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Croatia Punch Last Ticket To Quarter-Finals

Game Summary

Turning point: Germany led 57-54 but committed turnovers on six straight possessions and went nearly five minutes without a score to hand Croatia the momentum.

Hero: Ukic. The Croatian star continually broke down the German defense, getting to the lane and converting.

Stats: 12 of 26, 20 and 13. Germany made 12 of 26 three-pointers but shot themselves in the foot with 20 turnovers. Croatia grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.

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Roko-Leni Ukic scored 18 points as Croatia earned the last Quarter-Final berth from the Qualifying Round Group E by holding off Germany 70-68.

The Croatians had four players in double figures and took advantage of Germany making 20 turnovers - including six straight turnovers in the fourth quarter - as they secured fourth place in the group with a 2-3 record.

"Even though we didn't play great basketball, we showed character and we're going to the quarters," said Ukic.

"It was a tough game as both teams wanted to make the quarterfinals. At the end of the game we got a couple of stops and Kresimir Loncar hit a big three-pointer to give us confidence for the next couple of possessions."

Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa praised his team for keeping their nerves when they trailed 57-54 midway through the final quarter.

"We expected a tough game. When we were losing 57-54 we didn't lose our head and in the end we played some tough defense," said Repesa, whose team out-scored Germany 27-6 in points off turnovers and second chance points.

Croatia also received 11 points each from Marko Popovic and Zoran Planinic while Sandro Nicevic added 10 points.

Germany bow out of the tournament despite another spirited fight from Dirk Bauermann's young team.

Heiko Schaffartzik led the way with 18 points - on perfect 6 of 6 shooting - while Patrick Femerling scored 15 points and Jan Jagla had 11 points.

"It was just a bad ending to a great, wonderful summer. I thought that we would have deserved to win the game.
But they deserved to win the game because they made the big plays offensively and defensively," said Bauermann.

"I am very proud of this team. We gained a lot of respect with this young team. We very positively surprised a lot of people. Today we are extremely disappointed. We can be proud of what we achieved."

After Germany scored the first basket of the game, Croatia scored 10 straight and led 14-3 after five minutes. It was 16-7 when Schaffartzik and Jagla each hit two three-pointers in a four-possession stretch for a 19-18 German lead.

Croatia however were ahead 20-19 after one period.

Germany again struggled out of the blocks in the second quarter, committing three straight turnovers and not scoring a basket until Steffen Hamann's lay-up nearly four minutes into the period.

Croatia began pulling away again, opening a 37-27 advantage with a minute left in the half. Jagla nailed another triple and a layup at the buzzer to bring Germany within 37-32 at intermission.

In the third period, Croatia were held scoreless for nearly four minutes but Germany were only able to climb within 43-41. Lucca Staiger nailed a triple and then Hamann hit a driving layup just before the buzzer to give the Germans a 50-49 lead after three quarters.

Germany were able to push the cushion to three points after Staiger's triple to make it 57-54. But Bauermann's troops committed turnovers on six straight possessions.

Femerling's free throws ended the nearly five-minute drought and had Germany trailing just 61-59 with two minutes to play. But Loncar nailed a big triple to make it 64-59 and after Planinic pushed the gap to 67-62, Schaffartzik hit an impossible trey. But Demond Greene missed a triple with five seconds left which could have made it 69-68.

16 September 2009

Quotes Germany vs. Croatia

Roko Leni Ukic (Croatia):

"It was a very hard game. We broke the game with a three-pointer in last minutes. I'm proud of my team because we didn't play good basketball but we showed character."

Jasmin Repesa (Croatia Coach):

"I like the German mentality because they never stop, they never quit. Our first goal was to reach the Quarter-Finals. Now we want to go to Turkey for the next championship. To reach this goal and others the way we played is not enough. I hope we will be better mentally in the next round."

Patrick Femerling (Germany):

"Congratulations to our opponents. We played great basketball. In basketball sometimes little things make difference, one three-pointer or a rebound here or there. And in this game it happened."

