ANGOLA STILL NUMBER ONE

AFROBASKET LIBYA 2009

ANGOLA 82 - COTE D'IVOIRE 72

Angola proved once again that they're the best on the african continent with no contest by winning the 25th African Championship for Men in Libya.

The first quarter started with the furia of the Ivorians,they came to this big battle without any intimidation, they showed that they wanted that championship title by leading the first quarter with four points ahead (19 - 15)

In the second quarter Amagou Philippe, Eric Tape were unstoppable playing good basket they were all over the court worrying the Angolese and at the half time the board was showing (35 - 34) for the Ivorians.

The third quater has always been for Angola in this Championship they started to find the basket with Carlos Morais who made three 3points on the road to put Angola ahead and Joaquim Gomes the MVP of this Championship fighting on the board to take all the rebound. End of the quarter (58 - 54) for Angola.

By seeing that the Ivorians fought to come back in the game with their big man Mohamed Kone making some good shots to tie the game but with the pressure of the Angolese and the inexperience of the young Ivorians Angola came out with the win ( 82 - 72).

To give my opinion this Ivorian team impress me a lot if they play together more often something different is going to happen in the next championship I don't want to tell what but let's wait and see. It was a good championship,teams showed some interesting games.

IRI / CHN – Iran retain title in style

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - When Iran won the title in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship at Tokushima, one question remained unanswered: Could Iran have won if China had played with their full team?

The answer to that question came two years later in the form of Iran’s thumping 70-52 win in the gold-medal game of the 25th FIBA Asia Championship.

Hamed EHadadi, who had scored 31 points in Iran’s final triumph two years ago, was once again the leading scorer for his side with 19 points.

“There’s a huge difference between then and now,” said EHadadi.

“Playing against China’s first team in China is pressure enough. But we were determined to carry out what our coach told us,” he added.

EHadadi also collected 17 rebounds – 10 of them in defence.

Samad Nikkah played only 22:27 of the game, but had a telling effect with his eight points and a game-high six assists before that.

“This gold medal is more satisfying for a lot of reasons,” Samad said.

“Winning is one thing, but retaining the gold is a lot more difficult,” he added.

Never had any team dominated a gold medal game against China in the FIBA Asia Championship the way Veselin Matic’s team did on Sunday night in front a capacity crowd – which began to dissipate as the fourth quarter began.

“The whole idea of a final game to seize the initiative early,” said Matic.

“I’m happy things fell in place early for us. And we didn’t lose focus after that,” he added.

As a matter of fact, this was the first time China lost a gold medal game in FIBA Asia Championship history.

Iran raced into an early lead and consolidated their position as the game progressed; their mainstays fired in all cylinders; their bench did more than what was expected; the offensive plays moved with panache; and most importantly the defence played wonderfully tight on the Chinese superstars Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian.

“Basketball is a game of brains,” quipped an expert during the first half interval, when Iran led 42-25.

For sure it was the brains of Matic that weaved a magical spell of defence to keep both Wang and Yi on a leash.

Yi was the only player with double-digit scores at that point, but had failed with seven of his 12 field attempts. And Wang was allowed only six looks at the goal.

Iran on the other hand, played with composure and determination and built their leads in spurts.

A classic example for Iranian determination came in the opening moments of the fourth quarter when the 180-cm Iranian point guard Mahdi Kamrani challenged the 212-cm Yi for a rebound and succeeded in tapping the ball out.

“We were playing the game of our lives,” Kamrani said.

Wang topped the scoring for China with 24 points, but played with wonted form only in the third quarter when he scored 11 of them.

The third was the only period when Iran allowed China to keep the scoring level.

Yi added only one more point to his first half’s 10, in a woeful 29% field record (5/17 attempts).

Where China lacked was in support from the bench, when their mainstays struggled.

The highest scorer for China after Wang and Yi was Liu Wei with six points.

On the other hand, Oshin Sahakian scored 10, Javad Davari nine and Hamed Afagh eight.

Truly, the Iranian teamwork had outsmarted the power of the hosts.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

PHI / KUW – Philippines head into quarterfinal with a win

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - With everything including their standing in Group E eight-final round confirmed even before the start of the game Philippines played their Wednesday’s game against Kuwait without any pressure. Yet the SEABA champions won 85-71 to head into the quarterfinals.

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Philippines with a 3-2 record finish No 3 in Group E – a position that was confirmed on Tuesday – and take on the second-placed team from Group F.

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Pauliasi Taulava played his longest game of the competition and justified it with a double-double.

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The Tongan born centre scored 12 points and collected 10 rebounds.

