Quarterfinals. The start of the surprises?
points. Terrence Morris ended up with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Vujcic had 12. Ilyasova finished with a career-high 21 points and 9 rebounds for the visitors.
Italian Montepaschi Siena overcame Fenerbahce Ulker 73:66 at home. Lithuanian Ksistof Lavrinovic led the winners with 16 points. Bootsy Thronton added 14 and Terrell McIntyre had 12. Tarence Kinsey (200-G-84, college: S.Carolina) and Semih Erden (211-C-87) each had 12 points for Fenerbahce.
Spanish Tau edged Partizan 74:66 to lead the series. The game that was finished last among the others brought the win for the hosts. A 20:12 in the third quarter was decisive in the game after which Tau dominated in the court. Mario Plannic led the winners with 18 points and Igor Rakocevic (191-G-78) added 15. Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket) top-scored for the guests with 13 points.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
World select team announced for Nike Hoop Summit
The World Select Team was announced today for the Nike Hoop Summit, the premier annual basketball game featuring many of the world's leading basketball players aged 19 years or younger, which takes place at the Rose Garden, in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, April 12, 2008 (tip-off 1 pm PT).
The game, which sees America's top senior high school players taking on a World Select Team comprising the world's top players, has been staged on ten previous occasions and has given an extraordinary number of talented young players the chance to showcase their abilities.
This year's version promises to be no different, with the World Select naming a roster full of players with a great deal of experience in international basketball and featuring 11 players from 11 countries across four continents.
The roster features four guards Diego Gerbaudo (180-G-89) (6'0', Real Madrid and Argentina), Devoe Joseph (193-G-90) (6'3', Pickering High School, Ontario and Canada), Zygimantas Janavicius (192-G-89, agency: Interperformances) (6'4', Zalgiris Kaunas and Lithuania) and Oleksandr Kolchenko (195-F/G-88) (6'6', BC Khimik and Ukraine).
The World Team has forwards Emmanuel Emmanuel Negedu (200-F-88) (6'6', Brewster Academy, New Hampshire and Nigeria), Samardo Samuels (206-C-89) (St Benedict HS, New Jersey and Jamaica), Serge Ibaka (208-C/F-89) (6'10', CB Hospitalet (Spain) and Congo), Angel Garcia (196-C-88) (6'10', East Chicago Central HS and Puerto Rico) and Tim Ohlbrecht (211-C/F-88) (6'11', Bamberg and Germany).
The roster is currently rounded off with centres Alexis Ajinca (214-C-88) (7'1', Heyers-Toulon and France), who returns from the 2007 roster, and Boban Boban Marjanovic (216-C-88) (216-C-88) (7'4', Hemofarm and Serbia).
Diego Gerbaudo was the MVP of Basketball Without Borders in both Puerto Rico and Buenos Aires and currently plays with the second team of Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid. Joseph has committed to play for the University of Minnesota in 2008 and has been invited to try-out for the senior national team that plays in Olympic qualification this summer.
Zygimantas Janavicius won silver medals with the Lithuanian under-18 national team at the European Championships in 2006 and 2007 while Oleksandr Kolchenko was called up to the full senior Ukranian national team last year and helped the under-20 team win silver at the B Division European Championships, averaging 19.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game.
Emmanuel Negedu enjoyed a successful World Championships with the Nigerian under-19 national team last summer, averaging 17.2 points and 8.6 rebounds a game and will play for the University of Arizona next season.
Samuels has attended St Benedict High School for four years and, in 2007-08, made a verbal commitment to play college ball at the University of Louisville.
Serge Ibaka, a member of Congo's under-18 national team, plays in Spain's LEB with CB L'Hospitalet and was MVP, leading scorer and leading rebounder at the African Junior Championships in South Africa in 2007. Garcia averaged 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a game for Puerto Rico at the under-19 World Championships in Serbia last year.
Tim Ohlbrecht played 12 games for Brose Baskets Bamberg in 2006-07 when they won the German Bundesliga and was named the All German Bundesliga Newcomer of the Year that season. Ajinca has played Euroleague basketball, the top club competition in Europe, for Pau-Orthez and helped the French under-19 national team to bronze medal in the 2007 World Championships.
Boban Marjanovic was a member of the Serbia team that won gold at those 2007 under-19 World Championships, averaging 8.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and shooting 62.2 per cent from the field over nine games.