Dirk Bauermann (Germany Coach):

"First of all I would like to thank the Polish Basketball Federation, organisers and all the people from Poland. You guys were great. Everybody was extremely friendly. It was a bad ending of a wonderful summer. They deserved to win."

France Remain Unbeaten

Game Summary

Turning point: It came down to the very last play of the night with eight seconds on the clock. 22 year old Nando De Colo against a very experienced and a great defender as Nikos Zisis, but a turn around shot sank inside the rim with ease and gave France the big win.

Hero: Alain Koffi and Ali Traore came off the bench to cover for a weak night by starting center Ronny Turiaf and combine 24 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and great defense.

Stats: Both teams were highly focused when marching to the charity stripe as France hit 18 out of 22 shots and Greece connected 19 in 23 attempts.

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Nando De Colo's turn around buzzer-beater bestowed upon France the top spot in Group E in Bydgoszcz behind a 71-69 victory over Greece.

This is the second game in the group today to be decided in the last second and in the exact same score after Russia beat F.Y.R.O.M. 71-69 as well.

France take a 5-0 record in the Qualifying Round to win first place in the group and will enter the Quarter-Finals with big energy.

For Greece this is their second loss in a row, and as a result they dropped to the third spot in the group with a 3-2 record.

Russia was the second team to enjoy the French win as they have climbed to finish the group in the second place after winning all three games in this round.

The 22-year-old De Colo was the MVP of the French league in 2008, when he earned respect as a late bloomer for his shooting and passing.

He entered the last two minutes of the game with no points but then scored six, including the clutch shot to win the game.

De Colo's shot arrived eight seconds after Vasilis Spanoulis hit a big three-pointer to tie the score.

"We wanted to win this game, but also use a chance to give some rest to our main players before the deciding final round," shared Coach Vincent Collet of France.

"We didn't want Tony Parker to play 38 minutes again, and when we saw we can play without him, Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf on the floor for long, we continued with that.

"I'm happy we managed to give them rest and win which were our two goals."

Parker played only 21 minutes, Diaw 19 and Turiaf 15.

Coach Collet had the pleasure to see his back up players step up against a strong opponent in Greece.

Alain Koffi scored 14 points, all of them in the first half, but showed his defensive presence throughout the entire game.

The 21 minutes were sufficient for Parker to reach 12 points while Yannick Bokolo and Ali Traore added ten each.

Vasilis Spanoulis scored 16 points including one of the biggest buckets of the championship, while Sofoklis Schortsanitis added 12.

Greece used the arc to take a quick 13-4 lead, but faced more difficulty to score close to the rim, enough for France to cut the margin and finish the first quarter behind by only three, 21-18.

Alain Koffi and Ali Traore challenged the Greek big guys and combined for 12 points to give France a 24-23 lead after 12:30.

Both French bigs collected two fouls, but the first to get in serious foul trouble was Schortsanitis with three after 14 minutes.

Koffi was on fire and after a big shot block added a mid-range jumper to extend the margin to seven and make it a 13-1 run.

Antoine Diot beat the shot clock with an off balance three, but saw Nick Calathes put a stop to almost six minutes without a field goal by Greece with a drive.

Greece seemed to have lost their sharpness and all their points came from the charity stripe while Koffi climbed to 14 first half points and France reached their maximum lead of nine, 41-32 before Bourousis set the half time score with a right hand hook.

France scored the first four points in the half, to take an 11 point lead, but went silent for three and a half minutes.

Greece scored their first field goal in the second half after more than five minutes but was already half way in an 8-0 run that put them back in the game, 48-44.

Ronny Turiaf and Efstratios Perperoglou picked up their fourth foul and hit the bench, before Spanoulis had his treat for the fans.

Inside the last minute of the quarter Greece didn't find the way to the rim and Spanoulis had the ball nearly at half court with the shot clock about to expire.

His big arc slowly made its way to the net for one of the most exciting shots of the tournament that also moved Greece a bit closer, 56-53 and capped the third quarter.

The squad of Coach Jonas Kazlauskas earned several open looks from the arc but missed time after time and entered the last 4:30 minutes down 63-56.

