathing room with Miami Heat forward LeBron James shutting him out of the late-game offense.

'They keep sticking him [James] on Jet in the fourth quarters and he's been doing a good job,' Nowitzki said. 'Jet hasn't really been a crunch-time, clutch player for us the way we need him to.'

Nowitzki scored 34 points in the 88-86 Game 3 loss and he scored the Mavs' final 12 points of the game. Terry, the team's second-leading scorer, was 0-of-4 from the floor in the fourth quarter of the disappointing home loss that put the Mavs in a 2-1 hole with Game 4 on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center.

Terry is a combined 0-of-7 in the fourth quarters of the Mavericks' two losses in the NBA Finals.

'They know to take me out of the fourth quarter, which they didn't do in Game 2,' Terry said of the Heat's choice to turn to James defensively, 'then they got a good chance.'

Added Terry: 'Let's see if [James] can defend me like that for seven games.'

During the regular season, Nowitzki and Terry ranked at the top of the league with James and Dwyane Wade as the best fourth-quarter scoring duo. Nowitzki has held up his end, but the 6-foot-2 Terry has struggled in late-game situations throughout the postseason and mightily so against the 6-foot-8 James.

In the final 4:14 of Game 3, Terry missed a 3-point attempt, botched a driving layup and couldn't hit a go-ahead jumper from the baseline with 58.9 seconds to play.

'I had two opportunities,' Terry said. 'One in the corner for 3, LeBron closed out. The other one in the right corner, LeBron closed out again, didn't get enough air under it.

'Hey, it happens. If I get those same shots in Game 4, I bet I make them.'

But Terry still seems hesitant to give too much credit to the Heat, even going so far as to say the Portland Trail Blazers were better on defense in the first-round series than Miami has been in the Finals.

'Portland, by far, has the best D,' said Terry, who added that the Heat has a 'great scheme' that is 'working for them thus far this series.'

Terry is 3-of-12 (25.0 percent) in the fourth quarters against Miami, which is not much worse than his overall fourth quarters in which he's shooting 29.3 percent (17-for-58) for an average of 3.2 points per fourth quarter.

'It's a call to arms. One man's not going to win it,' Terry said. 'Obviously, the big-wig [Nowitzki] is going to need to get some help, and I'm going to tell you this -- that we will be there in Game 4.'

Terry's shooting woes complicate a growing problem for the Mavs and their heavily-relied-upon bench. The unit led the league in scoring during the regular season at about 40 points a game, and has been a steady contributor throughout the postseason until going up against the smothering Heat defense.

The bench is averaging 21.6 points in the three Finals games.

Peja Stojakovic is 1-of-5 from the floor and 0-of-4 from 3-point range in the series. He's played just 11 minutes in the past two games and coach Rick Carlisle hasn't gone back to him in his normal substitution package in the second halves of Games 2 and 3.

J.J. Barea, an effective penetrator against the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, is seven points off his scoring average of the past two series and is shooting 21.7 percent from the floor and 12.5 percent from the 3-point range.

The onus falls on the 33-year-old Terry, who is shooting below 39 percent since the end of the second round.

'We're going to have to ride our horses. It's just going to have to be something we have to do,' Terry said. 'They're doing it on their end. Hey, you got eight, seven days, however many days are left in this series. If you can't go out there and play 40-plus minutes as a major cog in the wheel, then you shouldn't be here.'

Courtesy of ESPN

Warriors discussing Monta Ellis for Andre Iguodala swap - by Eurobasket News
Ever since the first rumors surfaced of Andre Iguodala (6'6''-G-84, college: Arizona) becoming available oh so many months ago, Warriors fans have been discussing a possible trade involving Monta Ellis (6'4''-G-85). Well, it looks like the Warriors new-look front office are talking about that very trade with the Sixers according to Ric Bucher at ESPN:

The Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers have discussed a trade that would send the Warriors' leading scorer, Monta Ellis, to the 76ers for Andre Iguodala, according to league sources, including one with direct knowledge of Golden State's thinking.

The arguments for and against a possible Monta, don't-call-me-Iggy swap have been presented time and time again in the comments section of this very site, but I'm sure this bit of news will (and already has) spark the debate anew. Personally I'd love to see a deal that would both bolster our perimeter defense and provide better balance (no more Monta isolations) on the offensive side of the ball. It's a move that would seem to fit in with Mark Jackson's goal of shaping this roster into a tough defensive team that creates fast break opportunities.

As far as the details of the deal, well, there aren't many. Although, from the looks of Bucher's report, this may be one of those time when simpler is better.

Ellis is owed $11 million for each of the next three seasons. Iguodala makes $13.5 million next season and the contract increases by $1.2 million each of the next two years.

Their current salaries are close enough that the swap could be made without any other additional considerations and meet league salary-cap rules.

Courtesy of www.goldenstateofmind.com

Miami Rides Wade to 2-1 Series Lead - by Carl Berman
In a closely contested game of runs the Miami Heat held off the Dallas Mavericks 88-86 to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals. The Heat won in Dallas as Chris Bosh made a corner jumper with 39.6 seconding remaining for the final score of the game.

The Mavericks had two chances to tie or take the lead after Boshs basket. First Dirk Nowitzki threw the ball away on a double-team with 30 seconds left. After LeBron James missed an end-of-the-shot-clock three-pointer Dallas had one last chance with 3.8 seconds left. Nowitzki had a decent look from 20 feet. Although he was defended well by Udonis Haslem, it was a shot that Nowitzki regularly makes. He didnt this time and Miami escaped with the win.

The difference in this game was the play of Dwyane Wade (6'4''-G-82, college: Marquette). The game became a shootout between Wade and Nowitzki. Late in the fourth quarter, Wade had seven straight points for the Heat while Nowitzki had the last 12 points of the game for Dallas. Wade was all over the floor, playing great defense, rebounding, hitting shots from outside and penetrating for inside baskets. Wade finished the game with 29 points on 12-for-21 shooting, 11 rebounds, three assists and no turnovers. Nowitzki was defended well most of the game but still led the Mavericks with 34 points and 11 rebounds.

Mario Chalmers was the unsung hero of the game for Miami as he made several key three-pointers including a 36-footer at the close of the first period. Chalmers scored 12 points, making 4-of-6 on three-pointers. Neither LeBron James (6-of-14) nor Bosh (7-of-18) shot well for the Heat although Bosh made the big shot of the night,

Dallas reverted somewhat to their poor ball-handling of the first game and committed 14 turnovers, four more than the Heat. The Mavericks battled on the boards and enjoyed a 42-36 rebounding edge. The Dallas bench did not shoot well as they finished the night a combined 7-for-24 including 2-for-9 on three-pointers. J.J. Barea missed several good looks (1-for-5 on threes) and committed four turnovers, mainly on over-penetration, with only one assist.. Its great that he can get past his defender, but all that dribbling needs to result in points. It didn't tonight.

The contest was an exciting game of runs. Miami pulled out to a 45-31 lead with 2:50 left in the half. The Mavericks closed within 47-42 at the half. The Heat then pulled out to a 55-45 lead only to have Dallas tie it at 57. Miami took a 79-72 lead after three quarters on another Mario Chalmers three-pointer and led 81-74 with 6:13 left. Then the Mavericks made their last surge. The Heat won as they executed at the end of the game with Boshs jumper while the Mavericks missed their two opportunities. The pressure will be on Dallas as Game Four, and arguably Game Five, are must wins for them.

Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. Information on NetScouts Basketball and their daily basketball blog can be found at www.netscoutsbasketball.com. Carl and NetScouts Basketball can be followed on twitter @netscouts and @carlberman.



Ratings remain high for NBA finals - by Eurobasket News
ESPN says ratings for the NBA finals remain as high as they've been in the last seven years.

Through three games of the Miami-Dallas series, broadcasts on ABC are being seen by an average of 15,311,000 viewers. Miami's victory in Game 3 at Dallas on Sunday night earned an 11.1 overnight rating, marking the 22th straight time a finals game has been the most-watched program on a given evening, according to Nielsen.

Ratings are up 15 percent over the last Miami-Dallas series in 2006. Viewership is up slightly over last year's series between traditional powers Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Overnight ratings measure the country's largest markets.

Courtesy of www.usatoday.com

Heat refuse to fire back at Mavericks' trash talk - by Eurobasket News
Apparently, the Dallas Mavericks have little use for idle time.

So between Sunday's Game 3 and Tuesday's Game 4 of these NBA Finals, Mavericks guard Jason Terry (6'2''-G-77, college: Arizona) spoke of how LeBron James (6'8''-F-84) can't keep shutting him down for an entire series, of how Chris Bosh's Game 3 winning shot was hardly a challenge, of how the Miami Heat's defense is hardly the best Dallas has faced this postseason. Teammate DeShawn Stevenson (6'5''-G-81, agency: Priority Sports) chimed in about how Dwyane Wade (6'4''-G-82, college: Marquette) complains too much about the officiating, embellishes Mavericks fouls.

'We saw it,' James said after Tuesday's shootaround at American Airlines Center. 'We watch SportsCenter.

'Those guys have a right to say what they want to say. For me and D-Wade, we're going to let our game do the talking.'

To Bosh, it is fuel.

'For us,' he said, 'I think it's an opportunity to not let up. I think when guys are talking, it fuels us and it's like, 'OK, let's play better defense than we've been playing, so they won't have doubt in their mind.' '

Courtesy of www.sun-sentinel.com

Bryant stays mum on new Lakers coach Mike Brown - by Eurobasket News
Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) had plenty to say about how he wants to help end homelessness among youth in Los Angeles. The NBA superstar had nothing to say about new Lakers coach Michael Brown.

Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, appeared together at a nonprofit in Hollywood on Tuesday to announce the formation of their new foundation focused on improving the lives of youth and families in need.

Bryant has remained publicly mum since Brown was hired last week over his choice of Brian Shaw, a longtime Lakers assistant under recently retired coach Phil Jackson.

In his first public appearance since then, Bryant refused to answer questions about Brown.

'Right now is not the time nor the place,' he said in a stern tone. 'We're here to focus on bigger issues, greater issues, and that's these kids that are here at the back. It's not fair to them. When the time comes, I will address that, but right now is not that time.'

Asked when that time would be, Bryant cut off his questioner, saying, 'Now is not the time.'

The Bryants spent about 20 minutes talking privately with some of the young people who frequent the nonprofit A Friend's Place on Hollywood Boulevard. They told them how they ended up homeless.

'We want to help them kick butt,' he said, drawing laughter.

Bryant and his wife, who live in wealthy Orange County about an hour's drive from Hollywood, are 'kind of brand new' to the issue of homelessness, he said.

'We're still educating ourselves and will continue to do so,' he said. 'The important thing for us is that we're going to attack this.'

Dressed in a navy polo shirt and navy slacks, Bryant towered over everyone in the youth center. Vanessa Bryant, sporting a coral mani-pedi and an off-the-shoulders creme top, didn't speak.

Bryant said he's seen homeless kids on the streets outside Staples Center, where the Lakers play.

'It shocked the hell out of me because I had no idea,' he said. 'After a game, driving home you kind of see the issue around you, but you don't see it. It's all around us. It's something that we can solve.'

Courtesy of Yahoo

Report: Philadelphia 76ers sale is 'imminent'? - by Eurobasket News
The Philadelphia 76ers enjoyed a nice bounceback season in 2010-2011 under new head coach Doug Collins , making the NBA playoffs one year after winning just 27 games. Is their ownership ready to cash out?

ESPN.com reports that the Philadelphia 76ers, who were not known to be for sale, could be sold in the near future.

Philadelphia 76ers owner Comcast-Spectacor is in talks to sell the team to a group led by New York-based leveraged buyout specialist Joshua Harris, according to sources. Negotiations are ongoing and a source with knowledge of the talks called a deal 'imminent.'

Harris, 46, co-founded Apollo Global Management, which invests primarily in distressed properties, in 1990. In Forbes' 2011 billionaire rankings, Harris was reported to have a net worth of $1.5 billion.
Forbes.com recently valued the 76ers at $330 million, good for No. 17 out of the NBA's 30 teams.

Despite playing in a fairly large market, the 76ers were 25th in home attendance, drawing 14,700 fans per game.

On its website, Apollo Global Management describes itself as 'one of the world's largest alternative asset managers' with 'total assets under management of $70 billion, with a team of 500 employees located in ten offices around the world.'

Courtesy of www.cbssports.com

Parker backs off comments that Spurs are finished - by Eurobasket News
Spurs guard Tony Parker (6'0''-G-80) on Tuesday backed off comments made to French journalists last month that San Antonio can no longer likely contend for another championship.

'You know newspapers need stories and to talk about stuff, and I'm in a great situation to know what it is,' Parker said. 'I love the Spurs. I love being a Spur. I re-signed four years so if I didn't believe we can win a championship I would not have signed.'

The former All-Star, however, didn't exactly go out of his way to try to clarify the remarks made last month in Paris, a few weeks after the 61-win Spurs were upset in the first round by eighth-seeded Memphis.

An article on FIBA's website quoted Parker as saying, 'We will always have a good team but can no longer say we're playing for a championship.' He added that it would be tough for the Spurs to regenerate themselves with Tim Duncan (6'10''-F-76, college: Wake Forest) turning 36 next spring and Manu Ginobili (6'6''-G-77, agency: Interperformances) turning 34 next month.

Parker is speaking French in the interview. A video of the interview, credited to the French sports daily L'Equipe, quotes Parker in English subtitles as saying, 'It was sort of our last chance this season.'

Back in San Antonio on Tuesday, Parker brushed off the quotes, offering a vague explanation of French reporters getting carried away.

'I don't have to justify anything,' Parker said. 'Me, bottom line, I love being a Spur and that's why I signed four more years. I have nothing to justify to you. The only thing I care about is (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich ), Timmy and Manu, and my teammates.'

Parker has spent his entire NBA career with the Spurs, arriving in San Antonio at the age of 19 and winning the starting job that season. He turned 29 last month and begins a four-year, $50 million extension next season.

Parker was equally candid about San Antonio's diminishing title hopes in training camp last October. He said then that he felt the upcoming season was the last chance for the Spurs to win a fifth championship in the Duncan era, again pointing toward the team's aging core.

If this season was the Spurs' last chance, they mostly spent it playing that way. They carried the league's best record for practically the entire season and entered the playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. But the youthful Grizzlies beat the Spurs in six games, making San Antonio just the fourth No. 1 seed to fall in the first round.

Parker averaged 17.5 points and 6.6 assists last season. He said no one within the Spurs contacted him after the interview in France was published.

'They know me, they don't need to contact me,' Parker said. 'Pop doesn't have time right now. He's drinking wine and having fun.'

Courtesy of www.miamiherald.com

Jeremy Tyler: Poised or Problem? - by Julius Johnson
Jeremy Tyler is supposedly moving up the draft boards because of inverviews and measurements.

Huh?

Though Tyler has been wowing scouts with his poised interviews, NBA GMs take notice.
Last I heard, the game of basketball is not played with charm.

Here are the facts:

Jeremy Tyler left high school after his junior season.

He lasted only 10 games in Israel where he averaged 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds.
Accused of being a problem child, he was cut or allowed to walk away without any resistance.

Tyler then brought his talents to the BJ league in Japan, widely considered a league filled with players who aren't good enough to play in Europe.
He lasted 33 games, averaging 9.9ppg, 6.4rpg, and made 45% of his FTs. Yes, he was guided by former NBA coach, Bob Hill.