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Philippines took control of the proceedings early and cruised along allowing coach Joseller Guiao trying as many 11 players for at least 11 minutes each – resting regular centre Michael Pennisi for the game.

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Cyrus Baguio led Philippines’ scoring with 14 points.

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Rashed Alrabah and Mohammad Ashkanani both returned a game-high 20 each for Kuwait.

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S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

PHI / TPE – ‘Yappy’ performance for Philippines

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - James Yap scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the third quarter and SEABA champions Philippines staged a superb second half rally to defeat wild card entrants Chinese Taipei 77-70 in pivotal Group E eight-final round game on Monday.

James Yap returned a 55.55% field record (5/9), including a staggering 4/6 in three-pointers as Philippines outscored Taipei 29-19 in the third quarter.

Philippines who had inched their way back to a two-point deficit by the end of the first half, thus perched themselves firmly in the driving seat.

Yap fired six successive points in less than a minute midway through the first quarter and Philippines had transformed a 38-41 to a 44-41 lead in quick jiffy.

That was the first time Philippines went ahead in the game and they never trailed again.

Yap had no further success in the fourth quarter, but his third quarter blitz was good enough for his team.

Willie Miller Jr had an all-round consistent shooting performance and scored 17 points for Philippines, with a 75% record in field attempts, converting all his five three-pointer attempts.

"I think our shooting percentage was the key especially in three-pointers," Philippines coach Joseller Guiao said.

Philippines went 50% (15/30) in three-pointers as against Taipei's woeful 7% (1/15).

Chinese Taipei who led for the better part of the game suffered a mid-game slump.

"I think their defence really caught us by surprise in the second half," Taipei coach Chung Kwang-suk said.

Tseng Wen-Ting, who went on to finish as Taipei's leading scorer with 21 points, had only three to add in the third quarter to his eight first half points.

Philippines coach Joseller Guiao worked out some tight defence plans, which his players executed and Tseng was restricted to merely one look at the goal for the entire third quarter.

"Not that we had anything special worked out for him (Tseng). It was just that the entire defence stepped up in the third quarter," Guiao said.

"But he's a very good player, and a smart player. He really scared us in the fourth quarter," Guiao added.

Tseng converted that one attempt and fought back gallantly in the fourth quarter reeling in 10 points, but by then Philippines had hot cruise mode.

Miller's three-pointer that almost coincided with the final buzzer sealed the issue.

Day Two Round-Up - Philippines’ triumph sparks Day 2

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Philippines scored a psychologically important 78-69 triumph over Japan, in Group A, as the curtains came down on the second day of the 25th FIBA Asia Championship on Friday.

Philippines thus joined Jordan, Korea, Iran, Qatar and hosts China as the teams to win both their games so far as the picture on the eight-final round began to form.

Philippines now take on Korea – who began the day whipping Sri Lanka 122-54 – on Saturday in a clash which will decide the Group A toppers.

Japan and Sri Lanka have lost both their games, will play each other to decide the third team to qualify from this Group.

In Group B action, Iran looked far better than their opening game while beating Uzbekistan 82-61 and Chinese Taipei outpaced Kuwait to win 73-51.

Iran, thus have won both their games, while Chinese Taipei and Kuwait are 1-1. Uzbekistan are yet to win a game.

In Group C, Hosts China gave a lot to the crowd to cheer in their 74-56 win against last edition’s semifinalists Kazakhstan and Qatar emerged a runaway 95-70 victors over India.

China and Qatar – both win two wins apiece – will face off to decide the top team in Group C on Saturday, while Kazakhstan will play India looking for their first win.

In Group D, Jordan took Indonesia in their stride with a 105-47 result and Lebanon, inspired by Fadi El Khatib’s return to form defeated United Arab Emirates 108-38.

Unbeaten Jordan take on UAE – with one win and one loss – on the morrow with the winless Indonesia playing Lebanon.

Group A

“This is a huge win for us… to beat Japan is really tremendous,” beamed Philippines coach Joseller Guiao after his team’s win.

Gunther Thoss sparked the Filipino rally scoring 11 of his 15 points for the game in the second half.

Pauliasi Taulava scored all his 11 points in the second half – nine of them in the final quarter – to strengthen Thoss’ efforts.

Having trailed Japan for most of the game, Philippines took charge of the proceedings after Cyrus Baguio drove in the lane to convert towards the end of the third quarter and never looked back.

Japan withered as Philippines flourished.

Daiji Yamada led the Japanese scoring with 16 points and Kosuke Takeuchi had 14.

Korean centre Ha Seung-jin continued to scare the opponents with his 213-cm presence, and returned a 4/5 record in field attempts for his 13 points.