Before it was too late Spanoulis stepped up.

It started with a steal, continued with a three-pointer and when Antonios Fotsis fixed a missed shot Greece was up for the first time in the second half, 64-63 with 2:46 to play.

Coach Collet called a time out and France returned with four points in a row.

Free throw points were exchanged when once more Spanoulis decided it was time to take it on his shoulders.

"It's the second time in a row we lose a close game," commented Coach Kazlauskas.

"Sometimes it's not enough to be strong and play well, but you also need some luck."

With 21 ticks on the clock and his team down by three and took the heat and tied the game with an off-dribble three ball leaving France eight seconds to reply.

More than enough for the French guard.

15 September 2009 Quotes France vs. Greece Nikolaos Zsis (Greece): "Congratulations to France. It was an important game for both teams trying to win the group. We didn't make it. Now we have to prepare to Quarter-Finals to achieve our goals." Alain Koffi (France): "The game was very important for us as well for the same reasons that Nikolaos mentioned. We are now looking forward to the Quarter-Finals." Jonas Kazlauskas (Greece Coach): "Both players told you everything. We are prepared very well. To win such games, apart from skill, you need to be lucky as well." Vincent Collet (France Coach): "We have to wait to know who our opponent is. Perhaps some of them will be easier to beat. We will try to go as high as possible. We played the fourth quarter without Tony Parker because first of all we were playing good in that period and second of all we knew how important the next game would be so we wanted key players to rest."

Russia Clinch Spot In Quarter-Finals

Game Summary

Turning point: Leading 66-63, Russia forced F.Y.R.O.M. into a 24 second violation turnover with 56 seconds left and then Anton Ponkrashov made two foul shots for a five-point lead. F.Y.R.O.M. did not get closer than one point the rest of the way.

Hero: Timofey Mozgov. The Russian big man collected 25 points and 11 rebounds while hitting 11 of 17 shots in the game.

Stats: Russia made 18 of 25 free throws including five of six in the final 33 seconds.

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Defending champions Russia are returning to the Quarter-Finals for the ninth consecutive time after beating F.Y.R. of Macedonia 71-69 in Qualifying Round Group E action for a spot in the final eight in Katowice.

Timofey Mozgov collected 25 points and 11 rebounds while Anton Ponkrashov had 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists and Andrey Vorontsevich chipped in 10 points off the bench for Russia, who improved to 3-2 in the group.

"We needed to look really far down deep in ourselves to win that ball game because it was looking pretty bleak. But in the end, we found it. And I am proud of what we have done and am looking forward to next stage,'' said Blatt, whose team out-rebounded F.Y.R.O.M. 42-32 including 16 offensive rebounds.

"Today was a very, very tough game. Everyone understood that we must win to reach the quarterfinals. (F.Y.R. of) Macedonia also showed very good basketball and it was hard to perform against their tough defense. But in the end we found a way," said Ponkrashov.

Russia could finish second in Group E if Greece lose later Tuesday against France in Bydgoszcz.

F.Y.R.O.M. had a valiant effort, paced by 19 points and 10 rebounds from Pero Antic and 16 points each from Vrbica Stefanov and Todor Gechevski. But Jovica Arsic's team will exit the tournament with a 1-4 record in the Qualifying Round group.

"We had a lot of problems stopping Mozgov on his offensive rebounds. We played tough for 40 minutes. But the better team is going to the quarter-finals," said Arsic.

"We did everything we could to win this game. We tried to play 40 minutes of defense. We didn't forget that we were playing against Russia, but it was great that we were in the game," said Stefanov, who will be retiring from the game.

"You won't see many more like him. I'm glad I don't have to coach any more against him," said Blatt of Stefanov.

F.Y.R.O.M. made just one of their first five shots but went ahead 5-4 on Stefanov's first three-ball. And it was tied at 8-8 after an Antic triple. Russia created three turnovers in four possessions to lead 14-10 after one period.

Jeremiah Massey's three-point play trimmed the margin to 16-14 before Russia went on a 14-7 run with Mozgov and Vorontsevich combining for 10 points to give Blatt's men a 30-21 advantage.