He showed up to the Chicago pre-draft camp with long arms and 13.4% body fat.

His agent is from Wasserman Media, a known power broker in the NBA. Any surprise that nba.com is reporting Jeremy Tyler's rising Draft rankings?

What is a better predictor of success? Past performance or a job interview?

You be the judge!

Celtics guard Ray Allen exercises option for 2011-12 season - by Eurobasket News
The Boston Celtics announced today that guard Ray Allen (6'6''-G-75, college: Connecticut) has exercised his option to stay with the team for the 2011-12 season. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. He should make around $10 million for the season.

Allen, a 65 guard, shot a career-high 44.4% from the three-point line during the 2010-11 season and averaged 16.5 points, 3.4 rebound, 2.7 assists and 0.96 steals per game. Allen made his 10th All-Star team for his work during the season and was named to his third All-Star appearance in four years with the Celtics. The former UConn Husky became the NBAs all-time three-point field goals made leader when he passed Reggie Miller against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 10, 2011. Allen is currently ranked as the 24th highest scorer in NBA history with 22,286 career points.

Courtesy of www.insidehoops.com

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


Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton announces his resignation days before NCAA hearing - by Eurobasket News
Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton announced Tuesday he decided to resign so the Volunteers would have a 'clean slate' when they go before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions later in the week.

Hamilton, who has been at the helm of Tennessee men's athletics for eight seasons, said it was both a personal decision and one that he hoped would help reunite the Vols fanbase. During a three-year period, Hamilton fired a popular coach, hired a controversial one and now the athletic department faces 12 NCAA infractions against the football and basketball programs.

'The last several years at UT have been marked by turmoil, fractures and the development of camps. This is not healthy, nor is it productive for our university,' Hamilton said. 'During the last three months in particular, I myself have become a lightning rod for negative attention, and that's a major distraction for the many positive things that are going on in athletics and on our campus.'

Hamilton will join UT-Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek, former Vols and current Southern California football coach Lane Kiffin and former basketball coach Bruce Pearl and other Tennessee representatives to respond to the NCAA's charges on Saturday in Indianapolis. He will take administrative leave from Tennessee beginning Monday and remain on staff until June 30 unless he finds new employment.

He is receiving a buyout of $1.3 million over three years and he will be given the lifetime complimentary use of eight season football tickets and eight season basketball tickets. Cheek declined to discuss the terms of Hamilton's separation agreement during Tuesday's news conference.

Hamilton first drew criticism from fans in 2008 when he fired Phillip Fulmer, who had led the Vols to a national title a decade earlier, before the football season had ended. He replaced Fulmer with a mostly unproven Kiffin, who bolted after one season, leaving the program coping with violations in his wake.

'My family and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity Mike afforded us at Tennessee,' Kiffin said in a statement posted on USC's official Twitter account.

Hamilton's hiring of Pearl in 2005 turned out to be a popular one after the basketball coach lead the Vols to their first No. 1 ranking and first NCAA regional final in history. However, Pearl fell from grace after admitting he lied to the NCAA during its investigation and committing additional violations.

Hamilton also fired baseball coach Todd Raleigh, a man he hired in 2007 after firing Rod Delmonico, a coach who had led the Vols to the College World Series. Raleigh went 108-113 in his four seasons and failed to lead Tennessee to a single Southeastern Conference or NCAA tournament.

'I've never experienced more challenge or frustration in my 26 years of professional life than during the last 18 months,' Hamilton said. 'I accept the responsibility for the things that have led to some of these challenges. Ultimately, I think today was inevitable based upon today's operating environment in college athletics.'

Hamilton, who was sharply criticized by fans and observers in March for making pointed comments about Pearl just days before the Vols' NCAA tournament appearance, said he has been considering resigning for several months and approached Cheek last week at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., to discuss it.

He said he wanted to announce his decision before the NCAA hearing because he did not want people to think his decision was tied directly to the NCAA hearing but understood that his departure could help Tennessee in the eyes of the NCAA.

'I don't have any firm knowledge of this but it's my belief with people I talked to that going in to the Committee on Infractions now with a new head basketball coach, a new head football coach and the prospect of a new athletic director, it's not bad for the University of Tennessee,' he said. 'I can't say that it's good necessarily but it's certainly not bad'

Cheek said he did not force Hamilton to resign but also did not try to persuade him to stay. Cheek said he will name an interim athletics director in the coming days and hopes to have a permanent replacement by the beginning of the football season after conducting a nationwide search.

'We need to stabilize our leadership team and move ourselves aggressively forward in the directions we want to go,' he said. 'Which means we're going to be a better place in the future than we are today.'

Hamilton has helped interview candidates for baseball coach but said it will be up to a committee of Vols officials to make the final decision now, which probably won't come until the conclusion of the College World Series at the end of June.

Hamilton also asked for fans to rally together to support football coach Derek Dooley, basketball coach Cuonzo Martin and the future athletics director. Dooley thanked him for his support.

'I will always be grateful for the opportunity Mike gave me to be the head football coach at Tennessee,' Dooley said. 'The tremendous support he provided our staff and program has allowed us to set a strong foundation for the future of Tennessee football.'

Courtesy of www.newser.com

Virginia F Regan transferring to play at Buffalo - by Eurobasket News
Forward Will Regan (6'9''-F) has signed a scholarship agreement to transfer to play for the University at Buffalo men's basketball team after spending his freshman season at Virginia last year.

Listed at 6-foot-8, Regan will have three years of eligibility left after being required to sit out next season. From suburban Buffalo, Regan scored 25 points and had 18 rebounds in averaging 6.6 minutes over 20 games for the Cavaliers last season.

At Buffalo's Nichols School, he was a three-time All-Western New York selection and helped the team win a state title in his senior season.

Buffalo announced the signing on today.

Courtesy of www.greenwichtime.com

USA U19 National Team 2011 - by Eurobasket
USA U19 National Team 2011
#s#
Keith Appling
Appling
Melsahn Basabe
Basabe
James Bell
Bell
Anthony Brown
Brown
Trevor Cooney
Cooney
#e#5
Keith Appling 6'2''-G-92 Michigan St.
Melsahn Basabe 6'9''-F-92 Iowa
James Bell 6'5''-G-92 Villanova
Anthony Brown 6'8''-F-92 Stanford
Trevor Cooney 6'3''-G-92 Syracuse
Allen Crabbe 6'4''-G-92 California
Tim Hardaway Jr. 6'5''-G-92 Michigan
Joe Jackson 6'0''-G-92 Memphis
Jeremy Lamb 6'5''-G/F-92 Connecticut
Meyers Leonard 7'0''-C-92 Illinois
Doug McDermott 6'7''-F-92 Creighton
Travis McKie 6'7''-F-92 Wake Forest
Tony Mitchell 6'9''-F/C-92 N.Texas
Richard Solomon 6'8''-F-92 California
Josiah Turner 6'3''-PG-92 Arizona
Patric Young 6'9''-F/C-92 Florida
Jahii Carson
Khyle Marshall 6'7''-F-92 Butler
Javon McCrea 6'6''-F-92 Buffalo
Scottie Wilbekin 6'2''-G-92 Florida
Cameron Wright 6'4''-G-92 Pittsburgh

Paul Hewitt Head Coach Georgia Tech USA
Randy Bennett Assistant St.Mary's, CA USA
Cliff Warren Assistant Jacksonville USA


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


Kevin Braswell's Breakers future up in air - by Eurobasket News
Kevin Braswell's (188-G-79, agency: Priority Sports, college: Georgetown) New Zealand Breakers' career could be over, with the American combo guard set to be sidelined for three to six months.

Braswell ruptured the Achilles tendon in his left foot in the opening minute of the Southland Sharks' National Basketball League game against Taranaki at the ILT Velodrome on Saturday night.

He met with Sharks doctor and Southland Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Greg Kassel yesterday and hopes to have surgery in Invercargill or Auckland within the next week.

Braswell said he wanted to have the operation as soon as possible, so he could begin his recovery and rehabilitation process and start his long road to getting back on the court.

Braswell played a leading role off the bench for the Australian NBL champion Breakers this season and was named the league's best sixth man. Their new season tips off in October, which would be touch and go for Braswell, and the Breakers may opt to move in a new direction.

The Breakers have two American spots free for next season and are waiting to see whether star Tall Black superstar Kirk Penney exercises the 'out clause' in his contract and whether a possible NBA lockout happens, which would lead to a raft of fringe American players on the market.

Braswell said he had yet to speak to Breakers' coach Andrej Lemanis or general manager Richard Clarke following his injury and said if he was not brought back he would explore other basketball opportunities.

The Baltimore native remained in a positive state of mind following his setback and said his immediate focus was to get back to being healthy again.

Braswell's basketball career has taken the 32-year-old all over the globe and he confessed that he had never suffered a major injury until Saturday night. He also admitted he was not a big stretcher before a game, but had actually stretched his Achilles in the warmups. Suffering the injury surprised him even more.

'I don't stretch a lot. The first time I've stretched my Achilles was for that game. All I did was a jump shot. It's crazy. I came down and it felt weird. I tried to walk and I couldn't do it.'

In his six games with the Sharks, he had disappointing numbers of 10.7 points a game on 29 per cent shooting from the floor, but felt like he was coming into some form when the injury struck.

'Playing-wise, I felt like last week at practice. I was getting my rhythm. My body was starting to feel better, then the injury happened in the next game.'

Braswell said he had enjoyed his time in Southland and was optimistic about the team's potential during the rest of the season.

'This is a basketball town. The fans really love it. I really liked it down here. The organisation has been great.'

Sharks coach Richard Dickel said they were still trying to organise a replacement American import for Braswell and hoped to have someone confirmed by today.

Courtesy of www.stuff.co.nz

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


Norway edged Denmark at their U20 Nordic Championship 2011 opener - by Eurobasket News
Norway U20-Denmark U20 69:57

Norway edged Denmark at their Nordic Championship 2011 opener. The Norway side grabbed 69:57 in four-nation tournament and together with Sweden share the top after Day 1.
Denmark started with 18-14 in the first period, but was too far to keep the lead. Norway bounced back with 25-15 and then added 21-6 in the third quarter. Denmark won the last period 18-9 but could only reduce the gap.
Norway had 17 points as the biggest scoring run in the game. Denmark meanwhile scored 34 Points in paint, while Norway had 24. The lead changed three times in the game as the teams were also tied three times.
Stian Berg (187-G-91) paced all the winners with 17 points, whilst Fredrik Bohn (198-F-91) scored 11. Karamo Jawara (198-F-91) notched 9 and Oeivind Lundestad (190-G-91) netted 7. Thomas Laerke (193-G/F-91) ended up with 20 points and 10 rebounds in defeat, while Jonas Bergstedt (207-C-91) had 12.

Norway U20: Stian Berg 17, Fredrik Bohn 11, Karamo Jawara 9, Oeivind Lundestad 7
Denmark U20: Thomas Laerke 20+10 rebs, Jonas Bergstedt 12



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


Gilas is Getting There - by Enzo Flojo

If you look at the current results of the Smart-Gilas experiment that started in 2009, you wont find yourself fraught with excitement or optimism. Its not exactly the monumental turnaround for Philippine basketball that a lot of people might have expected.

Consider.

5th place in the 2009 FIBA-Asia Champions Cup held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
3rd place in the 2010 Dubai International Basketball Tournament held in, well, Dubai (duh), UAE.
Champions in the 2010 MVP Cup held here in Manila.
4th place in the 2010 Jones Cup in Taipei, Chinese-Taipei.
4th place in the 2010 FIBA-Asia Stankovic Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.
2nd place in the 2010 Asian Basketball Association Club Championship in Haining, China.
7th place in the 2010 FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Doha, Qatar.
4th place in the 2011 FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Manila.
*I chose not to include their PBA stints anymore, since I wanted to focus on how theyve done in the international circuit only.

Only one title. 2 other podium finishes. Not particularly stellar right?

Reason to cry for Gilass abolishment? Of course not. Unless youre particularly of the insane variety.

They havent been out-of-this-world, but what once was a rag-tag bunch of fresh-from-college tenderfoots (okay, you can also use tenderFEET) has made the gradual transformation into a speedy, streaky, but cohesive unit that can zip and zap with the best in the continent.

This is not to say Gilas is flawless. Far from it. Even their own coach, that veteran bench tactician whos an apparent early riser and walker in Eastwood City, Rajko Toroman, attests to inconsistent shooting, unsteady rebounding and perpetual lack of ceiling as cracks in our collective carapace. Pessimist pundits are all too happy to rail on about these weaknesses.

Id personally love to eventually see Marcus Douthit team up with a Norman Black-trained Greg Slaughter up front with Japeth Aguilar playing the 3 and, perhaps, Bobby Ray Parks and Kiefer Ravena manning the backcourt. That would be a five for the ages right there. Of course Jayvee Casio can replace Kiefer due to his supreme sniping, or if Gian Chius foot ever gets fully healed, and he further improves on his footwork, he could spot Japeth/Greg too. Oh the possibilities!!!

And certainly there is still a host of possibilities for Gilas.

They are set to dominate (whod expect anything less?) the upcoming 2011 SEABA Championships in Jakarta (June 23-26). They will then make a run for the single 2012 London Olympics slot available when the FIBA-Asia Mens Championships commence in Wuhan, China (September 15-25).

They should make mincemeat out of our ASEAN neighbors in the SEABA meet, but they will encounter uber tough competition in Wuhan. Theyll get reacquainted with the likes of Zhu Fangyu (China), Oh Se-Keun (South Korea), Takumi Ishizaki (Japan), and Wu Tai-Hao (Taiwan), apart from the Asian giants they just finished rubbing elbows with in the recently concluded Champions Cup (hello Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, Fadi El-Khatib, Sam Dahglas and Targuy Ngombo). Itll be a smorgasbord of hardwood hell for Gilas, and it will be the truest test of the program.

In reality, it is this tournament that will determine whether the Gilas experiment was ultimately a success or not. And how will success be measured?

The main goal was always to nail the slot for 2012. But, honestly, it will take nothing short of a minor miracle for us to reach that objective. Look at the teams that have already qualified:

China (host)
Lebanon (Stankovic Cup champs)
Qatar, UAE and Bahrain via the Gulf Cup qualifying tournament

And those who SHOULD qualify:
East Asia (3 more slots): South Korea, Japan and Taiwan
SEA (2 slots aside from us): Malaysia and Indonesia
West Asia (3 more slots): Iran, Jordan and Syria
Middle Asia (2 slots): Kazakhstan and, perhaps, India or Uzbekistan

Barring any monumentally tragic grouping (like the one that happened in Tokushima, Japan in 2007), we should breeze through the preliminaries. The quarterfinals, though, is where our mettle will be truly challenged. Thats the acid test. Get past that, into the medal round and anythings possible.

Id probably rank Gilas behind China (at relatively full strength), Iran, Lebanon and South Korea, but a little ahead of Jordan, Japan, Taiwan, Syria and Kazakhstan. Yao Ming certainly wont play. Reports suggest Yi Jianlian might not make it too. Ditto with Irans Hamed Haddadi. This leaves us an ideal situation that we must be all too eager to exploit.

But, again, itll be tough. Everyone knows the other teams are beefed up too. Qatar has its un-Qatari-looking stars (they are reportedly native Africans) backing up perennial leader Yasseen Musa. Lebanon has its naturalized player in Jackson Vroman, and Leb-Am Matt Freije. Of course Jordan has its naturalized playmaker Rasheim Wright too. Taiwan is reportedly wooing Golden State Warrior Jeremy Lin to suit up, as well as BYU-Hawaii star Jet Chang. Former NBA players Yuta Tabuse and Ha Seung-Jin should don their respective nations colors as well.

