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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.
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!
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 subs ution
I figured, but it seems like it goes off while the player is still shooting.
the french has not a great tournament they won difficult bad team lose vs liban and lose vs good team
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.
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.
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.
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 compe ions.
( so there's another opportunity to embarrass this whiner but cutting him again later!
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
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.
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
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.
France has won the game for the 5th place against Turkey.
5th is a great result especially without Parker.
"lebronze"
MVP: Pau Gasol
All-WC Team:
Theodoros Papaloukas,
Manu Ginobili
Carmelo Anthony
Jorge Garbajosa
Pau Gasol
MVP: Pau Gasol
All-WC Team:
Theodoros Papaloukas,
Manu Ginobili
Carmelo Anthony
Jorge Garbajosa
Pau Gasol
Yea Gino!
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.
Last edited by Cherry; 09-03-2006 at 11:20 AM.
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?
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.
This FIBA Rank list is totaly bull t for a long time.....
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?
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.
Ah - thanks.
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