The World Team at Nike Hoop Summit 2008 will be coached, for the fourth time, by respected Australian national teams coach Rob Beveridge , currently with Australian National Basketball League team the West Sydney Razorbacks.
Beveridge, who will be assisted by Serbia's Marin Sedlacek, making his eighth Hoop Summit appearance, was the coach of last season's World Select which lost 100-80 at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, giving the USA an 8-2 lead in the series.
The two World Team victories came in 1996 in Charlotte, North Carolina, by a 104-96 margin, and in 1998 in San Antonio when, famously, Dirk Nowitzki had 33 points and 14 rebounds in a 104-99 victory.
The World Select Team has been assembled by Nike's Consultant of Global Basketball Rich Sheubrooks after consulting with general managers, clubs, federations, scouts and coaches from around the world.
He said: 'I think the team we have this year is very athletic, possibly it is the most athletic team we have ever assembled for Nike Hoop Summit. Also, a lot of our guys have experience of playing against American players so, hopefully, that will help us as well.
'We believe this team compares vary favorably with our teams from previous years and we are very excited about seeing them come together in Portland.'
To date, 70 former USA and World Select players have been drafted by NBA teams and, currently, 40 former USA and 12 former World Team members play in the NBA.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
Bundesliga Game Day 24: Weekend Results March 14-16th!
Bundesliga Game Day 24 tipped off Friday night March 14th with Ewe Baskets Oldenburg earning an impressive 83-63 home win over league leading Artland Dragons and the exciting results continued into the weekend with a 94-90 NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig overtime road win in JAKO Arena over brose Baskets Bamberg and a tight 100-99 overtime road win for ALBA Berlin at Trier.
Friday March 14th
Bayer Leverkusen 95 Telekom Baskets Bonn 74
Brant Bailey scored 27pt and Rans Brempong went for an 18pt 12reb double double leading Bayer Leverkusen to a 95-74 home win over Telekom Baskets Bonn Friday night at historic Wilhelm Dopatka Halle in Leverkusen. Head Coach Achim Kuczmann and his team burst to a 26-18 1Q lead and held a 50-33 advantage at half. Leverkusen put the game away with a 26-19 3Q before they cruised to the win. Brendan Winters added 15pt on 6 for 8 floor shooting. The Leverkusen win was impressive after the loss of All Star forward Nate Fox. Ronnie Burrell and Moussa Diagne shared topscoring honors for Bonn with 14pt apiece. Leverkusen shot a sizzling 60% from the floor and 57% (11-19) from three while holding Bonn to 39%. Leverkusen outrebounded Bonn 46-26. Leverkusen upped their record to 19-5 while Bonn dropped to 15-9.
Ewe Baskets Oldenburg 83 Artland Dragons 63
Branimir Longin scored 26pt leading Ewe Baskets Oldenburg to an impressive 83-63 home win over Artland Dragons Friday night at Ewe Arena in Oldenburg. Head Coach Predrag Krunic and his team started strong with a 30-14 1Q and held a 41-27 lead at half. Rickey Paulding added 15pt, Jason Gardner 13pt 6ast and Jasmin Perkovic chipped in 10pt 5reb. Adam Chubb led the Dragons attack with 18pt while Leon Rodgers 17pt 6reb. Oldenburg shot 53% while Artland hit 41% and the Thunderbirds outrebounded Artland 35-26 in the win. Oldenburg improved to 15-10 while Artland slipped to 19-5.
Saturday March 15th
NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig 94 brose Baskets Bamberg 90 (OT)
NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig put 5 players in double figures and shot 67% from three (14 of 21) in earning an excellent 94-90 overtime road win Saturday night over brose Baskets Bamberg at JAKO Arena. Bamberg held a 22-15 after 1Q but a strong Braunschweig 2Q gave the Phantoms a 39-36 lead at half. Bamberg took a 59-56 lead into the 4th but the teams finished regulation even at 76. In the exciting overtime period, Head Coach Emir Mutapcic and his Phantoms earned the win outscoring Bamberg 18-14. Andrew Drevo led Braunschweig scoring with 21pt on 5 of 7 3pt accuracy followed by Steven Wright who hit a perfect 7 for 7 and 3 for 3 from three to add18pt in the win. John Allen added 17pt on 4 of 6 threes while Jason Cain scored 13pt and Kyle Visser 11 for Braunschweig. Ademola Okulaja led Bamberg with 24pt while Steffen Hamann added 23pt. With the win, Braunschweig improved to 13-11 and moved into the 8th playoff spot while Bamberg dropped their second straight game falling to 16-8.
