FIBA World Championship 2006

[ALVAREZ6]

I sprained my ankle again last week at football.


I'm turning into Tim Duncan now, my left ankle is a piece of shit now. I'll probably sprain it a few more times this year.

[angel_luv]

Hope you are better soon Alvie. :)

[ALVAREZ6]

Hope you are better soon Alvie. :)
I'm fine, I just get the trainer to tape my ankle up and I'm good.

[hendrix]

Hey Alvie, You play CB, right?

[1Parker1]

Can someone traslate this article? :spin

:lol Awesome article and pic of Manu. Thanks for the translation, Spurschick. Good to know Tony is looking out for Manu and anxious to win back the championship next season! :spin

[MannyIsGod]

Are there places on TV to watch games that I'm not aware of? I know ESPN2 is carrying the US games and I know FSSW has varius other games, but is there anywhere else to see things?

[milkyway21]

speaking of FIBA sked..

hey abelle have you checked your PM yet? i already sent you your request...:D (Phil local FIBA WC schedule)

RPN will broadcast all USA games. incl against Slovenia tonight @ 7pm.


There are many schedule disparities, with some games mentioning the same time (3pm up to 3pm), and really long times (2pm to 7pm). I assume these are because some of the schedules aren’t final yet.

BTW, The Solar Sports website is here.

http://www.solar-entertainment.com/SPORTS/fiba2006.html

[Cherry]

Cherry, thank you for that article on Manu. Damn, has he ever looked better?


I see Manu more happy than ever:

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/1350/bannermanuuwz2.jpg :smokin

[Cherry]

.................Todo por un autógrafo de Manu.............




SENDAI (De un enviado especial).– Esto ocurrió en Santa Fe, un día antes del comienzo del torneo Súper 4. Fue el 29 de julio último, poco después del mediodía, cuando el ómnibus del seleccionado nacional partió desde un restaurante céntrico, donde almorzaron los jugadores, hasta el hotel Holiday Inn, ubicado a unas diez cuadras. "Yo estaba en uno de los primeros asientos y de repente escucho a todos mis compañeros gritar mientras miraban por las ventanillas. Me asomo y veo a un pibe corriendo junto al ómnibus. A todo ritmo, cruzando las calles casi sin mirar y haciendo un gran esfuerzo. De repente, me hace señas con las manos como diciéndome que quiere un autógrafo mío", cuenta aún asombrado Manu Ginóbili.

"Iban cinco o seis cuadras y el tipo ahí, pegado a la ventanilla de Manu. Y eso que el ómnibus iba rápido. Entonces, empezamos a darle aliento. Todos lo mirábamos a él y hacíamos fuerza para que llegara", acota Sergio Hernández. Faltando dos cuadras lo pierden. Lo había vencido el cansancio. El vehículo estaciona frente al hotel y empiezan a bajar los jugadores. "Manu, vas a tener que esperar a ese pibe", dice el técnico. "¿Vos decís que va a llegar?, debe estar desmayado por ahí", responde Ginóbili, con cierta preocupación. Diez segundos después, jadeando, agitado, extenuado, llega el jovencito, de unos 15 o 16 años. No puede hablar. Está a punto de desplomarse. Manu, que estaba firmando unos autógrafos en la vereda, deja todo, va a su encuentro y lo abraza con afecto. "¡Terrible lo tuyo, te merecés cualquier cosa!", le dice el goleador de los Spurs a su fan santafecino. Y el pibe, loco de contento, le contesta: "Gracias Manu, gracias, igual el autógrafo no es para mí, es para mi amigo que venía corriendo atrás mío y ya va a llegar".

Historias como éstas, de las manifestaciones que provoca la idolatría por Ginóbili, se repiten en cada lugar por donde pasa la estrella del seleccionado nacional, sea Singapur, España o Sendai.

I cant traslate this one, but i cry. I love Manu.

[spurschick]

I'm turning into Tim Duncan now

Cool - can you hook a sister up with a spare million dollars?

[velik_m]

Italy vs. Senegal
44 : 51
4th Quarter: 07:59 minutes to go

[velik_m]

well that didn't last long

Italy vs. Senegal 58 : 51
4th Quarter: 02:38 minutes to go

[velik_m]

CHN vs PUR 87-90
LTU vs QAT 106-65
ITA vs SEN 64-56
GRE vs AUS 72-69

[spurschick]

ARG - Manu Ginobili: "Our only goal is to win the championship”

SENDAI (FIBA World Championship) - Manu Ginobili led Argentina to an Olympic gold medal in Athens in the summer of 2004 - and was named the tournament's best player - before helping Tim Duncan and Tony Parker lead the San Antonio Spurs to their third NBA championship in June 2005.

Quite a successful year by any standard.

However this past year has not been as kind to Ginobili, who has been slowed down by injuries and the Spurs were unable to defend their title.

But "El Manu" is now back to full fitness and ready to take the challenge of leading Argentina to victory in the FIBA World Championship.

So far so good for Ginobili and his team-mates as they won their first three games to top Group A and secure a berth for the knockout stages.

FIBA's correspondent Simon Wilkinson caught up with him after their win over Venezuela.

FIBA: You've won the first three group games quite comfortably. Your team-mate Fabricio Oberto said the day before the tournament started that the team wasn't a 100 per cent yet. Are you there now?

Ginobili: Yes I think that these first three games have really helped us get to where we want to be as a team as we look ahead to the next round of the competition. We had a tough opener against France but we were able to hold on and win that game and we've played as well as we can against Lebanon and Venezuela.

FIBA: Your bench players have contributed immensely in the last two games. It must be good to see them do so well and be able to rest.

Ginobili: Yeah everyone has played very well so far but we're not surprised by it. We have one of the deepest if not the deepest teams in the tournament and we know that anyone of those guys can come in and make a good contribution.

FIBA: Walter Herrmann has been on fire in the last two games, coming off the bench to lead the team in scoring on both occasions. Has he surprised you with those performances?

Ginobili: It doesn't surprise me because I've seen Walter do it before. He has been great for us. He gives us a scoring punch when he comes in the game and I hope he can keep it up.

FIBA: Your last two games are against Nigeria and Serbia & Montenegro who have had mixed performances so far. How do you feel about those teams?

Ginobili: Well Nigeria had an impressive win over Serbia & Montenegro in the first game so they can be very dangerous. As for Serbia & Montenegro themselves, they're rebuilding the team with young players so they lack a bit of experience but they make up for it with their determination and passion. So we won't underestimate either of those teams.

FIBA: Obviously your goal over the next few days is to top the group so that you can have a relatively easy second round match. Do you look that far ahead or are you still going game by game?

Ginobili: We're looking ahead a bit but without letting it take the focus away from the next two games. Of course we want to top the group but there is a much bigger goal, which is to win the championship. That's our motivation.

FIBA: Luis Scola had a very effective game against Venezuela, scoring 18 points in 17 minutes. How does he play so efficiently?

Ginobili: Luis is a very unique player. He has his own style of game that is hard to describe but even harder to defend. He has a very nice touch and he can also run well so he is not your typical power-forward. And we were able to get him going early against a Venezuela side that doesn't have too many big power-forwards. But it's good to see him play this well. He is very important to our success.

FIBA: The other four starters and yourself have been able to play limited minutes in the last two games. How important is that to get some rest in the group games ahead of the knockout stages?

Ginobili: It's really huge and a good luxury to have if you can keep your minutes down and be fresh as you go into the next phase of the competition because you don't know what team you will play against then and how tough that game will be.

FIBA: Your last two wins have been by great margins. Do you think it can be dangerous at this early stage of the competition to win that easily?

Ginobili: I think that winning by big margins is great for our confidence. But it's true that you have to be careful and not expect it to be like this in our last two group games. Against Lebanon and Venezuela we were just able to get everything working perfectly. That won't happen in every game. We'll just keep playing the best we can.

[nkdlunch]

speaking of win margins. Argentina is at the top followed by Spain in win margin.
USA is third

[Martin R]

How does the WC goes on after first round ?

1/8 Finals

A1
B4 61

C2
D3 62

B1
A4 63

D2
C3 64

----

C1
D4 65

A2
B3 66

D1
C4 67

B2
A3 68


1/4 FINALS

61
62 69

63
64 70

65
66 71

67
68 72


SEMIFINAL
69
70 73

71
72 74


FINAL
73
74


One scenario from this schedule COULD confront SPAIN-ARG and USA-GRE in semifinals.
SPAIN should defeat S&M and ITALY in order to arrive to 1/2 finals.
USA should defeat AUS and GER.
GREECE should defeat SLOVENIA and FRANCE.
ARGENTINA should defeat NEW ZEALAND and/or TURQUEY/PUERTO RICO.

This is considering USA-SPAIN-GRE-ARG finish 1st in their respective groups.

[Martin R]

speaking of win margins. Argentina is at the top followed by Spain in win margin.
USA is third

that's right but US has received more than 90 points in 3 games than SPAIN'S or ARGENTINA'S...or even ANGOLA'S.

[TMTTRIO]

Here's another article by Manu. Sorry it's a google translation but the translation of it makes it funny :lol . He said that Tom James is up there with them and then he goes on again about shopping up there :lol .


http://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportiva/nota.asp?nota_id=833663&origen=acumulado&acumulado_id=131-2

I hope that this lack of hard and even parties does not harm to us

Emanuel Ginóbili
For the NATION

SENDAI. - For the first time since we are here we could yesterday leave to know the city, to distract a little to us, and it came very well. Finished the party, we bathed in clothes and we went directly to the center, because the roundtrip to the hotel had delayed to us very many. The concentration is very far. We walked awhile, we saw gigantic businesses, much people, took something and from return to the hotel because it did not have much more to do. Poor man, Tom James (director of press of the Spurs), that becomes bored rather here, came to walk with us. With him I chatted rather of a whole little and he said to me that one was going away to go to know beaches. She is a great Tom; along with we like one more of the group.

The truth is that purchases we practically did not do during this exit because the prices are more or less like those of the United States and if pensás that tenés that to walk with the apparatuses of for and which all the technological one is written there here in Japanese, llevártelo does not agree to you much.

It came to us Barbarian to leave a little to relax to us. Also they will serve these hours until the party with Nigeria because although I played less minutes of the habitual thing in these two last parties, the legs weigh equal. Between party and party there were less than 24 hours and the routine of the heating, the motivation and all that is the same one as if it was a end, and that clears energy to you. So we will take advantage of these hours to begin to think about Nigeria and to load the batteries.

Within all the negative that has the injury of Chapu, it is best that it has happened just now, before a day of rest. I think that most important by these hours it is to take care of it and to recover it. He is key as much in defense as in attack and is in a high level. I saw in clothes and the ankle had swollen him a little, but knowing its temperament and the “horse” that is, I am sure that it is going away to put well quickly.

What one comes now are all end, beginning by Nigeria, that although still we did not study it in depth, by little which I saw in television it seems to me a intimidante rival. It has much physical presence under the hoops, they are very athletic and they know to play. I believe that it is a very good equipment. If we won to them, the following party against Serbia and Montenegro is not going to have value. If it is thus we will be able to rotate all the establishment to follow again well physically. Otherwise, if it can define the first position of the group, we will take it like a great commitment, but thinking that it is a special rival reason why it did not happen in Indianapolis 2002 or the Olympic Games. This it is not he himself equipment.

As far as the triumph with Venezuela, I believe that again we made the things well of entrance, defending as we know and running to define in speed. That way the systems were not respected too much and we did not play shining, which happens is that when the rival allows you to have options of shot in the second or third she passes tenés that to take advantage of them. I hope that this lack of hard and even parties does not harm to us. The idea is the one of always, to avoid to relax to us, to respect the rival and to take each party as if it was the end of the world. We do not have to enlarge to us nor to lose humility. We know that no longer they are going to let to us play as much and that, without spirit to despise to anybody, Spain or the United States is not Venezuela or the Lebanon. We must understand that well and continue playing with aggressiveness and by far professionalism.

[Martin R]

yeah, Manu says Tom is VERY bored and that he joined the Argentine team for shopping.

