And the EuroBasket 2009 winner is...Spain!!

Spain ran away from Serbia 85-63 to claim the 2009 EuroBasket crown. the win completed a mid tournament reversal of fortunes for the Spanish squad after early tourney jitters and poor play. Greece edged Slovenia 57-56 for third place while France topped Croatia 69-62 for fith placing and Russia slammed Turkey 89-66 for seventh. Here are the final day match reports from Poland via http://www.eurobasket2009.org.

Seventh Place Game:

Russia Rebound to End On High Note

Game Summary

Turning Point: After Russia used eight three-pointers to open a 14-point mid-second quarter gap, Fridzon drained two more and three foul shots in a 12-2 third quarter spurt as Russia surged ahead 63-47. Turkey did not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Hero: Fridzon hit one big shot after another the entire game and gave his teammates confidence in their shooting as well.

Stats: Russia made 16 of 24 three-pointers in the game.

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Russia rebounded from their disappointing loss in the final qualifier for the 2010 FIBA World Championship to knock off Turkey 89-66 to claim seventh place at EuroBasket 2009.

Vitalii Fridzon buried seven three-pointers in scoring 26 points and leading five Russians in double figures in Russia's final game as 2007 reigning champions.

Anton Ponkrashov had 16 points, nine assists and four rebounds. Aleksey Zozulin also each had 16 points, Nikita Kurbanov added 13 while Sergey Monya chipped in 11 points in helping Russia shoot 16 of 24 from long range.

"This was a great finish. That was the Turkish national team. We beat them bad. And that's a good team. They came to win. They didn't want to lose. We played a great game. We got a great performance from just about everybody," said Blatt, whose team must now hope for a wild card to play next summer in Turkey.

"I felt this was an excellent performance, a very respectful showing and something to look forward to for the national team. That is what I had hoped."

Turkey finished eighth with four straight losses to close the tournament despite 24 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks by Omer Asik. Semich Erden added nine points in a losing effort.

"We finished our competition in eighth place. We fought, we were ready to go. We played the first five games very well, but losing the other games was very hard," said Turkish coach Bogdan Tanjevic.

"We lost ambition to play down the stretch. We finished under the level we wanted to. But overall I am satisfied with the performance of this team."

Asik scored four points in helping Turkey jump out ahead 9-0 in the first three minutes. But Russia used the long ball to get back into the game and build a lead.

Zozulin and Fridzon both nailed two three-pointers in the middle of a 23-7 run for a 23-16 lead. And Zozulin's three-point heave from about 30 feet went in at the buzzer for a 26-18 advantage after one quarter.

The Russian barrage continued in the second half with Zozulin and Fridzon both hitting again and Anton Ponkrashov joining the party with a triple to make it 37-23.

Engin Atsur hit a long ball of his own to bring Turkey back into the game and Asik scored eight points the rest of the quarter as the Turks closed within 51-40 at the break.

Turkey scored the first five points out of the locker room but Fridzon sandwiched triples around a Sergey Monya three-ball and then made three foul shots to extend the lead to 16 points, 63-47.

Turkey answered with the next eight points but still trailed 68-59 after three periods.

Asik refused to let Turkey go down without a fight scoring six points in the fourth quarter. But the Russians were just too motivated and too hot from long range with Fridzon nailing two more treys in the fourth quarter. And the lead swelled to 23 points.

20 September 2009 Quotes Turkey vs. Russia David Blatt (Russia Coach): "We came here as a champions, but we didn't come here with the same team. Only three players were here comparing to last year's Olympic Games and all were non-starters there. That's why I called Kelly McCarty and asked him for a personal favor. He agreed to help us and he led a young and inexperienced team to an excellent performance." Kelly McCarty (Russia): "We wanted to continue a good performance from yesterday's match and to finish strong this tournament. Coach prepared us really well for this game and every player stepped in today and contributed. We won and for me playing here for Russian national team was a great experience." Bogdan Tanjevic (Turkey Coach): "So we finished this tournament in eighth place. I thought we were ready to take one of the medals, but when we lost to Greece in the Quarte-Finals after overtime, we lost ambition to continue. We also had an injury problem. At the end I can't be happy with the final result, but I'm generally satisfied with the performance of our team." Baris Hersek (Turkey): "I want to thank the hosts for a good work with the organization of this championship. We started this tournament really good, but it stopped after the Quarter-Final game. Hopefully next year, with the support of our fans, we will finish in a medal position."

Fifth Place Game:

France Finish Fifth

Game Summary

Turning point: With under three minutes left to play, Yannick Bokolo drove baseline and fed a cutting Nicolas Batum for a double-pump dunk and a 65-56 lead. Special mention for Diot's banked halfcourt three-pointer that beat the second quarter buzzer and gave France a 34-24 advantage at the break.

Hero: Antoine Diot and Nando de Colo, With Vincent Collet resting key players such as Tony Parker, Florent Pietrus and Ronny Turiaf, the young guns stepped up and finished with 18 and 15 points respectively.

Stats: France hit nine of 18 three-points attempts. Diot was four of seven from beyond the arc.

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France held off Croatia for a 69-62 win to take fifth place at EuroBasket 2009 in Katowice on Sunday.

