Even more from EuroBasket!!

Slovenia Slip Past Turkey, Top Group F

Game Summary

Turning point: With Turkey down by two in the closing seconds, Ender Arslan drove to the basket and decided to pass off - when he had an open lay-up - to Engin Atsur, who went for the win instead of a tie with a three-point attempt from the corner, which he missed.

Hero: With Bostjan Nachbar plagued by foul trouble, Goran Jagodnik came off the bench and hit some timely baskets in the last two quarters to hold off Turkey's furious charge.

Stats: Slovenia made 13 of 31 three-point attempts while Turkey were just 5 of 20.

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Slovenia ended Turkey's unbeaten run at the EuroBasket with a thrilling 69-67 triumph on Wednesday night at the Arena Lodz to clinch first place in Group F.

The win has thrown the Slovenians into a Quarter-Final clash with Croatia while Turkey now must face Greece with both games to be played on Friday.

"This is a very big win for us," Slovenia forward Bostjan Nachbar said.

"It was an extremely tough game but to beat a team that had not lost in the tournament is a great result for us it's more important to go into the elimination round on the back of a win."

Jure Zdovc's team, whose only defeat in this competition was an overtime loss to Spain in Group C, led Turkey by as many as 19 points in the first half but ended up going to the break with a 39-32 advantage.

Turkey clawed their way back and took their only lead of the game at 48-47 on a fast-break lay-up by Semih Erden with 3:30 to go in the third quarter, only for Slovenia to go back on top at 57-52 with 10 minutes remaining.

Leading 60-58, Slovenia appeared to be in good shape after scoring eight of the game's next 12 points for a 68-62 advantage with 50 seconds remaining.

Following two Omer Asik free-throws for Turkey, though, Uros Slokar missed a jumper for Slovenia and Samo Udrih fouled Ender Arslan while the Turk was attempting a three-pointer with 10 seconds left.

Arslan made all three to cut the deficit to 68-67.

After Turkey quickly fouled Udrih and he made just one of two free-throws, Bogdan Tanjevic called a timeout to discuss the end-of-game strategy.

When play resumed, Arslan received the inbounds pass in his own half and then raced up the floor, penetrated and whipped the ball out to a wide-open Engin Atsur in the corner.

Atsur missed the potential game-winning three, though, as Slovenia survived.

"I'm generally very satisfied with the team," Tanjevic said.

"We had a shot to win the game. Sometimes it goes in, other times it doesn't. Now we will face Greece, a team that has a lot of experience in Championships. But then again, we could have faced Croatia - a side that has 10 or 11 quality players.

"I believe that my team can continue to play well. The important thing is to recover our energy."

Zdovc was happy, but already concentrating on what lies ahead.

"The reason why we won was rebounding," Zdovc said.

"But we have no time to enjoy this win because my players are already focused on our next game."

Slovenia out-rebounded Turkey 35-32.

Ilyasova and Nachbar each finished with 16 points to lead all scorers.

Turkey hurt their own cause by making only 14 of their 21 free-throws while Slovenia were six of 11.

Slovenia prevailed over Turkey despite being without three injured players.

Goran Dragic (knee) and Domen Lorbek (neck) sat out the game and watched from the bench with captain Matjaz Smodis (back) still unavailable.

"We had three players out today but this team will keep on fighting and keep on winning, even if we have only five players left," Nachbar said.

"In two days, we will show up ready to play against Croatia."

Spain End Hosts' Run

Game Summary

Turning point: Pau Gasol scored the game's first seven points and Spain had their first double-digit lead, 19-9, courtesy of Navarro's three-pointer with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter. The world champions were in complete control all game.

Hero: Pau Gasol and Navarro. They combined for 19 of Spain's 23 first quarter points.

Stats: Navarro was on fire, connecting on seven of nine three-point attempts, several of them contested. He had 23 points on eight of 11 from the field in just 22 minutes of play.

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Spain crushed hosts Poland 90-68 to book their place in the last eight of EuroBasket 2009.

The win saw Sergio Scariolo's side improve to 3-2 to finish fourth in Group F of the Qualifying Round. Up next for them is a clash with unbeaten France (5-0) in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Juan Carlos Navarro had a game-high 23 points, hitting on eight of 11 field goal attempts - including seven of nine from three-point range - while Pau Gasol added 20 to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

"We had a good performance today," Gasol said afterwards. "We are growing as a team and we are very much alive in the tournament."

"It will be a tough game against France but we have to go through them to get anything done here. We very much look forward to it."

Navarro was pleased to find his way out of a recent shooting slump.

"I struggled shooting from long range in previous games, but today the shots seemed to go in and my team-mates have given me a lot of confidence," he said.

With the older of the two Gasol brothers and Navarro leading the way, the world champions jumped out to a 23-14 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

The center scored the game's first seven points and had 11 by the end of the period while the guard had eight to go along with three assists.

Navarro buried a step back three-pointer for the first double-digit lead, 19-9, with just over two minutes to go in the quarter.

Lukasz Koszarek got Poland within 27-18 on a lay-up early in the second quarter but Spain quickly reasserted their dominance and had a 42-26 cushion at the break.

The Spaniards were red hot from three-point range, connecting on seven of 14 attempts over the first two quarters. Alex Mumbru hitting two from the top of the key minutes apart before Navarro buried consecutive ones for a 38-22 advantage.

Meanwhile, Poland struggled mightily in the first half, hitting just 12 of 35 field goal attempts, including two of 12 from long range (compared to seven of 14 for Spain).

After the intermission, the Spaniards kept adding to Poland's misery and were up 50-30 when Navarro buried his fifth three-pointer.

He hit his sixth and seventh for a 58-38 score midway through the period and soon after headed to the bench for good.

The Spaniards also gave the fans something of a show as Ricky Rubio drove to the basket and flipped the ball back to Jorge Garbajosa who drained a top of the key three.