Martin

[spurschick]

ARG - Magnano confident Argentina can erase Spain pain

SENDAI (FIBA World Championship) - Former Argentina coach Ruben Magnano believes recent history will count for little if the South American giants come up against Spain in the latter stages of the FIBA World Championship.

Spain thrashed Argentina twice in the build-up to the tournament but both countries have looked in prime form in Japan, each winning their opening three matches to top their respective groups.

If both sides continue their 100% record, they will meet in the last four of the tournament on September 1 in Saitama.

If that happens, Spain will feel confident they hold the upper hand due to their 79-67 and 87-66 warm-up victories over the Olympics champions, but Magnano doubts those matches will still be playing on the minds of the Argentina side.

“In the preparation, the Spanish beat us comfortably,” said Magnano, who guided Argentina to the runners-up spot in the last World Championship and to Olympic gold in Athens.

“Spain are a great team and the previous record is unfavourable to Argentina, but it is only history.

“On court, two very even teams should clash if that game finally takes place. It could be a difficult situation (for Argentina), but our team can overcome what happened in the preparation games.”

Aside from Argentina and Spain, Magnano also believes the semi-final line-up will be completed by Team USA and Greece.

“The United States are always favourites to get to the final stages. Greece and Spain will join them,” predicted the Pallacanestro Varese coach.

“They are the four teams who have started the championship best and it’s well-known they are better than the rest.”

While Magnano expects the Americans to reach the final four, he does not believe they are clear favourites to win the entire competition, saying they “are having the eternal problem of forming a balanced squad”.

“In the last few years they have suffered unexpected defeats, even in Indianapolis 2002 and the Olympic Games, where they only took the bronze.

“But the United States have to clean up their image and, with that mentality, they will always be dangerous.”

[AndRe-LT]

Javtokas vs Australia and Bogut : 19 min. 16 pts (fg7/8 ft2/8) 12 reb (4 o., 8d.) 2 TO 2 BS ! :smokin

[velik_m]

no USA-Italy thread?

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I guess no one stayed up.

This game seems better than yesterday also.

[Duncanoypi]

Lebanon is bombing France right now....43-30....wow!

Lebanon was swept by our very own Philippine team before they headed to WC....

[Slo spurs fan]

France lost to Lebanon by 1 point!!!!! WOW just WOW

[Bruno]

France lost to Lebanon by 1 point!!!!! WOW just WOW

This game has clearly show France main weakness : they can't break a zone. Even France's shooters can't shoot, France finish with something like a 3/27 form 3pt line.
The scary thing is that Libanon has mised a lot of shoots too.
BTW, Fadi El-Khatib is a quite good player and deserve to get a training camp contract.

[Slo spurs fan]

Is there any danger France won´t advance?
I think they will come together and play better. Remember Euro05? They lost to Slovenia, but finished better.

Oh, and by the way, Slovenia beat Lebanon by 61 points. :)

[Bruno]

Is there any danger France won´t advance?
I think they will come together and play better. Remember Euro05? They lost to Slovenia, but finished better.

Oh, and by the way, Slovenia beat Lebanon by 61 points. :)

They need to win against Venezuella tomorrow to advance. It's a bad team but after the game against Lebanon, I can't say they will win.
The biggest problem wiht this lost is that France will likely play against a good team in eight final like Spain or Germany.

[Slo spurs fan]

Well, good luck to your team.

[Bruno]

Thanks ;) , good luck to Slovenia too.

[velik_m]

They need to win against Venezuella tomorrow to advance. It's a bad team but after the game against Lebanon, I can't say they will win.
The biggest problem wiht this lost is that France will likely play against a good team in eight final like Spain or Germany.

Germany should be called Nowitzkia.

[spurschick]

I'm looking on the bright side that this is a good thing

Dear fiba.com viewers:

Thank you for your tremendous interest in the FIBA World Championship. The traffic on the website has exceeded by hundred times the interest of comparable events such as the Olympic Basketball Tournaments in Athens. In order to provide a minimum service, we have the features which are listed below.

We are working to restore the full version of fiba.com as quickly as possible.

Stay tuned

[hendrix]

So it looks like the following is possible.

Group A:
1. Argentina
2. Serbia & Montenegro
3. Libano
4. France

Group B:
1. Spain
2. Germany
3. Angola
4. New Zeland

That matches
France vs Spain
Argentina vs Kiwis
Germany vs Libano
SCG vs Angola

Group C:
1. Greece
2. Turkey
3. Lithuania
4. Australia. (If Brazil manages to beat Lithuania, they are in and Australia out)

Group D:
1. USA
2. Italy
3. Slovenia
4. Puerto Rico (I'm giving the edge to SLO in the final game of the group)

That makes:
USA vs Australia (or Brazil)
Greece vs PUR
Turkey vs Slovenia
Italy vs Lithuania

Quarter Finals would be:
Argentina vs Turkey
Spain vs Italy (or Lithuania)
Germany vs USA
Greece vs SCG


I got to say that if Libano beats Germany in 1/8 finals... they meet USA.
I dont want to be there.

[spurschick]

Game Report, Argentina vs Nigeria 98-64, GROUP A

SENDAI (FIBA World Championship) - For those who were concerned, Andres Nocioni showed his ankle was just fine as he led Argentina to their third consecutive easy win, 98-64 over Nigeria.

Nocioni had 23 points in 18 minutes and didn't miss a single shot, going five for five from three-point land and four for four inside the arc.

"I don't think I've ever played a game where I didn't miss a shot - at least not for the national team," Nocioni said afterwards.

Argentina looked well-rested after their day off and each of their first three baskets were all three-pointers, Nocioni opening the festivities before Manu Ginobili hit one of his own and Nocioni hit another one. He would finish the first quarter with 12 points - all on shots from beyond the arc.

Nigeria were in good shape too in the early stages and tied the score at 9-9 on a three-point play by Ekene Ibekwe.

But, as had been the case in the Olympic champions' last two games, this prompted the start of a great run for Sergio Hernandez's men.

Ginobili had a three-point play of his own and a three-pointer that sandwiched Nocioni's third shot from downtown before Scola added a lay-up for the first double-digit lead of the day 20-9.

Nigeria fought back behind Gabe Muoneke and Ime Udoka who connected from long distance to close the gap to nine at the end of the first quarter, 29-20.

The second quarter was a bit flat for both teams. Nigeria settled for too many lazy shots and tried to overpower their opponents inside - to no avail.

As for Argentina, they didn't get quite the same lift from their bench as they did against Lebanon and Venezuela as their shooting and overrall organisation was a bit off.

This gave Sam Vincent's men a chance to get cut their deficit down to 11 at the end of the first half, 41-30, as the backcourt duo of Ebi Ere and Udoka combined for a 7-0 run.

However, after the break it was the turn of Argentina's backcourt to turn it on.

Ginobili had a personal 6-2 run - including a spectacular coast to coast lay up - and Pepe Sanchez made three shots from behind the arc as the lead all of a sudden jumped to 20, 62-42.

Sanchez's last three-pointer beat the third quarter buzzer and saw Argentina enter the game's last 10 minutes ahead 73-47.

Nocioni - who hadn't played since the first quarter - checked back into the game to put the finishing touches on a fine performance, as he hit two more three-pointers and several long jumpers.

Argentina were even able to put on a show for the fans as Fabricio Oberto threw a nice alley oop to Carlos Delfino who cut down the lane and caught it for a two-hand slam.

And Delfino then threw an alley oop to Nocioni who sofly guided the ball into the hoop.

Ginobili added 20 points and was able to rest again, playing only 17 minutes. Scola chipped in with 12 points.

Gabe Muoneke led the way with 10 points for Nigeria.

Vincent admitted after the game that his team didn't play with the same intensity in the second half as it did before half-time as they looked ahead to their last group game against Lebanon.

"I give credit to Argentina for playing another great game of basketaball. I'd say they are a tribute to what you can do with a group of players who've been together for a long time. That's what we aim for. Today we played hard and smart for much of the first half but then we thought we'd try and save some of our energy for tomorrow's crucial game."

Hernandez emphasised how important this win was for his players.

"With this result, we now know that we will finish the group stages as the top team in our group and that's very important for our next round," he said.

"I don't think the final score does Nigeria justice. They are a very good and improving team and they really pushed us hard."

[velik_m]

Germany - Angola in 3rd overtime

[Duncanoypi]

Nowitzki needs NBA ref now to salvage this game...

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

looks like it will be Australia vs USA in the next round :smokin

AUSSIE OI
AUSSIE OI
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI

:lol

[zeleni]

looks like it will be Australia vs USA in the next round :smokin

AUSSIE OI
AUSSIE OI
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI

:lol

That would be one great game to watch! Bogut against Howard...etc... Love it!

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

i wanna see how CJ Bruton goes vs NBA point guards coz i really think he has what it takes to at least make it

[zeleni]

26th August at 3.00 1/8 finals (1) Argentina Nova Zelandija
26. avgust ob 6.00 1/8 finala (2) Turčija Slovenija
26. avgust ob 10.00 1/8 finala (3) Španija SČG
26. avgust ob 13.00 1/8 finala (4) Italija Litva
27. avgust ob 3.00 1/8 finala (5) Grčija Kitajska
27. avgust ob 6.00 1/8 finala (6) Francija Angola
27. avgust ob 10.00 1/8 finala (7) ZDA Avstralija
27. avgust ob 13.00 1/8 finala (8) Nemčija Nigerija
29. avgust ob 9.30 četrtfinale (1) zmag. (1) zmag. (2)
29. avgust ob12.30 četrtfinale (2) zmag. (3) zmag. (4)
30. avgust ob 9.30 četrtfinale (3) zmag. (5) zmag. (6)
30. avgust ob 12.30 četrtfinale (4) zmag. (7) zmag. (8)

That means

Slovenia:Turkey vs Argentina:New Zealand
Slovenia can beat Turkey, but I have doubts about about making to the semis. Ginobili and the rest crushed us in Singapur. It all on the forwards of all 4 teams. Guards will be meaningless until the semis.

Spain:SMN vs Italy:Lithuania
Spain and Italy are in for a treat. Spain will have to make Gasol dominate Darko, while young Italians will have to play against trigger happy and inspired shooters right after that poor shooting against PR. If they make it, I vote Spain and their anger.

Greece:China vs France:Angola
Greece cannot win against good centers; Ming can really win this game. But I doubt chinese guards are mature enough, so Ming will not get to demolish France, who really cannot handle China. France vs Greece will be one ugly game and Greece could very well win it, but my faith is with Diaw.

USA:Australia vs Germany:Nigeria
USA takes on revenge against the NBA champion. They will get to the semis, if the Aussies do not get them first on inspiration and pure ambition. Germany doesn't have a center, who could take on all this space to collect the rebounds. Offcourse it is still possible for a very bad 3pt night for the entire USA team, but that is just absurd.

[velik_m]

it looks like a walk in a park for USA to reach semis.

[TMTTRIO]

By the way I heard that Manu hit 1000 points last night against S&M in all the international competitions he's been in. Congrats to him :elephant

[zeleni]

By the way I heard that Manu hit 1000 points last night against S&M in all the international competitions he's been in. Congrats to him :elephant
Props to the master of the game.

[Martin R]

so now we have the following 1/8 Finals games :

ARG
NZL

FRA
ANG

ESP
SCG

GER
NGR

GRE
CHI

TUR
SLO

USA
AUS

ITA
LTU

I think Spain (once again) has the toughest second round game. Serbia & Monetenegro is playing very well right now.
ITA-LIT is the other tough game here considering it is a 2nd round game.

[Pero]

Greece wont have problems with Slovenia.

We aren`t playing Greece... We are playing against Turkey.
And we`ve beaten Greece at the last EC...

[Pero]

Where did you get this info anyway? What is PUR? Puerto Rico? They are eliminated!

[zeleni]

The game vs Turkey is on Teletekst on 10 AM.