ALBA Berlin 100 TBB Trier 99 (OT)
ALBA Berlin put 6 playes in double figures and survived a determined Trier effort in an exciting 100-99 overtime road win at Trier Arena. The game was tight throughout as Trier took a 24-23 lead after 1Q which was matched by Berlin to leave halftime even at 47. After an even second half, regulation ended tied at 89. Julius Jenkins led ALBA with 24pt, Patrick Femerling 17pt, Goran Nikolic 14pt while Bobby Brown, DiJon Thompson and Immanuel McElroy had 10pt apiece. Caleb Green led Trier with 26pt 9reb 4ast, Marshall Phillips added 17pt 5reb and Mike Benton 16pt 7 boards in the loss. Head Coach Luka Pavicevic and Berlin shot 58% from the floor and sank 30 of 39 from the foul line (76%) while outrebounded Trier 32-30 in the win. Trier hit 53% and nailed an impressive 59% from three (13-22). ALBA moved up to 19-6 while Trier slipped to 5-19.
ratiopharm Ulm 84 Koln 99ers 61
After upsetting ALBA Berlin last weekend, ratiopharm Ulm topped Koln 99ers 84-61 Saturday night at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm. In a strong team performance, Sean Finn led Ulm scoring with 13pt 8reb, Dru Joyce added 12pt and Bundesliga season best 13 assists while Bryan Lucas and Konrad Wysocki finished with 11pt apiece. Recently signed, F Romeo Travis scored 7pt 3reb 2ast in his Ulm debut. ratiopharm Ulm used a 27-7 2Q to take control of the game and build a 40-23 halftime advantage. Ulm shot 50% from the floor, sank 11 of 27 from three (40%), outrebounded Koln 40-37 and dished out 20 ast as a team. Milko Bjelica (14pt 7reb) and Derek Raivio (14pt) were strong for the 99ers. Ulm upped their record to 11-14 while Koln evened at 12-12.
digibu Baskets Paderborn 93 EnBW Ludwigsburg 71
Greg Jenkins scored 21pt 12reb and Tim Black added 16pt 5ast in leading digibu Baskets Paderborn to a strong 93-71 home win over EnBW Ludwigsburg Saturday night in Paderborn. In a 20-11 2Q Paderborn took a 41-31 halftime lead but their 34-19 3Q explosion broke the game open. Head Coach Doug Spradley saw his team shot a sizzling 61% from the floor, distribute 19ast and outrebound Ludwigsburg 34-29. Paderborn made a near perfect 18 of 20 shots in the paint in the win. Steven Esterkamp chipped in 14pt and Nathan Peavy 12 for Paderborn. Ronald Ross led Ludwigsburg with 17pt 6reb. Paderborn improved to 10-14 while Ludwigsburg evened at 12-12.
Science City Jena 79 LTi Giessen 46ers 68
Science City Jena earned their 3rd win of the season and first under new head coach Sean McCaw as they earned an important 79-68 home win over LTi Giessen 46ers Saturday night in Jena. The hosts took command early with a 28-18 1Q and held a 46-37 halftime lead. A low scoring 13-8 3Q for Jena sent the game at 59-45 heading into the 4th. Jena shot 44% to Giessen's 35% as a key to the win. Lavelle Felton topscored for Jena with 18pt followed by 17pt 8reb from Jason Miller and 12pt 14reb from Mark Davis. Gerrit Terdenge paced Giessen with 18pt 8reb and Michael Umeh added 13 in the loss. Jena is now 3-21 while Giessen falls to 6-18.