Marc Gasol then fed a perfect bounce pass to a cutting Rudy Fernandez who hung in the air for a double-pump lay-up and Sergio Llull had a breakaway dunk for a 66-38 advantage, their biggest lead of the game.

Logan buried a corner three-pointer to cut the deficit to 66-41, but Fernandez answered right back with one of his own. At that point, Spain were 12 of 21 from long distance.

They led 71-46 at the start of the final frame and Poland found some offense late on to outscore them 22-19 over the last 10 minutes for the final scoreline.

Afterwards, Scarialo gave credit to Poland, but admitted that on the day his team were just too good.

"I want to congratulate the Polish team. They improved a lot from their last participation by reaching this round. I think tonight they can't blame themselves," he said.

"My players deserved the win. They did what they had to do to make the opponents look weaker. We played excellent defense, moved the ball well and had good shooting percentages."

Poland head coach Muli Katzurin admitted competing against Spain was always going to be hard.

"It was no competition against Spain. We tried but they were superior in strength and quality. This is a team that is the best in Europe. It was tough to execute a game plan. For us the key was the game against Serbia. We lost it. We lost to a better team. Each game we played was tougher and tougher. I'm sure if we had been in the other group we could have won something more," he said.

Logan broke out of a recent shooting slump to record a team-high 20 points for Poland. Lukasz Koszarek added 17 and Marcin Gortat had 12 to go along with a dozen rebounds.

16 September 2009

Quotes Poland vs. Spain

Sergio Scariolo (Spain Coach):

"For today's loss the polish players definitely can't blame themselves, it was our players who deserve the credit. We did everything to make our opponents look weak, we played good defense, moved the ball well and had high shooting percentage. And because of improved physical preparation of my players we are able to maintain a high tempo during longer stretches of the games."

Juan Carlos Navarro (Spain):

"We are delighted with the win, now we need to rest and continue this path we are going on now. We are very happy to be in the Quarter-Finals after all the problems we had before and during this tournament. We will look into France tomorrow and we will try to prepare the best possible way for this game."

Muli Katzurin (Poland Coach):

"With Spain playing like that today, we are no competition for them. We tried hard, but the gap was way too big. Maybe in other group we could win some games, but here teams were just better than us. We had various game plans prepared, but on this level of competition it was really hard to execute them properly."

Adam Wójcik (Poland):

"We were withdrawn and missed many shots from field. We didn't play bad basketball in this tournament. Crucial was the game against Serbia, which put us off our game. We tried to find and optimal solution, but we didn't manage it. We know that expectations were higher. This tournament gave us priceless experience, which is a great capital for the future. It was my last performance. I end my long carrier in national team"

Serbia Lock Down Third Spot

Game Summary

Turning Point: With Lithuania leading 75-71 with 4:29 to go, Serbia buried four consecutive three-pointers to lead 83-75 and take command.

Hero: Serbia guard Milos Teodosic nailed two of those crucial three pointers and led his team in scoring with 20 points while also handing out 12 assists.

Stats: Serbia nailed six three-pointers in the last four minutes of the game and finished an eye-popping 14 of 27 (52%) from long range. Lithuania turned the ball over 20 times.

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Lithuania put up a huge fight but it wasn't enough to beat Milos Teodosic and Serbia who won their Qualifying Round Group F clash in Lodz, 89-79.

The result sealed third place for Dusan Ivkovic's men and set up a Quarter-Final showdown with Russia in Katowice.

With Lithuania leading 75-71 with 4:29 to go, Serbia buried four consecutive three-pointers to lead 83-75 and take command for good.

Serbia guard Milos Teodosic nailed two of those crucial three-pointers and led his team in scoring with 20 points while also handing out 12 assists.

Immediately after the game, Lithuania coach Ramunas Butautas announced in his press conference that he had resigned.

Butautas, with more experienced players in the squad the previous two summers like Sarunas Jasikevicius and Ramunas Siskauskas, captured a bronze medal at EuroBasket 2007 and reached the Semi-Finals at last year's Olympics.

This year, however, Lithuania lost their opening Group D games to Turkey and Poland before defeating Bulgaria.
They crashed to heavy losses in the Qualifying Round to Slovenia, Spain and slipped up against Serbia on Wednesday.

"We controlled the game but they played patiently and killed us with late three-pointers," Butautas said.

"We go home. We played badly and we only won one game.

"I must leave this team now and I wish them all the best."

The architect of their demise in Butautas' final game was Teodosic.

"Teodosic has been a great performer for us in this tournament," said Serbia guard Milenko Tepic, who contributed 13 points.

"We hope he can continue to play like this in our next games."

There was little Lithuania could do with Serbia nailing six three-pointers in the last four minutes of the game and finishing an eye-popping 14 of 27 (52%) from long range.

Lithuania were without injured duo Mantas Kalnietis and Simas Jasaitis for their final game but the Baltic nation saved their best performance for last and made Serbia worked hard for the victory.

The Baltic men led by as many as seven points but weren't able to pull away.

"It was a very tough game," admitted Tepic.

"Lithuania is a very good side and it's a shame they haven't done well in this tournament."

The victory will be a big morale boost for Serbia in view of Thursday's showdown.

"Maybe the most important part in our game was that we scored many easy points and 24 assists," said Ivkovic.
"That kind of team basketball is what we need.

"I congratulate my players who played a great game."

"Now we prepare for Russia."

Lithuania made 11 of their 20 turnovers in the first half but trailed 41-37.

Inspired by their loyal fans, the Lithuanians went on a 15-5 run over the next four minutes, with Jonas Maciulis scoring seven points in that surge, to take a 52-46 lead.

Nenad Krstic made sure his team got back in the game scoring eight of his team's next 15 points to tie the contest 61-61 with one minute to go in the quarter.

Serbia scored five unanswered points but Darius Lavrinovic and Marijonas Petrovicius but Lithuania in front at 75-71 with 4:29 remaining.

Jonas Maciulis led the Baltic nation in scoring with 20 while Ksistof Lavrinovic contributed with 12 and made four of his team's 10 steals.