Stefanov and Antic both knocked down triples and F.Y.R.O.M. were within 33-29 at intermission.

Arsic's team received a spark off the bench from Damjan Stojanovski with a long jumper and three-pointer in a 13-5 start to the second half to give F.Y.R.O.M. a 42-38 lead.

Russia reeled F.Y.R.O.M. back in though back-to-back dunks by Sergey Monya and Vorontsevic could not help the teams from being knotted at 49-49 after three quarters.

After Russia had opened a 53-49 gap, Gechevski nailed a three-pointer and converted a three-point play in a single time down the court as Vorontsevich's foul after the triple had given the ball back to F.Y.R.O.M., who opened a 57-53 margin.

Sergey Bykov nailed a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down and Mozgov came up with a follow dunk as Russia remained three points ahead.

Already up 66-63, Russia forced a 24 second violation and Ponkrashov's foul shots opened a five-point gap with 33 seconds left. Antic's three-point play would bring F.Y.R. of Macedonia to within 69-68, but Vitalii Fridzon made two free throws with 11.5 seconds left before Dimitar Mirakovski made just one of two with 7.6 seconds to play and missed a possible game-tying layup at the buzzer.

15 September 2009

Quotes Russia vs. F.Y.R. of Macedonia

Vrbica Stefanov (F.Y.R.O.M.):

"We played a great game. I believe we played great defense. If we had played overtime it would have been great. If we had won it that would have be greater, but I'm still proud of us."

Anton Ponkrashov (Russia):

"Maybe at the beginning of the tournament few people believed in our team, but we made a second step and now we are in the Quarter-Finals. F.Y.R.O.M. played a very good game. Today we missed a lot of three-point shots. But we compensated that with defense."

Jovica Arsic (F.Y.R.O.M. Coach):

"I would like to thank all our fans and friends that supported us during this tournament. We started with Samardzic playing much better on defense but without him we had more options in offense. It's a pity we lost Gacevski in the end. Riste Stefanov and Stojanovski didn't feel good so we had huge problems."

David Blatt (Russia Coach):

"F.Y.R.O.M. deserve a lot of credit. They played a great game. When you make three-pointers it changes a game a lot. F.Y.R.O.M. took advantage of that. But in the end we proved ourselves better. It was a tough game against a very tough team. It was a tricky game for both of us. I'm proud of my team. Vrbica did I hear that you're retiring? I take my hat off to you and wish you all the best for your future."

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."

Up to date from EuroBasket

More up to date coverage of matches thanks to: http://www.eurobasket2009.org

FYR - Macedonia/Germany

Game Summary

Turning point: In the 26^th minutes Jan-Hendrik Jagla hit an open three to cut the margin to one, 47-46, only to see his team suffer a 20-4 run which decided the game. Late in the third and early in the fourth Germany committed no less than six turnovers in a row, all of them live balls that pushed F.Y.R.O.M. far beyond reach.

Hero: Vrbica Stefanov of F.Y.R. of Macedonia saved his best performance for the most important game, and won't rest until he helps his team make more history. He finished a huge game with 25 points on 73% shooting from the field and five steals - the second best individual high in the entire tournament. Stefanov scored ten points already in the first quarter and added eight in the third to bring his team 40 minutes from the quarter-finals.

Stats: F.Y.R.O.M. wrote 14 steals on the night against only four of Germany. Stefanov himself had more than the entire German team. Those extra possessions and easy fast break points made the difference.

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A big second half run enabled F.Y.R. of Macedonia to write their first win in the Qualifying Round 86-75 over Germany on the second day of action in Group E in Bydgoszcz.

F.Y.R.O.M. now stand on a 1-3 record, tied with Germany, as both teams still hold a chance to make it to the Quarter-Finals.

Vrbica Stefanov is one of the oldest players in the tournament and one of the most effective, with 25 points on Sunday.

A tied game in the first half saw a much better F.Y.R.O.M. team in the second half who took over the floor on the way to their second ever EuroBasket Final Round win.

