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Teodosic’s Long Three Leads Serbia Past Spain, Turkey Romps
Serbia 92- Spain 89
Serbia upset the defending FIBA Champions, Spain 92-89 to reach the semi-finals of the FIBA World Championship.
Milos Teodosic hit a 30-foot desperation three-pointer (pictured on left) from outside the top of the key at the end of the shot clock with 3.1 seconds left to break an 89-89 tie. Spain had a chance to tie but Jorge Garbajosa couldn’t come up with the inbounds pass and the clock ran out. It was the first time that Spain failed to make it to the semi-final stages of a major international competition since 2004.
Serbia’s win come largely on their excellent outside shooting. They shot 52.3% overall including 50% (15-for-30) on three-pointers. Spain shot well also (48.4%) but were only 10-for 26 (38.5%) from beyond the arc.
Much of the game involved Serbia getting out to 5-7 point leads on their outstanding shooting and teamwork, then have Spain come back to tie the game or take brief leads. Each time Serbia would come right back and take control. Serbia led at the half 49-41 riding the hot hands of Nemanja Bjelica and Novica Velickovic early in the half and Marko Keselj late in the half.
Spain used a 10-0 run at the start of the second half to take their first lead of the game helped by five points from Garbajosa. The lead then changed hands 10 times in the quarter. Spain went ahead 62-59 but Serbia then accounted for eight of the last 10 points to take a 67-64 lead into the final quarter.
Led by Savanovic and Keselj (pictured on right), Serbia went out to a 74-66 lead. Spain cut the deficit to 79-76 on a three-point play by Fernandez but Savanovic knocked down another clutch basket, this time from beyond the arc for an 86-78 cushion midway through the quarter. But then Spain cam fighting back helped by a high-arching fall-away shot from Marc Gasol to close the lead to 86-84 with two minutes remaining.
The teams then traded three-pointers. First Keselj hit a remarkable double-clutch three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Fernandez to give Serbia an 89-84 lead. Then Navarro hit a quick three to make it 89-87. Navarro then assisted Gasol on a dunk to tie the score at 89 all with 25.8 seconds left to play. Teodosic then made his long three to win it for Serbia.
Novica Velickovic and Marko Keselj led Serbia with 17 points each. 6’8 Dusko Savanovic added 15 while post Nenad Krstic had 13 points and nine rebounds. Teodosic scored 12 points to go along with eight assists. Juan Carlos Navarro did all he could for Spain with 27 points and five assists. Garbajosa added 18.
Turkey 95 – Slovenia 68
The second game was no contest from the start as hot-shooting host Turkey ran away from the outmanned Slovenia 95-68.
Turkey led 27-14 after the first period and by 50-31 at the half. Slovenia had a hard time reducing the lead to less than 20 points the rest of the game. Turkey was extremely impressive as they shot 66.7% for the game and made 58.8% of their three-pointers (10-for-17).
Ersan Ilyasova led a balanced Turkish team with 19 points. Hedo Turkoglu scored 10 but also had seven assists as he led the fastbreak. Turkey will face Serbia in the semi-finals.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. Thanks to FIBA.com for the pictures.
Scola Carries Argentina Over Rival Brazil
FIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TURKEY 2010 (Sweet Sixteen, Day 4)
#2 Argentina 93 - 89 Brazil #3
Lots of expectation in this huge rivalry game between the South American neighbors. No disappointment at all. Argentina and Brazil played one of the best games of the tournament, if not the very best so far. Luis Scola (pictured) led his team to quarterfinals with an outstanding individual performance. The Houston Rockets forward sealed one of the most amazing demonstrations of skills and competitiveness we've seen in the last few years of international basketball.
- Brazil dominated most of the game due to Marcelinho Huertas' leadership and Leandro Barbosa scoring ability. Argentina resisted with a shorter rotation but tons of passion and individual effort.
- No big leads throughout but a very tight and intense game.
- Both teams are extremely well coached and played with tremendous heart.
- The last period started with both teams tied to 66. Barbosa hit two threes in a row but it was quickly answered by Hernan Jasen with another couple of uncontested triples (69-69) stopping a possible runaway.
- Brazil took its last lead in the game with Marcelinho Huertas free throws (69-71).
- Tiago Splitter (San Antonio Spurs, pictured below) was well defended and often double teamed in the low post.
- Then Scola stepped up even bigger. With 3 minutes to go, former Tau Vitoria player scored 8 consecutive points for his team (89-84), clutch shots, each one.
Luis Scola continues his path to the tournament MVP award with 37 points and 9 rebounds. The Milwaukee Bucks SG Carlos Delfino added 20. Hernan Jasen was also decisive with 15 and two very important three pointers early in the fourth period.
Marcelinho Huertas also played a superb game with 32 points and an outstanding direction. Leandrinho Barbosa contributed with 20 points but failed in the decisive moments of the game.
Brazil literally left the court in tears while the Argentine players danced and sang in unison with their great fans. What a game!