Having made just two of nine (22%) shooting from three-point range at the break, Lithuania finished a respectable six of 18 (33%).

Lithuania were 13 of 20 (65%) from the free-throw line while Serbia converted 19 of 26 (73%) from the charity stripe.

16 September 2009 Quotes Lithuania vs. Serbia Ramunas Butautas (Lithuania Coach): "Congratulations for Serbia and I wish them luck in the Quarter-Finals. We finish this tournament early, we didn't play well here, winning only one game. With this result I must leave this team and sorry to our fans who stayed with us the whole time." Jonas Maciulis (Lithuania): "It was a tough game, we wanted to win and we did what we could. But in the end it was the same result for us, good luck for Serbia, and we are coming home." Milenko Tepic (Serbia): "We played a good game against a talented rival, who had nothing to lose. We played as we wanted to play - we realized everything what our coach expected from us. Now we are in the Final Round - where every team is extremely strong, but we also proved that it is not an accident, that we are going to Katowice." Dusan Ivkovic (Serbia Coach): "I think it was a very good game regarding quality. The Lithuanians showed their big offensive talent and our defense wasn't on the level we needed, with them scoring 14 out of 18 shots in the first half. The most important thing for us today was the fact that we scored so many easy points, we made a 14 three-pointers and had a 24 assists. Our point guards had a very good game."

EuroBasket Catch up

Since my last report here is a catch up of games at EuroBasket from Poland courters of : http://www.eurobasket2009.org

Turkey Nose Serbia, Stay Perfect

Game Summary

Turning point: Novica Velickovic turned the ball over and Hidayet Turkoglu found Ersan Ilyasova for a lay-up and a 67-64 lead with 35 seconds to go in overtime.

Hero: Ilyasova stepped up when his team-mates couldn't. He made seven of 12 shots, including four of six attempts from beyond the arc, and did a bang-up job on the boards.

Stats: Hidayet Turkoglu had a night to forget from an individual standpoint, finishing with just four points on one of 16 shooting. Turkey must also be disappointed at their 18 of 31 performance from the free-throw line.

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Turkey needed overtime but defeated Serbia 69-64 on Monday night to remain undefeated at the EuroBasket and hand the Blues just their second loss in the tournament.

Ersan Ilyasova poured in 22 points and had 11 rebounds for Turkey, who overcame a woeful night at the free-throw line (18 of 31, 58%) and a one-of-16 (6%) shooting effort from the floor by Hedo Turkoglu.

Hidayet Türkoglu did not have a good night on offense, but he did record four steals and nearly won the game with a tip in at the buzzer.

Defense has been winning games for Bogdan Tanjevic's team and so it proved again as they forced their opponents to turn the ball over 18 times.

Turkoglu had a game-high four steals and almost won the game at the end of regulation when he attempted to tip-in Kerem Tunceri's runner.

Referees went to the scorer's table and looked at a video replay, determining that the buzzer sounded before the ball had left the superstar's hands.

In the overtime, Semih Erdin was fouled by Nemanja Bjelica and made one of two attempts at the free-throw line for a 65-64 advantage.

Serbia then went the entire extra period without scoring a point.

"I think my players were under a lot of pressure and that's the reason why we didn't score a point in overtime," Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic said. "The key to this defeat was that we made so many turnovers and had a very low field goal percentage.

"We had a big problem in trying to organize our offense against their zone, but we are definitely in the Quarter-Finals and it's a big success for us.

"Now we just have to do well and prepare for the next game (against Lithuania)."

Ilyasova was elated with the victory that has left Turkey on top in Qualifying Round Group F.

"It was important for us to win this game, having gone into the game with four wins in a row," Ilyasova said.

"Had we lost this game, those wins wouldn't have made a difference."

When asked about his own performance, Ilyasova said: "I wanted to give everything for the team. We gave all that we had in the last five minutes and fortunately we got the win."

The first half was a nip-and-tuck affair with 12 lead changes.

Ilyasova, who drilled two of his four three-pointers before the break, led all scorers with 12 points at half-time with Turkey leading 36-33.

One of his three-balls gave Tanjevic's side their biggest lead of the game at 50-42 with 3:06 to go in the third quarter, only for a Milos Teodosic three-ball to leave Serbia trailing 55-52 at the end of the frame.

The fourth quarter remained tight until the end.

With the contest knotted at 64-64 after Erdin made one of two free-throws with 28 seconds to play, Serbia had a chance to take the lead.

But with the shot clock down to just two seconds, Nenad Krstic passed up a shot in the lane and found Bjelica in the right corner in front of the Turkey bench.

Bjelica failed to release his attempt from long range in time.

Both sides then burned timeouts and when play resumed, Turkey's Kerem Tunceri inbounded the ball to star guard Ender Arslan, who then split the defense by passing ahead to Tunceri.

He streaked in for a lay-up but his shot ended up glancing off the rim.

Turkoglu tapped the ball in but referees, after looking at a video replay, decided it had left his hand too late.

Once in overtime, Turkey won the game.

Teodosic had 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Serbia, who also got 12 points, including 11 in the second half, and seven boards from Novica Velickovic.

Krstic, who didn't start and came off the bench at the beginning of the second quarter, finished with 11 points and seven boards.

Omer Asik had 11 points but was not very good at the free-throw line, missing 10 of his 11 attempts.

Serbia were 23 of 27 (85%) at the stripe.

Slovenia Put Hosts In Must Win Situation

Game Summary

Turning Point: With the game tied at 29-29 late in the second quarter, Slovenia went on a 20-3 run over the next nine minutes to pull away.

Hero: Slovenia center Erazem Lorbek had 10 points in that crucial run and finished with a game-high 20 points. Lorbek also pulled down nine rebounds and dished out five assists while blocking one shot.

Key Stats: Slovenia finished 19 of 33 (58%) shooting from inside the arc while Poland were 15 of 39 (38%).
Slovenia forced Poland into making 15 turnovers.