"He's probably the best player in his age right now in Europe," said Germany's Coach Dirk Bauermann on Vrbica Stefanov who led F.Y.R.O.M. to the big win.

The veteran point guard scored 25 points on 73% shooting from the field and added five steals, which are the second best individual highs in the tournament thus far.

Jeremiah Massey added 16 while Pero Antic and Dime Tasovski had 13 each.

Tasovski had five steals too and hit three times from distance, to write his tournament high right in the key game for his team.

Lucca Staiger had 14 points for Germany, including four downtown arrows, Patrick Femerling added 13, Tim Ohlbrecht added 13 with two blocks and Demond Greene scored ten.

"I think our young players played well today yet some of the veterans were struggling a bit," admitted Bauermann.

It was a 20-4 run late in the third and early in the fourth that pushed F.Y.R.O.M. from a one point lead to a 67-50 margin in the 31^st minute.

Germany committed no less than six live ball turnovers in a row to allow that run and see the game slip from their hands.

"We played better defense for 20-25 minutes and when we started to shoot good as well we opened a gap to decide the game," commented Coach Jovica Arsic.

F.Y.R.O.M. scored only a single bucket inside the arc the entire first quarter but had four three-pointers to rely on and hold an 18-14 margin after ten minutes, behind ten early points by Vrbica Stefanov.

Lucca Staiger came off the bench and with three downtown hits in three minutes to put Germany on top, 28-26.

Femerling's shot jumped on the rim before going in and in the next play he forced a turnover as the teams continued to go neck-to-neck.

Gecevski attacked the rim with efficiency and created a headache for Coach Bauermann but his team still couldn't gather enough points for a run.

Once again Femerling showed his activity and was the first of his team to go to the free throw line after almost 18 minutes in the game.

His nine first half points and no less than seven three-pointers on 50% shooting made it a 36-36 tie at the break.

F.Y.R.O.M. earned their biggest lead, 47-40 with a big dunk by Massey but Staiger was still on fire and hit again from distance only to see Jagla follow him and cut the margin to one.

A time out called by Coach Arsic changed things in favor of his team.

Two steals in a row by F.Y.R.O.M. capped by a buzzer beater catch and shoot by Pero Antic set the margin on 12 at the end of the third quarter, 62-50 behind a 15-4 run in which four players scored.

If Germany had any plans to come back they were shattered quickly inside the fourth with three additional turnovers, which allowed F.Y.R.O.M. to push it to a 17 point lead, and decide the night.

"We were paralyzed a bit and wanted maybe a little too much and that probably created that series of turnovers," explained Bauermann.

"We had a tough loss two days ago but just like it happened with our tough loss to Greece and then the win over Israel we recovered quickly," analyzed Tasovski.

"Now we need to beat Russia and make it to the Quarter-Finals."

Germany will take on Croatia on the last day of the group while today's winners will fight against Russia.

Russia/Greece

Game Summary

Turning Point: With the game tied at 48-48, Sergey Monya nailed the first of three three-pointers to give Russia a 57-48 lead, which would grow to 10 points before Russia pulled within two late.

Hero: Monya. His big shots gave Russia just enough push to grab a lead and then he made a free throw with 20 seconds left to make it so that Greece needed a trey to tie, which they could not hit.

Stats: 48 and 42-42. Russia shot 48 percent from long range while grabbing 42 rebounds to Greece's 42 rebounds.

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Kelly McCarty and Sergey Monya combined for 33 points as reigning champions Russia took a giant step towards the EuroBasket 2009 quarter-finals by holding off Greece 68-65 in the Qualifying Round Group E.

Monya nailed three big three-pointers and 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and it proved enough as David Blatt's Russians improved to 2-2 in the group while Greece dropped their first game of the tournament to fall to 3-1.

"I think that we controlled the game and we deserved to win the game tonight. There is really nobody younger and more inexperienced than us. And to beat Croatia and Greece in three days and the way we did is admirable," said Blatt, whose team shot 10 of 21 (48 percent) from long range.

Blatt also said his team likely took advantage of having a bigger sense of urgency than Greece, who had already gained a spot in the quarters before the game.

