FIBA World Championship 2006

[furry_spurry]

center Radoslav Nesterovic had 18 points and seven rebounds.

Rasho had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

[spurschick]

And now a wonderful diva moment....

MANU THE SUPER... SHOPPER
NBA superstar cuts short media conference to shop at Sim Lim Square
August 12, 2006

ARGENTINE cager Emanuel David Ginobili has the distinction of having won two NBA les (with San Antonio Spurs in 2003 and 2005), an Olympic gold medal (Athens 2004), and the Euroleague winners' medal (with Virtus Bologna in 2001).

Otherwise known as Manu, he is obviously a special player - a hero in his country and in many places around the world - who can rub shoulders anytime with the president of his own country.

Ginobili, 29, and his national team are currently in Singapore to play in a pre-FIBA World Championship quadrangular friendly tournament known as the Philips Singapore Cup 2006.

World champions Serbia & Montenegro, Spain and Slovenia are also involved.

Their matches are tune-ups in preparation for the World Championships in Japan starting next week.

Naturally, the media want a piece of him.

They need to bring what inspiration he can give to the basketball-mad yet basketball-starved young people from this part of the world.

But Ginobili gave only 10 minutes of his time in a press conference yesterday afternoon, including precious translation time.

That amounted to just five questions from the floor, including two from the Argentine and Spanish-speaking media.

Then there were 10 minutes exclusively with a TV station in an adjacent room.

And when the print media came along, Ginobili said: 'Enough. I've gotta run. This is taking too long.'

His body language and his tone were of utter impatience. He was nervous, and looked anxious. It was clear he didn't want to be there.

He probably didn't realise that Singapore is a media hub - home to more than 100 news organisations from all corners of the world.

And pleading with the huddled journalists, he said: 'Sorry guys, I need to go shopping, or there won't be time the next few days.'

And off he raced to the waiting lift. The scribes groaned in dismay when the lift door closed.

But The New Paper managed to catch him and his team-mates at M Hotel's taxi-stand just moments before they boarded a taxi. This time he looked more relaxed.

'Where are you off to, Manu,' I asked.

It was delegation head Federico Esteban Hausberger who answered the question.

'Sim Lim Square,' he said. 'Electronic and audio.'

And off they went in two taxis.

Ginobili did say in the press conference the team needs to bond well to perform well in the world meet against the likes of Team USA, Serbia and Montenegro, and Spain - particularly Spain, which had just beaten them in a recent friendly in Madrid.

The pressure on the team is perhaps the reason why Ginobili wanted to run away from the media.

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/sports/...111563,00.html

[MaNuMaNiAc]

or he just wanted to do some shopping during the only free time he gets these days, whats so wrong with that?

[smeagol]

Manu, that was rude!

(you need to be polite 100% of your time)

[spurschick]

or he just wanted to do some shopping during the only free time he gets these days, whats so wrong with that?

I'm kidding. You have to admit that the article is a bit skewed to make him seem diva-esque. When he said "this is taking too long", it could have been taking too long for all we know, but they made it sound like he was being too impatient. And if I were in a place where electronics were super cheap, I'd be shopping too.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I think that's Manu being a normal person on travel. And yeah it's probably the way the article was written. It makes a world of difference.

[spurschick]

France loses to Australia

In the earlier game, 22 points from San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker could not prevent France going down 77-71 to an inexperienced Australia team.

Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut scored 20 points as the Boomers came from behind to take the lead late in the third quarter, holding on to claim an upset victory.

[carina_gino20]

damn...if i knew they were going to sim lim, i would have stalked him there

[angel_luv]

Gino is tired and/or stressed/ preoccupied I think. That article didn't sound like him to me.

[sendman]

We can smack talk all we want, but anything other than easy win for team USA would be big big surprise. At the moment, it looks like only Spain can cause some trouble for basketball inventing nation, but they always fail when it counts.

[angel_luv]

We can smack talk all we want, but anything other than easy win for team USA would be big big surprise. At the moment, it looks like only Spain can cause some trouble for basketball inventing nation, but they always fail when it counts.

I know what you mean but wasn't James Naismith Canadian? I was trying to remember the other day.

[sendman]

I know what you mean but wasn't James Naismith Canadian? I was trying to remember the other day.