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Slovenia broke open a close game in the third quarter and stormed to a 76-60 triumph over Poland to clinch a spot in the EuroBasket Quarter-Finals on Monday night in Lodz.

Erazem Lorbek scored a game-high 20 points and also pulled down nine rebounds for the winners, who prevailed for the fourth time in five games at this year's event.

Jure Zdovc had led his troops into the Quarter-Finals.

Jure Zdovc's team led just 31-29 at half-time but held Poland to just one point over the first seven minutes of the third quarter while opening a 46-30 lead.

They went in front by as many as 20 points in the second half and cruised to victory.

"When we went into the break trailing by two points, I knew it was going to be very difficult for us," admitted Poland coach Muli Katzurin.

"In the second half we had a bad shooting percentage and we made many turnovers and against a quality team like Slovenia, they make you pay for your mistakes."

Slovenia have faced a lot of adversity this year with numerous players unable to take part due to injury-related problems, including guards NBA guards Beno Udrih and Sasha Vujacic and Lottomatica Roma's Sani Becirovic.

Matjaz Smodis, the captain of the national team, has also been unable to compete because of a back injury and star guard Goran Dragic also missed the Poland game with a knee injury.

Yet Zdovc's team hasn't missed a beat with their only loss an overtime defeat to Spain in Group C.

"I need to congratulate my players," said Slovenia coach Jure Zdovc. "We have struggled with injuries but those players that have gone on the court have given everything they have. We deserved this win."

Poland started well with a 7-0 run giving them an 8-4 advantage and they had a 17-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Slovenia struck back with an 8-0 spurt in the second quarter putting them on top at 19-17.

Five consecutive points by Goran Jagodnik, including a three-ball, and a basket by Uros Slokar increased the lead to 29-22 with 3:14 to go in the first half.

Poland reeled off seven straight points and knotted the game at 29-29 on a lay-up from Szymon Szewczyk before Slovenia took command.

David Logan and Szymon Szewczyk had 15 points apiece for Poland.

Slovenia will now go into their final Qualifying Round Group F game against Turkey safe gunning for first place.

Spain Send Lithuania Packing

Game Summary

Turning point: Despite going scoreless for the first 7:06 of the second quarter - during which time they conceded a 23-0 run - Lithuania only trailed by eight at half time. They used a 7-2 run after the break to get within 42-37, but Spain then reeled off 22 of the last 28 points the rest of that period to lead 64-43 and never looked back.

Hero: Several candidates for Spain. Pau Gasol stepped up his play and was impressive at both ends of the court during the pivotal second and third quarter runs. Jorge Garbajosa was reinserted in the starting line-up and proved the move to be a wise one as he knocked down some timely and fed Gasol for some easy baskets.

Stats: Lithuania had 21 fouls and 19 turnovers and were just six of 23 from three-point range.

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Spain recovered from a slow start to cruise past Lithuania 84-70 in Group F of the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round.

The win saw the world champions improve to 2-2 and boosted their chances of reaching the last eight of the competition. Meanwhile, Lithuania dropped to 0-4 and are assured of missing out on the Quarter-Final stages for the first time since 2001.

Lithuania were missing Simas Jasaitis who missed the game due to injury.

Afterwards, Spain head coach Sergio Scariola was very happy with his team's performance.

"I think it was an excellent game from our team. One main issue was that we recovered our physical condition and we played the game the way we like to - by running and being aggressive," he said.

"We are just one step closer to where we want to get. It's a very important step, a consistent one.

And Scariola praised star player Pau Gasol for his performance, as he finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

" Pau was very important defensively for us. He made one big step forward in terms of intensity and aggressiveness. The team took advantage of this."

Spain used a 23-0 run in the second quarter to turn a 24-15 deficit into a 38-24 advantage and they held off several runs by their opponents the rest of the way to secure a vital win.

The Spaniards were helped by the fact that Lithuania, playing without the injured Simas Jasaitis, lost their shooting touch altogether.

The Lithuanians failed to score a single point for the first 7:04 of the second period, missing their first 11 shot attempts before Linas Kleiza ended the drought with a corner three-pointer. He and Marijonas Petravicius accounted for eight points in the last three minutes of the half to cut the deficit to 40-32.

Spain's impressive run started when Rudy Fernandez buried a three-pointer and, after a problem with the shot clock on Lithuania's basket - the second such instance in the first half - Spain seemed to click all of a sudden.

Once the technical problem was solved, Ricky Rubio fed the trailing Pau Gasol for a thunderous dunk. The Los Angeles Lakers All Star then scored inside again while getting fouled. He failed to convert the three-point play but Felipe Reyes got the offensive rebound and tied the game at 24 with 6:31 left.

Spain applied some full-court press defense to great effect as Lithuania had trouble inbounding the ball and getting it past the midcourt line.

Fernandez hit a pair of free-throws, Navarro got a steal and found Garbajosa for a long bomb and a 29-24 lead. Gasol capped off the run with a dunk after Garbajosa timed his lob pass perfectly for a 38-24 advantage.

The Lithuanians did not give up and a 7-2 spurt got them within 42-37 early in the third quarter on Kleiza's fastbreak dunk. Spain though responded in fine fashion, accounting for 22 of the last 28 points of that period and a 64-43 advantage.

Rubio sliced through the defense for a lay-up and free-throw and Fernandez came off a pick and lobbed the ball for Gasol to dunk it. The big man had another dunk when he worked the pick and roll to perfection with Rubio to go up 49-37.

Lithuania were within 10 the next trip down the court when Robertas Javtokas had a big dunk of his own. That would be as close as they would get the rest of the way.

Early on, Lithuania used a 17-6 run to take their 24-15 first quarter lead. Butautas' side made six of nine attempts from two-point range and three of six from beyond the arc in the first quarter.

Spain, after a reasonable start, went through a long drought. They failed to make a basket for more than 6:20. Navarro buried a corner three with 7:16 to edge in front 9-7 but they then had to wait until Marc Gasol scored inside in the final minute of the period to end that rough patch.