And who do we have?

Chris Master by Eskinol Tiu.

Of course we have a lot of good players aside from Chris, but our star power is visibly invisible compared to our neighbors.

I believe getting that Olympic berth will demand, more than anything, consistency on both ends. If our shooting doesnt dip considerably, if we can keep the rebound numbers close, and, somehow, find a way to contain (not necessarily shutdown, but that would be welcome too) the other teams stars then hope floats.

But, again, our fate rests on so many IFs.

2011 will be the year Gilas makes, or breaks, the grade. This is where the climactic phase of the experiments comes to fruition, or explodes in our faces.

Gilas only has one championship to show in its short existence, and that was won on local soil.

We are the proverbial, and literal, Davids against the proverbial, and literal, Goliaths of Asia. The underdogs of underdogs. The Mighty Ducks. The Big Green. The Dallas Mavericks.

Yes, we are the good guys, too. Good enough to rally a country divided by so many things. Good enough to make us proud, even if we fail to reach the Olympics.

But I hope Gilas does it. Its still quite a ways away, and Gilas isnt quite there yet, but theyre well on their way.

Theyre getting there.

More on HoopNut.blogspot.com


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


Season Scout - CAB Madeira - by Luis Filipe Cristovao
Winning the Portuguese Cup was the highest point in CAB Madeira's season. It was their first national title, which will make them play next seasons Super Cup. Also, getting into the playoffs, even if in eighth position, made it possible to accomplish the other season goal. It was a great season to the Madeira team and head coach Joao Freitas.

The Season
CAB Madeira started the season with a very good roster, but after four games, the injury of Bobby Maddison made them lose their best player until then. That brought a dark period to the Madeira team, and didnt allow them to repeat three wins in a row like they had done between the second and the fourth round. We also have to add Mario Fernandes late injury, which made CAB even more fragile. But with Shawn Jackson in the team, CAB was able to get the Portuguese Cup. More than a consolation, to a team that is very well organized by Freitas.

The Player
Frederick Gentry (201-F-77, agency: Pro Partner Sports Management, college: McNeese St.) . Very good comeback in Europe, to Gentry, after two seasons in Angola. Gentry is a powerful player, used in the positions 4 and 5. He made a great double with Jackson, a veteran duo who were very strong in defense. He averaged 16.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. Other player who made a good season was the guard Nathan Menefee. In his first European season, Menefee showed to be a good game planner and a strong shooter. 16.1 points and 3.7 assists give him a good presentation card. Must find a team to try his luck at a higher level.

The Prospect
Fabio Lima (196-F-88) After a good season in Illiabum, Lima signed with CAB Madeira, keeping his evolution. He was the sixth player in the team, and his numbers dont seem too encouraging, hes making his way to be a good role player in the top of the league. He was called to the Portuguese National Team and will have, at least, one month working with Mario Palma.


Season Scout Electrico - by Luis Filipe Cristovao
Strong enough to avoid the relegation struggle, too fragile to compete with the top teams in Proliga, this was the limitations Electrico FC had to live with. With a young roster, Andriy Melnychuk was able to get a place in the Portuguese Cup final eight, a prize to the effort these players made this season.

The Season
Having lost important players like Tiago Pinto, Anastacio Sami and Diogo Leiria, Electrico FC had to rebuilt their roster. The team was never able to get a high scorer, leaving to veterans Jorge Afonso (192-G/F-79) and Denis Neves, most of the responsibilities. Even if the team was never strong enough to win more than two games in a row, they reach the playoffs and were able to confront regular season BC Barcelos, taking them to game 5.

The player
Jorge Afonso. The teams captain and best scorer. Hes an all-around player, present in all stats categories. Hes a good player in Proliga, able to compete, experimented, even if his best days are now far away. Aylton Medeiros is still growing in Electrico FC. Hes gaining experience to become a good power forward in the league. But he will be called to be the star player in this team, soon. It will be a tough prove to his value.

The prospect
Joao Lanzinha (188-G-89). Used like the teams sixth player, Lanzinha confirmed his evolution, being able to score and rebound more. He showed he can be an option to play more minutes next season and hell probably get that chance.


Benfica prepares new season - by Luis Filipe Cristovao
Even if theres no confirmation if Henrique Vieira will still be the head coach, Sport Lisboa Benfica's preparing the roster for the new season.

Confirmed are the continuities of Diogo Carreira, Sergio Ramos, Heshimu Evans, Elvis Evora and Miguel Minhava. Ben Reed and Antonio Tavares are still in talks to renew their contracts with the Lisbon Eagles.

Also confirmed is the signing of Fred Gentry and Antonio Monteiro (who was loaned). Tomas Barroso, who played at Casino Ginasio, is other of the loaned players who can be back on the team. There are rumors that Sport Lisboa Benfica contacted Greg Stempin and Carlos Andrade, from Porto Ferpinta. These signings could give Sport Lisboa Benfica a big impulse on the LPB fight for the title.

Out are players like Rodrigo Mascarenhas, Marquin Chandler and Greg Jenkins. These three players never gave the team what was expected from them, even if Jenkins had good performances in Eurochallenge and Chandler was one of the teams best scorers in the Finals.

Check for more: www.porbasket.blogspot.com


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


Coamo signs Aaron McGhee - by Eurobasket News
Aaron McGhee (203-F/C-79, college: Oklahoma) is a new member of Coamo. The American power forward/center signed a deal for rest of the season. McGhee arrives to Coamo from Maccabi Rishon Le-Zion, where he spent 2010/11. He appeared 31 times in Israeli Premier league averaging 14.1 points and 6.5 rebounds. He was named Eurobasket.com All-Israeli League Honorable Mention and he got the same award for 2009/10. At that time McGhee had 15.5 ppg and 7 rpg with the same team in Israel. In the past, McGhee also played in Ukraine, China, Spain, Italy and Korea. He is not a new face in BSN as well as he was a member of Ponce and Carolina.
Aaron McGhee already made his debut with Coamo. He had 19 points and 12 rebounds in 77-92 loss against Guaynabo.

Standings - BSN
BSN Standings
 1. Bayamon 16-8 
 2. Guaynabo 15-9 
 3. Santurce 14-11 
 4. Arecibo 14-11 
 5. San German 13-9 
 6. Quebradillas 13-11 
 7. Humacao 11-14 
 8. Mayaguez 9-15 
 9. Coamo 9-17 
 10. Isabela 8-17 


Stats Leaders - BSN
Points Per Game
 Angel Daniel VASSALLO
  Guaynabo
  (198-G/F-86)
  Avg: 25.3
 1. Vassallo, Guaynabo25.3 
 2. Ramos, Quebradillas23.8 
 3. Johnson, Humacao21.4 
 4. Dalmau, Bayamon21.4 
 5. Ayuso, Arecibo20.1 
 6. Villegas, Coamo19.5 
 7. Romero, Mayaguez18.6 
 8. Harris, San German18.6 
 9. Carmona, Mayaguez16.9 
 10. Randolph, Isabela16.9 
Rebounds Per Game
 Manuel Antonio NARVAEZ
  Coamo
  (211-C-81)
  Avg: 12.9
 1. Narvaez, Coamo12.9 
 2. Randolph, Isabela12.1 
 3. Harris, San German11.9 
 4. Pruitt, Guaynabo11.5 
 5. Ramos, Quebradillas10.9 
 6. Lloreda, San G.10.5 
 7. Romero, Mayaguez9.7 
 8. Rickert, Bayamon9.5 
 9. Sweetney, Santurce9.3 
 10. Shannon, Bayamon8.9 
Assists Per Game
 Christian DALMAU
  Bayamon
  (194-G-77)
  Avg: 6.1
 1. Dalmau, Bayamon6.1 
 2. Brown, Quebradillas5.9 
 3. Guzman, Guaynabo4.8 
 4. Clemente, Humacao4.8 
 5. Clinch, Isabela4.5 
 6. Apodaca, Quebradil.4.3 
 7. Vega, Coamo4.1 
 8. Rivera, Mayaguez4.1 
 9. Copeland, San G.3.8 
 10. Berdiel, Humacao3.7 
Steals Per Game
 Darnell HINSON
  Isabela
  (186-G-80)
  Avg: 1.9
 1. Hinson, Isabela1.9 
 2. Robinson, Mayaguez1.6 
 3. Rivera, Mayaguez1.6 
 4. Carmona, Mayaguez1.5 
 5. Clinch, Isabela1.5 
 6. Robinson, Humacao1.5 
 7. Hodge, Santurce1.4 
 8. Dalmau, Bayamon1.4 
 9. Santiago, Santurce1.4 
 10. Chaney, Santurce1.4 
Blocks Per Game
 Kleon PENN
  Humacao
  (211-C-86)
  Avg: 2.7
 1. Penn, Humacao2.7 
 2. Traylor, Bayamon2.0 
 3. Santiago, Arecibo2.0 
 4. Romero, Mayaguez1.9 
 5. Sanchez, Santurce1.9 
 6. Lee, Bayamon1.7 
 7. Aubry, Arecibo1.7 
 8. Randolph, Isabela1.5 
 9. Robinson, Mayaguez1.3 
 10. Harris, San German1.3 


Weekly BSN Team Rankings-Week 10 - by Eric de la Cruz
This is a weekly segment that will be published every Monday, where I will rank the 10 teams of the BSN based primarily on Point Differential and Strength of Schedule, while also considering home and away games, back to backs, injuries and missing players (there is always player turnover in the league, be it teams changing import players, college players arriving at the end of their semester or native players still playing in Europe). Commentary will be included on some teams.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0ApWjwB4gj4zNdEZTLUg1MXNzblRkNDZNSHVqZGl4eWc&single=true&gid=24&range=a1%3Af11&output=html

Vassallo's double-double lands him Player of the Week award - by Eurobasket News
24-year old swingman Angel Daniel Vassallo (198-G/F-86) put on an amazing game in the last week for second-ranked Guaynabo and receives a Latinbasket.com Player of the Week award for week 22.
He had a double-double of 35 points and 10 rebounds, while his team beat Coamo (#9, 9-17) 92-77. Guaynabo maintains the 2nd position in Puerto Rican league. They would have been even better if they hadn't lost a few games earlier this season. Guaynabo will need more victories to improve their 15-9 record. In the team's last game Vassallo had a remarkable 80.0% from 2-point range and got five three-pointers out of 9 attempts. He just recently signed at Guaynabo, being already a very valuable addition to the team. Virginia Tech graduate has very impressive stats this year. Vassallo is league's best scorer averaging so far 25.3ppg. Vassallo is in league's top in and averages solid 51.8% FGP and 41.3% from behind 3-point line.

Second best performed player last week was Ivan Johnson (203-F/C-84) of Humacao. He is American forward in his first season at Humacao. In the last game Johnson recorded impressive 35 points and 8 rebounds. Of course Humacao cruised to a 95-83 relatively comfortable win over the higher-ranked Santurce (#3, 14-11). Humacao's 7th position in the standings has not changed. His team is not often considered as one of the league's best with a mere 11-14 record. Johnson is one of the most experienced players at Humacao and has a reputation of one of team's most reliable players. He belongs to the best scorers in the league with 21.4ppg (#3). He also registered 8.3 boards per game.

Third place about best performers goes to another Humacao's star - swingman James Maye (201-G/F-81). Maye showcased his all-around game by recording 15 points, eleven rebounds (!!!) and four assists in the last week. He was another key player of Humacao, helping his team with a 95-83 win against the higher-ranked Santurce (#3, 14-11). The chances of Humacao ranking at the top of the league, however are very questionable as they have already lost 14 games, recording just eleven victories. With bigger assistance of his teammates, Maye could help Humacao to bring them higher in the standings. Maye has a very solid season. In 17 games in Puerto Rico he scored 12.5ppg. He also has 6.2rpg and FGP: 57.3%.

Other top performing players last week:
4. Shaun Pruitt (208-C-85) of Guaynabo - 16 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists
5. Denis Clemente (185-PG-86) of Humacao - 16 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists
6. Carlos Rivera (187-G-83) of Mayaguez - 16 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists
7. Christopher Vega (182-G-84) of Coamo - 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists
8. Ricky Sanchez (212-C/F-87) of Santurce - 24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists
9. Angelo Reyes (205-F/C-81) of Santurce - 11 points and 10 rebounds

The Player of the week is choosen based on efficiency calculation, but also including game result, importance of the game, if played recorded double-double/triple-double, etc.
The efficiency formula is a combination of various formulas used by different basketball organizations/leagues. We got involved many basketball scouts and journalists to assure it's accuracy.
The formula: 1.5*PTS + 3*(REB+AST+ST+BL-TO) - 2*BSAG - 4*PF + 3*PFRV + 4*(2FGPM+3FGPM) + 1.5*FTM - 3*(2FGPA-2FGPM) - 3*(3FGPA-3FGPM) - (FTA-FTM)

BSN Round 22: Capitanes beat Quebradillas by two after a very close game - by Eurobasket News
The fans could enjoy quite many interesting games in the last round. The round ended with favorites losing the games and games ending by tiny margin.

The most exciting game of round 22 in the BSN took place in Arecibo. This derby game ended with only two-point defeat on the road of 5th ranked Quebradillas (13-11) to sixth ranked Capitanes (14-11) 67-65 on Sunday evening. The hosts started the game with a very strong first quarter 20-11. But Quebradillas won third quarter 18-10. However it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. The game was decided in the last minutes when Capitanes won last quarter 20-20. They made 16-of-21 free shots (76.2 percent) during the game. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international center Daniel Santiago (216-76, college: N.Mexico, agency: Priority Sports) who helped to win the game recording 16 points and 7 rebounds (made all of his eight free throws). International guard Guillermo Diaz (188-85, college: Miami, FL) contributed with 15 points for the winners. Capitanes' coach David Rosario used a ten-player rotation in such tough game. International center Peter John Ramos (222-85) replied with 26 points and 8 rebounds for Quebradillas. Capitanes have a solid three-game winning streak. They moved-up to third place, which they share with Santurce. Quebradillas at the other side dropped to the sixth position with 11 games lost. Capitanes is looking forward to face Atleticos (#5) in San German in the next round. Quebradillas will have a break next round.
Very important is a home loss of third ranked Cangrejeros (14-11) against seventh ranked Caciques (11-14) on Saturday night. Host Cangrejeros were defeated by Caciques in Santurce 95-83. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Cangrejeros. American power forward Ivan Johnson (203-84, college: Cal.St.-San Bernar.) scored 35 points (!!!) and 8 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners and James Maye chipped in 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists during the contest. At the losing side international power forward Ricky Sanchez (212-87, college: High School) responded with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. Caciques maintains seventh position with 11-14 record. Cangrejeros at the other side keep the third place with 11 games lost. They share the position with Arecibo. Caciques will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Cangrejeros will play on the road against the league's leader Vaqueros having rather not much hope for a victory.
Bottom-ranked Gallitos managed to get a eighth victory, breaking the five-game losing streak on Sunday night. This time they edged eighth-ranked Indios in Mayaguez 70-67. Alexander David Galindo notched 15 points and 5 assists to lead the effort. Even 19 points and 8 rebounds by Ramon Clemente did not help to save the game for Indios. Indios' coach tried various players' combinations and tested in total eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. Gallitos maintains tenth position with 8-17 record. Loser Indios keep the eighth place with 15 games lost. Gallitos will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Indios will play against Atleticos (#5) in San German and hope to secure a win.
BSN top team - Vaqueros (16-8) managed to deliver another win. This time they beat seventh ranked Caciques (11-14) in Bayamon 74-62. Christian Dalmau fired 16 points and 7 rebounds for the winners. Vaqueros' coach Julio Toro allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Vaqueros maintains first position with 16-8 record. Caciques at the other side keep the seventh place with 14 games lost. Vaqueros' next round opponent will be Cangrejeros (#3) in Santurce, which may be the game of the day.
BSN top team - Vaqueros (16-8) added another victory to their record on Saturday. This time they beat ninth ranked Maratonistas (9-17) in Coamo 68-60. It was a very good performance for Christian Dalmau who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 11 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Vaqueros maintains first position with 16-8 record. Maratonistas lost fifth consecutive game. They keep the ninth place with 17 games lost. Vaqueros will face Cangrejeros (#3) in Santurce in the next round, which may be the game of the day. Maratonistas will play on the road against the league's second-placed Mets (#2) in Guaynabo.