Antoine Diot scored 18 points and Nando de Colo added 15 as the French used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to break a 9-9 score and they did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

Davor Kus had 18 points for Croatia, who made several runs but could never edge in front as France made key baskets to put an end to their spurts.

Both teams had already secured their places in next year's World Championship in Turkey on Saturday with Vincent Collet's men beating Turkey while Jasmin Repesa's side outlasted Russia.

Therefore, both coaches used this game as a chance to rest some key players and let others showcase their skills.

Tony Parker, Boris Diaw (sprained ankle) and Florent Pietrus did not play for France, while Roko-Leni Ukic (groin injury), Zoran Planinic and Mario Stojic sat out for Croatia.

Marin Rozic buried a three-pointer to tie the game at 9 before de Colo - who had 12 points in the opening quarter - and Diot combined for nine unanswered points.

Marko Popovic ended the spurt with a short jumper and Rozic made a free-throw to cut the deficit to 18-12, but De Colo converted a three-point play in the closing seconds of the period for a 21-12 advantage.

Croatia came back in the second period, using an 8-0 run to get within 23-22 on Sandro Nicevic's basket with 3:44 to go before the break.

Diot then hit a three-pointer to end a scoreless drought of almost four minutes for France but the Croats stayed close after Mario Kasun made two free-throws for 25-24.

Les Bleus pulled away once more as they accounted for the last nine points of the first half. Some good ball movement led to an Ian Mahinmi dunk before Batum hit a pair of foul shots.

Diot then closed out the second quarter in style, burying a wing three-pointer and then banking a halfcourt shot that beat the half-time buzzer to give France their first double-digit lead, 34-24.

Collet's side extended their lead to 41-27, when Diot hit his fourth long bomb midway through the third quarter. They had their biggest lead of the game, 46-31, when De Colo buried a long bomb from the corner, but Croatia scored the last 10 points of the period to cut the deficit to 46-41 on Kus' three-pointer in the closing seconds.

The Croats made it 14 unanswered points when Banic and Kus scored the first four points of the final quarter to get within one, 46-45. France responded by scoring nine of the next 12 points courtesy of Ali Traore, Yannick Bokolo and Nicolas Batum.

Repesa's men did not relent and closed within 60-56 when Kresimir Loncar converted a three-point play with just under four minutes remaining.

Once again though, France answered right back as Batum connected from beyond the arc. Bokolo then drove baseline and fed the cutting Portland Trailblazers swingman for a double-pump dunk and a 65-56 lead and that pretty much wrapped up the win for Les Bleus.

20 September 2009 Quotes France vs. Croatia Jasmin Repesa (Croatia Coach): "It was a hard game for us, because it followed two very important matches we had - against Slovenia in the Quarter-Finals and yesterday against Russia, when we won and qualified for World Championship. I had less players available today, so our rotation was shorter than usual and it's difficult to play like this against such an athletic team as France." Roko-Leni Ukic (Croatia): "It was a hard match, mostly because this game had no importance. Some teammates today got more minutes than usual because of a shorter rotation. Before tournament started we definitely expected more, but we made progress and advanced to World Championship for next year. It was a very tough championship, because teams were very equal. We had our chance to do more in the Quarte-Final game, but we didn't take it." Vincent Collet (France Coach): "We played today without Boris Diaw and Tony Parker, and Ronny Turiaf played for only nine minutes. But other players did their best, worked hard and once again showed the spirit of our team. We gave our best here, but unfortunately we had to play against Spain in the Quarter-Finals. We also didn't play well that game. We have to keep working hard and try to improve our game, especially offensively." Ian Mahinmi (France): "It feels great to finish this campaign with a win. We had a great chemistry on the team here. For me playing here was something new, it's a different game, different referees and you just have to try and adjust to it."

Bronze Medal Game:

Greece Capture Bronze

Game Summary

Turning point: It wasn't the best night for Nikos Zisis, who got in early foul trouble, but the winning plays came from his hands. Up by two with less than a minute to play he missed a jumper that could have given Slovenia the upper hand, but quickly recovered with an offensive board, and later on the play kicked out a pass to Antonios Fotsis who scored a three ball to set the margin on five, with 31 seconds on the game clock. Enough for a Bronze Medal.

Hero: Schortsanitis came off the bench early after Ioannis Bouroursis got in early foul trouble, and from the minute he stepped on court he was the dominating force under the boards. He scored 23 points and drew 12 fouls to carry his team to the podium.

Stats: After several good shooting nights Slovenia lost their accuracy tonight. They hit only 30% of their field goals and wrote a tournament low of 56 points.

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60 years after winning their first, and last, bronze medal the Greek team will take the podium tonight in the third position after edging Slovenia 57-56 in the bronze medal game on Sunday in Katowice.

This is the second time Greece will go home with a medal in the last four years after winning the gold at EuroBasket 2005.

Nick Calathes saw significant minutes for Greece, with a team-high three assists in 22 minutes.

Slovenia came close to capturing a historical moment and winning their first ever EuroBasket medal, but will have to settle for the fourth and respect will have to do in place of a medal.

"For us it's an amazing result," said the Greek guard Nikos Zisis.

"When we came here nobody gave us a chance to win a medal, so I'm very happy to go back home with the bronze."

Zisis got in early foul trouble, and wasn't at his best, but did get a chance to take part in the winning plays.