Butautas was satisfied with his team's play early on but once again was disappointed to see them fade away.

"We controlled the game only in the first quarter but it was another bad performance from us. We weren't aggressive and our pressing was terrible. We have one more game (against Serbia on Wednesday) and I hope that my players will give a better performance."

The Latest from Poland--EuroBasket

Hello all, here are the latest match reports from the 2009 EuroBasket Championships.

The reports come courtesy of: http://www.eurobasket2009.org

Turkey/Spain
Game Summary

Turning point: Ender Arslan sliced inside the Spanish defense for a lay-up with 1:42 left to play that put Turkey up 61-58 and saw the world champions just dumbfounded as to what they could do to stop the smaller guards from getting to the basket with so much ease.

Hero: Turkey's big men. Omar Asik attacked Pau Gasol time and time again in the first half, outscoring him 13-8 and posterising him several times. Asik actually seemed quieter when guarded by Marc Gasol. The Turkish center seemed to give his team-mates the confidence to go at the Los Angeles Lakers star player and the other Spanish big guys who, Marc Gasol notwithstanding looked out of sorts on the day. Turkey's other center, Semih Erden, manhandled Pau down the stretch.

Stats: Turkey had four players score in double figures (Ersan Ilyasova with 15, Asik with 13 and Erden and Kerem Tunceri both with 11), none of whom was Hidayet Turkoglu. The versatile forward had just two points.

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Turkey used some strong inside play to hold off Spain 63-60 and remain unbeaten (3-0) in Group F of the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round in Lodz.

Ömer Asik had a big first half for Turkey.

Centers Asik Omer and Semih Erden combined for 25 points and 10 rebounds as the hosts of next year's World Championships edged ever closer to clinching their place in the last eight. Meanwhile, Spain dropped to 1-2.

Turkey led for most of a low-scoring final quarter and were up 61-60 with five seconds remaining but Spain still had one last chance to hand them their first loss.

Sergio Llull got the ball at the top of the key and drove right to the basket, but his dunk attempt was rejected by Ersan Ilyasova, who then found Semih Erden on the outlet. After being fouled hard by Llull - the foul was called unsportsmanlike - the Turkish center hit two free-throws to seal the win.

Afterwards, Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo said there was little more his team could have done.

"It was a very, very close game. Both teams played really hard the whole time. Turkey did better things in the last four or five minutes. We had big problems with our opponents getting offensive rebounds. We were playing good defense. We will keep going and we just have to focus on the next game," he said.

And Scariolo was happy with the choice his team made for the play that could have won them the game.

"We saw that Turkey put in four big men and we had quite a good penetrator in Sergio Llull. He beat his man and had a clear advantage. I don't know if it was a foul at the end."

Turkey were up 36-34 at the break but fell behind early in the third quarter as Spain used a 9-3 run to jump in front 43-37.

Juan Carlos Navarro scored his first five points of the game and the Gasol brothers combined well, Marc feeding Pau for an easy two before Rudy Fernandez came off a screen for a sweeping lay-up with 6:54 left in the period.

Turkey responded right away, running off 10 unanswered points with Ilysova accounting for six of them courtesy of a three-pointer and three free-throws and a 49-43 advantage.

The Spaniards were struggling, turning the ball over and committing questionable fouls. They were scoreless for more than 5:40, with Reyes's short jumper the first points since Fernandez's lay-up.

Jorge Garbajosa hit a corner three late in the third quarter to get Spain within one, 49-48, heading into the final frame.

Turkey were up by five, 55-50 after Engin Atsur hit a wide-open three-pointer from the wing and Erden hit a hook shot over Pau Gasol with 6:40 left to play.

Rudy Fernandez hit a corner three and Pau Gasol scored the next three points to edge Spain back in front, 56-55 but Ilyasova made a lay-up and Erden again scored for a 59-56 lead with under three minutes remaining.

Pau Gasol made a pair of free-throws before Ender Arslan slid between the Spanish defense for a lay-up and a 61-58 advantage with 1:52 left to play.

Spain were lucky to get within one as Ricky Rubio turned the ball over but Turkey returned the favour and Navarro made a lay-up with a minute to go.

In the first quarter, a rare Rubio three-pointer broke a 4-4 deadlock and Spain soon led 14-8 thanks to five quick points by Fernandez.

But Turkey came right back and, with Omer Asik proving too much for the Spaniards to handle down low, they edged in front 18-16 on his free-throw with about two minutes left in the period.

Fernandez accounted for the last two baskets of the period as the world champions led 22-20 heading into the second quarter.

Marc Gasol scored five quick points as Spain took their biggest lead of the first half, 27-20. In response, Turkey again turned to Asik, who got them back within one, 27-26.

Asik was playing so well, he was getting points even without scoring himself. After being fouled and missing both free-throws, he was accredited with two points when Pau Gasol miss-timed his jump and knocked the second foul shot into the basket for a 31-30 score in Spain's favour.

Kerem Tunceri hit a contested three-pointer over Ricky Rubio to edge Bogdan Tanjevic's side back in front 33-31.

Felipe Reyes banked a shot to put Spain in front but Ilyasova gave the Turks a 36-34 lead at the break when he buried a long bomb of his own just before the half-time buzzer sounded.

Serbia/Poland

Game Summary

Turning Point: With Poland trailing 64-62 with 5:24 to go, Serbia outscored their opponents 13-10 en route to victory.

Hero: Nenad Krstic poured in a game-high 18 points, pulled down eight rebounds and blocked two shots to pace the Serbians.

Key Stats: Serbia out-rebounded Poland 38-34.

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Serbia opened up a 16-point lead but then had to hold on for dear life and prevailed 77-72 over tournament hosts Poland in the second game of Saturday's Qualifying Round Group F in Lodz.

Lucasz Koszarek came off the bench to give Poland a lift with 16 points.

Duzan Ivkovic's Blues went on top 56-40 midway through the third quarter but never-say-die Poland cut the deficit to 64-62 with 5:24 to go with a spirited effort from their bench.