Lee Kyu Sup top scored the game with 28 points and Bang Sung-Yoon had 24.

Yasarathne De Silva was the highest scorer for Sri Lanka with his 14 points.

Group B

Mahdi Kamrani was the hero in Iran’s second successive win.

Kamrani, who had only four points to show in the opening game win over Chinese Taipei, had a field day with a 63.6% record on the field (7/11) including converting two of his three three-pointer attempts.

Adding value to the Mahram player’s contribution was the two assists and the six steals.

Samad Nikkah was as consistent as ever and had 18 points.

Vyacheslav Denisov was the highest scorer for Uzbekistan with 13 points.

Chinese Taipei had no trouble whatsoever against Kuwait.

A 13-0 run midway through the first quarter perching them firmly ahead, the East Asian nation emerged runaway winners.

Yang Chin-Min led the Taipei charge with his game-high 24 points.

Chang Chi-Feng and Lee Hsueh-Lin chipped in with 11 points each.

Mohammad Ashkanani was their leading scorer with 13 points.

Group C

China and Qatar won without much ado to set up a Saturday clash which will decide the Group toppers.

China opened up the game against Kazakhstan midway through the first half with a 20-4 run and hung on to that advantage.

Current NBA player Yi Jianlian and China’s first ever NBA player Wang Zhi Zhi shared the scoring honours for the game with 17 points apiece.

Wang Zhi Zhi also collected a game-high 14 rebounds. Wang Shipeng converted three of his six three-pointer attempts to return 15 points.

Anton Ponomarev led the scoring for Kazakhstan with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Rustam Yargaliyew had 14 points and junior star Alexander Tyutyunik converted three of his five three-pointer attempts for his 11 points.

India did well to keep pace with Qatar till midway through the first quarter, but could not sustain themselves when the GCC champions pressed the gas.

Daoud Mousa led the Qatari charge with 20 points and Saad Ali contributed 18.

Talwinderjit Singh led India’s scoring with 17 points.

Group D

Both Lebanon and Jordan carried the hangover of their overnight game into Friday’s games too.

Jordan, rested most of their starters for most of the game and yet proved far ahead than Indonesia.

Jordan coach Mario Palma Palma gave his bench all the feel of the court – using his starters only to give the bench a breather – after taking a 21-17 lead to end the first quarter.

Islam Abbas made the best use of the opportunity of the extended time on court with a game-high 22 points.

Mohammad Hadrab had a 7/11 record on the field and finished with 16 points.

No Indonesian player scored in double-digits.

Spearhead Fadi El Khatib and Jackson Vroman struck in unison as Lebanon regained their winning touch.

Fadi and Vroman shared the scoring honours for the game with 19 points apiece.

Fadi returned a 67% scoring record in the field (8/12), including converting one of his two three-pointer attempts.

Vroman, naturalized recently by Lebanon, had an 8/9 field record and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds – five in defence.

Matt Freije, like Vroman a 2004 NBA draftee, also collected seven rebounds and accounted for 15 points.

Talal Alnuaimi was the highest scorer for UAE with 13 points.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

PHI / JPN – Late Filipino rally sends Japan reeling

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Philippines staged a superb third quarter rally that left fancied last edition’s quarterfinalists Japan bemused and posted a 78-69 win in a pivotal Group A game on Friday.

Philippines, with two wins from as many games, now take on last edition’s bronze medalists Korea on Saturday in a game that will decide the toppers of this Group.

Gunther Thoss sparked the Filipino rally scoring 11 of his 15 points for the game in the second half.

Pauliasi Taulava scored all his 11 points in the second half – nine of them in the final quarter – to strengthen Thoss’ efforts.

Having trailed Japan for most of the game, Philippines took charge of the proceedings late in the third quarter with Jared Dillinger giving them a marginal lead.

Japan hit back immediately and Shunsuke Ito’s twin free-throw conversions regaining them the lead, only for temporarily though.

Philippines who had squandered a similar position in the first quarter seized the opportunity this time and after Cyrus Baguio drove in the lane to convert, the South East Asian champions never looked back.

Japan withered as Philippines flourished.

Daiji Yamada led the Japanese scoring with 16 points and Kosuke Takeuchi had 14.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

PHI / SRI – Philippines off to a winning start

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship): South East Asia champions Philippines got off to a winning start, beating Sri Lanka 115-31 in the Group A opener on Thursday.

The Philippines, who had finished ninth in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship in Tokushima, scored the first eight points of the game and cruised along thereafter.