Yes he was. And J. Robert Oppenheimer, who invented an atomic bomb was German, but still your nation gets all the credit for inventing such nice device.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Greece 84:47 Germany

Lol Dirk was first scorer with 9 points

[angel_luv]

Ouch. What happened?

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Ouch. What happened?

I dont know , becouse i did not watch the game i just saw the score...
Greece destroyed them, that is what i can see from that score

[Cherry]

Greece 84:47 Germany

Lol Dirk was first scorer with 9 points

Oh my God!

and i think Argentina was terrible losing by 20...we are not alone!!!
But, of course, the WC is another history.

[spurschick]

For those who want to watch the entire thing:

Watch FIBA World Championship 2006 LIVE and On Demand!

http://www.mediazone.com/channel/fiba/jsp/index.jsp#

You've been waiting for the basketball World Championship to arrive and now they're almost here! Who will take home the James Naismith Trophy at the FIBA World Championship 2006 compe ion? Tune in here from August 19 - September 3, 2006 when FIBA and MediaZone offer live* and On Demand coverage of all 80 games of this year's compe ion. Watch international stars like LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Dwayne Wade, Elton Brand, Gilbert Arenas, Emanuel Ginobili, Tony Parker, and many other basketball super-stars.

Save now with an All Access Pass! Special pre-order price is $15.99 so Buy Now and Save!

Purchase an All Access Pass to the FIBA World Championships 2006 and receive the following:

* Live or On Demand access to all 80 games of the compe ion including all 60 of the Preliminary Group games and the 20 games of the Final Round
* Access to the Classic Game archive and the 52-minute video, "The Road to Japan"
* Access to all content for 90 days from first use
* Listen to English commentary on approximately 45 games including all 20 games in the Final Round
*All games will not be available live in all territories.

[angel_luv]

Yes! Thank you!

[angel_luv]

For those who want to watch the entire thing:

Watch FIBA World Championship 2006 LIVE and On Demand!

http://www.mediazone.com/channel/fiba/jsp/index.jsp#

You've been waiting for the basketball World Championship to arrive and now they're almost here! Who will take home the James Naismith Trophy at the FIBA World Championship 2006 compe ion? Tune in here from August 19 - September 3, 2006 when FIBA and MediaZone offer live* and On Demand coverage of all 80 games of this year's compe ion. Watch international stars like LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Dwayne Wade, Elton Brand, Gilbert Arenas, Emanuel Ginobili, Tony Parker, and many other basketball super-stars.

Save now with an All Access Pass! Special pre-order price is $15.99 so Buy Now and Save!

Purchase an All Access Pass to the FIBA World Championships 2006 and receive the following:

* Live or On Demand access to all 80 games of the compe ion including all 60 of the Preliminary Group games and the 20 games of the Final Round
* Access to the Classic Game archive and the 52-minute video, "The Road to Japan"
* Access to all content for 90 days from first use
* Listen to English commentary on approximately 45 games including all 20 games in the Final Round
*All games will not be available live in all territories.

Done!
Whoosh!

[Spurologist]

Thoughts about the Greece vs. Germany game.

1. Germany played like school girls and got romped 84:47
2. Damn Greece can shoot the rock. If the US plays them, they will get burned time and time again if they get into 'Open threes galore' mode. Zone might not be the best option. Greece passes well too. Very unselfish.
3. Dirk tried to be manly by guarding Greece's center (mini Shaq). His ass then got posted up for an AND 1 play. Next trip down for Greece, the German coach said something to the effect of, "Dirk get the off him and guard someone else"
Oh yeah Dirk had 9 pts by taking contested fadeaways the whole game
4. The Greece point guard needs to hook up with an NBA team immediately. He has great handles, a good feel for the game, and is a terrific long range shooter. He was arguable the best player on the floor. The Greek power forward played well too. He could attract nba scouts if he keeps it up.
6. Joe Herber from WVU is a deadly shooter for ze Germans. Too slow to make it to the league though.
7. It's safe to say Dirk hasn't fully recovered from his NBA Finals Choke act. For the sake of the mav's fan's sanity, I hope it's not permanent.

[angel_luv]

Pictures

Team picture links are on the right.

[spurschick]

Yes! Thank you!

Enjoy - unfortunately for me...