Inspired by the excellent Lukasz Koszarek, Poland cut the gap to just two points and then had a chance to go on top but Koszarek missed from long range and Serbia rebounded.

The team from the Balkans then steadied the ship with four straight points on a pair of free-throws by Milenko Tepic and a dunk by Nenad Krstic.

Poland stayed within striking distance but Serbia held on for their third win at the EuroBasket.

The win improved Serbia to 2-1 in Group F and dropped the Poles to their second consecutive setback following their 87-69 loss to Turkey in the previous round.

"This is big win for us," said Serbia's Uros Tripkovic, who finished with 12 points.

"We played in a full arena, we played in a visiting court and we won so that shows the character of our team. It was an important win for us in this group.

"We didn't panic when they fought back. We just stayed focused on what we had to do and it was the right way to think."

Krstic was immense.

He poured in a game-high 18 points, pulled down eight rebounds and swatted two shots to pace the Serbians.
Milos Teodosic contributed 13 points, including seven in the final quarter.

Marcin Gortat and Koszarek had 16 points apiece for Poland.

More than 10,000 fans roared from start to finish at the Lodz Arena.

"I think that for a young team, that is not so experience, this game was a very big task," said Ivkovic.

"There was a lot of support for the Polish team.I think we controlled the game very well, and I think our defense was at a high level."

The Serbs limited Poland center Macej Lampe, who had gone into the contest as the third top scorer in the tournament with 17.7 points per game, to just two points in 20 minutes on the court while David Logan had just four at the break before finishing with 10.

"Our defense on Lampe and Logan was great," said Ivkovic.

Serbia led 43-36 at half-time, with Poland's Michal Ignerski leading all scorers with 13 points.

Gortat scored two consecutive baskets to cut the deficit 43-40 early in the third quarter but Ivkovic's side replied with an 13-0 run, with Krstic scoring six points in that surge.

Poland scored nine unanswered points as part of a 22-8 run over the next 10 minutes to cut the deficit 64-62 but that was as close as Muli Katzurin's side got.

"I think we didn't play like a team as we needed to," said Katzurin. "I expected us to play better, especially on defense.

"That didn't happen.

"We made unnecessary turnovers and that led to points."

Serbia out-rebounded Poland 38-34.

Slovenia/Lithuania

Game Summary

Turning point: Jaka Lakovic hit his fifth and sixth three-pointers early in the third quarter to make it 51-28 and put the game well and truly beyond Lithuania's reach.

Hero: Who else but Lakovic. He connected on his first four attempts from beyond the arc and had his game-high 24 points through three quarters of play.

Stats: While Slovenia had the hot hand, Lithuania struggled mightily, hitting just 38 percent of their shots (21 of 58 including six of 22 from three-point range).

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Slovenia eased their way past Lithuania 81-58 in Group F of the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round in Lodz.

Jaka Lakovic erupted for a game-high 24 points as Jure Zdovc's side improved to 2-1 while the Lithuanians dropped to 0-3 and must now beat both Spain and Serbia in their remaining games to stand a chance of reaching the last eight.

Slovenia Fans were vastly outnumbered by their Lithuanian counterparts, but they left the arena in a much better mood.

Lakovic had the hot hand on the night, connecting on six of nine three-point attempts and had his total tally all wrapped up by the end of the third quarter, to help his team go up 62-39 heading into the final frame.

"We always do a very good job of passing the ball around and trying to find the open man or the one who has a good rhythm. I guess it was me today," he said afterwards.

Slovenia will also be encouraged by the performance of Uros Slokar, playing his first significant amount of minutes in the tournament after recovering from injuries. The center finished with 11 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes of play, allowing for Primoz Brezec to get some rest.

Up 43-26 at the break, Slovenia quickly got their lead to over 20 points early in the third quarter as Lakovic knocked down two three-pointers and Slokar scored down low in an 8-2 run for a 51-28 advantage.

The points also came in some style at times. Midway through the third period, Erazem Lorbek stole the ball near midcourt and found a streaking Goran Dragic who made a behind the back pass to Lakovic for a lay-up.

Lithuania got within 15, 71-55, on Mantas Kalnietis' basket with 6:15 left to play but Domen Lorbek then hit another three-pointer for Slovenia and they pushed the lead north of 20 for the final score.

Slovenia were the quickest out of the gates as Lakovic hit two three-pointers to put Slovenia up 12-8 early on.

Linas Kleiza then scored five straight points to edge Lithuania in front 13-12 before Slovenia finished the first period on a 15-6 run for their first double-digit lead of the night, 28-18, after Bostjan Nachbar buried a corner three-pointer in the closing seconds of the period.

After hitting their first five three-point attempts, Slovenia cooled off from long range but were scoring from inside the arc as Erazem Lorbek and Uros Slokar got some lay-ups for a 43-26 half-time lead.

Lakovic had 16 points by the break, hitting his first four three-point attempts and making good on all four of his free-throws.

Lithuania struggled mightily at both ends of the court and head coach Ramunas Butautas acknowledged as much afterwards.

"This is our worst performance in this tournament," he said after watching his team shoot just 36 percent (21 of 58) and turn the ball over 14 times.

"We were as bad on offense as on defense. I won't make my players the guilty ones. We hope we can do better in our last two games and make the most of our chances to still qualify for the quarter-finals."

"We played very badly. We all tried a lot of different things but none of them worked," conceded Lithuanian center Robert Javtokas.

EuroBasket Update

The European basketball Championship has reach the Final 12 Group Stage with France, Greece and Turkey looking strong in the early stages.

Group E consists of:
Greece, who powered through the group, Croatia and F.Y.R. of Macedonia from qualifying Group A. The three are paired with France, Russia and Germany from Group B.

Group F consists of:
Slovenia, Serbia and Spain from the hard fought qualifying Group C. They are joined by Turkey, hosts Poland and Lithuania from Group D.