[zeleni]

new timetable from Sportal:

1/8 Finals

Saturday:
03.00 Argentina - New Zealand
06.00 Lithuania - Italy
10.00 Turkey - Slovenia
13.00 Spain - S&MN

Sunday
03.00 Germany - Nigeria
06.00 USA - Australia
10.00 France - Angola
13.00 Greece - China


1/4 Finals

Tuesday
09.30 Argentina/New Zealand - Turkey/Slovenia
12.30 Spain/S&MN - Italy/Lithuania

Wednesday
09.30 Greece/China - France/Angola
12.30 USA/Australia - Germany/Nigeria

[boutons_]

August 24, 2006

Sports of The Times

A Team Worth Waving the Flag For

By SELENA ROBERTS

AMERICA’S pride-reclamation project is not assembled with high-maintenance basketball players who find accommodations like the Queen Mary 2 too cramped for their night-crawling habits.

That was Athens, the Olympics and the distracted Allen Iverson. This is Japan, the FIBA world championship and the delightful Chris Paul.

The United States team of redemption does not possess a roster of players whose faces pucker and slacken like day-old balloons when they’re seated on the bench.

That was 2004, and the persecuted Stephon Marbury. This is now, and the grateful Elton Brand.

The N.B.A. players in the U.S.A. jerseys are not being publicly henpecked for their ball-hog ways by Coach Larry Brown, a career blues act http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif, but are motivated by togetherness at no charge and the upbeat Coach K, who typically commands a six-figure speaker’s fee to impart his peace-love-and-humility wisdom.

What a steal: an embraceable, huggable United States basketball team. The players occasionally salute as a shout-out to American troops when they score and refer to the team’s director, Jerry Colangelo, as Mr. Colangelo.

United States officials have heard no player complaints about the thread count at the team’s business-class hotel and no complaints from the hotel staff about players conducting themselves without a thread of class.

They’ve all but rescued butterflies from windshield wipers and written thank-you notes to their opponents.

Need a patriotic pick-me-up that is not on the banned-substance list? Weary from a cycle of American lab-work flunkies? Still waiting for soccer, baseball or Bode Miller to make the podium?

Here is a United States team that will jump through hoops for you.

“I do feel we can give a boost to our nation,” Brand said yesterday after the United States won its pool group with a 94-85 comeback victory against Italy. “They want something positive, something good to root for, and that’s what Coach K and Mr. Colangelo, and the entire staff, have been talking about from the start. Show our country and fellow citizens and the armed forces that we’re going to give our heart, and we’re going to do it the right way.”

Is the right way enough to win in Japan? And is winning the only route to America’s heart?

Every superstar on the team, from LeBron James to Dwyane Wade, has happily committed this summer and the next two off-seasons to restoring respect for United States basketball in the run-up to the 2008 Games.

“Yes, you really miss home and family, and I’m sure everyone I know in Peekskill, N.Y., was up early to see our game,” said Brand, referring to his hometown.

He added, “But this is an honor and a privilege — especially with everything going on.”

He was referring to Iraq, the Middle East and America’s missing diversion from reality: a United States team to cheer and trust and like. And this trifecta would be a first in men’s hoops.

The original Dream Teamers who dunked and mocked the world in the 1992 Barcelona Games won the gold medal, but they never evoked a warm, fuzzy feeling when they continually flunked etiquette. Charles Barkley flattened a meek Angolan player for kicks and called it a “ghetto thing.”

Some of those same humiliated international players put ice on their pride, then asked Barkley & Company for autographs and dinner dates. The American audience forgave the boorish behavior, because being No. 1 meant never apologizing for bad manners on a global scale.

Comeuppance has been delicious revenge, though. America’s worldwide intimidation factor has withered in competition, and its margin for superiority has vanished inside the trapezoid lane on the court.

It was there for all to see yesterday during a game broadcast at 6:30 a.m. The United States defeated a rebuilding Italian team, but it needed 35 points from Carmelo Anthony to come back after being 12 points behind early in the second half.

Brand said: “The perception is that these international guys are not as talented as we are, that they’re soft and all kinds of stereotypes. But that’s totally not true — as the U.S.A. has learned.”

The lessons have been embarrassing. There was the bewildering sixth-place finish at the 2002 world championship and a disappointing bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Games that seemed like a token to the players for not losing their cool amid a hostile environment — not in the arena, but next to their coach.

Everyone’s image was tainted in Athens, from the petulant players to the peptic Coach Brown.

Japan could be a recovery zone for the United States. But what if this team doesn’t win? It is very possible that the international game — of pinpoint jump shooting and zone defenses and backdoor picks and Argentine dominance — is still out of America’s reach.

The players could do everything right. They could pass with unselfishness, rebound with effort and react with integrity — all qualities rarely associated with an American team filled with N.B.A. players — and they could still lose.

Victory may be the only acceptable outcome to some. But here is an alternative: In the American climate of athletic gloom, freighted by cheats and louts, a group worth feeling good about is a team redeemed.

E-mail: [email protected]

[zeleni]

boutons, that is one great find. They are a great team, they are.

Now let us see are they champions... :) This is going to be a tournament to remember.

[Sway]

Great article and great team! Cant wait to see the tournament.

[zeleni]

Great article and great team! Cant wait to see the tournament.

Hey, wait a minute! You did all that racket about us being trolls and haters and you didn't see one game till now? Man, that weird...

I watched 3 USA games and YOU get angry?

[spurschick]

According to the tv schedules, there are televised games:

Friday, 11:00PM CST
ESPN2

Saturday, 6:00AM CST
ESPN2

Saturday, 1:00PM CST
FOX

They don't say who the teams are though. There are games actually being played live during the two times on ESPN2 (Italy v. Lithuania and Spain v. Serbia & Montenegro) but they may end up being replays of the earlier games between Argentina v. NZ and Turkey v. Slovenia. I have no clue which game they'll be replaying on FOX on Saturday.

[hendrix]

Argentina plays at 10 AM Japan time. Thats Friday 10 PM Arg time and i think it's 8 PM CST. So I dont think they're gonna show Argentina LIVE on prime time

[cheguevara]

So we still don't know what game they'll show at midnight tonight on ESPN2???

hopefully argentina

[Taladro]

So we still don't know what game they'll show at midnight tonight on ESPN2???

hopefully argentina

Che,
ESPN2's TV listing has scheduled a game at 8:00 pm SA time, if I am not mistaken Argentina vs. NZ are playing at the same time. I hope they go live with the game.
:spin

[cheguevara]

Che,
ESPN2's TV listing has scheduled a game at 8:00 pm SA time, if I am not mistaken Argentina vs. NZ are playing at the same time. I hope they go live with the game.
:spin

do u have a link? I thought it was 12am easter time which is 11pm SA time

[Taladro]

do u have a link? I thought it was 12am easter time which is 11pm SA time
Nop, but I have the address, see below

<http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnGuide>

[tlongII]

The game being televised tonight is Italy vs Lithuania.

[spurschick]

Che,
ESPN2's TV listing has scheduled a game at 8:00 pm SA time, if I am not mistaken Argentina vs. NZ are playing at the same time. I hope they go live with the game.
:spin

I don't know where you are getting this info - ESPN2 has boxing scheduled at 8PM CST.

[spurschick]

Recent update to fiba.com

* THE ORDER OF THE GAMES FOR THE 1/8 FINALS, 1/4 FINALS, 1/2 FINALS AND FINALS ROUND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND WILL BE DETERMINED AFTER THE LAST DAY OF THE PRECEDING ROUND.

This could affect the existing tv schedule.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

:lmao I can't believe NZ's basketball team does the Haka too! :lmao I mean when the rugby team does it its something, but the basketball team?? hilarious!

[Spurologist]

Recent update to fiba.com

* THE ORDER OF THE GAMES FOR THE 1/8 FINALS, 1/4 FINALS, 1/2 FINALS AND FINALS ROUND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND WILL BE DETERMINED AFTER THE LAST DAY OF THE PRECEDING ROUND.

This could affect the existing tv schedule.

:tu That's the answer to the question I was about to ask

[MaNuMaNiAc]

some really horrible shooting by both Argentina and NZ so far

[spurschick]

some really horrible shooting by both Argentina and NZ so far

What's the score?!

[MaNuMaNiAc]

fancy passing, the score is 17 - 11 Argentina

[spurschick]

fancy passing, the score is 17 - 11 Argentina

Thanks - any chance you could come into the other thread and keep me updated?

[MaNuMaNiAc]

time out 19 - 11

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Thanks - any chance you could come into the other thread and keep me updated?
what other thread?

[spurschick]

what other thread?

The "what time and channel" thread

[spurschick]

By the way, if anyone would like to contact the Head of Communications at FIBA and express your opinion on the coverage of the WCs:

Florian Wanninger
Head of Communications, FIBA
[email protected]

[Spurologist]

By the way, if anyone would like to contact the Head of Communications at FIBA and express your opinion on the coverage of the WCs:

Florian Wanninger
Head of Communications, FIBA
[email protected]

I wonder if "you and your coverage suck ass" would be appropriate

[spurschick]

I wonder if "you and your coverage suck ass" would be appropriate


:lol There are probably more appropriate and constructive ways to say it.

[milkyway21]

for fans from the Philippines pls. check out the updated schedule for today(SAt, Aug. 26) and Sun (Aug. 27), from Solar Sports channel.

heres the link:

http://www.solar-entertainment.com/SPORTS/fiba2006.html


26-Aug Saturday
[B]Lithuania vs. Italy 4:00 12:00 PM 2:00 PM Solar Sports 8/27/2006 7:00 PM replay

26-Aug Saturday
Spain vs. Serbia & Montenegro 11:00 7:00 PM 8:00 PM Solar Sports 8/27/2006 9:00 PM Replay

27-Aug Sunday

USA vs. Australia 4:00 live 12:00 PM 2:00 PM Solar Sports 8/28/2006 replay 9:00 pm

27-Aug Sunday
Greece vs. China live 8:00 PM Solar Sports 8/28/2006 replay 11:00 pm

[carina_gino20]

26/08/2006

Game Report, Argentina vs New Zealand 79-62, EIGHT-FINALS
SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) – Manu Ginobili exploded for 28 points and Fabricio Oberto had 23 along with 10 rebounds as Argentina won 79-62 over New Zealand on the opening day of the eighth-finals at the FIBA World Championship.

The Tall Blacks, surprise semi-finalists four years ago in Indianapolis, scraped their way into last 16 with just two triumphs in Group B and gave Argentina some uncomfortable moments but were brushed aside in the fourth quarter by the Olympic champions in Saitama.

Argentina struggled from long range, missing their first 17 attempts before Ginobili ended the drought in the fourth quarter to help put the game out of reach for the Kiwis.

Oberto and Co dominated the boards, pulling down 46 in the game, 17 off the offensive glass, while the Tall Blacks finished with 31.

“We have to give credit to New Zealand because they forced us to take shots from the outside,” said Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez. “But I don’t believe in the idea of having a bad day.

"Considering we shot six percent today from three-point range, you can't expect to achieve any more than what we did today."

Argentina led by as many as nine points in the first half but were unable to press home the advantage, and when Paul Henare made one of two from the line New Zealand only trailed 30-26 with 2:46 to go in the second quarter.

Phill Jones’ three-pointer with 47 seconds left cut the deficit to 35-29 and he had a chance to reduce the margin to three but his three-ball missed, and Argentina rebounded and raced to the other end where Luis Scola scored with a short jump shot to go into the changings rooms ahead at 37-29.

New Zealand made it 39-33 with 8:15 to go in the third on a Henare lay-up, but that’s when the wheels came off.

Oberto scored with a short jumper and then Henare was hit with an unsportsmanlike foul against Ginobili.

The San Antonio Spurs guard sank both shots and Argentina ended up outscoring the Kiwis 12-2 in a three-minute spell for a 51-35 lead.

New Zealand never recovered.

“It was a very physical game," Hernandez said. "I think the referees decided to let the players play, there was a lot of contact.”

Luis Scola, the Tau Ceramica superstar, fell hard to the court on one play in the first half and did not up, leading New Zealand’s Mark Dickel to rush to his aid and call for the Argentina trainers.

The power forward eventually came to his knees holding his mouth, walked to the bench holding parts of two chipped front teeth in his hand. (poor Luis)

"This has never happened to me before," Scola said. "I guess this is the high price you pay when we play the game."

New Zealand were tricky opponents, but Argentina always looked in control.

Next up will be either Slovenia or Turkey.