His offensive rebound, following a big kick out pass to Antonios Fotsis made the difference between a possible Slovenian lead, and a five point margin in favor of Greece with 31 seconds in the game.

Greece led throughout the last three quarters, but Slovenia never allowed them to get too far ahead.

Jaka Lakovic, in a big fourth quarter, brought his team within touching distance, but never more.

He scored a team high of 16 points, 13 of them coming in the last quarter.

Vasilis Spanoulis had his worst shooting night in the tournament with only three points and one made shot in 11 attempts, but kept leading his team even when things didn't work out.

After Spanoulis missed twice from the free throw line, it was Bostjan Nachbar who missed a desperate three-point attempt with the buzzer to spark the Greek celebration.

Both teams carried fatigue from the enormous effort they have put in the last few days, and it showed in the shooting percentage.

After several good shooting nights it was time for Slovenia to slow down as they settled for only 30% from the field.

Erazem Lorbek was struggling as well with 12 points on 28% from the field.

One of the main reasons was Sofoklis Schortsanitis who was everywhere on court today with 23 points, on 78% accuracy, six rebounds, two blocks and 12 drawn fouls.

"I've been working very hard," said the big Greek, "but the most important thing is that this is a great moment for a national team.

"To win a medal against the odds is a fantastic feeling."

Schortsanitis was the only Greek player to reach double-digits.

"I am very proud of my players," said Coach Jonas Kazlauskas.

"In this short time we did a great job with a new team that had only three players with experience at such a level."

Jaka Lakovic led Slovenia in scoring with 16 points.

Greece scored the first five points in the game but saw Ioannis Bourousis grab two quick fouls and take a seat on the bench, which hurt them down the road.

Nachbar hit twice in a row from distance, to even things out, but went silent after that only to feel a new power rising in Greece.

Schortsanitis, who took over for Bourousis, scored eight points without a miss in the first period, but Slovenia wasn't far behind with a 16-13 deficit after ten minutes.

Greece used the softness of Slovenia around the rim to score seven in a row and write a ten point lead, but a big drive by Uros Slokar, finished with a big dunk, stopped the run and put things in perspective again.

Zisis and Uros Slokar got in foul trouble with three each, before Erazem Lorbek led a small 5-0 run, to cut the margin to five and finish the break behind 31-24.

Greece continued to score inside and keep Slovenia far from the rim.

Today the three-pointers didn't fall in for Slovenia, until Lakovic fired his first and added a steal, followed by another arc bucket by Slokar to make it just a 38-33 game after 28 minutes.

Spanoulis didn't find his rhythm but Schortsanitis was there first with a big block on Lorbek and then on the offensive glass to connect two and calm things down for Greece.

Three turnovers in a row by Greece gave Slovenia a chance to finally tie or take the lead but missed shots and turnovers put a hold on that thought.

Schortsanitis was a dominant force on both ends and with a power move pushed the margin to five, 51-46 inside the last three minutes of the game, only to see Bourousis take his spot for the last two minutes of the game.

Lakovic scored from the perimeter to lift the thousand Slovenian fans to the dome with 2:03 to play, but that didn't last for long.

After missing a defensive board, Slovenia saw Fotsis score a catch-and-shoot three ball with 31 ticks on the clock, and make it a five point difference again.

It seemed like a done deal, but Lakovic had other plans. He scored a quick two from the line and added a big three to cut the margin to one, 57-56 to leave his team some hope for the last nine seconds, but that was the end of the dream.

20 September 2009 Quotes Greece vs. Slovenia Jonas Kazlauskas (Greece Coach): "I am very proud of my players, they did great in the short time we had. I had only three players here with experience at this level, but they still did a great job winning a bronze medal. Today's game wasn't maybe very nice for the fans, but it was a match where the result was the most important thing." Antonios Fotsis (Greece): "It was a very hard game. We usually struggle in this kind of game, because of the disappointment of being eliminated in the Semi-Finals. But this time the team was very focused in winning a bronze medal, and we got the result we wanted." Jure Zdovc (Slovenia Coach): "I want to congratulate Greece for their win. I also want to congratulate my players, because they found the energy after a very tough game last night. It was a great 14 days and we can be proud of our performance. With Dragic and Smodis we would be on a different level, but we'll have to wait and see, who will be available for us next summer." Uros Slokar (Slovenia): "Despite our injuries we went into the game against Greece brave and tough. Unfortunately we did not make it to the third spot and did not win any medal, but we must not forget that we made a step forward in comparison to the previous championship. I would like to say thank you to all our fans who supported us here. We could not have made it this far without you."

Gold Medal Game report:

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

Game Summary

Turning point: Spain had a 15-point first quarter lead and it was 24 points late in the first half before Serbia went on a 15-6 run in the third quarter to trim the margin to 58-44. But Spain answered with a 9-0 surge to re-establish domination of the contest.

Hero: Pau Gasol was unstoppable inside for the Spaniards as he out-rebounded Serbia by himself 8-7 in the first half. The star center dominated the paint at both ends.

Stats: Spain out-rebounded Serbia 44-23, including 18 offensive rebounds, while committing just nine turnovers and holding Serbia to 6 of 19 from long range.

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Spain tore apart Serbia 85-63 to capture their first-ever EuroBasket gold medal in Katowice, Poland on Sunday night.