Sri Lanka, playing in the FIBA Asia Championship after a gap of 14 years – the island nation’s last appearance came in the 1995 edition at Seoul – struggled with their scoring rhythm and returned a woeful 19% in field attempts.

Philippines led 28-9 at the end of the first quarter, and only grew in strength as the game progressed.

Jared Dillinger led Philippines’ scoring with a game-high 21 points, and collected 11 rebounds.

Pauliasi Taulava came off the bench and collected a game-high 13 boards to go with his 15 points, as coach Joseller Guiao used 11 of his players for more than five minutes each.

Philippines play East Asian champions Japans on the morrow, while Sri Lanka take on last edition’s bronze medalists Korea.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

LIB - TEAMS GET SET FOR OPENING GAMES

TRIPOLI (FIBA Africa Championship) - With two days to the opening games of the 25th FIBA Africa Championship for men tagged ‘Libya 2009 Afrobasket’ all sixteen teams/ countries are on ground getting set for the jump-ball in Tripoli and Benghazi.

2007 second runner-up Cape Verde coached by Nigeria-born Alex Nwora will open the floor at the Africa Union Hall in Tripoli against Tunisia in a group-D opener at 11.00 hours local time to signal the beginning of hostilities of the 2009 edition of the biggest basketball event on the Africa continent.

Cape Verde who defeated Nigeria at the quarter-finals of the last edition in Angola is beaming with confidence to repeat or surpass its third place finishing of 2007.

FIBA Africa Zone-6 qualifier, Mozambique will battle five-time champion, Egypt in a group-B game in Benghazi also at 11.00 hours as matches will be played simultaneously in the two cities.

These group-B opening is important to both countries giving the fact that the group also comprise of the defending champion, Angola, as a win for either side will boost it chances of having a good run in the first round.

The games are on the bill at 13.00 hours in Tripoli and Benghazi.

In Tripoli five-time champion, Senegal will want to justify the huge confidence repose in it by the continental ruling body, FIBA Africa when it was granted one of the two wild-card to the championship after failing to qualify from Zone-2 when it confront Congo Brazzaville in a group-C game inside the Africa Union hall.

Backed with the presence of their experience player, Regal FC Barcelona centre Boniface Ndong, the Senegalese are favoured to win the game but since basketball is not mathematics anything is possible as the Congolese could spring some surprises.

And in Benghazi, perennial champion, Angola will open its title defence when it takes to the floor against Africa Zone-2 representative, Mali.

Angola who had one of the best pre-championship preparations will attempt to use Mali to justify its big preparation for the championship.

The Africa Union Hall in Tripoli will come alive at 16.00 hours when 2007 runner-up, Cameroon coached by France-based home-boy, Samuel Nono take on Central Africa Republic in a group-C game, while Nigeria will take on fellow Africa Zone-3 neighbour, Cote d’Ivoire in group-A opening game in Benghazi.

The fixture is a repeat of both sides’ qualifiers last year in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire where both countries ended the ties at 1-1 with Nigeria running away as the zone championship due to its superior point’s advantage.

Morocco and Rwanda will entertain the crowd in Tripoli in the centre last game of Day-1 when both side clash in a group-D pairing at inside the Africa Union Hall at 21.00 hours.

Host Libya will round-off the day’s proceeding in Benghazi after an glamorous opening ceremony billed to commence at 18.30 hours.

The Libyan, will take to the floor in a group-A game against South Africa at 21.00 hour to begin its quest for a place in the second round while the South African are staging a comeback to Africa biggest basketball show piece after six years.

SERBIA HOLD OFF FRANCE TO WIN TITLE

U18 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP MEN

Serbia held off France 78-72 to be crowned champions of the U18 European Championship Men 2009 in Metz, France.

Serbia last won this tournament two years ago in Madrid, Spain and head coach Vladimir Jovanovic was elated - although at the same time at a loss for words - afterwards.

"This is fantastic, a great win for us, a great performance," he said with a broad smile on his face.

"We are the best in Europe, it's a great feeling," enthused Nemanja Jamaraz, who made a key steal and free-throw to stop France's comeback late in the game.

France head coach Philippe Ory was graceful in defeat.

"Serbia played better than us, no doubt about it. We played well in stretches but missed too many shots close to the basket and you can't expect to win when that happens," he said.

"But this was a great tournament for us. To play in front of our fans and get to the final, it's extraordinary. A memorable experience."

Serbia led by as many as 12, 63-51, when Danilo Andjusic hit consecutive three-pointer early in the final quarter, but France rallied back to get within one, 69-68 on Evan Fournier's lay-up with 2:12 left to play.