"We had more to gain by this game than Greece and that may have had a difference in this game in the first half. Players are human beings. And I think Greece probably let down a little. And we jumped on it hard."

McCarty scored a game-high 17 points while also grabbing nine rebounds and not committing a turnover in 38 minutes of action. Timofey Mozgov added 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

"Defense, defense, defense. We played great today in that sense. Greece is the best offensive team here and we held them down to their tournament low and it says a lot about our game tonight," said McCarty.

Greece were led by 13 points from Sofoklis Schortsanitis while Vasileios Spanoulis and Ioannis Bourousis both had 12 points and Antonios Fotsis chipped in 10 points in a losing effort.

"They took many offensive rebounds (15 for Russia) and that made it tougher for us. The more they took the more nervous we got and we didn't always react as we should have," said Nikos Zisis, who was held to three points.

"Mozgov is a big force in the paint and he changed a lot of shots we took around the rim and that made a big difference"

Blatt's men started very strong on defense, holding Greece to just 3 of 14 shooting in the first nine minutes of the game as Russia began building a lead thanks to two three-pointers by Vitalii Fridzon.

The Russian cushion grew to 11 points on Andrey Vorontsevich's three-pointer to make it 21-10.
Spanoulis scored his first points to make it 21-12 after one period.
Greece scored the first two baskets of the second quarter and tried chipping away at the Russian lead - though the gap was still 10 points after Sergey Bkyov's triple with four minutes left in the half.

Jonas Kazlauskas's Greeks twice pulled within four points but Russia led 39-32 at the break.
The Russians missed their first 10 shots of the second half and watched Greece pull ahead 40-39 with an 8-0 run over the first seven minutes of the third quarter.

McCarty however stopped the drought with a jumper and then Aleksey Zozulin and McCarty knocked down back-to-back triples to keep Russia ahead 48-47 after three quarters.

Monya came up with three big three-pointers in the early stages of the final period to push Russia ahead 57-48. And Blatt watched his men take a 10-point lead at 63-53 with less than four minutes to play despite an unsportsmanlike foul against Anton Ponkrashov.

Greece refused to die and Fotsis's triple cut the margin to 63-61 before McCarty hit two foul shots. Ponkrashov added two more free throws before Georgios Printezis nailed a three-ball to make it 67-65 with 22 seconds left.

Monya answered with a foul shot two seconds later before Printezis missed a three in the waning seconds which would have knotted the game.

France/Croatia

Game Summary

Turning point: In the 28^th minute it was still a two point game in favor of France, but then Croatia's Marko Banic fouled out and Nikola Prkacin followed with a technical. France used that to reach an 11 point lead, and despite Croatia managing to come closer several times, the lead never changed hands again and France remained the dominant force.

Hero: Parker was the main man once again, but not only for the 24 points, six rebounds and six assists but the way he spread it. Half of his points were scored in the third quarter when his team turned a Croatian lead to a ten point game in their favor. In the last quarter he focused on anything but scoring and dished no less than five of his six assists in addition to three of his rebounds.

Stats: Croatia enjoyed a good shooting night with seven three-pointers on 54% shooting, but saw France better them with 12 long distance arrows. When a team like France shoot like that from distance, it's close to impossible to beat them.

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After the second day of games in Group E in Bydgoszcz there's only one team perfect and that is France following an 87-79 victory over Croatia.

The French climbed to a 4-0 record, but still must beat Greece on the last day to secure the top spot.

Nicolas Batum had 18 points to help keep France perfect.

Croatia dropped to an unexpected 1-3 record and must beat Germany on the closing day to avoid a shocking elimination.

There were two different halves to this game.

In the first Croatia played their best basketball so far in the championship, and reached a nine point lead behind great shooting led by Marko Popovic.

The sequel showed a tougher French defense and a big performance by Tony Parker who took over the game, and led his team-mates to a rare performance of eight three pointers on 66.6% shooting.

"At half time we decided to change our gameplan," said winning Coach Vincent Collet.

"We didn't play well in the first half and the fact we were down by just five made us happy.