• Live streaming on Windows Media Player Version 9 or above. (Macintosh and Linux not supported)

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Germany got smoked like turkey bacon.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Undefeated USA U20 National Team Cruises Past Winless Bahamas In 114-23 Rout

The 2006 USA Basketball U20 Women's National Team (4-0), bigger, stronger and faster, overpowered the Bahamas (0-4) Friday with an easy 114-23 win at the FIBA Americas U20 Championship for Women in Mexico City, Mexico. The game, 35-0 with just 1:51 remaining in the first period, was never in question.

Knowing the winless Bahamas would not present much of a challenge, Michigan State University and USA U20 National Team head coach Joanne P. McCallie, along with assistants Joanne Boyle of the University of California and Sam Dixon of Furman University (S.C.), devised a system to keep her U.S. squad motivated.

"This is a very talented team that is going to really dominate some other teams ," McCallie said. "The idea was stopping scores in the paint or shots in the paint and making each of those worth 10 points for Bahamas. We focused our effort in the quarter-court and only played quarter-court defense. We did not press in any way. We also rewarded for taking charges and proper footwork.

"The point system was to get them to think about other things than the actual score. The game was determined quite early, and they have to understand that they need to be motivated by other things"

While the scoreboard read 60-9 at the half, according to the U.S. bench, the score was 60-59.

"The score might have said they had 9 at half-time, but in our book, they had 59 points because they had five shots from the paint," Erica White (Louisiana State / Jacksonville, Fla.) said. "That's how we kept focused. In most blow outs, you can really get bored, but we didn't get bored because we all really wanted to win the game within the game."

With 15 points, Kia Vaughn (Rutgers / Bronx, N.Y.) led six other U.S. players in double figures, and, with four blocks, set a USA U20 record for blocked shots.
Renee Montgomery (Connecticut / St. Albans, W.Va.) scored 13 points, and Jolene Anderson (Wisconsin / Port Wing, Wis.), Victoria Lucas-Perry (Michigan State / Flint, Mich.), Marscilla Packer (Ohio State / Pickerington, Ohio) and Courtney Paris (Oklahoma / Piedmont, Calif.) contributed 12 points each. Erlana Larkins (North Carolina / Riviera Beach, Fla.) added 10 points.

In another impressive statistical outing, eight USA team members shot 70.0 percent or better, and as a team, the USA shot a tournament-high 69.7 percent from the field.

The USA, mostly untested in its four wins, meets also undefeated Brazil (3-0) Saturday at 4:00 p.m. With Brazil expected to dominate host Mexico in Friday's 6:00 p.m. game, the contest will likely decide the gold medal winners.

"Brazil is a big team," Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton (Purdue / Naperville, Ill.) said. "Finally we will play a team with some big, athletic posts, and their guards are big too. It's going to be a really good game. All week long I think it has been the game everyone is looking forward to. We're ready for it. I know we are. Each game we're getting better and better. Even though we have been blowing out these teams, we have found a way to improve with each game."

The USA will be down to just 10 active players Saturday. Essence Carson (Rutgers / Paterson, N.J.) was added to the inactive list after Friday's game with a minor knee sprain, and Devanei Hampton (California / Oakland, Calif.), also with a knee injury, was never able to participate in the tournament..

"We're very disappointed about losing Essence," McCallie said. "She will not be able to play against Brazil, and that's very disappointing, especially considering all the momentum we have built with this group. Losing Devanei way back when was awful, and it's awful to lose Essence against Brazil.

"They have many strengths. One of them is their continuity. When they get into a flow, they are able to put together significant runs. Our job is to disrupt the flow. They are not as effective when they have to play more blue-collar or more physical. I definitely expect them to be outstanding. I expect us to be outstanding. It will be just a great game all-around."

Also on Friday, Canada (2-2) beat Puerto Rico (1-3) 85-52 and Brazil (3-0) meets host Mexico (1-2) in the evening's final game.

Saturday's other matches include Bahamas versus Puerto Rico at 2:00 p.m. and Canada against Mexico at 6:00 p.m.

[angel_luv]

Enjoy - unfortunately for me...

• Live streaming on Windows Media Player Version 9 or above. (Macintosh and Linux not supported)

Wow. that's not cool of them.