In action from 11 September 2009, Russia slipped by Croatia by a 62-59 count, Greece held off Germany 86-74 and France spanked FYR-Macedonia 83-57.

Here are the game reports from: http://www.eurobasket2009.org

Russia/Croatia:

Turning Point: After Nikola Vujcic made just one of two foul shots with 14 seconds left, Fridzon two free throws with 13.0 seconds left for a three-point lead 59-56. He made two more with 1.5 seconds left but had to watch Davor Kus's desperation three go just off target.

Hero: Fridzon held the nerves down the stretch.

Stats: Russia shot 65 percent from two-point range while making 20 of 30 free throws.

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Vitalii Fridzon made four free throws in the final 13 seconds as reigning champions Russia remained in the hunt for the EuroBasket 2009 quarter-finals with a 62-59 victory over Croatia.

Russia used a full team effort to improve to 1-2 in the Qualifying Round with five players scoring at least eight points, led by Timofey Mozgov's 18 points and eight rebounds.

Russia as a team shot 65 percent from two-point range to make up for their struggles from long range (4 of 19 - 21 percent).

"Obviously this was a defensive game and we were just a little better defending the post than they were," said Russia coach David Blatt.

"They are a better team than we are but we were a little bit better today."

Blatt's men have struggled on offense, which is the reason the coach said his team shot 20 of 30 foul shots compared to 10 of 14 for Croatia.

"We're having trouble throwing the ball in the ocean now. So, we're trying to pass inside a little bit more. We figure the closer we get to the basket the better," said the coach.

"We played tough today and wanted to win this game very much, because we knew that if we lose today then our chances to make it to the next round are very small. Everybody played great defense. It was very important for us to show that we can beat a team like Croatia," said Sergey Monya.

Croatia shot just 34 percent for the game and could not take advantage of grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.

"We missed some easy lay-ups and made turnovers we shouldn't have, and it made it very difficult to cover for that," said Croatian big man Nikola Vujcic, who made just 1 of 10 from the field.

"Russia played good defense, very tough and every play was difficult to execute. We spent a lot of energy on defense, because Russia is a very strong and athletic team, and maybe that hurt us on the other side of the court."

"If you score 59 points it's very difficult to win against any opponent," added coach Repesa.

Mario Kasun led the way for Croatia with 13 points while Zoran Planinic had 12 points and Marko Banic added 11 points.

Croatia started the game cold, making just three of their first 13 shots while Mozgov scored seven points and Fridzon drained a three-pointer to give Russia an 11-7 lead.

But Repesa's men hit their next three field goal attempts and two foul shots to jump ahead 16-14 and it was 16-16 after one period.

Croatia were in front 21-20 but then tallied just one basket - Kasun's offensive rebound put-back - over a six-minute stretch in watching Mozgov continue his fine game in helping Russia grab a 28-23 advantage.

It was 28-26 at intermission after Planinic's three-pointer late in the half.

Croatia had another dry spell in the third quarter - this time for three minutes - and Russia pushed ahead 36-30. The cushion was 40-34 after Mozgov's alley-oop dunk.

But Blatt looked on in anguish as his offense committed three shot clock violation turnovers in four possessions and Roko-Leni Ukic and Kasun combined for eight straight points in pushing the Croats ahead 42-40.

It was 42-42 going into the fourth quarter.

The game remained tight in the final period with two lead changes before Planinic's triple knotted the game again at 51-51 and his layup tied it at 55-55 with a minute to play.

With 22 seconds left, Mozgov missed two free throws which could have upped the margin to 59-55 and then Vujcic made just one of two with 14.1 seconds remaining for 57-56.

Fridzon made two free throws and then Anton Ponkrashov made one of two and Russia led 60-54 with 5.4 seconds left. After Marko Popovic hit a three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left, Fridzon made two foul shots with 1.5 seconds to play. And Davor Kus's desperation three was just off target at the buzzer.