"We knew that if we step up on defense we can come back and that's what we did."

After Croatia was the dominating force in the first half, France wrote two runs to put them on top.

They used a technical foul on Nikola Prkacin, who fouled out as a result, to open the gap Croatia never managed to beat.

Parker led his team with 24 points, six assists and six rebounds but spread them in a perfect way.

Half of his points came in the third quarter, just when France took over the lead, while five assists and three rebounds joined the stat line in the closing quarter.

Nicholas Batum followed behind with 18 points, half of them from distance, five boards and two blocks.

Boris Diaw added 15 behind four long distance balls in addition to six assists and four rebounds.

Florent Pietrus added 14.

Croatia enjoyed 30 points by Popovic - the second best scoring performance in the competition so far - who spread his points almost equally between the first and the second halves.

He actually started his scoring drive only with the last basket of the first quarter and scored all of his points from either the charity stripe or beyond the arc.

Roko-Leni Ukic added 11 and Marko Banic had ten.

"The first 20 minutes was maybe our best (we played) in this tournament, but we need to play like that the whole game," said Coach Jasmin Repesa of Croatia.

Already in the first quarter France collected three triples.

Diaw started with an air-ball but added two hits from distance down the stretch of the first quarter, and Parker showed his skills with an off-dribble shot.

Croatia at the other end attacked the rim time and time both with the guards and inside players.

Ukic and Planinic drove to the rim while Banic and Prkacin posted up to bring their team to the last possession of the quarter down by a point, 19-18.

Popovic beat the buzzer to give his team the first points behind the arc but kept that momentum into the second quarter.

Kus and Popovic added two more three-pointers and a minute inside the second quarter it was already a 29-20 Croatian lead after an 11-1 run.

Balls were jumping on the rim and out for the French side, while Popovic remained hot reaching 16 points before the break, and his team up by seven, 46-39.

Diaw hit two from the line and saw Batum block a Planinic attempt to beat the clock, as the teams separated by five.

"We missed many free throws in the first half and if we had shot better we could have held a ten point lead at the break," referred Coach Repesa to the seven misses his team committed in the first 20 minutes.

"What mostly concerns me is that our mental strength was very, very bad.

"Once things didn't work for us we lost control of the game," he added.

Just inside the second half France was back on top after Pietrus and Parker led a 10-2 run.

Yannick Bokolo, who did a great job limiting Popovic for some minutes in the third, recorded a big block on Ukic which kept France on top, but the following play got Croatia in trouble.

Banic fouled out and Prkacin's protest sentenced him to the same destiny limiting Repesa's options on the bigs.

Parker hurt Croatia with a three-pointer, Pietrus added some of his own and another 12-1 French run wrote a 63-52 difference late in the third.

The French defense continued to make it tough for the Croats until Popovic woke up with five points in a row and forced a time out by Coach Collet up by only five, 70-65.

Mistakes on both ends of the floor allowed Croatia to enter the last four minutes down 73-69, but a three point by Bokolo and a fast break lay up by Batum pushed it to nine once more.

Croatia cut it down once more to four inside the last minute before Diaw sank the decisive three ball that told the story of the game.

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.

Gliders prepare for Japanese Invasion

GLIDERS TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR JAPAN SERIES

Basketball Australia is proud to announce the 13 athletes selected to represent Australia’s Women’s Wheelchair team in a ‘friendly’ series against Japan from October 14-17.

The Gliders topped Japan on their home soil at the Osaka Cup in February and the Aussies also came up trumps in Beijing, defeating Japan to win Bronze at the 2008 Paralympic Games, so despite the ‘friendly’ tag the rivalry is fierce with national pride on the line as Japan aims to avenge their earlier losses.

The Gliders will play Japan at Dandenong Basketball Stadium in a four game series, coinciding with the men’s IWBF World Championship qualifying event, the Asia Oceania Championship for Men.

The team features eight Beijing Paralympians including 2009 Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League Most Valuable Player Kylie Gauci.