World champions in 2006, silver-medal winners at EuroBasket 2007 in Madrid and runners-up to Team USA at last year's Olympics, the Spanish underlined their status as the dominant side on the continent.

On Sunday Juan Carlos Navarro finally got to hoist the EuroBasket trophy.

They will travel to Turkey next year for the FIBA World Championship as one of the gold-medal favorites.

Pau Gasol, who won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in June, finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds and also blocked three shots - all game-highs.

"This is an amazing feeling," said the seven-footer, who was voted MVP of the EuroBasket.

"It's been an unbelievable year for me - first the NBA title and now a gold medal at the EuroBasket, something that we had never achieved before.

"We have played great and we truly deserve to enjoy this."

Serbia had won the first meeting between the two sides, 66-57, on opening night in Warsaw and they were sky high after edging Slovenia in overtime to reach the final.

Their coach, Dusan Ivkovic, had led the former Yugoslavia to three gold medals in as many finals.

But Spain entered the contest red hot, riding a four-game winning streak and they delivered a first-half knockout with a couple of decisive scoring surges.

With the game knotted at 5-5, Ricky Rubio buried a three-pointer right in front of the Spanish bench to ignite a 15-2 run.

Six different players contributed points in that scoring burst.

Serbia dug in their heels and fought back, twice reducing the deficit to eight points.

A Novica Velickovic jump shot closed the gap to 24-16 at the start of the second quarter and, after Marc Gasol tapped in Felipe Reyes' miss for Spain, Ivan Paunic and Velickovic each split a pair of free-throws to make it 26-18.

However, that proved to be as close as Ivkovic's team would get.

Led by Gasol, Spain blew the game wide open.

Spain answered with an electrifying 9-0 spurt that began when Raul Lopez penetrated into the lane and lofted an alley-oop pass that Pau Gasol grabbed with both hands to dunk.

After Rudy Fernandez made a pair of free-throws, he scored on a fast break and Reyes also scored in transition for a 34-18 lead.

Following two Uros Tripkovic free-throws, Spain grabbed a stranglehold on the game. Gasol, who missed two foul shots, made amends quickly when catching an alley-oop pass from Navarro and dunking again.

Rubio went to the charity stripe and made both attempts before Gasol scored down low for a commanding 40-20 advantage.

The final blow in the first half came after a Milos Teodosic three-pointer for Serbia with six seconds remaining.

Jorge Garbajosa quickly grabbed the ball and hurled a pass up the floor to a streaking Gasol who laid the ball in

Milos Teodosic struggled, scoring only five points, but was named to the All-Tournament team.

right before the buzzer for a 52-29 lead.

Serbia closed the gap to 58-44 with 3:22 to go in the third quarter, but Rudy Fernandez had two baskets on fastbreaks to spark a 9-0 run and take a 67-44 advantage heading into the final frame.

Kosta Perovic cut the deficit to 21 but Carlos Cabezas answered with a three-pointer and Serbia got no closer than 22 points the rest of the way. Spain's lead grew to 29 midway through the period.

Serbia did not win the gold medal yet they went much further than anyone expected and the disappointment was quickly forgotten.

"It was important for us to bring respectability back to Serbian basketball after what happened two years ago. We did that at this tournament," said Perovic.

Milenko Tepic predicted a bright future for this young Serbian team.

"Today was a tough game for us. We were still tired from last night's win over Slovenia. But the future is bright for us. We were the youngest team here and that means we will have a lot of time in years to come."

Pau's younger brother Marc thought Spain's success was that much sweeter as they had their share of troubles in the tournament.

"We struggled in this tournament, but that makes the gold medal even better," he said.

21 September 2009 Quotes Spain vs. Serbia Sergio Scariolo (Spain Coach): "It's a day we've been dreaming about since July. The most impressive thing is not that we did it, but how we did it, dominating the last few games. My players showed great professionalism, commitment and trust in this tournament. I want to thank also my coaching staff for their advice, as well as the Spanish federation, for letting me driving this Ferrari." Pau Gasol (Spain): "We are extremely happy with this outcome. For the last five and a half games we've been playing amazingly well. We worked very hard to win this championship and I am super proud of my teammates, as well coaching staff. We played this game exactly how we wanted - starting with intensity, confidence and just being happy to play basketball." Dusan Ivkovic (Serbia Coach): "The Spanish team was better tonight and they absolutely deserved this win. They are playing so many years together, which gives them a big advantage. I'm very happy and satisfied with our performance here, I can say that we won a medal earlier than we expected it to happen. Today I think for the first time my players felt the pressure of the final game. For example we rebounded the ball only seven times during the first half, compared to 24 for Spain. The other reason was that our bench players didn't help us tonight as they did in previous games." Nemanja Bjelica (Serbia): "Spain deserved their victory, they controlled the game for the full 40 minutes. Our goal here was to qualify for the World Championships in Turkey, we did it, and we also a silver medal. Everybody in Serbia is satisfied and we are satisfied too."

EuroBasket Semi Finals are done

The 2009 EuroBasket Semi Finals were two contrasting games with Spain dropping Greece 82-64 and Serbia barely escaping against Slovenia 96-92 in an overtime thriller. Spain's sudden return to form continued after early round uncertainty. Here are the match recaps from http://www.eurobasket2009.org.