“Now we have to prepare for our next game,” Hernandez said.

“Slovenia has a lot of natural talent while Turkey are more aggressive and show more character. The one we face will be a worthy opponent in the quarter-final stage.”

Pero Cameron’s three with 4:38 to play did bring the Kiwis to within 67-58, but the next points came from Ginobili, who buried Argentina’s only shot from the arc with 3:50 to play.

The NBA star then added a three-point play and Oberto added a jumper as Argentina opened up a 17-point lead with 2:14 to play to make sure of victory.

Kirk Penny, the New Zealand guard who played on the side that reached the last four in Indianapolis in 2002, said: “They kept coming and coming and we couldn’t get the run we needed.”


After the game, New Zealand coach Tab Baldwin announced his resignation after five years in charge of the Tall Blacks. Baldwin, who led New Zealand to their first ever semi-finals at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, revealed he had taken this decision before the start of the tournament in Japan.


From Jeff Taylor
FIBA

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_wcm/news/lateNews/FE_news_lateNews_arti.asp?newsID=15969&eventID=3507&lid_6591_openNodeIDs=&roundID=3507&langID=1&competitionCode=&langLC=en&season=&playerNumber=&teamNumber=&zone=

[milkyway21]

Fabricio Oberto had 23 along with 10 rebounds as Argentina won 79-62 over New Zealand

this is just amazing stats for Oberto :clap

i hope he can contribute the same in Spurs uniform next season.

Congratulations Argentina for the win. and for me winning my 1st vBookie in the qtrfinals :D

[Obstructed_View]

this is just amazing stats for Oberto :clap

i hope he can contribute the same in Spurs uniform next season.

Congratulations Argentina for the win. and for me winning my 1st vBookie in the qtrfinals :D
I was watching one of the Argentina games and the commentators were pointing out that Oberto didn't contribute for the Spurs, and I'm wondering why they didn't mention that he was a rookie on a defending champion. He will be better this upcoming season.

[milkyway21]

I was watching one of the Argentina games and the commentators were pointing out that Oberto didn't contribute for the Spurs, and I'm wondering why they didn't mention that he was a rookie on a defending champion. He will be better this upcoming season.LIMITED MINUTES and yeah he was still a rookie.
It seems he looked lost playing against the Mavs his shot didn't fall through. Well, I have confidence on this player since the start of his rookie season..i hope he prove me right.

Being a Spur :flag: i just want him to play very good in the WC (except of course against the U.S. team:lol), and make his presence felt playing alogside Duncan in 2006-07 season...

[velik_m]

Argentina and Lithuania in top8.

[AndRe-LT]

Argentina and Lithuania in top8.
JAP, Javtokas 6pts 8 Rb !

[angel_luv]

Let's go team Argentina! It is all you now!

[V-2]

Spain is trashing the Serbs, 75-58 with about 6 minutes remaining.

[Martin R]

I have to admit Spain is SCARY.

[V-2]

Spain 87
SM 73

[spurschick]

26/08/2006ARG - Manu Ginobili: "We cannot be greedy"

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Argentina are just three victories away from capturing the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship after Saturday's 79-62 triumph over New Zealand.

Manu Ginobili poured in a game-high 28 points, making big shots in the lane and also sinking Argentina's only three pointer in the final quarter to put the result beyond doubt.

Olympic champions in 2004, Ginobili firmly believes he and his team-mates can go on and win the world title for the first time in their history.

Ginobili spoke to PA Sport's Cindy Garcia-Bennett on behalf of FIBA after his magnificent effort against the Tall Blacks.

FIBA: Manu, at times it looked as if Argentina struggled against New Zealand today.

Ginobili: "We suffered but we still won by 17 points against a rival we knew could really complicate our lives. We cannot be greedy and think we are going to win every game by 30 points."

FIBA: Is everthing okay for the Argentina team right now?

Ginobili: "I think we have it all, perhaps playing well when it matters. I don't think there's an area in which we are struggling. In our previous games we shined at shots from the perimeter and it wasn't the case today but we still played well. This happens in a tournament. There's no specific problems that we have."

FIBA: Did you feel rested and refreshed coming into this FIBA World Championship?

Ginobili: "In previous years it has been very tough but this year we were eliminated in the semi-finals of the conference in the NBA and I've had plenty of time to rest so I cannot complain about anything. I am extremely happy and I will continue to be as long as my national team keeps on winning. If we lose our next game I will feel terrible.

"I didn't come to this World Championship looking to take the spotlight or focuse too much on stats but rather on helping Argentina become champions.

"As long as we continue in this path I will be happy."

FIBA: Do you feel more pressure because you have won an Olympic gold medal?

Ginobili: "For sure there is more responsibility being the Olympic champions.Everybody says that Argentina, Spain and United States are favourites but it's not automatic. In a World Championship any team can surprise you and that carries some pressure. Having said that, most of the players in this national team have had to deal with some pressure in their careers we are therefore, we are used to it.

FIBA: Argentina will play the winner of Slovenia versus Turkey. Do you have a preference?

Ginobili: "I know more the Slovenian team well because I have played with some of their players. I know little about Turkey but those who know them have warned us that they are very dangerous and play well. At this point of the tournament all the rivals are difficult so whoever it is will be."

FIBA: What could prevent Argentina from not clinching the gold medal in Japan?

Ginobili:"There's no question that our aim is to win gold but it will depend on how we play and whether the crucial shot in a tight game goes in. I think it's the same for other teams and that will be the case in our next game."

FIBA: Saturday's game was your team's first game at the Super Arena in Saitama, what do you make of this venue?

Ginobili: "This arena is gigantic and it's great to see so many fans in the stands.One thing I didn't like was the rigidness of the rims, as we struggled to make some shots but it's something that obviously affects both teams. We will have to get used to it."

FIBA: Have you been able to watch any of Team USA's games so far?

Ginobili: "We haven't seen any of our rivals play because we haven't been able to watch it on TV. We have seen the stats but we are really focusing on our national team."

[angel_luv]

Go get em Gino. :)

[hendrix]

Olympic champions in 2004, Ginobili firmly believes he and his team-mates can go on and win the world title for the first time in their history.


Argentina beat USA in WC 1950 to get the first World Championship.

[spurschick]

Argentina beat USA in WC 1950 to get the first World Championship.


:lol Guess it would be the first time in Manu's history.

[Gin N Juice]

With the U.S. looking to reestablish their dominance and Argentina looking to add to their accomplishments, who has more pressure on them to win the U.S. or Arg?
Tough call but I gotta say the U.S. because so much thought and work was put into assembling this team to do one thing.....WIN.

[Martin R]

I hope Lithuania beats Spain otherwise Argentina (if we beat Turkey!) will be worn down for the finals...

[spurschick]

NZL - Penney: "They kept coming and coming and we couldn't get the runs when we needed them" :lmao

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Kirk Penney made just 1-of-5 three-pointers and scored 11 points in New Zealand's 79-62 loss to defending Olympic champions Argentina in the Eighth-final of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

The Tall Blacks, semi-finalists at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, needed a strong performance from Penney even more with veteran sharp-shooter Phil Jones struggling with outside shot.

But New Zealand as a team made just six of 30 three-pointers for the game.

Penney talked to FIBA after the tough loss.

FIBA: Kirk, how tough was this loss for the team after having won your previous two games to make it to Saitama?
Penney: It's tough. They're a very good team. Very deep. They kept coming and coming and we couldn't get the runs when we needed them. We couldn't make that stop or make that shot. And they handled the fourth quarter quite easily.

FIBA: In the fourth quarter you tried to make the comeback. You missed some much-needed three-pointers and they just got some tough baskets down low, even though they missed the threes that they were trying to put you away with.
Penney: We knew that we needed to hit some shots down the stretch and we didn't hit them. Inside they did a good job, and they moved the ball very well and got some easy looks against us.

FIBA: The team needed you to pick things up even more with Phill Jones struggling. How difficult of a time was it for you out there, having Andres Nocioni on you for stretches of the game?
Penney: We all feel we could have picked it up even more, especially when you lose. But, you know, they're a good team.

FIBA: Do you consider them definitely among the favourites after seeing them first hand?
Penney: Of course, they're Olympic champions and they have a great and deep team, everything you need to win.

FIBA: Where do you see New Zealand now after this loss, following the country's back-to-back wins to reach this knock-out showdown?
Penney: Obviously looking over at the cross-overs, we knew that Argentina was going to be really tough. But we're bowing out of the tournament and we gave our best, but just couldn't hit the shots we needed, when we needed them. Still, it really hurts to go out like this.

[TMTTRIO]

August 26, 2006

Spurs star becomes role player
Ginobili is having fun, says he'll do what it takes to help Argentina take home title

Associated Press
SAITAMA, Japan -- Manu Ginobili knows what it's like to be in the spotlight. At the FIBA world championship, he's content with a slightly different role.

The San Antonio Spurs star has had a strong showing at the tournament so far, scoring 70 points to help Olympic champion Argentina to a 5-0 record in the preliminary round.
Only Luis Scola (79) has more points than Ginobili for Argentina, which will face New Zealand today in the round of 16.
Ginobili, who is averaging 14 points, is playing a somewhat reduced role and said teamwork is the key to Argentina's success.
"If I go to the bench after 10 minutes, I want the guy who replaces me to play well," said Ginobili. "If I'm playing with him, I want to help him. We're not as talented as other teams and we don't have shooters like other teams, but we play well together."
Like many NBA stars, Ginobili could have sat out the worlds.
"I'm here because I enjoy doing it," said Ginobili.
Argentina, the runner-up at the 2002 worlds in Indianapolis, is on course for a semifinal showdown with Spain.
If the seeds hold, the other semifinal would pit the United States against Greece.
Ginobili thinks the U.S. will be tougher this time around.
"I haven't seen the U.S. team play together, but I know them all very well," he said. "I know they have a lot of talent, athleticism and hunger because most of the main guys lost in the Olympics; so I know they don't want to miss this chance."

[Lady M]

greece must beat china and france before USA :(

[V-2]

greece must beat china and france before USA :lol
Greece will face the Americans and give them the most serious run for their money.
It's all about matchups, I think Argentina matches up the best against teamUSA, the Spaniards match up well vs Argentineans.
Anyway, Greece trashed the Chinese by 30 points, France will be eliminated also in the next game.

[V-2]

Greece 95-China 64

Greece: Papaloukas 19, Spanoulis 15, Kakiouzis 11+7reb, schortsianitis 10, Vassilopoulos 8, Fotsis 8, Diamantidis 7, Papadopoulos 6+5reb, Dikoudis 5, Tsartsaris 4, Hatzivrettas 2, Zisis 0.

China: S. Wang 16+6reb, Yao 10+8reb, Zhu 10, Yi 9+5reb, Chen 8, Sun 4, liu 3, Zhang 3, Z. Wang 1, S. Zhang 0, Du 0

Too many turnovers limited China to oppose to European Champion Greece.

Compared with two teams strength, Greece obviously stronger than China. But Chinese coach was very familiar with Greece team. So he said:"Although Greece is a powerful team, nothing is impossible in this game."

This is also the first time Yao contest with his new team member spanoulis.

China led a marvelous beginning 12-2 in the first quarter. But China have 12 turnovers in the second quarter and lost the score advantage.

Greece's aggressive defense in the third quarter let China only got 6 points.

So the fourth quarter had not any suspense.

Greece have 13 steals in this game, but China have no steal.

[spurschick]

What the tv schedule says: (which we all know is sketchy at best)

Argentina vs. Turkey (replay)
Tuesday, 3:00PM CST, NBA TV
The game is being played at 11:30PM CST on Monday for anyone live streaming or viewing it another way

USA vs. Germany
LIVE Wednesday, 2:30AM CST, ESPN2
Replay, 5:30AM, CST, ESPN2

[Kori Ellis]

On the front of NBA.com, there's a video interview with Tony talking about the World Championships and the French team.

I think this link should work.

http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/nbatv/videoblog_parker_on_wboc_060826.asx

[Kori Ellis]

USA vs. Germany
LIVE Wednesday, 2:30AM CST, ESPN2
Replay, 5:30AM, CST, ESPN2

I think the real live game time is 5:30am our time. So I don't think the 2:30am time is correct.