Sunday March 16th
Deutsche Bank Skyliners 69 Walter Tigers Tubingen 54
Deutsche Bank Skyliners 18-5 2Q keyed their 69-54 home win over Walter Tigers Tubingen Sunday afternoon at Ballsporthalle in Frankfurt. All Star forward Derrick Allen produced 21pt 9reb and Ilian Evtimov added 14pt 9 boards. Off the bench, Domonic Bahiense de Mello drilled 3 of 5 threes to contribute 13pt to the win. Frankfurt took a 38-20 halftime lead and earned the win behind strong defense. Skyliners shot 40% from the floor and held Tubingen to 33% from the floor. The Tigers outrebounded the Skyliners 44-33. Jermaine Anderson led Tubingen scoring with 14pt followed by Bingo Merriex 13pt 8reb and Rasko Katic 11pt 12reb. Head Coach Murat Didin and his Skyliners improved to 14-11 while Tubingen dropped to 7-17.
Eisbaren Bremerhaven 91 BG74 Gottingen 78
Brian Brown scored 23pt leading Eisbaren Bremerhaven to a 91-78 home win over BG74 Gottingen Sunday night in Bremerhaven. Shown live on BBL.TV, Bremerhaven powered to a 21-12 1Q before a strong Gottingen comeback in the 2Q cut the lead to 39-35 at half. Eisbaren edged ahead 50-51 after 3. In a highscoring finish, Bremerhaven outscored Gottingen 32-27 in the 4th. Matt Haryasz added 18pt 12reb with help from 16pt from Zygimantas Jonusas and 15pt from Ivars Timermanis. Gottingen guards Jeb Ivey (20pt 4 for 8 threes) and Darren Brooks (18pt) led the guest production. Bremerhaven shot 48% from the floor while Gottingen hit 38% from the floor. Bremerhaven made 34 of 39 FT (87%) while Gottingen made only 9 of 21 (42%) FT. Head Coach Sarunas Sakalauskas and his team evened at 12-12 while Gottingen slipped to 10-14.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
Lietuvos Rytas hang on in race for Euroleague quarterfinal
Lithuanian team survived in a tight-battle against Fenerbahce in Vilnius and secured chances of making it to the Euroleague quarterfinal. However their chances are still pretty dim as Fenerbahce enjoyed a 4-point at home advantage. This means they would have an advantage in case of a tie-record at the end of Top 16 stage. Now both teams are knotted at 2-3 record in Group E. Fenerbahce hosts Tau, while Lietuvos Rytas visits Greece to take on Aris in the last round. The game was a heated clash right from the start as the teams exchanged baskets early on. Rasim Basak (202-F-80, agency: Court Side) nailed a trey and Fenerbahce grabbed a 14:11 lead. Will Solomon (187-G-78, college: Clemson) and Omer Onan (194-G-78, agency: Interperformances) added to the damage late in the first period and the visitors accumulated a 26:18 advantage at the first break. Hollis Price (186-G-79, college: Oklahoma) and Rasim Basak traded triples at the beginning of the second term. Chuck Eidson (202-F-80, college: S.Carolina) and Arturas Jomantas (202-G/F-85) fired from downtown and Lietuvos Rytas cut the deficit. But the long range artillery worked well from Fenerbahce side. Omer Asik (211-C-86) and Tarence Kinsey (200-G-84, college: S.Carolina) hit treys and the visiting side ran away to a double-digit lead. Finally Hollis Price penetrated under the rim for an easy layup and finalized a 38:46 outcome of the first half. Lietuvos Rytas fired from all guns at the start of the second half posting a 10:0 run and closing the gap to just a single point at 50:51. Tarence Kinsey and Will Solomon however teamed up for 5 straight points to give Fenerbahce some breathing space. The hosts struggled to come any close afterwards and headed into the fourth period trailing by 7 points 63:70. Hollis Price hit three trebles early in the fourth term to pull Rytas right back into contest. Lietuvos Rytas grabbed an 83:82 lead with two minutes remaining in regulation. Hollis Price hit a free throw and Mindaugas Lukauskis (198-G-79) nailed a triple to stretch the gap to 87:82 with one minute to go. Tarence Kinsey replied with a three-pointer to keep Fenerbahce in visibility. Lietuvos Rytas wasted their offensive possession but Will Solomon was given an offensive foul and the hosts simply killed the remaining time to seal the win.