Spain/Greece report:

Spain Knock Out Greece

Game Summary

Turning point: Following a series of missed shots by the Greeks, Rudy Fernandez hit a transition catch-and-shoot three-pointer that set the gap at 16, 58-42. That shot put Spain out of reach.

Hero: Carlos Cabezas didn't enjoy big playing time in the Championship. In two crucial games - against Turkey and the quarters versus France - he didn't even step on the floor. When he did all he delivered was two points in the entire competition. Today he came off the bench already in the first quarter to help with the aggressive defense on Vassilis Spanoulis and Nikos Zisis, but added a great job on the offensive end as well. He wrote eight points, without missing a shot, and added four assists. Both are his best numbers in the championship, right at the right time, and all played a key role in the Spanish run.

Stats: Greece earned 34 second-chance points, more than half of their total, against only eight by Spain, yet still lost by 18

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One finalist is already set at EuroBasket 2009 after Spain dominated Greece 82-64 in a one sided Semi-Final on Saturday in Katowice.

This is the first time in history the Spanish team reach the finals twice in a row, and it bestows on them a chance, once again, to bring the first ever European gold medal to Spain.

Ioannis Bourousis was the top scorer for Greece with 11 points.

They will face in the trophy match the winner between Slovenia and Serbia - two teams that have already played them in the Preliminary Round.

"We are one step closer to our goal, but now we have to rest for tomorrow so we'll have enough energy to achieve our goal," said Marc Gasol who scored six points tonight.

Greece will face the loser of the second semi-finals in the bronze medal game.

This is the same scenario for the Greeks as well after losing to Spain two years ago in the exact same stage.

One thing was different this time - the ease of the Spanish win.

While in 2007 Spain edged Greece by five points, today it was clear early in the game which team was better.

The gang of Coach Sergio Scariolo took a 13 point lead in the second quarter and never looked back.

Greece fought back but never put that margin in danger.

When Rudy Fernandez hit a three-pointer mid-way in the third to set the gap on 16, it marked a new phase in the game, in which Spain displayed their dominance.

The gap reached a high point of 23 in the last quarter, when both teams knew already their destiny for Sunday night.

More than half of the Greek points tonight were written thanks to second chance points.

A EuroBasket high of 24 offensive rebounds were worth 34 second shots in favor of Greece, against only eight of Spain.

Despite that Spain's dominance wasn't questioned.

"Spain are probably the best team in the tournament," said Ioannis Kalampokis of Greece.

"In the first half we allowed them too many easy baskets, and it cost us later on in the game," he added.

Pau Gasol was the top scorer for Spain with 18 points on 75% shooting, half of them in the first quarter.

He enjoyed the help of Rudy Fernandez with 14.

Both of them were resting the entire fourth quarter.

Greece saw big guy Ioannis Bourousis collect 11 points and seven rebounds, though he only shot 33% from the field.

Young Nick Calathes added ten points off the bench.

Nikos Zisis and Vasilis Spanoulis were limited under the big pressure of the Spanish guards and combined only 13 points.

"We put pressure on Greece and we got a lot of steals that allowed us to take a comfortable margin," said Jorge Garbajosa of Spain referring to the 11-20 difference in favor of Spain in the turnovers.

"The defense on Spanoulis was really important," said Coach Scariolo, after forcing the Greek guard to commit six turnovers tonight.

"It was Cabezas who helped Ricky Rubio in that task," he complimented the back up point guard who came off the bench to deliver not only a great defensive job but two tournament highs in eight points without a miss and four assists.

The first minutes marked the difference between the stars and the rest on both ends.

Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy and Pau Gasol scored for Spain while on the Greek side it was a star trio of Spanoulis,

Carlos Cabezas has not had a big tournament, but he played some key minutes for Spain on Saturday night.

Zisis and Bourousis to make it a 12-11 Spain advantage.

The Spanish were the first to make a run deep in the first half after Pau Gasol scored in transition.

Cabezas hit his first three-pointer at this EuroBasket, but Spanoulis saved his team with a steal right before the buzzer to write easy points and be just five points behind, 26-21, after ten minutes.

Greece missed open shots and Navarro showed how to get it done to set the gap on ten after Spain scored five in row.

Spain gathered points from the bench to maintain a safe double-digit lead and got a boost when the Greek big got in foul trouble.

Bourousis earned his third personal foul with a technical, but Fotsis stepped up under the offensive glass and added a three-pointer, to force a Spanish time-out just eight points away, 40-32 after 17 minutes.

Schortsanitis, with power moves in the paint, exposed Spain's problem on the defensive boards to keep the gap at seven, 47-40, before Rudy with another big lay up set the half time difference on nine.

Greece grabbed 13 offensive boards in the first half, which matched the exact same amount of total rebounds for Spain.

The outcome was an 18-6 lead in second chance points, which still was enough only to be nine points behind.

Navarro's three ball went in and out to leave the gap on 13, but when Greece missed chance after chance to cut the gap, Rudy took over with a transition catch and shoot three-pointer to make it 58-42 inside the 25^th minute.

From that point on it was a one-sided Spanish fiesta.

"Our defense once again has been the one that we have been working on getting to," concluded Coach Scariolo.