#1 Lithuania 78 - 67 China #4
Lithuania will be Argentina's opponent in the quarterfinals after beating China in a poorly played game. The Baltics used its consistency and Linas Kleiza's leadership late in the game in order to advance in the tournament.
China started well but Lithuania woke up during the second period and took advantage from Chinese irregularity, rallying from a 9 point deficit and taking the lead with a 16-2 run (36-31). It looked like the Europeans were going to run away but neither team played their best today, keeping the game tight..JPG)
- Linas Kleiza showed up in the decisive moments with 10 consecutive points
- Kleiza ended the game with 30 points and 9 rebounds.
- Martynas Gecevicius finally felt comfortable from the arch and added 14 points.
- Liu Wei scored 21 points for China
- Yi Jianlian said goodbye to the tournament with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Quarterfinals start tomorrow with two must-see games. Spain and Serbia will meet again after last summer's Eurobasket championship game.
In the second game, the host Turkey will look for a place in the medal round in front of its fans against Slovenia. The Balkans will look for revenge as they lost against Turkey in 2006 World Championship eight finals round.
Chris Denker, Managing Partner of NetScouts, and Alejandro Gonzalez contributed to this post. Follow @chrisdenker on Twitter. Thanks to FIBA for the photos.
Utah State Announces 2010-11 Basketball Schedule
Utah State Announces 2010-11 Men's Basketball Schedule. Aggies will play at Georgetown Dec. 4th.
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State University's head men's basketball coach Stew Morrill announced Friday the upcoming 2010-11 schedule as the Aggies will
play a total of 31 games during the regular season, which includes five contests against in-state opponents and a minimum of 11 games against postseason teams from a year ago.
During the 2010-11 season, Utah State will play 17 games in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, a venue where it has won 51 of its last 52 contests. Overall, the Aggies have posted an incredible 176-13 (.931) home record under Morrill, which includes a 37-3 (.925) record in WAC play.
Highlighting Utah State's non-conference schedule will be a game against Big East Conference power Georgetown on Saturday, Dec. 4 in Washington, D.C.
It will be the Aggies first regular season matchup against a BCS school since defeating Iowa, 75-62, in the 2007 South Padre Island Invitational. It is also the first time USU has traveled to a BCS school during the regular season since it played at Rutgers during the 1992-93 campaign. Utah State's game with Georgetown will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Overall, Utah State's non-conference schedule consists of five games against postseason teams from a year ago as it will host Northeastern, Troy
and Weber State, and play at Brigham Young along with its game at Georgetown. Both the Cougars and Hoyas played in the NCAA Tournament a year
ago, while Northeastern, Troy and Weber State all participated in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in 2010. Utah State will also host
Utah at home during the preseason, a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament two years ago.
In all, Utah State's non-conference schedule consists of nine teams with winning records in 2010, including six who won at least 20 games. Other
postseason teams from the 2009-10 season on Utah State's schedule include New Mexico State who played in the NCAA Tournament, Nevada who played in the NIT, and Louisiana Tech who played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
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Thanks to Utah State for the photos.
2010 FIBA World Championships: USA and Russia will battle in the Quarterfinals
There were no surprises today in Istanbul as the USA and Russia both advanced to face each other in the quarterfinals.
In the first game the USA basically had a scrimmage against a completely overmatched team from Angola. The entire American roster played at least ten minutes. The USA raced out to a 33-13 lead at the close of the first quarter and made the rest of the game a highlight reel in their 121-66 victory. The Americans were led by:
- Chauncey Billups. Billups scored 19 points on 5-for-7 three-pointers.
- Eric Gordon. Gordon matched Billups from long range going 5-for-6 on the way to 17 points.
- Kevin Durant and Rudy Gay also scored 17.
- Points guards Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook each contributed six assists and had only one turnover combined.
Russia had more difficulty against New Zealand and didn't put the game away until the latter part of the third quarter. The Russians had a distinct size advantage on the Kiwis and they took advantage of it. David Blatt's defense has almost every shot contested making it very difficult for New Zealand to run their offense.
The star for the Russians was Andrey Vorontsevich (pictured on the right). The 6'9 CSKA Moscow power forward was outstanding shooting making all 3 of his three-pointers as he shot 7-for-8 from the field in scoring 18 points. He also led the Russians with 11 rebounds.
He had help from 7'1 center Timofey Mosgov. Mosgov, who is headed the the New Yourk Knicks this coming season, used his height to dominate over the smaller Kiwis. Mosgov contributed 16 points and seven rebounds.
The Russians out-rebounded the smaller Kiwis 41-25. Once again Kirk Penney led New Zealand in scoring with 21 points.
The USA and Russia will play the first game on Thursday evening. Expect David Blatt's team to play tight on-ball defense, try to keep the game in the half-court and try to utilize their big men against the smaller USA frontline.
Carl Berman is a Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball and can be followed on twitter @carlberman.