[Kori Ellis]

What the tv schedule says: (which we all know is sketchy at best)

Argentina vs. Turkey (replay)
Tuesday, 3:00PM CST, NBA TV
The game is being played at 11:30PM CST on Monday for anyone live streaming or viewing it another way



I think that game is being played at 2:30am our time, not 11:30pm.

The games are at 4:30pm and 7:30pm Japan time, which is 14 hours ahead of us.

Argentina is at 4:30pm, so 2:30am for us.

[Martin R]

I think that game is being played at 2:30am our time, not 11:30pm.

The games are at 4:30pm and 7:30pm Japan time, which is 14 hours ahead of us.

Argentina is at 4:30pm, so 2:30am for us.

Arg-TUR game was postponed to 7:30PM (5:30AM your time)

[spurschick]

I give up

[ALVAREZ6]

I give up
I did a while ago.


I am going this whole tournament without watching a single Argentina game, and coming into it I thought I would watch them all. I've been waiting for these games for a long time, but the fucking TV programmers had to be a bunch of a retards.

[orhe]

well you can always watch it online

[angel_luv]

The television schedule has bees super confusing.

I have decided that Media Zone is really the best way to go about these tournaments if you want to see teams other than your own country.
It only cost me $15.99 and, for the most part, the only games I couldn't see live were the U.S. games (since they were on local t.v.).


Another media zone feature I like: In case you missed seeing a match live, they have the games archived for viewing on demand throughout the tournament.

Yesterday I watched Slovenia vs Turkey. :)

[ALVAREZ6]

well you can always watch it online
That's the thing.


No I can't, I've busy as hell these days and have to be doing other things, football practice, work, etc.

So I've been trying to record them all, but it's impossible because every different source gives you a different game time, channel, and teams...so it's just a fucking lottery. Sometimes I come home to ESPN fishing, but only once have I returned home to an actual game, and it was half of the Spain vs. Serbia & Montenegro game.

[orhe]

man you know what the next fiba international event should show the times at GMT!!!!!!!!

[cheguevara]

ESPN is a third world country sports channel

[angel_luv]

That's the thing.


No I can't, I've busy as hell these days and have to be doing other things, football practice, work, etc.

So I've been trying to record them all, but it's impossible because every different source gives you a different game time, channel, and teams...so it's just a fucking lottery. Sometimes I come home to ESPN fishing, but only once have I returned home to an actual game, and it was half of the Spain vs. Serbia & Montenegro game.

If you don't mind watching on your computer. signing up for Media zone coverage would be perfect for you.
You could watch the games on demand when your schedule allowed.


It really is a small price to pay to spare yourself all the frustration.

[spurschick]

If you don't mind watching on your computer. signing up for Media zone coverage would be perfect for you.
You could watch the games on demand when your schedule allowed.


It really is a small price to pay to spare yourself all the frustration.

Not if you have a Mac - mediazone isn't Mac compatible.

[remingtonbo2001]

I did a while ago.


I am going this whole tournament without watching a single Argentina game, and coming into it I thought I would watch them all. I've been waiting for these games for a long time, but the fucking TV programmers had to be a bunch of a retards.

Wow I didn't know there was such a significant time gap, (Argentina, US) I thought the only difference was the way toliets flushed.

[angel_luv]

Not if you have a Mac - mediazone isn't Mac compatible.


Oh that's right.

Well in that case, I don't know how to help.

[Nikos]

I read from some people that Media Zone simply does not work.

Is that only for Mac users, or is it erratic for everyone else?

Has anyone watched a game Live on Mediazone or anywhere else?

[The_Game]

whats the address to watch it online?

[Sway]

I am going this whole tournament without watching a single Argentina game, and coming into it I thought I would watch them all. I've been waiting for these games for a long time, but the fucking TV programmers had to be a bunch of a retards.


I feel your pain. I havent been able to watch as many of the Team USA games as I wanted due to the shitty programing. I have tuned into ESPN on several occasions expecting to see FIBA coverage but instead get Contender reruns, some fishing show or a poker tournament. I dont get ESPN's programming choices.

[xamila rey]

is Arg- Tur game gonna be espn2???

[ALVAREZ6]

is Arg- Tur game gonna be espn2???
It's either on ESPN2, FSN, NBATV, CSN, ESPN, or FOX at either 4:30 am, 7:15 PM, 17:56 PM, or 11:30 AM, on August 28 or 29.

[ALVAREZ6]

I forgot one thing. Some of the times I listed are Japanese time, one is Eastern Time, and the other is Central, to avoid confusion.

[spurschick]

ARG - Scola cleared for Turkey match

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Argentina centre Luis Scola has been given the all-clear to face Turkey in Monday's FIBA World Championship quarter-final after suffering a blow to the mouth against New Zealand.

Scola clashed with Tall Blacks Pero Cameron in the last 16 tie and broke two teeth but national team doctor Diego Grippo confirmed he will be available to face Turkey.

"He will not have any problems to continue in the tournament," Grippo told the Argentinian Basketball Confederation's official website.

"However he will have to undergo some other repairs when the championship finishes."

Scola, who was taken to hospital in Saitama after the game, added: "I had already experienced this, they are common in the game. I'll have to spend a long time with the dentist and play the rest of the tournament with protection."

OUCH!

[xamila rey]

It's either on ESPN2, FSN, NBATV, CSN, ESPN, or FOX at either 4:30 am, 7:15 PM, 17:56 PM, or 11:30 AM, on August 28 or 29.


thanxs :princess

[MaNuMaNiAc]

ARG - Scola cleared for Turkey match

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Argentina centre Luis Scola has been given the all-clear to face Turkey in Monday's FIBA World Championship quarter-final after suffering a blow to the mouth against New Zealand.

Scola clashed with Tall Blacks Pero Cameron in the last 16 tie and broke two teeth but national team doctor Diego Grippo confirmed he will be available to face Turkey.

"He will not have any problems to continue in the tournament," Grippo told the Argentinian Basketball Confederation's official website.

"However he will have to undergo some other repairs when the championship finishes."

Scola, who was taken to hospital in Saitama after the game, added: "I had already experienced this, they are common in the game. I'll have to spend a long time with the dentist and play the rest of the tournament with protection."

OUCH!
yeah that Pero Calderon guy is a big fucker... much like Shaq was once except with all the muscle http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif

[Cherry]

yeah that Pero Calderon guy is a big fucker... much like Shaq was once except with all the muscle http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif

yeah...and look the mark on the floor....poor Luis. :(

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9736/fotonwc06oj5.jpg

[Rick Von Braun]

yeah...and look the mark on the floor....poor Luis. :(

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9736/fotonwc06oj5.jpg

Is this for real? Holly cow!

[Cherry]

Is this for real? Holly cow!

After that game, Manu took this pic when Scola show him the floor.

[RogerIsEatingASandwich]

I wonder how many teeth he lost...

[AndRe-LT]

Two :oops

[milkyway21]

Everyone’s image was tainted in Athens, from the petulant players to ....
whoa :cry that's kind of harsh judgement on Capt. Duncan & Capt. AI's team. I didn't find that team to be in that category. Disappointed, maybe :angel.

I have some relatives and friends who watched the Sydney Olympics and they said the U.S. team where sometimes booed and even some media even mentioned they were actually not so popular unlike MJ bec there was actually no NBA champ on that team such as MJ, ShaQ, Kobe, or Duncan. So i guess the popularity downfall didn't actually started in Athens but since Sydney, IMO.

[xamila rey]

anybody watching Spain vs Lithuania??
end of first half
easy game for Spain,
it is winning 47-30

[milkyway21]

anybody watching Spain vs Lithuania??
end of first half
easy game for Spain,I'm actually following the scoreboard update it's 3rd Qtr 5min to go

57-32 SPAIN

LOOKS LIKE Pau's winning it!

[milkyway21]

61-34 4.17 3rd Spain

[carina_gino20]

Holy sh**! Spain is killing Lithuania 61-36.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

Wow... Javtokas has hit 7 3's in a row, and has Lithuania within 5
















Just kidding

[milkyway21]

65-40 Spain : 1:27 min to go 3rd Q

[xamila rey]

Gasol is resting already!!!!!

He is ready for semi finals :depressed

by the way....63:38

[milkyway21]

how i wish Germany would face Spain in the next round and let's see who can advance Pau or his best friend Dirk :lol :madrun

[milkyway21]

Spain :15 steals ; 11 offensive rbds.

whoa, even the US team could be in danger to face this team, huh

7.22 min 4th-69-47 Spain

16 steals now :smokin

[Obstructed_View]

Spain has done this before. They look unbeatable for five or six games and then they have a terrible game and lose to someone they should beat. I hope that doesn't happen.

[xamila rey]

seriously guys..do u think Argentina can win against these guys?

i would say in percentage

Arg - Sp
45-55

but i believe in Argies heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and that could make the difference !

[carina_gino20]

this is really scary for Argentina especially if Turkey makes things difficult today.

[milkyway21]

Spain has done this before. They look unbeatable for five or six games and then they have a terrible game and lose to someone they should beat. I hope that doesn't happen.i hope it will happen if they face the U.S. team :D

[milkyway21]

74-47 Spain 5:23 min 4th

this is useless guys...Lithuania say surrender now!

[xamila rey]

this is really scary for Argentina especially if Turkey makes things difficult today.

yes it is...
i see a lot of argentinians flags...I counted like 10

GO ARGENTINA GO

:cheer :elephant :cheer

[carina_gino20]

i hope it will happen if they face the U.S. team :D

well, it's definitely happened before. Spain had a perfect slate in the Olympics before their quarterfinal match against the US.

[spurschick]

Game Report, Argentina vs Turkey, 83-58, QUARTER-FINALS

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Reigning Olympic champions Argentina stormed into the semi-finals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship with a dominating 83-58 victory over Turkey.

Andres Nocioni paced the way for Sergio Hernandez's side with 21 points while Luis Scola added 13 and Carlos Delfino contributed 14 points off the bench.

With the victory in their first international meeting with Turkey, the Argentineans set up a semi-final date with Spain, who beat Lithuania 89-67 earlier in the day. It also leaves the South Americans one win from returning to the final.

"Some games, you have a good match-up against you, others you don't. I believed before the game that Turkey was a great match-up for us. But Spain is the opposite," said Ginobili, who only needed to score seven points in the blowout.

"We never let them get comfortable or receive easy passes and that was our strategy. Nevertheless, we cannot forget that this Turkish team is a great team with a lot of talent," said Nocioni, who added six rebounds in just 19 minutes of work.

Coach Hernandez was pleased with his team's performance, especially on the defensive end.

"Before the game we thought it would be more difficult. In the first half we had our best defensive display of the championship. We had easy points and played with great mentality on offense," he said.

"We had a lot of patience and were always able to find easy shots. And you know Argentina players – if they get shots with no defense, they can kill you. I think it was our best game in the FIBA World Championship. Turkey is a great team with a great mentality, but we played our best game and that's why the winning margin was 25 points."

The Turks have already guaranteed their best-ever showing at a FIBA World Championship after finishing ninth in 2002. Cenk Akyol scored 11 points in a losing cause while Serkan Erdogan added 10 points.

"This has been a great tournament for us. We have played very well until today. We went up against one of the best teams in the world, and we didn't play like we should have against them and we lost heavily," Erdogan said.

"But now we have another goal and that's to finish fifth in the tournament. So we have to bounce back from this tragic loss and we'll see. I hope we play well."

Bogdan Tanjevic added: "There's nothing to say because it was an easy game for our opponent. They are a great team with good coach, good players who enjoy playing the game on both ends."

Argentina were never threatened by Tanjevic's young Turkish side, holding them to 37 percent shooting for the game, forcing 16 turnovers and holding the Europeans to just seven points in the second quarter.

The South Americans led by 36 points - 75-39 - on Delfino's free throw with less than a minute to go in the third.

By that time, Hernandez had cleared his bench and given his starters the remainder of the game off to rest for the Spain game.

Nocioni started the scoring with a three-pointer, and his jumper with 6:32 left in the first quarter gave Argentina an early 11-3 lead. Akyol's three-pointer with 4:34 to go gave Turkey the lead 14-13.