Quotes Russia vs. Croatia Mario Stojic (Croatia): "It was very defensive game. Our two-point percentage was too low. Mozgov had a great game." Nikita Kurbanov (Russia): "Everybody saw that the game was very tough. We are pleased and satisfied we made it." Jasmin Repesa (Croatia): "They deserve this win 100%. When you score 59 points it's difficult to win a game against any opponent. France will be a tough opponent for us. They are an odds-on favorite of the whole tournament." David Blatt (Russia): "We made it. They're a great team, but today we were a little better. We lost two games in the first round. We missed then a lot of shots. Today we executed much better. This team doesn't have big names but the group never quits." Greece/Germany: Turning point: Up by only six, 74-68, with three minutes to play it was time for Greece to step up, and their two best players of the night delivered. After Sofoklis Schortsanitis scored another power move and got a bonus from the line, he missed his shot but saw his team grab the ball. Vasilis Spanoulis finished that play with an off the dribble three-pointer and in 16 seconds made a close six point game into an 11 point difference. Hero: Vasilis Spanoulis is a silent killer. He finished the game with 20 points on 66% shooting from the field, seven assists and four rebounds but from the outside it seemed like he was nothing more than OK game. The fact he also nailed the three pointer to decide the game, is a cherry on the cream, but one that makes a big difference. Stats: 15 turnovers by Germany, compared to only ten by Greece, were enough to keep the win on the Greek side. Whenever Germany came close, and that happened several times especially in the last quarter, the Greek defense stepped up and forced another turnover to create easy points at the other end and stay on top. ------------------------------------------ Greece booked their place in Katowice with a hard fought 84-76 victory over Germany on the first day of Qualifying Round action in Bydgosszcz. The win lifts Greece to a 3-0 record in the group, while Germany fell to 1-2. The young fighters of Coach Dirk Bauermann of Germany deserve all the credits for a hard-nosed fight throughout the entire game. The last lead for Germany was early in the game in the fourth minute, but for the other 36 minutes Greece never managed to surrender the German spirit and team play. The largest margin was 13, early in the last quarter, yet 20-year-old Robin Benzing with 12 fourth quarter points showed why he was the top scorer of the U20 European Championship earlier this summer, and proved he can execute also against some of the best defenders in EuroBasket 2009. Vasilis Spanoulis scored 20 points on 66% shooting including the three-pointer that secured the Greek win, in addition to seven assists and four rebounds. Sofoklis Schortsanitis added 14 points while Antonios Fotsis and Nikos Zisis added 12 each. Heiko Schaffartzik led the losing side with 23 points, 15 of them in the second half, and Benzing added 16. "We played very well and we could have won the game, but at the end they kept making shots and always had answers for what we did," commented Schaffartzik in the press conference, words that were backed by the other side as well. "Germany played a great game and gave us a lot of problems," confessed Coach Jonas Kazlauskas. "The inside game was very difficult for both sides, and it shows they were very ready for this game. "They controlled the tempo, which made it very difficult for us to play them," he summarized. Once again the first bucket of Greece came from a post up move of Bouroursis, but Femerling answered right away on the other end. Nikos Zisis drew three early fouls from Steffan Hamann after just four minutes, but Germany continued to be in foul trouble, and reached no less than 13 personal fouls after one quarter. "We executed our game plan very well, as we wanted to play as smart and aggressive as Greece does," revealed Coach Bauermann. "Maybe we were too aggressive in the first minutes, and it cost us with a lot of quick fouls that allowed Greece to open a gap, and when you allow Greece to take such lead, it's very difficult to come back. "I think starting too aggressive was the only major mistake we made today." Three point and second chance shots kept the players of Coach Bauermann in the game, but Spanoulis and Schortsanitis scored the last nine points for their team in the quarter to make it 25-19 after ten minutes. Jagla missed open shots from distance and the Greek defense started to create casualties with back to back German turnovers to set the difference on 29-19 after 13 minutes. The young Tibor Pleis added four points before the break and good presence in the paint, and with a huge offensive rebound of Harris carried Germany back into the game, 35-31. Greece answered with back-to-back three-pointers by Perperoglou and Zisis and the teams entered the break divided by eight, 41-33. "In the start of the third quarter for no reason our defense relaxed," shared Zisis. 'We let them score some easy baskets on pick-and-roll and one-on-one situations, and that allowed them to come back into the game." The German bigs added points from inside (Femerling) and on the arc (Sven Schultze) to cut the margin to only four, 49-45 after five minutes in the second half, but things were still under control for Greece. Georgios Printezis and points in the paint by Kostas Koufos and Schortsanitis set the margin on its highest shelf again at 12, 57-45, and after the massive Schortsanitis added a monster dunk it was time for Germany to call for a time out, before things got out of hand, deep in the third. Benzing hit a nice jumper, added two from the line and now it was time for Coach Kazlauskas to ask for a time out, up by only seven, 66-59 with the same amount of minutes on the clock. Benzing was on fire and after a big three pointer finished with great footwork to cut the difference to only four, 70-66, but that was as close as Germany ever came. Up by six Schortsanitis completed another power move, and earned a bonus from the line. He missed the shot, but Greece were first on the rebound, enough for Spanoulis to convert a three pointer and set the margin on 11 with 2:21 to play. Benzing still cut on the lead, but it was already too late for his team. "It was a really good game for both teams," said Benzing to the press. "In the end we made some stupid mistakes that cost us the game. "They just hit their shots in the right time and that's why they won the game," he concluded. On Sunday Greece will play Russia while Germany will try to grab a win against F.Y.R. of Macedonia. France/FYR-Macedonia: Turning point: The opening tip - France started the game on a 17-3 run, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Hero: The French bench. Vincent Collet's reserves tallied 39 points with De Colo leading the way with 14 points while Ali Traore had 13. Stats: France shot 61 percent for the game and held F.Y.R.O.M. to just 35 percent. ------------------------------------------------------ France booked their spot in the quarter-finals with an overwhelming 83-57 victory over the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia to remain perfect at EuroBasket 2009. Florent Pietrus and Nando de Colo led five scorers in double figures for Vincent Collet's team with 14 points each while Tony Parker, Ali Traore and Nicolas Batum all added 13 points. The French improved to 3-0 in the Qualifying Round Group E and join Greece into the final eight, which start on 17 September in Katowice. "We started very strong. We wanted to put a lot of pressure on (F.Y.R.O.M.). We watched their other games and saw that if they could develop their game that they could shoot, including their big men. And we didn't want them to have their position. And that helped us early. And the game was over at half-time," said Collet, whose team used a 17-3 run to start the game and never looked back. "We started the game well, just like the coach asked us too. We knew that we had to start well. Even though they were considered the weakest team in the group, there was no reason to let up," said de Colo. F.Y.R. of Macedonia slumped to 0-3 in the group despite nine points each from Jeremiah Massey and Darko Sokolov while Predrag Samardziski had seven points and eight rebounds for Jovica Arsic's team, whose team shot just 35 percent for the game. "They played much better than my team. We didn't play defense like we should have. They scored almost 50 points (48 points) in our point. And that is unacceptable," said Arsic. Riste Stefanov nailed a three-pointer about two minutes into the game as Arsic's men took their only lead of the game at 3-2. Pietrus and Batum led a 15-0 charge which eventually saw the French lead 24-9 after one period. Parker scored the first seven points of the second quarter for France, who opened the period with a 14-0 surge for a 38-9 advantage. Todor Gechevski finally got F.Y.R.O.M. on the scoring board with four minutes left in the second quarter and Arsic's underdogs trailed 49-18 at intermission. Pietrus's triple to start the second half pushed the gap to 34 points and Collet's team would not allow their opponents any closer than 28 points in the period and led 67-35 after three quarters. The French's final reserves came on in the fourth and watched F.Y.R.O.M. go on a 9-3 run to cut the deficit to 70-44. But France scored the next seven points and the gap did not go lower than 26 points the rest of the way. Today will see Turkey square off against Spain, Poland face Serbia and Lithuania battle Slovenia. I will update all of the action in my next post.