In the last game of round 22 Guaynabo beat Coamo on the road 92-77.
The most impressive performance of 22th round was 35 points (!!!), 10 rebounds and 5 assists by Angel Daniel Vassallo of Guaynabo.


Coamo - Guaynabo 77-92

No shocking result in a game when second ranked Mets (15-9) beat 9th ranked Maratonistas (9-17) in Coamo 92-77 on Monday. The game was mostly controlled by Mets. Maratonistas was better in second period 16-15. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. It was a very good performance for international swingman Angel Daniel Vassallo (198-86, college: Virginia Tech) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 35 points (!!!), 10 rebounds and 5 assists. American center Shaun Pruitt (208-85, college: Illinois, agency: Edge Sports) contributed with a double-double by scoring 16 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. The former international guard Christian Dalmau (194-77, college: Daytona Beach CC, agency: Paris Global Sports) replied with a double-double by scoring 19 points and 12 rebounds and guard Johwen Villegas (193-85, college: FIU) added 20 points and 5 rebounds in the effort for Maratonistas. Mets have a solid three-game winning streak. They maintain second position with 15-9 record behind leader Bayamon. Maratonistas lost fifth consecutive game. They keep the ninth place with 17 games lost. Mets will have a break next round. Maratonistas will play again on the road against the league's second-placed Mets (#2) in Guaynabo.
Top scorers:
Coamo: J.Villegas 20+5reb+3ast, M.Aaron 19+12reb+1ast, M.Landry 11+9reb+4ast, A.Ortiz 8+2reb+1ast, D.Torres 7+1reb, M.Antonio Narvaez 6+9reb
Guaynabo: A.Daniel Vassallo 35+10reb+5ast, S.Pruitt 16+11reb+2ast, C.Escalera 11+2reb+1ast, J.McCoy 9+5reb+2ast, R.Dalmau 9+2reb+3ast, C.Rodriguez 6+3reb+2ast
gschID: 125587


Arecibo - Quebradillas 67-65

The most exciting game of round 22 in the BSN took place in Arecibo. This derby game ended with only two-point defeat on the road of 5th ranked Quebradillas (13-11) to sixth ranked Capitanes (14-11) 67-65 on Sunday evening. The hosts started the game with a very strong first quarter 20-11. But Quebradillas won third quarter 18-10. However it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. The game was decided in the last minutes when Capitanes won last quarter 20-20. They made 16-of-21 free shots (76.2 percent) during the game. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international center Daniel Santiago (216-76, college: N.Mexico, agency: Priority Sports) who helped to win the game recording 16 points and 7 rebounds (made all of his eight free throws). International guard Guillermo Diaz (188-85, college: Miami, FL) contributed with 15 points for the winners. Capitanes' coach David Rosario used a ten-player rotation in such tough game. International center Peter John Ramos (222-85) replied with 26 points and 8 rebounds and the former international guard Rick Apodaca (192-80, college: Hofstra, agency: Paris Global Sports) added 7 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the effort for Quebradillas. Capitanes have a solid three-game winning streak. They moved-up to third place, which they share with Santurce. Quebradillas at the other side dropped to the sixth position with 11 games lost. Capitanes is looking forward to face Atleticos (#5) in San German in the next round. Quebradillas will have a break next round.
Top scorers:
Quebradillas: P.John Ramos 26+8reb+1ast, M.Worthington 14+3reb, R.Apodaca 7+8reb+4ast, C.Bruton 5+1reb+5ast, A.Alamo 5+4reb, J.Jones 4+8reb+2ast
Arecibo: D.Santiago 16+7reb, G.Diaz 15+4reb, A.Latimer 9+6reb, D.Cortes 7+3reb+1ast, D.Copeland 6+2reb, L.Ayuso 5
gschID: 125584


Mayaguez - Isabela 67-70

Bottom-ranked Gallitos managed to get a eighth victory, breaking the five-game losing streak on Sunday night. This time they edged eighth-ranked Indios in Mayaguez 70-67. Indios cut a 18-point halftime deficit to three at the end of the game. Gallitos dominated on the defensive end, holding Indios to just 6 points in second quarter. Strangely Indios outrebounded Gallitos 42-25 including a 17-6 advantage in offensive rebounds. Argentinian forward Alexander David Galindo (198-85, college: FIU) notched 15 points and 5 assists to lead the effort and American forward Shavlik Randolph (208-83, college: Duke) supported him with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Four Gallitos players scored in double figures. Even 19 points and 8 rebounds by naturalized American forward Ramon Clemente (200-85, college: Wichita St., agency: Global Sports Plaza) did not help to save the game for Indios. Guard Carlos Rivera (187-83, college: Hofstra, agency: Paris Global Sports) added 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals for lost side. Indios' coach tried various players' combinations and tested in total eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. Gallitos maintains tenth position with 8-17 record. Loser Indios keep the eighth place with 15 games lost. Gallitos will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Indios will play against Atleticos (#5) in San German and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Mayaguez: R.Clemente 19+8reb+1ast, S.Williams 17+10reb, C.Rivera 16+5reb+6ast, K.Hamilton 7+8reb+7ast, A.Carmona 4+3reb+1ast, B.Robinson 2+4reb+1ast
Isabela: J.Verdejo 17+2reb+1ast, S.Randolph 16+6reb+1ast, A.David Galindo 15+4reb+5ast, D.Hinson 11+2reb+1ast, F.Valencia 4+2reb+1ast, J.Soto 3
gschID: 125585


Bayamon - Humacao 74-62

BSN top team - Vaqueros (16-8) managed to deliver another win. This time they beat seventh ranked Caciques (11-14) in Bayamon 74-62. The game was mostly controlled by Vaqueros. Caciques was better in third quarter 24-12. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. They dominated on the defensive end, holding Caciques to just 7 points in first quarter. The former international guard Christian Dalmau (194-77, college: Daytona Beach CC, agency: Paris Global Sports) fired 16 points and 7 rebounds for the winners. The former international point guard Roberto Jose Hatton (187-76, college: Marist) chipped in 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Vaqueros' coach Julio Toro allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. American power forward Ivan Johnson (203-84, college: Cal.St.-San Bernar.) produced 21 points and 9 rebounds and his fellow American import swingman James Maye (201-81, college: NC-Greensboro) added 13 points and 9 rebounds respectively for lost side. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Vaqueros maintains first position with 16-8 record. Caciques at the other side keep the seventh place with 14 games lost. Vaqueros' next round opponent will be Cangrejeros (#3) in Santurce, which may be the game of the day.
Top scorers:
Humacao: I.Johnson 21+9reb+1ast, J.Maye 13+9reb+3ast, M.Ali Berdiel 12+6reb+1ast, J.Life 10+4reb, D.Clemente 6+6reb+3ast, J.Guitian 0+2reb
Bayamon: C.Dalmau 16+7reb+3ast, R.Jose Hatton 13+6reb+4ast, J.Mojica 13+7reb+2ast, R.Rickert 10+6reb+1ast, C.Antrone Lee 8+9reb+1ast, R.Barbosa 5
gschID: 125586


Coamo - Bayamon 60-68

BSN top team - Vaqueros (16-8) added another victory to their record on Saturday. This time they beat ninth ranked Maratonistas (9-17) in Coamo 68-60. Maratonistas were trailing by 2 points at halftime but managed to get 3-point lead after three quarters before a 20-9 charge of Vaqueros, which allowed them to win the game. It was a very good performance for the former international guard Christian Dalmau (194-77, college: Daytona Beach CC, agency: Paris Global Sports) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 11 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. American forward Terrence Shannon (203-79, college: Elgin CC, agency: Paris Global Sports) contributed with 16 points and 8 rebounds for the winners. Guard Christopher Vega (182-84) replied with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and the former international center Manuel Antonio Narvaez (211-81, college: S.Nazarene, agency: Paris Global Sports) added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the effort for Maratonistas. Vaqueros maintains first position with 16-8 record. Maratonistas lost fifth consecutive game. They keep the ninth place with 17 games lost. Vaqueros will face Cangrejeros (#3) in Santurce in the next round, which may be the game of the day. Maratonistas will play on the road against the league's second-placed Mets (#2) in Guaynabo.
Top scorers:
Coamo: C.Vega 19+6reb+6ast, M.Antonio Narvaez 12+10reb, J.Villegas 10+7reb+1ast, M.Landry 8+3reb+2ast, A.Ortiz 6+5reb, M.Freije 5+6reb+2ast
Bayamon: T.Shannon 16+8reb+1ast, C.Antrone Lee 14+4reb, C.Dalmau 11+12reb+5ast, R.Rickert 8+9reb, R.Jose Hatton 7, J.Mojica 6+4reb+2ast
gschID: 125582


Santurce - Humacao 83-95

Very important is a home loss of third ranked Cangrejeros (14-11) against seventh ranked Caciques (11-14) on Saturday night. Host Cangrejeros were defeated by Caciques in Santurce 95-83. It ended at the same time the two-game winning streak of Cangrejeros. Cangrejeros were ahead by 8 points at the halftime before a 36-12 third quarter run of Caciques. They outrebounded Cangrejeros 47-31 including 32 on the defensive glass. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 22 assists. Caciques brought some defensive toughness making 10 blocks. American power forward Ivan Johnson (203-84, college: Cal.St.-San Bernar.) scored 35 points (!!!) and 8 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners and the other American import swingman James Maye (201-81, college: NC-Greensboro) chipped in 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists during the contest. At the losing side international power forward Ricky Sanchez (212-87, college: High School) responded with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks and international power forward Angelo Reyes (205-81) produced a double-double by scoring 11 points and 10 rebounds. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Caciques maintains seventh position with 11-14 record. Cangrejeros at the other side keep the third place with 11 games lost. They share the position with Arecibo. Caciques will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Cangrejeros will play on the road against the league's leader Vaqueros having rather not much hope for a victory.
Top scorers:
Santurce: R.Sanchez 24+6reb+3ast, W.Hodge 15+1reb+6ast, R.Chaney 15+6reb+1ast, A.Reyes 11+10reb+1ast, W.Pagan 8+4ast, R.Melendez 6+2reb+2ast
Humacao: I.Johnson 35+8reb+1ast, D.Clemente 16+4reb+8ast, J.Maye 15+11reb+4ast, M.Ali Berdiel 11+6reb+5ast, L.A. Rivas 8+6reb, K.Penn 7+7reb+1ast
gschID: 125583




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


David Blatt announces list of candidates for EuroBasket 2011 - by Eurobasket News
Head Coach of the Russian National Team David Blatt announced list of the candidates for the EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania. Actually, Blatt announced two lists yesterday. First is the list with younger players which will participate at the preliminary training camp. At least three of those players will be selected to join the senior squad. The preliminary camp will start on June 27.

Training camp squad: Semyon Antonov (Nizhny Novgorod), Dmitri Golovin (Nizhny Novgorod), Maksim Grigoryev (Lokomotiv-Kuban), Pyotr Gubanov (Dynamo Moscow), Vyacheslav Zaytsev (Khimki), Victor Zvarykin (Krasnye Krylya), Alexey Zozulin (Spartak St Petersburg), Vladimir Ivlev (Dynamo Moscow), Anatoliy Kashirov (Aris), Aleksandr Korchagin (Spartak St Petersburg), Aleksei Kotishevskiy (Spartak St Petersburg), Valery Likhodei (Triumph Lyubertsy), Ivan Nelyubov (WEF), Denis Polohin (CSKA Moscow), Dmitry Khvostov (Dynamo Moscow), Artem Yakovenko (Nizhny Novgorod).

Senior squad: Sergey Bykov (CSKA Moscow), Andrey Vorontsevich (CSKA Moscow), Evgeny Voronov (Dynamo Moscow), Aleksey Zhukanenko (Dynamo Moscow), Sasha Kaun (CSKA Moscow), Victor Keyru (Dynamo Moscow), Andrei Kirilenko (Utah Jazz), Timofey Mozgov (Denver Nuggets), Sergey Monya (Khimki), Anton Ponkrashov (Spartak St Petersburg), Vitaly Fridzon (Khimki), JR Holden (CSKA Moscow), Victor Khryapa (CSKA Moscow), Alexey Shved (CSKA Moscow).

Russia is placed to Group D of the EuroBasket 2011. Their rivals will be Bulgaria, Georgia, Ukraine, Belgium and Slovenia. First game of the Russian National Team is scheduled for August 31. They will take on Ukraine in Day One.