But Scola and Nocioni combined for nine points in Argentina's 11-3 spurt to close the first quarter - 25-16.

Argentina reached their first double-digit lead at 30-20 before Delfino scored nine points in a 13-3 surge for a 43-23 advantage going into the locker-room.

That lead jumped quickly to 30 points in the third period in a 15-5 run finished by Ginobili's three-pointer with 5:34 remaining. The advantage grew to 36 just before the third quarter ended 75-40.

Argentina scored just eight points in the fourth quarter, but Turkey couldn't take advantage as they needed the final four points of the game just to pull within 25 points - the closest since late in the third period.

Spain own a 5-1 record against Argentina, including a victory against the South Americans at the 2004 Olympics.

[spurschick]

FIBA - Olympic qualifying tournament added for 2008 Olympics

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Twelve teams from throughout the world will participate in a new men's Olympic qualifying tournament in July 2008 to secure one of the final three berths for the Beijing Summer Games.

The tournament will take place from July 7-13 2008 in a yet-to-be announced location and will follow next summer's five continental qualification campaigns, which will yield seven Olympic spots - two each from Europe and the Americas and one a piece from Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The breakdown of the 12 teams participating in the July 2008 event is as follows: Europe will have four representatives, the Americas three, two each from Africa and Asia and one from Oceania - with the best ranked remaining teams from the 2007 continental qualifiers competing.

The three teams who secure their berth at the new tournament and the seven continental qualifiers from next summer will be joined at the 2008 Olympics by hosts China and the gold medalists of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

[Obstructed_View]

Argentina allowed a lot of stuff going to the basket, and a ton of back cuts. Is that a weakness, or did they just figure they were going to win by 30 points regardless?

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Greece win against France 73 -56

[boutons_]

France shot 33% vs 53%, and France was -13 pts in FTs.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

France have no game, Greece is much better. They have "Little Shaq" :lol :lol

it would be beter if one of Spain or Argentina wont be in same group....

[Bruno]

Logical win for Greece, they were way better.
Anyway, quarterfinal is a very good result for a young french NT without Parker : their future looks bright.

Semifinal will be very interesting : Spain - Argentina and Greece - USA. Greece will be the first true test to see how USA plays against a real "FIBA" team.

[fred33]

mike pietrus was a asshole

[V-2]

This is the highest we've ever ranked in a WC. If our defense holds its own against the Americans(only Brazil scored more than 70 points vs Greece), and we can score in the high 80s, we're up for an upset. Congrats to the French, they had a great tournament considering TP was not with them.
Go Greece!

[mabber]

Watching the USA/Germany game...why does that horn go off as player is in middle of shooting 2nd free throw? Sorry, haven't watched hardly any int'l games.

[Bruno]

Watching the USA/Germany game...why does that horn go off as player is in middle of shooting 2nd free throw? Sorry, haven't watched hardly any int'l games.

It's for substitution

[mabber]

It's for substitution

I figured, but it seems like it goes off while the player is still shooting.

[fred33]

the french has not a great tournament they won difficult bad team lose vs liban and lose vs good team

[Spurologist]

I figured, but it seems like it goes off while the player is still shooting.

I noticed that too. The ref blows the whistle immediately after the shot is taken for subs. I'm surprised the players aren't annoyed by it.

The perfect busters for it are Shaq and Anthony Mason. Mason basically double clutches at the FT line every time he shots. He is the all time NBA leader in creating lane violations. The Fiba ref might blow the whistle and piss his pants after realizing that Mason hasn't taken the FT shot yet. :lol

[ALVAREZ6]

I noticed that too. The ref blows the whistle immediately after the shot is taken for subs. I'm surprised the players aren't annoyed by it.

The perfect busters for it are Shaq and Anthony Mason. Mason basically double clutches at the FT line every time he shots. He is the all time NBA leader in creating lane violations. The Fiba ref might blow the whistle and piss his pants after realizing that Mason hasn't taken the FT shot yet. :lol
:lmao

I remember Mason and his annoying ass foul shots, they were hilarious though...he would lean all the way over the line and he would wait until his face was just about to hit the ground before he released his shot...at least that's what it seemed like.

[boutons_]

Arenas Says He Got a Foul Call

Wizards Guard Frustrated by Results of USA National Team Tryouts

By Ivan Carter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 31, 2006; E01

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is frustrated about not being on the U.S. national team playing in the FIBA World Championship and said he believes he was not given a fair tryout.

When Arenas left the squad on Aug. 14, national team managing director Jerry Colangelo said it was because Arenas had an injured groin. But in his first comments since then, Arenas, the Wizards' leading scorer and a two-time all-star, said he didn't think he was going to make the 12-man roster and that the injury became an excuse to part ways.

"They already knew what they wanted. They said it was a tryout, but they already had their team selected," he said after playing in a Goodman Summer League game at Barry Farms Park in Southeast Washington on Tuesday night and showing no signs of the injury.

Arenas emphasized that he hopes to remain part of the national program and play in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

( whining now is a great tactic to convince people that they REALLY want you on the NT )

In four pre-tournament tune-up games, Arenas made one start and averaged 3.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 11 minutes. He was fighting for playing time in a crowded back court that includes Chris Paul, Shane Battier, Kirk Hinrich and Joe Johnson. Paul and Hinrich played the majority of minutes at point guard, and the team is loaded with perimeter scorers such as Johnson, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony.

"No joke, I felt like I was the 16th man on a 15-man roster," Arenas said. "You are there to support your team and support your country and be happy to play but you know, I did everything they wanted me to do; but if I did everything they wanted me to do, why am I on the bubble of getting cut? I sacrificed. You've got LeBron being LeBron. You've got Carmelo being Carmelo. You've got D-Wade being D-Wade. Why can't I be me? Why do I have to transform? I did that and now you are going to cut me?"


( Why can't I be me? Becaus maybe you aren't very good? )


Colangelo could not be reached for comment.

Arenas and San Antonio Spurs guard Bruce Bowen were the two players trimmed from the roster on Aug. 18. Arenas, Bowen and other national team players who are not participating in the world championship, including Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, are still eligible for future international competitions.

( so there's another opportunity to embarrass this whiner but cutting him again later! http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif http://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smilol.gif)

Arenas, who averaged a career-high 29.4 points a game last season , said he tried to blend in by playing off the ball at shooting guard, by carefully picking his spots on offense and by hustling on defense but said he sensed that he was not a part of Coach Mike Krzyzewski's plans, saying, "I think I was the only person he didn't talk to the whole time we were out there."

Krzyzewski, who will lead the national team through the Beijing Olympics, said he faced a difficult choice in reducing the roster from 14 to 12 . Arenas and Bowen wound up being the odd men out while Wizards forward Antawn Jamison and Sacramento Kings center Brad Miller were kept.

"We had two point guards and the four main players on the perimeter for us are Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Joe Johnson," Krzyzewski said on Aug. 18. "We just felt that with the playing time they're going to get we needed support in the back line. When we played Brazil and Lithuania we needed depth there."

Arenas said he made up his mind to return home on Aug. 14 after he strained his groin while going up for a dunk attempt during practice. In a conversation with Colangelo that day, Arenas said it became obvious to him that he was going to get trimmed from the roster.

"The disappointing part was talking to Colangelo and he said, 'I heard you want to go home,' " Arenas said. "I told him that I was hurt but I didn't know how serious it was and that I didn't want to hold up a spot for somebody else. He told me, 'I've been talking to the coaches and you're on the bubble anyway, so you can go if you want.' I was like, all right."

Team USA faces Greece in a semifinal game tomorrow morning.

"Even though it was disappointing for me, I had a good time over there and I hope they win it," Arenas said. "I told the team when I was leaving that I can't wait for them to win the gold so me and Antawn can share it. I'm just going to keep working hard. I have two years to get ready for the Olympics. That's how I look at it."

Arenas's frustration over what happened this summer stands in stark contrast to the enthusiasm he showed when Colangelo selected him as one of the 22 national team candidates in February.

Arenas, who campaigned for an invitation, called his selection one of the highlights of his career and spent the early part of the summer preparing for training camp in Las Vegas, which opened July 19.

In the past, Arenas has used slights -- real or imagined -- to motivate him and said this latest experience will only make him a more determined player heading into his sixth NBA season.

"I just hope people start looking at my basketball talent and stop prejudging me," Arenas said. "Whether it was barely getting a scholarship out of high school or going in the second round in the draft or almost not making the all-star game last year, it just always seems like people don't want to give me what I've earned. It's frustrating. I guess I just have to keep working on my game so people have no choice but to recognize me."

Arenas said he plans on reserving a little extra effort for two Team USA assistant coaches: Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan and Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni.

"I'm going to be the silent assassin this year," he said. "I can't wait to play the Suns and Portland. Against Portland, Nate McMillan, I'm going to try to score 100 in two games and against D'Antoni, I'm going to score 100 in two games. I'm going to try."

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

[BeerIsGood!]

sweet. I knew that injury was bull. I hope he really does try to score 50 a night against the Suns - I want to see if he can do it and if his team will lose if he does.

[Bruno]

31/08/2006

Game Report, France vs Germany, 75-73, Classification Round

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - German star Dirk Nowitzki stepped out of bounds with 0.9 seconds remaining as France beat Germany 75-73 to secure a spot in the game for fifth place at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

The Germans failed to execute offensively down the stretch and needed a desperation basket in the final second after Mickael Gelabale's double-pump layup with 1.8 seconds to go.

Joseph Gomis came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points for France, but none more important than his acrobatic three-pointer at the 20.9 second mark to tie the game at 73-73.

"I think we got back to the good French team we usually are. Yesterday's game (the quarter-final loss to Greece) gave us some energy to get back to who we really are. Now we have to look ahead to a tough test on Saturday," said Florent Piertrus.

Power forward Ronny Turiaf proved dominant over stretches in scoring 15 points. France captain Boris Diaw added 13 points and eight rebounds but commited eight turnovers. However he did atone for two missed free throws with a steal in the closing seconds.

Les Bleus will play Turkey on Saturday for fifth place in the tournament while Germany face Lithuania for seventh place on Sunday.

"For us it's unbelievable to play the game for fifth place," France coach Claude Bergeaud said. "In order to recover from the loss in the quarter-finals, we explained to the players that we need to have a new objective, and this is our objective now. It is a new World Championship for our team."

The Germans wasted a 29-point performance by Nowitzki. Steffen Hamann scored 12 points while Robert Garrett chipped in 10 off the bench. And Ademola Okulaja had nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

"It's a tough loss. We had the game won, we were up by three, but they made a tough three and we turned the ball over twice," said Nowitzki, who hit 12 of 23 shots from the field.

"France were more aggressive in the first half but after the break I thought we left it all out and competed as a team and we made some good plays, we should have won this game."

France started with some opening jitters on offense, committing three turnovers as Okulaja's three-pointer gave Germany an 11-5 lead with 4:38 left in first period.

Bergeaud settled his team down with a time-out and Les Bleus grabbed the lead after the first quarter on Laurent Foirest's three-pointer at the buzzer.

Turiaf began to make his presence felt with a dunk and a free throw before Gomis' three-pointer gave France a 25-18 lead with 7:23 left before half-time.

The advantage increased to 31-20 with another Turiaf basket at the 3:35 mark. Nowitzki's jumper ended a three-minute scoreless streak for the Germans, but Turiaf hit again to make it 36-22.

Germany closed the deficit to seven points - 38-31 - at the break after Sven Schultze buried a three-pointer just before the buzzer.

Dirk Bauermann's troops still had no answer for Turiaf, who ran off five straight points to help France stay ahead 45-36.

But Nowitzki scored nine points as Germany went on a 19-5 spurt to even the game 50-50 with three minutes left in the third. The Germans could have been better off had Hamann not missed three free throws within 24 seconds.

Schultze hit another big shot to give Germany the lead 52-50. And Robert Garrett's three-pointer just before the buzzer put Germany ahead 57-53 going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter proved to be a thriller.

Diaw's trey put France back ahead 58-57 before Hamann's three foul shots made it 60-58. Nowitzki's jumper gave Germany the lead, 64-60, only to see Turiaf convert a three-point play to make it a one-point game again.