"It's has been the main key that we are in the position to win the gold."

40 more minutes of such defense will make it very difficult for either Serbia or Slovenia to hold Spain from winning a historical gold medal.

19 September 2009 Quotes Spain vs. Greece Sergio Scariolo (Spain Coach): "We are very satisfied with this win, our defense was once again working the way we were preparing it for last few weeks. With the better physical shape of players we have the energy and effort this defense requires to work. I have now 12 players ready to play and all of them can be involved in our rotation." Pau Gasol (Spain): "I am very happy about today's victory. We played very well as a team. We did not start the tournament well. We were not focused enough. Fortunately our form picked up with every game." Jonas Kazlauskas (Greece Coach): "Congratulations to Spain, they were A better team than us. Today we had too many turnovers, also our ball movement wasn't good enough. We had a very tough game last night, with an overtime, now we have to concentrate on tomorrow's match." Ioannis Kalampokis (Greece): "It was A fair win by Spain, in the last 3-4 games they are the best team of this tournament. We tried our best, but early in the match we gave them fast break opportunities and allowed them to score easy points. It was hard to recover once they took a lead. Tomorrow's game is also very important and we will try to win bronze medal."

Serbia/Slovenia Wrap up:

Serbia Top Slovenia In Epic Semi

Game Summary

Turning Point: Leading 79-76, Slovenia did not foul Serbia to prevent a three-pointer and the decision backfired as Milos Teodosic buried a shot from behind the arc to tie the game at 79-79. Laka Lakovic then missed a lay-up that would have won the game in regulation, Serbia won in overtime.

Heroes: Serbia's Milos Teodosic poured in eight of his game-high 32 points in overtime to guide his team victory.
He finished 10 of 13 (77%) from the charity stripe and six of 10 from behind the arc.

Key Stats: Serbia outrebounded Slovenia 39-35.

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Milos Teodosic exploded for 32 points as Serbia edged Slovenia 96-92 in overtime on Saturday night to reach the EuroBasket Final.

Dusan Ivkovic's men will take on Spain in Sunday's gold-medal game, a team they beat in their Group C Preliminary Round opener in Warsaw.

Milos Teodosic hit the game-tying three at the end of regulation, and would not be denied in the extra period.

Teodosic, whose three-pointer knotted the contest at 79-79 late in regulation to force the extra period, then poured in eight of his game-high in points in the final five minutes to guide his team to victory.

He finished 10 of 13 (77%) from the charity stripe and six of 10 from behind the arc.

"Milos Teodosic is one of the best point guards in Europe," said Serbia forward Novica Velickovic.

"What he did today was unbelievable. I'm so happy for him.

"This is a great thing for Serbian basketball and this new generation.

"We are a young team, we can't be tired, and tomorrow in the finals we'll give everything."

Serbia have been remarkable.

After a disappointing show at EuroBasket 2007 in Spain, where they lost all three games, Ivkovic was handed the reins and set about building a team with youth and one that would be competitive for years to come.

The aim of Serbia was to qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship but now they will leave with at least a silver medal and maybe gold if they can beat the world champions again.

Slovenia, who got a brilliant 25-point performance from Erazem Lorbek before the big man fouled out in the fourth quarter, still led 79-76 with 35 seconds to play after Jaka Lakovic made one of two free-throws.

Instead of fouling and not allowing Serbia to attempt a three-pointer, Slovenia allowed the red-hot Teodosic to free himself for a three-ball and he connected to tie the game at 79-79.

Lakovic had a chance to win with a drive but he missed and the game went to overtime.

Once in the extra period, Serbia got two quick baskets from Nenad Krstic to take the lead for good.

Lorbek fouling out with 4:29 to go in the fourth quarter was a blow for Slovenia.

In addition to his scoring, he had pulled down 10 rebounds and come up with three steals.

"When my brother fouled out that really hurt our play," said Slovenia's Domen Lorbek, who finished with 22 points.
"We didn't go inside anymore.

"Teodosic hurt us with his pick-and-roll and some big three-pointers."

Lakovic's three-ball allowed Slovenia to cut the deficit 92-91 with 12 seconds remaining in overtime but forced to foul

Erazem Lorbek put in another MVP performance, before foulding out late in the fourth.

to stop the clock, Jure Zdovc's team put Teodosic on the line and he made no mistake as he scored his last four points to seal the win.

"Teodosic was the key player of this game," Zdovc said.

"We made stupid mistakes and he punished us.

"I have to congratulate him for his great performance."

Ivkovic was full of praise for his team, who trailed 52-41 midway through the third quarter, scored eight unanswered points as part of a 20-5 run to take a 62-58 lead early in the fourth quarter.

"Our defense in the second half was really great and I think we deserve this victory," he said.

"But Slovenia really played great the whole competition."

Slovenia must now beat Greece - losers to Spain in the first Semi-Final - in the bronze-medal game on Sunday.

Serbia will have little time to recover before they take on Spain for the second time in the tournament.

Serbia out-rebounded Slovenia 39-35.

Krstic and Kosta Perovic poured in 18 points apiece.