Stats Leaders - Superleague A
Points Per Game
 Keith LANGFORD
  Khimky
  (193-G/F-83)
  Avg: 18.2
 1. Langford, Khimky18.2 
 2. Lampe, Unics17.4 
 3. Baxter, Enisey16.2 
 4. Keyru, Dynamo16.0 
 5. Domercant, Spart.15.8 
 6. Williams, Enisey15.3 
 7. Labovic, Enisey14.5 
 8. Vyaltsev, Triumph14.4 
 9. Beverley, Spart.13.7 
 10. Wilkinson, Lokomo.13.7 
Rebounds Per Game
 Alexey ZHUKANENKO
  Dynamo
  (210-F-86)
  Avg: 7.4
 1. Zhukanenko, Dynamo7.4 
 2. Lampe, Unics7.2 
 3. Baxter, Enisey7.0 
 4. Khryapa, CSKA6.5 
 5. Beverley, Spart.6.3 
 6. Massey, Lokomotiv6.3 
 7. Monya, Khimky6.1 
 8. Brezec, Krasnie6.1 
 9. Wilkinson, Lokomot.6.0 
 10. Paunic, N.Novgorod5.4 
Assists Per Game
 Marcus WILLIAMS
  Enisey
  (191-G-85)
  Avg: 6.8
 1. Williams, Enisey6.8 
 2. Bremer, Krasnie6.5 
 3. Vyaltsev, Triumph5.4 
 4. Ponkrashov, Spart.4.5 
 5. Khvostov, Dynamo4.1 
 6. Popovic, Unics3.9 
 7. Planinic, Khimky3.7 
 8. Samoylenko, Unics3.4 
 9. Holden, CSKA3.4 
 10. Chalmers, Lokom.3.2 
Steals Per Game
 Patrick BEVERLEY
  Spart.
  (185-G-88)
  Avg: 1.8
 1. Beverley, Spart.1.8 
 2. Voronov, Dynamo1.8 
 3. Bremer, Krasnie1.6 
 4. Lyday, Unics1.5 
 5. Khryapa, CSKA1.5 
 6. Komarovskiy, Eni.1.4 
 7. Surovtsev, Lokom.1.4 
 8. Labovic, Enisey1.3 
 9. Domercant, Spart.1.3 
 10. Massey, Lokomotiv1.3 
Blocks Per Game
 Sasha KAUN
  CSKA
  (211-C-85)
  Avg: 1.2
 1. Kaun, CSKA1.2 
 2. Yakovenko, N.Nov.1.0 
 3. Monya, Khimky0.9 
 4. Varlamov, Triumph0.9 
 5. Likhodey, Triumph0.8 
 6. Zhukanenko, Dynamo0.8 
 7. Lampe, Unics0.8 
 8. Khryapa, CSKA0.8 
 9. Antonov, N.Novgor.0.8 
 10. Rizvic, Unics0.7 


Khimky shock Unics in Kazan to take their place in the Final - by Eurobasket News
SEMIFINAL
Unics - Khimky 54-61

Khimky shock Unics in Kazan to take their place in the Final. Trailing 0-2 in the series, Khimky won the last three games and will face CSKA in the Final. The guests took control from the first minutes by winning first half. But Unics Kazan won third quarter 28-16. However it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. Khimky dominated on the defensive end, holding Unics Kazan to just 4 points in second quarter. They outrebounded Unics Kazan 36-24 including 26 on the defensive glass. 26 personal fouls committed by Unics Kazan helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. The best player for the winners was Croatian-Bosnian guard Zoran Planinic (199-82) who scored 14 points and 5 rebounds. Eritrean-Polish swingman Thomas Kelati (195-82, college: Washington St., agency: Beo Basket) chipped in 10 points. Polish-Swedish center Maciej Lampe (210-85) produced 17 points and the former international guard Petr Samoylenko (185-77) added 10 points and 4 assists respectively for the hosts. Unics Kazan's coach rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help.
Top scorers:
Unics: M.Lampe 17+4reb, P.Samoylenko 10+3reb+4ast, Z.Pashutin 8+6reb+3ast, M.Popovic 6+3reb+1ast, V.Veremeenko 6+3reb, T.Lyday 4+3reb+1ast
Khimky: Z.Planinic 14+5reb+3ast, K.Loncar 12+2reb, T.Kelati 10+3reb+3ast, V.Fridzon 9+5reb, T.Hansen 6+5reb, S.Monya 4+3reb+2ast
5-8 places
Enisey - Krasnie Krilya 87-78

The hosts trailed by 2 points at the halftime before their 47-36 charge in the second half, which allowed them to win the game. The best player for the winners was American center Lonny Baxter (204-79, college: Maryland, agency: Priority Sports) who had a double-double by scoring 25 points and 12 rebounds. Serbian power forward Dragan Labovic (207-87, agency: Alti Sport) chipped in 17 points. American guard Brion Rush (186-84, college: Grambling St., agency: Court Side) produced 21 points and power forward Andrey Trushkin (206-81) added 16 points and 7 rebounds (perfect from the field making all six shots) respectively for the guests. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Krasnie Krilya's coach Stanislav Eremin rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help.
Top scorers:
Krasnie Krilya: B.Rush 21+4reb+2ast, E.Bremer 16+4reb+4ast, A.Trushkin 16+7reb+3ast, G.Green 11+3reb, K.Nesterov 7+1reb, M.Marinovic 4+1reb+1ast
Enisey: L.Baxter 25+12reb, D.Labovic 17+3reb, A.Komarovskiy 15+3reb+2ast, P.Sergeev 10+2reb+5ast, S.Demeshkin 8+5reb+2ast, A.Savkov 5+3reb+2ast
gschID: 129648




*****************************************************
  SCOTLAND   


GB U20 sweep Scotland U23 series - by Eurobasket News
Standard Life GB Under 20 Men coach Tim Lewis was pleased with his side's opening games of their European Championship warm-up. A 19-man squad played a pair of games against Scotland Under 23 in Braintree, Essex, over the weekend, winning 77-50 on Saturday and 86-65 the following day as part of the combined camp with the Under 20 Women.

'It was good for our preparations. The first three sessions gave us the opportunity to look at players we haven't seen before, so it was very positive all round. The venue is good for us, it's a great floor and we've had it to ourselves. It'll be good to come back here in July.'

On Saturday, GB shaded each of the first three periods to lead 51-42 at the final break before a dominant fourth stanza saw Britain outscore the visitors 26-8 to wrap up the win.

On Sunday, Ryan Richards (212-F-91, agency: Interperformances) stole the show with three three-point plays as he poured in 11 early points to help Britain to a 15-0 lead. Scotland finally troubled the scorers with 4:47 remaining in the period, but GB went into the first break with a 25-9 lead.

GB extended the lead to 31 points at half-time, before cooling off in the second half to allow the Scots to get the final margin down to 21.

Lewis' team now return to camp, with their next pair of games come over the weekend of June 25/26 when they host Holland Under 20 at Bristol. They return to Braintree in early July to face pairs of games against Denmark Under 20 and Belgium Under 20.
Courtesy of: http://www.englandbasketball.co.uk

*****************************************************
  SENEGAL   


Senegalese Cheikh Samb was one step away from another title abroad - by Eurobasket News
Senegalese Cheikh Samb (215-C-84) was one step away from another title abroad. In May Cheikh Samb tasted Gold in Iran as he recently managed to sign with the team and win the league. Mahram Tehran needed 105:96 overtime victory for 3-2 win in the series. The score was tied at 89:89 after fourth quarters, while in extra time the favorites were much better. Cheikh Samb exploded with 35 points and 23 rebounds.
Few day ago Cheikh Samb and his Mahram reached the Final of the Asia Club Championship but lost in the Final to Riyadi. The latter overcame Mahram to celebrate the first ever success at the tournament. Fadi Khatib came up with a pivotal performance scoring 41 points in the victory. Riyadi opened the game with a 7:3 run to grab the lead. They maintained well throughout the starting quarter and recorded a 17:14 lead after ten minutes. But Samad Nikkhah stepped up for Mahram in the second period. He unleashed 19 points in the quarter to give Mahram a 39:38 lead at halftime. The teams traded baskets throughout close third term. The lead changed hands for several times before Mahram sealed the outcome at 58:57. Fadi Khatib and Jean Abed El Nour knocked down a pair of three-pointers early in the final frame to put Riyadi in front. Hamed Afagh and Cheikh Samb levelled things up but Fadi Khatib ensured a 6-point advantage for the Lebanese team with just over two minutes remaining. Loren Woods made it 84:77 game with just over a minute to go. Javad Davari replied with a three-pointer to keep Mahram hopeful however two mistakes from Chris Williams and perfect free throw shooting from Fadi Khatib sealed the winning outcome for Riyadi. Jean Abed El Nour produced 21 points, while Ahmad Ismail added 11 points and 15 rebounds for the winners. Samad Nikkhah answered with 28 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds for Mahram. Chris Williams notched 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the losing effort.



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


Henderson to stay in Levice - by Tomas Kottra
There were no doubts that champion of latest Slovakian league edition will do his best to keep the team unchanged or even stronger.
First very important step was done by signing home players as Andrej Cervenka (197-G/F-84), Richard Urland (195-F-84), Lukas Bukovic (176-G-91), Ladislav Lutovsky (201-F-75), Richard Klein (198-F-77) and Jozef Vojtek (203-F/C-85). At the moment, manager Lubos Pohanka is glad to announce that star forward Esian Henderson (203-F-86, college: Cent.Missouri) decided to stay with club for another season. 25 years old player had some offers from abroad but decided to stay with 'The Lions'.
Henderson has made his presence in 19 appearances with 30,9 minutes, 17,7 points and 7,8 rebounds.

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


Stats Leaders - 1A
Points Per Game
 Vladimir PANIC
  Zlatorog
  (194-F-82)
  Avg: 20.4
 1. Panic, Zlatorog20.4 
 2. Raymond, Helios17.7 
 3. Simovic, Sentjur17.4 
 4. Erzen, Parklji16.9 
 5. Thondique, Polzela16.3 
 6. Harmason, Sentjur15.1 
 7. Djapa, Geoplin Slo.14.7 
 8. Nuhanovic, Elektra13.6 
 9. Krejic, Parklji13.4 
 10. Zolotic, Maribor12.9 
Rebounds Per Game
 Gregg THONDIQUE
  Polzela
  (201-F-87)
  Avg: 10.5
 1. Thondique, Polzela10.5 
 2. Simovic, Sentjur8.9 
 3. Nuhanovic, Elektra8.3 
 4. Raymond, Helios7.4 
 5. Miljkovic, Elektra7.0 
 6. Krusic, Geoplin6.8 
 7. Zolotic, Maribor6.5 
 8. Mucic, Maribor6.2 
 9. Erzen, Parklji6.1 
 10. Pavic, Krka6.1 
Assists Per Game
 Igor MIJAJLOVIC
  Polzela
  (193-G-84)
  Avg: 4.7
 1. Mijajlovic, Polzela4.7 
 2. Brolih, Maribor4.4 
 3. Jersin, Elektra4.1 
 4. Hohler, Sentjur3.9 
 5. Djordjevic, Krka3.9 
 6. Harmason, Sentjur3.8 
 7. Vujasinovic, Zlato.3.6 
 8. Fon, Geoplin Slovan3.5 
 9. Krivec, Krka3.4 
 10. Ilievski, Union O.3.2 
Steals Per Game
 Gregg THONDIQUE
  Polzela
  (201-F-87)
  Avg: 2.3
 1. Thondique, Polzela2.3 
 2. Mezek, LTHcast1.9 
 3. Ilievski, Union O.1.8 
 4. Dragic, Krka1.7 
 5. Mahkovic, LTHcas.1.6 
 6. Harmason, Sentjur1.6 
 7. Lapornik, Zlatorog1.6 
 8. Fon, Geoplin Slovan1.5 
 9. Hohler, Sentjur1.5 
 10. Krejic, Parklji1.4 
Blocks Per Game
 Salih NUHANOVIC
  Elektra
  (209-C-82)
  Avg: 1.8
 1. Nuhanovic, Elektra1.8 
 2. Thondique, Polzela1.2 
 3. Dimec, Zlatorog1.0 
 4. Sviridov, Polzela0.9 
 5. Booker, Krka0.8 
 6. Shermadini, Union0.7 
 7. Sebic, Sentjur0.6 
 8. Omic, Zlatorog0.6 
 9. Pavic, Krka0.5 
 10. Vrsaljko, Polzela0.5 


Olimpija take 2-1 advantage with first road play-off Finals win - by Zeljko Zule
Jaka Klobucar (198-G-87) scored 13 of his 15 points in the second quarter as Olimpija went on a 18-0 run and hung on get the first road of the Best of 5 final series, 69-63 over Krka, putting them on the cusp of reaching the title. Game 4 will be played on Thursday in Ljubljana.
After trailing 15-25 early in the second quarter, Olimpija made a 18-0 run and go ahead 39-28. They hit five straight 3-pointers and shot 9-of-12 behind the 3-point line in the first half time. Krka opened the second half with a 13-3 run to take a 45-44 lead, it was their last lead ot the game. Olimpija responded with 10 consecutive points and its defense held Krka scoreless for a 5:37 span. Krka trailed by 8 points with 2:16 into the game. Bojan Krivec hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 63-65 with 0:49 to go, Kenny Gregory scored a long 2-pointer to put Olimpija ahed 67-63 and then Dragisa Drobnjak was blocked.
Olimpija's bench players again outscored Krka's backups, 32-11. Jaka Klobucar netted 15 points, Kenny Gregory added 12 points and Damir Markota had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Krka outrebounded Olimpija 36-26, picking up 13 offensive boards. They shot just 4-of-19 behind the 3-point range (Olimpija 10-of-17) and hit only 9 of 17 free throws. Jure Balazic finished with 15 points, Dusan Djordjevic collected 12 points and 8 assists, Zoran Dragic had 11 points and 9 rebounds and Smiljan Pavic scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Finals Game 3:
Krka-Union Olimpija 63-69 (23-15, 9-24, 13-13, 18-17)
KRKA: Ikonic 3, Rojc DNP, Petrov DNP, E.Muric 5, *Pavic 10, *Djordjevic 12, *Dragic 11, Booker, Krivec 3, *Drobnjak 4, *Balazic 15, Osolnik DNP.
UNION OLIMPIJA: Span DNP, *Ilievski 6, *Boisa, Gregory 12, D.Muric DNP, Jagodnik 9, Shermadini 3, Klobucar 15, *Markota 11, Bertans, *Ozbolt 8, Udrih 5.


Ikonic moves to Turkey - by Zeljko Zule
Turkish team Pinar Karsiyaka SK Izmir announced via their official website the signing of Bosnian guard Goran Ikonic (196-G-80, agency: Beo Basket) for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 season. Ikonic was named EuroChallenge Cup MVP after Krka won its first-ever title with an 83-77 win over Lokomotiv Kuban. He averaged 10.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 27 Adriatic League games with Krka this season and 13.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 17 gamed of EuroChallenge Cup.

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


DKV Joventut extends David Jelinek - by Eurobasket News
David Jelinek (194-G-90) will stay with DKV Joventut for at least one more year. The Czech Republic prospect signed a contract extension today. Jelinek appeared 34 times in ACB this season averaging 7 points and 1.6 rebounds. He joined DKV Joventut in 2007 from BBK IVes Brno.
David Jelinek was a member of the U20 Czech Republic National Team last summer. He played 2 games for them at U20 EuroBasket in Croatia registering 13.5 ppg and 3 rpg. Jelinek is also active member of the Czech senior NT. In 2009, he paced U20 Czech Republic to Silver medal at the EuroBasket Division B in Skopje. In 2006, he won the Gold with U16 Czech Republic at the EuroBasket in Tallinn. It is expected that Jelinek will get more chance to play with DKV Joventut next season. He was getting 15 minutes per game in 2010/11.

Pedro Martinez stays with Gran Canaria - by Eurobasket News
Gran Canaria announced signing of a 3-year contract extension with their Head Coach Pedro Martinez. The Spanish specialist was targeted by Real Madrid, but it seems the offer was not good enough for him. Martinez took over Granca in 2009 and he reached EuroCup Quarterfinals with them. This season Granca ended as No.5 in ACB with 21-13 record. They faced with Caja Laboral in the Quarterfinals and were not able to avoid 0-2 defeat.
Before Granca, Pedro Martinez spent one season with Cajasol Seville. He also worked with Girona, Estudiantes, Tau Ceramica, Estudiantes, Joventut and Manresa in the past.
With this extension Gran Canaria sent a clear signal about their ambitions for the next season. They will try at least to repeat the same results from this year. It is important to mention that fifth place which Granca won this season was one of the best results in the clubs history.

Paco Olmos will be a Head Coach of Valencia - by Eurobasket News
Paco Olmos will be a Head Coach of Valencia next season. The Spanish specialist comes back to the bench of the team after two years in the squad early in 2002.
As a Head Coach Paco Olmos appeared in 1999-2000 for Inca Mallorca (Lebanon). In 2000-2001 he coached Huelva (LEB1) and then in 2001-2002 moved to Los Barrios Cadiz (LEB1). In 2002-2003 joined Pamesa Valencia (ACB) and left the team in 2004. In 2005-2006 moved to Calpe Aguas (Lebanon) and then stayed with Caja Rural Melilla until year 2009. The last two season the coach spent with Vive Menorca (ACB).
His former Vive Menorca finished the Regular Season with 7-27 record. In his last game with the team Menorca Basquet (7-27) was defeated by second ranked Real Madrid (26-8) 91-76. The guests trailed by 4 points after first quarter, but they stormed back to get the 8-point lead at the halftime and eventually won the game 91-76.