Gelabale evened the game at 66-66 with a three-pointer at the 4:38 mark.

Nowitzki scored his third straight basket - a trey for a 69-66 lead - but France pulled ahead once more on Florest's foul shots for a 70-69 advantage with 2:58 to play.

The French failed to convert on four straight possessions, allowing Germany to grab a 73-70 lead on Okulaja's two free throws with 1:03 to play.

But Les Bleus pulled even one last time on Gomis' trey with 20.9 seconds left. Okulaja then turned the ball over with 18 seconds and Germany sent Diaw to the charity stripe with 11.7 to go.

Diaw missed both foul shots, and Demond Greene snatched the rebound and rushed to push the ball forward. His hurried pass was stolen by Diaw. He then drove to the basket and passed off to Gelabale, who scored over Nowitzki with 1.8 ticks to go.

After a time-out, Nowitzki collected Okulaja's inbounds pass on the wing but stepped out of bounds as he tried to turn and set up for a game-winner.

By David Hein, FIBA

[spurschick]

Game Report, Greece vs United States, 101-95, Semi-final

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - European champions Greece kept alive their dreams of capturing the FIBA World Championship gold medal with a 101-95 semi-final victory over the United States, ending the quest of the former world power.

Vasilis Spanoulis scored 22 points and Mihalis Kakiouzis made four free throws in the final 35 seconds as Greece fought back from a 12-point first-half deficit and proved too efficient for the Americans, making 63 percent of their shots from the field and 70 percent from the foul line.

Team USA, who like the Greeks entered the semi-final with seven wins in seven games, shot 50 percent from the field but made just nine of 28 three-pointers while converting a mediocre 59 percent from the free throw line.

Greece will play in Sunday night's final against either Spain or Argentina, who face off later today.

"I have to thank the players first because they did something incredible," Greek coach Panagiotis said. "We won a great game which was a promotion for basketball everywhere in the world."

The coach praised his team's effort on defense, but also how they were still strong-willed to execute offensively amid the tough U.S. pressure - committing just 12 turnovers.

"When one team spends a lot of energy on defense, it's difficult to have the same spirit on offense. I think we did a great job because we made the U.S. put more pressure on the ball and it allowed us to drive to the basket more easily."

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski was also full of praise for the Europeans.

"Obviously the Greek team and their coaching staff did an amazing job today," he said. "Their offense beat our defense, and I take responsibility for that. We win and lose together, but in a loss a coach needs to take more responsibility than anyone else."

Carmelo Anthony led the Americans with 27 points while Dwyane Wade scored 19 points and LeBron James added 17.

Dwight Howard scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 13 minutes. He was also a major reason the Americans out-rebounded Greece 34-28, including 16 off the offensive glass.

Kakiouzis tallied 15 points for the Greeks while Sofoklis Schortsanitis had 14 points in 17 minutes. Dimitris Diamantidis chipped in 12 points and five assists and Theodoros Papaloukas proved the perfect mastermind to the Greek attack, dishing out a tournament-high 12 assists.

The Greeks clearly came out with the idea of having Lazaros Papadopoulos and Schortsanitis back their way into the blocks to test the American big men. And the Greeks were in the penalty with more than four minutes left in the first quarter.

Still, Yannakis' team was unable to keep Howard off the glass, as he scored five points over three straight possessions, including two offensive rebounds and two dunks.

Dwyane Wade snatched Howard's missed free throw with 2:44 left in the first quarter and dunked it for an 18-12 lead. Diamantidis missed two free throws and the Americans failed on four foul shots the rest of the period as Team USA led 20-14 after 10 minutes.

Spanoulis buried three free throws to trim the deficit to 22-19, only to see Anthony score three of Team USA's next four baskets as they opened a 30-21 advantage at the 7:10 mark of the second quarter.

After a Greek time-out, Joe Johnson's trey gave Krzyzewski's team their first double-digit lead - 33-21 - with 6:27 to play before half-time. But Papaloukas' driving layup finished a 9-0 run to close within 33-30 and force the American coach to call a time-out to settle his team down.

Howard continued his strong showing with a three-point play before Diamantidis answered with a three-pointer and Schortsanitis got deep enough for a dunk.

That was just the start of a dominating run by the Greek big man. He scored on the next three possessions and Papaloukas hit a layup to push Greece ahead 43-38 with 48 seconds to play in the first half.

Greece went into the locker room with a 45-41 lead.

Yannakis' men continued to make the Americans work on defense with their crisp passing, and Antonis Fotsis buried a wide-open trey for a 50-43 advantage. Schortsanitis also got back into the act with baskets on back-to-back possessions to move Greece ahead 56-48.

But Schortsanitis was hit with his third foul within 51 seconds, forcing Yannakis to take the big man out.

That didn't stop the efficient Greeks as Spanoulis, Diamantidis and Konstas Tsartsaris drained three straight treys and Dimos Dikoudis made three straight baskets as Greece opened a 71-58 lead with 4:01 left in the third.

In total, Greece scored on their first 13 possessions of the second half.

And the Europeans wouldn't let the Americans back into the game, answering every punch Team USA was delivering as Spanoulis hustled down the court and hit a driving layup just before the third quarter buzzer for a 77-65 lead.

Wade started the fourth by converting an acrobatic layup falling down and making the extra foul shot. But once again the Greeks countered with Kakiouzis draining a three-pointer.

Anthony and Wade hit back-to-back treys to trim the deficit to 85-77.

It was still an eight-point game at 89-81 as Schortsanitis got back into the scoring column with a free throw with 3:48 to play.

Kirk Hinrich drained a three-pointer with 2:41 to play to pull within five points - 91-86, but he was then called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Schortsanitis. The center missed both free throws only to have Spanoulis bail him out with a three-pointer for a 94-86 advantage.

Spanoulis made just one of two foul shots with 45 seconds left and Hinrich knocked down a three-pointer with the imposing Schortsanitis charging out at him and knocking him down - though no foul was called. That shot pulled the Americans to within 95-91 with 36 seconds remaining.

Kakiouzis kept his cool though, making two free throws with 35.6 seconds to play.

After James again made it a four-point game, the Americans forced Greece into a five-second inbounds violation with 27 seconds to go. Anthony missed a wild three-pointer however and Fotsis was fouled and made both free throws for a 99-93 Greek lead.

James then threw down a thunderous dunk with 16.7 seconds to go, but Kakiouzis again proved strong-willed enough by hitting two foul shots for a 101-95 scoreline with just 15.6 seconds left.

And neither James nor Paul could hit a final three-pointer, sending the Greeks into a wild frenzy at the Saitama Super Arena.

The Americans came into the FIBA World Championship hoping to return to the top of the world stage after a sixth-place finish four years ago in Indianapolis and a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. And Team USA admitted this tournament was still just the start of a longer journey.

"This is a process for us. We've come a long way in a month," Shane Battier said. "We're on the right track to bring USA Basketball back to where we believe it should be - and that's the best in the world."

Coach Krzyzewski added: "We knew when we started this it's going to be a journey, not a short trip. We have to learn the international game better."

And Anthony said: "To lose any game is a shock to us. We came in with a mentality that we wanted to win this game and try to win the gold medal. At the end of the day we need to get ourselves together. It's not the end of the world for us. We win together and lose together."

[carina_gino20]

Game Report, Greece vs United States, 101-95, Semi-final

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - European champions Greece kept alive their dreams of capturing the FIBA World Championship gold medal with a 101-95 semi-final victory over the United States, ending the quest of the former world power.

Vasilis Spanoulis scored 22 points and Mihalis Kakiouzis made four free throws in the final 35 seconds as Greece fought back from a 12-point first-half deficit and proved too efficient for the Americans, making 63 percent of their shots from the field and 70 percent from the foul line.

Team USA, who like the Greeks entered the semi-final with seven wins in seven games, shot 50 percent from the field but made just nine of 28 three-pointers while converting a mediocre 59 percent from the free throw line.

Greece will play in Sunday night's final against either Spain or Argentina, who face off later today.

"I have to thank the players first because they did something incredible," Greek coach Panagiotis said. "We won a great game which was a promotion for basketball everywhere in the world."

The coach praised his team's effort on defense, but also how they were still strong-willed to execute offensively amid the tough U.S. pressure - committing just 12 turnovers.

"When one team spends a lot of energy on defense, it's difficult to have the same spirit on offense. I think we did a great job because we made the U.S. put more pressure on the ball and it allowed us to drive to the basket more easily."

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski was also full of praise for the Europeans.

"Obviously the Greek team and their coaching staff did an amazing job today," he said. "Their offense beat our defense, and I take responsibility for that. We win and lose together, but in a loss a coach needs to take more responsibility than anyone else."

Carmelo Anthony led the Americans with 27 points while Dwyane Wade scored 19 points and LeBron James added 17.

Dwight Howard scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 13 minutes. He was also a major reason the Americans out-rebounded Greece 34-28, including 16 off the offensive glass.

Kakiouzis tallied 15 points for the Greeks while Sofoklis Schortsanitis had 14 points in 17 minutes. Dimitris Diamantidis chipped in 12 points and five assists and Theodoros Papaloukas proved the perfect mastermind to the Greek attack, dishing out a tournament-high 12 assists.

The Greeks clearly came out with the idea of having Lazaros Papadopoulos and Schortsanitis back their way into the blocks to test the American big men. And the Greeks were in the penalty with more than four minutes left in the first quarter.

Still, Yannakis' team was unable to keep Howard off the glass, as he scored five points over three straight possessions, including two offensive rebounds and two dunks.

Dwyane Wade snatched Howard's missed free throw with 2:44 left in the first quarter and dunked it for an 18-12 lead. Diamantidis missed two free throws and the Americans failed on four foul shots the rest of the period as Team USA led 20-14 after 10 minutes.

Spanoulis buried three free throws to trim the deficit to 22-19, only to see Anthony score three of Team USA's next four baskets as they opened a 30-21 advantage at the 7:10 mark of the second quarter.

After a Greek time-out, Joe Johnson's trey gave Krzyzewski's team their first double-digit lead - 33-21 - with 6:27 to play before half-time. But Papaloukas' driving layup finished a 9-0 run to close within 33-30 and force the American coach to call a time-out to settle his team down.

Howard continued his strong showing with a three-point play before Diamantidis answered with a three-pointer and Schortsanitis got deep enough for a dunk.

That was just the start of a dominating run by the Greek big man. He scored on the next three possessions and Papaloukas hit a layup to push Greece ahead 43-38 with 48 seconds to play in the first half.

Greece went into the locker room with a 45-41 lead.

Yannakis' men continued to make the Americans work on defense with their crisp passing, and Antonis Fotsis buried a wide-open trey for a 50-43 advantage. Schortsanitis also got back into the act with baskets on back-to-back possessions to move Greece ahead 56-48.

But Schortsanitis was hit with his third foul within 51 seconds, forcing Yannakis to take the big man out.

That didn't stop the efficient Greeks as Spanoulis, Diamantidis and Konstas Tsartsaris drained three straight treys and Dimos Dikoudis made three straight baskets as Greece opened a 71-58 lead with 4:01 left in the third.

In total, Greece scored on their first 13 possessions of the second half.

And the Europeans wouldn't let the Americans back into the game, answering every punch Team USA was delivering as Spanoulis hustled down the court and hit a driving layup just before the third quarter buzzer for a 77-65 lead.

Wade started the fourth by converting an acrobatic layup falling down and making the extra foul shot. But once again the Greeks countered with Kakiouzis draining a three-pointer.

Anthony and Wade hit back-to-back treys to trim the deficit to 85-77.

It was still an eight-point game at 89-81 as Schortsanitis got back into the scoring column with a free throw with 3:48 to play.

Kirk Hinrich drained a three-pointer with 2:41 to play to pull within five points - 91-86, but he was then called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Schortsanitis. The center missed both free throws only to have Spanoulis bail him out with a three-pointer for a 94-86 advantage.

Spanoulis made just one of two foul shots with 45 seconds left and Hinrich knocked down a three-pointer with the imposing Schortsanitis charging out at him and knocking him down - though no foul was called. That shot pulled the Americans to within 95-91 with 36 seconds remaining.