Serbia replied with Andjusic hitting a free-throw and Lazar Radosavljevic burying a vital three-pointer from the corner for a 73-68 advantage.

Fournier made a tough lay-up to cut the deficit to three, 73-70. Jaramaz then missed a jumper and Henri Kahudi found Mael Lebrun on the fastbreak but he lost control of the ball and Jaramaz got the steal. He was fouled and made one of two free-throws with 33 seconds left.

France got within two, 74-72, on Fournier's pair of foul shots with 25.8 seconds to go, but that would be the closest they would get.

Andjusic was fouled and made good on his two attempts from the charity stripe. Nikola Stojiljkovic launched - and missed - a questionable three-pointer with about 17 seconds to go and Branislav Djekic sealed the result from the free-throw line.

Andjusic finished with a game-high 22 points - including five three-pointers - and Djekic added 16. Dejan Musli had 14 points, 14 rebounds and three assists.

Lebrun had 17 points for France and Fournier added 16.

Serbia score eight of the first 10 points in third quarter to extend their lead to 48-37, but France used a 7-0 run, started by Mael Lebrun's three-point play and capped off by Frederic Mondesir's consecutive lay-ups, to get within four, 48-44.

Musli then made a pair of free-throws and Lebrun threw down a savage dunk on the Serbian big men - much to the crowd's delight - to make it a four-point game once again, 50-46.

Danilo Andjusic hit a three-pointer at the other end and, when Nikola Stojiljkovic made a free-throw to once again cut the deficit to four, 53-49, Serbia replied from long range courtesy of Djekic.

Geoffrey Renon got a friendly role on his top of the key jumper and Jaramaz hit a free-throw for a 57-51 score to end the third quarter.

Serbia used an 8-0 run to jump in front 10-6 in a low-scoring first quarter. France were within one, 12-11, courtesy of Fabien Paschal's tip-in off Frederic Bourdillon's missed lay-up with 1:35 left in the period.

But the hosts had two costly turnovers and trailed by five, 17-12, after Andjusic scored four quick points in the last minute, including a three-point play at the death.

Serbia extended that advantage to seven, 19-12, on Musli's dunk early in the second quarter. And they were soon up by as many as 11, 26-15, when Musli beat Vincent Pourchot down the court in transition for a dunk with just over eight minutes remaining in the half.

Spurred on by their fans, Les Bleus fight back and seven unanswered points see them close within four, 26-22, on Geoffrey Renon's basket.

And they would get within three on Renon's free-throws but Branislav Djekic then scored seven quick points for a 38-30 advantage.

Nicolas Stojiljkovic buried a wing three-pointer buried a three-pointer from the wing to cut it to five, 38-33, and Nemanja Jamaraz and Fournier traded free-throws to end the half.

Oceania Championships take on new look

The format for the 2009 Oceania Championships should keep fans in Australia and New Zealand happy.

The 2009 FIBA Oceania Championships for Men and Women will take on a new format following extended discussions with the main participants, Australia and New Zealand.

This year, for the first time, each of the participating countries will host a single game in the series, with the winner of the series decided either on the number of games won, or in the event of a drawn series, the aggregate points across the entire series.

The new competition format reflects the desire of both Basketball Australia and Basketball New Zealand to have significant international matches played on home soil on a regular basis. Under the previous two or three game series played in one country, local fans only got the chance to watch their local heroes play on home soil once every four years.

The new format will ensure that each game in the series is competitive, because even if a team is losing in the first game, it will try to minimise the points spread to improve its chances of winning the series through victory in the second game.

With the new format, basketball fans in Australia and New Zealand will get to see the Opals, Tall Ferns, Boomers and Tall Blacks, playing in country every two years.

The two national federations are looking to complement the two-yearly Oceania (home-and-away) Championships with an annual trans-Tasman clash, also played home-and-away, to increase the presence of the national team games in their respective countries to an annual event.

Organisers will be closely watching the support for the 2009 Oceania Championship with a view to increasing the number of games in the series if needed.

The 2009 FIBA Oceania Championships will qualify teams from the Oceania continent for the FIBA World Championships in 2010 which will be played in Turkey (men), August 28^th – September 12^th and the Czech Republic (women), September 23^rd – October 3^rd.

How the series will be decided:

v If one country wins both games, they will become the Oceania Champion.

v If each country wins one game then the aggregate points scored in both games will determine the series winner.

v If each country wins one game and the aggregate points across both games is equal at the end of the second game, then the normal FIBA system for breaking a tie will be used – that is, the second game will continue with as many extra periods of five (5) minutes as is necessary until the aggregate points across the two games is not equal.