Canarias keep Alejandro Martinez - by Eurobasket News
La Laguna Canarias have agreed on terms of contract extension with Alejandro Martinez . The 45-year-old specialist renewed his contract for one more season with LEB Gold team. Alejandro Martinez joined La Laguna back in 2004. He was named Eurobasket.com All-Spanish LEB Gold Coach of the Year in 2010. Alejandro Martinez also worked with Spanish U18 selection in 2008/09 seasons.


Clavijo renew contract with Jesus Sala - by Eurobasket News
Jesus Sala signed a new 1+1 contract with Clavijo. The 34-year-old specialist will enter his second season at the helm of Clavijo. Jesus Sala has been working with the team since 2004. He led the team into LEB Silver Playoff semifinals in 2009 and 2010. Jesus Sala also worked with Spanish U20 selection.


Paolo Quinteros leaves CAI Zaragoza - by Eurobasket News
Paolo Quinteros (186-G-79) is no longer a member of CAI Zaragoza. The Argentinean guard decided to look for the new club despite CAI Zaragoza expressed interest to extend his deal. Quinteros appeared 33 times in ACB this season averaging 12.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists. His season-high was 27 points against Lagun Aro GBC. Quinteros joined Zaragoza in 2007 from Leon. In their first season together, he helped Zaragoza win the promotion from LEB Gold to ACB.
Before Zaragoza, Paolo Quinteros spent few years with Boca Juniors and Estudiantes. He also has experience from La Union and Uruguayan Trouvile. Quinteros is active member of the Argentinean National Team. At the latest World Championship in Turkey he had 4.3 ppg and 1 rpg for 9 games. In 2008, he helped Argentina win the Bronze at the Olympic Games in Beijing. He also has Bronze from the FIBA Americas in San Juan (Puerto Rico) -09 and Silver from Tournament of the Americas -07.

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  SWEDEN   


Sweden U20 registered the win in the opener of the Nordic Championship 2011 - by Eurobasket News
Finland U20-Sweden U20 61:66

Sweden U20 registered the win in the opener of the Nordic Championship 2011 over the hosts. Finland U20 selection tried hard but lost 61:66.
Sweden started the game with 22-20, but Finland bounced back with 21-16 to take 3-point lead at the halftime. Both teams nailed 9 points apiece in the third defensive frame, while Sweden grabbed the victory at the end. They needed 19-11 in the last stanza to seal the win.
Both teams had 7 points as the biggest scoring run. Sweden scored 34 points in paint, while Finland had 26. The lead changed 11 times in the game, while the teams were tied seven times.
Alexander Lindqvist (202-F-91) top-scored for the winners with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Lukas Winegarner (205-F-91) netted 11, while Charles Barton (191-G-92) posted 10. Sasu Salin (190-G-91) replied with 17 points for the home side and Carl Lindbom (204-F-91) added 16.

Finland U20: Sasu Salin 17, Carl Lindbom 16
Sweden U20: Alexander Lindqvist 19+11 rebs, Lukas Winegarner 11, Charles Barton 10





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


Joe Whelton leaves Lugano Tigers, Petar Aleksic takes over BBC Monthey - by Luca Maffioli
Joe Whelton is no longer the head coach of Lugano Tigers. The American coach decided to come back to USA due to familiary reasons. He won two Swiss LNA championships, the Swiss Cup 2011 and the Swiss League Cup 2001 with Lugano Tigers. He was also Eurobasket.com All-Swiss LNA Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2011 seasons.
Petar Aleksic (198-G/F-68) will be the new head coach of BBC Monthey. The 42-years old will replace Thibaut Petit who signed a deal in France. Aleksic last season was at Union Neuchatel Basket in Swiss LNB but in his carrer he also worked in Austria with BBC Feldkirch Baskets and in Germany, like assistant coach, with Alba Berlin in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

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  TURKEY   


Beko Basketball League play-off finals game 2: FB Ulker outclasses Cafe Crown again - by Pervin Elgin
In the second game of the Beko Basketball League play-off final series, Fenerbahce Ulker defeated Galatasaray Cafe Crown with 95-74. They are now halfway on their quest to win their second consecutive championship (and fourth in five years) and lead the best of seven series 2-0.

Fenerbahce Ulker Basketball Team started the challenge quickly and effectively with baskets by the trio Roko Ukic, Oguz Savas and Darjus Lavrinovic six baskets within 3 minutes of playing time. With mutual baskets and continuing strife in the game, the score increased in the advantage of Ulker. Darjus Lavrinovic contributed with a series of baskets, and Sarunas Jasikevicius's three point score in the final seconds of the first quarter had Ulker finish the first period with a 26-20 lead.

The effectiveness of Fenerbahce Ulkers offensive play continued in the second period with scores by Kaya Peker from under the basket and Jasikevicius's accurate score from behind the three point line: 31-22 with 12 minutes on the clock. After that, Cafe Crown fought their way back into the game. Darjus Lavrinovic managed to block the reintroduction of the opponent at first (44-39 after 18 minutes), but Galatasarays Jerry Johnson found a series of scores in the final minute of the first half and the guest team surprisingly closed the second period with a 46-44 lead.

In the third period, Ulker took revenge. Roko Ukic and Ermal Kurtoglu began in the second half with mutual baskets, but Roko Ukic and Marko Tomas balanced the score. Lead by Omer Onans and Darjus Lavrinovic's continuous scoring, Fenerbahce captured a series of 16-2: 67-57 with 28 minutes on the clock. In the remainder of the third period Ulker held on to the 10-point advantage, and carried a 73-63 lead into the final period.

After mutual baskets Fenerbahce Ulker extended their lead with fast attacks and a series of free throws, raising the margin to 15 points: 80-65. Emir Preldzic's inside and outside baskets increased the difference to 20 points (87-67). After that, Ulker's Basketball Team didnt give away the control anymore, and after some mutual baskets the defending champion finished the match with a victorious score of 95-74. In the next two games, Cafe Crown will have to try to turn the tide at home.


Pinar Karsiyaka signs Goran Ikonic - by Baha Kurtulus
Pinar Karsiyaka SK Izmir announced the signing of guard Goran Ikonic (196-G-80, agency: Beo Basket) via their official website.
The former Bosnian national team player Goran Ikonic has signed for two years which one year is optional contract with Pinar Karsiyaka SK Izmir.
He won the Eurochallege Cup 2011 with Krka Novo Mesto last season.

2009-2010: BC Donetsk (Ukraine-Superleague): Ukrainian League: 7 games: 11.1ppg, 1.6rpg
2010-2011: Krka Novo Mesto (Slovenia-Telemach League)
Ardiatic League: 27 games: 10.7ppg, 1.8rpg
EuroChallenge: 17 games: 13.6ppg, 2.1rpg


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  UKRAINE   


Last news - by Alexei Revenko
June 6 league office announced that season 2011/2012 will start on 1 October. In championship will take place 13 or 14 teams which play in 3 rounds. In roster for game every team can declare only 5 international players.
Dmytro Bazelevskiy - is a new head coach of Politekhnika-Halychyna. Last time Dmytro worked as assistant head coach of the Ukrainian national team. Also he was a head coach of Khimik but in February 2010 his contact with team was canceled.
BC Kyiv sign three players. Artem Shvets (203-G/F-85) join team. Last season he played in BC Odessa where scored 7.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Also two young players Denis Noskov (200-F-90) and Ivan Polezhaev sign contract with club.

BC Donetsk lands NT player Maksym Pustozvonov - by Eurobasket News
According to Isport.ua, Maksym Pustozvonov (200-F-87, agency: Beo Basket) will continue his career in BC Donetsk. Reportedly, the Ukrainian forward signed a one-year deal with the Superleague runner-up. Pustozvonov arrives to Donetsk from Azovmash Mariupol, where he spent last season. He appeared 47 times in Superleague averaging 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists. In EuroCup, he added 14.4 ppg and 5.1 rpg. Donetsk also competed in VTB United League this season, where Pustozvonov had 7.5 ppg and 1.9 rpg. Before Azovmash, Pustozvonov spent couple of years with BC Kyiv.
Maksym Pustozvonov is active member of the Ukrainian National Team. During the Qualifications to European Championships 2011 he had 9.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg and 1.1 apg for 8 games. He also played for U20 and U18 Ukraine in the past. Pustozvonov was named Eurobasket.com All-Ukrainian Superleague Honorable Mention -11. Last season, he was awarded with Eurobasket.com All-Ukrainian Superleague Most Improved Player of the Year.

BC Odessa add Andrii Kalnichenko and Denys Parvadov - by Eurobasket News
BC Odessa bolstered their roster with addition of two Ukrainian players. They agreed on terms of contracts with Andrii Kalnichenko (200-G-86) and Denys Parvadov (200-G/F-88). Both deals are meant for three seasons.
Andrii Kalnichenko has just parted ways with Khimik Yuzhny. The 25-year-old guard averaged 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in EuroChallenge last season. In Superleague his stats read 7.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Andrii Kalnichenko used to play for BC Odessa back in 2008/09 season. His stats then read 6.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per appearance. The guard played for Ukraine at 2009 World University Games in Belgrade.
Denys Parvadov started the previous season in BC Kyiv. The 22-year-old guard notched 2.5 points per game in Superleague. Later Denys Parvadov moved to Striba in Higher League. His stats came up to 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.


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  UNITED KINGDOM   


GB U20 sweep Scotland U23 series - by Eurobasket News
Standard Life GB Under 20 Men coach Tim Lewis was pleased with his side's opening games of their European Championship warm-up. A 19-man squad played a pair of games against Scotland Under 23 in Braintree, Essex, over the weekend, winning 77-50 on Saturday and 86-65 the following day as part of the combined camp with the Under 20 Women.

'It was good for our preparations. The first three sessions gave us the opportunity to look at players we haven't seen before, so it was very positive all round. The venue is good for us, it's a great floor and we've had it to ourselves. It'll be good to come back here in July.'

On Saturday, GB shaded each of the first three periods to lead 51-42 at the final break before a dominant fourth stanza saw Britain outscore the visitors 26-8 to wrap up the win.

On Sunday, Ryan Richards (212-F-91, agency: Interperformances) stole the show with three three-point plays as he poured in 11 early points to help Britain to a 15-0 lead. Scotland finally troubled the scorers with 4:47 remaining in the period, but GB went into the first break with a 25-9 lead.

GB extended the lead to 31 points at half-time, before cooling off in the second half to allow the Scots to get the final margin down to 21.

Lewis' team now return to camp, with their next pair of games come over the weekend of June 25/26 when they host Holland Under 20 at Bristol. They return to Braintree in early July to face pairs of games against Denmark Under 20 and Belgium Under 20.
Courtesy of: http://www.englandbasketball.co.uk

Betts with the trophy abroad - by Eurobasket News
Andrew Betts (216-C-77, college: Long Beach St.) and his Ukrainian Budivelnyk celebrated the Superleague title. They shocked BC Donetsk on the road in the seventh game of the championship series. Dewarick Spencer stepped up with 20 points to pace the visitors. Budivelnyk overcame a 9-point deficit at halftime to deliver the crucial victory at the end.
Budivelnyk ensured a 9:2 start to the game. But the hosts gradually erased the deficit and surged ahead for a 19:18 advantage late in the first quarter. The teams entered the second frame tied at 20. BC Donetsk used a 7:0 run midway through the second term to post a 34:24 lead. They maintained it throughout the reminder of the half and eventually recorded a 40:31 halftime advantage. Dewarick Spencer came up for Budivelnyk in the third stanza to keep the Kyiv outfit within striking distance. The visitors trailed by just five points with one quarter remaining 50:55. Dewarick Spencer fired 7 points in a row midway through the fourth quarter to give the visitors a 61:60 lead. Zach Morley and Andriy Agafonov made it 65:62 for Budivelnyk with under a minute to go. Cvetkovic missed a three-pointer, while Dewarick Spencer hit both of his free throws to stretch the margin. Moments later Zabirchenko converted a layup to seal the winning outcome for Budivelnyk. Zach Morley provided 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Andriy Agafonov had 9 points for the winners. J.K. Edwards responded with 15 points for Donetsk. Sasa Vasiljevic and Viacheslav Kravtsov finished with 9 points apiece in the loss.
In 2010-2011 Andrew Betts moved to Budivelnyk Kyiv (Ukraine-Superleague, starting five) and in Ukrainian League averaged 9.9 points per game, while in EuroCup after 14 games his stats read 7.1ppg, 4.1rpg, FGP-3 (70.8%), FT: 69.6%.


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  URUGUAY   


Tabare won its 6th straigth game - by Hector Lopez
Tabare won its 6th straigth game beating Urunday Universitario 90-76 to maintain the Metro League leadership. The results for the two games played last nigth:
Tabare 90 - Ivan Loriente (186-G-92) 29 points, 6 rebounds, Brian Craig (206-C-79, college: Miles) 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists.
Urunday Universitario 76 - Marcelo Perez (194-F-73) 19 points 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, Steven Toyloy (203-C-87, college: Cincinnati) 13 points 18 rebounds 5 blocks
- - -
Goes 85 - Johnny Rodriguez (197-F-83) 27 points 7 rebounds, Federico Haller (198-F-88) 20 points 14 rebounds
25 de Agosto 73 - John Rufus (207-F/C-81, college: Fayetteville St.) 29 points 12 rebounds

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  WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS U19   


Brazilian U19 National Team 2011 - by Eurobasket
Brazilian U19 National Team 2011
#s#
Arthur Casimiro
Casimiro
Raul Neto
Neto
David Rossetto
Rossetto
Bruno Irigoyen
Irigoyen
Erick Camilo
Camilo
#e#5
Arthur Casimiro 206-C-92 Paulistano Brazil
Raul Neto 184-G-92 Pitagoras/Minas Brazil
David Rossetto 180-G-93 Pinheiros/Sky Brazil
Bruno Irigoyen 190-G/F-92 Pitagoras/Minas Brazil
Felicio Cristiano 206-C-93 Pitagoras/Minas Brazil
Durval Cunha 199-F-92 Barueri Brazil
Erick Camilo 203-F-92 Paulistano Brazil
Felipe Vezaro 190-G-92 Blinn JC USA
Felipe Taddei 192-G-92 Vivo/Franca Brazil
Leonardo Meindl 191-F-93 Vivo/Franca Brazil
Lucas Mariano 205-C-93 Vivo/Franca Brazil
Gabriel Aguirre 207-C-92 Palmeiras Brazil
Lucas Riva 211-C-92 Estudiantes II Spain



USA U19 National Team 2011 - by Eurobasket
USA U19 National Team 2011
#s#
Keith Appling
Appling
Melsahn Basabe
Basabe
James Bell
Bell
Anthony Brown
Brown
Trevor Cooney
Cooney
#e#5
Keith Appling 6'2''-G-92 Michigan St.
Melsahn Basabe 6'9''-F-92 Iowa
James Bell 6'5''-G-92 Villanova
Anthony Brown 6'8''-F-92 Stanford
Trevor Cooney 6'3''-G-92 Syracuse
Allen Crabbe 6'4''-G-92 California
Tim Hardaway Jr. 6'5''-G-92 Michigan
Joe Jackson 6'0''-G-92 Memphis
Jeremy Lamb 6'5''-G/F-92 Connecticut
Meyers Leonard 7'0''-C-92 Illinois
Doug McDermott 6'7''-F-92 Creighton
Travis McKie 6'7''-F-92 Wake Forest
Tony Mitchell 6'9''-F/C-92 N.Texas
Richard Solomon 6'8''-F-92 California
Josiah Turner 6'3''-PG-92 Arizona
Patric Young 6'9''-F/C-92 Florida
Jahii Carson
Khyle Marshall 6'7''-F-92 Butler
Javon McCrea 6'6''-F-92 Buffalo
Scottie Wilbekin 6'2''-G-92 Florida
Cameron Wright 6'4''-G-92 Pittsburgh

Paul Hewitt Head Coach Georgia Tech USA
Randy Bennett Assistant St.Mary's, CA USA
Cliff Warren Assistant Jacksonville USA




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Women News

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  ALBANIA - Women  


Luxembourg keeps Albania winless in Division B - by Eurobasket News
LUXEMBOURG - ALBANIA 86-72

Luxembourg registered their second win at the EuroBasket 2011 Division B (Qualifying Round). They handed 86-72 loss to Albania, who stays winless in Group B. They have poor 0-6 record. Lena Hetto (184-F-93) shined in victory with 23 points. Jill Bausch (176-G-87) scored 19, while Nadia Mossong (182-F-86) added 15 points and 10 boards. In defeat, Enisa Semanjaku (88) stepped up with 19 points, 7 rebs and 5 assists, while Adelajda Aliaj (188-C-87) had 13 points and 9 boards. Luxembourg had nice first half ending it with 39-29 lead. They continued in the same rhythm after that (24-17) and with ten minutes to go it was already clear who the winner of the night will be. Luxembourg will skip the next round, while Albania will meet Bosnia at home. It could be their chance to register the first win in Division B.