Kakiouzis kept his cool though, making two free throws with 35.6 seconds to play.

After James again made it a four-point game, the Americans forced Greece into a five-second inbounds violation with 27 seconds to go. Anthony missed a wild three-pointer however and Fotsis was fouled and made both free throws for a 99-93 Greek lead.

James then threw down a thunderous dunk with 16.7 seconds to go, but Kakiouzis again proved strong-willed enough by hitting two foul shots for a 101-95 scoreline with just 15.6 seconds left.

And neither James nor Paul could hit a final three-pointer, sending the Greeks into a wild frenzy at the Saitama Super Arena.

The Americans came into the FIBA World Championship hoping to return to the top of the world stage after a sixth-place finish four years ago in Indianapolis and a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. And Team USA admitted this tournament was still just the start of a longer journey.

"This is a process for us. We've come a long way in a month," Shane Battier said. "We're on the right track to bring USA Basketball back to where we believe it should be - and that's the best in the world."

Coach Krzyzewski added: "We knew when we started this it's going to be a journey, not a short trip. We have to learn the international game better."

And Anthony said: "To lose any game is a shock to us. We came in with a mentality that we wanted to win this game and try to win the gold medal. At the end of the day we need to get ourselves together. It's not the end of the world for us. We win together and lose together."

wth? didn't he learn anything in athens? this is not 1992 anymore.

[Bruno]

France has won the game for the 5th place against Turkey.
5th is a great result especially without Parker. :elephant :elephant :elephant

[LilMissSPURfect]

"lebronze" :king

[kolko]

MVP: Pau Gasol

All-WC Team:

Theodoros Papaloukas,
Manu Ginobili
Carmelo Anthony
Jorge Garbajosa
Pau Gasol

[carina_gino20]

MVP: Pau Gasol

All-WC Team:

Theodoros Papaloukas,
Manu Ginobili :clap
Carmelo Anthony
Jorge Garbajosa
Pau Gasol

[angel_luv]

MVP: Pau Gasol

All-WC Team:

Theodoros Papaloukas,
Manu Ginobili
Carmelo Anthony
Jorge Garbajosa
Pau Gasol


Yea Gino! :clap :D

[Cherry]

MVP: Pau Gasol

All-WC Team:

Theodoros Papaloukas,
Manu Ginobili
Carmelo Anthony
Jorge Garbajosa
Pau Gasol
:clap


The new FIBA ranking 2006 (They are more on FIBA.com)

Rank__Points
1. USA 832.2
2. ARG 720.0
3. ESP 619.0
4. YUG 508.0
5. LTU 460.0
6. GRE 429.0
7. ITA 418.0
8. FRA 343.0
9. GER 282.0
10. AUS 279.0
11. CHN 262.0
12. NZL 228.0
13. PUR 217.6
14. ANG 206.0
15. CAN 196.0
16. TUR 194.0
17. BRA 168.0
18. RUS 162.0
19. CRO 125.0
20. SLO 121.0

After the FIBA World Championship 2006 in Japan, FIBA has announced its new world ranking for men's national teams.

After claiming the bronze medal, USA was able to defend its first position before Argentina.

With its gold medal in Japan, Spain moved up from fifth to third position whilst Greece improved from eighth to fifth position.

[ALVAREZ6]

Why is Slovenia 20???? I think they're better than a bunch of teams listed before them.

[mabber]

Why is Slovenia 20???? I think they're better than a bunch of teams listed before them.

Better yet, why is USA #1? I don't know how they do these rankings but how does a country that hasn't won a gold medal in awhile rank #1?

[Sway]

Better yet, why is USA #1? I don't know how they do these rankings but how does a country that hasn't won a gold medal in awhile rank #1?

One of the announcers on TV mentioned that the rankings go back several years. I think he said 8 years but that seems kind of high.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

This FIBA Rank list is totaly bullshitt for a long time.....

[spurschick]

I'm confused about Olympic qualifying now. I know that Spain has an automatic spot because they won the WCs, but I thought that Argentina also had an automatic spot as defending Gold medalists. Now I'm hearing that they have to qualify next summer. Can someone clear this up for me?

[Bruno]

Argentina isn't qualified, only Spain (as winner of the WC) and China (as host) are qualified.

Argetina had to qualify through the Americas championship in 2007 :
- If they are 1st or 2nd : they are qualified for the olympics.
- If they are 3rd, 4th or 5th : they are qualified for a pre-olympic tournamant in july 2008. it's a trournament between 12 teams and only three will be qualified for the olympics.
- If they aren't in the top 5 : they won't participate at the Olympics.

[spurschick]

Ah - thanks.

[Cherry]

Argentina isn't qualified, only Spain (as winner of the WC) and China (as host) are qualified.

Argetina had to qualify through the Americas championship in 2007 :
- If they are 1st or 2nd : they are qualified for the olympics.
- If they are 3rd, 4th or 5th : they are qualified for a pre-olympic tournamant in july 2008. it's a trournament between 12 teams and only three will be qualified for the olympics.
- If they aren't in the top 5 : they won't participate at the Olympics.

that will be a long way...

[milkyway21]

Better yet, why is USA #1? I don't know how they do these rankings but how does a country that hasn't won a gold medal in awhile rank #1?USA has a most number total of medals now. With 3 Gold Medals in WC only-the most number in Gold(along with Soviet Union& Yugoslavia). Then add more from the Olympics. Maybe it's overall standing/ranking based of the total number of medals accumulated from all Fiba games.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_wcm/pres/hist/fe_pres_hist_flasBack.asp?selNodeID=660&openNodeIDs=660&eventID=3507&roundID=3507

the actual 2006 World C ranking is
1. Spain
2. Greece
3. USA
4. Argentina
5. France
6. Turkey
7. Lithuania
8. Germany
9. Angola
10. Australia
11. China
12. Italy
13. New Zealand
14. Nigeria
15. Serbia & Montenegro
16. Slovenia (?)

[smeagol]

This FIBA Rank list is totaly bullshitt for a long time.....
FIBA Ranking = FIFA Ranking = BS

[Pero]

the actual 2006 World C ranking is
1. Spain
2. Greece
3. USA
4. Argentina
5. France
6. Turkey
7. Lithuania
8. Germany
9. Angola
10. Australia
11. China
12. Italy
13. New Zealand
14. Nigeria
15. Serbia & Montenegro
16. Slovenia (?)

That`s not exactly how it is. Only the first 8 places are truly known. The next 8 are basically tied, they didn`t play any games to decide who gets which place...

[spurschick]

ARG - Hernandez backs players to return

BUENOS AIRES (FIBA World Championship) - Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez believes that several of the players who helped the side clinch a place in the last four of the FIBA World Championship will be in Venezuela when they open their challenge for a place at the Olympics.

Argentina, the reigning Olympic champions, will have to fight against the United States and Brazil, among others, in the FIBA Americas Championship next year to book their place at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

And Hernandez believes that most of the players who appeared in their epic 75-74 semi-final defeat to eventual winners Spain will want to play the tournament.

"Players want to take out the thorn in their sides and I think they will play the FIBA Americas Championship," he said.

"We lost against the only team we could lose to in normal conditions. They are the genuine champions but Argentina rose to the occasion."

Hernandez also insisted that without their last-gasp defeat to Spain they would have gone on to be crowned world champions.

"I think that if we had beaten Spain, we would have been world champions.

"However, we didn't lose only because of lack of luck. We cannot analyse a whole game with the final shot. But we had no luck in that final shot, because the ball touched the ring and went out".

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

ARG - Hernandez backs players to return

BUENOS AIRES (FIBA World Championship) - Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez believes that several of the players who helped the side clinch a place in the last four of the FIBA World Championship will be in Venezuela when they open their challenge for a place at the Olympics.

Argentina, the reigning Olympic champions, will have to fight against the United States and Brazil, among others, in the FIBA Americas Championship next year to book their place at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

And Hernandez believes that most of the players who appeared in their epic 75-74 semi-final defeat to eventual winners Spain will want to play the tournament.

"Players want to take out the thorn in their sides and I think they will play the FIBA Americas Championship," he said.

"We lost against the only team we could lose to in normal conditions. They are the genuine champions but Argentina rose to the occasion."

Hernandez also insisted that without their last-gasp defeat to Spain they would have gone on to be crowned world champions.

"I think that if we had beaten Spain, we would have been world champions.

"However, we didn't lose only because of lack of luck. We cannot analyse a whole game with the final shot. But we had no luck in that final shot, because the ball touched the ring and went out".
I don't care for that coach. Talks too much as if he won the olympic gold. Plus he's making excuses.

[TMTTRIO]

I'm actually getting a different feeling from Manu. I've read a few articles with him saying that with people dropping out all of this is coming to an end and just what they wanted to do. Pretty much a lot of their team will be in their 30's when 2008 arrives (including Manu). I know Manu wants to play for his NT any time he can but it leaves me wondering if he'll play next year after the nice long season just to fight for the qualification to be in the 2008 Olympics where he'll be in his 30's.


All we felt that, little by little, this is finished.
by Manu/04-09-06
To conclusion way, and after to have reunited all the group outside the hotel, in a supper of goodbye of the World-wide one, seems to me that we did not find differences between which it passed in the Olympic Games of Athens and this match of Japan. It was all enough similar. A first key party in the psychological aspect, that gained and caused that the equipment took rate. A much more accessible quarterfinal that in Athens and the most complicated semifinal, that was for nobody as it were possible to be seen. There are no reproaches; we played until better of which we thought, so I am very proud. I adore east equipment and the affluent step when we are together. It would be possible exactly to have been reached he himself result of Athens, if it had not been by the things that happen in the sport. As far as the coexistence, best, as always, by the form in which we were spoken, much that we know ourselves and passing moments so difficult, far from our families, playing a pile of followed parties, with little rest. All that is admirable. I do not believe that with a different group it can do it; the time will tell you. Making a review of the tactical thing, there is nothing no to reproach either. The technicians are mistaken, sometimes, like the players, the referees or the journalists; it is part of the game, but there was no error by which we pruned to reproach to us not to have reached the gold medal. Absolutely. Respect to the preparation, would say as always that she was difficult and slow, in our case. A little was criticized to us and they did per moments for doubting to us until we ourself. But in Sendai, we met between all, we spoke much, we clarified certain things and everything was directed. But it was verified, I create, that the subject to begin a little after the others, to have lost those parties in the tour and other questions of which it was spoken much, were not determining. I hope that they remember it for future occasions. Also he was a little lasts the one that we made before Athens, as we spoke several times to it, by far travels and too many parties, but that make you be growing with time. The match, in general, was very similar to the one of the Olympic Games, that way with greater amount of loose equipment that allowed victories by 30 points, but it was more clearly still arrived at the semifinal and it touched a very hard and rough rival to us. We cannot be complained don't mention it. In the individual plane, very I had satisfied myself. I feel that I did not render awhile in the level that it tried only in a party, that was the last one, before the United States, and against Serbia and Montenegro. Of the rest I was myself happy and very calm by the fact. I believe that I played well, I contributed what had and I was, along with the rest of the establishment, a key factor in to have had a very good match like equipment. Like happened significant fact in Japan, I emphasize the one of the rivals who requested photos or autographs to us and to the Japanese supporters who knew well our names. Also, which all the rivals dealt to us with extreme respect, like the Turks, for example, in a as hard instance as the quarterfinals. I believe that it was well clear that we have gained a respect, perhaps unthinkable does few years. And an precise case to emphasize was the form that we had to communicate to us between us, mainly when we came from a pair of ugly defeats in the preparation. We spoke long and laying of that to revert the thing, to return to zero and to begin the world-wide one of the best possible form. Something very positive and key for which we were in the rest of the world-wide one. The next challenge will be to classify us for Beijing. As always I say in these cases: I do not know what will happen. It depends on the group, of whom it follows and who no; of if we classified ourselves or no, and of how feels a little to me before the citation. But all we felt that, little by little, this is finished, because we are losing small pieces of the group in each championship and soon it will not be the same. And that hurts a little to us, although we know that he is irreversible. The time will say and leave clearer the future.