20 September 2009 Quotes Serbia vs. Slovenia Dusan Ivkovic (Serbia Coach): "It was a great game and I think it was a very good game for basketball. I want to congratulate my players, as well as the Slovenian team and coach Zdovc. At half time I've said to my players that we allowed opponents to score too many stupid points, for example making many unnecessary fouls. Our defense was really great in the second half. Now we have to rest and prepare for the final, we have young team and I also rotated them during tournament, so I think we will be well prepared." Ivan Paunic (Serbia): "It was a great game for us. Before the tournament nobody expected us to make it to the final. I think we deserved to win this game, but also Slovenia is a very good team and they deserve to win a medal too. They were much better than us in the first game, but we corrected our mistakes and it's one of the reasons for our win tonight. We don't want to stop now and we will fight until the end, to win a gold medal." Jure Zdovc (Slovenia Coach): "Congratulations to the Serbian team and coach Ivkovic for this win. I also want to congratulate my players for the maximum effort they put into the game tonight. I was afraid that one day our winning will stop and unfortunately it happened today. But we will remain focused and we will do everything to win tomorrow's match." Domen Lorbek (Slovenia): "It was a very tough match, but it was very hard for us, to play the next day after a great win against Croatia. We had our chances to win, especially at the end of fourth quarter. When my brother fouled out we lost our low post game and it was a big problem for us."

Defending Champs Russia and Undefeated France fall in first two EuroBasket Quarters

Defending champions Russia and France who went undefeated in previous rounds have fallen in the first two games of the EuroBasket 2009 Quarter Finals.

In the first match, Serbia went on a 17-0 tear when trailing 24-21 early in the second quarter to bolt to a 38-24 advantage and held on in the second half to beat Russia 79-68, thus ending any back to back title aspirations from the Russian side.

Here is a further report from: http://www.eurobasket2009.org

Serbia Run Past Russia And Into Semis

Game Summary

Turning point: Serbia came out like gangbusters in the second quarter, reeling off a 17-0 run to turn a 24-21 deficit into a 38-24 lead. The advantage swelled to 20 points in the third quarter and Russia never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Hero: Kosta Perovic. The Serbian center scored 11 of his 13 points in the second quarter and nine of them in the decisive 17-0 surge.

Stats: 8 of 18. Serbia shot 44 percent from three-point range as they continually drained long balls in the second half to keep Russia from getting back into the game.

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Two years after bowing out in the first round in Spain, the youngest team at EuroBasket 2009 Serbia booked the first berth in the semi-finals by dethroning the defending champions Russia 79-68 in the first quarter-final.

Serbia used a 17-0 second quarter run to take control of the game and never looked back with Uros Tripkovic leading five Serbs in double figures with 18 points.

Uros Tripkovic led five Serbians in double-figure scoring with 18 points.

Kosta Perovic scored a personal tournament-high 13 points for Serbia off the bench. Novica Velickovic also had 13 points while Milos Teodosic collected 12 points and four assists and Nenad Krstic chipped in 10 points.

"This is a great result for us. We came into the tournament with a goal of booking a place into next year's world championships and now we are in the semi-finals. It's a fantastic effort," said Kristic, who is the oldest player on Serbia at 26 years of age.

Krstic also praised his center back-up Perovic, who scored nine points in the big 17-0 run in the second quarter.

"He played great. He was unstoppable for a while and it goes to show that this team really does go 12 deep. Every one of our players can be a key contributor," said the NBA big man.

"I think we deserved this victory tonight. We have reached our first target, which was qualifying for Turkey. The key of the game was our bench players. We really played as a team. Also keep was the defense in the second quarter," said Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic

Serbia - who in this tournament have now knocked off reigning world and European champions - will next play the winner of Friday's quarter-final between Slovenia and Croatia for a spot in Sunday's final in Katowice.

Russia lost despite 15 points from Vitalii Fridzon but David Blatt's men could not overcome the 17-0 surge. Sergey Monya scored 12 points and Timofey Mozgov had 10 points.

"There are some games when you can come and make statements and excuses. But this was one not of them. They dominated in every category. It was pretty clear who was the better team today," said Blatt.

"Serbia pretty much did what they wanted against anything we did. And we couldn't handle the things they threw at us in the second quarter."

The first quarter was a back and forth affair with neither team leading by more than four points with six lead changes. The game was also tied eight times.

Krstic scored nine points in the quarter as Mozgov could not afford to get in foul trouble. Russia, however, shot 67 percent from the field and led 24-21.

But Blatt's men could not do anything offensively in the second quarter. They turned the ball over on three straight possessions and went scoreless for the first 7:29 of the period as Serbia reeled off a 17-0 run for a 38-24 lead. Perovic scored nine points in the big run - matching his highest game total of the tournament.

In the end, Serbia led 41-28 at intermission.

Russia looked dead in the water, trailing 52-32 with 5:32 left in the third quarter. But Blatt's men allowed just one basket the rest of the period, finishing on a 9-0 run with Sergey Bykov hitting a layup just before the buzzer to make it 54-43.

Russia continued to come back in the fourth quarter but Tripkovic nailed a triple and Teodosic knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to keep the Serbs ahead 66-51.

The champs refused to give up but could not get closer than 10 points the rest of the way - 66-56 on Fridzon's trey with four minutes to play.