Luxembourg: Lena Hetto 23, Jill Bausch 19, Nadia Mossong 15+10 boards
Albania: Enisa Semanjaku 19+7 boards+5 as, Adelajda Aliaj 13+9 boards

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  AUSTRALIA - Women  


SEABL: Player of the Week, Round 9 - by Eurobasket News
Alex Duck (170-G-90, college: Murray St.) Albury/Wodonga Lady Bandits

After an inconsistent season start, the Albury/Wodonga Lady Bandits recorded a 2-0 clean sweep in Tasmania for the first time in the clubs history. Alex Duck had a sensational weekend averaging 20.5pts, 5.5rebs, 5.5ass and 2.5stls, proving to the rest of the league she has overcome her shoulder injury sustained earlier in the season.

Other notable performances were:

q Patrice McKenzie (183-F-86, college: Florida Gulf Coast) produced 24pts@44%, 7rebs, 4ass and 1stl to guide the Frankston Lady Blues to a close 4pt win against Sandringham.

q Kilsyth Lady Cobras Abby Bishop (189-C-88) averaged 24pts, 10rebs, 3ass and 1.5stls for the weekend.

q Elyse Penaluna (193-C-88) helped the Dandenong Rangers to a 2-0 weekend averaging 20pts, 9.5rebs, and 1.5ass.
Courtesy of: www.seabl.com.au

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  BELARUS - Women  


Exercise with Ball - by Timur Tolokh
Wrong they did, these basketball national team. Before the European Championship two weeks, in the midst of training, and peculiar to our sports tradition distracted at a time at the press conferences, presentations, PR-actions and other 'minor sensation' Belarusian athletes do not like. And if the forecasts it zavedesh ... But this dissimilarity is probably rooted and mystery of this team and the origins of a people's love for her. On Tuesday night, the girls left for the last friendly tournament in Spain, and the day Elena Levchenko, with support from Natasha Marchenko, Katie Snytinoy team and coaching staff, headed by Anatoly Buyalsky organized a master class.


Master classes with us before passing. Collecting the younger generation Yegor Meshcheryakov, with a furore had 'a day of basketball in the city Glusk basketball' Minsk-2006 '... But Lance still managed to surprise. Because unlike the prototypes in the gym 24 th high school in the district Loshitsa held not the usual in such cases, an autograph session with the elements of basketball, and a full workout with warm-up and development of elements organized in eight straight in the hall groups. 'If even one child after today decided to connect his life with basketball, I'll be happy!' Throughout the hour and a half better centering of the last World Cup and the most useful player Championship balls carefully lodged 10 years of basketball, but in between time to tell more much of anything.


- Moving players from one club to another - the norm for modern sport. And so in my decision to leave Cracow Wisla and move to UMMC Ekaterinburg is not unusual. Frankly speaking - poached. There's actually better conditions. Although, the Russian club I have related and personal interests. In UMMC, by and large, for me to start a European basketball. His first season after returning from America, I spent the Lithuanian TEO. But it was almost a lost year: truly, I started to play only after a memorable European Championship 2007, which, along with bronze medals and brought me a contract with UMMC, where I was leaving without any regrets, and which is still nice to remember. In addition to everything I have not given up hope to win the Euroleague. In those years, with UMMC I came only to 'bronze' the most prestigious club tournament in Europe. As you can see, the result for me is also important.


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  BOSNIA - Women  


Estonia grabs thriller win in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
EuroBasket 2011, Division B (Qualifying Round): BOSNIA - ESTONIA 54-55

Estonia stays the top ranked team of Group B after seven games. They grabbed 54-55 road victory against Bosnia jumping to 6-1 record, while at the same time the hosts dropped to 3-3. Viive-Kai Rebane (183-F-89) was a key player in victory with double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds. Merike Anderson (180-F/G-81, agency: LBM Management) followed with 10 points and 8 boards, while Mirjam Nikolai (177-G-86) had 9 pts and 10 rebs in this win. For the hosts, Emina Demirovic (186-C-85) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Amra Mehmedic (175-G-81) also scored 14 pts. The game was tied almost the whole time. Bosnia had 54-53 with 3 minutes to go, but they were not able to score for rest of the way. On the other side, Estonia got a jump shot from Mirjam Nikolai and celebrated valuable 54-55 win. In the next round, Estonia will host Switzerland. Bosnia will go to Tirana, Albania.

Bosnia: Emina Demirovic 16+6 boards, Amra Mehmedic 14
Estonia: Viive-Kai Rebane 16+18 boards, Merike Anderson 10+8 boards, Mirjam Nikolai 9+10

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  CHINA - Women  


China topple Cuba in friendly game - by Eurobasket News
China - Cuba 68:65

China celebrated the second straight win over Cuba in the friendly series. The hosts celebrated a narrow three points victory at the end. Wei Wei (207-C-89) scored 16 points to pace the hosts. The teams stayed close throughout the opening frame. China and Cuba were tied at 16 after ten minutes of action. The Asian team surged ahead in the second stanza. They recorded a 3-point halftime advantage. China maintained the lead throughout the third quarter. China registered a 4-point cushion heading into the fourth frame 50:46. Cuba got within a single point 60:61 late in regulation but Ma ZhengYu (183-F-83) knocked down a timely three-pointer and the hosts ran away with a tough victory at the end. Shuang Zhao (188-F-90) provided 12 points for the winners. Yamara Amargo (180-F-85) answered with 16 points for Cuba. Marlen Cepeda (193-C-85) provided 12 points in the losing effort.

China: Wei Wei 16, Shuang Zhao 12
Cuba: Yamara Amargo 16, Marlen Cepeda 12


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  CUBA - Women  


China topple Cuba in friendly game - by Eurobasket News
China - Cuba 68:65

China celebrated the second straight win over Cuba in the friendly series. The hosts celebrated a narrow three points victory at the end. Wei Wei (207-C-89) scored 16 points to pace the hosts. The teams stayed close throughout the opening frame. China and Cuba were tied at 16 after ten minutes of action. The Asian team surged ahead in the second stanza. They recorded a 3-point halftime advantage. China maintained the lead throughout the third quarter. China registered a 4-point cushion heading into the fourth frame 50:46. Cuba got within a single point 60:61 late in regulation but Ma ZhengYu (183-F-83) knocked down a timely three-pointer and the hosts ran away with a tough victory at the end. Shuang Zhao (188-F-90) provided 12 points for the winners. Yamara Amargo (180-F-85) answered with 16 points for Cuba. Marlen Cepeda (193-C-85) provided 12 points in the losing effort.

China: Wei Wei 16, Shuang Zhao 12
Cuba: Yamara Amargo 16, Marlen Cepeda 12


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  ESTONIA - Women  


Estonia grabs thriller win in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
EuroBasket 2011, Division B (Qualifying Round): BOSNIA - ESTONIA 54-55

Estonia stays the top ranked team of Group B after seven games. They grabbed 54-55 road victory against Bosnia jumping to 6-1 record, while at the same time the hosts dropped to 3-3. Viive-Kai Rebane (183-F-89) was a key player in victory with double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds. Merike Anderson (180-F/G-81, agency: LBM Management) followed with 10 points and 8 boards, while Mirjam Nikolai (177-G-86) had 9 pts and 10 rebs in this win. For the hosts, Emina Demirovic (186-C-85) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Amra Mehmedic (175-G-81) also scored 14 pts. The game was tied almost the whole time. Bosnia had 54-53 with 3 minutes to go, but they were not able to score for rest of the way. On the other side, Estonia got a jump shot from Mirjam Nikolai and celebrated valuable 54-55 win. In the next round, Estonia will host Switzerland. Bosnia will go to Tirana, Albania.

Bosnia: Emina Demirovic 16+6 boards, Amra Mehmedic 14
Estonia: Viive-Kai Rebane 16+18 boards, Merike Anderson 10+8 boards, Mirjam Nikolai 9+10

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  EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - Women  


Standings Div.B (Women) - by Eurobasket News
Standings Div.B
Group A
1. Slovenia3-1
2. Sweden3-1
3. Norway1-3
4. Portugal1-3
Group B
1. Estonia6-1
2. Switzerlan.5-1
3. Bosnia3-3
4. Luxembourg.2-5
5. Albania0-6


Stats Leaders Div.A (Women)
Points Per Game
 Doneeka HODGES
  USA
  (175-G-82)
  Avg: 19.5
 1. Hodges, BUL19.5 
 2. Bar, GER17.3 
 3. Breitreiner, GER16.7 
 4. Marginean, ROM15.7 
 5. Milovanovic, SRB15.0 
 6. Tuukkanen, FIN15.0 
 7. Fegyverneky, HUN14.7 
 8. Meesseman, BEL14.0 
 9. Beld, NED14.0 
 10. Zherzherunov., UKR13.0 
Rebounds Per Game
 Romy BAR
  GER
  (189-F-87)
  Avg: 10.3
 1. Bar, GER10.3 
 2. Meesseman, BEL9.5 
 3. Ress, ITA9.5 
 4. Masciadri, ITA9.0 
 5. Tuukkanen, FIN8.0 
 6. Zherzherunov., UKR7.5 
 7. Hendrickx, BEL7.5 
 8. Szecsi, HUN7.3 
 9. Maksimovic, SRB7.0 
 10. Austmann, GER6.0 
Assists Per Game
 Katalin HONTI
  HUN
  (175-G-87)
  Avg: 4.3
 1. Honti, HUN4.3 
 2. Zara, ITA3.5 
 3. Zlatanova, BUL3.0 
 4. Fegyverneky, HUN3.0 
 5. Richter, GER2.7 
 6. Pop, ROM2.7 
 7. Bar, GER2.7 
 8. Dubuc, BEL2.5 
 9. Sottana, ITA2.5 
 10. Dimitrova, BUL2.5 
Steals Per Game
 Romy BAR
  GER
  (189-F-87)
  Avg: 3.3
 1. Bar, GER3.3 
 2. Honti, HUN3.0 
 3. Szecsi, HUN2.7 
 4. Peteva, BUL2.5 
 5. Knezevic, SRB2.5 
 6. Breitreiner, GER2.3 
 7. Delaere, BEL2.0 
 8. Krivacevic, HUN2.0 
 9. Marginean, ROM2.0 
 10. Stoenescu, ROM2.0 
Blocks Per Game
 Gabriela MARGINEAN
  ROM
  (185-F-87)
  Avg: 1.3
 1. Marginean, ROM1.3 
 2. Vajda, HUN1.3 
 3. Alyoshkina, UKR1.0 
 4. Austmann, GER1.0 
 5. Halman, NED1.0 
 6. Pascalau, ROM0.7 
 7. Tuukkanen, FIN0.7 
 8. Richter, GER0.7 
 9. Pavel, ROM0.7 
 10. Khomenchuk, UKR0.5 


Div. B Day: 7 (Qualifying Round) - by Eurobasket News
Group A
Norway - Portugal 55-49
Norway registered first win in Qualifying Round of the EuroBasket 2011, Division B. They outplayed Portugal 55-49 and joined them with 1-3 record in Group A. Tori Halvorsen (187-F/C-88) and Tina Moen (183-G-86, college: IPFW) scored 12 points each for the winners. They also grabbed 6 and 5 rebounds respectively. Kristina Tattersdill (186-F/C-83) secured a great help adding 9 points and 10 boards. In the loosing squad, Joana Lopes (185-F-86) shined with 13 points and 11 boards. Their second scorer was Ana Oliveira (176-F-83, college: UTSA) with 9 pts. Norway opened the game with 17-13 lead and they jumped to plus 11 until the halftime. However, Portugal replied with 7-17 in Q3 and teams were almost tied again. Norway players shined when it mattered most and finished last ten minutes with 15-10 for the first victory in Group A. In the next round, Norway will meet Switzerland. Portugal will take on Slovenia.

Slovenia - Sweden 70-63
Slovenia did a great job on Sunday evening. They hosted Sweden and outplayed them 70-63 for 3-1 record in Group A (EuroBasket 2011, Division B, Qualifying Round). Thanks to this win, Slovenia joined Sweden on top of this pool. Teja Oblak (171-G-90) stepped up for the hosts with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Eva Komplet (182-F/C-86) collected 23 pts and 7 boards, while Natasa Radulovic (180-G-82) added 8 pts. In Sweden, Louice Halvarsson (189-C-89, agency: Josep and Nicolas) collected 20 points and 9 rebs, and Elin Eldebrink and her sister Frida Eldebrink had 11 points each. Slovenia shined in the second half and especially in the last quarter of this meeting. They were down by four after 20 minutes, but managed to create 36-25 after that to win the game. In the next round, Slovenia will meet Portugal. Sweden will take a rest until June 11.

Group B
Luxembourg - Albania 86-72
Luxemburg registered their second win at the EuroBasket 2011 Division B (Qualifying Round). They handed 86-72 loss to Albania, who stays winless in Group B. They have poor 0-6 record. Lena Hetto (184-F-93) shined in victory with 23 points. Jill Bausch (176-G-87) scored 19, while Nadia Mossong (182-F-86) added 15 points and 10 boards. In defeat, Enisa Semanjaku (88) stepped up with 19 points, 7 rebs and 5 assists, while Adelajda Aliaj had 13 points and 9 boards. Luxembourg had nice first half ending it with 39-29 lead. They continued in the same rhythm after that (24-17) and with ten minutes to go it was already clear who the winner of the night will be. Luxembourg will skip the next round, while Albania will meet Bosnia at home. It could be their chance to register the first win in Division B.