Hollis Price was the topscorer with 22 points for Lietuvos Rytas. Chuck Eidson added 16 points, while Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81, agency: Beo Basket) had 15 points and 7 boards for the winners. Tarence Kinsey answered with 20 points for Turkish side. Will Solomon nailed 18 points and issued 6 assists in defeat.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
Efes Pilsen releases Nicholas, Wright
Efes Pilsen of Istanbul, Turkey has de-registered two players from its Euroleague roster and released both following their refusal to travel with the team to Top 16, Game 3 in Belgrade, Serbia a week ago. Efes on Wednesday officially de-registered the team's top scorer, shooting guard Drew Nicholas, and backup playmaker Rashad Wright. A third player, center Loren Woods, is expected to follow suit shortly. A fourth who also skipped the game in Belgrade, power forward Andre Hutson, was reinstated by the team over the weekend. All four players cited personal security concerns last week for not traveling to Serbia after communication they received from the United States embassy there contradicted guarantees of security from the Turkish embassy in Belgrade as well as city authorities and the host club, Partizan Belgrade. Three other United States citizens with Efes, guard Scoonie Penn, forward Kenny Gregory and head coach David Blatt, made the trip and participated in the game, which was held without incident. Nicholas has averaged 16.5 points and 2.9 assists in 14 Euroleague Basketball games this season. Wright had an average score of 3.2 points in nine Euroleague games. Meanwhile, Woods had averages of 8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 16 Euroleague games.
Copyright EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL 2008
Tau forward Pete Mickeal to miss three weeks
Tau Ceramica revealed Thursday evening that forward Pete Mickeal will be sidelined for three weeks after sustaining an injury during the club s 103-84 victory over Fenerbahce Ulker the night before in Vitoria. Mickeal felt pain in his right leg in the opening minutes of the third period and asked to come off the court. Medical examination performed on Thursday revealed that Mickeal has a torn muscle in his right femoral biceps that will prevent him from playing for the next three weeks. During this period Mickeal will miss three Euroleague Top16 games: two against Aris and one against Lietuvos Rytas. Injuries have already limited Mickeal this season, who missed five of the last six regular season games.
Copyright EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL 2008
Top 16 Week 2 MVP: Esteban Batista, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv
A monster double-double in a losing effort allowed Esteban Batista of Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv to become the MVP for Top 16 Week 2 with a performance index rating of 27. Despite his team s road loss at Zalgiris Kaunas, Batista scored 25 points for Maccabi on 9-for-18 two-point and 7-for-9 free-throw shooting while also collecting 13 rebounds, an assist, 2 steals and 7 fouls drawn. Although his was lowest index rating for a weekly MVP all season long, Batista had plenty of challengers. Coincidentally, Jonas Maciulis of Zalgiris followed him with a 26 index rating in the same game. Maciulis scored 22 points by making 3 of 5 three-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws to go with 7 rebounds all in just 20 minutes on the floor. Erazem Lorbek of Lottomatica Roma and Lietuvos Rytas teammates Chuck Eidson and Kenan Bajramovic, all with 23 index ratings, completed the top individual performances this week. Lorbek did so without a double-digit total in any statistic: he had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, a block and 8 fouls drawn in Roma's home win against Unicaja. Meanwhile, Eidson had 18 points and 5 steals while Bajramovic added 17 points and 7 rebounds as L. Rytas defeated visiting Aris TT Bank.
Individual highs: Ibrahim Jaaber of Lottomatica Roma, 8 steals
Batista not only became the MVP, but was both the Top 16, Week 2 best scorer with 25 points and best rebounder with those 13 boards against Zalgiris. Maciulis, meanwhile, has the best scoring average after two Top 16 games with 21.5 points per game, while Jeremiah Massey of Aris TT Bank leads all rebounders at 10.5 boards per night. Terrell McIntyre of Montepaschi Siena led Week 2 in assists by dishing 8 in his team s overtime road win against Efes Pilsen. Dejuan Collins of Zalgiris, who was regular season assists king, too, leads the Top 16 in that category, with 8 per game. Ibrahim Jaaber of Lottomatica Roma collected as many as 8 steals against Unicaja. He and Trajan Langdon of CSKA Moscow are both averaging 4.5 per game, more than any other Top 16 players. Omer Asik of Fenerbahce Ulker, Ersan Ilyasova of AXA FC Barcelona and Eurelijus Zukauskas of Zalgiris each had 3 blocks this week. Asik leads the Top 16 block standings with 3.5 per night. Batista and Mamadou Ndiaye of Zalgriis, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds against Maccabi, were the only players to register double-doubles this week.
Copyright EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL 2008
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