17 September 2009 Quotes Russia vs. Serbia Dusan Ivkovic (Serbia Coach): "We deserved this victory and I want to congratulate all players, staff, and our small group of fans who was with us today. We reached our first goal which is advancing to World Championship in Turkey next year. The key for us was our bench players - they played great defense in the second quarter and we won this quarter 20-4. Now in the Semi-Finals everything is possible." Milan Macvan (Serbia): "Congratulations to Russia for a good game and for my teammates for a win. I think it was the second quarter which made the difference, we also didn't allow Russia to come back later in the game, when they tried to do it." Sergey Monya (Russia): "We didn't play good in the second quarter, and we made a lot of mistakes. In the second half we've played quite well, but Serbia showed great experience that we don't have." David Blatt (Russia Coach): "I want to congratulate coach Ivkovic and his team, they have now qualified for World Championships and they are on their quest to qualify to the final of Eurobasket. They dominated today's game, and everything more I would say about it would be useless. Serbia has a very good mix of inside and outside players. It's hard to focus on one aspect of their game. Because of it, they can attack you on both ends of the floor."

France also falls

Pau Gasol ( 28 pts/9 rebounds ) of Spain proved too much for fellow NBA players Ronny Turiaf, Boris Diaw and Tony Parker of France as Spain waltzed into the Semi Finals with a comprehensive 86-66 thrashing of France. The following press report from the game was filed.

Spain Ride Gasol Past France

Game Summary

Turning point: Spain pretty much dominated from start to finish so there was no turning point as such. The Spaniards though did send a strong message of intent when, late in the third quarter, France guard Nando de Colo thought he had an easy fast break lay-up only for Marc Gasol to appear out of nowhere and swat the ball into the crowd.

Hero: Rudy Fernandez. His three three-pointers in the first quarter got Spain rolling and they rode that momentum until the end.

Stats: Tony Parker, who came into the game averaging 18 points a game, was held to just six points on one of eight from the field.

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Spain got off to a quick start and never looked back as they crushed France 86-66 to book their place in the semi-finals of EuroBasket 2009 in Katowice.

Pau Gasol had a stellar performance, going for 28 points, nine rebounds and three blocks - all game highs - as the

It was a frustrating night for Tony Parker, who managed just one field goal.

world champions handed the French their first defeat of the tournament.

Afterwards, Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo praised his team's much-improved fitness as the reason why his team ran France ragged.

"Our physical condition is so much different that we can now work however we want to," he said. "We beat an excellent team. They have heart and pride and never gave up."

Alex Mumbru pointed to the Spaniards' mindset from the tip-off as the reason for such a big win.

"We were very focused from the start. We played at a high tempo and now we are in the semi-finals which is where we want to be," he said.

Spain hit five of nine three-pointers to take a 25-15 lead by the end of the first quarter and the closest France never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

Rudy Fernandez buried three of his four attempts from beyond the arc and Ricky Rubio and Juan Carlos Navarro hit one each for a 21-12 advantage.

The Spaniards were also doing an excellent job defensively forcing France into turning the ball over six times and putting the shackles on Tony Parker, who was held to a tournament-low of six points, 12 below his average.

Pau Gasol made a lay-up with 47.6 seconds left in the first quarter for a 23-12 score and their first double-digit lead of the night.

Vincent Collet's charges got within 27-19 on four quick points by Ali Traore, but Spain then made the most of their opponents' 11 first-half turnovers, getting seven steals which led to seven fast break points.

Antoine Diot's pass was stolen by Mumbru who went the other way for an easy lay-up and a 31-19 advantage.

Ball handling wasn't France's only downfall as they failed to box out and were being manhandled in the paint. Mumbru got better position inside of a blue crowd for an offensive rebound to make it 37-21.

Pau Gasol then got the better of his match-up with Florent Pietrus. The Spanish center used some of his fancy footwork to get around his defender. He also had an emphatic reverse dunk over the entire French defense that brought cheers from the crowd. Navarro then hit a runner in the last minute of the half for a 47-32 lead at the break.

Spain picked up where they left off in the third quarter, with Rubio scoring five quick points early in the third quarter to put Spain up 55-38.

France made somewhat of a charge, cutting the deficit to 62-49 on Traore's jumper, but that just motivated Spain to tighten their defense furthermore as they held them to just three points the rest of that period.

Nando de Colo tried a finger roll in transition but saw his shot swatted into the stands by Marc Gasol who then made a pair of free-throws at the other end, giving Spain their first lead of 20, 69-49, with 1:13 to go in the period.

Up 73-52 to start the final frame, Spain let their guard down temporarily, allowing their opponents to get within 77-66 on Antoine Diot's three-pointer with 4:55 left to play.

Fernandez then made a lay-up and Pau Gasol scored four quick points to put the game to bed.

Afterwards, France's Boris Diaw admitted that chasing the game was always going to be hard against a talented team like Spain.

"We just got behind them and they are a great team. So once you get behind them, they're not going to let you back in," he said.

"We can't get a medal but we can qualify for the world championship next year."

Collet knew Spain would be tough to beat after seeing them raise their level of play over the last few games.

"I think they dominated the game from the beginning and never let us come back," he said. "After showing improvement in the last two or three games, they made us fall back. We had problems moving and swinging the ball against their defense. We had problems finding solutions. In the second half we got down to 11 but they were too good for us."

Ronny Turiaf was France's only player to score in double-digits with 12 points.

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."