The event will also play host to the Gliders 20^th Anniversary Reunion on Saturday October 17, celebrating the proud history of women’s wheelchair basketball in Australia which now boasts three Paralympic and three World Championship medals.

At the luncheon past, present and future Gliders, such as 16-year-olds Amber Merritt and Jessica Pellow, will mix with players and staff who represented Australia in the past 20 years, including members of the original 1989 group and five-time Paralympian Liesl Tesch.

Australian Gliders team for Japan series:
Name / Association / Age

Clare BURZYNSKI / Perth Western Stars, WA / 23
Amanda CARTER / Victorian Dandenong Rangers, VIC / 45
Cobi CRISPIN / Perth Western Stars, WA / 20
Melanie DOMASCHENZ / Victorian Dandenong Rangers, VIC / 25
Leanne DEL TOSO / Victorian Dandenong Rangers, VIC / 29
Katie HILL / Hills Hornets, NSW / 25
Tina McKENZIE/ Victorian Dandenong Rangers, VIC / 35
Amber MERRITT / Perth Western Stars, WA / 16
Kathleen O'KELLY-KENNEDY / Goudkamp Gladiators, NSW / 23
Sarah STEWART / Hills Hornets, NSW / 33
Sarah VINCI / Perth Western Stars, WA / 17
Jessica PELLOW / Hills Hornets, NSW / 16
Kylie GAUCI / Goudkamp Gladiators, NSW / 24

Head Coach: John TRISCARI / Head Coach, Perth Western Stars, WA
Asst. Coach: Ben OSBORNE / Head Coach, Goudkamp Gladiators, NSW
Asst. Coach: Matthew DUNSTAN / Head Coach, Victorian Dandenong Rangers, VIC
Physiotherapist: Emma WHITESIDE
Manager: Marian STEWART

Gliders Schedule – all events at Dandenong Basketball Stadium

Hawks win NBL's Darwin venture

The Wolongong Hawks captured the inaugural Top end Challenge last weekend final match report is from : http://nbl.com.au

Hawks win Top End Challenge

September 05, 2009, 10:36 PM AEST

By: Marc Howard

BOXSCORE

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS (2 - 3 mins download time)

The Wollongong Hawks have stunned the National Basketball League by taking out the Top End Challenge pre-season tournament in Darwin with a tough 94-88 win over the more fancied New Zealand Breakers.

The Hawks came into the tournament as rank underdogs, but on the back of yet another great performance from big man Cameron Tragardh held off a fast charging Breakers’ team to finish the tournament undefeated and win the title.

Tragardh scored 23 points and added seven rebounds and was named as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Scintillating Hawks import Tywain McKee added 21 points and was instrumental in closing out the win.

Both McKee and Tragardh were named to the All-Tournament Team, along with New Zealand’s Kirk Penney, Townsville’s Corey Williams and Gold Coast’s James Harvey.

The Hawks used a 28-21 advantage in the third quarter to set-up the win but, despite being 16 points down early in the final period, the Breakers mounted a furious comeback in the closing minutes to close the gap to one with a minute and a half to go.

The Breakers closed to within four, 89-85, on a crafty Penney two in the paint and it was Penney again nailing an open three from the right wing to draw New Zealand within a single point, 89-88, with 1:34 left in the game.

Tragardh earned a pair of free throws on the next trip down the floor and made one-of-two to improve the Hawks’ lead 90-88 with 1:16 left.

Breakers’ import Awvee Storey travelled on the next possession however robbing his team of the chance to tie or take the lead.

A Saville miscue on a pass at the other end led to a turnover, giving New Zealand the ball back with 41.5 seconds left on the clock and the Hawks clinging to a two-point lead, 90-88.

Abercrombie then slipped with 28.5 seconds leading to another travel, giving the Hawks possession once more. Dillon Boucher was subsequently called for a foul on McKee at the mid-court with 21.2 seconds left and McKee drained both to extend his team’s buffer to four points, 92-88.

Corey Webster missed a tough lay-up at the other end and McKee was fouled again with 11.4 on the clock and the Hawks in the bonus. He made no mistake, sinking both and then stole the in-bounds pass and dribbled out the clock.