Bosnia - Estonia 54-55
Estonia stays the top ranked team of Group B after seven games. They grabbed 54-55 road victory against Bosnia jumping to 6-1 record, while at the same time the hosts dropped to 3-3. Viive-Kai Rebane (183-F-89) was a key player in victory with double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds. Merike Anderson (180-F/G-81, agency: LBM Management) followed with 10 points and 8 boards, while Mirjam Nikolai (177-G-86) had 9 pts and 10 rebs in this win. For the hosts, Emina Demirovic (186-C-85) had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Amra Mehmedic (175-G-81) also scored 14 pts. The game was tied almost the whole time. Bosnia had 54-53 with 3 minutes to go, but they were not able to score for rest of the way. On the other side, Estonia got a jump shot from Mirjam Nikolai and celebrated valuable 54-55 win. In the next round, Estonia will host Switzerland. Bosnia will go to Tirana, Albania.



*****************************************************
  FRANCE - Women  


Petit agreed with Arras - by Eurobasket News
Thibaut Petit (agency: LBM Management ) agreed with Arras for the next season as a Head Coach. The Belgian specialist moves to France after many coaching years in Switzerland.
As a Head Coach in 1998-2002 he stayed with Belleflamme (L1). Later Petit moved to Saeco Huy (Cadets & Juniors AWBB) and in 2004-2005 coached Royal Saeco Union Hutoise (D1): started the season as Coach Assistant, but in Mar.'05 was promoted to Head Coach position. In 2005-2006 started with Dexia Namur (D1), women team, left in Dec.'05, next month was hired by Universit BC Neuchtel (Switzerland-LNA). With the latter he stayed for four years. The last two seasons Thibaut Petit (agency: LBM Management ) spent with BBC Monthey (Switzerland-LNA). In Switzerland he reached Swiss Cup Semifinals -07, 10, became Swiss LNA Champion -07, Swiss LNA Regular Season Champion -07, 08, 09, Swiss League Cup Winner -08, 09, Eurobasket.com All-Swiss LNA Coach of the Year -08, Coach Assistant: Belgian Women National Team -08, Swiss Cup Finalist -11 and Swiss LNA Semifinals -11.
In his last game Lugano Tigers advanced into LNA Finals following a comfortable road win over Monthey. Monthey was ahead by 2 points at the halftime before a 48-18 second half run of Lugano Tigers. They dominated down low during the game scoring 50 of its points in the paint compared to Monthey's 24. They outrebounded Monthey 44-31 including 34 on the defensive glass. Former Monthey's coach Thibaut Petit (agency: LBM Management ) gave up on the game allowing to play eleven players seeing no chance for a win.



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


Melina Knopp will continue with Osnabrucker SC Panthers - by Eurobasket News
Melina Knopp (170-G-94) will continue with Osnabrucker SC Panthers the next season. The German 1994 year born Guard spent a season with the team and will remain there.
Last year young Melina Knopp was a German U16 National Team. At the European Championships U16 Division B for Women in Skopje (FYR Macedonia) she averaged 3.0ppg, 2.1rpg.
BG 74 Damen will keep Jennifer Kerns for another season as a Head Coach. Earlier in 2008-2009 she was an Assistant with Trinos Goettingen (DBBL) women team.



*****************************************************
  LESOTHO - Women  


Lesotho D1 Standings
D1 Standings
 1. Lerotholi P. 0-0 
 2. Lialuma 0-0 
 3. Limkokwing 0-0 
 4. Re 'Moho 0-0 
 5. Rovers 0-0 
 6. Shines 0-0 


*****************************************************
  NORWAY - Women  


Norway hands 55-49 loss to Portugal in Division B - by Eurobasket News
NORWAY - PORTUGAL 55-49

Norway registered first win in Qualifying Round of the EuroBasket 2011, Division B. They outplayed Portugal 55-49 and joined them with 1-3 record in Group A. Tori Halvorsen (187-F/C-88) and Tina Moen (183-G-86, college: IPFW) scored 12 points each for the winners. They also grabbed 6 and 5 rebounds respectively. Kristina Tattersdill (186-F/C-83) secured a great help adding 9 points and 10 boards. In the loosing squad, Joana Lopes (185-F-86) shined with 13 points and 11 boards. Their second scorer was Ana Oliveira (176-F-83, college: UTSA) with 9 pts. Norway opened the game with 17-13 lead and they jumped to plus 11 until the halftime. However, Portugal replied with 7-17 in Q3 and teams were almost tied again. Norway players shined when it mattered most and finished last ten minutes with 15-10 for the first victory in Group A.
In the next round, Norway will meet Switzerland. Portugal will take on Slovenia.

Norway: Tori Halvorsen 12+6 boards, Tina Moen 12+5 boards, Kristina Tattersdill 9+10 boards
Portugal: Joana Lopes 13+11 boards, Ana Oliveira 9

*****************************************************
  PERU - Women  


Real Club gets revenge in rematch with Regatas - by Timothy
Just weeks before this match, Regatas Lima was celebrating a convincing win over Universidad de Lima / Real Club de Lima. Last night Real Club was determined to even the 'score'. After a back and forth match, Real Club walked away with the win, tying the season series between these two clubs at 1-1. Despite facing a tough zone defense all night, Real's import Charitie Lewis (173-F-87, college: Oklahoma S&A) posted another double double including a clutch free throw in the closing minutes to seal the win. Even with a notable record of 10-3, Real Club will have little time to celebrate over this victory as they prepare to face two more tough teams this week.

*****************************************************
  PORTUGAL - Women  


Norway hands 55-49 loss to Portugal in Division B - by Eurobasket News
NORWAY - PORTUGAL 55-49

Norway registered first win in Qualifying Round of the EuroBasket 2011, Division B. They outplayed Portugal 55-49 and joined them with 1-3 record in Group A. Tori Halvorsen (187-F/C-88) and Tina Moen (183-G-86, college: IPFW) scored 12 points each for the winners. They also grabbed 6 and 5 rebounds respectively. Kristina Tattersdill (186-F/C-83) secured a great help adding 9 points and 10 boards. In the loosing squad, Joana Lopes (185-F-86) shined with 13 points and 11 boards. Their second scorer was Ana Oliveira (176-F-83, college: UTSA) with 9 pts. Norway opened the game with 17-13 lead and they jumped to plus 11 until the halftime. However, Portugal replied with 7-17 in Q3 and teams were almost tied again. Norway players shined when it mattered most and finished last ten minutes with 15-10 for the first victory in Group A.
In the next round, Norway will meet Switzerland. Portugal will take on Slovenia.

Norway: Tori Halvorsen 12+6 boards, Tina Moen 12+5 boards, Kristina Tattersdill 9+10 boards
Portugal: Joana Lopes 13+11 boards, Ana Oliveira 9

*****************************************************
  RUSSIA - Women  


Yulia Lukina signs with Spartak Sb - by Eurobasket News
Yulia Lukina (185-F-88) signs with Spartak St Petersburg for the next season. The Russian Forward comes from Energy Ivanovo (B Superleague) where she played last season.
In 2008 Yulia was a member of the Russian U20 National Team. At the European Championships U20 in Chieti (Italy) -08she averaged 10.1 points per game for the National U20 team.



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


Cesar Ruperez remains in UNB Obenasa Navarra Pamplona - by Eurobasket News
Cesar Ruperez remains in UNB Obenasa Navarra Pamplona for another season. The Spanish Head Coach started in 2009-2010 with UNB Obenasa Navarra Pamplona (LF2) women team and will have the third straight season next year. In 2010 he was also Coach Assistant of the Spanish Women U20 National Team. That time Spain got Silver at the European Championships U20 for Women in Liepaja (Latvia). Cesar also became Spanish LF2 Group B Champion -10.



*****************************************************
  SWEDEN - Women  


Solna Vikings signs Jenny Andersson - by Eurobasket News
Solna Vikings announced signing of a one-year deal with Jenny Andersson (194-C-86). The 24-year-old center will join her sister Katarina Andersson (191-C-83).
Jenny Andersson spent last two years with Lulea Basket. She appeared 35 times in the league last season averaging 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds. In 2009/10, Anderson had 9 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 1.2 apg for 22 games. She was a member of the Swedish National Team in 2009. Before Lulea Basket, Jenny Andersson played two years for Eskilstuna Basket. From 2005 to 2007, Andersson also was a member of Lulea. In the past, she played for the Swedish U20 National Team.
Lulea reached the Finals last season, but they failed against Telge Basket (0-3).

Slovenia joins Sweden on top of Group A - by Eurobasket News
SLOVENIA - SWEDEN 70-63

Slovenia did a great job on Sunday evening. They hosted Sweden and outplayed them 70-63 for 3-1 record in Group A (EuroBasket 2011, Division B, Qualifying Round). Thanks to this win, Slovenia joined Sweden on top of this pool. Teja Oblak (171-G-90) stepped up for the hosts with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Eva Komplet (182-F/C-86) collected 23 pts and 7 boards, while Natasa Radulovic (180-G-82) added 8 pts. In Sweden, Louice Halvarsson (189-C-89, agency: Josep and Nicolas) collected 20 points and 9 rebs, and Elin Eldebrink (174-G-88, agency: Josep and Nicolas) and her sister Frida Eldebrink (174-G-88, agency: Josep and Nicolas) had 11 points each. Slovenia shined in the second half and especially in the last quarter of this meeting. They were down by four after 20 minutes, but managed to create 36-25 after that to win the game. In the next round, Slovenia will meet Portugal. Sweden will take a rest until June 11.

Slovenia: Teja Oblak 25+7 boards, Eva Komplet 23+7 boards, Natasa Radulovic 8
Sweden: Louice Halvarsson 20+9 boards, Elin Eldebrink 11+6 boards, Frida Eldebrink 11+5 boards

*****************************************************
  UKRAINE - Women  


Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
 Shantel RAGIN
  Dynamo
  (178-G/F-87)
  Avg: 20.4
 1. Ragin, Dynamo20.4 
 2. Iagupova, Dnipr.20.3 
 3. Williams, Dnipr.18.6 
 4. Maznichenko, Tim-S.18.1 
 5. Rastorgueva, Donb.18.1 
 6. Yakunina, Lugans.17.4 
 7. Markotenko, Frank.17.4 
 8. Staschuk, Orlan17.3 
 9. Lubarskaya, Dynamo17.1 
 10. Grishina, Lugans.16.2 
Rebounds Per Game
 Elena STASCHUK
  Orlan
  (192-C-85)
  Avg: 10.6
 1. Staschuk, Orlan10.6 
 2. Alyoshkina, Orlan10.5 
 3. Ragin, Dynamo10.5 
 4. Vukovic, Yuzhna P.10.2 
 5. Zherzherunov., Koz.9.7 
 6. Rimarenko, Dynamo9.5 
 7. Maznichenko, Tim-S.9.5 
 8. Bovykina, Dnipr.9.2 
 9. Yakunina, Lugans.9.0 
 10. Zarytska, Kozach.9.0 
Assists Per Game
 Alisa SIROMATNIKOVA
  Yuzhna P.
  (165-G-87)
  Avg: 5.8
 1. Siromatnikov., Yuz.5.8 
 2. Sharovka, Tim-Scuf5.3 
 3. Iagupova, Dnipr.4.6 
 4. Dubrovina, Kozach.4.6 
 5. Williams, Dnipr.4.6 
 6. Dubas, Frankivsk4.3 
 7. Voronova, Polite.4.0 
 8. Lapshynova, Polite.3.9 
 9. Kashlei, Orlan3.8 
 10. Pokoiova, Kozach.3.7 
Steals Per Game
 Olga DUBROVINA
  Kozachka
  (170-G-87)
  Avg: 3.9
 1. Dubrovina, Kozach.3.9 
 2. Markotenko, Frank.3.5 
 3. Sharovka, Tim-Scuf3.3 
 4. Iagupova, Dnipr.3.3 
 5. Williams, Dnipr.3.1 
 6. Dubas, Frankivsk2.5 
 7. Panchenk-S., Koza.2.2 
 8. Shchypakina, Yuzh.2.2 
 9. Siromatnikov., Yuz.2.1 
 10. Lubarskaya, Dyna.2.1 
Blocks Per Game
 Lyubov ALYOSHKINA
  Orlan
  (202-C-81)
  Avg: 3
 1. Alyoshkina, Orlan3.0 
 2. Shablynska, Polite.2.2 
 3. Zhyrakova, Polite.2.0 
 4. Bovykina, Dnipr.1.5 
 5. Yaburova, Dnipr.1.5 
 6. Kisilova, Kozachka1.1 
 7. Zherzherunov., Koz.1.1 
 8. Maznichenko, Tim-S.1.0 
 9. Staschuk, Orlan1.0 
 10. Yakunina, Lugans.1.0 


*****************************************************
  WNBA - Women  


Atlanta Dream adds Kelly Mazzante, releases Brittainey Raven - by Eurobasket News
The Atlanta Dream announced today the team has signed guard Kelly Mazzante (6'0''-G-82, college: Penn St.) and waived guard Brittainey Raven (6'0''-G-88, college: Texas).

Kelly is the type of player that can step up and contribute right away, said Dream General Manager and Head Coach Marynell Meadors. It was a difficult decision to let Brittainey go, but I am excited about what Kelly brings to our team. She is a veteran leader and an outside scoring threat that can stretch the defense. Her experience and ability to spot up and knock down the shot is going to help us.

Mazzante, a six-year veteran, helped the Phoenix Mercury to a WNBA championship in 2007. The all-time leading scorer in Big Ten conference history (male or female), Mazzante was originally drafted by the Charlotte Sting in the second round of the 2004 WNBA Draft. She played her first three seasons in Charlotte before being acquired by the Phoenix Mercury in 2007.

Mazzante was dealt to New York in 2010 as part of a three-team trade involving Cappie Pondexter but was waived prior to the start of the season. Most recently she was in training camp with the San Antonio Silvers but was waived prior to the start of the 2011 regular season. In her six-year WNBA career, she is averaging 14.7 minutes, 4.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game, shooting 34.1% from beyond the arc.

Courtesy of The Atlanta Dream and WNBA

Alana Beard still recovering from foot sprain, may not play Thursday - by Eurobasket News
Mystics guard Alana Beard (5'11''-G/F-82, college: Duke) has not practiced this week as she continues to recover from a left foot sprain. Her status for Thursdays game at Atlanta remains undetermined.

Beard, who sat out all of last season while recovering from a left ankle tendon injury, suffered the foot sprain in practice last week. The foot and ankle tendon injuries are unrelated. Beard is expected to miss between seven to 14 days from the date the injury occurred. On Tuesday, she said the injury happened May 31.

Washington Coach Trudi Lacey said Beards injury was day-to-day and she did not know whether Beard would be able to play against Atlanta. Beard offered similar sentiments in regards to her status for Thursdays game.

The Mystics were down to eight players by the end of Tuesdays practice. Lacey said rookie center TaShia Phillips suffered an ankle tendon injury during the workout and was schedule to see a doctor later Tuesday. Phillipss status for Thursday remains unknown at this point, as well.

Im thinking I might have to play, Lacey said. But, you know, it happens. Its part of the game, and we have to focus on the players that we have that are working very hard, getting better every day. So thats going to be our focus.

The teams recent injury string has been particularly exasperating for Beard, who was unable to play in Saturdays season-opening 89-73 loss at Connecticut because of the foot sprain.

Beard, a four-time WNBA all-star, declined to say how her foot felt Tuesday other than to note that it gets better every day.

I mean, anything like this, obviously its frustrating, Beard said. But at the same time you have to understand that it is a process. Ive been going through it for a year, so if I dont understand it by now, I didnt learn my lesson. So Im pretty cool with it. Obviously, Im upset, but I understand.

Courtesy of www.washingtonpost.com